Biola Broadcaster - 1973-12

created in the image of God, made for dominion over the world and yet still the victim and slave to a thousand different kinds of fear. In the fall of man when in the Carden of Eden fear was one of the first wages of sin he had to pay. When God called to Adam, "Where art thou?", he was admit­ tedly filled with fear. The only available remedy they found, and all that is available to us, is the prescription the Bible offers. That is faith and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. As we cast all of our care upon Him He will replace the overwhelming burdens with His matchless blessings. We all realize that a large per­ cent of the things we dread really never happen at all. At the same time they rob us of any peace, satisfaction or contentment what­ soever. No matter how strong or persuasive the argument, we still allow our minds to drift onto those anxieties and concerns which probably never will come to pass. So many find themselves harassed and suffering all because they just wait for something disastrous and unpleasant to happen. They are like the man in the room below who waited for the person upstairs to drop his other shoe. J

having come to the Lord, might possibly again yield to walking after the things of this world. There was a danger in the church at Philippi that there might be a divi­ sion because of two women (4:2). From a human point of view Paul was undergoing some fear on be­ half of these people whom he loved and to whom he wrote this epistle. It is a fact that fear is a great spoiler and a tremendous enemy of man's spiritual equilibrium. It was one of our former presidents who appropriately expressed it, "The orily thing we have to fear is fear itself." The greatest miseries of all mankind come from the dread of trouble rather than the presence of it. From the cradle to the grave fear casts its full shadow upon us. Fear betrays man's spirit, breaks down his defense, disarms him in the battle, unfits him for the work of life, and adds terror to the dying bed. Fear is the most universal and perhaps the oldest of all human instincts. The coming kingdom of our Lord reveals a beautiful world from which fear has been taken away. Even a little child can safely walk between the leopard and the lion. Fear, in the forpi of worry, is the sin which comes to us. The most harmful and senseless of all are those who are afraid of getting sick while others who are sick are afraid they might get well. Those who are young are afraid of old age coming, or losing their beauty or their ability to earn money for daily needs. Remember, Scripture assures us Cod has not given us the spirit of fear but of love and of a sound mind. How sad to re­ alize to consider what man is,

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