The Reality Of Fear

When was the last time that you were afraid?

What was the last thing that you were afraid

of? And we can think of kind of funny things,

but we can also think of more serious things

in life. The front row. So what is the last thing

that you have been afraid of? Even today, how

has fear occupied your mind? How has fear manifested

itself in your mind? Even today, even within

the last hour, I dare say that there are some

in this room who possibly were... dealing with

fearfulness even before coming to worship this

evening. We read in 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul

writing to young Timothy, we read these words,

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity,

but of power and love and discipline. The true

spirit of Christianity is not one of fear, timidity,

or cowardice. The true spirit of Christianity

is a spirit of power, love, and discipline. And

what he's teaching us there is that God has given

us power or strength to face difficulties. God

has given us a love that is outward looking,

that compels us and drives us to others to embrace

hardship or things that might be fearful for

the sake of others. But it also teaches us that

the Christian can control their minds in order

to deal with the fear at hand. Let's go ahead

and pray. And then we'll start our message. Father,

we come to you tonight and we thank you this

evening for the many good things that you have

given to us in life. We thank you that we can

come together and worship. Father, we thank you

that we can come together and laugh and fellowship

and encourage and strengthen one another. Father,

we thank you most of all that we can come together

and worship you. Lord, that we can come together

and hear from your word, that we can hear from

you. Lord, bless our time as we consider what

it means to understand fear and what it means

to overcome fear as believers in Jesus Christ.

I ask a special blessing upon these messages,

Lord. I ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.

Fear is one of the most universal realities in

existence. It transcends age, culture, personality,

social status, and even historical period. It's

present everywhere. Every human being, in one

way or another, has been afraid, and experiences

fear in their life. Some fears are outward and

visible. They're obvious and clear. Others are

hidden deep within the heart. Some fears come

suddenly in moments of crisis, while others quietly

linger in the soul, unseen over long periods

of time. Fear may arise through suffering, uncertainty,

guilt, danger, loneliness, rejection, persecution,

sickness, failure, or the approach of death.

Whether it is acknowledged openly or remains

unseen, in the heart, fear is a prevalent aspect

of life in a fallen world. And I would even say

that fear is something that is propagated and

encouraged on social media platforms. It is something

that the world seeks to enhance and expand to

obtain your attention. Scripture speaks frequently

about fear. The Bible does not present fear as

something experienced only by... weak people

or immature believers, nor is it presented as

a rare or isolated reality. Rather, fear is shown

to be a common part of human experience, even

among faithful believers. Abraham feared, Moses

feared, David feared, the list goes on, and we'll

consider some of those later. It's apparent that

even strong and godly believers wrestle with

fearfulness in their lives. Understanding this

reality is important because the Christian is

called to be courageous in faith, to be bold

in faith, and not to be dominated and mastered

by fear in their lives. Some imagine that fear

itself automatically indicates spiritual failure,

or sin. Others minimize fear altogether, treating

it merely as an emotional weakness or personality

temperament or personal flaw. Scripture, however,

presents fear as a powerful reality that is connected

to human weakness, the fall, sin, guilt, and

unbelief in this world. To understand fear rightly,

the first thing we have to grasp is this. Fear

is universal. It is universal. Because all mankind

lives under the effects of the fall. Since sin

entered the world, suffering, uncertainty, weakness,

pain, and death have become part of human existence.

Fear is a reality for every person because every

person lives in a broken and fallen world. Ecclesiastes

describes life in the fallen world as marked

by uncertainty. Man does not know his time. Like

fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped

in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at

an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

Ecclesiastes 9 .12. Human beings cannot control

the future. Human beings cannot guarantee safety.

Human beings cannot secure perfect health and

fitness. They cannot make absolute provision

in their life or others. They cannot guarantee

relationships that are unbroken. They cannot

guarantee life itself. Tomorrow is not promised

to you and it is not promised to me. Sickness

comes to those who never expect it. Bankruptcy

strikes those who never wanted it, never longed

for it, never thought about it. We lose loved

ones suddenly out of nowhere. These realities

create vulnerability, and vulnerability often

exposes and produces what? Fear in the life of

God's people. Even those who appear confident

and courageous are not free from it. That's important.

Maybe you have this individual in mind. They're

strong. They're firm. They're like an oak tree.

They don't move. They don't go to the right.

They don't go to the left. They've never changed.

They're infallible. They're inerrant. They've

never feared in their life. No. That's not a

reality. Every single person has been afraid

of something. Whether it's suffering, While others

fear rejection, maybe some are afraid of failure

and others the appearance of failure or the appearance

of weakness. Others fear loneliness, instability,

shame, death, judgment. Some fear the future

or abandonment or the idea of loss of control.

Fear manifests itself differently and in a variety

of forms from person to person. How does fear

manifest itself in your life? How does it show

its ugly little head, we could say, in your heart?

How does it manifest itself in your thinking,

in your heart? There are even specific seasons.

which make people especially prone to fear, such

as sickness, war, persecution, financial hardship,

a variety of things. A brief summary of history

reveals that people do, in fact, understand the

nature of fear to some degree. And why do I say

that? Because entire nations have leveraged fear

for profit, motivation, and for different agendas.

Isn't this why nations have used propaganda in

times of war? Fear and to bolster confidence

and courage? Isn't this why newspapers have leveraged

certain headlines? Because they understand that

fear can be played upon. They understand that

fear can be manipulated. Tyrants and monarchs

use threats to persuade the masses. Legal systems

utilize fear in dealing out penalties and fines.

Humanity understands the reality of fear to some

extent. Young children know this. Isn't this

why they so often or sometimes try to jump out

and scare their moms or their dads with snakes?

Whatever it might be, fear is a universal reality.

Among all people, everywhere, for all time, and

something for which everyone always needs a remedy.

If you are here today, you have fear that needs

to be remedied. If you are present, you have

fearfulness in your heart that needs an antidote.

Now we also must understand that fear entered

the world through sin. The Bible teaches that

fear, in its sinful and tormenting form, entered

the world through the fall of man. Before sin

entered creation, Adam and Eve lived openly,

freely, and transparently before their maker.

There was no sinful... tormenting fear in their

hearts. There is no alienation between God and

man. There is no dread of judgment or condemnation.

There is no fear of death. Before, there was

no fear. After the fall, there was fear. Immediately

after sin enters the world, Fear follows the

fall. When God called to Adam after the fall,

he responds, I heard the sound of you in the

garden and I was afraid because I was naked.

So I hid myself, Genesis 3 .10. This is the first

explicit mention of fear in the scriptures. Adam's

fear arose from sin, guilt, and unbelief. The

one before whom Adam once walked freely, he now

is the one that Adam is afraid of and he runs

away from. He hides himself. This moment reveals

something really, really helpful about the nature

of fear. It reveals that fear is not primarily

something that's superficial. or even external,

outside of us or at the surface. But the fear

is something that is theological and spiritual.

Fear is connected to the broken relationship

between God and man. Something that's brought

about as a result of sin. The fall introduced

guilt before God is judged. Shame upon the conscience,

corruption in the heart, judgment upon creation,

suffering in the world, sorrow into human experience,

and mortality, and ultimately, what? Death. Fear,

therefore, became woven into the fabric of creation

and existence because humanity now lives in a

world under the judgment of God, and men are

rebels before their maker. Now, there's a third

thing we have to understand if we're going to

grasp the reality of fear. And that is that fear

exists because humanity is finite and weak. Fear

is also connected to human weakness and finiteness.

Human beings are creatures. Human beings are

not God. Human beings do not possess infinite

wisdom. Human beings do not possess infinite

power and knowledge or control. We cannot see

the future. You cannot see the future. We cannot

control outcomes. No matter how hard a person

wants to carnally manipulate or work a situation,

human beings do not have the ability to control

outcomes. Human beings cannot eliminate suffering

and make perfect ease. We cannot prevent death.

No matter how hard the world tries, death will

always come to them. We cannot govern providence.

That's because we are creatures in this world.

We are part of the created order, brothers and

sisters. We are not God. This limitation is part

of our creatureliness. Humanity was never designed

to function independently from God. Fear often

intensifies when people become deeply aware of

their inability to control circumstances. Things

such as illness and suffering and whatever else

reveals to them that they are weak, that they

are needy, that they are a creature. The Psalms

interact with this reality a great deal. David

says this, when my anxious thoughts multiply

within me, your consolations delight my soul.

Psalm 94, 19. Think about those anxious thoughts

multiplying within him. This multiplication of

anxious thoughts reflects the reality that David

is a creature. He is feeble. He is finite. He

is frail. It reflects the reality of human weakness

in a world filled with uncertainty. Scripture

never presents believers as naturally fearless

people. Rather, the people of God are repeatedly,

time and time again, shown to be prone to fear,

as those who are learning to trust God. in the

midst of difficult situations. That's what the

Bible presents regarding the people of God. John

Calvin has a great statement. He says, we are

not iron. Now, it's short and sweet, but what

a great statement. What does Calvin mean when

he says, we are not iron? Well, he means this,

that we are not impervious. to trials. We are

not unaffected by hardship. We are not machines,

brothers and sisters. We are people with affections.

We have feelings and emotions and affections

and longings. We are creatures made by God. Believers

wrestle with anxiety. Believers wrestle with

confliction in their soul. They wrestle with

struggles in their hearts. Christians have to

deal with anxiety and stress. Why? Because Christians

are still weak, needy, and finite. That doesn't

change when you become a Christian. Christians

are still weak. They're still needy. And they're

still... finite creatures. Now we also have to

understand the fourth thing, and this is that

fear is not limited to the ungodly. There may

be the temptation to think, well, it's the sinners

who don't know Christ that struggle with fear.

It's those outside of Christ that don't know

Christ that wrestle with these realities. Scripture

teaches that fear is experienced by believers

and unbelievers alike. It is not limited to the

wicked or the ungodly. Even faithful, godly men

and women struggle with fear. Abraham feared

Pharaoh and lied concerning Sarah. Isaac feared

the men of Gerar and lied concerning Rebecca.

Jacob feared Esau when preparing to meet him

again. Joseph's brothers feared judgment because

of their guilt concerning Joseph. Moses feared

speaking because of his weakness and inability.

Joshua feared the immense responsibility of leading

millions of people. Gideon feared his own family

and the men of the city. Manoah feared death

after seeing the angel of the Lord. David feared,

and he repeatedly wrote of it, the Psalms are

full. of David's fearful confessions, brothers

and sisters. Psalm 56 .3 says, When I am afraid,

I will put my trust in you. That has the expectation

that he will be afraid. Elijah feared Jezebel

and fled into the wilderness after witnessing

God's great power at Mount Carmel. The disciples

feared storms, persecution, suffering, death,

despite walking with the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

Paul said, I was with you in weakness and in

fear and in much trembling, 1 Corinthians 2 .3.

We've only touched on a small number of the saints

of old, brothers and sisters. We don't have the

time to speak of them all. We could talk about

Hannah, Eli, Elijah, Elisha, and we could go

on and on and on. Time doesn't allow us to touch

on all of them. The reality is that fear is a

part of the believer's life, just as it is a

part of the unbeliever's life. A simple lesson

seems appropriate at this juncture. If you're

here today and you struggle with some sort of

fear, as a believer in Jesus Christ, if you wrestle

with things in your heart that make you anxious,

if you wrestle with things that make you afraid,

listen well. You are not abnormal. You are not

strange or deranged. And don't let anybody tell

you that you are. You are not the weird one because

you wrestle with fearfulness in your life. The

truth is that the word of God testifies that

fear is a common struggle in the saint's heart

all throughout redemptive history. The experience

of fear is not a novelty. in the Christian life,

brothers and sisters. This is important to acknowledge.

And why is this important to acknowledge? Because

many believers do, in fact, wrongly assume that

fear itself, the reality and the struggle of

fear itself, proves spiritual failure or is evidence

of spiritual immaturity. Yet scripture, repeatedly

presents godly people wrestling with this reality.

Learning to trust God in the midst of the valley,

brothers and sisters. Learning to trust God as

the darkness is looming, as it's going over them.

It's not a novelty. Sinners living in a fallen

world. Fear is a normative reality and experience

for which there is a remedy, for which the word

of God provides remedies. It is always needed

in the life of the believer. It's guaranteed

that if you go to one of the godliest people

you know and you say, have you struggled? with

fear in your life? They would inevitably say,

yes. Fear is not a novelty in the Christian life.

The difference we'll see is not the presence

or the reality of fear, but how one relates to

fear and how one responds to the reality of fear

in their life. The last thing we have to consider

is the reality of fear in the Christian life.

So the issue is not whether believers will experience

fear. They will. You will. I will. We all will.

The issue is how believers respond to and remedy

the fear that arises in their hearts. Believers

are not instantly delivered from all difficulty

and hardship upon conversion. Christians will

face trials and suffering. Thus, they will experience

fear in this life. Believers still have a remnant

of sin. They're susceptible to backsliding, the

effects of the fall, ignorance, and sin. Christian

experience bears witness to this reality, that

believers will face fear in their life. And the

ultimate proof is that every believer still must

face that one great enemy at the end of their

life, the grave and death. But the difference

is this. Though conversion doesn't remove all

the difficulties and struggles, Upon conversion,

the Christian's relationship to fear fundamentally

changes because the believer now belongs to God

through Christ and has been justified by the

righteousness of Jesus Christ. They have been

made new creatures in Christ. The truth is that...

often it's upon conversion that a person actually

begins to wrestle with their fears. They don't

just bow down to them anymore. Now they start

standing up to them and they start fighting back.

Whereas the unregenerate man just receives and

accepts and takes the beating over and over and

over. The believer fights back in the inner man

when fear rises. Because the converted man or

woman as a new creature in Christ, they can now

relate and respond to their own sin differently.

And they do. The great hope of the gospel is

this. Though, yes, Christians do have to deal

with fear, the work of Jesus Christ has already

dealt with their deepest, most essential fears,

regardless of their experience of fear. in this

life. So do you know what I'm saying there? Regardless

of your experience of fear in this life, Christ

has already dealt with the deepest root and the

deepest problems in your life in the gospel.

He's already dealt with the fear and the source

of the fear. The gospel itself addresses Humanity's

deepest fears. Those deep troubles of heart out

of which come so many other anxieties and issues

of life. Fear of condemnation. Fear of abandonment.

Fear of death. Fear of judgment. Yet, because

of the gospel and the work of Jesus Christ, God

is reconciled to his people and his people are

reconciled to him. Sin has been pardoned and

forgiven in Christ. Death has been conquered.

Providence is governed by a loving father for

his people. Nothing can separate believers from

the love of God. Christians still experience

fear, but they no longer face it in the same

way. The Christian is no longer mastered by fear

in this life as one reconciled to God through

Christ. Those in Christ are no longer rebels

before God. They have been given a new position

before the Lord, a new ruling principle in their

hearts and a promise of a future where fear will

be non -existent and be no more. No matter what

a believer must endure, the gospel remains true,

brothers and sisters. Hallelujah. Amen. Yes,

the believer must endure pain and hardship in

this life, but that doesn't change the fact that

Jesus Christ died for sinners. Yes. The believer

must experience opposition and suffering and

persecution in this life, but that does not alter

the reality of Christ's atoning death and his

powerful resurrection. Yes, the believer must

face trials which will induce fear in your hearts,

but that does not negate the truth that Christ

has satisfied the wrath of God. Yes, the believer

must wrestle with sin and corruption, but that

can't change the fact that the Spirit of God

dwells within you, brothers and sisters. Yes,

the believer must endure to the end, facing trial

after trial and many dangers, but this does not

change the reality that Jesus Christ is reigning

and he will return one day in glory and power.

None of that changes based on your experience.

of fear in this life. Because of the gospel of

Jesus Christ, the Christian relates to fear in

a radically different way than those who don't

know Jesus Christ. God, in his grace, has given

believers remedies for fear, which, because of

his grace, aid them in overcoming that fear in

this life. Fear is an unavoidable reality in

a fallen world. The Bible speaks honestly and

openly about this reality. Fear reveals the frailty,

the weakness, and the instability of men. Yet,

God does not leave us without hope and help in

this fight. God in his word repeatedly addresses

fearful, frightened people. God in his word repeatedly

over and over gives hope to fearful hearts. To

understand fear rightly, we must understand both

its nature, its cause, and its effects. Only

then can we begin to understand the remedies

that God has given for fear. So tonight, we considered

the reality of fear. Next time, we'll consider

the nature of fear.