Joy Born at Bethlehem by Charles Spurgeon

Author:Charles Spurgeon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2013-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

God Incarnate, the End of Fear

December 23rd, 1866

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not.”—Luke 2:10

No sooner did the angel of the Lord appear to the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shine round about them, than they were sore afraid. It had come to this, that man was afraid of his God, and when God sent down his loving messengers with tidings of great joy, men were filled with as much fright as though the angel of death had appeared with uplifted sword. The silence of night and its dreary gloom caused no fear in the shepherds’ hearts, but the joyful herald of the skies, robed in mildest glories of grace, made them sore afraid. We must not condemn the shepherds on this account as though they were peculiarly timid or ignorant, for they were only acting as every other person in that age would have done under the same circumstances. Not because they were simple shepherds were they amazed with fear, but it is probable that if they had been well-instructed prophets they would have displayed the same feeling; for there are many instances recorded in Scripture, in which the foremost men of their time trembled and felt a horror of great darkness when special manifestations of God were vouchsafed to them. In fact, a slavish fear of God was so common, that a tradition had grown out of it, which was all but universally received as nothing less than truth. It was generally believed that every supernatural manifestation was to be regarded as a token of speedy death. “We shall surely die because we have seen God” was not only Manoah’s conclusion, but that of most men of his period. Few indeed were those happy minds who, like Manoah’s wife, could reason in a more cheerful style, “If the Lord had meant to destroy us he would not have shewed us such things as these.” It became the settled conviction of all men, whether wise or simple, whether good or bad, that a manifestation of God was not so much to be rejoiced in as to be dreaded; even as Jacob said, “How dreadful is this place! it is none other but the house of God.” Doubtless the spirit which originated this tradition was much fostered by the legal dispensation, which is better fitted for trembling servants than for rejoicing sons. It was of the bondwoman, and it gendered into bondage. The solemn night in which its greatest institution was ordained was a night of trembling, death was there in the slaughter of the lamb; blood was there sprinkled on a conspicuous part of the house; fire was there to roast the lamb, all the emblems of judgment were there to strike the mind with awe. It was at the dread hour of midnight when the solemn family conclave was assembled, the door being shut; the guests themselves standing in an uneasy attitude, and awestricken, for their hearts could hear the wings of the destroying angel as he passed by the house.

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