If you don't have a Bible with
you, you'll find a few Bibles that are next to you. I've got
a few scriptures I want to turn to during the process of the
message, so I hope you can take your Bible and read these with
me. Revelation chapter 1, and let's just read verse 17. And when I saw him, John the
Apostle saw the Lord Jesus Christ. 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 for evermore, and have
the keys of hell and of death." My subject this morning is found
there in verse 17, this too little Word, phrase, fear not. Fear not. And this is used by
itself sixty-three times in the scriptures, excluding the times
that he says, be not afraid, or things like that. But fear
not is used from the book of Genesis, Right here in the last
book of the Bible, the book of Revelations, the Lord is always
comforting His people, always dispelling some legal fear or
slavish fear that has gotten into their hearts, and He does
it with these two little words, Fear not. Fear not. From Genesis to Revelations and
everywhere in between, he speaks to his Zion and makes this statement
to them, Fear not. You know his church through all
the ages have been compassed about with a thousand and one
fears. The world doesn't fear. Most
lost people don't fear. But the church fears. The Lord's
little flock has many, many fears. Three of the greatest patriarchs
the Bible often speaks about, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And
the Lord had to speak to all three of these men this little
phrase, Fear not. You would think a man like Abraham
who loved the Lord, who staggered not at the promises of God, who
was a faithful man, you would think that he would never fear. But you know what? He became
afraid himself. The Lord had to speak this to
Abraham. Abraham, fear not. You remember
the occasion in Genesis chapter 14 where Abraham's nephew got
him in trouble. He went down to Sodom and some
kings came and made war against Sodom and took Lot off and his
wife and his daughters and his possessions. Abraham had to arm
himself. and arm his family and go deliver
Lot. But he slaughtered some men.
It was a war. It was unlike Abraham to get
himself involved in a war. And I imagine he began to be
very apprehensive saying, what in the world have I started?
Everywhere we go now, we are going to have to arm ourselves.
People are going to be coming wanting to pick a fight, wanting
to have a war with me. And no doubt he became very apprehensive
about this. And when he came back from the
slaughter, the king of Sodom offered him the spalls, offered
to bless him, offered to give him thanks. And Abraham said,
I've lifted up my hands to my God. I'll not take so much from
a shoelatch from you. I've got myself in a mess. Everybody's
going to be picking a fight with me. I'm not a warring man. I don't want to fight. And here
I am, I've refused any help from the King of Sodom. I've got myself
in a jam. But you know what the Lord did?
The Lord came to him, and here's what He said to him. Abraham,
fear not. Fear not. I am your shield. You worried about your enemies?
You worried about people picking fights with you? Worried about
having to war the rest of your life? I am your shield. And as far as the King of Sodom
awarding you with anything and making you rich and prospering
you, I am your exceeding great reward. Fear not. Oh, what a
blessing that was. What a blessing that was. He
spoke the same thing to Isaac, and he spoke the same little
phrase to Jacob. They come to get Jacob and said,
Joseph is alive and he's down in Egypt. And Jacob said, I'll
go see him before I die. But he got so afraid. He got
so afraid. Abraham went down into Egypt
and got himself in trouble. Remember that? Isaac went down
to Egypt and got himself in trouble. And Jacob had never gone to Egypt
and was very apprehensive about going there. He was afraid. And
the Lord came to him at night and said, Jacob, fear not to
go down to Egypt. Fear not. I'm going down there
with you. I'll be with you. I'll make you
a great nation and I'll bring you up again to this land. Fear
not. Fear not. And we come all the
way over to this last book in the Bible, and isn't it amazing
that everywhere from Genesis to Revelation, the Lord is patiently
and faithfully and graciously teaching His people, fear not. And here He does it to His great
Apostle. And why did He tell John to fear
not? Well, this is sort of amazing,
but if you look at the context, you're in verse 13, John had
just saw the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was like a metaphor. Look at it here. But he saw the
glory of Christ in this. He heard a voice in verse 11
say, I'm Alpha and Omega. I'm the first and the last. In
verse 12, he turns to see who the voice was that spake with
him. And being turned, he said, I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the candlestick
one lacked unto the Son of God. Clothed with a garment down to
his feet, you better bet that was a shining white garment,
and girded about his palms with a golden band, a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as flames of
fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned
in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.
And John, during verse 16, said, Out of his mouth During his right
hand he had seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shining in his
strip. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet. I fainted away. There was no
more strip in me. I was like a dead man." He saw
the majesty. the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it had so overwhelmed him. It had made him so apprehensive
about it. He said, I fell here and I was
like a dead man. You know, you see this all through
the Scriptures in the Old as well as the New Testament. Men
see Him, the glory of the Son of God. His Majesty, remember
Manoah and his wife? They saw the Lord as that angel
in the sacrifice as a fire ascending up to heaven. He saw a representation
of the Lord Jesus Christ in that fire, the Son of Man. And here
is what he said, dear wife, we are surely going to die because
we have seen God. We have seen His glory. Ezekiel
kept seeing Christ as the appearance of a man, and he said he had
the appearance as if he was on fire. From his waist up, burning
fire. And from his waist down, burning
fire. And he said it was the likeness
of the glory of the Lord. And every time he seen Him, he
kept falling on his face. And the Lord kept saying, Fear
not. Fear not. Daniel saw Christ somewhat
like John did. He said, I saw Him when His body
was like burl. like some precious, colorful
stone. He said, His face was like lightning, His eyes were
as lamps of fire, and His feet and His arms as polished brass,
and His voice as the voice of a multitude. And when I saw Him,
there remained no strength in me, and my crumbliness was turned
into corruption." You remember Isaiah when he saw Him? High
and lifted up? And his train filled the temple,
and all the cherubim was around about him, saying, Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of hosts, and the earth is filled with his
glory. And the posts of the doors were
trembling. And what did Isaiah say when
he saw it? Woe is me, for I am undone, for my eyes have seen
the Lord of hosts. Remember Job when he seen Him?
I've heard of Him, but now my eyes see Him and I abhor myself. There's something about seeing
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when we have these apprehensions
of His majesty and His honor, you know what it can do sometimes
in our apprehensions? It can make us afraid. I remember
when the disciples went up on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Remember that? And they saw His face outshining
the sun. His skin glowed. And His raiment
became as white as snow. And they were afraid. They were
afraid. And here is this apostle, beloved
of Christ. He felt himself welcome to lean
upon the breast of Jesus, didn't he? But here he sees such majesty
in Christ that he says, when I saw him, I'm as a dead man. Oh, brothers and sisters, listen
to this. Christ Jesus is incomprehensibly
glorious. He's full of majesty and honor. He truly is the King of kings. He's King of nations. He's King
of saints. But listen to what he says in
the Old Testament. Fear not, O Zion, for thy King
cometh unto thee. Not upon you to consume you,
but He is coming unto you. And listen how He is coming.
He is just and having salvation, and He is lowly, riding upon
an ass, and upon a coat and a fold of an ass. And David said, Great
is the glory of the Lord, but though he is high, yet hath he
respect unto the lowly. He may know the proud aforeall,
but I tell you this, he knows the brokenhearted. He has respect
unto the orphans and the needy and those that love him and trust
him. And you know something? Though he is high and lofty,
The needy, the poor are welcome to come unto Him. Come and welcome. He is a meek and lowly Savior. Isn't this so encouraging? Have you ever got such apprehensions
of the Son of God in His majesty and glory, you were almost afraid
to approach Him to it? You could say with poor Peter,
you ain't going to wash my feet. You can't wash my feet. Look
who you are, and look who I am. I saw you up on the Mount of
Transfiguration. I saw how your face glowed as
the sun. I know you are a glorious Lord,
and here you are with your towel and your pan of water going to
stoop and wash my feet. Don't we feel that way sometimes,
brothers and sisters, when we have such apprehensions of His
glory? And yet He speaks to us, and
what does He say? Fear not. Fear not. Come and welcome. If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
my heart." I tell you, you won't approach unto our President None
of us here this morning could approach him to any king that
this world has ever known. We're just not welcome. They're
full of majesty. Only important people can approach
him to them. But here's the most glorious
king between the eternities. So full of glory that he's incomprehensible. And yet he said, don't be afraid
to approach him to me. Don't be afraid to approach him
to me. Catholicism a few hundred years
ago came up with this doctrine about we need a mediator between
dust and Christ. Do you know why they first set
Mary as a mediator between dust and Christ? They say because
Christ is so glorious. He's so full of majesty. Well,
He is. But He's also meek and lowly
in His heart. He's also a merciful Savior. We don't need a mediator between
us and Him. We need a mediator between us
and the sovereign God. But we don't need a mediator
between us and Christ. We can approach unto God by Him. We can come right to Him just
as we are. Now, isn't that wonderful? Fear
not. Fear not. Come to Him. Come to
Him just as you are. Come to Him. Oh, this fear not here has given
us to expel that fear of the majesty we see in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we have this slavish fear
of approaching unto Him. I want you to look at another
fear not with me. Look over in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12 and look in verse
4. Look at chapter 12. Here is a fear not that has given
us to dispel the fear of our confessing Christ, especially
before our enemy. If you read the context of this
chapter, you will remember that the Pharisees and scribes came
together to catch the Lord Jesus in His talk. They were always
seeking to find something wrong with Him. And the Lord was encouraging
his disciples, don't be afraid of these Pharisees. They are
going to hound you and persecute you just like they did me. But don't fear them. Do not fear. Look what he says in chapter
12, and look in verse 4. I say unto you, my friends, Be
not afraid of them which kill the body, and after that they
have no more that they can do." And remember why they were going
to kill these apostles, and many of them they did. Because they
confessed Christ. They never hated them because
they were Galileans. They never hated them for any
other reason but that they belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ. Father,
I have given them your Word, and the world hates them. The
world hates them. These apostles and disciples
had no trouble with these Pharisees and scribes until they began
to stand up and preach and confess Jesus Christ. And that's when
they whipped them and finally started killing them. And the
Lord Jesus says, I say unto you, don't be afraid of them. which
kill the body, and they have no more that they can do. Now,
we can sit here in the safety of our homes, in the safety of
this building, and boy, I can be bold in proclaiming this,
because nobody is bothering me. Anybody bothering you? How would you like to be some
of those? They profess to be Christians. I don't know. I'm
not going to judge them over there on that mountain in Iraq.
tens of thousands of people that that terrorist group have pinned
them up on that mountain to say, if you come down, we're going
to kill you. If you stay up there, you're going to starve to death.
But the reason they ran those thousands and ten thousands of
people up on that mountain was for one reason. They professed
Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. Were they doing it in truth
or not? I have no idea. I don't know.
We've got our suspicions about most people over there that profess
to be Christians. It's usually some Catholicism
or some offshoot of it. But I know why they're persecuting
those people, because they profess to be Christians. Now, what if
you was up on top of that mountain? How would you feel? Wouldn't
these words be covered into you? If you was persecuted and threatened
with death because you confessed Jesus Christ, Don't fear them
which kill the body, and have no more that they can do, but
I will forewarn you whom you shall fear. Fear him which after
he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto
you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for
two firelands, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, ye are of
more value than many sparrows." Fear not. Why does he talk like
this? You are more valuable than many
sparrows. Can you imagine what our forefathers
thought when they suffered for Christ's sake? You read Foxe's
Book of Martyrs sometime, and they confiscated their property.
Tucked their houses. They chased them from one place
to another. Ran their names down. Denigrated
their reputation. Until they had absolutely nothing
left. Persecuted them even to death.
Can you imagine how some of those suffering saints began to feel?
Some of those dear saints, as they set upon the pall of wood
and they set it to fire, and there they were in the midst
of the fire, can you imagine how they felt? So worthless. So uncared for. They had been
told that. You fellows are worthless. Look
at you. And nobody left a famer to protect
them, usually. But here the Lord sets the record
straight. He says, your Father knows all
about you. These other people don't care.
They're persecuting you. They've confiscated your goods.
They count you as nothing. And most of the people don't
even know what you're going through. But your Father in Heaven knows
even the hairs that's on your head. And as far as you're thinking
that you're worth nothing, in and of yourselves you may not
be worth anything. But fear not! to the Father in
the Father's eyes, ye are worth more than many sparrows. Now isn't that wonderful? Therefore,
he says in verse 5, Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess
me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before
the angels of God. Boy, that's a humbling thing
when you think that God counts you worth something. The world ain't going to count
you worth something. If you're looking some favor and some pats
on the back from the world, you're not going to get it. In the end,
they'll kill you if they get an opportunity. When you testify
of a sovereign Christ, they'll hate you. But it doesn't matter,
does it? When they do it and they've done
all they can, fear not. Fear not. You are of value to
the Father. And look what it costs you to
purchase. It costs Him to purchase you. Fear not. Look at another fear
not while we're here in chapter 12. Look at this fear not. This
is to expel the anxiety and the worry of self-preservation. Have you ever tried to preserve
your well-being in this lifetime? It gets burdensome, doesn't it?
Boy, anxiety can make you afraid sometimes. And look here how
the Lord Jesus explains it to His disciples. Look in verse,
He just told about the rich man tearing down his barns and building
greater barns and laying up treasure for himself as not rich towards
God. And then He begins here in verse 22, Therefore I say
unto you, take no thought, no anxious thought for your life,
saying, What shall I eat? Neither for the body. What shall
I put on? Lord, don't we do that sometimes?
Don't you get so anxious about the economy? Is this economy
going to collapse? Are they going to devalue our
currency? If they do, what about the money
that I've got in the bank? What about my interest? What
about my job? Am I going to keep my job or
lose my job? Am I going to have any work next
week to get by? What about my Social Security
check? Is the system going broke? Do you ever worry about these
things and you get so anxious to preserve your lifestyle, your
way of living, that you just worry yourself sick and you become
afraid? Do you ever do that? That's what the Lord Jesus is
talking about. And he goes on and says, Is the life not more
than meat, and the body more than clothing? Consider the ravens,
for they neither sow nor reap, neither have storehouses nor
barns, and God feedeth them. How much more are you better
than the fowls? And which of you with taken thought
can add to his stature one cubit? We can't add any measurement
to our height, and we can't add any length onto our days, can
we? Not a thing. If you could, I'd have probably
been an NBA basketball player. I'd have made my millions and
I'd have retired. But I can't do it. I used to be 5'11", now
I'm 5'10". If I live much longer, I'm going
to be 5'9". I'm one down instead of up. And
I can't help it. And when I come to God's appointed
time for me to die, I won't be able to add one second onto it.
You can't do it, can you? And the Lord Jesus said, if you
can't do that, why are you worried about tomorrow? If you then, in verse 26, be
not able to do that which is least, why take ye thought for
the rest? Consider the lilies, how they
grow. They don't toil. They don't spin. And yet I say
unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these. God clothed these. If then God
so clothed the grass which today is in the field and tomorrow
is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you
of little faith? And seek ye not what ye shall
eat? Don't be anxious about that.
And what ye shall drink, neither be of a doubtful mind, for all
these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your
Father knows that ye have need of these things. But rather seek
ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto
you." Look at this. Fear not, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure
to give unto you the kingdom." If the Father has laid up a kingdom
for His children, that kingdom that is full of
unsearchable riches that you will enjoy for all eternity,
why are you worrying yourself sick about this present lifetime
and these perishing things. If the Father in heaven is pleased
to give you the kingdom, then be content with what little you
have in this lifetime, and don't worry about it. Because He's content and pleased
to give you unsearchable riches in that life that is to come. Peter said, silver and gold.
He was a broke man, was he not? I wonder what he's enjoying now.
He had no silver and gold. He trusted the Lord. He went
about the calling that the Lord had called him to. But now, yonder,
he's full of the riches of that kingdom. Oh, brothers and sisters,
fear not. Fear not. Oh, there's a family
over there, and they need some help, and I know it, and I'll
help them, but I've got to preserve what little I've got. It's easy
to talk yourself out of giving that. It's easy to talk ourselves
out of a lot because of this whole idea of preserving myself. And the Lord says, Fear not.
Fear not. Terrence and I was going through
the book of Acts. a few years ago when we were
studying where the early church sold all their land and gave
it all away and just divided it to those who needed it. They
spent themselves poor. And one of the reasons that they
did it, they weren't going to be able to keep it long anyway. Those that hung on to it lost
it when Rome came in and took all their land in the city. We may not have ours confiscated
and taken away, but you know we're going to lose it. And the
Lord said, the best thing you can do with what I've graced
you with is just lay up treasures in heaven. Give it away. Be gracious. Be generous. Don't
worry about your short life and these temporal advantages. Give
it away in heaven. You've got a kingdom reserved,
prepared for you. And you're going to be rich there.
And you ain't going to think about these temporal advantages.
John Bunyan told about the old muckraker. My neighbor tore his
house down the other day, and I saw him with his rake. And
he had his step all bent down. He was just raking everywhere.
And I thought of the old muckraker. Bunyan said he was raking around
in the muck. And over his head was a crown
of gold. But he never could see it because
he was always muckraking. Muckraking. Fear not. Fear not, it is the Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Look in chapter 8 of
Luke. I've stayed in Luke for most
of these, so we won't have trouble finding them. Look in verse 41.
Luke chapter 8 and look in verse 41. This is a fear not that dispels
the fear of things going from bad to worse. Here in Luke chapter 8, In verse 42, we read about this
man by the name of Jairus. He says he had only one daughter,
about twelve years of age. That's a tender age, Annie. A
tender age. The only daughter he had, twelve
years of age. And she lay a dying. But as he
went, the people phoned him. And this Jairus found out his
little daughter was dying, and he said, oh, can things get any
worse than that? And then he came to the Lord
Jesus and said, would you come and heal my little daughter?
She's dying. The Lord said, I'll come and heal her. And boy, he
was up. He just got up. Isn't our life like a roller
coaster? Up and down, up and down, and up and down. That's
what we experience, isn't it? Oh, my little daughter's dying.
Down he goes. He comes to the Lord Jesus and
he says, I'll come and heal her. Boy, he's up on the top again.
And here comes this woman that's got the issue of blood and hinders
the Lord Jesus for a time for coming to his daughter. And look
what happens in verse 49. While he yet spake, there came
one from the ruler of the synagogue house saying to him, Thy daughter
is dead. Trouble not the mass. Have you ever thought when some
trial came to you, boy, things can't get any worse? And then
they do. And that's bad, ain't it? Things
can't get any worse for Jairus. His daughter is sick and may
be dying. Yeah, they can get worse. She
died. She died. And look here what
the Lord Jesus said to him in verse 50. But when Jesus heard
it, He answered him saying, Fear not. Fear not. Believe only, and she shall be
made whole. I wish I could get a hold of
this. No matter how good I was having it, I wouldn't fear. And
no matter how bad I was having it, I wouldn't fear. And no matter
when things went from bad to worse, I still wouldn't fear.
Don't you wish you could get a hold of this Word? Poor old
Joseph, his brethren sold him down into Egypt. And he was down
there and he couldn't understand their language. They made a slave
out of him. And I'm sure he thought, can
things get any worse than this? And then a woman accused him
of rape and they put him in prison. For years he stayed in prison.
Things can get worse, can't they? But you know, here's a lovely
word, here's a confident word from the Master Himself. When
things go from bad to worse, fear not. Don't be afraid. I have a son, and this is strange. I take it for me as this happens
so often. When he was young and first got
married, I prayed for him. It just came on my heart to pray
for him. I could see trouble coming and
he couldn't. I'd pray for him, Lord, would you keep him from
this? And you know what? He'd fall
into that. Every time I prayed for something,
it seemed like the Lord let the opposite come to pass. And that threw me for a loop.
If you have somebody that you love, Maybe it's a child, maybe
it's a grandchild, maybe it's a friend, and you've talked to
them, and you've prayed for them, but it seems like they just got
worse? Well, here's a good word for
your encouragement. Fear not. When things go from
bad to worse, the Lord Jesus Christ can remedy that situation. What's it to him if things are
bad or things are worse? He's a sovereign Lord. He can
remedy the situation. Fear not. Believe only. I told
you the story about dear Janet Dishman. She lost her son, what,
a year or so ago, Gally? And poor thing, she's still having
trouble with it, her and Steve both. But there was a person
there that was talking about her own daughter. that said she
believed she was just a reprobate, there was no hope for her daughter.
And Janice said, don't say that. As long as there's breath, there's
hope. There's hope in Christ. And I
tell you, right here was where there was no breath, and yet
there was hope. Fear not. She's dead, but fear
not. Fear not. She shall be made whole. Look in another place right quickly.
One or two more. I've got a couple of more and
I'll let you go. Look in 1 Samuel chapter 12.
This is a good one. 1 Samuel chapter 12. Some of
you can relate to this. 1 Samuel chapter 12. If you've got a few Bibles, it's
on page 341. Israel had chosen themselves
a king. Well, they'd got very slothful
and negligent and chose themselves a king. And Samuel was very upset about
it. And the Lord said, Samuel, they've
not rejected you, they've rejected me. I'm their king. They've rejected
me. And here in verse 16, now look
at this in verse 16. Now therefore stand and see,
Samuel says to them. He gathered them together. Stand
and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your
eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today?
I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain,
that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great,
which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a
king. So Samuel called unto the Lord,
and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people
greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said unto
Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we
die not. For we have added unto all our
sins this evil. to ask us a king. And look at this. And Samuel
said unto the people, Fear not. Fear not. You have done all this wickedness,
yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve him with
all your heart. And turn ye not aside, for then
shall ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver,
for they are vain. For the Lord will not forsake
his people for his great namesake, because it hath pleased the Lord
to make you his people." Ain't that wonderful? That's amazing,
isn't it? That's amazing. They had added
sin upon sin. Sin to their evil. They had done
wickedly in the sight of the Lord. And they didn't even realize
it. It was hid from their eyes. And Samuel said, this is wheat
harvest. It don't rain in the time of
wheat harvest. But the Lord sent rain and thunder and lightning. And boy, their eyes opened and
they saw. We have added sin upon sin. We have done evil. And then Samuel
turns right around and says, Fear not. The Lord has made you
his people. Fear not. Serve the Lord. Cleave to the Lord. Trust the
Lord with all your heart. Boy, I tell you what, self-righteous
people can't stand when you look at passages like this. They won't
profess themselves to be perfect. But they won't confess that they're
sinners either. Boy, this makes it plain, don't it? You ever go for a few days, you're
feeling pretty good about yourself, and then something happens that
comes to your mind, your thoughts. Your perception is finally opened
and you see yourself and what you've been doing, and you see
how wicked it is. A lot of days when I go to my
study, I spend my awakening hours in my study, reading my Bible
surrounded by good books. And there are several days that
I come out of that study feeling like if anybody should be in
hell, it's me. Do you ever feel that way about
yourself? Your attitude, you see your attitude,
That it's been so sinful? You see yourself how you've been
pouting before God? How you've been discontent with
His providence? You see your unbelief? You see
how you don't honor Him, love Him, trust Him as you should?
But it's all of these evils, and you just see that you've
added one evil upon another. Somebody said, Bruce, I don't
see that about myself. Well, all the Lord has to do
is send a thunderstorm and you will. You will. And then watch the Word when
you begin to see what you've done and how you really are. And you almost despair and say,
well, I just might as well throw up my hands. I am so wretched
and vile and my sins are so great and there are so many, I might
as well just throw up my hands and quit. You know what the Lord
says? Fear not. Fear not. Because you see your sins as
they really are. Don't turn aside from following
the Lord. Don't turn aside from believing
in your mediator between you and God. Don't turn aside from
looking to that fountain that's open for sin and uncleanness. Don't turn aside and forget that
after all, you're not justified by your holiness, by your commitment,
and your sinlessness. You're justified by the righteousness
of another. Jesus Christ the Lord. Don't turn aside from the throne
of grace. Just keep on coming there. No
matter how wretched you see yourself to be and how your sins have
mounted up one upon another. Don't turn aside. Fear not. You know who a real Christian
is? He's not a man that has no sin. But He's the man that trusts
the righteousness of the Son of God, and the blood of the
Son of God, and the intercessions of the Son of God in the teeth
of all His sins. That's the Christian. That's
the Christian. I'm going to keep trusting Christ,
aren't you? He's my Savior. He's my all in all. Even in the
face of my sins, that makes me miserable. When the Lord first
saved me, I read 1 John 1, I think it's verse 7 or 9, where it says,
If we walk in the light as He's in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth
us from all sin. And I used to think, why is it
necessary for His blood to cleanse us if we're walking in the light? I tell you, at our best state,
we're altogether vanity, aren't we not? And you just let the
Lord send a thunderstorm. See some lightning. And then
we perceive how things really are. There's sin in that prayer. There's sin in those motives.
There's sin here and sin there. After a while, oh, wash me, Lord,
wash me. Fear not, Bruce. Fear not, Kelly. Fear not. Don't turn aside from
trusting Christ. Fear not. Fear not. Look in another place. Look in
Luke chapter 5. Back over to Luke chapter 5.
I'll hurry with this one and the last one. Look in Luke chapter
5. Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Luke
chapter 5, page 1113 in your few Bibles. Here is a fear not
that dispels the fear of the great goodness of the Lord. Peter had fished all night. Remember
this? He hadn't caught anything. In verse 27 of Luke chapter 5, No, that's not it. Luke 5, verse 4. Now, when he
had left speaking, left preaching, sat there in Peter's boat, he
said to Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets
for a catch. And Simon said unto him, Master,
we have plowed all night, and have taken nothing. Nevertheless,
that your word we will let down our nets. And when they had done
this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishers in their nets of break.
And they beckoned unto their partners which were in the other
ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and
filled both the ships, that they began to sink. When Simon Peter
saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, Depart from me,
for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished and all
that were with him after a drought of the fishes which they had
taken. And so was also James and John
the son of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus
said unto Simon, Fear not, fear not." This is strange doctrine, but
you know what Peter was fearing? The great goodness of the Lord. I've labored all night. I'd have
loved to have been able to say, I caught five fish. I'd have
counted that a great mercy and a success. But he said, here
you have, in the face of our utter failure, loaded our ships
down with fish. No thanks to us. But blessed
be the Lord for His goodness. But it throwed him into a tizzy.
He was astonished at this great goodness and said, Lord, depart
from me. I am not worthy to be in your
presence. And the Lord said, Don't fear, Peter. Don't be afraid. There is such a thing as us seeing
such goodness in the Lord that it brings this slavish fear upon
us. Terence is going to take you
to the service next Sunday morning. I bet you if he gets here and
he sees the parking lot full of cars and he has to look in
here to find a seat, He'll probably pass out. Not for the crowd,
but because of the great goodness of the Lord in sending people
year to year. If the Lord added to this congregation
100 people next year, this year, what would we do? I'd probably
be so afraid I couldn't come here to preach. You know what
I'm saying? Fear the Lord and His goodness. Not with a slavish fear, with
a reverence, but sometimes when we see how good the Lord is,
and He's so good to me, it sends us into a tizzy. Can you possibly think, has it
ever entered into your hearts that before time, before the
world was, God chose you to salvation? Can you even begin to imagine
that He is so good that He puts your name down in the Lamb's
Book of Life to be saved? Can you imagine the Son of God
back there in the Council Halls of Eternity standing up and saying,
I will go and represent Crunchport? I'll be his charity at a great
cost to myself. I will redeem him by my own life
laid down. Can you imagine that? Can you
imagine the Holy Spirit saying, as it were, in time, at the proper
time, I'll call Clarence poor. I'll make him a new creature.
I'll put my graces in his heart. I'll make him know the love of
God in Christ. I'll regenerate him. And I'll
keep him, and I'll bring him to heaven when life is over."
And you're saying, oh, this is unbelievable. This is too good
to be true. I tell you, if it didn't amaze
you, it's probably not true. For the Lord to do all of that
for a man, and a man think it's just commonplace? There's nothing
to be amazed at. No wonder Peter fell into this
wound. No wonder he was astonished.
Aren't you astonished at his goodness to you? Oh, you'll thank
well for somebody else. But for me, poor, wretched, vile
me. that the eternal triune God could
thank on me and redeem me." Oh, this poor generation, just after
accepting Jesus as their personal Savior, they've got their free
will. They can make their decision.
Whenever they want to, they can be saved. They have no idea what
salvation is about, that it's in the hands of a sovereign Lord. It's Him that does the choosing. It's Him that says who will be
saved and who will be damned because of their sins. We're
just pawns. That's all we are. And, boy,
when you see that, when you see that He saved you, oh, your heart's
astonished, is it not? Sometimes so astonished he has
to say, if you're not, it's real. It's true. Believe it. Believe
it. Fear in the Lord, and He is great. One more, and I'll pause. This
is it. This is the last one. Acts 27. This is it. I've kept you a little bit too
long today, but look in Acts chapter 27. Here's a fear knot
that combats that fear and dispels that fear. That feeling of hopelessness. that comes because of that one
great, tremendous trial in a person's life. Not everybody goes through this
trial, but a lot of God's children do. Boy, it's not common. It's that one trial that turns
your world upside down. and brings you to the place where
you say, I don't think there's any hope. There's just no hope. I'll never get out of this one.
This ain't like the rest of them. I'll never get out of this one.
Boy, if you ain't brought to that trial, if you haven't suffered
that one, I hope you never do. Job said, that which I feared
has come upon me. Boy, he knew it. That sometimes
you go through the big one. You go through the big one. And
boy, I tell you what, you know it when you're there. Paul and the soldiers that were
with him, the prisoners, they had been out here in the sea
for fourteen days and they hadn't seen the sun or the moon or the
stars. They had been throwing stuff
over the edges of the ship. They had been trying to underpin
it. The waves had beat on them. The winds, for fourteen days
they hadn't ate. Can you imagine how mentally
and physically worn out they were? Sick! And he says here in chapter 27,
verse 20, And when neither the sun nor the stars in many days
appeared, And no small tempest beat on us, laid on us. All hope
that we should be saved was taken away. Have you ever been to trial
like that? I mean, you were convinced you
are not going to get through this one. You are not going to get through
this one. Paul went down to the bottom
of the ship. Then he comes back up after a while, after a long
absence. He says in verse 22, Now I exhort
you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any
man's life among you but of the ship. For there stood by me this
night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying,
Fear not, Paul. Thou must be brought before Caesar,
and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with I don't
care how bad things have gotten. And I tell you, there's some
people in this congregation who have suffered, have suffered. I don't care how bad things are,
how bad things have gotten in your life. Dear child of God,
listen, here's what he says to you. Fear not. He'll bring you through this
one. And He may bring you through it in such a way that He not
only brings you through it, but He makes it a great blessing
to you. I went through a time in my life,
I'll tell you what, I wouldn't give. I'll tell you the truth. If I
had to go through it again, it'd kill me. It'd kill me. But I
wouldn't take anything for it. Because I know who upheld me
in that place. I know who brought me through
it. And I know what a blessing that
time has been for my life. There's things now I could not
endure if I hadn't already went through that time. No matter
where you're at, dear soul, No matter how you're tried and how
you're suffered, remember this, fear not. Fear not. There's somebody in control of
this storm. He says when it's coming, he
says how severe the tempest will be, and he says when the storm
will end, fear not. Trust Him. Wait upon Him. God bless His Word. Let's pray.