Have no fear! - Matthew 10:26-33
Have no fear! - Matthew 10:26-33
By Pastor Lee Hemen
November 10, 2019
Some information is so important that it should never be hidden or kept secret. In a free society we believe this to be a foundational truth. There are those who want to stifle free speech and try to keep certain things from the public by using things like secretive personal internet servers or throw away cell phones. Usually these folks do these things because they know that if their secrets came out they might likely go to jail.
However, the message of the Gospel is not to be kept secret. There are no special or secret messages within it or in the life of Jesus. He is exactly who he said he was: “I and the Father are one. (John 10:30 NIV)” Jesus desired that his followers would continue to share the good news until he returned again to take home his church. In doing so his disciples did not need to be afraid because what they believed and shared was not to be kept from anyone. They were to have no fear! Let’s see what this means…
READ: Matthew 10:26-33
Perhaps today’s Christian has forgotten the urgency of the gospel message in that it saves lives for eternity. But more than that we are responsible for what we know. It is the same moral obligation we would have if we could easily save a person’s life but refuse to do so because we were afraid, didn’t want to schedule the time it took, or were just plain lazy. Jesus related that…
I. Our fear should motivate us to share! (Vv. 26-28)
So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
1. If Jesus’ followers were persecuted by family, friends, co-workers, teachers, or other students they did not need to “be afraid of them”. Quite the contrary in fact because what they have to share should not be kept to themselves. The message is for the whole world! Jesus tells them bluntly that “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known”; this is why when anyone, no matter who they are, tries to say or teach you that there are or were secret messages Jesus hid from his disciples just ignore them. They are false teachers and disciples. God is the God of truth and only Satan and his minions are liars. Jesus emphatically taught: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 NIV)” Sadly far too many Christians stay hidden, run away, or are ashamed of the gospel message. A believer cannot ignore the truth of Scripture. We live in a world full of half-truths, tacit lies, and false narratives. Believers should never shy away from sharing what they know to be true! Even our fear should not keep us silent: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” There are many in our day that think that by doing good, feeling good, or by being momentarily good reserves a place for them in the Kingdom of God – nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus revealed that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)” This is why we are to be fearful of God who “can destroy both soul and body in hell”! Our fear should motivate us to share!
EXAMPLE: Fear is good thing because healthy fear can keep us healthy and make us go to the doctor, from personal harm by not crossing the street against the light, or safe by the people we choose to be in our lives. However, we can fear the wrong things in life that we have absolutely no control over like the weather, what will happen in the future, or how others respond to us. Jesus wanted his followers to understand the urgency of the message of him being the Messiah. They now had the means to defeat sin and death and to allow people to choose eternal life with a loving God! Wow! Because we are now privy to this message we are responsible for its content and to sharing it with others around us! God holds us accountable and our fear should motivate us to share!
God loves us more than we could ever understand. Paul wrote: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)” Jesus reminds us that…
II. Recognition casts out our fear! (Vv. 29-33)
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
1. The Apostle John would later declare that “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18 NIV)” John knew what Jesus meant when he shared with his disciples the comforting truth that “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.” If God who created and knows the birds of the air even down to the tiniest caged sparrow, wouldn’t those who trust him be even more on his mind? And the answer is a resounding “YES!” His eye is indeed on the sparrow but even more on those who have trusted him! The “penny” here is the denarius, which was about 1/16th of a day’s pay for a Roman soldier and for that tiny penny one could purchase two caged sparrows in the marketplace to take and release. Romans would do this as a sacrifice and to remind them of their freedom as a Roman citizen! Yet, as special as these tiny birds are to the Lord, we are even more special because “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” (Some of us have more to count than others.) We often forget that God knows us intimately. The Psalmist reminds us that “the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalms 121:8 NIV)” and King David taught that God knew him even while he was in his mother’s womb: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. (Psalms 139:13 NIV)” So don’t you think God cares about you? Jesus makes a beautiful promise here concerning our willingness to come to him by faith: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” In other words if you are willing to come to him publically and confess him as your Savior and Lord, he will confess you as well! But it also goes to the truth of our willingness to share our faith openly and honestly with others because the converse is: “whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven”! It goes back to God telling those who try to feel their way into heaven, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” but here in Matthew’s gospel we learn the truth that recognition casts out our fear!
EXAMPLE: Going through his five-year-old son’s backpack, a father found a picture of a little boy standing under a rainbow crying. His first thought was, “Oh God, my son is having some serious problems.” When he asked his son about the picture, the little boy told his father that he had been playing at school, and he saw a rainbow. “Dad,” the little boy said, “the rainbow was so beautiful it made me cry.” The child is awestruck, arrested by beauty. Why? He recognized the beauty of creation that surrounded him in that rainbow. How often do we dear child of God forget the love of God that surrounds us? Recognition casts out our fear!
Conclusion:
Our fear should motivate us to share! Recognition casts out our fear!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
November 10, 2019
Some information is so important that it should never be hidden or kept secret. In a free society we believe this to be a foundational truth. There are those who want to stifle free speech and try to keep certain things from the public by using things like secretive personal internet servers or throw away cell phones. Usually these folks do these things because they know that if their secrets came out they might likely go to jail.
However, the message of the Gospel is not to be kept secret. There are no special or secret messages within it or in the life of Jesus. He is exactly who he said he was: “I and the Father are one. (John 10:30 NIV)” Jesus desired that his followers would continue to share the good news until he returned again to take home his church. In doing so his disciples did not need to be afraid because what they believed and shared was not to be kept from anyone. They were to have no fear! Let’s see what this means…
READ: Matthew 10:26-33
Perhaps today’s Christian has forgotten the urgency of the gospel message in that it saves lives for eternity. But more than that we are responsible for what we know. It is the same moral obligation we would have if we could easily save a person’s life but refuse to do so because we were afraid, didn’t want to schedule the time it took, or were just plain lazy. Jesus related that…
I. Our fear should motivate us to share! (Vv. 26-28)
So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
1. If Jesus’ followers were persecuted by family, friends, co-workers, teachers, or other students they did not need to “be afraid of them”. Quite the contrary in fact because what they have to share should not be kept to themselves. The message is for the whole world! Jesus tells them bluntly that “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known”; this is why when anyone, no matter who they are, tries to say or teach you that there are or were secret messages Jesus hid from his disciples just ignore them. They are false teachers and disciples. God is the God of truth and only Satan and his minions are liars. Jesus emphatically taught: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 NIV)” Sadly far too many Christians stay hidden, run away, or are ashamed of the gospel message. A believer cannot ignore the truth of Scripture. We live in a world full of half-truths, tacit lies, and false narratives. Believers should never shy away from sharing what they know to be true! Even our fear should not keep us silent: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” There are many in our day that think that by doing good, feeling good, or by being momentarily good reserves a place for them in the Kingdom of God – nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus revealed that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)” This is why we are to be fearful of God who “can destroy both soul and body in hell”! Our fear should motivate us to share!
EXAMPLE: Fear is good thing because healthy fear can keep us healthy and make us go to the doctor, from personal harm by not crossing the street against the light, or safe by the people we choose to be in our lives. However, we can fear the wrong things in life that we have absolutely no control over like the weather, what will happen in the future, or how others respond to us. Jesus wanted his followers to understand the urgency of the message of him being the Messiah. They now had the means to defeat sin and death and to allow people to choose eternal life with a loving God! Wow! Because we are now privy to this message we are responsible for its content and to sharing it with others around us! God holds us accountable and our fear should motivate us to share!
God loves us more than we could ever understand. Paul wrote: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)” Jesus reminds us that…
II. Recognition casts out our fear! (Vv. 29-33)
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
1. The Apostle John would later declare that “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18 NIV)” John knew what Jesus meant when he shared with his disciples the comforting truth that “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.” If God who created and knows the birds of the air even down to the tiniest caged sparrow, wouldn’t those who trust him be even more on his mind? And the answer is a resounding “YES!” His eye is indeed on the sparrow but even more on those who have trusted him! The “penny” here is the denarius, which was about 1/16th of a day’s pay for a Roman soldier and for that tiny penny one could purchase two caged sparrows in the marketplace to take and release. Romans would do this as a sacrifice and to remind them of their freedom as a Roman citizen! Yet, as special as these tiny birds are to the Lord, we are even more special because “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” (Some of us have more to count than others.) We often forget that God knows us intimately. The Psalmist reminds us that “the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalms 121:8 NIV)” and King David taught that God knew him even while he was in his mother’s womb: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. (Psalms 139:13 NIV)” So don’t you think God cares about you? Jesus makes a beautiful promise here concerning our willingness to come to him by faith: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” In other words if you are willing to come to him publically and confess him as your Savior and Lord, he will confess you as well! But it also goes to the truth of our willingness to share our faith openly and honestly with others because the converse is: “whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven”! It goes back to God telling those who try to feel their way into heaven, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” but here in Matthew’s gospel we learn the truth that recognition casts out our fear!
EXAMPLE: Going through his five-year-old son’s backpack, a father found a picture of a little boy standing under a rainbow crying. His first thought was, “Oh God, my son is having some serious problems.” When he asked his son about the picture, the little boy told his father that he had been playing at school, and he saw a rainbow. “Dad,” the little boy said, “the rainbow was so beautiful it made me cry.” The child is awestruck, arrested by beauty. Why? He recognized the beauty of creation that surrounded him in that rainbow. How often do we dear child of God forget the love of God that surrounds us? Recognition casts out our fear!
Conclusion:
Our fear should motivate us to share! Recognition casts out our fear!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
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