We now turn into our text this evening. It is in Luke chapter 12, 22 through 32. And then he said to his disciples, therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life. what you will eat, nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your father knows that you need these things. But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Thus far, the greeting of God's holy word. Please be seated. Beloved of the Lord, our God, that song that we just sung, it is well with my soul. Have you ever sung that song and it was not well with your soul? In this Christian life that we live, it is often not well with our souls. The interesting thing about that hymn is written by a man who had lost his entire business, his house, all of his possessions in a fire, and then lost all of his children in a terrible boating accident. And as he was going to his wife to help her mourn, he wrote that song. It is well. with his soul, how can that be? That's something that we'll look at a little bit tonight. And our text gives us one of the many reasons why that sometimes we feel that it is not well at all. But before we jump to the main text, I wanna back up just slightly in our text here, earlier in this chapter, and point out once again, an urgent need for the fear of the Lord. As it has many implications on the main thrust of our topic tonight and on that of which is to fear. Sorry about that. So let us turn slightly back and to read verses four through seven. in the continuation of our study of the fear. 12 verse four says, and I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body. After that, have no more that they can do. but I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who, after he is killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, fear him. Five sparrows sold for two copper coins, and not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows. As this is a transitional verse between fearing the Lord, which I spoke to you last time about, and this topic tonight of fear not, we see this directive of the fear of the Lord is a critical aspect of our faith. It should undergird everything that we do in our life and in our faith. Jesus, in this passage, is emphatically telling us Two times, which we need to note that, he says, fear him who after he is killed has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say fear him with an exclamation mark. There are no such punctuation marks in Greek. This emphatic statement being spoken twice gives extra added emphasis. Jesus is telling us, fear the Lord. And as the Greek text does not have an exclamation mark, as we do in English, it is written in what's called the imperative mood. This means that it places a particular emphasis. It is a command from the Lord, our God. It is not as simply a saying, it's not a good idea, it's not a suggestion, it's not an option, but it is in fact an urgently important directive from the Lord. Just as the Lord God's 10 commandments are written in the Hebrew version of the imperative, we will be seeing numerous imperatives in our text today. But as we can see from these verses, Jesus gives us a contrast of who to fear, the Lord, and who not to fear, the man, the devil. These texts even relate to us an amazing reason why you can trust in this fear of him and speaks to our value before him, but we will get into that a bit later. As I spoke to you last time, I see a great lack of fear in our land and in our churches and in our hearts. and we must grow in our attitude of the heart and our fear of the Lord. As the fear of the Lord has been decreasing over the generations, there has been a dramatic increase in all the other types of fears. This is not a coincidence. There is a truly terrible epidemic in our day of fearfulness, of worry, anxiety, and often the depression that goes along with it. These things cripple many professing Christians today, more so than in any other time, and it is growing. I have known many people whose fears and anxieties rule their hearts. It drives everything they do. It overwhelms them. Worldly fears is an attitude of the heart as much as fearing the Lord is an attitude of the heart, but in reverse. And as much as the benefits of the fear of the Lord are great, so too are the curses and troubles that comes with fearing everything else. Scripture has over 300 references to not being afraid or being fearful, and we find the simple words fear not dozens and dozens of times throughout the Old and New Testament. Our text today just contains just one of the many fear nots. So let us look at our main text. We start with a therefore in chapter, excuse me, in verse 22. We start with a therefore, so we have to ask what it is there for. So again, we have to back up just slightly and to know that the preceding parable is the parable of the rich fool, which is about a man and all his laying up for himself treasures on earth and specifically refers to verse 15, which says, And Jesus says, and he said to them, take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Which in other words says, we need to be aware of whatever hinders our contentment with the portion that God has sovereignly provided in our life. Therefore, verse 22. Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor your body, or what you will put on. Do not worry. This is an imperative statement. Worry, worry, worry. We all worry. You're probably thinking this verse is, I remember when I first read that verse, yeah, easier said than done. All of life's cares and worries can easily crowd out our love and devotion to the Lord and draw our hearts away from Him. Our tendency towards covetousness is being addressed here by Jesus, and it is a trap of the caring about this life in its most basic forms, what you'll wear, what you'll eat. If the basic forms of fearfulness are addressed in this passage, we need to consider that everything else in life would also be included beyond this. As we all just came through the Christmas time, where all the retails do their best to encourage us to see new things, to get new things, things that we should eat, things that we should wear, new things, more things, lots of things, things other people have, which is covetousness in its ugliest forms, wrapped up in a shiny bow. The advertisers, regardless of the time of year, is intent is to draw us into the trappings of this life. To speak to us lies that say you will feel complete if you just had this one thing. Your joy would be abounding if you would just eat or drink this or that. It is all driving at the flesh, the human flesh, and the world responds accordingly. Beloved, the flesh is never satisfied. You have all tested this, as have I. Have you ever been fully satisfied with anything that this world has to offer? Perhaps for a short time, but nothing lasting. And to be clear, this idea of not worrying is not a complete omittance from thinking about this life. It speaks more to the excessive cares and worries about it, which there is a difference. The pagan world seeks these things with a vengeance. The Christians ought to excel at knowing more and living under more excellent hopes and promises than they have. If you look at the English definition of worry and anxiety, It says that it is mental distress or agitation resulting from concern, usually for something impending or anticipated. Anxiety is an instance or an occurrence of the distress or agitation. Our text, the Greek is worry and anxiety are exactly the same word. And in its definition, it is to be anxious and troubled with cares. but it also means to seek to promote one's own self-interest. So as we have a better understanding of what that means, we can continue through this section of scripture. Verse 25, it says, and which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? One cubit is just a unit of measure, whether it's being taller or an age time reference. Basically, it boils down to something you have no control over, something that you cannot change. Why do we worry about such things? Why do we spend so much time and energy on thoughts and on things that are beyond our control? Every human being is guilty of this. Have you considered the mental energy it takes to do this? It is exhausting and causes us to not have the energy to do the things that actually will have beneficial effects in our lives, like seeking His kingdom and turning and obeying His word. It is an energy thief. It steals energy that could be devoted to faithfully caring for others. Perhaps you've maybe noticed how difficult it is to read the Word when your heart is heavily weighed down with these excessive cares of this life, and especially on things that you cannot change. And yet the Word of God is the place to find those comforting answers for those very things. Why is it that Christians so often seek answers for everything from everywhere but the Word of God? This should not be. When we allow ourselves to be weighed down by worry and fear about the things in this life, especially the things we can't change, you are saying to the Lord your God, I do not trust you. You are not strong enough. You are not mighty enough, capable enough. I can do it on my own. This is a form of unbelief. And it is always based on a self-centered attitude. Beloved people of God, if this is your struggle, this is a sin and that is in need of repentance. Even our compassionate Savior here lovingly rebukes us and all who fall into this system of unbelief in verse 28 where he says, oh you of little faith. Any care that is related to distrust or lack of faith in who he is, is disrespectful and untrusting of our Lord and Savior who cares for us so we can and we must ask, as the disciples themselves ask of Jesus, Lord, increase our faith. This is something that we need to continue to do more and more of. Lord, increase our faith. Help us to trust explicitly in you. Verse 29 says, and do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. Again, an imperative statement. And this verse speaks more to a persistent state of mind and even worse than a momentary worry. But we can look at Philippians 4, 6 through 7. Be anxious for nothing. but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Jesus Christ. So we are told to not be anxious, nor have an anxious mind, and to be sure this is not a fruit of the Spirit. It is worldly. How do we know this? Verse 30, for these things the nations of the world seek after, and indeed they do. You must recognize that the world responds to events and issues, troubles of this life differently than a believer should. At its heart, anxiety and worry are merely symptoms of fear, of underlying fear. And if the world tells you to fear something, this should be your first indication to question the validity of such a fear and respond with, I fear not. Fear is a great manipulator. Many tyrants, many governments, many bullies and abusers use it as a means of controlling others. And indeed, even Satan, the great accuser himself, uses it with cunning ferocity, crippling many. As believers, you must respond differently to the fears and worries that this life produces, for great is thy faithfulness. I really love that hymn, great is thy faithfulness. But even more interesting is where that came from. That phrase is in the middle of Lamentations, which is not a very pleasant book to read, but it is nonetheless important for us to see that in the middle of the book of despair, in the midst of an extreme trial where Jerusalem was besieged before it fell and God's people killed and exiled, they starved. and watched their children starve as well, and even worse things. But in the middle of that chaos, pain, starvation, and death, God's people can still say, great is thy faithfulness. How can this be? How is that possible? And if they can say that at that time, how can you not say it now? when you have never seen anything close to what they experienced in that time or endured. Truly, even our Great Depression in this country wasn't even close to what they experienced. And to be clear, that happened due to the grievous sins of Israel and after many, many warnings. But we can still say with all believers that great is His faithfulness. He will never leave you nor forsake you. You are His chosen, special, peculiar people that He has taken as His own. Cherish that status, that value before the Lord. Speaking of value, perhaps you've noticed the many references to birds, flowers, even grass in these texts. And this speaks to our value and the Lord's sovereignty. The Lord feeds and loves his creation. He upholds it. He nourishes it. He sustains it. If he stopped upholding it for even one moment, it would collapse. When we are tempted to despair, God has given us a million feathery reminders to consider. that the Lord feeds them all. So the next time you see a bird, consider this. This is what our passage is asking us to do. Consider the birds. Granted, he doesn't throw the seed in their nests. And so, two, we must work just as they do in our toilsome labor under the sun. But know that it is the Lord that makes it productive. You know, biology is the study of life and how it is held together and interacts with its environment. But it is actually the study of creation. As a biology major in college, I came to see no conflict between science and scripture until science that is. I discovered that while a little bit of science, we lose sight of God. We explain him away. We explain him out of existence, but with a lot of science, we find him again. And we see it in the created order and how he's put things together, how precise it truly is. If we just look at the Earth's orbit around the sun, it is precise. A little closer or a little farther away, and all life would cease to exist on this planet. or consider the way we were stitched together in our mother's womb. It is so precise. It is written in roughly, give or take, 10 billion miles of DNA nucleotides that hold us together. Taking a genetics class in college actually caused me more fear and wonder in the Lord than any class since then. as one small alteration in that ten-billion-mile chain causes disastrous results on the person. It truly caused me to understand how fragile and precious life truly is, and how much even a newborn baby is such a miracle. Only our Creator's hand can do this. If the Lord was not upholding His divine stitching job, we would cease to live. And so to every bird, every flower, he sustains even these. And knowing this, how can you say that he won't, he can't, he isn't sustaining you? Are you alive? Even more so, you are created in His image, and they were not. And you have been given dominion and authority over the birds of the air, the beasts of the field. You are of so much more value than any of those other created things. It says it multiple times. Recognize your place in the order of importance before God. He has given you life. Do not be lacking in gratitude for this precious gift and trust that He will sustain it until He calls you home to eternal life. If He wanted your present life to end, you are not going to prolong that day one single day. Again, this falls under the category of something you can't change. And as much as every hair of your head is numbered, so too are all of your days in this life. But what are the things that we truly fear? To be sure, fears of loss of possession or wealth, fears of pain and suffering, fear of heartache, fear of trials and troubles, and of course, the cares of this life, which our passage clearly says repeatedly not to do. But why should we not fear? Well, let's look at 2 Corinthians 4, 17 through 18. For this light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceedingly and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Beloved people of God, do you think that this world is your eternal home? Are you trusting in the seen or the unseen? You have a heavenly dwelling place that Jesus Christ, our Savior, is preparing for you. And when we lose sight of this truth and place our trust in the seen, we start to have fears about this life, and a lot of them. But let's dig a little deeper into fear. Fear tends to boil down into two major categories. The first one, fear of man, and or I would add the fear of what man thinks of us. How much time do you, how much do you care about what man can say or do to you? When you rightly test your own actions and convictions and actions and motivations, In regards to this care, you may find the truth of it unsettling. Truly, we need to look at Hebrews 13, six, which says, we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? No, I've said that verse wrong. It says to say it boldly. The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? This is something that it says to say boldly. Sometimes I think we lose an emphasis when we only read the word and not speak it. When you are tempted to fear, this is the verse to say. The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? And remember the earlier passage that we read in Luke. Do not fear those who can kill the body, but after that cannot do anything else. Truly, the fear of man shows a direct lack of faith, a misplaced fear that is inappropriate for God's people. What can man do to you? We all know the most extreme answer, yes. Yes, man can kill you. And if you live in a wicked world filled with wicked people, which we do, it is full of death, which brings us to our most fearful thing, fear of death. It makes perfect sense that the world is afraid of death, as they will stand before a righteous, holy judge, the one who actually has the power to cast them into hell. they should fear meeting that judge a great big amount. But it is very indeed strange that this fear is present in believers. Those who boast of being Christians have a profound fear of death oftentimes. In the perishing, the persons following the broad road, the path of this life, This life is the best that they have. They have no sense of looking forward to something far, far better. That faith-filled hope of having an eternal destination in glory belongs only to believers. And this should flow forth from every fiber of your being and cause those lost souls to wonder what it is, the reason you have for the hope that you profess in this life. I've observed in my own life and in the lives of others, those who have had close brushes with death, that death often loses much of its fearful power. When we have such experiences, we should view them as a gift from God. Have you ever come close to death? Have you experienced a sickness or a medical emergency that you should not have recovered from? Have you barely missed a head-on collision or survived one? Or had a parent or guardian or grandparent have this happen to them and heard the tale? If so, Are you here listening to this message? It would seem that the Lord still wants you alive, and to give him the glory for great things he has done for you. And by every breath that you now breathe, you can know that the Lord has not yet called you home. And you are not done glorifying God, and only just started enjoying him forever, which is our chief end of man, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever, that starts in this life. Well, how do you know that it brushes with, you may ask why I feel that it is a gift from God to have brushes with death. Well, Psalm 68 20 says, our God is the God of salvation, and to God, the Lord belong escapes from death. Very interesting. And we are only looking at the visible sovereign hand of God. Have you ever considered how many times he has upheld you and you didn't know it? He does that too. And you must trust in his sovereign hand and into his sovereign plan to overcome a fear of death. We find the wonderful promise we find in Romans 8, 28, that, and we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. He mentioned that this morning. This promise must be adopted and trusted in our heart of hearts. Notice the all things, all things, work together for your good. And that includes every believer's life, and death. To fear death is inappropriate for God's people. This is something that you must resolve in your heart not to do and to trust him with your very lies and leave them at his disposal. While we were looking at promises, Back to our text in verse 31, it says, but seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Have you done this? Are you toiling away and worry and forgetting to turn your mind and attention to the things of the Lord? Verse 32 is very similar in that it says, 32 says, do not fear, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom, the Father's good pleasure. As we've heard, as I've spoken to you last time, the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, Psalm 147, 11. And so it is his good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And what amazing gift that is, as we know that all good and perfect gifts come from above. So do not fear. This sums up the whole passage and gives us what we must do. Imperatively, absolutely, we must not fear. So let us turn to some application points. Things that we can do in this time. I have four of them. The first one being, Be transparent about your fears and anxieties. Seek prayerful support. You cannot be helped if you cannot confess your sins one to another. This is the whole point of Christian community and fellowship. If you can't allow yourself to be known and to know others truly, you will find recovery from your fears long in coming if they come at all. You cannot do this on your own. So if you cannot do this on your own, and you do suffer from anxiety, fear, or worry, consider joining together with other believers. And I would also say there is a place here for biblical counseling. Don't overlook this possibility. Point two, seek first the kingdom of God. No, this isn't redundant. The emphasis is on the first. Consider His kingdom first, more important than your own kingdom. You cannot do both well. There is no such thing as partly devoted to God. There is no half measures that you can take here. Either your life is the Lord's or it is not. Stop vacillating between two opinions. you must consciously bring every thought captive and put it under the authority of God and His kingdom. In doing this, the Lord does provide and adds that promise, and all these things shall be added unto you. But God has to be put first in your life. The promise doesn't work in reverse. This seems like a simple truth, but how often do we reverse the order that we put ourselves first and then add God to it? It says seek first. Point three, hold a loose grip on worldly possessions. Everything you have has been given to you by God. And if you begin to idolize your stuff, watch out. or your loving father may lovingly discipline you by removing it. Holding too tightly to your worldly things causes many cares and also shows that you do not hold tightly to the Lord. Do not hold onto the seen. Hold onto the unseen with all of your might. And the fourth most important point, and that is to fear the Lord. The fear of the Lord eliminates all other fears. As you grow in the fear of the Lord, the other cares and fears disappear. You are a chosen child of God, and it is time that you act like that. Fear the Lord and watch the concerns of this life grow strangely dim. Watch as your sinful anxieties and fearful worries disappear into oblivion and be replaced with a strong confidence in the Lord. Fear the Lord and trust in this mighty King who cares for His children. The Lord our God, He is good and He is faithful. Choose to fear Him. Ask Him for that fear. Seek that fear. Grow in that fear. This is a very good way to seek first his kingdom so that he can add all of the things that we stand in need of. So as we wrap up our study of fear, we can see that the Lord has clearly distinguished the good fear and the bad fear. He tells us who to fear and what not to fear. Choose this day which fear will rule your hearts and your souls Please consider that whatever your worldly cares are today, your tribulations and your troubles, your worries, your fears that you are tempted to dwell on, the Lord knows them and he knows everything that you stand in need of. The Lord knows his people and he knows of our slavish love of this world and our apparent desire to exhaust ourselves pursuing it. Indeed, our whole soul is often ensnared by the allurements of the flesh and to our seeking happiness in this life. And if you're weighed down by the cares of this life, recognize that those things, those seen things, are passing away. But consider 1 Peter 5, 7. Cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you. Yes, in this life, we can be full of worries and troubles. And as we consider those things, we need to also look to 2 Corinthians 5, 6 that says, so we know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. In other words, don't feel sorry for yourself at times when you lack comfort. But as the Lord sanctifies us through the power of the Holy Spirit, he trains away our improper love of this life and gives us an ever-increasing yearning for the life to come. And John Calvin once wrote in his Institutes, if heaven is our country, what can earth be but exile? This is aptly put. It says that this is not our home, and perhaps we should consider this life exile. And as we have an eternal heavenly dwelling that God is pleased to give us, fear the Lord. Fear of anything else but the Lord must be overcome and confronted in this time of preparation. And as we see the days growing darker and ever-increasing evil growing, knowing that there is a great day of the Lord coming, when our Redeemer returns and receives His faithful servants, wipes away every tear of our eyes, clothes us with a robe of glory, and feeds them with the joy of His pleasure, oh, what a day that will be. Let us long for that day. But until then, Fear not. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we again come before you with our many fears, our many worries, our many cares. Lord, help us as we cast all of those things on you. Lord, give us the strength and diligence pursuing the fear of you, as you will remove the fear of everything else. Help us to trust in you, Lord. Increase our faith. And we know that when we ask in accordance with your will, you are faithful in giving it. And we know you desire greatly to give that to us. Turn our hearts towards you this day. We pray this in Jesus' name.