No Fear?
Men's Breakfast • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsMen's breakfast on the subject of men and fear
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Intro
Intro
There was a clothing brand popular in the 90’s called “No Fear!”
I remember a shirt I had that said: “Bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, 2 outs, down by 3, full-count…No Fear!”
Hard to find their shirts now. I searched on Amazon but my search returned a shirt that said, “Have no fear, the Canadian is here!”
But was this company, clearly not a Christian organization that I can tell, on to something biblically? It’s a popular sentiment among Christians that we should not fear, and to an extent that’s true.
In fact, this morning we’re going to look at 3 different types of fear that we must battle as Christian men.
But, there is a fear that should be present.
This fear is right and good, and as we look at the counters to these three ungodly fears, we will actually be unpacking what it looks like for us to embrace the right kind of fear as Christian men.
Body
Body
Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 3.
10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
Prior to this moment, fear did not exist.
Think about what that must have been like for just a moment.
Do you remember the first thing that made you feel fear?
The first inkling of fear that Adam had ever known was brought about by sin.
His fear wasn’t really about his nakedness, his fear was brought on by the crushing realization that he had fallen short and had to answer to God.
The first bout of fear in the Bible was brought on by guilt and shame
His fear was a product of the newly fallen world.
Notice this fear preceded the Lord’s addressing Adam in conversation.
Adam was hiding because he was already afraid.
The fear had accompanied the realization of his having to give an account to the Lord for his sin.
But God did not leave Adam in hiding.
He did not give up on the human experiment.
Rather, he drew him out and led him into confession.
While it may have been awkward, this first go around at confession and repentance, nonetheless, it instituted and represented a pattern that God would require of his people from that time on.
The first fear we need to consider this morning is the shame-induced fear of judgment. And with it, let’s also consider God’s remedy.
P1: Eliminate Shame Induced Fear through Confession & Repentance
P1: Eliminate Shame Induced Fear through Confession & Repentance
Consider David from 2 Samuel 11
Sins by sleeping with Bathsheba
Bathsheba conceives and the fear sets in
David does what his ancestor did and hides, not in the bushes, but by adding more and more layers of deceit and sin to cover-up his original act.
He attempts to deceive Uriah to get him to sleep with his wife
He then sends Uriah to his inevitable death at the hands of the Philistines
Then we find Nathan, sent by the Lord to draw David out into confession and repentance.
And following this we get Psalm 51.
Men, if you are harboring unconfessed sin in your life, and you’re a believer, I’d venture a pretty sure guess that you’re feeling the weight like David did, like Adam did.
But there’s good news for you this morning: You don’t have to bear that weight any more!
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Men, praise God for the weight of conviction, and let it have its divinely intended impact on your life.
Don’t allow the enemy to take your conviction and drive you away from the Lord in fear.
Instead, allow the Spirit to use your conviction to drive you to the cross in confession and repentance.
Contrast David’s response to his sin with Bathsheba and his response to his sin of numbering the troops toward the end of his reign:
10 But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
END P1
There’s another fear that the Bible talks about, another fear that doesn’t belong in the life of a Christian man, a fear we would do well to root out in our lives anywhere it may be lurking, and that’s the fear of man.
25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
In Mark 8:38 Jesus said that anyone who is ashamed of him and his words, he will be ashamed of when he returns in glory.
This is another fear that can create distance and dryness in our relationship with Jesus. This is another fear that can heap shame and guilt on us when we yield to its lies. This is another fear that we must learn to identify and eliminate in our lives.
P2: Destroy Pride-Induced Fear of Man through An Eternal Perspective
P2: Destroy Pride-Induced Fear of Man through An Eternal Perspective
We’ve all be there: You’re in a conversation with a neighbor and they ask what you’re doing on Saturday night, and you tell them you’re taking your family to church. “Oh, what church?”, they ask. “Compass Bible Church”, you respond as you begin to feel your stomach tense up in an almost reflexive fashion. “Oh, is that a good church?”, asks your neighbor. “I’ve been thinking it might be good to get my family to church. We’ve never really been religious or anything, but my wife and I have always appreciated the morals that religion can provide for families.” “Well, we’d love to have you at Compass,” you reply, “We meet on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. Let me know if you’d ever like to come.” With that you mention something about needing to go and you slink away kicking yourself for not taking advantage of a golden gospel opportunity.
Why don’t we lean into those opportunities more?
We don’t feel equipped.
We’re not sure what they would say.
We’re fearful they would reject us.
We’re thinking they’re close enough.
All of these are reasons we might entertain in that moment, but really the roadblock between us and those gospel appointments is our pride-fueled fear of man.
Jesus encourages us patiently in the face of this kind of fear.
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 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. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Here is the firm but gentle rebuke from our Savior that all of us need at the mailbox, in the break room, on the airplane.
This correction boils down to a shift in perspective.
“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.”
In other words, stop worrying so much about the here and now that you place so much weight on what other people might think about you, say to you, or even do to you.
Instead, focus on what is at stake, eternity for them and potentially for you.
If your neighbor’s house is on fire, you’re going to rush in there and try to get him out. If he’s unconscious and not breathing, you’re going to attempt to do CPR whether you’ve had a class on it or not. You’re going to do everything you can because his life is at stake, and you can’t just stand by and do nothing.
Eternity is at stake and some of us are standing there, watching our neighbors die without Jesus, hoping someone would do something, just not us.
END P2
One more fear to tackle this morning, and this might be the most common fear in this room, the anxiety-driven fear of the future.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This is a common passage, and one you might think is more suited for our wives, but not so fast.
How many of you are battling some anxiety about the state of our nation right now?
Housing market?
Inflation?
Supply-chain?
Crypto?
Midterms?
How many of you are fearful of making a decision that you know the Lord wants you to make because you are anxious about the future of that decision?
The Bible commends wisdom and shrewdness and exhorts us to make decisions through abundant counsel, but it never calls us to make decisions based on fear and anxiety. Here again we find a fear that needs to be uncovered and unhitched from a believer’s life.
P3: Overcome Anxiety-Induced Fear of the Future through Trust in Christ
P3: Overcome Anxiety-Induced Fear of the Future through Trust in Christ
That may sound a little squishy: Don’t be fearful! “Just trust Jesus more.” So let’s talk about what that might look like to bolster our trust in God in the face of fear and anxiety.
It starts with knowing God.
His character and his attributes
Omniscience, Omnipotence, Goodness, Kindness, Faithfulness, Grace, Mercy, Patience, etc.
His past actions
Biblically: consider, meditate, remember the great works that he has accomplished for men throughout the pages of Scripture
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
Personally: remember the ways that he has provided for you in the past, consider the ways he has met your needs, recall the ways he has led you and guided you through tough decisions in the past.
It also involves being honest with God in prayer.
There’s no need for a facade or excuses with a God who truly is omniscient.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
Paul’s solution to our anxiety in Philippians 4:6 is prayer.
It also looks like thinking right thoughts about your circumstances.
Right after commanding us to pray in the face of our anxieties, Paul commanded us to discipline our thought life
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Men, if you will do these three things you will notice less anxiety-induced fear in your life.
I’m not saying you’ll have all the answers and be able to check all of the boxes and be up to speed with all that God is doing in the midst of uncertainty, but I am suggesting you will experience a greater peace that will allow you to move forward in obedient faith.
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
END P3
The shame-induced fear of judgment, the pride-induced fear of man, and the anxiety-induced fear of the future are three fears that we want to avoid as Christian men. These are three fears that should have no place in our lives, and when we find them present, we need to be quick to root them out. But there is a type of fear that we would do well as Christians to cultivate in our lives, and that is the fear of God.
And here’s the thing. We’ve been talking about the fear of God already all morning in addressing how we should respond to these other fears we are prone to.
The fear of God responds to sin in confession and repentance.
The fear of God chooses obedience to the Lord over the fear of man.
The fear of God steps out in faithful obedience because of an abiding trust in God.
Application Questions:
Which of the three fears covered in this morning’s message do you struggle with the most and why?
How does an eternal mindset help us battle each one of these three fears? What are some ways we can cultivate a more constant focus on eternity?
What are some blessings we lose when we live our lives subject to these fears instead of subject to the fear of God?
How can we balance the need to be shrewd and wise with a fearless trust in the Lord?