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The Differences Between Faith and Fear - 1

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• Numbers chapter 13. Fourth book in the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Numbers 13. We're going to read verses 1 through 3. We will be reading other passages. And I would encourage you in the next couple of weeks to read over this passage, these two chapters, several times. I want to begin a message today which I have entitled, The Differences Between Faith and Fear. And I'm going to be giving you three differences, one today and one each for the next two Lord's Days. So, Numbers chapter 13, let's look at verses 1 through 3.

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• "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them. And Moses, by the commandment of the Lord, sent them from the wilderness of Paran. All those men were heads of the children of Israel."

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• Now, I want to emphasize one truth today. If you'll look in verse 2 again, he said, "...send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel." And then verses 3 through 15, each of these men are named. And of course in verse 16, these are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Jehoshua.

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• So the difference is between faith and fear. It may surprise you to discover that there are more references or more passages in the Bible dealing with fear than with faith. It is absolutely natural for man to fear, but it is supernatural to exercise faith. God must give us faith. Faith is His gift. God must enable us to exercise faith. You have to remember that passage in John 15 where our Lord said it very plainly, without me you can do how much? Nothing. Without me, you can do nothing. Exercising faith is something. So without Him, we cannot even do that. Usually, the first response to an unknown is fear. That's just our first response. You get a phone call in the middle of the night, one, two, or three o'clock in the morning, and that phone wakes you and rattles you up, and it's ringing, and the very first thing you think of is, oh no, you know, something has happened. And that's just absolutely natural. We are told in 1 John 4 and verse 18, listen carefully, there is no fear in love.

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• But perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. So there is no fear in love. But just as God's love casts out fear, equally does faith cast out fear. So faith and fear cannot coexist. Faith and fear cannot abide together. Fear has torment, and faith does not. Faith rests in peace.

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• Now, our Lord said to His disciples, when they were fearful because of the storm, He said in Mark 4 and verse 40, "Why are you so fearful? Have you no faith?" In other words, if you're fearful, you're not exercising faith. If you're exercising faith, then you're not fearful. So faith is absolutely vital and necessary to the child of God. And you have to understand, without faith, we certainly would not be children of God at all. But moreover, the Bible tells us in Hebrews 11, verse 6, that, "but without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him." Moreover, the Bible tells us that as children of faith, that we are to live by faith. There are a multitude of passages, but another truth is that we must not only live by faith, we must fight our battles by faith.

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• In 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 8 and 9, the Word of God says this, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith." And then he goes on to say, "knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." So the Bible then teaches us that we are not only saved by faith, but that we are to live by faith. And the Bible also teaches us this, that the just shall live by faith. And then he also says in Galatians 3 and verse 11 and Habakkuk 2 and verse 4, the just shall live by his faith. So we live by faith, we walk by faith.

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• Let me just give you one very important and vital principle. It's found in Romans 14 and verse 23. When you study Romans chapter 14, you will find a parallel passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 8. And there the Apostle Paul is dealing with meat that is sold in the shambles, or meat that has been sacrificed to an idol. And he's basically saying there's nothing wrong with the meat. The meat hasn't changed. And an idol is absolutely nothing. But then he goes on to say that some with conscience still eat in reference to that idol. And so he's telling people, you know, you've got to be absolutely sure in your convictions. And he says this in verse 23, now listen carefully. "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat," or he is condemned if he eat, "because he eateth not of faith." Then the latter part is this, "for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." So whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So here's the principle.

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• If you cannot do something in absolute good conscience, giving honor and glory to God, then do not do it. Because whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So that which you cannot do, in good conscience, in obedience to God, do not do it, because you cannot do it in faith. A good illustration is found in Proverbs 21, verse 4. There the Bible says, "a high look and a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked is sin."

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• Now, I want you to stop and think about that. We understand a high look, an arrogant, haughty attitude. We understand a proud heart. But then he goes on to say, "the plowing of the wicked is sin." When you stop and remember that God has commanded man to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, so basically God has commanded man to work. Then you have to ask, is work in itself a sin?

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• And of course the answer is obviously no. So that follows then with the next question, how then can work be sin? If God has commanded us to do it. And the answer is, if it's done without faith. Because the unbeliever does not plow in faith. He plows in unbelief. So that's why he said, even the plowing of the wicked is sin. For whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So, fear is absolutely not in the essence of faith. Fear has nothing to do with faith. In fact, I'm going to say it is the opposite of faith. And the scripture tells us that fear has torment. And he that fears is not exercising faith.

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• Now, let me make a statement. And before I finish this brief series, I'm going to show it to you from the Bible. And it may shock you when I make this statement, but here it is. Fear is the foundation of rebellion. Fear is the foundation of rebellion. I want you to hold Numbers chapter 13, but flip back in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Exodus. Genesis, Exodus, Exodus chapter 14. And I want you to notice what Moses said to the Israelites when he's trying to quell their anxiousness and their fear. Notice in Exodus chapter 14, and you have to remember what is happening, they are hemmed in now by the wilderness, the Red Sea is in front of them, and Pharaoh and his host are hot on their tracks. Pharaoh's coming, and they are absolutely scared to death. In Exodus 14 in verse 13, "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more for ever."

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• "The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." Now I like to paraphrase this where everybody can really understand it. Here's what Moses said. Just shut up and trust God. Basically, that's what he said. Quit bellyaching. Fear not. God is going to take care of the situation. So actually, what he is saying is, have no fear.

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• On the other hand, you are to have faith. And of course, God, of course, did indeed take care of the situation. But note what he said. He said, "fear not, and stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." I believe that some of the plainest and clearest differences between faith and fear is given to us in the book of Numbers chapter 13 and 14.

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• Now, before I even begin the message, I want to tell you a truth that I have probably enunciated many times here before but I'm gonna call your attention to it. I want you to listen to it carefully what I'm going to say. Usually someone will say when you're preaching that's in the Old Testament, "Yeah, we have one Bible, not two. We have one God, not two." And the Old Testament is just as much the Word of God as the New Testament. Now listen to me carefully. In Romans 15 verse 4, the Apostle Paul said this, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime," he's talking about the Old Testament, "for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might have hope." I don't know how much plainer it can get. What was written before time was written for us.

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• If you will turn in your Bibles very quickly to 1 Corinthians 10. Let me show you. 1 Corinthians 10. And if you try to say, well, it doesn't matter what happened to Israel in the Old Testament, then you're going to be in direct conflict with the Word of God. Because God does say, it does matter. So, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1, look what he says.

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• "Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant." By the way, I don't want you to be ignorant either. I don't want to be ignorant. So, Paul says, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." So you have Christ in the Old Testament, now watch, "but with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness."

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• Now look at verse 6, "Now these things," that is everything that happened to Israel and those people, "now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted." So he says, here's your example of something to avoid. Do not act like these people. Note, if you would, in verse 7, "Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." So here are two passages in the New Testament that say very clearly that everything in the Old Testament is for our admonition and for our learning and for our examples and we are to learn from them.

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• We can go back to Numbers chapter 13 and we can now begin to learn the differences between faith and fear. So let me call your attention again to verses 1 and 2. Okay? I'm going to emphasize one truth today. He said, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel." Now, let me give you the context. We're going to be looking at it in just a moment. But in this passage, God told Moses to choose twelve men, heads of each of the tribes. Send them to search out the land. And there were ten men chosen. As you know, Joshua and Caleb were the only two that came back and brought an honest and true report. The other ten spies brought back an evil and an untrue report.

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• So let me put it like this. Two of the twelve walked in faith. Ten of the twelve walked in fear. That's probably about the same ratio that we have today, even among professing Christians. Most Christians live a life of absolute horror and absolute fear, which is ridiculous. But that's exactly what has happened.

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• Now, let me give you the one point that I'm going to emphasize today and show it to you over and over, okay? Here it is. Faith regards the promises of God. And fear disregards the promises of God. So let me say it one more time. Faith regards or thinks highly of God's promises, where fear disregards and disrespects the promises of God. Now, God had promised to give them this land. And He said in verse 2, "that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel." You know from reading your Bible that God first gave this promise to Abraham, then to Isaac, and then to Jacob, and now it is passed down to these people. So, before I show it to you in the Scripture, let me emphasize this again. Faith regards the promises of God. Fear disregards the promises of God. In fact, let me go further, fear actually reverses the promises of God. Fear forgets, denies, and despises the promises of God. Fear actually lies against God. God had promised to bring these people into a land that flowed with milk and honey.

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• So if you'll look in Numbers chapter 13, beginning there with verse 23, you're going to find a true and accurate account of the land. Look in verse 23. "And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. And the place was called the brook of Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came into

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• the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it." Now God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey. I like grapes, I like figs, and I have seen plenty of clusters of grapes, and I've seen some very nice clusters of grapes. But I've never in my entire life seen a cluster of grapes so huge that two men had to bear it on a staff. So that was some cluster of grapes. Obviously, here is the good land. Now, look back to Exodus chapter 3. Second book there, Exodus chapter 3 and verse 8. I want you to see just this passage because God has promised to bring them into such a land. He gives them word in Exodus 3 and verse 8. He sent Moses and he said, "I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;

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• unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites." Now skip down, if you would please, to verse 17. Again, he says the same thing. Watch verse 17. "And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey."

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• So here are a few questions. Number one, does fear brand God as a liar? Does fear disbelieve God's promises? Is fear actually the foundation of rebellion? Well, let's look back in Numbers 13 at now the report of the ten. If you'll look in Numbers 13, beginning there with verse 31, and we'll look more in this report next week, but look in verse 31. "But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against this people; for they are stronger than we."

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• "And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature." Now listen, it's a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. Let me ask you a question. How could they truthfully say that when they brought back all the fruits of the land and said, here it is right in front of you?

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• Now just stop and think what is going on at this particular point. God had promised to bring them to a land that's flowing with milk and honey. Now the ten spies said, God lied to us. He deceived us. This is not a land flowing with milk and honey. This is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. If we go there, we'll die. Wow. So here's what is happening. These ten spies are despising the promises of God. Now, do not limit the despisement of this promise just to the ten spies.

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• If you do, it's because you haven't read far enough. So if you look in Numbers chapter 14, just look at verse 31. Numbers 14, verse 31. Look what God says to them. "But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised." So it was not just the spies that despised the land, it was the people as well. Now, look in verse 34, Numbers 14, verse 34. Watch. This is amazing. He says, "After the number of the days in which you searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my breach of promise." Now, God said, you're going to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, a year for a day. And then He said, "you shall know My breach of promise." This phrase in verse 34, "and you shall know My breach of promise," actually means, listen carefully, alienation from, opposition to, and enmity or strong hatred against my promise.

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• How did they breach God's promise? And that is, they were opposed to it. They were alienated from it. They hated it. They despised it. Now, if you will turn right over to Numbers chapter 20, again, you're going to see how they are despising God's promise. Watch carefully how they complained to Moses again. Numbers chapter 20 beginning there in verse 1. "Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month:

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• and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?

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• And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink." Wow. What are they saying? Moses, you and Aaron lied to us. God lied to us. Everybody lied to us. You're a liar. If you would turn right over to Psalm 106. Psalm 106.

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• And I want you to look at verse 24. If we had time to read all of Psalm 106, you would see how the people continually provoke God. In fact, let me just show you. Let's look in verse 13. Psalm 106, verse 13. Watch carefully. "They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: but lusted exceedingly." Verse 16, "They envied Moses also in the camp." Verse 19, "They made a calf in Horeb." Verse 21, "They forgat God their saviour." Keep going, and then when you get down to verse 24, the Bible says this, "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word." So here's what they're doing. They're disbelieving, and they're despising the Word of God because they are fearful and not moving in faith.

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• They believed not His word. So here's what they're doing. They're disbelieving, and they're despising the Word of God because they are fearful and not moving in faith.

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• Now, I want to lay something out for you. Look in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11. I want to show you the difference between faith and fear. And here's the very first one that I'm emphasizing, that faith regards the promises of God, and fear disregards the promises of God. So, if you look in Hebrews 11 verse 1, God gives us a definition of faith. He basically tells us what faith is. So, Hebrews 11 verse 1, He says this, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

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• Now think about that just for a moment. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We must understand that faith is not some nebulous, abstract thing that might exist somewhere in a vacuum or it's floating around somewhere in the universe and somehow, some way, somebody grabs a little piece of faith. No. No, not at all. The scripture tells us that faith has a substance. Faith has an evidence. The Greek word for substance is hypostasis. Hupostasis.

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• You say, doesn't mean anything to me. I don't know Greek. Well, everybody's heard of hyperthyroidism, which means your thyroid is overactive. And then there's a hypothyroidism, which means it's underactive. Actually, the word hupo comes from the Greek word hupo, which literally means "under." And it's translated in our Bible, hupostasis, as confidence, as confident, and as substance. This word is a compound word and actually means a foundation or literally a firm foundation, something that has an actual existence or substance. The word literally means a thing put under such as a substructure or a foundation. So if you look in verse 1, he says this, "now faith is the confidence," or faith is the foundation of things hoped for. Now, faith then has a foundation. What is the foundation? The foundation is the Word of God. Listen to me. If one does not believe the Word of God, it is impossible to have faith. Biblical faith does not and cannot exist apart from the Word of God. Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."

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• It is true that God sovereignly gives faith. Faith is His gift. But God has also ordained that its origin and its increase be by the Word of God. Those who do not believe the Word of God, let me put it more specifically, those who do not believe the promises of God cannot possibly exercise faith. At least they cannot exercise biblical faith.

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• Now, look back in verse 1, "now faith is the substance" or the foundation or the confidence "of the things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And the word evidence there is elegchos, and it literally means a proof, or that by which a thing is proved or tested. He says, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, right before Matthew. Look in Malachi chapter 3, and I want to show you something.

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• Here's a passage about testing God. Now, please remember, if you would please, that the word tempt in the Bible, "thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," Genesis 22, "now it came to pass that God did tempt Abraham," then you get to James, "let no man say when he's tempted, I'm tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." When you look at the word tempt in the Bible, peirasmos is the Greek word. When you look at that word tempt, it has a good connotation and a bad connotation. The good connotation just simply means to test or to try. The bad connotation would be to seduce or entice someone to evil or to sin. Okay? When the Bible says, "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man," God is not enticing any man to sin, neither can man entice God to sin. When the Bible says, "now it came to pass that God did tempt Abraham," Genesis 22, it's God did test him.

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• That's when he told him to offer up Isaac. Okay?

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• Now, I said that to show you this. Look in Malachi chapter 3 and verse 10. In fact, let's begin with verse 8 so you can see the context. Malachi 3 verse 8, "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me." God says, you've robbed me. "But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." They refuse to give God his tithes and offerings. Now watch what he said in verse 10. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts,

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• if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Now, look at verse 10. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me." The word prove means to test me, to try me. "Herewith saith the Lord of hosts, If I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." So, what our Lord said, "thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." He is saying that we're not to do anything that would challenge God. And yet here, in verse 10, our Lord said, here's a way that you can test me. Here's a way that you can prove me. Here's a way that you could try me. What way is that? It is the way of obedience.

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• That's what he's getting on to them for. That is their disobedience. And God says, because of your disobedience, you're cursed with a curse.

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• Now, he said, if you want to prove me and to prove my blessings, obey me, and I'll open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you will not be able to receive. So, the word prove literally means to test or try, and obedience to God is the way to prove God's veracity and the accuracy of His promises. I tell people, sometimes I get exasperated, sometimes I get tickled. That's what you and I would call armchair quarterbacks.

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• Now, I don't watch football, you know. I don't even have a TV. You can't watch it. I've never cared for any sport that had a ball in it. I just don't. But, you know, an armchair quarterback sits there and he says, boy, I don't believe that. If I had been there, I would have done something different. I would have done it this way. We always second guess everybody and everything, you know. And I've had people try to tell me, you can't trust the Bible or this is not true. Listen, I've done this for over 50 years. I know it is true. I know it has been proved in my life. Don't sit there and tell me that something is not true when I have lived my entire life and have proven it is true. And I've proven it over and over and over.

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• So this is what God is saying. If you want to test me, if you want to try me, the way to do it is by obedience to my word. May I remind you of a passage in Psalm 138 in verse 2, where David said, "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." So God's Word cannot fail, because if it does fail, then God's not God. Moreover, when you get to Hebrews chapter 6, God there swore with an oath. And he said, the oath is the end of all arguments. Moreover, he said, here is another immutable truth, God cannot lie. So we have this. Now, in light of that, I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians and look at chapter 1 and verse 20. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 20. So we're talking about faith now regarding the promise of God. Fear disregards it. Watch what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 20.

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• First, I'm sorry, it's 2nd Corinthians. 2nd Corinthians 1, verse 20. 2nd Corinthians 1, and verse 20. Look what the scripture says. In this passage, he says, "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." Now watch that. "For all the promises of God," not some of them, but all the promises of God are in Jesus Christ, yea, and in Him, Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now, I'm not going to take time to preach another message that I preached many, many, many years ago, but let me just say something about Amen. Probably most of you know that the word Amen means verily, verily, truly, truly, or so be it, so be it. But what many people do not know is that one of the names of Jesus Christ in the Bible is the Amen. He is the Amen, the faithful and true witness. So, if Steve, while I'm preaching, and I say something, and Steve says, Amen! When Steve says that, he's doing two things.

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• Number one, he's agreeing with me, that what I'm saying is true. Number two, he's calling Jesus Christ, who is the Amen and faithful and true witness, to verify and to testify that what I am saying is his word and is his truth. Wow. All the promises in him are yea and amen to the glory of God the Father. Now, that means this, that all of the promises were true, they still are true, and they are valid to us today for Jesus Christ confirmed them.

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• Now, if you want to just look back a few pages to Romans, back up 1 Corinthians to Romans 15, and look at this verse, Romans 15 and verse 8. Look at it. Romans 15, verse 8. Paul says, "Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." Jesus Christ confirmed them. That is why all the promises in him are yea and amen. Jesus Christ is proof that the promises of God are true and real and accurate.

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• And there was a woman by the name of Eliza E. Hewitt, H-E-W-I-T-T, who wrote a beautiful hymn. It's one of my favorites. The title of it is, My Faith Has Found a Resting Place. If I could sing, I would sing it to you, but I will read it to you. "My faith has found a resting place, not in device or creed. I trust the everliving one.

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• His wounds for me shall plead." And then the chorus goes like this: "I need no other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me." The second stanza is this: "Enough for me that Jesus saves, this ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul I came to him, he'll never cast me out. My heart is leaning on the word, the living word of God, salvation by my Savior's name, salvation through his blood." And then the last stanza: "My great physician heals the sick, the lost he came to save. For me his precious blood he shed, for me his life he gave." Now, every stanza of that hymn is true. Every stanza is real. So here's my question. Where did Eliza derive the words of that hymn? Where did she derive these truths and these facts? And the answer is from the Word of God.

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• Now, listen to me carefully. If you understand that Jesus Christ came to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, that means everything in the Old Testament. And all the promises of God are in Him, yea and amen to the glory of God. Then you have to understand, listen carefully, that the promises of God, which are revealed in His Word, which is the totality of it, is the foundation of our faith. If you destroy the foundation, you destroy the building upon the foundation. And the foundation sinks, and all of the house is gone. That is why there are so many people that are attacking the Word of God. That is why these people in the Old Testament were living in fear and refused to believe the Word of God by their lives, by their actions, and sometimes by their words.

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• They were effectively calling God a liar and saying He was not bringing them into the land flowing with milk and honey. Many people today who even profess to be Christians are unbelievers in that sense of the word because they live in fear instead of living in faith. You know, I never want to do something foolish, and I certainly don't want to do anything stupid. But I will tell you, recently there were seven tornadoes not far from us, and it was bad weather. You know what I did? I prayed.

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• I asked the Lord for protection, and I laid down and went to sleep. That was it. You say, what if a tornado came by and threw a tree down on your house and killed you? What could I have done about it? I could not have stopped it. You see what I'm saying? I can just trust the Lord and go to sleep and understand that when I die, it's my time to die. And I'm going to die in faith, believing, but I'm not going to die in fear and I'm not going to sit up all night twiddling my thumbs, listening to the weather report. You know, I'm just not going to do that. So, what does the Bible say?

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• The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 3 and verse 4 says, "God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar." You can't call God a liar. If you live in fear, you're calling God a liar. So, one may live in fear or one may live in faith. Fear has torment. Faith has peace. Fear is unbelief in practice. Faith is belief in practice. Faith believes God. Fear calls God a liar. Faith rests in God's promises. Fear rebels against God and denies His promises. Now, two quick applications. The first one is this. One of the greatest reasons to read and study and learn and know the Word of God and possess it is because of everything that God has revealed in His Word. You cannot know God's promises, nor can you know God's warnings apart from the written Word of God. It's impossible to claim a promise that you do not know. It is impossible to avoid a danger that you do not see. And it's impossible to heed a warning of which you are totally and completely ignorant.

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• The Word of God is filled with promises, warnings, and dangers, just like we read in 1 Corinthians 10. If faith is our foundation, if faith is that superstructure or the substructure upon which the superstructure is built, the foundation is only the beginning. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles to 2 Peter chapter 1. 2nd Peter, chapter 1. Hebrews, James, 1st Peter, 2nd Peter, chapter 1. And let's begin reading there with verse 3. 2nd Peter, chapter 1, verse 3. Watch carefully.

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• Here it is, plain and simple. 2nd Peter 1, verse 3. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."

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• So faith is the foundation. But we have to build upon that foundation virtue, and knowledge, and temperance, and patience, and godliness, and brotherly kindness, and charity. We have to add all of these things to faith. Let me go one other application, and that is this. It is the promises of God that lead us to holiness as well as to obedience, and enables us to escape the corruption of the world and the flesh. If you look back at 2nd Peter, notice even with 2nd Peter 1 in verse 4, he says, "whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these, by these promises, ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." And then in 2nd Corinthians 7 in verse 1 he says this, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Having therefore these promises. So you need to read 2 Corinthians 1-6 so you can find out what all these promises are.

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• These promises, he said, lead us to a life of holiness and obedience. So let me just boil it down to you. You can either live in fear or you can live in faith. It's very simple. Faith respects God's promises. Fear despises them. Stonewall Jackson, at the Battle of First Manassas, got a severe wound in his hand. A very painful wound. And yet he continued sitting on his horse commanding and directing the battle. After it was over, the battle was over, his wound was being attended, and Captain John Imboden came up to him and said, "Major Jackson," at that time I think, "how could you stand or sit on your horse so confidently in so much pain and in that hail of bullets raining around you, and

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• continue to command your men. How could you do that?" And Stonewall Jackson looked at him and he said, "Sir, God has appointed the time of my death. That is not my concern. My concern is to be ready for it whenever it may overtake me." And then he paused and said, "Captain Imboden, if all men believed that, then all men would be equally brave." And that's true. We can either live in fear or we can live in faith. Faith regards the promises of God.

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• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your promises. We thank You for Jesus Christ, who is the Amen, and the true and faithful witness. Help us, Lord, not to live in fear, but to live in faith. In Thy name we ask and pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T12:40:26Z