Fear God Rather Than People
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
There was a story; it happened in a fantasy world.
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A mouse was playing under the bushes when a cat spotted it, and chased it all the way to the fields.
The mouse was scared to death that it called out for its fairy godmother and asked that it be transformed to a cat.
So, the mouse became a cat.
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One day, the same cat was bobbing in the prairie when a dog spotted it, and chased it all the way to the woods.
The cat was scared to death that it called out for its fairy godmother and requested that it be transformed to a dog.
So, the cat became a dog.
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One sunny day, the dog was searching for food in the woods when a tiger spotted it, and chased it all the way to the river.
The dog was scared to death that it called out for its fairy godmother and begged that it be transformed to a tiger.
So, the dog became a tiger.
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One morning at sunrise, the tiger was prowling in the hills when a couple of native hunters spotted it, and chased it all the way to the jungle.
Natives make use of tiger skin and fur as their clothing.
The tiger was so scared to death that it called out for its fairy godmother and demanded that it be transformed to a native hunter.
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The fairy godmother firmly replied,
“I have transformed you from a mouse to a cat, from a cat to a dog, from a dog to a tiger, and now you want to be transformed from a tiger to a native hunter.
I can make you whatever you wish to become, but if your heart remains to be a heart of a mouse, you will always live in fear.”
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Beloved, today our message highlights the topic of fear...
The kind of fear we should have...
And the kinds of fear we shouldn’t have as followers of Christ.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 12 and focus on verses 4 through 7.
Our message this morning is titled, “Fear God Rather Than People”
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As you are turning to our passage...
Keep this in mind...
The message today will focus on the words of Christ directed towards His followers...
Which He calls His friends...
And Christ tells us what we need to do to live faithful lives...
In in the face of severe persecution.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) Fear No Man
2) Fear God
And...
3) Fear Not
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are so good at making sure that we are not alone in the the mist of intense spiritual warfare...
You are so caring of Your sheep...
Who are we that You would be mindful of us?
We are a drop in the ocean in comparison to all that you have created...
Yet you take care of us in ways that we do not deserve.
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Help us to avoid all the wrong kinds of fears...
And instead may we fear You...
With the kind of fear where we are in awe and reverence for You.
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Thank You for not abandoning up despite that fact that we fall short every day multiple times a day...
We are so prone to sin but You do not give up on us...
You have truly loved the unlovable!
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.
5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.
7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) Fear No Man
1) Fear No Man
Verse 4: “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.
Beloved, let us start our study today by looking at the phrase “my friends” here...
In fact, this is the same phrase that we see in John 15:13–15 which says:
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Now, it must be noted that the tile of “friends” used by Jesus was only ever expressed toward any genuine disciples of Christ.
You see, this designation assured the disciples that the preceding words of judgment...
That being the woes to the religious elite...
Those rebukes were directed not toward them but toward the Pharisees and Scribes...
But know Jesus is directing His instructions to those who are His followers.
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Then Jesus says to us, “Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.”
So, Jesus is instructing us on not living in fear even when our enemies, that are all around us, start to turn violent towards us...
Even in circumstances where our life is at risk...
We are not to fear our oppressors...
Instead, we are commanded to turn to God!
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This brings to mind the attitude of the psalmist when he faced blood thirsty men who plotted to see his demise...
As Psalm 140:1–2 says:
1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men,
2 who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually.
Likewise, take a look at the psalmist’s please to God in Psalm 59:1–2 when he sees that his enemies are rising up all around him...
That psalm says:
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me;
2 deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.
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As we discussed before...
One in every seven Christians is facing severe persecution...
And 13 Christians a day are being killed for their faith...
So, Jesus left us with word of encouragement in these times of hostility that will only increase over time...
The persecution of Christians will not stop until Jesus makes His triumphant return and defeats all His enemies once and for all...
But until then...
We are called to not fear mere men!
For as Psalm 56:4 says:
4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
Truly, what can finite men do to us?
What is the worst they can do?
The worst of the worst persecution they can deliver to us is only temporary and can only be delivered to our flesh...
They cannot touch our souls...
They cannot take away our eternity with Jesus...
So, in the larger scheme of things...
What is even a lifetime of severe persecution in comparison to an eternity with Christ in peace!
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Once we are His, no one can steal us from Christ...
As Jesus Himself said in John 10:28:
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
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So, instead of fearing men...
Jesus tells us what we are actually supposed to fear...
And this takes us to our next point.
2) Fear God
2) Fear God
Verse 5: But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
Yes Beloved...
The only one we are to fear is God!
You see, the word “fear” here refers not to a hopeless terror...
That is not the kind of fear being mentioned here...
But to a kind of fear mentioned here is reverential awe that leads to obedience...
As Proverbs 9:10 says:
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
So, in regards to Satan, the believer is not to “fear” him as some have misunderstood this verse but we are to resist him...
For it is the Holy One who is the one who has the right to cast people into Hell...
And this is no small warning from Jesus...
In fact, the repetition of the command in our passage gives added emphasis and weight to this saying.
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Now, for the believer...
His or her “real” life is an eternal one to be spent in God’s presence...
Therefore we are not to fear any outside power for they can’t really affect us where it matters...
As Isaiah 8:12–13 says:
12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.
13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
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So, even though Jesus does not guarantee protection from death...
He does affirms that God alone controls the final destiny of men, and people should “fear” Him rather than those who can merely inflict physical death.
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Then, when we have a healthy fear of God, we will truly be free of the chains that come along with the fear of others and the fear of Satan...
So, reverential fear of God can set one free from paralyzing fear of the harm that human enemies can inflict...
Especially when one recognizes that only God can ultimately inflict destruction not anyone else.
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Next, in our passage we come across the phrase “authority to cast into hell” which refers to the fact that only God, the supreme judge of all, has this power.
The word translated “Hell” here is Gehenna, the place of final punishment.
Gehenna derives from the Hebrew words meaning “Valley of Hinnom.”
This was a ravine outside Jerusalem’s southern wall and the valley south of Jerusalem that empties into the Kidron Valley, in which Judahites prior to King Josiah sacrificed their sons and daughters in burned offerings to Baal Molech on a “high place” called Topheth...
Additionally, this is the site where corpses had been thrown during Babylon’s siege of the city in fulfillment of the covenant curse.
Furthermore, during King Josiah’s reform Topheth was dismantled, desecrated, and turned into a smoldering rubbish dump as a lurid reminder of wickedness, suffering, and shame.
Gehenna was a graphic image of Hell to Jesus’ audience—as near as a stone’s throw from the temple.
As the Faithlife Study Bible says:
“Early in Israel’s history, the Valley of Hinnom became synonymous with idolatry and child sacrifice due to the actions of kings Ahaz and Manasseh.
Josiah attempted to reverse this trend.
However, Baal worship had been instituted again by the time of the prophet Jeremiah.
In the time of Jesus, Jews recognized this valley as the place that represented judgment on the enemies of God and Israel.
The valley is often designated gehenna, a Greek transliteration of its Hebrew name.”
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Hell is the last place one would ever want to end up...
That is why there are so many warnings of the danger of walking on the road to Hell...
The apostle Peter gives this warning in 2 Peter 2:4–10:
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked
8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);
9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,
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In fact, to really put the warning of spending an eternity in Hell into perspective, we must consider the vivid picture that Jesus presents us with in His teachings...
Just take a look at Matthew 5:29–30 which says:
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
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So, Jesus is basically saying that if there is anything in your life that is causing you to sin...
Get rid of it...
No matter how valuable it may seem to you...
For if it is leading you to Hell then it it not worth it.
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Finally, Jesus ends this passage with a most encouraging word...
And another reminder not to fear...
And that takes us to our third and final point.
3) Fear Not
3) Fear Not
Verses 6-7: Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Beloved, “Sparrows” in Jesus’ day were the cheapest thing sold in the market and considered good, cheap food and were sought after by the poor.
You see, the penny referenced in our translation was actually an assarion, which was a coin equal to one-sixteenth of a denarius (a typical day’s wage).
Although five sparrows are worth about an hour’s pay, God remembers them all.
In other words, in God’s providential rule of creation, not even something as inconsequential as the fall of a sparrow occurs apart from his omniscience and will.
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So, despite the cheapness of these insignificant birds, not even one of them escapes God’s attention...
God is aware of every sparrow that is flying in the air...
And God is aware of every sparrow being sold in the market place...
For our God is an all-knowing God who pays attention to His creation.
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Jesus then says the God loves us so much that He even attends to insignificant details like the amount of hair on our heads...
A figure that actually is constantly changing for everyday we are growing hair and losing hair...
Yet, that fact does not stop God from being attentive to even this.
As the New International Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“The point, then, is that sparrows can be bought and sold and that humans can suffer persecution, but not apart from God’s attentiveness, not outside of God’s care, not in a way that circumvents the redemptive plan of God.”
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So, God’s sovereignty is in view here...
And that is truly a comforting fact for God’s sovereignty is nothing to fear since God is good...
And if we are His followers then the idea that God rules everything should give us a sense of peace.
As pastor John MacArthur says:
“Jesus was teaching that God providentially controls the timing and circumstances of such insignificant events as the death of a sparrow.
Even the number of hairs on our heads is controlled by His sovereign will.
In other words, divine providence governs even the smallest details and even the most mundane matters.
These are very powerful affirmations of the sovereignty of God.”
Truly, our God’s sovereignty stretches over every aspect of our life...
There is not an atom of molecule in all of creation that is under the rule of God.
The reason for this is that Jesus cares about His creation...
And if we see that much attention to sparrows and the number of hairs on our heads...
Just imagine the care that He has for us who are created in His image...
Just imagine the love the He has for us who are His children and part of His royal family...
Just imagine the love the He has for us who are considered co-heirs with Christ...
As Romans 8:31–39 says:
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So, we are to “fear not” for we “are of more value than many sparrows.”
We are to “fear not” for we are covered by the love of God...
We are to “fear not” for we are part of a royal family and are adopted by One who will never abandon us...
We are to “fear not” for we in Christ and that means God the Father see us just like we are His own Son.
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I really like how theologian Darrell L. Bock put it:
“Earlier they were told to fear God, since he alone controls their destiny after death.
Here they are told not to fear; that is, they need not worry about how God will care for them.
God knows their needs and is aware of their situation as they face rejection for their stand for Christ.
Jesus notes that God is aware even of the number of hairs on a person’s head, and he reminds them that they are more important than sparrows.
The argument is a minor-to-major argument typical of Judaism:
If God cares for the sparrows, how much more will he care for you, since you are of more value than they are.”
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So, there is no contest or contradiction in Jesus’ mind between the love of God and the justice of God...
There is no contest or contradiction in Jesus’ mind between God as Father and God as Final Judge.
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Our society will try to pit God’s love against God’s justice as if they are enemies of each other...
But they are not mutually exclusive.
God is love...
And God is justice...
And the those two facts can’t be separated!
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So, Beloved...
If you are going to take anything away from this message then take this away...
First, do not fear anyone on this earth...
Even if they desire to take away your life...
For the worst they can do is take away your physical life...
But Your eternal life is protected by God!
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Second, live your life with a reverent fear of God...
If you have this then you have all you need to live a life that is full of wisdom and honoring to God!
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Third, have no doubts that God loves you and cares for you in ways that words can’t describe...
If you are His then nothing in all of creation can separate you from Him!
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
Many of our sisters and brothers are persecuted even in our own time.
Voice of the Martyrs reports, for example, the experience of a young man named Philip, who lives in Laos.
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Philip walked two hours to another village to hear the gospel.
Just three weeks after he returned home as a new believer, the police paid him a visit.
They told him that any religion other than Buddhism was strictly forbidden in the region where he lived.
They accused him of embracing the faith of foreigners and warned him that things were sure to go badly for him.
Sometime later, the authorities pressed him to sign a document renouncing his newfound faith.
He refused, and, before long, his neighbors, incited by the local government, killed his livestock and harassed his children.
Philip and his family had to move to another village.
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Asked why he remained a Christian when it caused him such difficulty, he said,
“My people are in darkness, worshiping they-know-not-what, and they are enslaved in their sin.
I must tell them about Jesus, the only one who can save them from the destruction that awaits them.”
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Others, like Philip, have suffered the loss of their jobs and their property.
Some have been rejected by their family and friends.
And many have been murdered for their faith in Christ.
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Despite the level of persecution you are under...
Always acknowledge Him...
Always acknowledge Him before others...
No matter the cost!
I promise you, based on the authority of the Word of God, it is worth it!
As Matthew 10:32–33:
32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way...
Then I beg you to open their eyes to see things with spiritual eyes.
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I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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For those hearing this message who already know You...
Then I ask you to encourage us with reminders that once we are Yours then nothing can separate us from Your great love.
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Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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It is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
