Fear No Evil—By Hating Evil!: The Fear of the Lord Is to Hate Evil (Proverbs 8:13)

By Jeff Abels and Tobe Momah

Dr. Tobe Momah addresses two of the most important issues facing the body of Christ today in his book Fear No Evil.

Evil abounds all around us, attempting to hold us paralyzed in fear. The antidote is the fear of the Lord: A holiness that abhors that which is evil and cleaves to that which is good!

Dr. Momah draws on his own personal experiences and the wisdom of Gods Word to provide insight into the two kinds of fear that exists and how they affect our lives.

Fear No Evil puts both fear and evil in their place, leaving the reader fearless in the face of sin and secure in the fear of the Lord.

Jeff Ables
Lead Pastor
Crossroads Church
Lafayette, LA

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449799366

Jeff Abels

Tobe Momah MD is a board certified family physician working in Monroe, Louisiana. As a physician, husband and apostle to the nations he has come face to face with the pandemic of fear in our society and believes, that if left undeterred, this terror of fear will pose a greater threat to America and the world than radical Islam or a nuclear rogue nation. He currently lives in West Monroe, Louisiana and is married to the love of his life, Rita Momah. He co-ordinates the activities of his ministry, Faith and Power Ministries, and organizes annual medical missions, monthly holy ghost night vigils and a daily devotional called Metrobiology. His vision is to show God’s strength to this generation and His power to all that shall come unto him (Psalm 71:18).

Book preview

Fear No Evil—

by Hating Evil!

The Fear of the Lord is to Hate Evil

(Proverbs 8:13)

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Tobe Momah, MD

Foreword by Jeff Abels

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Copyright © 2013 Tobe Momah, MD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-9935-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9934-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9936-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013911510

WestBow Press rev. date: 7/3/2013

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Contents

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Preface

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Part I …   The Fear Epidemic

Chapter 1 …   The Sin Called Fear

Chapter 2 …   The Fear Contagion

Chapter 3 …   Teenagers in Fear

Part II …   False Fears

Chapter 4 …   Beware of Idols

Chapter 5 …   Fear Is a Spirit, Not an Emotion

Part III …   The Fear of the Lord

Chapter 6 …   Defining the Fear of the Lord

Chapter 7 …   Where Have All the Haters Gone?

Chapter 8 …   Jesus Is a Hater (of Evil), Too

Chapter 9 …   Holy Anger Births Heavy Results

Chapter 10 …   The Fear of God: An Everlasting Gospel

Chapter 11 …   The Fear of God: A Requirement for Leaders and Followers

Part IV …   The Fear of Evil

Chapter 12 …   The Innocent Iniquity Called Fear

Chapter 13 …   Fruits That Come from Fearing Evil

Chapter 14 …   Fear, No Faith, and Failures

Chapter 15 …   Overcoming the Fear of Evil

Part V …   The Rewards of Fearing God

Chapter 16 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Perception

Chapter 17 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Protection

Chapter 18 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Prosperity

Chapter 19 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Power

Chapter 20 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Peace

Chapter 21 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Perfection

Chapter 22 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Pleasing God

Chapter 23 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: The Presence of God

Chapter 24 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Passion

Chapter 25 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Praise

Chapter 26 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Precision

Chapter 27 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Prayers Answered

Chapter 28 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Posterity

Chapter 29 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Prime Health

Chapter 30 …   The Rewards of Fearing God: Pity

Part VI …   Remaining in Fear of God

Chapter 31 …   Remaining in Fear of Him All Day Long

Chapter 32 …   Be Dynamic

Chapter 33 …   Be Dependent

Chapter 34 …   Be Devoted

Chapter 35 …   Be a Donor

Chapter 36 …   Be a Dweller

Chapter 37 …   Be a Delighter

Chapter 38 …   Be Decisive

Chapter 39 …   Be a Demonstrator

Chapter 40 …   Be a Digger

Part VII …   Walking in the Fear of God

Chapter 41 …   No More Limits

Chapter 42 …   Moses: The Man Who Chose to Fear God

Chapter 43 …   Samuel: The Man Who Feared God So Much That People Feared Him

Chapter 44 …   Noah: Heir to Righteousness because He Feared God

Chapter 45 …   Abraham: The Father of Faith Who Feared God

Chapter 46 …   Hezekiah: The King Who Feared God

Chapter 47 …   Mordecai: God’s Fearless General

Chapter 48 …   Nehemiah: Building without Fearing People

Part VIII …   The End of Those Who Do Not Fear God

Chapter 49 …   Troubled Treasures

Chapter 50 …   Elimination

Chapter 51 …   The Spirit of Bondage

Part IX …   Fueling Fear

Chapter 52 …   The Full-Fire Fear of God

About the Author’s Ministry

Preface

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G od has called believers to a life that fears no evil if we are to have an overcoming and triumphant life. In Luke 1:74–75, Zechariah the priest prophesized that God would grant us deliverance out of the hand of our enemies [so that we] might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life .

The world, however, is plagued by fear! Warren Buffett—the famous billionaire—made a statement depicting the state of fear Americans live in. He said, Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.¹ His income doubled in the last ten years because while most Americans were fearful (following 9/11 and the uninhibited national debt), he (greedily) invested in the stock market.

The only reason for the global securities exchange crises is that many people are living in fear. The fear of the unknown drives capital gain and capital catastrophe.

In the field of medicine, we have seen an explosion in mental-health-related prescription drug usage. In 1996, about one in twenty Americans was taking antidepressant medication, but by 2005, that figure had doubled to one in ten (or 27 million Americans²). In 2010, the number surged to 46 million, with one out of every five Americans experiencing some form of mental illness.³

The basis of this mental health epidemic is fear. People who are facing losing their jobs, their homes, or even their children (as a result of families’ economic or social straits) now live in constant fear of the unknown. This fear, and not the Taliban or Al-Qaeda, is the greatest security threat to our people and nation.

Nothing in life can exist in a vacuum. Human beings are prone to fear. And if the right fear, the fear of God, does not exist to dispel the vacuum, then another fear—the fear of evil—persists in its place. The incidence of fear in the world today has reached epidemic proportions. And only the fear of God can cure it.

This book explores how to reawaken legitimate fear—the fear of God—in the church, in society, and in our generation. It also discusses how human beings may abrogate their illegitimate fear of people, death, and other things, as fears of this nature are rampant in our age. No matter how legitimate our fear of evil seems to be, our letting it stand is irreverent to God.

God’s clarion call to the beleaguered world is, Fear no evil!

Tobe Momah, MD

February 2013

Foreword

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Dr. Tobe Momah addresses two of the most important issues facing the body of Christ today in his book Fear No Evil.

Evil abounds all around us, attempting to hold us paralyzed in fear. The antidote is the fear of the Lord: A holiness that abhors that which is evil and cleaves to that which is good!

Dr. Momah draws on his own personal experiences and the wisdom of God’s Word to provide insight into the two kinds of fear that exists and how they affect our lives.

Fear No Evil puts both fear and evil in their place, leaving the reader fearless in the face of sin and secure in the fear of the Lord.

Jeff Ables

Lead Pastor

Crossroads Church

Lafayette, LA

Acknowledgements

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God inspired this book. He gave me both the words and the permission to print them. My writing this book, however, would not have been possible without some other invaluable people who came along for the journey, saw value in my project, and spurred me on.

My colleagues, Drs. Poliquit, Ganj, and Hammond, and Nurse Practitioners Winston, Washington, Pope, and Carter, created an environment that enabled me to recognize fear as the greatest obstacle to sound health in our community.

There is a saying popular in Africa: It takes a village to raise a child. In order to work on this book, I required a home front conducive to reading and writing, and my wife of ten years, Rita—my quintessential queen—provided that setting. She encouraged me when I became discouraged, and she sharpened me when I grew dull. She was my sounding board for many of the titles and topics herein, and without her cooperation, it would have been an arduous task for me to finish this project.

The people at my church, the Assembly West Monroe in Louisiana, and my pastor, Shane Warren, inspired me to keep writing with their heartfelt worship, exceptional warmth and care, and faith in the trailblazing Word of God. These people created an enabling atmosphere that helped me turn my dream of this book into a reality. I also want to thank Andy and Janice Varino’s Sunday school class, with whom I shared much of the material of this book, for their rapt attention and bold encouragement.

My parents, Dr. and Mrs. Momah, continue to inspire me with their unconditional love and steadfast loyalty to my family. They have supported my outlandish projects again and again, and I relied on them for their untiring camaraderie whenever I need it. My brothers and sisters—Amaka, Ada, Emeka, and Nkem—were all instrumental to this book’s completion. I cannot overemphasize the importance of the help with which they provided me.

Also, thanks to the best publishing house in the world—WestBow Press—for its excellent staff and their people-management skills. They were invaluable and second to none throughout the project.

Finally, I want to thank the supporters of my ministry—Faith and Power Ministries—for their ardent support and unflinching loyalty. When I shared portions of this book at our monthly Holy Ghost Night meetings or in correspondence, their fervent enthusiasm and spirit spurred me to publish it.

May that which all of you have helped make happen in my life be replenished multiple times in your lives. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the King James Version. Emphasis of portions of Bible quotes was added by the author is indicated by italic typeface.

Dedication

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I dedicate this book to my yet unborn children. I pray that you live out your life with the fear of the Lord and leave a legacy for future generations if Christ tarries.

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"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou [God] art with me [and] Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4).

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Part I

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The Fear Epidemic

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Until you fear God, and God alone, you will always fear something or someone less than God!

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Chapter 1

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The Sin Called Fear

And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. (Philippians 1:28)

J esus walked on earth for thirty-three years and never feared anything or anyone but God! He was in sea storms ( Mark 4:38–40 ), assaulted with sticks and stones (John 8:59 and John 10:31–39 ), castigated, and insulted, but He never feared a single person.

Let’s look at His testimony in the garden at Gethsemane, as reported in Hebrews 5:7–9: When He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that He feared … [He] became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. In the moment of His greatest trial, Jesus did not fear humankind or Satan. He chose to fear God alone, and as a result He triumphed. He could have claimed natural fear in His moment of separation from His Father (see Matthew 27:46), but He chose to fear God instead.

It is natural for the imperfect to be afraid, but if we believers are to walk in the steps of Jesus, as joint heirs of eternal salvation, then we must become fearless!

Serotonergic, Sympathetic, or Spiritual Responses?

Fear involves more than the sympathetic, dopaminergic, adrenergic, or serotonergic pathways activating different neurons in the brain. Fear is a spirit; in 2 Timothy 1:7 it is referred to as the spirit of fear, not a serotonergic or sympathetic response to an opposing threat!

In the medical community, the concept of the fight-or-flight response (also called the acute stress response) was developed to explain what happens in a person’s body when something terrifying, either mentally or physically, occurs. It was first described in the 1920s by the American psychologist Walter Cannon, and it is characterized by an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate.

How a person responds to fear—whether spiritually or serotonergically—determines its effect. When Christians respond spiritually to fear, they tackle it until overcoming it. Fear is a spirit that responds to spiritual counterattacks, not to sympathetic or serotonergic pathways of fight-or-flight.

The reason that so many people never permanently rid themselves of fear is because they have attacked it incorrectly. Fear is not a misguided emotion or a physical weakness. It is a demonic spirit from hell, and a person must attack it with all spiritual armamentarium available in order for it to permanently depart.

James 4:7 says, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Fear flees when one applies spiritual pressure to it. It is the will of God for every Christian to walk in faith, not fear. Ephesians 3:10–12 says, To principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known, by the church, the manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose … in Christ Jesus in whom we have boldness and access with confidence.

Fear Is a Sin

God has a special category in hell for the fearful; He says in Revelation 21:8, "The fearful, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Fear is not an emotion or a weakness; it a spirit. And it can destroy you, eventually leading you to make your abode in hell. God said that you and I should fear no evil (Psalm 23:4) because He is with us and His Word comforts us. To denigrate our Master and walk in fear is not only an abrogation of our duties as heavenly soldiers but also an assault on our heritage as kings and priests unto God (Revelation 1:6).

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild its damaged walls, Tobias and Sanballat set their hearts on making him afraid. They hired a man named Shemiah, who told Nehemiah that men were coming to kill him. In Nehemiah 6:13, Nehemiah says of Shemiah, He was hired that I should be afraid, and sin, and that they [Tobias and Sanballat] might have matter for an evil report [and] that they might reproach me.

Nehemiah’s spiritual perception of his adversaries unraveled the conspiracy of Sanballat, Tobias, and Shemiah. He clearly saw both their plot and their evil intentions, and he walked away without letting them bring him into subjugation. In Second Corinthians 2:11, it says, Satan will get an advantage over us [if] we are ignorant of his devices. Nehemiah was not ignorant of Satan’s devices, and therefore he was able to prevent Satan’s gaining any advantage over him.

For years, the church has relegated fear to a natural weakness or an emotional challenge, but that attitude has robbed fear of its eternal import and therefore has robbed Christians of the ability to accomplish things on earth that would otherwise be to the glory of God. Nehemiah would have never rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem if he had believed the lies of fearmongers such as Shemiah and Sanballat.

What is fear preventing you from accomplishing, and from what heights is fear keeping you? No human being can stop what self allows, and until you step out of fear and spiritually stand up to it, your fear will keep you forever stooped!

Why Fear Is Evil

Fear puts a limit on your ability to accomplish great things for the glory of God. It paralyzes your future and uproots the good and perfect plans God has made for you. First John 4:18 says, Fear hath torment, [and] he that fears is not made perfect in love.

The Greek word for torment, as used in 1 John 4:18, is from the root word kolos, and it means to dwarf or curtail. Fear makes a giant die a dwarf and curtails or limits his or her vision, mission, or accomplishments.

The proverbial glass ceiling many talk about today is a fear-based concept! People are afraid of being the first to go where no one else has trod or to build where no foundations have ever been laid. Such fear manifests in a life of curtailment and containment, but Christ wants us to have a more colorful, powerful existence.

I Was Nearly Aborted as a Fetus

My parents were roughshod and in over their heads with two children under four years old when I was born. My dad had been placed on a temporary no-work restriction by the Nigerian government, as part of the fallout of the Biafran–Nigerian civil war, and therefore he was not earning a salary.

He and my mom were in their late twenties, and they felt it would be unfair to bring another child into this world under such difficult circumstances. They determined to terminate the pregnancy, but the doctor attending to my