This Adult Sunday School class
was held on May 17, 1987, at the Trinity Baptist Church in
Montville, New Jersey. Now, for the benefit of our visitors,
to whom we do extend a very cordial welcome in Christ's name, just
a word of explanation is in order. Pastor Bob Martin would regularly
be teaching this class, leading us in our studies in the Epistle
to the Hebrews. We are well into the final chapter
of that letter, but today he is up in Albany at the Albany
Baptist Church, where our brethren Dean Allen and Scott Van Steenburg
labor in the Word and in doctrine, ministering there today and through
this coming Thursday. And I was asked to take the class
today and in giving prayerful consideration as to how best
to use this time, I believe that several pastoral involvements
as well as some discussion with various brethren in the recent
ministry that I engaged in down in North Carolina have been ordered
of the Lord to direct my own thinking into a very practical
area And it is my desire to lead a guided discussion this morning
on this very vital subject of motives to holiness and to perseverance. So as we embark upon this guided
discussion, let us pray for God's blessing upon us and also upon
Pastor Bob Martin and his labors there in Albany. Let us again
seek the face of God. Our Father, we do bow again in
your presence, acknowledging our need of the Holy Spirit's
illumination, the Holy Spirit's enablement, if we are rightly
to understand and apply your word in any area of Christian
experience. And we pray especially as we
come to this vital subject of the motives which ought to prod
us into a life of increasing obedience and holiness, which
ought to prod us to avoid paths of sin, do direct our thinking
into your word, that we may all profit and be better disciples
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask these mercies in his name
for ourselves, and we pray that the same ministry of the Spirit
will be the portion of your servant who would normally be teaching
us today, but who is teaching your people there in Albany. May he and the people with him
know, in power and in grace, the ministry of the Spirit in
their midst. Hear us, we plead, in Jesus'
name. Amen. Now, I want to begin our discussion
this morning with a basic and foundational question, whenever
we come to consider the whole matter of the Christian as one
who is persevering in a course of holiness and obedience, we
ought to start with first things first. And so my first question
is this. In the ultimate and foundational
sense, what is it that secures God's people in the way of holiness
and obedience. In the ultimate sense, what is
it that makes certain that every true believer will persevere
in faith, holiness, and obedience even to the end of his course? You are welcome to raise your
hand. And we just remind you that in our discussion, we limit
this to our members only because we can be confident that they
will be interacting within a framework of agreement as to our basic
doctrinal perspectives. And that would avoid embarrassment
if we had a visitor who was coming from a differing perspective.
We would not want the embarrassment of having things said that might
have to be contradicted and appear to be ungracious, so we do limit
the discussion to the members of the congregation. All right,
who will venture an answer to question number one in the ultimate
and foundational sense, how or why are we kept in the way of
holiness and obedience to the end? Well, let me put it this way.
Why are you kept? All right, Jim. Well, the underlying
principle throughout the whole thing is that God preserves.
We persevere, but the principle behind it is that God preserves
all those who are truly His. All right, God preserves us,
and why, or according to what, or by what means does He preserve
us? What lies behind His work of
preserving us? Belton? All right, one of the factors
is the finished work of Christ upon the cross, for the scripture
tells us in such passage, some are offended when I do that,
that X is a key in Greek, and that's how you spell the word
Christ, but some have been offended in the past, so I will not offend
anyone by thinking I'm substituting an X in algebra for Christ. So,
the finished work of Christ, and can you give me at least
one or two passages which state that Christ's work upon the cross
secures the ultimate salvation of all of his people. One or two texts. All right, Doug? All right, it
is finished, but what does that tell us? We'd have to interpret
that from other scriptures, wouldn't we? So that's a good text, but
we want one that clearly states that the death of Christ secures
the ultimate salvation of all of his people. In the 6th chapter of John, where he's in the 37th
verse down to the 21st, the 1st authority states that this was
the will of my father, that everyone that beholdeth his son and behooves
upon him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up
as a man of faith. All right, here it is said that Christ has
come down from heaven, John 6, 38, not to do his own will, but
the will of the Father who sent him. And this is the will of
him who sent me, that of all that he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day. For this is
the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and believes
in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. Now that's a good text on the certainty that Christ
will ultimately save, all He purposes to save, but does it
explicitly mention the finished work of Christ? It doesn't, does
it? I want a text that says Christ's
death secures the ultimate salvation of all of His people. All right?
Yes? All right, Hebrews 10.14 is a
good text, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Another text. Jim? All right, he that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all, the death of the
cross, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?
And then when we read on, the all things are the preservation
of the people of God through every difficulty, even to the
consummation of their being glorified. All right? One or two other very
clear texts. Doug? Yeah, but there you'd have
to say, bring us to God. Well, that is, bring us into
fellowship with God now, but maybe we can fall out of fellowship
with God later. I want texts that say Christ's
death is going to get us to heaven. Clear, unmistakable, unambiguous,
all right? Let's see, where are we here
now? We had a couple of hands over here. Mr. Bischoff. All right, there's a good one.
If we were enemies and were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more than being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. One or two more that we want
to have. Phil, you had your hand raised earlier, I believe. All
right, John 637, John 1029, but that doesn't exactly state the
cross. I want verses that say the cross
is going to get us to heaven. All right? Got a couple more,
all right? David? All right, see that? By His cross and His death, He's
obtained eternal redemption. Now the one text, I am surprised
you haven't gotten it. I'm going to take one more hand.
If you don't get this one, then I'm going to let it out of the
bag. All right, Bob? One-sixth, either being confident
of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perfect it, but does that mention the cross? All right,
I'm going to give it to you. Maybe Ben's got it. Ben's about
to jump out of his seat. Ben? Read it for us. It's your verse. Now, but does that say that we
will be thereby preserved unto the end on the basis of this
cross? All right, here's the text, Ephesians chapter 5. I know you know it, it just didn't
come to anyone's mind. I'm just having a little fun
with you this morning, all right? Ephesians chapter 5. Verse 25, Husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself
up for it. A reference to the cross. Why?
In order that, this is why he died, that he might sanctify
it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
in order that He might present the church to himself, a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blemish. Here, the death of Christ secures
the presentation of his people to himself spotless. All right? Now, what's another strand? that
makes certain, in the ultimate sense, that all of the true people
of God will persevere in holiness and obedience. The finished work
of Christ, I'm going to put as number three. All right? Yes,
Jim? All right, so what is that called? Alright, God's eternal purpose
in electing grace. That's number one. God's eternal
purpose in electing grace. And the text that Jim has given
us is a key text, Ephesians 1, verse 4. In verse 3, the Apostle
says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places
in Christ. And then he goes back to the
fountainhead of every one of them, according as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be not just for a while blessed with the privileges of grace,
but that we should be holy and without blemish before Him, so
His purpose of election will secure our ultimate glorification. One other key text on this matter
of it's God's purpose of election that stands behind our being
kept and preserved. Yes, Gary? Ah, now my fishing's
much better. I've got better bait on my hook
now. All right. Read it for us, Gary. Alright, this key passage, and
some of you who are new in the faith, memorize that passage. It's called the golden chain of God's saving
purposes in Christ. From foreknowledge, which means
to love beforehand, to glorification, and there's no break in the chain. All who are foreknown are called,
all who are called are justified, all who are justified are glorified. Alright, so now we have two things
that lie behind this matter of the certainty of the people of
God being preserved in holiness and obedience, God's eternal
purpose in electing grace, the finished work of Christ. I'm
sorry, that should be number two in the way I have them. All
right? Now, give me at least two more fundamental things.
All right, Jim? All right, the work of the Holy
Spirit. What text did you have in mind? Alright, you want to read that
for us, Ephesians 4.30. Alright, once the Holy Spirit
seals us and the gift of the Spirit is the seal of God's ownership,
we are sealed not for a day, a week, a month, a
year, but we are sealed unto the day of redemption, that is,
our consummate, completed redemption at the second coming of Christ
when we receive our glorified So Ephesians 4.30 makes it clear
that by the work of the Spirit, another passage would be Romans
8.9-11, if the Spirit of him that raised up Christ from the
dead dwell in you, he that raised up Jesus from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit who dwells in you.
So if we ever have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, in time, we shall
know the Spirit glorifying us and giving us a new body at the
second coming. So, we have behind our being
preserved God's eternal purpose of electing grace, the finished
work of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and one other factor
secures our being preserved, and what is it? All right, Ernest?
All right, the intercession of Christ, and where do we find
that taught? All right, Hebrews 7.25, read
it for us, Ernest. All right, he is able to save
to the uttermost, that is, to the consummation of redemptive
privilege, seeing he ever lives to make intercession. And where
do we find an example of Jesus actually praying that all of
his own will be preserved and one day be landed safely in his
presence. Anyone? All right. Someone who
hasn't raised their hand? All right. Dale. John 17. Notice
particularly now, and again, you who are new converts, relatively
new to the Christian faith, jot these verses down. This is why
I'm doing this. Part of my reason for doing this
is these are verses that you ought to be familiar with. Notice
now in John 17 where Jesus prays for four basic blessings for
his own. One of those blessings is their
preservation. Verse 24, I desire that they
also whom you have given me be with me where I am that they
may behold thy glory. And then we find earlier In the
prayer, verse 11, I am no more in the world. These are in the
world. I come to thee, Holy Father. Keep them in thy name, whom thou
hast given me, that they may be one as we are one. While I
was with them, I kept them, and I guarded them, and not one of
them perished. But now I come to you. And so
we see the Lord praying for his own. Now, why do I pause to establish
this foundation? Well, for the simple reason that
any thinking about our perseverance in holiness and obedience that
doesn't start here, if not doomed to fail, is certainly doomed
to leave us crippled in our efforts to persevere in the way of holiness
and obedience. It is God's commitments in grace
that form the foundation of our confidence and the focus of our
prayers. So that when we feel ourselves
buffeted and torn and pressured by the world and our own remaining
sin, and we wonder as we feel as though we can barely gasp
a little bit of spiritual life What is it that gives us confidence
that we are more than going to gasp? We shall endure. We shall
be kept. Here are the great pillars on
which our perseverance rests. And we need to know how to turn
to these very portions of the Word of God, open them up in
prayer, and say, God, this is what you've said. You've said
you chose me in Christ to present me holy and without blemish.
God, this is your purpose. I hold you to your word. Turn
to Ephesians 5. Turn to those passages in Hebrews. Put your finger on them. Hold
them up before God and plead them. and their fulfillment in
your life. Plead that the ministry of the
Spirit will indeed be effectual in you unto the day of redemption. Thank God for the intercession
of Christ, and take comfort as you see the Lord exercising it
in the case of Peter. Satan has desired you to sift
you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith fail
not. So this is where we start, and
I wanted to start on that foundational Now then, having done that, question
number two. In the outworking of our perseverance,
based upon God's election, the finished work of Christ, the
work of the Spirit, and the intersection of Christ, are we active or are
we passive? And when you answer, practice
it with a clear text of Scripture. In the outworking of these things,
Are we active or are we passive? In other words, do we stand here with a geared box in neutral
and expect God on the basis of that fourfold reality to exercise
His work in us in such a way that we are passive? Does God
so work as to engage our minds, our wills, our affections, our
efforts, etc., in that process? Active or passive? Jonathan?
All right. Excuse me. Crank up your volume about twice
and the people in the back will get it, Jonathan. All right?
Philippians 2 verse 12 and 13, So then, my beloved, even as
ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, for it is God at work in you, both to will
and to work for his own good pleasure. All right. So even
though God is at work in us for his own good pleasure, We are
to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. That sounds pretty active to
me, consciously, deliberately active. All right? Another couple
of key texts. All right, Jerry? Okay, very good point. At the end of all seven letters
to the seven churches in Asia Minor, one of the common denominators
of all those letters is found at the end where the Lord makes
a promise to him who overcomes. Who does the overcoming? We do.
Now, it's not an overcoming detached from these four things that we've
already considered, but those four things doesn't say to him
who allows God to overcome in him. That is what the promise
is. The promise is to him who overcomes. We overcome. We must overcome. We shall overcome. We are active
in the overcoming process. All right? One or two other passages
that make it plain that we are active. All right? Jeff, on the
back row. All right? But put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill
the lust thereof. Romans 13, 14, But put on the Lord Jesus
Christ. There the Lord is likened to
a garment, and I am to put him on. And furthermore, in doing
that, I am not to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the
lust. It doesn't say put on the Lord Jesus and let him negate
the provisions for the flesh. It doesn't say that. It says
you put on the Lord Jesus and you make no provision for the
flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. We are active in the process.
One or two other key texts, some we haven't called on yet. Alright,
Andrea? Alright. Therefore, let us also,
seeing we are compassed about, with so great a cloud of witnesses,
lay aside every weight, and the sentence doth so easily be set,
and let us run with patience the race of the second morning.
Oh, it doesn't say, let the Lord undress you with all encumbrances,
and let the Lord take aside all the... No, no. Let us, seeing
we are compassed about, with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside the weights. Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us. All right? One more text that
says we are very active in the whole process. All right? On
the back row. All right, James? All right, read it for us. All right, Romans 8, 13. If you, by the Spirit, to mortify
the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. Oh yes, the Spirit's work
is essential and promised and certain, but it doesn't cancel
the necessity of our endeavor. Well, I'm sure you could bring
forward many others, but this is enough, again, to show any
who may be new among us, who may have been exposed to the
kind of teaching that, well, if I'm consciously doing something,
then that's the flesh. And if I really am full of the
Spirit and yield it to Christ, He'll just live His life through
me. I just sort of have the holy float. The Lord just floats me
along. on His decree, and on the virtue
of Christ's death, and on the energy of the indwelling Spirit,
and the efficacy of the intercession of Christ. And I just experienced
the holy float. Just float by temptation, float
by the world, float by struggle. Just the holy float. My friends,
there ain't no such thing as the holy float. Even when you
get to heaven, there's not going to be any holy floating. You're
going to be active. You're going to be working. Now,
there'll be no wearisomeness in it. It says they follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goes and won't even get tired. It says
there's no night there. Won't need to sleep. But there's
not going to be any holy floating even in heaven. So just get rid
of any notion of any holy floating here or in the world to come.
All right? Now then, we've established two things. We've established
that in the ultimate sense, Our being preserved in the way of
holiness and obedience rests down upon God's redemptive purpose
and God's redemptive activity in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. Secondly, that in the outworking
of those certain purposes and provisions, we are active and
not passive. Now then, I want to make a statement,
and then I'll ask question number three, and we'll be right on
track, okay? Now, in this activity of working
out our own salvation with fear and trembling, the activity of
keeping in the way of holiness and obedience, pursuing holiness
without which no man shall see the Lord, one of the major factors
in that process, in that complex interaction of our thinking,
of our wills, of our appetites, of our emotions, and all the
rest, a major factor is having our minds and our hearts feeling
the pressure of the manifold motives found
in the Bible to escape. in the way of holiness and obedience.
Now let me repeat that. One of the major factors in our
activity, staying in the way of holiness and obedience, is
feeling upon our minds and hearts the manifold pressure or the
pressure of the manifold motives in the Bible to a life of holiness
and obedience. And what I want us to do in the
time that remains is I want to ask and then have you answer
question number three. What are some of the major motives
that are to be constantly at work in our minds and hearts
as we live a life of holiness and obedience in the strength
of Christ because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit because of
the death of Christ and God's electing purpose, but as we nonetheless
live out that life of holiness and obedience, what are some
of the motives that are to be consciously at work in us? And as you begin to think of
them, I've made a decision, and I believe it's based upon the
Bible. I'm not going to say what are the highest motives. Because
I don't think we have a right to start classifying motives
when God doesn't classify them. So rather than list them, one,
two, three, four, five, we'll just take a circle and then we're
going to extract them from the Bible and say, these are the
motives that ought to impinge upon us without any attempt to
classify. What are some of the motives
that ought to work in you and in me to persevere in holiness
and in obedience? All right, so What would we say if we had to
put that motive in one word or in one phrase? How would we put
it when he says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
a salvation? What would that motive be? How
would we describe it? All right. It is the motive of
desiring to be preserved. But what's the emphasis of verse
three? How shall we escape? In other words, it's a form of
a threat, is it not? So what would we call that? A
motivation of fear. You see that in the passage? It's a motivation of fear. Since we've come on that one,
let's start right there, and let's see. How much does fear
of God's frown, of God's judgment, of God's wrath, How much is that
set forward by our Lord Jesus and by the apostles in the epistles
as a motive to a life of holiness and obedience? Think of some
other passages in which fear is brought forward. All right,
Steve. All right, Hebrews 4.1. Want
to read it for us, Steve? All right, and then what was
the other one? Of what chapter? All right, Hebrews 10 verses
23 to 26. Pardon? All right. Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope that it waver not. He is faithful that promised,
and then several other exhortations. For if we sin willfully after
we've received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no
more a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation
of judgment and fierceness that shall devour the adversaries.
And then he gives this frightening warning and says of how much
sore punishment think ye shall he be judged worthy with trodden
underfoot of the Son of God, and then it concludes with verse
31, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. Isn't that amazing? After opening up all this glorious
teaching on the work of Christ, he comes back to a motive of
fear. All right? What about from the
lips of our Lord Jesus? I mean, isn't that kind of a
base, mercenary motive to be kept in the way of holiness?
Fear of hell and judgment? I mean, come on. Shouldn't we
be more spiritual than that? All right? Yes, okay, I'm sorry,
I saw a couple of hands over there, alright? Alright, Mark 9, and verse 43. And to whom is our Lord speaking
in this passage? He's speaking to His disciples.
And He says, If thy hand cause thee to stumble, cut it off,
it's good for thee to enter into life maimed, rather than having
two hands to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. And then
he repeats it. He's talking to his disciples,
and he says, the fear of hell should motivate them to strict
holiness. Now, can you think of one verse
that embodies, in a sense, all of those warnings of Jesus about
hell given to his own disciples? It's in the Gospel of Matthew.
I'll give you a hint. Yes, dear? That's it. Matthew 10 and verse
28. Matthew 10 and verse 28. Here Jesus is speaking to his
disciples. Notice verse 24. A disciple is
not above his teacher, servant above his Lord. It's enough of
the disciple that he be as his teacher, servant as his Lord.
If they've called the master of the house Beelzebub, that's
Jesus. How much more of them of his
household? His disciples. Do not be afraid of them. There's
nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall
be not known. What I tell you in the darkness,
speak in the light and be not afraid of them that kill the
body but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him
who is able to destroy soul and body in hell. You mean Jesus
wants His disciples to be motivated to a life of holiness and obedience
and open confession of Him at any cost for fear of hell? Yes. And when you get beyond
that motive, you've gone farther than Jesus Christ assumes His
grace will take you. And when you get farther than
His grace assumes it will take you, you're out on a plank of
presumption and you're in a dangerous place, I have no sympathy for
this hyper-spiritual talk. Oh, I'm beyond the motive of
the fear of hell. You've gone beyond Christ's expectation
of the work of His grace in His own, and when you get out there,
friend, you are in dangerous territory. Now, what about the
Apostle Paul, surely? Someone who saw Christ by direct
revelation? Someone who heard the voice of
Christ? He never was held by the motive of fear, was he? Or
was he? Can you find a verse in which
he says he keeps in the way of holiness and obedience out of
the motive of fear of being damned if he doesn't? Someone know such
a verse? All right, John? Well, that just
made me think of another one as well. He buffets his body,
but 2 Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 6, he makes two references to
that. All right. 5, 9 through 11. Therefore, also, we make it our
aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto Him.
For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ,
that each one may receive the things done in the body according
to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing, therefore,
the fear of the Lord, we persuade them." All right, there it's the fear
of God, which is another dimension of fear, and we'll come to that,
all right? But here we're talking about the fear of damnation as
a motive to keep in the way of holiness, and John already made
allusion to the other verse. Where is it found? All right? That's it. 1 Corinthians chapter
9. Here the apostle has been teaching
on the subject of Christian liberty, and in chapter 9 he speaks of
his voluntary relinquishment of certain liberties for the
sake of the gospel. Now notice what he says, beginning
with verse 25, using the imagery, the athletic imagery. And every
man that strives in the games exercises self-control in all
things, Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an
incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly,
so fight I, as not beating the air, but I buffet my body, that
is, my bodily appetites." He didn't view sin as residing in
the cells of his physical organism. But the body is the main instrument
by which sin, which has its residence in the soul, finds expression. I buffet my body and bring it
into bondage, lest by any means, after that I have preached to
others, I myself should be, and the Greek word is adakimos, used
eight times in the New Testament, and without exception it means
reprobate. He says, I keep my appetites
in harness, for fear if I don't, they'll take me to hell. Now, that sounds like the motive
of fear, doesn't it? Now, we've seen the Lord Jesus.
We've seen some of the general teaching, the epistles, we've
seen the Apostle Paul, so one of the motives that ought continually
to press in upon us is the motive of fear. Now let me ask you,
will that motive alone ever keep any man in the way of holiness
for long? How do you know it won't? I see heads going like
this. How do you know it won't? Well, for the simple reason that
unconverted people live with that fear all the time and still
go on unconverted. Legal terrors will never, in
and of themselves, ever keep a man in the way of holiness.
So what must be added to this fear is the fear of God, which
is not the cringing dread, but it is that regard of God as our
gracious, loving, but heavenly Father, in which His smile is
our greatest delight, and incurring His frown is our greatest dread."
That's the fear of God in a nutshell. Having such a view of God that
securing His smile, His life's greatest longing and desire,
and incurring His frown is our greatest dread. Now, can you
think of some verses that say we ought, in the life of perseverance,
in holiness and obedience, to be constantly motivated by the
fear of God? Alright, one text was already
given to us, 2 Corinthians 7.1. Having therefore these promises,
dearly beloved, and the promises are the promises of the privileges
of sonship and the indwelling of God among his people. Two
of the highest privileges of the New Covenant. the status
of sonship, and the presence of God in the midst of his people,
and he says, having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves of all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Carrying holiness on
to perfection or maturity in the fear of God. All right? A
couple other verses that teach the fear of God ought to be a
constant motivating factor. All right, Jerry? Alright, excellent passage. 1 Peter 1, 17 and 18. You want
to read those for us, please? All right, excellent passage,
because you see, it's speaking to a people who know that they
are redeemed. They know their sins are forgiven,
that sin's bondage has been broken, that they are in a state of grace,
that God is now their Father, and yet He says, if you call
on Him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according
to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. Here is that fear of God that
is not at all inconsistent with a confident knowledge of sins
forgiven and God as our Father. All right, a couple of other
texts that indicate not only the fear of damnation should
be operative as a motive unto continued holiness and obedience,
but the fear of God in this sense. 2 Corinthians 7.1, 1 Peter 1.17
and 18. Can you think of another passage? All right, so that one of the
expressions, are you saying, Doug, of a wholesome fear of
God is the recognition that He loves us and we ought to embrace
His chastening? Is it incongruous that a father
can have a loving, intimate, delightful relationship with
his children, and yet his kids have a deep, wholesome fear of
the rod of correction? Is there anything inconsistent
with that? No, in a healthy, biblically ordered home, those
two realities exist side by side. Now, if the kids go around cringing
because they've got a capricious, undisciplined father, who out
of the blue, for no reason, picks up the rod and goes whacking,
that kind of fear is a horrible thing. But in a home where parents
have laid out Biblical guidelines, and the children know if you
step over those guidelines willfully and deliberately, certain consequences
follow. They have a wholesome fear of
their father's rod that is in no way inconsistent with the
deepest filial love and intimacy. Let's go to the end of Hebrews
12. There's another pivotal passage. Hebrews 12, 28. Wherefore receiving
a kingdom that cannot be shaken, Let us have grace whereby we
may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe,
for our God is a consuming fire." All right? The fear of damnation
is to be emoted. The fear of God is to be emoted.
Now, very quickly. Oh, we've got so many more moments.
What are some of the others? David? I'm bringing your poetry
upon the name of Christ and also the people of God. All right,
fearing to bring reproach upon the name of Christ and upon the
people of God. What text have you got before
you? All right, well let's nail it down to a couple of specific
texts, such as Titus chapter 2, where the very concept of God
being blasphemed and the setting is when Christians don't fulfill
in an exemplary manner their domestic roles. That's the context. About old men, older women, younger
women, and what's the whole end in view? Titus 2.5. Sober-minded,
chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their
husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. We ought to
live with this motive constantly pressing us. Is my lifestyle,
particularly in my domestic behavior as a husband, as a wife, as a
father, is it commending the Word of God or is it bringing
reproach upon the God of that Word? We ought to fear that anyone
could ever legitimately blaspheme God and His Word because of the
way we live. That's a powerful, legitimate
motive. All right, another motive. Let's
try to squeeze in a whole bunch of them here before we finish.
All right, Mike? All right. We have fear of damnation,
fear of God. Motive number three was fear
of bringing reproach to Christ and to His Word. And now number
four, we're speaking now of the motive of what, Mike? Love for
Christ. All right, the motive of love
for Christ. Some of the key texts, John 14, 21, John 14, 15. And what lies at the root of
our love to Christ, Mike, according to the Scriptures? What produces
our love to Him? The fact that He first loved
us. All right. We love because He
first loved us. So as we keep up in our hearts,
A believing, trustful relationship to Christ is our Savior. The
fruit of that reception of His love to us is our love to Him. Can you think of another key
text that speaks of the love of Christ as a powerful motive
to the way we live? Alright, Doug? That's it. Alright, 2 Corinthians
5.14. You want to read it for us, Doug? Alright, as the Apostle is describing what
makes him tick, verse 13, so driven with holy passion in
his labors as an apostle, there are times when people said he
was out of his tree. So that shouldn't bother you
if at times people think you've got a few bricks less than a
full load. If people think maybe you're
a few degrees left or right of the center line, of having what
they would call perfect emotional health and mental stability.
Paul says, for whether we are beside ourselves, and that was
the accusation that came. That guy's a crazy man. I mean,
look at him. He goes around being willing
to be thrown in jails and goes right out and preaches in the
same places where they grabbed him before and threw him in jail
and they eat stones. That guy's nuts. He's crazy. He said, all right, whether we
are beside ourselves, it is unto God. Or whether we are of sober
mind, if people make the judgment now, he's a little bit enthusiastic. But he's got his head screwed
on, right? He said, it is unto you. But
behind our lifestyle is this. The love of Christ literally
holds us in its grip. Holds us in its grip. And as
His love holds us, motivates us, in the totality of our lifestyle,
so we live. So, love to Christ is another
very powerful motive. Alright, several others. Alright,
Gary? Alright, we should be motivated so to live that sinners will be converted. All right,
some other motives. Yes, Eric? All right, so that would be the
fear of God, then, wouldn't it? The fear that Joseph would bring
upon him, the frown of God, if he had responded to the overtures
of Potiphar's wife. All right? Dave? All right, so one of the motives
is to remember who we are and to conduct ourselves accordingly.
Don't forget who you are in terms of what grace has made you. All
right? Some other motives. Get down to some of these very
practical ones you find in Proverbs and in Psalms. We want to nail
down a couple of those before we stop. Yes, John? All right? There's joy in serving
the Lord. That's a motive to serve Him
and keep in the way of obedience. The kingdom of God is not eating
and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Romans 14 and verse 20. So you
don't want to grieve the Spirit and become a joyless Christian.
All right? Some other motives. Yes? All right, one of the things
that feeds the fear of God is the fresh awareness of His forgiveness.
Well, our time is gone. Let me just run by some other
motives real quickly, all right? And I'll steal a couple of minutes,
and since I've got to preach this morning, I'll steal them
on myself, all right? The desire to live a long and
a good life is a motive to holiness. That's right. First Peter, you
say, look, that's really getting down to the health, wealth and
prosperity business, isn't it? Well, it's God's health and prosperity. So if it's God's, I'm not at
all embarrassed about it. First Peter 3, verse 8. Finally,
be like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tender-hearted,
humble-minded, not rendering evil for evil, reviling for reviling,
but contrary-wise, blessing, for hereunto were you called
that you should inherit a blessing. For he that would love life and
see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his
lips that they speak no guile, let him turn away from evil and
do good. God says, Would you love life and see good days?
And keep your tongue. Next time you're tempted to gossip,
long tongue may mean short life. Long tongue, short life. That's right. Next time you're
tempted to have a long tongue, say, wait a minute, Lord, I'd
rather have a long, useful life, so I'm going to have short tongue.
Short tongue, long life. Long tongue, short life. Do I
want to see good days? And then go through the book
of Proverbs. What are the motives to purity that Solomon gives
to his son? His own personal well-being,
the honor of his father's name, the honor of his own name. He
says, if you don't listen to my counsel and you go consorting
with harlots, your flesh will be consumed as well as your soul
will go down into hell. Dear people, there are dozens
of motives. put forth in the Word of God
all the way from what we generally say are the highest motives of
the love of Christ and the fear of God to the very mundane motives
of our own well-being, pleasing God's servants. Paul says, if
there any consolation in Christ, make my joy full. Do what I tell
you. That's a motive. He says, you
Philippians ought to be motivated with the motive of wanting to
please me when I hear about your pattern of life. The hope of
reward. Do this, do this, this. Great
is your reward in heaven. That's a legitimate motivation. Pleasing your parents all the
way through the book of Proverbs. Well, here we've spent a whole
hour and we've only scratched the surface. Now, what's the
bottom line, Christians? It's this. You need every single
motive God gives you in Scripture to keep you in the way of holiness
and obedience. And when you are tempted to be
indifferent, to pursue a positive duty, don't be fastidious about
what motive the Holy Ghost uses to get your feet in the way of
doing your duty. And when you're tempted to go into a path of
sin, don't be fastidious about what motive keeps you out of
the path of sin. The issue is to be in the path
of duty and out of the path of sin. And whatever motive God
uses, God is used in keeping with the intercession of His
Son, the certain preservation of His own based on the death
of His Son, the indwelling of the Spirit, and the ultimate
purpose of God in electing grace. So I urge you, I urge you to
be consistent in your devotional life, because that's how those
motives are fed. Psalm 1, the blessed man is the
one whose roots go down into the Word of God. And even when
you come away from devotions and say, well, I didn't get much
today. Yes, you have. Just coming into contact with
spiritual realities has fed those motives. Now, sometimes God will
give you a cloudburst. in your devotions, and a certain
motive will just tremendously grow when God takes a truth and
warms your heart with it, and you remember for weeks that particular
day. But those ordinary days, when
it seems you receive so little, don't give up. It's the consistent
feeding upon God in the secret place of prayer and meditation
that these motives are kept alive in our hearts and in our minds,
and by the grace of God, we will be kept in the way of holiness
and obedience. Well, I trust God will bless
the things that we've together wrestled with from His Word this
morning. Let us pray that He'll seal them to our hearts. Father, we thank You for the
richness of Your Word. We thank You for the many passages
that have been quoted in our hearing this morning, and just
the hearing of them has stirred us up to be more diligent in
our obedience, more earnest in seeking to walk before you in
your fear and in the love of Christ. We pray for those who
sit here upon whose hearts there is not distilled one felt impression
of all that they have heard. Lord, have mercy upon people
so dead in their sins that their hearts do not respond to your
O God, deal with them, even today, and bring them into the orbit
of your grace, that they too may join us in that path that
leads to the celestial city. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.