Good morning. We're continuing this week with what we started last week, which is an overview or study on the thoughts of ethics from a Christian perspective, from the perspective of the Word of God, which we would say is absolute, unchanging and inherent. So as a text and just a way to begin, turn to Numbers chapter 13. Numbers chapter 13 we'll start at verse 25 read through 33 This particular portion of scripture has much to do with what we'll be speaking on and looking at today. And most anyone that has read the scripture or even as much as attended a Sunday school class or sat under much preaching has probably heard many sermons on this particular passage of scripture. But it does point to us Our subject, our particular subject for this day, which is the fear of God versus the fear of man and its impact and effect on a Christian ethic or the way that Christians view their values and what they do in this life. So, reading Numbers 13 beginning at verse 25, And they returned from searching of the land after 40 days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Parai, to Kadesh, and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land. And the cities are walled and very great. And moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb still, people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. But the man that went up with him said, we'd be not able to go up against people, for they are stronger than we. 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 great stature. 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. As we move into the subject of the fear of God versus the fear of man, I would think that that portion of scripture is rather self-explanatory or contrasting the two, but we'll have more on that a little bit later on that particular passage. But this week we're going to talk about fear, the subject of fear as it plays out in A Christian ethic. Fear. Now, I want to do a slight, not disclaimer, but a slight qualifier, is there are preservative fears in the world. I'm sure that some of you are in here are afraid of spiders. Some of you may be afraid of snakes. Some of you may be afraid of this or that. Now, I never had any of those types of fears. I used to catch snakes and catch spiders and look at them and take them apart and do all kinds of things to spiders and insects. And when I see a lost nest, it's more of a challenge than it is a fear that I'm going to destroy them. And so some of you boys might be able to identify with that lack of fear, but you mothers may cringe and think, oh, no, not that again. It's just something boys do, isn't it? So we're laying aside that there are preservative fears, fears that keep us from being hurt, fears that keep us from being damaged, fears that are just a part of a healthy respect for the natural environment in which we find ourselves. So those are not the types of fears we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about a more sinister type of fear in the fear of man, and a holy, good, life-giving fear that is in the fear of God. So by way of review, last week we looked at, as an overview of Christian ethics, there are three foundational things. One is the sovereign order of God, that God has and does order all things according to the counsel of his own will. He has made all things that are good, and he brings himself glory through all those things that he made. And he does not allow competing ideas through his statutes and laws, is a sovereign order. The second doctrine that we visited a little bit last week was the fear, I'm sorry, the fall of man. The fall of man that God did make man, made man and placed him in paradise. He did make man with the capacity to sin, which he did. And that this thing that he did in sinning was Catching to all men, it was contagious. It came through Adam, the fact that we now have in us not only our own sins that we do in the flesh, but the very principle of sin is in us, in Adam. That is, in understanding the world of ethics, we have to understand the fall of man. And then the idea of redemption, the doctrine of redemption, that God took upon himself the salvation of man. He took it upon himself in the person of Jesus Christ, whom we claim in this blood that he shed as God required blood to be shed for sin. It was. taking care of all the legal, salvific, and every ethical aspect of the salvation of those for whom it was spilt. So we have that as an undercurrent, that men have a way now to work out their salvation. In other words, the law of God is now written on our hearts and in our souls, as opposed to just on a rock or a parchment or something. some other situation that we might find ourselves in. And the core of that is Hebrews 8, 10 and 11 if you want to read that. But now this week we're going to start on another aspect. The first of several aspects. Today we're covering fear. The fear of God versus the fear of man. The word fear and the word afraid in English appear in the Bible thousands of times. It actually appears more than the word life, or live, or death, or dying. It is a very pervasive part of human existence, this idea of fear. And many entire systems of government, many entire systems of family order are built upon certain types of fears. So we have to understand that fear is a part of human nature. It's a part of the human experience. In the scripture, it's translated and has many meanings. We think of terror. We think of awe and respect. We think of reverence. We think of fright. We think of fear of itself. We all know what that is, although it's hard to define. I fear this. Oh, I'm afraid it's going to rain today. Are we really afraid it's going to rain? Are we fearing that it's going to rain? We use the word rather lightly. But nevertheless, we all understand the idea of what it means. But in the Scripture, all these different meanings are built into the word. And we in our day, we often try, well, I fear God. Well, I do fear God. I fear in a reverential, awesome way, but I also fear that God could smash me like a potato bug. God could squish us. God could, with His Word, the same way He spoke into existence, you and me and everything that we see, seen and unseen. He can speak it out of existence. He has that sovereign power to do so. So there is no reason for us to separate the ideas that are built into this word fear in the scripture. There's no reason to separate it. It's not necessary for us to understand it. And the context always defines what it means. The context, where it's found when you read the word fear or afraid, whether it's good fear or bad fear, right fear or wrong fear, the context decides it. But even in the context, many times inside the word are contained awe and terror. Reverence and fright are contained in the word at the same time. So let's look into the scripture a little bit more and look at the word fear, and fear as it defines our lives. We all make decisions every day at one level or another. As you define fear broadly, we make decisions based on it all the time. A lot of our choices come out of one level of fear or another. Many times we talk about peer pressure, that we may dress this way or dress that way or wear this or not wear this out of fear of what our friends and family may think. We have to ask ourselves, is this the right kind of fear? You answer that question. But we have it. It's part of our everyday experience. But I have to give this other thought that we cannot Ignore that most of the time in scripture when God is talking with fear, He's saying, fear not, be not afraid. So we see that our good God and Father gives us the right kind of fears to have and the wrong kind of fears to avoid. So God says, fear not. Most of our fears obviously never come to pass. I've had imaginations of things that I thought was going to happen or not happen, and only to find out it didn't turn out like that at all. In fact, that was completely and totally and absolutely unfounded, because it was based on fear instead of its opposite. And the opposite of fear, as we all get into the study, is faith. Faith is the opposite of fear. Boldness is not the opposite of fear. Faith is. Because faith is an undercurrent of a belief system. Fear is an undercurrent of a belief system. If we fear God, we may do things one way. If we fear men, we may do things another way. In Genesis chapter 3, verses 9 and 10. It's our first text. We'll dive into it a little bit. And says this, but the Lord called to the man and said, where are you? This is not King James here. I thought it read well in another and I don't remember what it is. ESV, I think. 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. Here we see the very first mention or understanding of fear as an element of human experience right after the fall, right after Adam had partaken of what he was forbidden to take of, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And his first unethical behavior wrought out by the wrong kind of fear drove him to think and to actually try to hide from omnipotence, from omnipresence, from all the glory and power and constant nearness of God. And we find ourselves in that today. We find young people, children, older parents. When we have sinned, when we do that which is wrong, when we do that which we know is not pleasing even to our earthly parents, don't we try to hide it? Did you hit your sister with that stick? No. Sticks behind the back in the hand. No, I did not do that. Why? Fear. Fear. Fear drives, many times, unethical behavior. So, the idea of fear is completely a part of our everyday experience, and we've all experienced the temptation to hide our sin. Scripture teaches that somebody who confesses and forsakes their sin will find mercy. But if you hide it, you don't find mercy. So there's the first mention and aspect of fear that we tend to shy away from the remedy to the thing that we've done to the fear. Then Proverbs 22 verse 13 lays it out very nicely. The slothful man said, there is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. Then in Matthew, I'm sorry for the quickness, let's find out if you're all part of Bible drill or not. Matthew 25 verses 24 through 28. Then he, which had received the one talent, came and said, Lord, I knew that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed, and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, there thou that is There thou hast, that is thine. His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers. And then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Therefore take the talent from him and give it unto him which hath ten talents. We see here that fear drove, in both cases, an unfounded behavior, an unfounded ethic that caused judgment to come from God. Now, slothful and lazy men, women, children are paralyzed by fear. These are excuses. These are unfounded. Now, there may be a lot of things in the streets in Columbus, Mississippi, but there are probably no lions. But there are other things that we might conjure up to keep us from doing and knowing to do what we know is right. Men, we do not need to fabricate lies or other irrational things that could go wrong and avoid the real truth, the real fear of diligence, persistence, and faithfulness and responsibility. Do not fear those things. Young men, brothers, I assure you, I speak to you and speak in this generation, this is a sin to avoid slothfulness, spiritual or physical. It will render you ineffective in your calling before God. Fear slothfulness. Avoid substituting ease, comfort, security, for sacrifice, for diligence, for productive risk-taking, and for initiative. Do not let the lines in the street keep you from doing that which you know is right and good. And we see from our text earlier in Numbers 13 that fear can have long-term and generational effects. It doesn't just affect the one who has an irrational faithlessness or fear. It can affect a generation. How do we know that? In Numbers 13 and 14, that was the event. that kept him in the wilderness for 40 years, until all those unbelieving, until all those doubters died, and the scripture says their carcasses rotted in the wilderness. This is a strong word, isn't it? This is a strong idea that our faithlessness, our fear, causes such behavior that we may poison A whole generation or two behind us. We should look upon those things with great trembling in the right sense. So you know the story. There's two primary ethical opposites, faith and fear. God commands them to go and spy out Canaan. Moses sends out twelve. Twelve go, find more bounty than imagined. You know, I understand grapes, this big around, you know, just all kind of really good things. So much that it took, you know, two of them on a stick, a bundle of grapes. It took them to carry it coming back, one on each shoulder. Just one dropping of grapes there. So we know it was a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Well, wherever there's honey, there's bees. And wherever there are bees, there are lots of plants. Where there is lots of plants, there's lots of food. So we know that there were many cattle there. There was much good there. That God had said, that's your land. You're going to have to get those people out of there, and I'm going to help you do it. But we know the story. The narrative comes back. 10 of the 12 come back, no we can't do it. It's really a nice place to live, but there are giants over there. And not only are there giants in our sight, but we're puny in their sight. Those were their lines in the streets, I think. But two of them, Joshua being one, says no, we can do it. We can do it. So we see some quick lessons from this passage, and I'll go through them quickly. So what can we learn from that particular passage? And I would encourage you this afternoon, if you want something to read over, Numbers 13 and 14, both chapters, is that whole narrative of what happened there in the beginnings of the wandering in the wilderness. Looking at it from a framework of faith versus fear is an interesting aspect of it. So what do we learn? One, the majority is usually wrong. Girls and young girls and men, if you found that to be true, are your friends usually wrong or are they usually right? Moms, dads. Brethren, in the workplace, are mobs and majorities usually right or not? Second thing, fear is contagious. The wrong type of fear is contagious. There's a line in the streets. Next thing you know, there's a whole herd of them. By the time it gets to this house, to that house, And next thing you know, you have a whole society, a whole town, a whole area that is permeated with fears, irrational fears of what might happen. It is contagious. Fear draws back and finds excuses to not move forward. You military fellows probably know about moving forward. Most armies that are in perpetual retreat do not win. Most battles are won by pressing on against insurmountable odds. So fear draws back and finds excuses. Fear can lead to insurrection in this story. The next thing we know, the fear gets so permeated that they're scared to death to go in the land and take the grapes and the land and the cows and all those things that they were supposed to get. They're afraid to do that, but they have no fear about taking it on the very God of heaven in His mouth, Jesus, Moses and Aaron. It can lead to insurrection. Fear brings judgment. Judgment fell upon those who were that. You know, many were struck dead right there on the spot because of this idea of insurrection, refusing to move forward when God had commanded them to do so. And the good side of it, we see in Joshua and Caleb, that faith stands alone regardless of the consequences. They stood alone. And guys and girls, young men, husbands, wives, there will be many times in this life when you will have to stand alone. And if you're always looking for the majority to support you in your standing, you will be sorely disappointed. You must stand alone, and you must stand in faith. So, we see the great lever here of fear in ethical responses. Basically, we end up taking a whole generation of women, husbands, children out because of a lack of faith or because of fear. It paralyzes and impedes progress, while faith emboldens us and energizes us to move forward, believing that if God be for us, who can be against us? Great promise from the Scripture. This is the heart of ethics, doing the right thing, for the right reason, at the right time, without majority support. You will not have majority support very often. This is why God calls faithful, not fearful, faithful leaders into His church and into many ranks and offices in this world. We pray often that God will give us the Godly to rule over us. So be faithful, not fearful. So from the Scripture, there's only one justifiable fear. Only one. A singular type of fear. And this fear opens the gates of wisdom and truth to us. So I'm going to go through these very quickly for your encouragement, for your edification. And so if you can jot them down, this would be a great afternoon meditation. And they're all from Proverbs. And Proverbs is what I call a book of one-liners. If you need things to memorize that will encourage you, go to the Proverbs and the Psalms. You will find much there. Proverbs 1.7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1.29, for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 2.5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 8.13 The fear of God is to hate evil, pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth do I hate. Proverbs 9.10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding of promise. The fear of the Lord is strong confidence, Proverbs 14, 26, 14, 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. Who doesn't want life? Who doesn't want life and that more abundantly? Even the unbeliever walks out. They seek it in many places. But here we're pointing to the scripture. Well, here it is right here. Let's just go get it. The fear of the Lord is the fountain of life. Proverbs 15, 16. Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Proverbs 15, 32. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. Proverbs 16, 6. By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. And by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. There's the ethical understanding there. You want evil out of your society? Fear the Lord purges it, purges our consciences, purges our evil works. Proverbs 19.23, the fear of the Lord tendeth to life. And he that hath it shall abide satisfied, he shall not be visited with evil. Great promise. Proverbs 22.4, By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Who doesn't want those? Riches, honor, and life. Fear the Lord. Proverbs 23, 17, Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. What a wonderful promise. Something that's fear God, fearing God, working out our salvation in fear and trembling. The great reward, the eternal, abundant, overwhelming, press down, rolling over type reward. In Psalm 34, verses 4 through 11, I'll leave you with this. Oh, I'm almost done with you with this country. I sought the Lord, and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto Him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamped around them that feared Him and delivered them. Oh, taste! and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusts in Him. Oh, fear the Lord, ye His saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good things. Come, you children, hearken unto me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord." The fear of the Lord contrasted against the faithlessness. of man. The fear of man brings a snare. In Proverbs 29, 25, the fear of man brings a snare, but whosoever puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe. The fear of man brings a snare. That's the heart of the epics right there. It's what is the product of the outcome of what we do and believe. So let's look at snares. There's problems with snares, brethren and sisters. There are great problems with them. One, they are set for a particular prey. In this context, the souls of men is the prey. They are disguised. Now, most of the time, you know, you see some of the old Vietnam information. different places how the Viet Cong would make these snares. The soldiers would be walking through the junk. There's a trivet and boom, they're gone. Well, why don't they just put a sign there and say, hey, there's a snare here that we've said to kill you with. You should step on the other side. They are disguised. They are philosophies embroidered with scripture. They are alluring. As the serpent said to Eve, this will make you wise. You'll be like God. They are alluring. They are affirming. Everyone's doing it. Dad, all our friends are doing this. That's why we should do this. Because they're all doing it. Don't we fight with that daily? They are hard to escape. Snares are hard to escape. Once in them, once trapped. They are designed to keep the prey until the captor comes and gets released, usually to prison. An ox led to the slaughter. They don't escape. So brethren, faith is the antidote for fear. And fear of man brings a snare. The fear of man will cause us to do unethical, wrong things. Faith is therefore the true ethic, the foundation of all decisions. Let me leave you with Matthew 10. This is really leaving you. Matthew 10, 24-39. It's a long passage, but meditate on it and hear the weight of it, the weight of the words of our very Lord Jesus Christ spoken to His disciples. by what could come upon them because of faith. Matthew 10, 24-39, the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not, therefore. Listen to this. Fear them not, therefore. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known. But I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in the light, and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father? But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not? Therefore ye are more valuable than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father, which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I am not come to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother More than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it. And he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. These are strong words from the Scripture. We must fear God and not mere strength.