Fear Not

This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us. Fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Because He is powerful. He is mighty. He will bring His judgment and wrath down on the unrighteous. Jesus says in Matthew 10, 28, And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

One day we will all stand in judgment. One day we will stand before Christ and those who believe in Him will have eternity with Him. In paradise.

And those who do not will be eternally separated in torment. In punishment for our sin. And that should strike fear in the non-believer.

Those who do not confess Christ as Savior. Matthew 25 and 46 says, And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

I think it is important that we note that Jesus uses the same word eternal to describe the punishment of hell and the reward for righteousness in heaven. It is an eternal consequence.

Either way. The fear of God should motivate us to want to be reconciled to God. Which is only found in relationship with His Son, Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 1 verse 7 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And until we understand who God is. And the best that our finite minds can understand that He is glorious and holy and perfect.

And He is mighty and reigns over us and sovereign. We will continue to be foolish in our minds. We will not have true wisdom and knowledge. For the believer, our fear is different.

It's a reverence that we have for God. It's an understanding that He is powerful and mighty. Hebrews 12, 28 and 29. Thus let us offer to God acceptable worship.

With what? With reverence and awe. For God is a consuming fire. We should have reverence and awe for God.

And when we go before Him in worship, in prayer, in study, we should have a reverence and awe about us. A seriousness in which we take things.

Once upon a time, I thought it was very legalistic to wear a suit in the pulpit. But you wouldn't go to a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant or anyone else that is disheveled and doesn't look like they've put themselves together that morning to manage serious aspects of your life for you.

And so the reason that we get ready on a Sunday morning, the reason we get ready on a Monday morning for staff meeting, the reason that we pay attention to what we're wearing, we put ourselves together, is that we can display outwardly the discipline and the seriousness in which we take the things of the Lord.

It matters. The things that we do matter, as we were talking about with Shepcon, and the impact that we have on other people. And we do this all out of respect and awe for our God.

We want to make sure that we are taking things seriously. And I know for me, Saturday night has become a bit of a ritual of getting my mind and my heart set on the Lord.

As I pick out my suit and I think about the tie, and I kind of get it all ready. Does that make me more than holy? Absolutely not. I'm sure there's many times my tie doesn't match my suit as it should anyway.

I rarely have the dimple in my tie like I should, and it drives me crazy. I don't know how to do it. But there's a process there of getting my heart and my mind right. And as I'm getting ready on a Sunday morning, I have our music for that Sunday morning service playing.

And I'm already thinking about these words, and I'm preparing my heart and my mind for the things that we're going to study and we're going to think about. I come to the church about 7 o'clock, and I walk into my office, and I lay out all of my Sunday school stuff, and I start going back through it and making sure, is there anything I've missed here?

Is there anything that I've messed up on? Am I ready? Is my heart right? Am I prepared for this? And I come in here, and I sit down, and I think about the music that the musicians are practicing and going over.

And I think about what's going on in this place because we are to do this with reverence and awe for our God because He is worthy of our fear.

Believers have no reason to be scared of God, but we do have a reverence for God. Our children probably understand this better than we do.

It is not uncommon on a Sunday afternoon for my son Maverick to come and tell us that he's made some kind of a plan or something with his friend Brooks in Sunday school.

Today, he was telling me about a video game that, okay, he got this video game. He's hoping Brooks will get this video game. So they're kind of scheming this whole thing, and then maybe our parents will let us play it together, and they kind of had a whole plan.

And it's funny that they don't speak in definite terms that we're going to do this, because then we can plan, we'll make a plan, we'll do this. No, because they know that they both have a set of parents that rule and reign over their life, that they can only do things within the confines of which we do or do not allow them to do things.

And so they make plans as far as they can, but they understand that there's an authority over them. There's a certain level of reverence that they have, and I think young kids find comfort in this.

I think it's obvious. When you give your kids boundaries, they tend to thrive within those boundaries. Now, I know that's not a perfect analogy, but I think it gives us a good idea of a parent that takes care of their kid and provides for them, but there's also a level of power that they have over them, and they lead them and they guide them in that.

And the Lord does the same thing for his children, for us, Romans 8, 38, 39. For I am sure that neither life nor death, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights or depths, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is a great promise that we have as believers, that we will not be separated from Christ our Lord if we hope in him and trust in him as our savior.

And why is that? Because he is strong and mighty and powerful. Because he can do all things, which leads us to a place of not fearing.

Because he is powerful. Because he is strong. Because he is holy and he is perfect and he is sovereign and he is providentially in control of everything that goes on.

We don't have a blind, fatalistic sense of fear as we follow him. No, we do this because we understand who he is according to his word. He is a strong and powerful God and we can rest in that.

So the supernatural powers of darkness cannot separate us from his love, then the temporary powers of this world cannot do that either.

We have no reason to fear the world around us because we have a God who loves us and is caring for us and providentially preparing each spot that our feet will take a step next.

The power of the world has nothing over us. Secondly, Pharaoh and the Israelites. A bit of a case study here. This is a narrative that you're probably very familiar with.

It kind of goes back to Genesis, back to Genesis 50. You see that the Israelites follow Joseph to Egypt. In 50, verse 19 of Genesis, it says, Joseph says, Do not fear, for am I in the place of God.

And this is in response to the circumstances that Joseph's brothers have found themselves in. And even though Joseph is a proven leader and he now has authority and some power and he is in a certain position over them, he knows his place, that he is not to be feared like we fear God.

And while in Egypt, the Israelites begin to multiply. They're blessed. See that in chapter 1, verse 7. And they're considered eventually a threat by the Pharaoh.

And he doesn't want them to grow and get more powerful, so they enslave them. And this starts enslavement for 430 years according to Exodus 12, verse 40.

Pharaoh orders that the male Israelites must be killed as babies because he doesn't want another leader to rise up and threaten his position.

So he's strategic and he's thinking through these things. In Exodus 1, verse 17, we see that the midwives feared God. They did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.

And why is that? Because they had reverence for God. They recognized that God was more powerful and reigned more supremely than the Pharaoh ever could. The Pharaoh may enslave them and have immediate authority over them and be able to control their life to some point, but he'll never compare to the power of God.

And they're not going to operate outside of the way God said we should operate because they have reverence and awe for him. This story is a sweet irony, as you know.

The Pharaoh attempts to say, we cannot have any more baby boys. I don't want any powers to rise up and come against me. And in God's providence, the Israelite woman puts her baby in a basket and floats it down a river.

And the Pharaoh's daughter finds it and raises Moses in his own house. Again, sweet irony. The one that will eventually rise up to lead his people away, that will end up seeing the destruction of Pharaoh is raised in his own home.

In Exodus 3, God speaks to Moses through a burning bush and tells Moses that he's to go and demand the release of the Israelites, but that God's going to harden Pharaoh's heart. It's this unique thing about this narrative that all along the way, God is always telling Moses exactly what's getting ready to happen and tells Moses to go.

And Moses is just obedient and does what he's supposed to do. And exactly what God says is going to happen is exactly what happens because God is providentially, sovereignly in control of everything that goes on.

It's absolutely incredible to read this story. If you've not read through Exodus, you need to read through Exodus. In Exodus 9, 30, Moses knows that Pharaoh does not yet fear the Lord because Moses goes to him.

He says, release my people. He doesn't want to do it. And eventually these plagues come into play here. These plagues are judgment being poured out on Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

But the Pharaoh does not fear God. He continues in his sin and rebellion against God. And eventually these plagues lead up to the Passover.

The Spirit passes over the families who rightly fear and obey God. And those that don't, the Spirit kills the firstborn child. So only after losing his first son to the Spirit during the Passover does the Pharaoh finally agree to what Moses is saying.

And he finally releases the Israelite people. What joy and relief this must have been for the Israelites. This would have been a long series of events to lead up to this.

This is generations of people growing up and living in slavery. They don't know any other kind of life but being abused and having to do hard manual labor and listen to these Egyptians and live as second class citizens.

But now they finally are going to get to live their own life and their own land. What a great promise. I imagine this has to be how my kids will be when they finally get to go to college and move away.

Finally, the promised land. You get to go live somewhere else. But we know that feeling of finally getting to be on our own or buying your first house or buying your first car. You finally have something that's yours and you get to go and enjoy it.

The Israelites were getting ready to go out into the wilderness and to journey and eventually have something of their own. They watched as God brought down judgment on the wicked Egyptians.

They watched the miraculous signs that God gave Moses. They saw these things play out. They would have experienced these plagues alongside the Egyptians. They see the power of God poured out and now they are being released from their captivity.

Surely nothing will ever keep them from following their God. Right? That would be the sensible thing here. But we know that it doesn't play out like that because the Israelites are just like us.

Time after time we go back to our sin and back to our fear of man and the world around us. In chapter 13, verse 17 and 18, when the people leave Egypt, they are led by God.

And God knows that they are not equipped for war. So in verse 18, it says that he led them by the way of wilderness to avoid their enemies so they wouldn't get into a fight.

And in this, we can already see that God is leading his people and they have no reason to fear because God is present with them, leading them through the wilderness. Verse 13 and...

Chapter 13, verse 21, 22, we see that God is physically leading them by fire and smoke both day and night. And this is obviously a very unique occurrence. This is some Old Testament turn-by-turn GPS.

We could have used this in California as Jeff was driving. Someone to lead us. But it's also a reminder of God's presence with his people. He's there. And they can see that he's there.

They know that he's there. What an assurance they would have had as they traveled to know exactly where they were supposed to go because there was this pillar of fire or smoke day or night.

leading them, taking them there. And then chapter 14. Now, we see that this is an odd kind of changing of the circumstances.

So God is leading them away from their enemies but then tells them to go back towards Egypt. Which does sound strange. If you're the average reader of this or the average person in that day, that would have felt strange.

The Lord has led you out of this place around your enemies. Now you're going back towards Egypt. What's going on? But again, you don't have any reason to fear.

Because you see God's presence leading you to that place. He's speaking through Moses and working things through him. You've got a great leader ahead of you telling you to go to these places. Why would you begin to fear?

And we're obviously going to see that the faith that the Israelites have begins to break down. But the Lord has led them away from the threat of the Philistines and now turns them back towards Egypt.

And if there's anybody that wants to fight Israel at this point, it's got to be the Egyptians. And verse 3 gives us the answer as to why these things are happening. We learn that this is a setup.

that the game has been scripted. That God knows Pharaoh's very heart and his intentions. And he's getting ready to catch him in his sinfulness. Verse 3 says, chapter 14 says, for Pharaoh will say the people of Israel they are wandering in the land.

The wilderness has shut them in. He thinks that the Israelites are trapped. He thinks that he perhaps has the advantage once again. And the average person again may observe the same thing.

But again, this just proves that Pharaoh did not truly fear God. Even when he released the Israelites from Egypt and finally gave in to what Moses was saying, he didn't truly fear God.

Because if he did, by this point he would know I need to leave God's people alone. Because God's going to defend them as he has so far. You see, Pharaoh was willing to go through some motions.

He suffered some consequences and his life got hard so he was willing to change some outward behavior in order to try to get into a good place again. And that describes our sin life to a T.

There are some of us that continually go back to the same sin patterns over and over and over and over again. and we may have momentary seasons where we've changed and replaced that habit with something or we've kind of gotten rid of that thing or gotten rid of that app or whatever it is but then eventually as soon as we think we have the advantage we go right back to it.

And why is that? Because we do not rightly fear God. And for some of us in this room you may not know God. Because you continue to go back to these patterns of sin.

That's the example that we see from Pharaoh. There's a momentary time that he changes the outward but his heart has not changed. There's been no internal transformation.

And eventually as we continue to go back to our sin over and over again that will lead us to the sea of destruction that will destroy our lives.

And Pharaoh is going to physically live this out. So now Pharaoh is going to command his army to go after God's people and he's actually marching right into a trap.

We don't always understand the path that the Lord is leading us down. These Israelites certainly didn't. They probably felt like they were going in circles. And maybe your life even feels like you're walking in circles.

You're not sure where is God leading me? What is going on? But I can assure you just like the Israelites God has a plan for you as well. And I can't tell you exactly what it is but we can look at story after story after story and testimony of who God is all throughout Scripture and we can look at other saints and believers in our church and we can see what the Lord has done in their life and we can know that God has a plan for me just like he does for all of his children.

why would he suddenly change the way he works when it comes to your life when he's been doing the same thing for people all throughout human history?

I've shared about Chelsea's hospital stay a couple years ago and I walked out of the hospital after she got out of the hospital. I got her out to the car. I walked back in got a few things as I'm walking out I thought to myself I'm never coming back to this place I don't ever want to come back here.

Where do you think my next my very first hospital visit after I got back to work and all that was? That same hospital. Oh and the second one same hospital Chelsea was with me that time.

And what I figured out was that the Lord was reminding me he was reminding me of his goodness but more than that he was reminding me that he is Lord of my life not me.

I don't get to decide where I am and am not going to go. Because if it was up to me I probably wouldn't be in Mustang Oklahoma right now. But the Lord led me to a good place.

And whatever plans that we make up for ourselves that will never compare to what God has for us. And the Israelites if they had put their heads together and had all their smartest people there and said okay how do we get out of this situation they probably would have all died.

Because they've got the Philistines on one side of them they've got the Egyptians coming after them they've got the Red Sea that's blocking them they're stuck they can't go anywhere but God had a far greater plan for them but we see in verses 5 and 6 right on schedule what does the Pharaoh do?

He sends his army after the Israelites and I think the Israelites they're they're leaving out of Egypt their departure would have been a very humiliating thing for the Pharaoh and I think Pharaoh's probably being threatened his power's probably being threatened his reputation was certainly threatened and tarnished and I think this just once again goes back to tell us that he feared man over fearing God his fear was not rightly oriented but God is about to reorient Egypt's fear however it's going to be too late when they finally realize what's going on so thirdly a correctly oriented fear look at verse 10 of chapter 14 it says when Pharaoh drew near the people of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians were marching after them and they feared greatly and the people of Israel cried out to the Lord and they said to

Moses is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness what have you done in bringing us out of Egypt they are just they're right back to being fearful again they're right back to not having any faith verse 12 is this not what we said to you in Egypt leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness this evening I want to ask you where is your fear oriented what is it that you fear is it a war in Iran or a political thing going on is it a family situation or maybe you feel like you are keeping your family together right now and you're fearful of it falling apart perhaps you're fearful of the future of your children I can assure you you must have your fear rightly oriented and it's not of the things of this world because those things are temporary our God deals in the eternal we should fear him we should have reverence for him the people cry out to God in this situation and certainly if this was a genuine cry to the

Lord for help he's going to listen to his people in this moment but that's not what's going on here this isn't a tornado siren sounding and your kids running to your bedroom nervous and scared this is Israelites having no faith that their God has led them rightly having no faith in the circumstance Israel should have had a child like faith similar to that of when a kid runs into the bedroom when the tornado sound tornado siren goes off kid runs in the room scared they run to you you comfort them and even though they don't understand the details and all the logistics of things that are happening and why the sirens may be sounding right now or whatever they trust that you know what you're doing that you are stronger than that tornado in their mind that's what they're thinking you can keep me from this and the Israelites should have had the childlike faith that

God would save them through this no matter how dire the situation was but instead of childlike faith they respond and you'll see this throughout the Old Testament like children complaining whining griping one commentator says they have tantrums like a toddler Exodus 14 verse 13 14 verse 11 says what have you done to us bringing us out of Egypt and verse 12 for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness they've completely forgotten the power of God they've completely forgotten what God can do for them what he has displayed in Egypt and the plagues and the miraculous signs that he gave Moses they've completely forgotten and our memory is just as short we now see that they are completely faithless in verse 15 it says that the Lord says to Moses why do you cry to me tell the people of Israel to go forward and maybe this is just the way my brain works but

I am picturing this and I immediately go to a scene of the Andy Griffith show where Opie has a new friend move to town who teaches him how you can throw a tantrum if you're not getting your way so Opie he wants something from Andy and he throws a tantrum on the ground and Andy looks!

what are! you doing I am throwing a tantrum he's like okay don't get your pants dirty we're not going to change God's mind by throwing a fit and in the same way Sheriff Taylor just because Opie throws himself on the ground he's not going to now change his mind about what he's just said our complaining or whining or griping doesn't make our plan and our wants greater than what God can do the Lord knows he has a plan for us and it would be far better for them no matter what it is perhaps their death is certain and that would be a far better thing for them than them trying to figure out a way out of it because God's plan is always best Paul knows this he reminds us in the New Testament to live is Christ and die his!

he knows that he could plan for himself but Moses doesn't forget this Moses keeps his fear oriented correctly he knows whom he should fear he doesn't know how he doesn't know the details but he believes that the Lord will deliver them that he will fight for them that God will be their salvation he knows this from experience Moses has encountered God he has been changed and transformed and when you've truly been changed and transformed you have a reverence and a fear of God God lit up a burning bush to speak to Moses and God told Moses to go tell the Pharaoh Moses didn't think he could do it but the Lord provided help and Aaron for him to go and do that he took care of his needs long before he even realized he had those needs Moses does not fear because he that happens with

Moses God tells Moses exactly what's going to happen over and over and over again you're going to go to Pharaoh you're going to say let my people go I'm going to harden his heart he's going to say no and even now he's telling him exactly what's getting ready to happen and Moses knows that God will not go back on his word and if scripture tells us if you confess with your mouth you believe in Christ you will be saved you will be saved the scripture tells us that those who know and love Christ will spend eternity with him you will spend eternity with him we can trust these things that finally brings us to Exodus verse 13 verse 13 says and Moses said to the people fear not stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which he will work for you today for the Egyptians who you see today you shall not never see again the

Lord will fight for you and you only have to be silent so Moses gives three imperatives here to fear not to stand firm and to see the salvation of the Lord first want to look at stand firm how do they stand firm interestingly they stand firm by being silent in verse 14 and this word silent can be translated to mean silent to be deaf to be speechless to be dumb in other words the Lord's going to fight he's going to make war he's going to take action you have nothing to do but to do nothing at all you couldn't wherever God has told you to go go there he said go back towards Egypt go back towards Egypt God is going to take care of everything else you just need to be quiet in chapter 14 verse 15 it says lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground and

I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go after them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts and his chariots and his horsemen and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh his chariots and his horsemen now God tells again exactly what's going to happen he tells Moses what's going to happen so we don't have why is it he is going to do it and the Israelites aren't why is it that God works in our life and we don't it's all because of God's glory and he will never not receive glory again verse 17 says I will get glory over Pharaoh and in verse 18 the Egyptians shall know that I am Lord they are going to have a correctly oriented fear of God they're going to know that he is the Lord he will get glory over everyone else this last week at shepherd's conference

Michael Reeves president of Union Theological Seminary says those who love the glory of God more than the glory of men are supernaturally steady in the face of difficulty if you know Michael Reeves you know he said that way better than I can possibly say it because he's got this why are we supernaturally more steady because God's the one doing it God's the one at work we're silent we're in waiting we're trusting the Lord and what he's doing because he has a far better plan than we could ever have for ourselves also this last week Abner Chow says that nothing is off the table when it comes to the Lord protecting and keeping his own and this is a perfect example of that we're going to see that they are to stand firm by simply being silent they need to just trust what the Lord is going to do just stand firm in the

Lord verse 21 we see that God uses Moses to split the Red Sea to provide dry land for the Israelites the Egyptians are going to see what's going on after they've chased them down and they're before Israel for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians it's too late for them they finally are fearing God for who he is they're beginning to understand the light bulbs coming on it's clicking in their minds of who this God is in verse 27 the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the host the Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea and not one remained God turned the sea into a cemetery and he got his glory over Pharaoh and the Egyptians he also tells the Israelites to see the salvation of the

Lord tells them to fear not to stand firm and to see the salvation of the Lord Moses uses this word see three times to emphasize that they are to see their salvation and that while you currently see Egypt you will never see them again and this narrative of God leading them out of captivity out of Egypt saving them out of slavery is referenced well over a hundred times throughout scripture and it's a constant reminder that we are to fear not in the midst of our life circumstances because God is far greater than anything we might face I don't have time to go through I had several spelled out here but Exodus 19 4 Leviticus 22 33 Numbers 15 41 Deuteronomy 4 20 Judges 6 8 1 Samuel 12 6 Hosea 13 4 Psalm 66 6 says he turned the sea into dry land they passed through the river on foot there did we rejoice in him there's a constant reminder of what

God did for the Israelites that serves as a foundation of why we don't fear and we too can look back on this and say we don't have to fear these circumstances because God has given us scripture so we can clearly see why we should not fear in the midst of what's going on in our own lives because God has power and might he is sovereign and he is in control he's gracious and he's merciful he's righteous and he is holy we can see his character all throughout the pages of scripture he knows every breath before you take it he knows every detail of the difficult circumstance that you face and he's got a plan he's caring for you as we wrap up I have just a few points of application for us and I'll go through these quickly the first one is don't fear political powers and while they may pass laws and try to disrupt our lives we have to remember that God is in control

Pharaoh tried to kill baby boys to keep them from having anyone to take his power away from them but God orchestrated it that Moses would be raised in Pharaoh's home as we sang this evening he that formed me in the womb he shall guide me to the tomb all my times are in his hands ordered by his wise decree secondly while the world may be in chaos all around us do not fear imagine what the Israelites must have been going through when they're in Egypt and these plagues are going on and these signs are happening and just the chaos of the moment it would have been scary it would have been terrifying to see frogs and locusts and all these things coming after them then they hear about the Passover!

what's getting ready to happen I'm sure that they hugged their kids tight that night before they put them to bed but even when the world is in chaos do not fear plagues and death around me fly till he bids I cannot die thirdly don't fear those who mean to do you harm you may face someone that means to do you harm Pharaoh's army was in hot pursuit Israel's destruction was certain it was obvious it was coming to the average person but don't forget that not a single shaft can hit till the God of love thinks fit fourthly true heart change is what is desired not just outward behavior and that was exactly what happened with Pharaoh when he went after

Egypt we want to live for Christ not just to fulfill some moral standing or moral characteristic or just to be you know act a certain way outward change is not what we're looking for we're looking for inward transformation now my life to him I owe where he leads me I will go that's what our life should be and lastly be reminded of the ways that the Lord has defended you and you have seen his salvation in your own life if we all take an honest look at our own life you'll see and you'll remember times that the Lord has cared for you taken care of you provided for you when you need it provided protection or safe keeping and we can look around the people all around us in this church and remember the same thing look at what the

Lord has done for us the Israelites forgot that quickly don't forget that remember what the Lord has done and no matter what the circumstance is do not fear let's pray father we come before you grateful that you have given us your word that we can look back on what you have done for your people that we can trust in the midst of every circumstance that you are ever faithful ever true Lord I pray that we would be a people that would truly tune our hearts to only you Lord I thank you for this church and this time we've had together pray this in Jesus name amen as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as as