I want you to pause and think about something.  Can you remember reading the Gospels and encountering an episode when Jesus ordered His followers to cease being afraid or living in fear?  If you are having a bit of difficulty remembering such places in the New Testament, let me help you.  You will find this command in Matthew 10:31; Mark 5:36; Luke 12:32; and John 14:27.

Now, with these Divine words of our Savior in view, look at what the Apostle Peter orders us to do in 1 Peter 1:17–

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.”

So what gives?  On one hand, our Great Shepherd and High Priest command us not to fear, and then, on the other, one of His Apostles orders us to live in fear!  What are we to do with such an apparent (and disturbing!) contradiction?

As we come to worship together this Lord’s Day, we will examine another one of the ‘Gracious Commands of the Gospel.’  As Peter says, we must, in one very important sense, live all the time “with fear.”