I would like to build a quilt with you this evening. I know almost nothing about quilts, so if I get my illustration wrong, please try to forgive me. But I’m picturing this message somewhat like I envisage a quilt. I have a bunch of 12 inch by 12 inch scraps, which I am sewing together in a 30 minute sermon. On the underside is a nice soft cushiony material, while stitched back and forth across, tying the pieces together, are two nice zig-zag patterns.
We’re not interested tonight in whether or not Balaam, Aaron or even Moses ever said to anyone “fear not.” It’s not me, who is saying it, or your spouse or your neighbor. What I intend to do this evening is take the three “fear nots” from this scripture and stitch them together with others that the Lord Jesus has given to us. They are in different colors and contexts, but when they are all put together, they blend beautifully. They become the kind of quilt that you might put on your bed to keep you warm on a cold winter’s night. This is not a quilt to hang on the wall to be admired by visitors. This is a practical, warming, everyday kind of quilt.
I know that this is not the order in which a quilt is made, but necessity requires me to start with some of the stitching which cris-crosses over each of our pieces.
I am taking each of these “fear nots” from the lips of the Lord Jesus.
Again, they are not mine, even though any one of us might repeat them. But in repeating them, we do so under the authority, and with the blessing, of Christ Jesus. We could borrow some “fear not” pieces from the Apostle Paul or King David, but the color just doesn’t match quite right, so we’ll leave them for another, smaller quilt. It’s the pieces supplied by the Lord Jesus that we are using.
And once again, like our message this morning, who is this Christ Jesus? He is the eternal Son of God. He is the one to whom all authority has been given in heaven and in earth. This not only includes the “dunamis” – the power – to solve every problem you might have. But He also possesses the “exousia” – the authority – the divine right to fix any problem. Christ Jesus is the Creator of the universe – He could even create a new world to help us if He had to do. We have seen this Christ raise the dead, heal the sick, cure lepers and mend broken and distorted limbs. In His first recorded miracle, He reached back to nearly creation itself and changed the properties of water into wine. Just as He similarly enabled Elijah and Elisha, he took a few fish and turned them into a huge school. He could take our few pennies, or drops of oil, or fish, and He could feed an army if it was necessary. I believe that it was He who one day made the sun stand still, so that the work of God could be finished before night fall. And, He bore in His own body my sins on the tree, taking their stench and penalty completely away.
You are probably aware that one of my favorite chapters is Romans 8 and one of my favorite verses is 8:32. I know that it doesn’t fit perfectly into this message, but it is close enough for me to quote it again. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” “Fear not!” Perhaps II Corinthians 8:9 comes a little closer – “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” “Ye ye know the grace, and authority, and power, of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, He thoroughly emptied Himself your sakes in order to be able to say, ‘Fear not!’”
Consider the patches that we are using to make this patch-work quilt.
Matthew 10 contains te first time that Matthew records a “fear not.” Verse 26 – “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.” Borrowing verses 29 and 30 from a slightly different context, let me add them to this point. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” From time to time you may think that you are absolutely alone in your suffering. While it may be true that no one else is enduring your pain, because pain can’t be transferred that way, in addition to other people who may ache in watching you in your pain, there is also the omniscient God. If persecution is the cause of your pain, along with everything else, the Lord knows all about this. And as the last verses in this chapter suggest, the Lord will dispense out every proper reward, even judgment upon the wicked – making everything right in His sight.
Then there is Matthew 10:28 – “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” I know that the verse goes on to emphasize another important point, but this, too, is important. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” We observed Memorial Day a couple weeks ago. And as most of us know, it is almost a mockery any more, as most American can’t give a moment to reflect on those who died preserving our freedoms. Over the years millions of free people died to deliver enslaved people from their oppressors. Many died in horrible ways to win battles and wars – those casualties are dead and often forgotten. Something that Christians need to remember is that there is an even greater war – a spiritual conflict. And there are often casualties even in this war. But in this case the righteous dead do not die – they simply move into the blessed presence of Christ. It is hard to call these casualties “casualties” because they can never die. So “fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.”
Following this there is Matthew 10:31 – “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” There is probably some fancy word to describe this kind of logic, but I don’t know what it is. It is similar to the argument “from the lesser to the greater,” but there is an irony which makes this different. Jesus tells us elsewhere that a single human soul is of more value than the wealth of the entire world. Ye are of more value than many sparrows – in fact ye are of more value than many worlds. And just as you know when a sparrow slams into one of your windows at home, the Lord knows. The God who knows of the death – or even the stumble – of a tiny sparrow, knows and cares all about your fall. There is no need to fear about that.
There is another wonderful “fear not” found in Luke 5. In this case the Lord Jesus found Peter, his brother and their friends James and John, cleaning their fishing nets. After commandeering their boat in order to preach to a crowd along the beach, Christ rewarded His new disciples by arranging the catch of a large school of fish. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.” Jesus’ “fear not” in this case began with the wonder these men had at the power of Christ over the fish. But the “fear not” was not directly related to that power. This “fear not” was all about what was yet to take place in their lives. Assuming that this kind of power was destined to be a blessing to us and not a curse, what a thrill. This came before the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus’ healing the leper or the palsied man. Imagine what other great things Christ can do if He can order schools of fish into our nets? What might the Lord do for us – today in the 21st century? This “fear not” was uttered in preparation for Jesus final statement. “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” What an awesome responsibility to carry the gospel to the lost, and to net those whom the Lord catches through His grace?
In the midst of a number of parables and other instructions to His disciples, the Lord said in Luke 12 – “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Once again, I remind you that these are not my wishes and blessings for us. When it is the father’s good please to do something for us, then we have no reason to fear the completion of that promise. All of the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ, so fear not.
Has Satan ever crept up behind you and at a moment of spiritual or mental weakness whispered, “Are you absolutely sure that all this Christianity stuff is true? “Yea, hath God said?” Have you ever doubted your salvation, or doubted the promise of God towards you? There have not been many, but there have been days, long ago, when that sort of thing crept up in my heart. But… “fear not, because Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.” Listen to, and apply, the “fear not” of John 12:12 – “On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.” Applying this to all the rest of the promises of the Lord, can’t we say, “fear not, because there will not fail one word of all God’s good promises?”
Another of the “fear nots” of Christ Jesus is set, not on earth, but in the very throne room of Jehovah. Please turn to Revelation 1:12 – “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” Among the many things which this “fear not” teaches is that Christ Jesus is still saying the same thing. The promises which He has made will all be kept. There will be a conclusion of all things, and that conclusion will glorify Jehovah. Obviously, we have no long-term reason to fear. “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
There are a great many other pieces of “fear not” fabric which might be sewn into our quilt, but these are those which have come from the Lord Jesus. It is Christ which binds them all together, and He is a part of the quilting pattern. But there is one other scripture, and it brings to our attention another line of stitching which links all the parts together.
There is the necessity of faith and trusting the One who says “fear not.”
We studied this event in Matthew, but we didn’t directly address this issue. So please turn to Luke 8:49-56 – Jairus, the ruler of one of the synagogues had a very sick daughter – she was at the verge of death. He begged Christ to come to his home in order to heal his sick little girl. Then as they made their way along the narrow streets, a sick woman touched the hem of Christ’s robe. Jesus then stopped and addressed the woman, delaying His arrival at Jairus’ house. Luke 8:49 – “While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden. And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.” In verse 50 Christ said, “Fear not: believe only.”
There should be no doubt about the power of Christ. There should be no fear about either His power or His authority. The problem is not in the Lord but in our own lack of faith. This is that second line of quilt stitching which brings together all these “fear nots” into something which can actually warm us. Each of our quilt blocks might say “fear not,” but they are tied together through the lips and will of Christ. The stitching in one direction are made by Christ, but that is not enough to bind our quilt pieces together. If we can’t, or won’t, believe the Lord’s promises or His encouragement then we cannot be blessed. Jairus was encourage to “fear not” and to “believe,” and so are we.
I’m here to tell you that you most certainly can trust the Lord to keep His word. You can listen to these “fear nots” and all of the rest which were uttered in His name. There are almost as many spoken by the angels of God, as by Christ Himself. Not only is a good conscience necessary to a good night’s sleep, as Brother Spears would say, but so is trust is the “fear nots” of the Lord. “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”