God Counts Your Hairs: 3 Reasons You Never Have to Fear
Dr RJ Sing, 17 min
Originally preached as “Learning to Value Yourself”
Sermon outline
In Matthew 10 God lays out a legal argument for your worth: He cares for sparrows and numbers your hairs, so you are valuable to Him, He will protect and provide for you, and you need not fear anyone.
Main text
- Matthew 10:29-31
Opening
The recording joins him mid-flow, declaring that believers are not ordinary people because the Godhead lives in them. He reads Matthew 10:29-31 in the King James, the ISV and the Message Bible, has the church tell each other 'stop being afraid', and says he is speaking this morning about learning to value yourself.
Invest in your personality
Instead of running after material things, invest in how you carry yourself, speak and walk, and in learning to take instruction. Respecting parents, elders and authority is sowing for your future, because one day you will be placed over people and they will submit to you in the same way.
Illustration: What is the use of wearing a 5,000 rand suit and driving a 400,000 rand car if you sulk like a dog? And the manager who never submitted to anyone comes home asking his wife why his staff won't submit to him.
“If you will just take time to invest in your personality, all of those things will chase you.”
- Galatians 6:7
The legal argument, part one: don't be afraid
God is presenting a legal argument so you can understand your worth, and it begins with 'fear not'. God's people are not built to run any programme or virus that brings fear. Don't fear severed relationships, a business closing or retrenchment; think big and act on the ideas God has given you, because dominion was restored to man through the second Adam.
Illustration: Don't worry about being retrenched: buy the same company and offer your boss a job.
“You're not built to be intimidated. You're built to intimidate.”
- Proverbs 23:7
- 2 Timothy 1:7
- Genesis 1:26-28
- Mark 11:23-24
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
Part two: if God cares for sparrows, He will care for you
The sparrow is the least valuable of birds, yet God takes care of it, so He will certainly take care of you. No boss, critic or person who threatens to leave can have the last word, because one man or woman with God is a majority.
Illustration: When he prays he doesn't see the people in front of him; he has trained himself to see thousands, even stadiums.
“One man with God is a majority. One woman with God is a majority.”
- Matthew 10:29
Part three: God numbers the hairs of your head
You don't know how many hairs are on your head, but God does, and if He takes time to count them you must be important to Him. It is a lie to say God doesn't care; His will is that you prosper in your soul, mind, heart, finances, home and relationships.
“So if He's taking the time to count my hairs on your head, you must be, I submit, kind of important to Him.”
- Matthew 10:30
- 3 John 1:2
The conclusion: God will protect and provide for you
God will certainly protect and provide for you, no matter what. True prosperity is not hoarding but having the need met at the time you need it: the bill paid, food for the day, clothes for the occasion. So if you are led by His Spirit, you cannot walk in fear or bondage.
“True prosperity is having that need met at that given time.”
- Matthew 10:31
- John 10:27
What sparrows teach us
Many preach about eagles, but he wants to talk about sparrows. They thrive in large numbers, are assertive enough to take over a roof, and mourn a lost mate for days. Millions fall every day, yet not one falls without God knowing, or even without His permission. The recording ends as he goes deeper into this point.
“Not one sparrow falls to the ground without his permission.”
- Matthew 10:29
Putting it into practice
- Invest in your personality, not just in possessions.
- Respect and submit to those in authority as a seed for your future.
- Reject fear and act on the ideas God has given you.
- Train yourself to think big.
- Study the Word so you know God's will to prosper you.
Closing
The recording ends mid-teaching, while he is explaining what the sparrow teaches about God's care, so the close of the message is missing.
Declarations he led
- I do not fear. I fear nothing. I'm fearless.
- I refuse to fear.
- I cannot fail.
In his words
- “If you will just take time to invest in your personality, all of those things will chase you.”
- “You're not built to be intimidated. You're built to intimidate.”
- “One man with God is a majority.”
- “True prosperity is having that need met at that given time.”
- “Not one sparrow falls to the ground without his permission.”
Every scripture in this message
- Colossians 2:9
- Matthew 10:29-31
- Galatians 6:7
- Proverbs 23:7
- 2 Timothy 1:7
- Genesis 1:26-28
- Mark 11:23-24
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
- 3 John 1:2
- John 10:27