The Snare of the Fear of Man
The book of Proverbs says, “The fear of man will prove to be a snare” (Proverbs 29:25). It is terrible to observe how the fear of men rules the hearts of most people, controlling every aspect of life. This pressure makes us go with the trend and causes us to disobey God in many areas. The thought, “What will other men, my friends, my neighbors, relatives say or think of me?” controls our speech and actions. If, by the grace of God, we don’t overcome this, it could lead to terrible sins and destruction. The Bible gives a few examples of this.
We are going through Saul’s life in 1 Samuel. Saul’s great rejection was caused by the fear of men. “I was afraid of the people and so I gave into them,” Saul said to Samuel, “and so he violated the Lord’s command” (1 Samuel 15:24).
King Herod was afraid of what his guests would think of him, so he did that which made him “greatly distressed”—he beheaded John the Baptist. Pilate feared offending the Jews, so he did that which he knew in his conscience was unjust—he delivered up Jesus to be crucified. See what a terrible slavery the fear of men is.
J.C. Ryle says on this topic: Consider how unreasonable/foolish this fear of man is. How short-lived is man’s hostility, and how little harm he can do you! “Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth?” (Isaiah 51:12-13). And how thankless is this fear! No one will really think better of you for it. The world always respects those most who act boldly for God. You will be seen as a hypocrite finally. Oh, break these bonds, and cast these chains from you! Do not think it a disgrace to show that you are a servant of God. Never be afraid of doing what is right. Try only to please God, and He will soon make others pleased with you. Don’t worry what the world says or thinks: you will not always be with the world. Do not fear man. Can man save your soul? No. Will man be your judge in the great and dreadful day of judgment? No. Can man give you a good conscience in this life, a good hope in death, a good answer in the morning of resurrection? No! no! no! Man can do nothing of the sort. Then, “Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.” Call to mind the saying of Gardiner: “I fear God, and therefore I have no one else to fear.” Go and be like him.
Our Lord, while preparing His disciples before sending them on a short-term gospel mission, addresses this topic in Matthew 10:26-31. To do good to souls in this world is very hard. All who try it find this out by experience. It requires a lot of courage. We saw last time that the fear of men is a great hindrance for gospel growth. It has devastating effects on the gospel. It strangles evangelism. It affects all of us, including me. We are so happy and bold to talk about Christ, God, and the Bible in the midst of believers, but when we get in the midst of unbelievers, our tongues are paralyzed. Why? Fear of men. What if they think I am out of my mind, something is wrong, or I am not educated? The fear of men hinders evangelism in our lives. Unless we come out of that fear, we will not be able to do much for the gospel. The Lord wonderfully deals with this great problem in this passage. Let us read that passage:
“26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Within six verses, the Lord gives this as a strong command, not once or twice, but thrice. Verse 26: “Fear them not.” Verse 28: “Fear not them.” Verse 31: “Fear not therefore.” Not just the three commands, but three just, solid reasons for not fearing men. He is not just giving that command bluntly, but negating every “but,” every excuse, reason, and objection, so forcefully driving this point as to leave no room for fear. No objection can stand. No matter what circumstances, whatever reasons, what persecution comes your way, or what happens to you, these reasons are adequate for you not to fear. “I am ordering this as God Almighty, God who has all authority in heaven and earth.” Three times commanding you not to fear men and giving three undeniable reasons. Don’t be afraid! If we rightly grasp these reasons and deeply meditate on them, the Holy Spirit should remove all fear of men from our hearts, because this is what removed the fear of men from the cowardly apostles and all the men who stood boldly for the gospel in all church history.
We have looked at two reasons.
1. Gospel Truth Will Be Vindicated Openly (v. 26-27)
The number one reason we shouldn’t fear but boldly proclaim the gospel is because gospel truth will be vindicated openly. You see that in verse 26: “Therefore do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.”
It is a kind of proverb, and Jesus uses it in other places. It simply means this: God’s truth will not always be hidden but, without fail, it will be proved and triumph openly and powerfully. Only truth will win. Today when you share God’s truth of the gospel, men, blinded by Satan, may not listen to you, think you are a fool, you have evil motives, your head is spoiled, or that you are doing wrong. They may not believe, reject, or ignore, but the day will come when the truth will be openly proved and vindicated. Truth will win openly. Most of the time, either by God’s providential working in the circumstances of that person’s life—some incident where they realize how true what you preached, and that may lead to their conversion—or, finally, at the Day of Judgment, the truth about Jesus Christ and the gospel will be vindicated openly. It will not be hidden; the message of the gospel cannot and will not be covered over or hidden. Men cannot suppress it forever. World history is nothing but the vindication of God’s Word. The unchanging truths of Scripture continue to be regularly vindicated openly.
This truth will ultimately win, and the children of truth who faithfully preached will be eternally rewarded and vindicated. We should labor for the gospel with that long-term perspective. We saw how Paul says we do not lose heart because of this. So don’t be afraid to speak. This is the truth that is going to win ultimately, and those who preach this are going to be eternally rewarded.
So, if you realize that, grasp this perspective, and we will tell this message to everyone as much as possible. Verse 27: “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.”
What He, as it were, tells us in the night hours (when few people are around) we are to speak in the daylight hours (when the crowds are awake and going about their business). What He, as it were, whispers in our ear (which is what is implied by the fact that it is spoken into only one ear) we are to broadcast loudly from the public places (where everyone can hear it). “Housetops” meaning all public platforms. We have to publicly announce it on every public platform—in our streets, offices, at our homes. Make it as public as possible. Ideally, this is the most hot news, the most relevant news, the winning news. Proclaim it on the housetops, meaning on social media, YouTube, all TV channels, newspapers—all public places we must announce it because this is the only truth that will triumph and be vindicated openly. Every other thing is negligible compared to this. You have to yell and tell everyone. We’ve got to get out of our little room comfortable church. Go out and talk to all the public we see. We can’t be standing around telling each other we need to get saved, when we’ve already been saved for years. We’ve got to go where they are.
Now, you say if you do that, though, boy, that’s going to be a little scary because people are going to react. “I am afraid I am going to be hit, and attacked, or even killed.” Here you are again falling into the fear of men. Is not the fear of men hindering you to publicly talk about the gospel truth which everyone needs to know? The answer to that fear comes in the next verse.
2. Fear God Alone, Not Men (v. 28)
“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.”
The second reason you should not fear but proclaim the gospel with gospel courage is: Fear God alone; then you will not fear men.
Two kinds of fear: the fear of men is forbidden. The worst they can do is kill only the body. What happens then? It sends you to heaven. The reason we fear men is because we don’t have enough fear of God. If we fear God enough and realize what power He has to punish us, that will help us overcome the fear of men. As someone has very well put it, we all have a choice: “Fear God or fear everything!” All neurotic and soul-damaging fears that we can ever have will ultimately come from just one thing: a failure to fear God first! Fear God, and you’ll never have a reason to fear anything or anyone else. Fear is what you feel when your greatest values are threatened. What is valuable for us? Just this earthly life, or our eternal soul?
We looked at what God can do to our body and soul in hell. He is not saying a true believer will go to hell for failing to proclaim the gospel. Verse 33 says, “Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven.” If you live a life of denying Christ, you demonstrate you don’t have true faith. God could punish your soul and body in hell. That is what you should fear more than fearing what men can do to you. We looked at that verse in detail.
I was thinking about the terrorist attack last week. Adil Ahmad, a 20-year-old boy, took a Scorpio full of 350 KG explosives. I know it is a terrible incident. Our government should do something, and we all should condemn it. But from the boy’s angle, what gave him that boldness? He says in a video: “By the time this video reaches you, I will be enjoying in heaven.” His young mind was so brainwashed with demonic teaching. To kill, they have so much boldness and faith. To save eternal souls, how much bolder we should be! What if we die in that effort as a martyr? Revelation shows they have a great place in heaven.
Let us move to the third reason why we should not fear men.
The first reason you don’t have to be afraid is that the truth will be proved and vindicated. The second reason is that fear of men shows you don’t fear God enough, and that is dangerous. Fear God alone; you will not fear anything.
3. God’s Great Providential Care for You (v. 29-31)
The third reason for not fearing men is the great value God puts on you in His providential care. This is so beautiful. What a contrast between the second and third reasons! Who but Jesus would put back-to-back the fearfulness of God who destroys in hell, and the great tenderness of God who cares for the sparrows?
“29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
This is a beautiful truth about providence. The truth can give us strength and comfort in any difficult time. Last week was pretty difficult for me in terms of my daughter. I should tell you, this truth helped me to keep my calm and trust God, to go through it without any sin of complaining or murmuring, but to pleasantly endure all that. She had a fly bite her eye, and it got swollen; her beautiful face was so disfigured. I knew it was providence. Then, as she was drinking juice, she bit the glass, and glass pieces went inside. For a moment I was shocked, but later I kept calm. She fell, and her head got swollen. And then she had an upset stomach, a fever of 103, vomiting, and loose motions all night. I had to rush her to the hospital in the middle of the night several times and admit her for two days. She is still in the hospital. Generally, if not for the strength of this truth, my mind and heart would have been very distressed, but this truth—what peace it gives!
Our Lord uses that great doctrine of providence to help us overcome fear. These are so beautiful verses.
“Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion,” let’s just say it’s a penny, or for us, one rupee. Sparrows were two for a penny; they were little birds. Sparrows were among the common, cheap, humblest birds in Bible times. They were considered food for the poor, and because they were so cheap, the poor could offer them in sacrifice to the Lord if they couldn’t afford a lamb or a goat or a bull. The Lord’s parents did that. You could buy two sparrows for a penny. That’s pretty cheap by any standard. In fact, Luke says you can get five for two pennies. In other words, if you bought four, they’d throw one in for nothing. “Buy 4, get 1 free.” They used to roast them. They were very common, and millions of them were flying everywhere. You might even enjoy watching them, but you probably don’t keep track of every landing! But the Father does!
See verse 29: “Not one of them falls on the ground without your Father knowing it,” and caring about it is implied. You mean, God cares about a two-for-a-penny bird? He cares so much. It falls, maybe falls and dies. He knows when every sparrow falls and dies. God has got a list of the dead birds. But this verse is saying much more than God knows the sparrow when it falls; the sparrow cannot and will not fall apart from the Father’s will. Apart from His divine permission. It’s not as if sparrows fall at random from the trees and God takes note when it happens. The sparrow falls because God willed it to fall, and if He didn’t, the sparrow would never fall to the ground. This is a high view of God’s involvement in the tiny and seemingly insignificant details of the universe. He knows. And some Greek texts indicate that the word “fall” may even mean “hop.” Oh, you say, wait a minute. Birds hop all the time. That’s right. They hop all the time. God knows when they hop and they stop hopping. Nothing happens in the most simple, insignificant element of life, cheap little nothing birds. God knows and has willed it, and it happens according to His purpose. Even small things.
The sparrows fall according to the Father’s will. As the great confessions tell us, all things take place according to the counsel and decree of Almighty God. There is a very real sense in which everything in the universe must fit into God’s ultimate plan somehow. Even the falling of the sparrow is part of God’s providential oversight of the universe. This applies even to the fear we face when persecuted; nothing will happen to us when we preach the gospel that is not willed by the Father, so do not fear.
The mention of the word “Father” makes it very tender, loving, and very personal. Not just “Father,” but “your Father,” He knows. The argument goes like this: Sparrows are of very little value; nevertheless, God concerns Himself so much with their existence that not one falls and ever dies apart from His will; you are of more value than many sparrows; therefore, God will much more concern Himself with you so that nothing befalls you apart from His gracious will. The reason we know God’s will for us is gracious is that He is called our Father.
What a picture of the sovereign care of the Father this is! If He cares about the sparrows, how much more does He care about what happens to you and me? How much more valuable and precious are we to Him than they?
The Ultimate Proof of God’s Intimate Care (v. 30)
The high value we are to Him is seen in the next verse: Verse 30, “And the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” What a beautiful and wonderfully rich verse!
We say we believe in providence, that He controls the smallest things to the biggest things. Everything is in the divine purpose and has been ordered by the divine wisdom; all the events of your life. Nothing happens in the smallest thing without the Father’s will. Look at how minute the level providence goes to.
The Lord says even the hairs on your head are foreordained, and each hair’s falling is foreordained and controlled by providence. The hairs of your head will not fall without divine permission.
Do you know that the average person has about 140,000 hairs per head? Some of us may be messing that average. And it doesn’t say that God counts them; He numbers them. Each one has its own number. He actually identifies every hair on your head. We may be concerned about how much hair remains on our head in general, but we certainly don’t have figures on how many hairs are there! But our Father does!
We see the minuteness of foreordination, not just in big things, but even in the hairs of our head. The verb is in the perfect tense, suggesting that the very hairs of your head have been all numbered before the worlds were made.
You see the great infinite love and care of the Father. They are all numbered. Who numbered them, with so many hairs, on so many heads? This numbering is done by your Father Himself, who is in heaven. This shows what a full knowledge God has of each one of His children. We can conclude: “There is better care taken of me by this minute providence than I can take care of myself.” Which of you ever took so much care of himself as to count the hairs of his own head? God will not only protect our limbs, but even the outgrowth of hair is to be seen after! Nothing will fall without a purpose. This excels all the care of our most tender friends! A careful mother notices the slightest cough or weakness in her child, but even a great mother has never thought of numbering the hairs of her child’s head. But our God is more careful of us than a mother with her child—so careful that He numbers the hairs of our head! How safe we are, then, beneath the providential hand of God! What can men do to us? Why are we afraid?
See His knowledge about us and detailed study of us, as if His eternal mind had no object of consideration but you only. The omniscience of God is as if concentrated only on me. How it should astonish us that the Lord knows us at this moment so intimately as to count every hair of our heads! God knows us better than we know ourselves. It seems to me as meaning a very, very, very intimate, tender, and affectionate knowledge of us, and the fact that the Lord thus graciously looks upon us should fill us with joy and remove fears from our heart.
This careful, tender knowledge on God’s part is constant. Jesus says that the very hairs of our head are all numbered, and what’s marvelous is that He uses a tense of the verb that suggests that the number is continually updated. He is saying that the very hairs of your head are continually being numbered! If you were to pull out a hair right now, the stats concerning the hairs on your head would all be updated! That’s how closely the Father watches over you and me.
Does it not suggest an infinite love, affection, and charmingly tender knowledge is intended when we are told that the Lord counts the very hairs of our heads? Does it not intimate how much He thinks of us? God goes beyond motherly care of us, strikingly minute in its thoughtfulness.
Does it not imply a very sympathetic care? When one watches over a sick child, every little fact about it is known and noted. God is infinitely careful and kind towards us, for He knows when we have lost a hair from our head. He knows when they turn white with grief or age.
If even the falling of the hair will not happen without Him, He must without ceasing watch all the processes which even in the least manner affect our lives. So intimate is His knowledge of us that our lying down and our rising up, our thoughts and our ways, are all continually before Him.
Not only knowledge, but how much value He places on us. We are exceedingly precious to the Lord. If you sold a jeweler’s shop, you would count all the small pins and all the diamond rings, because everything is precious there. God reckons everything about His people to be so precious that He even takes stock of the hairs of their heads. How precious in the sight of the Master His saints are! If their body is so much valuable and worth so much that the Lord Jesus Christ died to redeem even our body, who can tell what their souls are worth? They are worth more than all the worlds put together.
Mainly, the context emphasizes preservation. See how carefully God intends to preserve His own people, since He begins by counting the hairs of their heads. None of the people of God shall suffer in the long run the smallest loss for the gospel. In the same context, Luke 21:18 says, “There shall not a hair of your head perish,” said Christ to His believing people. He makes the promise of such complete protection that there shall not a hair of their head perish.
The Courage-Giving Conclusion
So there are three things that should remove the fear of men from our hearts: 1) God knows us perfectly; 2) God governs our lives and the world minutely; 3) God cares for us with fatherly concern beyond any other.
In a typical literary device, Jesus goes from the lesser to the greater to underscore the third realization of why we should not fear as Christians on mission. Therefore, fear not because your Father will not let anything happen to you apart from His gracious will.
The logic of Jesus is plain and precious. Verse 31: “You are of more value than many sparrows.” The courage-giving conclusion: No harm will befall you but what God mercifully wills. As the young missionary Henry Martyn said, “If [God] has work for me to do, I cannot die.”
The point is, if God is concerned about little insignificant birds, and God is concerned about numbering and knowing the hairs of your head, don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many little birds and than a whole lot of hair. You’re never going to get into a situation where God can’t sustain you in that situation.
Don’t fear to speak the truth, but be courageous and speak clearly and openly because God is giving close and intimate attention to all you do. There is nothing that can happen to you that will ever be outside of His constant care and supervision for you. You are unspeakably precious to Him, and He will never allow anything to fall upon you that doesn’t pass His divine approval first.
When you face persecution for the gospel, don’t think God is far from you, never doubt His care, or think He doesn’t know what you are going through, or is disinterested in you or unfamiliar with your plight. He is close enough to separate one hair from another and give each one a number. Fear not; He is close; He is interested; He cares. Be of good courage and speak the truth come what may.
Whatever losses we may face for the gospel, it is all decreed in the providence of God for a divine purpose. God will ultimately set that right and will reward us a hundred times. If persecution should come, it cannot really be a big loss. When God’s people pass through the fires of persecution, they shall not be losers; there is a great reward. Even if you die, they shall win the martyr’s palm and crown, which shall make them glorious forever. Therefore, fear nothing. Nothing shall by any means harm you; in the end your sufferings shall be your enrichment.
Application to Christian Living
This truth should be a guide to so many aspects of our life. Every detail in our life is all ordained by God, our Father, who loves and aims for our greatest good. What comfort and calm it brings! Nothing is insignificant to our God!
- Motivation for Holiness of Life in Small Matters: So intimate is His knowledge of us. Every word, thought, and act is observed by God. Who will dare to trifle with the Lord God so near? What perfect consecration ought we to maintain! If God so values me, so knows me, that He counts the very hairs of my head, ought I not to give to God my whole self even to the minutest detail?
- Submission in Small Matters of Life: If it is so that all things in my life are ordered of God, even to the hairs of my head, then let me learn submission. Let me bow before the Supreme Will which ought to have its way. Though it cost me many a tear and many a pang, yet will I never be content until I can say, ‘Father, Your will be done.'” Whatever happens in our life is all in providence. Like Job, who ascribed all his afflictions to the Lord: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
- Encouragement for Prayer Life: That gives us encouragement to pray about even the mundane things of life, knowing that nothing is beyond the scope of His eye and power and concern. Every detail is important because life is made up of endless details. If God cares for the tiniest details, does He not have greater care for you? So do not fear. Rest in His goodness, wisdom, strength, and might.
We have looked at three reasons not to fear men. You, as My disciple, as you go representing Me and preaching My gospel, you may face persecution. How are you going to react to that? Are you going to be afraid? You don’t need to. Fear of men will not allow you to do anything for the gospel and will paralyze you. Do not fear:
- Because truth will be proved openly. You’ll be vindicated in the end and have an eternal reward if you have an eternal perspective.
- Because if you fear men, you show you don’t fear God. So fear God alone; that will remove all fear of men.
- Because if you understand how highly He values you in His providential care, you won’t be afraid of what they can do to you.
When we have the right values and priorities in life, these are great reasons to overcome the fear of men in our lives. So I appeal to you, don’t yield to the spirit of the age. Love the truth. What you learn of Christ in the closet, speak in the light. What you hear in the Scriptures, proclaim from the housetops. And do not fear the face of any man.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 