Casting Out Fear 1984

I'd like to begin reading from John chapter 20 verse 19. We're all going to have to work together here. It's a youth church and adult church all mixed together.

And I'm sure the Lord is going to just wonderfully help us to function as a family now. If you see somebody who has a knee, help them with the knee. Somebody who needs a little attention, give them the attention.

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, fear of the Jewish leaders, the religious leaders, that be the Christian theory. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the father has sent me, even so I send you.

Now remember, the disciples that day had seen marvelous things. Peter and John had been to the tomb. They saw the stone gone.

They went in there and they saw the grave clothes wrapped up. Jesus was gone. Mary Magdalene had come to report that she had actually seen Jesus alive from the dead.

And they didn't know what to make of it. But during this evening as they're gathered together now, the atmosphere of their fellowship is one of fear. They're scared.

The doors are shut. Now behind those closed doors, they're talking about Jesus. They're wondering about these words from Mary Magdalene.

And they have all kinds of hopes and excitement. But the atmosphere that rules that fellowship that night is the atmosphere of fear. Jesus comes in, alive from the dead, stands in their midst as naturally as if he'd been there all the time, and says, Peace be with you.

Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. As the Father has sent me, I'm sending you.

Now, this assembly right now, along with countless gatherings of believers all over the world, resembles that gathering of the disciples that Easter evening. In this. That the atmosphere of our worship, our gatherings, like theirs, much more than we want to admit, is the atmosphere of fear.

We're also meeting behind closed doors. And you know, there are things that we will say and do inside these doors that we won't say or do out there. We think of this atmosphere as one of worship.

One of praise. One of joy. One of love.

One of faith. And thank God for the presence of all those things. But we are ruled day in and day out.

Our behavior is controlled much more than we want to admit, as far as the kingdom of God is concerned, by fear. Week after week, Jesus comes among us and says, Peace be with you. Don't be afraid.

As the Father sends me, has sent me, now I send you. But the doors remain shut. Because we're scared.

Excuse me, you think I'm exaggerating. Consider. We are afraid to take a risk.

Reading from Matthew chapter 25, verse 24. He also who had received the one talent came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow. So I was afraid.

And I went and hid your talent in the ground. Now he claims that his fear is because the Master is a hard man. It's much more likely that his fear is that something might happen to that bar of gold that's worth, in today's money, probably $10,000, $20,000.

I'm not going to take a chance. You know, he told me to trade with it, but what if I lose? I think the best thing to do is to stick it in the ground, hide it, then when he comes back, at least I can give it to him. And every gift God gives us, and he gives us all gifts if we're believers, followers of Jesus, in order that we might go out and bear fruit.

If we're going to do something with that gift, we have to take risks. Got to run the risk of making a mistake, suffering loss, being misunderstood, something might go wrong. If we play it safe, nothing happens, there is no fruit born, and we play it safe.

We're scared. We're afraid to speak up. Matthew 10, verse 32, So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. See, it's not a matter of... It's lovely to give testimonies here in the church with each other. That's encouraging and helpful, but that's not what he's talking about here.

He's talking about going outside the walls, outside those doors, and speaking of him. Oh, you say, but that's just not my cup of tea. I don't have the kind of personality that can go up to people and ask them if they know Jesus as their personal Savior, if they've been saved.

I can't grab people by the collar and do those kinds of things, you say. That's not what he called me to do. In each of our lives, almost every day, as we move through our work, our neighborhood, our home life, our families, situations come up where a word from the Lord or a word about him will bring light into darkness, healing, hope, life.

And we know it. All we have to do is speak that word, and we let the opportunity go by again and again. And the reason we do is because we're scared.

We're afraid to loosen up our grip on mammon, money, and things. Matthew 6, verse 19. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, where thieves break in and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No one can serve two masters.

Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to each one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink or what you shall wear.

Is not life more than food and body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? His promise is that if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, we'll have what we need.

But we can't, he says, hold on to the kingdom and mammon at the same time. You can't serve God and mammon. And each one of us here, I don't think there's an exception, I'm guilty, you're guilty, is afraid to let go of mammon.

It's a solid thing. It's the one security we know in this world. And we say what we like.

The way we live proves that we're afraid really to let go. We're scared. We're afraid to touch the anguish of the world.

Reading from Luke chapter 7, verse 11. Soon afterward, he went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, do not weep. And he came and touched the coffin.

Touched the coffin. If Jesus is going to do anything for this woman's grief, he's going to have to touch that grief. And absorb it.

Let it flow from her into him. And if he's going to raise that young man from the dead, he's going to have to touch that man's death. And let the death of that man flow into him so he absorbs it.

And Jesus isn't afraid to do that. But we are. Reading on in the same 7th chapter of Luke at verse 36.

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house and sat at table. And behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment.

And standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wash his feet with her tears. And wiped them with the hair of her head. And kissed his feet.

And anointed them with this expensive ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would have known what sort of woman this is who's touching him. For she is a sinner.

And Jesus knew what sort of woman this was who was touching him. He was glad to have her touch him. Because if he's going to do her any good, he's going to have to touch her sin.

Her anguish. Her despair. Her loneliness.

Her discouragement. Her guilt. And he's not afraid to.

But you and I are. We walk around in our little Christian cocoons. And talk about how sinful the world is.

And look down our noses at these people who don't know Jesus. Here's this man across the street from you. He's been drinking himself to death for ten years.

And all you ever say is, hello, Mr. Smith. One time when he was really quite drunk, he said, wait a minute, wait a minute. I want to talk to you.

You say, Mr. Smith, I'd love to talk, but I'm really in a hurry right now. Maybe some other time. And that's the last time he ever tried.

And they said, Mrs. Jones, two blocks over, has been grieving the death of her daughter for five years. And she's so mean and ugly. Nobody ever goes to see her anymore.

Because, you know, she really makes you feel awful by the time you leave. So it's, hello, Mrs. Jones. See her at Farmer Jack's? You hurry on so you don't have to drive her home.

Relatives whose lives are a mess. We send them a Christmas card. Love, Jean and Dick.

And finally, we're afraid to lose our lives in the purpose of God. Reading from John chapter 12, verse 24. Jesus is speaking.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it.

And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Follow me to a cross.

Follow me to that hole in the ground where the seed drops in. To follow me, Jesus says, means that you lose your life. No way can you bear fruit if you don't die with me.

And that very concept scares us to death. Why don't you tell me something positive? Give me something nice to think about. This is the most positive, wonderful thing there is in the world.

This is the way to life. But we're scared. We are afraid to take risks.

We're afraid to speak up. We're afraid to loosen our grip on manna. We're afraid to touch and be touched by the anguish of the world.

We're afraid to lose our lives in the purpose of God at the cross. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were for fear, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

This is the first of three episodes after the resurrection of Jesus in which the disciples are huddled together behind closed doors and are suddenly visited by the Holy Spirit and blasted out of their fear. Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.

Receive the Holy Spirit. Now let's remember who the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter.

The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, the Helper. The Holy Spirit is the member of the Godhead who is in this world, wants to dwell with us and in us. The Holy Spirit is the one who conveys the presence of Jesus down into our midst and into our hearts.

The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and when that love comes in, it drives out fear. The Holy Spirit makes the words of Jesus live and when they live and no longer are just dead words, but alive with the life of God, those words spoken by the Holy Spirit drive out fear. The Holy Spirit shows us things to come, gives us vision, which drives out fear.

The Holy Spirit floods our hearts with joy, which drives out fear. The Holy Spirit gives us utterance so that we can speak the word with boldness, without fear. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. I give you my peace.

I give you my spirit. And I send you out. Now we are not told anything more of what happened that night.

But of this we can be sure. When the disciples opened those closed doors, they went out with a boldness they did not have when they came in. The second episode, when the disciples again are in a huddle and are blasted out of their huddle by a visitation of the Spirit, is of course the day of Pentecost.

And so we read in Acts chapter 2, verse 1, When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together and were bewildered because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

At the sound the multitude came together, the sound of their voices, which indicates that these brothers and sisters had finally decided we're going to stop just talking to ourselves or talking to each other. We're going to talk to the world. By the power of the Spirit, they begin to talk to the world about the wonderful works of God, about Jesus.

The Spirit has delivered them from their fear. The third episode, where again they're blasted out of their huddle, is that occasion a couple of chapters later in Acts when Peter and John have spent the night in jail for preaching and healing in the name of Jesus. In the morning the guards come and shake him and wake him up and drag him in front of the Jewish leaders, the religious leaders, which today would be the Christian leaders, believe it.

And they are threatened. Look at them. We're warning you.

Knock it off. If you do this anymore, going around there talking about Jesus, you and your associates are going to be in trouble. Now go! And so they go back to their brothers and sisters.

They go in through the closed doors, the doors shut behind them, and they share what happened. Now they could have said, look it, we better just cool it for a while before somebody gets hurt. Why don't we just play it easy? Maintain a low profile, at least until this thing blows over.

But that's not what happens. When they go back and share with their brothers and sisters the threats that were put on them, everybody starts to pray. And this is how they pray.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant, Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. When the Spirit is welcomed, when the Spirit is received, and when the Holy Spirit is obeyed, he drives out fear.

The measure is not how bold we are when we're inside these walls. The measure is how bold are we when we go out the door. Are we bold enough to take risks? Are we bold enough to speak up that name? Are we bold enough to quit worrying about money? Are we bold enough to touch and be touched by the anguish of the world that presses in on all sides, wherever we live, wherever we work, whatever we're about? And are we bold enough to abandon ourselves and be lost in the purpose of God, even if it means death, to join ourselves to the cross of Jesus? We will have that boldness when we allow the Spirit of the Lord to deliver us from fear.

And to be delivered from this fear requires three very simple steps which we can take today. Step number one, obviously, is to admit this fear. To admit that it's there.

Lord, we've been hiding behind our walls, we've been hiding behind our doctrines and our little religious masks, but we're scared. And we admit and confess this fear which has dominated our behavior and restricted what we've done and said. We admit this fear to be sin and we ask your forgiveness.

Step number two is to welcome Him, Jesus, into our midst. Welcome Him. If we welcome Him and we know He's here, how can we be afraid? And so today, let's do that again.

And some of us perhaps need to welcome Him for the first time. And if it helps, don't be ashamed, don't be afraid of what people might think. Kneel at the rail, let somebody pray with you and welcome Jesus into your life.

And all of us need to welcome Him and let Him be ruler over our individual lives and our corporate life. And thirdly, we need to receive the Spirit up fresh. Receiving the Holy Spirit is not like getting a vaccination.

Okay, I got it, I'm all set. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. But to receive the Holy Spirit is like breathing it in.

You receive and you receive and you receive. They received the Spirit in Acts chapter 2 on Pentecost. They received again these same people in Acts chapter 4. They welcomed Him and He came.

And He will do the same for us if we're serious. And so in the midst of all the confusion and all the discomfort and all the things that will tend to distract our minds, those who are serious are encouraged to do these three things. To admit the fear, to welcome Jesus and to receive the Spirit.

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the day of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.

And now Lord, all your wonders and wonders are performed in the name of thy holy servant, Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. Now, in the midst of all this, I'm going to ask if we just have a period of quiet and let God visit us with His peace and speak to our own hearts.