Rabbi Schneider - Faith is the Opposite of Fear
I want to revisit today Isaiah, chapter 41, verse ten, the grass withers and the flowers fade. But beloved, the word of God abides forever. Hear God's word. Do not fear. For I am with you. Do not anxiously look about. For I am your God. Do not anxiously look about. Don't be looking here. Looking there. I'm with you. I'm your God. I will strengthen you. Surely I will help you. Surely I will withhold you. Surely. I will uphold you with my righteous hand. Let's just take that apart. Verse by verse. Section by section. First of all, do not fear.
Do you know that God commands us not to fear. Over 100 times in the Bible. You know that not fearing is the strongest command in the Scriptures. The book of Revelation tells us that hell is for the fearful and unbelieving. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is the opposite of love. That's why God over a hundred times commands us. Do not fear. Because when you're fearing, you're not in faith. When you're fearing, you're not in love. A lot of times people think the opposite of love is hate. But if you're really examine hate, oftentimes the root of hate is fear.
So first of all, we need to rise up and understand that if we're dealing with fear, we have to fight to get it out of our heart. We have to fight to overcome it and get it out of our souls. And so the Lord gives us ammunition and he says, Do not fear. Why? How can we not fear? What's the remedy? The Lord says, Do not fear for I am with you. What does that mean? We can do all things through Christ Jesus. We're more than conquerors through him. Neither highest depth, breath with or any other greater thing can separate us from the love of a God is present, and he's greater than all. We're more than conquerors.
"Do not fear", the Lord said, "for I am with you". I want to encourage you not just to stand up. If you need to just rejoice, begin to just jump up or down and declare to God, "Father, I believe you. I will not fear you are with me. I will not be afraid. The Lord God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid for the Lord. My God is our strength and our song". He also has become our salvation. Let's go together. "Behold, God is ourselves a shun. We will trust and will not be afraid for the Lord. God is our strength and our song. He also has become our salvation".