This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Luke chapter 12, and we are going to pick up in verse 4. Luke chapter 12, verse 4. This is the reading of God's Word. I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? and not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows. This is the reading of God's word. Please have a seat. Let's begin in prayer. Our father, we thank you for how deeply you loved us. We thank you for the gospel by which we are saved. We thank you for the hope we have because the son of God became a man and died for us. We pray now that these sobering things would have their effect on us. We pray that the fear of God would be faithfully in our hearts. We also pray that we would have the encouragement you have for us. Please help us to take this whole passage and take it to heart. We pray for the help of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. One thing I like about Jesus is he does not sugarcoat things. He does not sugarcoat things. And as he's looking at his disciples, as he's huddling them together, he was clear then and in other parts of his ministry that the world would not receive his followers. They just wouldn't. He warned his people that they would suffer and they would die for following him. And he told them, he said, following me, you know what it takes to follow me? It means denying yourself every day and carrying a cross every day. And Jesus didn't treat self-denial like, you know what, maybe you shouldn't have seconds on that dessert. Self-denial to Jesus wasn't just denying yourself the things that you like. Jesus treated self-denial as denial to the point of dying. Being a disciple of Christ is the path straight to the world's hatred. And Jesus never hid that from his disciples. He prepared them for it. And in light of that, Jesus now tells his disciples, don't fear human power. Don't fear human power. See, Jesus knows the fate of his disciples. He knows what he is sending them into. He is sending them into suffering. He is sending them into persecution. He is sending them to their death. And so verse four is an encouragement. Jesus knows that facing the world's hatred would be a fearsome task. He knows that when his disciples had to face that world's hatred, that it would shake them. He knows that they would be tempted to run away when the opposition rose up. And so he wants to put the world's power into perspective. And so this is essentially what he says. He says, don't fear them, friends. All they can do is kill you. Don't fear them. All they can do is kill you. That's it. That's hard. That's hard to hear. And if that were the only verse in the passage, we might not find that too encouraging. because we might think, Jesus, that's exactly the point. They might kill us for representing you. They might take it all away because we confessed you. They can hurt us, they can make us suffer, and in the end, they could kill us. Jesus, that is the point. That is why we are afraid. And you might legitimately be thinking, Jesus, As encouragements go, this doesn't make a lot of sense. So that's why Jesus keeps going. He keeps going with verse five. See how his thought continues. Yes, I tell you, fear him. See, while people can kill, that's where their power stops. God's power never stops. On one side of the grave and on the other, his authority is complete. And so Jesus is telling us, remember the bigger picture. Remember that death is not the end. Don't let yourself start believing that death is the absolute worst thing that can happen. It is not. And Jesus would go on to experience this, wouldn't he? Remember, I'm not the one standing up here telling you I've been through it all and you should learn from me that death's not that big a deal, right? I can't say that. I don't have the authority for that. I haven't lived it. But Jesus did. I'm only telling you what Jesus told his disciples and Jesus practiced what he preached. Jesus would suffer the very worst death that the Romans could throw at him, but he was faithful. And he was faithful to the very end, knowing that the authority of those men, of those Romans over him, that it could only go so far. No, death is not the end. The bigger picture is that there is eternity on the other side of death. There is eternal delight and blessing for those rescued from their sins. And there is eternal hell and torment for those who refuse him. Jesus says, there is one infinitely more fearful than people who can kill you. I mean, here again, how seriously Jesus makes this point. He says, yes, I tell you, fear him. Fear the one who can cast you in to hell. See, if we're going to understand death, we have to understand hell. The word hell, it's our English translation for a couple of words. And the word here is Gehenna. Gehenna itself is actually a Greek translation going back to a valley called the Valley of Hinnom. And this is a valley, it existed, it's a real place Southwest of Jerusalem. And it was noteworthy for some fairly notorious reasons. It was the place where some wicked kings had offered human sacrifices. It was a place that was also used as a perpetually burning trash dump. And it had come to be popularly viewed as the place where God's final judgment would take place. Gehenna then becomes this earthly representation of the eternal punishment that would take place for those who would not have their sins forgiven. We call this concept hell. Hell is a teaching that in the New Testament, we primarily get from Jesus. You may not have realized that, but Jesus is the primary teacher when it comes to hell. When we think of what did Jesus teach about, we jump so quickly to things like Jesus taught about love your neighbor. Jesus taught about do not judge. Jesus taught about more than that. Jesus taught clearly about hell, about the eternal and unending punishment of the wicked. And contrary to our sensibilities, hell does actually last forever. We struggle with that, don't we? We struggle with the idea that the very worst punishment that could ever be conceived is a punishment that will not even end at some point, but it goes on and on and on. It is horrifying to consider the depths of hell. But our sensibilities, you know, like them or not, you can't get around how Jesus taught about this. One of the clearest examples, it's in Matthew chapter 25, verse 46. And there he says, there are two destinations, two destinations when you die, there is eternal punishment and there is eternal life. So you see if one side of that equation lasts forever, so does the other. If one lasts forever, so does the other. The other side of life that lasts forever is punishment that lasts forever. And this punishment, it's described as a place of eternal fire, eternal punishment, eternal destruction, and eternal judgment. It is where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Hell is the destination for unending torment and punishment for those who don't find forgiveness of their sins in Jesus Christ. This is the punishment not for select people or select groups of people that we find offensive, This is the punishment for anyone who is still found in their sins on that last day. When Jesus died, when he died on the cross, Jesus bore hell for his people. He would take all the wrath. He would take all of the condemnation. And he did that so that his people would not have to suffer like that. He took the punishment so that they would be spared the punishment. So when people won't let Jesus take the punishment, it is they who will bear the punishment themselves. Hell is terrible. Hell is the most fearful place that one could go. Despite mocking myths of our society, hell is not a party where all your friends are going to be. There is no one with any experience of hell, no one with any glimpse of hell who will think it is even the slightest bit funny. There's not a single person who will look at it Lightheartedly. Hell is unending torment. And we wish it on no one. We cheapen God, we cheapen his justice, we cheapen this doctrine of hell when we begin to use the word hell flippantly. If you've ever told someone to go to hell, Repent of that. Hell is not a cheap insult for us to wish upon people we don't like. If you grasp the terror of hell, if God and his Holy Spirit gives you that righteous fear of that reality, That is when you can truly hear what Jesus said. All people can do is kill you. That's it. Hell makes that point abundantly clear. The power of men looks very small when you compare it to the power of God. Swords and guns and bombs and armies become very small things when compared to the one who can cast sinners into hell. And when you fear God above all else, you will find the resolve to stand firm against the most fearful man. Let the fear of God shrink the fears of this world. Let the fear of God bolster your courage in the face of the fears of this world. Let the fear of God compel you to speak when the time comes. Let the fear of God put you into a permanent state of awe at the one who holds the power of hell in his hands. Now this teaching from Jesus on hell, it really might be disturbing to people. And it's in part disturbing because we have re-imagined Jesus and we've re-imagined him to be a fuzzy teddy bear. He teaches about happiness, not hell. If you really pay attention to Jesus, he seems to have this way of breaking any mold we try and put him into. I think of things we popularly hear about Jesus. You know, like Jesus was this somber, uncaring figure, this out of touch religious guy. But then you actually read the gospels and you see the way that he cares for children. You see how gently he ministers to those who are mourning. Okay, then you're like, okay, so, oh, Jesus, he's gentle and sweet all the time. But then you go and read the parts where, if he's gentle and sweet, what's he doing condemning the Pharisees like that? Clearing the temple with a whip. He seems a little bit severe now. Man, the way he went after those hypocrites, that wasn't sweet. Okay, then you can recalibrate again. I see, Jesus hates hypocrites all the time. Then you have Peter. You have Peter who swore I will never leave your side, Lord. And when the opposition came, he abandoned his master and he disgraced himself. And what does Jesus do when he comes back? Does he hunt him down and like strike him dead? Then Jesus goes, he restores his broken disciple. He restores him out of his sin. He restores him out of his disgrace. He enables him, he calls him to go and then lead the church forward after that. We find that God so often, he's not just one thing or the other. So often he's both. Yes, he can be severe, but he's also very gentle. He can condemn. And he can restore. And this is all just the long way about to help you understand what comes next. Because Jesus just said, don't fear men, fear God who can throw you into hell. And that seems pretty severe. That seems like it's going to characterize everything that comes thereafter. Everything he says thereafter is going to feel severe, right? Well again, if you only had this one verse and that was it, you might come to different conclusions. But Jesus keeps teaching and he moves without reservation from teaching about the terrifying power of God to this encouragement. He says in verses 6 and 7, but the all-powerful God values his people. Look at the text again. Are not five sparrows? No, no, no, no, let's back up. But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows. What an interesting change of direction. Jesus wants people on the one hand to think less of human power, fear not, but he also wants them to think more of their value in God's eyes. And those two messages go hand in hand. You can imagine the terrible last moments of a soon to be martyr. I think of the Apostle Paul, commonly thought to be beheaded. And in those moments, when he stood alone, surrounded by Roman guards, don't you think he might've felt alone? When they led him out to that chopping block or whatever it was, don't you think he felt alone? And in the midst of Paul's greatest trial, wouldn't it have been natural for him to feel like he has no one? Wouldn't it be natural for us to feel that way if we were in his situation? Wouldn't it be natural for us to feel abandoned, forsaken, discarded? Jesus wants every Christian to know that even in their worst trial, their Heavenly Father knows what they are going through. The God who remembers every single sparrow in creation, He cannot forget you. The God who knows the number of hairs on your head is not ignorant that you are suffering for His name's sake. No, child of God, you will never be discarded. You will never be forsaken. Child of God, you are precious in your father's sight. No amount of human misery can change this truth. There is no one who can take this from you. When you doubt this, when you begin to think that you are anything less than precious, remember the hell that Christ bore for you. When we catch a glimpse of the eternal torment of hell, we are at the same time catching a glimpse of the price Christ paid for us. child of God, when you see how much Christ paid for you, how can you possibly think that you are anything less than precious in his sight? On the one hand, hell shows us the fearsome justice of God, and it is fearsome. But on the other, hell also shows us how deep is the Father's love for us. When the world rises up against you in hatred, in anger, when you're attempted to fear, remember your God. Remember the holy fear that will keep you standing strong. and remember that you are eternally precious to your Father in heaven. Let's pray. Our Father, please work in us a believing fear of hell. May we have a believing fear of you May we never treat you flippantly. May we never be cheap with you. May we never be light with you. May we never play fast and loose with what Christ had to bear so that we could be saved. And Lord, we pray that you would make us brave and you would make us faithful to speak the words of this gospel, the words of this truth to a dying generation. Lord, may we truly love our neighbor by speaking the truth to them. Forgive us for hating our neighbor and hiding the truth from people who are going to hell. Help us from this moment forward to go forward in the confidence of being a child of God to go forward and speak. We pray this in Jesus's name, amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.