There is no Fear in Love
“There is no Fear in Love”
(1 John 4: 17-19)
Preached by: Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, February 22, 2009
As we are watching as the Lord shakes the nations of the earth, we hear the words of Jesus in Luke 21:26: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; ‘for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.’”
People are coming to me and expressing their fear and anxiety as these things are happening so swiftly on the earth. What then is the provision of the Lord for the Church?
(V.17) “Herein is love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.”
This speaks of a great practical result of our Faith. (V.16) “God is love, whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him.” We have this confidence which will not forsake us when the Day of Judgment actually comes. The ground of confidence is in the fellowship of love with God and with the brethren. If we, here and now in this world are like him---if here is evidence that the divine nature is implanted within us, expressing itself in loving the brethren and in a forgiving Spirit. (3:21) ‘Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. Whatsoever we ask of him, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. This is his commandment that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”
Perfect love that is love which has been made complete. (v.12) …If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us.” Love which reaches beyond word and speech to deed and truth cannot provide any occasion for fear, because he who loves is living in the light. (2:10) “He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him.”
More than that, love with actions and in truth drives out fear which is already present, by the confidence it gives of fellowship with God in the life eternal.
What has fear to do with punishment? Fear is the foretaste, the earnest of the punishment which conscience anticipates. We have already been granted the spirit of love because (V.15-16) “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has to us, “God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him.”
Fear is the opposite of Faith. In Chapter 5:4 the Apostle introduces the idea of Faith. He who believes is an overcomer; his faith is a manifestation of the life of God. Faith lays a foundation for love and trust toward our fellow men.
“For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the word: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
We live in a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. (Heb. 12:28) That Kingdom is the Kingdom of God. Those who carry the weight of the Kingdom of Glory are lovers of God and vessels through whom His loves empties from vessel to vessel.
Change is here. There is a shifting, shaking and an unsettling that is occurring throughout the nation, nations of the earth and even the Church that is not built upon the Rock, Jesus Christ. I believe the Lord will use this upheaval to establish His divine order – His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Marjorie McKnight gifted me with a new book, “The Political Spirit by: Faisal Malick published by Destiny Image. Mr. Malick a former Muslim, uncovers political propaganda masquerading as a quest for the greater good, and unmasks the political spirit behind Islam.
He confirms that the Lord is preparing His Church. “There are God given seasons for fallowing the ground, planting, cultivating, pruning and finally harvesting. Each season requires attentiveness and patience. God is both attentive and patient as he prepares the earth, His church, and the whole earth to be filled with the knowledge of His glory.
“The sower sows the word…satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts”. (Mark 4: 14-15). As the church prepares for the glory of God, satan has a strategy to come in, steal that word, and choke out what God is doing before it even sprouts…This ancient spiritual strategy of the enemy has caused the greatest moves of God in history to fizzle into ineffectiveness and impotence, destroying them from within through power struggles, strife, and hidden agendas.”
On Tuesday morning, we are now studying the judgment of the nine nations. We are dealing with the powers and principalities over those nations that brought them into the judgment of God. These are corrupt governing systems and religious hypocrisy exactly as we are witnessing today.
Last week, Nancy Pelosi asked for an interview with the Pope. I understand the interview only lasted 15 minutes. I believe she approached him (subtly) with the “Faith-Based Imitative Program and the billions of dollars that will be made available to churches who will co-operate with their political agenda. We believe the Pope sent her on her way rebuking her for her stand on Pro-Choice. (comments my own)
“What drives people to lose their moral compass in the pursuit of power? The Political spirit is the mastermind that forges alliances with the religious and Jezebel spirits to forward its own hidden agenda. This incident with Pelosi is an example of political propaganda masquerading as a quest for the greater good. (comments my own)
The present administration has allocated to itself 1.5 trillion dollars of power to control its agenda. (comments my own)
The political spirit has been specifically assigned to block the establishment of the government of the Kingdom of God on the earth by instituting false government and corrupt political practices… We must understand the tides of our times and specifically the nature of the spiritual warfare taking place around us through the influence and deception of the political spirit. We must ensure that we are instep with the Holy Sprit, walking in love, and without fear.
Matthew 22:16: “They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because You pay no attention to who they are” (NIV)
“These are critical times. These are defining times. The world’s systems are in upheaval. But it is during such times of upheaval that we are given extraordinary opportunities to take new frontiers for our King. We are living in a period in history when a portal will be opened between time and eternity. God is about to sovereignly intervene in world affairs to forever change the destiny of all the peoples of the earth. It is a Kairos time---a season appointed by God as a crossroad in the human story---and we need to be ready to take our part in it.”
Let us not fear or pull back. Let us walk in confidence that we keep his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. We will be taken care of. Like Esther, if we perish, we perish. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
“God wants His Church to walk in the power of His presence in order to release His Kingdom and its ways in the corporate and individual lives of believers and those they touch in every level of society. We must be fearless and bold. The only way we can be fearless is to have the confidence that the Hand of the Lord is upon us and we are standing in his love and purpose.
He is calling us to a higher standard of love and faith so that we will walk in greater power and authority. It is time of choosing to whom you belong and who you will follow. Will you follow the power of the 1.5 trillion dollars or keep your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ…
To be victorious in these last days, the Body of Christ will need to be carriers of the Glory of God. We may sing about His glory, or casually talk about it, but carrying God’s glory, or being present when the glory of God manifests, is a weighty thing. The glory of His presence is sweet and nice. But when you go beyond a light visitation of God’s presence and move into a deeper habitation, our life must be divinely aligned---it must be plumb---or less that glory will lay you out cold, just as it did the priests inaugurating Solomon’s temple in 1st Kings 8:11 ---“the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.” (ESV)
Great moves of God have swept the earth in times past, and it all ended within just a few decades. David and Solomon established a holy nation unto God, but after their deaths, it was split in two. Jesus came and the apostles went out, and a hundred years later, the miracles were gone. John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield started the Great Awakening and the Methodist church, but that movement is powerless today. William and Catherine Booth started the salvation Army and swept the Gospel around the world, but now the Army is merely a charitable organization that no longer holds the salvation of souls as its primary aim.
The political spirit infiltrated and derailed each of those movements as their founders died and handed the reins on to the next generation. If we are to succeed where these others have failed, we must know how to deal with this spirit and defeat it in a way completely different from any spiritual warfare of the past. We must understand it in relation to our callings, take our positions of authority, and embrace God’s divine mandates for our live individually and for our communities. It is not a matter of resisting the devil as much as learning to submit to God in a more complete way.” (page 26)
Haggai 2: 7,9) ESV. “I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts…The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.”
(17) “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There Is no fear in love; but perfect love casts our fear; because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.
We saw and heard horrid hate and hateful words spoken against President Bush. We must stop the hate and hating in this nation. That does not mean that we compromise with evil and wickedness in government, but that we walk in love, speak words of wisdom and life; and fight a good fight of Faith
“He that overcomes the world, is he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
“People who do not compromise when facing the political spirit will be promoted and transitioned out of their season of preparation into their place of destiny. God will always turn the tables on your enemies and take the wise in their own craftiness. When you refuse to compromise, and when you stay true to your divine assignment, then God will overcome the “wise” that are assembled against you, in their own plots and He will position you in a higher seat of authority under His sovereign hand.”
Those who will not compromise will experience great prosperity during these times of financial turbulence. “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared…” (1 Cor. 2:9) These Overcomers will be “ten times better” than any other “ in all the realm” (Dan. 1:20).
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Text from F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary, R.W. Orr and quotes from The Political Spirit by: Faisal Malick, published by Destiny Image. Comments and Conclusions are my own.