No Fear With the Power of the Holy Spirit

I had to tell the brethren this morning... I forgot to tell the Surrey during announcements of oversleeping this morning. It's funny, something that I feared for four years going to Pressensburg, and it's never happened. We woke up a few times during the night. Connor, it turns out that the itching gets worse at night. And Sue very kindly got up with him most of those times. I had taken some Benadryl and had a stiff drink and went to bed by 8.30, thinking I was going to get up by 4 and take off to Pressensburg. I woke up once during that time at about 2 and was able to get back to sleep, planning to get up at 4. About 5.30, Sue taps me. Frank, your alarm didn't go off. Luckily, I had planned. I had everything laid out. I was ready amazingly quickly and got to Pressensburg about 10 minutes earlier than planned.

But the reason I'm telling you that story now is, as I was going through the sermon at what started getting into breakneck speed, I said, I'm not really worried about running out of time. It's all that extra coffee I was drinking while I was hurrying to get ready and get here. So that might happen again, although I planned. If services end after about 90 minutes today, I don't think people will be disappointed. For this message, I want to do something that's a little out of the ordinary, but which we've done here before. We often use stories, most often Bible stories, to illustrate points. And I want to do that in a little bit longer story than usual and in a slightly different format, which, as I said, I've done before using what we call historical fiction, portraying a real event and real facts within it, but adding to those a little bit using, if you want to call it, literary license, not to distort the story, or perhaps fill in details as they might have been. And that won't take the whole time by any means. And afterwards, I'll switch into more normal speaking to finish the points. But if you will, let me begin. And pardon me if I'm looking down more than usual for this section. Darkness crept into the jail cell. The two men inside had only a couple of hours ago been shoved inside and the door locked behind them. Now, as evening drew on, the noise of crowds outside in the city began to quiet down. The sun was dropping below the horizon. The two men, named Peter and John, at first had talked excitedly about the events leading up to their arrest and about what they might expect to happen tomorrow. But now, they had lapsed into silence, each becoming lost in his own thoughts. The two of them had been friends from early childhood. They'd learned how to fish together. And they went on to form a partnership, along with others in their families, fishing the Sea of Galilee for a living. Anyone who knew them from those days would not have been surprised to hear of them being jailed for a night. They were strong, opinionated, rambunctious young men. But they weren't in jail for getting drunk or fighting or anything like that. No, they'd been seized by the temple guards in Jerusalem for loudly preaching about the resurrection of their master and teacher, Jesus of Nazareth. Some distance away in an opulent house not far from the temple, Caiaphas, the high priest, also sat quietly thinking about what had happened that afternoon. Jesus' very public execution about two months ago had seemed to bring calm to Jerusalem. The Jewish religious establishment had asserted its position of power just under the Roman territorial rulers. And Jesus' followers had seemed to disappear, going back to whatever menial occupations they'd practiced before getting caught up in the furor of that so-called Messiah.

But when it had seemed that the Feast of Weeks celebration would be calm and free from the disturbances that had marked the previous festival, the name of Jesus suddenly was heard again. His disciples reappeared, seemingly out of nowhere. And crowds of thousands gathered around them, shouting, singing, talking about so-called miracles.

People reported hearing them speak all sorts of different languages. They supposedly healed sick people. Caiaphas and his associates couldn't allow such a disturbance to continue.

Shifting back to the jail, Peter was also thinking about how busy and exciting the past few days had been.

The last time they had seen Jesus, he specifically told them to wait in Jerusalem until they would be energized with power from on high. None of them knew exactly what that meant at the time. But ever since morning on the Feast of Pentecost, it had become clear. Not only had they seen what looked like fire falling on them accompanied by a roaring noise like a windstorm, suddenly they could do things. It seemed they could talk to anyone from any land, no matter what language they spoke. They again had power over evil spirits and over sickness, just like when Jesus had sent them by twos to travel and preach the gospel of God's kingdom. What a change from that fateful night a couple of months ago.

John, thinking now, was remembering how the disciples had fallen asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane while Jesus prayed. That is, until a band of soldiers surrounded them, ready to put any or all of them to the sword. None of them were harmed, though. Jesus gave himself up. And while he spoke to the officers, John, Peter, each and every one of them ran off into the night. Crave and fear overpowered all reasoning thought. John had come back to himself a short while later, at least enough to follow the armed bands as they took Jesus to the home of the high priest. Peter seemed to have also regained his senses and enough courage to show up at the gate of Ananias' house. Once in, he mingled among the servants, trying to see what was happening to Jesus.

But then, courage utterly failed Peter when a servant girl said out loud, This fellow is one of the prisoners' disciples. His blood ran cold. All he could do was loudly deny it. When others joined the girl, saying they believed they'd seen Peter in the garden where Jesus was arrested. Peter panicked. He began cursing the air blue, swearing he didn't know any Jesus.

And then, in shame, he ran off. And he cried and sobbed until he had no strength left.

But being ashamed hadn't made him any less afraid. The disciples gathered to hide out together after Jesus was dead and buried. They all feared that the priests and the Pharisees who had conspired to murder Jesus might come looking for them next.

Things did get a lot better a few days later when Jesus himself appeared among them. It was amazing! God really had raised him from the dead. He met with them several times in the days following.

During those seven weeks between the Festival of Unleavened Bread and that of Pentecost, Jesus taught and encouraged his followers. But there was still in their hearts some uncertainty.

Peter thought about that now, here in his dark cell, as John dozed. Peter realized that the fear that had overwhelmed him in Gethsemane, it had not completely left him afterward. He had stifled it the best he could, but it gnawed at him. It haunted his dreams, his quiet times alone. He had never felt it during those times when Jesus came to them, teaching them and encouraging them. But it always seemed to come right back when he was gone. Peter had wanted to be brave. He wanted to deserve the trust that Jesus seemed to have in him. But still, he was afraid. Afraid of being taken at night. Afraid to speak in public about what Jesus had taught them. And he was afraid that the others would sense his fear.

But now, sitting in jail, knowing that tomorrow he would stand before a hostile court of the Sanhedrin, knowing that he might be tortured and killed as Christ was, now Peter was not afraid.

Since Pentecost a few days ago, there was a difference that Peter sensed within himself. He felt a clarity in his thinking, a boldness like he'd never known before. And most people would admit, he'd never been a quiet or shy person in the first place. But now it was like Jesus was right there with him, in his thoughts, in his feelings. He had the power of God working in him. And with God for him, he felt no human being could stand against him. With that thought on his mind, with anticipation, with excitement at the prospect of getting to face that hostile court and speak the truth, Peter fell into not a troubled, but a peaceful sleep.

And the next morning, as expected, Peter and John were roughly hauled in front of the high priest and members of his family. By what authority? And whose name have you done this? They asked. Peter felt as if God was filling him with energy, putting words in his mouth that had to come out. Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we're being judged for the good deed for this helpless man, if you want to know how he was made well, know now, you and everyone in Israel, it was by the name and authority of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. By him this man stands before you whole.

Jesus is the prophesied stone that was rejected by the builders, but which has become the chief cornerstone. There isn't salvation in any other name, no name under all the skies through which we can be saved. And with that, Peter stood, head held high, looking his accusers right in the eye, not the least bit intimidated or one bit afraid. Priests and the officers were caught completely off guard. They were accustomed to having the common people grovel before them, fearing their ability to throw them out of the fellowship of the synagogue or even to unleash the violence of Roman soldiers. After sending Peter and John to another room, they asked, what are we going to do with these two? It's obvious they've worked a miracle. We can't deny that. Too many people saw it. The best they could do was threaten these upstart fisherman-turned-teachers, warn them about how miserable the authorities could make their lives, and warn that pilot soldiers would be called in if necessary. Yes, they threatened, they warned, they commanded. Don't you teach in the name of Jesus again! Peter and John listened calmly. Their pulses didn't quicken, their faces didn't turn red. They felt no intimidation. How different from their feelings a few weeks ago. They calmly answered the court with a question. Which is the right thing to do? Listen to you or to God. We just can't help to tell people about the things we've seen and heard. After that, there were more threats, harangues, warnings. Peter and John endured it calmly, but hardly paid attention. They were already thinking ahead about meeting with the other disciples, looking forward to joining them in prayer and planning the ways they would carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ. How exciting to carry on his work of preaching the good news of the kingdom coming soon to this earth. I wanted to dramatize that story, but it's the story that's contained in Acts 4. And I especially wanted to show the difference in the apostles that came about as a result of having God's Spirit. What they were like before and then what they were like afterwards. In the story, I referenced Luke 24 and verse 49. I'd like to read that. And although I didn't turn to any Scriptures in the first few minutes, I've got several in the rest of the sermon. Luke 24 and verse 49, this was, of course, after Jesus had been appearing for much of that seven weeks.

And one last time he was there, and he said this, Luke 24 and verse 49, among other things, he said, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. I think that the old King James has one different consonant. It says, imbued with power from on high. And I love that phrase. You will be imbued with power from on high.

In my story, I called it energized with power. How did they get power? Jesus made it clear in a different account of that last visit. If you'll flip over to Acts chapter 1, Acts 1 and verse 8, as another account of that last meeting. Acts 1 and verse 8, Jesus Christ said, You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You're going to receive power, and what would they do with it? He said, You'll be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

And Jesus knew what he was talking about. He already had that power. I'm not going to turn there, but at the end of Matthew 8, Matthew, end of the book of Matthew, in Matthew 28, 18, he appeared saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Jesus had been given that power. And of course, he had the power to do things. And, you know, as much as I like comic books, I like to talk about superpowers.

But he was also speaking of the great authority. He had become King of kings and Lord of lords. Everything was under his feet, except, as Scripture says, except God the Father, who was the one who put all things under his feet. But even before he'd become a Spirit-born, the Spirit-born Son of God, Jesus already knew what it was like to have power. I will turn over to Luke 4 and verse 14. I've got a number of brief Scriptures I want to read from, but this is, of course, after Jesus Christ had been baptized by John the Baptist, then gone into the wilderness, fasting for 40 days and nights to prepare to face Satan and his temptations, and had overcome those temptations.

And in verse 14, after doing that, it says, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. He had the power of the Spirit all through his earthly ministry. Being in God's family is, in many important ways, about power. Let me just quote a few Scriptures that you'll recognize. I don't want to ask you to turn there, but I'll give you the verses. In 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 20, it says, The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. In Ephesians 6 and verse 10, Paul admonishes, Be strong in the Lord in the power of his might. And I like power and might go together. Might is a way of saying strength or power. And that makes sense in 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 4. In 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 4, it says, The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, mighty as in powerful to the pulling down of strongholds.

And he goes on in that verse to talk about bringing every thought into the captivity of Jesus Christ. Let me mention one more in Ephesians 3 and verse 16. Paul prays and says out loud that he, that is Christ, grant you to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. He wants us to be strengthened... let me say that slowly...strengthened with might by his Spirit in us. We've sometimes made an analogy to the Holy Spirit to liken it to electricity. You know, and if you studied electricity, I know we have some people studying electro-engineering and such, that there's a dynamo that's a source of power and the electricity has to go through a complete circuit flowing down the wires and there's a device at some point in the circuit that can do things.

It can create heat, light, or movement. And we can imagine God as a power source with his Spirit flowing through us and enabling us to do things. One of the reasons we like this analogy is not only, of course, speaking of the power that it gives us, but it reminds us that the Holy Spirit is a continual supply. I'm going to turn over to Galatians 3 and verse 5. And if it sounds like I'm having thought hanging, it's because I want to complete this.

It's not a complete thought yet, but Galatians 3 and 5 says, Therefore he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you. It doesn't do it by works of the law, or it's asked a question. Does he do it by works of the law or by hearing of faith? But it talks about a supply of the Spirit.

You can make a note. It's similarly mentioned in Philippians 1 and verse 19 where Paul talks about the supply of the Spirit of Christ. And in some other places, there's reference to the possibility or ability of quenching the Spirit. And we're told, don't quench the Spirit. Don't cut off that supply.

Don't cut yourself off from receiving it. Now, I don't want to focus on that today. I'd rather focus on what the Spirit empowers us to do. But first, as I said, the thought that's hanging is, I want to make note that the analogy with electricity is not perfect. It's not a complete analogy. Because the Holy Spirit is more than just a power. It's much more than just electricity. Because it's also the very presence, the essence of God. The Holy Spirit is God in us. Now, that's not to say it's some third part of a trinity.

I don't at all want to imply that because we know God's word shows that's not the case. There's God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit is their essence and being.

Matter of fact, and that's how we could say that God dwells in us. If you turn to 1 John 3 and verse 24, 1 John 3, 24, the last part of this I want to read that He ab... Well, I'll read the whole verse. Now, He who keeps His commandments, that is God's commandments, abides in Him, that is, whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in Him, and by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He's given us.

God lives in us by His Spirit, meaning when the Spirit is in us, God is in us. And it... beyond... to explain exactly how that works, beyond that, I'm not sure that I can. It's just the Bible says it and it's true. But I want to make the point it's more than just a power like electricity.

But I do want to turn back to that thought. Keeping that in mind that I haven't forgotten that aspect, that God's Spirit is His presence and His being in us, undeniably still the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit empowers us. Matter of fact, I'll turn to Zechariah 4 and verse 6.

One of the few memory scriptures... I shouldn't say one of the few, but... One of the memory scriptures that I actually remember, both chapter and verse, and what it says, I've been notorious for remembering one and not the other. Only notorious when I admit it, usually, but... Zechariah 4 verse 6... No, not Zephaniah.

We're in a message to Zerubbabel, the governor... Boy, that's hard to say. It's Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel, the governor who is overseeing the building of the Second Temple, this message was brought from Zechariah the prophet. It says, this is the word of the eternal to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord, of hosts. As I studied in the Hebrew and teaching class, I learned that where it says power can refer to a person's own ability, his own strength... No, actually, might is what I meant to say. Your might can be your own strength and ability, and where it refers to power, that word often is referring to authority from others. So, in a sense, he's saying, your own power isn't enough. Power and authority from others is not enough. God's Holy Spirit, that's what gets the job done. Not by might or power, nothing human, but by God's Spirit. And as I said, it gets things done. Then we could stop and ask, um, gets what done? Well, we could answer that in several different ways, and I've talked about power, power. We're empowered with God's Spirit. I want to focus on one that's more important than we might sometimes think. So, another scripture we like to turn to describe the Holy Spirit is in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 7. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 7. Paul, of course, is writing to a young minister who he'd known... Well, we don't know, from a young man, maybe an old teenager, and he'd taken and trained him to serve in the ministry. And now Paul was off somewhere else, actually being persecuted and in jail, and he writes to Timothy to instruct him and encourage him. And he tells him, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. This tells us some of what the Spirit does, but also very clearly what it's not. And the Holy Spirit is not something of fear. That difference was one of the most dramatic and immediate changes that occurred in the apostles. Before Christ's sacrifice, they fled. They ran away when danger appeared in the Garden of Gethsemane. After they received the Holy Spirit, they boldly risked death. They faced down their opponents with no intimidation. They loudly proclaimed the gospel to anybody and everybody. And as I said, I think Paul specifically wanted to tell this to Timothy, knowing that he was a young man without a lot of experience, perhaps. Because not only Timothy, but all people feel a degree of fear. It's common in us. And fear can be so debilitating. It can overcome rational thinking. It can paralyze action. It can cause disaster. It makes me think I've never understood why some people like to watch horror movies. I know if some of you do enjoy that, that's never been for me, even from the time I was little. And so I can't, I'm not going to refer to any specifics, because, you know, I might watch superhero movies and things like that, sci-fi, but not horror movies. But I know that they do a good job of demonstrating some of what we fear. Certainly we fear injury or death. We don't like our bodies to be violated and torn apart. And of course, we should have the proper fear that motivates us to stay away from things that are dangerous. I mean, if I see a saw blade spinning around at a thousand RPMs or more, I should have enough fear to know I'm not going to touch that.

But of course, you know, God's plan, if we trust His plan and His power, we can follow Jesus' instruction that we find in Luke 12 and verse 4. I want to say we do, you know, we tend to fear things that will hurt us, and it's wise to avoid harm. But, well, I knew there was something else I was going to say. I know some of those movies come up with new and creative ways to show people being injured and hurt. And I've just heard some about it, and I don't want to describe any that I've heard, because they turned my stomach a little. But we don't want to explore those things. And here, Jesus, in Luke 12 verse 4 says, I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body. Don't be afraid of anybody harming your body, but afterward have no more that they can do. He says, this is whom you should fear, Him who, after He's killed, has the power to cast into hell. And there He's speaking of Gehenna as a picture of the lake of fire. Don't be afraid of any temporary harm to your physical body. Now, it's wiser to think about God who has the power to take away your eternal life. Indeed, we should be like it says in Psalm 56 verse 4. I was going to say, I'll flip over there quickly. The way I'm going today, it might not be so quickly, but that's okay. I keep saying, we don't have to hurry. Psalm 56 and verse 4, one of David's Psalms says, In God, I will praise His word. In God I have put my trust. I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? In the long run, what can a person do? They might damage your body, but that's all they can do. Pain is temporary. I've seen a lot of T-shirts when I was running marathons. They'd say, pain is temporary, pride is forever, but that's only if it's the right kind of pride. Of course, some of the best, I shouldn't say best, some of the most effective horror movies go beyond this fear of the flesh, and they invoke the evil spirit world, even Satan himself. And I think those are probably the scariest of scary movies. I say, I think, because again, I haven't watched any of those. I don't like them.

But God's word shows that if we have God's spirit in us, we don't have to fear that either. I want to turn to Mark 6, Mark 6 and verse 7, because God can give us power over those evil spirits. He can put us in a position where they need to fear us, not the other way around. Mark 6 and verse 7, I reference this in the story, that earlier during his ministry, at different times, sent out his disciples and pairs to preach the gospel. And he didn't send them out with just instruction. He delegated to them real power through the spirit. Here in Mark 6 and verse 7, it says, he called the twelve to himself and began to send them out two by two and gave them power over unclean spirits. He gave them power.

Let's turn over to Luke chapter 10. I want to mention, notice another case where he shows that they not only didn't have to be afraid of evil spirits, they didn't have to be afraid of physical harm. He sums them both up in Luke 10 and verse 19. Luke 10 and 19, again, he's sending the disciples and he says, Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.

Nothing shall by any means hurt you. But nevertheless, still, he says, don't rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you. Rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. What a promise! What power! Power that can be imbued in us by the Holy Spirit. Now, here I do want to pause, and I like to do that every now and then. I'll write something in bright red ink to say, we still, knowing this, we want to admit that sometimes good people, converted Christians, sometimes do get hurt.

We can get sick, we can be injured, we can die. And when that happens, it's not because God's promise isn't true, it's not because of a lack of the Holy Spirit. This is the subject for a whole different sermon, several sermons, and I know you've heard many of them. But I want to briefly remind us that God called us for the purpose of, not for the purpose of saving our physical bodies, although he will when the time is right, but he calls us to develop righteous character.

He calls us to prepare for eternal life. And that's what that power in us is really for. And that's another thing that's being accomplished by the power of God's Spirit. I'm just going to read a reference to John 1 and verse 12. In the first chapter of John, he presents who Jesus Christ began as, the Word, the Word that was with God and was God, and became flesh and dwelt amongst us.

And in John 1 verse 12, it says, As many as received him, to them he gave power to become sons of God, to them that believe on his name. I wanted to read it from my notes because that's actually the King James version, says power. The New King James says the right to become sons of God.

I like the transition using the word power, maybe because it's that plosive P and I like saying it a lot. But I want to bring things back maybe a little closer to home, closer to our day-to-day lives. Moving along, as we go through life as Christians trying to develop godly, righteous character, we don't usually deal with that kind of fear, the fear of evil spirits lurking around the corner. I don't walk through my backyard fearing I'm going to step on a scorpion or a snake.

I don't make sense to look for snakes, but I think garter snakes is all we have there. In general, I think most of us are focusing on the big picture. We're not worried and overcome with fear of the physical things in our life. We have confidence that God's working to make us a part of his family.

So I think most of us don't so much fear what humans might do. And in that, we're not really that much different than most people out there. In day-to-day lives, the people that are out here around us, they're also not afraid of scorpions and snakes or thinking about demons pouncing on them. But there's a fear that we do have to deal with more often. And it's there, but we can overcome it with God in us.

God can overcome it through us. And that's not a fear of what people might do to harm us, but we often have to deal with a fear of how people will look at us. What do they think about us? What will they say? We deal with that. Oh, what are they thinking about me? And that's something that the apostles probably had to deal with. I'm almost certain, and that they dramatically overcame when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. To help us think about this concept, think of public speaking.

I looked at a...there's various surveys out there, but many of them say that about 75% of all people have at least some fear of public speaking. As a matter of fact, a significant portion of those 75% fear it more than death. I'd rather face it than get up and talk to an audience. Some of you know how that feels, right? And most people do at first, although I can say it doesn't hurt. You can stand up here. I mean, I'm not getting any electric jolts up my feet, or, you know, none of you have bricks that you're going to hit me with, I hope.

But there's a fear. What are they going to think about me? What are they saying? Can you imagine Peter and John? Imagine if they weren't as afraid that they'd be beaten and tortured when they got out of jail, as they were afraid of having to speak in front of the Sanhedrin to explain Christianity.

But they didn't have that problem. They didn't have that problem. Although, it seems that today some of us do. Maybe because we don't call on the Spirit to do what it can do. Because we don't have to be afraid. We can remember what Paul wrote to Timothy, and we should always keep in mind.

Holy Spirit is not a spirit of fear. It's a spirit of power and love and of a sound mind. It was this dramatic change in the Apostles that got me started in thinking of the subject for this sermon. There's a well-known story in the Old Testament that I think also demonstrates this lesson maybe more than we normally think. We normally think of it as helping someone to exercise great power and to overcome fear of harm. I saw a version of it that reminded me that the Spirit can help overcome that fear of what people would think, or fear of embarrassment. The story I'm referring to is that of David and Goliath. We know that story. That's one of the first Bible stories we ever hear. It's found in 1 Samuel 17. Actually, I want to go to 1 Samuel 16 to start, because I want to read a scripture from that chapter before we start dealing with the giant. 1 Samuel 16. Did I say, Samuel? 1 Samuel. I'm getting too dry.

Of course, Saul had been ordained as the first human king over Israel, and he was found wanting. He became full of himself, didn't obey God fully. God wanted another man who would be a man after his own heart. So he sent Samuel the prophet to the household of Jesse. He said, there there's a man who's after my own heart. One of them you'll anoint to be king. Samuel went, and the first one he sees is the oldest brother who's tall and good-looking, a liar. He's pulling out the oil, and God says, no, no, not him. Don't look on the outer surface. Don't look on the exterior. God looks on the heart.

They brought brother after brother all the tall, good-looking older ones. Finally, Samuel was looking, don't you have anything else? Are there any others yet? Well, there's the youngest. He's out with the sheep. Well, you've got to bring him in. We can't sit down until we see him. And as soon as David walked in, God somehow told Samuel, he's the one. Stand up and anoint him. He's going to be captain over my people. And we'll read in Samuel 16 and verse 13.

I didn't need to elaborate all the story, but to see how much it came. Oh, there we go. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Eternal came upon David from that day forward. The Spirit of God came in David. The Spirit, perhaps, was guiding him, working with him, as it does with our young people beforehand.

But this was the equivalent of being baptized. For David, the Holy Spirit, was in him from that day forward. And I wanted to read that, because now we go into chapter 17, and we're going to have the story of David and Goliath.

I'm not going to recount or read all of it, because we know it fairly well. But as we remember, the Philistines and the Israelites had never got along. They'd been fighting and fighting, and now they're drawing up for battle, and there's this valley. And on one side, there's the Philistine army. The other side are the Israelites, and they're getting organized, preparing. Now, they figure they're going to fight it out, and the Philistines send forward their champion.

They propose, instead of armies fighting each other, single combat. We'll send our champion. You send your champion. One person only has to die, and then the losing side will serve the other. Only, of course, as you know, the Philistine champion was a giant. He was about nine foot tall, wearing this heavy male armor that's probably heavier than most of us could lift. His spear beam was like...the shaft of the spear was like a weaver's beam. I think that's what it always says, which I think is about, yay big.

I should ask the Helltubrians probably know how big a weaver's beam is. No? One of them does. Okay. Anyways, big and heavy. He's a strong guy. He's ready to fight. And so the Israelites are cowering in fear. Or, to someone that doesn't have the Holy Spirit, they're cowering in good sense.

Who's going to go fight that giant? You know, we can't do that. And then David shows up. Apparently, he's the only one around who has God's Spirit. He's not afraid. He's bringing food to his brothers. He's supposed to bring food, ask about their welfare, and then go back and tell Dad how it's going. But he shows up, and the giant comes out. Goliath comes out shouting defiance and cursing. And he sees all the Israelites cowering and hiding, and he's like, What's going on with these guys? Who does he think he is? Now, I'm willing to fight him. And the brothers, his brothers say, What do you think you're doing?

You came out here in the naughtiness of your heart. And I just wanted to say, I love when they use the word naughty. Maybe just because it's quaint. We don't use it much. But, David, what do you think you're doing here? You're just a busybody. Don't get involved in this. But David didn't stop. He asked someone else, What's going on here? What kind of reward do you get? Like, this is easy pickings. I'll go kill that giant. So eventually, he's brought to Saul. And Saul looks at him and says, Sorry, kid. You can't do this. You are just a kid. Open your eyes.

He's a giant. He's been fighting since the time he was a kid. But David, he wasn't intimidated by the king telling him you're a nobody. Instead, he said, Hey, I've killed a lion with my bare hands. I killed a bear. But at the same time, he said, God gave me the ability to do that.

And just like the lion and the bear, I'll take care of that Philistine. So Saul relented. He sends him out. As I said, I've been summarizing this. I wanted to reach this, and I knew. I was glad the Evanses are here. Daniel loves it when I pull this off of my shelf next to my Jamison faucet and brown. Not necessarily, but this is one of Connor's children's story books. And as I was looking at the subject, I remembered how this was portrayed.

And you might not be able to see it very well from a distance, but this is David facing Goliath. And as you can see, David's this big. Goliath is this big. Quite a comparison. And on this page up here, it says, Goliath made fun of David. And he said, What do you think?

Come and fight against me. I'm a champion of the Philistine warrior. You're only a boy. So we don't see that in the King James Bible, that he made fun of him. Yes, he threatened. He was carrying a weapon, but he ridiculed him. And although this picture just shows the two of them, there wasn't just two of them. There were crowds of people around.

Let's read it in 1 Samuel 17, verse 42. How did he make fun of him? When the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him. He was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. I don't know if the Philistine thought he was good-looking, but he's just a boy, probably clean-shaven, or not needing to shave yet. And the Philistine said to David, What am I, a dog that you come to me with sticks? Come here, boy! And Philistine cursed David by his gods. Philistine said, David, come here. I'll give you your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.

So he's just making fun of him, ridiculing him. And I love what it says in this book.

It says, David was not embarrassed or afraid. It's easy. We think of the fact David wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid of the physical harm, but embarrassment is a type of being afraid, and David was not. He was not embarrassed or afraid, it says, because God was on his side. Now, I don't see not embarrassed here in the Bible, but I think that's true. It fits. He was not. And what a lesson for us. David knew that God was on his side. We should overcome any fear that faces us, because God is on our side. We don't have to be embarrassed or afraid. And I love where it goes next.

David, when it came to trash talk, David could give as good as he got. I guess I was thinking of trash talk, because the NBA Finals are going on, and that's what basketball players do, apparently. In verse 45, David said to the Philistine, "'You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin. I'm coming to you in the name of the Eternal of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, who you've defiled.' It's like, huh, you got a spear?

What else have you got? This day, the Eternal will deliver you into my hand. I'll strike you. I'm going to take your head." It's like, dude, I'm going to cut off your head. "'And this day, I'll feed the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines, of the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.'" Now, and we know from the story, I'm not going to read next, David did kill Goliath.

If you don't, hope you don't mind, I'm sort of, I don't know, jazzing it up a little. Well, jazzing, that's not the right word. Anyways, using some of the common vernacular, but, you know, David did kill Goliath. And did you think, not only was he talking to the giant, as I said, this picture here, it's the two of them alone, but what you don't see is armies of men on both sides. David wasn't embarrassed to speak in front of hundreds, perhaps thousands of men, and admit, hey, I'm coming in the name of God.

Sometimes that's hard for us to do. I've been there, you know, even today, you know, it's funny. You'd think that you'd never be embarrassed to say, yeah, I'm a minister, but in circumstances where people, what do you do for a living? Well, I'm a minister, because you'd think, what are they going to look at? What are they going to say? Are they going to laugh? We should never be that way. As I said, David spoke in front of armies of people, no fear of public speaking. I'm going to go to Isaiah 51.

Isaiah 51 will see some of how this should apply to us. Isaiah 51 and verse 7. Here, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God says, Listen to me, you who know righteousness, you people in whose heart is my law. Who is it that knows righteousness and has God's law in their hearts? People with the Holy Spirit. Was it Jeremiah 31, 31, where he says, I'll make a new covenant, I'll write my law in their minds and in their hearts? That happens by the Holy Spirit in us. So the first part of this verse is saying, You who know righteousness, in whose heart is my law, so you people with the Holy Spirit, do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults.

Don't fear their reproach or their insults. He could have said, don't fear their weapons. Don't fear their brute strength. And that's implied as well, but he's telling us, don't fear their insults. Don't fear their reproach. Don't be embarrassed. That was Peter and John when they were brought from jail to face a hostile court. They weren't embarrassed. David, when he was ridiculed by Goliath, was not embarrassed. And each of us cannot be embarrassed.

I didn't say that right. David said that each of us can be not embarrassed if we allow God's Spirit to work in us. That won't always happen automatically. There are going to be times when people will make fun or ridicule. People will say, what's that weird kind of cracker you're eating when you pull out your matzos during the day of Unleavened Bread?

Or you might be at work and the boss announces, we've got a tight deadline on this project. Everybody has to come to work Saturday morning. And you've got to explain, you know, go to people. And that thought came to mind. It happened to me. My first job after I finished school at Texas A&M, I got hired at the Ohio Humanities Council. And boy, I thought, when I started there, I got it made. Nine to five office job, Monday through Friday. In the interview, I didn't even explain about the Sabbath. Hey, it's a Monday through Friday job.

And then the subject of the quarterly board meetings came up. Three times a year, all the staff have to be at these meetings on Friday and Saturday. I remember when I heard that my blood went cold. My heart's, now I've got to tell them. You know, and it was, I feared embarrassment. I feared, what are the other staff going to say if I say, you guys go work on Saturday?

I'm not. I shouldn't have been afraid. But I prayed seriously about that. And God answered that prayer. I mean, it took courage. My heart was aflutter. I went in to talk to the boss. And the amazing thing is, He understood. God answered my prayer. I should have not been afraid in the first place.

I should have expected what happened. Luckily, it went well. I mean, as I said, the fault wasn't in God. It was in me for not expecting Him to protect me in that way. When Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5, I'm not going to turn there, but we know Galatians 5, 22, and 23, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, kindness, and whichever one I always forget after that.

I don't know if somebody has them memorized. I'll check with you later. But always remember, the first one is love. If we break down the fruit of the Spirit into its elements, number one is love. And that ties into 1 John 4, 18. I do want to turn there. 1 John 4, verse 18.

This is another scripture that many would have memorized. The last part of it is what I'm most concerned with. I don't know the whole scripture. Sorry, I was thinking of a different one. There is no fear in love. The first element of the fruit of the Spirit is love. But there's no fear in love because perfect fear, or perfect love, casts out fear, not the other way around. Perfect love casts out fear. Fear involves torment, but he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

But we do love him because he loved us. And perfect love casts out fear. We have not received the Spirit of fear, but we have received God's Holy Spirit. That's what this day is about. On the day of Pentecost, after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, the Holy Spirit was poured out, and it's been poured out ever since, making his people powerful.

We've been imbued with power from on high. We can do many things by that power. And one of the important things is we can fear not. We can defy things that should intimidate other people. We can do what Jesus said in Luke 12. This is my last scripture today, Luke 12, verse 11. I know about you, but when the pastor or minister says that, I can always get to that scripture a little quicker.

Luke 12, verse 11. When they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry. It could say, don't be afraid. Don't be embarrassed. Don't worry about how you'll answer them or what you'll say. The Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. Peter and John experienced that. Before they had God's Spirit, they ran away in fear. With God's Spirit, they answered boldly. They weren't embarrassed and they weren't afraid. God was on their side. David was filled with God's Holy Spirit, and then he answered boldly.

When his older brothers accused him of being naughty, he answered confidently when the king said, You're just a kid. You can't go fight a giant. And then he went out and traded trash talk with that giant. He wasn't embarrassed and he wasn't afraid. God was on his side. He knew that God was in him through the Holy Spirit. Brother, and I hope stories like this help stir up our courage.

I hope that encouraging words help us to stifle fear and embarrassment. I hope that reading the promises that God makes to each of us will help us to be bold and without fear. I hope these things, but I know, I know as sure as I know anything that God's Holy Spirit dwelling in us will do these things, if we'll submit, if we'll allow him to work in us. We are imbued with power from on high. We have a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind and not of fear.