I. Introduction
--
turn in Bibles to Philippians 1:27-30
Philippians 1:27-30 (NIV)
27 Whatever happens, conduct
yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and
see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm
in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel
28 without being frightened in
any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be
destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,
30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
--
as everyone here probably knows, tonight at 8:00 pm on the Discovery Channel,
Nik Wallenda is going to attempt to do something no one has ever done -- walk
across the Grand Canyon on a wire
--
as you remember, it was exactly one year ago when Wallenda came into the public
spotlight by walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope -- and while his feat
of walking 1,800 feet in the fog and mist rising from the Niagara River was
certainly amazing -- it in no way compares to his endeavor tonight
--last
year, Wallenda's walk across Niagara Falls was sponsored and shown live by ABC,
but as part of their coverage of the event, they required Wallenda to be
tethered to the cable with a harness so if he fell, he would not perish on live
national TV
--
because of this, many people criticized Nik Wallenda's walk across Niagara
Falls and said it was not a real attempt because of the harness and tether-- therefore, in Wallenda's latest feat of daring, Wallenda contracted with the Discovery Channel with the stipulation that he would not be required to wear a harness and would not be tethered to the wire in any way -- if he falls, he falls -- if he falls, he will probably perish
-- the only concession Wallenda had to make with Discovery Channel was to allow a 10-second delay in the broadcast so if he does fall, it will not be shown on national TV
-- I've heard several interviews with Wallenda this week, and in every interview, the same question has been asked, "Aren't you scared of dying?" -- his answer has always been the same, "I would say the only thing I fear is God"1
-- we live in a
world driven by fear -- fear of uncertainty -- fear of the future -- fear of
personal and national financial and economic disaster -- fear of losing our
homes and our jobs -- fear of natural disasters and terrorist actions -- fear
of accidents and death
--
our lives are governed by fear -- many of our laws were put into effect because
of real or perceived fears -- just think about all the safety rules in place
for automobiles -- these were all put in place in response to a fear of injury
or accident -- even the recent scandal in the news about Verizon and the NSA
monitoring of our calls -- if you think about it, the reason for this invasion
of our privacy in this way was driven by fear -- fear of terrorism and another
attack like 9-11 or the Boston Marathon --
without a doubt, we live in a world of fear
--
perhaps that's why the Bible talks about fear so much -- the most common
command in the Bible is not one of the Ten Commandments -- the most common
command in the Bible is not even "Love one another" -- no, the most
common command in the Bible is "fear not"
--
366 times, in one form or the other, we are told by God, "Fear not"
-- from the beginning of man in the Garden of Eden to our end in the Book of
Revelation, over and over God has repeatedly told us, "Do not be afraid --
trust in Me -- Believe in Me -- Have Faith in Me"-- when God came to Abram to establish a covenant with him, His first words were "Do not be afraid"
-- when the Israelites faced enemies on their way to the Promised Land, God told Moses, "Do not be afraid, for I am with you"
-- when Joseph found out Mary was pregnant and thought of divorcing her, God told him, "Do not be afraid of taking Mary to be your wife"
-- and when the women first encountered Jesus after His resurrection, the first words He said to them were, "Do not be afraid"
-- Jesus had earlier taught His disciples in Luke Chapter 12 to not fear the world -- He told them in verses 4-6, "Don't be afraid of those who can kill the body but do no more -- not a single sparrow is forgotten by God -- so don't be afraid -- you are worth more than many sparrows"
-- God knew that this was a scary world -- He knew that there were times when our mortal frames would quake in fear and when our hearts would be in our throats -- He knew that there were going to be times that we would be terrified with life and with the future -- and, for that reason, He tells us time and time again in His word, "Do not be afraid"
-- fear is part of life -- but so is conquering fear
II. Scripture Lesson
--
the Apostle Paul knew well the feeling of fear -- without a doubt, he had faced
it time and time again during his ministry and missionary journeys -- in fact,
it is almost certain that Paul felt fear on the road to Damascus when the Lord
Jesus Christ appeared to him in a blinding light as he was going to Damascus to
persecute Christians, leaving him blind and shaken to the core of his belief
--
as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11, he had been flogged and beaten numerous
times, shipwrecked three times -- he spent a night and a day out in the open
sea -- he had been in danger from bandits and from Gentiles and from his own
people -- he had gone without food and water and clothing -- he had even been
stoned to death
--
if anyone knew fear, it was Paul -- and yet over and over Paul writes in his
letters to the churches and to his disciples Timothy and Titus, "Do not
fear, but trust God"
--
we see these same thoughts here in this letter from Paul to the church at
Philippi -- let's look at this again and see what we can learn from Paul about
fear from his instructions to the Philippians
--
verse 27-28a
27 Whatever happens, conduct
yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and
see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm
in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel
28 without being frightened in
any way by those who oppose you.
--
"Whatever happens" -- what an open-ended statement -- no matter what
-- even if you face persecution -- even if you face the loss of your home or
your job or your finances -- even if you face the loss of your health or suffer
injury or even death in your family -- even if a natural disaster destroys all
that you know -- even if a terrorist threatens your way of life
--
whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel -- what
does it mean to conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel? -- it means
standing firm in the face of fear -- it means standing in faith no matter what
happens-- as Nik Wallenda pointed out in his answer to those who asked him if he feared death, the opposite of fear is faith -- the opposite of fear is trusting God
--
most of us are familiar with the name Stonewall Jackson, the legendary
Confederate War General -- other than Robert E. Lee, no other confederate
general is as well-known as Stonewall Jackson, but do you know how General
Thomas Jonathan Jackson got the nickname "Stonewall?"
--
General Jackson was "a strong Christian with a rock solid faith -- [he]
had a strong unshakable belief in the sovereignty of God -- that God is always
in control even when it seems the world around is falling apart -- at the first
battle of Bull Run, while shells and bullets were flying [all around him],
Jackson [did not take cover in the bunkers or behind the obstacles his men and
painstakingly constructed -- instead he stayed on his horse in the midst of
battle and calmly watched the battle unfold] -- "Brigadier General Bernard Bee saw this and told his own troops, “There stands
-- time and time again, Jackson displayed remarkable courage in the face of great adversity -- while lesser men cowered in fear, Jackson refused to give in to fear but chose to face his challenges head-on
-- "Others saw this and were amazed at his composure when danger was all around -- Someone asked him how he could do it" -- Jackson’s response gets to the heart of the message of the Bible -- he said, “My religious belief teaches me that I’m just as safe on the battlefield as I am in my bed -- the Lord has already appointed the day of my death so I need not worry about that -- I live my life and prepare myself so I will always be ready to meet my Lord, when death does overtake me.” 2
-- or, to put it another way, whatever happens, I trust in God
--
how do we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? -- what
do we do in the face of fearful situations? -- we stand -- we face down our
fears
--
think about the advice we give our kids when they face a bully on the
schoolyard -- we tell them if you stand up to the bully, he will probably back
down -- bullies operate on fear -- they depend on the fact that fear paralyzes
people -- but if you stand up to them, they back down -- that's the same thing
Paul is saying here-- Paul says stand firm -- stand up to your fear knowing that God has your back -- stand up to your fear through faith in the promise and power of God
-- that's the same advice he gave Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, or love, and of self-discipline"
-- the key to overcoming fear is to think and act eternally rather than temporally -- what if we face losing our homes? -- what if we face losing our jobs? -- what if we face not being able to buy food? -- Jesus tells us in Luke 12:29-31, "do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it -- For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them -- But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well"
-- what if we face the threat of death? -- Paul wrote right here in Philippians 1:21, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" and in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord
-- what let's men like Nik Wallenda and Stonewall Jackson face adversity and possible death with a peace and calmness this world cannot understand? -- it is because they are not living for this world but for the world beyond -- they are trusting in faith in the promises of God and know that He will take care of them, in this life and in the life to come
--
this ability to stand in faith in the face of fearful situations comes only
through the Holy Spirit within -- Paul says here we have to stand firm in that
one Spirit and we have to rely on our brothers and sisters in Christ to hold us
up
--
this is one of the reasons we need the church -- we need the church -- not only
as a place to come together to learn about God -- not only as a place to join
together in worship -- but we need the church to be for us a body of believers
who will stand with us in times of trial -- in the face of adversity and fear
-- and support us and keep us strong
--
Paul tells the Philippians here to not be frightened in any way by those who
oppose them, but to stand firm, united in faith and in the Spirit and trusting
in the promises of God
28b This is a sign to them that
they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God.
29 For it has been granted to
you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,
30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
--
when you stand up to a bully, they back down -- when you stand up to fear, it
dissolves
--
this last part of verse 28 always reminds me of those movies where the bad guy
had captured the hero -- he's standing there gloating -- he's telling him it's
all over -- evil has won the day and there's nothing the hero can do about it
--
and, invariably, the hero will start to smile and shake his head and stand up
tall and the bad guy starts to lose his bravado -- he starts to falter and
begins to look worried -- and every time, the hero says something like,
"you may think you've won, but you don't know the big picture -- you may
think you've won, but you don't know who's coming through that door in five
seconds" -- and then the cavalry arrives and the bad guy is vanquished-- when Satan and his demons whisper fears into our ears -- when they try to make us focus on the natural disasters and economic uncertainties and threats and rumors of wars and violence -- but see us respond with faith and stand firm in the power and presence of God, fear is reversed
-- our faith in the midst of fear is a reminder to them that they have already lost -- that Christ won the victory on the cross -- and there is nothing they can do or nothing they can promise that can erase that victory
-- our salvation is secure -- our victory has been won -- and fear has no place in our lives
--
the church at Philippi had been living in fear of persecution -- when Paul had
visited them, he had been arrested and put in chains with Silas -- they lived
in the very real fear that suffering and persecution would also come their way
--
but Paul says suffering is not a sign of God's displeasure -- it is not a sign
of God's judgment -- instead, Paul says it is a blessing from God because it is
a proving of our faith-- true faith is evident only in the midst of adversity -- and the Philippians were going to have the opportunity to demonstrate their faith in the midst of the suffering God had granted them
-- their witness and their faith would be seen by all -- their lack of fear would be noted -- and the gospel of Christ would be exalted
-- faith overcomes fear, especially in times of trial and trouble
III. Closing
--
when God tells us in His word, "Do not be afraid," He is not telling
us that we will never face fearsome things -- when He tells us, "Do not be
afraid," He is not telling us that we will be able to conquer giants on
our own -- that is not the message of the Bible-- no, what God is saying when He says, "Do not be afraid" is "Trust Me -- have faith in Me -- allow Me to take care of this problem for you"
-- no matter what the situation is that you are facing -- no matter how hopeless it might seem -- no matter how big or fearsome it might look, God says, "You don't have to face it on your own -- don't fear -- I will take care of it for you"
--
how do you conquer fear? -- you conquer fear through faith -- through trusting
God and standing on His promises -- John tells us in 1 John 4:18, "perfect
love drives out fear" -- God is love -- and His perfect love drives out
our fear
--
we know we don't have to fear the future, because God will take care of it for
us -- He has promised to never leave us or forsake us -- and no matter how big
the obstacle may seem -- no matter how scary the future may look -- God says,
"Do not be afraid -- trust in me"
--
in his book "Riding the Heavens," Max Meyers tells the story of the
time he had to fly four Papua New Guinea natives from their village to a
hospital in a larger town -- the men were extremely sick and desperately needed
help -- and even though they had never flown before, they agreed to go with him
on the 20 minute flight to the regional hospital
--
Max writes that the weather turned bad, and right after takeoff, rain began to
fall and the clouds grew ominous -- he was worried that if he tried to rise
above the clouds he might not be able to find a way down again -- so he
threaded his way through the clouds down the narrow valleys in that mountainous
region -- suddenly, he heard a low drawn-out moan coming from the backseat -- he glanced back, and looked at the terror-filled eyes of the three men in the backseat -- they were locked in a speechless embrace of abject fear -- he glanced at his fourth passenger who was sitting in the front seat by him -- in contrast to the three in the backseat, this man was staring ahead, contemplative and detached -- he even looked casual
-- Max asked him, "aren't you afraid?" -- the man responded, "only my skin is afraid" -- "what about the rest of you?" he asked
-- pointing out the window, the native answered, "I see the mountains -- they are so close -- I see the trees and the rocks as they rush by -- I see the rain and I hear it beating on the glass -- I see the clouds all around us -- I didn't know that this big bird of yours shook like this -- there is much to be afraid of here -- but, my fear is only as deep as my skin."
-- "What about under your skin?" Max asked.
-- "I'm not afraid under my skin -- I know the One who made the mountains -- I know the One who made the rocks and the trees -- I know the One who made the clouds and the rain -- He's told me that I don't need to be afraid -- Why? -- Because He lives inside my skin. -- And He has promised to never leave me. -- Because of that, I am not afraid"
-- so that is why He told us, "Do not be afraid" over 366 times in His word -- one for each day of the year, even leap years
-- This command is a promise to us -- a promise that He will take up our battles for us -- a promise that we will never have to face giants alone -- a reminder of the victory we have in Christ
-- so whatever fears you may be facing -- whatever worries may be coming your way -- stand firm in the Spirit -- join together with your brothers and sisters in Christ -- and face your fears through faith -- knowing that Christ is with us and that the victory is secure
--
Let us pray
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1http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/daredevil-nik-wallenda-wire-walk-gorge-grand-canyon-article-1.1379406
2Modified from a
story on Arlie Whitlow's Blog: http://www.arliewhitlow.com/?p=295
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