By John Thiel, mp3

Scripture reading: Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name [is] Holy; I dwell in the high and holy [place], with him also [that is] of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Do we know the reality of the end of fear and doubt? Are we resting? Do we trust God?

Do you suffer anxiety? What is anxiety? What is the source of anxiety? It is a feeling that comes over us and wants to predominate within us:

1. When we are found out that we have done wrong; we feel anxious. It is a feeling. It is something that constricts your sense of freedom; it crowds you inwardly. Another source of anxiety is

2. When I am unable to satisfy the expectations that are laid upon me; I start to feel anxious because I can’t meet up with what is expected of me. Yet another source of anxiety is

3. Fear of the unknown. If I see something in front of me and I don’t know where this is going to end up, I am afraid of the unknown consequences maybe of some of the things that I have done. I feel anxious. There is another source of anxiety which is

4. When those whom I dearly love have turned away and there is a break-down of relationships. There is anxiety that comes from that as well.

Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve the whole human race on this planet has been suffering anxiety. Today anxiety is extreme. It is actually a developed condition in many people which is such that they are on tablets, on drugs, to release them, or to mask this feeling of anxiety that overcomes them. But there are many people who are trying very hard to cope with anxiety without drugs. There is one kind of person who discards conviction. The Bible talks about this kind of people; they hide themselves in the protection of conquering conviction by hiding themselves behind lies, behind false doctrines, for instance, in religious circles. The reason why the theory of evolution has gathered momentum is because people do not like to have to answer for their conduct. They don’t want to answer to anyone, so they believe that there is no God. They are hiding from conviction. They discard conviction by false teachings.

Isaiah 28:14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which [is] in Jerusalem. 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

This is how people get rid of anxiety. They say, It’s all right! You don’t have to be worried about this or that! They hide behind their own opinions and fabrications of what they deem as correct. They hide behind lies. That is how they try to conquer anxiety.

Another way by which people deal with anxiety is the Pharisees’ approach, the approach of the legalist. Apostle Paul describes it very well. Before Paul became the apostle of Jesus Christ he was continually, feverishly working to eradicate the feeling of conviction.

Philippians 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

Saul of Tarsus relied for freedom from anxiety on having confidence in the flesh. What does he mean by that?

Philippians 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, [of] the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Can you see what Apostle Paul is here demonstrating? He is representing a people who want to release themselves from all anxiety by having confidence in their position. He was of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews. He had nothing to be anxious about. He was hiding behind the idea that God had chosen Israel and he was a true Israelite. He was a Pharisee as touching the law, and as for the righteousness which is in the law, he was blameless. He was covering himself with garments of righteousness of law-keeping according to the Pharisees. This is very similar to the Laodicean condition – rich and increased with goods, having need of nothing – a beautiful sense of release from anxiety. But you know, no matter how much people are trying to cover themselves by discarding conviction, or by hiding themselves as a Pharisee, there is an interesting undercurrent in every person’s life. Try as a man might, he is unable to shake off those anxious feelings through these kinds of methods.

Against every evildoer God’s law utters condemnation. He may disregard that voice, he may seek to drown its warning, but in vain. It follows him. It makes itself heard. It destroys his peace. If unheeded, it pursues him to the grave. It bears witness against him at the judgment. A quenchless fire, it consumes at last soul and body. {Ed 144.5}

There is none righteous, no, not one. So to the whole human race, no matter how much they are trying to eradicate these feelings of anxiety by false teachings and false ideas and lies and drugs, and whatever it might be, it is there, and it gets worse, it intensifies; it will not let the people go.

Can you not look back at your own life, at some time in the past, whether it be most recent or way back, and see some evil thing in your life that has taken away your peace? And the undercurrent of these thoughts continually wants to take away the perfect release that we are craving for. We crave for a release from this feeling of guilt and condemnation that enlarges itself into a condition of anxiety. It is a quenchless fire, it consumes at last soul and body; it destroys. But God wants to save humanity from soul-destroying anxiety, and He makes a proposal:

Isaiah 30:15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:

Here is God’s proposal. He proposes to us quietness, rest, confidence. He says, This is where your strength will be. I am proposing to you something that will remove all anxiety. We want to spend some time to understand how God actually engages with the person who says, Yes, Lord, I want this; I do want this. Please, deal with me to eradicate this undercurrent of anxiety. To initiate the process God speaks to us in these words:

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

Hiding behind lies is not going to release the people, because it’s going to capture them at the end anyway. But here is a hint of how God is going to help these anxious souls. He says, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone. Who is this? Jesus. In Jesus Christ there is a provision made by which God can fulfil His proposal to give us quietness and confidence and assurance. In other words, through this cornerstone, this foundation, God will bring people to conviction and remove the covering that they were covering themselves with, and provide a better answer.

Apostle Paul describes his experience as that of one who had been hiding under his fleshly confidence. He discovered the cornerstone in a manner that was most disrupting to him. What he says in Romans is a contradiction to what his flesh told him. He said that according to the righteousness in the law he was blameless, but what happened to him when he met the cornerstone?

Romans 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10 And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew [me]. 12 Wherefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

When he was Saul of Tarsus he believed that he loved that law, that he kept it. According to the righteousness of the law he was blameless. But now he talks about coming face to face with the law, of which he says, “I was alive without the law once.” So there appears to be some contradiction here.

What was the law that met him? What was the law that caused Saul to feel overwhelmed with the conviction which, before, he was hiding from behind a false protection? What was the law that now convicted him and found sin in him, so that he said, “When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died”? Apostle Paul is here giving his personal experience to King Agrippa:

Acts 26:12 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. 14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [it is] hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 

As he was trying to cover himself with his false idea of righteousness according to the flesh, he was still suffering under the pricks. He was being pricked continually, and he was covering it behind a façade of behind a devout Jew and persecuting those who were not faithful to the Jewish expectations.

Acts 26:15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17 Delivering thee from the people, and [from] the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18 To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

What is the answer to the question? What was the law that met him? It was none other but the law as it is in Jesus. It’s not the Ten Commandments on tables of stone, which he felt he was keeping. It was the true understanding of the law that came through the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. When he met Jesus Christ all the heavens fell for him. He saw how he had broken the law; he saw it all, and he died. “The law came,” he said, “and I died. I was absolutely overwhelmed with my anxiety.” Because the anxiety, the kicking against the pricks, had now been opened up before him, and he could not get rid of his anxiety; he was totally devastated because of his sins, because he met Jesus.

So it is that the first work of God to deal with anxiety is to rip away the self-righteous garments, the false security that we, in our human state of mind, are trying to cover ourselves with. We have all sorts of ways by which we do it. And yet because this is our own way of doing it, we can’t get rid of that feeling. We can’t really get rid of the undercurrent. So God says, Look, I am going to have to help you meet Jesus, so that you can discover yourself as you really are, and expose yourself so completely to yourself that you can see your absolute undone condition. You know, it is this meeting of Jesus that the people in history and today are shying away from. People don’t really want to meet the real Jesus, because the real Jesus will initially make them feel absolutely anxious, like Apostle Paul felt. It will make them feel exceedingly anxious; it will cause them to feel like, I want to die! That is what happened to Paul and what will happen to everyone who comes face to face with the Cornerstone, the sure foundation, so that you can’t hide behind lies anymore. It will expose everything.

[The church’s] members are wounded by Satan; but they will not look to the cross of Christ, as the Israelites looked to the brazen serpent, that they may live. {5T 202.4}

Here is the story of the brazen serpent on the pole that the people were to look at so that they would not be destroyed. But they would not look.

The world has so many claims upon them that they have not time to look to the cross of Calvary long enough to see its glory or to feel its power. {5T 202.4}

To look at Jesus as the apostle Paul saw him is what we need to do. He was overwhelmed with the power; it made him feel like, I’m dead. But look long enough. And that’s what people don’t want to do. They don’t want to look at this because it condemns them.

When they now and then catch a glimpse of the self-denial and self-dedication which the truth demands, it is unwelcome, and they turn their attention in another direction, that they may the sooner forget it. {5T 202.4}

Have you ever met that experience, where something convicts you as you’re looking at the real Jesus, the real truth, and you shrink and think, Oh no. And you look away from it and then think, Ah, that feels better. Because one look to Jesus will do something to us. It will show us our sinfulness so completely.

The Lord cannot make His people useful and efficient while they are not careful to comply with the conditions He has laid down. {Ibid.}

The initial condition of getting rid of anxiety is to look at Jesus and let the anxiety come into full blown realisation of my undone and hopeless condition. This is the design of God for our recovery from anxiety, believe it or not. How can I recover from anxiety by getting worse anxiety? But this is God’s method. And people want to look away from God’s method to some other method.

Through the design of God to recover us from anxiety He leads us through those initial stages of meeting Jesus and discovering our undone condition.

Romans 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 1 And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death.

Why? Because it revealed to me my sin.

Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am!

I am such a terrible sinner; I’m wretched; I have every reason to be anxious. But then comes a question:

Romans 7:24 …who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 

When that question arises with a total awareness of my absolute undone condition and my anxiety becoming like a choking death experience, I cry out, How can I be saved from this??

Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 8:1 [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Who do not look to the flesh to protect them, to those garments of self-righteousness that Apostle Paul talks about, According to the flesh I’ve got more confidence than anybody else because I am an Israelite. Or today we might say, I’m a Seventh-day Adventist; I have all the knowledge of the truth and the Bible; I have it all. And like the Pharisee we can say, I am alright; but still there is that undercurrent. But those people who meet Jesus as He really is feel absolutely wretched, and by continuing to look upon Him, they finally say, Well, if God is such a wonderful God, why is He showing me my sources of anxiety like this. We might cry out, Is there anybody to save me from this? O wretched man that I am! Remember what He said to the Laodiceans, You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. But now He shows us if we meet Him. Then He says, Buy of me gold, faith, tried in the fire, and white raiment. I can cover you; I can release you from all this stress. To those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, there is therefore now no condemnation. What? No more sources of anxiety. None whatsoever. Freedom from anxiety because there is no condemnation. This is the process that brings us to freedom from anxiety:

As one becomes acquainted with the history of the Redeemer, he discovers in himself serious defects; his unlikeness to Christ is so great that he sees the necessity for radical changes in his life. {6BC 1098.6}

But so many people turn away from this. But what?

Still he studies with a desire to become like his great Exemplar. {6BC 1098.6}

The great Exemplar is such a contrast to my sinfulness that I feel so completely undressed, so completely wretched and miserable, because I’m looking at this perfect law in person. And as I see Him I must look long enough, which most people won’t do. They must look long enough. “Still he studies,” even though he feels condemned. He says, Surely there’s a way out for me here. “Still he studies with a desire to become like his great Exemplar.” Is this not our desire? We want to become like Jesus? So keep on looking. Don’t look away.

He catches the looks, the spirit, of his beloved Master. By beholding, by “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” he becomes changed into the same image. {6BC 1098.6}

The initial exposure of my absolutely wretched and undone condition is essential for me to continue the process of getting rid of my anxiety. I will keep on looking, and keep on looking; and as I look, things begin to happen. The first thing that happens is, There is therefore now no condemnation. There will be a true release from all anxiety. Because as I look at the history of my Redeemer, what do I see? I see my wretchedness completely transferred from me into Christ’s experience, and He is there in Gethsemane, at the cross, crying like me, with my wretched condition.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 

He is near and He convicts me, but keep on calling.

Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:

Get rid of all those wrong ways of thinking,

Isaiah 55:7 …and let him return unto the LORD,

And what will happen?

Isaiah 55:7 …and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God,

For He will what? Pardon?

Isaiah 55:7 …for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We want to really take those words seriously. God is the Master of the universe. The distance between earth and where He dwells, and the distance of the whole universe, is so great that you can’t measure it. And God is saying to us, I have thoughts like that for you. So no matter how condemned you are by your own unrighteousness, I can pardon you in ways and means that are so vast that eternity is needed to understand.

As we stand before God, overwhelmed with our guilt, with all the terrible thoughts and feelings that come upon us because of our wrongs and all the terrible consequences of wrongs, all the suffering on this planet; as we have this undercurrent of guilt and anxiety, overwhelmed and ready to die, that is what Apostle Paul said, The law came, and I died. When we are in that broken and absolutely hopeless condition because we’ve continued to look at Jesus, hear Him say what He said to this person. Here was a person totally and absolutely overwhelmed with total hopelessness. This person expected to be stoned because she had been completely unveiled, both before man and God:

John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

How do you think this woman felt? She became Christ’s closest follower; she loved Him. And we are told that those who have sinned most will be closest to Jesus in heaven. They will be closest because they have been forgiven most. It is when we are overwhelmed with our absolute undone condition that we are most grateful for God’s forgiveness. When Apostle Paul met Jesus Christ, he died, and he felt condemned, but then he heard the words, I will make you a minister unto the people. What? Me, so sinful? The woman that was caught in adultery, sinful as she was, was told, I don’t condemn you. The anxiety because of consequences is all gone.

Whatever undercurrent of anxiety is still rankling within us, let us take hold of this chief cornerstone and let Him reveal us to ourselves and then hear those beautiful words, I don’t condemn you.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:

These words are profound. Have you ever stopped to reason with God like this?

Isaiah 1:18 …though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

What shall be white as snow? They, the sins. Try to get your head around that. The sins that make me feel so guilty, those sins, shall be as white as snow.

Isaiah 1:18 …though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 

“Come, let us reason together.” The God of the universe has set a foundation, a sure cornerstone, for us to look at, and reason with Him, and let Him release totally from all.

Notwithstanding our unworthiness, we are ever to bear in mind that there is One that can take away sin and save the sinner. {TM 92.2}

Here is the key:

Every sin acknowledged before God with a contrite heart, He will remove. {TM 92.2}

You can’t be filled with a contrite heart if you cover yourself from the convictions under falsehood. But as we open ourselves to meet Christ face to face, as did Saul of Tarsus, then we become filled with brokenness of conviction, like the woman caught in adultery. She was convicted, and couldn’t run away. She was fully revealed for herself as unworthy, as was Saul, and as are all who will be saved. They will feel totally unworthy. And as they feel unworthy, what is the thing God wants them to do? Every time you feel unworthy, every time you feel anxiety wanting to get the better of you, what should you do?

Every sin acknowledged before God with a contrite heart, He will remove. This faith is the life of the church. As the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness by Moses, and all that had been bitten by the fiery serpents were bidden to look and live, so also the Son of man must be lifted up, that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” {TM 92.2}

This is an amazing psychology in God’s word. If you want to get rid of anxiety, let anxiety go full blown upon you and kill you, as you meet God’s perfection in Jesus Christ. And as you stand there, thinking, “Oh no, I am so totally undone; there is nothing good in me! I am lost! Is there no way out, Lord??” and then, filled with contrition for your sins and your undone condition, there is the release. In that very exercise comes the release because under the extremity of my conviction and of my anxiety, there comes this contrast so vastly different to my sense, that says, I have forgiven you. The woman caught in adultery, ready to be stoned because she heard the words of Jesus, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her; she was convicted that these priests were without sin, and that they were going to stone her. She expected it; Jesus had just given them the right to do so. But no stone fell. Can you imagine her feelings? This is the feeling you and I must have – total release from anxiety – when Jesus says, Neither do I condemn thee.

If I have a contrite heart, what is possible? I will be pardoned. Who is the Lord nigh to?

Psalm 34:18 The LORD [is] nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Contrition is the sense of one’s unworthy condition and breaking upon the rock. That is the saving principle. God first makes us contrite, and then saves us.

When King David had done this terrible sin, his total reliance upon God is what saved him.

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

These are scriptures that we need to embrace, and we must permit ourselves to keep on looking to this foundation, this cornerstone, so that we let all our unworthiness play out in front of us so that we can be contrite.

Isaiah 66:2 For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look,

To who?

Isaiah 66:2 …[even] to [him that is] poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

When Saul was there meeting Christ he trembled at the word. When we meet Jesus face to face we tremble at the word; we tremble at His law. And as we tremble, as we come in contrition, God is near to that person. And as He is near to that person, the contrast of self-condemnation and anxiety with the release of anxiety, is so profound that the person is given a new lease of life – release and total peace. “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”

With whom does God sit on His throne?

Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name [is] Holy; I dwell in the high and holy [place], with him also [that is] of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

What does God want to do for you and me? Make me contrite so that I can be revived, and so I can be released from all those ugly sources of anxiety.

What is the message of the apostle? What is the true release that is offered us?

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway:

What? Can you see why this statement is made? It doesn’t just say empty headedly, Rejoice in the Lord. There is a reason for rejoicing.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.

Why?

Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord [is] at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing;

Don’t worry about anything.

Philippians 4:5 …but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

And what will happen?

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

What will keep you? The peace of God which passeth understanding. His thoughts are higher than heaven is from the earth. It’s so broad and so great that this will be a tranquillity that will cover you continually as you come to Him with contrition. You want to just simply do that. Just be humble and contrite; just break upon the rock Christ Jesus. Whatever comes, whatever new discoveries are made in your life, another element that could cause me to feel terribly upset and anxious, confess it! Express it to the Lord! Surrender yourself; trust Him; be contrite, and it will be removed, according to His word.

Therefore there is a constant rejoicing. The moment that an anxious thought comes to you, Ah, rejoice. Another anxious thought comes, pardoned, contrite, Wow, I’m released again. You can feel that experience that Mary had when Jesus said, Neither do I condemn thee; you can have that experience continually. Always dying at the cross and rising again, every day.

The Sources of Anxiety

Let us come back to these sources of anxiety.

Found Out

You have found an error in your life, you have done something wrong; what should you do? Confess it, and trust.

1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

How many times does my heart condemn me when I think back and I think of something else that I’m not meeting up with. Oh dear, I feel condemned, but God is greater than my heart. No anxiety. That’s what you do every step of the way.

Unsatisfied Expectations

You are unable to satisfy the expectations that are upon us. We are expected to be perfect, without sin; but it’s not satisfied; I can’t be satisfied that I can reach this perfection. If I can’t reach something, what does God say?

Jeremiah 32:26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, 27 Behold, I [am] the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

I can’t reach my expectations, but God is my personal Saviour. Is anything too hard for Him? You see, righteousness by faith is not righteousness by your works; you can’t achieve it. It’s righteousness by faith and trust in the God for whom nothing is impossible. Can you see the release from unsatisfied expectations? There is perfect peace here.

Philippians 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Anymore stress? Anymore anxiety? “I can’t do it! I’m full of anxiety because I can’t reach the expectations!” God is saying to us, “Is there anything too hard for Me? If you will walk with Me, we will work together, and I will do the things you cannot do.”

Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.   

There is nothing impossible for God.

Fear of the Unknown

This is another element that causes us anxiety. “What’s going to happen now because of this and that and the other thing?? Oh no!” Anxiety again. Every time something comes to your mind and you think, Oh no, what’s going to happen now? there can be full release even here. When those horrible feelings want to overwhelm us, when we have that fear of the unknown, God speaks these words to us:

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. 

Anything to be afraid of? I am the one that is helping you; don’t be dismayed. Whatever the consequences are going to be for any actions that we have done, and people who will come and try to get you for it, you don’t have to be afraid of them because God will help you. “They that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing.” As nothing. No sense of fear at all anymore in Christ. You don’t have to be afraid of man. You know, that’s one of the biggest problem in my life; I’ve always been afraid of man, but when Jesus came into my life I ceased my fear of man. I no longer responded to their threats and to their evil powers. Even when they pointed at things that I had done wrong, I fled into the arms of the Lord, and He took away my fear of man straight away. You don’t have to worry about them. The Lord has got a hundred and one ways of dealing with them. That’s what He did with the men who were accusing the woman caught in adultery. Did she have to fear that she was going to be stoned? Where are these that are going to cast stones at you? Gone.

Relationship Breakdowns

Do you have to worry about any human relationship that is going to go and be lost out of your life, when God says to you, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee? Who is the most important person in my life? I don’t have to be anxious at all. When Jesus is with me, all those that are with Him will be with me. And those that are not with Him will not be with me, and that is no loss or anxiety at all.

What then is the key to our release from anxiety? Contrition. To be contrite, to be broken upon the rock Christ Jesus – this is the key that will release me from all anxiety. And all of God’s promises are for those of a humble and contrite spirit.

May God help us not to forget this as we meet the future with all its sources of anxiety. It is my prayer that we will survive through it all with great joy and great confidence.

Amen.