Hebrews 13.5-6


Today, we are going to look at the Gospel from a different angle. We’re
doing this because it speaks to our mission. Let me start with a bit of an
overview. We all have been taught that the Gospel deals with guilt, the
guilt of our sin against a holy God. You can easily see this as the problem
in the first sin when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, and
justification by faith becomes the solution. This way of understanding that
Gospel is true, but it isn’t complete. You can also see the Gospel in terms
of other problems. The Gospel deals with the problem of shame. Again, you
see this in the Garden when Adam and Eve try to cover themselves – their
shame – with fig leafs and God replaces them with the skins of animals. God,
by the Gospel, deals with our shame. And then, there is the issue of fear.
The Gospel is the solution to fear. That is the perspective on the Gospel
that we are going to focus on this morning.

Those of you who know something of the history of Israel will remember the
challenge that Baal worship presented to the people of God. It hit a climax
during the time of the prophet Elijah when he challenged the prophets of
Baal to a contest on Mt. Carmel. Baal was an agricultural god. We don’t
appreciate the attraction of this god because we have never faced a famine.
But for Elijah’s contemporaries, that was always a possibility. And, in
fact, they were in the midst of a famine because of Elijah’s ministry. And
so, Baal offered the promise of fertile crops, protection against famine.
Here we have the fear identified and then dealt with. Baal offered power to
deal with fear. ‘I understand your fear. It is real. But I have power. I can
take care of you. Follow me.’ Israel heard this gospel and was lured away.
But then Elijah proposed the contest. Two altars, two sacrifices but no
fire. ‘… you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name
of the Yahweh, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.’ [1 Kings 18:24]
As many of you know, Baal was silent and made no response. But Yahweh
answered with fire from heaven. This was a contest of power. Who is the real
God who can deal with fears? Which God has real power?

There is a shift going on in our culture. People are less and less concerned
about the problem of guilt. Instead, they are concerned about the problem of
fear. The need of the day for more and more people in our day is power. They
desire power that will deal with their fears. It’s Baal all over again
except this time it’s not a matter of agriculture. Today, just to take one
example, it’s fear about your health. If you ever want to bring a
conversation to a screeching halt, bring up the topic of death. Death is a
great fear in our society. People don’t understand how to deal with it. They
don’t know how to overcome this fear. They are afraid. Another great fear
relates to finances. Consider the nature of the appeal in ads for banks or
investment companies and the like. There are financial demands that loom in
the darkness of the future: college for the kids, retirement, unknowable
healthcare costs as you get older, and maybe nursing home expenses. These
are things people fret about. These are ways in which the fear of our days
shows itself. The solution to fear is always power. In Elijah’s day, it was
power to command forces otherwise beyond our control, forces that determined
the difference between plenty and famine. Today, it is the power of doctors,
medicines and healthy diets and exercise, along with enough socked away for
that proverbial rainy day that will keep the fears at bay. The solution to
fear is always power.

If we are going to be able to faithfully pursue our mission – changing the
world with the Gospel – then we will need to address the felt needs of our
world. And today, the growing felt need has to do with fear. Just as Elijah
spoke to his world with a language that understood and dealt with the
concerns of that day, we must speak to ours. We need to present the Gospel’s
solution to fear.

But here is where we encounter a problem. We will be unable to speak to our
world about how the Gospel deals with fear if we have not done a good job of
dealing with our own fears by that Gospel. Are we still motivated in our
plans and actions by a sense of fear? Or better, to what extent are we still
motivated by fear? Now, we’re ready to consider our text. ‘…I will not fear…
’ This speaks to all of the different things that cause us to be anxious, to
worry, to want to be sure that we’ve got things planned out pretty well. ‘I
will not fear.’ Now, in telling us this, the Spirit isn’t saying that there
is nothing out there to fear. No, the Scriptures are quite clear. There is
much to fear. We live in a world that is filled with evil. There are people
all around who hate our God and so, hate us. And it’s not just these people
who confront us. They are the slaves of a devil who is cunning and malicious
and will be very patient as he plots against our very souls. Oh no, it is
only a fool who says that there is nothing to fear. There is much danger all
around us. There is much to fear. And yet, the Spirit tells us that ‘we can
confidently say … I will not fear’. Why? It’s because, ‘The Lord is my
helper.’ We are not alone in this world in which we are continually
confronted by the many different dangers to our lives and souls. Jesus is
with us. Immanuel.

But is that enough? If you are confronted by some angry man with a gun,
determined to do you harm, what good is it that your aged grandmother tells
you from her wheelchair, ‘Don’t worry. I’m here to help’? Can Jesus really
help us with our problems? For many people, Jesus is good enough to get you
into heaven after you die, but dealing with life from now until you die is
up to you. No Christian would admit that, but functionally it’s the truth
for far too many. Can Jesus deal with the fears of this life as well as
those of the life to come? Absolutely. ‘Since therefore the children share
in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that
through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is,
the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to
lifelong slavery.’ [Hebrews 2:14-15] I said before that the solution to fear
is power. So, the key is finding who has real power. Baal claimed to have
power, but that was a lie. Many options today make the same claim, but they
likewise lie. Jesus, and only Jesus, has real power. He crushed the one who
also had power, Satan. Satan’s power was real. It was the power of death,
that is, the power to destroy. But Jesus has crushed Satan at the cross. Now
Jesus has power, all power in heaven and earth. By that power He has freed
us from Satan’s grip. And now, right now, He is with us by His Spirit so
that we might deal with Satan’s now-empty threats of the power of death that
we face each day. So, even though there is much to fear in this fallen
world, for us there is nothing to fear. Nothing. So, there is to be no more
of this fretful planning because, ‘Well, you never know what might happen.’
No more of such anxiety and wondering if everything will turn out okay. That
is how faithless pagans think. But not us! ‘The Lord is my helper. I will
not fear.’ We have nothing to be afraid of.

I hope that you see why all of this is important. We need to be fearless if
we are going to be able to bring the Gospel of Jesus’ power over death to
bear on our friends and neighbors. We cannot proclaim what we do not really
believe. So, we need to examine our own hearts. Do you act out of a sense of
fear? Is it your hope that you will be protected from the dangers that
confront you because you are especially diligent or careful in your plans
and actions? When you think of some of these areas, some of these fears,
where is your hope? What do you see as your protection? Hear the psalmist’s
answer. ‘When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.’ [Psalm 56:3] Is that how
you respond? I’m not talking about those crisis moments. I’m talking about
the times when the questions, the fears, arise in normal everyday life. If
you respond in any way other than that of the psalmist, then you have given
in to unbelief. You have denied the Gospel. You have denied Jesus.

We need to become fearless so that we can pursue mission. If we would
faithfully proclaim the Gospel to this world, we must also be dealing with
our own fears. And the way to do that is by the simple Gospel. We need to
repent of our unbelief, our fearfulness, and to come again to Jesus for the
grace that forgives and changes sinners like us. It is as we experience
Jesus’ power over our fears that we will be able to honestly and powerfully
proclaim this Jesus to a very fearful world. Your becoming freed from the
fears of this world will necessarily show itself. Just as Elijah boldly
confronted his world, you will likewise challenge yours. He presented the
real power of Yahweh to uncover the lies of Baal’s claim to power. You will
do the same. There will be some risk. I realize that risk is a four-letter
word in our culture, something to be avoided at all costs. This, by the way,
is more evidence of the fear in our world. But it is a fact for us to
acknowledge. There will be risk. What if Yahweh didn’t answer by fire when
Elijah said He would? There was risk. And Elijah took it. But in taking the
risk of obeying the Father’s commands, we are simply following Jesus. There
was risk involved in His going to the cross. He understood that and obeyed
His Father anyway. It won’t be painless for you. It wasn’t for Him. But He
did warn us that if we would be disciples we must deny ourselves, pick up
our cross and follow Him. And remember that on the other side of the cross
there was glory.

There isn’t a person here who doesn’t give in to fear at different times. We
have all inherited this particular sin. But we have the Gospel. So, as the
Spirit points out these sins, remember the Gospel. As you do, you will not
only see how Jesus will help you so that you no longer have to fear, but you
will also see how He will use you powerfully in His plan to free multitudes
from the fears that enslave them.