For Oct 11

Sermon Notes:  Do Not Be Afraid

Intro: As the disciples were rowing their boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, a violent storm came over them. In panic and great fear, they awaken Jesus, asleep in the back of the boat. Jesus immediately calms the storm, then asks the disciples, “Why are you so afraid?” I confess I would have been like those terrified disciples. I wouldn’t have even understood how Jesus could have so calmly faced the storm. I might have answered His question with: Why wouldn’t I be afraid?

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I. Fear

A. All of us have experienced fear and know how it can adversely affect us. The dictionary defines fear as an unpleasant, often strong emotion, caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. Rational fear can keep us from danger; irrational fears can prevent us from normal activities. It's important then to manage, or control, our fears so they don’t control us. That’s what President Frankin Roosevelt was talking about as he addressed the nation at the beginning of WWII, saying “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself”. Don’t let fear control our lives so that we react in fear, rather than using our abilities/resources to respond wisely to threat.

B. Now here’s where Jesus enters into this discussion. Depending on the particular translation, the specific phrases "do not be afraid," "fear not," or "do not fear" appear  70 to 100 times throughout the Bible, depending on your Bible translation.. Jesus is recorded as saying "do not be afraid" or "do not fear" many times in the Gospels, in over 10 to 20 specific occasions. We might question whether “don’t be afraid” is a command, like the ‘Do Nots’ of the Ten Commandments, or assurance. But, fear is a human emotion. It would be humanly impossible to not fear in particular situations. So what is Jesus telling us?

C. A young boy was confronted on the playground by a bully, who takes the boy’s favorite hat. The boy is left heartbroken and crying. When the boy told his father what had happened, the Father told the boy to go the bully’s home, knock on the door, and demand his hat back. Although very much afraid, the boy did as his father told him, and when he knocked, the bully answered the door.”Give me back my hat!” the boy pleaded. To his surprise, the bully quickly gave him back his hat. What happened?. Well, what I didn’t tell you was that standing behind the boy was his large father. His father wasn’t just telling his son don’t be afraid of the bully, but don’t be afraid because I am with you

D. So, if we have faith in Jesus telling us not to fear, it’s because we know His promises are true, so He is always with us. Then we can understand His ‘fear not” as an assurance, the assurance that Jesus reiterated often during His earthly ministry. I am with you, even to the end of time. I will never forsake or abandon you. Satan is our bully, who will confront us whenever, and wherever he finds an opportunity. But with our God standing behind us, giving us the strength to overcome our fears, we can put our faith and trust in Him. And woe to those who attempt to stand up

to our Enemy without Him, for mortals are no match against Satan. Those without God should be afraid.

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II. Luke 12:4-12

A. Jesus provides insights about who we should fear in our Gospel Lesson from Luke. He tells us not to fear those who may kill our human bodies, but rather fear only those who can destroy our souls, leading to their being condemned to hell. Our Enemy and his followers continually look for ways to turn us away from Jesus. In his Epistle, Peter describes Satan as a prowling lion, looking for prey to devour. Our mortal bodies will inevitably die one day, whether or not Satan has any influence. But many are so afraid of dying, they become focused on living at the expense of their souls, not realizing, or caring, that Satan has cheated them out of eternal life. They’ve missed Jesus’ teaching that we should only fear him who, after our body is dead, has the authority to throw us into hell. It’s important to note that Jesus doesn’t condemn anyone to hell, we are all already condemned by our sins. But Jesus is our lifeline, our salvation from that hell, He stands behind us against Satan’s attempts to destroy us.

B. In this passage Jesus tells us that He cares for birds, like the common sparrows, and never forgets them in His great love for His creation. Yet He cares so much more for us. Then, if we confess He is our Savior before others, He will stand behind us as our soul’s Protector through this life, and welcoming us into eternal life.

C. After His Resurrection, His disciples finally understood the full meaning of that teaching. They overcame their greatest fears, now believing, knowing. He was always with them as they confessed Jesus before others, even readily giving up their human lives as martyrs, knowing His unwavering love of their souls that were beyond Satan’s grasp, assured of His heavenly joy. They’d become strong and courageous because they knew Jesus, their Lord and Savior, would always be with them, and would never abandon or forsake them.

D. Then what shall we fear, when we know Jesus as our Savior? Because we too have His assurances that He will never ever forsake us or abandon us. We should only fear when we abandon Him, and give Satan opportunities to turn from Jesus and let sin control our lives.

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III. Joshua 1:1-9

A. We can see these teachings in the life of Joshua. In our OT lesson, God has appointed Joshua to replace Moses as Israel’s leader. He had been one of the 12 spies Moses sent into Canaan to spy out the land before attempting to conquer the land God had promised them through His covenant with Abraham. Ten spies returned, convinced that the Canaanites were too big, too powerful to conquer. Only Joshua and Caleb believed that God would lead them to victory. So, despite Moses, and the two spies’ willingness to move forward because God was with them, according to His covenant to give Israel that land, the people refused to move forward  Now, forty years later, with only Joshua and Caleb left from the former fear-paralyzed generation, God had chosen Joshua to finally lead Israel into the Promised Land.

B. On the face of it, Joshua would have had strong reasons to be afraid. Probably outnumbered, with limited weapons, fighting against strong armies with fortified cities, defending their home turf, the odds were heavily against Israel. But God told Joshua to get the people ready to cross the Jordan River border into the land He was about to give them, give them every place they would set their foot upon. God promises that no one would be able to stand against Joshua all the days of his life, even promising that, as He had been for Moses, he would never leave Joshua or forsake him. God instructs Joshua to be strong and courageous, because He would lead Israel to inherit the land he had covenanted to give Abraham’s descendants. But God warns Joshua to obey His law to the letter, meditate on it day and night, and be careful to do everything written in it. Only then would they be prosperous and successful in the Promised Land.

C. God then reiterates His words to Joshua, this time as a command:  Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord God would be with him wherever he would go. Like the Dad telling his son to stand up to the bully because he would be standing behind him, God would be standing behind Joshua.

D. Let’s pause for a moment. The people would also have to believe God. Believe that all He said was true, because God said it was. But that belief would require more than just sitting back and watching God at work. They would have to fight the battles, but the more Israel believed God, trusted Him, and most importantly, obeyed Him, they would be victorious. God said it, so it should have been a slam dunk from there. But it would mean trusting God to do what He said by obeying what He said. You’d think that with all the Israelites had experienced God doing in the Exodus, trust wouldn’t be that difficult. But this was a new generation, not their parents that Moses had led through the desert. Not the ones who had refused to go into the Promised Land. But a new generation, hearing, and believing what God had done, and now learning for themselves to trust Him. Trusting God to be faithful to His Word, and obey His commands.

E. Crossing the Jordan river, the first city they encountered was Jericho, a well-fortified city, with thick, double stone walls, and a steep embankment between the walls. When the leaders of Jericho saw the Israelites coming from a distance, they ordered the gates closed. There would be no element of surprise, and little hope of Joshua’s army mounting a direct attack on that city. God would do more than just command Joshua and Israel to trust Him. He was about to show them they could trust Him.

F. The night before the attack, Joshua walks out to survey his target.

Suddenly, he looks up and sees a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua goes up to him and demands, “Are you friend or foe?” “Neither one. I am the commander of the LORD’s army.” God’s angel would take command and lead in this victory.

G. Joshua is then given those well-known instructions for defeating Jericho. March around the city, following the Ark and the priests, once each day for six days. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, then blow the ram horns, and have the people shout as loud as they could. It must have seemed a foolish plan of attack, to Israel and the watching people of Jericho. But when they trusted God enough to obey Him exactly, the walls simply fell down. Without a sword being drawn or a soldier lost in a battle. They were to then charge into the city to complete the defeat. God had proven He was present and could be trusted when they obeyed, and then witnessed God’s Power.

H. But there was one other command to obey. They were not to take any loot or plunder, nothing from that city. Unfortunately, one soldier disobeyed and hid his stolen plunder in his tent. God knew, although Joshua did not. When they came upon the next city of Ai, a smaller less fortified city they should have taken easily, they instead suffered a disastrous defeat. God led Joshua to expose the disobedient soldier, and the soldier was put to death. Joshua was then able to lead the army to victory. God had used this one act of disobedience to reinforce His expectation of trust and obedience.

I. God commanded Joshua to conquer the entire land of Canaan, or else what would be spared would become a continuing thorn in their side. But the people grew tired after several years of fighting and didn’t complete the conquest of Canaan. One notable exception was the western coastal land of Philistia. The pagan Philistines became their troublesome enemy. They were a life long enemy of Samson, with the Philistine Delilah being his downfall. Later their champion would be Goliath, and even after David’s victory over him, the Philistines would plague him even during his reign as king. In fact, the Palestinian state is where Hamas launched its devasting attack from Gaza on Oct 7, 2023, the deadliest day in Israel's history. Would that have happened if Israel had obeyed and completed the conquest of the Promised Land?

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Conclusion: As humans, we have learned fear, and often let fear control our lives. But as believers, we have faith that God stands behind us. He will never abandon us, or forsake us. It’s His promise, and the reason He tells us to fear not. Don’t be afraid. The Enemy may attack, even kill this body, but Jesus will protect our souls, As David wrote in the 23rd Psalm, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil, for He is with us, His rod and his staff offering comfort. So, fear not, be strong and courageous, trust and obey Him and we will know His prosperity. He may lead us into difficult situations, but if we trust and obey Him, He will lead us to victory, whatever His victory may look like, Amen.