Rev. David Holwick S
First Baptist Church Well-received
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 27, 1990
Exodus 19:16-25; 20
|
I. You can tell a person's level of maturity by observing what they fear.
At 4 we fear the barber.
At 8 we fear the dentist.
At 16 the driving examiner.
At 30 the loan officer.
[When do we come to fear God?]
II. The fear of God makes us uncomfortable.
A. "Is it possible to scare someone into God's Kingdom?"
B. Makes God sound cruel and harsh.
1) Result of old-fashioned, Puritan view of God?
2) But it is deeply rooted in the Bible.
a) It is not something we would want to make up.
C. The concept of fear goes against our culture.
1) Not just uncouth feeling of it.
2) Our culture centers on the self.
a) Fear requires recognition that we are not the center.
III. How should Christians deal with the "Fear of God"?
A. Water down to "awe" or "reverence?"
1) Sometimes appropriate.
a) But generally confuses the issue.
b) Other words were available to express "awe".
2) Literal fear demanded by many passages.
a) Mount Sinai - they feared for their lives. Exod 20:18f
1> They were in the presence of One bigger than them.
2> Fear connected with God's majesty 300 times.
b) New Testament parallel of same event:
"The sight was so terrifying that Moses said,
'I am trembling with fear.'" Heb 12:21
c) God even called "The Fear of Isaac."
B. Superseded by Jesus?
1) We fear God in our separation from him.
a) In Jesus Christ, this separation has been overcome.
b) "Perfect love casts out fear." 1 John 4:18
2) Yet Jesus also taught the fear of God.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul
and body in hell.
Matt 10:28
C. Solution of Martin Luther.
1) Love God, and fear him.
a) But not explained how to do it.
2) How does fear fit in with love?
IV. Fear as the beginning of wisdom. Ps 111:10, et al.
A. Often seems to have the opposite effect - makes us run away.
1) Adam and Eve ran and hid. Gen 3:8,10
2) Evil kings of the earth. Rev 6:16
3) Where is the wisdom in sending people away from God?
B. Chief sin is not having God at center of our lives.
1) In Eden, Adam & Eve had a pure fear of God.
a) They knew where they stood in relation with him.
2) Since Fall of man, our fear is misplaced.
a) We live in a dream world in which we are Lord.
b) Yet we sense that we are not in control.
1> We fear "What Is Really Out There."
(Illustration of Boy Scout pine bough hut, and 3 hands on axe.)
V. Fear can be made pure again.
A. God takes the initiative to reach us.
1) Isaiah. Isa 6:5
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a
man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of
unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the
LORD Almighty."
2) Peter and net of fish. Luke 5:8
"When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees
and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"
a) Each was unaware they were resisting God.
b) Yet God touched and healed them.
B. The beginning of wisdom is the personal admission of God's
majesty and our unworthiness.
1) Conventional wisdom does not come up with this.
2) But Bible teaches that if we want to be wise, we must be open
and ask God to surprise us.
VI. Two great results of fearing God:
A. Life is made meaningful by fear of God.
1) To be a whole person we must encounter God.
a) To encounter God is fearsome.
b) David - Ps 86:11
"Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."
2) Love is end of pilgrimage, not beginning.
Fear is beginning of the journey.
a) Moses at burning bush.
b) [Israelites at Sinai.]
B. Morality is motivated by the fear of God.
1) "Why should I be moral?"
a) The Bible appeals to fear. 1 Cor 10:11-12
"These things happened to them as examples and
were written down as warnings for us,
on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be
careful that you don't fall!"
b) God encounters us with "terms" and threats.
1> Fear and obedience are one and the same.
2> We need to be spurred to place where love can work.
2) Love alone is not enough.
a) No evidence love is sufficient motivation for morality.
1> Much evidence to the contrary!
2> What motivates more to be pure and self-controlled:
Desire to please God?
Or fear of AIDS?
3> Levels of motivation. (Piagat)
A> Self-actualized person doesn't need fear.
1: But most of us are not self-actualized.
B> Fear is not best, but one of most common.
b) We need to understand natural penalty of disobeying God.
1> Dr. William Eisenhower:
"In my discovery of the Savior who is also my Judge,
I discover several reasons to obey him.
Fear is one of these.
VII. Fear doesn't have the last word.
A. God tells them, "Fear not." Exodus 20:20
1) (Those who have never trembled from head to toe will never
know God's perfect love.)
B. The world is not our ultimate threat.
1) Conventional pattern: Threatened by world, reassured by God.
a) Actually, God is the ultimate threat. Matt 10:28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body...
b) The world's threats are only temporary.
1> Don't let world intimidate you. Isa 8:12f
2) God threatens our egos, not us.
VIII. Perfect love and fear. 1 John 4:18
A. Jesus can guide us to love.
1) He paid the price for our salvation.
2) We can approach the throne of grace with confidence.
Many years ago, a father and his daughter were walking through
the grass on the Canadian prairie.
In the distance, they saw a prairie fire; they realized it
eventually would engulf them.
The father knew there was only one way of escape.
He quickly began a fire right where they were and burned a circle
of grass near them.
When the fire approached them, the girl was terrified by the
raging flames.
But her father then carried her into the section of grass they had
just burned.
He assured her, "the flames can't get to us. We are standing where
the fire has already been!"
#729
B. We never need to fear his wrath. Jesus takes it.
==========================================================
Adapted from "Fearing God," by Dr. William D. Eisenhower, Christianity
Today, February 7, 1986; pp 32-34.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Easily create HTML Help documents