LUKE 12:1-7 THE RIGHT WAY TO FEAR2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 12:1-7 The Right Way To Fear

00:00
You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

00:13
Well, good morning. I do apologize. Jerry had to step out. My name is Brad. I'm Jerry's mom's son. He's an only child, but my name's Brad. And I'm here to share with you from Luke chapter 12, verses 1 through 7. And as we look at this, the subject, the title of our message this morning is The Right Way to Fear. Jesus here is addressing the subject of fear, and he's letting us know

00:39
There's bad kinds of fear. There's the wrong kind of fear. But then there's also the right kind of fear. And he's giving us some insight on how to fear the right way.

00:52
The reality is, as we look at this portion, that God will be speaking to you because some of you do not fear God enough. That there's not a real fear of God in your hearts and lives. And God wants to call you to fear Him. To have an appropriate fear that is right and correct towards God. Towards Him. That we need to fear the Lord. And Jesus will be making that point this morning. Some of you though...

01:20
Well, you fear man way too much. And God wants to address you this morning because you are afraid of people. And you esteem people way too highly. And God needs to address that issue in your heart. And Jesus will be dealing with that this morning.

01:39
There's another kind of fear that Jesus will be addressing, and it's addressing those who have this feeling of abandonment, where you are afraid of God abandoning you or forgetting about you, and he's just left you all alone, or at least that's how you feel and that's what you fear. And those are things that Jesus is going to be addressing this morning. Three points as Jesus talks about the issue of fear.

02:04
And he instructs us in the right way to fear. The first thing we find as Jesus is addressing this issue of fear, it's found in verses 1 through 3, and that is that we need to not pretend to fear God. Do not pretend to fear God. Look at verse 1 with me. It says, In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together so that they trampled one another, he began to say to his disciples first of all,

02:32
And so what we find happening here is now a crowd is gathering together.

02:44
Now, we've been out of Luke for a couple weeks, so let me bring you back up to speed. As we were ending Luke chapter 11, there was a crowd already gathered, and Jesus was addressing the religious leaders. Remember, he addressed the Pharisees, and we dealt with the issue of religion, the outward practice of laws and ceremonies and things which...

03:05
really leave the heart unchanged. And that's what the Pharisees were practicing. And Jesus came against that very strongly and rebuked them for their religion, for their religiosity.

03:18
Then he went on to address the lawyers because one of the lawyers said, hey, you're offending us too. And Jesus said, well, let me talk about you lawyers. And we dealt with the subject of legalism. And there as he dealt with the subject of legalism, we were talking about the addition to the scriptures, the enforcing of laws and rules and things that God had never commanded. But these are things that they were enforcing upon the other people, upon the nation of Israel.

03:45
And so Jesus has been dealing with the Pharisees, with the lawyers, the religious leaders of the day. And these are not people who were, you know, the scum of the earth. They weren't looked down upon. The religious leaders of the day, they were highly regarded by the Jewish people. These are people that were highly respected. They were popular. They had positions of authority.

04:08
And so as Jesus is addressing them, it's, you know, a risky thing or it would have been considered a risky thing because these guys were, well, they had authority, they had power and they were looked up to and they had positions of status within the society. But Jesus here is rebuking them sharply and as he's doing so, this greater crowd now is gathering.

04:30
It describes it here as an innumerable multitude of people. And they're gathered together so much that they're trampling upon one another. And so they're packed together. There's this great multitude. But notice what it says here in verse 1. It says that they had gathered together so that they trampled one another. He began to say to his disciples first of all.

04:52
What Luke is pointing out here is that although this crowd had gathered, Jesus had been addressing the religious leaders. Now the crowd is here, but Jesus doesn't talk directly to the crowd at this point. He is speaking directly to his disciples. Now this is really important because as we go on to study these things that Jesus is going to say, you and I, we need to understand that this is not a message that's for people outside of the church.

05:20
This is not for a message for people who, you know, they haven't decided yet whether or not they want to follow Jesus. This is a message for people who have decided, yes, I believe in Jesus. I want to follow him. I will be his disciple. Jesus is addressing his disciples. The crowd's kind of listening in. They're eavesdropping on this conversation. But Luke points out he's speaking to the disciples.

05:45
And therefore he's speaking to you and I this morning as believers in Jesus Christ. And so what does he say? Well, he begins this passage talking to his disciples and saying, beware, watch out. What are they to watch out for? He says, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

06:10
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Now, this word leaven, we also use the word yeast today. It's a way that bakers cause their bread to rise and cause it to be nice and fluffy. And it has an important part in that process. But the interesting characteristic about leaven is that a little bit of leaven affects the whole batch of dough.

06:36
And that's what Jesus is addressing here. This issue of leaven that has affected the Pharisees completely. Now all throughout scripture, leaven is used as a picture of sin.

06:50
You might remember back looking at the Passover feast. And even there that issue of leaven is a picture of sin where God calls them to, well they call the feast of Passover is followed by the feast of unleavened bread.

07:07
And this feast of unleavened bread had a ceremony. They were to go throughout their house and make sure that there's no leaven in the house anywhere. They had to just clean it out completely as God called them to be a holy people unto him. And so they would eat unleavened bread for that feast as symbolic of that removing of sin from their lives.

07:30
We also see this explained a little bit further in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, where Paul says in verse 6, do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Now there in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul's addressing an issue of sin within the church. And he says, look, this issue of sin, like leaven, it affects the whole lump. It affects the whole batch of dough. It affects the whole church. A little bit of leaven in your life affects sin.

07:57
A whole lot of people. That's what Paul is saying. This leaven as a picture of sin is used repeatedly throughout the scriptures. And so he goes on to say, "...purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump or a new batch of dough since you truly are unleavened for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us."

08:18
And so this picture of the Passover and unleavened bread, this picture and this issue of sin represented by leaven is something that is, you know, standard throughout the scriptures. And so as Jesus talks about this leaven of the Pharisees, we understand that he's not talking about their baking practices, right?

08:38
He's talking about an issue of sin. And it's an issue of sin that has affected them personally, but also corporately as a group of religious leaders. They are corrupted by this leaven, by this sin. And what is the sin? Well, he says, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. The issue that Jesus is addressing here is hypocrisy.

09:07
The word hypocrisy or hypocrite is, it's the Greek word that the Greeks would use to describe or to call someone who's on stage impersonating a character. So when you are on stage, let's say you audition for a play, you get the part. When you are on stage, you are not supposed to be who you really are.

09:31
When you're on stage, you're supposed to be the character that you've auditioned for, the character that you're playing their part. And so you are no longer referred to under your own name, but you're referred to as your character name. Your personality, well, that's not supposed to show through. You're supposed to represent the personality of the character that you're portraying, and so on and so forth.

09:55
Now that person who's portraying the character, who's portraying the emotions, the personality, that person is described by the Greeks as the word hypocrite. And so the word hypocrite means to play the part. It means to be in character. And as Jesus is addressing the Pharisees or this issue amongst the Pharisees, he says, look, here's the sin issue. Hypocrisy.

10:25
That they are in character. That they're on stage. That they're not being who they really are. They're not representing themselves accurately. They're pretending to be something or somebody that they are not. And just like leaven, it is corrupting them completely. It's corrupting them completely. Jesus is calling the Pharisees hypocrites.

10:58
He's calling them actors. They're pretending to know God. They're pretending to fear God. Now as Jesus has been addressing them just prior to this in chapter 11, he was dealing with the subject of religion. And religion and hypocrisy go hand in hand. Religion is that keeping of rules and laws and ceremony. The outward things but then the heart is left unchanged.

11:26
So we understand as he deals with hypocrisy that hypocrisy is pretending to fear God. It's pretending to know God, pretending to walk with God. Now what does it mean to fear God as we talk about the subject of fear this morning? Well, to fear the Lord, I would summarize it this way, is to put him first.

11:53
To fear the Lord is to put him first. That is, his commands are the first and foremost commands. That you obey him first before you obey your own self, before you obey your boss, before you obey your spouse, before you obey anybody else. You obey God first. To fear the Lord is to put him first. That his opinions are first and foremost.

12:18
And what he thinks and what he says is what matters most to you. It matters more to you his opinion than your own opinion. His opinion is more important to you than somebody else's opinion. That he is first. That he matters most.

12:34
That his plans override your plans and override everybody else's plans. That you are submitted to him first and foremost. To fear God is to put him first. Because you recognize who he really is. That he is the creator. That he is the king of kings and lord of lords. And so to fear God is to put him in his appropriate place. Now we also know from the Proverbs that

13:02
To fear the Lord is to depart from iniquity. To depart from iniquity is to fear God because you put his opinions, his word, his commands first. And so when you realize I'm practicing sin, I'm involved in sin, and you realize God says something different than what I'm living out, then you depart from that because he matters most. Because you realize what he says goes. And so you depart from iniquity to follow the Lord.

13:32
That's the idea that we're talking about here as we talk about fearing God. And hypocrisy is pretending to fear God. You see, the religious leaders were involved in all kinds of outward demonstrations, but within there was something different going on. It's not who they really were. They put on this show as if they loved God greatly, but they really did not love God. They put on this show as if they were righteous...

14:04
But they were not righteous. They put on the show. They were in character. But behind the scenes, backstage, they were something else entirely. Jesus goes on in verse 2 to say, For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. So here's the thing. Here's the issue with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, it's foolish hypocrisy.

14:33
Because the Pharisees have this show, they have this front on, this facade that they're showing to the people. And the people are believing it. But Jesus said, and the people were surprised one time when Jesus said, if your righteousness doesn't exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of God. And the people are shocked.

14:57
Because they're the most righteous people around. I mean, if they're not going to enter into the kingdom of God, the people figured, well, nobody's going to enter because they're the most righteous. But Jesus is pointing out, they're not. They appear to be. They have the appearance of righteousness. They have the appearance that they fear God. But they're hypocrites. They're putting on a show. And see, that's foolish. Jesus is going on now to explain that.

15:27
Because they think, because they're putting on a good show, they've convinced the people of how righteous they are, they're convinced that they're okay. But God sees right through their mask.

15:44
Just like I put on the mask and I say, hey, Jerry had to step away. I'm Brad. Nice to meet you. And he realized, okay, we can see right through that. We know who you are. You're not kidding us. In the same way, the Pharisees, the religious leaders, they put on this show and God sees right through it and he says, you're not kidding me. You don't fool me. I know who you are. Even if you got the people convinced that you're righteous, I know what's happening within you.

16:13
And Jesus says, look, there is nothing covered that will not be revealed. They were dealing with sin. They had sin within their hearts. They were practicing sin, but they were practicing, they were experienced in the art of covering up their sin. We talked about the issue of sin last night and how to deal with your, I'm sorry, last week, and how to deal with your sin is to repent.

16:39
But one of the options that we often take when it comes to our own sin is instead of repenting from it, we try to cover it up, to hide it. And Jesus says here, there is nothing covered that will not be revealed. The Pharisees thought they had their sin covered. Their hearts were corrupt. And we can see that looking back as we see their hatred of Jesus. You know, they were insistent, you cannot heal on the Sabbath. But they were perfectly fine with it.

17:10
hating, being bitter, and plotting the death of Christ on the Sabbath. That was okay. Just don't heal on the Sabbath. We could see the corruption of their heart. That's just one example. But they had this show, this act, this mask. And Jesus says, look, you're going to be uncovered. Think about what Jesus is saying here. He says, nothing is covered. Nothing is hidden.

17:43
Nothing. The word emphasizes, the word nothing, it emphasizes in the Greek, not even one thing. There's not one thing in your life that is covered, that will not be made known. Does that cause a little shiver to kind of run up your spine a little bit? There's not one thing in your life that will not be made public, that will not be put on display. So let me ask you, do you have anything that you are trying to keep hidden? Nothing.

18:23
Do you have anything in your life that you're working to make sure that somebody doesn't find out? You're wanting to make sure you take some steps to make sure, well, I don't want my spouse to find out about this. They can't know about what I'm doing, what I'm involved in. Or you don't want your boss to know what's really going on, what's happening. You're working to cover up so that they don't see what you're doing, what you're practicing.

18:54
Where you're putting on some coverings. You're covering up so that people at church or your neighbors or your family, whoever. Are there areas in your life where you're working to cover up so that people don't find out what is really going on? Now I'm not talking about past things and I'm not saying you have to disclose your whole past to anybody who wants to know. I'm talking about current things. Things that you're practicing right now.

19:25
Things that you're doing, things that you're involved in, are you trying to keep things hidden from people? That's a big warning sign that you are pretending to fear God. You're putting on a show so that in front of people or in front of certain people, you are acting in character. But it's not who you really are. There's not one thing in your life that will not be made known.

20:05
It's all going to come out. Jesus is saying, look, it's foolish to try to hide, to try to put on a show. Because it's all going to be made known. It's all going to be revealed. Light is going to be shed. It's all going to be uncovered. And everyone will know what is really going on. He continues that thought into verse 3. It says...

20:33
Therefore, whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light. And what you have spoken in the ear, in inner rooms, will be proclaimed on the housetops. So Jesus is saying, look, the things that you do, the things that you practice, everything that you have, everything that you are, you can try to cover it up, but it's going to be uncovered. There's not one thing that will not be revealed. It will all be disclosed. Along those same lines, everything that you say, even if you're whispering,

21:03
In someone's ear, in the inner room, you're in a dark place. Nobody can hear. Nobody else can see what's going on. But you're talking. You're whispering in the inner rooms. Jesus says, those things that you whispered in the inner rooms, they will be proclaimed on the housetops. Whatever you have spoken will be heard, even if you did so in secret. As we look at this, we understand there really are no secrets then.

21:38
You know, there's the idea of like taking your secrets to the grave. That's not actually possible. Because everything, whatever you have spoken, it will be made public. It will be broadcast. It will be declared. Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 12 verse 36, But I say to you, that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

22:07
Jesus says, look, on the day of judgment, you're going to give an account for every idle word that you speak. It's all going to be made known. Now, this isn't saying that necessarily it's going to be made known in this life. It doesn't mean that every secret you know is going to be on the news tomorrow. But it will be brought to light. It will be made public. It will be made known. There are no secrets. Your whole life will be made public. Will be disclosed.

22:43
We will give an account for it is what Jesus is talking about. So whatever you have spoken will be heard, will be proclaimed. It's foolish to pretend to fear God. Because ultimately, the truth will be brought to light. I think it's safe to say that some of you this morning are pretending to fear God. Some of you listening to this, some of you here in this place, you're pretending like the Pharisees. You're putting on a show.

23:29
But inside, this is not who you are. You're not really interested in pursuing a relationship with God. You're not really interested in walking with God. But you put on the show. You're pretending to fear God. If you are practicing sin but trying to keep it covered, listen, you are pretending to fear God. You don't actually fear God. You're just pretending. You just put on the show for the people around you. I'm sure you've often heard that

23:59
Famous excuse, right? Hey, why don't you come to church? Oh, there's too many hypocrites in the church. Man, that church is full of hypocrites. We've heard that. We know it's an excuse. It's just a thing for people to say so that they don't have to come to church and be accountable to the Word of God. However, the statement itself is hard to dispute because many times, like the religious leaders, there are hypocrites. Those who pretend to fear God, pretend to know God,

24:34
But in reality, they don't. Perhaps that's some of you. Let me ask you, why are you pretending? Why are you putting on the mask? Putting on the show? Why are you pretending to fear God? Who benefits from you pretending to fear God? Who benefits? Listen, God can see right through the mask.

25:07
He can see right through the charade. He sees all the things that you're trying to cover up. He's heard all the secrets that you've shared. He knows all of those things. Listen, he still loves you. He wants to have a relationship with you, to walk with you. He wants to purify you and to transform you into his image. He knows all those things and he still loves you and calls you to him. But if you're just pretending, God doesn't receive that. In fact, he rebukes that as we see Jesus addressing it here.

25:40
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Why are you pretending? Who benefits? You do not benefit from pretending to fear God. A lot of times we pretend to fear God because we think, well, it's better than nothing. Right? Pretending to fear God is better than not doing anything at all related to God. So I'll come to church and I'll put on this show. I'll pretend to be the Christian that everybody thinks that I am.

26:13
And that's better than me, you know, not doing anything at all. But you know, it doesn't actually benefit you to pretend to fear God. It actually just deceives you. And you think, well, I'm okay. I'm better. You know, I went to church. I read my Bible. Pretending to fear God, the enemy uses that to deceive you to think that you're okay. When Jesus is saying, watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. That sin...

26:46
Well, we'll go on to see in the next few verses, it has some severe judgment. To not fear God, that's to spend eternity apart from God. So pretending to fear God and convincing yourself that you're okay because, you know, you did this thing, you put on this show, you got people convinced that you're walking with the Lord, that doesn't actually help you for eternity. In fact, it hinders you.

27:14
Why are you pretending to fear God? Who benefits? The people around you don't benefit. You don't benefit. God doesn't benefit. Nobody benefits. So stop pretending. Stop pretending to be something that you're not. If you love the Lord, you want to live your life for Him, then live that way. Don't pretend to be something else. If you don't love the Lord, you don't want to live your life for Him. You're not interested in walking with Him.

27:51
You want to do things your way? You want to do what you want to do? You want to fulfill your plan? Hey, you have that choice. You have that freedom. You don't have to pretend to fear God. Stop pretending. It just hurts you and everybody else around you. Remember, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. It affects everybody. Stop pretending. Take off the mask. Some fresh air. Listen, that's how you'll feel too when you take off the mask.

28:27
Take off the mask. It doesn't benefit you. It doesn't help you. It hurts you. It hinders you. And it hinders and hurts people around you. Why are you pretending to fear God? Well, now as we go forward, the next issue in fear Jesus is dealing with in verse 4 and 5, he'll tell us to fear God, not man. Fear God and not man. Look at verse 4.

28:56
He says, and I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. Jesus says, look, do not fear man. Proverbs tells us in Proverbs 29, 25 that the fear of man brings a snare. It's a trap for you to fear man.

29:19
Why is it a trap? Why is it a snare? Well, first of all, the fear of man leads you to pretend that you fear God, what we've just been talking about. The fear of man leads you to pretend that you fear God because, well, you're gathered here, you're around other believers, you know what is expected of a Christian, and because you don't want to hear from us, you don't want to hear, hey, why do you have that attitude? Why are you acting those things? Why are you practicing those things? You don't want to hear that. You're

29:52
Very interested in what we have to say, what other believers have to say. And so you pretend to fear God to look good in front of us because you fear man and not God. The fear of man also leads you kind of in the opposite direction. The fear of man will lead you to pretend that you don't know God.

30:13
So either the fear of man is going to lead you to pretend like you fear God, or the fear of man is going to lead you to pretend that you don't know God. It just depends on what crowd you're around. So when you're around the unbelievers, then you pretend that you don't know God. When you're around the believers, you pretend that you fear God. You're just putting on a show, putting on the appropriate mask for the play that you're in, depending on who the audience is. That's what the fear of man does.

30:42
Now this is hard for us because, well, it's the people that are right in front of us and we begin to fear them very often because they're the ones who are there. They're the ones who can talk to us. They're the ones who interact with us. They're the ones who make fun of us or laugh at us or rebuke us. It's those people. And so we put on this show to try to

31:10
Well, accomplish whatever our objective is. If we want to try to fit in better, then we put on this mask. We try to fit in by acting a certain way. We try to, you know, be accepted, be popular, or at least not be rebuked. And so we put on this mask. We put on this show. We pretend to be something that we're not. That's the fear of man. Think about Peter as an example of this. Remember Peter? He said, hey, I'm not going to deny the Lord.

31:43
Even if everybody else does, no way. To the death, me and Jesus. And then this little girl comes up to him and says, hey, aren't you one of his disciples? You know the story. Three times Peter gets asked, challenged, aren't you with Jesus? Aren't you a follower of Jesus? And this bold, strong, boisterous man, it says in Mark chapter 14, verse 71, he began to curse and swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak. Fear of man. He was caught in the snare.

32:26
And so he is pretending to be something that he is not. You and I, we can relate to that. We experience. We're tempted often, frequently, daily, sometimes moment by moment to fear man. We're afraid of, well, persecution, how they might come against us, what they might say, be it physical or verbal or emotional, whatever. We're afraid of persecution or we're afraid of not fitting in. We want to be accepted. We want to fit in.

33:00
Be part of the group. We're afraid of what people will think, what they will say. We esteem those things very highly because we fear man and not God. But the fear of man causes us to sin. The fear of man causes us to not obey God. It causes us to hold back, to not step out in faith.

33:23
To not share the gospel with people. To not pray for people. To not shine the light of Christ. The fear of man holds us back. It's sinful. It's a real issue. In fact, Jesus is putting that in direct contrast to fearing God. So if you fear man, you don't fear God. And that's a serious issue.

33:48
Fear of man causes us to sin. Jesus says, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more they can do. Jesus essentially looks at you and he says, do you believe in eternity? Do you believe in the eternal life that I've promised? All right, if you believe in the eternal life that I've promised, then don't fear what people can do to you because what is the worst that could happen?

34:22
You say, well, I could be put to death. They could hurt me. They could kill me. They could fire me. They could do all of these things against me. Jesus says, look, the worst that they can do is kill you, but they don't have any more authority or power after that. That's the most that they can do. Well, that's a lot. Jesus says, not if you're looking at the eternal perspective. Because this life compared to eternity, it's a short while. They might be able to afflict harm here,

34:58
The worst that they could do is end your life. But then that, if you're a believer in Jesus, that ushers you into eternity with the Lord, which is far greater than our language can describe. Far greater than your imagination can imagine. So they're very limited. The people around you are very limited in what they can do to you because they cannot affect or alter your eternity.

35:23
So Jesus says, think about eternity. The worst that they can do is kill you, but they don't have any power after that. But there is someone who does have power after that. Jesus goes on in verse 5. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he has killed has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, fear him.

35:53
So Jesus says, don't fear man. Don't fear people. They're limited in their power. The most they can do is put you to death. But there's one who can do more than that. There's one who has authority and power, not only to put your body to death, but can cast your soul into hell. That's the one that you need to fear. You want to be afraid? Jesus says, I'll give you something to be afraid of.

36:29
You want to fear something? I'll give you something to fear. Fear the one who can cast you into hell. That's who you need to fear. That's who you need to be paying attention to. Fear him who after he's killed has power to cast you into hell. Now who is that? That has power to kill your body and then cast you into hell. It's not the devil. It's not any person. It's not any angel. It is God and God alone.

37:03
He is the only one who has the power and authority to not only end the physical life, but to cast your soul into hell. Now a lot of people don't like to believe in hell. But the Bible is very clear. There is a reality. It's eternal. It's punishment. It's hell. Also known as Gehenna or the lake of fire. The book of Revelation. It's a reality. It exists. And people say, well, I don't like to think

37:38
That God could cast anybody into hell because, you know, He's a God of love. And yes, He is a God of love. And because He's a God of love, He's provided a way of salvation through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And He is the way, the truth, and the life. There's no one who goes to the Father except through Jesus Christ. That's because God loves us. Because God is love. But God is also holy and just and righteous. And those who reject Jesus as Savior and Lord...

38:10
Will be cast into hell. Revelation chapter 20 verse 15 says. And anyone not found written in the book of life. Was cast into the lake of fire. That's at the end. The final judgment. Whoever's names are not written in the book of life. Whoever's names are not written. Because they've not been born again. By faith in Jesus Christ. They will be cast into the lake of fire. That's the reality. And so Jesus is saying look. Hell is real.

38:41
People only have power to affect your physical body. They can't affect your eternal condition. But God has the power to affect your eternal condition. And so he's the one that you need to fear. He's the one that you need to pay attention to. And so Jesus ends there, verse 5. Yes, I say to you, fear him. Consider eternity. Consider what's at stake. And now think, who should you fear?

39:10
You need to fear God. You need to put Him first. Who is it that you should be trying to please? You see, it's not so important that you please the people around you. Because they could be great, happy with you. They could love you. They could lift you up on pedestals and make you popular. You could still go to hell. So what good was all that pleasing men for you? The fear of man is a snare. You need to fear God.

39:49
He's the one who has power and authority over your eternity. Some of you have been caught up in the snare of fearing man. And like Peter, it's led you to deny the Lord in front of, around those people. And so you've put on this mask and you've pretended that you do not know God. You've been withholding your witness. You've been holding back obedience. Jesus says, you're fearing God.

40:24
The wrong thing. Don't fear man. Fear God. These are in contrast to one another. If you fear man, and so you don't obey God, then you don't fear God. Fear the Lord. Put Him first. Obey Him first. It might result in some, well, conflict. Affliction. There might be some difficulty as a result. But the people around you can only affect your temporary condition, not your eternity.

41:02
What good is it to please the people who only are around you temporarily when you have the God who has control of your eternity? It's Him you need to please. Fear the Lord. Please Him. Live your life for Him. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1, verse 6,

41:26
We learn from the letters to Timothy that he was a little bit timid. And he had a tendency to hold back. Not fulfill all that God had called him to do. Because of fear. Fear of man. And Paul had to encourage him, stir up the gift. Stir up the gift.

41:54
Some of you have been caught up in the snare of fearing man. And so the gift that God has given to you, you're accountable for it. He's called you. Use the gift. Step out in faith. Be obedient. But you're holding back. And you need to stir that up once again. Be obedient. Fear the Lord no matter what the consequences are. Well, the last issue of fear that Jesus deals with in verse 6 and 7 says,

42:28
He tells us to not fear being forgotten. Do not fear being forgotten. Verse 6. Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Now as Jesus goes on here to look at these sparrows, he's addressing a different kind of fear now. It's the fear that God has abandoned or forgotten you.

42:54
And to illustrate why you do not need to fear this, Jesus will call us to consider the sparrows. Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? Jesus says, look in the marketplace, you take two coins, piece of cake, no problem, you can get five sparrows for that. They're not valuable. They're not hard to come across. They're plentiful. They're cheap. They're inexpensive. They're not worth a whole lot.

43:27
But he goes on to say, and not one of them is forgotten before God. So while those sparrows are not very valuable, they're not forgotten. Not even one of them. How many sparrows are there? Well, nobody's attempted to count, but they estimate that there's several, many billions of sparrows in the world. Just sparrows apart from other kinds of birds. And yet, not one of them is forgotten. There's not one of them where God's thinking, where did that thing go?

43:59
I have the worm ready. Where is it? I can't find it. I can't figure out. How am I going to provide for this sparrow when I can't find it? Or man, I don't know if we have enough worms. Man, what am I going to do with all these sparrows? He's not worried. He knows exactly where they're at. He hasn't forgotten them. He knows exactly where they're at, what they're going through, their conditions, the circumstances. He knows everything about all of the sparrows. Not one of them is forgotten. And you say, well, so what? Who cares about sparrows? Verse 7.

44:30
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows. Here's the point Jesus is making. Not one sparrow is forgotten. And here you are fearful of God forgetting you. You're fearful of God abandoning you. And God says, you're much more valuable than sparrows. How valuable are you to the Lord?

44:56
What Jesus says, you're so valuable, he knows you so well that the numbers of hair on your head, he knows. The hairs of your head are numbered. He knows that number. Now think about it. Who's the person who loves you the most in this life? Maybe your spouse, maybe a parent, maybe a friend, who knows? The person who loves you the most has no idea how many hairs you have on your head. But God knows.

45:30
He knows because he loves you so much. He's intensely interested in you. Now listen, the number of hairs on your head is a moving target. We're not born with a certain amount of hair and then we have that same exact amount of hair for the rest of our life. I wish that were the case. But that's not the reality. The number of hairs I have on my head today is different than yesterday and it's different than tomorrow. But God knows the number of hairs on your head.

46:05
Because he's that intimately involved in you, in your life. He's that concerned about who you are. He knows exactly what you're going through. So Jesus says, do not fear therefore. That's an example. That's to give you an indication of how much attention God is giving to you. He knows the very number of hairs on your head. So he knows every other detail about your life.

46:32
He knows exactly where you are. He knows exactly what you're going through. And Jesus says, you are of more value than many sparrows. God doesn't forget any of the sparrows. He knows exactly where they're at, what they're going through. And you're more valuable than a lot of sparrows combined all together. What's the point? You will never be forgotten by God. You will never be forgotten by God. He's intensely interested in you.

47:03
More so than you and I even understand. He knows exactly what's happening. But here's the thing. He's talking about just prior to this fearing God and not man. And that means man, well they might put you to death. You might experience some persecution because you fear God and not man. And persecuted people are tempted to wonder, has God forgotten me? Because I'm going through such persecution, such affliction, such difficulty.

47:35
Maybe God has abandoned me. Maybe he has forgotten me. Similarly, suffering people are tempted to wonder if God has forgotten them. Because here we are in the midst of some affliction. It's hard. It's hurtful. It's painful. And we wonder, where is God? Has he forgotten me? Has he just left me here? He's abandoned me. I've got lost in the shuffle. Jesus is saying, no. No.

48:07
Don't fear. You're more valuable than many sparrows. God knows the very numbers of hair on your head. You don't need to fear that God has forgotten you. Do not be afraid, Jesus says. Do not fear. You will never be forgotten by God. Then why am I suffering? If I'm not forgotten by God and he knows the exact numbers of hairs on my head, why fear?

48:39
Am I suffering so much? Why is there so much pain and difficulty? You and I know we cannot fully answer that. There's many things that we don't know when it comes to the will of God and the plan of God and the way that he works all things together for good. But here's what we do know. You will never be forgotten by God.

49:05
That's something that you can know, that you can be assured of. Jesus says, you don't need to fear. You've not been forgotten. God knows who you are. He knows what you're going through. We also learn from elsewhere in the scripture, 1 Peter chapter 1, Peter says, we go through trials and afflictions so that our faith is proven genuine. So one of the reasons we experience suffering is

49:37
Is to solidify or to prove that our faith is genuine. It's for purification. We also know from James chapter 1. That suffering and trials. Well it's God's intention. He uses those things to bring us to perfection. To work in us. To build his character within us. So why are you suffering? Well I can't outline all of the exact details of that. That's part of the will of God. The plan of God. Which...

50:14
is a mystery to many of us to most of us to all of us this side of eternity but i do know you're not forgotten i do know god is wanting to use these afflictions to prove your faith genuine he's wanting to use these afflictions and difficulties and pain to bring you to perfection sometimes we think you know oh man i'm suffering god has forgotten me the opposite is actually true

50:42
You're suffering because God says, look, I love you and I want you to be brought to perfection. And so I'm using these things to work in you. So consider it pure joy when you encounter various trials, James says. We don't know the plan of God. We don't know how the will of God is going to work out completely. You could think about Stephen in the book of Acts. He's a believer in Jesus. He's testifying of the Lord and he's martyred. He's put to death for it. Then you have Peter.

51:14
He's a believer in Jesus. He's testifying of Jesus. He's put in prison. He's going to be put to death. But then an angel comes and delivers him from the prison. Now why did God deliver Peter but allow Stephen to be martyred? Who can answer that? Only the Lord. That's his will. That's his plan. That's up to him. But here's what I do know.

51:37
Peter nor Stephen was forgotten by God. In fact, Stephen, as he's being put to death, the stones are flying, he's dying. He sees the Lord standing on the throne waiting to receive him. And so it wasn't that God had abandoned him or forgotten him. He was receiving him. Jesus says, do not fear. You're much more valuable than sparrows. God knows the numbers of hair on your head. You do not need to fear being forgotten.

52:14
We're going to close the service this morning with one last worship song. Worship team, you guys can come up and get ready. As they get ready, I want to finish up with a reminder of Daniel chapter 3. You don't have to turn there. But in Daniel chapter 3, we have the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And remember, King Nebuchadnezzar had set up an idol, a great image, and commanded that everybody worship the image whenever the music plays. And we see the right image

52:48
fear in these men as they face this situation they do not pretend to fear god they're not just acting it out they they really do fear god they put him first and so when the music plays they do not bow down before the image everybody else does but here's these three guys standing up when everybody else is bowing down they're not just pretending it's a real fear of god that they have

53:17
Then we continue on to see that they fear God and not man because they're brought before King Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar says, don't you understand? I can cast you into the furnace. I'm going to give you one last chance. If you don't bow down into the fire, you go. But they said, hey, it doesn't matter. You can cast us into the furnace. We're not going to worship your God. We're not going to bow down before your image. We fear God and not man or what man can do to us. But they also did not fear being forgotten.

53:53
They say at the end of Daniel chapter 3 verse 18, it says, but if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the image which you have set up. They say, look, our God can save us, but even if he doesn't, we're not going to worship your God. They were not fearful of being forgotten by God. Their attitude was, God can preserve us in the fire, which he ended up doing.

54:22
Or he can take us up into heaven through the fire. That's fine too. Either way, we're not going to serve your gods. They did not fear being forgotten by God. They knew God was with them. Whichever way, had he delivered them or allowed them to perish, they knew God was with them. And this morning as we finish up in this song, I want to challenge you to fear the right way. Don't just pretend to fear God.

54:52
Nobody benefits from that. Why are you pretending? Stop it. Take off the mask. Hey, you don't want nothing to do with God? That's your choice. It's a bad choice, but it's your choice. Don't pretend that you fear Him. Fear God, not man. If you've fallen into that snare, the fear of man, take this time to get out of it, to repent of it, and to put God first once again in your life. And don't fear being forgotten.

55:32
God knows you. He knows what's going on. He knows if it's hurtful, if it's painful, He knows. If it's hard and difficult, He knows. He hasn't abandoned you. He's with you. He cares for you. So stop fearing that He's left you and start enjoying His presence because He will never leave you nor forsake you. And so let's worship the Lord together as we consider the right way to fear.

56:07
We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.