The beginning of Luke 12 is kind of startling. It says that so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were trampling one another. People have died in situations like that. But Jesus says first, “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

He doesn’t disperse the crowd for their safety. He gives a sermon; was it to the crowd or to His immediate disciples?

In a biography on George Whitfield, I read of how he preached to tens of thousands of people at once. Benjamin Franklin wrote how many were in attendance and how Whitfield’s voice carried over the crowd. He and many others mention how silent the crowd was when he spoke. The Lord could have been heard over a crowd.

Jesus says, “Yes, fear Him!” then “Fear Not.” Which is it? We fear God. We don’t fear things in this world. Because we fear God, we don’t have to fear not being taken care of, not having what we need, not knowing what to do or say.

We fear God and don’t look to our own interests.

We fear God and don’t worry about our lives.

We fear God and are wise and faithful servants.

Because if we fear God, then we can fear not.

If we fear God, we honor Him, we show Him the respect He deserves. We think about Him as He is, great and worthy and able and loving and willing and knowing and all things! If we fear God, we recognize His sovereignty. He’s in control. If we honor and obey and put ourselves at His mercy, put ourselves into His gentle, kind hands, we have nothing else to fear. He’s the great and awesome God, and He’s OUR God. The King of the universe is for us.