Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

Therefore don’t be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak into the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.
Matthew 10:26-27 (emphasis added)

You know what’s great about Jesus? Everything. Be honest. It’s true. He’s worthy of all the worship and praise that you can muster. And why not? Jesus has been through the ringer. No matter how graphic a depiction of the death of Jesus, it isn’t graphic enough. No matter how brutal and violent, in the end we want to recognise our actors and see them emote. But Jesus? He was scorned by all around Him. All they wanted to see was Him die. Funny thing about the condemned. When those around them hate them enough, it seems to give a carte blanche for others to treat them horrifically. If you doubt that, you think of all the prisoners (political, wartime, civilian, and terrorist) that have been held in all the kinds of prisons there are in the world. From concentration camps in wartime to ‘civilised’ prisons in the West. Think of the stories you know and trials you have seen of brutality in those prisons. Prisoner against prisoner and guard against inmate. Jesus suffered all of that kind of thing. And then it got bad.

Jesus suffered spiritually. He who was without sin became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus sacrificed everything for us. He had to in order to reconcile us to God in Himself. Through Him, we have been given a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2). This is the same ministry that the disciples were given, though they were given it to get Israel to repent in order to be ready to receive salvation through Jesus’ resurrection. We are on the other side of the resurrection and have been given the authority to preach the Gospel of Jesus so that people can be saved directly through Jesus. The world doesn’t want to hear about it from us any more than Israel did from the disciples. But Jesus told them not to fear. Not to let themselves get discouraged and downcast. The disciple isn’t greater than their teacher, but they aspire to be like their teacher. If the teacher is called names and abused, the disciple can expect to be called names and abused too (John 10:24-25).

Jesus told them not to be afraid. Because He promised that there is nothing that won’t be revealed. No conduct or treatment, no matter how dark the place it is committed, that won’t be brought into the light. In fact, a little earlier He had been telling them that if a household or city won’t receive their message of the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand it wouldn’t go well for those people: “Most certainly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (verse 15). When you take into consideration that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with such violent fire that Roman soldiers walking around after Jesus’ day reported seeing scorch marks on boulders in the valley of Sodom, that is quite an indictment (Josephus records that). But we are told that it is not ourselves who will speak this message, but the Spirit of our Almighty Father who will speak it in us (verse 20).

What is this message? Simply put, the gospel. “What I tell you in the darkness, speak into the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops,” says Jesus. The message that Jesus gives us in the Word. What He tells us apart from humanity, when the message isn’t ready. When we aren’t ready. When we are in our learning phase. When we are sent out by Jesus? Proclaim it from the housetops. Do not hide it. The Good News that sin is dealt with. That no one needs to suffer its penalty. Everyone can be with God. This Good News should be told out loud and proud. There is no secret gospel. There is nothing reserved for initiates. There is not teaching for those and another teaching for the inner circle. Jesus holds nothing back. Now the fact is that the nuances of that message cannot be understood by the ungodly: “Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). But we don’t hide those things. We tell them everything. Openly and without reservation.

This doesn’t mean cram it down their throats. It means that the Word of God isn’t a secret. It is an open treasure. A freely given gift that we are to freely give away in our turn (Matthew 10:5-8). God tells everyone everything. And those that can hear, hear. Those that choose not to take it in don’t, and those that choose to take it in do. We aren’t to hold things back. But we aren’t to waste time talking about the nuances of the Kingdom to anyone that we come across (Matthew 7:6). We are to be led by the Lord in what we are to say to whom and when (Matthew 10:20). But we can freely answer any question. We can talk openly of the things of God. That is a tremendous gift. No secret societies for us. No initiates. No secret levels that we have to work to achieve. No paying to get the secret steps to success or closeness to God. Free Gospel. Free Grace. Free Word. Free relationship with Him. What a Blessing! What an amazing and open Gospel we speak.

But there are those that do not appreciate that free Gospel of Grace. They aren’t in the business of freedom. They don’t always think the happiest of happy thoughts toward us. Their actions are not always joy-joy hugs and smooches. We aren’t to fear that. These aren’t our words but His Word. We aren’t to hide our message and cower away. We are to proclaim the Good News. Hide nothing. Reveal the all of the Father’s Grace. In Love. Not in worry. Not in fear of reprisal. In Love. Because He Loves us all. And He wants us to know it. He wants us to know nothing separates us from Him anymore. His words. His way. His timing. He will let us know what to say and when to say it. Most importantly, HOW to say it. We are to speak in love, move in love, think in love, share in love, and worship in love.

We are to praise and worship the Lord. Openly. With our words and our love. We deny nothing of God. We celebrate everything of the Lord. We praise and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). We worship Him when we feel it. We worship Him when we do NOT feel it. In fact, when we do NOT feel it is when we are to bring our very best praise to His feet. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed and were created!” (Revelation 4:11). Are you being attacked? Worship the Lord. Hard. Are you doing great? Worship the Lord. Hard. Are you awake? Worship the Lord. Hard. Worship Him. Give Him praise. Not just because He is a good God. Not just because He deserves it. Not just because He is worthy. Not just because He is merciful. Because praise is a weapon that blocks the enemy, defeats what ails us (spiritually and also physically), and sends the enemy packing. Worship is the language of the Kingdom and we are to train ourselves to be proficient in its speaking. It is the key that unlocks so much about who we are and how we are supposed to be. Ourselves on our own journey and our interactions with this world that we are to bring His message to.

If we abide in the Lord and stay close under His wing, bringing ourselves into captivity before the cross, receiving His gifts, renewing our minds, and opening our ears to the Holy Spirit, what would there be to worry about? The Lord created the worlds, language, us, and everything around us. If there is even a chance of speaking with His eloquence, we should jump at it. Don’t you think? Don’t be afraid of what to say. He has words for us. Don’t be afraid of what others may do to us, there will be an accounting before God. What does Psalm 91 say? He will honour us. What is done to us will be answered for in the highest court there is: the Throne of Almighty God. So don’t fear. Step out in faith and walk in what the Lord has for you. Start today!

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Matthew 10:5-20

Jesus has done something so great it has to be heard to be believed. Jesus has done something so important that He wants to share the message with everyone He can. Everyone who breathes on this good Earth. Every single creature that is capable of reason and belief needs to know this message. He commands us to spread it and He protects us while we do. Spiritually, there is nothing anyone can do to us. Nothing. Physically? Yeah, but they are going to answer for it. Jesus wants people to know how much God loves us. How much God has done for us. And how little we need to do to accept it all. All we need to do is believe. No works will do it. Niceness won’t do it. Holy living won’t do it. Prayer won’t do it. Generosity won’t do it. Belief in His work, His Grace, His gift, His reconciliation of us with the Father. And He gives us the faith to do that too! Spread the word. Spread the Love. Spread Jesus.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.