Title: Fear vs. Faith – 11
“The Fear of Man”
Text: Galatians 1:10
“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”
One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small son into bed. She was about to turn the light off when the boy asked in a trembling voice, “Mommy, will you stay with me tonight?” Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, “I can’t dear. I have to sleep in daddy’s room.” A long silence followed. At last it was broken by a shaky voice saying, “The big sissy!”
Up to this point in this series, the majority of the teaching that we have received on fear and faith has been related to circumstances, such as sickness, tragedy, and financial hardships. There is, however, another type of fear that is just as common and equally destructive. It is the fear of man. Far too many Christians are living lives of bondage to fear of people. We are afraid of what people think, we are afraid of what people will say if we do something.
In this message I want to talk about not doing or being all that God has called you to do and be because of the influence of another person or because of their opinion. The Bible is absolutely filled with examples of this kind of fear in operation in people’s lives. There are several types of fear of man that we have in our lives:
I. FEAR OF FAILURE
This type of fear is common amongst believers. We build walls around our lives and will only allow ourselves to go so far because we are afraid if we go any further and become any closer to people, then we might look stupid. We might say things that we shouldn’t say. We might give someone a reason to mouth about us. We will not allow ourselves to be the person that God has called us to be because we are afraid of how we look in front of others. Ultimately we are afraid of rejection and failure.
The adult generation of the men of Israel who came out of Egypt failed to enter the Promised Land because of fear of man, which amounted to intimidation.
The Israelites came to the very edge of the Promised Land; this is the land of which God said, “I give you this land. Go take it and I will be with you. I will give you the victory.”
In preparation for the battle, they sent out twelve spies to check out the enemy. One of the twelve, Caleb, was full of faith and confidence in the Word of the Lord.
Numbers 13:30; “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.’”
Some may say, “that is nice to have someone so optimistic on your side.” Caleb was not simply optimistic. He was enthusiastically confident. His report to Moses and the people was, “Let’s go do it now! We can’t wait, get your battle gear, we must go destroy the enemy at once!” One of the other twelve, Joshua agreed with him. The other ten, however, brought back a different report. Listen to what the other men said in:
Numbers 13:31; “But the men that went up with him said, ‘We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger then we.’”
These ten men chose to believe what their senses told them about the enemy rather than what God’s Word said about themselves and about the enemy. God had already promised them the land, which is all they had to do was go and take it. How simple could that be? As a result of choosing to believe their senses rather than God’s Word, they moved from doubt to fear – fear of people. That fear spread like wildfire through the camp of Israel.
Numbers 13:32-14:1; “And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. 14:1 ¶ And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.”
As soon as the Israelites heard this report from the other ten spies, they cried like babies. They chose to side in with the other ten spies and fear came upon them and they never saw the Promised Land because of their fear. Fear is like a cancer, it spreads. Fear of people begins like any other fear; it starts by considering the circumstances rather than the promises of God.
The ten spies saw giants. Joshua and Caleb saw the covenant Israel had with Almighty God. The same God later delivered David from Goliath. The same God delivered Shadrach, Meshac and Abed-nego from the fiery furnace. He delivered Daniel from the jaws of the lions. Compared to the size of Caleb’s God, those giants looked like grasshoppers to him. The other ten saw giants in the land; Caleb and Joshua saw another chance for God to give them the victory.
The spies operated in strong fear; Caleb and Joshua operated in strong faith.
For us, the Land of Canaan is a type of the victorious, abundant Christian life. When you allow yourself to be intimidated by the outward appearance of other people, you can rob yourself of the glorious inheritance that is yours as a child of God. Because of the fear of man, many here are living in the scarcity of the wilderness when you could be living in the abundance and security of the Promised Land.
The ten spies were afraid of failure. There are many here that are afraid of failure as well and you think that if you fail, others will be so down on you and never give you another chance. There is some that are afraid to try anything because of the opinion of man. Who cares about the opinion of man? Don’t be afraid to obey God and receive the blessings that the Lord has for you. Some are afraid of man because they are afraid of failure, others are afraid because they have:
II. FEAR OF DISAPPROVAL
Have you ever failed to do something you knew God wanted you to do simply because you were afraid of what someone else would think about you? Have you ever changed your plans because you feared how someone might respond if you didn’t? Most of us have done these things at one time or another. When we do, we have fallen victim to another form of the “fear of people.”
We see a classic example of this type of fear in operation in the life of King Saul. Saul was Israel’s first king and he was a man who battled insecurity. According to I Samuel 15:17, the Bible tells us that, although Saul stood head and shoulders above all the men of Israel, he was little in his own sight.
That basic insecurity and the need to please other people led Saul into a “heap of trouble.” When doubt and fear developed into a fear of people, it cost him and his descendants a kingdom. In this account, Saul had been commanded by the Lord through Samuel to go and completely destroy the evil Amalekites. His detailed instructions were to destroy every living thing:
I Samuel 15:3; “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
That may sound harsh to you, but you must realize that this was an extremely wicked people whose sin was polluting the land and all those around them. Did Saul obey the instructions of the Lord?
I Samuel 15:7-9; “And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.”
It is important to note from this story that partial obedience is no obedience at all. A halfway, half-hearted, go-through-the-motions type of obedience is no better than outright rebellion. Partial obedience is actually disobedience.
Saul’s failure to trust God and obey Him came as a great disappointment to both Samuel and the Lord.
I Samuel 15:10-11; ¶ “Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.”
Disobedience always hurts those who love us and are counting on us. In Saul’s case, he made his sin worse by trying to cover up his disobedience with a lie.
I Samuel 15:13; “And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
In other words, Saul walked up to the prophet of God with a big smile on his face and announced in his most religious tone, “Yea, and verily I say unto you brother, I have obeyed the Lord!” However, Samuel did not buy that. With a strong sarcasm in his voice, Samuel asked:
I Samuel 15:14-15; “And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
When Saul was confronted with his disobedience, instead of confessing and repenting, Saul became self-righteous and he blamed the people. He claimed that the best of the animals were spared for a sacrifice to the Lord. But Samuel informed him in no uncertain terms that God is more interested in obedience than in some smelly sacrifice.
I Samuel 15:22-23; “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”
God says, “Do you really think I care about all your sacrifices if your not willing to obey me?” He is trying to ask you the same thing this morning. You can sacrifice all you want for the King, but are you being obedient at all times. That is what truly matters to the Lord, more than your sacrifices. He also says, “Rebellion is the same as witchcraft!”
God is serious about His people obeying His instructions. Too many Christians are so caught up in their religious duties and activity while they are neglecting the very thing God has called them to do. You may be making great sacrifices of time and energy, but it is not pleasing to God unless you are obeying what He has told you to do.
After learning everything there is to learn about this story in the next verse we finally find out the real reason for Saul’s disobedience.
I Samuel 15:24; ¶ “And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.”
Saul feared the people. His insecurities and his need for approval caused him to violate the clear command of the Lord. He fell into the trap of thinking that his position came from pleasing people rather than pleasing God. The result of this was that Saul lost everything: his kingship, his anointing, his calling, and finally, his life.
Fear of disapproval is a powerful motivator in the lives of many Christians today. Some will do practically anything to make sure they have the approval and affirmation of their friends, family members and their co-workers. It will never pay to try to please people.
There are some here tonight that have gotten caught up in pleasing other people at the expense of pleasing God. If so, you know it is a form of bondage. Fear always brings bondage. Being concerned at what other people think can cause you to be wrapped up in chains so tight that you can’t even move.
You can get so caught up in worrying about the way people perceive you that you become ineffective as a servant of God. I have liberating news for you, and I know this news by experience. YOU CANNOT PLEASE PEOPLE!
Someone is going to criticize you no matter what you do. So, you might as well start this morning to stop pleasing people and go ahead and please God. Pleasing people will not get your bills paid, it will not get your children saved, it will not get you healed, delivered and set free, but pleasing God will.
Quit struggling to serve other people and get busy serving God!
The Apostle Paul said this:
Galatians 1:10; “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
As Paul says, you cannot be a man-pleaser and still whole-heartedly serve Christ. The root of all man pleasing is a spirit of fear, specifically, the fear of people. Get rid of it or you risk missing out on all the glory and victory God has planned for you.
