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Sunnyside Baptist Church Michael Dirrim
We are going to return to our last week on this study of fear, a biblical practical study. We are picking up on our outline from last week, where we have begun to talk about the gracious character of fearing the Lord, followed up by the godly cultivation of fearing the Lord.
In our study, we have done our best to understand a definition of fear from the Bible. We see fear expressed in the Bible in terms of fearing man, fearing death, or fearing the Lord. Fear is far more talked about in the Bible than even such things as faith and love and hope.
Fear is central to the human experience. Made in God's image, the worship switch is hardwired on, and fear is a significant portion of what we worship. What captivates us, what arrests our attention, what we believe to be the most weighty aspects of our lives that captivate our attention, this is what we fear.
And we have thought about various expressions of fear in the Scripture and seen that it impacts our inner man and our outer man, that there are involuntary and voluntary responses to fear. We've seen that fear affects our heart, soul, mind, and will, and we have done our best to understand and to identify where the fear of man and the fear of death have a controlling stake in our personal lives and in the culture around us.
I think we've seen just how prevailing fear is, and I think we've seen the good and the blessing of the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of knowledge, the beginning of understanding.
To fear the Lord is to depart from evil, the fear of the Lord is life and health, and so we've seen the blessing of the fear of the Lord, which simply means to think of Him first and to think of Him most, to reorient everything that we're thinking about, feeling, the information that comes into our lives, we're just putting into orbit around God.
His light shines on it, shows us what it really is, and everything is oriented around His significance, His power, His authority, His meaning. And we're wrapping up our study by, first of all, considering the gracious character of fearing the Lord as the calling from God upon our lives to fear Him, to encourage one another to fear Him, and yet we also recognize that the fear of the Lord is the grace of God, a particular blessing even of the New Covenant, that every member of the New Covenant fears Him because they all know Him, we all know Him, and the Holy Spirit is at work in each one of our lives.
But now we turn our attention to the second half of the outline tonight, the godly cultivation of fearing the Lord. Having seen the dangers, the snare of the fear of man, the slavery of the fear of death, having seen the good and the virtue of fearing the Lord, we need to cultivate the fear of the Lord in our lives.
It is the grace of God, and we should desire it more, we should develop it more, we should seek that the fear of the Lord be the controlling factor in every aspect of our lives. So how do we cultivate the fear of the Lord?
Well, let's look in Proverbs chapter 2, and it's interesting, you wouldn't necessarily think that Proverbs is the place to go to to learn about prayer, and yet we have an interesting passage here in chapter 2 of Proverbs, expression of the fear of the Lord, and let's see what it says.
Proverbs chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding, yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
We're looking here, and it talks about crying out for discernment, lifting up one's voice for understanding. This request is not being made of the public domain. This request is being made of the one who is the source of all wisdom.
Indeed, as we reflect upon the testimony of the New Testament, that all the wisdom and understanding of God is stored up and treasured in Christ. What does James tell us about our need for wisdom? Any of you lack wisdom?
Ask of God, ask in faith, who gives to all liberally, he's generous. Ask of the Lord, cry out for wisdom, and then you will understand the fear of the Lord. Why? We've already been told. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
The beginning of wisdom is thinking of God first and thinking of him most, seeing how everything in the world is seen in his light and is oriented according to who he is and what he has said. So the very first way to cultivate the fear of the Lord in your life is to ask, is to pray.
After all, if it indeed is the grace of God, who else will we go to? Ask the Lord that he would help you fear him. It is at the center of so many blessings in our life, so we should ask for it. And in the praying of it, what are we doing?
We are saying, you have what we need, we need to fear you, we shouldn't be fearing man, we shouldn't be fearing God. How often do I fall into the fear of man? How often do I fall into the fear of God?
Do about that. I should look to my heavenly Father, he would give me the proper fear of man. Another way to cultivate the fear of the Lord in a godly fashion, in a God-word fashion, is that of repentance.
So we're looking at a couple of places here. First of all, briefly in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, and then we'll come back near Proverbs to Ecclesiastes. But in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, we're going to back up there to chapter 6, an admonition about holiness.
Let's begin in verse 11 of chapter 6. O Corinthians, we have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. Now in return for the same, I speak as to children, you also be open.
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? What part has a believer with an unbeliever?
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people.
Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Almighty.
So you see how in the process of what Paul writes in the second half of 2 Corinthians 6, he says you are not to be controlled by unholiness. You are not to be in a controlling relationship where you are partnered with, linked up to unbelievers, the wicked, the sons of Belial, so connected.
Indeed, rather than rely upon man, rather than fear man, where should our thoughts be? Consider the Lord that he is a father to us. Consider that he owns us as his sons and his daughters. Consider that he is the Lord Almighty.
See where the focus turns from some sort of dependent, connected relationship with wicked men to dependence upon and focus on. Verse 1 of chapter 7, therefore, so now Paul drives the point home, therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
So there is a call to repentance here at the end of 2 Corinthians 6, come out from among them, turn away from defiling relationships and rather trust in the Lord. And Paul describes this as perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Sometimes it can become perhaps overwhelming if you are reading through Leviticus and going through the Holiness Code or even going and reading in the New Testament and perhaps the Apostle Paul lays on one of those lists on top of you.
All these bad, all these good. How do we understand that? One simplifying way to understand that is holiness is perfected in the fear of the Lord. As we turn our attention to the Lord, to think of him first and to think of him most, being Godward in our thinking, Godward in our affections, our lives follow suit and become Godward, in other words, Godly.
And it is simply a matter of being him and following him and he purifies us and cleans us up. Let's consider Ecclesiastes chapter 5. Again, perhaps not a passage that we, or a book that we would go to talk about repentance, but Ecclesiastes chapter 5.
Ecclesiastes is a great book to deal with what really matters, a book that really breaks things down to say what's worthwhile, what really has value, what is long lasting, where is the meaning. And more than once, more than once the conclusion comes, it is indeed the fear of the Lord.
So, in Ecclesiastes 5, in verses 2 through 6, there is a talk about not being rash with what you say. And if you make vows, don't lie about the fact that you made them. And dealing with, dealing with the temptation to say things in the presence of others to impress them, but then denying God what you promised him, right?
And there is a fear of man rather than a fear of the Lord. And so, here is, here is wisdom. We'll begin in verse 6. Let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error.
Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? And here is verse 7. For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity, but fear God. Somebody who dreams a lot and talks a lot, you can be sure there is a bunch of emptiness and uselessness in there.
Big talk, right? There is a lot of vanity in big talk, Solomon is saying. Here is the essence of it, here is the point of it, but fear God, right? Don't use big talk. Fear God. There is a difference. Big talk is very impressive to people.
But if you are, if you are doing that, then you are thinking of man first. You are thinking of man most. I want them to think well of me, to listen to my big talk and be impressed. The opposite of that is the fear of God.
Jesus said much the same thing in Matthew chapter 6, right? Don't let your piety be primarily public. Where you are giving and you are fasting and you are praying is all for show. But what does he say?
Closet yourself away, do it secretly, do it so only God knows. That is an expression of fearing the Lord. So it is a call to repentance, a change. Cultivate the fear of the Lord, we should ask the Lord for it, we should pray for it, we should also repent from empty words or vain connections and rather think of God first and think of him most.
Another way to cultivate is by praising him. By praising him. This is why it is important what we sing and how we talk. We don't want to come together as a church and sing songs all about how God is into elevating my feelings about me.
That is praise but it ain't going the right direction. We want to praise the Lord to rejoice in who he is and what he has done and not only that in song together but in song in private and as we give honor to God and to put it in more common terminology to brag about God.
To boast in the Lord. The Bible doesn't say never boast, the Bible says boast in the Lord. Go on and on. I figure it is okay if grandparents do that about grandkids. But the main thing is to boast in the Lord.
To brag about the Lord, how good he is. Look at Psalm 64, even in the context of God judging the wicked and chastising mankind. Verse 9, all men shall fear, here is the good result of the judgment of God, all men shall fear and shall declare the work of God for they shall wisely consider his doing.
Whereas before the wicked, the evil, those who would make a name for themselves like the builders of the tower of Babel. When judgment comes, when God frustrates the plans of men, when he brings them low, when he humbles the pride of men, what is the outcome?
What is the goal? That men should fear God. Not fear each other, not to fear death, but to fear God. And what does it look like when men fear God, they declare the work of God. They stop saying, mother nature did it.
They stop saying, oh mother nature, she is angry. They stop saying the Russians did it. A lot of people worship the Russians today. All they talk about are Russians. They fear the Russians and they worship the Russians.
They fear mother nature and they worship mother nature. They fear the boogeyman and talk about the boogeyman. But the outcome of the judgments of God is that we would fear him and that we would declare his work.
God did it. The Lord did it. He is sovereign over all things. It is the reign of Christ that he would take his rod of iron and smash the pottery of the nations. We should declare the work of God. Notice that they wisely consider his doing.
Well, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of warfare in some terms. My life is nothing more than the clinking of the fall of dominoes. Rather than live and think about our lives and consider the condition of the world in that way, we should declare the work of God and wisely consider his doing.
What is the Lord doing? Let's praise him. And we should be full of thanksgiving. Let's look over in Jeremiah chapter 5. In Jeremiah 5, we have a word of the Lord against the character and the spiritual condition of Israel.
What is their problem? What is a symptom of their unfaithfulness? We can go back up to verse 20 of Jeremiah 5. Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, Hear this now, O foolish people.
Remember what the fool has said in his heart? There is no God. Total lack of the fear of the Lord, right? Understanding who have eyes. How do you end up with eyes that don't see and ears that don't hear?
You worship idols that have eyes that don't see. You worship idols that have ears that do not hear, and those who worship them become like them. Verse 22, a question. Do you not fear me, says the Lord?
Will you not tremble at my presence? Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail. Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart. They have revolted and departed. Notice how this rebellion and this lack of the fear of God is described in verse 24. They do not say in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season.
He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest. So you see how the fear of the Lord is immediately connected with acknowledging God as the one who gives the rain in the harvest. It's been a long time since this people had done something so basic as, Thank you God for our food.
Thank you God for the rain. Isn't that childish? Yes, that's the, of such is the kingdom of heaven. Thank you God for our food. Thank you God for the rain. Thank you God for the birds that sing. We could use a lot of that in our lives.
That's, hey, that's the fear of the Lord. That glorifies God. Thanksgiving is a way to cultivate the fear of the Lord. I love our corporate spiritual discipline of thanking God every Sunday night. What are we thankful for?
The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 to be thankful in all things. This is a spiritual discipline that we are to be continually thinking about the Lord first and the Lord most, that we may identify how the Lord is working in our lives, that we may give him praise by thanking him for this, and thanking him for this, and thanking him for this.
That is a way to cultivate the fear of God in our lives. And when we do that in our private worship, if that is the condition of our heart in private, then it will be ready in our lips to share with others more than complaints.
Now, the last way of cultivating the fear of the Lord is simply by learning, learning. It is indeed wonderful to, let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 28, and then we're also going to look at chapter 17, but it is wonderful to thank God for our food, to thank God for the rain, to thank God for the birds that sing.
But, of course, that's not the only things we can thank him for. The Lord's work is far more than just those things. Far more than, shall we say, the low-hanging fruit that knocks us on the head for which we can thank him.
There are riches of his wisdom and glory that are hidden deeply. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of a king to dig it out, to find it, to reveal it. So there is a call to learn, to grow in our understanding of God.
We may continually think of him, to know him better. So learning is important in cultivating the fear of the Lord. So in Deuteronomy chapter 28, in verse 58, in the middle of a lot of different curses and warnings and so on, there is this verse that gives a positive instruction in a way.
Moses says to this second generation, as they are encamped in the Acacia Grove, just on the other side of the Jordan, in the shadow of Mount Peor, he says, if you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God.
If you don't do that, then the plagues will come, the curses will come, because you're going to be living in folly and rebellion. What is necessary, Moses is saying, is that you carefully observe the words of scripture.
Carefully observe the words of God. There were many in Jesus' day who had observed the words of God, but they had not carefully observe the words of God, for Jesus was often saying, have you not read?
So not merely observation, but careful observation. The goal would be that they would fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God. Another example calling for learning, for careful observation, for study and growth and understanding, is in Deuteronomy chapter 17 and in verse 19.
God knew that his people would seek a king for themselves, and in his plan, he was going to provide a king for them, and he had some restrictions, some rules, some gating, his authority. He says that the king, the king is to have a copy of God's word for himself.
Verse 18 of Deuteronomy 17 says, also it shall be when he sits on the throne of his king for himself a copy of this law in a book, a personal copy of scripture. Why is that? He's going to write for himself a copy of this law in a book from the one before the priests the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life.
Kind of sounds like Psalm 1, right? Abiding in the word of God. Now notice, he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.
So, by reading the word of God, by carefully observing the words of God in the holy scriptures, this would teach him, he would learn thereby to fear the Lord his God. So we see that learning, particularly studying of the word of God, carefully observing the scriptures, is a godly way to cultivate the fear of the Lord.
To learn more and more about the one who has made us, the one who has saved us. Alright, well, to wrap up, two different forms of feedback, I guess. You can comment, and it may be encouraging to folks.
First, what has been the most helpful aspect of our study for you, and the time that we've had in this topic. The second thing is, if you've had some questions about how to identify fear, whether the fear of man, the fear of death, or the fear of the Lord, or how to really apply that in your life, now is the time.
We're not going to have Sunday night church next week. And then after that, I'm going to be transitioning my Gospel of Luke study from Wednesday night to Sunday night. So this is it. Or you can submit your questions to the podcast that we'll start back up after a while.
Yes? Anybody else? Yes?
Doris, I think you had your hand up as well. Yes. Since you had started this, I made the scriptures, and really take notice of what's before it and what's afterwards, and what the truth is for me to learn through it.
And I just appreciate it. I'm thankful for this cultivation of fearing the Lord. That's a path that we can never tire of.
It's real simple. I can remember the moment it happened up here in Oklahoma, that I finally realized he was really the boss. Yeah. You know? And I said, I tried to serve you when I was young. It didn't work.
I rebelled for years, and it didn't work. I tried to serve you again about a year, and it's still not working. And so at this point, heaven's known, it's going to be your doing. I'm turning it all over to you.
It's all your business. I belong to you. Kill me right here if you want to. Make me more famous than Billy Graham. I don't care what you do, you're doing it. You're in charge.
And I've got to change my mind. Yeah. It's a good expression of the fear of God. Yes?
Yeah, that's right. Yes? I think it's really interesting that we're going to fear. Mm-hmm. Period. Yeah. I have fear. So in all the things I see around me that, you know, I think you can fear God, or you can just fear everything else.
Yeah. It's, yeah. That switch is hardwired on, you know? But we are responsible for what direction it takes. And we can't ever stop that. Somebody who says, you know, I'm not afraid of anything, I don't fear anything, is deceiving themselves, and is deceived.
There's always a kind of fear in operation, and that's why the Lord compels us to fear Him. All right. Well, let's close by singing the doxology, and then after that, I believe a truth group has a function.
So, let's sing together.
