Definition, Part 2; Ingredients Part 1

Review: Two Aspects of Fear and Prior Conclusions

0:00 The fear of the Lord is the chief part of knowledge, but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

0:16 That which is the chief part of knowledge, then, must be the concern of everyone who has any interest in true knowledge. So for the past few Lord's Day mornings, we have been considering that great and dominant theme of Holy Scripture, the fear of the Lord or the fear of God. Since our study this morning is the third study in this series, and since there is a definite interrelatedness of each of these studies, it will be necessary to take just a couple of minutes to bring into focus the main thrust of the two previous studies on this theme. the first morning all we sought to do was to feel something of the predominance

1:06 of this theme of the fear of God in biblical thought. We briefly exegeted 13 texts from the Old Testament and 9 in the New breaking all the rules set up by the homileticians but I think the Lord was pleased to bless us in our study together as we considered these texts which by no means exhaust the subject, but which I selected in terms of their qualitative contribution, setting forth the pivotal thoughts of Scripture on this subject of the fear of God. And after this broad overview, we drew three conclusions. Number one, that to be devoid of an experiential knowledge of the fear of God

1:51 is to be devoid of biblical religion. that is if your so-called christian experience has left you devoid of the fear of god in experience then you don't have an ounce of genuine biblical religion there may be a lot of jesus in the bible and scripture in your religion maybe a lot of church and a lot of evangelicalism but if it's left you experimentally devoid of the fear of god it is not biblical religion second conclusion we drew was that to be devoid of a theoretical knowledge of the fear of God is to be ignorant at a crucial point, and this is certainly no assistance to growth. When God says, fear me, when scripture commands us to grow and to increase in the fear of God, unless we understand what God

2:43 means when he says, fear me, then to some extent our obedience and subsequently or consequently our growth is being hindered. And the third conclusion we drew was that the measure of our growth in grace is the measure to which we grow in the fear of God. Then last week we began to try to come to a definition of the fear of God. What is the fear of God? And since the Holy Spirit is condescended to use in this term, the fear of God, the most common words in both the Hebrew and Greek language for fear, fear used on an everyday human experience level. We must understand what those

3:32 words mean in their common usage, and then we will see their particular meaning with reference to the fear of God. And I believe it's obvious to all of us that the word fear has two distinct connotations in everyday parlance. There is the fear of terror and of dread. And even my five and six and a half year olds remembered that when we were driving to church this morning.

3:55 I was reviewing last week's sermon with them and I said the first kind of fear has to do with what? And they remembered the illustration about the bully. The fear of a little boy in the presence of the town bully or the neighborhood bully. It's a fear of dread and of terror.

4:12 Then the second kind of fear is the fear of awe and of reverence and of veneration, the fear which that same young lad will experience if he's ushered into the presence of the President of the United States. Now notice I didn't use a college student for the example, because so many of them don't know what this second kind of fear is, and they'd spit upon the President and call him a pig and think they were doing truth justice. But for someone who still has a sense of reverence and awe for God-appointed magistrates, there is this fear, not the fear of dread or of terror, but the fear of veneration and the fear of honor. And both of these concepts are caught up in the biblical teaching on the fear of God.

4:58 There is a legitimate sense in which the fear of God is comprised of dread and of terror, though this is not the dominant thought it is nonetheless present and you and I are to be afraid of God if and when we have reason to be afraid of God and if you have sinned against almighty God and if you have found no covering for your sin in the blood of his son you ought to be terrified at the thought of God for God the God of omnipotence and burning holiness is pledged by his very character to make you an eternal monument of his pure and righteous wrath unless you repent

5:45 and find covering for your sins in the merits of Jesus Christ. Adam was filled with dread when he heard the voice of God in the garden after he sinned. Was that dread legitimate? Absolutely yes.

6:01 It would have been the height of impiety for Adam to have just tripped up lightly into the presence of God and said, how are we doing, God? Oh, yeah, I've done some bad things, but we're still on good terms. No. He said, I heard thy voice, and I was afraid, and I hid.

6:20 And so there is even in the life of the child of God, as he would contemplate a course that would lead him into disobedience to God and thereby incur the frown of God and the chastening rod of God, there is a sense in which in the most mature believer, the fear of dread and of terror never leaves him. There is no virtue in this aspect of the fear of God of itself. Unconverted people have it. There are the Felix's who hear of the coming judgment and who tremble.

6:54 But though there is no evidence of grace, If you have this fear, it's doubtful if you have any grace if you don't have this fear. Or if you are a recipient of grace, you've had a sight of God that causes you to know that to sin against Him is a dreadful thing, and to incur His frown and to precipitate His chastening rod is a frightening thing. Now without any negating or diluting of this facet of the fear of God which we studied last week I wish to make it clear that this is not the predominant thought of scripture in the many passages which command, command or illustrate the fear of God

7:43 Rather it's the second aspect of fear the fear of reverential awe and of veneration, which is the dominant theme of Holy Scripture. When Scripture says the fear of the Lord is the chief part of knowledge, it is not so much the fear of terror and of dread which is in mind, but the fear of veneration, of awe, and of reverence. It is this fear which God says he will put into the hearts of men in the blessings of the new covenant, which will cause them to adhere to his ways and to keep his statutes. So to think through this second aspect of the fear of God, I wish first of all this morning to give some biblical examples of this fear of reverential awe.

Biblical Examples of Reverential Awe: Jacob at Bethel

8:36 Last week we looked at the examples of the fear of dread and of terror. We saw it in Adam. We saw it in other places in Scripture. Now this morning we want the concept to come alive in the flesh and blood of biblical examples.

8:53 And then having looked at some of these biblical examples of the fear of reverential awe, we shall begin to consider the third main area of our study. what are the indispensable ingredients of the fear of God. Having seen the dominant theme in Scripture, having, I trust, come to some basic understanding of what it is, then we want to move on to consider what must there be in a man if he's to have this fear of God. Both the fear of dread and of terror, but primarily the fear of awe and of reverence.

9:31 so that's where we hope to go this morning in our study the biblical examples of the fear of reverence and of awe will you turn please to the book of Genesis chapter 28 and this is a story that most of the youngsters know we were playing guess who coming home from a picnic yesterday with the youngsters and they didn't find it too difficult to identify a man who is found in this passage, whose vision is well known, found in almost any elementary course in the Sunday school, the man, of course, being Jacob. And we read in the 28th chapter of Jacob, beginning with verse 12,

10:18 that as he was out under the open skies that night to sleep, that he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed.

10:49 Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee and will keep thee with us whoever thou goest and will bring thee again unto this land. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

11:15 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. and he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place this is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it and he called the name of that place Bethel but the name of the city was Loz at the first and Jacob vowed a vow saying, If God be with me and will keep me in the way that I go, and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and the Lord will be my

12:03 God, then this stone which I have set up of a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tent unto thee. Now I've read the entire passage because it's pivotal in understanding in a very practical way what this fear of reverential awe truly is. Jacob has a dream. In his dream he sees a ladder, angels ascending and descending upon the ladder, and in the midst of that dream and this very strange vision, he hears the voice of Jehovah God, the voice of the God of the covenant who comes to renew that covenant to Jacob.

12:46 And when he awakes from his dream and he begins to reflect upon it, now in the conscious actings of his mind, he comes to certain conclusions. Conclusion number one, and we find it very clearly in verse 16, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. He said, I came out and camped under the open skies, and I had no thought of the immediate presence of God, but I was mistaken. He said, the Lord is in this place, and I was unaware of it.

13:20 Then when his consciousness reflects upon the fact that the Lord, Jehovah, the great God of creation, the great God of covenant making, covenant keeping promise, has been there, and he has actually been in his presence, the reflex action of his whole being is this. And he was afraid and said How dreadful is this place If God is here And God is the God whom he declared himself to be in my vision The God of Abraham and of Isaac The God of creation The great God of my fathers And if I am what I know myself to be

14:05 Jacob, a fallen son of Adam a weak creature of the dust, that I should be in the presence of this great God. How dreadful is this place! This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven. Now, is that dread, is that fear, a fear of terror and of anguish that makes him want to run?

14:31 No, for the subsequent paragraph indicates that it was a fear that was coupled with the most tender characteristics of trust in the faithfulness of God, of confidence in the love and the mercy of God. It's a fear that is perfectly consistent with trust and love. For he then raises a pillar, and he says, This will be a monument to the faithfulness of this same God, whose presence is dreadful but who will nonetheless care for me fulfill his promise bring me again to this place and out of gratitude to him I will give him the tenth of all that I possess

15:17 And so I suggest that this is a beautiful and clear and accurate example of this second aspect of the fear of God. Though it says he was afraid, and though Jacob uses the term dreadful, it was not that dread and terror that makes a man want to run from the object like the little boy runs from the bully, but it's a dread and a fear that is perfectly consistent with wanting to be in the presence of that object and wanting to render to it honor and worship, love and obedience. Second aspect, or second illustration, I'm sorry, is in the book of Exodus.

Biblical Examples: Moses at the Burning Bush

16:01 Exodus chapter 3.

16:05 Now remember, all we're trying to do is to look at some biblical examples of the fear of reverential awe as opposed to the fear of dread and of terror. Again, a familiar story.

16:21 Exodus chapter 3, beginning with verse 1. Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God unto Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in the flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

16:44 And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. and Moses said I will turn aside now to see this great sight why the bush is not burnt and when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said Moses, Moses and he said here am I and he said draw not nigh hither put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground moreover he said I am the God of thy father

17:30 the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God and the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, and I know their sorrows, and am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land into a good land, and large unto a land flowing with milk and honey, into the place, and then he names the different nations. Verse 9, And now behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me. I have seen the oppression. And he goes on to say,

18:16 I shall deliver my people. And then Moses enters into conversation with God, beginning with verse 13. Now get the picture. Here Moses is out tending sheep, trying to relive the situation.

18:32 All of a sudden, as he's perhaps just looking over his flock to make sure they're all gathered together, that there are no stragglers wandering off to become prey for wild predators. He notices a bush that burst into flames. Well, what would you do in a case like that? Well, all of us have this natural inquisitiveness, and it says the first thing he wanted to do was to turn aside and figure out why in the world isn't that bush consumed?

18:59 It's burning, but it's not consumed. So he's going to make a little scientific investigation. He's going to subject that book, that bush, I'm sorry, to a little scientific analysis. For the scripture says he's going to turn aside to see why the bush is not burnt.

19:18 That's the only reason he's going to turn aside. This was some kind of a natural phenomenon which caught his eye, and he's inquisitive. He wants to know why things are operating this way. But when God gets his attention through this strange burning of the bush, Then God says, Moses, you don't come near to do a little scientific investigation.

19:40 I, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have a word to say to you. And when Moses recognized that God was there, the same God whom Jacob recognized as recorded in Genesis 28, it is recorded in this passage that instead of going over and subjecting that bush to some kind of scientific analysis, that Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God. Here is a clear statement that Moses was filled with a fear and a dread of God. Now was it a fear that made him want to run from that God?

20:25 No, for that same God then reveals his compassion for his people, his purposes to deliver his people and rather than run from him as Adam did when he heard the voice of God and was afraid, Moses draws near with true reverence to commune with this God and talks with this God face to face. So then this dread that causes the man Moses to hide his face is not the least bit inconsistent with the most intimate dealings with that same God. Moses hides his face, yet Moses talks with this God. It's a fear of reverential awe, of veneration, and of honor.

Biblical Examples: Isaiah in the Temple

21:15 Then over to Isaiah chapter 6, if you will please. this will be the last example in the old testament are you beginning to feel something this is why i'm turning to all these passages not for filler i know i'm only going to get through about one third what i had hoped to this morning but this concept of the fear of god is so pivotal in scripture that we must spare no pains to gain an accurate understanding of what it is Isaiah chapter 6 Again a familiar passage In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne High and lifted up And his train filled the temple

22:00 Above him stood the seraphim Each one had six wings With twain he covered his face And with twain he covered his feet And with twain he did fly And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him that cried. And the house was filled with smoke.

22:31 Then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Now there are two people here, or one group of people and an individual, both looking upon the same object. Now what is the reaction of these celestial hosts as they look upon this sight of God? They are filled with a holy restlessness.

23:10 They cannot, as it were, pause and fix their position before the throne. But it says they fly about that throne. With two of their wings they cover their feet. And with two do they cover their faces.

23:28 They cover their faces. these creatures called here the seraphim some form of angelic manifestation who've never known sin who've never once known the sting of conscience I've done wrong who've never known what it is to be ashamed in the presence of God because of moral guilt and yet in the presence of that great God they veil their faces as Moses hid his face and said, I am afraid to look upon God. So they hide faith, cover feet, and fly about that throne, overcome, filled with awe at the holiness, the immensity, the omniscience of God,

24:16 and they cry one to another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is filled with His glory. but notice there is no indication of any sense of grief or self-effacing shame because of sin but it's not so when the prophet looks upon this same God foreseeing the same object as the seraphim saw there is not only the reaction of being overcome by the immensity and the transcendent majesty of God in his holiness but there is an added dimension There is this reflex action of grief, of self-effacing shame, conviction and contrition, because this is not just a creature as the seraphim are, looking upon the exalted creator, this is a sinful creature looking upon the holy God.

25:17 and therefore the only fitting reaction is a fear of reverential awe which is mingled with the sense of uncleanness which in turn produces conviction and contrition the only disposition fitting for a sinful creature who gazes upon a holy God As one has said, we have the awe and adoration which the majesty of God must elicit from all rational creatures. And we have that complexion which the fact of our sinfulness must impart to that reverence and adoration.

26:05 Seraphim may veil face and cry, holy, holy, holy, with no shame of sin, but you can't and I can't. And if it's incongruous, if it's out of place for sinless beings like seraphim to be in the presence of God without this reverential awe, how much more is it out of place for sinful men and women laden with iniquity like you and like me to draw nigh to His presence without that reverence and godly fear coupled with a deep sense of self-effacing shame because of our sin.

Biblical Examples: Peter and the Risen Christ

26:53 Ah, but someone says, that's the climate of the Old Testament. In the Lord Jesus there has come an overshadowing revelation of the softer lines of God's character. Is that true? well turn please to one account in the gospels which will forever abolish such a thought in the gospel according to Luke we have an incident in the life of our Lord Jesus who came for the express purpose of revealing the father he that hath seen me hath seen the father no man hath seen God the only begotten who is in the bosom of the father he hath declared him

27:39 and here is an incident another familiar one in Luke chapter 5 Peter and his friends had been fishing all night they'd caught nothing verse 5 Simon answered and said Master, we told all night and took nothing, but since you tell us to let down the nets, we'll obey. Verse 6, And they, when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their nets were breaking. And they beckoned unto their partners in the other boat that they

28:24 should come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. and Simon Peter when he saw it fell down at Jesus' knees saying depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord for he was amazed in all that were with him at the draft of fishes that was taken and so were James and John the sons of Zebedee that were partners with Simon and Jesus said unto Simon Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they brought their boats to land, they left all and followed him.

29:06 Now can you bring these two strands of thought together?

29:10 Depart from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. And they left all and followed him. What had happened to Peter? Peter got the message of this act of our Lord.

29:24 Peter saw behind the fact that the net was put down and a great multitude of fishes were enclosed. He saw that the one who did this is none other than the Son of God, Messiah.

29:40 And the recognition that dawned upon him, to what degree at this point we do not know, but to some degree that this is God incarnate. This is none other than the Son of God. when that recognition dawned upon him, I am in the presence of deity. What was his reaction?

30:00 To fall at his feet, overcome with this sense of reverential awe and dread that made him blurt out, Depart from me, Lord! It's not fit that you and I should be in such close proximity. And yet that very reaction was coupled with the most intense longing to be with him to be with him so much that he leaves his business his home his friends and follows him And there is no jangling of these concepts. Without those two concepts being present in the heart of a man, it's doubtful if there's any true attachment to the Christ of Scriptures.

30:40 The idea that we can just snuggle up to Jesus and feel so much at home with him, without this sense of our sinfulness making us want to cry out, Depart from me, Lord! It's not fit that you and I should enter into intimate relationship and yet wonder of wonders. He so revealed to us the heart of God in His love and in His way of forgiveness that we cling to Him and like these disciples by His grace are willing to forsake all to follow Him. Here you have Isaiah 6 repeated.

31:17 Here is not only a creature in the presence of deity, but a sinful creature who senses that something's wrong, that we are so close. Depart from me, Lord. And yet at the same time, when the commission comes, there is the glad response, even as there was with Isaiah. You see, unlike that fear of dread and of terror that makes the person want to run from its object, this dread, this fear, this awe, this reverential veneration is perfectly consistent with attachment and with love.

31:56 One other example from the New Testament, Revelation chapter 1.

32:03 I shall not take time to read the entire passage.

32:10 We'll only summarize what we have in verses 9 through 16. John is in the spirit on the Lord's day, and he receives this vision of the glorified Christ as he now is amidst the candlesticks, that is, in the midst of his church. And as John has this, what is called an apocalyptic vision, there is this unique symbolism. he sees this personage with a sword proceeding from his mouth his head and his hairs white like wool it's white as snow voice when it speaks sounds like the dashing of seas upon the shore the roar of many waters what is John's reaction to this vision?

32:55 verse 17 and when I saw him I fell at his feet as one dead he said my life was overcome this sight of the transcendent glory and majesty of the son of man in his position of exalted glory overcame me I felt as the life went out of me and yet this same one lays his right hand upon John says fear not I am the first and the last the living one was dead and behold I am alive forevermore and then enters into the most intimate dealings with John. So here you have again an example of this fear of reverential awe that overcomes a man,

Summary Definition of the Fear of God

33:43 and yet at the same time captures the man and brings him into intimate relationship with its object. So in summarizing, I believe it is accurate to say that that fear of God which is the soul of godliness is a fear which consists in awe, reverence, honor, and worship, and all of these things in the highest level of their exercise. And I just quoted that sentence. It is the reaction of our minds and spirits to a sight of God in His majesty and His holiness.

34:25 as Professor Murray has so accurately said in seeking to define the fear of God and I quote him now the controlling sense of the majesty and holiness of God and the profound reverence which this apprehension draws forth constitute the essence of the fear of God the controlling sense of the majesty and the holiness of God And the profound reverence which that apprehension draws forth, that constitutes the essence of the fear of God. Or to use the definition given by John Brown in his exposition of 2 Peter where he deals with a little phrase, fear God.

35:13 He says this, the fear of God consists in cherishing an awesome sense of the infinite grandeur and excellence corresponding to the revelation God has made of these things in his word and in his works. inducing in us a conviction that the favor of that God is the greatest of all blessings and his disfavor is the greatest of all evil. You see the practical effect of all of this is so clearly seen when the apostle Paul in describing the state of all men by nature brings as a pivotal and capstone description of the state of unconverted men

36:01 In Romans 3.18, there is no fear of God before their eyes. You know why some of you live the way you do? Indifferent to the claims of God's holy law.

36:14 Indifferent to the overtures of the gospel of His dear Son. It's because you do not live life with the fear of God before your eyes. You do not have a sight and sense of His infinite glory and majesty. eliciting, drawing from your heart that longing to walk so as to please Him and never to walk in a way that would displease Him.

36:42 That's why you live the way you do. There is no fear of God before your eyes. You look loud at life and what you want, you set yourself in a way to obtain it. What your lusts dictate, you do.

36:57 what your desires and appetites crave, you pursue. And the fear of God, that is, that controlling sense of His majesty and holiness, and the profound reverence which that draws forth, that is nothing to you. No part of it in you.

37:21 So I trust as we've looked at these examples, and sought to share these formal definitions that you have somewhat of an understanding of what the fear of God is, particularly the second aspect, the fear of reverential awe. Now that being so, I trust our minds are already anticipating our next area of consideration. What are the essential ingredients of the fear of God? And I think they should be obvious to all of us.

First Ingredient: Correct Concepts of God's Character

37:54 Let me give you the heads and we'll see how far we get this morning. First of all, there must be correct concepts of the character of God. Secondly, there must be a pervasive sense of the presence of God. And thirdly, there must be a constant awareness of our obligations to God.

38:15 First of all, then, there must be correct concepts of the character of God, particularly His majesty, His immensity, and His holiness. Revelation 15, 3 and 4 ask a question.

38:37 Here are the victorious amongst the redeemed, or the redeemed who are victorious. And they are in the presence of God, and they say, verse 3, And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God the Almighty. Righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?

39:08 For thou only art holy, for all the nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy righteous acts have been manifest. As they behold their God, they ask the question, seeing you as you are, and therefore having right views of your character and your ways and your judgments, who shall not fear thee? They ask this question, a rhetorical question, saying in essence, anyone who sees you as we see you must fear you. in other words this is the acknowledgement that correct concepts of the character of God are an indispensable element

39:53 an indispensable ingredient in producing the fear of God one of the great problems in our day is that we have lost sight of those aspects of the character of God which are calculated to produce his fear Namely, his majesty, his immensity, his holiness. It's as though we're looking at a landscape. And in the foreground of that picture, there are little rabbits jumping through the field, chasing one another. There's a soft, flooring, winding brook wending its way through the foreground.

40:32 There are other creatures of the field, nested. Birds that find themselves on the edge of the twigs of the trees. and it's the perfect picture of tranquility and peacefulness. But the backdrop of that landscape is made up of mountains, rugged hunks of stone that up past the timber lines shoot up to 18 or 20,000 feet, snow-capped all the year long.

41:02 And off the sides and behind and above those mountains are great thunderhead clouds and lightning flashing and playing off the edges.

41:13 Now if a man looks at such a picture and only focuses his attention upon the foreground with the rabbits, the brook, and the birds, he may have a very accurate view of one part of the picture, but his response is inadequate to the totality of that picture.

41:33 And if he can look at that and feel nothing but tranquility and ease and have no sense of awe and breathless wonder, it's because he's only looking at the foreground and not looking at the background. For if any of you have ever had occasion to be in the midst of the Rocky Mountains, you know what I mean. There's that sense of being overpowered by the might and the grandeur and the sheer massiveness of those mountains. And so it is with the character of God.

42:02 The scripture sets before us the softer lines of God's mercy and his compassion and his fatherly tenderness. But never do the scriptures set those attributes before us in isolation from the more awesome and breathtaking characteristics of His holiness, of His wrath, of His immensity, of His eternity, of His omniscience, of His omnipotence. and in our day we have lost this aspect of the character of God and therefore we have greatly lost the fear of God. The framers of the shorter catechism caught this concept

42:51 for in answer to the question what is God they framed the answer in this way. God is the spirit, that's his essence therefore he's foundness, he cannot be contained. Then they use three adjectives, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and those three things in all of these others in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. What they're saying is, as you look at His goodness, remember it's the goodness of infinity.

43:28 Infinite and eternal and unchangeable in His goodness, in His mercy, in His truth. They're saying, don't look at the birds and the brook and the rabbit without looking at the mountains and the lightning playing off the edges of the clouds. That's what they're saying. And that's what Scripture says to us.

43:49 so that to contemplate God's love is to contemplate holy love, infinite love, immense love, transcendent love.

44:02 My own heart was so blessed in the reading of John Brown's thoughts along this line that I felt I could do nothing better than to read a couple of pages to you, in which he says, Everything about God is fitted to fill the mind with awe, And it would seem as if nothing short of insanity could prevent any being possessed of reason and affection from habitually feeling the sentiment of supreme veneration for God. See what he's saying? He says only insanity could prevent any being who has reason and affection, who has a head and a heart, or the part of his head and a part of his heart, Nothing but insanity could keep such a being from constantly experiencing supreme veneration for God.

44:53 He is the unexhausted, inexhaustible fountain of all the being, all the life, all the intelligence, all the power, all the activity, all the excellence, all the happiness in the universe. He is the first and the last and the living one from everlasting to everlasting, immense, filling heaven and earth with His presence, infinite in power, having called into existence myriads of worlds capable of calling into existence myriads more upholding all these worlds Himself upheld by none controlling all things himself uncontrolled doing according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants

45:42 of the earth, infinite in knowledge, every creature manifest in his sight, all things naked and open to his eyes, hell itself naked before him in destruction, having no covering. Infinite in wisdom, wonderful in counsel, as well as excellent in working, wise in heart, as well as mighty in strength. The holy, holy, holy one, infinite in righteousness. He is the rock whose work is perfect, and all his ways are justice.

46:16 A God of truth without iniquity, just and right is he. The blessedness of the divine being may seem a quality fitted to excite love rather than fear. Yet are there two qualities of it, its immeasurable extent and its immaculately holy character, which are well fitted to deepen the impression of awe produced by his eternal, infinite, immutable power, wisdom, and holiness. Then he goes on to elaborate, quoting passage after passage, and concludes by saying, Surely a being such as this is worthy to be feared.

46:58 Surely he is the meat object of the supreme esteem and reverence and love of all intelligent beings. Surely to be the objects of his approval and love and care is the highest honor and happiness of such creatures. To be the objects of his disfavor is the deepest disgrace and misery that can come to any one of those creatures. and of course to seek his favor in conformity of mind and will to him is their highest wisdom and duty.

47:31 Such are the convictions and feelings of unfallen and restored the angelic and human inhabitants of the celestial world. Their unceasing hymn is holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. Great and marvelous are thy works, true and just are thy ways who shall not fear thee and glorify thy name. And this enlightened affectionate sense of the infinite grandeur and excellence of God is in their minds a principle of supreme allegiance to his holy government, rendering it morally impossible that they should disregard his authority or seek their happiness in anything but in union of mind and will and enjoyment with God.

48:23 What's the essential ingredient of the fear of God? It must begin with correct concepts of the character of God, particularly His immensity, His majesty, and His holiness. It should be obvious to us then as we draw our study to a close this morning That when the true knowledge of God is forsaken There can be no valid fear of God Proverbs 9.10 ties these two things together The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom And what is the fear of the Lord?

49:09 The knowledge of the Holy One. That is understanding. So where there is no concept of God to elicit this reverential awe, to produce this sanctified dread, then there can be no true fear of God and hence no true understanding. And so the decline of the fear of God is rooted in the fact that we've lost the God of the Bible, particularly the God of majesty and His holiness.

49:42 When divine love is couched in any other context than that of the omnipotence, immensity, and holiness and sovereignty of God, it becomes cheap sentiment which elicits no true fear of God. the first and essential revelation made in the life and ministry of our Lord according to John in 1 John chapter 1 is not that God is love John says the word of life has been amongst us we beheld him, we touched him, we handled him and now we are going to share with you what we learned of him and he says in verse 5 of chapter 1 this is the message we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light,

50:30 and in Him is no darkness at all. It's in that context and in that alone that we dare put the statement of 1 John chapter 4 that God is love. It's the God of infinite pure light who is the God of love. Therefore, his love will come in a way consistent with and answerable to his burning holiness, never in a way that will cancel or negate the demands of his holiness.

Application: The Cross as the Supreme Display of God's Character

51:07 so then if sinless creatures hide their faces in the presence of the God of burning holiness who are we to think that a sight of the wounds and the sacrifice of Christ will negate the necessity for us drawing near with veiled faces and with trembling hearts it's accurate to say that perhaps nowhere in all of scripture is this principle more clearly seen than in the cross itself for what is the cross but God's clearest revelation of his inflexible justice

51:56 God had given many revelations of his justice but when he's put to the test I say it reverently and his own beloved son must be the object of his wrath if divine justice is to be satisfied and he spares not his son but brings upon him the full brunt of his wrath against sin. What a display of inflexible justice. What a display of spotless holiness. So holy that he will turn his back upon his only begotten, The one of whom he said, this is my son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.

52:37 And yet the cry comes forth from Golgotha, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And our Lord himself knew the answer. As you read the 22nd Psalm, as he is complaining of his abandonment, in the midst of it he says, But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Where do we see infinite incomprehensible wisdom more clearly than in the cross of Christ?

53:06 Who would have ever conceived of a way in which the offended God, the offended triune God punishes himself to be true to himself in order to let guilty rebels free? Infinite wisdom revealed in the cross. it's there that we see holy love revealed love so deep as to press to death the Lord Jesus love so holy that its channel must be cut through the heart of the Son of God love so holy

53:52 that it cannot find a channel for its expression any other way than through the heart of the Son of God, a broken heart.

54:06 So an enlightened view of the cross of Christ, rather than canceling or negating or diluting anything of the whole drift of scriptural teaching on the fear of God, merely serves to heighten and to seal that concept so that all of our relationship to God through Christ is a relationship in the climate of the fear of God.

54:36 You who are here this morning strangers to grace, strangers to forgiveness, strangers to a new heart, could it be that the reason you feel so at ease is because you're doing what is spoken of in Psalm 50, 21, Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself? Have you been trying to make God in your own image so you can feel comfortable in your sin? Comfortable in your state of impenitence? My friend, God has never been made into your image.

55:07 He is still that Holy One before whom seraphim and cherubim veil face and feet and cry one to another, Holy, Holy, Holy. There will not be any measure of the fear of God in your heart. until you begin to take seriously the revelation he has made of his own character and begin to tremble before him with the fear of dread and of terror until you would feign cry for rocks and mountains to hide you from his face. And dear friend, the gospel will become good news to you that one was hidden from the face of the Father.

55:47 You and I might be forgiven, even the Lord Jesus. And I would say to you and to myself as God's people, that we will not grow in the fear of God unless we grow in our awareness of and sensitivity to the scriptural teaching of the immensity, the majesty, and the holiness of God. This is not something that's incorporated into the light once for all. I would be intensely practical and exhort you to spend much time meditating upon such passages as Isaiah 40.

56:25 Spend much time meditating upon such portions as Isaiah 6 and Revelation 1 and Revelation 19 and some of these other passages which are particularly calculated to set forth God in His transcendent majesty and holiness and immensity until you begin to feel something of the climate of the biblical patterns of thought and take your place before him in true godly fear. As we shall see in subsequent studies, it is this sense of his majesty and holiness bringing that reflex reaction of true godly fear that becomes one of the great motivations for a life of holiness and godliness.

Exhortation and Closing Prayer

57:20 The essential ingredients of the fear of God, the first one, a correct concept of His character. The Lord willing, in subsequent studies we shall look at the other ingredients. let me just exhort you that if your thoughts of God have been such as to leave you devoid of his fear there is something wrong with what you are thinking about God and may God help you begin to adjust your thinking to the statements of Holy Scripture that you might have that fear of the Lord which is the chief part of knowledge let us pray Amen Our Father, who art in heaven,

58:16 forgive us, we pray, for our sinful brashness.

58:23 Forgive us, we pray, for our careless thinking. About who you are.

58:32 Forgive us. For many times. Failing to remember that we are creatures. Utterly dependent upon you.

58:40 For all that we are and have. But more than this Lord. Forgive us for failing to remember. That we are sinful creatures.

58:51 Oh how we thank you. For that way. That new and living way. we thank you that we may come in no way turning our eyes away from your burning holiness and still have confidence that we may have access to you as we come in the name and through the merits of the Lord Jesus may it please you oh our father to seal your word to our hearts and to put your fear into our hearts bring again to the church your fear.

59:33 Once again, Lord, bring to our young people, to our children, your fear. Oh, God, put your fear into our hearts that having a proper sense of reverence and awe before you, we may count your smile life's greatest blessing and your frown life's greatest curse, thereby being delivered from all lesser concerns of our own well-being, of our own standing before men. Lord, slay in us, we pray, all those sinful things that so often would govern our thinking and our conduct until your fear becomes the dominating principle

60:21 that governs us in the most secret place, as well as in our constant contact with others. To this end, hear us in our prayer and answer us, and send us from this place in your fear, that we may seek to hallow and sanctify this your day, to your glory and to our profit, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Thank you.