You Shall Never Again Fear Evil Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 7:18-28

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose presence, we fear no evil.

Today we’re going to talk about God’s promise that we will never again fear evil, but will rejoice greatly, based on our Old Testament, especially verse 15, The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.

And verse 14, 14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Our Lord comes to us bringing joy. Why?

Because, verse 15, 15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;             He has cleared away your enemies. 

The enemy retreats when confronted by the mighty power of God. 

All that is hostile toward God and His Word, is also hostile toward God’s children. Our Lord protects us from that evil. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.

What a blessing to not have to fear evil. What a terrible way to live, in the constant fear of evil. 

I remember a time, as I was growing up, when everything didn’t need to be locked; when the doors to your home could left open while you were gone, and you didn’t worry that anything would be stolen; the keys were left in your car, that way you would remember where they were; or on a brutally cold December day, while you were in the store, you left your car running outside; you didn’t worry about somebody hijacking it. 

I heard in the news that, in some cities, car hijackings have increased by 45% in the last year.

How wonderful it will be in that time and place where we won’t have to worry ourselves about being harmed or wronged in any way, because all evil will kept away; Heaven is that place. 

In eternity, God’s people in Christ will never again fear or experience evil of any kind.

In this world, we need to be careful and aware of the evil around us, and within us; the harm that can be done to us, and the harm we can do to others. 

We need God’s grace to save us from the evil we do, and the evil we are. 

We’re saved from our own sin and evil as we repent and believe in Christ, and God forgives us all our sins. 

As our Old Testament says, The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. 

For the sake of His Son, our Heavenly Father has cancelled the punishment for our sins. Now, as we live in that grace, the Holy Spirit helps us to be more godly and courageous like Christ. 

Verse 16 says, 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak. 

Don’t drop or let go of what you need: your God, His Word, and His Sacraments.

In battle against a superior enemy, a warrior may have been tempted to drop his weapon and run away as fast as he could, which, in turn, could lead to being picked off from behind, and would surely lose the battle.

In Ephesians 6 we’re given an analogy of a person who’s well-armed in the battle against evil, with the breastplate of righteousness, our forgiveness in Christ, and the belt of truth around our waist; like a championship belt is the true Word of Christ; and the Gospel of peace, our fellowship with God through Christ; the shield of faith, by which we hold on to Christ and His sure salvation; and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; and prayer at all times in the Holy Spirit, Paul says.

These are the things we firmly hold on to because they are the power of God to protect us; they guard us from the forces of evil that would overtake and destroy our life and love in Christ.

We need, and through the Gospel, we have, the presence and power of God surrounding and protecting us; and His holy angels watching over us.

Verse 17 says, 17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.

That Mighty One is Christ, who single-handedly took on Satan, sin, death, the hostile world, and all the powers of evil, and through His mighty resurrection, won the victory over them all for us.

The Advent psalm, on which the Advent Hymn, Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates, is based, Psalm 24 says, 7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, (The gates to the city didn’t open out, they opened up. That way they could be closed faster to keep the enemy out.) that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! 

Not political or military battle, but mighty in the battle over you, for your soul, the battle that has eternal consequences for you, the battle against sin and guilt and death, the battle for your righteousness, and for your life in Christ today, and  your glory in Christ forever!

Christ was mighty to win that battle for us, and to give us the joy of His salvation.

Our lesson says, He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love.

As a parent watches over and protects his or her young child; or as a child wakes up crying from a bad dream, and the parent soothes and quiets the child, holding and rocking their little one back to sleep, assuring their child that everything is okay, that there’s nothing to be afraid of… so, in His love, our Heavenly Father calms and quiets us. 

He assures us that we have nothing to fear. His gentle love and mighty power will keep our hearts quiet, and our souls safe.

Our Lord protects us, quiets us, and He rejoices over us. 

As loving parents rejoice over the good things that happen to their children, so our God rejoices over us at the blessings we receive. God rejoices to bless us; and then, He rejoices that we’ve been blessed. 

He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will exult over you with loud singing, our text says.

With every blessing God gives you, He rejoices over you. He is so happy to bless you in every way. No blessing is too small for Him NOT to rejoice over. 

His joy, is our joy! 

As with a loving family, when something good happens to one member of the family, the whole family rejoices. So the family of God rejoices in all the blessings He gives.

Today’s Epistle says, 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say it, rejoice!

The fear of evil would rob us of our God-given joy. The protection of our Lord, restores our joy. 

The perfect protection of Heaven, will bring us perfect joy.

God’s protection of His children on earth, and the protection of His mighty angels, sent to guard us at His command, puts us at peace. 

When our hearts are at peace, our hearts are able and happy to rejoice! 

Hearts tied up with fear have a hard time rejoicing; hearts that are safe and secure, are free to rejoice, and in Christ, to rejoice greatly, 

Our Old Testament says, Rejoice and exult with all your heart! Rejoice greatly!

As the angel said to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 

And, as the wisemen rejoiced in seeing the star that would lead them to the young Messiah. Matthew says, When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

When the women went to the tomb on Easter morning, and saw Jesus risen and alive, Matthew tells us they departed quickly from the tomb with wonder and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

And 40 days later, after the disciples watched Jesus rise up into the sky, and ascend into Heaven, Luke says, And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

From mighty salvation, comes the peace that surpasses understanding; from surpassing peace, comes great joy.

Knowing that our God is mighty to protect and save us, we need not cower in fear of the many things in this world that would harm us, including ourselves. 

Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. 

But God in His mercy is with us to save us from our enemies. His love for us is greater than our enemies’ malice. 

So as the much-loved psalm says, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 

Because our God is here, we need not worry or fear; instead, we rejoice greatly in His mighty protection; and, we rejoice and are happy to help and protect our neighbor in need.

And as we rejoice in our Lord’s protection, and serve our neighbor in need, verse 7 of our Epistle promises, The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.