In this sermon, the preacher discusses the awe and fear that comes when we realize who we are dealing with in God. He highlights a passage from Revelation 14 where an angel is seen preaching the everlasting gospel to all people on earth. The preacher emphasizes that this is a unique occurrence as angels typically do not preach the gospel. The sermon then delves into the importance of fearing God and the significance of remembering the day we stood before Him. The preacher also emphasizes that the motive for fearing God is His forgiveness, as highlighted in Psalm 130:4. Overall, the sermon encourages listeners to fear and serve God wholeheartedly, considering the great things He has done for them.

I wonder if you've ever been in a meeting, like we sang earlier, when that song All Rise and the presence of the Holy One, if you've ever been in a meeting with a group of men in prayer or just with two or three alone just talking or maybe in a room just fellowshipping and all of a sudden you're so aware of the presence of God. It's just like an invasion of His presence. It's just a strange something comes over the group and there's an unmistakable holy hush, almost an embarrassing silence, a sense of awe and what happens when that takes place? What happens? I mean, people get up and start singing these little gay little happy little songs. Not necessarily. I'll tell you, the times that that's happened to me, I remember us all just stretching out on the floor and sheer silence laying before God and then abandonment coming to hearts and unashamed worship and a sense of awe and freedom and release and it's those moments you can't capture and you certainly can't counterfeit true amazement. Well, that's kind of what the Lord wants us to live in moment by moment and too bad they're seasonal. And that's what I want to talk about this session this morning. We started last night with setting before us the true nature of God's love toward us and its greatness in the Father's love unconditionally toward his own creation, his plan. Then we talked about being sensitive to him, knowing what he wants in his calling for us, his leading and our ongoing experience of walking with him and being sensitive as we remain on this earth to the will of God, to the way of God, to the work of God and to the people of God. Now, there's a word for all that summed up in Scripture, and it's spoken of more than even the love of God in the Scripture, believe it or not. And it's what God wants for you and me. Did you know that this truth has has an effect on the heart that once you see it, I promise you, it'll grip your heart and you can't get away from it. I've been meditating in this for about two months. I tried to think on other things, but I just can't. I wake up in the night thinking, thinking about it. It's overwhelming to me. It's not really even this morning a message as much as it is a body of truth. I mean, it is going to be a lot of Scripture on a certain issue that's on God's heart. It's dear to his heart that I trust will grip you and you'll never be the same. And I hope you'll let it do what he wants it to do. I urge you to take down these references. You probably will not be able to turn to them before we go to another, but I'd urge you to write them down and take notes for prayer and reflection. We'll give you enough in this session to feed you later as you meditate in the Scripture on this absolutely vital and needful topic. Did you know there's three hundred and sixty five fear nots in the Bible? Do you know that one for every day? What about leap year? Well, rejoice ever more. You can take that one. But fear has been a negative force in so many of our lives. We've grown up in different kinds of fear and we've all suffered from it. Therefore, as a man, we may be reluctant to to really be open when we're told that there is a kind of fear that we not only should have, but that we are commended by God over and over in the Scriptures to have. We're not really open to anything that sounds like fear. But you see, all other fears in our lives that are harmful that we have result from not having this one fear. It's the reason. And if we've lost this biblical fear, it will give rise to a thousand lesser harmful fears. It's called in the Scriptures the fear of the Lord. And as I said earlier, it's mentioned more than the love of God. Our harmful fears arise. Get this from unworthy thoughts of God. All harmful fear in your life and mine is a result of a lack of knowing who God is in some portion of his character or his revealed will or word. It's a distrust. It's a disregard. It's a disrespect that may be purposeful or even unconscious, but it's of God. So the godly fear that is proper to a believer, it arises from a right view and a reverence for the character of God. That's what happens. And a supreme desire for his favor of this one that has been revealed to us graciously. And once we have the fear of the Lord, if you fear God, you'll fear no man. If you fear God, nothing else can move you. It's a it's in the sense of the presence of God. Our heart is filled with awe, like in that meeting when God just moves in and all of a sudden all human talk is put aside. Human plans wither and they're just gone. And suddenly there's no time and everyone's on their face and they're silent. They don't know what to say. And they weigh their words carefully because we are aware that God is there. God is there. I saw the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears over 300 times in the Bible. The fear of the Lord is connected directly with a gripping awareness of the majesty of God and the holiness of God and the presence of God. And when the sense of God's holiness and majestic presence is not felt, what you will find is that our view of God will grow lower and we will begin, as we said, to supply our own ideas, try to put God in a box and we will lose that sense of awe, will become overly familiar with holy God and will become just fill with a great flood of evil in the church. One of the characteristics in Romans three of ungodliness in that long list, it says there's none that seeks after God. There's none that that does the right thing. None righteous. No, not one. It says in Romans 318, there is no fear of God before their eyes. We have this idea in our century that we're going to just stroll into heaven and run up to Jesus and slap him on the back with our living Bible and say, great to be here, master. And I tell you, it is not going to be like that. You think of the Apostle John, who who laid his ear on the chest of Jesus at the Last Supper and who loved he knew he was loved by God and loved by the Lord Jesus. He knew him as well as anyone. He was in that secret group that would go in and see the dead raised. And he was in Gethsemane. He could have heard the greatest prayers of the Lord Jesus. But yet when he was on Patmos, after having been boiled in hot oil for us for a moment and it didn't kill him, they put him on Patmos in exile. But he didn't go on exile. He was in the spirit on the Lord's Day and he heard a voice behind him as if it were the sound of great waters and trumpet. And he turned around to see the one that uttered this voice. It was the Lord Jesus when he turned around, but not the Jesus that he saw that we see in the pictures that we're familiar with. He saw one whose hair was quite like wool, whose face was shining brighter than the sun in its noonday blaze, eyes as a flame of fire, clothed with the garment of light, feet as if burning in a furnace. And John fell at his feet like a dead man. And he knew he better just lay there. And the Lord Jesus came over and says, Fear not. In other words, don't have a bad kind of fear. It's OK what you're fearing now, but don't fear an ungodly way. He says, I am he who lives. I was dead, but I'm alive forevermore. And John exhibited what I will call the fear of the Lord. What is the fear of the Lord? Well, I'll tell you, an old saint named William Newell said to fear the Lord is to have such a due sense of the majesty and holiness and justice and goodness of God that we are afraid in the right sense of offending him. What does it mean to have the fear of the Lord? Well, Psalm 33, verse eight says, Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe, to stand in awe of God, to be totally overwhelmed by like what we covered last night when we first began to really see who this amazing God is. There's a sense of fear that grips our heart. And in Malachi, it equates the fear of the Lord with a sense of awe. He talks about Levi, the priesthood. He says, I will reward him for the fear that he has for me with the way that he held my name in awe. He'll have a priest standing before me. So it's that attitude of mind of the person who is always aware of the presence of God. There's no gaps in their consecration. Therefore, every word, every action, every thought, every moment is lived in the conscious respect of who it is we're dealing with. It's a disposition, the fear of the Lord, but it's a gripping sense of who God is. Now, I want to take you through some scriptures and show you the place of the fear of the Lord in the scriptures. Listen to these verses, Psalm 111, verse 10. Look at what it says. Psalm 111, verse 10. Wake up, guys. Turn in your Bibles. Some of you are sitting there. What did he say? Wake up. You got to be quick. You're going to have to move on here. Psalm 111, verse 10, that sense of God, it says, Psalm 111, verse 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's the starting point. When I began to see who it is that I'm dealing with and his character, it is the beginning of wisdom. It's when you begin to experience what you think you know about God. Wisdom is knowledge experienced. It's the practical outworking of the things that you've heard in messages. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding or the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all of that do his praise. So Proverbs 910 says the same thing about the fear of the Lord. Exactly. It says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. So it's the beginning of wisdom. But not only is the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom. It says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge as well. In Proverbs chapter one, verse seven, I would just advise you to write these down, because by the time you get there, I'll be gone. Proverbs one seven. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. So it's the beginning of wisdom. It's the beginning of knowledge. And it also says in Proverbs 15, verse 33, that the fear of the Lord, Proverbs 15, 33. Listen to this. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is humility. So God says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning. It's the fear of the Lord is the instruction, and it'll keep you going. Job says this. The fear of the Lord is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding. So the actual wisdom that God wants is to bring us to the fear of the Lord. Listen to what the book of Ecclesiastes says. This this really blows my mind, because not only is it the beginning and not only is the fear of the Lord the way to continue, but listen to Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 13 and 14. The wisest man we call him wrote these words. Let us hear Ecclesiastes 12, 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, for God will bring every work into judgment and every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil in the light of who God is and what he has said so clearly. The conclusion of the whole matter is be astonished by him, hold him in awe, respect him, treat him with the honor, do his name, stand in awe of him and fulfill his word, give honor to his word and trust him. So when Solomon was asked by the Lord to pray for anything he wanted, what did Solomon pray for? He didn't pray for riches. He didn't pray for power. He said, Lord, give me wisdom. But the Hebrew word is a listening heart, listening heart. And the father comes in and says to him in first Kings three, he says, because you didn't ask for wisdom, because you didn't ask for riches and all these other things, I will give to you your request. I'll give you wisdom and I'll give you the others as well. He gave him the fear of the Lord. He gave him wisdom. He gave him the understanding of God's will. Listen, Isaiah calls the fear of the Lord, Isaiah 50, excuse me, Isaiah 33, verse six says the fear of the Lord is his treasure. I'll tell you a heart that fears the Lord is to be desired more than anything else that fears and respects and owns God as he is. Proverbs 813. Listen to another definition so clearly of the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 813. It says the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. You see, not just to hate evil for what it costs you, but to hate evil because, as Raleigh said last night, because of what it costs God, what evil costs God. You see, there are four motives in a man's four possible motives as to why you leave evil. The first motive is fear of consequence because you're afraid of what will happen. You don't murder someone because you'll be thrown in prison. You don't steal because it will ruin your good name that you think you have. So it's fear of consequence. It's a good motive. But I'll tell you what a lost man can have that motive, fear of consequence. The second one is pride or self-righteousness. I don't do that because I'm not that kind of person. And we don't do those bad things because we're just we're taught better than that. And that's an OK motive not to do something because of that. And that's OK. Our family's not like that. You know, that's that's another motive. But the third motive is a love for God. I love him. I'm grateful for who he is. And I won't do that evil thing, even though I want to. I won't do it because I love him so much. I won't do it. That's a third motive to leave evil behind. But the fourth motive and the one we're talking about here, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. It's when you come into a harmony with him of heart to where you don't do that thing, not because you're denying yourself like a muzzle dog because you love God, but because you hate that thing. He's brought your heart into that same hatred. That is the motive God wants in every heart. It's the fear of the Lord. I will not lust after women, Lord, because not because I just still love women, even though I love you and I'm just living in a contradiction. Oh, God, how can I handle it? You may stop that for the reason that you love God, but he wants the fear of the Lord to free your heart to where you hate to look on a woman like that. That's what God is after. And that's the fear of the Lord. That's why it says in Proverbs 14, verse 27, these words, listen to this about the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. The fear of the Lord is like a fountain of pure living water that we drink from and we depart from the snares the devil has for us. Listen to Psalm 19 as it talks about the fear of the Lord. In verse seven, it says the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise, the simple, the statutes of the Lord are right, making the heart rejoice. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. And then it says the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. So the fear of the Lord endures forever. Look at Psalm 34. Turn there. Psalm 34. I want you to see the promises of God, the promise of God to those who fear him. Psalm 34. It's an exhortation from the spirit of God. Verse nine, let's read verse eight first. Oh, let's read verse seven. Oh, let's read the whole song. No, verse seven, the angel of the Lord encamps round about them who fear him and he delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Quoted by Peter in first Peter to bless. It is the man that trusts in him. Then verse nine. Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for there is no lack or want to those who fear him. That's a promise that God says, if we fear God, there will be no lack in your Christian life. I believe this difference, that the reason for the lack and the churches of our day, the reason that our gatherings sound more like cattle auctions than worship services, the reason that we just trivial with God and treat him as a cosmic need meter. I'll tell you the reason for that is there's no fear of God. We've lost the fear of the Lord. And the reason there's no revival is because we've lost the fear of the Lord. And when revival comes, I can promise you this, that men will be on their faces first of all, and they will be silent before him. We will be on our face and reverential. Oh, it'll be a glorious thing. He says here, if you fear God, there'll be no lack in your life. If there's lack in my life or yours, it's because I haven't laid hold fully of what he wants. We'll look at verse 11. God says, come, you children hearken unto me. Listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. God promises that he wants to teach us the fear of the Lord, and it's got to be learned. So I don't know about you, but I want to learn the fear of the Lord. I want to learn to please him. It's not even an option. It is a command. The Bible commands us. I want you to see it's consistent all the way through. Now run these references with me and then I'll give you some scriptures after that. But look at Deuteronomy chapter 10, Deuteronomy chapter 10, and you'll see God's dealings with Israel. Deuteronomy 10 verse 12. Look at this and see it in the context of what we're saying. And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? But to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your with all your heart and with all your soul. Look at verse 13 to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes, which I give you this day for your own good. This is what God wanted for Israel. This one thing to fear the Lord. And it's manifested by walking in his ways, loving him to know God as he is. Look at God's desire back in chapter four of Deuteronomy and you see it again. Verse 10, chapter four, verse 10. I feel we can't do anything better than read the word together. He's warning them to take heed to themselves and to not forget and to remember the day that they came to the Mount Sinai, verse 10, chapter four. He says, remember the day that you stood before the Lord your God in Sinai or Horeb when the Lord said to me, gather the people together and I will make them hear my words that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth and that they may teach their children. He wants them to learn to hold him in respect and awe and love him as a God that he is. And he yearns for this. In fact, in chapter five, verse 29, look at God giving a glimpse of his heart. Chapter five, verse 29, he says, oh, that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep my commandments always that it might be well with them and with their children. When a father fears the Lord and holds the Lord in the proper place, God says, at last I can bless him and I can bless his children. This is such a principle of scripture that the writer in Proverbs wrote these words, write these references down, just just write this down. Proverbs 23, verse 17, and it's a command. It tells us Proverbs 23, 17. Do not let your heart envy centers, but be now in the fear of the Lord all the day long. God says you walk in the fear of the Lord all day long. That's what he wants. Did you know that the Lord Jesus Christ, when he was on Earth, had this perpetual, continual fear of God, even though he was God? He manifested it. In fact, one of the most amazing scriptures that I've ever read is in Hebrews five, verse seven. It describes the prayer life of the Lord Jesus when the days of his flesh, it says Hebrews five, seven in the days of his flesh, when he offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears unto him, who was able to save him out of death. He was heard in that he feared the Lord. Jesus was heard in his prayer because he had that attitude, even as the God man of fear of God. That is a mysterious scripture. It's an amazing scripture. Look at first Peter, chapter one, the New Testament, not just Deuteronomy, but the New Testament. First Peter, chapter one, you say, Al guys can't handle this much scripture in the morning. I know. Isn't it a shame that we've let ourselves get into this situation that we can't get our minds and hearts on God this early when that's the one thing he says to do early in the morning, wake up and I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go. I'll dig your ear. We need to have them steam shoveled out. First Peter, chapter one, right after the Lord says to guard up the loins of your mind, tie up the loose ends and and like obedient children, verse 15, he has called you as holy. So you be holy in all your way of life because it's written. I be holy for I am holy. Look at verse 17. This is an exhortation to you and me. And since you call on the father who without any respect of persons, red and yellow, black and white, whoever they are, rich, poor, bond, free, stupid, smart, whoever they are without respect of persons, he keeps on judging. According to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here on earth in fear. God will not just because he loves you blink at his word and say, I'm not going to have this principle. If don't be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap whatever he sows to the flesh. If it's corruption, he will reap it. Even if he's Moses, if he forgets to circumcise his son, then God, it says in Exodus, sought to kill Moses. And his wife came in and said, don't forget to circumcise your son and through the foreskin of his son, his feet and save Moses his life. He began to presume upon God, like so many who are in the ministry today thinking they can get by with things and cutting corners and forget who we're dealing with. Pass the time of your temporary dwelling on earth here in fear, it says. And over in first Peter, chapter two, verse 17, it says, honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God to command. We are to fear God. Now this was the secret and the attitude of the early church. We just miss right over this. I mean, I sit here and think, when was the last time I heard a message on the fear of the Lord? When was the last time I heard anybody talking about the fear of the Lord? I mean, we want to be happy people. And let me tell you, happy is he who fears the Lord. The Bible says in the way the Bible says to be happy, but not the giddy kind that we think we want. Look at Acts chapter two. And you see on the day of Pentecost, when God swept in and people saw the glory of God, it says in chapter two, verse 41, then they that gladly received his word were baptized. The same day they were added to them, 3000 souls. They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and prayers. And look what happens. And fear came upon every soul. That's the good kind of fear. And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And the unity that was manifested was absolutely incredible. They were united in the fear of the Lord. And they began to move away from that. And Ananias and Sapphira began to think that they could get by with a false consecration in the presence of holy God. And they acted like they'd given all their money when they hadn't. God didn't care if they gave all their money. I don't suspect, but they tried to act like they had and fool the church and lie to the Holy Spirit. And it says that God came upon them, bang and smote them dead. If God did this in our day, we'd have a congregation full of dead people. And we ought to be amazed that he hasn't. We ought to be in Thanksgiving that he hasn't, because we'd probably be dead, each one of us as well, trying to appear more spiritual than we are. That's the only thing Ananias and Sapphira did. It says in chapter five, verse 11, after he smote them down dead, it says, and great fear came upon all the church and all the people that heard these things. They didn't come to church lightly or pretending or whatever else from that point on. Look at Acts chapter nine. This is an amazing verse, Acts chapter nine, verse 31. It says, then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and they were edified and they were walking in the fear of the Lord. The churches were built up. They were full of rest and they were walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And they began to multiply. That's what God wants, but the spinal cord of it all was they walked in the fear of the Lord as they began to have edification and rest. So this is expected by God universally for all of his church. Just jot these scriptures down. Listen, we can't worship God without respecting him. We can't do it. You can't worship God if you don't hold him in astonishment. It says in First Chronicles, I'll just read you these and save you the trouble of having to turn. But you can listen in First Chronicles chapter 16. Listen to this as it talks about fearing God. First Chronicles 16, 25. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He also is to be feared above all gods for all the gods of the peoples or idols. But the Lord made the heavens. We fear him because he spoke and it was created. We hold him in astonishment. Glory and honor are in his presence and verse 30 fear before him. All the earth, all the earth, regardless of who you are, fear God. Psalm 76 verse 11 says, Let all that be around God, let all that be around him bring presence unto him that ought to be feared. Psalm 76, 11. He ought to be feared. Psalm 96, verse four and verse nine. He is to be feared above all gods. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. One of the songs worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The next line says fear before him. All the earth fear before him. Someone quoted this morning from the book of Revelation, the song of Moses. But and they they actually read it out when they said great and marvelous are your works. Who shall not fear thee? When we begin to see who we're dealing with, a sense of awe and fear comes to our heart. Listen to what the angel says after the hundred and forty four thousand are sealed, the kingdom of God is going out in power. And in Revelation 14, after these are on the mountain, following the lamb wherever he goes. Verse six, listen to what the angel says. Revelation 14. I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. This is a day coming. An angel with the everlasting gospel to preach to all that dwell on the earth. It's amazing because angels don't preach the gospel. And here's an angel with the gospel to make known. And here's he's saying with a loud voice, what does he say? The everlasting gospel, he says, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come. The commands all the earth to every nation and tribe and territory and tongue is to fear God. Did you know that God considers it an evil thing for me and for you if we do not fear him? He considers it an evil thing. Listen to Jeremiah to 19. Listen to this. He's talking to his own people, the ones he had redeemed and brought out. He says in chapter two, verse 19, Thine own wickedness will correct you. Your backsliding will reprove you. No, therefore, and see, it is an evil thing and a bitter that you have forsaken the Lord, your God, and that my fear is not in the. Says the Lord, God of hosts, God says, I'm going to let your own mistakes, your own backsliding and your own evil in your heart that you thought you could coexist with, just like the children of Israel in Canaan, they compromised, they left the things that God says, get rid of. I'm going to let those things be my threshing instrument. I'm going to let them judge your life. You've left them there. You haven't dealt with them and they will reprove you. It's an evil thing that you've departed from who I really am and that there's no fear in your heart. You see that most of the problems we have are because we have a low view of God and we don't have the fear of God and we think we can coexist with things that God hates. And he says, I'm going to let those things teach you who I really am. I will never compromise my holiness to show you love. You see, God will never show love at the expense of his holiness. He will wait on us to do it his way. Now, what motivation is there for us then to fear the Lord? Well, list these out. These are the motivations for us to fear God. Write this down. Number one motivations to fear God. Number one, Revelation 15, his mighty works, the holiness and the majesty of God. That's why everyone in this room should fear God. It says in Revelation 15, someone read it this morning. They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, the song of the Lamb saying, great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your ways. King of Saints, who shall not fear the Lord and glorify thy name for you alone are holy. And he says that you all the nations will come and worship before your throne. So the holiness and majesty of God is the first reason that you should fear him and that I should. But then secondly, the wonderful works of God, the things he's done for you and all around you are a reason to fear him. This scripture, Exodus 14, verse 31. Here's a nation that had been coexisting with God in a sense, but not fearing him. And and right after the people tried to come out through the Red Sea and could not, it says Israel saw when Pharaoh's army was drowned, they saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the people feared the Lord and they believed God and his servant Moses. Let me tell you, in my own experience, when you see God do a marvelous work, when you see a prayer answered in astonishing clarity, when you see a healing or something, is it amazing how your mind just focuses in on the word and on the Lord and you begin to pray easily? I mean, like someone you love is healed and all of a sudden prayer is a joy. It's easy because you see his character, you see his works, the centurion after Jesus was crucified. It says there was an earthquake and it says the centurion and all those that were with him feared and said, surely this was the son of God. They saw the works in Luke to the shepherds are out there at night guarding flocks, normal religious exercise for Passover shepherds and the heavens tore open. And all these angels are there saying glory to God in the highest. And it says they feared exceedingly. I guess so out in the middle of night, the sky rips open like a lampshade and this light on you, you know, talk about close encounters. And it says in the lovely language and great fear came upon them. I mean, talk about laying on the ground with your tongue ten feet out. You're so astonished at what's happening. Think about Jonah. Jonah was the prophet of God. Remember, I mean, he preached and he brought a whole nation encouragement, it says in Kings. But God said to him one day, like he said to Philip, go to Nineveh. He said to Philip, go join yourself to the chariot instead of being like Philip. Jonah said, I'm going to join myself to a ship and go five or fifteen hundred miles the opposite direction of the five hundred miles you asking me to go. And he went down and just praise the Lord. He happened to have the right amount of money. Glory to God. I've got the provision of God. How easy it is to call rebellion the provision of God. The devil. Hey, the devil gives corn husks when you're in the faraway country to just to keep you alive, just to sustain you. Praise God for this meager sustenance of corn husks. Can it is sickening how we call our rebellion. And here's Jonah on the ship running from God and they say, who are you? He says, I'm a prophet of God and I fear him. It had about as much power as a wet noodle slapping Goliath. I'm telling you, I didn't have any power at all. They said, oh, we prophet of God. You fear him. Yeah. So God sent a storm and things begin to toss around. The soldiers became scared. These sailors, they began to throw everything off the boat. And Jonah said, it's me God is after. And these guys began to be aware. Could God be that personal? And Jonah says, throw me in. It'll save you. And they take Jonah and throw him into this raging sea. And all of a sudden, I mean, you know, on the, on the TV, you see the people go like this. Those guys, I'm telling you what they had calluses all over their chest. I mean, you know, you get this, this, this rebellious prophet and throw him in the, in the bouncing ocean. All of a sudden, it just goes cold stone silence. And people are like this. And boy, I mean, they beaten themselves to death, making crosses with if they would do that. And it says, and great fear fell upon all these sailors. And they began to call upon God and say, oh God, oh God, oh God. It's kind of like when we get an accident. Oh God, oh God, says the hardened atheist, because God's presence is sensed. Oh God, that's what God wants. It's the wonderful works of God. And not only his, his wonderful works, but his goodness. See, the goodness of God is meant to bring us to repentance and to bring us to the fear of the Lord. That's what Samuel says. First Samuel 12, 24. The goodness of God is a motive for fearing the Lord. Listen to what he says when he says, God forbid, I should sin against the Lord and ceasing to pray for you. He says, I will teach you the good and the right way. Talking to the nation, only fear the Lord and serve him in reality with all your heart for consider how great of things he's done for you. You consider how great of things he's done for you and fear God because of that. It's his final words of the prophet Samuel, the last words he ever said to the people of God before they got their King. He said, listen, fear God. That's the way that you'll walk forward. But not only is it the goodness of God, but the motive for fearing God is the, is the forgiveness of God. I mean, after what we saw last night about the cross in Psalm 130 verse four, it talks about the forgiveness of God and how we ought to fear God. Psalm 130 verse four. Listen to this as he talks about the forgiveness that he's given to us. It says, if you, oh Lord, should mark iniquities, oh God, who could stand? Anybody here could stand before God? Not a one. But then he says, but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. God forgives sins so that we can come to the right understanding of who he is and fear him and give him glory and honor considering the cross and walk worthy. Number five reason to motivation to fear God, the greatness of his plan and his amazing redemption that he has allowed us to be part of. And that's first Peter chapter one. As I read to you earlier, considering him who called us is holy. You become holy in all your ways. Consider that you have a temporary time here on earth and God will judge every man according to how he passes that walk of faith. Don't you know that you weren't redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who barely was was ordained for this very thing, but was just revealed in these last times just for you, who by him to believe in God, he says, look, consider the holiness of God and the plan of God and the greatness of his plan and adjust your heart and fear God. If that's not enough to have a motivation to fear God, this Colossians chapter three, Colossians chapter three, right in the spinal cord of the epistles, it says in verse it says in verse 15, when it says, let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which you're called in one body. Be thankful for 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. In other words, let God's word feel at home in you. Walk with the purity of God, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Verse 17, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the father by him. It's the attitude of submission and love. It says wives to submit husbands, love your wives, be not bitter against them. Children obey your parents. Fathers provoke not your children to anger. Servants obey in all things. Then it says this, not with outer life, not with just how it appears to others, all these things as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it with all your heart as to the Lord and not demand, because, you know, this of the Lord, you will receive the reward of an inheritance. You serve the Lord Jesus Christ, but the one who does wrong, it says, will receive for the wrong that he has done. I want to tell you something. There are people in this room who are having affairs right now, and I want to warn you in the name of the Lord Jesus. He loves you. He wants to set you free from it, but I'm gonna tell you what he will not just keep on winking at that thing. He's brought you here this weekend. He says to you, he understands. Problem is you don't understand. You can't coexist with lust and walk with the Lord Jesus. And he says to hear the one who continues in wrong will receive for that wrong that he has done. And there is no respect of persons. God loves you. That's true. But if you keep on in the course, he condemns. He will judge you. In fact, that's what it says in Proverbs chapter one, when it talks about the wisdom of God and the fear of the Lord being again the beginning of wisdom. Listen to this scripture, Proverbs chapter one, talking about judgment. One, seven, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Verse 22, how long you simple ones where you love simplicity and scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge. People don't want to hear this. We don't want to hear that. We can't have sweet Jesus and walk in adultery and lust and dishonesty and lying. God says, verse twenty three, turn you at my reproof, my warning. Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you and I will make known my words to you. But they kept saying no, because I've called and you refused. I've stretched out my hand and no man regarded me. You said at nothing all my counsel and you would not listen to my reproof. Listen to what God promises. I will laugh at your calamity and I will mock when the thing you fear on Earth comes upon you, when your fear comes as a desolation and your destruction comes as a whirlwind and distress and anguish comes upon you. Then they'll call upon me. Oh, God. Oh, God. But I will not answer for they will seek me early, but they will not find me why they hated knowledge and they did not choose the fear of the Lord. That's verse twenty nine. They would not listen to counsel. They despise all of my warnings. The turning away of those simple will slay them and the prosperity of a fool will destroy him. A person who doesn't want to hear God riches is the worst thing that could happen to you and blessing. God says that the heart of the wise is to be found in the heart of mourning rather than the house of blessing, because it turns the heart away from God. The greatest riches in life is to fear God and to come before him and to walk in the beauty of holiness. God says to fear him and to know that we will never get by with compromise. He will let us reap what we sow. So I want to warn those ones that have come here who God has brought here that you must turn from what the Holy Spirit says to you. He wants to deal with. You cannot continue to say that you can't is to blame God, confess that and turn to him. Well, another motive for fearing God is God's anger. Since we're on judgment, it says in Psalm two, the second psalm quoted by the early church in Acts four as they prayed. But it says in Psalm two, verse 11, serve the Lord with fear, rejoice before him trembling. You see, we realize who we're dealing with. You've called us holy almighty God into your presence. It's an amazing thing that we're here. I serve you with the respect that's due to you. As Colossians says, I tremble in your presence because I'm so overwhelmed that you would allow me to see who you are and walk in your word. Then it says, kiss the sun. The Greek word for worship is proscenio. It means to kiss towards. It has the attitude of laying on your face and kissing towards the feet of a superior being like the Lord Jesus. It's adoration. It's all it says, serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling, kiss the sun, lest he be angry and you perish from the way he is looking for the respect and the mutual relationship and love and all that is biblical and expected for every redeemed saint. And I'm telling you, in the days ahead, it's going to get more and more pressure that he will become who he is in your experience. He's going to lean on me. He's going to lean on you so that you really will treat your wife the right way. And he will not listen to our little whimpers because God is after holiness in men. God is after a true saint. He's conforming men to the image of God. He says it says in Matthew 10, don't fear the one that can throw your body into the lions or the fire, but fear him who has the power to cast both body and soul into hell. You see, there is a sense that God's word, his unchangeable word, more sure than gravity, hangs over my head. God's warnings are real. More to be desired are they than gold, yet than much fine gold. Sweeter also than the honeycomb are they. Moreover, by them as I servant warned in keeping of them, there is great reward. But if you despise the reproof of God, his word that comes by the spirit, you shall, like all others who've gone before, follow their example, you'll perish. Whatever that means, it means I'm not going to make it weaker or stronger than it is. He says you will perish if you hate my words. Well, the fear of the Lord is necessary, brother. It's necessary in order to worship. You cannot worship without fear. You can't walk before him. It says in Psalm five, verse seven, in my fear, well, I worship. Remember Abraham, when he offered his son up in Genesis twenty two, he came and God said he was going to test Abraham and he says, offer him as a burnt offering. And he came and he had the knife up and the Lord says, Abraham, Abraham, don't touch the land. Now I know that you fear God. Because you fear me, I'm going to bless you. It's what God was doing, was teaching Abraham the fear of the Lord. He was teaching him to honor and to love him. Listen to Psalm 89, verse five and following the heavens shall praise your wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness also in the dwelling of all the saints, for who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord, who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all that around about him. God is to be feared. I sense that your minds are tired. Well, in that case, let your hearts listen and let it you know, I'm not asking you to get a hold of this word where you can manage it and say, oh yeah, we've got it now. I'm asking you to let it grip your heart and take a hold of you and say, Lord, let it happen to me like your word says, like Mary said, because you see, without the fear of the Lord, there'll be no deterrent from sin in your life. You won't depart from evil. You won't have the right attitude toward God. Listen to what Hebrews says, Hebrews chapter 12. It says about today. Let me just read this Hebrews chapter 12, verse 25. It says, see that you refuse not him that is speaking. Then it cites the Old Testament. If they escaped, not who refused him that spoke on earth. How shall we escape if we turn from him that speaks from heaven? God is speaking to some of you right from the throne of the universe even now. And today, if you will hear his voice, if you choose to don't go on hardening your heart, don't say, I don't want to hear that. But it says, verse 26, this God whose voice then shook the earth. But now he has promised. Yes, once more I'll shake the earth, but also the heavens. Listen to this. Yes, once more he signifies the removing of all things that are shaken as of things that are temporary and made those things which cannot be shaken will remain. Wherefore, we Christians receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let's walk in the grace of God. Let's have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. You see, to walk in the grace of God and to serve him acceptably is to walk in reverence and with godly fear. Why? Because our God is a consuming fire. He is holy and he is not who we have made him to be the church history. He's still the God of the Bible, that the Bible says. So the Bible says to stand in awe and sin not. His fear must be before your eyes so that you do not sin. New Testament says it this way at the end of Second Corinthians, Chapter six, it says God has promised, quote in the Old Testament, I will be a God to you. I will walk in you. I will be a father to you. You'll be my sons. And then it says the first verse of Second Corinthians seven, it says, having therefore these precious promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, outer, inner life, perfecting holiness in fear of God. In fear of God, we perfect holiness by the fear of the Lord. Men depart from evil. Just write these scriptures down. Proverbs 16, six by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. Philippians, Chapter two, verse 12, it says to work out your own salvation, what in fear and in trembling. It's a progressive work of holiness in Isaiah 66. God says it's quoted by Stephen in the book of Acts when he's pointing to the temple. He says God does not dwell in temples made with hands. He quotes Isaiah 66. God says, where is my dwelling place? Where is the house that you will build for me? I made the heavens and the earth. He says this is the place that I choose as my dwelling place to this man. Well, I look even to him who trembles at my word. This is the one that God wants to live in. The man who has respect to the Lord and fears him and who walks in the astonishment of God to relate to God rightly. So when we choose to let the fear of the Lord grip our hearts, everything good happens, everything good happens. You see, God promises if we fear him, he says that he will it will bring pleasure to God. The Lord takes pleasure in those that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. God takes pleasure in those who fear him. Psalm 147, verse 11. He takes pleasure in them. And when we fear him, it will bring a fresh measure of mercy and grace to the one who fears him. Listen to these three quick promises in Psalm 103. Listen to this, the promise of God to those who fear him. Psalm 103, verse 11. It says, as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. Verse 13, as a father piteous his children, so the Lord takes pity on those who fear him. Verse 17, it says, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him and his righteousness is on their children's children. God promises a reward to your family and to my family if I will walk in the fear of the Lord. Listen to Psalm 115. I can hear your brain starting to sizzle. You've got to quit. I can hear it. Psalm 115, verse 13. It says to those who fear, it says, verse 13, Psalm 113, 15. He will bless those that fear the Lord, both small and great. The Lord will increase you more and more. You and your children, you want to bless your children. The thing you can do more than anything else is to let God teach you his fear to walk in astonishment. You are blessed of the Lord, which made heaven and earth. When we fear the Lord, God accepts us before him in righteousness and in truth in the Book of Acts. When they're trying to discern who is who is accepted by God after Cornelius, the Gentile had received was was hearing the word of Paul's Peter opens his mouth in verse 34, and he says to the people, he says, Peter opens his mouth and says of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons in every nation. He that fears God and walks in righteousness is accepted with God. I wish I had more time to take you through all the verses. The fear in the fear of the Lord is a strong confidence. You lack confidence in your life. Proverbs 14, 26, in the fear of the Lord is a strong confidence. Your prayer life's not working because you don't fear God. It says in Psalm 145, verse 19, he will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. You want to know God's heart. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him and he will show to them his covenant. He gives reward to those who fear him. It says that a book of remembrance was written Malachi 316, and the Lord wrote a book of remembrance of those who called upon his name and who feared him to write you in his book. And it says in Malachi four, it says I will protect those in the day that burns like an oven. I will come and protect those. They'll be like the jewels in my crown. Those who fear me. The day that's going to burn like an oven, God will protect those who fear fear of the Lord prolongs days. It'll give you a long life. You want to live a long time and fear God. Proverbs 10 says 24 to 27. The fear of the Lord prolongs days. It'll give you a long life. The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear him. You need protection. He'll camp around you and protect you. Riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22 for come to those who fear him riches and honor and life. It says about a woman, a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Promises to those who fear him. It's God's gift. You say, well, I just don't fear the Lord. Now, let's get down to just the final words of application. How do you fear the Lord? I don't know how to do it. I know I have an irreverence deep in my soul. We all do. The fear of the Lord is not a residual thing. It's a gift from God. Jeremiah 32. Listen, Jeremiah 32 verse 39. God says this. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for their own good and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them. That's what we talked about last night, that I will not turn away from them. I will do them good and I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me. It's normal if you're a Christian for you to be given by God his fear. I would ask him this morning, oh, God, put in me your fear. Be ready to give an answer to every man who asks you of a reason of the hope that's within you. Let the fear of God be your dread, it says in Peter. Be ready. So so I would say this to you. Feast yourself on the word of God. Learn to read the Bible to know God. Get along with God and say, Lord, show me your ways. Teach me that path. Open to me the scriptures. Show me your character and who you are. Don't just read the Bible to get a message. Don't just read the Bible for comfort. Don't just read the Bible to get a promise when you're in trouble, but go to the Bible and let the words of his mouth be more than your necessary food. Feast in the word. Eat the word of the Lord. Give up whatever it takes. Whatever keeps you from this book is your enemy. Let it become the grafted word of God into your very heart and learn to keep keep his word in your heart. I'll just read this. I'm going to read you another scripture. I said I wasn't, but I'm going to. I'm still hadn't learned not to lie. Proverbs chapter two, my son, verse one, if you'll receive my words and you'll feel hide my commandments with you so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding. Yes, cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding. If you seek her as silver, if you look for her like buried treasure, then shall you understand the fear of the Lord. Then you'll understand the fear of the Lord and you'll find the knowledge of God, because God will give to you wisdom and out of his mouth will come knowledge and understanding. You see, most of us don't want the fear of God because we might have to walk worthy. Most of us don't testify because we're afraid we'll have to live what we profess to those people around us at work. And there's no fear of God before our eyes. But as I meditate upon him, Isaiah 813 says, oh, let him be your dread as you meditate upon him, that his fear will take deep gripping of your hearts. Walk with those who fear God. Psalm 119, verse 63 says, I am a companion of all those who fear you. I mean, you can be the friend of sinners, but don't walk with people who don't fear God. I'm so tired of being with the giddy crowd. Do you know what I'm talking about? Whenever there's something really awesome and holy, you've been in a meeting sometimes and God just moves in. And it's awkward at first because we're so unused to it. And somebody has to tell a silly joke. It's too heavy in here. I'm telling you what, in the days ahead, God will teach the church his fear. And I want him to teach me his fear. Now I want to walk in the reverence and the holiness of God. I want to say like David prayed, he said in the Psalms, he was so longing to learn the fear of God. I'm hoping you'll pray this in Psalm 86. He lifted his heart to God and he says, thou art great. You do wondrous things. You are God alone. Teach me thy way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart. Bring me to wholeness of heart to fear your name. God, give me this heart that respects you, that fears you, that walks in this fear of God. I wonder what they will say of you at your funeral. I mean, there's a lot of things, but I love that song guy sings. I hope they will say of me there lies the man of God. Actually, if they say there lies the man of God, they'll be wrong because the body will be there. The spirit will be with the Lord, absent from the body, present with the Lord. Live light, simplify your life and distill your thoughts on him and his word. Learn to have singleness of heart. This one thing I do, it's the great thing God wants to teach his people in the Old Testament. It's the central beginning of wisdom. It's the instruction of understanding. It's the whole duty of man. It's the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, love the Lord your God with all your hearts. It's the element of repentance. What fear it wrought in you. See, it's part of the whole package, this deep respect of God. Nehemiah had it. Job had it. God said there's not a man on Earth like Job. He fears God. That's the one characteristic that he spoke about. Job, he fears God. You want to be well known in the annals of glory? Well, God has heroes. He has a book of remembrance. He has a book of works. And those who fear God are going to be written up in that book. Those who respect him. What would they say of you? That man is sober minded. He is sober for the purpose of prayer. He knows the end of all things is at hand. He's giving his life for his family and his wife and his children. And he's a man of God. He doesn't walk to the drumbeat of this world by faith. Noah was warned of God, of a judgment to come and move with fear. He built an ark to the saving of his own household. I want to say to you that God will teach us the fear of the Lord if you want him to. If you want to go on with church as usual, if you want to go on as Christianity as this century has depicted it, if you want to go on with less than God's heart. Go on, he'll let us. He'll let us all die and leave our bones in the wilderness. But like Raleigh said last night, God wants to send revival. I believe this. The day and the night are coming together. Revival won't save America. Revival won't save Europe. Revival will glorify God and bring the church to a place of effective testimony. Even if Europe, even if America goes down the drain as it goes down the drain, we'll be preaching and glorifying God because we love him and fear him and honor him. And God will get the glory that's due his name. Survive or not survive. It doesn't matter to us, Lord. We'd like to survive, but we want you to know that in the fire or out of the fire, we're going to glorify you no matter what a settled disposition to give God what he is after, which is everything and to respect him for who he is. That's the fear of the Lord. I'm a prophet of the Lord. I fear him, says Jonah, while he's running away from God. Do you fear God? Do you fear him? If you don't ask him right now, ask him right now, Lord, I know I need this and I need to respect you and give me a revelation that is so undeniable, so deep of you as I search your scriptures, I commit to it that I'll be able to walk in the fear of the Lord all day long. Like the Bible commands me.