◈ A Spiritual Leader 11 . Freed From All Fears sourceZac Poonen A spiritual leader will not take decisions based on the fear of men or of circumstances . I have a large verse hanging in the front room of my house that reads , " If you fear God , you need fear nothing else ". That  s the Living Bible paraphrase of Isaiah 8 : 12 and 13 . That verse has been of tremendous help to me in the last 25 years . Let me share with you some of the truths that I  ve learnt from the Lord on this matter of fear . First of all , I  ve learnt that fear is one of the main weapons in Satan  s armoury . Secondly , I  ve learnt that I don  t need to feel condemned if feelings of fear come to me at times - because I  m still in the flesh . We must be realistic and honest about this . The apostle Paul was quite honest and admitted that he had " fears within " him , at certain times ( 2 Cor . 7 : 5 ) . The third thing I  ve learnt ( and this is the most important ) is that even if I do have fears , I must never take a decision based on fear . My decisions must always be based on faith in God  the very opposite of fear . And that  s how I  ve sought to live for many years now . And God has helped me and encouraged me tremendously . I now understand why Jesus so frequently said " Fear not , fear not , fear not ". This is as important as the other emphasis in the New Testament : " Sin not , sin not , sin not . ". Jesus was always against sin and He was always against fear . He told us to fear only God and no - one else ( Matt . 10 : 28 ) . This is a very important lesson for us to learn , because a spiritual leader must never take any decision based on fear . Another verse that I  ve had hanging in my sitting room for many years is Galatians 1 : 10 : " If I seek to please men I cannot be the servant of Christ ". If you seek to please men you can never be a servant of the Lord . And I  ll tell you it  s not easy to break free from seeking to please men . Many reports of Christian work sent from India to the West are basically meant to impress people there , so that they will support a work here financially . You have to be very careful about your motives when you write a report about your work . A lot of sermons likewise , are prepared with the motive of impressing men and pleasing them . But those who preach with such motives can never be servants of Christ . It  s easy to fool an undiscerning group of immature believers in your church that you  re a great man of God . But you can  t fool God and you can  t fool the devil . Both God and the devil know exactly what type of person you are . If you  ve a fear in your heart that someone will harm you in some way if you displease him , then you  ll always try to please him . Then you can never be a servant of God . If ever you act on the basis of fear , you can be sure that it is the devil who is guiding you , and not God . If we look back over our lives , we  ll find that we  ve taken many decisions in the past on the basis of fear . In all those decisions , we were not led by God . The consequences of some of those decisions may not have been serious . But we missed God  s best . We should act differently in future . It  s natural for us to feel fear - because we  re human . For example , if you suddenly saw a cobra in front of you where you  re sitting right now , you  d naturally get a shock and jump up - and adrenalin would rush into your blood stream . That  s natural . But you don  t live in fear of finding a cobra under every chair  everywhere you go ! We must not live in fear of anyone either . We must never take a decision based on the fear of men or Satan . Every decision we take must be based on the fear of God and in total faith in our heavenly Father . only then can we be sure that we  re being led by the Holy Spirit . Hebrews 13 : 6 is a very important verse for all of us who serve the Lord . It says there : " We boldly say that the Lord is our Helper and we will not be afraid . What can any man do to us ? " We must distinguish however , between being cautious and being afraid . We must be wise - as wise as serpents - in this world . But we don  t have to fear any man or woman or demon or even Satan himself . Jesus was cautious . When He heard that people were wanting to kill Him in Judea , He didn  t go there ( John 7 : 1 ) . That was sensible . That was wise . But Jesus was never afraid of anyone . If you were to go into a forest at night , you  d take a torchlight with you . That  s caution - not fear . If people are trying to kill you somewhere , you shouldn  t go there - unless God Himself tells you to go . Jesus did finally go to Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit led Him to  and He was killed . But that was in God  s will and in God  s time . We  re not afraid of any man . What harm can any man do to us if we  re doing the will of God and living " in the shadow of the Almighty " ( Psa . 91 : 1 ) . The Bible asks , " Who can harm you ? " ( 1 Pet . 3 : 13 ) . God is able to make all that people do to us , work together for our good ( Rom . 8 : 28 ) . Since that is true , why should we ever fear ? If we believe this , it will bring such tremendous authority into our lives . A lot of our spiritual authority is taken away from us by Satan , because we fear men , or seek to please them or impress them , or justify ourselves before them . We must get rid of these attitudes totally . But this is not easy . It  s a constant battle . once you  ve decided to stop trying to please A , B and C in one group , you may imagine that you  ve finished with seeking to please men . But very soon you  ll find that you  re trying to please D , E and F in some other group ! And this is endless ! We  ve got to fight this battle faithfully until the very end , if we want to break free from ALL men . We must be constantly on the alert against this sin and battle it . We must never seek for the approval of any man . There are some believers who haughtily say that they don  t care for anybody  s opinion . But such people are not spiritual . They  re just arrogant . The opinion of a godly elder brother can be very valuable . He will be able to tell us things that he sees in us that we can  t see ourselves . To respect and honour such a man and to be submissive to his authority can actually help us a lot . The important thing is to learn how to submit to a godly man , without becoming his slave . If we want our church - members to fear only God and to be free from the fear of men and demons , then we must be like that ourselves , first . It is because God is in control of everything on this earth that we don  t fear anyone or anything . once , when I was planing to go to a certain country ( where preaching the gospel is forbidden ) , the Lord reminded me of Matthew 28 : 18 - 19 . I saw then , that it was because the Lord has all authority in heaven and on earth , that He has commanded us to go to every nation and make disciples . If we don  t go forth on that basis , we  ll face problems wherever we go . The word " therefore " is the most important word in the great commission in Matthew 28 . Most preachers emphasise the word " Go ". That  s good . But on what basis are we to go ? on the basis of our Lord having total authority over all people on this earth and over all demons as well . If you don  t really believe that , then it  s better that you don  t go anywhere ! This verse in Matthew 28 came to me as a new revelation at that time . Then I realised that I could go to that country without any hesitation . There were fears within me - naturally - when I entered that country . But I didn  t take my decision on the basis of those fears . If you think there  s some nation in this world where the Lord Jesus does NOT have total authority , then I  d advice you not to go there ! I would not go there myself . I  d be scared . But thank God there  s no such place anywhere on this earth ! Every corner of this earth is under the authority of our Lord . In the same way , if you think there  s some man somewhere ( however powerful he may be ) , over whom our Lord doesn  t have authority , then you  ll have to live in fear of him always . But thank God there  s no such person anywhere . Our Lord has authority over every single human being . Even King Nebuchadnezzar understood that - as we read in Daniel 4 : 35 . If there  s some demon somewhere who was not conquered by our Lord on Calvary , but who somehow escaped defeat , then we must live in fear of that demon always . But there  s no demon like that who was not defeated on the cross . Satan himself was defeated there - permanently . That  s what delivers us from all fear of Satan and his demons , and gives us great boldness in our ministry . So we go wherever God calls us to go . There may be risks in some places . But to the best of our knowledge , if we feel the Lord is leading us there , then we need not fear to go . The question is not whether there is persecution of Christians in a particular place or not . The only question is whether the Lord has asked us to go there or not . If He has , then His authority will back us up totally . We need have no fear whatsoever . But if God has not called us to go somewhere , then we should not go , no matter how much men may try and persuade us to go , or how much the spirit of adventure within us makes us want to go ! We must ask ourselves why we  re going to a particular place . If we  re going because we want to make disciples , and have no other ambition , then we can be certain that the Lord will be with us always  " even unto the end of the age ", as He promised . But we may have other motives . The Lord " examines our heart  s attitude " ( Jer . 12 : 3 ) and tests our motives . The Lord won  t commit Himself to everyone who calls himself a believer . We read that in John 2 : 24 . But if you can honestly say to the Lord : " Lord , I  m going to this place only because I feel You  ve called me to go there . And I  m going there only to make disciples , to baptize them in the name of the Father , Son and the Holy Spirit and to teach them to do everything that You have commanded . I  m not going there to make money or to get a name for myself or for any other personal reason "  if you can say that honestly , then you  ll certainly have the Lord  s authority backing you always . And then you won  t have to live in fear , wondering what will happen to your wife and children or how your financial needs will be met . The only question that is important is " Has God called you or not ? " Is God sending you there or is some man sending you there ? Or is it the spirit of adventure that  s driving you ? If you  ve got some program other than God  s program , then I can  t offer you a single promise from Scripture to comfort you . But if Your program is the same as God  s program - to make disciples , baptize them in the name of the Father , Son and the Holy Spirit and teach them to do everything Jesus commanded  then I can assure you , you don  t have to fear men or demons . Every servant of God must know how to deliver those who are possessed by demons  by exercising the authority there is in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ . Demons aren  t afraid of you or me . They  re only afraid of the Lord , Who defeated them on the cross . That  s why it  s important to know clearly that Jesus Christ took away all of Satan  s power on the cross ( Col . 2 : 14 , 15 ) . This is the good news of the gospel that we must experience first of all and then proclaim to all men . If we believe it , we can deliver others from Satan  s power . We should not be afraid of what demons may try and do to us  because they cannot touch a hair on our heads without God  s permission . But many believers in India are afraid that someone may do some witchcraft on them some day . Why do they have such fears ? Because they do not know that Satan was defeated on the cross . I remember meeting a pastor once who had been sick for a long time , who blamed his sickness on witchcraft that his enemies had done on him . How could that be ? Is the Lord less powerful than the power of black magic and witchcraft ? No . It was that pastor  s unbelief that made him feel that way . No demonic power can stand against the authority and power of our Lord  either on earth or in the heavenlies where the demons operate from ( Eph . 6 : 12 ) . If you don  t believe that , I  d suggest that you stop serving the Lord and go and do something else . Stop being a preacher because you  ll transmit your fear and unbelief to others . Fear is Satan  s weapon . Don  t let him ever use it on you . Demons may at times be permitted to harass a believer under the permissive will of God - as in the case of Job . God permitted a messenger of Satan to trouble even the apostle Paul ( 2 Cor . 12 : 7 ) . That was as irritating to Paul as a thorn in his body . It may have been a sickness or a person who troubled Paul continuously , wherever he went . If we have a thorn in our flesh and we can  t pull it out ourselves , we should ask God to remove it . But God may at times say " No ", as He said to Paul , if He sees that that thorn is accomplishing the greater purpose of keeping us humble . Satan was even permitted to hinder Paul from travelling to Thessalonica once . But Timothy could go instead and God  s purposes were still fulfilled there ( 1 Thess . 2 : 18 ; 3 : 2 ) . Let me emphasise this however , that a born - again Christian can never be possessed by a demon . Unfortunately , many preachers these days , are preaching the unScriptural doctrine that believers can be " demonized - and thus bringing many believers under fear and condemnation . Such preachers cannot quote a single Scripture to justify their teaching . But they say that they  ve come across such cases in their experience . Thus they exalt their experience above the Word of God . This itself proves that they are wrong . Christ and a demon can never dwell together in the same heart . Light and darkness cannot co - exist in one place . It is true that some of the Jews in the synagogues where Jesus preached , were demon - possessed . But we don  t read of a single case of a born - again believer ( after Acts 2 ) , being demon - possessed . A Christian may be harassed from outside by demons , as Paul and Job were - but that too , only with God  s permission . And if God permits such harassment , you can be absolutely sure , as in the cases of Job and Paul , that it will work for your spiritual benefit . If ever you  re in doubt as to whether someone is demon - possessed or not , just ask him to make these three confessions with his whole heart : 1 . Jesus Christ is my Lord . 2 . Jesus Christ came in the flesh and overcame sin . 3 . Satan , you were defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross . I don  t belong to you any more . Demon - possessed people will not be able to make these three confessions with their spirit . Every time we  re sick , we should pray to be healed . But we can tell the Lord that if He plans to bring some spiritual profit to us through the sickness and thus glorify His Name , then we will accept it joyfully . Under the old covenant , God promised a long healthy life to all those who honoured their parents . What did that involve ? It meant that God would watch over such children as they grew up , ensuring that no fatal accident or sickness came upon them . Did God keep a special watch over those children who honoured their parents ? Yes . It was a real and meaningful promise that God kept . God controlled circumstances so that a child who honoured his parents lived long on the earth . In the same way , God can control the circumstances of our lives too , so that we don  t die before we have finished doing God  s will - whether that be at the age of 33 or at the age of 90 . Under the new covenant , we know that long life is not the greatest thing , but a life spent in doing the will of God , whether it be short or long . Jesus Himself lived only up to the age of 33 , but He finished the task His Father gave Him . David Brainerd lived to the age of 29 and Watchman Nee to the age of 70 . The important thing however was that ( as far as we know ) each of them completed the task God had assigned them , before they left this earth . And God sovereignly controlled all the circumstances of their lives until then , so that no sickness or accident shortened their lives until their task on earth was done . There are many germs and bacteria on this earth that invade our bodies . Some of them even have the potential to kill us ! But God is powerful enough to control those germs so that they don  t kill us . God is powerful enough to control the drunken drivers on the roads so that they don  t run us down and kill us either . He watches over us every moment and never slumbers or sleeps . If we believe that , we  ll be free from the fear of circumstances , fear of sicknesses , fear of accidents and from every other type of fear . If you fear God , you really need fear nothing else .