We're turning to Psalm 56 today, the Psalm number 56, for a Bible reading. Want to read the Psalm together? Psalm number 56. Writer by inspiration is David, and he prays and he writes these words. Be merciful unto me, O God, for man would swallow me up He fighting dearly oppresseth me. Mine enemies would dearly swallow me up, for they be many that fight against me, O thou Most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day they rest my words, all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves. They mark my steps when they wait for my soul. Shall they escape by iniquity? In thine anger cast down the people, O God. Thou tellest my wanderings. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me. In God will I praise his word. In the Lord will I praise his word. God, have I put my trust. I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. My voice are upon thee, O God. I will render praises unto thee, for thou hast delivered my soul from death. Wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? Amen, and we'll end our reading there just at the end of the chapter. Let's keep the word before us open, and let's seek the Lord in prayer. Our loving Father, we seek thy face again for this service. We call upon Thee that Thou wilt grant help to Thy servant, to declare Thy word as Thou hast given to us. We pray that we might know help in power and liberty. We pray that we might know much of the Spirit, not only for preacher, but for hearer alike. Pray that our hearts might be open to God, that every other distracting thought might be brought into captivity. And grant, O God, therefore, O God, our hearts to be enlarged after Thee, and help us to run after Thee in the days that are before us. Come and minister to us, feed our souls with the finest of the wheat, and glorify Thy Son For we offer prayer in and through Jesus, precious and worthy name. Amen and amen. Well, today we come to the fourth message in our series of messages that has been entitled Life Issues. As I've said before, these messages have been born out of various issues that I, as a minister, have encountered among God's people. issues that many of God's people find themselves struggling and battling with in their daily lives. I've already preached on the subject matters of loneliness and depression and insomnia, and today I want to deal with an issue that is nearly as old as time itself, because today I want to preach on the subject of fear. Now today we're not thinking about godly fear. We're not thinking about reverential fear, that fear that we ought to possess when it comes to our dealings with God. Such a fear is a healthy fear. Such a fear is a proper fear. It's spoken of in various portions of God's Word. I think of the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 10, verse 28, when the Savior said, "...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." The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And if you know not Christ as Saviour and as Lord, then you ought to fear Him who is able to destroy your body. and be able to destroy your soul everlastingly in the flames of hell. You ought to fear God. And may that fear move you to seek the Savior even where you sit today. In Hebrews 12 and the verse 28, the inspired writer exhorts us to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. There is such a thing as godly fear. 1 Peter 2 verse 17, Peter encourages us to fear God, honor all men. He said, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. But I'm not speaking about godly, reverential fear today, but rather, today I speak about needless fear. Fear that cripples and torments the minds and the hearts of God's people. It was the Puritan William Gurnell who said, fear is Satan's weapon held in reserve. When alluring temptations fail, he opens his quiver and shoots these arrows to set the soul on fire, if not with sin, then with terror. The scriptures warn us that fear The world at large will be an ever-increasing problem as the return of Jesus Christ draws ever nearer. The commotions within nature, the upheavals among the nations as the return of Christ comes and draws nigh will result in the heightening of man's fears. Jesus Christ said in Luke chapter 21 verse 26 that the days before his return to earth will be marked by man's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken as the coming of Christ draws near fear Fear within the hearts of the ungodly will be an ever rising tide. Christ warned us of that. Now, why the ungodly are to fear such things, the Christian is not. The Christian is reminded by the Savior on there in Luke chapter 21 that as they see such commotions, earthquakes and famines and pestilence, wars and rumors of wars, commotions within the nations, the Christian is not to fear but rather as they see such things they are to be glad because those things are the harbinger They are the forerunner of the return of Jesus Christ. He would say, when you see these things come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. Maybe today finds you in a state of fear. Well, if it does, then I trust that this message will help you in dealing with your fears today. I want us to see a number of things. Firstly, consider with me the commonality of fear. The commonality of fear. As descendants of Adam's fallen, sinful, and cursed race, it is commonplace that every member of the human family has at some time in their life been plagued and tormented with the emotion of fear. We need to remember that Adam, within his innocent state, never knew what it was to be afraid, at least in the sense of a terrorizing fear. You think of that for a moment of time. You think about Adam and his sinful or his innocent state. He never was once terrorized with the feeling of needless fear. In Genesis chapter 2 we are told that Adam named the animals. Do you think of that? You think of the animals coming to Adam. You think of animals such as T-Rex, because we believe that the dinosaurs dwelt on earth with man. You think of animals like tigers and lions. You think of spiders. You think of black mambas and tarantulas. They all make their way towards Adam so that he names the animals. But never once in the face of any of those deadly animals do we ever find Adam was ever found to be afraid. Why was he not afraid? Well, they were grass eating and they were herb eating animals. His life was not under threat before the fall. And it was after the fall The fall came, and as a result, those animals, they moved from being those that desired but leaves and herbs into those that desired meat. But before the fall, God made a perfect world where there was no death, where there was no bloodshedding. But Adam never feared as such animals approached him. But whenever the fall happened, whenever Adam fell from his innocent state, and to sin everything changed. Because on his hearing of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, we are told that Adam said that he was afraid. Out of his own lips he said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid. Because I was naked and I hid myself. For the very first time Adam felt fear, a terrorizing fear. Now this fear had come about because of sin, but it was fear nonetheless. Fear entered this world. because of sin. And brethren and sisters, fear continues to be in this world, even in the life of the Christian, because sin continues to be in us. We are still in the flesh. The old man at times rises within our lives. At times within our lives, the lusts of the flesh, they still strive to conquer us. And even the holiest of God's people are sometimes afflicted and crippled with the feeling of fear. Just open your Bible and you'll be able to find some of God's choice of saints either in a state of fear or admitting to their fears. There is a commonality of this problem of fear. All, all have been inflicted by it. All are troubled by their fears and by their worries and by their concerns. I think of people like Jacob. Jacob on hearing that Esau was on his way with 400 men, Jacob is said to become greatly afraid. He was greatly afraid because he had misjudged and he had misread his brother's intentions. You see, Jacob believed that Esau was on a revenge mission for a wrong that Jacob had done to him many years previous to this. And therefore we read in Genesis 32 verse 7, Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels into two bands. Fear drove Jacob to pray, because we read on in that very chapter that Jacob sought God in prayer. As he heard of 400 men coming, this man having been changed by the grace of God, now takes his fears to God in prayer. And he reminds God of the promise that God, if God would be his God, that God would bring him again safely into the land that he had left many years before. He takes the prayer, the promise back to God in prayer. And because of his fears, we now find Jacob a praying man. And let me say this, anything that God's providence sends our way, anything, that God's providence stands our way, that drives us to prayer. Even if it be fear, then I believe it is to be seen as most profitable and most beneficial in the life of God's child. Anything that drives you and I to prayer must be seen as beneficial and profitable to us. Jacob's fear drove him to pray. I think of Nehemiah and the rebuilders off Jerusalem's walls. There as they built the walls to the glory of God, the enemies of God made false accusation against Nehemiah and his co-workers. They accused Nehemiah that he was wanting to make himself to be king. And he was going to lead a revolt of these men in Jerusalem against the king at that particular time. Nehemiah denies that plot. that accusation, and yet it caused him to fear. Let me read what it says for you in Nehemiah 6 verse 9. For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work that it be not done. Here's a man of God, and he's found to be afraid. I think of David, the man after God's own heart. He spoke frequently about his fears, especially within the book of Psalms. When Saul was closing in upon David, almost ready to exterminate his life, the psalmist David pens the words in Psalm 18 in the verse 4, the sorrows of death compass me, the floods of ungodly men. made me afraid. On another occasion, again, when his life was under threat, David wrote these words in Psalm 31, in the verse 13, For I have heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side. Whatever way he looked, he found some situation, he saw something before him that caused him to become terribly afraid. In Psalm 55, or maybe in Psalm 56, you turn over there to Psalm 55, in the verse 5, we find David writing again, Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me. Here's a man who found himself afraid. In our Psalm that we read, Psalm 56, verse 3, he said, What time I am afraid. time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Job. Job was a man who was perfect and upright, a man who eschewed evil, and yet we find him in Job 3 in the verse 25 saying, for the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me. And that which I was afraid of is come unto me. In modern day terms, Job was saying, the very thing that I feared the most has come to pass. My fears have come true. And he's speaking about the death of his own children and the loss of his livestock and all of his, and his own health. The very thing that he feared. Here's a man, a man who loved God, and yet there were things that he feared. They'd all come true in his life. Think of those 12 disciples on the Sea of Galilee in Mark chapter 4. We find them heading into a storm. The very storm threatens to sink them, sink the very vessel that they're traveling in with the Son of God. They arise to the Savior. He's sleeping on a pillow in the hinder part of the boat. They arise him out of sleep with the accusation, "'Carest thou not, Master, that we perish?' The Savior arises. He rebukes the wind, peace be still. The calm falls upon that scene and the master, he questions his disciples, why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? Here they were in the storm and they find themselves to be terribly afraid. Those same disciples in John chapter 20 are found barricaded behind closed doors after the death of Jesus Christ. Why? Why are they found there behind those doors bolted and shut? John 20 verse 19 tells us that the doors were shut for fear of the Jews. Here are individuals, believers, and they fear the government of the day. They have a fear for the religious leaders of the day. I think of those disciples there in the city of Jerusalem. Saul, the former church persecutor, has come to join himself with them. Just after his conversion on the Damascus road, we find those servants of God, those disciples, those believers, initially reluctant to welcome him into the fellowship because of their skepticism concerning his profession of faith. Acts chapter 9 verse 26, And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed or attempted to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. Believers afraid, afraid of another man. All of these people testify to or they experience fear in their lives. And they are but a few examples that we glean from the scriptures. But what I want you to understand today is that fear has a common place in all of our lives, even in the lives of those that we would term as giants of the faith. David, Job, Elijah, he runs for fear of Jezebel. Peter fears whenever he walks on the water. These giants of the faith, they all succumb to the sinful tendency and weakness of having fear, having fear. As fallen creatures, we live in a fallen world. There are going to be times in our lives when we are going to find ourselves feeling afraid. It'll not be until heaven, brother, sister. It'll not be until we enter the glorified land. It'll not be before until we enter the glorified state into which God will bring us that our fears will be ultimately and eternally banished because it is only there, only there, that that which causes us to fear here will be gone forever. There will be no fear in heaven, because everything that causes us to fear on earth is gone. There is a commonality to this problem of fear. We all suffer it, preacher and hero-like, we all have our fears. What are you fearful of today? The future, your health, your family, your circumstances, your exam results, what are you fearful of today? I'm sure there are many in this house who have their fears. It is the common lot of fallen humanity. But having thought a little about the commonality of fear, I wanted to think secondly with me about the causes of fear, the causes of our fear. Did you know that in the United Kingdom there are 10 million people who are said to suffer from some kind of phobia. Now that is quite staggering whenever you consider that the population today in the United Kingdom is 66.5 million people. That is one in six people suffer from some kind of phobia. If you go onto a webpage, phobialist.com, you'll find that there's listed there 530 different phobias that individuals can have. Fears that people have, whether they be real or whether they be imaginary. There are people in this world and they have many, many fears. As we think of the causes of fears, I'm not wanting specifically to speak about someone's fear. I'm not here to speak to you about your fear of spiders. I'm not here to speak to you about your fear maybe of dentists. I'm not here to speak to you about your fear of sandwiches. I'm not here to speak to you about your fear of exams or driving or any other type of specific fear, but rather I want to give you three general reasons, three general causes why we as Christians, why we as Christians come into this state of fear. You see I read over there in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and the verse 7, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. Now this is what God has given to us. By the indwelling of the Spirit of God, God has not given us this spirit of needless anxious fear. But why is it? Why is it that God's people are found to be fearful even today? I believe that it is down to three particular reasons, three general reasons. The first general cause of fear is an overestimation of man. An overestimation of man. Solomon, the wisest of all human kings, he said in Proverbs 29 verse 25, the fear of man bringeth a snare. The fear of man bringeth a snare. By saying that Solomon was admitting that there is such a thing as the fear of man and we must admit that there are times in our lives as believers that we are afraid of other men, afraid of other women, afraid of other people. That person whom you fear might be someone who is over authority in your life. Maybe it is someone in government. Maybe it is someone in your place of employment. There might be an individual and today you fear your non-Christian spouse, your husband, your wife who is not yet a Christian. Maybe young people, there's a young person here today and you have a fear about a fellow pupil. in your class or in your school year, someone who laughs at you, someone who taunts you because you're a Christian, someone who gives you a hard time. And of all the people that you don't want to meet on a Monday morning, it's that specific person because you fear that individual. It might be a difficult neighbor. It might be someone in your workplace, someone that you fear. And what we find is that we come to fear that person because of their words or their actions or their threats towards us, so much so that we dread to meet them. But let me ask you, are those fears well-founded? Should we fear our fellow man to the extent that we do? I don't believe that we should. I believe sadly at times we can overestimate the capability and the influence of men. We need to remember that whoever it is of the human race that causes us to fear, we need to remember that they are only human beings at best. They're only men at best. Men are mortal. Men are frail, men are creatures of the dust, whose breath and soul is in the hand of God, according to Job 10 and 12 verse 10, whose rage and whose fury and whose anger is governed and controlled by a sovereign God. And there is a very real danger among God's people that we can accredit to men that which they do not deserve. We can accredit fear to them, that which they do not deserve, we can accredit to them more than they actually deserve. You see, those that cause the Christian to fear must be remembered as frail and as impotent creatures whom, if God willed, they could be removed from this world in a moment of time. They can be removed from this world. in a moment of time. Child of God, you may be today fear some other human being, and that causes you to become afraid, afraid of them terribly. Well, you need to redress your overestimation of men today by reminding yourself that they are only men. And also recall to your mind those scriptures that speak to us about the weakness of men. Not the strength of men, but the weakness of men. I think of Psalm 39 in the verse 5. Behold, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth, and mine ages as nothing before thee. Verily, every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Psalm 103, verse 15 and 16. As for man, his days are as grass, as a flower of the field, as he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. Psalm 144, verse 4, Man is like to vanity, his days are as a shadow that passeth away. 1 Peter 1, verse 24, For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. They are but men, but we, those of God's chosen race, those who are redeemed, yes, we are men. But Christ is in us. The Spirit of God dwells within us. And greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. And so at times we fear because we overestimate the power of man. Pharaoh vaunted himself against God. Who is the Lord that I should obey him? Well, he soon found out who God was. when he saw his army perish in the Red Sea. He found that God was greater than man. Job said that. God is greater than man. And so whoever causes you to fear, remember what they are. They are but creatures of the dust, mortal, frail, whose breath and soul is in the hand of God and whom God can remove off the stage of history at any moment of time. We fear because we have an overestimation of men. The second general cause of fear is because we have an underestimation of God. We have an underestimation of our God. That is the other end of the spectrum. When many find themselves in a state of fear because they have an overestimation of men, others find themselves fearful because they have an underestimation of God. Too many Christians fear and fret needlessly. When a biblical understanding of God, who God is and what God can do, would cause that individual to see that their fears are unjustified. that there is no grounds for having such fear. When I understand who my God is, why should I fear? Why should I be afraid? But the problem is that we have an underestimation of our God. I put here in my notes, sad to say, many people's God is too small. Your God is too small. To have fear, to have fear. Have you underestimated God in your circumstances? Have you made a wrong calculation with respect to what trouble, what trial you're going through? Have you underestimated what God can do on your behalf? You, the blood-bought child, you who he has redeemed, he who cares for you and understands what you're going through. Can I say, Christian, you may have an underestimation of your God today that's causing you to fear. Your God. Christian, your God. is a God that spoke this universe into existence out of nothing. Ex Nelio, out of nothing. And today holds all things by the word of his power. That's your God. That's your God. Your God is a God that parted the Red Sea. that enabled his chosen people to escape the advancing Egyptian army that caused those same waters to come in upon them and destroy them in a watery grave. Your God brought the walls of Jericho down with a shout. Your God toppled a Philistine giant with just a small stone. Your God and my God was the one who preserved three Hebrew boys in a furnace that was heated seven times hotter than before. Your God is the God that stopped the mouse of lions. Your God is the one who fed 5,000 plus people with meager provisions. Your God is the God that raised His own Son to life from the dead. And your God is the God who rules over the affairs of this world and this universe. This is your God. So what have you to fear? What have I to fear? The Christian has nothing and no one to fear when God is on our side. When such a God is on our side, what have you or I to fear? Could it be that the reason why you're so fearful today is because you underestimate? You underestimate who your God is and what your God can do. If it is, then you need to start to think biblically. You need to start to think biblically. about your God. You need to understand as you get into the Word of God what your God did and what He can still do because He does not change. He is the same yesterday and today and forever. And take heart in the promises of God. Psalm 27 verse 1, David said, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came against me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. The war should rise against me. In this will I be confident. What's he confident in? In his God, not in his faith, but in his God, I will not fear. And as Philistines took David and Gath, He was able to say this in Psalm 56 verse 11, for that is the context of the Psalm that we read. The Philistines take him and gather, they enclose around about him. What does David say? In God have I put my trust. There it is. In God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. What is man? Whenever I put my trust in God, what is man? Man may destroy the body. at worst, for that's what he could do, at worst. But he'll never destroy the soul. He'll never destroy the soul. Oh, that's God's. The psalmist said, I will not be afraid. He had put his faith in God. Speaking of the righteous, the psalmist said in Psalm 112, verse 7, he shall not be afraid of evil tidings. Why? His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. That's why he doesn't fear. He's trusting in God. The apostle Paul asked the question in Romans 8, verse 31, if God before us, who can be against us? What is your appreciation of God today, your God? Do you underestimate Him? Whatever your trouble is, whatever's causing fear in your soul today, can God not sort it out? Can God not intervene? Can God not do a miracle? Behold your God, behold your God, child of God. Don't underestimate Him. Don't underestimate God. Fear can be caused, yes, by an overestimation of men and underestimation of God, but it can also be caused by a misestimation of our circumstances. A misestimation of our circumstances. We thought about this event already, Jacob, 400 men and Esau coming down the road to meet him. What does Jacob think? He thinks that his brother's going to kill him. He mis-estimates the circumstances. He mis-calculates, he mis-reads the circumstances. But we find in Genesis and the chapter number 33 that instead of Esau killing him, Esau kisses him. He kisses him. But he was afraid. And the reason why he was afraid, because he had misread the circumstances. He had judged the matter before the time. Jacob again, he seems to have a flaw in his character with respect to misjudging, misreading. Do you remember Joseph? sold into Egypt, Jacob thinks that he's dead. The boys have went down to Egypt twice, they come up again. And Jacob recognizes in Genesis 42, the verse 36, as he looks at all of the circumstances, one of his boys has been left in Egypt. And Jacob, he laments with these words, he says, all these things are against me. All these things are against me. But if Jacob had of viewed things from God's vantage point, he would not have said, all these things are against me, but rather he would have said, all these things are for me. All these things are for me. But he was afraid. He misread, he miscalculated, he misestimated what God was doing. There was a misestimation as to the plan and purposes of the Son of God by those storm-tossed disciples in the Sea of Galilee. They thought that he did not care. They misestimated God's care for them. Master, carest thou not that we perish? But if they had of thought of things biblically, And if they had have seen things from God's vantage point, they would have recognized that there was no one cared for them like Christ did. No one cared for them at that moment of time than Christ did. And yet they misread it all. Many times in our Christian lives have we looked at our circumstances. We fear the worst. We miscalculate. We misread, we misestimate what God is doing in our lives. And yet God has promised that all things work together for good. You may say, preacher, but as I look at my circumstances presently, I don't see that to be working out. I don't see God fulfilling that promise in my life, and in my home, and in my family, and in my circumstances. And with my sons and with my daughters, you may not think that to be so, but that's where faith enters. That's where faith enters. That's where you just take God at His word and you rest there until the matter falls out to its full purposes. A mis-estimation of our circumstances can lead to the rising of fear. Very quickly, the commonality of fear, we all experience it, the causes of fear, overestimation of man, underestimation of God, a misestimation of our circumstances. Finally, the cure for fear, faith. Faith in God. Psalm 56, verse 3, What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, In God I have put my trust, I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Verse 11, In God I have put my trust, I will not be afraid, what man can do unto me. Jesus Christ, He reveals to us the antidote for the fear within the disciples even on the Sea of Galilee. Mark 4 verse 40, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? In other words, if you had faith in me, these fears would not have arisen in your hearts. They would not have arisen in your hearts the cure for all slavish fear. Needless fear is faith, faith in God, faith in Christ, faith in the promises of God, faith in God's covenant, faith in God's word. Have faith in God. Alexander Smelly said, it may be excusable for worldly men and women to worry and fear. but not a son in the royal and wealthy family of the king of kings. Not a son in the royal and wealthy family of the king of kings is excusable for such a one to have her fears. If God feeds the sparrow and cares for the sparrow, and if he dresses the very flower of the field, can he not care for you? That was his argument, the Savior's in Matthew chapter six. He cares for you. He cares for you. So let me ask you, child of God, why are you so fearful today? Why? Has God ever given you any just cause in the past for you to doubt Him today? Has God at any time in your Christian life ever let you down? Has God ever failed one of his promises given to you and made over to you? Has God ever lied anything in your life that has not been for your good and for his glory? God would say to every believer here today, his heart is filled with fear. Let not your heart be troubled. If ye believe God, believe also in me. May faith in God rise therefore in your soul. And I believe that in response to rising faith, I believe that your fears will subside. Fear not, is the repeated refrain within the scriptures. Fear not, fear not, fear not. May God help us to do that in the days that lie before. May God help us not to fear, but to have faith in God and in our Savior. May God bless these