Isaiah 8:12-13 - Homiletics

The fear of man and the fear of God contrasted.

These two fears may be compared

I. IN THEIR GROUNDS . Our fear of man rests upon our apprehension of the power of man to do us hurt. Men may injure us

A certain fear of the supreme civil power in the state under which we live is natural and proper; it is one of the elements which bind society together, and could not cease to exist without disadvantage. Malefactors are restrained by it ( Romans 13:4 ); and even the mass of well-meaning men are strengthened in their good intentions by the knowledge that there is a human authority above them which notes their conduct and will punish any serious departure from the rules of right behavior. So far, then, the fear of man has a sound basis. We also naturally, and almost necessarily, fear our enemies, if they are powerful, whether public or private, our fear being proportional to our belief in their power and malignity. It is this ground of fear which is apt to be unduly influential upon us, from our exaggerated notions of what man is able to effect. We too often forget that man can do nothing but what God permits ( John 19:11 ), that he is absolutely impotent against God, who can shatter his designs, or strike him with sudden death at any moment. Again, we do not always bear in mind the fact that man can only injure us in respect of temporal things, his utmost punishment being to "kill the body," whereas God's power extends beyond the grave. The fear of God has for its ground a double apprehension or conviction:

These grounds are unassailable, and admit of no exaggeration, so that we cannot fear God too much, though we may fear him in a wrong way. If God's character be misconceived, if he be viewed as malignant or even as revengeful, then our fear of him, being based upon a Wrong ground, may lead us astray. Such was the δεισιδαιμονία of too many in the ancient world, whose deities were objects of fear, but not of love.

II. IN THEIR RESULTS . The fear of man has no good effect except upon evil-doers, and upon those who but for such fear might become evil-doers. These it may in some degree restrain. But if, so far, it may have a good result, it is apt in other ways to have results that are anything but good.

1. Fear of man causes the morally weak to follow the bad example of the wicked, who would otherwise ridicule or even persecute them.

2. Fear of man makes feeble and oppressed classes servile, untruthful, cowardly.

3. Fear of man induces many to keep back their honest convictions, and even applaud the evil courses which in their heart they condemn and dislike.

4. Fear of man has in some cases led to an absolute denial of God and of Christ, making men renegades to their religion, and professors of a creed which they detest.

5. On the other hand, fear of man may sometimes cause men to be hypocrites, to pretend to a faith and a piety which they do not possess, if those who have power over them require it. Hence the fear of man is so often condemned in Scripture ( Isaiah 35:4 ; Isaiah 51:7 ; Jeremiah 1:8 ; Ezekiel 3:9 ; Matthew 10:28 ; Luke 12:4 ; 1 Peter 3:14 , etc.).

The fear of God, if it be of the kind called above δεισιδαιμονία , may harden men in sin, or lead them to despair of God's mercy; but if it be the true fear of God, that is to say, if it have an element of love in it, the results cannot but be excellent.

1. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" ( Psalms 111:10 ); it restrains from evil in early life ( Proverbs 16:6 ); it deepens into awe as time goes on; it produces hatred of sin ( Proverbs 8:13 ); it becomes "a fountain of life" ( Proverbs 14:27 ).

2. They who grow up in the fear of God acquire a solidity and strength of character that nothing else can give; they have a firm foundation on which to rest; they "do not fear what flesh can do unto them" ( Psalms 56:4 ); they are truthful, manly, brave. And, further, they are reverent. The fear of God checks over-familiarity, begets reserve, produces silence. "Keep thy foot when thou goest into the house of God," etc. ( Ecclesiastes 5:1 , Ecclesiastes 5:2 ).

3. Though "perfect love casteth out fear" ( 1 John 4:18 ), yet "the fear of the Lord endureth forever" ( Psalms 19:9 ). There is no age, however advanced, that can dispense with it; for no man in this life is ever "perfect in love." The beloved apostle even represents the fear of God as continuing in heaven. They that stood on the sea of glass, having the harps of God, and sang the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, before God's throne, exclaimed, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name?" ( Revelation 15:2-4 ); and again, when the " great voice of much people was heard in heaven, saying, Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God, and the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen, Alleluia, a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye saints, and ye that fear him, both small and great" ( Revelation 19:1-5 ).