Fear doesn't matter...

Ac 27:21-26 - Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.”

I have always heard that the safest place to be is in God’s will, and this verse kind of proves that point. It really is about God’s purposes for us. We will live as long as he wants us to live and no more. God wanted Paul to stand before Caesar and Paul was going to stand before Caesar. There wasn’t any storm that was going to be able to change the plan of God.

Ac 9:31 - So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that the church was being built up when it was walking in the fear of the Lord. And I think the comfort of the Holy Spirit is a direct result of walking in the fear of the Lord. When we fear God, meaning when we consider him above all fears, and obey him because of our fear of Him, we will be built up and comforted.

Ps 96:4-5 - For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

Our God is to be feared above all Gods. There is no God as great as our God. He has made the Heavens and the earth and all that are in them. He is sovereign over all the earth. Therefore nothing can happen outside his control. Though you may not have an angel come down today, be encouraged that God has a plan for your life. Nothing can keep you from that plan except yourself.

A fear that rules...

Ac 18:8-11 - Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

These are encouraging word from Paul who after a difficult experience with the Jews, was going to the Gentiles. I am sure Paul was both discouraged and depressed. His own people not only rejected Jesus, but also threatened Paul. The encouraging words to Paul are that God has chosen some in the place to believe in Christ and that he will be free from attacks for a period of time. As it is, he stayed there for a year and six months teaching the Word of God to them. When Christ said in a vision, “Do not be afraid,” he was basically saying, “Don’t fear them, fear me.” It is really one or the other. If Paul feared them more than God, he would not have been obedient to the command to stay and preach. Fear keeps us from obeying God. Therefore, fear rules our lives. Which fear will you allow to rule your life?

Fear that is elminated by peace

Jn 20:19-23 - On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”

It seems that Jesus has told the disciples countless times to fear Him only, but with Jesus now gone, and with only rumors of his resurrection, they are locked in a room because the fear the Jews. It is hard to blame them. After seeing how Jesus was brutally murdered, the disciples wanted none of it. Jesus had to prove that he was the only one to fear, and he first started with the physical barriers, a locked door. Jesus came and stood among them. Then, he said the words that eliminated all fear – peace. The word peace is a the Hebrew word shalom which is a word that both secures composure in difficult trouble and dissolves fear. He said it twice. Peace be with you and then he said that he is sending them out to do what he had done. And to give them the security and the assurance and the power, he breathed on them the Holy Spirit. Jesus would not always be with them, but the Holy Spirit would be, and the results would be the same: peace and not fear.

Fear that stays above ground

Jn 19:38 - After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.

This verse really stuck out to me. A disciple of Jesus but he was a secret disciple because of the Jews. It is admirable that he came and took the body of Jesus and buried him, and maybe this was his breakout time, where he didn’t care what anyone thought anymore. But it is clear that when we fear something more than we fear God, it drives us underground. We are not witnesses as we should be when we fear something that is not God. Fearing people or circumstances or religion or reputations can lead people to be less than disciples of Christ. Fear is detrimental to being a disciple of God because we allow something with more power to earn our worship. Is there anything you fear more than God right now that is causing you to go underground?

Fear that brings peace

Jn 14:25-27 - “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Peace and fear cannot co-exist. In order to have peace, there needs to be an absence of fear. The fear of God is the only thing that can replace the fear of man or the fear of the unknown or fear of loneliness. You can’t un-fear what you fear so that the only solution is replacing fear with a greater fear. In this case, Jesus is replacing the fear of losing Him with a Helper, the Holy Spirit. The reason they do not have to be afraid is because someone greater than fear will bring peace and with help you in time of need. When we fear our hearts are troubled and afraid. God’s peace assumes control in our chaotic life and hedges us in with love.

Fear that rules

Jn 12:15-19 - “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Jn 12:42-43 - Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

The moment of truth has come. Which fear will win? Will it be the fear of God or the fear of Men? The same people who saw Jesus heal the dead man Lazarus were told not to fear, because their King, God, was riding in on a colt. Later, as the evidence was building, many authorities believed as well. But, they chose not to confess it because of the fear of man. There really is only room for one fear in your life, the fear of God or the fear of man. Whichever you fear more will ultimately rule your life.

Fear that get us where we are going...

Jn 6:16-21 - When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

It is amazing how circumstances can breed such fear. It was dark, Jesus had not yet come, the sea was rough, a strong wind came blowing, and they had rowed and rowed and yet had not reached their destination. Then to top it off, they see a man walking on the water. No one would fault the disciples for their fear. But, look how quickly their fear dissipates, when they hear the words of Jesus, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Fear turns into gladness and they got where they were going. This story placed 2000 years ago is not unlike our situations now, where darkness and stormy seas can lead to fear. May the words of Jesus calm our fear and right our perspective that God is in control.