1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:02,320 We’re continuing our series that’s entitled 2 00:00:02,320 –> 00:00:05,640 take two the power of a fresh start 3 00:00:05,640 –> 00:00:08,200 and we’re learning God’s words to people 4 00:00:08,200 –> 00:00:11,320 who are on the verge of something new. 5 00:00:11,320 –> 00:00:13,360 We’re seeing that God gives to his people 6 00:00:13,360 –> 00:00:15,680 what it takes to break free 7 00:00:15,680 –> 00:00:19,400 from the ingrained and habitual patterns of the past 8 00:00:19,400 –> 00:00:21,040 and to find the courage 9 00:00:21,040 –> 00:00:23,500 to face the challenges of the future. 10 00:00:23,500 –> 00:00:24,760 And we’re finding that this book 11 00:00:24,760 –> 00:00:29,400 is speaking very powerfully and directly to us today. 12 00:00:29,500 –> 00:00:32,500 Last week we saw that in order to pursue 13 00:00:32,500 –> 00:00:35,200 the new life that God calls us to 14 00:00:35,200 –> 00:00:38,080 we need to own what is ours by nature. 15 00:00:38,080 –> 00:00:40,119 The bible calls that repentance 16 00:00:40,119 –> 00:00:43,320 and we need to own what is ours by grace 17 00:00:43,320 –> 00:00:46,759 and the bible calls that faith. 18 00:00:46,759 –> 00:00:48,759 Today we’re going to take the next step forward 19 00:00:48,759 –> 00:00:51,799 in what it means to enter in to something new 20 00:00:51,799 –> 00:00:55,200 to live a new life in Jesus Christ. 21 00:00:55,520 –> 00:00:57,279 I want to speak to you about this 22 00:00:57,279 –> 00:01:01,919 central subject of the place of fear 23 00:01:02,759 –> 00:01:04,720 in a godly life, you heard me right. 24 00:01:05,940 –> 00:01:10,940 The place of fear in a godly life. 25 00:01:12,199 –> 00:01:16,199 Cultivating the right kind of fear. 26 00:01:16,199 –> 00:01:18,639 Now will you look with me at Deuteronomy 5 27 00:01:18,639 –> 00:01:21,480 and verse 29, which is our key text 28 00:01:21,480 –> 00:01:24,720 in this passage of scripture today. 29 00:01:24,760 –> 00:01:28,800 God says, oh, that their hearts 30 00:01:28,800 –> 00:01:31,720 would be inclined to fear me. 31 00:01:31,720 –> 00:01:33,900 That’s what God says, 32 00:01:33,900 –> 00:01:36,239 and keep all my commands always 33 00:01:36,239 –> 00:01:40,440 so that it may go well with them 34 00:01:40,440 –> 00:01:44,760 and their children forever. 35 00:01:46,279 –> 00:01:49,080 You hear the passion of God in these words, 36 00:01:49,080 –> 00:01:53,260 oh, he says, that they would have a heart 37 00:01:53,260 –> 00:01:56,900 that is inclined to fear me. 38 00:01:56,900 –> 00:01:58,300 That’s what God says. 39 00:02:00,900 –> 00:02:03,099 Now, you know that children 40 00:02:03,099 –> 00:02:06,260 have an amazing capacity of memory, 41 00:02:06,260 –> 00:02:08,820 and I’m glad that as a child, 42 00:02:08,820 –> 00:02:11,960 I was encouraged and helped and taught 43 00:02:11,960 –> 00:02:15,460 to memorize a good number of verses 44 00:02:15,460 –> 00:02:18,020 of Scripture from the Bible 45 00:02:18,020 –> 00:02:20,419 as well as a fair chunk of the hymnbook, 46 00:02:20,419 –> 00:02:22,660 I think, that’s kind of rooted from childhood 47 00:02:22,660 –> 00:02:24,779 in my memory as well. 48 00:02:24,779 –> 00:02:26,500 What you remember as a child 49 00:02:26,500 –> 00:02:28,460 stays with you all your life. 50 00:02:28,460 –> 00:02:29,899 It goes in deep. 51 00:02:29,899 –> 00:02:32,000 And so for all of the younger folks 52 00:02:32,000 –> 00:02:34,619 who are learning verses of the Bible from Awana, 53 00:02:34,619 –> 00:02:35,860 I encourage you in this, 54 00:02:35,860 –> 00:02:38,380 this is a marvelous thing you will never regret 55 00:02:38,380 –> 00:02:42,380 having the Word of God memorized in your heart. 56 00:02:42,380 –> 00:02:44,619 And many of you will have done this 57 00:02:44,619 –> 00:02:46,979 over the years and will be doing it now. 58 00:02:46,979 –> 00:02:49,259 I learned many of the verses 59 00:02:49,259 –> 00:02:51,699 that you also will have learned, 60 00:02:51,699 –> 00:02:53,839 one that you saw on the video earlier 61 00:02:53,839 –> 00:02:56,179 in the service that many Christians know God 62 00:02:56,179 –> 00:02:59,460 so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, 63 00:02:59,460 –> 00:03:01,259 John 3 and verse 16. 64 00:03:01,259 –> 00:03:03,460 Romans chapter five and verse eight, 65 00:03:03,460 –> 00:03:06,460 God demonstrates His love towards us in this, 66 00:03:06,460 –> 00:03:09,100 that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 67 00:03:10,779 –> 00:03:13,039 Let me tell you a couple of other verses 68 00:03:13,039 –> 00:03:16,059 of scripture that I learned when I was very young. 69 00:03:17,860 –> 00:03:20,300 From Hebrews in chapter 10, 70 00:03:20,580 –> 00:03:24,000 and I quoted in the authorized version as I learned it. 71 00:03:25,720 –> 00:03:29,020 It is a fearful thing 72 00:03:30,000 –> 00:03:34,600 to fall into the hands of the living God. 73 00:03:37,139 –> 00:03:39,940 Or from Hebrews in chapter 12. 74 00:03:41,179 –> 00:03:45,619 Our God is a consuming fire. 75 00:03:45,619 –> 00:03:48,100 Image of the Lore 76 00:03:48,100 –> 00:03:51,479 Now that lies very deep within my own mind. 77 00:03:51,479 –> 00:03:53,820 It lies very deep within my own heart. 78 00:03:53,820 –> 00:03:55,899 It goes all the way back to childhood, 79 00:03:55,899 –> 00:03:57,619 learning these verses of the Bible, 80 00:03:57,619 –> 00:04:00,880 and here’s my question. 81 00:04:00,880 –> 00:04:04,059 I wonder what you think of planting that 82 00:04:04,059 –> 00:04:07,479 in the memory of a child. 83 00:04:07,479 –> 00:04:11,380 Why in the world would you teach a young boy 84 00:04:11,380 –> 00:04:13,800 that it is a fearful thing 85 00:04:13,800 –> 00:04:15,779 to fall into the hands of the living God? 86 00:04:15,779 –> 00:04:18,359 Why would you choose a text like that to teach a child? 87 00:04:18,359 –> 00:04:21,739 Would you do that? 88 00:04:21,739 –> 00:04:26,940 Why would you teach that boy to associate in his mind 89 00:04:26,940 –> 00:04:31,779 the God you want him to love with a consuming fire? 90 00:04:31,779 –> 00:04:34,760 Why would you do that? 91 00:04:34,760 –> 00:04:36,540 Why would you teach him to remember this 92 00:04:36,540 –> 00:04:38,540 and to carry it with him in his soul 93 00:04:38,540 –> 00:04:43,720 all the days of his life? 94 00:04:43,839 –> 00:04:48,480 There are folks today, and I have read them, 95 00:04:48,480 –> 00:04:51,899 who regard teaching words like these to children 96 00:04:51,899 –> 00:04:56,320 as a form of abuse. 97 00:04:56,320 –> 00:05:00,179 What do you think? 98 00:05:00,179 –> 00:05:02,359 You may say, well, I think that’s going too far, 99 00:05:02,359 –> 00:05:05,920 but personally, as a parent, I would not teach my children 100 00:05:05,920 –> 00:05:08,019 that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands 101 00:05:08,019 –> 00:05:11,200 of the living God or that our God is a consuming fire. 102 00:05:11,200 –> 00:05:12,540 Well, I want to tell you today, 103 00:05:12,600 –> 00:05:15,920 I am glad that my parents did. 104 00:05:15,920 –> 00:05:19,200 I am glad that my Sunday school teachers did teach me 105 00:05:19,200 –> 00:05:21,880 this scripture as well as the great scriptures 106 00:05:21,880 –> 00:05:24,579 about the love of God, 107 00:05:24,579 –> 00:05:27,540 because I need this truth in my life, and so do you, 108 00:05:27,540 –> 00:05:30,640 and if you don’t have it in your life, 109 00:05:30,640 –> 00:05:32,420 I want you to see it in the scripture 110 00:05:32,420 –> 00:05:33,859 and by the power of the holy Spirit 111 00:05:33,859 –> 00:05:38,959 to get it into your life today. 112 00:05:39,100 –> 00:05:44,220 The face of fear in a godly Christian life. 113 00:05:45,100 –> 00:05:47,179 Now, I know immediately that some of us 114 00:05:47,179 –> 00:05:49,559 are struggling with all kinds of questions. 115 00:05:50,619 –> 00:05:53,260 That is why this little understood subject 116 00:05:53,260 –> 00:05:55,779 that goes to the heart of the Bible 117 00:05:55,779 –> 00:05:57,700 is so important for us today. 118 00:05:57,700 –> 00:05:58,820 Look at it again. 119 00:05:58,820 –> 00:06:01,660 Deuteronomy chapter five and verse 29. 120 00:06:01,660 –> 00:06:06,660 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me! 121 00:06:09,320 –> 00:06:13,500 That it may go well with them and their children forever. 122 00:06:16,660 –> 00:06:19,440 Now folks, let’s begin with an important distinction. 123 00:06:19,440 –> 00:06:22,899 It is critical to grasp that there is a fear 124 00:06:22,899 –> 00:06:27,899 that love removes, and there is a fear that love brings. 125 00:06:28,260 –> 00:06:33,260 A fear that love removes, and a fear that love brings. 126 00:06:34,359 –> 00:06:37,440 The fear that love removes, we will be familiar with. 127 00:06:37,459 –> 00:06:40,940 First John chapter four and verse 18, you know this verse. 128 00:06:40,940 –> 00:06:44,459 Perfect love casts out fear. 129 00:06:44,459 –> 00:06:47,059 There is a fear that love removes. 130 00:06:47,059 –> 00:06:49,420 What kind of fear does love remove? 131 00:06:50,239 –> 00:06:52,820 Well, you get an example of it in the Garden of Eden, 132 00:06:52,820 –> 00:06:55,859 love casts out the kind of fear 133 00:06:55,859 –> 00:06:59,299 that would keep you hiding from God. 134 00:06:59,299 –> 00:07:01,260 When Adam sinned, do you remember what he did? 135 00:07:01,260 –> 00:07:02,260 He hid from God. 136 00:07:02,260 –> 00:07:04,600 He said, I heard you in the garden, Lord, 137 00:07:04,619 –> 00:07:07,239 and I was afraid, and I hid. 138 00:07:08,779 –> 00:07:12,440 And no, there’s something to be said for this. 139 00:07:13,880 –> 00:07:18,000 Far better that Adam knowing that he has done wrong 140 00:07:18,000 –> 00:07:21,059 has some fear of God that causes him to hide 141 00:07:21,059 –> 00:07:23,920 than that he just kind of puts his hands in his pockets. 142 00:07:23,920 –> 00:07:25,359 That’s the wrong phrase for the garden of Eden. 143 00:07:25,359 –> 00:07:26,320 I just realized that, 144 00:07:26,320 –> 00:07:31,320 but he just kind of nonchalantly walks around 145 00:07:31,500 –> 00:07:32,959 as if nothing was the matter. 146 00:07:35,320 –> 00:07:38,019 Friend, it is better to have a sense of fear 147 00:07:38,019 –> 00:07:39,239 that keeps you from God 148 00:07:39,239 –> 00:07:41,239 than to have no fear of God at all. 149 00:07:43,200 –> 00:07:47,000 Only the wicked have no fear of God, 150 00:07:47,839 –> 00:07:50,279 and that’s the worst possible of all conditions. 151 00:07:50,279 –> 00:07:54,200 It is far better to have a sense of shame over evil 152 00:07:54,200 –> 00:07:57,279 that you have done than to be shameless about it. 153 00:07:58,500 –> 00:08:01,500 But love removes that kind of fear. 154 00:08:02,540 –> 00:08:04,239 That’s why, when God comes into the garden, 155 00:08:04,239 –> 00:08:05,739 His love overwhelms this fear 156 00:08:05,739 –> 00:08:07,859 as He reaches out to Adam and to Eve 157 00:08:07,859 –> 00:08:10,720 and embraces them with His promise 158 00:08:10,720 –> 00:08:12,160 and His covenant of love. 159 00:08:13,540 –> 00:08:15,779 Love casts out the kind of fear 160 00:08:15,779 –> 00:08:19,399 that would keep you from serving God. 161 00:08:19,399 –> 00:08:21,559 Remember the story the Lord Jesus told 162 00:08:21,559 –> 00:08:25,660 about servants who were trusted with talents by a master, 163 00:08:25,660 –> 00:08:27,739 and one of them was a lazy servant, 164 00:08:27,739 –> 00:08:28,839 and he dug a hole 165 00:08:28,839 –> 00:08:30,820 and he hid his master’s money in the ground, 166 00:08:30,820 –> 00:08:32,880 and when the master came back, the servant said, 167 00:08:32,919 –> 00:08:35,340 well, I knew that you were a hard man, 168 00:08:35,340 –> 00:08:38,619 and he said I was afraid, Matthew 24, and verse 25, 169 00:08:38,619 –> 00:08:39,820 so I dug a hole. 170 00:08:39,820 –> 00:08:42,260 Fear made me dig a hole, and I hid the money, 171 00:08:42,260 –> 00:08:43,979 and here is what belongs to you. 172 00:08:46,500 –> 00:08:48,700 Again, it’s better to have dug a hole in the ground 173 00:08:48,700 –> 00:08:49,700 and to have hidden the money 174 00:08:49,700 –> 00:08:51,859 than to have spent it on riotous living 175 00:08:51,859 –> 00:08:53,020 like the prodigal son did. 176 00:08:53,020 –> 00:08:55,859 I mean, at least he was able to give it back, 177 00:08:55,859 –> 00:08:58,099 but the master was not pleased, you remember. 178 00:08:59,359 –> 00:09:02,359 A man who knew that the master loved him 179 00:09:02,419 –> 00:09:03,659 would have done better 180 00:09:03,659 –> 00:09:06,619 than bury the master’s talent in the ground. 181 00:09:08,440 –> 00:09:12,599 Now there is a fear we’re saying first that love removes. 182 00:09:13,700 –> 00:09:15,580 Perfect love casts out fear. 183 00:09:15,580 –> 00:09:17,299 It casts out the kind of fear 184 00:09:17,299 –> 00:09:19,539 that would make you hide from God 185 00:09:19,539 –> 00:09:22,340 because you know your sins and feel your shame. 186 00:09:22,340 –> 00:09:24,099 It casts out the kind of fear 187 00:09:24,099 –> 00:09:26,059 that holds you back from serving God 188 00:09:26,059 –> 00:09:28,859 and makes you bury the talent that he has given to you 189 00:09:28,859 –> 00:09:31,460 as it were in a hole in the ground. 190 00:09:31,559 –> 00:09:33,960 And that’s how we usually think about love and fear. 191 00:09:33,960 –> 00:09:37,239 Love casts out fear, we think of them as alternatives. 192 00:09:37,239 –> 00:09:39,640 Where there is fear, there isn’t obviously not love 193 00:09:39,640 –> 00:09:42,179 and where there is love, there obviously will be no fear. 194 00:09:42,179 –> 00:09:44,960 But I want you to see that as well as a fear 195 00:09:44,960 –> 00:09:46,359 that is removed by love, 196 00:09:46,359 –> 00:09:48,400 there is a fear that is brought by love. 197 00:09:50,239 –> 00:09:53,000 Love and the right kind of fear 198 00:09:54,080 –> 00:09:56,799 are inseparable companions. 199 00:09:59,599 –> 00:10:01,000 I don’t know if you’ll find this helpful. 200 00:10:01,919 –> 00:10:03,820 Think of it like cholesterol. 201 00:10:06,000 –> 00:10:07,979 Is cholesterol good or bad? 202 00:10:08,979 –> 00:10:10,400 You see, it’s a more subtle question 203 00:10:10,400 –> 00:10:11,760 than to give a simple answer, isn’t it? 204 00:10:11,760 –> 00:10:14,080 Because you know there is good cholesterol 205 00:10:14,080 –> 00:10:16,559 and there is bad cholesterol 206 00:10:16,559 –> 00:10:20,340 and if your bad cholesterol is going up, 207 00:10:20,340 –> 00:10:22,280 that means your health’s getting worse. 208 00:10:23,479 –> 00:10:24,960 But if your good cholesterol’s going up, 209 00:10:24,960 –> 00:10:27,440 you may actually be getting better. 210 00:10:27,440 –> 00:10:29,799 If you run a marathon your good cholesterol increases. 211 00:10:29,820 –> 00:10:31,500 I read in a survey this week. 212 00:10:32,960 –> 00:10:35,679 So think of fear in the same kind of way. 213 00:10:35,679 –> 00:10:37,200 We want less of the bad kind, 214 00:10:37,200 –> 00:10:38,640 we want more of the good kind. 215 00:10:39,880 –> 00:10:41,799 And some of us have only ever thought 216 00:10:41,799 –> 00:10:43,179 that there was a bad kind of fear. 217 00:10:43,179 –> 00:10:44,799 The only thing that we’ve got in our mind 218 00:10:44,799 –> 00:10:46,719 is perfect love casts out fear. 219 00:10:46,719 –> 00:10:49,840 We have seen love and fear as alternatives, 220 00:10:49,840 –> 00:10:51,820 we have never seen them as companions. 221 00:10:51,820 –> 00:10:54,760 We do not understand the fear of the Lord, 222 00:10:55,979 –> 00:10:58,039 the good kind of fear 223 00:10:58,080 –> 00:11:01,340 that is the mark of health 224 00:11:02,940 –> 00:11:05,159 in an effective Christian life. 225 00:11:05,159 –> 00:11:08,599 So what then is this fear that love brings? 226 00:11:08,599 –> 00:11:10,359 Let me give you an example here. 227 00:11:10,359 –> 00:11:13,359 We’re going to see it across the scriptures today. 228 00:11:13,359 –> 00:11:16,299 Psalm 130 and verse four. 229 00:11:16,299 –> 00:11:18,479 Look at this and think about it. 230 00:11:19,960 –> 00:11:23,919 With you the psalmist says there is forgiveness. 231 00:11:24,919 –> 00:11:29,799 Therefore you are feared. 232 00:11:31,080 –> 00:11:32,239 Now if you’re one of these folks 233 00:11:32,239 –> 00:11:34,359 who has it in your mind that fear is always bad 234 00:11:34,359 –> 00:11:36,000 and that the only thing that can be said 235 00:11:36,000 –> 00:11:37,679 about the relationship between love and fear 236 00:11:37,679 –> 00:11:40,400 is that when love comes in and fear goes out, 237 00:11:40,400 –> 00:11:42,599 you will not be able to understand this kind of verse. 238 00:11:42,599 –> 00:11:45,640 You will just assume that the psalmist ought to have said, 239 00:11:45,640 –> 00:11:47,000 well there’s forgiveness with you 240 00:11:47,000 –> 00:11:48,559 and therefore you’re not to be feared. 241 00:11:48,559 –> 00:11:50,719 Don’t need to worry because you’re a forgiving God. 242 00:11:50,719 –> 00:11:53,039 But that’s the opposite of what he says. 243 00:11:53,039 –> 00:11:56,359 What he says is, with you there is forgiveness, 244 00:11:56,359 –> 00:11:57,960 therefore you are feared. 245 00:11:57,960 –> 00:12:02,640 There is a kind of fear that this massive gift of love 246 00:12:02,640 –> 00:12:05,640 that we call forgiveness, brings you into. 247 00:12:06,840 –> 00:12:09,159 When I experience the forgiveness of God, 248 00:12:09,159 –> 00:12:11,559 there is a kind of fear, a fear of the Lord, 249 00:12:11,559 –> 00:12:13,020 that I’m brought into. 250 00:12:14,039 –> 00:12:14,900 Do you see what we’re saying? 251 00:12:14,900 –> 00:12:17,000 There is a fear that love removes. 252 00:12:17,000 –> 00:12:20,840 There is a fear that love brings. 253 00:12:21,760 –> 00:12:23,260 Remember John Newton? 254 00:12:25,599 –> 00:12:27,359 In his great hymn Amazing Grace, 255 00:12:27,359 –> 00:12:32,440 “‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear 256 00:12:33,440 –> 00:12:36,400 and grace my fears relieved.” 257 00:12:36,400 –> 00:12:37,460 Do you see, he understood this. 258 00:12:37,460 –> 00:12:39,440 It works both ways. 259 00:12:39,440 –> 00:12:42,320 There’s a fear that is removed by love. 260 00:12:42,320 –> 00:12:46,359 There is a fear that love brings. 261 00:12:46,820 –> 00:12:49,260 And love and the right kind of fear 262 00:12:50,219 –> 00:12:53,679 are inseparable friends. 263 00:12:55,059 –> 00:12:56,840 Now, someone may be saying at this point, 264 00:12:56,840 –> 00:12:57,940 now wait a minute, 265 00:12:57,940 –> 00:12:59,619 we’re in the Old Testament here, aren’t we? 266 00:12:59,619 –> 00:13:01,520 Isn’t it the case that the fear of the Lord 267 00:13:01,520 –> 00:13:03,460 is an Old Testament idea? 268 00:13:03,460 –> 00:13:05,260 Isn’t it the case that people feared God 269 00:13:05,260 –> 00:13:06,219 in the Old Testament 270 00:13:06,219 –> 00:13:07,479 and then they kind of outgrew that, 271 00:13:07,479 –> 00:13:08,320 shook it off 272 00:13:08,320 –> 00:13:10,479 and started to love God in the New Testament 273 00:13:10,479 –> 00:13:12,440 and shouldn’t we be doing the same? 274 00:13:12,440 –> 00:13:15,460 Look with me just so that this is settled in your mind. 275 00:13:16,659 –> 00:13:19,820 Look with me in the New Testament about fearing God. 276 00:13:19,820 –> 00:13:21,059 I’m going to run through these scriptures 277 00:13:21,059 –> 00:13:22,299 very, very quickly 278 00:13:22,299 –> 00:13:24,080 but I want you to see this is New Testament. 279 00:13:24,080 –> 00:13:25,099 This is Christianity, 280 00:13:25,099 –> 00:13:27,700 it’s not like there’s two different messages here. 281 00:13:28,960 –> 00:13:29,799 The words of Mary, 282 00:13:29,799 –> 00:13:31,900 Luke chapter one and verse 50. 283 00:13:31,900 –> 00:13:34,719 The mother of our Lord speaks of his mercy 284 00:13:34,719 –> 00:13:36,460 that extends to who? 285 00:13:36,460 –> 00:13:40,599 Those who fear him from generation to generation. 286 00:13:40,599 –> 00:13:42,979 That includes us. 287 00:13:42,979 –> 00:13:43,960 Matthew chapter 10, 288 00:13:43,960 –> 00:13:45,260 the words of our Lord Jesus, 289 00:13:45,760 –> 00:13:46,599 to who? 290 00:13:46,599 –> 00:13:48,760 To his disciples. 291 00:13:48,760 –> 00:13:50,799 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body 292 00:13:50,799 –> 00:13:52,419 but cannot kill the soul 293 00:13:52,419 –> 00:13:55,500 rather be afraid of the one who can destroy body 294 00:13:55,500 –> 00:13:56,840 and soul in hell. 295 00:13:57,739 –> 00:14:00,219 Acts chapter nine in verse 31, 296 00:14:00,219 –> 00:14:01,880 a church health report. 297 00:14:01,880 –> 00:14:03,820 The church at it’s very best, 298 00:14:03,820 –> 00:14:04,900 Acts 9 31. 299 00:14:04,900 –> 00:14:06,739 The church enjoyed a time of peace. 300 00:14:06,739 –> 00:14:09,419 It was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit. 301 00:14:09,419 –> 00:14:10,739 It grew in numbers 302 00:14:10,900 –> 00:14:15,219 and then Luke says living in the fear of the Lord. 303 00:14:18,140 –> 00:14:19,840 Philippians chapter two in verse 12, 304 00:14:19,840 –> 00:14:21,700 our mandate for the Christian life. 305 00:14:21,700 –> 00:14:23,820 This is New Testament Christianity. 306 00:14:23,820 –> 00:14:25,700 Work out your salvation how? 307 00:14:25,700 –> 00:14:28,820 With fear and with trembling. 308 00:14:28,820 –> 00:14:32,979 1 Peter chapter two in verse 17 a direct command. 309 00:14:34,059 –> 00:14:35,979 Love the brotherhood of believers. 310 00:14:35,979 –> 00:14:38,780 Fear God, honor the king. 311 00:14:38,799 –> 00:14:41,359 Fear God, direct command in the New Testament. 312 00:14:41,359 –> 00:14:43,119 Not the Old Testament. 313 00:14:44,460 –> 00:14:48,640 But perhaps at least in my mind most compelling of all. 314 00:14:48,640 –> 00:14:51,559 Revelation chapter one in verse 17. 315 00:14:52,659 –> 00:14:55,580 The experience of John the Apostle. 316 00:14:56,659 –> 00:15:00,960 The believer who had been closest to Jesus, 317 00:15:00,960 –> 00:15:04,760 the disciple who Jesus loved the gospels say. 318 00:15:04,760 –> 00:15:07,419 The disciple who had leaned on Jesus 319 00:15:07,460 –> 00:15:09,039 at the last supper. 320 00:15:11,599 –> 00:15:13,659 When he sees in the first chapter 321 00:15:13,659 –> 00:15:17,239 of the book of Revelation the exalted Lord, 322 00:15:19,299 –> 00:15:21,880 John says about the Christ, 323 00:15:21,880 –> 00:15:24,700 I fell at his feet as though dead. 324 00:15:28,500 –> 00:15:31,239 Do you think it would be different for you? 325 00:15:31,239 –> 00:15:32,059 Really? 326 00:15:34,239 –> 00:15:36,179 And so the Savior comes to him and says, 327 00:15:36,260 –> 00:15:39,520 John, do not be afraid and picks him up. 328 00:15:43,059 –> 00:15:45,940 Friend, this is not a fear you grow out of 329 00:15:45,940 –> 00:15:49,599 as if religion sort of evolved away from it. 330 00:15:51,219 –> 00:15:53,799 This is a fear that we grow into 331 00:15:54,799 –> 00:15:59,700 if we are followers of Christ like John the Apostle. 332 00:15:59,700 –> 00:16:02,760 We are to fear God as we love Him 333 00:16:02,880 –> 00:16:06,599 and we are to love Him as we fear Him 334 00:16:06,599 –> 00:16:09,760 and both the Old Testament and the New Testament 335 00:16:09,760 –> 00:16:10,940 make these things plain. 336 00:16:10,940 –> 00:16:13,539 So we’re going to be looking at loving God next week 337 00:16:13,539 –> 00:16:14,739 from Deuteronomy 338 00:16:14,739 –> 00:16:18,179 but first this great theme of fearing Him 339 00:16:18,179 –> 00:16:21,419 and you can’t separate them, they are inseparable. 340 00:16:21,419 –> 00:16:23,820 Read through Deuteronomy and you will find it again 341 00:16:23,820 –> 00:16:26,059 and again and again, we’ll keep picking this up. 342 00:16:26,059 –> 00:16:28,380 It’s love and it’s fear and it’s fear and it’s love. 343 00:16:28,380 –> 00:16:31,080 This is the nature of our relationship with God. 344 00:16:31,080 –> 00:16:33,760 John Bunyan, the great Puritan preacher 345 00:16:33,760 –> 00:16:35,880 or the writer of Pilgrim’s Progress 346 00:16:35,880 –> 00:16:39,280 wrote a marvelous book on the subject of the fear of God 347 00:16:39,280 –> 00:16:41,039 and he says this, he says, 348 00:16:41,039 –> 00:16:45,559 “‘Godly fear flows from a sense of the love 349 00:16:45,559 –> 00:16:49,039 “‘and kindness of God to the soul.’” 350 00:16:51,299 –> 00:16:53,900 Godly fear flows 351 00:16:53,900 –> 00:16:58,320 from a sense of the love and kindness of God to the soul. 352 00:16:59,140 –> 00:17:04,140 This whole fear of the Lord is better described than defined. 353 00:17:07,300 –> 00:17:12,020 It is better experienced than analyzed. 354 00:17:13,020 –> 00:17:16,839 As they say in Scotland, it’s better felt than tellt. 355 00:17:16,839 –> 00:17:18,119 Can you follow that? 356 00:17:21,599 –> 00:17:25,979 I felt, I touched just a little bit of it this week 357 00:17:25,979 –> 00:17:29,819 talking in my office with a couple 358 00:17:29,819 –> 00:17:32,359 who are preparing to be married 359 00:17:32,359 –> 00:17:35,640 as I so often have the privilege of doing. 360 00:17:39,099 –> 00:17:40,459 I said to the guy, 361 00:17:42,880 –> 00:17:47,880 when she says that she will have you to be her husband, 362 00:17:51,099 –> 00:17:53,180 when she makes this pledge that we had spent 363 00:17:53,180 –> 00:17:57,180 that time going through to be yours, 364 00:17:57,180 –> 00:17:58,939 for better, for worse, 365 00:17:58,939 –> 00:18:00,319 for richer, for poorer, 366 00:18:00,319 –> 00:18:01,739 to forsake all other, 367 00:18:02,619 –> 00:18:03,699 to embrace only you, 368 00:18:03,699 –> 00:18:06,239 to do this all of her life, 369 00:18:08,439 –> 00:18:11,900 she is giving you a more priceless gift 370 00:18:11,900 –> 00:18:14,359 than any other gift you will ever receive 371 00:18:14,359 –> 00:18:16,160 in all of your experience. 372 00:18:18,219 –> 00:18:21,500 You should be in awe of it. 373 00:18:23,979 –> 00:18:25,699 I said the same to her. 374 00:18:28,619 –> 00:18:31,099 There is an awe 375 00:18:33,540 –> 00:18:37,140 that flows out of the experience of the love 376 00:18:37,140 –> 00:18:40,459 and the kindness of God in Jesus Christ. 377 00:18:40,459 –> 00:18:43,500 There is a fear that is removed by love, 378 00:18:43,500 –> 00:18:45,819 but there is a fear that love brings you into. 379 00:18:47,939 –> 00:18:49,619 The fear of the Lord, 380 00:18:50,619 –> 00:18:53,859 and it runs all the way through both the Old Testament 381 00:18:53,859 –> 00:18:54,979 and the New Testament. 382 00:18:54,979 –> 00:18:57,020 Now here’s my case. 383 00:18:57,020 –> 00:18:59,859 Here’s the burden of my heart in this message today. 384 00:19:00,979 –> 00:19:05,099 The church today desperately needs to rediscover 385 00:19:05,099 –> 00:19:06,819 the fear of the Lord. 386 00:19:06,819 –> 00:19:08,219 I believe that, don’t you? 387 00:19:09,300 –> 00:19:11,540 David Wells has described, I think, 388 00:19:11,540 –> 00:19:15,900 very perceptively the plight of Christianity in our times. 389 00:19:15,900 –> 00:19:17,699 And he’s used this word. 390 00:19:17,979 –> 00:19:19,739 He says what has happened in our culture 391 00:19:19,739 –> 00:19:22,579 is that God has become weightless 392 00:19:22,579 –> 00:19:26,380 in the lives of even believing people. 393 00:19:26,380 –> 00:19:27,459 He puts it like this. 394 00:19:27,459 –> 00:19:30,380 He says the God who is declared 395 00:19:30,380 –> 00:19:33,500 and the God who is worshipped by many today 396 00:19:33,500 –> 00:19:34,780 seems to be, to them, 397 00:19:34,780 –> 00:19:38,380 less compelling than football or fashion. 398 00:19:38,380 –> 00:19:40,300 He seems to be less attractive 399 00:19:40,300 –> 00:19:42,699 when it comes to the end of the day, 400 00:19:42,699 –> 00:19:46,619 as it were, than money or sex. 401 00:19:46,619 –> 00:19:48,660 Taking up this theme, Philip Rykan, I think, 402 00:19:48,660 –> 00:19:49,699 says this well. 403 00:19:49,699 –> 00:19:52,459 It is this weightlessness of God, 404 00:19:52,459 –> 00:19:54,500 he says, that more than anything else 405 00:19:54,500 –> 00:19:57,540 explains the failings of the evangelical church. 406 00:19:57,540 –> 00:20:00,260 It is because God is so unimportant to us 407 00:20:00,260 –> 00:20:02,140 that our worship becomes irrelevant, 408 00:20:02,140 –> 00:20:04,020 our fellowship becomes loveless, 409 00:20:04,020 –> 00:20:06,020 and our witness becomes timid. 410 00:20:06,020 –> 00:20:09,859 We have become children of a lightweight God. 411 00:20:09,859 –> 00:20:11,699 You resonate with that? 412 00:20:11,699 –> 00:20:13,060 You see that in the culture? 413 00:20:13,300 –> 00:20:17,640 And now here, Deuteronomy chapter five and verse 29, 414 00:20:19,280 –> 00:20:22,859 God is saying oh, that their hearts 415 00:20:22,859 –> 00:20:26,119 would be inclined to fear me, 416 00:20:26,119 –> 00:20:30,439 that they would have the kind of fear that love brings. 417 00:20:30,439 –> 00:20:31,260 Why? 418 00:20:33,000 –> 00:20:37,239 So that it may go well with them and their children. 419 00:20:38,060 –> 00:20:39,540 And their children. 420 00:20:41,800 –> 00:20:45,500 Folks, a lightweight view of God in the Christian church 421 00:20:45,500 –> 00:20:47,920 is not good for our children. 422 00:20:49,880 –> 00:20:53,260 If the church persists in fashioning a god 423 00:20:53,260 –> 00:20:56,619 who is nothing more than an indulgent heavenly friend, 424 00:20:56,619 –> 00:20:58,660 it will not go well with our children. 425 00:20:58,660 –> 00:20:59,500 Why? 426 00:20:59,500 –> 00:21:03,040 Because why should they bother with such a lightweight god? 427 00:21:03,040 –> 00:21:05,359 They will see that. 428 00:21:05,439 –> 00:21:08,780 And they’ll see it early in their lives. 429 00:21:10,880 –> 00:21:14,040 So, my case today is that we desperately, 430 00:21:14,040 –> 00:21:17,619 desperately, desperately need to rediscover 431 00:21:18,739 –> 00:21:21,119 what the fear of the Lord in the Bible is, 432 00:21:21,119 –> 00:21:25,239 and especially if our only construct in our minds 433 00:21:25,239 –> 00:21:27,219 has been that love and fear are alternatives 434 00:21:27,219 –> 00:21:28,579 and therefore that fear can have no place 435 00:21:28,579 –> 00:21:30,400 in the Christian life. 436 00:21:30,900 –> 00:21:35,160 And I know of no better place for us to learn this today 437 00:21:35,160 –> 00:21:37,660 than Deuteronomy chapter five. 438 00:21:39,719 –> 00:21:42,680 Because this whole chapter and indeed, 439 00:21:42,680 –> 00:21:45,380 I think we could say the whole book of Deuteronomy 440 00:21:45,380 –> 00:21:48,900 is designed to teach us the fear of the Lord. 441 00:21:48,900 –> 00:21:52,079 Now, I hope you have it open in front of you, 442 00:21:52,079 –> 00:21:55,319 notice that it begins with the 10 commandments. 443 00:21:55,319 –> 00:21:58,359 You say, don’t they occur somewhere else in the Bible? 444 00:21:58,359 –> 00:21:59,339 Yeah, of course they do, 445 00:21:59,420 –> 00:22:01,099 even Exodus chapter 20, 446 00:22:02,380 –> 00:22:06,520 but that was 40 years before, Mount Sinai, 447 00:22:06,520 –> 00:22:09,719 God had come down and had given the Commandments 448 00:22:09,719 –> 00:22:11,260 to the earlier generation. 449 00:22:11,260 –> 00:22:13,819 But you remember as we saw last time, 450 00:22:13,819 –> 00:22:16,459 that in the 40 years that followed Mount Sinai 451 00:22:16,459 –> 00:22:19,339 when God gave the commandments, Exodus chapter 20, 452 00:22:19,339 –> 00:22:21,859 all the people of fighting age and older, 453 00:22:21,859 –> 00:22:24,000 they all died out over the 40 years. 454 00:22:24,000 –> 00:22:27,020 And so now the people who are listening to Moses 455 00:22:27,020 –> 00:22:29,819 like us as we’re hearing his word today, 456 00:22:30,739 –> 00:22:32,500 they were all folks who were not born 457 00:22:32,500 –> 00:22:34,040 when God gave the 10 commandments. 458 00:22:34,040 –> 00:22:36,959 They were not present at Mount Sinai. 459 00:22:38,839 –> 00:22:41,140 So Moses in Deuteronomy 5, 460 00:22:41,140 –> 00:22:42,520 as he lays out these commandments, 461 00:22:42,520 –> 00:22:45,219 he is simply telling a generation 40 years 462 00:22:45,219 –> 00:22:48,780 after Mount Sinai, what had happened. 463 00:22:48,780 –> 00:22:53,780 He is telling them something that was before their lifetime. 464 00:22:54,680 –> 00:22:57,380 This is the second giving of the law. 465 00:22:57,380 –> 00:23:00,719 And that is of course, why the book is called Deuteronomy, 466 00:23:02,219 –> 00:23:04,119 the commands for a new generation. 467 00:23:05,699 –> 00:23:08,060 But what I want every parent to notice today 468 00:23:09,500 –> 00:23:13,939 is that he does not only give the 10 commandments, 469 00:23:13,939 –> 00:23:15,939 not enough to teach the 10 commandments. 470 00:23:16,780 –> 00:23:18,699 From verse 22 onwards, 471 00:23:18,699 –> 00:23:21,199 having given the 10 commandments, what’s he doing? 472 00:23:22,160 –> 00:23:24,800 He is introducing this younger generation 473 00:23:24,800 –> 00:23:27,979 to the God who gave the 10 commandments. 474 00:23:27,979 –> 00:23:31,599 This God of such awesome power. 475 00:23:31,599 –> 00:23:33,020 This God into whose hands 476 00:23:33,020 –> 00:23:35,959 it would be a fearful thing to fall. 477 00:23:35,959 –> 00:23:40,599 This God who is a consuming fire. 478 00:23:42,319 –> 00:23:47,319 Notice what he says from verse 22 as he describes the scene. 479 00:23:47,339 –> 00:23:50,880 The whole event is absolutely terrifying. 480 00:23:50,880 –> 00:23:53,319 It is apocalyptic. 481 00:23:53,319 –> 00:23:54,880 Try and imagine the movie. 482 00:23:56,199 –> 00:24:01,199 Darkness, the blast of trumpets. 483 00:24:03,680 –> 00:24:08,359 The sound of a voice that is amplified so loud 484 00:24:08,359 –> 00:24:11,199 that you can hardly bare to hear it. 485 00:24:13,300 –> 00:24:16,339 But overwhelming all of this. 486 00:24:16,339 –> 00:24:19,060 And impressed 40 years after the event 487 00:24:19,060 –> 00:24:21,699 on Moses’ mind and heart, 488 00:24:21,699 –> 00:24:23,739 as it would be impressed on the mind and heart 489 00:24:23,739 –> 00:24:25,540 of anyone who saw it, 490 00:24:26,939 –> 00:24:29,819 was this massive ball of fire 491 00:24:31,500 –> 00:24:36,500 that came down and rested on the mountain of Sinai. 492 00:24:39,140 –> 00:24:41,660 It’s so dominates Moses’ accounts 493 00:24:41,660 –> 00:24:45,140 that it’s right there in every verse. 494 00:24:45,180 –> 00:24:49,459 Verse 22, the Lord spoke out of the fire. 495 00:24:49,459 –> 00:24:53,479 Verse 23, the mountain was ablaze with fire. 496 00:24:53,479 –> 00:24:57,939 Verse 24, today we have heard his voice out of the fire. 497 00:24:57,939 –> 00:25:01,300 Verse 25, they said the great fire will consume us 498 00:25:01,300 –> 00:25:04,000 and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord any longer. 499 00:25:04,000 –> 00:25:06,459 Verse 26, what mortal man has ever heard 500 00:25:06,459 –> 00:25:08,699 the voice of God speaking out of the fire 501 00:25:08,699 –> 00:25:10,979 as we have and survived. 502 00:25:10,979 –> 00:25:13,219 The book of Hebrews tells us in Chapter 12 503 00:25:13,219 –> 00:25:15,020 that this was so terrifying 504 00:25:15,020 –> 00:25:18,459 that even Moses said, I am trembling with fear. 505 00:25:20,660 –> 00:25:25,660 And that fear that pressed into Moses psyche on that day, 506 00:25:29,599 –> 00:25:32,479 he now describes to a new generation 507 00:25:35,140 –> 00:25:36,540 who had not been at Sinai 508 00:25:38,579 –> 00:25:42,560 because he wants them to see and feel 509 00:25:42,560 –> 00:25:47,180 the awesome presence of a holy God. 510 00:25:50,040 –> 00:25:51,400 Do you know what was happening 511 00:25:51,400 –> 00:25:53,560 when the fire of God came down on Sinai? 512 00:25:56,719 –> 00:26:01,640 God’s people caught a glimpse of the Day of Judgment. 513 00:26:05,359 –> 00:26:07,339 The judge of all the earth came down 514 00:26:07,339 –> 00:26:10,300 and they saw his holy fire. 515 00:26:13,479 –> 00:26:16,300 They felt his power. 516 00:26:17,560 –> 00:26:20,239 The earth shaking, terror. 517 00:26:24,119 –> 00:26:26,239 And they were able to say, this God 518 00:26:27,959 –> 00:26:32,959 is our God, look who he is. 519 00:26:35,140 –> 00:26:38,260 And look what he has saved us from 520 00:26:38,260 –> 00:26:41,380 because we were in his presence 521 00:26:41,560 –> 00:26:42,839 and we lived. 522 00:26:46,979 –> 00:26:51,979 But God knows that even an experience 523 00:26:52,140 –> 00:26:54,300 as intense as that 524 00:26:56,859 –> 00:26:58,119 wears off fast. 525 00:26:59,979 –> 00:27:02,300 Remember that Moses went up the mountain 526 00:27:03,280 –> 00:27:05,540 and what happened within just a few weeks? 527 00:27:07,180 –> 00:27:08,520 People are taking off their rings 528 00:27:08,520 –> 00:27:09,780 and their gold and what are they doing? 529 00:27:09,800 –> 00:27:13,119 They’re casting the golden calf. 530 00:27:15,160 –> 00:27:17,099 And so God says verse 29, 531 00:27:17,099 –> 00:27:18,660 “‘Oh, that their hearts, 532 00:27:18,660 –> 00:27:22,040 “‘Oh, that this generation’s heart 533 00:27:23,459 –> 00:27:25,599 “‘would be inclined to fear me 534 00:27:25,599 –> 00:27:26,699 “‘so that it may go well with them 535 00:27:26,699 –> 00:27:29,219 “‘and with their children forever.’” 536 00:27:29,219 –> 00:27:33,420 You see it’s got to be more than hearing a sermon 537 00:27:33,420 –> 00:27:35,300 on the fearing the Lord. 538 00:27:35,319 –> 00:27:39,780 It’s got to be more than memorizing a few verses 539 00:27:39,780 –> 00:27:42,640 about being fearful to fall into the hand of the living God 540 00:27:42,640 –> 00:27:45,239 or our God being a consuming fire. 541 00:27:45,239 –> 00:27:47,319 It’s got to be more than simply learning 542 00:27:47,319 –> 00:27:49,920 the ten commandments and living a conservative life 543 00:27:49,920 –> 00:27:52,479 in which you try and remain within them. 544 00:27:52,479 –> 00:27:55,479 This is the word of God to this new generation 545 00:27:56,479 –> 00:27:58,079 who did not see the fire 546 00:27:58,079 –> 00:27:58,819 and God says, 547 00:27:58,819 –> 00:28:03,819 “‘Oh, I want the fear of the Lord to be within them 548 00:28:04,000 –> 00:28:07,680 “‘because I so wanted to go well with them 549 00:28:07,680 –> 00:28:11,520 “‘and with their children.’” 550 00:28:14,719 –> 00:28:16,780 So folks, if you were in the, 551 00:28:18,180 –> 00:28:20,459 in the world of thinking that all cholesterol is bad 552 00:28:20,459 –> 00:28:21,800 as it were andyou thought, you know, 553 00:28:21,800 –> 00:28:23,640 all fear is bad, 554 00:28:23,640 –> 00:28:25,380 I hope you’re really seeing now 555 00:28:25,380 –> 00:28:28,079 that there is a fear that love brings us into, 556 00:28:29,000 –> 00:28:32,719 redeemed people of God in awe and His presence, 557 00:28:34,420 –> 00:28:39,420 seeing that they live despite the nearness of that fire. 558 00:28:41,719 –> 00:28:43,839 I hope you see that there is a kind of fear 559 00:28:43,839 –> 00:28:47,479 that plays a critical role in the Christian life 560 00:28:47,479 –> 00:28:51,359 and that it is the kind of thing that we ought to cultivate, 561 00:28:52,719 –> 00:28:54,959 a fear that love removes. 562 00:28:54,959 –> 00:28:56,859 Maybe you’ve got a lot of that in you. 563 00:28:57,859 –> 00:28:59,160 But a fear that love brings, 564 00:28:59,160 –> 00:29:01,859 what have you got of that in you? 565 00:29:04,300 –> 00:29:07,280 Let me offer to you at astonishing speed 566 00:29:08,979 –> 00:29:12,060 seven reasons to cultivate the fear of the Lord. 567 00:29:12,060 –> 00:29:13,380 Are you ready? 568 00:29:13,380 –> 00:29:14,979 I want you to see how far this goes. 569 00:29:14,979 –> 00:29:19,900 I want you to see that this isn’t a side theme in the Bible 570 00:29:19,900 –> 00:29:21,800 that it goes everywhere. 571 00:29:22,819 –> 00:29:24,000 It’s transforming. 572 00:29:26,079 –> 00:29:28,560 Seven reasons to cultivate the fear of the Lord. 573 00:29:28,560 –> 00:29:30,939 Number one, everyone will get this one, I’m sure, 574 00:29:30,939 –> 00:29:32,500 if you were to write them down yourself, 575 00:29:32,500 –> 00:29:33,979 I think most of us would get this, 576 00:29:33,979 –> 00:29:36,339 fearing the Lord will give you wisdom. 577 00:29:36,339 –> 00:29:38,140 Many times in the Bible it says, 578 00:29:38,140 –> 00:29:41,900 “‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’” 579 00:29:41,900 –> 00:29:43,760 What that’s saying is simply this, 580 00:29:43,760 –> 00:29:46,719 when God carries weight in your life, 581 00:29:47,640 –> 00:29:51,660 you will be on the path of making wise decisions. 582 00:29:51,660 –> 00:29:52,939 When you’re asking the question, 583 00:29:52,939 –> 00:29:55,140 how does God see what I’m doing now, 584 00:29:55,140 –> 00:29:57,140 how does he view what I’m saying, 585 00:29:57,140 –> 00:30:00,420 what does what I’m thinking say 586 00:30:00,420 –> 00:30:01,819 in the light of eternity 587 00:30:01,819 –> 00:30:04,780 when I will stand in his holy presence? 588 00:30:04,780 –> 00:30:07,780 With this kind of fear, you will make the right decisions, 589 00:30:07,780 –> 00:30:09,380 without it, you’ll make the wrong decisions, 590 00:30:09,380 –> 00:30:10,260 without the fear of the Lord, 591 00:30:10,260 –> 00:30:11,339 you’ll go in the wrong path, 592 00:30:11,339 –> 00:30:12,780 you will mess up your life. 593 00:30:12,780 –> 00:30:14,640 But the more you cultivate the fear of the Lord, 594 00:30:14,640 –> 00:30:17,060 it will be for you, the beginning of wisdom. 595 00:30:17,060 –> 00:30:21,939 Number two, fearing the Lord will keep you from sin. 596 00:30:23,140 –> 00:30:27,140 Exodus chapter 20 in the first giving of the commandments, 597 00:30:27,140 –> 00:30:29,000 Moses says, do not be afraid, 598 00:30:29,000 –> 00:30:33,040 God has come to test you so that the fear of God 599 00:30:33,040 –> 00:30:37,719 will be with you to keep you from sinning. 600 00:30:37,719 –> 00:30:38,800 This is wonderful. 601 00:30:40,439 –> 00:30:43,719 The effect of a godly fear in your life 602 00:30:43,719 –> 00:30:45,459 keeping you from sinning. 603 00:30:46,900 –> 00:30:47,880 If you’re in a car 604 00:30:47,880 –> 00:30:50,760 and the traffic in front of you suddenly slows up, 605 00:30:50,760 –> 00:30:54,199 you are so glad that you’ve got good brakes, 606 00:30:54,199 –> 00:30:56,260 they will save you from disaster. 607 00:30:57,160 –> 00:31:01,780 And the fear of the Lord is a brake against sin. 608 00:31:01,780 –> 00:31:03,300 It holds you back. 609 00:31:03,300 –> 00:31:05,479 If there is too much sin in your life, 610 00:31:05,479 –> 00:31:08,119 there is too little fear of the Lord in your soul. 611 00:31:10,380 –> 00:31:12,660 To fear the Lord means that you learn to act 612 00:31:12,660 –> 00:31:14,939 as if you could see the fire on the mountain. 613 00:31:16,699 –> 00:31:20,180 You feel an impulse to sin, but you say to yourself, 614 00:31:20,180 –> 00:31:23,040 how can I do that when this God is watching? 615 00:31:23,719 –> 00:31:26,780 And the more you know the fear of the Lord, 616 00:31:26,780 –> 00:31:30,199 the stronger your defense against sin will be. 617 00:31:30,199 –> 00:31:33,939 Can I make a quick, but I feel I should do this today, 618 00:31:34,939 –> 00:31:36,040 particular application. 619 00:31:37,219 –> 00:31:39,380 There is a great deal of conversation 620 00:31:39,380 –> 00:31:42,400 going on these days about suicide, 621 00:31:42,400 –> 00:31:44,959 and especially amongst young people. 622 00:31:46,939 –> 00:31:48,619 And some of you have come to a place 623 00:31:48,619 –> 00:31:49,619 that you felt was so dark, 624 00:31:49,619 –> 00:31:52,959 that you even contemplated 625 00:31:53,099 –> 00:31:55,219 the possibility of taking your own life. 626 00:31:56,719 –> 00:32:00,060 And the fear of God held you back, 627 00:32:00,060 –> 00:32:03,400 thank God for that. 628 00:32:03,400 –> 00:32:04,680 It restrained you. 629 00:32:04,680 –> 00:32:06,439 You had some sense. 630 00:32:06,439 –> 00:32:10,979 I have to stand in the presence of Almighty God. 631 00:32:12,719 –> 00:32:17,719 I am so glad for multiple reasons 632 00:32:19,160 –> 00:32:20,920 that I learned when I was a little boy 633 00:32:20,920 –> 00:32:22,520 it is a fearful thing to fall 634 00:32:22,520 –> 00:32:24,020 into the hands of the living God 635 00:32:24,020 –> 00:32:26,619 because our God is consuming fire. 636 00:32:26,619 –> 00:32:28,640 I need that. 637 00:32:28,640 –> 00:32:33,640 I need a break on what’s in this heart, don’t you? 638 00:32:37,260 –> 00:32:38,099 Number three, 639 00:32:39,060 –> 00:32:41,819 fearing the Lord will motivate you in evangelism. 640 00:32:42,739 –> 00:32:44,719 Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.11, 641 00:32:44,719 –> 00:32:47,380 since we know what is to fear the Lord 642 00:32:47,380 –> 00:32:48,819 that we try to persuade men, 643 00:32:48,819 –> 00:32:50,780 and he’s talking about the work of evangelism 644 00:32:51,359 –> 00:32:52,959 and what does it spring from? 645 00:32:52,959 –> 00:32:54,420 He said well it springs from our knowledge 646 00:32:54,420 –> 00:32:57,040 of the fear of the Lord in the first instance. 647 00:32:57,040 –> 00:32:58,339 You see what Paul is saying? 648 00:32:58,339 –> 00:32:59,699 We have seen the holy fire. 649 00:33:01,339 –> 00:33:03,060 We have felt the weight of judgment 650 00:33:03,060 –> 00:33:04,859 that is to come in our own lives. 651 00:33:04,859 –> 00:33:07,420 This is why we have gone to Jesus Christ. 652 00:33:07,420 –> 00:33:09,439 This is why we are with Jesus Christ. 653 00:33:09,439 –> 00:33:11,260 And since we know what it is to fear God, 654 00:33:11,260 –> 00:33:13,260 that’s why we try to persuade men. 655 00:33:13,260 –> 00:33:17,199 Folks, love and fear are inseparable companions. 656 00:33:17,199 –> 00:33:21,079 That’s why later he says the love of Christ constrains us, 657 00:33:21,079 –> 00:33:24,599 but notice first he says it’s because we fear God 658 00:33:24,599 –> 00:33:25,640 that we persuade men. 659 00:33:25,640 –> 00:33:26,739 Don’t neglect that. 660 00:33:28,680 –> 00:33:31,400 A church that ceases to believe in hell 661 00:33:32,959 –> 00:33:34,739 may do a great deal of good 662 00:33:34,739 –> 00:33:37,199 in humanitarian and social action, 663 00:33:37,199 –> 00:33:39,959 but it will not evangelize for long. 664 00:33:41,680 –> 00:33:45,040 It is men and women who have seen the fire on the mountain 665 00:33:45,040 –> 00:33:47,000 and have learned the fear of the Lord 666 00:33:47,000 –> 00:33:50,579 who will be compelled to declare the unique glory 667 00:33:50,579 –> 00:33:52,619 of His One and Only Son. 668 00:33:54,560 –> 00:33:59,560 Number four, fearing the Lord will elevate your worship. 669 00:34:00,579 –> 00:34:04,079 It goes everywhere, the whole of the Christian life. 670 00:34:04,079 –> 00:34:06,599 Hebrews 12 in verse 28, 671 00:34:06,599 –> 00:34:09,139 “‘Let us be thankful 672 00:34:09,139 –> 00:34:11,620 “‘and so worship God,” how? 673 00:34:11,620 –> 00:34:16,620 “‘Acceptably with reverence and with awe.’” 674 00:34:17,820 –> 00:34:19,899 And folks, you know, 675 00:34:19,899 –> 00:34:23,080 where the fear of the Lord is lost, what happens? 676 00:34:23,080 –> 00:34:25,739 Worship is trivialized 677 00:34:25,739 –> 00:34:28,899 and adoration becomes entertainment. 678 00:34:30,979 –> 00:34:33,540 But when a congregation becomes gripped 679 00:34:33,540 –> 00:34:37,080 by a massive vision of the glory of God, 680 00:34:37,080 –> 00:34:39,860 when God’s people can say we have seen the glory of God 681 00:34:39,860 –> 00:34:41,580 in the face of Jesus Christ, 682 00:34:41,580 –> 00:34:44,219 what happens then, worship is lifted 683 00:34:45,120 –> 00:34:48,439 and God’s people come before Him with reverence with awe. 684 00:34:50,659 –> 00:34:55,179 Number five, fearing the Lord will make you more like Jesus. 685 00:34:56,179 –> 00:35:01,179 You say, did Jesus walk in this path of fearing the Lord? 686 00:35:01,320 –> 00:35:03,300 I mean, would that be for Jesus? 687 00:35:04,500 –> 00:35:07,320 Listen to these words of prophecy about him 688 00:35:07,320 –> 00:35:09,939 from Isaiah chapter 11 in verse two, 689 00:35:09,939 –> 00:35:12,300 the spirit of the Lord will rest on him. 690 00:35:12,300 –> 00:35:14,040 This is a messianic prophecy. 691 00:35:14,580 –> 00:35:17,000 And then the spirit is described. 692 00:35:17,000 –> 00:35:18,699 The spirit of knowledge 693 00:35:19,760 –> 00:35:22,360 and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. 694 00:35:22,360 –> 00:35:25,239 Can you see that, that the Holy Spirit is described 695 00:35:25,239 –> 00:35:27,659 as the spirit of the fear of the Lord 696 00:35:27,659 –> 00:35:28,959 for this is what He brings? 697 00:35:28,959 –> 00:35:30,979 And then it is said of the Saviour 698 00:35:30,979 –> 00:35:34,199 that He will delight in the fear of the Lord. 699 00:35:34,199 –> 00:35:39,199 He finds joy in this holy awe of the Father 700 00:35:39,580 –> 00:35:43,459 that makes Him say it’s my food to do Your will. 701 00:35:44,820 –> 00:35:49,820 Professor John Murray has a wonderful statement on this. 702 00:35:49,899 –> 00:35:54,899 He says, the fear of God is the soul of godliness. 703 00:35:55,600 –> 00:35:57,379 Isn’t that beautiful? 704 00:35:57,379 –> 00:35:58,800 Wanna grow in a godly life? 705 00:36:00,739 –> 00:36:04,780 Has this strangeness ever occurred to you? 706 00:36:06,020 –> 00:36:08,479 There has never, I believe, been a generation 707 00:36:08,479 –> 00:36:12,040 in history that has been told that God loves us more. 708 00:36:12,760 –> 00:36:14,520 And there has never, I believe, 709 00:36:14,520 –> 00:36:16,739 been a generation in history that feels 710 00:36:16,739 –> 00:36:18,919 that God loves us less. 711 00:36:18,919 –> 00:36:19,760 Why? 712 00:36:20,860 –> 00:36:23,280 Because we’ve missed the foundation 713 00:36:24,639 –> 00:36:27,060 of everything that we’re talking about right now. 714 00:36:30,459 –> 00:36:33,040 Number six, fearing the Lord 715 00:36:35,159 –> 00:36:38,419 will deliver you from all other fears. 716 00:36:38,419 –> 00:36:40,340 Now, this is marvelous. 717 00:36:40,419 –> 00:36:43,939 And it’s a truth that comes many times in the Bible. 718 00:36:43,939 –> 00:36:45,659 Especially Psalm 112. 719 00:36:45,659 –> 00:36:47,379 Everyone who struggles with fear, 720 00:36:47,379 –> 00:36:51,139 Psalm 112 is a most marvelous Psalm. 721 00:36:51,139 –> 00:36:52,860 It begins by saying, 722 00:36:52,860 –> 00:36:56,179 blessed is the man who fears the Lord. 723 00:36:56,179 –> 00:36:57,379 You say, oh I don’t know, 724 00:36:57,379 –> 00:36:59,679 I don’t want to go to a Psalm 725 00:36:59,679 –> 00:37:01,139 that’s talking about fearing the Lord. 726 00:37:01,139 –> 00:37:02,780 Ah, but wait and see what it says. 727 00:37:02,780 –> 00:37:05,080 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, 728 00:37:05,080 –> 00:37:07,459 and then verse eight it says, here’s the effect, 729 00:37:07,459 –> 00:37:10,060 his heart is secure and he will have no fear. 730 00:37:10,219 –> 00:37:11,060 And, in fact, 731 00:37:11,060 –> 00:37:12,580 it even says he will not live in the fear 732 00:37:12,580 –> 00:37:15,000 of receiving bad news. 733 00:37:15,000 –> 00:37:16,520 Not gonna go through this next week saying, 734 00:37:16,520 –> 00:37:18,379 oh, what’s that news gonna be? 735 00:37:19,419 –> 00:37:21,179 Because if he fears the Lord, 736 00:37:21,179 –> 00:37:23,439 he finds the strength in Christ 737 00:37:23,439 –> 00:37:25,899 to face the news that may come this week. 738 00:37:27,020 –> 00:37:28,820 That’s why one of the great hymns 739 00:37:28,820 –> 00:37:30,580 that has been sung in the past, 740 00:37:30,580 –> 00:37:34,020 has this line, fear him you saints, 741 00:37:34,020 –> 00:37:37,620 and you will then have nothing else to fear. 742 00:37:38,620 –> 00:37:42,639 Fears rise as our fear of the Lord diminishes, 743 00:37:42,639 –> 00:37:46,219 fears diminish as our fear of the Lord increases, 744 00:37:46,219 –> 00:37:48,639 knowing this God is for you. 745 00:37:50,340 –> 00:37:52,280 That would put strength into you 746 00:37:52,280 –> 00:37:55,139 to face whatever is happening for you this week. 747 00:37:56,500 –> 00:37:58,179 And here’s number seven. 748 00:37:59,760 –> 00:38:02,879 Fearing the Lord will lead you 749 00:38:02,879 –> 00:38:04,520 to seek 750 00:38:04,520 –> 00:38:05,939 the Mediator. 751 00:38:05,939 –> 00:38:08,340 And that is exactly what happens right there 752 00:38:08,340 –> 00:38:10,179 in Deuteronomy chapter five. 753 00:38:12,260 –> 00:38:15,260 The people say in verse 25 to Moses, 754 00:38:15,260 –> 00:38:18,159 this great fire will consume us 755 00:38:18,159 –> 00:38:19,340 and we’re going to die 756 00:38:19,340 –> 00:38:22,060 if we hear the voice of the Lord, our God, any longer. 757 00:38:22,060 –> 00:38:22,899 They’re just amazed 758 00:38:22,899 –> 00:38:25,020 that they’ve seen this fire and survived it. 759 00:38:26,219 –> 00:38:29,300 And so they say to Moses in verse 27, go near 760 00:38:30,300 –> 00:38:33,280 and listen to all that the Lord, our God, says 761 00:38:33,280 –> 00:38:35,260 and then tell us whatever God says 762 00:38:35,459 –> 00:38:36,699 and we will listen and obey. 763 00:38:36,699 –> 00:38:37,659 I love that. 764 00:38:37,659 –> 00:38:38,620 Here’s the whole crowd. 765 00:38:38,620 –> 00:38:42,860 And they’re saying, hey, you go, you go up. 766 00:38:42,860 –> 00:38:44,100 Let us stay here. 767 00:38:44,100 –> 00:38:45,419 You go. 768 00:38:45,419 –> 00:38:47,239 And Moses says right there in verse five, 769 00:38:47,239 –> 00:38:52,239 at that time I stood between you and the Lord. 770 00:38:55,199 –> 00:38:56,780 And I just want you to notice here 771 00:38:56,780 –> 00:38:58,899 what God says there in verse 28. 772 00:38:58,899 –> 00:39:01,580 The Lord heard what you spoke to me. 773 00:39:01,580 –> 00:39:03,540 That’s the Lord heard the people say, Moses, you go up, 774 00:39:04,139 –> 00:39:06,919 you go up, we need someone to go there for us. 775 00:39:06,919 –> 00:39:10,760 The Lord heard what you said and the Lord said to me, 776 00:39:10,760 –> 00:39:15,060 everything they said was good. 777 00:39:15,060 –> 00:39:16,620 See what the Lord said, 778 00:39:16,620 –> 00:39:21,340 I’m so glad they’ve seen the need of a mediator. 779 00:39:21,340 –> 00:39:26,040 I’m so glad that having glimpsed the awesome glory 780 00:39:26,040 –> 00:39:30,179 of the holy fire that they see that no man 781 00:39:30,179 –> 00:39:32,899 romps into heaven on his own. 782 00:39:33,899 –> 00:39:36,679 But that I need a mediator, 783 00:39:37,959 –> 00:39:42,459 someone who can go up or better, 784 00:39:42,459 –> 00:39:44,040 someone who has come down. 785 00:39:46,860 –> 00:39:48,379 When you see the fire on the mountain, 786 00:39:48,379 –> 00:39:50,159 when you see the holiness of God 787 00:39:50,159 –> 00:39:52,459 and its awesome fear, 788 00:39:53,379 –> 00:39:56,080 when you see that it is a fearful thing 789 00:39:56,080 –> 00:39:57,939 to fall into the hands of the living God 790 00:39:57,939 –> 00:40:00,340 and that our God is a consuming fire, 791 00:40:00,340 –> 00:40:02,179 you will have no question in your mind 792 00:40:02,179 –> 00:40:03,300 that you need a mediator 793 00:40:03,300 –> 00:40:05,739 and you will embrace Jesus Christ quickly 794 00:40:05,739 –> 00:40:08,840 and gladly and fully and completely. 795 00:40:11,060 –> 00:40:13,219 And we have a better place than Sinai 796 00:40:13,219 –> 00:40:16,020 to learn the fear that love brings. 797 00:40:17,679 –> 00:40:19,419 That place is called Calvary 798 00:40:22,020 –> 00:40:24,340 where the fire of God’s awesome judgment 799 00:40:24,340 –> 00:40:26,699 on my sin and on your sin came 800 00:40:26,699 –> 00:40:29,020 on the Lord Jesus Christ himself 801 00:40:29,020 –> 00:40:31,020 and he entered your hell. 802 00:40:31,959 –> 00:40:35,399 We worship at your feet 803 00:40:35,399 –> 00:40:38,300 where wrath and mercy meet 804 00:40:38,300 –> 00:40:40,899 and a guilty world is washed 805 00:40:40,899 –> 00:40:45,000 in love’s pure stream. 806 00:40:45,000 –> 00:40:48,979 Then he rises from the dead, 807 00:40:48,979 –> 00:40:51,620 ascends into heaven. 808 00:40:51,620 –> 00:40:53,379 And you remember something amazing 809 00:40:53,379 –> 00:40:55,419 that happened and with this we close. 810 00:40:57,100 –> 00:40:58,860 Day of Pentecost, they’re all gathered 811 00:40:58,919 –> 00:41:02,120 in one place and suddenly these believers 812 00:41:02,120 –> 00:41:03,820 hear the blowing of a violent wind 813 00:41:03,820 –> 00:41:05,919 and it comes from heaven and it fills 814 00:41:05,919 –> 00:41:07,739 the whole house where they are sitting 815 00:41:07,739 –> 00:41:11,179 and what happens next, what seemed like, 816 00:41:11,179 –> 00:41:12,020 do you remember? 817 00:41:13,060 –> 00:41:15,800 Tongues of fire came down. 818 00:41:18,219 –> 00:41:19,760 Imagine the terror of that. 819 00:41:21,219 –> 00:41:25,600 And rested on each of them. 820 00:41:26,520 –> 00:41:30,340 Almighty God is with them 821 00:41:31,459 –> 00:41:33,659 and He does not consume them. 822 00:41:36,439 –> 00:41:40,719 They are in Christ and the presence 823 00:41:40,719 –> 00:41:43,080 of the Holy One has come to empower them 824 00:41:43,080 –> 00:41:47,100 for life and to bring them into glory. 825 00:41:48,439 –> 00:41:50,560 What do you know of this fear of the Lord 826 00:41:50,560 –> 00:41:53,159 in your life, oh you’ve been talking 827 00:41:53,159 –> 00:41:55,840 so much about how to get rid of all your fears 828 00:41:55,840 –> 00:41:57,959 and there is a fear that love removes 829 00:41:57,959 –> 00:41:59,219 and that’s very important. 830 00:42:00,600 –> 00:42:02,620 But what about the fear that love brings? 831 00:42:04,020 –> 00:42:05,760 What do you know about the fear of the Lord? 832 00:42:05,760 –> 00:42:08,520 There’s a wonderful prayer that David prayed 833 00:42:08,520 –> 00:42:10,639 that you can make your own with me right now, 834 00:42:10,639 –> 00:42:13,739 it’s from Psalm 86 verse 11. 835 00:42:13,739 –> 00:42:17,500 Give me an undivided heart 836 00:42:18,479 –> 00:42:21,699 that I may fear your name. 837 00:42:22,100 –> 00:42:27,100 Almighty God, we live in this world of trivialities 838 00:42:27,179 –> 00:42:31,719 in which there’s hardly any space so often 839 00:42:31,719 –> 00:42:34,659 for you within the sheer busyness 840 00:42:34,659 –> 00:42:38,080 and relentlessness of our cluttered lives. 841 00:42:39,379 –> 00:42:41,820 And we want to bow before you, 842 00:42:41,820 –> 00:42:43,679 the God of all eternity. 843 00:42:44,800 –> 00:42:49,419 We don’t want to drift as if you were a lightweight God. 844 00:42:50,260 –> 00:42:54,360 We need to be released from many fears, 845 00:42:54,360 –> 00:42:55,639 and we thank you for your love 846 00:42:55,639 –> 00:42:57,500 that frees us from many fears, 847 00:42:57,500 –> 00:43:00,360 but oh, we need to be brought to a place 848 00:43:00,360 –> 00:43:02,699 where we no longer take you lightly, 849 00:43:02,699 –> 00:43:06,399 where we see your redeeming love in Christ 850 00:43:06,399 –> 00:43:08,479 for the treasure that it is, 851 00:43:08,479 –> 00:43:12,100 and learn to live before you daily 852 00:43:12,100 –> 00:43:15,439 in holy awe and love. 853 00:43:16,919 –> 00:43:19,239 So teach us to fear you. 854 00:43:19,659 –> 00:43:24,580 As we love you, and to love you as we fear you. 855 00:43:25,899 –> 00:43:29,919 Until the day when with John, 856 00:43:29,919 –> 00:43:34,320 we would see ourselves also falling at your feet 857 00:43:34,320 –> 00:43:37,360 as if dead, 858 00:43:37,360 –> 00:43:38,979 and then by your grace and mercy, 859 00:43:38,979 –> 00:43:41,439 you would lift us up and say, 860 00:43:41,439 –> 00:43:45,159 fear not, I am the living one. 861 00:43:46,159 –> 00:43:47,620 I am your mediator, 862 00:43:48,639 –> 00:43:53,040 I am your savior and I am your Lord, 863 00:43:54,120 –> 00:43:58,820 who welcomes you into the knowledge of the holy. 864 00:44:00,040 –> 00:44:02,659 Through Jesus Christ, our Lord we pray these things 865 00:44:02,659 –> 00:44:05,439 and everyone said, amen.