Tag Archives: fear of man

Charles Spurgeon, Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon – Five fears

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CharlesSpurgeon“Yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him.” Ecclesiastes 8:12

Suggested Further Reading: Luke 12:4-12

Fear may be yoked into the service of God. True fear, not fearing, but believing, saves the soul; not doubt, but confidence, is the strength and the deliverance of the Christian. Still, fear, as being one of those powers which God has given us, is not in itself sinful. Fear may be used for the most sinful purposes; at the same time it may be so ennobled by grace, and so used for the service of God, that it may become the very grandest part of man. In fact, Scripture has honoured fear, for the whole of piety is comprehended in these words, “Fear God”; “the fear of the Lord”; “them that fear him.” These phrases are employed to express true piety, and the men who possess it. Fear, I have said, may ruin the soul. Alas! It has ruined multitudes. O Fear, you are the rock upon which many a ship has been wrecked. Many a soul has suffered spiritual destruction through you, but then it has been not the fear of God, but the fear of man. Many have rushed against the thick bosses of the Almighty’s shield, and defied God, in order to escape the wrath of feeble man. Many through fear of worldly loss have brought great guilt into their consciences; some through fear of ridicule and laughter have not had the boldness to follow the right, and so have gone astray and been ruined. Yea, and where fear does not work utter destruction it is capable of doing much damage to the spirit. Fear has paralysed the arm of the most gigantic Christian, stopped him in his race, and impeded him in his labours. Faith can do anything, but fear, sinful fear, can do just nothing at all, except prevent faith from performing its labours.

For meditation: The one you seek to please is the one you fear (Galatians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:4).

Sermon no. 148

23 August (1857)

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Trusting Means Safety

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“Fear of man is a dangerous trap, but to trust in God means safety” (Proverbs 29:25).

One of the delegates attending a lay institute for evangelism protested that he was not going to go out into the community to share his faith, something he had never done before. I assured him that he was not required to go; it was simply an optional assignment. But I explained that if he would go along and observe a more mature witnessing Christian, he would learn something and would feel greater freedom in the future to witness on his own. Again he expressed his fear, but he did go, and God marvelously used him and his witnessing partner to introduce two people to Christ. He came home absolutely radiant, joyful, overflowing with thanksgiving and praise to God. He came to me immediately to say, “I am so glad that I went. I would have missed one of the greatest blessings of my life had I not gone. Thank you so much for encouraging me to go.”

The number one barrier to witnessing in the Christian life is the fear of man. Think of the contradiction. It never occurs to the average Christian that not to witness is to disobey God, and the consequences can be devastating to his spiritual life. Therefore the average Christian risks offending God for the fear of offending man.

 

It is interesting that there are 365 “fear nots” in the Bible – one for every day of the year. And yet there is one fear in particular that thwarts effective witnessing for Christ more than any other – the fear of man.

It would not be a distorted picture to envision thousands – and even millions – of believers caught in that dangerous trap referred to by the psalmist. And what a deadly snare! Martin Luther, years ago, found a solution to this deadly enemy:

And though this world with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear for God has willed

His truth to triumph through us

The prince of darkness grim –

We tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure,

For lo! his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

Our trust must be in God whose indwelling Holy Spirit helps us not only to trust Him, but also to share the gospel with others.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 29:19-24

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With God’s help, I will share His love and forgiveness with others with the confidence that having called me to be His witness, He will enable me and will prepare the hearts of those to whom I go.

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Joyce Meyer – God Is on Your Side

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For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation and adorn the wretched with victory. —Psalm 149:4

If you never face trials, you will never have to exercise your faith. But even when facing hard times, you shouldn’t dread life. Isaiah 8:13 says, “The Lord of hosts—regard Him as holy and honor His holy name [by regarding Him as your only hope of safety], and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread [lest you offend Him by your fear of man and distrust of Him].”

If you dread life and fear people, you are not trusting the Lord to save you. Keep your reverential fear and awe of God; dread displeasing Him, but don’t fear anything else. If God is for you, who can be against you? “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 NIV).

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Joyce Meyer – Don’t Let Dread Get a Hold on You

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The Lord of hosts—regard Him as holy and honor His holy name [by regarding Him as your only hope of safety], and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread [lest you offend Him by your fear of man and distrust of Him]. —Isaiah 8:13

Dread is a powerful, gripping fear. People dread many things, and most of them don’t even realize what dread does to them. It sucks the joy right out of the present moment. But Jesus set you free from the power of dread. The life God has provided for us through Jesus Christ is a precious gift, and we should enjoy every moment of it.

Pray and ask God to show you every time you begin to dread any task or something lurking in your future that you’re not quite sure of. Merely eliminating dread from your life will release more of your God given confidence and help you experience more joy.

How often do you find yourself putting things off that you dread doing? Maybe it’s that uncomfortable conversation you know you need to have, or those bills that need to be paid, or worse, maybe it’s your annual taxes! Train yourself not to dread anything but to actually tackle it first. The sooner in the day you do the things you don’t prefer doing, the more energy you have to do them. If you wait until the end of the day when most of your energy is gone and then try to do something you really don’t like doing, it will be worse than doing it earlier. Dread causes us to procrastinate, but if you’re ever going to do something, now is the best time!

Putting something off does not make it go away; it only allows more time to torment you. You can dread or you can confidently take action. As Christians with the power of the Holy Spirit inside us, surely we can manage to do an unpleasant task without dreading it and with a good attitude. God’s power is not available just to make unpleasant things in our lives go away; it is frequently available to walk us through them courageously.

Trust in Him: What are you dreading? Do it now and get it over with. Choose to do all things with joy and strength—don’t trust your fear more than you trust God!

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The Restriction of Man’s Destiny – John MacArthur

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“But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him” (Heb. 2:8).

God gave man dominion over all the earth, and the earth supplied his every need. All he had to do was accept and enjoy the earth as provided for him. But Adam sinned and Satan usurped the crown. A new chain of command was born: the earth now rules man.

To know how true that is, all you need do is look at the amount of effort expended on restoring the ecological balance of the earth. Environmentalism is a popular watchword of our day. Yet with all our modern technology, we are still unable to gain control over the earth.

Look what happened once Adam sinned: no longer could man easily harvest what the earth provided–now he had to toil by the sweat of his brow (Gen. 3:18). Women would experience pain in childbirth (3:16). Murder soon followed in Adam’s family. God had to destroy virtually all mankind in the Flood because they had become so debauched.

Much of the animal kingdom now lives in fear of man and cannot be tamed. Where once the earth produced good things naturally and abundantly, now it produces thorns, weeds, and other harmful things. Extremes of heat and cold, poisonous plants and reptiles, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, hurricanes, and disease were all products of the Fall. Man was no longer a king but a slave–a dying creature fighting a losing battle with a dying earth.

Amazingly, the earth is aware of its condition: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it” (Rom. 8:20). Now it eagerly awaits for the day when the sons of God, believers, are manifest in the kingdom, for then it will be liberated from the bondage of corruption (vv. 19, 21-22).

There is coming a day, in the wonderful plan of God, when man will receive once again the dominion that he lost. May our Lord hasten its coming!

Suggestion for Prayer:  Thank God that He will one day redeem the earth from its subjection to the curse.

For Further Study:  Read Isaiah 60:21, 65:25, 2 Peter 3:13, and Revelation 21:27. What will characterize the new earth?