June 2nd, AM
Intro
a) Do you have any irrational, and entirely ridiculous fears?
i) I do… I have an irrational and entirely ridiculous fear of
moths.
• If a moth comes anywhere near me I’m like a caffeinated
rave dancer, on ice.
• It’s irrational.
• It’s an insect!
• I’m 38.75 times bigger than it!
• It’s ridiculous.
• What can that moth do to me?
• BBC news has never reported any death resulting
from the inhalation of that powdery dust from their
hairy backs.
• So why do I let it shape my behaviour?
ii) That’s what fears do.
• Fears have a controlling effect on our lives.
• What’s yours?
b) Christians have their own irrational and entirely ridiculous
fear.
i) It’s called the Fear of Man.
• The Fear of Man is when a person is so influenced by
what other people MAY think about them, say about
them, or do to them, that it shapes their behaviour.
• That’s a problem! For 2 reasons.
ii) The first, because it’s sin.
• Control of our lives is God’s exclusive right.
• Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is
the duty of all mankind, says Ecclesiastes 12:13.
iii) The second, because it frustrates the spread of the
gospel.
• It stops disciples doing what disciples do.
• If you fear man, more than you fear God, you’ll not
share the gospel.
• And if you don’t share the gospel, the great
commission grinds to a halt.
• This is Jesus’ big concern in Luke 12.
• This is what this teaching protects against.
c) Let me fill you in on the background.
i) Jesus has drawn the Pharisee’s fire.
• The fierce opposition of the Pharisees was aroused.
(Chapter 11:53-54)
• That opposition probably surprised or even worried
Jesus’ followers.
ii) So, Jesus draws his disciples aside to teach them a vital
lesson that will ensure the furtherance of his mission.
• Fear God, Not man.
• and I’ve got 3 things I want to say about that.
1) Fear God - v1-7
a) In v1-5, Jesus gives us 2 reasons why.
Firstly, Fear God because of What God can say about you.
i) Our behaviour is often shaped by the fear of what
PEOPLE might say about us.
• As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle demonstrated.
• In one of his playful moods, he sent a telegram to 12
friends, all men of power and influence.
• The message read: “Flee at once. All is discovered!”
• Within 24 hours, all 12 had left the country.
• That’s what people who fear partial disclosure will
do.
• Imagine then the impact of the open disclosure of
EVERYTHING you’ve ever said or done.
• That’s what v2-3 promise.
• The things we’ve done behind closed doors and
the things we’ve said behind whispering
hands… are fully disclosed by God on
judgement day.
• Nothing’s off the record.
ii) Compared to what people can say about us, what does
the prospect of what God can say about us say about the
FEAR OF MAN?
• It’s one of those irrational and entirely ridiculous fears.
• It doesn’t feel that way; I know that, you know that.
• But compare the two, we know what’s worse.
b) The second reason why we should fear God is because of
What God can do to you.
i) Our behaviour is controlled, not only by the fear of what
people might say to us, but DO to us as well.
• What can man do to us?
• The threat looks different from place to place.
• But Jesus’s words in v4 tell that physical opposition
can’t be ruled out.
• v4 - do not be afraid of those who kill the body.
• Death!!!
• Everyone’s afraid of death.
• Woody Allen famously quipped, “I’m not scared
of death. I just don’t want to be there when it
happens.”
• But even his joke smacks of fear.
• The threat of death might well control your behaviour
and cause you to sin and hinder the spread of the
gospel.
ii) BUT Jesus counters THAT fear, by inviting us to compare
what man can do with what God can do.
• v4 - Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and
after that can do no more.
• 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: fear him
who, after your body has been killed, has authority to
throw you into hell.
• Which is worse, Jesus asks?
• Death? or Eternal death?
• Who can inflict greater pain?
• Man or God?
• The answer is obvious, Jesus says,
• Yes, I tell you, fear him.
iii) So, compared to what people CAN do to us, what does
the prospect of what God can do to us say about us say
about our FEAR OF MAN?
• It’s one of those irrational and entirely ridiculous fears.
c) APPL:
i) Fear God
• Because of who he is, what he can say, what he can
do!
• He’s terrifyingly holy, yes!
• But not unapproachable.
• CS Lewis captures this in that scene in the Lion the
With and Wardrobe where Lucy finds out Aslan is
not a man but a lion.
• And she asks Beaver, is he safe?
• “Safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he is good!”
• Fear God also because of what we’re worth to him.
• You’re not afraid of someone who treasures you
infinitely!!! That’s what Jesus clarifies in v6-7
• He invites another comparison between you and
sparrows to determine worth.
• Sparrows were a poor mans meat.
• Every Tesco or Lidl back then had a deal on
sparrows.
• They’re hardly worth a thing, but they’re still
worth something to God.
• How much more those he’s set his love on and
adopted into his family?
• We’re so intimately known to him that if a hair falls
out, it’s deducted from his log of the total.
• Let no one be tempted to shrink back and fear God
but hear Jesus in v7b say- do not be afraid.
ii) If you’re here and you’re not a Christian, do you fear
God? This passage tells you why you ought to.
• It speaks of what happens when you die.
• Everyone has to give an account.
• Hell is real.
• The account giving is a scarier prospect for the
person who doesn’t follow Jesus in this life, not
because they’re any less sinful than we are - I’m as
sinful as the next person.
• But on that day, having given an account, my only
hope, the only hope of any Christian, is to point to
Jesus and say, “He’s my righteousness.”
• If you haven’t believed in Jesus in this life, you
don’t have that option. So believe in him today.
Fear God, not man. What difference will this make?
2) Whom then shall you fear? God OR Man - v8-10
a) What difference will this make when the opportunity to identify
with Jesus is in front of us?
i) Let’s get practical. What difference should it make to me in
the barbers when the barber asks, “what do you do?”
• This is a real scenario…I was at the barbers the other
week.
• The lady who cuts my hair doesn’t work there any
more.
• So, a new guy cut my hair for the first time.
• And he asks, what do you do, and in that moment
what rushes on me?
• The fear of man. I want this guy to like me.
• I don’t like the thought of what he could do to the
back of my hair without my knowledge if he
doesn’t.
• I start to image the whole shop stopping if I say
what I know I should say.
• And there it is… reluctance. reluctance to speak a
word about Jesus.
• Have you ever experienced that?
• I have a choice in that moment. The options are laid out
in v8-9.
• Publicly acknowledge Jesus?
• OR
• Publicly disown Jesus?
• Fear God or fear man?
b) This is important because Jesus gives another reason to fear
God - Jesus teaches the principle of corresponding
acknowledgement.
i) Look at v8
• You acknowledge me before men.
• I acknowledge you before heaven.
• You disown me before men.
• I disown you before others.
• Now, let’s be clear.
• To disown someone is to deny that you’re in
relationship with them, and act like they don’t
exist.
• You can disown someone in a moment without it
being the final word on your relationship with
them.
• We know that from Peter.
• Nevertheless, we’d be silly to think ongoing
denials won’t lead to disownment of Jesus.
ii) What a difference it makes when you, again, compare
the consequences of the acknowledgement or
disownment of Jesus.
• It’s the difference between heaven and hell.
• It’s the difference between hearing him say
• “i never knew, away from me you evildoer” and
• “well don good and faithful servant, come and share
your master’s joy.”
iii) No one does this perfectly. That’s why we have the
promise of forgiveness in v10
• Since everyone who speaks a word against the son of
man (like Peter), even by not speaking about him, will be
forgiven.
• Forgiveness is only withheld for those who take the
Spirit’s work and attributing it to Satan - that’s the
blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
• For us, the first is more likely than the second. Isn’t it?
• There are plenty of times when I’ve avoided the
barber’s questions.
• “What do you do?”
• I’m a teacher. (kind of).
• “what do you teach?”
• People?
• But True christianity is fearless before man’s
judgement.
• But why act like he’s not mine and I’m not his?
• Since God loves me as he does, what does it
matter what the barber thinks?
• It’s one of those irrational and entirely ridiculous
fears.
• But when you fear God, not man, you happily identify
with and openly speak about Jesus.
Everybody find the prospect of this hard. But Jesus doesn’t leave us
to do it on our own.
3) The Spirit of God helps us when the fear of man hinders -
v11-12
a) We’re helped by the Holy Spirit who lives in us
i) He’ll teach you what to say.
• v11 - do not worry about how you will defend
yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit
will teach you at that time what you should say.’.
• He helps you every time your read God’s word or
hear it preached. Whether you feel it emotionally or
not.
• He’s sowing seeds that may seem dormant to you,
but when the right time comes, ‘the reminder
sprouts!’
ii) But it’s more than that… he’ll teach you at that time.
• In those moments
• there are more than just 2 of you there.
• there are more than just humans interacting.
• So don’t worry. Speak, with the knowledge of His
help.
Conclusion
a) In closing, brothers and sisters
i) make no mistake, the fear of man
• is particularly potent at controlling our behaviour.
• and especially effective at frustrating Jesus’ mission.
• That can’t happen!!!
• For your sake! and for theirs!
ii) Get that fear of man in perspective
• It’s a fear much like my fear of moths… It’s irrational and
ludicrous.
• Correct it with by cultivating the Fear of God.
• And may we all sing with the Psalmist “The LORD is
for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?” -
Psalm 118:6