Now this is a great chapter on
faith as you know, you recognize that. Many instances and many
people of the power and the work of faith in their life. This
one concerns Noah. By faith Noah, being warned of
God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an
ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the
world and became heir of the righteousness which is of or
by faith. Now the three words here, moved
with fear. It'll be a while before we get
back to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7, but that will be part
of our text and of our study this morning. I begin by saying
that today we want to consider the subject of the fear of God
that is mentioned so extensively in the scripture. How often do
we read of the fear of God? Actually, it is a major part
of the Holy Scripture. You'll see it in the Old Testament.
You'll see it in the New Testament. So much so that if we were mind
to, we could this morning simply read scripture after scripture
concerning the fear of God, and it would take up all of our time
and maybe more. Now, though the scriptures speak
extensively of the fear of God, yet it is little heard, not too
much preached on in our day and in our time. But it is a distinguishing
grace. that God imparts unto his elect
so vital to a true view of God and worship of God and attitude
toward God and the serving of God. So, perhaps the first thing
that we ought to do is define what we mean by the fear of God
that is set forth in the scripture and also that we might understand
that in the scripture not all fear is one and the same. Paul tells us in the Corinthian
letter, that all flesh is not the same flesh and one star differeth
from another star in glory, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So that there are
different fears also that are written up in the scripture that
people possess and that in turn possess them. All fear having
some effect and influence upon them. all fear being a major
influence in the way that they think and they act and they live. The fear of God is a strong motivating
factor in people regardless of the sort of fear that it is. So there are several variations
in the word of God, both in the Old and in the New Testament
with regard to the understanding and the application of fear.
For example, let's name a few to get us on our way. There is
in Proverbs and chapter 29 and verse 25, there is the fear of
man. And Solomon the wise one said
that this brings A snare. The fear of man brings a snare. In other words, it puts one end
to slavery. There is also the fear of death
in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 15. I think this might be the
word phobos or phobos meaning alarm or fright because there
is in most that fear of death. There is the spirit of fear that
we read about in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7. And this looks
like the word delia, timidity or cowardice. And Paul says,
God has not given us this sort of fear, those that love him. It is not begotten in us by a
work of the grace of God. Then there was that fear that
dwelt in Adam, and you read about it in Genesis chapter 13. When
Adam, hiding and covered himself with fig leaf designer clothes
that they had made for himself, Genesis 3 and verse 10, I was
afraid. I was afraid and I hid myself. And the word means to be frightened
and to be dreadful and to be fearful. And therefore, Adam
became that of the presence of God because sin and corruption
had entered into him. Well, these are enough examples,
I think, to draw two conclusions based squarely upon the scripture. That is, number one, that there
are several aspects of fear indeed, as with the word flesh, as with
the word world. There are several meanings that
are attached unto it. So the meaning of fear, Old and
New Testament, can be rather broad and must therefore be considered
and understood in the context in which it appears in the scripture. And then secondly, Each person
has something that they fear, whether it be a secret fear or
an openly and expressed fear, and whether it be a secular fear
or a spiritual fear in its nature. We read in Luke 21, verse 26,
of a time when people would faint from fear for seeing those things
that they were expecting to be coming upon the earth or the
world. We read in the New Testament
Jewish leaders feared the people, Matthew 21 and 26, because they
took John to be a prophet. Secret disciples feared the leaders
and the Sanhedrin in John chapter 7 13 and 19 and 38 and the Apostles
after the death of their Lord and he was no longer with them
and feared the Jews, and so here, John chapter 20 and verse 19. But in this study this morning,
we wish to focus upon that certain aspect of fear which has to do
with one's fear or lack of fear toward the God of heaven, what
is often called, and rightly so, reverential fear of God,
a wholesome view of God and of things spiritual and eternal,
and which fear, and out of which fear, we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and godly fear, as is written in Hebrew chapter
12, Verse 28 now the word fear some prefer to translate as all
a W e godly all godly reverence toward God and everything that
he is and everything that he stands for so it is a respectful
fear and awe of God and in this sense it is toward God but it
is not a dreadful fear per se but it is a controlling motive
of the life as regards things spiritual and moral and it highly
regards God and it seeks to please him and it wishes to honor him
in all things that are done and that are said. And when we think
about it, There are only two sorts of people who inhabit the
earth. Only two classes of people, as
they might be divided into classes. Yes, there are the saved and
the lost. There are the reprobate and the
elect. There are those that are regenerate
and those that are unregenerate. are in line with our subject.
There are those that fear God, and there are those that do not
fear God. Here is the opening statement
from John Gill in his chapter, in his Body of Divinity, on the
fear of God, and I quote, the fear of God has so great a concern
in divine worship that it is sometimes put for the whole of
it." It is simply summed up, they that fear God, they that
do not fear God. So that a saint or a saved person,
one that fears God, is a worshiper of God, none can reckon themselves
saved or to be a child of God, or to worship Him acceptably,
unless they have a reverential fear and awe of God in their
heart as their motive and attitude. So that one either fears God
or they do not. And these categorize them as
people living in the world. Now, before we consider the blessedness
of those who have this reverential awe and fear of God, let's take
a bit to consider what the scripture teaches us about those who lack
the fear of God. And first to acknowledge that
there are such in which, quote, there is no fear of God before
their eyes. We find that statement in Romans
chapter 3. and verse 18, and we'll say more
about it shortly. But here are three examples.
In Psalm chapter 36 and verse 1, the Psalmist writes something
very interesting. He says, the transgression of
the wicked says within my heart, there is no fear of God before
their eyes. This is what Paul quotes. in
Romans 3 and verse 18. Now the psalmist declares this,
that the sin, the action, the bold and open transgression of
the wicked speak to him loud and clear. In other words, the
action of this wicked man has a voice and it sends out a message. And that message that it conveys
to a godly heart is this. That man has no fear of God before
his eyes. He is not a fearer of God. As such, he is a practical atheist. And Spurgeon put it like this.
This lack of fear is the atheistic root from which grows the fruit
of it, and that is wickedness, the comment of Spurgeon. And
those have to take the words as speaking to the heart of the
wicked himself. The wickedness speak unto my
heart. He has no fear of God before
his eye. Yet this man does not have a
hearing ear or a seeing eye. So to the righteous, when we
look out upon the world and the behavior of the people is proof
unto us, he has no fear of God, he has no right religion in him. Now some examples. from the life
of Abraham and Sarah when they journeyed down into the land
of Gerar. There Abimelech sat upon the
throne as the king. And when Abraham and Sarah went
down into the land, Abimelech took Sarah to become one of his
wives. God preserved Amimelech from
defiling her. He gave the king a very terrifying
dream in the night, threatening him with death, for he said,
Sarah has an husband. Now, Sarah and Abraham had said
that they were brother and sister. This was Abraham's design when
they went down because he feared that they would kill him and
take his wife. You find this in Genesis chapter
20. And the next morning, after his
terrifying dream, the king called Abraham and he demanded to know
of him in the 10th verse. What was it, what is it that
you see that you have done this awful thing and brought this
trouble upon me? He asked Abraham in our modern
vernacular, what have you done? What possessed you that you deceived
me in this way? Abraham's answer is interesting
and is part of our subject, you'll find it in verse 11. Abraham's
answer is, Genesis 20 and verse 11. He said, because I thought,
actually, I perceived, I observed, the fear of God is not in this
place, and they will kill me on account of my wife. Now notice,
Abraham's reasoning was sound then and it is yet sound now
and applicable to any generation and any time and any place. That men who fear not God are
oftentimes not only sinners, but very violent sinners. Such men are dangerous. They are misfits to be feared
and avoided. They are beasts and animals at
the core because they have not the fear of God in their heart. Now let's switch to that verse
in Romans chapter 3 and verse 18. And you might notice that
it is the closing summation of Paul's indictment of the whole
race beginning back in verse 9. In verse 10 through verse
12, He declares that none are righteous or holy by nature. None seek God. None are good. They are all turned out of the
way. Now, these are quotes from Psalm
14, 1 through 3, and Psalm 53, and 1 through 3. But then in
verse 13 through 17 of Romans 8, Romans 3, I'm sorry. The apostle
quotes heavily from the Old Testament scripture and is more specific
in naming the works and the action of the natural man apart from
a work of grace and the fear of God. And he lays a heavy emphasis,
notice, upon the throat and the tongue, the lips and the mouth. In fact, here, verse 13, their
throat, is an open sepulcher. In other words, he likened their
throat, tongue, mouth, lips to an open grave. An open grave
containing a decomposing corpse. A grave not covered, as in John
11 and verse 39. Martha feared to open the grave
of her brother, for he had been dead four days, and she said
by this time he would smell. While the Lord likened the Pharisees
unto whited supplicators. whited graves or whited tombs,
whitewashed outside but inside full of dead men's bones. Paul here likened the throat
and the mouth and the lip to an open tongue sending forth,
open throat, sending forth its strong fumes of death and corruption. Now, whatever people may claim
to be, it is with them as the maid said to the apostle Simon
Peter in Matthew 26 and 73, she said to him, your speech betrayeth
you. Now, I want to be careful here.
The way you talk, she says, gives you away. The way you talk, the
way you form your words and such like, make manifest your, and
what I noticed that Spurgeon called, quote, the brogue of
Galilee, unquote. And later Spurgeon spoke of Peter
as having a provincial dialect. In other words, it's like people
from Alabama and Georgia, people, the Yankees, people, Southerners
and so forth, have a little bit different way of pronouncing
words and their dialect. Now I'm not saying that Peter
sunk to the vile speech of those in Romans chapter 3 and verse
18, but their speech and their behavior speak as did those under
the psalmist in Psalm 36 and 1, the transgression of the wicked
says within my heart, no fear of God before their eyes. One capable commentator pointed
out Romans 3 and 18 is a verbatim. That is, it is an exact quote
of the last half of Psalm 36 and verse 1, and that with one
exception. The psalmist speaks in the plural,
or rather the singular, his. And Paul speaks in the plural,
theirs. So let's not miss the gravity
of what it means to be without the fear of God. That it is equal
to saying that one is godless. One is godless who has not the
fear of God. This being an awful state for
a person to be in. This lack of fear means that
like that judge in Luke 18 who boasted or declared that he feared
not God nor regarded man. Verse 2 and verse 4. Now if you'll
pardon me a short digression, but one qualifying action, one
qualification rather, of a judge or a ruler or an overseer in
Judaism or in Israel, part of it was that he had a fear of
God. And you can find that in Exodus
18 and verse 21. Among other things, that he was
to be an honest man, an Israelite, he was to possess a fear of God. Now let me make one statement
concerning that. Give power, give authority, give
rule unto any that fear not God, and you'll get a tyrant. Give authority and power to one
without a fear of God, and you will result with a tyrant. The lack of the fear of God means
that God is not in all of his or her thoughts. Psalm 10 and
verse 4. And such will therefore lean
unto their own understanding. They do not reverentially fear
God, They're not ought by the thought of the majesty, the holiness,
the power, and the sovereignty of God. And you may notice that
both David and Paul use the expression that the fear of God is not,
quote, before their eyes, unquote. The fear of God is not before
their eyes or in front of them. The eyes of the wicked, the fear
of God is not there. The fear of God is a strong check
on the wickedness of people who have it. It acts as a bridle,
as Calvin called it, to hold back the iniquity of the wicked,
while the lack of it plunges one into all kinds of irreverent
and evil behavior. For example, The fear of God
kept the godly Joseph in Genesis 39 from being seduced by the
wife of Potiphar. The fear of God kept the Jewish
midwives from killing all of the little boy babies that were
born when they were upon the birthing stool. That's in Exodus
chapter 1. There's gone out a decree from
Pharaoh who said to the midwives, when the women are upon the birthing
stool and they give birth to a little boy, baby, you are to
ensure that it is put to death. But because they feared God,
they would not do that. And providentially, it gave us
Moses. Wise Solomon wrote much in the
Proverbs upon the subject of the fear of God as a very valuable
asset. Let's hear a few of them from
his pen. Proverbs 1 and verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. You'll see it again, chapter
9 and verse 10. Proverbs 3 and verse 7. Be not
wise in thine own conceit, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. You'll see it again, chapter
16 and verse 6. Chapter 8 and verse 13, the fear
of the Lord is to hate evil. 10 and 27, the fear of the Lord
prolongs days. 14 and 27, the fear of the Lord
is a fountain of life. While we move into the psalm,
we find that the psalms make over 50 references to the subject
of the fear of God. And I counted in the New Testament
at least 100 mentions of fear in the New Testament alone or
the lack of it. Now, as we transition to the
necessity, the work, and the origin of fear in those that
fear God and those that walk before him in fear, let me give
you a quote from John Murray from the third chapter of Romans. He said this on that text, the
verse that we're using, quote, In scripture teaching, the fear
of God is the soul of godliness and its absence is the epitome
of wickedness, unquote. Now think about that again. The
fear of God is the soul of godliness and the lack of it the epitome
of wickedness. All will live and all will act
according to the view that they hold of God. The presence or
the absence of fear being a major factor in the life of every individual. The fear of God is a major factor
in the practice of the Christian religion of Christianity. The worship of God, the worship
of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. None can serve God acceptably
unless they fear him with a godly fear and awe. That they, according
to Hebrews 12 and verse 28, serve God acceptably, and notice the
joint here, with reverence and godly fear. Now this point, some
there are who make fear the attitude of the Old Testament saint, and
faith, the attitude of the New Testament saint, that they are
more described as believer, or believing, or love God. And yet the prophet Jeremiah
spoke of a new covenant that was to be brought in, in the
time of Christ, would involve an internal work of God, magnificent
and necessary. Let's listen to the prophet,
Jeremiah 31-33. I will put my law in their inward
part and write it in their heart. I will be their God and they
shall be my people. Listen again to Jeremiah chapter
32 and verse 40. I will make an everlasting covenant
with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good,
but I will put my fear in their heart and they shall not depart
from me." Notice that. I will put my fear in their heart
and they shall not depart from me. Ezekiel, much the same thing. Chapter 36. And verse 27, and
I'm quoting but in part, quote, I will take away the stony heart.
I'll give you a heart of flesh. I'll put my spirit within you,
cause you to walk in my statutes and keep my judgments, unquote. And in Hebrew chapter 10 and
verse 6, it makes this to be the new covenant brought in by
Jesus Christ, the better covenant, the new and the living way, as
it is described in Hebrew. Then let's consider the word.
I will put my fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from
me. Now the first is the cause of
the second. I will put my fear in their heart
with the result being they will not depart from me. They will
not turn away. They will not apostatize. Now this fruit is a work. This
is a fruit of the work of internal grace. a sovereign work. Who but God can take away the
heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh? Who is there that can
instill in a being the fear of God, the reverential awesome
fear of God in a heart once at enmity with God. In other words,
it amounts to taking away the stony heart wherein was the enmity
and putting in a heart of flesh. And of course, This is a work
accomplished in regeneration. Nowhere but regeneration is this
work begun and accomplished. When God, as it were, passes
by that elect one out in the field of the world, dead in trespasses
and in sin, and says to them, like he said to that little deserted
infant, Ezekiel chapter 16 there laying in his blood yea he said
unto them live as he did when he stood before the tomb of Lazarus
and he said Lazarus come forth in John chapter 11 so let's be
clear that this fear of God this awesome and reverent view and
adoration of God is suitable, is not suitable rather, or compatible
to the unregenerate natural heart. You'll never find it there in
the same degree that it is in an elect. And it certainly is
not innate, for God said, I will put it in their heart. It's not
present from the natural birth as a natural part of the human
makeup. Some fear may be and appear,
but not this reverential fear. It is not something that the
individual can conjure up in his own will or in his own might. as the heart must be prepared
to receive the word of God, so the natural enmity must be overcome
that the fear of God might fill up that void by a sovereign work
of God. Enmity and fear are incompatible
and stand like flesh and spirit against one another. None can
serve two masters. They cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6 and verse 24, neither
can one hate and fear God or love God at one and the same
time. Now, as to that, I have no doubt
that some do, both in themselves and in others. about them mistake
the work of natural conscience for a proper fear of God. They do that, I think, all the
time. They do that because they believe
there to be a God. They believe, yes, I believe
in God. I'm not an atheist. Conscience
makes them feel guilty for things that they do because they believe
in heaven and they believe in hell. Because they oppose the
greater open sins and crimes against decency, they imagine
that they have this fear of God that we are talking about. And
because they often claim that they're not afraid to die, that
they face death without fear, they may imagine that that is
a fear and a love of God. But conscience and godly fear
oppose sin on different grounds altogether. Conscience is not
very often successful, but the fear of God is. And so it is
impossible that there will be a godly man apart from godly
fear and faith. We see them together in the man
Noah in our text. Hebrews 11 and seven said, By
faith, Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house,
with these two results, by which he condemned the world and became
heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Now, what a verse
is that one for us to study? We know first of all that Noah
found grace in the eyes of God. That's Genesis 6 and verse 8. He was given faith. He obeyed
God by faith, believing God's word. God said that it would
be a worldwide flood would come, and Noah believed it. though
it had never happened before. In fact, from Genesis, I think
we learn that it had never rained before. in Genesis chapter 2
verse 5 and 6 that God watered the earth from the midst of the
ground up. But this staggered not Noah at
all when God said a worldwide flood would come and all flesh
would be destroyed from off of the earth. Notice those words
being warned. Noah being warned. You find that in Genesis chapter
6, 13 through 16. God came, he warned Noah of the
coming and impending flood. And by faith and moved with fear,
being moved with fear, the scripture said Noah built an ark. By faith he believed God, his
fear of God in the warning, and I agree with John Owen, seeing
God by faith and the warning, he was filled and he acted from
his reverential awe or fear of God. Now, Noah did not react
just because of the fear threatened. but the greatness, the holiness,
the power, the sovereignty, the majesticness of Almighty God. It's not the flood that scared
Noah and got fear, the fear of God, and moved with that fear,
he was obedient, began work on, and completed the art. I read
A.W. Pink this week in Hebrews again.
He wrote this, and I'm quoting, A reverential fear, that is an
awe of God, is a sure fruit of saving faith. Unquote. The reverential fear of God flows
out of that saving faith. Let's catch it. Noah being moved
Moved with fear, being moved with fear. Robertson in his word
study called this word moved here in the Greek and old verb
almost extinct, but it meant to take hold well or carefully. Noah moved with fear for fear
took hold well and carefully of that man. And it means that
most, or rather, that Noah acted circumspectly. He acted with
or out of reverence and fear. Believing God, he feared. He held God and his word in such
high esteem that fear was conceived in him and he obeyed in the building
of the ark. Now, as the prophet declared,
the fear that God puts in the covenant people acts as a tether
or an anchor. It is a cord. a strong cord that
binds them that they depart not from God. Hear it again. I will
put my fear in their heart that they shall not depart from me. There is no such irreverence
toward God. There is so much irreverence
toward God in the world today. And I think that that can be
divided into two areas, the world's irreverence toward God, one among
the people of the world who are totally irreligious, disconnected
from any sort of worship or any sort of church. And this is no
surprise when we hear them mock God, mock his word, mock his
church, mock his gospel, take the name of God in vain and profanity. They defy God. They set up false
deities before the God of heaven. Their actions say unto our heart,
there is no fear of God before the eyes of this people. When
you see people on TV and radio and such like saying there's
no such thing as God and religion is a con game and a deception. I want you to think of the two
thieves. on either side of our Lord Jesus at Calvary. One of them said at a certain
point unto the other, in Luke 23 and verse 40, do you not fear
God? He looked around in his anguish,
misery and suffering and rebuked his fellow saying, do not you
fear God? For this one had railed against
Christ. He had insulted Christ. He had
blasphemed Christ, saying unto him, Why don't you get yourself
down and us off of this cross? This man, this one, so close
to death and so close to hell, about to swallow him up and still
blaspheming God, still no reverence, still no fear, still no awe,
under a sentence of death. And yet so many like him come
to the hour of their death without the fear of God. There is so
much irreverence even in the churches with regard to God being
passed off as truth and as worship, but it's sickening unto God. It is a stench in His nostrils,
what goes on in so many churches, denying the sovereignty of God. denying the impeccability of
our blessed Christ, preaching unto people another gospel, singing
their irreverent songs and silly little ditties, and bringing
women preachers into the pulpit with the audacity of their mind. But faith and fear are close
companions. Knowledge, as a Puritan once
opined, fear and knowledge do make up the godly person. Fear
and knowledge found together in the godly. Calling them, as
he did the Puritan, a happy composition Fear and knowledge. Fear must
be guided by knowledge, then it will be exercised in a right
way. Fear and knowledge also found
together. Let me close again by saying
the fear of God is a most important influence in the life of a child
of God. It colors all that they do. It
fixes their attitude, not only about the world, but about God
and things eternal. Their view of God serves their
worship and their service, is guided by the fear of God. How wonderful that a prophet
would say, I will put my fear in their heart, that they shall
not depart from me. Beware the person. who fears
not God and then declares it openly and without shame. Thank God for that fear, that
fear that dwells in our heart, whereby we esteem him to be majestic. His awesomeness is beyond our
comprehension in this life. The fear of God, how wonderful
is it, what a part it has in our worship and in guiding our
lives.