MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
CENTRAL CHRISTIAN, BROWNSVILLE, TX
A. We’re 4 weeks into the new year, & it is natural for us, as we try to peer into the future, to wonder if we should be excited about its potential, or should we be quaking in fear because of its uncertainties?
ILL. A few years ago, a little 7-year-old boy was accidentally shot to death by his younger brother. His mother, a single parent working two jobs to support her children, often had to work late at night. So because she was afraid she purchased a hand gun.
Usually she kept it away from her children, safe in her purse. But on this one occasion she left it on the front seat of her car, & the boys discovered it. And as they were playing with it, the gun accidentally went off & a little 7-year-old boy died.
Now if we had to put the cause of death on his death certificate, I think the most accurate cause would be "fear." He died, in part, because his mother had been caught in the grip of fear.
Fear is very much a part of our lives. Maybe you’re afraid of losing your job, or your health, or losing your finances. Maybe you’re afraid of not being accepted by others. Or maybe you’re just afraid of growing old. The list could go on & on, for all of us have things that cause us to experience the emotion we call "fear."
As a result, we try to take precautions to protect ourselves. We buy insurance policies to cover those things we consider valuable. We put bars on our windows & doors & buy alarm systems to protect our automobiles. All this because of fear.
B. Yet, listen to what God has said on this subject. The angel spoke to the shepherds on the night that Jesus was born & said, "Fear not, for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord."
The message of Christmas is that if Jesus Christ is our Lord & Savior, we do not need to be afraid. Again, the Bible says, "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, `Fear not, I will help you.’"
And in the 34th Psalm, the Psalmist is praising the Lord, & he is doing it in a very personal way. Then in vs. 4 he says, "I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears."
PROP. Now if God can do that for the psalmist in the O.T., then He can do it today for us, too.
I. EXPOSE YOUR FEARS
A. And in order to do that, first of all, we need to face our fears & realize that sometimes our fears are the result of sin.
ILL. One of the most beautiful scenes in the Bible is found in the first chapter of the book of Genesis where it tells us about God walking & talking with Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. It was a time of complete innocence. There was nothing hidden, nothing phony.
But when we turn the page & read about Adam & Eve eating of the forbidden fruit then everything changes. God comes to the Garden & He looks for Adam & Eve & they’re not where they usually are. So He calls out, "Adam, where are you? Where are you?"
Finally there is this weak little voice from behind a bush, "I’m over here, God." "What are you doing over there, Adam?" "I’m hiding, God." "Why are you hiding, Adam?" "Because I’m naked." "Who told you that you were naked, Adam?" And finally Adam says, "I’m hiding because I’m afraid."
APPL. Now let me tell you something. The more we try to hide or cover up our sins, the more we try to hide from God. The more we refuse to face them the deeper we go.
B. By the way, have you every really been afraid? Have you ever had an experience that just brought a surge of fear into your life?
ILL. Some time ago, Dennis Slaughter, preacher of the Valley View Christian Church in Dallas was telling about being alone at home for a few days. He said, "My wife went to St. Louis to baby-sit with three of our granddaughters, & I had to batch it while she was gone.
"So for about 3 or 4 days I was totally on my own. I had to find my own meals, make my own bed, & clean up my own messes. I really wasn’t all that excited about it, but then I am a person who likes having time alone. So I thought that this could be a very positive experience. I knew I would miss my wife but I wasn’t going to dread this time of being alone.
"I handled it very well except for one night when I came home at about ten o’clock. After watching the evening news & reading a couple chapters, I drifted off into a very deep sleep.
"About midnight there was a loud noise that suddenly awakened me. I had never heard it before & it woke me up & I felt a surge of fear. I laid there in bed for a while & listened. It came again & then again. I laid there trying to figure out what it was. All kinds of thoughts went through my mind. I imagined little green men on a space saucer had just landed in my back yard.
"I imagined burglars breaking in to get our valuables & I smiled & thought, `Boy, are they going to be disappointed!’ I imagined all kinds of things as I listened to this noise. But for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what it was. Finally, I decided, "If they’re going to get me, they’re going to get me." So I got up & walked around the house trying to find who or what was making that noise.
"Well, my wife likes to hang things on the wall. Inside the house or outside, any place she can find a nail to hang things on, she has something hanging. And on our back porch among all the things hanging there was this tray. It was a windy night & when the wind came from just the right direction it would bang that tray against the wall of the house. I had never heard it before, but that’s all the noise was.
"I had lost an hour & a half of sleep trying to figure out what was making that noise, & the second it was exposed the fear was gone."
APPL. Whether our fears are the result of something unknown, or the result of sin, we need to face them & expose them for what they really are.
II. ELIMINATE THEM
A. Then we need to eliminate them. Eliminate those fears. In I John 4 there is a really great verse of Scripture. You’ve heard it before. It says, "Perfect love casts out fear."
Listen to that. "Perfect love casts out fear." That verse tells us that fear & love cannot coexist. The closer you get to love the further you get from fear.
But the other side is true also. The closer you get to fear the further you get from love. They are like the north pole & the south pole. The closer you get to one the further you get from the other.
So the more you learn to love & the more perfectly you love, the further you drift from fear.
Now Jesus said, "You will know the truth, & the truth will set you free." "What is truth?" we ask. Jesus said, "I am the truth. I am the way & the truth & the life."
Jesus is saying, "As you get to know me; as you learn to think the way I want you to think; as you begin to live life the way I want you to live it; as you learn the truth, then you will be set free from fear, from sin, from the uncertainties of life." "Perfect love casts out fear."
B. When Jesus was asked the greatest commandment, He answered without hesitation. He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart & all of your soul & all of your mind & all of your strength."
Now what happens if I love God with my body & my mind & my emotions? That means I no longer need to be afraid of what can afflict me physically. I no longer need to be afraid of mental anxieties. I no longer need to be afraid of emotional insecurities. Because love casts out fear.
Nobody knows what this year holds for us. Most of the prophets have issued their predictions, & some of them are pretty negative. There are all kinds of prophets of doom & gloom, & no one knows for sure what will happen.
But you see, if our security depends on a bank account, or on our good health, or on good relationships with others, then we are doomed to failure. The only secure relationship we have is that which we have in Jesus. And "Perfect love casts out fear."
SUM. So first we need to expose our fears. Then we need to eliminate them. And thirdly, we need to expect the power & blessing of God.
III. WE NEED TO EXPECT THE POWER & BLESSING OF GOD
A. We’re busy people, aren’t we?. In fact, we’re proud of how busy we are.
ILL. I was with a group of preachers two weeks ago, talking about getting together for a camp planning meeting. And every time a date was suggested, each of us would pull out our day-timers & calendars, & flip through them to see if that date was open. But there were always conflicts.
We finally got to laughing at ourselves. Everybody was so busy that we almost couldn’t find a time to meet. We’re so proud of being busy, because the busier you are, the more important you are, right?
No, that’s wrong! And sometimes we’re so busy running from one place to another that we don’t have time to slow down & be still & know that He is God.
ILL. Max Lucado in his book "In the Eye of a Storm" talks about traveling from one speaking engagement to another. He had traveled from San Antonio to Boston & had spoken at a gathering in Boston. Then he was flying on to Edmonton, Canada to fulfill a speaking engagement there.
When his plane landed in Minneapolis & he had to change airplanes, he was thinking about how tired & hungry he was, & how crowded the airplane had been, & how his back was aching, & his mind was hurting. Try as he might, he couldn’t even remember who was supposed to meet him at his destination in Canada.
As he was heading to the gate to catch his next airplane he saw a McDonald’s in the distance & thought, "That looks good. Maybe I’ll run over there & buy a hamburger & that will at least satisfy my hunger pains."
Then he writes, "I passed something better. I passed a telephone & decided to call home. I called & my wife answered the phone. I’m convinced that when my wife gets to heaven she’s going to be at the reception desk welcoming everyone in because when she answers the phone it makes you feel so good."
He continued, "I just talked with her. We settled earth shaking issues. We talked about the weather in San Antonio vs. the weather in New England. We talked about what the girls did when they went to school that day & that one of them was going to have a friend over to spend the evening."
"We talked about earth shaking things like that," he said. "And after I had finished talking with her I really felt good. Then she passed the receiver over to one of my daughters who told me about her day. When she finished she said, `I love you, Dad.’"
And he said, "It felt good to be loved." Then the phone was passed over to the next daughter & she talked to him for a while & she said, "I miss you, Dad." And he said, "It felt good to be missed."
Then he said, "They passed the phone over to the little six month old baby, & I talked to my baby over the phone. I cooed & I talked baby talk, & the people passing by looked at me in strange ways. But it felt good to be cooed at. Then we hung up & I made my way on to the next gate."
He recalled, "I forgot how hungry I was. I forgot how tired I was because I had called home, & that made all the difference in the world." Then he adds, "Maybe we all ought to call home more often."
APPL. Maybe we should. Max says, "If you do, you will find the listening ear of God so anxious to talk to you, & He will make you feel good from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. And as you grow in your love you’ll find your fears disappear."
B. I don’t know. Maybe we’ll never be able to get rid of all of our fears. But if we can just get rid of the things that dog us, & focus our attention on a loving God who really cares about us, then we will begin to hear Him when He speaks.
And as we listen we will get to know Him, & love Him. And as our love for Him grows, our fears will be forgotten, because the closer you get to love the further away you get from fear.
CONCL. Sometimes I hear people say that they are afraid about their salvation. They’re not sure that if Jesus came today, or if this were the judgment day, whether they would be lost or saved, & they feel insecure about it.
There is no need for that. Jesus Christ went to the cross & paid the price for our sins. We are saved not because we are good enough but because of the grace of God.
If you’re here this morning & you don’t know Jesus as your Lord & Savior, I don’t want you to be afraid of God’s damnation any longer. I want you to know His grace & His love & you can know that in these moments.
If you are here this morning & you’re a Christian, maybe you don’t even have a church home anymore. You’ve moved & you’re in a different place now. But you’re an immersed believer in Jesus & you need a place where you can put down your roots, & identify with other Christians. Then we invite you to come. We extend His invitation & pray you will respond as we stand & sing.
