JESUS: His Questions                                                                 5-7-06

“Why are you so afraid?”

Mark 4:35-41   Audio

When Jesus asked questions, it was rarely to gain information.  When He asked questions, it was almost always to get people to think.

When He asked whose image was on their Roman coins, it was not that He didn’t know.  He wanted them to think.

When He asked: Is it right to heal on the Sabbath? He was not confused about what you could and could not do on the Sabbath.  He was wanting them to think.

When He asked: What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? it was not that Jesus was seeking information.  He used the question to get people to think about what was most important in life.

Today we move into a new area of our series of messages on the Life and Teachings of Jesus.  We are going to spend the next 4 weeks looking at questions Jesus asked, and then another 4 weeks looking at the answers He gave to questions people asked of Him.

Today we begin with Mark 4:35-41 (read).

“Why are you so afraid?”  It’s a question that Jesus might like to ask some of us today: “Why are you so afraid?”

There are HEALTHY FEARS, and there are UNHEALTHY FEARS.

Let me give you some examples of healthy fear.

(read email from Beau – show before and after pictures of RG-31)

There is a fear that keeps us from taking unnecessary risks.  I’m not talking about a fear that keeps you in your house behind locked doors all the time.  But I have not taken my car on the open road and put the pedal to the metal to see if it can go 150 mph.  I have a bit of healthy fear.  I don’t pick up pipes that look like they might be pipe-bombs.  I don’t play with yellow-jacket nests.  I don’t use a lit match to try to see if there is any gas left in the bottom of my gas can.  And all those are reasonable and healthy fears.

The Bible talks about fearing God, and about the “fear of God” being a good and necessary thing for us as Christians.  The idea here is not so much being afraid of God, as respecting Him, reverencing Him, being in awe of Him, even to tremble before Him.

When Adam and Eve first sinned, God came down to the Garden of Eden to be with them that night, as He did every evening.  But Adam and Eve hid from God.  They later explained “We were afraid”.  That was not the fear of God that is good. 

Eccl. 8:12-13 Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them.  

The fear of hell, or of eternal punishment has been a motivating factor in many people coming to Jesus.  “Why did you get saved?”  “I didn’t want to go to hell.”  If as a Christian, the motivation of your life is still your fear of hell, you have not grown very much.  But in coming to Christ, many people have come initially because of their fear of hell, and that’s a good thing.

The fear of the consequences of our sin is also a healthy fear.  When we sin, we become guilty before God.  When we come to Him for His forgiveness, that guilt is taken away.  He makes us clean and pure in His sight when we repent of our sin and humbly ask His forgiveness.  But often the consequences of our sin do not go away.

There are people in prison today who have genuinely repented and have found God’s forgiveness.  They are now holy in His sight.  So why are they still in prison?  Why doesn’t the sexually transmitted disease go away when you repent of your sexual sin? Why isn’t that relationship restored when you repent of your ugly words and attitudes and behaviors?

It’s called consequences.  Forgiveness and consequences are two different things.  You can be forgiven and still experience some consequences of your sin.  And a healthy fear of the consequences of sin is an important factor in our living holy lives.  In a perfect world just our love for Jesus would be enough.  But we live as imperfect people in an imperfect world where we need to understand that our sin will have consequences, and that can be a motivating factor in saying “no” to temptation.

Let’s look for a few minutes now at some UNHEALTHY FEARS AND WHAT THEY DO TO PEOPLE.

Most unhealthy fears have to do either with the fear of people or the fear of circumstances.

In Genesis 18 we read the story of Abraham sitting under a giant oak tree at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.  And the Lord appeared to him, only he did not know it was the Lord.  Abraham invited the Lord and the two angels that were with Him to sit down with him, let him wash their feet and give them something to eat.  He thought they were simply three travelers and he wanted to be hospitable to them.

Servants were sent to prepare the food, and the Lord asked Abraham: Where is your wife?  “She’s in the tent” Abraham replied.  Then the Lord said: “I will return about this time next year, and your wife will have a son.”

You have to understand the setting here: Abraham is 99 and Sarah is 89.  God had promised them a son, but long ago that became an impossibility.  Yes, people lived a bit longer in Abraham’s day, but not that much longer.  Having children at their age was physically impossible.  So listen to Sarah’s reaction:

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.  Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.  So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”  (Gen. 18:10-12)

Sarah did not know Who it was that was talking to her husband.  But what He was saying was ludicrous.  Even in their day, people did not start having a family in their 90s.  So she laughed. 

Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’  Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”  (v.13-14)

God had made them a promise, and God keeps His promises.  The promised son would come, and they would know that this was a miracle child.  Nothing is too hard for the Lord.  That’s an important fact for us to keep in mind.

Then comes the exchange that I want us to look at in v.15.  It’s likely that by now Sarah has stepped out of the tent to see who this stranger is that is saying such unbelievable things.

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Something about this One Who was speaking to her husband brought fear to her heart, fear that her laughing at Him might provoke some undesirable consequence.  So she tries to lie her way out of the situation.  “Maybe it was the donkey out back that snorted a little bit and it sounded like a laugh to you.  But it wasn’t me.  I didn’t laugh.”

Often our lying even today is caused by fear, fear of the consequences of the truth.  So we try to avoid those consequences by saying things that are not true.  You’ve done it, and so have I.  Yet God says lying is a sin, and He says to us in Colossians 2:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.

“But if I tell the truth, people might reject me.  If I tell the truth, people might not like me.  If I tell the truth, I might get fired.  If I tell the truth, I might get punished.  If I tell the truth…

Where is God in all that?  Our behavior must not be determined by our fear of people but by our submission to God.  If you struggle with lying, check to see if it isn’t because you fear people rather than fear God.  The example of Peter in the courtyard prior to Jesus’ crucifixion is another example of lying because he feared what those people would think of him if he told them that he was indeed a follower of Jesus.  But we don’t have time to go into that one.

1 Samuel 15 gives us another story of what fear of people can do to us.  Saul was king over Israel, and the prophet Samuel came to him with a message from God: “Go and destroy the Amalekites completely; destroy everything that belongs to them.”

So Saul set out with his army to do just that.  They came to the city of Amalek and destroyed it.  But Saul and the army spared King Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good.

That night the Lord reveals to Samuel Saul’s disobedience.  And the next day Samuel sets out to confront him.  And here’s what it says beginning in v.13

When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”  “Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”

And then Samuel went on to tell Saul that the Lord had rejected him as King of Israel because of his disobedience.  “But we were going to use the animals as sacrifices to God” Saul argues.  Samuel replies:

“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”

Saul is not through yet.  His final excuse: I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. (v.24)

There are people in this world that want to turn you from doing the will of God.  They will give you every opportunity to do things that God has forbidden you to do, or to not do things God has commanded you to do.  And if you fear people more than you fear God, you will give in to them and disobey God.

Let me give you one more instance of what the fear of people did to someone.  This time it’s Peter, and it’s found in the book of Galatians. Peter and Paul were both in the city of Antioch.  This was not a Jewish city, but a Gentile one.  And the Jews and the Gentiles ate together and had good fellowship.

But one day the General Superintendent, the Head Bishop, the Big Dog, James, came from Jerusalem to Antioch to check out how things were going there.  And Peter became a hypocrite.  He drew back and separated himself from the Gentile Christians because he feared what the officials from Jerusalem might think of him for eating with Gentiles.

Galatians 2:13 says The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.  His fear of what people might think of him turned even Peter into a hypocrite.  Be very careful of fearing what people might think of you more than fearing what God might think of you.

The fear of circumstances.   In our Bible reading for this morning we saw the Disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee.  And a huge storm comes up.  These were seasoned fishermen. They had been on this lake hundreds of times before.  They were not easily frightened.

This was in the days before like-jackets.  If the boat went down, you went down.  And these experienced fishermen felt sure their boat was about to go down.  The anticipation of that filled them with fear.

Some of you today are in that boat.  The storm is raging and you are quite sure that your boat is going to sink.  It may be your finances; it may be your marriage or your family; it may be your job; it may be your health; it may be your uncertain future.

We need to move on right now to…

GOD’S ANTIDOTE TO FEAR.

More than 100 times in the Bible God says to us: “Do not fear, fear not, don’t be afraid.”  So if God commands us to do something, or as in this case to not do something, then that must be possible for us.  I sometimes hear people say: “I just can’t help myself; I’m a fearful person.  It’s just the way I am.  It’s part of my nature.”  And I ask them: “Part of which nature: your spiritual nature, or your sinful nature?

If fear comes out of our sinful nature, then there is help for us.  God wants to help us to overcome that nature with all of its manifestations.  He has an antidote for fear.

Story of Gideon in Judges 6.  The Israelites had rejected God, and were living in rebellion against Him.  And as He so often did, God allowed Israel’s enemies to come against them and overpower them.  They lived in constant fear of these cruel Midianites.  It was a terrible time for God’s people, and finally they began to cry out to Him for His help.  Difficult circumstances often turn us to God.

One day the Angel of the Lord appeared to a young man named Gideon.  He was threshing out a little wheat in a winepress to keep the Midianites from finding out about it and taking it from him.  And as he goes about his business, the angel speaks to him some pretty amazing words in v.12:  “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

In that moment Gideon wanted to look around to see who this angel was talking to.  It certainly could not be him.

“Mighty warrior?  That’s not me.  I’m from the weakest clan in our tribe, and my family is the weakest family in our clan, and I’m the weakest in my family.  You’ve come to the wrong address.  Tell me who you are looking for and I can probably direct you to his tent.”

“Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand.  I am sending you; I will be with you.”

So Gideon rounds up an army of 32,000 men.  And the Lord says: “You’ve got way too many.”  “Too many?  We don’t have nearly enough.  There’s more than a hundred thousand of them.”  “Too many, Gideon”.  So he sends home all that are fearful.  22,000 of them leave and now he only has 10,000.

“Still way too many, Gideon.  If you take that many you will think you’ve done it yourself.  We have to send some more of them home.”  And another 9,700 go home.  Now he’s left with only 300 men, and God.  And if you know the story you know that he wins a great victory over the Midianites and God gets the glory.

There are three things in this story that show us God’s antidote to fear in our lives.

First of all we must see ourselves as God sees us.  The angel of the Lord called Gideon a “mighty warrior.”  Gideon did not at all see himself as that.  At first he would not believe what God had said.  But he later found out that God had spoken the truth.

Do you see yourself as God sees you?  Do you read your Bible and see what God says about you and believe it?  Or do you doubt it?  1 John 3:1-2 says that you are a child of God, deeply loved by Him.  Is that the way you see yourself?

Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:26-31 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Do you believe what Jesus says about your worth in His eyes, or do you believe the lies the devil loves to whisper to you about your worthlessness.  God sees sufficient value in you that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for your sins so He can spend eternity with you.

God called Gideon a “mighty warrior”.  Is that how you see yourself? Jesus said: “I have given you authority to overcome all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).  That sounds like a mighty warrior to me – authority to overcome all the power of the enemy.  Is that how you see yourself?

Or listen to this one in 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  Your fear is not from God.  What He gives you is power, and love, and a sound mind.  Do you believe that?  Or do you doubt that?  To overcome fear you must believe what God says about you in the Bible. See yourself as God sees you.

Know that God is with you.  God wants you to have an awareness of His presence with you.  And so over and over in the Bible He reminds you of that fact.

He said it to Gideon when he was facing a challenge that was too great for him.  “How can I do this?” Gideon asks.  And the answer was: “I will be with you”.

Isa 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

Isa 41:13  For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Isa 43:1-3 But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Psalm 118:6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?  Be aware of God’s Presence with you.

Have faith in God.  In our Bible reading in Mark 4, Jesus’ final comment to His Disciples was the question we are looking at today, followed by a second question: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”  He tied their fear to a lack of faith.

King David of Israel said in Psalm 56:3-4  When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?  (might be a really good one to memorize).

Pro 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. 

Ephesians 6:16 speaks of the shield of faith with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one – including the flaming arrow of fear.

We all struggle with fear at times.  But God wants to be the answer to our fears.  Jesus’ promise to you is this: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27