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Our Fears and The Fear of the Lord - Michael Reeves — Transcript

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0:00well early on in this new year of 2023
0:06most of us
0:08have many worries on our minds
0:12and partly that is because
0:15to use the words of the old Chinese
0:17curse we live in
0:21interesting times
0:24and so at the beginning of the new year
0:26we fear
0:29what is going to happen to our society
0:33this year
0:35we fear
0:37what will happen to the church
0:41what is going to happen to our families
0:45what could be lurking around the corner
0:48for ourselves
0:53and so with those fears
0:56for the year in mind would you turn with
0:58me to Isaiah chapter 8 from verse 11.
1:09I hope when I say Isaiah you can
1:12translate
1:15I just wanted you to know how to say it
1:17properly
1:21Isaiah 8
1:23from verse 11.
1:25for the Lord spoke thus to me with his
1:28strong hand upon me and warned me not to
1:33walk in the way of this people saying
1:37do not call conspiracy all that this
1:40people calls conspiracy
1:42and do not fear what they fear nor be in
1:46dread
1:47but
1:48the Lord of hosts
1:51him you shall honor us holy let him be
1:55your fear
1:57let him be your dread
2:02what we see here
2:04is that when verse 13
2:08you fear the lord of hosts
2:11then verse 12 you will not fear what
2:16others fear
2:18in other words the fear of the Lord
2:22is the antidote
2:26to our anxieties
2:29it is the way to honor him and not to
2:33walk in the way of this people the
2:35unbelievers around
2:38friends the fear of the Lord is
2:41precisely what we need
2:45this new year
2:49now we will see in a moment
2:51how the fear of the Lord
2:54soothes our worries and anxieties
2:59and we will see how
3:02we can grow in this fear
3:05but first
3:07what is
3:09this fear of the Lord
3:13now the fear of God
3:16is a much misunderstood
3:19much maligned and therefore
3:22understandably much ignored doctrine of
3:26scripture
3:30it comes up a lot in scripture and yet
3:32it can be confusing
3:33for
3:35in scripture is fear a good thing or a
3:40bad thing
3:42for many times scripture clearly views
3:46fear as a bad thing from which Christ
3:50came to rescue us
3:54the Apostle John writes
3:57first John 4 18 there is no fear in love
4:02perfect love casts out fear for fear has
4:04to do with punishment
4:06and whoever fears has not been perfected
4:08in love
4:11indeed
4:12the most frequent command in Scripture
4:17is
4:19do not be afraid
4:24and yet
4:25again and again in scripture we are
4:28called to fear
4:31and strong
4:33ly we are called to fear God
4:38probably the verse that comes to many
4:41Minds quickest here will be Proverbs 9
4:44verse 10 the fear of the Lord is the
4:47beginning of wisdom
4:50and all that can leave us rather
4:52confused
4:54because on the one hand we're told that
4:56Christ frees us
4:58from Fear
5:00and on the other we're told we ought to
5:03fear and
5:04fear God
5:06no less
5:08and it could leave us wishing that the
5:10fear of God was not so prominent a theme
5:13in Scripture
5:15because we think we've got quite enough
5:18fears without adding any more thank you
5:20very much
5:24yeah just sounds so negative to us
5:31fearing God
5:34doesn't seem to square obviously in our
5:37minds with the god of love and grace
5:39that we meet in the gospel
5:41why would a god worth loving want to be
5:47feared
5:50and so fear and love can feel like the
5:55two different languages of different
5:57Christian camps different theologies
5:59perhaps
6:01and so you can have some Christians who
6:04always talk about the love and grace
6:07of God and never speak of the fear of
6:09God
6:11and some others
6:13seem to be angry angered by that and
6:15want to emphasize how we must remember
6:17that we are also to be afraid of God
6:21leaving is quite confused
6:23thinking so is the fear of God like cold
6:27water on my love for God
6:32leaving us thinking well if I have to
6:34fear God
6:36it seems like this fear is the
6:38theological equivalent of having to eat
6:40up your greens
6:43oh dear
6:45yes to fulfill all righteousness we're
6:47gonna have to do it
6:50so let's be clear the fear of God which
6:54scripture commends in which the gospel
6:56gives is in fact the opposite of being
7:00afraid of God
7:03for in scripture you need to know there
7:07are two basic types of fear
7:13there is a fear of God which is good and
7:17desirable
7:19and a fear of God which is not
7:23so there is a sinful fear of God which
7:28is not what Isaiah is talking about
7:30there is a sinful fear of God
7:34the sinful fear of God is the sort of
7:37fear
7:38James speaks of
7:41when he tells us of the Demons who
7:45believe
7:47and shudder
7:50this is the sinful fear it's the sort of
7:53fear Adam had when he sinned
7:57and hid from God
7:59a sinful fear
8:02drives you away from God
8:08that's the fear of the unbeliever who
8:12hates God
8:14who dreads the thought of the being a
8:16judge in heaven
8:20who
8:21fears the light of holiness
8:25who shudders the thought of being
8:28exposed as a sinner
8:31and so runs from God
8:36but that is very different
8:38to the fear of the Lord
8:41Isaiah is speaking of which scripture
8:44commends
8:48to see the difference between them you
8:50could come with me if you want to Exodus
8:5220. in Exodus 20 we see these two fears
8:57we see two quite different fears
9:00in Exodus 20 the people of Israel have
9:02gathered to Mount Sinai
9:05and the people are scared of the Thunder
9:07and the lightning they hear the sound of
9:09the trumpet
9:11and the mountain smoking and Exodus 20
9:14verse 20 Moses says
9:17listen carefully
9:19do not fear
9:23for the Lord has come to test you
9:27that the fear of God may be upon you
9:31that you may not sin
9:34do not fear
9:37the Lord has confessed you that the fear
9:39of God might be upon you
9:41so in other words those who have the
9:44right fear of the Lord will not be
9:47afraid of God as they were
9:52so what is this
9:55fear of the Lord
9:59to start with let's be very clear this
10:02is not just an Old Testament sort of
10:06worship
10:10the fear of God is quite specifically a
10:15blessing of the New Covenant
10:19so you might want to come with me to
10:20Jeremiah
10:21Jeremiah 32 where he's talking of the
10:24New Covenant and in Jeremiah 32
10:27the Lord says
10:30I'm going to dive in Jeremiah 32 39.
10:36the Lord says I will make
10:40with them my people an Everlasting
10:43Covenant
10:44that I will not turn away from doing
10:46good to them and I will put the fear of
10:50me in their hearts that they may not
10:54turn from me
10:56okay what does that fear mean
10:58what is this fear that he will put in
11:01our hearts
11:03is this simply the fear of what he might
11:06do if we turn away from him
11:10no
11:11in Jeremiah 33 the Lord goes on
11:18let's go from verse 8 Jeremiah 33 verse
11:218.
11:23I will cleanse them
11:26from all the guilt of their sin against
11:28me I will forgive all the guilt of their
11:31sin and Rebellion against me and this
11:34city shall be to me a name of Joy a
11:38praise and a glory before all the
11:41nations of the earth who shall hear of
11:43all the good that I do for them
11:47and hear hear this they shall fear and
11:51tremble because of all the good
11:55and all the prosperity I provide you see
11:58this is not a fear of punishment
12:01quite the opposite in Jeremiah 33 the
12:04Lord has reeled off a catalog of pure
12:07blessing
12:08the Lord utters here not one word of
12:12threat
12:14only promise of the promise of pure
12:17grace he would cleanse them forgive them
12:20do great good for them and they fear and
12:23tremble precisely because of all the
12:28good he does for them
12:32here is not a fear that stands on the
12:36flip side of the grace and goodness of
12:39God
12:41this is the sort of fear Hosea spoke of
12:45when he prophesied how the children of
12:48Israel shall return to the Lord their
12:50God and to David their King and they
12:53shall come in fear
12:56to the Lord and to his goodness
13:01it is a fear to the Lord not running
13:04away from but running to him a fear to
13:08the Lord and to his goodness
13:12and ultimately
13:15if we skip on a couple of chapters in
13:18Isaiah
13:20we see
13:22the fear of the Lord which Believers are
13:26to enjoy
13:28ultimately is a sharing in Jesus own
13:34filial
13:36sunly fear
13:41believers
13:46we do not merely Marvel at God's
13:49Transcendence
13:53at his
13:55Transcendent magnificence though we do
13:58do that
14:00you see when Christians speak of the
14:01fear of the Lord they often reduce it to
14:05mean only an awe respect reverence we
14:09have for God as the Transcendent creator
14:14and yes there is that but there is more
14:18much more because we do not simply know
14:21God as creator
14:24the Creator
14:26has become Our Redeemer in Christ
14:33he's given us the right to be the
14:35children of God
14:38and therefore the right fear of him
14:43fears him as our father
14:48it shares the son's own filial sunly
14:56fearful Delight in his father
15:00would you come with me to Isaiah 11 just
15:02flick over the page to see this in
15:04Isaiah 11
15:07enter this situation of great turmoil
15:12and anxiety for the people of Israel the
15:16Lord promises that from the Hacked down
15:22family tree of David
15:25one will come from the stump from the
15:29root of David's family from Jesse the
15:33spirit anointed Messiah
15:37and let's read the description Isaiah 11
15:40from verse 1.
15:42there shall come forth a shoot from the
15:45stump of Jesse and a branch from his
15:47roots shall bear fruit and the spirit of
15:52the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit
15:55of wisdom and understanding the spirit
15:58of counsel and might and listen to this
16:01the spirit of knowledge
16:04and the fear of the Lord and his
16:12Delight
16:14shall be in the fear of the Lord
16:18it is not as if
16:21Christ the son loves God has joy in God
16:26but finds
16:27unfortunately to fulfill righteousness
16:30he has to also fear God
16:35quite the opposite the spirit who rests
16:38on him
16:39is the spirit of the fear of the Lord
16:42and his Delight
16:45is in the fear of his father
16:48this filial fear is part of the son's
16:53pleasurable Adoration of his father
16:56indeed it is the very emotional
16:59extremity of that Wonder
17:03really
17:06the fear of God
17:09defines true love for God
17:14it is
17:15love for God as God
17:22and that is why the fear of God and love
17:25of God are often put in parallel in
17:28Scripture
17:29for example Psalm 145
17:33verse 19 he fulfills the desire of those
17:38who fear Him
17:40verse 20 in parallel the Lord preserves
17:43all those who love him
17:46those who fear Him those who love him
17:50or take how Moses
17:53puts fear and love together in his
17:56presentation of the law familiar words
17:58to many of you in Deuteronomy 6 Moses
18:01says now this is the Commandment
18:05the statutes and the rules that the Lord
18:07your God commanded me to teach you that
18:09you may do them in the land to which you
18:11are going over to possess it that
18:15you may fear the lord your God
18:22so what is it
18:24this Commandment that will bring me to
18:26fear God
18:28hear o Israel
18:30the Lord Our God the Lord is one
18:34you shall love
18:37the Lord your God with all your heart
18:39with all your soul with all your might
18:44you see the fear and love
18:47are so alike is not obvious to us
18:51and I think it's because of how we Bandy
18:54the word love around
18:57so love
18:59we use in all sorts of situations I I
19:02love
19:04sitting in a cozy armchair with a good
19:06book
19:07I love having a good laugh with my
19:10friends
19:11I love a good meal
19:14and I can blindly assume that love for
19:18God is just more of the same
19:21as if it means perhaps no more than a
19:25vague preference for something
19:28you know some enjoy surfing I enjoy God
19:33but love for each thing is different
19:37because Love Changes according to its
19:40object
19:42let me explain what I mean there
19:45I I want to illustrate that by
19:49I'm going to say three true statements
19:54each one is true
19:56but as I say them together I'm expecting
19:59you'll wince
20:00though they're true
20:02one
20:04I love and have real affection for my
20:08Labrador
20:11I love and have real affection for my
20:14wife
20:17I love and have real affection for my
20:20God
20:23each is true
20:25but hearing them put right together like
20:28that should make you jolt
20:32because
20:33you know there must be something
20:34terribly wrong if I mean exactly the
20:37same thing in each
20:40you sincerely hope there's a difference
20:42and there is the love is different
20:44because the object is different
20:48the Living God is infinitely perfect
20:53overwhelmingly beautiful in every way
20:57and as such our love for him
21:01is not right if our love is not a
21:04trembling overwhelmed
21:06[Music]
21:07fearful love
21:11so in a sense then the trembling
21:14fear of God is a way of speaking about
21:18the intensity of our love for God
21:24you see the word
21:26one of the two words used for fear in
21:29the Old Testament
21:31is a word that carries very physical
21:36connotations about trembling quaking
21:39shaking
21:41and it and it's used in both positive
21:44and negative situations
21:48so the word for fear is is always about
21:53an overwhelmed
21:56trembling weak need reaction to
22:00sometimes a good and sometimes a bad
22:06so
22:09I can tremble
22:12and go weak need and Shake
22:17because I'm a soldier Under Fire and I'm
22:21terrified
22:24in scripture fear is used in that
22:27situation of the fear of the Israelites
22:29as the Chaldeans come
22:32and they Melt With Fear
22:35as the Babylonians approach
22:37what will they do to us
22:41but the very same word
22:45can be used in a positive situation
22:50I can
22:53go weak at the knees and shake and be
22:56overwhelmed and tremble
22:59and I've done this
23:01watching my bride come down the aisle
23:04towards me
23:06and I remember as a bridegroom seeing my
23:10bride come towards me I was going weak
23:13at the knees in the face not of
23:16something that scared me but that
23:18something that overwhelmed me it was
23:21Beauty love that overwhelmed me
23:25and just so that word can be used in
23:28Isaiah 60
23:31in that day your heart shall thrill and
23:36exalt
23:38exalt is often the translation used but
23:40it's it's the same fear trembling word
23:42that's used
23:46so the right
23:49fear of God is not the flip side to our
23:52love for God it's not one side to our
23:56reaction to God it is
23:58the overwhelmed extremity
24:03of our response to who God is it's the
24:07fact that our love is not
24:10pallid
24:12insipid
24:15or love and joy and wonder at him is an
24:18overwhelmed thing because of how
24:21overwhelming he is in all his ways
24:26and so it is not simply that we love God
24:29for his mercy and we fear him for his
24:32holiness
24:36that'll be a lopsided fear of God
24:39we also love him for his holiness
24:44and we tremble at the magnificence of
24:48his Mercy
24:51true fear of God
24:54is love for God defined
24:59and so the biblical theme of the fear of
25:02God shows us
25:04the sort of love that is fitting for him
25:10it shows God does not want passionless
25:13performance or a vague preference for
25:16him
25:20he does not show a vague preference for
25:22his bride
25:26to encounter the living Christ means we
25:31cannot contain ourselves
25:34he is not a truth to be known
25:37unaffectedly
25:39he's not a good to be received
25:42listlessly
25:45seen clearly the dazzling Beauty and
25:48splendor
25:50of God must cause our hearts to quake
25:57to rejoice
25:58and tremble
26:01to fear the lord
26:04is to be more alive
26:08it is for our love joy Wonder worship of
26:12God to be more acute more affecting
26:18for when we rejoice in God so intensely
26:22that we quake and tremble then we're
26:25being most Heavenly like the Angels who
26:28fall on their faces in wonder
26:37and there is a particular challenge here
26:42for those of us who love study
26:45who love theology
26:49because all too easy are biblical or
26:52theological studies become exercises and
26:55puffing ourselves up
26:58and lording it over others with our
27:00knowledge
27:05and so friends who love Theology and
27:08study
27:10remember this
27:13there is no true knowledge of him where
27:18there is no fear of him
27:21Solomon said Proverbs 1 verse 7 the fear
27:25of the Lord is the beginning of
27:28knowledge
27:30any knowledge of God that is devoid of
27:34this fear
27:36is blind
27:38Baron
27:40the Living God is so wonderful
27:46he is not truly known
27:49where he is not truly adored
27:59so friends
28:01at the beginning of this year
28:07as we've begun to think about what the
28:09fear of God is
28:14I'd like to ask you some questions about
28:16your fears
28:18before we see what the fear of God does
28:20to those fears
28:23and you might want to write these
28:25questions down to consider them later
28:29I'd like to ask you some questions to
28:31answer quietly and honestly yourself
28:36what do your fears
28:39say about your priorities
28:44what do they say
28:47about what you treasure
28:50because your fears are always associated
28:53with what you love
28:55you fear losing what you love
28:58your fears are revealing
29:02what do your fears say about where you
29:04are looking for security
29:08foreign
29:09and ask yourself these questions
29:13which do you fear more
29:17being sinful
29:20or being uncomfortable
29:27which do you fear more
29:30being a sinner
29:33or being exposed as a sinner before
29:37others
29:40which do you fear more
29:44God
29:46or people
29:53our fears are like an ECG reading
29:58constantly telling us about the state of
30:00our own hearts
30:04and so as we look at the fear of God we
30:06need to be honest in seeing the fear of
30:09God is not a matter of outward show
30:17as we look at the fear of God we can
30:20mistake the fear of God for an outward
30:24performance done for others
30:28Martin Luther said
30:31fear of God is Not merely to fall upon
30:33your knees a hypocrite and a robber can
30:35do that
30:37and John Calvin added he said where
30:40there is great ostentation of ceremony
30:44there is rarely sincerity of heart
30:48when we all take such an effort to show
30:51each other our piety
30:53it usually means it's a show
30:58and that should give us pause
31:02because
31:04it would be all too easy
31:06for us to think
31:09well look at some forms of church
31:12worship
31:13how devoid
31:15of real fear of God
31:20how lacking in fear of God so many seem
31:23and then as a solution we simply lay
31:27down rules demanding some external
31:31performance that mimic true fear
31:37as if that's going to be the total
31:39solution
31:42scripture
31:44presents the fear of God as being
31:46primarily an internal matter
31:50of the heart's inclinations
31:53it describes the shape and scale of
31:57proper Christian desire
32:00so Psalm 112 verse 1 reads
32:03blessed is the man who fears the Lord
32:06who
32:08greatly
32:10Delights in his Commandments
32:13Delights in other words the one who
32:16fears the Lord is not the one who
32:18grudgingly attempts
32:21obedience to God
32:24the one who fears the Lord
32:26Delights in him Delights in walking in
32:30his ways
32:32in other words fear is something that
32:35runs deeper than Behavior
32:39it is something in the very grain of the
32:41heart that drives Behavior
32:46so sinful fear is
32:50is not merely a matter of sinful actions
32:55sinful fear
32:58hates God
33:01and therefore acts out sinfully
33:06in contrast to right fear loves God
33:12cherishing him as a Holy Father
33:15and therefore has a sincere longing to
33:19walk in holiness
33:23and so the fear of God is a
33:26huge biblical theme
33:29that stands as a theological guard dog
33:33stopping us from thinking we are made
33:35for passionless performance or a vague
33:38preference for God
33:40we're detached knowledge of abstract
33:42truths
33:44the fear of God backs us into the
33:46acknowledgment
33:49we are made to know God in such a way
33:52that our hearts quake
33:57tremble at his Beauty his splendor
34:02so that we are remade at the very
34:05deepest level it shows that entering the
34:08Life of Christ involves a transformation
34:11of our very affections in our hearts so
34:15that we begin to despise not merely
34:18renounce but despise the sins we once
34:22cherished
34:25cherish
34:28the God we once despised
34:33that my friends is why we sing this
34:37morning
34:38that's why we sing as Christians because
34:41singing is such an appropriate
34:43expression of a right
34:47filial
34:49fear the fear of children
34:53Psalm 47 the sons of Korah
34:57cry clap your hands together all you
35:01peoples shout to God with loud shouts of
35:05joy for
35:08the Lord the most high is to be feared
35:13he's to be fed so shout for joy
35:18Exodus 15.
35:22it overwhelmed Joy at the Lord's
35:25Deliverance Moses and the people saying
35:27who is Like You O Lord among the gods
35:32Majestic in Holiness fearful
35:37in glorious Deeds doing wonders
35:41the fear of the Lord is the reason
35:45we
35:48sing it's it's why Christianity is the
35:51most song-filled of all religions
35:54because we have the most to sing about
36:00Christians instinctively want to express
36:03the affection behind their words of
36:06praise to Stir It Up knowing words
36:09spoken flatly will not do in service of
36:13this God
36:20there's some background on what this
36:22fear of God is
36:23now Isaiah 8
36:26speaks into a situation where the people
36:30are anxious
36:33and shows them that this fear of God
36:38is the solution they need
36:44and friends in this our day of anxiety
36:48like in Isaiah's Day when people all
36:51around us are fretful and scared you
36:54need to know this the fear of the Lord
36:57is the antidote
37:00for our anxieties
37:02now airport pop psychology books
37:06will tell you something rather different
37:09sorry that's British understatement
37:12rather different
37:16the pop psychology books will tell you
37:19that the bulk of your anxieties come
37:21from building your self-worth on the
37:23opinion of others
37:25and the solution
37:28is you probably know it
37:31love yourself more
37:34love yourself so much it doesn't matter
37:37what others say or think about you if
37:40you can love yourself so much you can
37:42get through anything
37:46in other words
37:48treat the disease of narcissism
37:52with more narcissism
37:57but values precisely our problem not the
38:00solution
38:02more self-love friends
38:06more self-confidence more trust in men
38:10will never ease your fears
38:15relief from anxious fears is for those
38:18who fear the lord
38:23and why is that
38:25how is it that the fear of the Lord can
38:28free us from anxieties and our fear of
38:31man well essentially it acts like
38:34Aaron's staff
38:37which swallowed up the staffs of the
38:40Egyptian magicians
38:44as the fear of the Lord grows in US it
38:47outgrows eclipses swallows up consumes
38:52your other fears
38:55and so the Lord could advise Isaiah do
38:59not call conspiracy all that this people
39:01calls conspiracy do not fear what they
39:05fear
39:07nor be in dread but the solution the
39:11Lord of hosts him honor us holy
39:15let him be your fear let him be your
39:19dread
39:20when the fear of the Lord becomes more
39:24Central
39:26shapes your perspective
39:30other fears
39:32will subside
39:35and take the right place under that
39:38proper perspective
39:42you see something similar when Joshua
39:45speaks to the Israelites just before
39:46going into Canaan and they're terrified
39:48of these Mighty Canaanites and Joshua
39:52says
39:53do not fear the people of the land they
39:56are bred to us
40:00their protection is removed from them
40:05for the Lord is with us
40:10do not fear them
40:13and Jesus offers very similar counsel in
40:16The Sermon on the Mount
40:18in telling his disciples not to worry he
40:22gets them to look away from their own
40:24worries
40:25to the kingdom of God
40:29so in Matthew 6 he says therefore
40:34again this repeated command do not be
40:36anxious
40:38saying what should we eat what should we
40:40drink what should we wear the Gentiles
40:43seek after these things your heavenly
40:46Father Knows
40:49you need them all
40:51but seek first the kingdom of God and
40:55his righteousness and all these things
40:58will be added to you
41:00now in that Jesus he's not simply
41:03distracting his disciples from their
41:05worries a bit like a parent shaking a
41:09toy before a toddler to try to stop them
41:11thinking about what's annoyed them
41:15no
41:16what Jesus is doing is reorienting their
41:20perspective
41:24because our fears are like a blinding
41:28disorienting fog
41:31that mean we cannot see
41:34outside of them
41:36you know this when you see a friend who
41:40is so stressed out
41:42all they can see is their worries
41:44they've lost all sense of perspective
41:47and they just cannot see beyond the
41:50thing or the things that are stressing
41:52them out and because you're not in their
41:53situation you can see how unreasonable
41:55they've become
41:57but you never see it when it's you in
41:59that situation
42:03so Jesus
42:05puts God and his kingdom
42:10as the son in the sky of their
42:13perspective
42:15not only above everything but
42:18enlightening everything driving away
42:21that blinding fog of anxiety
42:26with that perspective
42:30the anxieties can't be all-consuming
42:36here friends is a truth
42:40for every Christian who needs the
42:43strength to rise above their anxieties
42:48or who needs the strength to pursue a
42:51righteous
42:53but unpopular course
42:57the fear of the Lord
43:00is the only fear
43:04that imparts
43:06strength
43:13and the strength this fear gives
43:16quite uniquely
43:19is a
43:20heavenly
43:22strength
43:25it is a humble
43:27gentle
43:29strength
43:31unlike
43:33demonic
43:35aggressive vicious
43:38unthinking unfeeling strength the
43:42strength the fear of the Lord gives is
43:45Heavenly
43:46humble
43:50because those who fear God are
43:53simultaneously humbled
43:57by his Beauty and magnificence
44:01and strengthened at the same time by him
44:06they are kept gentle
44:09preserved from being overbearing in
44:12their strength
44:15the reality is everyone in here
44:19temperamentally inclines one way or the
44:21other
44:23so some of us are natural rhinos
44:27and like a rhino
44:30you are strong
44:32thick-skinned
44:34but all your friends will say you're not
44:36very gentle
44:41others are more like deer
44:44you're very sweet
44:47gentle
44:49but nervous
44:51flighty
44:55the fear of the Lord
44:58corrects and beautifies
45:02both
45:03temperaments
45:07giving Believers a gentle
45:11strength
45:14so if you're a deer
45:17very prone
45:19everyone calls you so sweet and kind but
45:23you're very prone to anxiety
45:25the fear of the Lord will give you a
45:27strength you do not have in yourself
45:30and if you're a rhino
45:33the fear of the Lord will give you a
45:36gentleness
45:38in your strengths
45:41for the fear of the Lord makes us like
45:44Christ
45:46simultaneously
45:49lamb like
45:50and lion-like
45:53that's unnatural
45:55it's heavenly
45:58and church history testifies
46:01to how the fear of God can mold such
46:04believers
46:06I think particularly of John Calvin and
46:09Charles Spurgeon who both confess that
46:12naturally their temperaments made them
46:15timid fearful
46:18John Calvin was a bookish young man
46:22Charles Spurgeon quite similar they went
46:24naturally Spurgeon talked about how
46:27uninclined he was to sport because he
46:30was just a timid sort
46:34but as they grew in the fear of the Lord
46:37they became
46:39lamb like lions
46:43in the cause of the Gospel
46:47you know I flew in here from Oxford
46:51where I live and
46:55I love to pass by a little Cobble of
46:59stones in the center of Broad Street
47:02Oxford and there's a
47:05a cross
47:07in the cobbles of different colors color
47:10stones
47:11which is where
47:13the great preacher Hugh Latimer and two
47:15others
47:17was burned to death
47:19with an extraordinary cheer and courage
47:26four
47:28preaching the all-sufficiency of Christ
47:30as a savior
47:34and
47:36a few years before he explained what it
47:38was that strengthened him
47:42a few years before he was martyred he
47:44was due to preach before King Henry VIII
47:48you may not know many of the kings and
47:50queens of England but King Henry VII
47:51might be a more familiar one to you
47:54King Henry VII was a fearsome king of
47:57many wives many Mistresses hot temper
48:00Zero Tolerance you were a brave woman to
48:03marry Henry VIII
48:06because he had a one in three chance of
48:08being killed
48:12Hugh Latimer decided to preach on the
48:14text whoremongers and adulterers God
48:17will judge
48:22and before the king he held back nothing
48:27he spoke plainly about what God's word
48:29says concerning the sins of lust
48:33and when he was done
48:36the king told him next Sunday when you
48:38preached before me you will apologize
48:42and you will preach in such a word such
48:45such a way that you will eat your words
48:49this week
48:53Latimer thanked the king and left
48:57and the next Sunday he stood in the
49:00pulpit and said
49:01Hugh Latimer
49:03thou art this day to preach before the
49:05high and mighty Prince Henry King of
49:09Great Britain and France
49:11an Englishman loves to hear him called
49:13King of Great Britain and France
49:17if thou sayest one single word that
49:20displeases his majesty he will take thy
49:23head off therefore mind what thou art at
49:28but then he said
49:30Hugh latima
49:32thou art this day to preach before the
49:34Lord God Almighty
49:36who is able to cast both Body and Soul
49:38into hell
49:40therefore
49:42tell the king the truth outright
49:46and he did
49:48with no apology
49:51and amazingly the king did not take his
49:54head off
49:55but respected him for it
49:59Hugh Latimer feared God
50:02more than he feared men
50:06fear Him ye Saints and you will have
50:09nothing else to fear
50:14so if this fear is the antidote to our
50:17anxieties
50:20if this fear
50:22is the strength we need if letting him
50:25be your fear means you will not fear
50:28what they fear
50:30how do you grow in this fear of the Lord
50:34because we want to grow in this fear
50:37how
50:40there is one verse that puts it most
50:42simply
50:45and it's a very strange verse it reads
50:49very unexpectedly it's Psalm 130 verse
50:534.
50:55but with you there is forgiveness
50:59that you may be
51:02feared
51:04that's not what you expect at all
51:07you expect it to be with you there is
51:09punishment that you may be feared
51:11or with you there is forgiveness that
51:13you may be loved or thanked but it says
51:16with you there is forgiveness that you
51:17may be feared
51:24because forgiveness
51:27is the best most fertile soil for
51:31growing a right fear of God
51:36without God's Great Redemption
51:40without his forgiveness of our sins we
51:44could never approach him we wouldn't
51:46want to approach him
51:49without the cross
51:51God would remain a dreadful judge
51:56from whom we'd want to run
52:00and this is precisely why
52:03I wonder if this is someone here
52:06so many Christians
52:09they Lurch between
52:14the spiritual highs of a Sunday and the
52:16spiritual sulks of a Monday
52:20where they crawl away from God in guilt
52:24because they forget his Redemption they
52:28forget the cross
52:31it is divine forgiveness
52:35it is our justification by faith alone
52:41by his grace and kindness alone
52:45that turns our natural
52:48loathing of God
52:51a horror of him
52:55into the fearful trembling adoration
52:59of beloved children
53:03for the cross we see most deeply the
53:06kindness
53:07the mercy
53:10of God to us and that causes us
53:13to go weak with Wonder
53:17John Bunyan
53:19who wrote Pilgrim's Progress he said oh
53:22that a good that a great God should be a
53:26good God
53:29a good God to an unworthy and
53:32undeserving to a people who constantly
53:35provoke the eyes of his glory that would
53:38make us tremble
53:41oh that a great God should be a good God
53:45and bunion explained
53:47brilliantly how
53:50when you come to the cross
53:55placing your faith in Christ as your
53:57savior and Lord
54:02then of the cross
54:05sins are forgiven
54:09guilt is canceled
54:12and yet at the cross you realize in a
54:15way you never realized before just how
54:17sinful you are if that's what it takes
54:20to cancel your guilt
54:25and so Bunyan said
54:28if God shall come to you and visit you
54:30with forgiveness of sins that visit will
54:34remove the guilt
54:36but it will increase your sense your
54:40appreciation of your filthiness
54:43and the sense of this that God has
54:47forgiven a guilty sinner will make you
54:50both rejoice and tremble
54:55and then he said oh the Blessed
54:58confusion
55:00that will cover your face
55:04do you know that bless confusion
55:07it's a blessed confusion made of sweet
55:11tears in which God's grace and kindness
55:14shown you in the cross Makes You Weep at
55:18your wickedness
55:21and you simultaneously repent
55:24and rejoice
55:28and his Mercy
55:32shows up the extent of your wickedness
55:34and your wickedness then just shows up
55:37how deep his grace is
55:40leading
55:42to a deeper more fearfully happy
55:44Adoration of the savior
55:48so friends if you would have him be your
55:52fear if you would as Paul puts it
55:55in second Corinthians 7 bring Holiness
55:59to completion in the fear of the Lord
56:02for this is the completion of holiness
56:08stay close to the cross
56:12the biblical theme of the fear of God
56:18Finds Its Center ground and fountain in
56:23the central moment of the biblical story
56:26the cross of Jesus Christ
56:31for there
56:33on the cross until we see him in Heaven
56:36There is the clearest window
56:40into the righteous Compassionate Heart
56:43Of God blazing with love and mercy
56:48when you contemplate the cross
56:55then
56:57you taste
56:59what it is like in heaven
57:03in heaven
57:05there will be nothing
57:09for you to be afraid of anymore
57:13in heaven the Saints will be caught up
57:17into God's Own fearful happiness and
57:21exaltation in his glory
57:25in heaven our Eternal Joy will consist
57:28precisely in this fear of God
57:32rejoicing and marveling so entirely that
57:35like the angels we burn and wonder and
57:39fall on our faces in adoration before
57:42him
57:46the hymn writer F.W Faber put it like
57:48this
57:49he said
57:52and father
57:54when to us in heaven Thou shalt thy face
57:59unveil
58:00then
58:02more than ever will our souls before thy
58:06goodness
58:07quail
58:09our blessedness will be to Bear the
58:13sight of thee so near
58:15and thus
58:17eternal love will be
58:20but the Ecstasy of fear
58:26friends the fear of the Lord is the
58:30ultimate affection
58:32it is the very Aroma of Heaven
58:37it is the affection
58:39that expels our sinful anxieties
58:45or sinful fears
58:48it is the affection that will expel your
58:51spiritual lethargy
58:54when you fear Him you come more alive to
58:58him
59:00to grow in this sweet and quaking Wonder
59:04at God
59:06is to taste heaven now
59:11for friends in heaven
59:14there there will be nothing to be afraid
59:17of anymore
59:19and we
59:21who trust Jesus
59:25will rejoice and tremble and be filled
59:30with that fearful adoration
59:33of such a glorious God
59:37and in the fear of God we can taste that
59:42even now
59:45let's pray
59:54Oh Our Father when we see your Holy Love
59:58and your mercy blazing out of the Cross
1:00:02when we see the forgiveness
1:00:06to be found by sinners
1:00:09wretched Sinners there
1:00:13because of free Mercy
1:00:16it dumbfounds us
1:00:19help us
1:00:22in all our busyness
1:00:25to contemplate Jesus Christ and him
1:00:29crucified
1:00:31to come to him
1:00:33so that with the psalmist we might say
1:00:36with you there is forgiveness that you
1:00:38may be feared
1:00:40so that we might say to our souls
1:00:43do not feel what they fear
1:00:46let him be your fear
1:00:50so that we are more Heavenly and cry
1:00:53shout to God with loud shouts of joy for
1:00:57the Lord the most high
1:00:59is to be feared
1:01:03in Jesus
1:01:05sweet glorious
1:01:08and strong name we pray it
1:01:11amen

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