The late great trumpet player Louie Armstrong tells a story about while growing up in Louisiana, having to go down to the pond and getting water for Allie May. He gets down there and is about to scoop the water out of the pond and all of the sudden coming out of the water are these two huge eyes looking right at him.
He runs to the house and Allie May says “Where is my water?” And Louie Armstrong says, “I just couldn’t get it”. Allie May asks him “Why not?” And little Louie says, “There’s a huge alligator in the pond and I’m not going near that pond”.
She then say, “That old critter has been down there forever, and that old critter is just as afraid of you as you are of him.” Louie says, “Ms Allie May, if that alligator is as afraid of me as I am of him then that water ain’t fit for drinking!”
Now fear all together is not all bad. We teach our kids….
We also are taught to fear the Lord. As parents, that’s the greatest fear we can put in our children.
Matthew 10:28 “Jesus said, “Do not fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell.”
Kathryn Hepburn said at 81 years old, “I look forward to oblivion. I am what is called “gradually decentergrading”. I don’t fear the next world or anything else. I don’t fear hell and I don’t look forward to heaven.”
I will be honest with you; there is a certain part of me that fears dying, but not death! How I will die, suffering, etc.
But I’ve got good news for us: you and I will only go through death once!
I’ve never shared this with you before, but I had a near death experience once. It changed my life and I’ve never been the same since. I was horse back riding and the horse got out of control and was bouncing all over the place like a pogo stick. It took all my strength to hang on, but I got thrown off it. But the scary part was that my foot got caught in the stirrup and my head was bouncing faster and faster on the ground. I thought that I was going to lose consciousness, I was losing all hope! I Thank God that right then the K-Mart manager came out and unplugged that horse!
3 Thoughts About Fear:
• “Fear always springs from ignorance.”
• “If your heart is fearful, you are not living up to what you believe.”
• “Fear knocks at the door; faith opens the door and says, “Get back Jack!”
LifePoint: All of us have to face death, but not all of us have to fear death.
1. Don’t Be Afraid of Death’s Power.
“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”
There is a “Shadow of death” in Israel. It runs between Jericho and Jerusalem. This valley or canyon is so deep that part of it never sees the whole sun. David seems to compare that valley to death!
Has it ever occurred to you that we are the only beings created who know that we are going to die! Dogs, cats, sheep have no clue!
David talks about an experience that every shepherd knows about, because when the pastures in the low lands are dead and the water is gone, the shepherd knows it is time to move on up the mountain where it’s cooler, greener and wetter. But why through the valley?
The reason is - the only route to higher ground is through the valley! You can’t get to the mountaintop unless the shepherd goes through the valley!
THIS IS WORTH COMING TO CHURCH FOR…Fear many times keeps us in the lowlands of life, when God is trying to move us up!
Joni Erickson Tada says this about fear: “Fear manipulates you with the mysterious, to taunt you with the unknown. Fear to death, fear of failure, fear of God, fear of tomorrow, his arsenal is vast. His goal - to create cowardly, joyless souls. He doesn’t want you to make the journey to the mountain. He figures if he can rattle you enough, you will take your eyes off the peaks and settle for a dull existence in the flatland.”
The shepherd also knew that the trip through the valley was only temporary! Maybe 2 or 3 days at the most!
Notice that David says, “Walk through”, not around, or run through it!
Folks - a valley is not a dead-end or a cul-de-sac, but rather a tunnel opened on both ends.
Notice David gives the valley a name “shadow of death”.
FACT: A shadow is an image without any substance.
The #1 command Jesus gave in all four gospels is “fear not”
2. Do Be Aware of God’s Presence.
“For You are with me”
In the first 3 verses David writes in the 3rd person. But now in the 4th verse he writes in the 2nd person. Do you know why he did that? Because he knew that sheep never go through the valley alone and they never go through dangerous places without the shepherd!
Now, in order to have a shadow, what must you have? Light! Jesus said,
“I am the light of the world.” Be aware of His presence in your life!
Let me show you how to get over the fear of shadows – here’s my shadow; turn your back on it and then you are facing the Light…Jesus!
May I tell you that sheep are better off in the valley with the shepherd, then on the mountaintop without the shepherd!
Isaiah 43:2 “When you go through the waters, I will be with you; and when go through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the fame scorch you.”
God is saying, “You‘re not going to drown, freeze or fry!” Folks listen, when Jesus is near - you have nothing to fear!
Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”
“Precious”= carefully attended and watched over.
When a Christian dies, it’s always the right time and it’s always in God’s sight. A little girl said…“No one was in the room when Daddy died, but Daddy wasn’t alone!”
Here’s some good news, did you know that a shepherd never takes his sheep somewhere that he hasn’t already been? Keep that in mind!
Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse a Presbyterian pastor tells this story.
His wife died very early in life and he had to preach the funeral. She left behind 3 small children. They were driving to the funeral they all were crying and sobbing in the car. They were stopped at a stoplight and huge truck was stopped in the lane next to them. Because of that huge truck, the sun cast a large shadow over their car. Then Dr. Barnhouse said to his children, “Kids see that shadow falling over us right now? Let me ask you a question, would you rather be run over by the truck or by the shadow?” His littlest child popped up from the back seat and said, “I’d rather be run over by the shadow because the shadow can’t hurt anyone.”
Then Dr. Barnhouse said to his 3 grieving kids, “Kids I want you to remember something, death is a truck, but the only thing that can touch you is the shadow of death, because 2000 years ago the truck ran over the Lord Jesus Christ and now the only thing left of death is its shadow.”
Our Lord, our Shepherd had been there!
Someone had said, “Nobody should be afraid of a shadow, for a shadow cannot stop you one moment. The shadow of a dog cannot bite, the shadow of a sword cannot kill, and the shadow of death cannot destroy. Do not be afraid of shadows, they only deceive. The worse evils of life are those that only exist in our imaginations.”
3. Definitely Be Assured of God’s Protection.
“Your rod and staff they comfort me”
The shepherd had 2 tools to protect the sheep.
“Rod” = 3 Feet long, made of the hardest wood with metal spikes in it. That rod always fit perfectly in the hand of the shepherd and he would expertly throw it at a predator and kill it with those spikes in it! They were known to be accurate up to 25 feet of the predator.
“Staff” = 7 feet long, soaked in water to soften and bend it for the hook at the end. The hook was big enough to go around the chest of small sheep and small enough to go around the neck of large sheep. All of that to keep them from falling or any harm.
Get This: With the rod he guards the sheep; with the staff he guides the sheep. With the rod he protects the sheep and with the staff he directs the sheep!
I’ve got the great news today, the Good Shepherd has led a lot of sheep through the valley and He’s never lost one sheep! He’s still batting 1000 with each of us! If you will walk with God through life, God will walk with you through death.
As some of you know I love history, especially church history. I want everyone to listen to this incredible story. SLIDE: John Chrysostom a wonderful pastor in 400 A.D. Eye witnesses record for us his death…
One day he was brought before a pagan ruler and he said to the pastor,
“I want you to stop all your preaching in the village!”And Pastor John said, I will not do that”. The ruler said, “Then I have no choice then to bring you before the Roman Emperor.”
Later that day the Roman Emperor said to Pastor John, “I want you to renounce the name of Jesus Christ and stop all this silly preaching!”
And Pastor John says, “I cannot do that.”
“You leave me no choice; I will have to imprison you for life.” Pastor says, “You cannot imprison me because this world is my Father’s world.” That made the Emperor mad!
Then the Emperor said, “Then I will have you killed in a painful way!” Pastor John says to him, “You cannot do that because Jesus says, “Whoever believes in Me has eternal life.” That really made the Emperor angry.
So then the Emperor said, “I will take away all your treasure and property.” Pastor John says, “You cannot take away all my treasures because they’re all in heaven.” By now the Emperor is fuming.
Then the Emperor said, “Then I will never let you see your family and friends again.” Pastor John calmly says, “You cannot do that either, because I have a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” That made the Emperor even more determined.
Then Pastor John took one step forward and said, “Let me save you time and save your breath, honestly in my heart there is no fear, for you can do nothing to me.”
Then he was put to flames while tied to a stake!
Fear Imprisons, Faith Liberates, Fear Paralyzes, Faith Empowers, Fear Disheartens, Faith Encourage, Fear Sickens and Faith s Heals!
In life or in death none of us should have any fear!
