Don’t call something a rebellious plot, just because they do, and don’t be afraid of something, just because they are (Isa 8:12, CEV)
For the people of Judah, fear of invasion was a constant threat. They had powerful enemies on their doorstep. Yet Isaiah said, “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies . . . is the one you should fear . . . He will keep you safe.” Fear is a powerful enemy of our faith and a strong deterrent to the believer’s peace of mind. Fear of war, terrorist attacks, disease, and pollution can rob us of our trust in God. God is always going to be our shelter and hiding place:
…the LORD will cover the whole city and its meeting places with a thick cloud each day and with a flaming fire each night. God’s own glory will be like a huge tent that covers everything. It will provide shade from the heat of the sun and a place of shelter and protection from storms and rain.(Isa 4:5-6).
God’s Spirit clearly says that in the last days many people will turn from their faith. They will be fooled by evil spirits and by teachings that come from demons. They will also be fooled by the false claims of liars whose consciences have lost all feeling. (1 Tim 4:1)
There will be false dreams and false visions, which have some truth, but lead away from the original faith. The Lord has given people a rule by which to detect them: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isa 8:16-20) If they belittle the law of God, if they pay no heed to His will as revealed in the testimonies of His Spirit, they are deceivers. They are controlled by impulse and impressions which they believe to be from the Holy Spirit and consider more reliable than the Inspired Word. They claim that every thought and feeling is an impression of the Spirit; and when they are reasoned with out of the Scriptures, they declare that they have something more reliable. But while they think that they are led by the Spirit of God, they are in reality following an imagination wrought upon by Satan.{7BC 952.2}
Ask Jesus to drive inappropriate fear from your heart and to help you fear only to not be in a right relation to Him. (John 14:6, John 17:3)
The Divine Touch Needed
The gospel is now resolutely opposed on every hand. Never was the confederacy of evil greater than at the present time. The spirits of darkness are combining with human agencies to set them firmly against the commandments of God. Traditions and falsehoods are exalted above the Scriptures; reason and science above revelation; human talent above the teachings of the Spirit; forms and ceremonies above the vital power of godliness. We need the divine touch {4BC 1142.1}
The Angel of Revelation 18
The prophecies in the eighteenth of Revelation will soon be fulfilled. During the proclamation of the third angel’s message, “another angel” is to “come down from heaven, having great power,” and the earth is to be “lightened with his glory.” The Spirit of the Lord will so graciously bless consecrated human instrumentalities that men, women, and children will open their lips in praise and thanksgiving, filling the earth with the knowledge of God, and with His unsurpassed glory, as the waters cover the sea. {7BC 983.9}
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.(Rev 18:1)
Every merchant on earth will mourn, because there is no one to buy their goods. (Rev 18:11)
If there is anything which will draw from the people of this generation a sincere cry of distress, it is that which touches their treasures. There is a fitness in this retribution. They who but a short time before had issued a decree that the saints of God should neither buy nor sell, now find themselves put under the same restriction in a far more effective way.
The wicked are filled with regret, not because of their sinful neglect of God and their fellow men, but because God has conquered. They lament that the result is what it is; but they do not repent of their wickedness. They would leave no means untried to conquer if they could. The world see the very class whom they have mocked and derided, and desired to exterminate, pass unharmed through pestilence, tempest, and earthquake. He who is to the transgressors of His law a devouring fire, is to His people a safe pavilion. {GC 654.2,3}
Jesus accepted everything as coming from our Father in Heaven. (Rom 8:28, etc) If you accept everything as coming from Jesus, you too may enter into the joy of your Lord. (Neh 8:10)
IF you really want to be very afraid, fear their fears. Have the same goals as them. Agree with them. Let them distract you from the Word of God. Let them come between you and Jesus…if you really want to be very afraid.