The Fear of God

[0:00] Talking about the subject of the fear of God. Matthew 10 is where we are going to pick it up from.! There's nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known.

[0:35] What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light. And what ye hear in the air, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.

[0:49] But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?

[1:02] And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

[1:16] Whosoever therefore shall confess me before man, him will I confess also before my father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before man, him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven.

[1:31] Just concentrating on that verse. Matthew 10 verse 28 where it says this. And fear not them which shall kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.

[1:43] But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Our Lord says fear him.

[1:56] Talking about the Father. Talking about the Almighty. Fear him. Fear. We all can experience that. Maybe a sudden clap of thunder in that stillness of night.

[2:09] That erupting volcano that's on your back doorstep. That dramatic earthquake. I know there was an earthquake up our way lately but I didn't feel it.

[2:19] But you imagine in nations where there's real earthquakes. Like Japan. Earthquakes or tsunamis. Fearful things. When we face such powerful things, how do we react?

[2:35] Do we stand by, bored, unmoved? Or do we actually have a response of action, of alertness, of fear? There's frightful things that can happen.

[2:48] What if I cried out, the building's on fire? There'd be a sense of fear, wouldn't there? A sense of we must react. There's something we've got to do. We'd be gripped with that sense of fear.

[2:58] And we'd be motivated to take appropriate action when something fearful, powerful happens. What is more powerful than the majesty and greatness of our God?

[3:14] We were in his presence. And we are. But if we were, as it were, and we were in that sense of that manifest presence where the visible presence has occurred in old times around the Ark of the Covenant or, as it were, around his throne, one day we'll see his power in his mind.

[3:36] How do we respond to that? We ought to fear him. Amen? We should fear God. Sometimes we forget that. What do we fear? People can fear all manner of things, can't they?

[3:46] There's many different things that we can fear. Bad kinds of fear, mostly people's opinions of us. We can be fearful of that. We can be fearful of sickness, of poverty, of death, of pain, disaster.

[4:02] And all these fears are negative. They've got a bad thing associated with them. But in our case, through God's Word, the one who should fear is a good kind of fear.

[4:12] It's a right kind of fear to have. Our fear of the Lord himself is a fear that is connected with good. It's not a negative. We often don't fear the Lord as we should.

[4:25] Fearing God is a good fear. It's a right fear. And it's an absolutely essential fear to live the Christian life to fear God. It should be really central to our walk with God.

[4:40] We should be a God-fearing people. So what is the fear of God? What is the fear of the Lord? Some of us define it as being afraid to offend God in any way.

[4:54] Now that opening prayer is talking about repenting. Those things that we would be ashamed of. Those things we'd want to be rid of. Those things we should forsake. That is a righteous fear.

[5:07] A righteous response of repenting. That we would be afraid to offend such a God that we claim we love and know. We should have that great awe of him.

[5:18] That trust of reverential trust. Of that deep respect of him. I put to you that fear. What is the fear of the Lord? It's important. It's very important.

[5:29] And it says much to command this fear that we ought to have. It says it's a good thing. It says better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble there were you.

[5:42] The fear of God is a precious commodity. It's a precious treasure. It's precious and important. A great treasure for us.

[5:53] And believers we need to honour and respect and love our great God. It's good for us. It's better. It's better than having a mess of wealth and trouble.

[6:05] To have a little and the fear of God is far better. It's a righteous and important thing. What is the fear of God? It's wisdom as well.

[6:17] There's much said about the fear of God as being the wise thing to have. The intelligent, good choice to have. The wise thing.

[6:27] The wisdom. It says of the fear of the Lord in Proverbs 1 verse 7. That the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But first despise wisdom and instruction.

[6:40] It's the beginning of knowledge. And we know there's a like scripture that talks about it. It's the beginning of wisdom. And Job 28 verse 28. It reads, Behold the fear of the Lord.

[6:52] That is wisdom. And to depart from evil is understanding. I know we've been having some conversations of late with some highly educated people.

[7:03] And we can get so educated that we think we know it all. We've been to university. We've got this qualification and that qualification. But to miss this is to miss it all. To miss this is to miss the vital essential.

[7:17] To fear the Lord. That is wisdom. That is wisdom. And to miss that fear of God is to miss true wisdom. If we respect God, we trust that He knows what is best for us.

[7:30] He is the source of life. He is the source of wisdom. He is the beginning. Even the beginning of knowledge. What is the fear of the Lord? Another thing is it's to hate evil.

[7:41] The fear of the Lord is to hate evil it says. Proverbs 8 verse 13. It's to hate evil. To hate pride. To hate arrogance. And the evil way. And the froward mouth. It speaks of like perverse speech.

[7:52] It's you know, it's the fear of the Lord would make us hate that which is wrong. Evil pride. An evil way. A perverse kind of speaking. He says that I hate that.

[8:08] It's a good thing to hate some things. Those things that are against God. And it says Proverbs 16.6. By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. So it's to hate evil.

[8:19] When we fear the Lord we want to live in a way that pleases Him. That He will be our first consideration in the decisions of life. If we fear the Lord we'll not openly disobey Him and do evil.

[8:34] So that was the what. What we covered there was what is the fear of the Lord? It's important. It's wisdom. It's to hate evil. And now for the why.

[8:45] Why should we fear the Lord? Why fear God? We fear God because of His holiness. And it says in the word, The fear of the Lord tendeth to life. Life comes from fearing the Lord.

[8:57] It's the true intent of life. It's the true purpose of life. It tends to life. It's life giving. The fear of the Lord, it tends to life. And He that has it shall abide satisfied.

[9:09] He shall not be visited with evil. Why should we fear God? Because of God's holiness. He is the only holy God. Revelation 14, 7. Isaiah 6.

[9:20] It talks about these angelic beings. Holy, holy, holy. Now they are in awe of Him. Why should we fear the Lord? Because of God's jealousy.

[9:31] Look through the Bible and we see the idolaters. Those that disobeyed God, that worshipped false gods. They were slain. He encouraged the people to fear Him.

[9:44] But Psalm would be like the mob down at the bottom of the mount, dancing around the golden calf and worshipping a false god. In Exodus 32, the Lord descended on Mount Sinai.

[9:58] In Exodus 20, He announced the Ten Commandments to Moses with a voice like a trumpet. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days. But what did Israel do? They constantly disobeyed and kept getting into strife.

[10:12] What a graphic illustration. What a graphic demonstration of the human heart. Really, isn't it? We can be just like Israel.

[10:26] Wandering around, just aimlessly wandering, losing God's track for us and disobeying Him, fouling it up every which way.

[10:38] And there's a lot of Israel's wanderings that we can relate to. And here was Moses coming down from the mountain, met with God in this dramatic encounter, receiving the golden tablets, not the golden tablets, but receiving the tablets from, you know, written with the hand of God.

[10:59] And the people are there. They'd forgotten about God. They were dancing around this golden calf, worshipping it instead, even though they'd been led across the Nile on dry ground, across the Red Sea on dry ground.

[11:18] And here they are now worshipping this molten image they'd made. God had showed them His power, and yet they forgot about God.

[11:30] And fear motivated them to obey when it came to it, when they realised their sin. Why should we fear the Lord? We should fear the Lord because of God's greatness and His wonderful works that caused us to fear Him.

[11:44] And it's the right thing. It's God's perfect plan. This is it. The perfect plan for life. This is life. The fear of the Lord. It tends to life. It fosters life.

[11:55] It creates. It's life-giving. Life flows from the fear of the Lord. Why fear the Lord? Because it's needful. We have children killing children.

[12:06] Adults killing unborn children. We have homes filled with images of violence and irreverence. You know, what the average diet of the average family these days, through the idiot box or screens of whatever description.

[12:22] It's violence. It's irreverence. You know, comedy shows these days. It's just crudity and smut. Filthy jokes. It's rare to get a comedian that tells, you know, clean jokes now, isn't it?

[12:38] They're truly living in a perverse and crooked generation. And why is this? Friends, Romans 3.18 says this, There is no fear of God before their eyes.

[12:50] The fear of God is gone. It's out the window. There is no, none, zilch, fear of God before their eyes. People do not fear the Lord in our day. So it's a desperate, desperate need.

[13:02] It's necessary. It's needful. It's missing in our world. The fear of the Lord. It's missing. It's missing in our churches. For some churches, it's all carnality and entertainment and donuts.

[13:14] I mean, that's not to say it would be nice to have some donuts, actually. But it's all about the barista and the coffee. They're missing the point. The fear of God is gone.

[13:26] That's missing. It's missing in worship. It's missing in ministry. The modern church has lost that sense of their awe, of the majesty, of the glory of God. There's no fear of God before their eyes.

[13:38] They don't see God in fear and reverence and honour. And their lives produce not God-honouring fruits, but the other.

[13:51] Friends, if we truly respect someone, won't we be careful of what we say, how we treat them? You know, we've had occasion of late where there's been disrespectful communications going on.

[14:06] And you think, if you love someone, you'll respect them. If we love God, won't we respect what he says? We'll listen to him. We'll actually say, yes, Lord, I'm listening. And some would just be like that today.

[14:17] When God's word is given, they turn off, they switch off, they reject it. And we see that in the church, in God's church, in today's church.

[14:28] There's little regard for the person of God, for his authority and power, his holiness. One day we'll see those holy creatures around his throne, brothers and sisters. We'll see him in his majesty.

[14:40] And they'll see them as they praise him. As it says, they had their faces covered with one-third of their wing power. They had three, like six wings, and they covered their faces because of the awe of God, the wonder, the majesty, the holiness of God.

[14:55] And yet we come with a half-heart of devotion. We give less than our very all to the one who did what he did for us.

[15:08] In Jeremiah it says that, in part it says, Jeremiah 48, 10, But cursed be ye, that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully.

[15:21] And some comment that you could put it, to doing the work of the Lord lazily or slothfully. You know, kind of half-heartedly. To do the work of the Lord, you know, not in the fullness of your wholeness of your heart.

[15:39] You know, friends, the work of the Lord, it calls for the wholeness of our heart, doesn't it? We should love the Lord our God with all of our heart. And if we want to do something for God, we want to do it to the best and the utmost.

[15:51] To his praise, not deceitfully, lazily, slothfully. Now, how many times have we come to church or prayer with a heart that's divided, with a carelessness, with a kind of haphazard, a kind of sloppiness?

[16:07] And when we render something to God, do we give him what he deserves? Do we give him the best of the best, you know? They didn't look through their flock and pick the kind of mangy sheep, the lamb which looked a bit kind of forlorn, a little bit kind of damaged or, you know, second-rate.

[16:29] They picked the best of the lambs, didn't they? They picked the best lamb to give to God. And yet Christians these days, there's a carelessness. And, friends, we ought to praise him and pray to him, to have that awe of him.

[16:42] He wants, he deserves our best. We should have that rejoicing with trembling. It speaks of in Psalm 2, verse 11. We should have that fear of God that keeps us away from sin.

[16:53] We don't want to dishonour our God. And he sees us outside of him. He sees what we really are like, how we really live. There's no hiding our sin from him.

[17:06] He sees us all the time. And we need that fear of God that keeps us in that closeness to him, whatever our situation, whatever our context of life. May God have mercy on us to keep us from slackness, to keep us, to unite our hearts to fear his name.

[17:25] So we should fear the Lord because of his greatness, of his wonderful works. Why fear the Lord? It is commanded to us to fear him. Our Lord commands us to perfect ourselves in righteousness in our Christian life.

[17:47] I'll refer to this one because I don't have it written down. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1. It says, Wow.

[18:05] Wow. Is there a filthiness of flesh? A filthiness of spirit? We should cleanse ourselves from that, perfecting holiness, growing in holiness, strengthening that holiness in the fear of God.

[18:22] So it's needed, it's commanded. But friends, why fear the Lord? Think of the blessings that flow. That you, as God-fearing men and women, can know the very blessings of God in your life.

[18:36] Consider the promises and blessings of God. For example, Psalm 128, verse 1. It says, Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways.

[18:49] God-fearing man, God-fearing woman, the Bible says you're blessed. You're blessed. You're blessed. As you fear the Lord, as you walk in his ways.

[19:01] It says of the early church in Acts 9, that they were walking in the fear of the Lord. It was kind of, that was the day-by-day life. That was their lifestyle. They were walking in it.

[19:12] They were edified, they were built up, and they were walking in, walking the fear of the Lord. Crazy. And why fear the Lord?

[19:23] Because there's a protection there too. There's protection when we fear the Lord. We're in his, under his covering, we're under his care when we fear the Lord. There's a protection.

[19:34] We read in Proverbs 14, 26, it says, in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge. If you fear God, it says that you have strong confidence.

[19:49] You have a place of refuge. Further, it says, Psalm 34, verse 7, it says, the angel of the Lord encampeth around about them, that fear him, and delivereth them.

[20:03] So the angel of the Lord, it says, he's watching. The angel of the Lord is with you, is encamping around you, that fear him. So there's good reasons, good reasons to fear the Lord.

[20:15] Why fear the Lord? Because it pleases God that you fear him. It says, Psalm 147, verse 11, the Lord taketh pleasure in them, that fear him, in those that hope, in his mercy.

[20:28] If you want to please God, then fear him. Have that righteous fear of God, that sense, that awe, that wonder of him, that reverential fear, that holy fear, that motivates you to please, to honour, to lift him, to delight him.

[20:44] In Psalm 145, verse 19, it says, he will fulfil the desire of them, that fear him. He will also hear their cry, and will save them.

[20:57] Friends, it pleases the Lord, that you love him, that you fear him. He delights in you, and he wants your lives, to be pleasing to him. And, how can we fear him?

[21:09] He will fulfil your desires. Because they'll be righteous desires, won't they? When you fear God, you'll have a right heart. It says, Psalm 103, verse 11, For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy, toward them that fear him.

[21:30] As far as the east is from the west, so far have he removed our transgressions, from us. As far as the east is from the west, I don't know how you calculate that. It's impossible, isn't it?

[21:42] In other words, it's infinite. So far has he removed our transgressions, from us. Isn't that good? To know that your transgressions, are removed from you, to that extent, that they are, completely removed from you.

[21:59] It's all thanks to his love, and grace, isn't it? And like as the father, pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them, that fear him. He has compassion on those who fear him.

[22:10] Friends, why fear the Lord? Why fear the Lord? Because God hears. It says he will pay attention. He will look to this man. He says, To this man will I look.

[22:21] Isaiah 66, verse 2, To this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. Friends, if we are really conscious of our spiritual poverty, of our great lack, our great need, our great reliance upon him, to supply, if we have that contriteness of spirit, we realise our inclination to sin, and we get that heart, that yearns for righteousness, that one that trembles out the word of God, that you actually believe it, and realise this is the very word of God, that he will hear you, as you speak to him.

[23:06] It says further, Psalm 145, verse 19, it speaks about how the Lord hears those, who fear him, as they pray.

[23:18] I don't have that one written down. Psalm 145, verse 19, the Lord hears those, who pray, those who fear him, as they pray.

[23:29] Why fear the Lord? Because there's power to live holy, when you fear the Lord. It speaks here in Proverbs 14, 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

[23:44] The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, there's power to live holy, as you fear this God, this almighty God, that you know as your Father, as your great Saviour, as the awesome Redeemer that he is, it's a fountain of life for you.

[24:00] And you will depart from the snares of death. God gives you power to live a holy life. Proverbs 3, verse 7, I know there's lots of scriptures here, but it's a subject that's, that saturates the word of God, the fear of God.

[24:20] And to be a God-fearing man, a God-fearing woman, is commended to you, is commanded of us, to seek and to find that fear of God, that will motivate you to righteous living, to know his mercy in your life.

[24:38] It says, be not wise in thine own eyes. A lot of people are wise in their own eyes, aren't they? And we've had some conversations of late, with some people, high and mighty, with their own opinion, you know, just as they see life and stuff, and they're very wise in their own eyes.

[24:57] It says, be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord. That's what matters. That's what counts. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil. That's the, that's the source of wisdom.

[25:10] That's the beginning of knowledge, of wisdom. Fear the Lord. That's what counts. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil. That shall be held to thy navel. That's a healthy living.

[25:22] That's the best diet you can get, isn't it? The best health for your navel, you know, for your bones, your marrow. That's, that's, that's what matters. That's healthy living, is to have a healthy fear of God.

[25:33] When we truly respect God, when we're revering, when we show it how we live, we can't live a holy life without His help, without His grace. We, we're absolute debtors to His grace, aren't we?

[25:45] It's only His gift that can save us. We can only live right through Christ, through our Lord, and His mercies, who is the wisdom and power of God. But then, He'll help us to stay away, from all the filthy things, of the world.

[26:00] God will judge those who do evil, and refuse to trust, and call upon Him, and turn unto Him, at His loving call. These people will have every reason, to dread that day.

[26:11] Yet for those who are in Christ, it says, we're not appointed to wrath. There's great comfort there. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 9, in part it says, we're not appointed to wrath.

[26:24] The wrath of God has been vented at the cross, for you that trust Him. And there is great peace. David teaches the fear of the Lord, in Psalm 34, verse 11.

[26:35] He says, come ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. David says, I'll teach you this. He says, come, and hear this. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

[26:52] Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile, in other words, lies, depart from evil, and do good.

[27:03] Sing peace, and pursue it. Friends, David says, I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. If you desire life, you'd love many days. This is the answer, the fear of the Lord.

[27:17] God calls you and me, He calls us to be more holy, to become more holy. And He is the source of that. The more pure and holy we become, the more we'll understand the fear of God.

[27:28] So we've seen the what to the wild, the fear of God. Now how? We might say, well, we know what it is, to fear God. It's vital. We know why we should fear God.

[27:39] There's blessings, there's victory, there's God's help, as we fear Him. There's God's blessing to our life, as we fear Him.

[27:51] How do we find it? How do we get this? It says the Word of God, is the source of this truth. It says in Deuteronomy 31, verses 10 through 13, which I don't have that to display.

[28:08] Deuteronomy 31, verses 10 through 13, it says the children of Israel were to gather every seven years to read and hear the Word of the Lord.

[28:19] Why? That they may learn to fear the Lord. So the more we are in the hearing of the Word, the more we can learn to fear the Lord. Deuteronomy 31, by being in the Word of God, we'll learn about the fear of God.

[28:33] We'll learn how to cultivate it, how to find it. How do we find the fear of the Lord? In fellowship. Fellowship will help us to develop more of that sense of the fear of God.

[28:49] It says, Psalm 89, verse 7, God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, in the fellowship, in the church, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him.

[29:01] And as we assemble, as we are the gathered people of God, as it is on this side of the dispensational context, we are the assembly of the saints, aren't we?

[29:13] God is to be greatly feared in the assembly. The church should be a place where the fear of God is foremost, is to be greatly feared. It's not some kind of nightclub.

[29:26] It's a place where the fear of God should strike us. How do we find the fear of God? Revelation 19, 5 says about praise. As we praise our God, as it's seen in Revelation 19, verse 5, it says a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise God.

[29:46] Praise our God. All ye in service. Ye that fear Him, both small and great. So true praise or worship is to praise Him, is to reverence Him. It's founded upon the fear of the Lord.

[29:57] That's why we've got songs that have got doctrine, that's got Bible truth underlying the words that we sing. This is not just some kind of a sensual manufactured entertaining thing.

[30:14] It's to the reverence and praise of our fearful God. True praise or worship is to the fear of the Lord. How do we find the fear of the Lord? It's in devotion.

[30:25] It speaks of how the people of God, we ought to serve God acceptably, with reverence, and God we fear. As we serve God, we serve because we motivate Him, but it's one that we love, that He deserves our all, He deserves our best.

[30:42] We acknowledge how weak and unworthy we are, that He would even deign to allow us to serve Him. That as we lean upon Him and His will for our lives, that He will move through us, He will work His will in our lives, as we seek what He wants.

[31:00] And it will be serving God acceptably, with reverence, and God we fear. How do we find the fear of the Lord? In obeying God.

[31:12] Ecclesiastes 12, it speaks about how we said, fear God, and keep His commandments. This is the whole duty of man. It's summed up in this, fear God, fear God, obey God, fear God.

[31:28] We respect God's rule, His authority, and we want to please and obey Him. Noah had this godly fear, and it moved Him, it motivated Him, to prepare an ark for the saving of His household.

[31:42] Hebrews 11, verse 7. Paul told the church at Philippi, that they, he reads here, Philippians 2, verse 12, Paul says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

[32:06] Sometimes we miss that, don't we? We work out our own salvation, but we miss the fear and trembling part. We ought to have a bit of that, amen, a lot of that. They could rather hear about God's love and mercy, they don't want the fear and trembling part.

[32:20] Friends, we ought to know about our great God. He's awesome. You know, you see, you know, Dool and I, well, I like to tune into different live streams and the amount of times preachers say, oh, it's awesome.

[32:33] You know, so it's like, it's a catchphrase, isn't it? It's awesome. Our church is awesome. But, see, our God is awesome, isn't he? We should be full of awe before our great and holy God.

[32:46] We should be struck with awe and reverence and fear, reverential fear. Some would not want to hear about God's wrath, about God's holiness, God's judgment. And maybe, as Christians, we can get so empathetic.

[33:04] Holiness is something, people don't talk about that. Oh, you might step on toes talking about some things are right, some things are wrong. That's what God's word says. It is right.

[33:16] It's wrong. God's word shows us that. And if we do fear our God, we'll be conscious of that which is ungodly. We'll want to separate from evil.

[33:28] We'll want to live a clean life before him. God will help you too. He'll show us what's right. He'll teach us that. As we cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.

[33:40] It's pure and clean and righteous. Psalm 19 verse 9 speaks about the fear of the Lord. It's clean, isn't it? It's clean. It's righteous. So friends today, think of it for yourself now.

[33:53] How can I apply this? To have that sense of God, that awe, the wonder of who he is, and that sense of how weak and powerless before his awesome holy presence we are.

[34:06] And to get that sense that he's a father who has compassion on those who fear him. He's got compassion as a loving father. He pities us.

[34:20] Now maybe we need to kind of take a step back and just God helping us get a new sense of who is our God. A new sense of who he is.

[34:33] And you might get that feeling at times when you know you're about to meet someone really important. and you know we can all think of maybe situations where we've had that experience.

[34:46] Even meeting the boss of the company could have been a bit scary, couldn't it? Or meeting someone who's royalty, some famous person, just to be in the crowd, just to see them, let alone to touch them.

[35:00] You know, we can feel that sense of fear, of trepidation, of meeting someone who's famous, as the world would reckon. You know, I've had that happen to me, like meeting the Prime Minister where, you know, it was kind of great meeting the Prime Minister.

[35:15] And the first one I met was Malcolm, no, Fraser, what's his name? Oh, Bob Hawke, that's the one.

[35:26] Yeah, I didn't know that one because I've been a bit scepty, but it's a while ago. But we bought a dog the same day and we called him Bobby. So I met Bob Hawke and I shook his hand, not that I think very much of his side of politics, but the experience of meeting the Prime Minister was the point.

[35:44] I was someone of his power in the nation, a powerful man. And likewise, other Prime Ministers I've seen in meetings not probably got so close to.

[35:56] But the point I'm making is when we meet someone who's important, as the world recounts it. What about our Lord? Isn't he much more important? What is our attitude to meeting with our Lord?

[36:07] Is it shallow, casual, superficial? We don't take it seriously? Or do you think actually I'm meeting with the Almighty God. Yeah, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, I bow in adoration, in trust, in devotion.

[36:22] He's awesome. Beyond any pop song or a great preacher you might count as awesome or some awesome church. He is the awesome God.

[36:34] Well, you don't really like the big. Let's take him at his word. Take him to heart, his word. Hold him with love, with awe, with reverence and to come and bow before him.

[36:47] I suppose there was some news story lately where someone bowed down to ScoMo, didn't they? Scott Morrison, they begged on behalf of their family back in India. They got on their hands and knees pleading with the Prime Minister.

[36:59] It's that sense that this is much, much more than any Prime Minister, than any king or queen, than any prince or who knows what, any president. He's the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Almighty God.

[37:11] He's not someone we should treat carelessly. Some treat God as if he's their buddy-buddy, don't they? And they sing almost soppy, sensual love songs treating him as if he's just some friend.

[37:27] It's not to discount that he is our friend, but he's much, much more. Amen? We don't account that getting that careless with God. They should have that sense, that burning sense of his presence in our lives, his holy presence.

[37:39] They should humble our egos and burn up our sin into ashes and cut to the very core of our being and the one to whom he deserves our all. All of our plans, our priorities, our money, our possessions, our comfort, our needs, he deserves it all.

[38:00] When do we need this fear? Friends, one day the Lord is coming as the judge of all the earth and Revelation 14, 7 tells us how the angel cries out, fear God, give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come.

[38:15] One day the hour of his judgment is coming. We ought to fear God. Fear God. Nothing in all creation will be hidden from his sight. Everything will be uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him with whom we have to give account.

[38:30] It talks about in Hebrews 4 verses 12 through 13. It talks about how the hidden things of man will be exposed to motives of man's hearts. 1 Corinthians 4 verse 5 says that all that is hidden will be brought into the light.

[38:48] We should fear God. He's the judge of all the earth. God helping you, you'll have the assurance that your sin is paid for at the cross. that you'll be in right accord with God by virtue of faith in his work at the cross.

[39:08] You'll know his saving. Yet friends, even as Christians we ought to keep close accounts. I mean, keep close to God. Seek to grow as a Christian.

[39:20] Let's not just settle for being a second rate sloppy Christian. Friends, let's be like Noah. it says he was prepared. He was warned of God of things yet to come and he was moved with fear it says.

[39:34] He prepared an ark for the saving of his house. The fear of God moved Noah to action. Ananias and Sapphira did not move in the fear of the Lord and their result was death.

[39:46] They were, I don't know, pretend Christians and they did not fear God. Friends, just to wrap up here today.

[39:59] It says, the Lord disciplines those in whom he delights. It says this in Hebrews 12 verse 11, it says, my son despised not the chastening of the Lord, neither be wary of his correction for the Lord whom the Lord loveth, he corrects it, even as a father, the son in whom he delights it.

[40:17] He's our father. Father, if you're a disobedient Christian, there's going to be some correction. There's going to be some chastening. You're going to be under his heavy chastisement.

[40:31] Earthly fathers show kindness and love. But when we disobey our father's rules or instructions, there's discipline. The Bible says how one way a father shows his love is by appropriate discipline.

[40:48] So even as God's children, there's a sense where we should be mindful of his chastening, of his discipline.

[40:59] He's in love. You know, I can look back, my dear dad here, not that I ever displeased him, but there's occasions when my dad got angry with me.

[41:10] As a young fellow, might be two times, but three times, okay. You can ask him about them later. But you know, there's times when I incurred the wrath of my dad.

[41:22] And friends, what about ours as God's children? When we foul up, when we mess up, when we go off track, when we do the wrong thing as a Christian, you're going to be under God's chastising.

[41:37] You're still his child. You're saved, you're going to heaven. But friends, let's not despise the grace of God. Let's not, let's not, shy away from when he corrects us.

[41:50] Let's receive that correction. And as we grow older, we don't want to disappoint our father. Even still, don't we? Us older men here, older women, you don't want to disappoint your father because you love them.

[42:04] And you understand your father's love compels them to discipline you. As a small child, we might fear the father's physical punishment and discipline and our motive might be to avoid the discipline.

[42:17] But as we get maturer, we understand it's for our good. It's like that for us as God's people. As children of the father, our father God, we'll want to please him.

[42:32] There'll be that change of motivation, not just to avoid his punishment, but to actually please him. And that's what happens as you grow as a Christian, isn't it?

[42:44] That's that spiritual maturity because we want to please our father. And our fear of God is more a fear of we don't want to displease him.

[42:55] We love him and he loves us. And as we grow in that righteous, fearful, reverential fear of God, we'll understand his righteousness and his holiness.

[43:06] His perfect will, his peace and his purpose for us, which is for our best. And we don't want to disobey, not because we're afraid of getting into trouble, but because we want to please the one we love, who loves us.

[43:22] And certainly our heavenly father is pleased when we shun evil and follow his commands. Surely our heavenly father is pleased with us when our godly behavior comes out of love for him, devotion to him, and we grow in the lord when we're motivated by loving and wanting to honor and please our god.

[43:44] On the other side of the coin, what happens when there is no fear of the lord? You know, that's a shameful thing, isn't it? lack of wisdom.

[43:57] It's a lack of wisdom. Some will be saved so as by fire. And they'll have such regret, I would think, of the shame, of the laxity.

[44:12] Some would think God doesn't care about their sin. The Bible does. It exhorts us much about sin. tells us how the fear of the lord will keep us from evil.

[44:25] The fear of the lord is clean. The fear of god is the most essential thing. The fear of god, the fear of the lord is to hate evil, to depart from evil. And we'll have that sense, our god is a jealous god.

[44:39] If you've ever suffered jealousy in human relationships, there's a very strong force, isn't there, to be jealous. God loves you with such intensity that he is jealous for you.

[44:54] He doesn't want you to two-time him, as it were. The fear of the lord is needed, it's commanded, there's blessing there, there's protection there. It pleases God that you're fearing.

[45:06] It helps you have power to live holy. He calls us to this, to that new sense of who he is, to get a sense of that awesome god that you love and who loves you.

[45:17] That sense of his judgment, and to be like Noah, to be moved with fear. Let that fear of God move you and change how you live and what actions that you take and do not take.

[45:30] And get that sense that God cares about sin. He cares about your sin as a believer too. Don't treat sin lightly. If we care about God, we'll seek to fear him and to praise him.

[45:43] And one day, God helping us, he'll say well done. When we are welcomed into heaven, and I don't mean to communicate it's by any of our works, it's only by his work that we enter heaven.

[45:57] Yet there'll be rewards. Yeah, he's working in us, through us, for us. You are his workmanship. You're created unto good works. Not that the works save you, but that's his purpose for you.

[46:11] And a good work for you to have, I just want to emphasize again today, a good work for you to have, and a holy aspiration that you ought to have, is to fear God.

[46:25] Fear God. That's a good thing to have, that sense of God, of who he is, of your standing before him. Your heavenly father, he loves you intensely, and he wants the best for you.

[46:38] And so you want to please him, don't you? Be that child of God that pleases your heavenly father. Let's just close this time together as we prayerfully come to a reckoning before God.

[46:52] I urge you this evening, if you've yet to trust Christ as your Lord and Saviour, that's the ultimate and absolute essential thing, to know him as your Saviour, as your Lord, to know, to trust that he died on the cross, he rose again for your sin, to Saviour soul, to give you eternal heaven as a gift.

[47:16] And now believe it, be encouraged to strengthen that walk with him, to revisit that sense of who he is, that this one who loves you so, the father who gave his son for you, that you ought to love him so, that you'll want to please him, that there'll be a fear of displeasing him because you love him so.

[47:44] It'll be a love-motivated fear, it'll be a heart-motivated fear, an awe of God, of who he is, of the wonders of what he wants for you, of what he can do through you, and you'll want to find and deliver to him that best that you have, and render it to him, your life.

[48:04] thank you Lord, we praise you for these things today, we pray Lord, each one might find that holy sense of who you are, and that holy purpose that you want for us to live, to know you, to be saved, but even more so, that that work that you've begun in us will continue to work, as we promise it will, and we won't get in your way Lord, but your Holy Spirit will work through us mightily, to affect that wonderful work of grace that you want to do in each one of us, Lord, help us to find a greater sense of that fear of who you are, not a fear that is a trepidation, or a cringing kind of fear, but a fear of loving you, of that devotion, of that honouring you, as you truly deserve all our love and respect, and all of our worship and devotion,

[49:06] Lord, we pray for each one here, that we can each find that mere sense of that in our lives, and also your praise we pray, our Lord Jesus, we pray, in your name, Amen.