# Fear Not

Key Passage: Matthew 1:19-20
Date: June 7, 2024

Matthew chapter one in God’s Word. Christmas time, everything gets out of whack; schedules get out of whack. Eating gets out of whack, amen. We eat a bit more than typical and whatnot, but you’re keeping your things right. You’re in church today. And how many have heard this old term, your scruples? You’ve got scruples about you. Anybody hear that right there? Yeah.

I was talking to my daughter and we were making a decision about a Christmas gift. And I said, “Sarah, we’ve got to keep our scruples about us.” And I was kind of joking with her. She said, “Dad, what scruples?” And I said, “I don’t know. I heard somebody use it one time. I thought it was good, you know.” But scruples. You’re keeping your scruples about you. You’re in church on Sunday morning even though it’s Christmas time. Amen.

I was at Brother Lamont’s—some of you know who’s over Bible in your Mission. His wife passed a year or so ago. It was at the funeral. One of the men who spoke up said, when we were teenagers, we would be running through her house and whatnot, and she’d say, “You boys ain’t got no scruples. You need to get some scruples about you,” you know. And that’s scruples you got about you.

I’m surprised I’ve got to give you such an education in Tennessee. I thought you were on board, you know. But Matthew chapter number one, you’re in church during Christmas time. That’s awesome. Matthew one. And we’re going to just two words today: two words, “Fear not.”

We’ll preach for two hours on two words. What’s up with that? You know, I’ll tell you for sure. But the two words: “Fear not.” And we’re going to look at a couple of those and try to draw some conclusions on them. We’re in Matthew 1, and we’re going to start in verse number 19. And if you would, if you’re able to, would you please stand? Just out of respect to the Word of God, Matthew 1, verse number 19.

God’s word says: “Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these sayings, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying, Joseph, thou son of David.” Would you read the next two words out loud with me? Here we go: “Fear not.”

“To take unto thee, Mary, thy wife, of that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost.” If you would look over to Luke chapter number one, Luke chapter number one, and verse number 28. Luke 1 and verse number 28. Verse number 28, and the angel came in unto her and said, “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

And when she saw him—can you imagine? I think angels can be a little different. Hebrews talks about entertaining angels unawares, but often angels are very large and very strong men. They appear like that. They are very strong. But the Bible says when he saw her—excuse me, when she saw him, verse number 29—when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, “Here it is.” Would you read out loud these next two words? “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.”

One other place: chapter number two of Luke, Luke 2 and verse number 8. The Bible there says, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over the flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto him, Here it is.” Would you say it? “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

Can you imagine Joseph? He was in love. In fact, he had already gotten on his knee, if you will, or knees and said, “Mary, wilt thou,” and she had already wilted and said she would. And in fact, the Bible uses the word espoused. It’s a little bit stronger than engaged. They were engaged legally somewhat; they were married, just not fully consummated. And he thought, “Man, I’ve got God’s will.”

Can you imagine how much time Joseph had spent praying? I mean, I think Joseph and Mary both were godly people, a godly young couple. Can you imagine what? And he thought, “Man, I’m getting a good girl. She’s a good girl. She’s clean. She’s pure. And I’m getting God’s will for my—just as, I imagine marriage as a sweet lady, just a sweet lady. And Joseph thought, I’m getting a choice girl. I mean, I’m getting a great girl.” Some of you guys, wouldn’t you like to be in that shoe? Any of you young men there, you know, I mean, get married to a good girl? No takers, no taker. No taker. They’re all right. Fine, you’ll be single for the rest of your life then, Dale, you know. Dale’s shaking his head, yes, like he will be. Oh, my goodness. I’m joking, of course.

But can you imagine when Joseph begins to hear that Mary’s expecting? Can you imagine? Can you imagine how his heart would feel? Wait a second. I thought I was getting a pure girl. I don’t know if Mary herself told him or who. But Joseph is here contemplating: What do I do? I mean, I thought she was a good, clean, sweet girl. And I don’t know, did she pull the wool over my eyes or what?

He’s thinking about: Should I practice the Old Testament ceremony of law? He could actually have her stoned. Or should I just put her away privately, you know, with no fanfare and just say, “No, we’re not going to follow through this marriage”? Can you imagine all that’s going on? Can you imagine the turmoil? Men, think about that a little bit. Where would you be at if that was you? That’s where Joseph was.

And all of a sudden, Joseph, he’s there just in this turmoil, and this angel shows up, and this person says those words, “Joseph,” by the way, an angel is a messenger from God. And this angel says, “Joseph, fear not.” I wonder the peace that maybe just kind of calmed him down a little bit.

And the angel says, “Look, Joseph, this is what was prophesied about.” I believe Joseph, too, a little bit seems like about Isaiah 7:14: “A virgin shall conceive,” and that’s where the Messiah, the Prince, is going to come from. And “fear not, Joseph.” That lady that you’re married to and you’re going to be all the way married to, she’s going to give birth to the Messiah.

Can you imagine the peace that must have come? We read over there in Matthew chapter number one about Mary. And this angel comes in—I don’t know exactly in what form the angel came in—but can you imagine this big old fellow comes in and says, “Hey, Mary, I want to talk to you.”

And Mary’s like, “Whoa.” The Bible says when she saw him, must have been something about his appearance. And he had already said, “Hey, you’re highly favored.” But then she saw this angel, you know. Angels, in the Bible, are always in the masculine tense. And wow, you know. And Mary must say, “Whoa, man, I’m in trouble now,” you know. And Gabriel, the angel says, “Fear not, Mary. Fear not.”

Then we read about the shepherds. In the field at nighttime, somewhere around the city of Bethlehem, there are a lot of shepherds and sheep around there. And they’re out there at nighttime. Some think this—I wouldn’t argue about it, I don’t know exactly how I feel about it—but a lot think the shepherds would stay out all night long when the sheep were giving birth to the baby lambs. Isn’t that fitting that the Lamb of God was being born in Bethlehem there, you know?

But the shepherds were out there at nighttime, and all of a sudden this angel appears. By the way, they didn’t have TV back then. There was no Facebook, no Instagram, no YouTubers. And so, man, can you imagine these shepherds? They see this angel in the sky. You’re like, “Whoa, what in the world?” you know.

And it begins to talk to them. The Bible says they were sore afraid. And then the angel says, “Hey, shepherds, fear not. Fear not.”

I love “fear nots” in the Bible. Sixty-three times in God’s Word: those words, “fear not,” “fear not.” Christmas time can be a little bit of a turmoil and a lot of fear for a lot of people. Can I just reiterate a little bit of the message from these angels from the Lord? “Fear not.”

I don’t know what’s going on in your life that can bring fear. Maybe there’s some of you that are thinking, trying, or praying about witnessing to a loved one at Christmas time. Anybody like that? Good, good. I think it’s a good thing. Good, good, good. You’re going to talk to someone about—are you saved?—and you’re going to talk to them about the most important thing in all the world: where they’re going to spend eternity. And there’s fear involved in that.

I never forget the first time as a teenager that the Lord spoke to me personally. Hey, Dad’s been witnessing and this and that other, but, “Paul, you need to try to get somebody saved.” And my church didn’t have organized soul-winning like we do and whatnot. And I knew I needed to do it. And I never forget just riding around for about an hour in my old car just trying to build the courage up. I was already bus captain, but I thought, “I need to do more than just try to get kids on the bus. I need to try to get someone saved.”

And why? Just riding around Lakeland, Florida, just trying to—you know, trying to stop shaking, you know. And the devil set it up. Many of you have heard me tell the story, but I went to a trailer park, and in that trailer park, I was seen one of the doors. The screen door closed, and I thought, “That’s it right there. That’d be an easy one.” And I went in there, went up there, and it was a room full of guys drinking. And man, they had a field day with a scared-to-death, 16-year-old boy. I mean, nobody got saved at that moment, for sure.

Yeah, that’s about the way it was right there. But there’s fear. And by the way, family can be one of the hardest people to witness to. Maybe some of the young people that ride the bus, maybe you’re thinking, “I need to talk to my mom or my dad, or my dad or are they saved or are they going to heaven?” Maybe you have a relative that’s not saved yourself. And maybe you think about that. And can I just say a couple of things? The more you do it, the easier it becomes. I will say that.

Well, there’s always a little fear, usually. Maybe it’s health problems. My wife and I had the privilege of visiting Ms. Marilyn Emmons in the hospital yesterday, and she was so dehydrated, her kidneys were shutting down. They brought the dialysis that she’d been doing for diabetes. Can you imagine if you’re in the hospital and your kidneys are shutting down? Wow, what a fear that would bring to you.

And by the way, praise the Lord, her kidneys are perking up and starting to work again. Keep praying about that, amen. And she’s giving the Lord credit and glory for that. But even the fear—maybe it’s your health. Maybe you’re getting up in years and you’re starting to have a lot of health issues. I mean, my dad used to say, “Old age is not for sissies.” Anybody agree with me? Old dad right there. I tell you what, I’m only 30, but I’m already starting to experience some of those things, you know.

I think one of our good men, a good man in our church, and he’s had so many health issues, and he’s trying to stay faithful, but he said, “Man, preacher, I don’t know what’s going to happen in my future.” And you don’t have family and things taking, and there’s a lot of fear with that. Often there’s family around the holiday season, there’s a lot of turmoil, and last year after the holidays, after business and so-and-so, we—my spouse and I—we had a knock-down, drag-out. Are we going to go through that again? There’s just fear. Fear is part of life.

And all the fear that can come to you—maybe you say, “Boy, I’m fearful. The church is about to go big time in debt for this land.” Someone said that. Someone said, “Man, pastor just throwing the million term out,” you know, like it’s nothing, you know. And maybe there’s fear there with that, you know. And believe me, I understand those things about millions of dollars, folks. But there’s fear; there’s fear often that’s part of life.

I look and see Miss Penny right there. Her husband just got out of jail—no, I’m teasing—out of the hospital jail cell on Thursday, I think it was, you know. There’s fear. Maybe it’s fear of raising your children in 2020. This isn’t Leave It to Beaver time anymore. I don’t know if it ever was, you know what I’m saying? And fear: If your children get out of your sight, what’s going to happen to them? Can I raise them with all the things that come against them in our day and time? Here’s just fear.

Maybe you say, “I feel convicted. I want to have a New Year’s resolution. I’m going to read my Bible. I want to start that program. I’m going to read it too.” But you have a fear. You say, “I tried it five times. I’ve never done it before.” There’s fear.

I look out and I see some people you’re trying to overcome some besetting sin in your life, and you say, “I want to get this thing. I’m going to whip it.” But every time I try to overcome it, something comes in, and I fall back on that sin. And so you fear to even try again to overcome that sin. There’s just fear involved in life. Anybody out there, you ever have fear? I mean, if the truth be told, we’re all there.

And we all say, “Well, I’m not worrying because worry is a sin,” but “I sure am concerned.” Friend, you’re worried. Just own up to it. We’re all there from time to time, unless you walk on water, you know. Jesus—there’s just fear involved in life. Fear with work. Fear with dealing with past wounds. “I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to be a crybaby. It’s over. It’s done with.” And yet fear just to deal with that thing properly, just fear about life. And so many fears.

Can I just say this? First of all, fear is normal. Now, I’m not saying I want you to go around being fearful all the time, but if you have this thing called skin on you, you’re going to have fear sometimes. It may not look the same for a man and a lady, but you’re going to have fear. It may be a young lady that says, “I want to get a good godly man, and I’m beginning to fear, I’m getting older, and I don’t know if I’ll ever find the right guy.” And there’s fear involved in that.

Maybe it’s a young person who says, “I’d like to be a good testimony at school, but I don’t know what the other people at school are going to say about me.” There’s fear. There’s just fear involved in life. And can I just assure you here for a second? You’re not abnormal. You’re not weaker than the average. You’re not different. There’s no super Christians; there’s a Super Christ, amen. But all of us deal with fear. That’s part of life.

Can I say these are some great Christians right here? But for the angel to say, “Joseph, fear not,” it seems like Joseph must have had some fear, you understand? For Mary, that we don’t worship her, but she was highly favored, she was blessed, and she was chosen to be the mother of our Savior. And it seemed like for the angel to say, “Fear not, Mary,” it seems like Mary had some fear, right? These shepherds, the first ones that God sent the message to that came and visited, the first ones—these shepherds—that must have had some fear for the angels to say, “Fear not.”

I’m just saying that’s part of life. Here’s what happens: You’ll get concerned about your finances. “Do we have enough? Are you going to be able to live a comfortable American-style life?” And you’ll get some fear. And here’s what happens: Satan always capitalizes on that. He’ll say, “Hey, you sorry good-for-nothing fellow, lady, you’re a child of God, and you’re living in fear? You’re a Christian?”

Satan—one of the titles of Satan, he’s the accuser of the brethren—and he loves to just give you a guilt trip. Y’all with me out there? Man, he’ll just have you—you’re already fearful, and then he’ll put the guilt trip on you, and man, that just gets a little bit lower. And Satan loves to just kind of kick you when you’re down and say, “Man, something’s wrong with you,” and tell you to live in fear.

Can I say this about fear? When fear comes in life—maybe you have a vision of going to school and carrying your Bible and being a good Christian, a good testimony, maybe carrying some gospel tracts at school—but you get fear, and fear comes over here, “Oh, my goodness, what would they say? What would the teacher do? What would happen in my life?” And fear comes. And here’s a good thing about fear: Fear gives you an opportunity to please God.

You say, “How does fear give me the opportunity to please God?” Because when there’s fear, it requires faith. What did the psalmist David say? “The time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” And so I’ve got some fear here, so it requires trust or faith. And faith is the thing that pleases God.

So when you’re swallowing hard, you’re going to go try to go talk to Uncle Joe about Jesus—if he’s saved him—you’re going to talk to Uncle Joe about getting saved, and Uncle Joe, he curses every sentence and he smokes a cigar in between each sentence. “How am I going to listen to him?” And you go, and man, there’s some fear there. “Well, Uncle Joe’s not going to listen to me.” He don’t—Satan will always tell you he doesn’t want to hear that. Satan always says that.

That fear—and you know what it takes to overcome that fear? It takes faith. And faith pleases God. So when that fear comes, don’t let Satan beat you over the head. Say, “Wait a second. ‘The time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.’ That’s faith.” God looks down, and he sees you as you’re about to go witness to him, you know, and swallowing hard, and God smiles on you. He’s very pleased with you living by faith.

Can I say this about the fear? Not only does it please God when you’re at that point, but God likes to come—I like these three years—there are many, many more in the Bible. But sixty-three times God sent someone down, sometimes himself, and he said, “Hey, fear not.” And it’s amazing when the fear comes, “Boy, am I going to be able to live up to what I should be? Am I going to be able to be the man I ought to be and get the job I look out to, whatever it may be?” And that fear comes. God likes to come and say, “Hey, fear not.”

What do we say about the shepherd’s psalm over there? “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” God often shows up when you have fear. You have an opportunity to please God, and God often shows up and moves in when you have fear.

Now, let me just get a very important principle before we do. Can someone just turn our fans on? Get a little airflow. We won’t turn the air conditioning on; we’ll just get some air flowing. I see a couple people out there fishing. You say, “We’re talking about fishing.” They’ve got that bobber going, you know. I mean, it’s always interesting. They’re getting good when they—you know, when they come up, they can say, “Amen.” Then they bob back down, you know. That’s talent for sure. They’ve been in church for years. They’ve worked at this thing, you know.

We used to have a teenage boy. He could sleep with his head straight up, I’m telling you. And he had glasses, so it’s hard for me to see his eyes, man. He was good at it, I’ll tell you for sure. I kept my eye on him, you know. Where are we at? Oh, here’s a principle. Here’s a very, very important principle. Here it is. I want you to remember this for your life: Don’t let fear be your decision-maker.

Did you hear that? Let right or wrong—let truth be your decision-maker. Don’t let fear be your decision-maker. I think if Mary would have let fear be her decision-maker, she had told Gabriel, “I don’t want to do this. Find another woman.” What is everybody around town going to say about me? What is Joseph, the man I love? I mean, I don’t want to hurt the one that I’ve given my heart to. I want to help him, and I want to do him good all the days of his life like a virtuous woman does in Proverbs 31. I don’t want to hurt this man. But I think Mary was wise that she did not let fear make her decision.

We’re talking about the land, and we’re purchasing the land for $1.3 million. Is that fearful? I didn’t even make sure you’re at your default. Now, if we would let fear make our decisions, we’d say, “Well, we’ll just stay here.” But we don’t let fear make our decisions. We let the Lord and His Word and His principles and the Spirit of God make our decisions.

If I let fear—it’s a sad thing when someone says, “Well, I won’t go soul-winning because there’s a little fear.” That’s part of it. I’ll never forget one of our men, a good man. He moved a little away; doesn’t come here anymore. But he was in the military before. He had jumped out of planes. And he was with us one day. He had had a big day, I think, all out for Soul Sunday years ago. And he was about to get off the bus—I was driving the bus—and he looked over at me, and he said, “Preacher,” he said, “Pastor, I would rather jump out of a C-130 than get off this bus right now.”

And actually, he did not let fear make his decision. He stepped out on faith and actually had a good day. He didn’t want to come back once he got out there. That’s honest truth. But if I let fear make my decision, I’m not going to pass out a gospel tract. If I let fear make my decision, I’m not going to tell my teenager, “No, we’re not doing that. I don’t care if everybody else in the neighborhood is doing it. You’re not doing it.” No, because fear will say, “Well, they’ll rebel if I do that.” And I can’t let fear make my decisions.

I’m glad Joseph—Joseph, he didn’t say, “Well, I’m just going to—I’m going to get rid of her because there’s so much fear involved. I don’t know what in the world. She’s having a baby, and we’re not even married. I can’t understand.” He didn’t let fear make his decision. Don’t let fear make your decisions. Those shepherds—it said, “Well, this is kind of scary. I think I’ll just stay in my comfort zone out here with the sheep.” But they didn’t let fear make their decision. They told us to go to Bethlehem, and we’re going to go see the Christ, the Messiah.

Now, I don’t know what it is in your life. I understand. Maybe it’s your finances, maybe it’s your health, maybe it’s your relationships, but fear is part of life. But friend, friend, hey, you have an opportunity to please God. God is all up in fearful situations. And don’t let fear make your decision.

Now, something about these three situations: God gave them the information they needed when they needed it. Joseph, you have to make a difference. I understand, and I understand your emotions are going haywire. Let me tell you what’s going on. Let me tell you what to do: “Take her to wife.” Mary, I understand. You’re saying, “What is this thing about this big angel saying I’m going to conceive and it’s going to be the Lord?” And I understand all this. And the angel says, “Hey, go see your cousin Elizabeth. She’s six months along.” And her husband was a priest. I think Elizabeth expounded and explained so much to Mary. And the angel said, “Go see Elizabeth.” And God used Elizabeth greatly. I’m just saying God gave them instruction what to do.

And when you’re in fearful situations, don’t back up and say, “Well, I’m not going to read my Bible anymore, and I’m not going to tithe anymore, and I’m not going to go to church anymore, and I’m not going to witness anymore.” It’s a sad thing, I think, if a man—he went witnessing, I think, one time, and it doesn’t have to be with us when you go; you can go witness anywhere—but he went with us, I think, one time and had one bad experience that he never went again. Why? Fear. And he let fear make his decision. Oh, you just—hey, if God led you somewhere, keep going. Fearful time? All right, God in His time will give you the instructions you need. It always does.

By the way, fear came when God was about to do a mighty miracle. I mean, one of the greatest miracles ever has been: God of the universe was coming down and was born and became a man, the incarnation of Christ. There’s a lot of fear involved in that. God was working. It may be that Uncle Joe’s going to get saved; it might not be at that moment, but it may be years down the road. But you can’t let fear make your decision. And for the just to live by faith and not by sight.

Can you imagine God this morning, whatever your situation—I want you to think about your situation that brings a little fear in your life? Can you imagine God saying, “Fear not”? “Fear not”? “Fear not”? You’re trying to live a Godly life, maybe in a situation that is very tough to live for the Lord. “Fear not.” “Fear not.” “Fear not.” God was about to do one of the greatest miracles ever has been.

Oh, what a good thing that Mary—she could very easily say, “Well, I’m going to go over to the corner, eat me some chocolate, forget all this stuff.” Now, it’s not a sin to eat chocolate, amen. You still eat some chocolate. But don’t let fear make your decision. Oh, what a great thing. God came down and He said, “Hey, fear not.” “Fear not.”

Can I say this? God—God’s not trying to play some weird thing on you, Joseph. God’s not trying to play a dirty trick on you, Joseph. God’s got a plan here. Sometimes you think, “Am I missing God’s will? I’m trying to follow it, and am I truly following God’s will?” God’s not a God that’s trying to play tricks with your life. God’s got a plan, and it comes, and He says, “Fear not.” Don’t change everything; just stay in there for the Lord. “Fear not.”

Hey, let me just ask you: What’s God whispered to your heart now? What’s the thing that there’s fear a little bit involved in that? I don’t mean to make light, but I look out and I see some people with some marital issues going on right now. I look out and see people with some financial issues. I look out and see people with some health issues. And maybe it’s something I know not of. But don’t let fear be your deciding factor. And would you tune in to the Spirit of God? And would you listen when He says, “Fear not”? “Fear not.”

Now, that’s a little boy. We lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Amen. I was born there. And we would all be out in the living room there. But the problem was little boys have to go to the little boy’s room. You understand what I’m talking about there, you know? And the problem of that was the bathroom was all the way down the long, dark hallway. Because Dad was always like, “If you’re not in the room, you turn the lights out.” Anybody like that? Oh, man, oh, man. Better turn the light out, you know. And so the little boy had to go to the little boy’s room.

But man, there are monsters in dark hallways. Anybody know what I’m talking about? Man, I mean, guaranteed, promise you, they’re just there, you know. And so I got a problem, you know. Don’t talk about it. You know, something ain’t going to land somewhere, you know, or hit in the middle or something, you know. And I want somebody to go down the hallway, turn the light on. And they wouldn’t do that. But that’s the problem. Praise the Lord, they upgraded. They got the two switches that control the same light nowadays. Amen. Boy, we’re advanced, I’ll tell you for sure now, you know. So you have to wire those things, you know. But anyway, we didn’t have that. And somebody got to go down there and turn the light on for this little boy, you know. A problem’s going to happen if you don’t do that, you know. Anyone do that?

But here’s a good thing. Here’s a good thing. Maybe Mom, Dad, older sister, older brother, somebody, they go down the hallway with me. Amen. And once we turn the light on, all the monsters—they don’t live in light, you know. Hey, that’s what the Lord does. He didn’t go down the hallway, turned a light on, but when you’re going through the fear, He’ll go with you. If you’re walking down the hallway, maybe He won’t shoot—maybe He won’t—maybe He wants you to witness to so-and-so, maybe He wants you to carry a Bible to school, maybe He wants you to go to work and have a Bible study, maybe He wants you to deal with some wounds in your past. I don’t know what it may be, but listen, as you’re going down that dark hallway, He’ll be there. If you listen close in the dark, you’ll hear Him: “Fear not.” “Fear not.” “Fear not.” “Fear not.”

Sixty-three times in God’s Word: “Fear not.” “Fear not.” Joseph, you don’t understand it all. I know you’re about to get married, excited, but Joseph, “Fear not.” You don’t understand it all. You’re afraid you’re going to hurt the one you love, and the reputation’s ruined, and people are going to talk about you. And “Fear not.” Shepherds, you’ve never seen anything like this in all the world. Angels in the sky. And you don’t go to the city; you live out. You’re a shepherd, you know. “Fear not.”

Whatever, whatever Satan is hanging over your head today, can I just whisper through the Word of God? “Fear not.” “Fear not.” “Fear not.” “Fear not.”

Original File: Fear Not - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday 121519