Fear and Boldness: September 2017
Table of Contents
Theme of the Issue
“Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him” (Psa. 33:8).
Proper fear is a profound reverence and awe toward God. Such “fear” promotes trust, as Psalm 56:3 states, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” At the same time, this reverential fear, which gives to God his right place in our hearts, delivers us from fearing man, as verse 11 states, “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” As illustrated later in the issue, when unbelief or a bad conscience (and, because of it, being out of communion with God) enters, then the anxious fear and the fear of what may happen is sure to come. Our Lord Jesus lived the most difficult life possible and suffered on the cross beyond our understanding. He lived and died with perfect reverencial fear and never experienced anxious fear, being perfectly calm in the face of impending holy wrath and death.
Giving God His right place of reverence and knowing His heart of love, when we walk in obedience to His will, casts out fear and gives boldness both toward God and toward man.
Serving God With Reverent Fear
In the fear of God we shall be reverent listeners to His Word; it will be to us as the candle of the Lord searching our inward parts and bringing us to heart-renunciation of everything that would lead from God. By that Word our souls shall live, and in the light of it our feet will discover straight paths. We shall be in subjection to the Holy Spirit, so that we may know the divine interpretation instead of leaning on our own understanding, while our souls will be filled with adoration, because of the holy privilege afforded us of having to say to these things at all.
Malachi’s days were days of great departure from the truth, but in the midst of all the darkness that enshrouded the mass, there were those of whom God signified His special approval — these “feared the Lord and thought upon His name,” and they were accounted of by the Lord of Hosts as His “special treasure” (Mal. 3:16-17, margin).
That was at the end of the last dispensation; we are now evidently near the end of the present day of grace; “wherefore.... let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
J. T. M.
Things That Make People Anxious
The Lord Jesus once spoke of the “cares of this life,” and one great object of His coming into the world was to teach men how to get free from those cares.
What are some of the “cares of this life”? There is, first of all, the care connected with its maintenance. How to make both ends meet presses very heavily upon some. A husband’s income is perhaps barely sufficient, and his family’s expenses are increasing. Worse still, he may be actually out of work. In another case, there is a widow with young children, and work is uncertain. Is it possible under such circumstances to be free from care? We answer with unhesitating certainty, yes, for God has given us an object lesson as to this. The birds have neither storehouse nor barn, yet they sing as blithely as if all the world were theirs. How are they fed? “God feedeth them” is the divine explanation.
The Example of Our Lord
If we can go to Him for all we need, no matter how great, we need have no care. We have said that the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to teach men to trust God. Was anyone ever so poor as He, or so tried? And remember, He had been rich (2 Cor. 8:9). Possibly the greatest care comes not to those who have been poor and remain poor, but to those who have known more carefree days. The lesson Christ came to teach has therefore a special application to them.
He was a “reproach of men,” “despised of the people,” laughed to scorn. His most intimate followers forsook Him. But there was one thing that wrung His heart more than all this: He was forsaken of God when made sin for us. And yet running all through the psalm there is a tone of unshaken trust. Never for a moment did faith waver, though He was brought into the dust of death. It is that One who says to us, in the midst of all our cares, that not one sparrow is forgotten before God.
We are bound, of course, to use all proper means. But it will generally be found that it is not what we can do that brings the care, but what we cannot do. And it is just here we have to trust in God, simply resting in the words, “Your Father knoweth.” Do all you can do, but never be troubled about what you cannot do. Also, let us remember that a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. It is astonishing, when we are put to the test, how little of real happiness depends upon things or circumstances. Christ had no money and sometimes not where to lay His head, and yet He could speak of His peace and His joy.
Ill Health
Ill health is often another source of care. Your very success in life may depend upon good health, and that seems denied. Or you may have others depending upon you, and you are feeling less and less equal to the strain. Perhaps few things are more trying than to feel unequal, physically and mentally, to the demands of your calling, and yet to be obliged to face them day after day. Under such circumstances everything is apt to become draped in black. All this may be purely physical, and there is the physical side of getting free from care as well as the spiritual, for man is body as well as soul and spirit. To pay due attention to each is one of the great problems of life. But the very remembrance that your feeling of depression has no real cause in circumstances, but only in some transitory condition of your body, will enable you to arise and shake yourself free from it. There is one text, too, which has often been like a sheet-anchor under pressure of this kind: “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted [tested] above that ye are able; but will with the [trial] also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
Anticipation
Another cause of care is the habit of anticipating trouble and meeting difficulties halfway. How much arises from this mischievous foreboding! It would serve a useful purpose if we kept a record for a month of things that might have happened, but which never did happen. We could never exhaust the number of matters about which we trouble ourselves, and all to no purpose. Many of us might bear the same testimony as the man who put up on his office wall the words, “The greatest troubles of my life have been those which never came.”
Once we overheard a conversation that passed between two Christians, with which we were impressed. The one was aged and had been prosperous, but in the decline of life misfortune overtook him through the dishonesty of another. We can see him now as he stood in the doorway, his shining face set off by an abundance of white hair. As they parted, his friend said to him, quoting from Psalm 34, “Well, remember, ‘This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.’” “Ah,” he said (and they were the last words we ever heard him utter), “He has done a greater thing for me than that: He has delivered me from all my fears.” (See the same psalm, verse 4.)
Yes, it is those fears that cast such a dark cloud over many a life. And yet how often they are groundless fears! But if trouble actually does come and the trial is upon us, then let us remember the words of the psalm already quoted: “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” He cried just as if he had fallen into some pit or was being washed out to sea. And this is just how we must cry to God in our trouble.
In this connection, there are three verses we might do well to keep in mind:
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee” (Psa. 56:3).
“I will trust and not be afraid” (Isa. 12:2).
“Trust in Him at all times” (Psa. 62:8).
Suffering
In regard to anticipating troubles, we once visited an old Christian suffering from a wasting disease, who expected, in the ordinary course of things, to last some three or four months longer and gradually to grow weaker and weaker until life ebbed away. This was a great trial to him, for he was a widower, living in the house of his daughter, a widow, and he seemed hardly able to bear the thought of the burden that his prolonged illness and consequent helplessness would be to her. Seeing his trouble, we knelt down and asked God that His child might be spared the many days of weariness that seemed to be between him and his longed-for release. The answer came more promptly than either of us could have expected. Instead of three months of weary waiting, there remained not three hours. We saw him at twelve. At two o’clock the same day his spirit was absent from the body and present with the Lord. “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matt. 6:34). Here is our warrant for living, as someone has said, within the compass of twenty-four hours. And this is one secret of how to be free from care.
R. Elliott (adapted)
Fear and Boldness ? Pleasing to God
In another article in this issue, we have spoken of the wrong kinds of fear and boldness, in the light of the Word of God. But Scripture also speaks of both of these in a good sense. Positives encourage!
Fear
Many times in the Word of God we read about the fear of the Lord. The phrase occurs particularly in the Book of Proverbs, in connection with a walk in accordance with divine principles. What, then, is the fear of the Lord — a fear which is right for His creature man? The fear of the Lord is the recognition, first of all, that man is a creature and that God is his Creator. It is the acknowledgement of God’s supreme power and authority over us and that we are ultimately accountable to Him. For the believer, the fear of the Lord is to recognize our dependence on the Lord and to fear to take a step without divine guidance. It is also to recognize that even in the believer’s life, there is a government of God and that He will not let us get away with wrong actions.
It is the fear of the Lord that preserves man from Satan, and ultimately from himself, for the heart of fallen man is “desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). The fear of the Lord brings us into God’s presence, where we seek His wisdom and His knowledge and do not trust our own. It is a fear that does not cause dread or terror in our hearts, but rather brings about that healthy respect that is proper for a creature before his Creator. It is the appreciation that our actions here in this life have not only present but also eternal consequences.
Those in Authority
Coupled with the fear of the Lord is the proper fear of those in authority over us, for Scripture tells us that they are ordained of God. Thus we are told to “render therefore to all their dues ... fear to whom fear” (Rom. 13:7). Also, servants are told to “be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling” (Eph. 6:5). It is a fear that recognizes authority and that submission to this authority is submission to the Lord, under whom the authority is exercised.
Sin
Second, there is a fear that is connected with the fear of the Lord, but slightly different, namely, the fear (abhorrence) of sin (not of being tempted to sin). When we know the Lord and are cognizant of His claims, we have a proper fear of sin. Our blessed Lord Jesus had not the sin nature, yet experienced this fear in absolute perfection, for it is recorded that He “offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” (Heb. 5:7). We tread on holy ground here, for our Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane went through all the agony of the cross with His Father. His fear was not what man could do, but rather the being made sin for us and the going into death on that account. As a result of His victory for us on the cross, we as believers no longer need to fear death, but we should fear being led into sin more than anything else, because of the price that was needed to put it away.
Circumstances
Finally, there is a fear of ourselves, when we are brought into overwhelming circumstances. We see this in Jehoshaphat, when he saw the great multitude of Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites coming to fight against him (2 Chron. 20). This was not really “the fear of man” that “bringeth a snare,” but rather a proper concern that his own power was not equal to the occasion. But his answer is found in the same chapter, for we read, “Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord ... for the Lord will be with you” (2 Chron. 20:17).
Whether it is in the serious situations of life, such as Jehoshaphat faced at that time, or perhaps something of far less significance, we need continually to understand that “the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23). Satan is stronger than we. Also, we may well fear when we encounter very adverse circumstances and do not have the strength to meet them. A proper fear in such cases drives us to the Lord, and then our confidence is in Him and not in ourselves.
Boldness
There are times in our lives as believers when boldness or confidence is a good thing and when it is right before God. One important verse that immediately comes to mind is found in Hebrews 10:19-20: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” It is one thing for us, as creatures, to have a proper respect for God, but it does not honor God to hang back when He has brought us into blessing through the work of His Son. It is a false humility to pretend that we are not worthy to approach Him, when Christ’s work on the cross has opened the way for us.
Now that the way into God’s presence is open to us, God is honored when we take Him at His Word and come forward to enjoy what He has provided for us. When Joseph said to his brethren, “Come near to me, I pray you” (Gen. 45:4), it would not have been to Joseph’s honor for his brethren to refuse. In the same way God says, “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:38). God appreciates boldness in accepting and enjoying what He has graciously provided for us, and at great cost. To do otherwise is not humility, but rather unbelief.
Preaching of the Word
Another kind of boldness is that which should be found in those who preach the Word of God. In the early days of the church, when the chief priests “saw the boldness of Peter and John ... they marvelled” (Acts 4:13). Likewise, Paul could ask for prayer that “with all boldness ... Christ shall be magnified in my body” (Phil. 1:20). In Ephesians 6:19, he again wishes prayer “that I may open my mouth boldly.”
We are not to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, but rather to speak it openly and boldly, for it is the only means by which men can be saved. With the reproach that is connected with the name of Christ in this world, we as believers may be tempted to take an easy path and either to refrain from preaching the gospel or perhaps to “water it down” so that it does not bring the strong antagonism of the world. Over the centuries Satan has done a good job of bringing Christianity down to the level of the world, thus doing away with much of the “offence of the cross” (Gal. 5:11). But in faithfulness to the Lord, we ought to present the Word of God clearly and truthfully, lest “the trumpet give an uncertain sound” (1 Cor. 14:8).
Discernment
There is also a boldness or confidence that we may have, when we walk with the Lord, as to the discerning of His mind. To boast about it and to tell others that we are sure that we have the Lord’s mind is not of God, for it is really saying to others that we are living so close to the Lord that we could not possibly have missed His mind. But in ourselves, we can and should have that confidence that comes from a close walk with the Lord and the consequent sensing of His will. Thus Paul, having the conviction in his own soul that he had the mind of the Lord, could say to the Philippians, “Having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith” (Phil. 1:25). John could say, “This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us” (1 John 5:14). It was a boldness that was born of constant communion with the Lord and having a sense of His will.
Confidence in the Lord Touching Our Brethren
Finally, there is a confidence that we ought to have in our brethren who, in their lives, have exhibited their faithfulness and devotedness to the Lord. We know, of course, that any one of us can fail, for we are all prone to an attack of Satan. But we should have confidence in those who walk with the Lord and whose lives demonstrate a constancy that is the result of that walk.
Thus Paul could say to the Thessalonians, “We have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you” (2 Thess. 3:4). In the same way he could address his good friend Philemon with a request, saying, “Having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say” (Philem. 21). Sometimes our confidence may be misplaced, and even the best and most faithful of our brethren may fail us at times, but we are entitled to have confidence in them, trusting in the Lord that they will not fail us.
Thus we see that there is fear that is right in its place, and also boldness and confidence. Much of the trouble in the world today is because of misplaced fear and misplaced boldness, for man often goes forward when he should fear, and fears when God would delight to give him boldness. Only in the presence of the Lord and in a walk with Him can we keep fear and boldness in their proper places in our Christian lives.
W. J. Prost
Pious Fear
Christ “was heard in that He feared” (Heb. 5:7).
He was heard because of His fear. It was proper that He who took death on Himself, as answering for others, should feel its whole weight upon His soul. He would neither escape the consequences of that which He had undertaken (compare chapter 2), nor fail in the just sense of what it was thus to be under the hand of God in judgment. His fear was His piety, the right estimation of the position in which sinful man was found, and what must come from God because of it. For Him, however, to suffer the consequences of this position was obedience. And this obedience was to be perfect, and to be tried to the utmost.
J. N. Darby
Fear and Boldness – Misused
We hear much about fear and boldness in our everyday lives, and there is also much written in Scripture about them. In the Word of God they are sometimes spoken of in a positive sense, but at other times in a negative way. In this article I would like to look at some of the wrong kinds of fear and boldness, in the light of God’s Word.
Fear
First of all, we read in Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Down through the ages, the fear of man has caused many to do what is wrong, or to avoid from doing what is right. In the Book of Proverbs, the Lord’s claims are before us, and the wisdom of God is given to us to enable us to “go in the way of understanding” (Prov. 9:6). But the fear of man has prevented many from doing what they know is right — fear of reproach, fear of material loss, and perhaps fear of physical violence or even death. All this is a snare of Satan, and only trust in the Lord can overcome it.
Wrong Thoughts of God
Second, there is the fear that results of our having wrong thoughts of God. In both the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) and the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:12-27), the servant with one talent or one pound neglected to use it, but rather kept it hidden, and then gave it back to the Master. Both servants expressed fear of the Master, alleging that He would ask for more than they could give and would demand of them what was impossible to produce.
This is a common and very serious kind of fear — a fear that does not know the heart of God. Satan is behind it, just as he persuaded Eve that God was not giving them the best, but rather was withholding something good from them. He seeks to persuade unbelievers, and even believers too, that God is not a loving God, but rather one who makes unreasonable demands. Every false religion portrays their god (or gods) as being demanding and wanting constant gifts and sacrifices from man. But in Christ, God has revealed Himself as a God of grace and truth. He has found a way to show His love without compromising His holiness.
It is true that there is a government in the house of God, but even this is because of His love. Just as a wise and loving parent occasionally disciplines a child, so God does not allow His children to walk in a wrong way without correcting them. But again, this is because of love, and as another has remarked, “Whether we are sinners or saints, whenever we have to do with God, we have to do with love.”
Guilt Fear
Finally, there is somewhat subtle kind of fear that results from what is unjudged in our own hearts. We see this in men like Adam, Jacob and Job. When he had sinned, Adam hid among the trees of the garden because his conscience told him that he had done wrong. Likewise, Jacob, when he was fleeing from Esau and was brought into the presence of God in Bethel, was afraid, and he could exclaim, “How dreadful is this place!” (Gen. 28:17). Job, whose character and walk the Lord Himself commended, would say, “The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me” (Job 3:25). When all the power of Satan took away his property and even his children, there was fear in his heart, even though there was submission. In all three of these men, their reactions reflected what was unjudged in their own hearts.
There was only One who could submit perfectly to the Father’s will, even to the death of the cross and the suffering for sin, yet show no fear. There was perfect confidence and perfect rest, as He went ahead with the will of the Father. When He stood before Pilate, it is recorded that Pilate was afraid, but not our blessed Lord.
All three of these kinds of fear are wrong, but they can be overcome only in the presence of God. These kinds of fear are common to the natural man and are the product of his sinful nature and his lack of trust in God. Our blessed Master never knew these kinds of fear.
Boldness
Fifteen or twenty years ago, at least in North America, it was relatively common to see people, usually young men, wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan, “No fear.” This is actually the name of a clothing company, founded in 1989, that markets products along this line. The company also markets an energy drink bearing the same name. Its slogans focus on extremes of competitive sports, sometimes contempt for social norms, and even contempt for the law.
The general attitude implicit in the catchphrase “no fear” is a belief in one’s self, with the confidence that we can do whatever we set our minds to do, while touting the line that “fear is a liar.” It is the confidence of man in himself, putting himself at the center of his thoughts and focusing on the limits to which he may push himself. This attitude has some similarity with the thinking behind the acronym “yolo” (you only live once) which was discussed in the May 2017 issue of The Christian. At that time we pointed out that while such an attitude perhaps defined the common teenage desire to test the limits of acceptable behavior, it also reflected the deeper problem of frustration and disillusionment with the future of our world.
Implicit in this arrogant boldness is that there is no fear even of death and that pushing one’s performances to the limit is all right, even if this becomes fatal. But we are reminded forcibly in God’s Word that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). To pretend to have no fear is to ignore the scriptural warning that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). We also read, “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth ... and walk in the ways of thine heart ... but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment” (Eccl. 11:9). To express a lack of any kind of fear is to ignore the fear of the Lord.
Coupled with this lack of fear is the recognition that there is a God, but daring to approach Him in a familiar and unbecoming way for a creature. This began long ago with Cain, who, when confronted with his murder of Abel, dared to lie to the Lord, and then complained about the punishment the Lord imposed on him. Since then men have dared to approach God as if they were dealing with an equal, and forgetting the scriptural admonishment, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few” (Eccl. 5:2).
Self-Confidence
Another wrong type of boldness, or confidence, is that which sometimes afflicts a true believer, where we go forward in our own strength, instead of in dependence on the Lord. We see this in Joshua and the people of Israel, when they proceeded to go out against Ai (Josh. 7) without inquiring of the Lord. The result was that they were defeated, because sin was in the camp, and they had not judged it. Likewise Peter boasted of his faithfulness to the Lord, when he did not know his own heart, and later he denied Him with oaths and curses. So also we, if we seek to do anything in our own strength, will find out the truth of our Lord’s words, “Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Thus we see that there are types of both fear and boldness that are wrong, mainly because they do not bring in the Lord or His claims. But at times both fear and boldness (or confidence) can be right, and we will consider these in another article.
W. J. Prost
Settling Down
The Hebrew believers were in danger of seeking to make themselves at ease and comfortable here. The first epistle to the Corinthians shows that they were not alone in this. It is a very natural snare to the heart of man, even to those who have found the Savior.
After there has been doubt and anxiety, the soul knowing what the judgment of God on sin is, and its own utter guilt and condemnation, when deliverance in the Lord Jesus is once found, there is often a danger of reaction. The soul is apt to settle down, thinking the campaign is over, because the great battle has been fought, and the victory is given through the Lord Jesus Christ. They think that there can be no more trouble because the deep soul distress is past. It is sufficiently plain that these Hebrews were in some such state, and the apostle not only reminds them how joyfully they took their early sufferings and spoiling of their goods, but here instructs them that they are not yet after the pattern of Israel settled in the land; rather they were like Israel passing through the wilderness. Accordingly we find that the whole argument of the epistle supposes not the temple, but the tabernacle, from first to last, and thus hails from the camp, not from the throne or kingdom set up after the conquest of Canaan. Hence he says, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Heb. 4:1). We see at once that the apostle is not speaking of believing in the Lord Jesus for present rest of conscience. Had this been the point before him, he would have boldly assured them that there was no need to fear.
If we speak of the blood of Christ, and then should exhort to fear, it would be the denial of Christianity. The gospel is the declaration of full remission, yea, of more than this, of justification, of reconciliation with God through the Lord Jesus. If forgiveness through Christ’s blood were the question, he would rather call on them to vanquish every fear; for, as the Apostle John says, in discussing that point, “Perfect love casteth out fear” — not “perfect love” on our part (the law asked for that, and never could get it), but the perfect love of God, which is only revealed in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. What are we to be afraid of then? Not of the blood of Christ failing, not of losing the remission of sins through any change of mind on God’s part, but of settling down in this world, and coming short of the true outlook of pilgrims and strangers on the way to a better land. To have rested in the wilderness would have been fatal to an Israelite; and so we have to remember that this is not our home, and that to settle down would be virtually to deny the rest of heaven.
Christian Truth
Perfect Love
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment” (1 John 4:18). But there is a godly fear which nips in the bud many an evil thing—a fear which, if a saint were saying, “I should like to do this or that,” would make him feel that “the eye of God will be looking at me, and I shall give it up.”
What part have I to play in connection with redemption? None but implicit subjection; forced to repudiate everything connected with self, and receive blessing of God’s providing.
The lack of a distinct apprehension of the difference between the flesh and the Spirit keeps saints in a very low state. They may be safe for eternity, and yet may grieve and quench the Spirit. If you have got salvation but have Jewish notions of a Jewish walk, you will be incessantly grieving the Spirit, accrediting something in your walk which God wants to strip off. God cannot accredit the love of present things which Demas had. He cannot accredit anything of the flesh in Christians. If the Spirit of Christ is in me, all that is of myself must be judged.
In a cup of water, how could you displace the water? By putting something heavier into the cup. If you have a heart full of lusts and vanities, how are you to give them all up? By the precious gold of God poured into the vessel; all there will be displaced by it.
Do not talk of what you have given up, if God has given you Christ. Can you compare anything with Him? Are they not unsearchable riches you have in Him? Are you not obliged to say, “Father, Thou only canst know what that gift of Thine is; Thou knowest about His cross and glory.” Oh, what heart can conceive what it will be to look in that face! What will you say then of the beauty of Christ! Oh, when one thinks of what that anointed One is personally! Who shall read the fullness of the Godhead in Him, and not feel like a little child looking at the Father who gave Him, and feeling, “He knows all about Him,” and there the heart rests.
G. V. Wigram
The Spirit of Power, Not of Fear
In 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Paul reminds Timothy to “stir up the gift of God, which is in thee ... for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Such exhortations are never given unless there are circumstances to require it. They are intended to meet some tendency in the flesh, in order that we may guard against it. We must remember that the Lord deals with us just as we are and takes into account the circumstances we are in.
With regard to our cares and trials, Christ does not take us out of them. He leaves us in the world and liable to all that is incident to man, but, in the new nature, teaches us to lean on God. The thought with us often is that (because we are Christians) we are to get away from trials, or else, if in them, we are not to feel them. This is not God’s thought concerning us.
The theoretical Christian may be serene and calm, with fine books and nice sayings, but when something from God ruffles his placidity, you will find he is a Christian more conscious of the difficulties there are in the world and of the struggle of getting over such. The nearer a man walks with God through grace, the more tender he becomes as to the faults of others; the longer he lives as a saint, the more conscious he is of the faithfulness and tenderness of God and of how it has been applied to himself.
Jesus in Gethsemane
In the life of the Lord Jesus, let us take Gethsemane: What do we find? Never a cloud over His soul — uniform calmness. You never see Him off His center; He is always Himself. But take the Psalms: Do we find nothing within to break that placidity? The Psalms bring out what was passing within. In the Gospels He is presented to man as the testimony of the power of God with Him in those very things that would have vexed man. He talked with God about them, and so we find Him in perfect peace, saying with calmness, “Whom seek ye?” — ”I am He.” How peaceful! How commanding (for peace in the midst of difficulties does command)! When by Himself, in an agony, He could sweat, as it were, great drops of blood; His calmness was not because He had no heart feeling within. He felt the trial in spirit, but God was always with Him in the circumstances and, therefore, He was uniformly calm before men.
We are not to expect never to be exercised, or troubled, or cast down, as though we were without feeling. “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psa. 69:21). He thoroughly felt it all. The iron entered His soul. “Reproach,” He says, “hath broken my heart.” But there is this difference between Christ, in suffering and affliction, and ourselves: With Him there was never an instant elapsed between the trial and communion with God. This is not the case with us. We have first to find out that we are weak and cannot help ourselves, and then we turn and look to God.
Paul
Where was Paul when he said, “All men forsook me”? His confidence in God was not shaken, but, looking around him by the time he got to the end of his ministry, his heart was broken because of the unfaithfulness. He saw the flood of evil coming in (2 Timothy 3-4) and the danger of Timothy’s being left alone, looking at the evil, and feeling his own weakness. Lest Timothy should get into a spirit of fear, he says, “Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee... for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:6-8). If we have the spirit of fear, this is not of God, for God has given us the spirit of power. He has met the whole power of the enemy in the weakness of men, in Christ, and Christ is now set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Was Timothy to be a partaker of afflictions? Yes, but would there not be deliverance from the sense of them? No; he was to be a partaker of afflictions that may be felt as a man, but “according to the power of God.”
This is not to say that we should not feel the pressure of sorrow and weakness. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12), and did he not feel it? Yes, he felt it daily, and it was as “the messenger of Satan to buffet” him. And what did he say? “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities [in those things in which I am sensibly weak], that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9). The power of God coming in on our side does not lessen the feeling to us, but we cast all our “care upon Him, for He careth for” us. Not that at the very moment we refer it to God, we shall always get an answer. Daniel had to wait three full weeks for an answer from God, but from the first day that he set his heart to understand and to chasten himself before his God, his words were heard (Dan. 10). With us the first thing often is to think about the thing and begin to work in our own minds before we go to God. There was none of this in Christ. “At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father” (Matt. 11). We weary ourselves in the greatness of our way.
“Be Careful for Nothing” (Philippians 4:6)
That is easily said, but are we not to be careful about the state of the church, or about the pressure of a family? No, we are to “be careful for nothing.” Whatever produces a care in us, produces God’s care for us; therefore, “be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). In this way “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). Notice, it is not that your hearts shall keep the peace of God, but the peace in which God Himself is — His peace, the unmoved stability of all God’s thoughts — shall keep your hearts.
Further, when we are not anxious, the mind is set free; with the peace of God keeping the heart, God sets the soul thinking on happy things. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest... just... pure... lovely... of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phil. 4:8-9). God is there the companion of the soul, not merely “the peace of God,” but “the God of peace.”
When the soul is cast upon God, the Lord is with the soul in the trial, and the mind is kept perfectly calm.
J. N. Darby (adapted)
Fear Versus Faith
I once heard a story of a boy who went to visit a farm with his father. When they got there, a small dog came out and barked furiously at them. Out of fear the boy jumped up on top of their car while the dog ran around it barking up at him. His father laughed at him, but he stayed up on the car, being terrified of the dog. Now, what kept him on the car? Was it the dog? No, the dog couldn’t hurt him, for it was too small. It was his fear that kept him on top of the car. Eventually he got over his fear, came down, and gave that dog a look that sent the dog running away, never to be seen again during that visit.
In just that way, Satan uses fear to try to control believers. The greatest of these fears is the fear of death, which Satan has used to hold many people in bondage. The Lord Jesus became a man and died so that He “might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14-15). Now that He has delivered us, we are not to fear, “for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). We don’t fear Satan and we don’t fear man either, for the Lord has promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:5-6).
No, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but He does call us to a life of faith and trust in Him. Job endured the severest trials from God, yet he had an unshakeable trust in Him, saying, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15). But it is God’s way to save and preserve us, and so the prophet said, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid” (Isa. 12:2). God is our Father, and He loves and cares for us.
T. Ruga
Joseph and His Brethren
Joseph, the man so greatly honored at the end, could well say, “I fear God,” for it was what had characterized him all through his life. It was only the echo of his first recorded words spoken in Egypt when he met the tempter with, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). Joseph’s brethren thoroughly lacked this kind of fear; Joseph sought to create it. When they first came down to buy corn, they were boldly protesting their rectitude and faithfulness — that they were true men and pleading innocence to such a gross charge as being “spies.” He told them that he feared God, bringing them into His presence who is light, and their darkness was immediately revealed, their consciences reached, and real fruit produced. What a change! What a contrast! “We are true men” is the language of verse 11; “we are verily guilty” is the confession of verse 21. Greater extremes there could not be — ”true” or “guilty”; it is the bringing in of God that made the difference. What a state was theirs! And matters would only grow worse till all was out in the presence of Joseph. Before there could be communion, the sins or failures must be confessed. These men had to do with one who knew their history and sin, but of communion with him they knew nothing till their consciences were reached — until he had revealed himself, and all their sin being admitted, was forgiven.
The Fear of a Bad Conscience
Bad consciences made these wretched men to be cowards! Their asses were laden with corn, and provision was given them for the way, but in stopping to give their asses provender at an inn, one spied his money in his sack, and exclaimed, “My money is restored.” Had they been “true men,” surely they would have found in this a cause for joy and thankfulness. But, rather, we read, “Their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?” (Gen. 42:28). This was not the fear of God that Joseph had; their fear was the fear of a bad conscience. They feared because they were offenders; he feared lest he should offend. Theirs was the fear of distance from God; his was the fear of nearness enjoyed and communion too much valued to be lightly treated. Theirs was the fear of judgment; his had a quality in perfect conformity with the favor in which he stood. May God increase this pious fear in all His own who know the nearness and want to keep it in all its sweet enjoyment!
The Wounds of a Friend
Joseph had been wounding his brethren, but they were “the wounds of a friend” that he gave them, and much better than kisses, while they were in such a state. It was the divine tact of his patient serving, and he wisely wounded that such a cure might be effected that would leave them forever thankful for the wound. Nature might have suggested two other courses to Joseph. Self-vindication would have prompted him to tell them how bad they were, and now that he had got the preeminence above them, he would exercise it in their destruction. Or nature might have wrought in its other character, displaying nothing but honey.
Fear of God and Fear of Man
Had Joseph dealt with his brethren in the first manner stated, with judgment but no grace, instead of there being produced the “fear of God,” it would have only produced “the fear of man,” which we are told “bringeth a snare.” On the other hand, if love is displayed at the expense of truth, while wrong remains unconfessed, it only reflects discredit on its possessor. Joseph was not going to make peace at the expense of righteousness.
There can be no real peace which does not have a basis of righteousness, and in both righteousness and peace, the moral dignity of Joseph is grand to a degree. In those three words, “I fear God,” there was real moral power. The “fear of God” is the Christian’s high road to truest gain and is all we need to meet the difficulties along our path. If we let this go, the road that I have named “the fear of God” is replaced by the road of “the fear of men or circumstances,” where unbelief yields sorrow and disappointment.
But to return to Joseph’s brethren, they passed on to Jacob their father and told their story, and when the sacks were opened in his presence and “they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.” Jacob manifested the same character as his sons, and he was full of fear, unbelief and forebodings of calamity. Poor Jacob! When these things came to him, did he pray? No. “All these things are against me” is his woeful cry, for he did not see the hand of God in any of it. But God was working in all these things for that end which presently made Jacob weep for very joy, and then if he looked back, what a waste must have met his view! All that he had done had only tended to hinder, rather than to facilitate, the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
F. T. Heath (adapted)
?Tis I, Be Not Afraid
Within the gloom of this dark day,
When nature gropes and finds no way,
That “still small voice” to faith does say,
“’Tis I; be not afraid.”
When billows round our bark appear
And tempest’s angry voice we hear,
Above it all sounds rich and clear,
“’Tis I; be not afraid.”
When troubles gather fierce and strong
And weary ones for respite long,
This fills the heart with joyful song,
“’Tis I; be not afraid.”
When sorrows and afflictions stand
Around the saint on every hand,
By this, the spark of faith is fanned,
“’Tis I; be not afraid.”
In pain and sickness, or in health,
In greatest poverty or wealth,
The power of this sweet word is felt,
“’Tis I; be not afraid.”
In every circumstance we trace
Thy wisdom, power and boundless grace,
Which whisper, in this desert place,
“’Tis I; be not afraid.”
Oh! blessed Lord, we cease to fear;
Our troubles bring Thee still more near,
Where Thy blest voice does sound more clear,
“’Tis I; be not afraid.”
G. W. Frazer (1883)