The Fear of the Lord

Q: What does the Bible say about the fear of the Lord?

The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and involves reverence for God's holiness and authority. The fear of the Lord encompasses a reverent awe for God's majesty and authority, as the Scriptures affirm that it is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). This fear includes a recognition of God's holiness and a desire to live in accordance with His will. In Psalm 34:7, we see that the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, providing both protection and assurance. Ultimately, fearing the Lord is essential for walking in His ways and growing in our understanding of His character and commands.

Q: How do we know that fearing God is beneficial for Christians?

Fearing God leads to a life of wisdom, protection, and spiritual growth, according to Scripture. Fearing God is beneficial as it leads to wisdom, a core theme throughout the Bible (Proverbs 1:7). It keeps us aware of His sovereignty and calls us to live in alignment with His will. Additionally, as seen in Psalm 34:9-10, those who fear the Lord will not lack any good thing, emphasizing that God provides for those who hold Him in reverence. Moreover, this fear enables us to navigate life’s challenges and remain steadfast in our faith, unyielding to worldly temptations and distractions.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to avoid sinful fears?

Avoiding sinful fears helps Christians maintain their witness and trust in God’s provision. It is crucial for Christians to avoid sinful fears, such as the fear of man or fear of circumstances, because these fears can undermine their faith and cause them to falter in their witness for Christ. For instance, the fear of being ashamed to confess Christ can lead to silence when we should boldly proclaim our faith (Matthew 10:33). Furthermore, trust in God should replace anxieties about daily needs and future uncertainties, knowing He cares for us (Matthew 6:25-34). By overcoming these fears, we grow in our reliance on God's promises and shine more brightly as ambassadors of His kingdom.

Q: What is sanctified fear, and how does it help Christians?

Sanctified fear is the reverent awe of God that encourages believers to live righteously and faithfully. Sanctified fear refers to a deep reverence for God that influences believers to live in obedience and humility. This type of fear recognizes God's holiness and wrath, prompting us to seek His mercy and live according to His will. Hebrews 10:31 cautions, 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,' reminding us of God's judgment. This awareness compels us to hold fast to our faith and to encourage one another to remain steadfast, as seen in Hebrews 3:12. By cultivating a sanctified fear, Christians nurture their spiritual life and avoid the pitfalls of sin and apostasy.

Q: How should Christians respond to the fear of death?

Christians should view death as a gain, trusting in Christ’s promise of eternal life instead of fearing it. For Christians, the fear of death is mitigated by the assurance of eternal life through faith in Christ (John 11:25-26). Rather than fearing death, believers can embrace the truth that to die is gain (Philippians 1:21) and that they will be with the Lord for eternity. Scripture teaches that Christ's resurrection has conquered death, giving us victory over it (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Therefore, Christians are called to live in the confidence of God's promises, viewing death not as a defeat but as a doorway to eternal communion with Him.

I look out over this congregation and my heart is thrilled and blessed and filled with joy because most
everybody here I've known for a long, long, long time And I
have a great deal of confidence in your faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, your love for the Redeemer, and your devotion and dedication
to the gospel of his grace. And my message today is directed
to you, to you who love the Savior, and you do. I know we don't love
him like we want to love him, and by no means do we love him
like we ought to love him. But most everybody here can say,
I do love Christ. I believe him, don't you? He's
my Lord and my Savior, and we have a good hope by his grace
in Christ Jesus. Our Sunday school lesson this
morning, we had a verse which declared,
other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ
Jesus. I rejoice and am happy with that
foundation and I'm not seeking any other of you. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And I love
that name, believe that name, trust that name, and want to
have a greater revelation of that name. And I know of God
are we in Christ Jesus. We didn't put ourselves in Christ.
Of God are we in Christ. And he's made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. That he's blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Is that not true? And can't all of us say who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather, is risen again,
who is also at the right hand of God, who even makes intercession
for us. But we're still human. You are
and I am. And we live in the flesh, and
we're going to continue to live in this flesh so God is pleased
to take us home. And he'll do that when he is
pleased to do it, according to his purpose and his good providence
and his design. We're still human, we're still
in the flesh, and we're still not yet perfected. We're not
yet perfected. And we're aware of our imperfections. I think we grow more aware of
our imperfections as we get older. Rather than getting more holier than thou, I believe as
God's children grow older, they are more sympathetic with the
imperfections of others because they're so aware of their own.
And they're more aware of their weaknesses and their infirmities
And one of these imperfections I'm going to speak on today,
and that is fear. Fear. There are a lot of emotions. You can
name them, but one is fear. And I want to show you from the
word of God that certain fears are not sinful. Fear in itself is not sinful. There is a sense in which anger
and hatred is not sinful. David said, Did he not say, So
I hate them that hate thee? God is angry with the wicked,
and God's servant David was angry with the wicked too, and slew
them. So there's a sense in which certain
fears are not sinful, but realist fear serves a right good purpose. It depends on whom we fear. It depends on what we fear. It depends on why we fear. Fear
in itself is not sinful. but rather it serves a very good
purpose, depending upon whom, what, and why we fear. Now, there's
some fear that's sinful. I'll give you four major fears
that are sinful, very sinful. Number one is sinful for a believer,
and I'm talking to believers. I'm talking to believers. I'm
talking to people who know God. It's sinful for a believer to
fear to make a bold confession of his Lord for any reason. I
mean, for any reason. Our Lord said, if you're ashamed
of me, I'll be ashamed of you. But believers are not ashamed
of the Lord. And it's sinful when we fear because of people
or because of position, or because of pride, or whatever, to confess
Christ, starting with believers' baptism, and then by word and
deed before men. You see, when Peter sat by that
fire, he knew the Lord. It's foolish for us to even think
that Peter didn't know the Lord Jesus. Lord, you know I love
you. He said, I am the Christ, the
Son of the living God. And Christ said, on this rock
I'll build my church. Did he not? And so many times in the Gospels,
Peter boldly and clearly proclaimed his confidence and faith in Christ.
But there were some circumstances. It doesn't make it right. But
Peter was afraid. And he sat by that fire, and
they said, you're one of the disciples. He said, not me. Well, you're one of his disciples.
He said, I don't know the man. Now, that was sin, wasn't it?
And let's don't be too hard on the Apostle Peter, because there
may have been many times in your own life when perhaps the circumstances
weren't the same and the audience wasn't quite as large. And the consequence is not nearly
so severe when we have not witnessed a good confession, that we have
resorted to silence. Maybe we didn't say, I know not
the man, but by our silence we indicated we knew not the man.
Isn't that right? There's plenty of times, and
you know what I'm talking about, when by our silence or by our
failure to defend and to speak forth, And to let it be known
in no uncertain terms that I do know the man and I want to be
identified with him. So that kind of fear is sinful. It's sinful for a believer to
fear to make a bold confession of his Lord. Secondly, it is
most sinful for a preacher of the gospel or a teacher. or you elders, or deacons, or
whomever, to fear for any reason to preach the gospel of God's
sovereign grace and glory. That's sinful. It doesn't matter
where I'm preaching if I please me and I'm not the servant of
Christ. If I alter my message because someone's in the congregation, That's a sin, a sin against my
God. He gives me his message, whether
it be, and let me say this, whether it be sovereignty or responsibility. I wouldn't compromise God's sovereignty
because an Armenian is present, and I wouldn't compromise God's
man's responsibility because a Calvinist is present either.
It works both ways. What God teaches us and what
God has taught us, we proclaim. And we don't apologize for it. And it's sinful for a preacher
of the gospel. And Paul rebuked Peter severely. You remember when Peter was,
and Peter was a believer. You say, these things The believers
really have trouble with these things? Of course they do. They're
human beings. And Peter was sitting there at
the table in the book of Galatians with all those Gentiles, uncircumcised Gentiles, who professed
faith in Christ. And he was enjoying the liberty
of the fellowship, and these fellows came down from Jerusalem.
He's strict, strong, solemn, serious, stewards of the grace of God,
and he just kind of got up and slipped over here by the Jews,
you know. And Paul said, I withstood him
to the face, and I said, that's wrong. You stand for the truth,
no matter who's present, either way. It's sinful, and I know it is,
and yet I'm guilty of this. I suppose you are, I don't know.
But it's sinful for us to fear circumstances and not trust God
for our daily needs. What are we going to eat? What
are we going to drink? What are we going to wear? Where
are we going to live? He said, Do not the heathen seek
these things? Is this not the cry of the heathen?
who had no heavenly father. Why, he said, consider the lilies
of the field. They toil not, neither do they
spin, and yet solemn in all his glory was never dressed up like
one of those lilies. Consider the birds of the air.
They don't have barns and buildings and savings accounts, but your
father feeds them. Are you not better than the lilies
and the Your father knows you have need of these things. So
don't be full of anxious fear and anxious care, but trust him. And it's a sin. It's a sin not
to trust God and be content with what we have and avoid covetousness,
which is idolatry. And then it's sinful for us to
fear death. I heard a preacher last night
on television. I tried not to listen to him
very long, but I got him on the way from one game to the other. It's sinful not to be honest,
too. And so he said that he wasn't
afraid of dying. Of course he said, I don't want
to die. And he destroyed it all right
there. I don't mind going home, but I don't want to. then you
mind. If you don't want to, then you
mind very much. And it's sinful for us to fear
death. He that believeth on me, Christ said, shall never die.
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. For me to live
is Christ and to die is gain. And I don't care how you spell
it, it's sinful for us to fear death. Paul said, I have a desire
to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. You know,
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 29, 25, The fear of man bringeth
a snare. And we don't want to get caught
in that snare, do we? So let's avoid these fears here. Fearful to make a bold confession.
God will give you the strength. Fearful to preach the truth and
to stand for the truth, God will give you the strength. My grace
is sufficient. Fearful because of circumstances. They keep piling up and the mountain
gets higher, but he's bigger than the mountain. And fearful
to leave this earth. So I said, well, who's going
to take care of my wife or my husband and so forth? You're
not taking care of him now, he is. That's right, he's taking
care of them. He's their father. And I imagine
he could do a better job than I could. Don't you? All right, but there is a sanctified
fear. Yes, a sanctified fear. There's a sanctified fear before
God which we really should commend and encourage And I encourage
it this morning. And if you have this sanctified
fear, rejoice in the Lord. Because turn to Psalm 34, and
let me read you something. Psalm 34, verse 7. Do you have it? Psalm 34, 7. Now listen. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him. That what? Fear him. and delivereth
them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. Oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints. There is no want to them that
fear him. The young lions do like and suffer
hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good
thing. Come, ye children, listen to me, listen to me, and I'll
teach you the fear of the Lord. That's what I'm going to teach
this morning. The fear of the Lord. Now, as I said a while ago, I
gave a four-fold sinful fear. Now I'm going to give a four-fold
sanctified fear. And here's the first one. There's
the fear of eternal condemnation. That's right. Fear of the wrath
of God. I fear the wrath of God. The
scripture wherein Paul says, it's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of a living God. I believe that. And was it not
the fear of the wrath of God that brought us at the beginning
to seek God's mercy? Wasn't it the fear of the wrath
of God that brought us to seek his mercy? I know the thief on
the cross was hanging there, and in his agony And in his pain
he experienced another sensation, fear. And he looked over at the
other thief and he said, Don't you fear God? Don't you fear
God? Seeing we're in the same condemnation
and we indeed justly, we're getting what we deserve, don't you fear? I fear, that's what he's saying.
Oh Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. David
said this. David said, O Lord, don't bring
me into judgment with Thee. O Lord, if Thou shouldest mark
iniquity, who would stand? Our Lord said in Matthew 10,
28, Don't fear them that kill the body, and after that have
no more that they can do. I'll tell you whom you shall
fear. He taught His disciples. He said, I'll tell you whom you
shall fear. Fear Him. who's able to cast you body and
soul into hell. It's a wise man that fears God
and fears the wrath of God. A man who does not tremble at
the thought of judgment and wrath and eternal condemnation knows
very little about the wrath of God against sin. I believe that. If someone here this morning
says, well, I don't fear God, I love God. You don't even know
God. To know God is not only to love
Him, but to fear Him. And you take a concordance sometime,
and as I did yesterday morning, or Friday morning, and run a
reference on the word fear, and you'll find that over in the
Old Testament, worship was known as the fear of the Lord. And
the people who walked with God were called men who feared God. That's right, fear of the Lord.
Now let me tell you, and be perfectly honest with you. It's not sinful
to have some understanding and trembling and awe when we think
of the wrath of God. I can tell you this, if there
were no hell, a man said one time, I don't believe in hell.
And the Christian said, well, if there is no hell, then you're
glad and I am too. But if there is a hell, you're not so glad. I tell you,
if there were no hell, and death ended this whole existence, I
would still believe God created the heavens and the earth. I would still believe that God
Almighty is omnipotent and almighty and worthy of my praise. Now
the fact that there is a hell makes me more grateful that I
believe that God created the heavens and the earth and that
he is worthy of my praise. See what I'm saying? If there
were no hell, I still believe God is God and worthy of worship. But if
there is a hell, which I believe there is, that makes me more
grateful that I know God is God. Secondly, if there were no hell
and death is the end of all, I'd still believe his word and
his will and his way is the best life. It's the best life. I hear people say, well, I'll
tell you, If I believe salvation was by
grace, I just do what I want to do. Really, honestly, I'm
doing what I want to do. Aren't you? If there is no hell,
if there were no hell, I still say that righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost is the best way to live. It's the
happy way. Isn't it? But the fact there
is a hell makes me more dedicated to it. And if there were no hell and
death is the end, I'd still cherish this family of God here. This is the sweetest and most enjoyable family in
the world, and I would rejoice If there is no hell, I'd still
want to be your friend and have this fellowship, wouldn't you?
I don't see people of this world having any kind of fellowship,
do you? I don't see the people who know
not God having any kind of joy. They don't have any joy or peace. But there's peace and joy and
rest in the family of God if there is no hell. But the fact
that there is a hell makes me rejoice more that God made me
a part of it. You understand what I'm saying?
But oh, I know this. The wrath of God is to be dreaded.
And the fear of the Lord is commendable. The fear of the Lord. All right,
secondly, so there's that fear and that awe when we think of
eternal judgment and wrath and eternal hell. The second fear
that I believe is commendable is the fear of falling, the fear
of departing from the living God. Turn with me to the book
of Hebrews. And my friends, the book of Hebrews
is full of warnings to believers about departing from the faith.
It's just full of warnings. And I'll tell you, we not only
have scriptural examples of people who professed faith in Christ
and even preached, who later departed from the faith and departed
from the living God, but we have examples, living examples all
about us of people who departed from the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And there's not anything wrong
with you and I having a certain fear of falling, a fear of departing
from the faith, a fear of being overcome with our own sinful
flesh and leaving the testimony of God. Paul warns us about that
if he's the writer of Hebrews. Look at Hebrews 3 verse 6. Hebrews
3.6, he says, Christ, but Christ as a son over his own house,
whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing
of the whole firmament to the end? Look at verse 12. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. Take heed, who?
Brethren, believers. in departing from the living
God, but exhort one another, encourage one another daily while
it's called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness,
oh, the subtlety, craftiness, deceitfulness of the human heart
of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast Look at Hebrews 4, verse 1, ìLet
us therefore fear, lest the promise being left us of entering into
his rest, any of you should come short of it.î Hebrews 10, this
is a note that sounded throughout this book. Now listen to me,
the fear is not that God will cast me away. He's not going
to cast away any in Christ. I'm not worried about God casting
me away. I'm worried about leaving. You understand what I'm saying?
Our Lord preached one time and fed all those people and they
all left. Then he turned to the disciples and said, you can go
too. Will you also go away? Oh, I pray God that this will
always be my confession. To whom shall I go? Thou hast
the words of life. I've seen them leave. You have
too? Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38. Now, the just shall live by faith. But if any
man draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But thank God
we're not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul. And yet, let us therefore
fear. That's the promise being left
to us of eternal life. We should depart from it. First
Corinthians 11. I wish you'd turn over there
a minute. It's 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3. Listen to Paul here. I fear. I told you there's a sanctified
fear. Paul said, I fear, lest by any means, as a serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, your mind should be corrupted from
the simplicity of Christ. Don't you lose that fear. Don't lose that fear. He said,
if you call him father, you pass the time of your sojourning here
in what? In fear. That's right. And then the book
of Jude, the little book of Jude. There's a couple of verses that
I think are interesting here. Jude 21. Jude 21. And you who know Christ,
and you who believe Christ, and you who know the Word of God,
you know what I'm talking about this morning. It says in Jude
21, keep yourselves in the love of God. Don't depart. Looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And
then verse 24 says, Now unto him that is able to keep you
from falling. But we're kept by the power of
God through faith. So I warn, I speak warnings to
myself and warnings to you, as Paul did to the Hebrews, over
and over and over again. Forsake not this sinning of yourselves
together as the matter of some is. And so much the more as you
see the day approaching, for if we sin willfully after we
receive the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sin. Lord, keep me. Keep me. And I'll be kept. There's a fear. And then thirdly, there's the
fear of sin. There's the fear of sin. Now,
we know that our sins are forgiven. All of our sins. I preach this
so clearly, I think, and plainly and simply that it cannot be
misunderstood. All of our sins are pardoned
and put away and forgiven in Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. Here's one of the great verses.
He has separated our sins from us as far as the east is from
the west. Brother Danny Park said, you
know why he didn't say he separated our sins as far as the north
is from the south? Well, start nowhere. And you
know you'll reach north? And you'll come around and you're
headed south. But you go east, you'll never reach west. You
never will. You'll keep going east. I don't
care how far you go and how many times you circle this world,
you'll never be going west. Always east. Now you can go north,
and you'll reach it. And then you'll start south.
The word of God is so accurate, isn't it? He separated our sins
from us into infinity. In the flesh no man can please
God. So that's not what I'm talking
about. I just live with this nature. I know it's here. It's a conflict.
It's a battle. We crucify the old flesh. We
put it under and all that. But there's a fear of certain
sins that is expressed by believers
in the Scripture. Which, this is a fear that all
believers have. Turn to Psalm 19. And I'm not
going to catalog sin. I'm simply going to point out
here one thing that David said. And David was, he knew something
about this. Because David decided one time
he wanted another man's wife. He's king of Israel, he's a child
of God. And he decided he wanted another
man's wife. And so he had that man killed
so it could happen. And the prophet Nathan came to
him and said, now your sins are forgiven, but the sower will
never leave your house. And God is going to deal with
you over that matter, that arrogancy and haughtiness and self-will
when you deliberately violated your responsibility and violated
your calling and brought shame and reproach on your God by your
act. He said, I'm going to deal with
you for it. And this is what he said in Psalm 19. Now listen,
verse 13. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous
sins. That's what he's afraid of. I
looked up the word presumptuous. It has two meanings. Arrogancy. I'll do what I want to do. I'll
have my way regardless of what it costs anybody else, regardless
of the reproach I may bring or the sorrow I may inflict on someone
else, on the cause of God and truth, on the gospel, on the
church, I'm going to have my way. All right, you have it,
but I guarantee you'll meet God down the road, because he's not
going to permit us to get away with these arrogant, and the
other word is pride. Keep me from arrogance, keep
me from pride, keep me from that self-will. And I believe this,
that fear of sin, fear will keep a man from this type of sin. The scripture says in Proverbs
16, 6, it says, by the fear of the Lord, men depart from sin. I know, like I said right away,
we're not perfect. Also, I'm the chief of sinners.
I acknowledge that myself. I know there's so many things
I say and think and do that are contrary to the commandments
and the will of Almighty God. It's a thing we deal with constantly.
But there are those presumptuous and arrogant and self-willed
and proud sins and things that we do and go our way regardless
of what God says, regardless of who it hurts, regardless of
who is affected, and God's going to deal with those sins now. And here's what he said to Timothy,
turn to 1 Timothy 5, and we need to fear those things. You see,
as believers, we have a responsibility. As fathers, we have a responsibility. As mothers, we have a responsibility
to the gospel, to God, to the testimony of God, to the people
about us, to our obligations. God has put us in a place. No
man's an island. When we act, we've got to act
with God in mind, and the Word, and the Gospel, and others. We've
got to act not arrogantly and proud and haughty, but we act
in keeping with His Word and His glory. And when we don't,
1 Timothy 5.20, them that sin before all, them that sin, rebuke before
all, that others may fear. that others may fear. Paul the Apostle said this, I
keep my body and bring it into subjection, lest while preaching
to others I become a castaway. I don't want to be a castaway,
I fear that. And I tell you, and I've dealt with this, as
clearly as I possibly can, acknowledging truth. We are with our sins apart,
and Christ paid for them. They're put away. I know that. And I know that there's sins
constant and daily. We're sinners, saved by the grace
of God. But we've been put, every one
of us, in a place, in a position, in a responsibility for the glory
of God. Now, don't violate it, unless
God puts you on a shelf. Barnard used to say, God won't
kill a man except for two reasons. Number one, he'll kill him when
he's through with him. When his work's done, when his task is
finished, God'll take him home. Secondly, when he gets in the
way of God's glory, God'll kill him. When he gets in the way of God's
glory, when he violates God Almighty's purpose and plan, God'll kill
him, take him away. All right, where's the fourth
fear? Are you with me so far? These
are so, aren't they? Fear of the wrath of God. I don't
want to go to hell. I don't want to go to hell. Do
you? And fear of falling. I don't
want to leave the gospel. Oh Lord, keep me and I'll be
kept. And I don't want to bring embarrassment and shame on my
Redeemer. I don't want to hurt those whom
I love and those for whom God has made me responsible. My life, even my death, would
be worth conserving them for the glory of God. And then fourthly,
fear of divine manifestation. I not only fear the wrath of
God, I fear the presence of God. Are you listening? Did you ever stand out, I know
you have, on a clear night and view the heavens, the moon,
and the stars, and the planets, and the things God has made?
And did you ever consider the greatness of God, the vastness
of God's universe, and God's handiwork, and God's wisdom?
And did you ever stand out and see this great universe God has
made and just shiver with fear? Just tremble with fear and say
with Jacob, how dreadful is this place. This is surely the house
of God. I know you have. Did you ever fly on an airplane
and get up there way above the clouds and look down and there's
just that fleecy snowy blanket of clouds? Looks like you could
just climb out and walk on them. We were talking about that the
other day. I know you have. And it just goes on and on. And did
you not just tremble with fear? Did you ever stand on a seashore
and watch the great ocean waves as they rolled in, and cast their
waves over the shore, and watch as the lightning out there over
the ocean flashed, and the thunder rolled, and the dark clouds began
to roll by, and fear take hold of your heart? Oh God, how great
thou art! The Scripture says Moses stood
at that bush and trembled. He was afraid, and he hid his
face. And Moses stood on the mountain.
The Scripture said in Hebrews 12, listen to this, I'll find
it and read it to you. Hebrews 12, 21. So he stood on
that mountain. And so great was the sight and
so terrible that Moses said, I see your fear and tremble. and quake. And Solomon said the beginning
of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And even the Apostle Paul, when
he came to preach at Corinth, he said, I come among you with
weakness and fear and trembling. Fear and trembling. He wasn't
afraid of them. But he was filled with awe and
reverence and amazement and respect before the manifestation of God
Almighty's power. And I'll tell you this confidentially
and plainly, and I'll close with this admonition. The Lord has
blessed this church. He's blessed us here with innumerable
blessings. He's clearly manifested his grace
in Christ. He's made this church known all
over the world. He's given us an open door to
preach the gospel. Missionaries to support. They're
just staggering. Doesn't that make you joyful?
Yes, sir. That makes me fearful. Fearful. And all of this is indeed by
his grace and according to his will. For there was nothing in us and
is nothing in us now to merit or deserve the least of his favors. He did it because he would. And
I'll tell you, he can remove it just as quickly as he gave
it. Is that right? And that doesn't make you fair. He can take the gospel out of
this poor kid just as quickly as he brought it in. He can take away his presence. He can take away his blessings.
He can take away his mercies just as quickly as he gave them.
That's the reason David said, O God, cast me not away from
thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. And I tremble. I tremble at the
wrath of God. But I tremble just as much and
fear in the presence of God. I know when Isaiah saw the Lord,
Scripture says that even the seraphims of heaven hid their
faces, covered their eyes, and they cried, Holy, holy, holy,
holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. And I want to read you
one thing in closing. In Genesis chapter 18, Genesis
18. And I tell you this, I abhor
and I despise and I warn you to flee from this present day
familiarity with Almighty God. This buddy program and this next
door neighbor familiarity, because it's not known in the Scriptures.
Serve the Lord with fear. come before his presence with
thanksgiving. Know ye not that the Lord God
made all things? The Lord is in his holy temple,
that all the earth keep silence before him. When you approach
the Lord, he says, let your words be few. In Genesis 18 verse 26, here
is Abraham praying. Now why don't you listen to Abraham
pray. He is praying for Sodom. This is Abraham, friend of God.
This is Abraham, the man with whom God spoke face to face.
And the Lord said, verse 26, Genesis 18, ìIf I find in Solomon
fifty righteous within the city, then Iíll spare all the place
for their sake.î And Abraham answered and said, ìBehold now,
I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust
and ashes.î Peradventure there shall lack
five of the fifty righteous. Wilt thou destroy all the city
for the lack of five? And God said, If I find in Sodom
forty-five righteous men, I will not destroy it. And Abraham spake
unto him yet again, and he said, Lord, peradventure there shall
be forty found there. And God said, I will not destroy
it for the sake of forty. And Abraham said again unto him,
O let not the Lord be angry. And I will speak. Peradventure
there shall be thirty found there. And he said, I'll not do it if
I find thirty. And Abraham said, Behold there
I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure there
shall be twenty found there. Notice the awe, the fear, the
reverence. And God said, I'll not destroy
it for 20's sake. And he said, oh, let not the
Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but one more time. Preadventure 10 shall be found
there. And God said, I'll not destroy
it for 10's sake. What I'm pointing out there is
here's this man of communion and pattern of faith, and yet
there's not this I command thee. I command thee. I hear these preachers commanding
God to do things and claiming, I claim that Abraham didn't claim
anything. And Moses didn't either. He kept
saying, now if I found grace in your sight, show me your way.
If I found grace in your sight, go with us. If I found grace
in your sight, show me your glory. Here's Abraham, kept apologizing
for praying. He kept saying, let me just speak
one more time. And don't be angry now, Lord.
Don't be angry. Because I'm just dust and ashes
and you're God. So, I believe this is sanctified
fear of the wrath of God. Fear of falling. Keep yourselves
in the love of God. Fear of sin. And in actual awe and reverence
and fear, a holy fear, be still and know that I am God. A holy
fear. Even when we use His most holy
name. When we come to worship. I was preached in two churches
last Sunday. Last Sunday morning I preached
in Faith Baptist Church on Tortola. And there is Brother Danny Parks,
his pastor. And there they sing hymns and
worship God and pray and preach. These dear black people loved
the gospel. There was a, I rejoiced the Spirit
of God was there. I went that night to a place
and I walked in and sat down and they started. They started
carrying on all that emotionalism and commotion and whoop-de-doo. You call it culture if you want
to, but it's an unawareness of the holiness of God. And all
the tambourines and the carrying on. They did that for an hour
and 15 minutes. I sat there in total misery.
And the thought was going through my heart, the Spirit of God is
not here. How am I going to preach? The Spirit of God is not here.
There's no reverence. There's no fear. There's no awe.
There's no solemnity. Spirit, you were over there.
It wasn't quite that bad Sunday morning. But Sunday night, they
opened up the stops. It was the evangelistic hour.
And I was just that far from going home. But I sat there and
I thought, no, you can't do this now. You're a guest. You're on
an island. You're a stranger. You're a white man. There's a
whole lot of reasons why you can't do this. Danny Parks has got
to stay here and you'll be leaving. So you're just going to have
to endure it. And for an hour and 15 minutes, I sat there and
endured. endured another spirit. I want the spirit of God in this
place, don't you? But at the same time, I fear
the manifestation of His presence. I never want to lose that fear
at all at the presence of God. All right, I hope that's been
helpful. I wanted it to be.

The Fear of the Lord

What does the Bible say about the fear of the Lord?

How do we know that fearing God is beneficial for Christians?

Why is it important for Christians to avoid sinful fears?

What is sanctified fear, and how does it help Christians?

How should Christians respond to the fear of death?

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The Fear of the Lord

What does the Bible say about the fear of the Lord?

How do we know that fearing God is beneficial for Christians?

Why is it important for Christians to avoid sinful fears?

What is sanctified fear, and how does it help Christians?

How should Christians respond to the fear of death?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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