Fear of the Lord Pt2

Have your Bibles.

If you would, let's go back to the 14th chapter of Proverbs.

And if you were with us last week as we looked at the same chapter, I said to you that I had, in working through the chapters, seeking to understand what I was going to bring forth last week, my mind and my heart started to focus in on two verses, and that was verse 26 and 27 in chapter 14.

And it has to deal with the fear of God.

And I began to work through it in my mind.

And I said to you last week, and I don't want to go too far back because I want to finish it this evening.

I said to you that I wanted to try to follow some of the distinct times in which the phrase, the fear of the Lord is, is set forth in the scriptures.

And that I also said that we would look at 11 of them.

And some of them are not expressly that phrase, the fear of the Lord is, but I do think it will blend together as we consider this.

And certainly, if you think about it, if we cannot find a desire, if we cannot find a consideration of the fear of God, then there is something very wrong with us.

To consider the fear of God is not a thing to be shunned or set aside, but rather we ought to grow even in that in the fear of God.

And I try to, and I will say it again a number of times tonight, probably as we go through this, that as I am talking about this and speaking about it and looking at the scriptures, I have as a definition in mind that fear of God is to see him for who he is, to reverence and worship him for his being, his character, and for his works that we behold in both creation, in nature, and even in the hearts of men.

So in other words, as we consider the fear of the Lord, and as we start to move through some more scriptures tonight, keep that in our minds that the fear of God is really to reverence God, to give him the honor due to him.

And I said it again last week that one of the great tragedies in our day, even as the apostle had set out early in the book of Romans, there is no fear of God in the natural man's eyes.

And if there is some sort of fear, it's the wrong fear or it's a skewed fear.

It's not really the fear of the Lord, that the fear of God is a blessed thing.

It's not a dreadful thing.

It attracts, it should attract us closer to him and thus have him reveal himself more and more to us.

So we looked at a number of them last night, and I suppose if I continue to talk about what I talked about last week, we'll never get to this week.

And so why don't we just go right into it now.

Let me read the two verses that really is the springboard for this, at least for this moment.

Verses 26 and 27 of Proverbs chapter 14.

In the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence and his children will have a place of refuge.

And then verse 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to avoid the snares of death.

And we had left off last time with the statement, the fear of the Lord, and it's found in the book of Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

And if we consider what that really means, that you and I are those who, because of our fear of God, because of our desire to see him in all his glory and all his majesty, and to behold him for not only what he does, but who he is, that it ought to cause us in that fear to move further from evil, further from darkness, closer to the light.

And that to me is a true mark of growth in grace, that we no longer have the pleasure in the things of evil, in the things of darkness that we once did, that it should disturb us.

Our own sin should truly disturb us, not excluding the sin of others.

Certainly we ought to hate the evil that we see in the world, and we know that the world is under the sway of the evil one.

But we ought to become more and more desirous to look within and to hate the evil that we find, even within our own hearts, in our own minds, which no one sees, but God sees.

And so again, to hate evil is more than just hating mass murderers and kidnappers and such, but it's to hate the things that God hates, and to then love the things that God loves, and to, in essence, think God's thoughts after them.

So this evening, let us begin, and it's in Proverbs chapter 10, where I pulled this one from, if you want to just flip back and look at it.

Proverbs chapter 10 in verse 27, where it says this, the fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

Now, I think it's worth mentioning that we don't just look at this as if it's some guaranteed promise that anybody that truly fears God is going to live to a ripe old age.

I would say that all of us could attest to the fact life just doesn't work out that way.

And so we cannot look at it as just some guarantee that we'll all grow to an old age, as long as we fear God.

But the fear of the Lord prolongs days, versus the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

And as I try to think about it in my mind, and as I looked at some of the other, you know, it's always good to find out what other brothers think.

You at least find out if you're in the ballpark.

For some of those that have studied for so many years, you know, if you're in the next county, in your thoughts than them, then you got to come back and think about it.

But anyway, as I thought about this, and I thought it, I do believe it does mean that a right fear of God, that a right view of God, that a right reverence of God, that that does in many ways remove some of the sentence of death that sin brings.

That it does not a guarantee of old age in and of itself, but I do believe it's, in that sense, a way to understand that as we move in the fear of God, what should happen is we should move out of the fear of man.

And as we move into the fear of God, we should move out of the ways of man.

And as we do that, I believe that the promise, if you want to call it a promise, is that we will remove the sentence of death from us to a certain degree.

Again, I'm not teaching we're not going to all die.

I'm not teaching it's appointed for man once to die, and after death to judgment.

And the wages of sin is death, and that's why we all die for all of sin, and we certainly would understand that.

But I thought about a couple of things.

I thought about how the scriptures say that the way of the sinner is hard.

That's another way Proverbs said, the way of the sinner is hard.

And I believe in some, to some extent, that if we rightly fear God, we will not bear some of the scars that others who do not fear God bear.

That if you think about it, evil being such a hard taskmaster, I thought of Pharaoh.

Would we not say that Pharaoh was an evil taskmaster over the children of Israel, and that they suffered under him because he did not fear God? Remember what he said when Moses came to him and said, I am, sent me, and who's the Lord that I should serve him? And that the wages of sin is hard.

And I also thought about what it says concerning those who do fear God, that even in their old age, they'll bring forth fruit.

And so as you and I think about this, I think what it means is that you and I need to, to fear God in such a way that we avoid some of the ditches that so many others fall into.

And that by doing that, our days are prolonged.

They're not guaranteed at a certain point.

Of course, we could say, you know, 60 years, 70 years in it, you know, by God's grace, we go on past that.

But I do believe that it allows us to escape some of the evils that come upon men who do not fear God, because there really is, if you think about it, you and I probably know many people who, because they do not fear God, have suffered under some of the worst things that are possible.

And so is that possible that the fear of God will prolong our days, we will have healthier spiritual lives.

And I do believe a healthier spiritual life does lend to a happy and better physical life.

In other words, a man who drinks for the first 50 years of his life and comes to Christ, is he saved if he truly comes to Christ? Amen.

Praise the Lord.

Does that mean he's not going to die of cirrhosis of the liver? No.

Why? Because again, he has taken in and allowed that evil to become such a part of his life that there's consequences.

So I am saying that the fear of the Lord prolongs days.

And there's the contrast, the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

And how many times do you and I hear, read, see about someone who, in their prime of life, and we know that they live a godless life, all of a sudden they are cut down and they're gone.

Again, no absolutes either way.

But I still believe that there is something to be had in that to think about.

I've thought about it from as far as a nation, as far as our country.

Would you not agree with me that if we were more a country that feared God, that we would have less of the plagues and problems and scars that we have, right? What does it say? It says righteousness does what? It exalts a nation.

But sin is the reproach of any people.

So when you think about it, some of the things that we are suffering as even as a country is a result of the fact that we do not fear God.

And again, I'm not just talking about saying I fear God.

I'm talking about holding God for who he is, seeing him high and lifted up, seeing him in his majesty, seeing him in his glory, seeing him with no equals, no rivals, no enemies, the one who decrees all things to come to pass, the one who is worthy of all our worship, and that we hold him in right esteem, and that that moves in our lives, and that we can look to him, not necessarily to keep us from scars, trials, and tribulations, for certainly they will come.

But I do believe there is much to be said for those who walk in the narrow path.

And really, if you walk in a narrow path, it's a blessed path.

It might not be the most comfortable path.

It might not be the most desirable path.

But the narrow path has to be that which is blessed by God, because God says that's where we should walk in the narrow way, along the narrow path.

So, just something to think about, that the fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the way the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

Okay, let me move on to another one.

And this is also what we read about in the beginning in Proverbs, back to Proverbs chapter 14 verse 26.

And I just want to spend a moment or two on each of these and get through them tonight.

By the way, I have got a new watch, so I'm good to go.

Couldn't find a battery, so I had to buy a watch.

Verse 26 says, In the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence, and his children will have a place of refuge.

In the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence, and his children will have a place of refuge.

Now, I want you to notice something first, that verse 26 is very exclusionary.

Just think about it.

In the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence.

If you've turned that the other way around, what is it saying? Without the fear of the Lord, there is no real confidence.

So, it's exclusionary to those.

It's exclusive to those this confidence.

Whatever this confidence is that we consider, whatever it is, it's given, it's possessed by those who fear God.

Again, seeing God who he is, holding him in right esteem for who he is, not necessarily for what he does.

Because there's many people who will consider God for what he does, but not for who he is.

And you and I have to be those who consider him and worship him for who he is.

So, it says, the fear of the Lord is confidence.

As I looked at the word in the original, it really means, and it kind of breaks it out for us in the second half of that verse, his children will have a place of refuge, that the confidence that's spoken of is really that thought of a refuge, of a place, and a, if you will, a hiding place for you and for me to go to.

Even as, and we've talked about this a number of times, but even as the cities of refuge were set around in the land of Israel, they were places where you could go and you could be confident once you got to the city of refuge that you would be treated rightly, that you wouldn't be, that whatever was done would be done in a right and righteous way.

So, as you and I think about it, it says in the fear of the Lord there is confidence, and I don't believe it's just an outward possession, but rather it really lends to the idea of stability within the soul.

That you and I, as we grow in the fear of the Lord, we ought to further grow in confidence that we have an anchor for our souls, that we have a city of refuge, that we have one who has secured a place for us, that we can stand, live, bow, pray, consider things in confidence that it is a sure hope.

It's not one that comes and goes.

It's not one that's easily forsaken, but rather it's something that is, if you will, settled.

That I know, even as Paul said, I know whom I believe in.

I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

Man, that's confidence.

It's not self-confidence.

It's confidence, and that confidence comes as we see God more and more, because I will say this over and over and over again to myself and to anyone who will listen to me, the more we see God for who he is, the less we will see ourselves as our own gods.

That as our perception of him and all his majesty increases, certainly all our confidence in ourself will decrease.

In Proverbs chapter 3, it says this, the Lord will be your confidence.

He will keep your foot from being caught.

Paul says in Ephesians, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him.

The fear of the Lord is strong confidence.

I thought of Noah.

I thought of Noah.

There he is.

He's out there and never seen a raindrop in his life, and he's out there, and God says, I need you to build me a boat, and 120 years, man alive, I believe he had to have confidence, and that confidence came to him in the reality that God had told him to do it.

Wasn't man, wasn't his neighbors, that Noah, and what does it say in the scriptures? Noah, in Hebrews, says Noah moved with fear to the saving of his house, and I don't believe he was fearing his neighbors.

I think he had a right view of God.

I believe he was one who understood that whatever God had said to him was to be trusted and obeyed, followed, and that it caused him to be able to be confident, and I don't know about you, but if I had to build anything for 120 years, I would say there must have been days when Noah probably had some thoughts, but his confidence was really in the fact that he feared God.

So again, something to just, just all these things, and some of these things have a little bit of overlap in them, right? But here's the thing, the fear of God is not just this, it's this, it's that, it's this, it's that, it's everything, because God is all in all, right? So when you and I think about it, we ought to think about it on many different planes of thought.

In verse 27 of Proverbs chapter 14 is, again, another verse that made me begin to think of it.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to avoid the snares of death.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to avoid the snares of death.

In Psalm 36 it says, for with you is the fountain of life.

You see, that's why many people will turn away from, from even talking about the things of Christ, because they'll say, well, it's just, it's just, it's just too much to think about.

My friends, the fear of God, to consider God for who he is, to consider the, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it's a fountain of life.

It allows us to drink, if you will, and be refreshed.

It allows us to reach for, for nourishment that's, that's buried even if need be in the depths of the earth.

And you know what? The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life that never runs dry, never runs dry.

Isn't that glorious? Isn't it? And now what it says that we will find in, in, in the prophets, it says we'll find streams in the desert.

What did the children of Israel find when they were thirsty as they were going through the wilderness? They found a rock that gave water.

Ultimately, that rock was Christ.

So the fountain of life and the fear of the Lord is the fountain of life.

And you know what, friends, there are so many people that drink from so many different fountains, and they think in those fountains they'll find life.

And again, I'm not, my youngest son, he's, he's like a weightlifter kind of thing.

He's always, I don't know, he's got these big jars of protein and, and I mean, it works, but I'm not, as far as I know, it works.

I could see him.

But there are so many people who just look to things as, as, as a source of, of, of life and of strength and of confidence and of, of the ability to withstand and, and, and I'm not saying those things are wrong, but the real fountain of life is the fear of God.

It's the fountain that never runs dry, because again, you and I would understand this, where there is no water, there's no life.

You think about it, and I wonder if sometimes that's one of the reasons why God created the big deserts and the great, vast, dry, barren deserts that we, see, and that, that you and I would see.

Which one of us, in our right mind, would say, I'm going to build me a house in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

We would, we would not do that, because there's nothing there.

It's dry, it's barren, it's empty, it's, I don't know, it's full of spiders and snakes and things like that.

But the fear of God is a fountain of life.

To be able, look, you and I, through Christ, in the fear of God, can always come for a drink.

Always.

It's not based on externals.

It's not based on situations.

And this fountain doesn't have to be turned on and turned off.

We don't have to pay for, for this fountain.

This fountain is, it flows freely from the Savior himself.

You see, it is truly important to fear God, to be, to be captured, captivated by Him.

Is that not what really, if you think about it, what really moves us, I pray what really moves us is a desire to see God glorified, to see God lifted up, to see God exalted, and that God desires us to see Him that way, and that He blesses us when we consider Him that way.

It allows us to, to drink, even as the Samaritan woman, as she so needed a drink, and she thought it was just something that could be dug up out of a well.

Well, it's the well of our, of our souls that is filled by this fountain of life.

And so it's, it's glorious.

And, and, and again, it comes to those who, who fear God.

In Psalm 86, it says, unite to fear your name.

Unite my heart to fear your name.

Is that our prayer? Is that really our desire? Is that we would be united by the Spirit of God to fear God's name, to hold Him in, in the highest esteem, to reverence Him, to, to adore Him, to worship Him.

Remember what the Proverbs say, also says the fear of man, what does what? It brings a snap.

And I don't know why I thought about it, but I thought about it as I was working through this, and I thought about someone 30, maybe 40 years ago.

And some of you know, I was a, one of, I've only had two jobs my whole life, for 50 years.

One of them was, I was in the Teamsters in New York for 20 years.

And, and it was the soprano kind of Teamsters.

And, and I remember, and it came to me, I remember a guy, his name was Bobby Presner.

He's a big old bulky, big old man.

And I remember, and I worked with probably 300 or 400 different Teamsters.

And, and, and I remember when they're talking to Bobby about the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I remember him, he, and he was, he was killing his body, drugs, alcohol, everything.

Anyway, I remember him, and he got so mad at me.

He looked at me, and I thought he was going to hit me.

And he said, where's God? I want Him to come down.

I want to fight Him.

That's what he told me.

And I never forgot that.

And I thought to myself, where is your fear of God? You want God to come down and fight you? Well, Bobby Presner didn't last that long.

I don't remember what actually took him out, but it was, it was the way he lived his life.

But that man stood there with, with, in that sense, not a drop of the fear of God, and dared God to come down and fight him.

Wasn't much of a fountain of life for him.

Okay, I need to move on and get a couple more to you.

The next one's in Isaiah.

If you want to turn there, you can turn there.

Isaiah 33.

I thought this one was really cool.

I hope by now you know when I say cool, I don't, I'm not trying to be irreverent, but I say it in the most reverent way possible.

But I want you to see this one in Isaiah 33.

In verse 6, it says, wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation.

Look what it says, the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

That word treasure really means depository, armory, stash house, if you will, storehouse.

Those that fear God have chosen the riches of treasures, and they are granted the riches of treasures.

The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

To fear God is the pearl of great price, friends.

And again, am I talking about the Father, the Son, or the Spirit? I am.

To fear God is to see him for who he really is, to see him as the incomprehensible, untouchable, but absolutely approachable creator, sustainer, and judge.

And that a right fear of God is a true treasure.

It's a treasure that will not be moth eaten.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Why? Because the fear of the Lord, a true fear of the Lord, is a treasure.

And again, it's a treasure that cannot be taken.

And that, I thought about this, I thought about, I know, I might not always follow it as it should, I know God keeps his storehouse full, and that you and I can always come to him and find treasure, as long as we are seeking the right treasure, and not just, what is the, I thought I heard it today, the mega powerball, whatever it is, it's a billion.

I'll guarantee you people lined up for that treasure.

I'll guarantee you that many, many people said, man, if I could only get a piece of that treasure, I don't want it all.

Yes, you do.

Don't lie.

If somebody said you can have it all, you take it all.

But how about the treasures of knowing God? How about the treasures of heaven that are laid up there for us? I don't know about you, but man, I'm going to wake up one day, someday, in glory.

I'm going to see things that are beyond understanding, treasures, glorious things, and the greatest of them all will be the Lord Jesus Christ himself, in all his brilliance, in all his glory, in all his majesty.

In Proverbs 15, and you don't have to turn here, but right there, Proverbs 15, it says, in the house of the righteous, there is much treasure.

Isn't that great? Much treasure.

We might not be the richest people.

We might not be, we certainly aren't the most desirable people as the followers of Christ, but we have the greatest treasure, because our treasure is that we see him for who he is and what he has done, that he has saved our souls, that he has freed us, that he has given us all that comes to the son is ours.

And I don't want to pretend that I'm some spiritually, some spiritual giant, because I'm certainly not, but there are times when I begin to think about these things.

I can't wait.

I've said this to you.

I've said it to many of us.

We are going to explode into eternity.

We're going to close our eyes on this side, and all the treasures of this world, and all the riches, and all the things that people long after, and lust after, and fight over.

We're going to close our eyes, and we're going to open our eyes in glory.

You know why we need new bodies? Because these are going to bust.

Huh.

Oh, man, I'm in heaven, man.

It's a pretty cool place.

Get a vision of God.

That's what the fear of God is, to see him for who he is.

It's a treasure fit for kings, but it's given to peasants, like you and me.

Isn't that great? All these earthly treasures that kings have are locked up, and behind glass, and guarded, and protected, and, you know, Brother Keith said something not too long ago.

He was preaching a message in Genesis.

I don't remember exactly where, but I remember what he said, and I've heard it, and I've thought about it, but it struck me when he said it.

He said, all the trophies that men gather on their shelf, in the blink of an eye, all those treasures are gone.

You know that saying, right? When all is over, and time has passed, only what's done for Christ will last, and that treasure awaits us.

And Jesus said, you will have treasure in heaven, and that's what Peter said.

We left all, Lord.

What do we got? Peter knows what he got now, so the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

All right, just one or two more, and this one, and the following one is from the New Testament.

Well, there's actually three from the New Testament, and it's not exactly the phrase, the fear of the Lord, but I do think it'll it'll give us a New Testament insight, and it'll complement what we've been considering some of the thoughts in the Old Testament.

So go to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 9.

Acts chapter 9, and we'll come down, and we'll read verse 31.

And again, I'm not, I don't have time to set the setting too much, but it it's talking about how the churches are moving forward.

It says, then the churches, verse 31 of Acts 9, then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplying.

They were walking in the fear of God, and they were edified, and they were multiplied.

A right view of God, a right reverence of God, a right worship of God will allow us to be edified, will allow us to grow in grace.

It will allow us to walk, walking in the fear of God.

I thought about those that, do you ever meet someone who's always fearful? There are people like that, whether it's they have, you know, they're afraid to walk under a ladder, they're afraid to, cats, Friday the 13th, all that gobbledygook that holds people in bondage.

And I thought about people that that are in fear usually cannot walk upright.

They're usually, they're usually, even when you see people on a TV show or in a movie, and they're in fear, they're always crouching, they're always kind of moving slowly, and they're, man, you and I, in the fear of God, we could walk.

As I said, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Walking in the fear of the God is a blessing.

Walking in the fear of God is a way, and it says they walked, the churches walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and they were multiplied.

If you and I were to characterize the early church, there's many things that we could pinpoint, but one of the things that we would certainly want to highlight and point out is that the early church feared God.

They didn't care what men say.

Remember John and Peter as they went, and they were told what? You can't do this no more.

You can't talk about this, Jesus.

And they basically said, you do what you want to do, but we're going to preach Christ.

One of the marks of the early church is they did not fear man, they feared God.

They held God for who he is.

I'll say it over and over again.

You find someone who has the fear of God, and you will find someone who's walking and growing in grace, and you find someone who's, yeah, fear of God, that's a good thought, but you know, you find someone who's neither hot nor cold, and you'll see a life that's neither hot nor cold.

There is a correlation between it, friends, and the churches certainly in those days, and I'll make this remark, and maybe you'll agree, maybe you won't.

Maybe one of the reasons why the churches in our day find themselves in so many ways infinite, unable to do much of anything in moving people to salvation, maybe one of the reasons why the churches are in the condition that they're in is because they fear man more than they fear God, or they fear man rather than fear God.

They fear what men's opinions will be.

They fear what man's responses will be, and therefore they're not walking in the fear of God, and they're not multiplying, and again, I'm not talking about multiplication merely in the sense of numerical growth.

I'm talking about it in the sense of spiritual growth.

Listen, I'd rather go to war with three men that fear God than three thousand that don't.

I'd rather be in fellowship with ten saints that have the fear of God growing in their hearts and in their lives than a thousand who can sing the greatest of hymns and have the most ministries imaginable, but when it comes to standing, when it comes to walking, when it comes to upholding the word of God, they're more afraid of men to the point where even some churches refuse to speak about sin.

Huh, any man who gets in a pulpit is afraid to talk about sin, don't belong in a pulpit.

Simple as that.

Can we not understand, brothers and sisters, the fear of God is a precious possession? It really is.

Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 7 for a minute.

We've got this one and one more.

2 Corinthians chapter 7, and I would think some of you already know what this verse says, but let me remind us.

2 Corinthians 7, therefore having these promises, beloved, and we can spend a whole lot of time on those promises, let us cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

You know, I don't, I really don't know that much, but I guess I do know that anyone who fears God will desire to be holy.

Anyone who truly sees God for who he is will desire to cleanse themselves and to be more like the Son of God.

Anyone who truly fears God will be more content to be holy than to be happy.

That's another one that's so misrepresented in the churches today.

We just want people to be happy.

We just want you to feel welcomed.

Listen, people ought to fear God as they see the character of our lives, but then we have to ask ourselves, do I really want to cleanse myself from the sinful flesh? Or do I just want to see if I can make people think that I am holy? Are we holy in secret or are we only holy in public? Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse, and look, cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

Perfecting, and that word perfecting doesn't mean perfection as if it's absolute.

It really means completing, maturing, moving along.

I've met people who say that they have been Christians for 30 years, 40 years, 50 years.

You look at their life and you begin to wonder, where's the marks of holiness? Where's the marks of the words you speak and the actions that you take and the things you will allow and the things you won't allow? Is it our desire? Is it the goal we're striving for? I'm just trying to think.

Herb.

Charlotte's husband.

What was their last name? Irv.

Irv Hillard, right.

I remember, and I don't know if someone told me this, or he told me, because when I first came here, he used to sit in the back.

And he told, he said that he wished he could live longer so he'd have more time to repent.

He wished he could live longer so he'd have more time to repent of his sin.

And I took it as a man who desired to live a holy life.

Let us cleanse ourselves from lust of the flesh, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Okay, last one.

Ephesians chapter 5.

See, I went chronologically, so.

Ephesians chapter 5.

And again, these are not absolute, the same as saying the phrase, the fear of the Lord, but I do believe, again, it helps to consider these things.

So, I'll just pick it up in verse 15, just to help set it up a little bit.

Ephesians 5, 15.

See then that you walk circumspectfully, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dispensation, no, that's not it, disputation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then look at verse 21, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Submitting to one another in the fear of God.

You know what a right view of God does? It humbles us.

It causes us to see that the world doesn't revolve around us.

It causes us to see that this altogether lovely one, this glorious Son of God took on flesh, became a servant.

And it begins to transform us so that we begin to become those who serve.

And we begin to become those who are submitting to one another in the fear, in the realization of not only who God is, but what God has done and what God desires of us.

The fear of God, friends, is ultimately transforming.

It creates in us to be more like the Savior.

Remember, He did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, to serve rather than be served.

If you find a person full of pride, full of self-esteem, full of self-exaltation, you will find someone who does not know the fear of God, and you will find someone who's not much of a server.

He's too busy serving self.

He's too busy being his own God.

But the fear of God ought to cause us to submit to one another in light of who He is, in light of the fact that we're all His children, not universally, all in Christ His children.

And that whether you're here, or you're there, or you're this, or you're that, that we all should submit to one another because we all serve the same master.

We've all been brought out of the same prison house.

I always get a kick when, and I'm going to stop, but I always get a kick when I sometimes will meet someone and they'll say, yes, my name is Dr.

Bob and I have a PhD in Old Testament eschatology, and my second is New Testament hermeneutics.

And then some of those people are the hardest to deal with because they're so exalted, they're not very submissive.

Anyway, just to close it out, here's what we considered over the last two weeks.

The fear of the Lord is clean.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

The fear of the Lord prolongs days.

The fear of the Lord is strong confidence.

In the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.

The fear of the Lord is His treasure.

The fear of the Lord allows us to walk.

The fear of the Lord creates in us a desire for holiness.

And as we closed it out, the fear of the Lord creates in us humility and service.

So may God help us.

May God grant us to move further in our understanding of the fear of God and that perfect fear as we see Christ for who He is.

Let's just close with a word of prayer.

Our Father in God, again, thank you for thank you for your word, Lord.

Thank you for the instruction that you give us.

Lord, help us.

We're so frail.

We're so inconsistent.

We're so movable.

And Lord, we blow like the trees in the wind.

Help us to walk in the fear of God.

Help us to see, Lord, more and more for who you really are.

May your truth become brighter and brighter in our days, until that day when we shall see you face to face, when we shall fall down and worship the Lamb.

Keep us safe, Lord.

Be with those that we've prayed for.

Be with us as we come together Sunday.

And may our worship be in the fear of God, even that day and every day.

In Jesus' name, amen.