If you will, let's open our Bibles
today to the book of Proverbs. Before I read our text this morning,
let me remind all of us that all of the scripture speaks to
us of Christ. That's what he said. He opened
the understanding of his disciples and spoken to them from Moses
and from the Psalms and from the prophets, the things concerning
himself. Proverbs chapter 28, verses 13
and 14. He that covereth his sins shall
not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have
mercy. Happy is the man that feareth
always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. I want to talk to us today for
a little time about the words in verse 14 Happy is the man
that feareth always. Happy is the man that feareth
always. Now normally, men do not associate
happiness with fear, but God always does. He always does. Happy is the man that feareth
always. Let me introduce the message
by making these two comments. First, the Hebrew word translated
happy is many times, oftentimes translated blessed, as in Psalm
1 and verse 1. Blessed, happy is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in it he doth
meditate day and night. So the word happy is often translated
blessed, and this verse could have been translated blessed
is the man that feareth always. Are you happy today? Are you
blessed? You are if you know the fear
of the Lord. Happy, blessed is the man that
feareth always. The second comment is this. This
fear, this fear that is spoken of in this verse is a particular
type of fear. There is a fear spoken of in
the Bible that has torment. A person has fear and is tormented
by that fear. There is that fear which we are
told one day will cause men to pray. And they will ask the mountains
and the rocks, fall on us, hide us from the face of him that
sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Men do not normally associate
wrath with the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God that came into
this world to redeem His people, to bear the sins of His people.
But my friends, there's a day coming, there's a time coming
when the Lamb will show His wrath upon all unbelievers, upon all
who do not know God and serve Him. People say, well, I don't
believe in that kind of a God. It doesn't matter whether you
believe in that kind of a God or not. That's the God of the
Bible. You say, well, I believe in a
loving God. I do too. But you would cast disparagement
upon His love, my friends. If you think that the love of
God is such that will overlook and wink at sin, then you don't
understand anything about the love of God. God who is a God
of love is also a God who is absolutely holy. And yes, even
His love is holy love. So there is a fear, the Bible
speaks of, that hath torment and has fear. But there is this
fear in our text this morning. Happy is the man that feareth
always. And this fear is the fear of
the Lord. the goodness of the Lord, the
fear of the Lord. Now, this fear is a reverent,
worshipful fear of God, the fear of the Lord. Happy is the man
that feareth always. I want to point out to us this
morning three truths, three truths about a person who is happy,
who is blessed, because he fears always. The first truth, this
person was chosen in the new covenant. This person, who is
happy because of the fear of the Lord, was chosen in the new
covenant, the everlasting covenant, the covenant of grace. You say,
how do you know that? I know this two ways. I know
that this person who is blessed, who is happy, that feareth always,
was chosen in the covenant of grace. I know this for sure in
these two ways. First of all, a person does not
naturally have this fear. Look with me, if you will, in
Romans chapter 3. In other words, when a person
is born into this world, you, me, every person, we were not
born with this fear. Man, by nature, does not have
this fear. Not the fear of the Lord. He
may have that fear that has torment. He may be afraid of God. But
the fear of the Lord, happy is the man that feareth always this
fear. is a fear that men by nature do not naturally have. If you look in verse 18, Romans
chapter 3 and verse 18, the apostle says, there is no fear of God
before their eyes. Now, this seems to me to be the
climax. This seems to be just the end
in a long list of things which are true about all lost people. And this just seems to cap all
these things off, as though this was the root. This was the problem. All these things that he mentions
before he gets to this verse, which we'll look at, if you look
in verses 10 through 17. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. A person who does not have the
fear of the Lord is an unrighteous person. Now, aren't we all by
nature unrighteous? Absolutely. But it is by the
righteousness of Christ that is imputed unto everyone that
believeth, everyone that knoweth and trusts in the Lord Jesus
Christ that we are declared to be righteous, justified before
God. But man by nature, there's none
righteous. No one's born into this world
innocent. I know when we hold a little
baby in our arms and we look down at the beautiful face and
we think it's so innocent. Well, comparatively to things
that it will experience and learn as it gets older, it might be
considered innocent, but not before God. Not before God, it
has inherited from its father a sinful nature. You say, how
do you prove that? Because some infants die in infancy. And none would die. Death is
the wages of sin. And none would die in infancy
if they were not already conceived in sin, shapen in iniquity, as
the psalmist declares. There's none righteous, no, not
one. Notice the next verse. There's none that understandeth. Man by nature, he doesn't understand. Well, how can that be right?
How can it be right that God requires of me what I cannot
give? How can that be right? Well,
just remember this. God as, or man rather, as God
created him, not only could, but did obey God until he sinned,
until he willfully disobeyed God. Man by nature doesn't understand. He doesn't understand why there
must be a sacrifice Why, there must be the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ to wash him from his sins. He doesn't understand
that. Well, surely I can do okay for myself. I can treat my neighbor
as I would want to be treated. I can be a good person, a good
father, a good husband. I can do that. Yes, and I hope
you will. But that will not make you right
before God. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. Man by nature, he doesn't
seek God. Every person, listen to me, every
person that knows who has the fear of the Lord, happy is the
man that feareth the Lord always. Every person who fears the Lord,
he seeks after God. Are you a God seeker? you are
if God has sought you out. If He's by nature, you won't
seek God. You know, a man told me one time,
I don't see why you don't speak, preach more on hell. I don't
see why you don't preach more on hell. As though it would be
possible to scare a person, to frighten a person into seeking
the Lord. No. You can preach on hell, and
I've heard some sermons on hell that were very scary, I'll tell
you that. Some illustrations of people jumping out of fifth
and sixth story windows because of fire, talking about hell. Hell is a real place, it's an
awful place. But I know this, man by nature
will never seek God until God seeks him and finds him. That's done. None seeketh after
God. Aren't you thankful today for
that verse that tells us one of the reasons the Lord Jesus
Christ, why did he come into this world? The Bible says, the
Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. He came to seek and to save his
people. But by nature, there's none that
seeketh after God. They're all gone out of the way.
They are together become unprofitable. Man doesn't profit God. We don't render to God the glory
that is due Him. And even God's children. Our Lord told us, when we've
done everything that is required, just sit down and confess we're
unprofitable servants. Because the most you could ever
do is what He requires, what He commands. But by nature, men
are unprofitable. They don't profit God in any
way. God is a being, and this is one
of the main, major problems men have, is they lure God And they
think of God as they think of themselves, as they think of
other individuals, of men and women. Listen, God, He said,
with whom would you compare me? He's a being, if I can use this
word, in a class all by Himself. He doesn't need anyone. Everything
that we have, everything you have, is His. Men by nature, they don't profit
God. And then He says, there's none
that doeth good, no, not one. They say, well, I know some people
that do a lot of good. Well, comparatively speaking,
amen. Absolutely. And I thank God for
those. But before God, there's none
that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre.
With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asp
is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. You know, out of the heart, all
of these things come. All the things that are mentioned
here. Out of the heart proceed. murders,
adulteries, evil thoughts, covetousness, all of these things that are
here given to describe men and women. And then the way of peace
they have not known. How it is that we may have peace
with God? Man by nature, he gravitates,
let me tell you, he gravitates always towards a works religion. Always. Why? Because the way of peace they
have not known. How is it that we may have peace
with God? It is only through his son, through
his person and his work. And then it's like the apostle,
have you ever done this? Some of us, I know we have, we've
taken a nail and put it up to the board and bam, bam, bam.
And then we turned it over and we kind of clenched it on the
backside. That makes that nail secure.
It's not coming out, right? After saying all of these things,
then the Apostle Paul just sums it all up. There's no fear of
God before their eyes. Well, happy is the man that feareth
always. Well, man by nature, he doesn't
fear. He doesn't know the fear of the
Lord. I said, when a person knows the
fear of the Lord, I know this, this person was chosen in the
new covenant because number one, by By nature, a person doesn't
fear the Lord. Now I want you to turn with me,
if you will, to the book of Jeremiah. This is a new covenant blessing. This fear of the Lord is a new
covenant blessing. Jeremiah chapter 31. And verse 31, let me remind us now. We're looking at three truths
about a person who is happy because he fears the Lord always. The
first truth is this. This person, this person who
is happy, who is blessed because he fears the Lord always, is
a person who was chosen in the new covenant. I know that for
two reasons. Number one, the natural man does
not have the fear of the Lord. And number two, this is a new
covenant blessing. Here in Jeremiah chapter 31 and
verse 31, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although
I was in husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those
days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they
shall be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Now remember
this about this covenant, this everlasting covenant. The Lord
Jesus, actually, there's a verse in Isaiah that tells us, God
says, I will give him for a covenant to the people. That is Christ. Because all the covenants wrapped
up in him. We are told that he's the messenger
of this covenant. He's the one who came and spoke
it out. Not only is He the messenger,
but He's the surety of this covenant. He stood before God to do everything
that God requires in this covenant in order to the blessings coming
upon men and women like you and I. And not only is he the messenger
and the surety, but he's the mediator. He mediates between
almighty, holy, absolutely holy, just, and righteous God, and
men and women like you and I, who by nature have no fear of
God. He's the mediator. And as the
mediator, he's prophet, he's the priest, and he's the king.
And it was as a priest that he took that cup that we're going
to celebrate tonight, the Lord's table. Our Lord took that cup
and he said, this is my blood. This represents my blood in the
new covenant, this everlasting covenant. And you notice here,
this covenant basically has three areas. First, this covenant promises
a new relationship established with the Lord. They shall all
know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them. A
second area, there's a gracious provision of the forgiveness
of sins. I will forgive their iniquity
and I will remember their sin no more. The third, there is
an internal work of God which produces a godly life, the giving
of this fear of the Lord. I will put my law in their inward
parts and write it in their hearts. Now I said this is a new covenant
blessing. Look in chapter 32 of Jeremiah. We've read the covenant as God
gave it there in chapter 31. But in this area, when God said,
I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts,
this is a new covenant blessing. Verse 40, chapter 32. And I will
make an everlasting covenant with them. that I will not turn
away from them to do them good. Now notice, but I will put my
fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from me. This
is a new covenant blessing, the fear of the Lord. Man by nature
doesn't fear God. If you have this fear this morning,
This reverential fear of God, not that fear that has torment,
but that fear that worships God. That's a new covenant blessing.
Here's a second truth that I know about this person who is described
as happy. He that fears the Lord always. This person has the beginning. Now listen. This person, whoever
it is, has the beginning of the greatest knowledge. Look in Proverbs
chapter 1. Has the beginning of the greatest
knowledge. Proverbs chapter 1 and verse
7. In verse 7, we read, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. I said this person
has the beginning of the greatest knowledge. This knowledge concerns
the Lord, concerns God, who is, as I've already said, He is an
infinite being. That means that our knowledge
of Him will always be in part. Follow me? He's an infinite being. We're not infinite. Our knowledge
of Him will always be in part. In 1 Corinthians, the Apostle
Paul wrote this, If any man think that he knoweth anything, The person thinks that about
himself, ìOh boy, I really know some stuff. I really got the
knowledge. Heís so conceited.î Paul said, ìIf any man think
that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing as he ought.î
This knowledge doesnít puff a man up. The knowledge of the fear
of the Lord, it doesnít puff a man up like carnal knowledge. You know, they study and they
get their degrees and that's all good. And many times it just
puffs them up, you know. I'll tell you what, this knowledge,
it doesn't puff a person up. No, no. Not the fear of the Lord. A person who feareth always, he
has the beginning, just the beginning of the knowledge of God. And
this teaches us that this is the most important knowledge
that there is. This knowledge, even though it's
in part the beginning of this knowledge, but yet it is enough
to teach us and convince us that this knowledge is worth more
than the whole world. This knowledge. What would it
profit a person who has great knowledge, great learning, but
if he doesn't know God, what profit is that? No, this
is the beginning of knowledge, the fear of the Lord, but it is enough to convince
us that we wouldn't trade this knowledge, though it may be small
in comparison to His infiniteness, We wouldn't trade it for the
whole world. Sometimes I feel like I'm just
about like starting in kindergarten when it comes to the knowledge
of God. You say, oh boy, I've really grown. I really know a
lot. Well, I thank the Lord for you. But I tell you, the more
you study about God, the more you realize how little you know
about God. The more that this book is opened
up unto you, the more you realize how little you know. But we wouldn't trade. Again,
we wouldn't trade the knowledge we have, though we know in part
now we wouldn't trade this knowledge for anything this world has to
offer. Let me tell you some things that
we do know. We know that God is spirit and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. I'm
not interested in candles and crosses and ceremonies and all
of that stuff that man-made religion has come up with because I know
that's not the way to worship God. We know this. God is spirit, and they that
worship Him, our Lord said, must worship Him in spirit and in
truth. We know that no man has seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. We know
that. No man's ever seen God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who was made flesh, to see him is to see the Father. We know that. Someone comes along
and tells you that they had this vision or they had this experience
and they saw the Lord, you know immediately they've been deceived.
Satan has been at work. He's been at work to deceive. And we know that the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, and for
this reason a man must be born again to see the kingdom of God. That's just so. And we know that
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
or eternal life. We know that. We know that God
has determined that in all things, He, that is Christ, might have
the preeminence. That every teaching, every doctrine,
every experience, it must glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
God has determined that His lovely Son, His darling Son, have the
preeminence in all things. We know that. We know that He has the preeminence
in creation. All things were made by Him and
without Him was not anything made that was made. We know that
He has the preeminence in providence. We live, we move, we have our
being in Him. And we know that He has the preeminence
in redemption. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
5 just a moment. This person who fears the Lord
always, this person who is blessed or happy, He has the beginning
of the greatest knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge. 1 John chapter 5 and verse 20,
John said, and we know. We know that the Son of God is
come. I know that. Do you? If you do. This wasn't revealed
to you by flesh and blood. I know that the Son of God has
come and has given us an understanding. That's the only reason any of
us here this morning have the beginning of knowledge because
He has come and He has given us understanding. By nature we
don't have it. That we may know Him that is
true. And we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. And we know this. And I'll tell
you one last thing we know. We know that He has gone to prepare
a place for us and will come again to receive us, that where
he is, there we may be also. We know that. Now here's the
last, the third thing that I want to say. This person who is happy,
blessed because he feareth the Lord always, this person departs
from evil. Look at this in Proverbs chapter
16. This person departs from evil. It's sad to say, but it seems
to me that, in my lifetime at least, it has become acceptable that
a person can be saved and their life doesn't change. They just
go on living as they always have. And no repentance, and no change,
Just whatever you feel like doing, you know. Whatever makes you
happy. You only go around once. Grab
life. But let me tell you something.
God has not changed. Men change. Society changes. But God does not change. And here in Proverbs 16 and verse
6, we read, By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged, and by the
fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. Men depart from evil. Or the goodness of God causes
men to depart, to abstain from evil. And do you see this verse
begins telling us, by mercy and truth, iniquity is purged, And
we are told in another place that mercy and truth met together
and righteousness and peace kissed each other. That's only in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross. It was at the cross
in the person of Christ when our sins, the sins of his people
were laid upon him, imputed to him, and he took them as his
own and bore them in his own body on the tree. It is at the
cross that we see mercy, love, compassion for sinners, and truth,
righteousness, and justice, which is naturally against us, meet
together. Meet together and kiss each other. It's only through his blood,
which was shed, that iniquity is purged. And it is in the light
of his great sacrifice, God's goodness motivates. The love
of Christ constraineth us. Preacher doesn't preach the law
and use the law like a whip to get people to live a certain
way. No, it's the love of Christ that constrains God's people
to serve Him, to love Him, to depart from iniquity. The fear
of the Lord causes a person to act like Joseph when he was tempted
and he said, how, how can I do this great wickedness? Now, there's
three truths that we know about the man who is described, happy
is the man that feareth always. He was chosen in the new covenant. He has the beginning of knowledge
and he has the fear that causes him to depart from iniquity. Let me close with this. How does
a person come to experience the fear of the Lord? I know many
here today, you have the fear of the Lord and you know you
do. But there may be some here this morning who don't, just
don't have the fear of the Lord. How does a person come to experience
the fear of the Lord? Well, there's no formula. There's
no A, B, C. There's no one, two, three steps. No, no. But usually, now usually,
this is the way a person receives the fear of the Lord. It usually
comes through the preaching of the gospel. That as men and women
hear the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that
a person, maybe for the first time, looks into himself and
says, you know, something's not right here. Something's not, I have some
thoughts that are evil. I do some things that are sinful.
Something's wrong here. This cannot be the way God created
man and looked upon man and said it was good. There's something
wrong. There's something wrong. You
look within and you see yourself, that which you acknowledge cannot
be right. Your thoughts, your words, things
that you do, and you hear the gospel that tells us The Lord
Jesus Christ said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. What does that mean? That means that the Lord Jesus
Christ was lifted up on the cross. As the Son of Man was lifted
up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life. If you look to Christ, you trust
in Christ, and you are made aware, you now fear the Lord. You now
have the fear of the Lord you didn't have before. That's the
way usually a person comes to possess the fear of the Lord. You have new thoughts about God.
You know, the world makes jokes about God. They take God's name
in vain. They use the name of God in their
conversation, in their sentences, and they don't have any fear
of God. That's the reason. But when you
come to have the fear of the Lord in your heart, you sanctify
the Lord God in your heart. You recognize there's something
special about His name. You come to know there's something
special about this book. Before it was tedious. Assign
me a chapter to read and that's like putting me in time out. Oh no, not when you have the
fear of the Lord. This book all of a sudden takes
on new meaning, new interest. It's precious. It's the milk
upon which you must feed. And you have a new love for the
gospel. You love to hear the gospel.
You say, same thing. Same message. Every time I go
there, that preacher preaches the same message. Well, I tell
you, that's what God's people want. If it's the gospel. The truth. Tell me more, more
about Him. And you find that you now like
to worship with the people of God. You like to be with the
people of God. You like to sing hymns. How did
all that come about? And you like to walk in such
a way as to please God. You realize you're not perfect.
No one ever accused you of that. But you, you have that as your
goal, to walk in such a way as to please the Lord. How has all
of that come about? By the fear of the Lord, the
fear of the Lord. Maybe even in this service today,
someone is here who has never before experienced the fear of
the Lord in your heart. As you look to Christ and trust
in Him, maybe that fear is present now,
and it will show. It will show in your life. We're going to sing a hymn number
287.