Fear
Words for Wisdom, S2 • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsWisdom from God is the antidote to the fears of this world.
Notes
Transcript
Remember “No Fear” t-shirts?…
That was the peak of fashion right there. There are some dads in here who wore that outfit yesterday.
They’d have these sayings on them that when I was 11 I thought meant something and I’d understand when I was older. Maybe some of them make sense, but most of them still don’t make sense.
“Life’s not too short, it’s just that you’re dead for so long.”
“If it were just about attitude, everyone would have it.”
“Fear is in the eye of the beholder. Don’t let it be you.”
Maybe those make sense to you, but they seem like nonsense to me! Maybe that’s because the whole idea was a lie any way!
We all have fears if we’re honest…
There was a family that lived across the street from us when I was in elementary school. There was a boy a year older than me and a girl in my kindergarten class. She was my first girl friend. But their dad loved the Lord and he would share the Gospel with me. He planted seeds that I’m grateful for today. But he asked me about those No Fear t-shirts one time and he Jesus juked me so hard with it. He said, “People should fear something Brian! The Bible says to fear the Lord, and we should fear Him!” And I think what we see in Proverbs is that the fear of the Lord is actually the answer to the fears of this world.
Wisdom from God is the antidote to the fears of this world.
Wisdom from God is the antidote to the fears of this world.
PRAY
We’re going start towards the end the book and work back towards the beginning, seeing what Proverbs says about Fear.
First we’re going to see that we are warned about the fear of man.
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
The “fear of man” it’s talking about is a concern about pleasing or not offending people. Wanting to impress people. Being so afraid of people not liking you that you will alter your behavior to the point of not doing the right thing for fear of someone being displeased.
I’ve told our students before that this is where I struggle. Before I became a Christian I worshipped the adoration of others. Just wanted everyone to like me and think I was cool. I still struggle with it today, but by God’s grace I can at least recognize it for what it is.
Here’s the problem with it: people are wishy-washy. They’re happy with you today and not tomorrow. And if you make one person happy, then a lot of times you make another mad.
Being led by a desire to please people over a desire to please God is sinful at least and idolatry at worst.
Fear of man is ultimately trying to fill a place in your heart with love from other people that can only be filled by the love of your Creator.
A fear of man is unsure and wavering because you can never be sure what to do. But a fear of the Lord is sure because God is unchanging and He’s told us what pleases Him in his Word.
But this proverb is really more specific than that, look at verse 26.
Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice.
He’s talking about trying to please someone with some ability to help you or hurt you. He’s saying don’t do that, trust God for justice…
But evildoers do not trust God for justice, in fact we find out that they fear justice.
When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
Justice is a terror to the evildoer because it stops them from taking advantage of others for their own gain.
The righteous have no need to fear justice. They love justice.
But evildoers fear justice because it stands in their way.
Do you fear justice? In your family life? In your social life? In your work life? If you think about justice being applied in these or any areas of your life, does it make you nervous? If so, some examination needs to happen!
Do evildoers fear you because you will stand for justice? Do they know you will stop them from wronging other people? If you stand for justice, they will be afraid.
Evildoers are also afraid that their own evil deeds will come back on them.
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
The wicked do wicked things to others and they live in fear of their deeds returning to repay them.
I watched a movie on Netflix last week (Red Notice) and it was about art thieves. It didn’t come out too long ago so I don’t want to put any spoilers out, but there are four art thieves in the movie and they are joining forces and double crossing each other throughout the movie. They know they they’re going to be double crossed and they’re just having to hope they can get out of it when it happens. That’s what this verse made me think of.
Those who do wicked things live looking over their shoulders, worrying the people they have wronged will show up, either for justice or revenge. They deal with at least some level of paranoia and anxiousness. And fear.
I knew a guy who before he was living like Jesus had run the odometer on a car backwards and sold it. He told me he used to have nightmares about the guy showing up at his door.
But the righteous/wise can be bold because they have been honest and just and have nothing to hide or be caught with.
It seems like an obvious choice; if you’re wicked you deal with fear of what you’ve done, if you’re righteous you don’t have to worry about it. If you follow the Lord’s wisdom, you have the antidote to fear.
But the kind of fear we’ve seen so far is not really the kind of fear that most of us wrestle with I would guess. The fears that most of us are probably most associated with are different than these…
I think if we go back to Proverbs 1, we see that wisdom is the antidote to these fears as well.
Read Prov 1:20-33
Whoever listens to wisdom will be without fear of disaster.
Living wisely I believe will absolutely help reduce the risk of encountering disaster in our lives. Wisdom will lead us to take steps to protect and care for our families. But it can’t totally erase the possibility of disaster, we know this.
But this verse says the wise will be at ease without the fear of disaster.
I think it’s worth noting that the word translated here as “disaster” is actually most often translated as “evil”…
We have to be careful with verse like this, to not understand them to say something they don’t.
It doesn’t say wisdom will keep us from disaster, but from the dread of disaster.
Wisdom offers us some protection, but I think what’s more valuable is that wisdom gives us a different perspective.
When we get true, godly wisdom, we understand that even when disaster strikes, it’s still going to be ok…
It makes me think of Paul writing letters from a jail cell…
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
As Christians, we can endure all things, even the most painful of things, because Jesus is with us.
casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
And Paul tells us in Romans 8 that all things are working together for the good of those who love God.
That doesn’t mean that when disaster strikes that it won’t hurt, but wisdom reminds us that we need not fear it because it doesn’t mean that God is gone…
Wisdom is the antidote to fear.
So then we need wisdom.
Prov 9:10 tells us the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord
is at least being afraid of what God can do.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
It’s more than that though.
The word for fear in 9:10 is different than the one translated “dread” in 1:33 because they’re talking about different things. It’s reverence vs. trembling.
A fear of disappointing the One you love and revere. The One worthy of all honor and praise.
A fear of missing what He has for you.
And He has wisdom for us to live by. He sent Wisdom to give us life.
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
The Father sent Jesus because He loves us, and Jesus is perfect love, and John told us in 1 John 4:18 that perfect love casts out fear.
Wisdom is the antidote to fear. Ultimately, Jesus is the answer to our fears…
Do you know Him? Our Savior who loves us perfectly, with a love that casts out fear? If so, are you living in that victory over fear? Knowing that even when disaster strikes and it hurts, we can rest without fear that his perfect plan is still on course and one glorious day we will see it and we will praise Him for it.