The Doctrine of Fear.

DOCTRINE OF FEAR

Fear is used in different ways in the Bible. The meaning is determined by the context in which it is used.

- Fear is used for a mental attitude sin, characterized by panic when in a dangerous situation. It can be a painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of harm or evil, and a strong desire to escape it. It can be apprehension, consternation, or horror. It is also an active feeling of dread, of which fright and terror are the more intense degrees.

- Fear is used for reverence, respect, or awe. It is a reverence manifesting itself in obedience. In this respect, fear is a Christian virtue.

Neglect or rejection of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age and failure to utilize its fantastic problem solving devices results in many problems, including fear. Fear is lack of thinking under pressure, and that is a general problem in life. We are designed by God to be rational creatures; fear makes us irrational and thus it is an irrational and an emotional sin.

For the believer, fear is failure to learn and apply Bible doctrine to the problems of life, and failure to learn and utilize the problem solving devices. Fear is a whole system of sins which include worry, anxiety, insecurity, incapability of doctrinal application, and therefore inability to use the problem solving devices. Fear also includes all the problems of emotionalism, for fear is an emotional sin. Many sins involve only thinking (e.g. lust), but fear involves emotion and no thinking. The Christian loser is bogged down and hindered from his advance by various categories of sins and arrogance related to fear.

The Snowballing Principle of Fear.

The more you surrender to fear, the more things you fear. Today you may be worried about only one thing; tomorrow about a few things and on it builds. Soon you become so emotionally involved in fear that you have no identity. Irrationality means loss of identity, which means the accumulation of fear until you are afraid of life. Fear is something that, if not controlled, continues to develop in your life until you have no capacity, and as a believer you become a loser. One of the motivations for becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol is fear of life, anxiety, worry, and tension.

To the extent to which you surrender to fear, you increase the power of fear over your life until fear becomes an overwhelming, motivational way of life. To the extent to which you surrender to fear will be the extent that fear controls more and more of your life. Increasing fear means increasing insecurity, which destroys your capacity for love, life, happiness, and blessing. No set of circumstances in life will ever make you happy. There is no way you can have true love or true happiness apart from a healthy mental attitude.

The thing about fear is that the more things that acquire the power of fear over you in your life, the greater will be your capacity for fear. The greater your capacity for fear, the greater your capacity for arrogance and becoming a loser. For fear causes you to become totally preoccupied with yourself. Once in the arrogance complex, all the rest of the mental attitude sins come quickly. The combination of fear and arrogance causes many people to become mentally ill. The more things that acquire the power to promote fear in your life, the more punitive suffering and self‑induced misery you bring on yourself.

The more things that acquire the power of fear in your life, the greater your capacity for fragmentation and becoming a loser in the Christian life. As a loser, your capacity for life, love, and happiness is completely destroyed. Destruction of capacity for life, love, and happiness increases your capacity for arrogance and emotionalism, and therefore, your capacity for fragmentation.

So fear is a key that unlocks many doors, starting with the door of arrogance. You cannot be afraid without putting an abnormal emphasis on yourself. To the extent that you become frightened by anything, to that extent you set up a new circuit in your life which is arrogance.

From that fear comes many manifestations of arrogance:
- Jealousy. If you’re afraid of losing someone, you become jealous when they show any favoritism toward anyone else.
- Bitterness. You become bitter toward that person because they don’t give you the affection and attention you think you deserve.
- Vindictiveness.
- Implacability.
- Revenge motivation. From all this comes a series of functions in your life that absolutely destroy any capacity. Therefore, you cannot be distinguished from the unbeliever, except that you are far worse than many unbelievers. They have handled fear through establishment principles. But you have something so much greater and so much easier compared to how they must handle fear. Yet it’s amazing how many unbelievers are superior to Christians in their modus operandi, conquering such things as fear the hard way through establishment principles.

Arrogance, fear, worry, anxiety, anger, and emotionalism are all irrational. Irrationality is a total contradiction to the protocol plan of God which manufactures invisible heroes. Fear manufactures losers. Fear is lack of thinking under pressure. Of course, if you don’t think under normal circumstances and in prosperity, you will be filled with fear during abnormal circumstances.
Fear is the mental attitude of worry, anxiety, apprehension, trepidation, and despondency. Inevitably, fear leads to arrogance, the narcissus syndrome, and even to psychosis. Fear cannot co-exist with the function of the Protocol Plan of God (PPOG) in your life. The function of the PPOG means the function of Bible doctrine. When you have a point of doctrine, you can say as David did when facing Goliath, “The battle is the Lord’s.” That overcomes the problem of fear and so releases your ability to go into action, which is exactly what David did.

For the believer who lives in a state of fear, the fear increases like a disease. As the cancer of fear increases, that individual becomes intimidated by life. Arrogance produces irrational self‑deception, which in turn spawns fear, worry, anxiety, and the unhappiness of self‑induced misery. Arrogance causes loss of personality identity. Many women have lost their personality identity because they wanted to feel wanted and loved, but ended up merely being used. This is abnormal self‑deception. Some people have great capacity for unhappiness, for they can only complain and grumble about life. The more you develop your capacity for unhappiness, the farther away goes your chance of having any happiness in this life. Because of arrogance, you do not know who you are or what you are, for you cannot see your soul in the mirror.

With loss of personality identity, you fall into a total state of fear so that you begin to retreat from any form of reality, becoming psychopathic or neurotic. The only hope is that, while you’re still partially normal, to function under post‑salvation epistemological rehabilitation. For cognition of Bible doctrine inside the PPOG can remove the fear, arrogance, self‑deception, and the retreat from reality which makes it impossible for God’s grace to break through and be utilized in your life. But when you become a total loser, having no understanding of God’s grace, you are totally miserable. So fear is the beginning of the end for you, which you do to yourself.

The Solution to Fear.

The PPOG is designed to remove all fear in your soul and replace it with confidence in doctrine, which leads to confidence in the Lord. That is the only true basis for spiritual self-esteem, which is confidence in yourself through Bible doctrine. This inevitably results in the greatest courage in life. It’s more than moral courage; it is a mental attitude courage in all relationships and in all circumstances of life. Paul stated this to Timothy who was intimidated by his congregation. 2 Ti 1:7 is a mandate which belongs to the PPOG, “For God has not given to us a lifestyle of fear, but of power, and of virtue‑love, and of sound judgment.”

Every time fear comes into your life, you know you are not living the Christian way of life. You know immediately that you are not executing the protocol plan of God. Power refers to the always available omnipotence of God which is related to our portfolio of invisible assets. The omnipotence of God the Son is related to the perpetuation of human history so that we can execute the PPOG. Relying on God’s power is true courage.

True courage is virtue-love, i.e., personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all mankind, and occupation with Christ. True courage means sound judgment, thinking under pressure, and good judgment at all times. Sound judgment comes from Bible doctrine, not from emotion. The person with real courage is the person with doctrine in their soul. For example, when David faced Goliath, he had doctrinal courage which was far superior to Goliath’s loud-mouthed macho courage. The PPOG is a life of courage. The execution of the PPOG is learning courage.

What passes for courage is often not courage at all, but macho arrogance and stupidity. Virtue-love represents the problem solving devices. Sound judgment is the result of utilizing the problem solving devices. 1 Jn 4:18, “Fear does not exist in virtue-love, but virtue-love drives out fear; for fear causes punishment. In fact, the person who is afraid has not been matured by virtue-love.”

If you have personal love for God the Father and you understand His integrity, you don’t need to claim specific promises for every situation. You rest on the entire essence and integrity and person of God. If you love God, you therefore know God. Therefore, once you have virtue-love, you’re not afraid of anything whereby you need promises, for now you know the One who makes the promises. You understand God’s integrity, and therefore, you are dependent on Him. If you are dependent upon God and His integrity, then having fear is not only an insult to God, but it is blasphemous and sinful.

Fear actually causes two categories of punishment. First, you punish yourself through self-induced misery. Then when fear gets into arrogance, divine punishment follows. So there are two categories of fear but three ways fear will punish you. Punishment from yourself, from your peers, and from God. Mature believers are not afraid. Virtue-love, mentioned three times in 1 Jo 4:18, this passage, represents all the problem solving devices. So the great problem solving devices of spiritual adulthood eliminate fear by equating living with dying and adversity with prosperity.

Fear of death destroys capacity for life; it is a sign that you are still in spiritual childhood. Death is the last thing in the world that should concern you, for you have no control over the manner of your death or time of your death. When you realize your death is strictly in the Lord’s hands, the one time when the Lord’s wisdom will prevail over your volition, there is no excuse for having fear of death. Then once you understand there is nothing to fear in death, then you begin to realize there is nothing to fear in life.

Fear is a great motivation in life for most people. Yet fear is totally destructive; it destroys love. Making wrong decisions out of fear destroys your capacity for life. Many people spend so much time being afraid of death, or of dying, or of starving, or of being poor, etc., that they do not enjoy life. They have no zest for life and no capacity for life. The one person in this world who has zest and capacity for life is the spiritually mature believer.

Fear of adversity destroys capacity for prosperity. When prosperity comes, you’re so afraid that you will lose it that, in your fear, you have absolutely no capacity for that prosperity. You may stash it all away for “a rainy day.” That’s no capacity for life. Therefore, you do not enjoy prosperity when it comes. The Church-age believer cannot think, apply doctrine, or solve problems through the thinking or mind of another believer. You must have the doctrine in your own soul and solve your own problems. To the extent that you depend upon others for your spiritual application to life, to that extent you are a loser.

Fear is a sin of emotion.

There are two categories of emotion. In normal emotion, the emotions respond to the authority and thinking of the prefrontal lobes of the soul. In abnormal emotion, the emotion controls the frontal lobes of the soul and blanks out all thinking. Abnormal emotion produces fear, worry, anxiety, anger, and hatred, resulting in violence, which is anger and hatred blocking the normal restraints from the prefrontal lobes. Fear can never think under pressure. Believers in the emotion of fear cannot apply doctrine and handle the problem. When emotion takes over, doctrine is erased. Courage is thinking doctrine and functioning under pressure as if there were no abnormal circumstances, no crisis, or no pressure. Courage is claiming promises in adversity; using the ten problem solving devices; and functioning under the privacy of your royal priesthood to think, to apply, and to metabolize doctrine with your own intellect. However, fear makes you a loser.

The status of spiritual self-esteem begins the grace function of cognitive self-confidence, i.e., thinking in terms of metabolized doctrine in your own right lobe. This is the dynamics of divine viewpoint in the frontal lobes of the soul. The Church-age believer cannot think doctrine, apply doctrine, or solve problems through fear or through the thinking or action of another believer. Fear is emotional. The spiritually adult believer eliminates emotion as a criteria for Christianity, since emotion cannot think, cannot apply doctrine, cannot learn or use the problem solving devices, and cannot rationalize or estimate the situation from the divine viewpoint.

Fear is the emotional means by which people fail under any kind of pressure or even normal circumstances. Courage is thinking doctrine under pressure, claiming promises of God under adversity, understanding the utilizing the ten problem solving devices of the protocol plan for the Church-age. Since fear is a sin of emotion, it is necessary to understand more about emotion. The emotional believer defines the status of the believer who does not have the ability to think doctrine and use problem solving devices. The status of spiritual self-esteem in the Christian way of life begins the grace function of cognitive self-confidence, which is the antithesis of fear. Such a believer who thinks in terms of metabolized doctrine and the ten problem solving devices can put fear in its proper place and also experience legitimate emotion.

The believer in spiritual adulthood eliminates emotion as the criterion for Christianity, since emotion cannot think, cannot apply doctrine, cannot rationalize, and cannot estimate a situation. When emotion is out of line in the soul, it results in irrationality and its accompanying sins of fear, worry, anxiety, and anger. Emotion is not capable of using the problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God. Since emotion is a part of the soul, it can be normal as well as abnormal. Normal emotions respond to your frame of reference. Normal emotions are subordinate to your intellect. When doctrine is in your intellect, emotions can become legitimate if they are subordinate to that doctrine. Abnormal emotions tear you apart (like a nagging woman). There must be a balance between your emotions and the right lobe of your soul. What you really are is what you think on the inside. Good social protocol has normal emotion related to it. Emotion is often the animation of what we think.

The Bible has a great deal to say about the emotions of the soul, often using psychological nomenclature to express the concept of emotion. The Hebrew word kiljahh actually refers to the fat pads of the kidneys, but it is used figuratively for the emotions in PSA 7:9; PSA 62:12; JER 11:20; JER 17:10. The Greek word nephros is used in the New Testament for emotions, translated in the KJV reins, in REV 2:23. Another Greek word, splagchnon, is literally translated guts or entrails. It is used for emotions in 2 Co 6:12. Another Greek word, koilia, is used for emotions in Rom 8;16 and PHI 3:19. It also connotes body cavity, stomach, womb, uterus, and intestines. It actually refers to the solar plexus, the nerve center where you feel activity when excited or nervous. These words for emotion are different from kardia, which refers to the intellect or the right lobe of the soul where there is no emotion. The emotions should be subject to the right lobe of the soul, where the doctrine that gives you momentum and wisdom is located.

The Bible distinguishes between the right lobe and emotions. Jeremiah describes our Lord Jesus Christ as “the Lord of the armies who judges righteously, who tests the emotions and the right lobes” in JER 11:20. JER 17:11, “I, the Lord, search the right lobe, and I test the emotions in order to give to every man according to his modus operandi.” All spiritual momentum and growth and application comes from epignosis (applied knowledge) doctrine in the right lobe of the soul. How the Lord judges you depends on which dominates your soul: the heart or the emotions. In the heart, there must be epignosis and sophia doctrine. Note that the Lord searches the heart, but He tests the emotions. He searches the heart for doctrine, and He tests the emotions to see if they are subordinate to the heart or if they control the heart. If the emotions dominate the heart, then the modus operandi of the believer is heretical, as with Pentecostals.

PSA 26:2, “Examine me, O Lord, and test me; test my emotions and test my heart.” In other words, see that my emotions are subordinate to my intellect and to Bible doctrine. The heart must be tested for its content of doctrine and its control of emotions.

REV 2:23, “And all the churches will know that I am He who investigates the emotions and the right lobes [hearts].” God is constantly investigating your life. He investigates your heart for doctrine. Without doctrine in your heart, a vacuum is created, causing your emotions to automatically dominate your heart. This results in emotional revolt of the soul.

PRO 23:15-17, “My son, if your right lobe [heart] is wise, my own right lobe [heart] will be glad; and my emotions will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. Do not let your right lobe [heart] envy sinners, but live in respect for the Lord all the day.”
When you hear truth, you have a norm and standard for truth from doctrine in your heart, and therefore, you respond emotionally. Envy is a mental attitude sin in the arrogance complex. When your right lobe envies sinners, that means you have pulled the pin in the grenade and fragmented your life, so that your emotions now dominate your right lobe. Jealousy is totally irrational, having no thought. It is strictly arrogance and preoccupation with self. When you live in respect for the Lord all day, your right lobe controls your emotions. That refers to occupation with the person of Jesus Christ. When emotion takes over control of the soul, fear and emotion become inseparable. Emotion is irrational arrogance. It has no thought, no doctrinal content, no common sense. Even normal emotion is not the criteria by which you are to evaluate your spiritual life. Your spiritual life is what you think, not what you feel. Believers who make emotion the criterion for their spiritual life generally have four basic problems:

- Such a believer’s emotional pattern distracts him from the execution of the protocol plan of God, ROM 16:17-18. “Now I urge you, brethren, be alert for those who are causing dissensions and apostasies contrary to the doctrine which you have learned. For such believers do not obey our Lord Jesus Christ, but they obey their own emotions, serving themselves; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts [right lobes] of the stupid.”

- Emotion hinders post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation; i.e., the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. 2 Co 6:11-12, “O you Corinthians, our mouth [means of communicating doctrine] has been open face to face with you [in doctrinal teaching]; our right lobes have been enlarged [by learning more doctrine]. Therefore, you have not been hindered by us [Paul, Apollos, Timothy]; you have been hindered by your own emotions.”
- Such a believer makes a god out of his emotions, PHI 3:18-19. When emotion becomes your god, you’re fragmented and ripe for the tongues movement. PHI 3:18-19, “Many [cosmic] believers keep walking, concerning whom I have communicated to you many times, and now continue communicating even though weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose destiny is destruction, whose god is their emotion, whose fame is by means of dishonor [whose glory is their shame], who keep on thinking about earthly things [wrong priorities from a fragmented life].”

- Such a believer’s unrestrained or uncontrolled emotional pattern is the basis for criminality, violence, hatred, anger, total involvement in the arrogance complex, which means bitterness, vindictiveness, jealousy, implacability, self-pity, and guilt reaction. So there is a very close relationship between the arrogance complex and emotional sin. Such a believer’s unrestrained or uncontrolled emotional pattern is related to the five categorical problems, especially fear. All you have by applying the emotional sins of fear, worry, anger, and anxiety to the problems of life is nothing, or even worse, the manufacture of greater problems. Nothing (emotion) added to something (your problems) is still nothing. Fear and emotion are inseparable; you cannot have one without the other. Courage is the ability to think under pressure. Cowardice is the dominance of emotion under pressure.

There are two categories of emotion in the spiritual life: First, normal emotion is under the authority of the right lobe or heart. It responds to the thinking of the epignosis doctrine in the right lobe. Second, in abnormal emotion, emotion controls the right lobe or mentality of the soul. Though Christians do operate this way, it is not spiritual at all. Abnormal emotion produces sins of worry, fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, and it is the motivation for many other sins such as gossip, slander, maligning, judging, violence and even murder. In the human soul, there exists a male and a female part, just as the human body has both male and female hormones. Intellect is the male part of everyone’s soul, and it must dominate the emotions. Emotion is the female part, and it must be dominated by the precordial frontal lobe. Therefore, emotion is a responder and reflector of thinking andor norms and standards. Emotion is the feeling reflex of the soul.

As a system of response and feeling, emotion in itself does not contain the following five things: the ability to reason, content of thought, common sense, vocabulary as a tool for mental function, or doctrinal content. Emotion is never the criterion for Christian experience. This means you are not spiritual because you feel spiritual or because you have an emotional or ecstatic experience. Alleged speaking in tongues is blasphemy; no one has legitimately spoken in tongues since August of 70 A.D.

Under the principle of fear, worry, anxiety, and irrational arrogance, emotion is a major distraction to the execution of the PPOG for the Church-age. Emotional arrogance includes the following blasphemies: You are not saved unless you feel saved, a blasphemy. You are not spiritual unless you feel spiritual, a blasphemy. Emotional arrogance results in constant fear, worry, anxiety, and insecurity in the most secure plan ever provided in this world, i.e., God’s protocol plan. Therefore, it is blasphemous to be in a state of fear or worry. Emotional arrogance converts reality into illusion and hallucination. In other words, emotions are wonderful when subordinate to doctrine. Emotions are a disaster when they control your soul. The signs of such control include arrogance, fear, worry, anxiety, and insecurity. Emotion is defined as that complex, biochemical and physiological process or function concerned with the somatic expression of feeling. Therefore, it is obviously not a part of the Christian way of life, which is spiritual.

There are two functions of emotion: The conscious sensation of emotions in the soul. The effects of emotions on the organic functions of the body. The conscious sensation of emotions in the soul is a mechanism of emotion in the brain area. The effects of emotion on the organic functions of the body is the parasympathetic effects of the transmission of too many or too few motor nerve impulses to the muscles of the body. Emotion without thought is a tragic complication of life.

Emotion and failure.

Such sins as anger, fear, hatred, worry, and anxiety are emotional. These sins of emotion result in other sins of emotion, even the extreme such as violence and murder. Emotion is also related to human power and human influence, but never to divine power and the mystery doctrine of the Church-age.

Applications.

Under the PPOG for the Church-age, emotions are not adequate guides for motives, thoughts, decisions, or actions from the believer. Emotions are not tools for cognition, nor the criteria for life. The Church-age believer must learn to distinguish between post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation as the means of executing the PPOG and emotional experience which can be normal or abnormal. But whether it is normal or abnormal, it is not actually the spiritual life, only a response to it. Normal emotional experience results from subordinating emotion to the intellect. Abnormal emotional experience results in either subordinating the intellect to emotion, or the emotional bypassing of the norms and standards of God’s protocol plan.

In other words, abnormal emotional experience may express itself in pseudo-spirituality of ecstatic experience which has nothing to do with the filling of the Spirit. Or it may express itself in emotional sins like hatred, worry, anxiety, fear, anger, violence, or even murder. The emotional activity of fear, worry, and anxiety has no cognitive self-confidence from Bible doctrine. Therefore, there is no doctrinal conceptualism and no function of the problem solving devices of the PPOG. The sinful activity of hatred, fear, anger, and worry promote arrogance undermine momentum in God’s plan through the fragmented life. You cannot apply emotion or its results, e.g., hatred, anger, fear, worry, and anxiety, to the problems of life and ever come up with solutions. By applying emotions in themselves, all you have is more problems and the intensification of your problems. The application of fear to the problems of life only creates more problems and greater problems. So the fear reaction of nothing added to something results in less than nothing, i.e., the vacuum which is the blackout of the soul.

Since emotion is a biochemical and physiological process concerned with the somatic expression of feeling, it is obvious that emotion is not part of the Christian way of life. The by-products of emotion also cannot be a part of the Christian way of life; in fact, they are a part of the fragmented life. Fear can be related to peer pressure, and it produces two categories of arrogance. Both categories result in fear and instability. This results in a self-identity problem, which spawns other problems. The two categories of arrogance are:
- The better-than syndrome, in which the believer thinks he is superior to all other believers. But when someone better comes along, he cracks up and gets into emotional sins.

- The worse-than syndrome, in which the believer thinks he is inferior to all other believers. This produces arrogant subjectivity.

Peer pressure arrogance produces irrational self-deception, which in turn results in inordinate ambition, inordinate competition, which multiplies emotional sins, motivating violence, and even murder. Such a believer has reached the saturation point of self-induced misery, and has blocked out the problem solving devices that could help him. Fear is a contradiction of the protocol plan of God for the Church Age. Contradictions cannot exist in the protocol plan. Therefore, the fragmented life is not a part of the protocol plan.

Arrogance contradicts the protocol plan. Emotionalism contradicts the protocol plan. Ignorance of doctrine contradicts the protocol plan. Ignorance of the problem solving devices contradicts the protocol plan. Contradictions are eliminated through post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. Contradictions are eliminated and replaced by the ten problem solving devices. God is perfect; therefore, His plan is perfect. Perfect God has designed a perfect plan for imperfect persons. Fear, worry, and anxiety are a contradiction to God’s plan, purpose, and will for your life. No believer can execute the protocol plan while in a state of fear, worry, anxiety, hatred, anger, and other emotional sins.

Fear is used as an expression of category one love or occupation with Christ.

This is documented in many passages of Scripture, including 2 Sa 23:2‑3; NEH 5:9; JOB 28:28; PSA 19:9; PSA 34:11‑12, 111:10; PRO 1:7; PRO 9:10; PRO 10:27; PRO 22:4; MAL 3:16; EPH 5:21.

Fear is a mental attitude sin, 1 Sam 18:12,29. 1 Sa 28:20, “The fear of man provides a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord shall be promoted.”

Fear is a sign of reversionism. 1 Sa 18:12,29, 28:20. Saul was afraid of David.

Fear is prohibited in the grace plan of God. Exo14:13‑14; DEU 31:6,8; Josh 8:1; 1 Ch 28:20; ISA 41:10; 2 Ti 1:7. “Fear not, for I am with you.”

Maturity is characterized by courage or lack of fear. Ps 3:6, 56:3, 11; HEB 11:27. This is true even when surrounded in battle.

True love is the absence of fear, 1 Jn 4:18, It is impossible to have fear and be occupied with Christ at the same time.

There is a legitimate fear of failure to utilize the faith‑rest drill and make doctrinal application, HEB 4:1. Believers should be afraid of subjective thinking and failure to claim the doctrines, promises, and logistical grace of God.

Principle of the Fear‑Panic Ploy.

It is possible to learn many doctrines and yet fall apart in historical or personal disaster. Sudden disaster often places the believer under great pressure and moves him into panic where he cannot concentrate on the doctrine he has learned. The difference between fear and courage is the ability to concentrate under great pressure. The coward cannot think under pressure, while the man of courage can. Concentration is required in both the ability to learn and the ability to apply doctrine. Adversity, suffering, and disaster have the ability to destroy concentration. The suddenness or intensity of a disaster hinders the believer from concentrating on doctrine he has already learned. Normal reaction in disaster is to sit on the panic button, so that the believer cannot apply doctrine. Because of this, there are many Biblical commands to “fear not,” as in:

DEU 31:6,8, “Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be afraid of them.”

ISA 41:10, “Therefore, the Lord is the One who goes ahead of you; do not fear or be dismayed.”

Believers in all stages of spiritual growth can find themselves suddenly in the fear‑panic ploy of the cosmic system from some sudden disaster. Every believer must be prepared for this. PSA 56:3, “In the day that I am afraid, I will trust in you.” The solution to fear is found in the faith‑rest drill, by which the believer claims a promise to stabilize the mind. 1 Co 2:5, “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God [Bible doctrine in the soul].” 2 Co 5:7, “For we walk by faith and not by sight.”

All warfare is based on deception. And again the whole point is that we should never forget that the Battle is in the Soul. And your thought process or system of thinking is the great battlefield. Remember the greatest battles in history are not overt battlefields where men die, the greatest battlefield is what takes place in your soul.

ECC 9:14-15,There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it. But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

This one man delivered the city by his wisdom and lack of fear. He was a great hero and great friend especially when others were in need. And he learned the principle of 2CO 12:15, And I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you the more, am I to be loved the less?

ECC 9:10, Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do {it} with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Even after you have done all that you’re suppose to do, things are still in the hands of God so get rid of any fears you have of failing. Look at LUK 17:1-10, And He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and {properly} clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk; and afterward you will eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done {only} that which we ought to have done.’“

ECC 9:11, I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.

The race is not always to the swift. The battle is not always to the strong. Neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to the discerning. Human ability cannot guarantee true success. However, remember that Solomon said in PRO 21:31, The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But victory belongs to the Lord. Be prepared as much as you wish for the day of battle, but if you listen long enough to the shouting of king Satan, the walls will eventually cave in. The shouts keep coming. The threats keep coming. The fears are thrown at you, because if you place all your hope and trust and attention on human ability, you’ve had it and our Lord made this crystal clear.

MAT 7:24-27, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and {yet} it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.”

Build the wall as high as you wish, but if you listen long enough to the shouting of Satan, the god of this world, eventually your life will cave in. The shouts keep coming as the fears are thrown at you. You will be faced with projections from the kingdom of darkness designed to distract you and keep you down here living the spiritual abundant life. Our Lord said to the religious Jews in JOH 8:23, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.” If you live the life that the Lord Jesus Christ has called you to live, you will live of life that is from above and free from fears. If not, you will end up being attacked by Satan and the kingdom of darkness surrounding your soul and trying to construct large fortresses against it.

This great and powerful king, Satan, uses fears and thoughts and projections to do so. That’s why we are told in EPH 6:16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.

Those flaming missiles are the philosophies of life! Those flaming missiles are the weapons of the king surrounding the small city of your soul. Satan has invisible missiles that attack the soul and cause fears and human viewpoint on the part of believers which neutralizes them and draws them away from the PPOG. From the day in which you believed in Jesus Christ, from that very day you were placed under the fear panic ploy. You are going to have times when you are faced with fears stress and other problems as well. And due to the fact that these are Satanic strategies, as a part of spiritual growth, you are to have testing along the way. In fact, we are tested at every stage. Just as you are tested in school and before you advance to the next grade, you have to past certain tests, so you have to pass certain divine tests along the way. Everyday you are going to have the charge of the mosquito, things that disturb you, bother you, make you jealous, bitter or vindictive, all of these things have to be dealt with by the word of God.

Peter said in 1PE 5:9, But resist him, [Satan] by being firm in your doctrine,

The kingdom of darkness throws thoughts and ideas at us through the media, friends, family members, believers, unbelievers, enemies, and sometimes even from our own presumptuous ideas. And then if that doesn’t work, there is a direct attack made upon you which is much closer. One of the ultimate goals of Satan and the kingdom of darkness is to attack your soul with fears and do whatever they can to take you away from the PPOG and the teaching of Bible doctrine.

MAR 4:15, “And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.”

The king on the outside shouts and says, “I’ll give you a plan that works!” “Listen to me, give up all that other stuff that you hear in doctrine class.” “You know that biblical stuff won’t work in this day and age” “The race if for the swift, for the strong.” “I’ll even give you a plan where you can rationalize around the wrong says the king, you can bend it....so that you won’t even have a guilty conscience! And he shouts loudly and convincingly, everybody’s doing it!” And your friends and sometimes family members are nearby saying.

JER 49:23, Concerning Damascus. Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, For they have heard bad news; They are disheartened. There is anxiety by the sea, It cannot be calmed.

JER 49:24, Damascus has become helpless; She has turned away to flee, And panic has gripped her; Distress and pangs have taken hold of her Like a woman in childbirth.

And one of the biggest areas of the deception of fears is Fear of Failure. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In fact, there are times that you can fail your way to success. Our doubts are traitors, and cause us to lose the good we might have won, by fearing to attempt. And then if that doesn’t work, there is a direct attack made upon you which is much closer! The ultimate goal of the king who attacks your soul is to do whatever he can to take you away from the PPOG and the teaching of Bible doctrine.

Satan knows that if he can influence the believer with his flaming missiles and large siegeworks and get his garbage in the believer’s soul that he can cause tremendous problems and stress for born again believers. And what kind of problems? Problems that relate all the way from personality dysfunction to mental disorders of one kind or another. This is why the major target for Satan’s missiles is the soul and the thought pattern of the believer.

Three principles:

1. Some of his missiles are targeted to distract the believer from the perception of doctrine. Too busy for doctrine. Too tired! Something always comes up, etc.
2. Some of his missiles are targeted to distract the believer from the metabolization of doctrine. They hear the doctrine but they are not filled with the Spirit or they listen but do not concentrate. Concentration on doctrine is the highest form of worship in the universe!
3. Some of his missiles are targeted to distract the believer from the application of doctrine, once that doctrine it is located in the soul. And the most successful attack that Satan makes with his flaming missiles at this point is to get the believer involved with the arrogant complex of sins or the emotional complex of sins. And remember that the ultimate goal is to take the believer out of the historical phase of the angelic conflict. Get the believer off the playing field and on the permanent disabled list or the injured list. Satan’s flaming missiles are designed to destroy the spiritual life of the believer.

Now, again, 2CO 10:3-6 is a very important passage to note concerning this principle.

2CO 10:3, For though we walk in the flesh [we live in the world] we do not war according to the flesh.

Note that there is a war and a battle but it’s not with people and it’s not in the natural realm!

2CO 10:4-5, “For the equipment and weapons of our warfare or conflict are not of the flesh [human attributes] but divine power [Bible doctrine] for the destruction of fortresses [Satan’s flaming missiles and siegeworks from the cosmic system etc.] Destroying or assaulting speculations [these are Satan’s flaming missiles].

The Greek word for speculations here is very interesting, it is the accusative masculine plural from the noun logismos which means thoughts and reasons. Such as thoughts and reasons on why you don’t have to continue with doctrine and the PPOG.

2CO 10:5, Destroying or assaulting speculations [Satan’s flaming missiles] and every obstacle of pride, which raises up or attacks the knowledge or doctrine of God, and taking every thought [human viewpoint system of thought] captive to the authority of Christ,

And I told you before that ultimately the attacks of Satan’s flaming missiles are against Bible doctrine.

2CO 10:6, And we are ready [the Christian soldier] or on the alert to punish all disobedience [deviation from obedience], whenever your obedience is complete [spiritual maturity].”

I would like to give you some principles concerning fears and warfare that will give you some idea as to what we will face in the devil’s world:

1. All warfare is based on deception.
   2. Therefore when capable, fake incapacity.
   3. When possible make it appear that you are far away, when far away, that you are near.
   4. Offer the enemy bait to lure him; fake weakness and disorder then strike him.
   5. When he concentrates, prepare against him; when he is strong, avoid him.
   6. Anger his general and confuse him.
   7. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance (90% to 10%).
   8. Keep him under pressures and fears and wear him down.
   9. When he is united divide him.
   10. Attack where he is unprepared and he does not expect you.

These are the strategist’s keys to victory. Now, we are told in the Bible that we have an enemy. And that enemy is said to have a tremendous power to deceive us.

1JO 5:19, We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

While they were all at the Last Supper in John 13, Peter could have been very fearful because Jesus had just told him how badly he was going to fail and betray him. Fear of failure is one of the most powerful fears the kingdom of darkness uses to try to get believers to lose sight of their faith in Jesus Christ. So what is the very first thing Jesus says to Peter after telling Peter how totally Peter is going to fail? Jesus says, “Do not let your heart be troubled!” There is no chapter break in the original language - sometimes people quote “Don’t let your heart be troubled,” but they don’t realize Jesus is saying this right after telling Peter how badly Peter is going to betray Him 3 times! No matter how bad you’re going to fail - you don’t need to fear the future, the unknown, or your own inevitable failures!

So Jesus always wanted Peter to remember - no matter how badly you fail, or how hopeless the situation appears - don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful! No matter how hard you fall or what the future holds, “Believe in God; believe also in Me” and this will conquer your fear!

Anytime in life our fears threaten to conquer us, we can bring our eyes back to the Lord’s Supper Jesus giving up His body and His blood for us, laying down all of Himself for us - so that we can face life totally without fear - no matter what. And anytime in life our fears threaten to conquer us, we can bring our eyes back to the Lord’s Supper - Jesus giving up His body and His blood for us, laying down all of Himself for us - so that we can face life totally without fear - no matter what.

Notice in REV 12:9 Satan deceives the whole world; And this is why our Lord says, MAT 10:16, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.” Cowards constantly fear the worst. Worry is a form of fear, and all forms of fear produce fatigue. Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be. The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.

GEN 3:8-14, And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” And the man said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said,” The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go, And dust shall you eat All the days of your life;

Therefore when capable, feign incapacity, when active, inactivity. When near make it appear that you are far away, when far away, that you are near. Offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him. When he concentrates, prepare against him; when he is strong, avoid him. Anger his general and confuse him. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. Keep him under a strain and wear him down. When he is united divide him. Attack where he is unprepared, sally out [erupt or bust out] when he does not expect you. These are the strategist’s keys to victory.

We are told in the Bible that we have an enemy. And that enemy is said to have a tremendous power to deceive us.

1JO 5:19, We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

REV 12:9, Satan deceives the whole world;

This is why our Lord says, MAT 10:16, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.”

In a battle, first in getting ready for combat you must have soldiers. They’ve got to be dressed for fighting; they’ve got to be trained for fighting. And I believe that the greatest battle that was ever fought is now ready to go in action. I believe that God has been selecting His soldiers; He’s been dressing them, training them. The battle front is now set, getting ready to start. This great first battle that was ever fought begin in heaven when Michael and his Angels fought against Lucifer and his angels. It first started--the first battle was in heaven, so sin did not originate on earth; it originated in heaven. And then it was thrown down from heaven, cast out of heaven to the earth and fell on human beings. Then the battle from Angels become human battles. And Satan came to destroy God’s creation. Then the battle begin here on earth and begin in us, and it’s been raging ever since.

Before any battle can be put in array, they first have to choose a meeting ground or a place where the battle is to be fought, a selected place. In the First World War it was so placed in no-man’s-land and places where they fought. When Israel went to war with the Philistines, there was a hill on each side where they gathered. And that’s where Goliath come out and called to the armies of Israel. That’s where David met him in the valley, when he passed over the little creek that run between the two hills, he picked up the rocks. So, there has to be a place selected. And in this, there’s a mutual ground, no-man’s-land, and the fight is at this place. They just don’t one fight over here, and one down here, and one over here; there’s a battle front where they meet and test their powers, where each army tests its strength against the other army--a mutual meeting place.

When this great battle started on earth, there had to be a mutual meeting place; there had to be a place selected for the battle to begin, and for the battle to rage; and that battlegrounds begin in the human mind. There’s where the battle starts. The human mind was chosen for the place of the battle, where it was to begin; and that is, because that decisions are made from the mind, the head. Now, they never started it from some organization; they never started it from some mechanical affair; the grounds never started there; therefore, that organization can never, never do the work of God, because the battlegrounds, where you’ve got to meet your enemy, is in the mind. You’ve got to make your choice. It meets you. Decisions are made in the mind, the head. There’s where Satan meets you. And the decisions are, because God made man that way.

In 2CO 10:3 this battle is described, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, our warfare in the spiritual life is neither physical nor fleshly; it is spiritual and therefore in the mentality of our soul! And the Lord has provided information whereby we can use our mental attitude of divine viewpoint as a basis of advancing in the spiritual life and handling any of the outside pressures that would come our way.

2CO 10:4, For the weapons of our warfare [spiritual warfare] are not of the flesh [human attributes], but divinely powerful or attributes of power, for the destruction of fortresses.

When it says that “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh” it refers to the fact that our weapons are not based upon a system of human viewpoint like defense mechanisms. In fact, the word fortresses is the Greek noun ochuromaton which is a hapax legomena and it means arguments and reasonings one uses to defend themselves, that’s why it’s translated fortresses and therefore a perfect description of self-justification and defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms can resist all attacks of human viewpoint, human ability, human power; but God has provided in grace divine equipment and weapons to demolish these defense mechanisms in the soul. And what are these weapons that allow us to launch an attack against defense mechanisms in the soul?

Thoughts!

The greatest weapon we have in both spiritual warfare and life is what we think!

No matter how you slice it, the factor that motivates, empowers and strengthens a believer is his mental attitude or thought pattern. If the believer is thinking human viewpoint, he is open to satanic infiltration. Furthermore, he is useless, miserable, and indistinguishable from the unbeliever. On the other hand, the believer with doctrine in the right lobe has divine viewpoint on the launching pad ready for application in order to assault any defense system in this intensified stage of the angelic conflict. Such a believer has moved into the adult spiritual life and therefore has the capacity to understand that “all things work together for good”.

He casts all his cares on the Lord; 1PE 5:7.

1PE 5:6-10, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

He knows and applies the doctrine of divine essence and the principles of Christology. This believer cannot be defeated. Like a truly courageous person in the human realm, he cannot be conquered. You can beat him up; You can tear him to shreds; But as long as he has divine viewpoint in his mental attitude, he will fight to the end and you cannot overcome him.

Every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, or every obstacle of arrogance against the knowledge of God is the Greek word epairo which means to elevate, to assault, and to attack.

Satan always has one goal in the life of the believer, attack the knowledge of God in the believer’s mental attitude. Ultimately the attacks of Satan’s flaming missiles are against Bible doctrine. Any thoughts that you have which are not the thoughts of our Lord Jesus Christ must be taken prisoner or captive and pushed aside. And the reason why you are to take the thoughts captive or as a prisoner is simply because you are not to share these thoughts with others or allow these thoughts the freedom to go elsewhere. Even if the thoughts are sick thoughts, that’s not a problem when you understand that the Bible says that without God’s thoughts.

ISA 1:5-6, The whole head is sick, And the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it,

So we are to take every thought or making a prisoner of every thought [contrary to the will of God] to the obedience of Christ; The Greek word for speculations here is very interesting, it is the accusative masculine plural from the noun logismos which means thoughts and reasons, it can also mean excuses. People use thoughts to justify their wrong doings, and speech to conceal their thoughts. Such as thoughts and reasons on why you don’t have to continue with doctrine and the PPOG.

You can only capture erroneous thinking and supersede it with correct thinking by metabolizing Bible doctrine. We have a warfare going on and a battle in our soul and only the mental attitude of Christ can deliver us from our deceitful enemy. Let me illustrate this with the satanic deception concerning fear and spiritual warfare. First of all, “All warfare is based on deception. Therefore when capable, Satan and the kingdom of darkness pretend incapacity, when active, inactivity. When near make it appear that you are far away, when far away, that you are near.”

As our enemy and the God of this world, Satan goal is to keep us off guard and deceived. And only the mind of Christ can protect us from this deception.

That’s why we are told in 2CO 2:11, in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

Satan is always making offers through the agents he controls to lure us away from the plan of God for our lives.

LUK 4:6, And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.”

JAM 4:7, Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Satan will bring in situations to anger us and confuse us so that we will not use the proper mental attitude. Be very careful when you’ve just had a victory, your guard may be down and your arrogance may surface.

DAN 7:25, And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One,

When your soul is united with doctrine, Satan and the kingdom of darkness will do what it can to take divide your thoughts and confuse your mental attitude. The greatest thing you can do for yourself is to prepare yourself mentally for the things you’ll face in life. 2TI 2:21, Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. God has given you the weapons that you need to fight back, but if you don’t know what they are, or how to use them, it is easy to become battle weary, and feel like giving up. That is where our self-discipline comes in.

And again the whole point is that we should never forget that the Battle is in the Soul. And your thought process or system of thinking is the great battlefield. Remember the greatest battles in history are not overt battlefields where men die, the greatest battlefield is what takes place in your soul.

ECC 9:14-15, There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it. But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

This one man delivered the city by his wisdom and lack of fear. He was a great hero and great friend especially when others were in need. However, the king or the leader was driven away and the armies were gone and again there was peace. And, as usual, once again now that there was peace and quiet again, they forgot all about the hero. There is no happiness in being a hero; a hero today but gone tomorrow. Fear is a powerful emotion. Sometimes it is an overpowering feeling that takes control of the mind and makes one desire what is irrational.

It takes control sometimes of the will and makes people behave in ways that are inexplicable. Fear, frankly, can create all kinds of responses, everything from cowardice to heroism, from strength to weakness, aggression to passivity, reason to confusion, clear thinking to total panic. Fear can strengthen the heart and make it beat faster. Fear can stop it dead. Fear can lead a person to have a total change in what he thinks and feels and does.