Life stresses seasoned with ongoing major world events have pushed many into a place of fear. Here's Dr. Michael Youssef beginning today's Leading the Way. I want to tell you At the outset. That the person who lives in fear is a person who is being.
behind bars more powerful than steel. more inescapable than Alcatraz, and more permanent than Death Row. Fear destroys your abilities. Fear destroys your dreams. Fear destroys your potential for Jesus Christ.
Fear destroys your health. And I want to tell you, fear destroys your relationships. Fear easily becomes a daily companion. It joins you during your commute, in your marriage, at work, and if allowed. It'll get into your faith.
chasing joy far away, and disintegrating your passion for Christ. Hello, welcome to Leading the Way Audio. with Pastor and International Bible teacher Dr. Michael Youssef. Today listen as Dr.
Youssef continues his series David, Portrait of a Champion, with a look at how a young shepherd boy replaced Israel's overwhelming fear with overcoming faith. Listen with me as Dr. Michael Youssef begins this episode of Leading the Way. It's very difficult to preach on the subject of fear and faith. without injecting oneself in the process.
Because I don't think there's a single person who does not know what fear is, any form of fear, some form of fear. In fact, I have learnt of late The Darius a new type of fear that just been added to the official list Of phobias, and it is the fear of the day Friday the thirteenth. It is called Trescedecaphobia. And it means the fear of number 13. And it is, in a sense, the latest in this list of phobias that are officially recognized as a form of anxiety.
Hydrophobia, known as the fear of water, and claustrophobia, known as the fear of being closed in, and acrophobia is the fear. of heights and Then there is another. Phobia, it's called pobophobia, which is the fear of fear. But I want to tell you at the outset that there is no such thing as a fearless person.
Now you can take that and think about it a long time and you might want to contradict it, but that's your privilege. There is no such a thing as fearless person. But I'll tell you what there is, there is a distinction. between those who take counsel of their fears and those who refuse to do so. There is a difference between those who let their fears possess them and those who, by faith, let their faith overwhelm their fears.
There are distinctions and a difference between those who allow fears to hold them like chains and those who, by faith, break the chains of fear. There is a distinction between those who get too chummy with fears, who nurse their fears all the time, and those who, by faith, throw away their fears. I want to tell you at the outset. That the person who lives in fear is a person who is being behind bars more powerful than steel, more inescapable than Alcatraz, and more permanent than death row. Fear destroys your abilities.
Fear destroys your dreams. Fear destroys your potential for Jesus Christ. Fear destroys your health. And I want to tell you: fear destroys your relationships. It was both a mission and the message of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To deliver us from the slavery of fear. The two words that he used the most: fear not. Fear not. Fear not. Fear not life.
Why? Because I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord. Fear not death, why? For I am he that lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Fear not the unknown, why?
Because I am the alpha and the omega, I am the beginning and the end. Fear not evil. Why? For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Fear not life's problem.
Why? Because God is our refuge. He is our strength of very present help in trouble. Fear not what others can do to us. Why?
In God I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can do to me. What can man do to me? Recently I heard about the man. It was always afraid of flying.
And uh one day he ventured in on flight. Sure enough, they hit an air pocket. and the fear just began to terrify him again. And people would talk to him. The stewardess came and talked to him.
They said, We're now fine, everything is fine, we're just out of that pocket, no problem, you don't need to fear. And the man just would not be comforted. Finally, the captain came all the way from the cockpit back to the plane. And he said to the man, he said, are you a religious man? He said, well, as a matter of fact, yes, I'm a Christian.
He said, Well, then you must know. That you're not going to die until your number is up. And the man thought for a minute and he said, That's not what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid if your number is up. In the last message, we left David roughly around the age of 16.
Being anointed by Samuel to be the future king of Israel. And then at the later point he got invited into the palace of the king to be the artist in residence. That would be his title, I guess, today, equivalent of today. And what happened every time the chief of staff sees that the chief executive going crazy on him He will bring David in and David will play the harp. and then soil will get back to normal again.
When he was not performing for the king, He was Taking care. of his daddy's flock. And for all these four years plus, David Kitton going from the family farm. to the king's palace. And now he is at the age of 21.
And he sees his community being confronted with a severe crisis. The Philistines worshiped the god Dagon, the god of the crops. And they also worshipped the female goddess Ashtar, who was the moon goddess. The Philistines were a constant menace to the people of God. Why?
Because when the people of God came out of Egypt, God said to them, When you get into that land, the promised land, I want you to wipe out your enemies. They didn't do it. They chickened out. And for generations The Philistines became a menace to God's people. Listen to me, please.
When you disobey at the command of God and the order of God, God will forgive you when you repent, but you will bring a curse upon yourself and the next generation. And that's what happened to these folks. When God told them to do something, they tried to be nice about it and they wouldn't do it out of fear, out of whatever it may be, and finally, for the rest of their life. The Philistines were a menace to them. Disobedience has a price.
The Philistines had a national hero by the name of Goliath. I want to give you a little background about Goliath that you will not find in the Scripture.
Well, I hope you're not going to equate what I'm going to tell you with the scripture, but it's just a good way to remember this man. He was nine foot tall, that's what the Bible said. When he attended Gath High School, He wiped out all the sports trophies. I mean he got them all off the table. And after high school, he won a full athletic scholarship to Ashdude University.
And there, his school went to the NCA finals four years in a row while he was there. And when he played basketball, just think about it, there were a few inches between his top of his head and the rim of the basket.
Furthermore, During the off season, When all the athletes were resting, He was playing football. You say, How do I know that? It's in the Bible. Verse 5. American football in the Bible.
Well, Verse 5 says he wore a bronze helmet. That's how you get it.
Well after college Goliath signed up for ten million dollars to play for the Philistine Celtics. And he did this until he was drafted in the army. And went to the war.
Soon after he was drafted, he became a military hero overnight. He was so popular in his country. His hometown of Geth was about 12 miles from where the battlefield was. Guess what he did just for warm-up? Not for exercise, just for warm-up.
He jogged home every day for lunch and came back. Just to warm up. How do I know that? He came up only twice a day, so he ran home for lunch.
Now, I'm teaching you all the ways by which you not study the Bible. In all seriousness, I want you to look at verses 5 and 6. There, there's a description of the uniform of this man. His coat The coat of armour alone weighed hundred and twenty pounds. hundred and twenty pounds.
On his legs, he wore greaves of bronze. And in verse seven, The iron point of the spear shaft. weighed seventeen pounds. Verse 8, I want you to notice, please, it's a key verse. Here's what Goliath said.
Why do you come out and line up? For battle. Am I not the Philistine? And are you not the servants? of soul Now you can think about this for a long, long time.
Remember from the last message They refuse the kingship of God upon them. They refuse that? They wanted a real king and they got one. What happened? They replaced God.
We're soul. Their uniqueness as the people of God is no longer true. The representation of Jehovah. has now become a representation of a man. They were no longer the army of the living God.
There were the army. First of all.
Now, precious friends, I want to tell you: please hear me right because every time you find yourself in a spiritual defeat, it is because you have replaced the kingship of God. Was something else or someone else? Every time you find yourself in a spiritual doldrum, it is because you have replaced the lordship of Jesus Christ in your life with somebody else or something else. Every time you find yourself in a spiritual disarray, it is because you have turned your priorities upside down. Jesus is at the bottom, your ambitions are at the top.
And that's what they did. But it gets worse for Saul. and his army, Goliath got more belligerent as the time went on. Look at verse 10. Not only verse 10, but four more times in this chapter, Goliath uses the word defy.
I defy you. I defy you. I defy the armies of Israel. And you know what? Every time you give your enemy an opportunity to enter into one area of your life, you have given him a cardee blanche to defy you and defy your Lord.
Whatever area in your life the Spirit of God is not in control, He's not dominating, He's not ruling supreme, you are giving Satan an opportunity to defy you and defy the name of the Lord. Verse eleven. When Saul and Israel heard those words, they were dismayed, they were terrified. They didn't say let's pray, let us repent, something wrong.
Now for 40 days they just sat there in their fear. They sat in their terror.
So was the only one in Israel who had an armor. Did you know that? He's the only one who had an armor. He was six foot ten.
So he was no little boy. He was the king. He was representing the living God. among the people. But listen to me, please.
All of that amounts to nothing when the Spirit of God is not anointing you. All that amounts to nothing if the Spirit of God is not with you. All of this would mean nothing when you operate your life based on the external circumstances. All of that will mean nothing if the Spirit of God is not prompting you and leading you as you walk in Him. All of that means nothing if you are constantly comparing yourself with somebody else.
That is the first way you're going to get yourself into trouble. What happened? Saul sat down, he calculated his assets, and he calculated his liabilities, and he came up short. That's what happened. He sat there and he said, my, my.
Goliath is nine foot tall. I am six ten. Look at his armor, he's got more armor than I have. And every time he compares himself with Goliath, he sits back in fear, he sits back in terror, he sits back in defeat. If you walk by sight and not by faith, if you live by the human calculator, if you live by the secular standards, I want to tell you right now, you are not honoring the God who knows you by name and loves you.
You know why I think most Christians don't tithe? I'll tell you why, it's fear. They figure out that they're going to lose that money. That's human calculation. They don't understand that God operates with a different set of rules.
That God can bless you in ways you'll never understand until you get to glory. That God will bless you in ways you'll never comprehend in this life. That you're not losing, you are being blessed. Instead of fear, put the faith on and do something that is great to God and test God, as He said, test me. God has not given us the spirit of fear.
Ultimately When the Spirit of God is quenched again and again and again, There is no neutral territory. that you can go to. The spirit of fear will possess you. Young David comes in. And he sees this Guerrilla defying God and God's people, and he said, in effect.
He said, who is this twit? Who mocks Israel?
Now that's a very rough translation. That's you. of the original Hebrew. But I want you to notice one thing. By the time David appears on the scene, This shenanigan has been going on for 40 days.
Forty days. All of this of course is to heighten the intensity of this international crisis. And when this big gorilla comes out, The Bible said he made two daily appearances. Live. From Gas.
And you know what he does? He walks out. And he says I want you to know that this is going to be The mother of all battles. And then he goes back again. Why didn't David come the first day, second day, third day, seventh day, eighth day, tenth day?
Why doesn't God answer your prayers the moment you ask Him? Mm-hmm. You want to know, wouldn't you? God wants you to exhaust your resources. God wants you to come to the end of your rope.
God wants to do it in such a way that you have no doubt and nobody has doubt to say, God did it. And David, in effect, when he arrives, It was right at the 82nd appearance. The 80 second appearance of this frightening man. First of all, he runs to his brothers.
Now, being the youngest of a large family, I know I must have aggravated my older brothers many times. Imagine the runt in the family, this little brat coming in and said, Hey guys. Who are you embarrassing us? Get out of here. Get out of here.
Some of you know what I'm talking about. There's three of them. Just shove them off. They're embarrassed. But the little brat You know what they said?
They accused him. of being full of pride. And haughty. Yeah. Yes, David does ask three times, in effect, in this chapter.
He asks three times, he says, what is the reward for the one who's going to kill Goliath? And three times they tell him. What it is, marriage of the king's daughter. Wealth and freedom of the family.
Some commentators have said that because David asked three times, therefore, That was David's primary motive, is the reward. I'm not going to argue, but it may be an incentive. I don't know. But certainly the text reveals to us A far greater concern on David's part. than just reward.
Far greater concern. You read the text and you feel the man's heart. David loved God so much that he was vexed to hear. That God's arm is being defied by this guy. God was so real to David, he might as well somebody would have insulted his mother.
And so much so in this primary motive was God. that it was enough for him to forget his fear. It was enough for him to make him risk everything. But you notice David had just come from the field. He had just come from the field.
He was praying. He was writing psalms, he was praising. You're singing songs. He was in the very presence of God. And he comes in with a fresh vision from God, with a fresh power from God.
He was not in the middle of that fear-feeding frenzy of Saul's army. He was not in the midst of this rumor-mongering of Saul's army. If he would have been there, I think he would have been infected by fear. But he comes refreshed by God. He was alone.
With God. How are you in that department? Do you spend time alone with God? In verse forty David picks up five stones. And he takes his sling and he takes his staff, And he gets so close to Goliath that he can see his eyeballs.
Nobody ever has done that before. And when Goliath gets close to David, he doesn't see the sling, he sees the staff, and then he said, What are you coming after me? You think I'm a dog? You coming out with a stick? And then he curses David by his guides.
Now listen to what David said. I'm ready to close now. He said, You may have all the trappings of the armour But I come upon you in the name of of the Lord of hosts. And the next thing you hear David saying, yelling out, saying, timber! What kind of fear That is haunting you.
What type of anxiety That is stalking you. What type of phobia that is menacing you in your life? Identify it today. and take it up and offer it to the Lord. And I said, Lord.
I want faith in you. that can overwhelm my fears. I want faith in you. That will give me victory over my fears. that I will conquer my fears.
By who you are. Heavenly Father. You know the secrets of our hearts. We don't even know our own hearts sometimes, as the Scripture said, the heart is deceitful. But you know our own hearts.
You know each one of us, and you know where we are and where we stand. And so, Father, I pray. that your Holy Spirit visits every trembling heart. Even though they may not be showing it on the outside, you know the inside, Lord. Visit every heart, visit every soul, visit every person who's here right now.
Holy Spirit of God, come with power. and remove fear. and please replace it with faith.
Okay. Remind us that we are the heirs. of the everlasting king. In his name I pray. Is fear hindering your faith?
It might help to talk with one of our leading the way pastors or counselors about steps that you can take right now for replacing fear with faith. Begin that conversation at ltw.org slash Jesus.
Now, while Dr. Youssef taught about fear today, I thought about how leading the Way's field team confronts fear daily. Many of them live and work in areas of the world where just being a Christian can bring persecution, even death. and yet they remain faithful to God they continue to declare the truth about God, His grace, and invite others to experience freedom from fear. and know that when you support Leading the Way, you're making it possible for doctor Youssef to be heard in this neighborhood and ministry to continue in neighborhoods across six continents.
Learn ways that you can stand with Dr. Youssef. Give us a call at 866-6666-6666. six two six four three five six. A ministry representative at Leading the Way Call Center can help you.
You can also express your generosity and support online. ltw.org. ltw dot org Building upon the strong infrastructure established by your faithful and generous partnership, Leading the Way's Open Door campaign is continuing to focus on three strategic areas where the greatest need and opportunity exists. The first is in North America, where only 4% of adults have a biblical worldview. With your support over the next five years, Leading the Way will multiply its efforts to encourage the revitalization of the Western church through far-reaching media ministry on traditional TV and radio, Finding True Peace National Evangelistic Project, Dr.
Youssef's Awake America Prayer Movement, mobilizing millions of people in prayer for our nation, citywide events to challenge the local church, biblically based publications like My Journal and My Devotional. Leading the Way is committed to using every available resource to reach every available person at every available moment with the gospel of Christ. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world.
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