The third message from our sermon series in studying the book of Revelation:

We all know that fear is not something limited to a particular generation.

Whether it is the draining anxiety of vague everyday uncertainties or the sharply defined fears we face in a crisis, fear is familiar to us all. One way of responding to fear is to just play it safe. Don't do anything risky if you don't have to. Of course even then you can't completely protect yourself but you can limit your exposure to danger. That might help up to a point, unless you have a higher commitment. What happens then? The book of Revelation reflects a truth that many Christians would prefer to avoid: playing it safe doesn't fit with following Jesus. That’s why it is so powerful that after the opening vision of the book of Revelation the very first message Jesus has for his Servant John, in verse 17, is “fear not”. This is more than just a word of comfort to a shattered old man shaken by a sensational vision. The way Jesus ties this word about fear to the vision of himself shows us that this is one of the big messages of the whole of Revelation. It's a message for us.