Philippians 1:28 - Do not be frightened of those who oppose you

1:28

“without being frightened ..” Fear is one of the great, perhaps the greatest, weapon of the enemy. Conversely, one of the most frequent phrases in the Bible is “fear not”. Never make a decision based on fear, for such a decision will almost always be wrong. Now we need some common sense here as well. If you see a double decker bus coming along the road it is sensible not to cross the road until it has passed. That is not acting out of fear! But fear will cause us to be irrational and make wrong decisions, so we need to be on our guard. Moreover, we have no need to fear, for God is for us!

We also need to have a right perspective. The opposition seeks to put fear in our heart, claiming to be something it is not. It claims to be a sign that it is going to dominate and we are going to be destroyed. Today we see two very clear examples of this. One is ISIL with its murderous acts. The other is the LGBT lobby, claiming it is winning the day and seeking to crush all opposition. The truth is that the opposition is actually a sign that it will be destroyed and that we will be saved by God. Why is this? Jesus said if the world hated Him it would hate us. So if we are being faithful to Christ and we are persecuted because of it then that is a sign that we belong to Him. It is also a sign of the world’s opposition to Christ, and so of its impending destruction. Now that’s not very nice is it?! We are meant to be nice Christians loving everyone. Well, that is not an attitude you actually find much of in the Bible! Yes we are to love all, but with complete realism. The gospel is a gospel of repentance and faith, not a gospel of you can do whatever you like and God will still let you into heaven. The destruction is also one of the reasons why we must continue to proclaim the gospel. Those who oppose Christ are heading to hell, but if they will only repent and turn to Christ there is a way out, there is an escape route! This is true love. The Biblical definition of love and the common mushy definition are completely different.