Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not
Comfort for the fearful
Presumption and fear are the Scylla and Charybdis of the Christian life, and it requires Divine guidance, together with all our own watchfulness, to steer safely between them.
My object is, to suit the case of those who are well entitled to hope for the Divine mercy through Christ Jesus, but are disquieting themselves, or are disquieted by the enemy with needless fears.
1. “I cannot indulge the hope that I am a Christian,” one will say, “because I have never passed through the same religious exercises and experiences that others profess to have felt and enjoyed; have known no such deep convictions; have no such clear assurance of my acceptance with God.” God has brought many sons to glory, but I do not suppose that any two of them have been led thither in precisely the same way, or have been exercised with precisely the same feelings. If in the main, our experiences correspond with the Word of God, in the great points of faith and love, it need not disquiet us though we never heard of another case exactly like our own.
2. But another desponding one says, “If I were truly a child of God, sin would not prevail against me as I find it does.” So long as there is determined war against sin, there is ground for hope.
3. Still one may be ready to reply, “I find that sin not only prevails against me, but I seem to be worse than when I first strove against it; my heart appears to grow more wicked; my corruptions, stronger, and my strength to resist to be less.” To perceive more of our sin than usual, does not always prove that we are more sinful, but often the reverse; just as when one cleanses a room, though the air is filled with dust floating in the sunbeams, there is no more of it actually there than before, and there will soon be less of it as the operation goes on. We do not know the strength of our evil passions until we begin to oppose them. When one is making a special effort to lead a Christian life, then he is especially tempted and hindered.
4. Another class of disquieted ones affirm that they cannot hope they are true Christians, because they seem to love everything else more than God; If this were really true, we should have no encouragement to offer, for if God be not loved supremely we cannot be His children. But, in estimating our love to God, compared with our love to earthly things, we are not to conclude that we love that most which most excites our affections. It has well been remarked, “that a man may be more moved when he sees a friend that has long been absent, and seem to regard him more for the moment than he does his own wife and children, and yet none would think that the friend was loved the most”; so neither must we conclude, because when we are abroad in the world we find our affections vehemently stirred towards its various objects, that therefore they are supreme in our hearts. We should judge of our comparative affection by asking ourselves soberly, which of the two objects we should prefer to part withy
5. Again, it is urged by some that there is great danger of self-deception; that a person may, in appearance, be like a Christian, and yet be really destitute of any true piety, and they fear lest they should fall into the same error. The fear is usually the best remedy against the thing feared, and none are farther from the danger of making a false profession than those who are most afraid of it.
6. Some, again, have fears that they are not true Christians, because they come so far short of the attainments of some eminent Christians of their acquaintance. We reply, that the worst part of the character of those exalted saints may not be known to us, or they may not have our hindrances, or they may have been long in growing up to that state, while we are only babes in Christ.
7. Another class may say, that they cannot think any real Christian ever was so tempted and distressed with evil thoughts as they are. We reply, Job was tempted to curse God, and Christ Himself to worship Satan. We may have very wicked thoughts entering our minds, but if we do not delight in them, if we strive against them, and they are painful to us, they are no evidence against us. The very fact that they grieve us and we resist them, is in our favour.
8. Another class of the discouraged and fearful say, that they have doctrinal difficulties, that certain things in the Bible do not appear clear to them, and they fear to make any public confession of Christ till these are made plain. The best way to solve doctrinal difficulties is to engage in practical duties. But it would be endless to recount all the ways in which doubts and fears assail us. Their name is Legion, and our prayer should be that Christ would command them to come out of the man who is troubled with them, and to enter no more into him. Many seem to think that they show a commendable spirit by cherishing such fears. But there is no humility in doubting God’s promises. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.)
The ministry of consolation
Let us consider the text--
I. AS A DISSUASIVE AGAINST OUR SECRET FEARS. “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Fear not.” The language is not uncommon as addressed to God’s children. “Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thine exceeding great reward.” “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, fear not.” “Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God.” The language seems to intimate that those who are truly seeking Christ are yet liable to be oppressed by many fears. But the Lord says, you are not to be thus afraid.
1. Fear not on account of the greatness of your sins. Fathomless as are the depths of your iniquity,” there is one depth,, which is deeper still. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
2. Fear not on account of remaining infirmities and indwelling tendencies to evil. How many are deterred from taking any decisive step in religion because they have not attained to a certain point of spiritual advancement; forgetting that the act of taking the step is to be one of the means for attaining to this point.
3. Be not of a fearful heart through anything adverse or disquieting in your spiritual experience. Many form rash conclusions on this subject from unsound and unworthy premises, and from only partial views of Scripture.
II. AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO LAY HOLD UPON THE STRENGTH OF GOD. “Be strong.” The advice is of frequent occurrence in Scripture. But what are we to be strong in?. Why., strong in the Lord, strong in His strength, safe through His holding up. Again, by the exhortation, Be strong, we must understand an injunction to seek and pray for the strengthening aids of God the Holy Spirit.
1. There is the strength of preventing grace in the hour of temptation, when not permitted to come upon us; when some power we know not of keeps us out of harm’s way; when the dominion of our besetting sin appears for the time to be got under, and without a struggle or a blow we conquer in the might of God.
2. Then, there is the strength of supporting grace when the struggle does come, when we have to do battle with hard thoughts in adversity, or rebellious thoughts in disappointment, with sinful thoughts in solitude, with proud and envious thoughts in the world, with unbelief and impatience, and a little willingness for prayer, and we cannot shake off these things.
3. And then there is the strength of enlightening and sanctifying grace. We grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at the same time; and all this is through the imparted strength of the Comforter.
4. But I must not omit to notice the chief thing we are to be strong in, that which gave the prayer of Jacob power to prevail with God, namely, that we be as Jacob was, strong in faith, giving glory to God. Guard against all confused and imperfect notions of the offering of the Gospel plan, or of the power and willingness of Christ to save. Remember there is virtue enough in His blood, power enough in His arm, and grace enough at His disposal to sanctify and save a whole world of sinners. Apply to Him by faith and prayer. Place no limits where God has placed none. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin,” and if from all, why not yours? (D. Moore, M. A.)
An old malady and an old remedy
I. A COMMON TROUBLE. “A fearful heart.” Think of some of the causes.
1. Life itself is a cause. A little child does not fear. But the little child has not yet reached into the consciousness of its own personality--has not been awed by the mystery of its own existence. Wrapped in such consciousness there is always a certain fear.
2. Sin is another source of a fearful heart. The ideal relation between God and the soul is that of utmost intimacy, but sin breaks this relation.
3. The sad things emerging in life are causes of a fearful heart.
4. The difficulties of duty.
5. The monotony of duty. Sometimes when dreary stretches of duty, the same thing day in, day out, fill the vision, a real fear comes lest one fail in duty because of its uninteresting routine.
6. The revelation of man’s own nature under some great surprise or disappointment is a cause of a fearful heart. The strength one fancied himself to have, turns out under some great strain to be but weakness after all. The heart in Scripture stands for the whole man--intellect, affection, will. The thing needed is that a man see clearly, love wisely, will strongly; but when fear wraps one about with mists, this is the outcome; a weak heart--no strength for doing; feeble knees--no power of purpose.
II. THE OLD AND YET NEW REMEDY for this common trouble.
1. A personal God. “Behold your God.”
2. A God appropriated--your God.
3. A God active. “He will come.” God is not an inert passiveness, having no hand in things. Our Scripture is prophecy; God has come in the Incarnation.
4. A God for your help. “He will come and save you.”
5. A rewarding God. “He will come with recompense.” Think more of God than of the causes of your fearfulness, and also appropriate God. (Homiletic Review.)
Fears
1. These words brings before us very delightful thoughts concerning God’s nature and purposes. We gather from them His compassion He graciously sends the message unsolicited. His mercy. He does not desire His people to suffer needless trouble or anxiety. His power and care, for He is able to save them from danger and so guarantee the needlessness of their fear.
2. But they remind us of a very painful condition of man, which is his tendency to fear amid the discouragements of life. These consist in many things.
I. FEARS WITH RELATION TO EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
1. Men dread that which is greater or more powerful than themselves. Hence they fear the material forces of nature, the mighty convulsions of creation, the strength of their fellow-man, and the power of God.
2. Men dread that which to them is mysterious and unknown. Thus there is an innate fear of darkness, of death, of the future.
3. Men dread that which is more evil than themselves. Evil men, evil combinations of men, evil spirits, and the machinations of Satan.
4. Men dread those circumstances which can adversely affect their interests. That which can bring them material loss, that which checks their external advancement, that which spoils their amusement or gratification.
II. FEARS WITH REGARD TO INTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
1. There is our relationship to God. As an all seeing observer, as a just Judge, as an avenging King. We stand before Him as an Almighty Jehovah, who knows our thoughts, sins, and desires.
2. There is our future state of existence. Guilt makes cowards of us all.
3. There are our domestic relationships. The broken cord of affection, the ruptured friendship, and the lost treasures.
4. There is the mental, moral, and bodily anguish and suffering. Great and terrible do they appear as they enshroud our existence and threaten our future.
Now, as these things brood over the soul, and darken the horizon of life, there is heard speaking to the soul of the faithful, earnest believer in Christ the trumpet word of our text--“Fear not.” There are many reasons why we should not fear.
1. There is the fact of our Father’s love. He does not willingly afflict the children of men.
2. There is the fact of our Father’s power. He is able to support and to overrule all adverse circumstances.
3. There is the fact of our Father’s presence. He is always near. The true antidote to fear is faith. (Homilist.)
He will come and save you
It is no abstract salvation that we hope and wait for, but a Saviour--a Saviour before whom no enemy can stand. His coming will be the deliverance. Danger, bondage, weakness, and sorrow shall be done away, and in the consciousness of the grand release, “The eyes of the blind shall be opened,” &c. (W. Hubbard.)
