WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.960 Now we're going to turn once again in our Bibles to Luke's Gospel. 00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:18.980 We're at the beginning of chapter 12, which is on page 1044, if you're using a church Bible. 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:26.879 We're going to read the first 12 verses together. And this week and next, we're going to be thinking 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:33.859 about facing anxiety. How did Jesus' words help us? Perhaps when we feel anxious, 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:40.640 particularly as we look to live the Christian life, but more generally also. So let's hear God's word 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:47.480 as we find it here in Luke chapter 12. Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, 00:00:48.120 --> 00:00:53.920 so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to His disciples, saying, 00:00:53.920 --> 00:01:02.520 Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:08.340 will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will 00:01:08.340 --> 00:01:12.820 be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be 00:01:12.820 --> 00:01:19.280 proclaimed from the roofs. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:25.680 and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who, 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:33.359 after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 00:01:34.460 --> 00:01:40.240 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:47.079 the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows. 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:54.039 I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before 00:01:54.039 --> 00:01:59.859 the angels of God. But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:03.659 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, 00:02:04.539 --> 00:02:07.819 but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:14.919 When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend 00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:22.119 yourselves or what you will say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. 00:02:22.679 --> 00:02:32.199 Amen. So we're thinking this morning about fighting fear with fear. I imagine we all know something, 00:02:32.359 --> 00:02:39.560 maybe much of fear and anxiety. It's a complex issue, isn't it? Sometimes our fears are very 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:50.439 irrational, like a fear of spiders. Sometimes fear comes when our imagination runs wild, maybe especially 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:56.800 when it gets dark, and maybe our mind goes in all kinds of dark places in line with that. 00:02:57.659 --> 00:03:05.580 Fear can sometimes be good. We experience a danger or a threat, and fear kicks in, and it causes us to run, 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:14.760 and that can be a good thing. Fear and anxiety can be bad when we find ourselves paralyzed by what might 00:03:14.760 --> 00:03:23.900 happen in the future. We can face fear that's all about ourselves. We can have fears and worries for 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:32.880 others. Our fears and anxieties cover a whole range of subjects from our health or our finance or our 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:39.939 career or our relationships. And those fears and anxieties bring out a whole range of different 00:03:39.939 --> 00:03:48.000 responses. Maybe it causes us to lose sleep. It causes us to be irritable with others. 00:03:50.099 --> 00:03:58.439 And of course, Christians are not immune. It's a wonderful comfort that the command repeated most 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:04.800 often in the Bible is, do not fear. God knows our hearts are prone to fear and anxiety. 00:04:05.979 --> 00:04:10.359 Well, here we are in Luke chapter 12. We're back following Jesus on His journey to Jerusalem. 00:04:11.579 --> 00:04:19.040 This is a journey which will terminate at the cross before the resurrection. Jesus is walking a path that 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:26.300 will lead Him to face rejection from His own people, will lead Him to experience great suffering, 00:04:26.300 --> 00:04:36.699 and will lead Him to die a shameful, horrific death on a cross. And He is preparing His followers all the 00:04:36.699 --> 00:04:46.120 time for what it means to follow this kind of Savior, and that we can expect some of that opposition and 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:55.939 rejection also. And as He prepares His followers, He's also saying, do not be afraid, do not be anxious. 00:04:55.939 --> 00:05:03.219 This week, we're going to focus on Him encouraging us not to be afraid as we think about the fear of man, 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:11.839 the fear of others. Next week, it'll be fears associated with money and possessions. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:19.959 Jesus knows, I imagine as we stop and think about it, as we know too, that what we value most, 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:29.439 what is most important to us is what controls us. And so Jesus, knowing what is best for us, 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:36.719 invites us to fear the Lord, in that sense of honoring Him above all else, to trust Him, 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:40.939 that He would have first place and be of highest value. 00:05:40.939 --> 00:05:48.660 This week, as I was reading in Luke 12, I was also reminded of a really helpful verse in the book of 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:54.420 Proverbs. We didn't actually read this one, but it'll be up on our screen, I think. Proverbs 29 00:05:54.420 --> 00:05:57.420 and verse 25, which says, 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:04.699 The fear of man lays a snare, or a trap, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. 00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:11.279 And as we listen to Jesus' words in Luke 12, we're going to see that Jesus is going to warn us 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:19.000 that the fear of man can be a trap that we fall into. And if we fall into that trap, 00:06:19.099 --> 00:06:25.539 it will draw us away from loyalty and love for our God. But Jesus will also at the same time 00:06:25.539 --> 00:06:33.579 encourage us that there is a better fear, the fear of the Lord, and that fear brings ultimate safety 00:06:33.579 --> 00:06:41.680 and security as we come to discover and to rest in God's greatness and glory and His grace. 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:49.539 And so in this text, Jesus is going to invite us to fight the negative fear of man with this better 00:06:49.539 --> 00:06:55.539 fear, the fear of the Lord, so that you and I, that we might live as faithful followers, 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:01.839 that we might even be ready to face opposition for Jesus, knowing that we face opposition 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:10.000 with Jesus. So let's begin with the warning that the fear of man is a trap. First, very briefly, 00:07:10.719 --> 00:07:16.319 to just think together, what do we mean when we talk about the fear of man? Well, it includes many 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:22.539 things, but it includes at least this. It includes the fear of what others might think about us, 00:07:23.099 --> 00:07:30.339 how we are perceived. That can cause fear. The fear of man also includes what people might say 00:07:30.339 --> 00:07:38.599 to us, or what they might be saying about us, and the fear of man can also include what someone else 00:07:38.599 --> 00:07:47.719 or a group of people might do to us. And the problem with the fear of man, especially when we think about 00:07:47.719 --> 00:07:54.319 living as Christians, is that it can cause, that fear in our hearts can cause us to want glory and 00:07:54.319 --> 00:08:04.800 approval from people rather than from our God. That our focus becomes on the person or the crowd of 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:11.100 people who are coming to us negatively, or we worry that we're being perceived negatively, so we can 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:17.000 focus all our attention and want our approval from them rather than thinking about wanting approval from 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:24.439 the Lord Jesus Christ. The fear of man can flip our perspective so that people become really big in 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:31.259 our thinking and God becomes really small. The fear of man is a problem when it's other people who are 00:08:31.259 --> 00:08:40.159 controlling our responses and our actions rather than our great God. Jesus knows this fear. He knows that 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:46.100 the fear of man is a trap. And he knows his followers, and that includes those of us who are Christians 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:53.139 today, that as we walk in his footsteps, there will be times and that will place us in scary situations. 00:08:54.079 --> 00:08:59.120 We'll think about that a little bit for what that meant for the disciples. And so Jesus wants his 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:06.679 followers to be aware the danger of the fear of man. We see it in two particular ways in this text. 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:12.959 One side of it is the fear of the opinions of others. So turn with me in your Bibles to verses 00:09:12.959 --> 00:09:20.579 1 to 3 of Luke chapter 12, where we are introduced, first of all, to a growing crowd, a crowd of many 00:09:20.579 --> 00:09:26.439 thousands, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so they were trampling on one another. And Jesus began 00:09:26.439 --> 00:09:31.639 to speak to his disciples, saying, be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:37.779 So on one hand, the growing crowd, well, that represents growing success. You know, people are 00:09:37.779 --> 00:09:43.419 coming to listen to Jesus. So there's the opportunity for the good news to be heard, the kingdom of God, 00:09:43.500 --> 00:09:49.919 to grow and to spread. And what we see in the book of Luke, and then Luke's second book, the book of 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:55.399 Acts, that from small beginnings, you know, what the disciples whisper in the ear will be proclaimed 00:09:55.399 --> 00:10:01.799 from the roofs. The church will go viral in the book of Acts. The good news of Jesus will spread 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:08.699 from Jerusalem out and out and out. And so we're seeing indications of growing success here, 00:10:09.139 --> 00:10:14.139 but this growing crowd also represents a growing threat. 00:10:14.139 --> 00:10:22.399 And that leads Jesus to talk about and to warn about the yeast of hypocrisy. First of all, 00:10:22.699 --> 00:10:27.480 in the lives of the Pharisees, the Pharisees, these religious leaders. So in chapter 11, 00:10:27.939 --> 00:10:33.939 Jesus pronounces judgment on them because these religious leaders who should be pointing people 00:10:33.939 --> 00:10:40.200 to Jesus as God's light and God's salvation are hating Jesus, saying that he's doing the devil's 00:10:40.200 --> 00:10:45.440 work. They call him evil. They're rejecting his truth. They're rejecting his saving grace. 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:51.580 They're turning people away from Jesus. Jesus says, watch out because the people that hate me, 00:10:51.680 --> 00:10:57.379 they'll turn their attention on you as well. So this growing crowd represents a growing threat as Jesus 00:10:57.379 --> 00:11:02.460 hears the teaching of the Pharisees. But there's another sense in which this growing crowd represents 00:11:02.460 --> 00:11:09.080 a threat. It's because the negative influence of the Pharisees' teaching will spread through the 00:11:09.080 --> 00:11:16.639 population so that many people who listen to Jesus, who seem to welcome him gladly, will at the end of 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:25.100 the day cry, crucify him. And so the reality that the disciples are going to experience is not just 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:30.759 hatred when they show up in a synagogue, they're going to face hatred and opposition on the streets 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:38.960 also. So they are to be on their guard about the yeast of hypocrisy, this two-faced, superficial religion. 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:46.439 But they're also to be on their guard because of the impact that all of this might have on their 00:11:46.439 --> 00:11:55.639 hearts. When they are confronted with negative opinion and opposition, the yeast of hypocrisy, 00:11:55.639 --> 00:12:02.039 to be a hypocrisy, to be a hypocrisy, to be two-faced, to put on a mask, the temptation for the follower of 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:14.600 Jesus is to do just that, is to put on a mask, to try and blend in to avoid attention, is to give in to the 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:25.620 pressure to keep faith private. Perhaps we can think of Peter, follower of Jesus, as Jesus was arrested, 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:30.460 and Peter and the disciples were thrown into confusion. We thought he was the one who was 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:38.639 going to be our savior. When Peter was asked if he was a friend of Jesus, three times he denied even 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:47.240 knowing him. The fear of man is real when it comes to the opinions of others. The other side of the fear 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:55.240 of man that Jesus identifies here in verses 4 to 12 is the fear of opposition. This is equally 00:12:55.240 --> 00:13:02.539 real. One recurring theme in the teaching of Jesus as he's on this journey. This isn't the last time 00:13:02.539 --> 00:13:06.460 we're going to hear this. He's going to say to his followers, I'm going to suffer, I'm going to be 00:13:06.460 --> 00:13:12.580 rejected, I'm going to be killed, ultimately I'll rise again. But he wants to prepare his followers to 00:13:12.580 --> 00:13:18.700 be ready to count the cost themselves, to walk that same road, to be ready to pick up their cross and 00:13:18.700 --> 00:13:26.100 follow him as they and we might face physical threat and persecution. Look at verse 4, 00:13:27.420 --> 00:13:36.180 I tell you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:43.160 Or look at verse 11 for a different kind of opposition. When you're brought before synagogues, 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:48.500 rulers and authorities do not worry about how you'll defend yourselves or what you'll say. 00:13:49.319 --> 00:13:57.539 Public opposition of their beliefs and values called to defend their faith in a hostile atmosphere 00:13:57.539 --> 00:14:07.039 with the constant threat of death hanging over them. It's there in the book of Acts. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:15.939 It's there in the stories written throughout church history that followers of Jesus have faced 00:14:15.939 --> 00:14:22.839 opposition sometimes to the point of death. It's the story of so many of our brothers and sisters 00:14:22.839 --> 00:14:32.240 around the world today. To identify as a Christian is to be identified as an enemy of the state in some 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:42.340 cases to be someone worthy of prison or of death. But it is true to say that for every Christian here, 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:49.340 we will face threat and opposition of different kinds if we are living faithfully for him. 00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:58.740 And it's also true to say that the fear of man that we experience will differ from person to person. 00:14:58.740 --> 00:15:07.940 But here is one thing in common. Ed Welch, who's a biblical counselor, has written a couple of 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:12.460 really helpful books on this subject. One is called When People Are Big and God Is Small. 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:16.120 The other is Running Scared. But Ed Welch says this, 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:40.940 That's what Jesus is warning us about. 00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:51.880 Now, if, like me, you can identify with this so, so readily, you've known times of deep disappointment 00:15:51.880 --> 00:15:58.560 because in the crunch moment you didn't stand up for Jesus, you didn't talk to someone about your 00:15:58.560 --> 00:16:03.820 faith, you regret not saying or doing the right thing. Perhaps you're here today and you feel trapped 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:11.400 by this. I would love to live out my faith in public for Jesus, but I feel so afraid. What should we do? 00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:19.580 Well, I think the first thing that we need to do is we need to confess. To confess it as sin. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:26.400 Because when we make people bigger than God, what we've done is we've set up an idol in our hearts. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:32.879 That even though we may not be intending to do it, we are robbing God of glory. And so we need to confess 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:39.720 that fear of man as it grips us and paralyzes us. I think it's also helpful for us to have a 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:48.139 conversation with ourselves. Why is it that we care so much about the opinions of others that we don't 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:54.960 care as much about the opinion of God and the honor of God? Why do we care so much about our own comfort 00:16:54.960 --> 00:17:01.360 and we don't want to feel awkwardness for the sake of the honor of Jesus? What is it that causes that 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:10.059 in my heart? To talk to ourselves and to reflect on that. But what we also crucially need to do is we 00:17:10.059 --> 00:17:18.340 need to consider how awesome and glorious and wonderful our God is. Because it's only as we let 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:26.699 the bigness of God become real to us, only as we let that expose the fear of man in us, that those fears 00:17:26.699 --> 00:17:32.679 will quiet down and instead will live guided by a greater fear. So that's where we're going next, 00:17:32.699 --> 00:17:39.439 to think about the encouragement that we have here, that the fear of the Lord brings safety. 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:44.779 Again, to think very briefly, what is the fear of the Lord? They're all through the Bible. 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:52.740 Perhaps we can think about it in this way. The fear of the Lord is a response of awe and wonder 00:17:52.740 --> 00:18:02.980 to the greatness and glory of God and to the grace of God. Responding both to His greatness and His grace. 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:09.099 So there's examples through the Bible of God's people responding to His greatness as they are 00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:16.199 confronted by the awesome holiness and wonder of God. So Isaiah, the prophet in the Old Testament, 00:18:16.819 --> 00:18:23.399 Isaiah chapter 6, he has a vision of God's glory there in the temple where just the train of God's 00:18:23.399 --> 00:18:28.599 robe fills the temple and there's the angels and they're crying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:37.859 Almighty. And Isaiah's response is to say, woe is me for I am undone. He senses his uncleanness, 00:18:37.919 --> 00:18:46.639 his people's uncleanness, and he falls on his face as though dead. Another example, John, the apostle John, 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:54.559 imprisoned on the island of Patmos for being faithful to Jesus. He is also given a vision. He's given a 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:59.859 vision of the glory of the Lord Jesus, and he says that Jesus' face, remember John was Jesus' probably 00:18:59.859 --> 00:19:05.779 closest friend, but he sees Jesus' face shining like the sun in all its brilliance. And again, 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:12.279 we find John the apostle fall at his feet as though dead, confronted by the greatness, the grandeur, 00:19:12.339 --> 00:19:20.480 the glory of the Lord Jesus. We see it with the disciples also. Maybe we know the time where Jesus 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:25.740 and his disciples were in a boat together and Jesus is sleeping. The disciples are not, and a storm 00:19:25.740 --> 00:19:33.720 quips up, and the disciples are afraid in the storm, and they wake Jesus up, and Jesus rebukes the storm. 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:44.299 It stops because he speaks, and the disciples are left with a greater fear. Who is this? Even the wind and 00:19:44.299 --> 00:19:58.919 the waves obey him. The glory of God should cause a sense of awe and wonder. Jesus in Luke 12 gives us 00:19:58.919 --> 00:20:08.879 a number of pointers to God's greatness so that we would fear him, that we would recognize his honor. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:15.500 So verses 1 to 3, and I think about verses 2 and 3, when Jesus says there is nothing concealed 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:24.040 that will not be disclosed or hidden, that will not be made known, that is a reminder, we find this 00:20:24.040 --> 00:20:35.280 in God's word, that all of our lives lie open to God. All of our hearts, all of our thoughts are open 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:47.119 to him. It's as if Jesus himself sees the raw, unedited video of our lives. For those of us on social media, 00:20:47.619 --> 00:20:55.740 we have an edited, a very carefully often edited version of our life that we want to present publicly. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:02.319 The best version of ourselves, that's what we're going to put up there. Jesus sees it all. Public, 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:12.439 private thoughts, words, emotions, the good and the bad. All of our lives lie open to the God who sees 00:21:12.439 --> 00:21:22.599 and knows everything. He's a great God. Verse 5, Jesus says, I will show you whom you should fear. 00:21:23.879 --> 00:21:29.439 Fear him who after your body has been killed has authority to throw you into hell. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:38.500 What is Jesus saying there? He's speaking of God as creator with authority over our body and over our soul, 00:21:38.980 --> 00:21:50.200 over our life and over our death, over our eternal destiny, heaven or hell. We should fear and honor him. 00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:58.700 Verse 6, are not five sparrows sold for two pennies, yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:06.960 the very hairs of your head are all numbered. We should fear this king with complete, intimate 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:15.840 knowledge and control over all of his creation. That includes sparrows, that includes us. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:24.819 Verse 8, I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the son of man, 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:30.939 will also acknowledge before the angels of God, but whoever disowns me before others will be disowned 00:22:30.939 --> 00:22:37.039 before the angels of God. Here is a reminder again that we should fear this God because he is the one 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:45.480 who delivers the verdict on our lives on the day of judgment. That's reality we need to reckon with. 00:22:47.180 --> 00:22:53.700 And Jesus reminds us that the verdict delivered on us then depends on the verdict we deliver on Jesus 00:22:53.700 --> 00:23:11.299 in our lives. We should fear our God. We should bow in humility as we behold our God. There is none like 00:23:11.299 --> 00:23:18.660 him. He is the one who should control us. We fear him and that we would obey him. 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:27.759 Because Jesus reminds us, as God's word reminds us, that God is not small. God is not harmless and 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:36.860 insignificant. We can forget him oh so quickly. We can make him small in our imagination, but that 00:23:36.860 --> 00:23:43.120 does not change the reality that God is bigger than anyone and anything, and he is certainly big enough 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:51.619 for us to fear and honor and admire. But the question then is, how can fear 00:23:51.619 --> 00:23:57.379 ever make us feel safe? Aren't they opposite? 00:23:59.859 --> 00:24:07.299 Well, we sang something of that in Psalm 31, but we can go to another place. In the book of Isaiah 00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:15.299 Isaiah chapter 8, there is a message that comes from God through Isaiah to a fearful people. 00:24:16.539 --> 00:24:25.799 And in Isaiah chapter 8, verses 12 to 14, God delivers the message, do not fear your enemies. 00:24:27.299 --> 00:24:33.720 Instead, it's the Lord Almighty. He is the one you are to fear. And he tells them why. 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:44.900 If you fear the Lord, he would be for you a sanctuary. He would be your safe place. He would be your shelter. 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:52.059 Now, we have seen something of storms in the last couple of weeks. Some of you come from countries 00:24:52.059 --> 00:24:59.220 where you know far more significant storms than storm babette. But we know the difference, I think, 00:24:59.220 --> 00:25:07.160 between being in the eye of the storm, where we can feel really exposed and we feel battered and we can 00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:12.980 feel really fearful and helpless. There's a great difference between experiencing the storm that way 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:20.380 and experiencing the storm in a safe shelter, the shelter of your home by your fireside. 00:25:20.380 --> 00:25:28.920 And what the Bible tells us, what Jesus tells us, is that God is big and he is strong. And that's good 00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:37.100 news because he is the shelter in any storm that we will face. He is a strong refuge when we face 00:25:37.100 --> 00:25:45.320 opposition, when people hate us. Indeed, as God's people through history have testified, even if it means 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:53.200 giving your life, God is a strong shelter. And so Jesus wants the fear of the Lord to be a source of 00:25:53.200 --> 00:26:00.720 comfort and assurance for his followers. Just as we find that emphasis through our order of service 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:06.539 that we have spoken and sung of the fear of the Lord, so we began in Psalm 34 verse 9, 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:12.220 fear the Lord, you his holy people. So there's a command, but it comes with a promise, 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:19.920 for those who fear him lack nothing. Psalm 31 verse 19, how abundant are the good things that 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:26.720 you've stored up for those who fear you, those who take refuge in you. With a command comes promise. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:35.480 Proverbs 14, whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a 00:26:35.480 --> 00:26:42.200 refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death. The fear 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:48.279 of the Lord is life. The fear of the Lord is safety. The fear of the Lord is to know good things from God 00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:58.759 himself. And here in Jesus' words, he can say, verse 5, fear him, and then in verse 7, don't be afraid. 00:26:58.940 --> 00:27:04.720 Fear the Lord and don't be afraid. How is that possible? What is Jesus telling us about our God here? 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:15.620 He says, fear the Lord and don't be afraid. Verse 6, of the one who doesn't forget even those five 00:27:15.620 --> 00:27:27.039 sparrows sold for two pennies. Fear and don't be afraid of the one who numbers the hairs on our head 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:36.420 and says to us, you're worth more than many sparrows. Don't be afraid when you know God knows you and cares 00:27:36.420 --> 00:27:44.299 for you personally and intimately. The God who knows when sparrows are sold, the God who knows all those 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:50.859 starfish that washed up in Portobello Beach, is the God who knows the number of hairs on our head. He 00:27:50.859 --> 00:27:57.559 knows us, he knows us, we're worth more than many sparrows. He loves his children. There is security in him. 00:27:59.619 --> 00:28:07.539 Fear God and do not be afraid because he promises whoever publicly acknowledges me, I will acknowledge 00:28:07.539 --> 00:28:16.219 before the angels of God. Don't be afraid when Jesus says, I'm not ashamed to call you my brother or my sister. 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:25.740 I'm not ashamed to call you friend. He will never let us down. Fear God and do not be afraid 00:28:25.740 --> 00:28:33.100 of the God who gives us forgiveness. Verse 10, what a wonderful promise. Everyone who speaks a word 00:28:33.100 --> 00:28:38.819 against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Think of Peter speaking a word against Jesus because he was 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:48.639 afraid. We've done that for all of our sins. There is this promise of forgiveness. Fear God and do not 00:28:48.639 --> 00:28:55.220 be afraid even when we face opposition. Back to verses 11 and 12, do not worry about how you'll defend 00:28:55.220 --> 00:29:00.859 yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. 00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:09.359 The God who knows us and cares for us sends the Spirit so we have protection and provision to help us to 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:17.779 testify to the gospel, to stand firm, to declare that Jesus is Lord. So Jesus says to us when we fear the 00:29:17.779 --> 00:29:27.759 Lord, there is not much else to fear. So as we close, let's hear in this text an invitation 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:41.640 to fight fear with fear. As we recognize that fears are real, that anxiety is real, and that includes as we 00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:49.740 walk the journey of faith, as we seek to be obedient to Jesus, how can we grow in this right fear, this fear 00:29:49.740 --> 00:29:57.740 of the Lord? So that on Monday morning, when our friends or our colleagues are talking about our weekend, 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:04.740 that we wouldn't be afraid to talk about the fact that we go to church and what we learn there. 00:30:06.259 --> 00:30:11.799 So that as we're going through the week and we're with our non-Christian family, our friends, and there 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:17.500 is that opportunity to turn a conversation to matters of faith and to talk about Jesus, that we would take 00:30:17.500 --> 00:30:26.160 it and not shy away. How can we grow in that right fear so that we will open our mouth even when 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:32.080 we tremble with fear? We tremble with fear because we want people to know the goodness of God through 00:30:32.080 --> 00:30:43.300 Jesus. How can we grow in that right fear? Well, crucial for Jesus in these verses is the question of our 00:30:43.300 --> 00:30:53.460 perspective. Where is my focus? So think about that. If we often find people are big and we live with the 00:30:53.460 --> 00:31:00.940 fear of man and God is small. Jesus says to us, here is what you need to focus on. Here is who you need 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:09.640 to focus on. Focus more on the awesome wonder of your Father in heaven. Remember who he is and what 00:31:09.640 --> 00:31:17.140 he's like. He is most powerful. He is most wise. He is most loving. He is the one who knows everything. 00:31:17.140 --> 00:31:24.580 He is the one who judges everyone. He is the one who determines our eternal destiny. He is the one 00:31:24.580 --> 00:31:30.400 who sent his son on this journey to save us. He is the one who sends his spirit to be a present help 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:37.420 for us. It is this God who invites us, who calls us, who says, don't live with the fear of man. Don't 00:31:37.420 --> 00:31:46.820 live crippled and paralyzed. Rather fear me, honor me, show loyalty to me, worship me, and do not be afraid. 00:31:47.140 --> 00:31:55.580 If we live with the fear of man, if our focus is on others and they control us, what we need to do 00:31:55.580 --> 00:32:01.460 is also to focus more on how wonderful and awesome Jesus and his gospel is. 00:32:03.300 --> 00:32:07.640 And I think that's where the example of Peter is so wonderful. You go back to Peter. When Peter was 00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:15.840 controlled by the fear of man, that's when he denied knowing Jesus. We find him after Jesus dies on the 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:23.519 cross, hiding behind closed doors with the other disciples. But later, as he meets with the risen 00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:30.119 Lord Jesus, as he understands that Jesus had to go to the cross in order to die to save him, 00:32:31.399 --> 00:32:39.220 as Jesus sent the spirit to Peter and the followers of Jesus as he promised, we see a remarkable change 00:32:39.220 --> 00:32:50.839 in Peter as he lives with the Lord. So that Acts chapter 4, we find Peter and John boldly facing arrest 00:32:50.839 --> 00:33:00.519 as followers of Jesus, going to prison, facing down hostile opposition. And there's a wonderful verse 00:33:00.519 --> 00:33:09.839 in Acts chapter 4 verse 13, which says, when his opponents, when they saw the courage of Peter and John, 00:33:10.859 --> 00:33:17.180 they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 00:33:17.180 --> 00:33:28.080 And do you want to sense that's it? Being with Jesus. That's our antidote to the fear of man. 00:33:28.980 --> 00:33:37.940 As we come to rejoice in him, as we love him for who he is and for what he has done, that's what gives us 00:33:37.940 --> 00:33:44.960 the joy and the motivation to live faithfully and to want to share him with others. 00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:52.880 That same Peter would later write to believers facing persecution, the beginnings of persecution 00:33:52.880 --> 00:34:00.980 from the Roman Empire. And in 1 Peter 1 verses 17 to 19, he would call on disciples to conduct 00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:09.880 yourselves with holy fear. Live with the fear of the Lord, knowing this, knowing you are ransomed 00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:20.180 with the precious blood of Christ. That's how we fight fear with fear. As we remember, 00:34:21.300 --> 00:34:28.960 as we embrace the reality that Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, became sin for us. 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:36.860 Gave his life as that sacrifice to cover our sins, including the fear of man, that he would set us free. 00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:44.340 Setting us free to live with a better fear, so that we could rejoice and tremble before our God, 00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:51.460 knowing he's our Father in heaven. Freeing us to live with security, knowing him as our sanctuary 00:34:51.460 --> 00:35:00.880 and shelter. That's a wonderful truth and reality for all who believe, for all who fear. That's a wonderful 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:08.880 invitation to us all. Whoever you are, if you're not a Christian, you're invited today to trust Jesus as 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:18.940 Savior. To give him your heart and your loyalty and your love and your worship. To fear him so that you 00:35:18.940 --> 00:35:28.920 would not need to live with the fear of man. Let's pray together. Lord, our God, we thank you once again 00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:36.599 for the journey of Jesus. His willingness to leave the glory of heaven to come and live on this earth. 00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:45.880 His willingness to deliberately, in accordance with your plan, to go towards Jerusalem and towards the 00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:56.740 cross so that he might save his people. Knowing that he would rise again to be the king for his people 00:35:56.739 --> 00:36:01.579 forever. To be the strength of his people. To send the spirit to his people. 00:36:03.459 --> 00:36:10.859 Lord, as we recognize so often the fear of man in ourselves, we pray that by your grace and with the 00:36:10.859 --> 00:36:17.679 help of your spirit, we would look to fight that fear with a better fear. The fear of the Lord. 00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:23.960 Lord, as you would keep us mindful of how great you are and how gracious you are.