To fear God is to rest in the Lord; to recognize Him as our Provider, to recognize Him as our source of wisdom and knowledge.  It’s by the fear of God that we have the knowledge of the Holy.  If we don’t reverence Him, if we don’t stand in awe of Him, if we’re not pursuing and panting like the hart does after the brook for the presence of God, where is the fear?  We spent a lot of time in Malachi and he asked that question, “Where is my fear?”  Amen?

Some of you fear the institutions of our society.  You have people you know and they’re in this corporation and they’re fearful of the direction that the board of directors might be going.  They’re fearful for their jobs and fearful of what is taking place today in all of the decisions that are being made and how it affects the stock market, and on and on.  We have not been given the spirit of fear, because we fear; amen?

Matthew says it so succinctly in this tenth chapter.  He says in verse 22, “You’re going to be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”  You’ve got to know who the audience is that He’s speaking to, what the message is that He is conveying to those people, how does this truth fit into the truth of the Word of God, because there is never contradiction in the Scriptures.  These men were just out doing signs and wonders, great manifestations of the glory of God.  The Scripture tells us that when they returned, they were just rejoicing that the spirits were subject to them.

How many of you would like that in your own life?  To be able to come back and say, “The principalities and powers of heaven are subject to me.  I am fulfilling what Jesus said to do.  I’m casting out devils.”  You know, we think of all of the devils of Haiti, and I’ve been in Haiti.  I’ve had a voodoo doll made on my behalf and a curse put on me, as we ministered in Haiti.  It’s very real.  That realm is very real.  Satan is very powerful.  You are no match for him, in any way, “but greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world.”  Amen?  Satan and his demonic powers are subject to us when we speak in the authority of that name of Jesus.  “Jesus I know, and Paul I know…”  Anybody here tonight want to be known?

We walk fearlessly into the realm of the spiritual, the dynamics of the principalities and powers.  By the authority given to us, we cast out devils.  There are more devils and demon-possessed people, I think, today in America than there are in Haiti and Africa.  It just expresses itself differently.  People who are so far under the power of Satan, and we’ve seen that in the lives of some people who have defected from the kingdom of God that used to be among us here.  It’s a very interesting thing.  You can confront some of these people and quote to them the very words that they spoke.  They’ll look at you like they don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.  They’ve created another reality in their minds.  When you’re given over to strong delusion and believe that lie, that lie becomes truth.  “...If your light be darkness, how great is that darkness” (Matthew 6:23).  Amen?  We have people that way for a number of reasons.

So many in the church today are looking for a David to come and strum on the instrument to bring them peace because of those demons that are oppressing them.  We do it by turning on Jimmy Swaggart singing, or whatever your favorite worship song might be.  I want you to understand something: God’s peace is in you; amen?  We try to calm that torment.