 The title of their sermon this morning is The Beginning of Wisdom, and we are in our study of the essentials. One sermon, one hour, one subject essential to the growth and maturity of the Christian. This morning, it's our privilege, our blessing, to introduce a subject that doesn't get much airtime in our day and age. It's a subject that's often neglected, misunderstood, mishandled, misaligned, maligned in much of the professing church today. And the reason for that goes far beyond mere misunderstanding. The reason for that can't be attributed to the paucity of God's revelation on the subject. This subject, this theme is replete in Scripture. And even though it's clear, even though it's prevalent in the Bible, the subject that we're going to consider this morning simply doesn't fit with the narrative or the watered-down gospel that the modern church today is peddling. It simply doesn't fit with the false gospel that most professing Christians are clinging to as their only hope. It doesn't fit together with what they believe they understand the Bible to teach. The subject under our consideration this morning is the fear of God. This is the fear of God. In Romans chapter 3, the apostle Paul describes the wicked as those under the law, under the weight of their sin, and guilty before God. In Romans chapter 3, verse 14, the apostle Paul describes them as full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. The way of peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Whatever the fear of God is, its lack is a characteristic of the wicked of this world. David asserts the same in Psalm chapter 36, verse 1, where David says concerning the transgression of the wicked, there is no fear of God before his eyes. He flatters himself in his own eyes. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good. He does not abhor evil. Whatever the fear of God is, it is a fear that does not flatter himself in his own eyes. The words of his mouth are not wickedness and deceit. He does not cease to be wise and to do good. He abhors evil. In other words, if that lack of fear is characteristic of the wicked, then it is the presence of the fear of the Lord that should be characteristic of the righteous. Righteous Job is described in Job chapter 1 verse 1 as a man that was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. Blameless and upright, the outward description of his conduct, one who feared God shunned evil, the inward disposition of Job's heart. God is described as the fear of Isaac, Isaac being the son of promise in Genesis chapter 31. The godly midwives who saved the life of Moses feared God in Exodus chapter 1. I didn't pick this, but you shall rise before the gray-headed, honor the presence of an old man and fear the Lord in Leviticus chapter 19. I don't mean that's a self-serving way. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him, keep his commandments and obey his voice in Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse 4. Joshua commands the people of God to fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity and in truth Joshua chapter 24 verse 14. But the Biblically illiterate then rise up in objection, don't they? That's just the God of the Old Testament. The God of the New Testament is God of love. First John chapter 4 verse 18, doesn't John say that there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. Fear involves torment, John says. He who fears has not been made perfect in love. They would look to 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. Well, we had better take care to understand what John is saying, what Paul is saying, because we are commanded throughout the Bible to the fear of God. The Lord himself commands us to fear him. The fear of God should be in our hearts, should be in our mind. There are distinct ways in which we must think of the fear of God. We must learn that distinction. Matthew chapter 10 verse 28. Do not fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Luke chapter 1 in the Magnificat of Mary. Mary prayerfully praises God. His mercy is on those who make a decision to ask him into their heart. No. His mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. Acts chapter 10 verse 2 describes Cornelius as a devout man, a man who feared God with all of his household. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 21. We must submit to one another in the fear of God. Philippians chapter 2 verse 12. You are to work out your own salvation with fear and with trembling. Peter commands us, honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. All the way to Revelation chapter 15, the consummation of all things. When the saints of God standing on a sea of glass, seeing the song of the Lamb saying, great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are your ways, O king of all the saints, who shall not fear you, O God, and glorify your name, for you are holy, for all the nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested. Now how many texts do we need? How many texts? One is enough. No. The fear of God is not merely an Old Testament theme. The fear of God is a New Testament theme. The fear of God is the biblical theme. The fear of God is at the very heart, at the very soul of what it means to be godly. Albert Martin said the fear of God is a massive and dominant theme in Scripture. When our spiritual forefathers desired to describe someone who was characterized by genuine godliness, they would often call him a God-fearing man. This designation reflected the fact that men realized the fear of God was nothing less than the soul of godliness. Take away the soul from the body, and all you have left in a few days is a stinking, rotting carcass. Take away the fear of God from any profession of godliness, and all that is left is the stinking carcass of Phariseeism, barren religiosity, or calculated hypocrisy. This explains, doesn't it, why many professing Christians today, many professing churches today, are nothing more than the stinking, rotting carcass of an external religiosity. They're marked by hypocrisy, marked by legalism, marked by sin. Many professing churches, professing Christians today, are marked by licentiousness, marked by worldliness. They're marked characterized by irreverence, by superstition, by emotion, by emotionalism, by sensationalism, and by sin. Why is that? And why is that? Paul has said, there is no fear of God before their eyes. The soul of true godliness isn't there, and what's left is a dead and soulless carcass. The wise King Solomon described this godly, or godward fear, throughout the book of Proverbs. One cursory reading of the book of Proverbs will show you that the fear of God is the heart of godliness. Solomon says, by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil. Proverbs chapter 16 verse 6. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom. Proverbs chapter 15 verse 33. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. Proverbs chapter 14 verse 27. In the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence. Proverbs chapter 14 verse 26. The fear of the Lord prolongs days. Proverbs chapter 10 verse 27. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs chapter 9 verse 10. And that's merely representative, not exhaustive from the book of Proverbs. For this is man's all, Solomon would later say, fear God and keep his commandments. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 13. I want us to consider our subject of the fear of God this morning, under three headings. First, the fear of God determined. Second, the fear of God defined. And third, the fear of God displayed. The fear of God determined. The fear of God defined. And the fear of God displayed. Consider with me first the fear of God determined. God has determined that we should fear him. God has determined that his people should have a holy fear of him in their hearts, in their minds. And I want us to look at this from three texts this morning. Turn with me to Exodus chapter 19. Exodus chapter 19. God has determined to put the fear of himself into the hearts and minds of his people for a purpose. And if you remember from Exodus chapter 19, the children of Israel have been rescued out of their bondage in Egypt. God has now brought them into the wilderness to try them and to test them, to make a nation of themselves for him, a special people. And now the Lord calls to Moses to the top of the mountain and says to him in chapter 19, beginning in verse three. He says to Moses, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, thus you shall tell the children of Israel. Verse four, you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings, brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So Moses speaks these words to the people, right? Moses is directed to give the word of God to the people of God. He's told to consecrate the people. He's told to set them apart from uncleanness and to set them apart to God as holy. And why is that? It's because God on the third day is going to visit them. God is going to visit them on the third day from Mount Sinai. Drop down to verse 16. Then it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on top of the mountain. And the sound of the trumpet was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. They were terrified. They were fearful. Verse 17, Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God and they stood at the foot of the mountain. This was the same mountain that Moses had said, you shall not approach it. God had said, don't even touch it. Anyone who touches that mountain dies, right? And here they are standing at the foot of that mountain, smoke, lightning, the terror of God alive as it were in their presence on the top of the mountain. Mount Sinai, verse 18, was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in its fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly. When the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. When Moses went up, God spoke to him the 10 words, the decalogue, the 10 commandments. He set his law before them in Exodus chapter 20. He said to them, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I'm the one who delivered you. Out of the house of bondage, God said, you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself the carved image. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. You shall remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. In other words, God gave the people his law and remember what the law is in our prior sermons on the law. The law is the very transcript of God's nature. It reflects the very character of God, the very being of God. God's law reflects who God is morally, who he is as a person, the excellence of his person. It reflects the holiness of his character. Look at Exodus chapter 20. Look now at verse 18. The people have received the law and now verse 18, all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, all of this setting up for us, if you will, the transcendence, the holiness, the might, the power of God. They saw the mountains smoking and when the people saw it, verse 18, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, Moses, you speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die. In other words, all the sights and sounds over Sinai displaying the power, the might, the majesty, the holiness of God, the threat of certain death for anyone that would presume to even touch the mountain. The people stood at a distance, struck with fear, struck with dread, struck with knee-knocking terror in at the sight, at the sound of it. And Moses said, verse 20, Moses said to the people, do not fear, for God has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin. So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. This is the context in which the holy, just, righteous, and good law of God is given to his people. And what is the purpose? Look at verse 20. What is the purpose of giving the law in this way? What is the purpose of giving the law in this way? The law is that communication of the very holiness of God himself, and God gives it in this context. Verse 20, that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin. That his fear may be before you, that you may not sin. Now notice, through this text we're introduced to two primary or principal kinds of fear. Moses says, do not fear. Do not be filled with that carnal dread. Don't be filled with terror or dread, carnal fear, fleshly fear in this way, such that you flee from God, but rather that his fear may be before you. Rather be filled with a holy fear of who God is, a holy fear of his character, of his holiness, of his power, of his might, that you might not sin against him. And, as his people, you're to draw near to him. We're not to flee from God. We're to draw near to him. In other words, Moses says to them in verse 20, put away the fear of terror, put away the fear of dread, and set within your heart and mind in response to God's holiness, the Godward fear of reverence and awe, and obligation, and obedience, a Godward fear of respect, and honor, and worship. Do you see? There's a distinct difference that's introduced to us in Exodus chapter 20 verse 20. In other words, it's a fear that demands awe. It's a fear that demands worship, a fear that demands respect, a fear that demands honor. It's a fear that demands obligation, a fear that demands obedience. It's a fear that demands that we regard God as holy. By those who approach me, God has said, I must be regarded as holy, and before all the people I must be glorified. As God who called you as holy, this fear says you also be holy in all your conduct. In other words, this biblical fear of God is such a necessary, such an appropriate response to the divine nature, to the divine essence that it is given as the very purpose for the law. I give you the law that you may not sin against me, right? His fear is before you so that you may not sin. Now, how do we apply that? How do we think about that? Listen. So then, as I consider God, as he has revealed himself in his word to be, as he is reflected in his own law, if my understanding of who God is and what God has done, if my apprehension of who God is, does not lead me to this kind of reverential fear, then I have not apprehended him rightly, have I? If my understanding of who he is doesn't lead to this kind of fear, then I've not understood him rightly. I don't know who he is. And if I do not comprehend him rightly, if I do not understand him biblically, then I will not fear him as I should. And this irreverence, impiety, godlessness that we see around us will show up in us. That irreverence that marks many false professing churches today, that marks many professing Christians today, that irreverence will mark you and I as well. John says, 1 John 3 verse 6, whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. In other words, the one who's made a stop to the practice of sin, the one who has ceased from a practice of sin is the one who knows God and to know God is to fear him as God. God has put this fear of him before our eyes. Now, God, you can see, has determined through even the giving of the law, God has determined that we should fear him. That's point one on your notes. But secondly, under that very same heading, God has determined that our children should fear him also. Deuteronomy chapter four, verse nine, turn a few pages to the right and look at Deuteronomy chapter four. This fear of God should be before our eyes that we might consider him rightly, worship him as we should, that we would know him as we should, that we might not sin against him. Deuteronomy chapter four, look there beginning at verse seven. Moses says under the law, for what great nation is there that has God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us? For whatever reason we may call upon him. We can call upon him for whatever reason, right? And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law, which I set before you this day? Verse nine, only take heed to yourself. Diligently keep yourself lest you forget the things your eyes have seen unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life and teach them to your children and to your grandchildren, especially that day concerning that day that you stood before the Lord your God in Orib when you stood before him at the mountain, right? When the Lord said to me, gather the people to me and I will let them hear my words so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth and that they may teach their children. What are they to teach their children? They're to teach their children the fear of the Lord, right? To fear God. They themselves stood before God as he descended upon Mount Sinai and they saw those sights, they heard those sounds and they were terrified and the fear of God filled their hearts, filled their minds and now their children are raised up. Their children weren't standing there with them at the mountain. That fear of God has to be taught, has to be taught to their children. Moms and dads, that fear has to be taught to your children. Why don't I want to teach my kids to fear God? We shouldn't fear God. God says that we should fear him. The fear of God should be taught to our children. How's that going to be taught? It's going to be taught from the Bible. From the books of Moses it can be taught and we have the fullness of God's revelation to us from Genesis to Revelation. We can teach the fear of God to our children from the word of God. And listen to me boys and girls, listen to me children. You need to learn the fear of God. Allow God from his word to cultivate within your own heart a healthy, God-word, godly fear of the living God. Do not fear him who can merely kill the body. Fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. But someone objects. That's the God of the Old Testament. The God of the Old Testament was the God of fear. What about the God of the New Testament? The God of the New Testament is different. It's different for the church, isn't it? I don't want my kids fearing God. Well, Israel in the Old Testament fails to fear God as they should. God has determined that we should fear him. Israel, we see that throughout the Old Testament has failed to fear God as they should. So in Malachi, very end of your Old Testament, Malachi, chapter one, verse six, God asks Israel, if I am the Father, then where is my honor? If I am a master, God asks them, where then is my fear? Says the Lord of hosts. That's what that word means there, fear. So God then, Israel having failed, God determines to make a new covenant. The Old Covenant already fading away. The Old Covenant already becoming obsolete. The Old Covenant having been broken by Israel, God determines to make a new covenant. One that would be secured, not in the blood of bulls and goats, but a covenant that would be secured in the blood of his only begotten Son. It's the covenant that you and I, that we, that all believers enter into through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what God promises to do for those in Christ through faith under that new covenant. This is what God determines to do for his church, Jeremiah chapter 32, beginning in verse 38. Listen, they shall be my people and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and for the good of their children after them. Do you notice? That's the purpose, right? It's good that we should fear God. We must fear God. Our children must fear God for our own good, for their own good. God says they may fear me forever for the good of them and their children after them. He says, I will make, verse 40, I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me. It's good that God would put his fear in our hearts. Yes, he says, verse 41, I will rejoice over them to do them good and I will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my soul. The Bible says that we like sheep have gone astray, everyone to his own way. We've all turned aside and become unprofitable and God says that through the salvation that is secured under the New Covenant by the Lord Jesus Christ and the shedding of his own blood, God says, I will myself place my fear in their hearts so that they never turn aside from following after me. That's a glorious promise. In other words, God so works by his spirit under the New Covenant when someone turns the faith in Jesus Christ puts their faith and trust in the Lord by his spirit. God so works in their heart, in their mind, works by his spirit within them to put his fear within them such that they do not turn away from following after him. God's people, one of the means that God uses to preserve his people is this healthy, God word, fear of God. Do you see? We're to fear him and that fear of God keeps us from turning aside. You can see, can't you, that certainly there is a fear that sends us running away in dread. There's a fear that sends you running away in terror and there's a fear that draws you close to him in love, draws you close to him for preservation, for help in our time of need, for grace and for mercy. We can also see from the Bible, even in our own experience, that there is also a fear that draws us near to the object of our fear in holiness and in godliness. What is the nature of that fear? One, the fear God has determined. There is the fear that God has determined for us. Two, the fear of God defined. Consider with me the fear of God defined. What is the nature of that fear? How would we define it? There is in scripture two distinct meanings to the words that are commonly translated as fear in scripture. There is the meaning that involves terror or dread and not unlike, that fear is not unlike the terror or the dread that my wife may display when confronted by a snake. There is a word that means terror or dread and you can see that and how someone might respond to a snake. That terror, that dread is based on a person's perception of danger or that person's perception of harm and based upon their perception of danger, their perception of harm, there is a fear of terror or a fear of dread. Is there reason of fear God in this way? Absolutely there is. Absolutely there is. Outside, listen, outside provision for sin. In the person and work of his own son, our Lord Jesus Christ, of course there is reason to fear God in this way. Our God is a consuming fire. Right? And it is the height of foolishness, the height of blind recklessness, the height of carelessness for anyone to reject the saving work of the sun and to walk around in oblivious ignorance to the danger that they're in before God himself and the eternal harm that awaits them if they do not turn to Christ. The eternal harm that awaits them is objects of his wrath and objects of his justice. Of course there's reason to fear God in that way and I would suggest to you that if you've never turned to Christ in faith, then you should fear God in that way. And the fact that you don't fear God who is a consuming fire in that way is evidence, is proof of your blindness to who he is, your ignorance before him. Just because you put your hand over your eyes doesn't make the world go away. Brother and I were witnessing to a person on campus not long ago and brought up that very thing. Just because you put your hand over your eyes doesn't make the universe go away. And just because you put your hand over your eyes you stop your ears doesn't make the truth of God's word go away. The truth of hell go away. The truth of judgment go away. We, knowing that terror, therefore as Paul says, persuade men, amen. Don't be a fool. Don't be a fool. Turn to Christ in faith. However, being two distinct meanings of the words commonly translated fear, there is in Scripture also a meaning to the word translated fear that more involves a fear of respect or honor. In this instance, it's not that fear that is brought on by a sense of danger or of harm as though stumbling upon a venomous snake. It's the fear that grips the heart of a person when they're in the presence of somebody who is worthy of honor or worthy of respect or worthy of awe, worthy of dignity, worthy of majesty. One is having all authority, right? That fear brought on by a sense of dignity or worth in the one that they are fearing. We can see both of those examples, both of those distinct types of fear in the way that a child may fear an earthly father, can't we? One son needs something from his father, needs something from dad. So he goes into his dad's office while dad is hard at work. His dad reacts in anger, backhands his son across the room, don't ever interrupt me again when I'm working. That father is going to cultivate in his son a fear characterized by terror or dread, right? That kind of fear breeds contempt, that kind of fear flees, it doesn't want to draw near. That's not love, it's not interpreted as love or loving, right? Another son, another son needs something from his father. He knows that he can go to his dad about anything. He has no fear of approaching his dad whatsoever. Even though his dad is in the office working, he respects his father though. He knows that the work his father's doing is important work. He's been taught to honor his father and for good reason. His father has been wise and good and caring and loving. His father has given everything to him, to care for him, to protect him, to provide for him, to teach him. And so he comes into the office with the healthy fear, comes into the office with respect, with a thoughtful care that's marked by love, marked by deference. He comes with a healthy fear that is marked by reverence and respect and awe and honor. Do you see the difference? His father responds accordingly. That kind of fear draws us in, doesn't it? Draws us in. It's a fear that desires to please, a fear that desires to honor, that desires to show reverence, that desires to show respect. The Israelites have gotten to the point in the Old Testament where they have no regard for how they approach God in worship. We see that in the narrative of the Old Testament as we work through the books of the Old Testament, the Israelites are failing, aren't they? More and more and more and more in how they are approaching God in worship. At the point where in Malachi God asks, if I am the father, where is my honor? Right? If I am a master, then where is my fear? Says the Lord of hosts. The same word, but two different meanings, two distinct meanings in context. Aren't there? Isn't there? God is not that one who has mistreated them so poorly. God has given everything to redeem them, to deliver them out of the house of bondage, to bring them to himself, his own special people, the apple of his eye. Well speaking of that fear that cultivates within us reverence and honor and respect and awe, is there a reason to fear God in that way? Absolutely there is. Of course there is. He is supremely worthy of honor, supremely worthy of awe and respect. It would be the height of foolishness, the height of carelessness, the height of blind recklessness for anyone. It would be the height of impiety, the height of godlessness for anyone to deny that honor, that awe, that respect, that fear to our God who is holy, just, good, righteous in all his ways, gracious in all his works. Amen? He has given all to redeem us, even his only begotten Son. It is the height of godlessness to deny God that respect and reverence, that fear. This is the fear of God that is the privilege of those who are the children of God, do you see? And that is through faith in Jesus Christ. That fear doesn't send us running. That fear sends us drawing close, sends us fleeing to the cross, fleeing to him. Bible, the Bible as we consider the fear of God defined, the Bible defines this fear of God as the beginning of wisdom. We get that from Proverbs chapter 9 verse 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What does it mean that this fear, if we're defining this fear of God, what does it mean that this fear is the beginning of wisdom? Well, there are only two kinds of people in this world, two kinds of people. Those who live in joyful submission under the lordship of Jesus Christ in accord with, in accord with God's commandments and those who do not. Think with me about those two camps. Those who live in joyful submission to the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ, in joyful submission to his commandments and those who not live that way, who have rejected God, who have rejected the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those in the first group are considered to be wise. Those in the second group are considered by scripture to be fools. The fear of the Lord is the very beginning, the very beginning of attaining to that standing as wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. To say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is to say that the fear of the Lord is not only the start, but the principal part of wisdom. It's not only the beginning of wisdom in that sense, but it is the principal part of wisdom. Just because it is the beginning of wisdom doesn't mean that you set it aside to go on to more wise things, right? The beginning of wisdom means that it is not only the start, but the principal part of wisdom. One has said the ABCs, the alphabet. The ABCs lie at the very beginning for a child learning to read and write. It's the very beginning of our learning to read and write. We start with the alphabet, move on to sounds of the letters from small words to big words, and it's from that simple beginning that all the great novels of the world are written, right? All the great novels of the world are written. It's from that simple beginning, A through Z, that we have God's very revelation to us that we can understand the very word of God to us, right? Simple beginnings. The ABCs are the beginning. They are the principal part of all that is written. We don't forsake the ABCs. You and I are still dealing with them today as we read his word, aren't we? They're the very beginning. They're the start, but they're also the principal part of reading and writing. When mathematicians were solving the very complex formulas that would put a man on the moon, they were using the very same numbers they learned as a child, zero through nine, the very same numbers. So the fear of the Lord is not simply the beginning of wisdom, not only the beginning of wisdom, it is the principal part of wisdom. That's what the fear of the Lord is, the beginning of wisdom means. Not only the start, but the principal part of wisdom. It does not, it not only represents the earliest expressions of godliness. John Murray has said that the fear of God is the very soul of godliness. The fear of God is the principal part of godliness. Do you want to be godly? Fear God. Do you want to obey him? Do you want to live for him? Do you want to please him? Fear the Lord, you see? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This inward too, this inward disposition, the inward disposition of this fear, through that inward disposition, God produces godliness. As John Murray said, this fear of God is the soul of godliness. In part, we can define the biblical fear of God by what it doesn't produce. Think with me. Define the fear of God by what it doesn't produce. This fear of God does not produce mere moralism. This fear of God does not produce legalism. This fear of God does not produce licentiousness. This fear of God does not produce a slavish fear of condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, right? This fear does not make obedience a burden. This fear doesn't make all obedience mere duty. This fear brings about delight in duty, amen? This fear does not drive you far from God. This fear draws you near to God. This fear produces heart holiness. This biblical fear of God produces the outward fruit of true and genuine godliness. Job, again, was described as blameless and upright. Blameless and upright with respect to his outward conduct. Job was described as blameless and upright as one who feared God. In other words, the fear of the Lord was the inward disposition of his heart, the inward disposition of his mind. Why was Job blameless and upright? Because Job feared God. Do you see? This fear of God, however we define it, this fear of God produces godliness. Cornelius is described in Acts chapter 10 as a God-fearing man. He's described as one who fears God. That's his inward heart disposition. And how was Cornelius described? He was described as a devout man who gave alms generously and prayed to God always. In other words, it's the inward disposition of his heart. He's one who fears God, gave rise to his outward display of conduct. He is one who gave alms and prayed to God. He was a devout man, a God-fear. You see, it's not enough to define this fear as simply a reverential awe, is it? That's true. This fear is a reverential awe, but it's far more than that. This fear is far more than that. When Jesus Christ is speaking to his disciples in Matthew chapter 10, the Lord is about to send his disciples out into the world to preach the Gospel. And the Lord knows what that's going to mean for them. It's going to mean persecution, right? They're going to face persecution. They're going out into a hostile world to preach the Gospel. Jesus Christ knows this, and so he wants to prepare them. The Lord spends time in Matthew 10 preparing his disciples. That includes you and I, brothers and sisters. It includes you and I. When we go out into the world, we need to be prepared for what we're going to face. The Lord in grace and love prepares his disciples, and he says them, he tells them, this persecution is certainly coming. And then he warns them in the face of that persecution, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him. That's an imperative. That's a command. Fear God who is able to destroy both soul and body and hell. We should fear God more than man, right? We should fear God and not man. There's more here, isn't there, than a mere reverential awe. It certainly includes reverential awe, but there's more here than that. And Jesus Christ commands it, commands it. These types of fear overlap, don't they? There is a sense in which genuine Christians, genuine believers will also face circumstances in which there should be a terror or a dread related to spiritual things related to a fear of the Lord. There is a fear, listen, that refuses to displease. It's a fear that refuses to dishonor. There's a fear that refuses to disobey. There's a fear that esteems God above all else, even my own life. That fear is enjoined to the law. It's a fear that produces the fruit of godliness in the life. It produces the fruit of obedience. Listen to Paul from 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1. Listen, therefore, beloved, having these promises, these promises from God for life now and eternal life going forward. Listen, therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. That's right. In other words, the very atmosphere of our sanctification, the very context of our sanctification, the water in which we're swimming, so to speak, as we pursue our sanctification is the fear of God, is the fear of God. The disposition of heart and mind that we're to have as we pursue holiness in the Christian life, the fundamental foundational disposition of our heart and our mind as we pursue holiness, as we pursue our sanctification should be the fear of the Lord. We should fear God. As we pursue him in love, as we pursue joy in him, as we pursue faith and holiness, that disposition of heart and mind should be one of fear. And fear, not a fear that is a slavish fear of condemnation, but a fear of his awesomeness, a fear of his love, a fear of his grace, a fear of his mercy, and a fear of all that God has done to redeem us from our sinful and wicked ways. But it's often, often those two kinds or two distinct types of fear that overlap in the life of a Christian. Listen, a fear of dread and the fear of respect or honor tend to overlap. Listen to Hebrews chapter four. Listen, verse one. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, we have this promise. Let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it. What kind of fear is he talking about? He's talking about a fear of terror or a fear of dread at the thought that we might fall short of entering the rest that he has promised us. He's saying there should be that fear. And when you teach ungodly or unbiblical notions or conceptions of eternal security, for example, or the preservation of the saints, when you say once saved, always saved, and what you mean by that is that once you believe that you're saved, you can live however you want to, and you're going to go to heaven when you die. I remember one, Charles Stanley said that being saved was like getting a tattoo. And if you walked out the doors of the church and you said to yourself, that's the stupidest thing I've ever done, doesn't matter. You're saved. You went off and lived however you're going to live, doesn't matter. That is ungodly, unbiblical. That is a deception alive from the pit of hell. God has said that we will persevere in the faith. He will preserve us in the faith, and we are to pursue godliness. Why? Because you can turn aside from following him, proving yourself never to have been a Christian in the first place. That sin is called apostasy. And if you turn in apostasy, you're lost. You're proving yourself to have been lost all along. We are to fear falling short of entering you that rest, and that should be a fear of dread. Listen to the words of the Lord, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 26. Listen, for if we sin willfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries. Listen, anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose he will be thought worthy, who has trampled the Son of God under foot, countered the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, a common thing, and insulted the spirit of grace. We know him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And what kind of fear is he speaking of? That's a fear of terror. That's a fear of dread. And those who have professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we should look with terror. We should look with dread, horror, at the very thought of apostasy, terror and dread at the very thought of turning away from following after him. The fear of God determined. The fear of God defined. Thirdly, the fear of God displayed. How is the fear of God manifested in the life of a genuine believer? The fear of God displayed. All this overlaps, we see this, don't we, as we consider the subject. It is the ungodly wicked that are described in the Bible as those who have no fear of God before their eyes. The Bible routinely, frequently connects what we know and what we believe with how we live and how we act. Those two things are woven together in Scripture. There's a connection, brothers and sisters, listen. There's a connection between what we know and what we believe to how we live and how we act. How we do or do not fear God reflects our understanding of God, doesn't it? Whether we do or do not fear God reflects, is connected to who we understand him to be, what we know, what we know of him and whether or not we've taken that to heart. Someone can have this knowledge of God that they gain from the word of God that doesn't connect to their heart and mind and they don't fear God in the way that they shouldn't. It's what we know and what we believe both are connected to how we live and how we act. As I grow in my knowledge of him, as our biblical understanding cultivates within us an attitude of heart and mind that is consistent with what we know and what we understand of God from his word, then our knowledge of him leads to a disposition of heart and mind and what we know, what we think, what we believe about him, the one whom we worship, that will determine how we live and act in response. Do you see? You and I must labor to know him, pursue in his word a knowledge of him. Knowing him rightly, we must allow the word of God through the work of the spirit of God to cultivate within our heart, within our mind, a healthy God-word biblical fear of God and that fear of God has an impact on how we live, how we conduct ourselves. Listen to Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 17. Listen, and if you call on the Father who without partiality judges according to each one's work, then conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. That should be our response. You call in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you call on the Father who is said to have chosen you, elected you from before the foundation of the world, the one who sent his only begotten Son into the world to die for sinners. If you call upon him in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter is saying then conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here, your pilgrimage here, your sojourn here, in fear. You're to conduct yourselves in fear. Why? Verse 18. Knowing, you see what we know? What we know impacts how we live. Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but you were redeemed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Who through him believed in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and your hope are in God. If you call upon God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you're to conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. Knowing with this on your mind, you weren't redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold. Your redemption came through the shedding of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That doesn't it calls for a healthy God word fear and what it cost to redeem you and I, what it cost to pay for our sins, what the Lord has done for us. Are we seriously, are we going to think that we're going to live our Christian lives with such a cavalier, flippant, well, do my best kind of an attitude. No, we're to conduct ourselves throughout the time of our stay here in fear. This fear of God is the soul of godliness. Do you want to be godly? Do you want to be godly? And you'll fear God in this way, fear the Lord under the new covenant. Is it not a fearful thing to consider the high cost of our redemption when you come to the Lord's table, which we'll do very soon here. When you come to the Lord's table and you partake of the bread and you partake of the cup and we remember the Lord's body delivered up in death for us. The Lord laid it down willingly, voluntarily, delivered his body up in death for us. When we remember the Lord's blood shed at the cross, when we remember those things at the Lord's table, the forgiveness of our sins through that price that was paid. Does it not cause fear? Is it not a fearful thing? Should we not come to the table with a sense of reverential awe and fear and honor and glory and majesty and love and devotion, a fear of God for his grace and his mercy and his kindness to us? Should we not approach him in that way? Would we not regard him as holy? And before all the people, should he not be glorified? Certainly, certainly it's a fearful thing. That table, that time, is a time of joyful remembrance. We should take joy in those things, but it's a sober joy, right? Isn't it? It's a solemn joy. Paul says, I rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. We're to emphasize, emphasize joy, but that's not a shallow, cheap happiness. That's not a shallow, empty joy. That is a sober-minded joy, a joy that acknowledges the high cost of our redemption. The Psalmist, Psalm chapter two, David captures this beautifully when he says, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling. This fear doesn't leave you disobedient to him. This fear doesn't leave you fleeing from him. This fear doesn't leave you ungodly toward your wife. This fear doesn't leave you self-serving, selfish, self-willed. This fear doesn't leave you disobedient to your parents. Boy, little girl, this fear doesn't leave you disobedient to your parents. This fear doesn't leave you unsubmissive to your husband. This fear doesn't leave you lazy or sluggardly on the job, cheating at school. To be devoid of this fear of God is to be devoid of any saving knowledge of him. Take that to heart. To be devoid of this fear of God is to be devoid of any saving knowledge of him. Well, how is it? If you're here this morning and you have no concept of this fear, you've not concerned yourself with your standing before God. I've witnessed several people over the years who have afterward told me that I couldn't sleep. I was afraid I might not wake up. I didn't want to get in my car. I was afraid I might have a car accident. I didn't want to go there because I'm afraid I might die on the way, right? The fear of God had gripped their heart. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Maybe you're sitting here this morning. You've never experienced the fear of God in that way. Learn of God from his word. Read your Bible. See what God says there about you. See what God says there about where you're going and what will happen to you when you get there. See what God says about his own holiness, his own right to rule and reign. What God expects of you. And then look there. Look there at what God has done to redeem wretched sinners like you and me. What God has given to save us from our sin, to forgive us of our sin and to seat us in heavenly places with Jesus Christ. How is it that those who are rightly under the terror of his wrath, under the terror of his justice, how is it that they can draw near to him with a godly fear? Deliverance from that terror is a gift, a free gift of God's grace through a wrath satisfying sacrifice. It's through the grace of propitiation, a wrath satisfying sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your sin. Apart from Jesus Christ, you've never known fear like you will. Apart from Jesus Christ, you'll never know fear like you will one day when you're in fear in hell. Turn from sin in this life, turn to Christ by faith and live and experience the joy of the Lord. Godly fear is at the very heart of how we rightly relate to him. Let us then brothers and sisters work out our own salvation with godly fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both the will and the do for his good pleasure. Amen. All praise, honor, glory, blessing and might to him who has placed this fear graciously, mercifully within our hearts. Let's pray Father in heaven. May we or your people fear you as we should. Not a fear of dread or a slavish fear of condemnation far be it from us. Those who have been redeemed to fear you in that way. But to fear you is worthy of honor, worthy of love, worthy of devotion, worthy of our very lives. And may it be a fear Lord by your spirit that produces godliness in your people. I pray that we would live for you as we ought to. We are those who have this hope in him. So help us by your spirit Lord to purify ourselves as he is pure by your spirit. God purify us through the means of your word through the means of our sanctification. I mean we honor you as we should. We love you. I pray Lord there's anyone here Lord who doesn't fear you in that way has no experience of this godward fear. I pray Lord that you would break their heart over their sin, reveal the person and work of your son or Lord Jesus Christ to them. I mean they see the the egregious offense that is their sin. And I pray Lord that in grace you would turn them from sin to the Savior. For your glory God we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.