All right, on the tapes and CDs
and the internet, Jeremiah 32, beginning in verse 36. Now therefore
saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city whereof
ye say, it shall be delivered into the hand of the king of
Babylon by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. Behold, I
will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in
my anger and in my fury and in my great wrath. I will bring
them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they shall be my people,
and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart
and one way, that they may fear me forever for the good of them
and their children after them. and watch for it, and 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
hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Now verse 39 and verse
40 principally contain our text and our subject of the morning. Let me begin by this manner of
introduction. by reminding us of something
that is very evident. And that is that there is not
much preaching on this subject in our day. And if for chance
one takes it up when it is examined, it will be found that they are
preaching a slavish fear that genders under bondage and that
gives great trouble and distress in the soul of that individual,
robbing them of the spiritual peace that they ought to have
in the fear of God. Yea, it is the habit of some
teachers of religion to use a slavish type of fear in order to keep
the sheep in line, such as threatening them with the loss of the salvation
of their soul if they do not toe the mark of that particular
teacher. They use this to blackmail their
follow us in order to keep the faith. That if they miss church
too much, or go to the wrong church, or deviate in the slightest
from the teaching of the great self-proclaimed prophets of the
day, then that one is put in danger of hellfire. And this is a sort of slavish
fear. Now we perceive immediately that
not all fear is one and the same fear that we read about in the
scripture. They must not all be put into
the same category. They must not all be made one
and the same fear. John Gill wrote There are different
sorts of fear which are not to be mingled together one with
the other. Else are we confused about the
subject of the fear of God. There was an old Puritan preacher
who passed from his ministry and from this life way back in
the year 1691 by the name of John Flavell, or Flavell if you
prefer. And he left behind many commentaries
on the Word of God and upon theology. One of his writings he titled,
A Treatise on the Fear of God. And in that treatise, and very
early on, he says that there is a threefold fear that is to
be found among the human family. There are three types or three
kinds of fear that one will find evident and present in the human
family. He divided them thusly. Number
one, natural fear. That would be that that works
with the conscious, the natural conscious of man and natural
revelation. Secondly, there is a sinful fear
that is to be found in many and is propagated by many who preach
today. Thirdly, there is a religious
fear, or shall we call it a spiritual fear of God. We can easily see,
when we have considered the matter, this fear of God, whether it
be present or absent, is a most important factor and force in
the lives of all men. Whoever they might be, strongly
there is an influence or the lack of, of the fear of God in
their heart. As commentators have said, John
Flavel, it, that is fear, will be found exceedingly necessary
and useful in order to make man a governable creature by the
law of God. Now in this We see it working
in conjunction with the conscience. We've studied that thoroughly
in times gone by. Another lack of this fear, to
a bridle by which the horse is guided or is governed. that if this passion of fear
be absent or be removed or be lost, all other restraints also
will be broken down for those that do not fear God. John Gill,
one of my favorites, wrote, the fear of God has so great a concern
in divine worship that it is sometimes put for the whole of
it. In other words, when it is said
in the Old Testament or in the New that so and so feared God. In fact, Thomas Goodwin, another
Puritan, once wrote, he that in the New Testament is called
a believer is in the Old Testament called one that fears God, a
fearer of God. Some great examples of that ought
to be found in the Scripture. For example, in Job chapter 1
and verse 1, there was a man in the land of Uz whose name
was Job, perfect and upright, and one that feared God. In Genesis chapter 22, verse
12, you remember Abraham's trial, God commanding him to offer up
his son. And God said that Abraham's obedience
was proof that he feared God. God said to him, I know now that
you fear God. seeing you have not withheld
your only son from me." You might remember that passage in Acts
chapter 10 and verse 2. Cornelius, the Italian man, is
called a devout man and one that feared God with all of his house. An interesting passage is found
in Hebrews 11 And verse 7, Noah moved with fear, prepared an
ark to the saving of his house. Now these are but a few examples
from among many that are at hand in the scripture. The usefulness,
yea, the necessity of a godly fear in true religion. that none can hold on their way,
none can worship God or love Him, except there be the presence
of the fear of God. You may remember a few weeks
ago we spoke on the depravity of man from Romans chapter 3
verse 10 through verse 18. And Paul saying there in the
18th verse, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now this lays at the very heart
of their wild and mad career in sin and depravity. This puts away all restraint
from upon them. so that they run to every excess
because they do not fear God. So I want to say, make this note,
a man or a person who fears not God is a dangerous person indeed. A society lacking the fear of
God is a dangerous society indeed. brings to me, at least to mine,
the words of Abraham in Genesis chapter 20 and verse 11. There's
a very interesting incident here in this chapter concerning Abraham
and it relates under the fear of God. To sort of set the context
for us in Genesis chapter 20, this occurred when Sarah and
Abraham journeyed down into the land of Gerar where Abimelech
was the king. Now Abraham, when he got there,
out of fear of his own life, told the people that Sarah, his
wife, was his sister. You can see it in that chapter
in four places. In verse 2, in verse 5, in verse
11, and verse 12. And when they married, Abraham
made a pact with his wife that she would always say that she
was his sister. Well, when the king was inclined
to take Sarah for one of his wives, the Lord God terrorized
King Abimelech in a dream at night and prevented him from
defiling Sarah in any way and threatened him that unless he
returned her unto Abraham that God would kill him, that is,
King Abimelech. And when Abimelech knows the
matter, troubled by it, he searches it out unto the end. And when
he finds out what had been done, what had been said, he confronts
Abraham, and in verse 10 of that chapter, he asks Abraham, what
was it that you did see that you have done this thing against
me? What was your reasoning? Some versions of the Scripture
will have it. What did you encounter that you
have done this thing? What did you perceive in this
place that you have done such a thing? Notice Abraham's answer
in verse 11. because he said, I perceive this
to be a place void of the fear of God. And as Gil wrote, Abraham
explained that he thought that where there was no true religion
or godliness in that place, and that the people there, being
without the fear of God before their eyes, much less in their
heart, such are capable of high crimes against others and against
their fellow man." Well, let's go back to that verse again in
Romans 3 and verse 18. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. As the culmination of the description
of their depravity. Now you may see in the cross
references in your Bible that this is a quote or a portion
from Psalm chapter 36 and verse 1. It is from an observation. that David made of his generation. Here is the full verse. Quote,
The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there
is no fear of God before their eyes. David drew a conclusion
based upon his observation of the outward conduct of the wicked. His conclusion was, from their
behavior, there is no fear of God before their eye, that they
did neither walk nor did they live in the fear of God. And that such as live and die
in sin and defiance of God, having not the fear of God in their
heart, do not fear him, such were destitute of the fear of
God. For Solomon writes a great deal
about that. Proverbs 1 and verse 7, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 16 and 6,
by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. Proverbs 8,
13, The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Proverbs 19 and 23. The fear of the Lord tendeth
to lie. Listen to that. The fear of the
Lord tendeth unto lie. But as a man, named William Plummer
wrote on the 36th Psalm, and I'm quoting, when a man has no
fear of God, he's prepared for any crime, unquote. Spurgeon wrote something rather
poetic, men's sins have a voice to godly ears, he said, there
is a sound in the activity of men and in their sin. When David
beheld the sinning openly with little restraint in his generation,
it made or gave a witness in his heart that such were destitute
of any reverential fear of God Almighty. Their actions betrayed
them. Whatever to the contrary came
out of their lips. If they professed to love to
know or to fear God, yet their conduct put a lie to their profession. It puts me in the mind are the
two thieves that hung on the cross by the side of our Lord
Jesus Christ and the effect which the conduct of one had upon the
other. It's found in Luke 23 and verse
40. Remember, one thief continued
to rail against Christ even in the face and the hour of his
death, even as death was at the door. The repentant one said
to the first, Do you not fear God, seeing you are in the same
condemnation? That was a question of an amazement. You're under the same sentence
exactly. The sentence of death. Have you
no fear of God? There are those who know the
Greek who say that the words are much more expressive in the
Greek than they are in the English. That the words are very emphatic. that this man in the very face
of death does yet continue to revile Christ. Do not even you
who are in this condemnation fear God? A man, I say again,
at death's door and yet speaking so irreverently, having no thought
of seeking the mercy or the pardon or the forgiveness of God. Yet
have we known those in our own lives, in personal experience,
who till the very last breath breathe out cursing and blasphemy
against God, against Christ, and against the church and the
gospel. They speak against the Holy Scripture. They have no dread, it seems,
of falling into the hands of the holy and the righteous God. Even then, the thief was under
a sentence of death, yet it had not silenced his mocking mouth. Not even you, says the repentant
one, no fear of God, yet condemned and about to die. Some fear of
God should have been present, since it is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
31. Consider again that passage in
Hebrews 11 and verse 7, that by faith being moved with fear,
Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his house. I would
call you to see the sweet, sweet agreeable alliance that exists
between faith and between fear. Owen wrote, by faith he was moved
with fear. His believing, or his faith,
takes effect in giving him a reverential fear of God. He believed and
he acted upon the warning of God that a flood would come and
destroy all living flesh. In fact, Owen wrote this, the
fear of Noah, quote, was not an anxious, solicitous fear of
the threatened evil to come in the flood, but an acknowledgment
of the greatness, the holiness, and the power of God, so that
Noah's reverential fear of God was an extension of that grace
that Noah had found in the eyes of the Lord, and the saving faith
that that grace had begotten, or had produced in this man,
favored with the grace of God. Now, let's reflect a bit upon
the action of this man Noah and his building of an ark in preparation
for the threatened flood. Now, think on these things. By
grace was Noah saved. By faith he believed God, as
did Abraham, and by fear He prepared an ark for his family. One rightly said, it was a new
and a novel thing in the earth. It had never been done before.
It had never needed to be done. None had ever seen it to be done. And can we not imagine that like
with Paul's preaching of the gospel, how many there must have
been, that it seemed foolishness unto them, unto Noah's fellows,
upon at least two accounts. Surely his generation not only
mocked his preaching, but his work upon the ark as well. First of all, it might seem foolishness
that Noah is proclaiming a coming flood. A coming flood over all
the earth, destroying all in which there is the breath of
life, torrential rain and torrential water, covering the earth and
destroying it. This they had never seen since
the world began. You know, there's an interesting
question in Genesis, and that question is, when did it first
rain upon the earth? And you can consider that from
Genesis 2, verse 5, and verse 6, that a mist from the ground
went up and watered the earth. Yet Noah is by fear preparing
an ark in anticipation of a coming flood that will destroy the world. Secondly, again it must have
seemed foolishness and so odd to see Noah expend so much labor
and so much expense to build an ark. a ship, if you will,
a water vessel, and mind you, build it where there was no water
at hand to float it. An old-time preacher said it
like this, built an ark 40 miles from water because he believed
it and he feared God. Now in drawing nearer our present
and opening text that we have read, we want to focus upon what
we might call religious or spiritual fear. What is so often in Scripture
simply called the fear of God. meaning not the fear that is
in God Himself. God does not fear nor need He
anyone or anything. And there is none beside Himself
and the Holy Three who is even slightly worthy of God's reverential
fear, more worthy of giving Him honor. There is none in creation. Thus, the fear of God is that
fear which God is the object of that fear. Psalm 33 and verse
8, that all the earth fear the Lord. Let the inhabitants of
the world stand in awe of Him. Psalm 76 and 11, He ought to
be feared, the psalmist wrote. It's what God through Moses required
of Israel. Deuteronomy 6.13 and 10 and verse
20. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy
God, and swear by his name, and cleave unto him. What does Solomon
conclude in that unusual and unique book of Ecclesiastes chapter
12 and verse 13? Fear God and keep His commandments
for this is the duty of man. Getting in our text here, Jeremiah
32, let's take a quick look at the surrounding text in this
chapter. In verses 1 through 5, we have
the prophet in prison for foretelling the coming Babylonian trouble
upon Jerusalem. In verse 6 through verse 15,
there is a prayer by the prophet, one of many great prayers recorded
and included in the holy oracles of God, joining men as Moses
and Solomon and Isaiah and Paul, whose prayers are recorded. In
verse 26 through verse 35, there is a dire prediction at the hands
of the captivity, at the hand of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar
in Babylon. And the point is clearly made. It is for their sins and on account
of their spiritual whoredoms that God will send them into
captivity, such as offering incense unto Baal, making oblations or
offering unto other gods. provoking God to anger time and
time again. Especially consider the charge
laid out in verse 32 through verse 35. But then in verse 36
through verse 44, even as the prophet foretells the captivity,
verse 36, the last part, concerning this city, he said, he attaches
to the threats, a word of hope and of promise. That is, that
the captivity would be temporary. It would not be forever and forever. He would not cast them off. into the hands of the enemy forever
and forever. Not cast away the people entirely
or forever whom he foreknew. So verse 37 of our text said,
I will gather them, I will bring them again into this place. I will cause them to dwell safely. In verse 38, they shall be my
people. I will be their God. And as Calvin
said on verse 38, this promise held the first place in their
restoration. And think, a people have no standing
before God, except they have a covenant standing and status. Yet this God whom they had provoked
would be reconciled unto them as his people, and verse 40,
bestow upon them covenant status and blessing. But we notice in
verse 39 and verse 40, God promises to perform one internal work. I will give them a heart that
they may fear me. I will put my fear in their heart. Listen to this, that they shall
not depart from me. We find such a thing over again
in Ezekiel. And I'm turning there to chapter
11 for the purpose of reading verses 19 and verse 20 from the
prophet Ezekiel. And I will give them one heart,
I'll put a new spirit within you, and I will take the stony
heart out of your flesh and will give them a heart of flesh, that
they may walk in my statute, keep my ordinances, and do them,
and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Now there is not a greater work,
nor is there a more necessary work than regeneration, than
inward renewal, giving one a new heart. It is by this great internal
sovereign work that God draws the heart and fixes and attaches
the heart of one upon himself. In the day of his power, Are
they willing? He gives faith. He puts fear
in their heart. Faith and fear then working in
tandem. do secure the love, the worship,
and the obedience of the subjects of God. One will never serve
the Lord in a spiritual way until God has put his fear in their
heart. And let us restate, this is not
a slavish or a gendering to bondage fear. It is not that kind of
fear that says, oh, if I make a misstep, I'll fall out of grace. Paul told those at Rome, Romans
8 and verse 15, we have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear. In 2 Timothy 1 and 17, God has
not given us the spirit of fear that genders
unto bondage. Jeremiah put it another way.
Jeremiah 31, 33, I will make my covenant with them. I will
put my law in their inward parts. I will write it in their heart. Yes, Moses received the law upon
tables of stone. written and engraven upon stone,
the scripture said, by the very finger of God. And this law upon
stone could only terrorize them for their failure. While in regeneration
the writing is upon the table, written not with ink, not in
stone, but in the heart Of all of the holy writings of God,
none is more precious than this. It's precious more than the law
of nature. But in regeneration, written
on the inward heart, the Spirit of God is the scribe. No one can circumcise their own
heart. so no one can put the fear of
God in their own heart, neither can one have a proper view of
God or live unto Him except for that powerful influence of this
fear that God plants in the heart. Joshua 24, 14, fear the Lord. and serve Him in sincerity and
truth. 2 Samuel 12 and 14, Fear the
Lord, serve Him, and obey His voice. 1 Samuel 12 and verse
24, Fear the Lord, serve Him in truth with all of your heart,
for consider how great things He hath done for you. One can never depart from evil
apart from the fear of God. Even natural fear will restrain
some. The fear that they will die and
go to hell puts restraints upon many. But they do not fear sin
itself, but fear the consequences of sin. But the real fear of
God fears sin as well. While the spiritual fear of God
speaketh on this wise, it views sin as heinous and God as unspeakable
holy. True fear holds God in reverence. and stands in awe of His majesty
and of His power. This fear of God in alliance,
therefore, with faith is an anchor of the soul. As God said through
the prophet Jeremiah, I will put my fear in their heart. that they will not depart from
me." This fear of God is so vital in resisting sin, in living under
God. We see the effect that this fear
had in an instance in the life of Joseph. found in Genesis chapter
39. You may remember he was over
the house of Potiphar. Potiphar's wife tempted him and
attempted to seduce him day in and day out. And Joseph's ability
to resist lay in the fact that this would be a great and mighty
sin against my God. How could I do this thing and
sin mightily against God? And thus the fear of God became
a check then upon the life and the action of Joseph. as it has
men and women down through the century. The fear of God is to
depart from evil. God has exercised His saving
grace. He will give all grace to accomplish
that end. And part of that work is indeed
the great fear of our Almighty God. The fear of God is to depart
from evil, is the beginning of wisdom, tendeth unto life, says
Solomon. Thank God for the fear of God. Not just any fear, but the reverential
spiritual fear of God, whereby one holds Him in awe. One like
the writer of old said, thou God seest me. That he sees every action, that
he hears every word, that he reads every thought, that is
something for the fear of God to act upon.