Welcome to Reverend Ben Cooper's podcast . We are a radio and podcast ministry based here within the UK . Your support is vital through prayer and through sowing a seed of faith . We are so thankful to have so many people around the globe downloading and listening to our podcasts , whether you are on Spotify , apple Podcast , google , alexa , amazon Music and so many other platforms . For more information about our ministry , please find us on pastorbencoopercouk . We would love to hear from you as you partner with us as we reach the world for Jesus Christ . Please send us an email through our contact form on pastorbencoopercouk . Also , you can find our latest books on Amazon under hashtag one , hashtag two and hashtag three under Christian Straight Talk hard-hitting , real-life conversations taken from our podcasts .
Speaker 1Your financial gifts play a crucial role in supporting our radio ministry . Thank you , the boundaries as we walk by faith . If you'd like to support our mission , please consider clicking the support button on Spotify , apple Podcasts or Buzzsprout . You can give a one-time gift or set up a regular contribution of three pounds , five pounds , eight pounds or ten pounds . You can also leave a legacy by clicking in the links within pastorbencoopercouk . Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry as we spread the message of hope far and wide through this radio ministry . So , whether you are on the daily commute or at home listening to our podcast , grab a cup of coffee , sit back , relax and enjoy .
Speaker 2God bless you wherever you are . We thank you so much for joining us for this podcast . You know a very interesting subject that we're going to tackle . I think this is a subject that the world is really looking at really , really clearly , and it's the subject of fear . The subject of fear Wherever you are across the world , whatever culture you come from , whatever background you come from , whatever lifestyle that you have , and wherever you live on planet earth .
Speaker 2I really believe , as we live in the days that we live , whether we look through the biblical eyes , whether we look through the eyes of nature , whether we look through the eyes of spiritual , unspiritual church , unchurched , however we look at life , whether we come to church or we don't go to church , whether we are are ministers or not ministers , whether we are believers or not believers , you know , fear hits every human being in every way , shape and form , and the title of this podcast is God's Command Not to Fear . It's a very interesting word fear . You know fear is mentioned in the Bible 365 times . Isn't that interesting that it's 365 days of the year ? So the word of God is very , very strong on the word fear . But whether we are faith-based believers , whether we are outside of church . We look at life through reasoning . We look through life through physics and science and through mathematics , and however we look at life , one thing that we cannot escape is that word fear , and especially in today's culture and society that we live in , it's a very interesting subject to talk about . So I would just like to throw a few things open on the table . You know , thank you so much , wherever you are across the world , for downloading this stuff and reading our books out there . But the title of this podcast is pretty simple God's Command Not to Fear . Now , the word command , you know , that can put fear for us . Already . We're just the word of God , you know , because the word of God is power . It's sharper than a double-edged sword .
Speaker 2But what actually is fear ? Is fear classified as an emotion ? Is it psychological Is is it spiritual ? Is it biological ? There's four areas that we could clearly look at that where fear comes from . Certainly it is an emotion , an extremely strong emotion psychological , completely spiritual , yes , and biological components . It's very , very interesting . Where does this come from ? Fear as an emotion ? So , if we just have a moment just to pause , what is fear as an emotion ?
Speaker 2Fear is one of the basic human emotions . It is triggered by perception through uh , danger or threat . You know it's real or it's imagined . It puts us in a survival value . Because of the motives that it's coming from . Do we take action ? Is it the the flight and fight mode or do we even freeze ? Have you ever had experiences where fear has been so strong that it actually incapacitates you ? It makes you freeze , it makes you hold your place . It can do so many things to the human body . It can make you run on adrenaline , it can freeze you , it can put you to flight like you never before , or it can bring harm to you as well .
Speaker 2We understand that , that fear through science and the way you study , you look at fear , fear itself and what it does to the human being . And when we live our lives completely fearful , it it is a bit of a and I shouldn't say a bit but it damages us quite a lot . You know fear . If we live our lives by fear , you know we're going to live our lives by hope and whether we're in faith or out of faith , however we look at life through , whatever lens we are looking life at , I think it's really important to understand that every human being , through certain areas , of time zones , of culture , of colours , of creeds , wherever we come from across the earth , whether we're biblically sound , whether we're just born again , whether we're religious , whether we're an atheist , whether we're a Muslim , whether we serve Sikhism , buddha , whether we're a witch , a white witch , black witch , whatever way you want to look at life , however we label ourselves an academic . You know , whatever way you want to look at your life , fear hits every culture , every type of human being . You've only got to look at children now as well . Children are more fearful than they've ever been in their life .
Speaker 2So when you look at fear , what is it ? It's a basic emotion , a human emotion triggered . It is triggered in many , many ways . It's emotional , it's psychological , it certainly is spiritual and it can have biological components , depending on the experience and where we've come from , from life . So when you look at it as an emotion fear is one of the basic emotions it is triggered , typically triggered . Triggered , sorry , by the preparation of the body and the mind getting ready for there is danger or there is threat or there is something that is going to happen to me . You know , I believe a lot of human beings through life , live their lives through fear .
Speaker 2What does the Bible say ? Because we have to look at it through the spiritual lens . If you have a Bible in front of you , I would encourage you to turn to the book of Isaiah . Isaiah , chapter 41 . And if you look in verse 10 , there's a very interesting scripture tucked away in Isaiah 41 , verse 10 . And this is what it says . So , isaiah , the word of God , the Old Testament , is coming from the lens and from the point , the viewpoint , the understanding that fear can overtake your faith . Now , that is so true . Now , I would put it like this in a worldly word as well Fear can overtake your hope . Whether you're in faith , out of faith , whatever you're understanding , fear can really change your vision and your focus .
Speaker 2Fear can change so much in your life , the way you perceive things , the way you look at things , the way you analyze life itself . It can hold you indoors . It will stop you from getting a job , it will stop you migrating , and what I mean by that is literally getting into the fabric of life and living life and moving around life . You know , fear will hold you back in so many ways . Fear triggers so much . It triggers the anxiety . You know we won't talk about anxiety at the moment , because we're just laying a bit of a foundation . You know , in this first podcast , you know we're going to do probably around about 10 . We'll do around about 10 podcasts and we'll just see a quick , fired 30 minutes of just a quick outline , a quick overview of what fear is .
Speaker 2Well , you know , we can talk forever and a day , fear is a very powerful emotion . But actually it could be labeled as a basic human emotion . But I don't like to use the word basic because I actually do not want to lift up fear as in it is ruling my life . But every one of us can drop into fear . But what does the Bible say ? You know the Bible is very clear what it says about faith . The Bible is very clear what it says about fear , and you might be listening to this podcast , you might be a believer and you know what I'm turning to the book of Isaiah , 41 , verse 10 . But fear cannot be part of our lives . We need to deal with the and we need to address whatever it may be . It might be a person , it might be work , it might be education . We might be fearful of living , we might be fearful of dying , we might be fearful of going into work , fearful of marriage , fearful of losing a partner . We might be frightened of many things in our lives . Financial fear , that's a big one , you know . Spiritual fear , you know . You look at the darker side , the other side of the cross of Calvary , the dark side , you know . Lucifer uses fear because that is all he has . And when I
say all he has is when he uses fear it integrates and it distorts our faith of Christ .
Speaker 2When you look in the New Testament , you look at that great story about Peter . You know Peter and the disciples were in the boat . Christ pushed Peter and the disciples off and the Bible says that Christ put them in the boat . He sent them to the other side on the lake . Jesus went off and he prayed and he spent some time and the bible says uh in in the fourth watch of the night . It says the the storm was against the boat . You know the wind was was ruffling up , that the feathers of the ? Uh , the lake and the waves were against the boat and it was being buffeted . There's nothing worse than having small waves of fear and trigger and emotion and doubt , and all that just hitting the boat of life and Peter and the other disciples . What happened was the fear of the unknown , changed their vision . And this happens in life just generally .
Speaker 2Now I'm going to take us outside of what I will call outside of Christianity . Fear will change your vision in the secular world , because what fear does ? It distorts your understanding and it distorts your hope of what lies ahead . And Peter basically cried out if that is you call me , call me and I will come to you . I will jump out of this boat and I will walk towards you .
Speaker 2See , words are powerful . Words are used in work , in secularization , in school and on social media and all over the place . Our lives are governed by what we hear and what we say and how people react and how people speak to us . It is very , very important that I get to grips very quickly in life itself and understand that I've got to be careful of the people that I keep company with . Why do you say that ? I say that very , very loud and clear because people will carry you or people will drop you . What do you mean ? Drop me ? We understand what it means . When people will carry us , they will encourage us . They will give us words that will encourage us and say Ben , come on , it's going to be all right , don't worry , it's going to be fine . You're going to make it through this situation or you can be surrounded by people that will drop words on you . Who do you think you are ? You're never going to achieve much and what that does ? That triggers our emotions . When our emotions are triggered and that is a typical trigger point people around us and they drive fear into us . You're never going to be no good . You're never going to be able to do this . You're you in this relationship forever .
Speaker 2You know narcissistic controllers . They use fear . They use the power of fear to control people in marriage , out of marriage . You know , when you look at what's going on around the world , the political area is a very interesting area where it uses fear and all the stuff that goes with that . Church pastors and leaders , leaders that's a very big area as well , where we watch pastors and leaders that are not really of the church , where they're in an occultic situation , where they're driving fear over the congregation and manipulation and control . That's what we are talking about spiritual control , spiritual fear being driven onto the congregation , making the congregation do whatever the leadership team needs , whatever the pastor , the bishop , needs . You know the pastors and the leaders . They use fear to manipulate and control . Governments use fear , manipulation and control .
Speaker 2Social media is a big area where it uses uh , areas of control , where it will use fear to control us . It will try and shape us into the person you know we can be fearful of , of this is happening on social media , that this family is doing this . Our family can't afford this . Why are they ? And fear really changes your perception of life . Fear changes the focus on everything , whether you're churched , unchurched , whether you're following christ or you're not following christ .
Speaker 2Fear is labeled as a basic emotion , but I don't like to label it that because it's not really basic in that way . But what I'm trying to get to is that fear can distort your vision . And coming back to peter , as he was on the lake , it's very , very clear that he said we are not sure if that is Jesus . We can't tell , because fear has changed our perception of Christ . Fear has changed our perception . The storm of life has suddenly changed our perception of what we thought and what we came to understand that Jesus was so . Faith and fear run so close together . So the Bible , in the book of Isaiah , 41 , verse 10 , says this if you have a Bible . Check these references , these biblical references , for yourself . It's really , really important .
Speaker 2So we're tackling fear . What is fear ? Fear is an emotion . There are three areas . There are three areas that we might get a chance to look at , but the main area is that we need to come to understand is an emotion , but is it an emotion that is driven from the flesh or is it an emotion that is driven deeper within the spiritual realm ? And then , when we find that it is a spiritual drive , then suddenly it becomes a psychological drive .
Speaker 2We've got to be very careful of psychological fear . You know there are many people out there that are narcissists , that are controlling people , that they will use psychological fear , and there are pastors out there that will use spiritual fear and there are people in our lives that will use emotional fear . We won't have time to go into looking at the biological components , but it's really really important that the three areas , the three key areas of fear , sit in these , these complex areas emotion , spiritual and psychological . So firstly it sits and it starts off in emotion . The emotion then suddenly turns to psychological . That makes a second guess , but then suddenly as well it into spiritual . But you could actually switch all these three around in any which way you want . You know , sometimes if you're in church it will come first spiritually . So the spiritual fear will come upon you and then suddenly that will trigger the psychological process , the thinking , the understanding , the cognitive processing , but then that will drive the emotion . But you might be in a relationship , you might be in a situation where that person is using psychological fear , where you second guess yourself , where you're not sure where they're trying to run you down while they're trying to tear you down .
Speaker 2You know , I just want to read this scripture and it's really , really important that we get this out . You know this is a quick fire 30 minutes and the clock is ticking against us . Isaiah 41 , verse 10 . So do not fear , for I am with you . Do not be dismayed , for I am your God . I will strengthen you and help you . I will uphold you with my righteous right hand . Let me read that again wherever you are across the world listening to this podcast , reading this book on fear , you know Isaiah 41 , verse 10 , says so , do not fear , for I am with you . Do not be dismayed , for I am your God . I will strengthen you and help you . I will uphold you with my righteous right hand . See , god doesn't want us to fear . Hold you with my righteous right hand . See , god doesn't want us to fear . God doesn't want you to fear . God doesn't want you to live your life or myself to be living under the drumbeat of fear the fear of no money , the fear of lack , the fear of being bullied , the fear of a relationship that's not working , the fear of a job , the fear of culture .
Speaker 2That's another area that we might be able to expand on later on down the line is cultural fear . You know every culture . It doesn't matter what color , where you're birthed , what your postcode is , what your geographical place of rest is . You know culture will use fear very , very clearly to drive their certain ideologies over each and every one of us . There is no one on this earth that can escape cultural drive and we've got to be careful .
Speaker 2Fear is used . Fear is used by human beings and fear is used more primarily by the dark side . So fear is what . Let's just clear this up . Fear is an emotion , fear is psychological and fear is what . Let's just clear this up . Fear is an emotion , fear is psychological and fear is spiritual . So fear is an emotion . We've got to be really clear that it is a basic emotion , but it is triggered by a few things . It is triggered by danger or it was triggered by threat .
Speaker 2I've got to be really careful that the people around me . Are they for me or are they against me ? Are they uplifting me ? Are they giving me a good word ? Are they lifting me and helping me when it hits the wall , when everything goes haywire , when everything goes wobbly ? The people around me are they encouraging me in my times of fear ? Are they encouraging me when I'm down ? Are they helping me when I'm struggling ? Are they helping me when I'm very fearful ? You know , social anxiety is extremely high at this moment in time . So when we look at fear as an emotion , it is labeled as a basic emotion and it is triggered by the perception of danger or threat . It is a very real . It can be extremely strong . It can overtake hope . It can overtake faith . Believe it or believe it not , it can overtake faith .
Speaker 2I mentioned that new testament great biblical fact story . When christ pushed the disciples out
across the lake , he went off the prairie and they looked on the lake . Christ came out and watched . Um watched the boat and as he was getting closer to the boat . The storm was beating against the boat . You know the disciples on the boat . They cried out in fear if that is , you call us lord . And peter said god is that you , lord , is that you , jesus , is that you does that ? Is that you , jesus , is that you Does . That sound familiar ? That is the cry from every one of us .
Speaker 2Fear will distort our vision of Jesus . It's really , really important for me to understand that fear will distort my vision of Jesus . Once it distorts my vision of Jesus and then my life will be very foggy . As I look at life , we know what it's like when you're driving a car . When it's clear on the road , you can see for miles , you can see your surroundings , you know that happy drive . You know the sun's out , it's clear , you can see , you're relaxed .
Speaker 2But when fog , when you're driving a car and when we're living our lives , when it clear and we got clarity and we see everything before us , reminding ourselves what the bible says in isaiah 41 , verse 10 so do not fear , for I am with you , do not be dismayed , for I am your god . I will strengthen you and help you . I will uphold you with my righteous right hand . God is telling you , wherever you are at this moment in time , through this podcast , through this book , through the literature , through however you are listening , through the radio ministry , that we push this out . So do not fear . God has commanded us , god's command , not to fear . And in the book of joshua , chapter 1 , verse verse 9 , that very famous text that we are very familiar with here in this ministry . It's a beautiful text and I'm going to read it and I'm going to come back to the fog in just a few moments . Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous , do not be afraid , do not be dismayed , for the lord , your god , will be with you wherever you go .
Speaker 2So we have to look at fear not just as an emotion but as a spiritual drive . So who would drive a fear arrow into our lives ? Lucifer , quite a strong word to use . Lucifer uses fear to change our perception of Jesus Christ . The Bible says very clearly in 2 Timothy 1 , verse 7 , for the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid , but gives us power , love , love and self-discipline . What god gave us is power not to be timid , not to be frightened , but be bold wherever you are in life .
Speaker 2Do not allow fear to make you timid . Do not allow the cultural fear to put you down . Do not allow social media fear to tell you that you're not worth anything . We haven't had time to even go into the the fear that social media does to the human being . You know hours and hours of aimlessly scrolling on the social networks looking for this happy button , this happy drive . The only place that we will find fulfillment is not in the devil's playground of social media .
Speaker 2The place that we will find fulfillment is in the scripture , is in the word of God , and if you are an atheist out there reading this book , if you are an atheist out there listening to this podcast , just give Jesus a try . What do you mean ? Hold it . Let's just take a moment . When I mean give Jesus a try , get hold of the word of God . Ransack the word .
Speaker 2Go online and type in what does the Bible say about fear and just see what the scripture says about fear . By reading what the scripture says about fear will make you feel so much more secure , whether you're in faith or whether you're outside of faith . Let me tell you this the bible says in isaiah 41 , verse 10 , the main text that we've read out . So do not fear , for I am with you . Do not be dismayed , for I am your god . I will strengthen you and help you . I will uphold you with my righteous right hand . Now let's just continue to remind . Let's beat this drum a little bit louder .
Speaker 2So what is fear ? Fear is has three components it is emotion , psychological and it is spiritual , and we could put these in any format that we want . The church and the devil uses spiritual fear to control the world , will use emotion and also culture will use psychological ideology . Culture will drive that psychological . There are many areas that we can look at this .
Speaker 2Fear is a basic emotion , but it is triggered by the dread and the threat of trouble , danger or threat it's really important of trouble , danger or threat . It's really important . It will either put us in survival mode , where adrenaline will kick in and we will go in flight or fight , or it will put us in a place of freeze . Have you ever been frozen in fear ? Have you ever been frozen where you don't know what to do ? You can feel all energy and everything draining out of your bones , out of your body , and you feel your whole body completely changing because of the environment . Fear is so , so powerful . It is physical . It brings us a physical change . It increases the heart rate of a human being . It can also bring us shallow breathing muscles tense up , you know . It can bring spasms and cramps and there is so much more . And it is very , very important to understand that it affects my nervous system as a human being , that central part part of my life , the nervous system of my life . You know , part of the body's flight or fight response . It the , the nerve endings , the nerve , the way that it moves .
Speaker 2And we haven't even had a chance to look into the spiritual aspect of fear . Now . That is a really interesting place to go , but we'll cover that another time . You know . So the bible is really clear what god says about fear , all the way through the scripture , all the way through . I want to encourage you , wherever you are at this moment , I want to encourage you never to allow fear to distort your perception of who you are and what life looks like in the lens that you are looking at . If you are in trouble at work and fear is driving you to work , if you are being bullied , if you're being driven by social networking and things are happening , if you're in a culture , I would really encourage you to find someone in your life to help you to get out of that situation .
Speaker 2It's really , really important that we understand that the power of scripture , the power of the word of God , will bring faith . Faith is greater than fear . The world tries to get us to live by fear and suddenly fear becomes a normalization . Fear becomes normal . You know , when you look at life , when you look at covid19 and everything that's come along with a pandemic all those years back . Now you know it was fear . Fear changed the way that we lived . Fear will changed the way that we lived . Fear will change the way that we view the world . Fear will change in the spiritual realm , how we view Jesus Christ . That is factual because that is scripture . Peter said if that is you , the Bible says they wasn't sure if it was a ghost or not . If that is , you call me .
Speaker 2I love the fact that the bible always emphasizes the audible voice of god , not the visualization of god . The church and the world uses , uh , the , the eye , the human eye , visualization . Everything is gone in the world by visualization and when we visualize what we have before us , that is how we live our lives . It will either bring that beautiful feeling of goodness or it will bring that , that terrible , dread feeling of fear when you watch the news and you see things happening around the world . You've got to be careful what you listen to , what you , what you , you know perception . We live our lives by perception , the very basic , fundamental points of being a human being . But the Bible tells us to just shall live by faith .
Speaker 2I want to encourage you . I want to encourage you right now , in this first chapter , this first podcast that I'm doing , and the title of this God's Command Not to Fear . God is telling us do not fear . Do not be fearful of what you see in your life , do not be fearful of what you feel in your life . I pray that you will find rest . This was just been a quick 30 minutes overview of what fear looks like . Now let's just really quickly recap before we get out of here . Now .
Speaker 2Fear is an emotion , fear is psychological and it is spiritual and the three are woven together . It might start first spiritually , that will trigger psychological and then it will go to emotion . It might start emotion , that will trigger spiritual and then that will go to psychological . Or it might start psychologically and then go spiritually and then obviously hit emotion , but the three go together . They're like being thrown in a cement mixer and they are just thrown in there and they're all mixed up and it depends where we are in life , whether it's driven by spiritual
, by emotion or by psychological . It's really , really important that I get to grips that I cannot allow fear to run my life . Whether I'm in faith , I'm out of faith when I'm in church , non-church , whatever my life is reflecting , I cannot allow . I cannot allow fear to change my vision , whether I'm a Christian or a non-believer , because whether we are in the world of faith , in the kingdom of God , or whether we're in the world itself , fear will change your perception of what is before you . I pray that , wherever you are right now , that you will find rest and you will find peace . And we will cover this tomorrow .
Speaker 2We will go back straight into this , and today's title of this podcast and this chapter of this book is God's command not to fear . The scripture reference is loud and clear the book of Isaiah 41 , verse 10 . So do not fear , for I am with you , do not be dismayed , for I am your God . I will strengthen you and help you . I will uphold you with my righteous right hand .
Speaker 2Joshua , chapter 1 , verse 9 , have I not commanded you be strong and courageous , do not be afraid , do not be discouraged , for the lord , your god , will be with you wherever you go . Last scripture , reference to timothy , chapter 1 , verse 7 , for the spirit god gave us does not make us timid , but gives us power , love and self-discipline wherever you are across this world . I just want to emphasize do not allow fear to control you . Do not allow fear of what is around you to change your perception of life . I pray that you will find rest and you will find peace . May god strengthen you and carry you in the mighty name of jesus christ . Thank you for joining us on this podcast today . Please share and push this sort of stuff out . The title is very simply god's command not to fear . God bless every one of you , amen .
Speaker 1Thank you for listening to us today on Reverend Ben Cooper's podcast . We hope you found inspiration and guidance in today's audio . Remember the journey of faith is a continuous one and your questions and thoughts are important . You can send us a text or an email and we will get back to you . So , wherever you are around the world , thank you for listening to our podcasts and radio ministry . For more information about our ministry , please find us on pastorbencoopercouk . Please support us with prayer . Also , you can sow a financial seed into this ministry . You can also leave us a legacy to support and continue the work of this radio ministry . If you enjoyed this episode , please subscribe and share it with others who might benefit . Until next time , stay blessed , Thank you .