Freed from Fear

 This is a sermon based on Psalm 112. Verse 7 of this Psalm speaks about a person is not afraid when he hears evil tidings or bad news. When looking at the Psalm in light of this verse, we notice four qualities about the person who is able to hear or receive bad news yet not be overcome with fear. A video recording of the worship service in which this sermon was preached can be viewed here.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

Analysts tell us there has always been people in every generation that feel as though the conditions in their era is worse than it has ever been before. I know I’ve often made references to the conditions in the world as a reminder that we need to be alert and committed more than ever to serving the Lord and obeying His Word.

Several weeks ago, as we were still conducting our worship services in the parking lot, I preached a sermon on 2 Chron. 7:14 regarding the promise for God’s renewing, healing presence if we humbly seek him, repent of our sins and pray. In my introduction for that sermon I briefly made reference to the drastic changes in our society that had occurred so rapidly. Today, just 17 weeks after preaching that message, there have been even more changes. In addition to the government-sponsored restrictions of our freedoms, we have witnessed the explosion of rioting and violence across our nation.

I hope I am not mistaken in assuming that all of us here today are absolutely appalled at the looting, burning and violence that is taking place around the country. In my opinion, the unrest, division, and turmoil, are strategically planned by instigators behind the scenes in an attempt to disrupt and destroy our current economic/political system and replace it with something different.

Why does this matter? Does it matter only because it threatens our own comfort and selfish interests? NO! It matters because it is based in atheistic philosophies that have no concept of the value of human lives. Therefore, destruction of businesses, livelihoods, property and even the personal lives of individuals is perfectly legitimate if it advances the ultimate goal of overturning the current system. There is much more that could be said about the current affairs of our nation, but I’ve already said enough to point out how our minds and our hearts might become overwhelmed with fear and discouragement.

While thinking about all the turmoil that I’ve just described, I came upon this verse in Ps. 112 and I read, Psalm 112:7 ^(NKJV) He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Listen to these other translations:

Psalm 112:7 (NIV2011)  They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Psalm 112:7 (NLT2)  They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them.

Psalm 112:7 (HCSB)  He will not fear bad news; his heart is confident, trusting in the LORD.

Psalm 112:7 (AMP)  He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is firmly fixed, trusting (leaning on and being confident) in the Lord.

I want to take a look at this Psalm for a while today in order to help us receive fresh inspiration and encouragement in the face of “evil tidings.” Who is this person that will not be afraid of evil tidings? What qualities are given about him in this Psalm?

I.             He fears the Lord, not his circumstances. (v. 1a)

The title of the sermon says, “Freed from fear.” Verse 7 talks about this person having “no fear of bad news.” He does have some fear but it is a different kind of fear.

Psalm 112:1a ^(NKJV)  Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord...

The word for “fear” in the Hebrew is the same word in verse 1 as it is in verse 7. We have said in the past that the word for fear has a variety of meanings that are distinguished by the context.

(Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament) “In this discussion, biblical usages of yārēʾ are divided into five general categories: 1) the emotion of fear, 2) the intellectual anticipation of evil without emphasis upon the emotional reaction, 3) reverence or awe, 4) righteous behaviour or piety, and 5) formal religious worship. Major OT synonyms include pāḥad, ḥātat, and ḥārad as well as several words referring to shaking or quaking as a result of fear.”

In our series on 1 John we recently spoke about the difference between a paralyzing dread vs. a wholesome reverence and deep respect.

Today's Best Illustrations - Today's Best Illustrations – Volume 5. (Joseph M. Stowell in Moody (Nov./Dec. 1997). Christianity Today, Vol. 42, no. 2.) — “Our evangelical culture tends to take the awesome reality of a transcendent God who is worthy to be feared and downsize Him so He could fit into our "buddy system." The way we talk about Him, the way we pray, and, more strikingly, the way we live shows that we have somehow lost our sense of being appropriately awestruck in the presence of a holy and all-powerful God... “If God were to show up visibly, many of us think we'd run up to Him and high-five Him for the good things He has done.”

God’s Word gives us many examples of how people reacted when confronted by God. Moses; Isaiah; Apostle John (in Rev.) to name a few. All of them responded in awesome, reverential fear.

So we make a choice whom or what we fear – God or man; God or the world; God or the wicked.

II.           He follows God’s will. (v.1b)

Psalm 112:1b ^(NKJV) …Who delights greatly in His commandments.

The next quality we notice about this person who does not fear evil tidings or bad news is the quality of delighting in God’s commandments. The implication is that because he delights in them, he obeys them.

So often we have studied passages in the Scriptures that reveal the necessity to demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commands. Our problem too often is we emphasize some commands while ignoring others. May God help us to be balanced in our obedience. For example, the same God who issued the 10 Commandments issued the Great Commission.

Neglect and disobedience to God’s Word always results in fears, doubts, and shaken faith.

III.          His heart is steadfast. (vv. 7b, 8a)

Psalm 112:7-8 (NKJV) ⁷ … His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. ⁸ His heart is established; He will not be afraid…

v. 7b (KJV) “fixed”; (NKJV) “steadfast”– transl. 85 times as “prepare(d)” and 58 times as “establish(ed)”

(TWOT) The context of a passage will clarify whether the meaning is “prepared” for a purpose, or “fixed” / “established” as a result of being prepared.

There are also references where there is a sense of well-being as a result of being under God’s hand.

v. 8a “established” – a different word than in v. 7; this is the only time it is translated “establish;” other meanings include “lay” or “lean on;” “uphold” or “support;” et. al.

(BDB) sustained, firm.

Looking at the two words together would indicate that this person who is freed from the fear of bad news is one whose heart has been prepared, fixed and supported by the Lord to the end that it is standing firm and fixed.

cf. Isaiah 26:3 ^(NKJV)  You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

IV.          He leads a generous life. (vv. 4, 5, 9)

Before we talk about this last point, let me comment briefly on vv. 2-3.

Psalm 112:2-3 (NKJV) ²  His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. ³  Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.

I referred to these verses a couple of years ago when I addressed the issue of believing/expecting personal faith in God to result in material prosperity. OT promises for Nation/People of Israel if they would faithfully love, serve and obey the Lord. God would make them into a great nation and provide all they needed. National blessings vs. spiritual blessings.

Whether one experiences abundant prosperity or not, he can be generous. The Bible gives multiple references to the fact that generosity is an attitude and a lifestyle that is not reliant upon the amount of wealth a person has.

Psalm 112:4-5, 9 (NKJV) ⁴  Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. ⁵  A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. ⁹  He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor.

Don’t really need to say much here except to point out an observation. By including these verses as part of the description of the person who fears the Lord, but doesn’t fear bad news, it seems to be making this point: rather than being paralyzed and immobilized by the fears of coming evil, this person has been able to keep his focus on the importance of being a source of blessing to others rather than going into hiding.

Conclusion:

What about you? What about me? Are we living in dread and fear of bad news or evil tidings? Are we struggling to remain confident and steadfast in these days of turmoil? If so, it might be an indication that we really have not kept our minds “stayed on Him” as we quoted earlier from Isaiah.

God is the only One who can prepare us and establish our hearts so that we stand up strong in the face of bad reports and evil conditions and continue to do His work until He calls us home.

(Thomas Lane Butts, Tigers in the Dark, quoted in Illustrations Unlimited) Several years ago there was a well-known television circus show that developed a Bengal tiger act. Like the rest of the show, it was done "live" before a large audience. One evening, the tiger trainer went into the cage with several tigers to do a routine performance. The door was locked behind him. The spotlights highlighted the cage, the television cameras moved in close, and the audience watched in suspense as the trainer skillfully put the tigers through their paces. In the middle of the performance, the worst possible fate befell the act: the lights went out! For twenty or thirty long, dark seconds the trainer was locked in with the tigers. In the darkness they could see him, but he could not see them. A whip and a small kitchen chair seemed meager protection under the circumstances, but he survived, and when the lights came on, he calmly finished the performance. In an interview afterward, he was asked how he felt knowing that the tigers could see him but that he could not see them. He first admitted the chilling fear of the situation, but pointed out that the tigers did not know that he could not see them. He said, "I just kept cracking my whip and talking to them until the lights came on. And they never knew I could not see them as well as they could see me."

There are times these days when it seems like we are facing tigers in the dark. We may not be able to see in the dark, neither can we see into the future, but our God can.

Closing Hymn: Be Still My Soul

Blessed Assurance

 This sermon is the 11th and final sermon in a series of messages through the New Testament book of First John. It focuses on the fifth chapter, verses 13-21 which provides assurance of eternal life, assurance of answered prayer, and assurance of divine protection. The video recording of the worship service in which this sermon was preached can be viewed by clicking here.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

There is a true story of a Civil War Union Soldier named Daniel who was seriously wounded and taken prisoner by the Confederate Army. While recuperating from his wounds, the young POW grew bored and, after finding a New Testament, he began to read it and was convicted.

However, before making a choice to surrender to the Lord, he drifted off to sleep. Soon, a hospital orderly awakened him, saying that another POW was dying and wanted someone to pray with him. Daniel admitted that he wasn’t able to pray with anyone, to which the orderly said, “But I thought you were a Christian. I have seen you reading your Bible.”

Daniel later wrote, “I dropped on my knees and held the boy’s hand in mine. In a few broken words, I confessed my sins and asked Christ to forgive me. I believed right there that He did forgive me. I then prayed and pleaded God’s promises. When I arose from my knees, he was dead. A look of peace had come over his troubled face, and I cannot but believe that God who used him to bring me to the Savior used me to lead him to trust Christ's precious blood and find pardon.” (Robert Morgan, Then Sings My Soul, Book 2)

Both of these soldiers undoubtedly experienced the blessed assurance of forgiveness and pardon that is promised to everyone who confesses their need to Christ and trusts in Him for salvation from sin and hell. That Union Soldier, Daniel Webster Whittle, later wrote a song based on the words of the Apostle Paul: I Know Whom I Have Believed. These are found in 2 Tim. 1 and express the confidence and assurance of an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ as he was coming to the end of his life.

Today, I will finish our series of messages on the book of First John by speaking to you on the subject: Blessed Assurance. In these closing verses of this short, but important letter, John addresses a concern that most people have at some time in their lives – assurance and hope in the face of uncertainty and turmoil.

(The main points of the outline I am using today are borrowed from Dr. Vic Reasoner’s commentary.)

I.             The Assurance of Eternal Life (v. 13)

Assurance, confidence and hope are all intimately connected.

I have pointed out in earlier sermons of this series that the Apostle John uses several important words multiple times throughout this letter because they emphasize themes that he passionately pushes.

Words like: know (40 times); love (46 times) and world (22 times)

So, the word know is one of those words and it expresses John’s passion for assurance in the hearts and minds of his readers. The word is used 7 times in these final 9 verses of the letter. John also uses the word “Confidence” 4 times in the letter.

1 John 5:13 (NKJV)  These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

John declares the purpose for his letter is so the readers would know that they have eternal life. He says he is writing specifically to those who already believe in the name of the Son of God – that is, Jesus. But he wants to assure them that they can know they have eternal life. 

Someone asks, “How can someone know they are saved and have eternal life?” (Reasoner)

John has stated that the source of our confidence is the abiding presence of the Spirit of God. See 3:24 and 4:13.

1 John 3:24 (NKJV)  Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

1 John 4:13 (NKJV)  By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

Dr. Reasoner then asks, “How can we know that we still have the Spirit?” The Apostle has repeatedly told us in this letter: it is only by the Spirit that anyone can confess that Jesus (the man) is Christ (the Son of God). It is only by the Spirit that we love the children of God. And, it is only by the Spirit that we love God and keep His commandments and they are not grievous.

Based on these statements of John’s, if a person hasn’t confessed Jesus is the Son of God along with all that means for our salvation, and if they do not actively love the children of God, and they either do not obey His commands or they find obedience to be a drudgery, then they might have reason to doubt they have eternal life.

II.           The Assurance of Answered Prayer (vv. 14-17)

The Bible has multiple promises for the people of God who seek Him and call on Him to intervene in their lives for all kinds of reasons. As people of faith who trust in Jesus and the reliability of God’s Word, we believe it is worth the time and effort to pray and to intercede for others. These verses help support that confidence in the value and effectiveness of prayer.

A. Prayers are answered for anything that is God’s will. (vv. 14-15)

1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV) Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Other passages in the Bible define the conditions for answered prayer, including: faith as a grain of mustard seed (Matt. 17:20); abiding in Christ and His words abiding in us (Jn. 15:7); and we obey Him and do what pleases Him (1 Jn. 3:22). But here, John specifically mentions the need to pray in God’s will.

I have said this before, but if we desire to know what God’s will is, there are a host of passages in the Bible that spell out the things that are God’s will. For example,

1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NKJV)  For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;

So, when we pray for anything that is God’s will, we have assurance He hears us and will answer.

B. Prayers are answered for fallen brothers/sisters. (vv. 16-17)

In the next two verses John addresses a specific kind of need that is God’s will – the salvation of the lost. In this case he is talking about the case of a “brother” who has sinned.

1 John 5:16-17 (NKJV) If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. ¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. 

Dr. Reasoner believes that John is specifically pointing out one exception to the previous point – God answers prayers that are according to His will, except when a believer turns away from the truth and persists in willful defiance of truth. God will not override the will of a person to bring them to saving faith in the first place, neither will He override the will of a person in response to prayers of other believers.

However, I have prayed many times that God will bring whatever circumstances into their lives that will make them willing to repent.

“sin unto death” (KJV) – (sin that leads to death, NKJV) John clearly seems to be talking about spiritual death.

(Walter Kaiser, et. al., Hard Sayings of the Bible) John uses the term life thirteen times, seven of them in this chapter. Since he means spiritual life (eternal life) in every other case in which he uses the term, we would expect that this would also be the meaning here. Likewise the two other places where he uses death (both in 1 John 3:14) refer to spiritual death, not physical death.

John has been concerned with a group of apostates, people who were part of the Christian community and have left. … These are not casual errors or lapses into this or that sin, but a knowing and deliberate turning away from the truth they experienced in the Christian community.…

… While John clearly does not intend Christians to pray for the forgiveness of such people, he words himself carefully so as not to forbid it. The issue is that these people are not repenting or about to repent.

III.          The Assurance of Divine Protection (vv. 18-21)

The third area of assurance provided by the apostle relates to God’s protection of His children.

A. Protection from our spiritual enemy – Satan. (vv. 18-19)

1 John 5:18-19 (NKJV) We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. ¹⁹ We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

John repeats the truth that every person who is born of God, does not willfully continue to sin. He addressed this several times earlier in the letter and we learned that in this sense, John is talking about deliberate, willful sin, stemming from an attitude of lawlessness and defiance.

“is born,” – lit. having been born; perfect tense participle which grammatically means the action took place in the past with the resulting condition continuing into the present.

“the wicked one does not touch him” – lit. does not assault, violate or harm.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:

The reassuring fact is stated in v. 19.

1 John 5:19 (NKJV) We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

The ungodly kingdom of darkness is under the control of the wicked one, but we are not in that situation because we are of God.

B. Protection from error – knowing the truth. (vv. 20-21)

1 John 5:20-21 (NKJV) And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. ²¹  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

God has given us understanding.

“understanding” – pref. “through” and root “mind” or “intelligence.” Meaning ability to reason or think through something.

God has given us the ability to know the Son and the Father who is the source of eternal life.

(Tom Thatcher, Expositor's Bible Commentary, Revised) John’s third statement of what believers “know” summarizes the two major themes of the epistle: the identity of Jesus and the difference between true believers and the [antichrists in the world]. Jesus is the Christ, the Son, and the “true God” in contrast to the false “idols” (v.21) promoted by the Antichrists.

Conclusion:

Throughout this entire letter, John has been clearly marking out the differences between true believers and the false teachers (antichrists). Now, in these final verses of the whole letter, he is providing them with the confident assurance that is grounded in their faith and gives them hope in the present and the future. My question to you today is, “How is your confidence and level of assurance?”

Sometimes our confidence can be shaken because of doubts that have never been answered satisfactorily. On the other hand, John has pointed out in the letter that our confidence or assurance may be shaken or destroyed because we have not been truly born of the Spirit, we have deliberately and willfully disobeyed the Lord, or we have fallen prey to some false teaching.

The answer in all cases is to come to the Lord in humble confession and acknowledge our need for His saving grace. We need to acknowledge the truth about ourselves and the truth about Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Then, we need to put our entire trust and faith in the blood of Jesus to save us and change us.

I believe today’s message on assurance is a good opportunity to invite anyone who is struggling spiritually to come and pray. You may know for sure that you’re not saved, and you want to change that today. Or, you may not know for sure if you’re saved. You lack the confidence or assurance of it, and you wish to pray also. You can come forward and kneel at the altar here in the front while we sing this closing song:

Only Trust Him