Turn with me to Matthew 28. Matthew 28, I told you last Wednesday
night that I felt like I had a very sweet, tender, warm, comforting message for
us. And I feel like that's what I
have again for us tonight. This is the last service that
we're gonna have before we celebrate what the world calls Christmas. And we know that the Christmas
holiday has nothing to do with Christ. It honestly doesn't. It doesn't have anything to do
with the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not born on December the
25th. It's estimated by those who know
a lot more than I do that he was probably born around October. It doesn't really matter when
he was born. All that matters is that he was
born. That's all that matters. And
with that being said, because December the 25th is the designated
time that this world thinks on and remembers his birth, I can't
help but think about it too. I just read a scripture reading
concerning his death. And we consider his death every
time we come into this building. We preach Christ crucified. But in order for him to die,
he had to be born. He had to live in order for him
to die. And as my mind pictures this moment
that everyone is thinking about at this time of the year, this
moment of his birth, I can't help but envision a very quiet,
solemn, holy, awe-filled, special moment. You know, you think about
that moment after a baby is born and everything settles down.
You know what I'm talking about. What a moment that night was. Hannah just played, Oh, holy
night. The stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our dear Savior's
birth. Even though that's a common worldly
song, I agree with that first line. So holy. So holy. The song goes on to say, fall
on your knees. Oh, hear the angels voices. They said. They came to some
shepherds that night. And they said unto you is born
this day in the city of David. A savior, which is Christ the
Lord. And this shall be a sign unto
you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men. All on your knees and hear that
message. O night divine, the song says. Divine means God of God. O night of God. O night that God came to man. O night that Christ was born. Something about the tone of that
song matches what I have envisioned in my mind concerning that night. And what I want to say is, I
thank God for that night. I truly do. I truly thank God
for that night. I thank God for the fact that
he came for us. And he lived for us. I have lived an awful life. I have messed up my life. I have
ruined my life. If I had to go stand before the
judgment of God in my life, I wouldn't make it. And thank God I didn't
make it on the cross of Calvary. That's where I stood before the
judgment of God, in Him. But now, when that time comes
and I go stand before the judgment of God, I'm gonna stand before
the judgment with Him in me. Not me in me. I was crucified with Christ.
The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. He lived
for His people. He died for His people. He arose
for His people. He ascended for His people and
He has promised to return for His people. Everything that we
have to say about our Lord is past tense. But He is coming back in reality. He's going to come back for His
people. And the message that I have to
bring because of all that, this is now the message because of
that wonderful night and that wonderful man and this wonderful
life and this wonderful death. The message that I have to bring
because of all of that is this. Look at verse 10. Then said Jesus unto them, be not afraid. Go tell my brethren that they
go into Galilee and there shall they see me. My message for us
tonight is because of Christ, be not afraid. Because of the Lord Jesus Christ,
this is my real, sincere, honest, this is not just an outline,
this is not just a nice, sweet little title, this is my real,
sincere message for us tonight. Because of the Lord Jesus Christ,
because of everything we looked at this morning, because of everything
in his purpose, everything in His covenant, everything
in His sacrifice, everything in His promise of eternal security
to His chosen people, His precious people, His special treasure,
them that are His. Because of Him, we have nothing
to be afraid of. If we're in Him, If the Father
placed us in Him, we have nothing to be afraid of. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. When I first started
studying this, I wrote some points for an outline, and these were
the points. Number one, be not afraid of
life. I don't know how much living
the rest of us, any of us has to do, but there's a lot to be afraid
of out there. Be not afraid of life. Number
two, be not afraid of death. Number three, be not afraid of
the judgment because of Christ. Number four, be not afraid of
eternity. And so that was the outline that
I wrote out, and I tried to find some scriptures that supported
each one of those points, and we were gonna go through them
one by one, okay? Four points. And every scripture
I found, I was having a hard time figuring out which point
to put that scripture with, because it perfectly described all four
of them. And I kept working at it and
working at it, and I thought, well, this one could be that
one, that one, or that one, this one could be, and so I finally
thought, why try to separate them? Let's go through some scriptures,
and let's find comfort from these words of our Lord to be not afraid. Don't be afraid. Whether we're
talking about life, The life that we still have to
live on this earth with the troubles and the trials and the sorrows
that we know are gonna come. In this world you shall have
tribulation, our Lord said. Be of good cheer, I've overcome
the world. That's good news, isn't it? Be not afraid whether we're talking
about life or whether we're talking about death, that moment when
it is going to be our turn. Everybody has a turn and you
watch turn after turn after turn from people who you expect and
people who you don't expect, people who are not, it's not
that shocking to hear that person died or it's extremely shocking
to hear. Well, I have a turn coming. I have a turn to leave this body. You know, I think it was Peter
who said, I must put off this flesh. A turn to leave this world, whether
we're talking about life, or whether we're talking about death,
or whether we're talking about the judgment that all men and
women are going to face, either in Christ or out of Christ. Either in Christ or out of Christ.
Or whether we're talking about eternity. Eternity, a never ending
existence. for us that we know nothing about,
really. Our Lord has told us a little
bit about it, but we don't know anything about it. Eye hath not
seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath entered into the heart of
man. Even so, because of our dear
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because He was born into this
world, He came to us, He came for us, and He lived perfectly
in this world, and He died perfectly in this world. He lived a perfectly
satisfactory life to God, and He died a perfect satisfactory
death to God for His people. And he paid the sin debt of all
of his people perfectly. And he arose and he ascended
and he sat down on his throne because he is sitting there right
now, seated in the heavens right now, ever living to make intercession
for us right now. We can be not afraid. We can fear not, we have nothing
to be afraid of. Now let me show you some of the
scriptures that I found. I hope this will be a real comfort
and take it as a true, sincere, tangible word of comfort to use
right now, okay? Grab hold of this and use it
right now. Turn with me to Joshua chapter
one. Joshua 1, after the books of
Moses, it's right after Deuteronomy. Joshua 1, Moses here has died
and Joshua is now the one who has to lead the children of Israel
into the promised land. And the Lord said to him in verse
6, Joshua 1, In verse 6, the Lord said to him, Be strong and
of a good courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for
an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to
give them. Only be thou strong and very
courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all
the law which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from
it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper
whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day
and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is
written therein, For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded
thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither
be thou dismayed, for, because the Lord thy God is with thee,
whithersoever thou goest. Now Joshua is a picture of Christ. He's a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ and our Lord did fulfill all the law of God. He did keep
all of those commandments. But our Lord is saying this to
us too. He said, wherever you go, wherever you go, I can't help
but apply that to life. Wherever you go, can't help but
apply that to death. The judgment eternity? Verse 9, have not I commanded
thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither
be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever
thou goest. Wherever you go. Is that not
a word of comfort? Wherever you go, I'll be with
you. Wherever you go, if you knew that Jesus Christ was right
there, I mean, if you could see him standing, if he, I believe
he's in the room, where two or three are gathered in his name,
he's in the midst of us, but if we could see him right now,
if we were standing with him right now, would you be afraid? David said, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why, David? He's with me. He's right there. That's why we can be not afraid
in life, in death. I fear tomorrow. We were just talking about this.
You don't know what a day may hold. You don't know what tomorrow
may bring. But I have no reason to. My flesh is weak. My spirit
is willing, but my flesh is weak. But there's no reason to. We
can be not afraid in life, in death, in judgment, in eternity. He's
with us. He's with us. Turn with me to
2 Chronicles 20. Man, I love this. If there is
something that I love in the scripture, it's this. Read on
your own time, read the whole chapter of 2 Chronicles 20. Second Chronicles 20, it's after
Kings. Second Chronicles 20, Israel
found out right here that three other countries were going to
go against them in war. Three other countries had united
to fight against Israel. in battle. And Israel started
praying and begging God for mercy and help. They said, we cannot
go against a number of people this large. And they started
praying and begging God for mercy and help. Look at verse 13. And
all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their
wives and their children. Then upon Jehaziel, the son of
Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeil, the son of Madaniah,
a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in
the midst of the congregation. The Spirit of God came into this man and started
speaking through this man. Verse 15, and he said, Hearken
ye all Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat,
thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours,
but God's. Tomorrow go ye down against them,
Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and you shall find them
at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jerul. You
shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand
ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah
in Jerusalem, fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against
them, for the Lord will be with you. Buddy, that's good news. That applies to the judgment
for sure. That applies to death. That even
applies to this life. It applies to this life. No matter
what it is, the battle is not yours. If you belong to him,
you're never gonna need to fight. The battle is not yours, it's
the Lord's. He is with us and he is the fighter of all of our
battles. And if he is the fighter, we're
gonna win. We're gonna win. That's comforting, isn't it?
We already have won. There's no battle yet to fight
that He hasn't won. Be not afraid. Don't be afraid. Turn over to Isaiah 43. Isaiah
43 verse 1. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. That's the reason why. He said,
don't be afraid because I shed my blood to redeem you. I sent
my spirit and called you. I have spoken peace to your heart
by telling you, you're mine. You are mine. You belong to me.
I belong to you. Look at Isaiah 41. Back a page
to Isaiah 41. Verse 10 says, fear thou not
for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. He said, be not afraid because
I'm going to uphold you with my righteous right hand. You talking about in life, death,
judgment, or eternity? All of it. Look at verse 13. For I, the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and
you men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He said, I'll hold your hand.
your hand through life? I'll hold your hand. I will literally
hold your hand through death. I'll hold your hand through the
judgment. The judgment you already endured
in me on the cross of Calvary. I'll even hold your hand throughout
all of eternity. I'll never let your hand go.
Look at Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35, verse three. Strengthen ye the weak hands
and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, be strong, fear not, behold, your God will come with a vengeance,
even God with a recompense, he will come and save you. That
gives me courage in my heart. That strengthens my heart. Behold,
your God will come with a vengeance. He will come and save you. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. Just wait on the Lord. Just wait
on the Lord. Turn with me to Luke 12. Luke 12, this is a good one. Luke 12, verse 32. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. That's a good one, isn't it? Well, I thought that belonged
to you. It does. But you know what I want to do
with it? I'm gonna give it to you. That's definitely a word for
eternity. But that's the word that'll get
us through this difficult life and everything between here and
there. Don't be afraid. You have an inheritance coming.
You have a place reserved in heaven for you. And in Revelation
1, our Lord said, I hold the keys to that place. Turn with
me over there to Revelation 1. Revelation 1 verse 12. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks,
and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the
Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird about
the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame
of fire. and his feet like unto fine brass
as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of
many waters, and he had in his right hand seven stars, and out
of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was
as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and death. He said, Fear not, because it's
me. because it's me don't fear life
because it's me whatever it is it is the lord it is his providence
it is his purpose don't fear death because it's me don't fear
the judgment because it's me it was not you it was me Don't fear eternity. Don't fear
the unknown. Don't fear the unknown because
it's me. There is so much comfort and
assurance in that. Because of Christ, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Because of Christ,
we have no reason to be afraid. We can just put all of our trust
in him. Now, let me leave you with this. Will you tell me that the next
time I need it? Right? We're up here just so
calm. Y'all don't be afraid now, right?
Don't be afraid. I'm gonna need you to tell me
that the next time I need it. The next time something in this
life overwhelms me and I take my eyes off of Christ and I look
at that wave that's about to, and I'm crying, help me, help
me, help me. I need you to tell me. Don't
be afraid. You're not going anywhere. You're
not going anywhere. What a comfort. Amen.