A God Fearing Heart — Keith Malcomson

A Heart That Fears God

Would you please turn with me here this morning to Jeremiah chapter 32. A good way to find your way around if you're not familiar with it in the Old Testament is Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, if you just get that in your mind you can find your way through those main prophets.

Of course we know at the end of Jeremiah lamentation comes between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. But it's just a good way to find your way. But reading from Jeremiah chapter 32 and this is our fourth part of a heart after God or what does a heart look like that's after God or that is like God.

You'll remember last week we dealt in part three with a humble heart. And I want to tell you if you could listen to an entire message on a humble heart and yet you yourself go away and say, hey I'm in the clear, I'm fine, I have a humble heart.

Do you know you can be proud of being humble? You can pride yourself that there's no pride in your heart. And in being proud of your humility you actually prove that you are a very proud person. And I want to show you these things, I am not exempt from this, you are not.

I actually believe last week in dealing with a humble heart, none of you are exempt. I'm not exempt. And if you can't find pride there somewhere, chances are you haven't sat before God and you haven't allowed the word of God to search you.

Do you know these messages, what they do to me before I preach them? Do you know where it puts me before God? Many years ago Brother Clendon was just about 80 years old and he phoned me this day and he said, son, you pray for me.

He said, God is shutting me down and it turned out to be for a three month period. And he said to me, and this is what he said on the phone to me, he said, God has told me, this is the reason I'm shutting you down, is because I am about to show you how much pride is in your heart, Brother Clendon.

And he's telling me on the phone and I go, God help me, because this man is the most humble man that I know. And yet he's saying at the peak, the height of his ministry in around 80 years old, that God is shutting himself, shutting him down and is going to go much deeper in his heart to reveal areas of pride where he never thought it was.

Do you realize you can be unconscious of things that are there and we're not to go delving into all of that or trying to find it, but when the spirit of God wants to take you deeper with him, I assure you, he will find things where you don't even know they are within your own heart.

Jeremiah’s Promise of a God-Fearing Heart

But going to part four here, this morning, a God-fearing heart, a God-fearing heart. Jeremiah chapter 32, and I want to read from verse 38 here this morning to verse 41. Verse 38 to verse 41, Jeremiah 32 verse 38, and they shall be my people and I will be their God and I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and for their children after them.

And I will make an everlasting covenant with them and I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul, saith the Lord.

Can we pray together this morning? Father, I thank you for the word of God. We thank you that our God is an awesome God. He's a terrible God. He's a magnificent God. Lord God, you are high above the heavens and Lord God, no temple could house you.

If the very heavens are your throne and the very earth is your footstool, who can build you a house or a church or a denomination or a movement or an association that you would want to be a part of? All these things cannot contain you, but to this man and this woman you look, you're drawn and you keep your eye upon.

That man who's of a broken and contrite heart, that man that is of a humble spirit and that man that trembles at your word, show us what the true meaning of the fear of the Lord is this morning. Restore the fear of God to your church again.

Have mercy upon us in this generation. Forgive us for our carelessness and our lightness, Lord God, and our desire for grace and goodness and blessing, and yet we have not pursued or chosen the fear of the Lord.

Lord God, we've been so deaf to hear the teaching of the fear of God, and yet we wanted to know about security and blessing and what we could get out of this, yet we never presented you the fear of the Lord.

Lord God, I thank you for the promise and the provision of your covenant with us, with me, that you would so put your fear within my heart. You promised, you've made a covenant that you'd deposit this fear within my heart that I would not depart from you and that you wouldn't turn from doing good towards me.

Lord God, thank you for such a relationship where you put this fear within us to keep us from sin and from backsliding and from apostasy and from apathy and from carelessness and from disobedience. Lord God, we ask right now through your word, teach us the fear of God, that we might choose the fear of God, that you might bless us mightily this morning in Jesus' mighty name, amen.

Thank you, God. My message of God-fearing heart, we've looked at a broken and contrite heart, then we looked last week at a humble heart, now we're going to look at a God-fearing heart. All of these are aspects of one heart, a united heart, the heart that is after God, or the heart that God actually looks for in the midst of his people.

The Fear of God Throughout Scripture

We read in 1 Peter 2 and 17, this great apostle in the New Testament under the covenant of grace, what does he say? Fear God. There are those in the church who think fearing God is an Old Testament concept, or to fear God is for a sinner who is living in sin.

But the Bible teaches from cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, that you and I ought to fear God. It says in Psalm 147 and verse 11, the Lord taketh pleasure in them. In who? That fear him. He takes pleasure in them.

He has no pleasure in someone who doesn't fear him. You say, I'm not going to spend time this morning explaining that many times the Bible says, God doesn't want you to fear, fear not. There are hundreds of times we're told, do not fear.

But that's in relation to things around you. The future, our crisis, our trouble, our lack of finance. So there is an entire teaching in the Bible where we say that God does not want you to fear. And that's very true.

But if you stop there and don't know anything else, you're making a big mistake. God doesn't want you to fear about tomorrow. God doesn't want you to fear the future. God doesn't want you to fear evil men.

God doesn't want you to fear about finance and how you're going to feed your family. But don't miss the point here. There is a fear that you're commanded to have that actually is a good thing, not a negative thing.

It is a remarkable thing. And in fact, if you have a heart for God, you have this heart and it's called the fear of God or having the fear of God. And Ephesians chapter 5, 21 written by an apostle to a, the best of New Testament churches under grace.

And you have to say that today because the church is so messed up on law and grace. They're confused. They're actually go to an extreme of law or an extreme of grace. They don't even understand this anymore.

Ephesians 5, 21. As we dealt with last week on submitting yourself, submitting yourselves to one another. How? In the fear of God. Or what about Hebrews chapter 5? You'll be shocked how much the Bible talks about the fear of God.

It is everywhere. If you don't know this, you actually have only read the Bible shallowly because it is everywhere. What about Hebrews chapter 5, verse 7? Talking about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears unto him that is able to save him from death.

And he was heard. Jesus was heard that he, and was heard in that he feared. Do you know why God the Father heard Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and spoke to him? Do you know why? Because he feared.

He didn't fear the cross. No, he didn't fear that. He didn't fear what evil men are going to do. He didn't fear that. He didn't fear what tomorrow held. No, he didn't fear that. But do you know what he did fear?

He feared his Father in heaven. He feared. He prayed in the fear of God. And therefore the Father heard him and answered him and spoke to him. Do you realize the fear of God is all through the Bible? But what does the fear of God mean?

Some people have taken the fear of God and they've so taken it apart they've destroyed it. And they said, oh, the fear of God doesn't mean you tremble before God or that you're scared of God. It doesn't mean that.

Preachers have taught that all through my lifetime. And you know what? You can't find the fear of God in the church anymore. They don't preach on the fear of God anymore in the church. And the Christians don't even see it in the Bible that they read.

They're ignorant of it. And here they are. They're callous and they're careless and they're light and they're laughing and they're joking. And there's no fear of God anymore. Because the preachers don't know about the fear of God.

How do we find the fear of God? Well, remember what Jesus taught. And his words ought to carry weight in the church, shouldn't they? Remember how he said, don't fear him that can destroy the body or kill you.

Don't fear him. Wouldn't you think that's the ultimate fear that someone can take away my life? Isn't that the ultimate fear? Jesus says, don't fear that. He says, but fear him. It's a command. It's a teaching.

You are to fear someone. You're to fear him that can take your body and your soul and cast it into hell. Cast you into hell. Not just soul, body and soul. You better fear God. Jesus taught that you ought to fear God.

And so we see the entire Bible teaches the fear of God. Some people said it's just a respect. No, you ought to tremble in the presence of God. If you've never trembled under preaching, I'm really concerned about you.

If you've never been alone with God at some point in your Christian walk, and I mean being alone as present and never trembled, I'd be very concerned about you. Because actually this is one of the things the Bible speaks about.

But it's not just a fear of hell. Don't think that. Do you realize the fear of God where you get it strong in a Christian? You get the love of God very strong in the same person. Those who love God most actually fear God most.

Those who have most of the joy of God have most of the fear of God. Those throughout church history who have been used the most and have had the closest walks with God have had most of the fear of God.

But it's not only a fear of hell. It's a fear of displeasing God, disobeying God, of sinning against God, of acting in a way that isn't a desire unto God. And so we see the fear of God. It means to be in awe.

You know, some society at some point, maybe American, they took the word awe, that's a good word, and they turned it into awesome. New haircut, awesome. Nice coat, awesome. Do you know they just destroyed a powerful word?

The word awe means to be in absolute bedazzled amazement. You're in awe of God. You're meant to be in awe of God. That's the fear of God. The fear of God is being in awe of God. To have reverence of God.

You, in other words, you're careful about everything. If you reverence God, you're careful about absolutely everything. That means to have a respect. You care about what God thinks. You know, in this generation, they say, we shouldn't care about what anyone thinks.

I'm under grace. I'm not under the law. I can do anything. I'm not going to walk on eggshells for you. You're better for God. You better break all the eggs. I had a pastor in Germany once ask me, well, do you know, I want to be careful in this.

I says, break all the eggs, but do the will of God. That's what you need to do. And so we see that the fear of God is an attitude towards God that is very, very real. I want to give you four points here this morning concerning this heart that is a God fearing heart.

And we have it here in Jeremiah 39. I will put my fear in your heart. Sorry, Jeremiah 32. I will put my fear in your heart. God wants every Christian, everyone who walks with them to have a heart that fears him.

This is elementary. This is basic. This is ABC. This is basic Christianity. That God wants us to have a God fearing heart. If you don't, why not? And I'll tell you what, if you don't have a God fearing heart, it'll reflect in your words, your actions, your thoughts, your attitudes, your deeds.

It will be very, very obvious that you do not fear God. And I've met preachers and Christians all through the years, the actions and what they done. I went, they cannot fear God. They cannot fear God.

They preach about it. I've met men who preached on the fear of God, but when you seen their actions, you go, they do not fear God because fear in God is not a message. It is a heart. It is a heart attitude.

And so here, let me give you my four points. Number one, the new covenant and the fear of God. The new covenant and the fear of God. I want to show you how the new covenant is connected to the fear of God.

The New Covenant and the Fear of God

Now look with me in Jeremiah chapter 32 again. It is speaking here about the fear of God. It is very clear that this is what God actually wants of us. He is looking for this. He is seeking after it. Now in the previous chapter in Jeremiah 31 verse 31, look what God says.

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. Notice that Israel and the Old Testament were in a different covenant. God here is speaking and saying, I'm going to make a new covenant with you.

A day is coming. You, Israel, you're in an old covenant at the minute. You're in a covenant of law. The 10 commandments, all the Levitical institution. You are in a covenant. Remember what that covenant is?

If you do all these things, you'll live. Try to be moral and good. What covenant are you in this morning in your relationship with God? You know, many people in the church, they're in an old covenant with God.

In their mind, they say, well, and lots of sinners out in Limerick today, religious people. You know what? They're in the old covenant, not in the new covenant. And seeing that old covenant, they say, oh, well, you just keep the 10 commandments and you try to be good and that might get you to heaven.

You know what? You're in a covenant of law. You're in the old covenant. That old covenant was given by Moses and it was in the Old Testament and it wasn't sufficient. And so here in Jeremiah 31, we see God saying, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Not according to the covenant that I made them with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break. Though I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord.

So notice this, God has taught about two different covenants. The old covenant, and he calls it the old one. He said, that's a covenant that brought them out of Egypt. That's the covenant. And he said, it's my covenant.

I gave it to Israel and I was a husband unto him. But that is the old covenant. But I'm going to make a new covenant with you. Which covenant are you in? Which covenant are you under? Because see in the old covenant, you can be scared of God and go, I don't want to go to hell.

You know that you're a sinner. You know that you disobey God and you're scared and you're going, Oh God, I do believe in you. I hope I'll be okay. But you know what? There's no power to change your life.

You live in disobedience and your own heart condemns you. And you're going, I'm really in trouble before God. I know I'm in trouble before God. That's the old covenant. And there's so much religion in this city of Limerick.

It's the old covenant. Oh, you've got to be moral and keep the commandments. That's not the gospel. That's not the new covenant of grace. And so Jeremiah deals with this. Do you realize this point concerning the new covenant is radical?

It says in chapter 31, 33, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God.

And they shall be my people and they shall teach no more. Every man is neighbor and every man is brother saying, know the Lord for they shall know me and the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.

Notice here in the new covenant, the new covenant has to do with the heart. I'm going to give you a heart. I'll write my word in your heart. I'll change your heart. In the new covenant, God doesn't just tell you be moral, be good, keep commandments and then you find yourself failing.

He says, I'm going to put my word right in your heart. I'm going to change your heart. I'm going to give you a new heart. You know, in the old covenant, the covenant of Moses and you know, sweeping the church at the minute and I got an email last night from a lady and she said, there's a mature lady and she says, I'm listening this new teaching about going back to your Hebrew roots.

I've dealt with this so many times over the years and going back to Hebraic Christianity. There's an element of truth in that and yet it's so dangerous because you've got all the church going, we need to go back to Moses and we need to go back to the 10 commandments and we need to go back to the seventh day Sabbath and we need to keep all the festivals and all the dates.

I thought Paul said all the festivals were shadows concerning the person of Christ. I thought all of them had been done away with. I thought they were just pointing forth to Jesus when he would come as the Messiah and we've got a movement and it's building and it's building and it's building and it's getting stronger and they're all saying, but it says it in the law, we're meant to keep the Sabbath and it says in the law, we need to do this and it says in the law, do you realise what covenant?

This scripture makes it very clear. There's two covenants. The covenant of Moses is not the same as the new covenant. The new covenant is radically different. You are going to know me. I will forgive your sins.

I will put my word within your heart. But notice here what it says in Jeremiah 32, our text here this morning. It says in verse 40, and I will make an everlasting covenant. What is the new covenant? It's an everlasting covenant.

The covenant connected to God, not you. God putting his fear in your heart is the everlasting covenant. If it's an everlasting covenant, listen to this, it had no beginning and it has no end. The covenant of law had a beginning and it had an end and I can show you it in the Bible when they come out of Egypt and when Jesus died on the cross, I can give you its beginning and its end.

But this is talking about an everlasting covenant. The covenant that was established at the cross had no beginning. It didn't begin at the cross, it was everlasting. That's why in the Old Testament, King David said concerning being an everlasting covenant, Noah was in the everlasting covenant, Abraham was in the everlasting covenant, so was Isaac, so was Jacob.

Do you realize that all through the Bible, you've got grace and law flowing. These two covenants don't just, it's not the old covenant law in the Old Testament and it's a new covenant and the new, oh no, these flow all through scripture with Cain and Abel.

Cain was very religious. He believed in God. He worshipped God in his own way, just adjusted it slightly. Don't need that blood. Don't need washed in the blood of the lamb. I bring good works. God, I've worked very hard for you.

I'm very religious. I'm a man of prayer and God didn't send any fire and accept his good works. And you know what? He got very angry. Did he get angry at God? No, he got angry at poor Abel. Go, I hate you.

I hate you. I'll kill you. Isn't that amazing? God will not accept Cain's religion and what does he do? He gets angry at someone who does get accepted by God because of the blood. All through the church, we've got a movement.

We need to go back to the law. No, we don't. We need to go back to Moses. No, we don't. We need to go back to the seventh day Sabbath. No, we do not. And I could keep you here just on that one thing. But it says here in our context, I will make, the word make means to cut in the Hebrew.

I will cut through a blood sacrifice an everlasting covenant with them and I will not turn away from them. What does law look like? You didn't keep it. You turned away and I turned away from you. That's law.

But the new covenant is, I'm not gonna turn away from you. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will put my fear within your hearts. Do you know how you know the new covenant? The everlasting covenant, the new covenant, it's everlasting.

That means it's grace. It's all grace. This is a covenant of grace, not of law, not of good works. It's established on better promises. And do you know what? In this covenant, he actually says, I will put my fear within your hearts.

That tells me that anyone under grace, in grace, in the new covenant, under the covenant of grace, there's a mark on their life. They fear God. All those Christians in this hour who say, I'm under grace and they have a light view of sin and they don't tremble before God and they're not there saying, oh God, deal with my heart and make me holy.

Do you know what they're telling me? They're not under the new covenant because in the new covenant, God says, if you get into this covenant, I'm gonna put my law in your heart and I'm gonna put my fear in your heart.

It says in Hebrews 8, verse 13, in that he saith a new covenant, he has made the first one old. Why would you go after an old car when someone's offering you a new car? You'd be mad. And yet in the churches, people say, but we want the old.

The old is better. Not according to Jesus when he's dealing with the old wine skin and the new wine skin. Those that have got used to the old wine skin, they don't want the new. And those who are used to the old wine, they don't want the new wine.

There's a lot in the church like that. They're an old wine skin. And they're going back to their Hebraic roots. What a disaster. He says, the old has become old. The first has become old. Now that which decayeth and waxes old is ready to vanish away.

Galatians chapter four, verse four. Speaking about two women, the apostle Paul reaches into the Old Testament. He takes Sarah and he takes Hagar. Sarah was the real wife of Abraham in covenant with God.

Hagar was the servant, the slave. Sarah couldn't have children. So she goes, ha ha, I've got a good idea. I can't have children. I'm too old and God's made this promise. I've got a way we can do this.

Why don't you sleep with my slave and the child will be mine? People still do it in the church. I've got a good idea. Does it disobey God? You'll get burnt bad. You can't disobey God and be fine, never.

You're heading for disaster. If you know the word of God and you don't do it, you are in serious trouble. And so Sarah and Abraham go along with this. And Hagar is born. Paul in Galatians four, he reaches back into the Old Testament and he takes these two ladies and you know what he says about them?

He said, these two ladies, says it in Galatians chapter four, verse four, which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants. Do you see Paul speaking to the church? He talks about two covenants.

There's churches right now are going in under the old covenant. There's two covenants the Bible speaks about and you're in one or you're another. What is an allegory? It's a story with a hidden meaning.

It's an illustration. So these two women, they're examples. Which covenant are you under? Hagar or Sarah, two covenants. I'm speaking about two covenants, the old and the new. The mark of the new covenant is God puts his fear within your heart.

It says in Psalm 25, verse 14, the secret of the Lord. Notice this, the word secret there means the secret communion with the most high God. We've studied this word before the secret of the Lord. And it's actually speaking about that communion between the Godhead, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

That is the secret of the Lord. It is the private council chamber of God. It's fellowship where they love each other and they talk together and they live together. And you know what he says? The secret of the Lord is with them who fear him.

Do you realize as a Christian, you're invited to know the secret of the Lord. Job, you know what it says about Job? He knew the secret of the Lord. Why do you think Job knew the secret of the Lord? Says the secret of the Lord was upon me.

In other words, he had access into this communion of the Godhead, this place of special fellowship and love. Job actually got access into it and he heard the communications. So did King David. Remember he said, my Lord said to my Lord.

How did he get access into that conversation between God the Father and God the Son? How did David get there? It was the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord opens up a beautiful communion. See how important the fear of God is connected to the new covenant.

And if you don't fear God, you don't know grace. Do you hear me this morning? And to the degree you fear God is the amount of grace in your life. You see in the church of our day and we met them in Limerick and other places and I've known preachers and they don't fear God.

And they say, we believe in grace. We preach grace. We're a grace church. We're under grace. And if I don't see the fear of God, do you know what I know? That grace that you're talking about is pure deception and lie.

You think the grace of God has set you free from the fear of God. Whenever the fear of God is the mark of a person under grace, the more grace you receive. Remember last week we said, God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble.

When you humble yourself under God, grace, abundant grace comes into your life. You know, as a Christian, you can be all dried up like a prune and you can be there struggling and failing, not able to obey God.

Do you know why? God is resisting you because of your hard attitude. If you humbled yourself, God would give you bountiful supplies of grace and all of a sudden you'd be able to obey him and love him and fear him and do the will of God.

The grace of God will make you to fear God and the fear of God will make you to walk in the grace of God. That's my first point from this text. We want to understand what a heart for God looks like. If you're in this covenant, he says, I will put my fear in your heart.

If you don't tremble over the word of God, if you don't tremble when you're alone in the presence of God, it's because of this issue of the fear of God. You're misunderstanding something. My second point, the goodness of God and the fear of God.

The Goodness of God and the Fear of God

I'm going to communicate something of what the fear of God is here. So we see it comes to you in the covenant of grace. It's what he wants your heart to be. But the goodness of God and the fear of God, listen to what it says in Psalm 31 verse 19.

Oh, how great is thy goodness. Do you know how good God is? See, some people are scared of God to say he's a God of wrath and a God of judgment and he hates sin and he's after me and he wants to destroy me.

Oh no, the Bible says, oh, how great is thy goodness. I actually believe, and I felt touches of it this week. I actually believe we don't really know how good he is. As a mature Christian this week, I'm going, I actually think I'm very blind and ignorant to the goodness of God.

He is so good that I can't even fathom it. And so it says in Psalm 31, oh, how great is thy goodness, O God, which thou has laid up. He's put it out. He's stored up. He says, you know what? Your little cup is so small.

Your faith is so small. I have to keep storing it up for you. And you can't imagine how much goodness. Man, it's like a mighty dam. If it ever busts, you're in trouble. The goodness of God will drench you.

You won't even know whether you're coming or going. And so it says his goodness is so great that he stores it up. I wonder how he stores the goodness of God up for. Do you want God to store his goodness up for you like that?

Remember for some of your children, my dad started putting away a bit of money every month for me. And I didn't know about it. He never told me. And he'd done this because he's thinking of my future. So every month when he worked and he would put that aside.

And when at the age of 21, Keith will get that money. He wasn't alive then when I come to get it. He was gone. He was with the Lord. And he was putting it away for me. And I didn't know about it. And there was one day I got a letter saying, this money is yours.

Oh no, there must be a mistake. No, it's for you. Daddy was storing it up for you. Do you know God the Father is storing goodness up for you that you don't even comprehend? You go, he's not hearing me and my prayers and nothing's happening.

And he hasn't answered that desire. And nothing seems to change and nothing's going on. And you're there like Jacob going, all these things are against me. Oh no, Joseph's time there. He is second to Pharaoh.

You can't even imagine all the goodness that God has stored up for you. And I know you don't seem to be experiencing yet, but it's for those that fear him. Do you fear God this morning? I mean, do you tremble before him?

Do you respect him? Are you in awe of him? Do you have a heart that says, I fear you God? Because if you fear God, I don't care what your life looks like or your circumstance. God says, right now, I'm storing up goodness for you.

Lots of goodness. You can't even fathom that, which thou has wrought for them that trust thee before the sons of men. In Hosea chapter three and five, talking about Israel. He says, you're gonna go into a period where there's no priest and there's no king.

And there's none of the ritual of Israel. You're gonna lose everything, no temple. But he says, a day is coming for you, Israel. And this is Hosea three and five. Afterward, after that long period where you have no king, that's the period they've been in for 2000 years, isn't it?

No king, no Urim or Thurim, none of that. It says, but afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their king and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.

This first shows me that Israel's gonna return to God in the last days. Israel hasn't returned yet. They haven't entered into the new covenant yet. God has put them back in the land, restored them militarily, politically, socially, restored their language, even their ancient religion, but they haven't entered the new covenant.