Luke 12:4-7 Whom Shall I Fear?
Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 12:3-7, page 871 in the pew Bibles.
I would like to thank you all for your prayers and outpouring of love on me last Sunday. For those of you who are unaware, I suffered a stroke a number of years ago and have had struggles with my speech ever since, and as you saw last week sometimes I have bad days. But I am very grateful for your love and support.
I am also grateful that our text for this morning is a wonderful encouragement from our Savior.
Let’s get right to it.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Let’s pray.
Again, I’ll remind you that Luke tended to organize his gospel more thematically than chronologically. So coming out of the warnings against hypocrisy, the leaven of the Pharisees, it makes sense that warnings against the fear of man would be in this section.
Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”
The fear of man was really at the heart of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They pretended to be spiritual in front of people, they appeared holy on the outside, but inside, in reality, were full of greed and wickedness.
So why not just embrace the greed and wickedness and shamefully appear that way on the outside? Because of what people would think, because of what people would say.
Why is it that we are not open and honest about our own weaknesses and failures? Same reason.
But when Jesus tells the disciples, His friends, “Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do,” He knew what was in store for them.
Peter would be crucified in Rome upside down. James would be killed with a sword in Rome. John would be beaten, boiled in oil, and exiled on the island of Patmos. Andrew would be crucified in Greece. Philip would be scourged and crucified in Turkey. Bartholomew would be beaten with rods, scourged, then beheaded in Turkey. Matthew would stabbed to death with a halberd in Ethiopia. Thomas would be pierced with spears in India. James son of Alpheus would be stoned then clubbed to death. Thaddeus would be crucified in Mesopotamia. Simon the Zealot would be crucified in Persia for not worshipping the Sun god.
Jesus knew what was coming for each of them and still He said, “Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.”
Why not fear them? Because all they can do is punish this body, they cannot affect the destiny of the soul.
When Jesus says in John 3:16 that God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever would believe in Him would not die but would have everlasting life, He didn’t mean that our body would not die but that our souls would not die.
Lots of people who believe in Jesus have died, their bodies have died, but that is not the end for those who have faith in Jesus. That’s exactly what He is reminding His disciples.
All they can do is kill you, if you trust in Jesus you know that this life is not the end, there is a glorious place being prepared for you in His eternal kingdom.
The sword of men is not nearly so dangerous as the fear of men, especially when our fear of people and their opinions makes us turn from the Lord.
John Calvin wrote, “If the fear of God is extinguished by the dread of men, is it not evident that we pay grater deference to them than to God?”
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”
Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.”
Psalm 19:9 says, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “The end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
Are you starting to get it? I could go on!
The fear of God recognizes the reality of His holiness and majesty and our sinfulness.
When I think about the fear of the Lord and what that might look like I always think on Isaiah chapter 6.
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
RC Sproul said, “The fear that we are to have of God is a fear of offending Him, a fear born of awe, reverence, and humility before His majesty.”
God alone has the authority to both to kill the body and cast the soul into hell, Gehenna, eternal destruction, the second death. And he does so rightly because of His holiness and justice and because it is what we deserve because of our sin.
Thanks be to God that because of His great love for us He has made a way for us to be forgiven through faith in His Son!
Jesus goes on to say, 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
They must have been running a sale at the pet store that day, buy four sparrows get one free!
When was the last time you gave any thought to sparrows? How about when one dies?
It seems pretty insignificant to us and that’s exactly Jesus’ point. If something so small and insignificant is not forgotten before God, how could we possibly think that He doesn’t care about us?
Matthew Henry wrote, “Though they are of such small account that five of them are sold for two farthings, yet not one of them is forgotten of God, but is provided for, and notice is taken of its death. Now, you are of more value than many sparrows, and therefore you may be sure you are not forgotten, though imprisoned, though banished, though forgotten by your friends; much more precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints than the death of sparrows.”
I love the line from the old hymn, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me…”
John Calvin said, “Would He who is careful about the sparrows disregard the life of men?”
I think sometimes when we consider the love of God it stays kind of ethereal, just kind of out there somewhere and not very concrete. This idea can seem so far away and hard to grasp. But your Heavenly Father cares for you, and His care goes all the way down to the very smallest detail. Even the very hairs of your head are numbered.
You are not forgotten, you are worth more than many sparrows.
When we try to find our worth in the opinions of others we will fail. It may bring short term gratification but in the end will leave us disappointed.
When we put the opinions of others before the opinion of God we are in a very dangerous place.
Whether we are seeking to please people or seeking to avoid their ire, if we do so because we fear them more than we fear and respect our Heavenly Father we are in a dangerous place.
The long and the short of it is that this should all drive us back to Jesus; to find our forgiveness in Him, to find our strength in Him, to find our confidence in Him, and to find our worth in Him.
He loves you so much! Fear not; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Amen.
