The Mountain of Fear

Introduction

Good morning. Kashka and I are more than excited to be back home. Two weeks ago this Sunday, we were out of state worshiping with the Leeward Church of Christ, and it was a wonderful group. In fact, they had Bible classes in two different languages. And then we got together and had a worship service together, fortunately for us in English, and it was very encouraging to be with them. The following Sunday was by choice of Hurricane Matthew and American Airlines. We once again worshipped with the Leeward Church of Christ out there, and we enjoyed being with them once again. But certainly this Lord’s Day, we are happy to be home and with our congregation here at the South Bunby Church of Christ. If you will open your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 12, one of the things about visiting Hawaii that was interesting is the culture is very different.

It was an exciting place to get to go. We were thrilled to be on our way when the time came and the calendar had ticked down and the countdown on our refrigerator was hitting one day, and today is the day to leave. But there was something about Florida and Hawaii that stood in between our paradise vacation. That was about twelve hours in the air. Which, if you’ve been on a plane for even an hour, you start to realize 12 hours in a plane, not quite what dreams are made of. But we were certainly thankful for transportation that God has allowed man to devise, to get out there, to visit, to be, to both see what God has created and to be with fellow Christians. But on another note, there is sometimes for some a real fear of flying.

Sometimes people won’t get on planes even for a short hop because they are afraid of what might go wrong. And while there are a lot of statistics that show that driving your car is dangerous and that there are ways to debunk the fear of flying, it is still out there. In fact, there are other things that people are afraid of. Two of the top things that always come out in these polls where people survey what is your biggest fear are public speaking and dying, as you can guess, I’m probably more afraid of the second than the first being here. But certainly as a Christian, I am looking forward to the day of being with the Lord. But fear is a strong motivator, and there’s a lot of different types of fear.

As we look at Genesis chapter 12, we know at the beginning of this chapter, the Lord is sending Abraham or Abram out. And he’s sending him, as we know from the book of Hebrews, to a land not knowing where he was going. And that might cause some of you, like myself, who like to plan and know exactly what’s going to happen, a great deal of fear. When we think about fear, we say that a lot, but there’s a few different types of fear, and let me identify those quickly this morning. There is the healthy fear, that is, that teaches us to avoid harm, right? When Hurricane Matthew was set to come straight over Central Florida or around it, again, help me with that. I wasn’t quite here.

But when that was coming, there was hopefully a healthy fear within you that said, Don’t go stand outside. Don’t go and take shelter on the coast. Perhaps you might see a train coming on the tracks. There is a healthy fear that says, get away from the track because we know the danger that lies before us. That fear to an extent can be and is healthy and God-given. There’s certainly been another respect that we find throughout the scripture, and that is the fear of the Lord. And that is not a negative thing. That is understanding who God is, having a proper respect and reverence for our Creator, for the God who loved us, but the God who is ruled by his holiness, which includes justice, in which we will be judged by him.

1. A Man of God Lied Because He Was Afraid

But then we come in Genesis chapter 12, and beginning in verse 10, after the three promises were made to Abraham, after we have already identified Abraham as a key, central player in the Bible story, as given by these promises, that through him Israel would come, that this land that Israel would inherit would be the land of Canaan, and that through Abraham’s seed Jesus the Christ would come. Then Abraham experiences some fear. And this morning I want to talk about fear, and it’s not the fear of the Lord, and it’s not that healthy extent of fear that keeps us out of the eye of a storm. Let’s look in Genesis chapter 12 and verse 10 and see what part fear played. In verse 10, now there was a famine in the land.

So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarah, his wife, I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance. And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife. Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake. Now, when Abraham entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dwelt well with Abraham, and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarah, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abraham and said, What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say she is my sister, so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go. And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. This is an interesting story from a hero of faith like Abram, like Abraham, to say that Sarah was his sister. Now, what’s interesting about this is this is not an isolated incident. Here is a man of God who lied to Pharaoh because of what?

Do you see it in that text? It was he was afraid to be put to death. Now, for some of you who may know the story in Genesis chapter 20, we see that Abram does this again. Although to give him some credit, we know a little bit more in Genesis chapter 20 about this lie that he spoke, and that’s that Sarah was technically a sister of his. Now, it was a sister by a different mother, and it was not what he was conveying, and certainly he was alluding the fact, if not outright denying that Sarah was his wife, thus the lie, thus the problem. But nonetheless, we see Abram in both Genesis 12 and Genesis chapter 20, and perhaps even in Genesis chapter 20 and verse 13, when Abram notes that he had told Sarah to do this when they encountered other people, that this was a lie that was told multiple times.

But we know for sure at least these two, that Abraham, this man of God, this believer in him who created us all, lied because he was afraid. You see, when you look at this text, it’s it’s quite clear. It’s an interesting story in verse 11. You read how beautiful his wife was, and so you can understand Abram’s fear in verse 12, that they would say, This is his wife, they will kill me, but let you live. Isn’t that kind of what David had done to Uriah? Now, I know there was more circumstances within that. But David had seen Bathsheba, he had lied with her, and she was made pregnant. And to fix the problem, what did he do? Because Uriah wouldn’t go along with his plan of covering it up.

He had Uriah killed. And again, well, not an exact parallel. We see that this is an idea that Abraham was very afraid of. You see, this man of God was moved to lie. Because he was afraid of what would be done to him. Now, there is a healthy fear. We’ve talked about that. There is an understanding that this is what Abraham’s plan was. So why would a man of God lie? Certainly we could say it might be the same reason we lie. Because we want to get something out of it. Or in Abraham’s case, we want to avoid something having happened to us because of the truth. And when you see lying throughout Scripture, you see what fear has done. It doesn’t just cause mistruth. It doesn’t just cause dishonesty.

2. Three Examples of What Fear Has Done

I want to look at three examples quickly in the scriptures of what fear has done. Look in Genesis chapter 3. You know the story, where Eve was tempted by the serpent, and she ate the fruit of the tree that she was not to eat of. And of course the serpent had lied to her, saying, You will not surely die. But then she eats anyway, and she gives it to Adam. And when God is looking for Adam, what is it said about Adam? Beginning in verse 8 in Genesis chapter 3. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid. Because I was naked, and I hid myself. He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate. This fear, because Adam was afraid, caused him to, I put hide in quotations, because you cannot hide from God, and certainly even Adam in their particular location could not hide from God. But it was this fear, Adam was afraid of facing God because of what he knew he now knew and what he knew he had done, and that is violate the commandments of God.

Now, when you think about this, as the story continued, Adam didn’t just hide and then find himself in the presence of God. But then when God confronted him with this sin, Adam doesn’t say, I am so sorry. Please forgive me. He says, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave it to me, and I ate. See, this fear did not move Adam in a godly way. But perhaps these next two are a bit stronger. We think about Numbers chapter 13. What is the story here? Turn to your Bibles with the Numbers chapter 13. If you want to see fear and you want to see the reason for the problem of fear, the way fear stops our progress in Christ and halts our relationship with God, you find it here.

Why aren’t we talking about fear? Is it because we weren’t going to present ourselves to God like Adam? Not exactly. But perhaps in Numbers 13, we see a pretty good indication of what fear does and the problem that underlies this type of fear. In Numbers chapter 13, you have the people of Israel who had come from and developed by the hand of God from the seed of Abraham. And as they’re coming towards the promised land, they’re finally going to get there. They’ve gotten out of Egypt and they complained, but God beared with them. And they have complained and grumbled and whined and said, Oh, it’s better to be back in Egypt. And finally, though, we’re here on the precipice in Numbers chapter 13. And what is done?

They send out twelve spies into the land. And when we come to verse 31, we’re coming back with the message. The message has come back. And they say, The land is wonderful. The people are scary. In verse 30, pick up the reading with me in Numbers chapter 13. But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it. Here’s the message of one of the spies. Let’s go get the land. We can get it. We can do it. Verse 31. Then the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report out of the land that they had spied out, saying, The land through which we have gone to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak who come from the Nephilim. And we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers. And so we seemed to them. And in chapter 14 and verse 1, then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night, and all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt? Or would that we had died in this wilderness? Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.

That’s right. They wanted to either die in the wilderness or go back to Egypt where they were in bondage. Because what the Lord had asked of them was just too much. The Lord in verse 3, he just wants us to go into this land and die by the sword. Certainly there’s an excellent lesson here in grumbling. But you see, what was underlying this report? Now we know Joshua and Caleb among the twelve spies came back, and Joshua would have echoed Caleb’s message from verse 30. We can go get the land. But those other men, what was their message? We’re not only not going to make it, we’re going to get slaughtered. We will not make it. We should just go back. Or, or frankly, why don’t we just die here in the wilderness?

We’re going to die all the same. At least we don’t have to be cut by the sword. You see, the problem with this fear was not that battle could be costly. It was not that on their own they could just take down these children of the Nephila. It was what problem? That unlike Caleb, these spies and the whole nation of Israel did not trust in God to give them the deliverance. What was it that you think Caleb saw that the others didn’t? How is it that Caleb, and we also know Joshua would say, we can do it, and the other ten say, we might as well just die here. That’s a pretty drastic difference in the point. In the conclusion of the same land and the same people.

So what was different? Well, as you keep reading in verse 5, then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Japonah, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, the land which we passed through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us. A land that flows with milk and honey. Where was the strength of Joshua and Moses and Caleb? It was in the Lord. The people feared. And to a degree you might say that was part of that healthy fear, right?

But not when it contradicted what the Lord’s message was for his people to go and conquer the land. And also their trust in God to deliver. As Joshua says, if the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into the Lamb. There is no mistaking what God will do. If God has says it, has said it, it will be done. And if that’s the case, that’s going to apply to us. But we’re going to see that in a few moments. Look at one final case in Scripture of what this fear has done, or what a misplaced priority you might say has done in our lives. In John chapter 12 and verse 42 and 43, commonly it’s taught, and certainly I’ll make mention as we look at this passage, that all one must do is believe to be saved.

Well, it depends what you mean by belief. But if you mean just believing that Jesus is who he says he was, or he is who he claims to be, or that the scriptures make him out to be, then explain John chapter 12, beginning in verse 42. Let’s see what role fear plays in this scripture, in this account in the gospel of John. In John chapter 12, beginning in verse 42. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him. But look closely at the text. But for fear of the Pharisees. They did not confess it. So they would not be put out of the synagogue. For they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. Yes. Is there ulterior motives in loving the praise of men?

Yes. Were they afraid of admitting something that they should have? Absolutely. But what was the motivating factor as described by the inspired writer here in verse 42? For fear of the Pharisees. They feared those men more than they feared their understanding of who Jesus was. What was it that they did not confess? Verse 42, the very beginning. Many, even of the authorities believed in him. They believed in Jesus. They knew who he was, and they would not confess him. Why? Because they were afraid of their leaders. Sometimes when we talk about fear, and I say, we need to have a sermon about fear, you might think, well, I know not to be afraid. I know God’s going to do this for me. But this is real.

This isn’t a fictional narrative. These people knew who Jesus was. They were contemporaries with Jesus and the miracles he was doing. And they still did not confess him because they were afraid of something other than God. And the truth is, if I examine my life, I will see that not only does Abraham, this great man of faith, give in to living righteously because of fear. But even these men that we would so look down upon in John chapter 12, who did not confess Jesus because of fear of the Pharisees, and because they love the glory of man more than the glory of God, if they did it, I might struggle with that too. So how might that find itself into my life? What can ungodly fear do?

3. Fear Can Lead to Prohibited Anxiety

It can make men who understand who Jesus is deny him. It can make people who know the works of God not trust in him. It made Adam seek to hide from God. What can this fear that undermines our faith and trust in God do to us? I’m afraid a great many blows. In Matthew chapter 6 and verse 25, I know that Brother Rufus in helping fill the gap that American Airlines and Hurricane Matthew and I all conspired to fill last Sunday morning preached about anxiety. And Philippians chapter 4 certainly is clear, be anxious in nothing. But consider with me in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 25, when you think about the anxieties listed, and the anxiety that is prohibited here, very clearly in verse 25, you’ll see quickly it’s fear that undergirds this concern, this consuming thought that distracts from going for God.

In verse 34, certainly the conclusion is therefore be anxious. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. What are we to do in verse 33? Seek first the kingdom of God. But what was the problem in verse 25? Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, direct command. What you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor weep nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Keep in mind that phrase. We’re going to hear that again, also in conjunction with fear, as we move to wrap up the lesson in a few moments. But verse 31, therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things will be added to you. Yes, it is a direct command of Jesus in verse 25. See it with your eyes. Look in the text with me. Do not be anxious about your life. That doesn’t say, don’t be anxious about your life unless it’s really tough. Don’t be anxious about your life unless the authorities are coming down on you. Don’t be anxious about your life, unless you just don’t quite understand the moving parts of your life, or of God, or of anything. Do not be anxious about your life. There’s a lot of reasons in this very rich text of why not. But consider two main answers. First of all, just as God clothed the lilies of the field, will not God know our needs?

Yes, the text says exactly that he does in verse 32. But what if we are anxious and it and the fear moves us to good thoughts, right? Maybe that will help us. Well, consider with me in verse 26. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into their barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. So the birds are taken care of without this fear. But even look at verse 27, not convinced? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If you’ve been anxious about a lot of things, has that ever done you a lot of good? Has being anxious ever made the job appear? Has it ever made the bank account bigger?

Has it made your faith stronger? The answer is no. And Jesus prohibits anxiety because it undermines our faith. Our trust needs to be 100% in who? In God. Not because God just says so, although that is sufficient, but because God makes it happen. God does everything for us. God made us, he knows what our needs are. Do we not trust him to supply it? But if we’re anxious, and our mind, as Brother Jim Duke spoke of before the Lord’s Supper, is cluttered, and we distract ourselves from the worship that we are, that we owe to God, and from our daily life as Christians, and we allow that fear, that anxiety to remove God from his pedestal as not only the creator, but the sustainer and giver of all good things.

4. Fear Can Make Us Unwilling to Present Ourselves to Others

Then we’re not the type of Christian that God expects that we will be. And that’s a problem. So how do we combat that? We’re going to discuss that, but keep in mind verse 33. Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness will be added unto you. And all these things shall be added unto you. Consider another example. What can the spirit do to us? It can lead to prohibited anxiety, but it can also make us unwilling to present ourselves to others. Consider with me this touchy, sensitive point in James chapter 5. Thinking of direct commands, thinking of what the Bible teaches us we should do. We know we struggle with sin. We know we have these problems, and in James chapter 5, I find a passage that I often neglect, and I am willing to say that many of us probably do too.

In James chapter 5 and verse 13, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 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.

Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. Elijah harnessed the power of prayer. What is the power of prayer? It’s not the words we say, it’s not closing our eyes or bowing our heads. It’s in the God who we speak to. Elijah harnessed that power. You think about fear. Think about public speaking. What’s so scary about public speaking? Well, there’s a lot of things. Maybe it’s not knowing what to say, being afraid of how he’ll say it. But at its core, is not the fear of public speaking, the public part? Because a lot of us speak all the time, even those who are afraid of public speaking, speak a lot. It’s that public part, because we don’t like to be in front of people.

We don’t like to be exposed or vulnerable. I have a lot of flaws, and I just know people know that, so I have to get over it. But you think about our sins. And you see verse 16, what does it say very clearly? Therefore, confess your sins to one another. I have to say, as I said minutes ago, I don’t do a very good job of that by and large. Now I understand within the framework of family and my spouse, maybe I do. And I don’t think that James chapter 5 and verse 16 means you have to find a random deacon or a random elder or a specific preacher or a specific pew located person to confess your sins to. But certainly, if we’re not confessing our sins to one another, we’re not only not doing what James chapter 5 and verse 16 says, we won’t reap the benefits of it.

And what was the purpose of it in verse 16? Pray for one another. Why? That you may be healed. What’s the affliction? Sin. I think sometimes our fear can not only lead to anxiety, can not only lead to rejecting God and putting him as the place of trust and the sole fortress through which our life and our faith is built. But it can lead us to be unwilling to honestly present ourselves before others as flawed, God seeking Christians. You know, being married, coming up on three years, I think a lot of you will know what type of struggles that Cosk and I have gone through. Learning to be married. And poor Koshka being married to me had a couple extra that you might not know about.

But the truth is, we all kind of know that. You know what we also know from experience? That we don’t have all the answers. And that each and every one of us, and I know this because Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 says it, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If that’s true, in James chapter 5 and verse 16, it says we’re to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another so that we may be healed. What does it mean for us if we’re unwilling to do that? Not only is it a problem in being healed, but I’d say we’re elevating our fear of what others think of us over our desire to be with God forever. There can be no two ways about that.

We either are willing to give up all, including whatever public fears we may have for the name of Christ, to be with God, to overcome the sin that we’re struggling with, or we will cower away and find ourselves afraid and locked in hell forever away from God, because we were afraid of what people would think of us. Now you tell me what is the wise and which is the foolish choice. If Jesus says, if the inspired writer of the scriptures tell us that we are to work together, that we are to be as iron sharpens iron, that we are to confess our sins to one another, that we are on the same team, we’re headed towards the same goal. Let’s do it together, brethren. Let’s confess our sins to one another.

5. Fear May Keep Us From Service to God

Let’s please the God who rely upon for everything. We rely upon Him. We need Him. Most of all, we know this. We need forgiveness. Matthew chapter 6 and Matthew chapter 18 make it clear we have to be willing to forgive others. Sometimes it’s easier to forgive others than to confess my sins to others to be forgiven, isn’t it? Why is that? Because of our fear. Let us never let fear conquer our desire to please God. Third point before we move on to how do we conquer this? It may keep us from service to God. In Matthew chapter 25, when we talk about the parable of the talents, what was the one talent man’s reasoning? You have the man of five talents in the beginning of Matthew chapter 25.

And when the master came back, what had he done? Well, he had gained five more talents. And the master who had presented the talents to him said, You are a good and faithful servant. And then with the man with two talents, he delivered two more. And his master again says, Well done, good and faithful servant. But in verse 24, we find the account of the man with one talent who had buried his. And Matthew chapter 25 and verse 24, he who also had received the one talent came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid. And I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here.

You have what is yours. But his master answered him, You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. And verse 30, what was the end result for this one talent man who was afraid and dug it into the ground and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness, and that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You know what fear can do? It might not just chip away at our faith in God.

It might not just make us battle with anxiety, and it may not even be something that we are willing to overcome to publicly be healed of our sin, to work together, but it can keep us from serving God. Just like this one talent man struggled with. He knew what the master wanted. He knew who he was. He said that. I knew you to be a hard man. We know who our God is. We know God’s expectations. Why don’t we serve him? You know why? A couple of reasons, and a lot of them have to do with fear. One might be, I don’t think I can do it. Isn’t that almost precisely what the one talent man’s response was? I knew you to be a hard man, and I just couldn’t risk it.

I couldn’t chance it. And so at least I’m giving you what you gave me. What was the result for that service? Cast into the outer darkness where there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth. If we are afraid that we can’t do it, then we’re not trusting God enough. If we are moved with fear to the point of not serving God to the best of our God-given ability, then we should not expect any different treatment than what Jesus Himself spoke of of the one talent man. But the beauty is it doesn’t have to be like that. We see it with the five-talent man and the two talent man. If you trust in God and you take what God has delivered to you, you can do something with it.

And you don’t just do it for your glory, but you do it to the glory of God who gave it to you. Isn’t that the story of the parable of the talents in Matthew chapter 25? Maybe we’re afraid because we don’t think we can do it. Maybe we’re afraid because we don’t know how. But the beauty is there’s an answer there too. Just like with the anxiety. It’s not just don’t be anxious, but what? Trust in God to know and to deliver to you what you need. It’s not just that we might be afraid of what people think. It’s that if you open yourself up to them, you may be healed. And just like with this point. The fear may keep us from service of service to God.

But if we overcome that fear and we trust in God who blessed us with everything, we can do it and we can please the Master. What a blessing that is to know what God expects and to be able to deliver. Amen. We have to know that. We have to believe we can do it, because if we doubt, it’s not just a personal flaw, it’s a faith problem. And that’s a problem because we know our master is coming, and we know the criteria is set. God expects faithful servants who do his will, who harness their God-given talents, and devote themselves to his cause. So how do we fight this fear then? We know fear is bad. I’ve outlined clearly in the Bible how major characters had problems with it, in major groupings even, and we see what it can do in our life.

6. How Do We Overcome Fear?

How do we overcome it? Just look at a couple passages with me. Look in Matthew chapter 14. I want to look at two more passages this morning. But in Matthew chapter 14, we need to recognize that fear lacks trust in God. I’ve said it, and I’ll say it again, and I’ll say it another time now. Fear lacks trust in God. We have to identify what is the problem if we are going to overcome it. If I don’t have a trust in God, I have to figure out how to fix that problem. And that’s what Peter had in this particular instance in Matthew chapter 14. Note with me, beginning in verse 22 of Matthew chapter 14. Immediately he that Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds.

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.

But when he saw the wind, see this with me in your Bibles. He was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind eased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God. I think the story is very real. And there’s a lot of applications. And I don’t want to slam Peter because Peter’s the one who got out of the boat. But let’s talk about what happened. They see Jesus coming on the water and they’re terrified. And perhaps that’s somewhere in between the two categories of healthy fears. What is this person walking on the water and not trusting that it could be Jesus?

But then you have Peter getting out, and he says, Lord, if it’s you, call for me and I will come. Jesus says, Come. And Peter’s walking on the water. What a high that must have been. What a miraculous faith-building experience that Peter must have had to be walking on the water towards Jesus the Christ. But then Peter did something that I do, that we all do. He took his eyes off Jesus. He took his attention off. Where did he focus? On the wind. Undoubtedly, the wind and the waves would have been frightening. Certainly for one trying to walk on the water. And when the text says in verse 30 that Peter was afraid, what is the next phrase? And beginning to sink. Peter sank when his fear overcame his faith and trust in Jesus.

But what we need to know is how that story ends. Jesus didn’t leave him there. What did he do? He grabbed him. Peter had called out to the Lord, and Jesus saved him. We need to trust that God not only is to be trusted, but that God is on our side, that we can be with him, that he’s not some cruel, harsh master that can’t be pleased, but that we know what he expects, and that he will forgive us of the sin that we’ve committed if we do what he says, if we confess our sin, if we give our life over to him. How do we overcome fear? Perhaps there was no more fearful people than those of Israel. Look at me in Isaiah chapter 43 and note just a few ways in a different context.

But the point remains the same to us today. In Isaiah chapter 43, with the people afraid of the bondage that they would be in, afraid of what other countries had, would, and continued to do to them. God had a message for his people. In Isaiah chapter 43, in verse 1 and 2, note a few main points with me as we read the text. But now, thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flames shall not consume you.

What do we see? We need to know who God is. Who is our God? The God who created Jacob, who formed Israel. He’s the God who made us. He knows us. He knows what we need. He knows what we struggle with, but we can overcome. What else do we know? We know what God has done. We know what God has done with the Israelites, how we parted the Red Sea so they could cross. We know how he formed the nation, Israel, going all the way back to his promises to Genesis chapter 12 to Abraham. And we know that God will forgive. Abraham is viewed as a hero of faith. And yet in Genesis chapter 12 and chapter 20, and perhaps other instances of his life, almost assuredly, he fell short of the glory of God.

But we know that God gave Abraham the blessings. The blessings of being included in Hebrews chapter 11 in that great chapter of faith. What’s the third point? We know from verse 2 when we go through the struggles of life, when everything’s coming about us, God is with us. He will not allow us to be overwhelmed. He will not allow us to be consumed. Our God will win. Who is with him? See, the thing that keeps us from God are many. It might be distractions. It might be that we just don’t want to. Or it may be like Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. It may be fear that something we’re facing here and now is not worth trusting in God. Or maybe we don’t make that choice outright in our minds or out loud in our words.

Conclusion

But our actions and our minds and thoughts betray us. We choose to make ourselves right rather than trust in God to deliver us. Circumstances may not be good. Circumstances may be that which to anyone else who didn’t have God as their eternal father and recognize him as such may be that healthy kind of fear. Undoubtedly, to the Israelites, it would be scary to fight armies of people that the scouts come back and say are terrifying and they would defeat us. But we need to be like Caleb and Joshua and know that with God, when God has promised it, it will be done. Do you trust in the Lord today? Consider that point with me for just a moment in James chapter 5 on confession. Understand, we are a team.

Let’s lower our guards. Let’s take off the mask that we wear. And be Christians only. Not just in how we practice and how we we worship God, but in how we live our lives, including a willingness to be open and vulnerable to another that we may be healed. If you’re here this morning and you’ve never put on Christ in baptism, trust in the Lord your God. Trust that when Peter says, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, that God means it and that you can be delivered. And yes, the cost is high, but being with God is amazing. Being with God is wonderful, and with him you will have the victory. Perhaps you’ve struggled in life and you realize that you’re unwilling to confess until now.

Realize we’re not against you, we’re with you. We, starting with me, and the rest of us need to be a team. Be vulnerable, be true to please God. If we can help you in any way, overcome sin, to trust in God, come forward now as we stand and sing the invitation song.