A God Fearing Heart

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 and deal with a humble heart. None of you are exempt. I'm not exempt. And if you can 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 to do to me before I preach them? Do you know where it puts me before God? Many years ago, brother Clinton 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. The reason I'm shutting you down is because I am about to show you how much pride is in your heart. Brother Clinton, 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, the God is shutting himself, shutting him down. And it's 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 delve and all of that or trying to find them. 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. 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. Nor God, you are high above the heavens and nor 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, a 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. We read in 1 Peter chapter 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's 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 521 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 521. 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 five, 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 five or seven 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 them from death. And he was heard. Jesus was heard that he, um, 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 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 define the fear of God? Well, remember what Jesus taught and his words ought to carry weight in the church, shouldn't they? Remember how I 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. In other words, you're careful about everything. If you reverence God, you're careful about absolutely everything. It 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 asked me, do you know, I want to be careful in this. I said, 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've 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. 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. And 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, 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 him, 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 seeing 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, I'm a mature lady. And she says, I'm listening to 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 but it says it in the law, we're going to keep the Sabbath and it says in the law, we need to do this and it says in the law, do you realize 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 the land of Egypt and when Jesus died on the cross, I can give you its beginning and its end. But this is all 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 worshiped 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. Now 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 going to 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 knew 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 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 are 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 going to put my law in your heart. And I'm going to put my fear in your heart. It says in Hebrews chapter eight, 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 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, 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, that 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? It 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. 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, oh 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's one day I got a letter saying, this money is yours. Oh no, there must be a mistake. No, it's free. 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 a 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 going to 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 going to lose everything, no temple. But he says a day is coming for you, Israel. In this 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 afterwards 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 verse shows me that Israel's going to 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 the militarily, politically, socially, restored their language, even their ancient religion, but they haven't entered the new covenant. It's only a small remnant, but God in the Bible prophesies in the last days, I'm going to bring them into the new covenant again, like I already have done with the Gentiles. And you know, in the last days, Israel is going to seek after God and they're going to find the fear of God and the goodness of God. God connects his goodness to the fear of God. If you're not fearing God, his goodness isn't for you. You say, I want God to be good to me. He's not good to you. He's not storing goodness up for you if you don't fear him. Do you realize your fear will affect his goodness towards you? If you want to stop the goodness of God towards you, don't fear him. Be careless about your attitude and your words and your actions and your thoughts and about coming into the house of God. Just be casual about it. Don't have any fear. Say, oh, I'm okay. Don't have that where you go, oh God, how do you want me to act? You will actually do away with the goodness of God. When we come here to Jeremiah 32, the word good is mentioned three different times. In the Hebrew, each word, although it's good, it's similar, but each is different. Let me show you it here for a second. Goodness is connected to the heart and to the fear of God in the heart. Without fear, there's no goodness. And the church today think, God is so good. God is good. And they don't fear God. You know nothing about the goodness of God if you don't fear him. God's so good to me and God blesses me and God does all this. And you live like a sinner. It's probably the devil blessing you. Do you know, God blessed Ishmael and yet he was of the flesh. People think that God would never bless the flesh. Really? The Bible actually shows that he could answer prayers of Hagar. Remember she was going to die and the boy was going to die and she says, I can't look at it. And God says, I'm going to come and I'll bless you, Hagar. Lots of people are blessed in this hour. But boy, they don't have the fear of God. God help them. The three times here that it mentions the fear of God, first of all, in verse 39, it's a general term and it means plural. Goodnesses, good goods, many goods. What does it say there in verse 39? And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and their children after them. So what does God say? I'll give them one heart and one way. Why is that? For their goods. I want to be good to them. But you know what? I need to give them one heart. My people, I need to give them one heart. Can I ask you, do you have one heart? You as a church here, do you have a one heart? All of you online that listen to this message later, do we as a body of Christ scattered everywhere? Do we have one heart? God says to an entire people, you know, when I begin to bless you and I'm going to do you good, I'm going to give you one heart because I have to give you that one heart. One heart is in here and one way is out there how you walk. If you have one way in here, you'll all walk the same. I don't believe conformity to one another. That's cultish. But I tell you, you better conform to the word of God. And the more we conform to Christ, there is one heart and there is one way. And so we see here connected to goodness. God is going to be good to you. He has to give you one heart. He has to do something in that heart and it's got to be one heart. The word one heart there means united, not many hearts. Do you have one heart or do you have two hearts? Some of you have three, four, five, six, seven. Some churches you go in, and I never saw this before, internet and all like this. It used to be when I was growing up, you went in a church and they believed a certain way. They listened to certain preachers. Then I started to notice with the rise of internet and online presence, you walked into a church and you go, these two over here listen to Benny Hinn. Her down there listens to Copeland. There's the inner healing group over here. There's the Baptist group down there. And you went in and you went, there's not even two people in this church believe the same. You know why? They're listening to all different preachers and they all contradict. And that poor pastor is there for five years and he's demented. He's demented. Everybody disagrees with them and think they all know better than him. God help him. The poor guy, no wonder he retires or gets out of ministry. You see, it says here, God wants to give you one heart that he can do you good. God cannot do good to most churches because they have two hearts and five hearts. I can prove this from the Bible. In Hosea chapter 10 verse one, it talks about their heart is divided, speaking about Israel. Or what about Zephaniah chapter one verse five, and them that worship the host of heaven upon the high stop, speaking about God's people. And them that worship, that swear by the Lord and that swear by Malcolm, not Malcolm's son, Malcolm, the God. So you have Israel. He says their heart is divided. They're actually worshiping God. We worship God. We fear God. We love God. We believe in God. But yet they're living a worldly apostate, carnal life. What a tragedy that they had not one heart, but two hearts. And so God says, I can't bless you. It says in Psalm 12 verse two, they speak vanity, everyone with his neighbor, with flattering lips, and with a double heart do they speak. Right man speaks with four tongue. Seen it in an old movie when I was a kid, never forgot it. I've met an awful lot of people in the church. Do you know what it says about a deacon in a church? It's not to be double tongued. Here it is saying about this double heart, flattering lips, a double heart, do they speak. You've got two hearts within you. Oh, I love you brother. I hate them. That's a double heart. You're actually a mess. You don't have one heart. It says in James chapter one, verse eight, a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. He's trying to go two different ways. Oh, I want God, but I want the world. I want the Bible, but I want Catholicism. Oh, I can keep it all. Really? You're a mess. You're confused. You're all over the place. Listen to what the early church was. The first church I'm talking about. There's only the first part of goodness. There's goodness. God's going to have to give one heart to his people. If he's going to bless them and do good. And remember he says, I don't only want to do you good. I mean, the goodness of God that he stored up, I want to do so much good, but I can't because you've got a double heart. You do not fear me. You see, if you feared God, your heart would be united. It would be one and you'd have one way, but oh no, you aren't like that. It says in the new Testament about the early church and they continued daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house. They did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, one heart. You know what it says about the 3000 who got born again? They're all of one soul. Isn't that amazing? The 12 that walk with Christ were arguing just before this, before Pentecost. I think I'm the greatest and I think I'm the greatest. After Pentecost, 3000 new converts and immediately they have one heart and one soul and they immediately speak. In the midst of revival, God can bring 3000. You've been with Christ three years and still you're arguing who's the greatest. We have a revival, 3000 come in and immediately from day one, they're all of one heart and they're unified. Remarkable. Do you see that? That if God is going to do you good, he must unify us. Or what about Acts 5.11? Remember Ananas and Sapphira dropped dead for lying to the Holy Ghost in the house of God. They weren't scared. No fear of God in Ananas and Sapphira. Did you sell the land for this amount of money? See, they said, we are giving it all. Brother Keith to the church, Peter says, did you sell for so much? Yay, so much. Go bury her. Listen to what happened as a result. After they died, because of this, and great fear came upon the church. Oh, God doesn't want us scared in the church. Really? Who told you that? What Bible do you, what version is that? The new ones? One of these ecumenical Bibles. Listen, I'm going to close this second point. Psalm 86.11, teach me thy way, oh Lord, and I will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy name. The prayer here is unite my heart. I don't want two hearts. I don't want a heart that wants God and another heart that is seeking the things of this world. I want one heart to fear your name. You see the fear of God unites your heart. The fear of God will destroy that other heart. You will have one heart to serve God. Look at the second good in verse 40, and I will not turn away from them to do them good. This is the new covenant. I will not turn away. Don't you realize God pursues after you? When you fear God, when the fear of God's in your life, I will pursue, I'm chasing you to be good. You think you're begging God, oh God, please be good to me. Lord God, do something good to me. Lord, those things just don't... He's pursuing after you. This is the character of God. We think he's a harsh God and a hard God and a bad God and a God we have to twist his arm. He said, I will not stop pursuing after you. Do you ever plead these promises and worship and thank him for it and say, God, thank you that you said you will not turn aside from doing me good. He is literally chasing you to do you good, not only for you, for your children. Do you want God to be good to your children? I'll tell you how you get God to be good to your children. Fear him. The best investment you can make for your children isn't a bank and account or isn't some something left in your will. Fear God in your own life and God will be good to your children. The third one's in verse 41. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good. Do you ever stop to think God rejoices over his people? If I can give them one heart and one way to fear my name, you know what? I rejoice. God wants to do good to you. He wants to bless you. It literally means to, he cheers, he wants to prosper, he wants to be good. My third point, almost out of time. And this third point, if I stayed on it and even began to touch on it, I'd keep you here till 12 midnight. I'm only giving you a touch. And this is the reason I say that. This third point, there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of scriptures connected to this third point. What is it? Point three, the promises of God and the fear of God. So we see the covenant of grace. The new covenant is connected to the fear of God. You can never separate it. We see also the goodness of God is connected to the fear of God. You can never separate it. Where there's no fear of God, there's no goodness, there's no covenant of grace. But this third one, the promises of God are connected to the fear of God. There's people are trying to make the promises of God work. They claim the promises, they pray the promises, but they don't fear God. Do you know the best way to get the promises of God to work in your life? Is to fear God. Listen to what it says in 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1. At the end of chapter 6, he's talking about various promises. I'll be your God. You will be my people. I will walk with you. He's given lots of remarkable promises. Then he comes to chapter 7, verse 1. Listen to what he says very carefully. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved. He's speaking to Christians. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. Oh, but I'm washed in the blood. Yeah, but you've got some rotten attitudes. And you say things you should never have said. And you neglect things in the Bible you ought to be doing as a basic Christian. So he says, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. And this is the next part. Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This is New Testament Christianity. Do you know you're meant to perfect holiness? Oh, but I'm saved. I got washed in the blood. Don't point out all my wrong bits. Don't try to condemn me. I'm under the blood. Well, get rid of that attitude. And stop lying. And stop bickering. And stop accusing. Oh, I'm under grace. I'm under blood. I'm born again. Well, why aren't you acting like it? He says you're to perfect holiness. You know holiness isn't, well, I've got holiness. I've come out from drinking. And I don't use statues anymore. I'm a holy person. You're meant to perfect it. If your holiness is static, why is that? You ought to be perfecting it or moving it on to its final goal. Absolute conformity to Jesus. How do you do that? In the fear of God. The fear of God is essential to moving forward into holiness. Notice here that the promises are connected to the fear of God. You don't get the promises. God's going to walk with me. You better work that out in the fear of God. You see in Psalm 32, the promise of the fear of God, it's a promise. I will put my fear in your heart. It's a promise. God says this actual putting of the fear is a promise. You're to believe it. You're to claim it. You're to believe it. You're to expect it. This is God's will for your life. This is a promise you ought to be claiming. How many Christians in the church, Lord, you're going to prosper me. Lord, you're going to deliver me from the devil. How many claim this promise and say, God, you said you'd so put your fear in me. What is the promise? That I will not depart from you. Do you realize there's people in the church scared of losing their salvation, scared of apostatizing, scared to be improved. They never got born again and that they're not really saved. They are terrified of the veneer coming off. Here's a promise that says, I will so put my fear in you. You will not depart from me. You will not leave me. You will not forsake me. You will not leave holiness or prayer or righteousness or the church of God. Why not claim that promise to say, Lord, put your fear in me because then I'm going to walk with you. Do you know when a thought comes to my mind and just the odd time this happens of throwing the towel in and going out to a pub and getting drunk. Can you imagine Malcolmson hasn't touched drinks in 17 years old. Could you imagine, imagine you walk past the pub and see me sitting in a bar still drooling, incoherent, can hardly stand with all the empty pints. You think that's beyond me? Do you realize that when a thought even, I mean for a fraction of a second comes in this mind to go, just go out and get drunk. I mean, it's not even a temptation. The stuff's rotten. How does anyone drink that stuff? I drank it all. It's rotten. Never liked it when I started, just wanted the effects of it. That's what I wanted. And every night I would get drunk if I could. I was driven and caught by it. I couldn't get free of it. Do you know what happens now when that thought comes? I tremble. I tremble when that thought comes into my mind. But listen, look at some of the promises very quickly. Proverbs 1 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Do you want knowledge to be taught? If you don't fear God, you know nothing. Oh, I know everything. I've got degrees. I've studied a theological class. You do not fear God. Or Proverbs 9 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You have no wisdom. You're not wise. I've met some really stupid people in the church. Some people online don't like me saying words like that. I'm telling you, Jesus used the word fool. The foolish man built his house on sand. There are foolish people. They know the word of God. They profess to follow Christ and they build their house on sand. You're a fool. Jesus called certain people fools. And you know what? Wisdom comes with the fear of God. Do you want to be wise? You have the promise. I want to give you wisdom. I want to give you wisdom for every situation. Just fear God. Proverbs 14 26, in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence or protection and his children shall have a place of refuge to hide. Just fear God. And you have this promise. Proverbs 14 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. Deuteronomy 6 24, to fear the Lord our God for our good always that he might preserve us alive as it is this day. Proverbs 19 23, the fear of the Lord tendeth to life and he that hath it shall abide satisfied. He shall not be visited by evil. Psalm 33 18, behold the eyes of the Lord is upon, guess who? The eyes of the Lord is upon him that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. There is coming a famine, a crisis in this hour. There are coming food shortages. Biden, Senate, all, do you not know? I told you two years ago it was coming. I told you two years ago, you better stock up on the basics. Now the top politicians are going, oh, don't you realize? We're going to be facing massive shortages. We're punishing Putin. No, you're not. You're destroying the West. You're destroying our nations. We're in trouble. And yes, store up your baked beans, hide it in your back garden. But can I give you something better? Fear God. Are you worried about that? Fear God. If you fear God, you will not fear that happening. You will not fear famine. But I tell you what, if you don't fear God, you're going to get very, very worried in this hour. You're going to be terrified when you go to your bank and stick the card in and it doesn't work and go, oh, do you know the banks have all closed? It's all collapsed and there's no money. It's going to happen. It's getting very close. The economy will collapse. There won't be food. I'm not even starting here. You better fear God. The fear of God's connected to promises. There's promises for all of this. Psalm 145, he will fulfill the desire of them that fear him. He will also hear their cry and will save them. Mary in Luke chapter one, verse 50, she said, and his mercy is on them that, guess what? That fear him from generation to generation. Mary knew if you get someone who fears God, God's mercy is there. It says in Hebrews chapter four, let us therefore fear, fear God. Why? Lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short. If you had fear God, you'll enter into the land. If you don't, you could miss unbelievable promises. My fourth and last point. Will you give me one minute to do this last point? My fourth and final point, holiness and the fear of God. Philippians chapter two and 12 says, concerning the Christian, work out your own salvation, fear, and trembling. We don't need to tremble under grace in the new covenant in Christ. We don't tremble anymore. We're not scared of anything. I've met a lot of guys in this city and they're eternally secure as they went out to drink their beer or take another hash or blaspheme or sleep with their girlfriend. And they said, I'm eternally secure. I can never lose this. I am secure in Christ. That's not what the Bible says. It says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God, which worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. If you fear God, you're going to find that God works in your heart in a very remarkable way. A real Christian works out a salvation with fear and tremble. I don't need to fear anything. You better. You better. As a Christian, the most healthy Christians I know, the most truly secure Christians I know, and there is security in Christ and there is an absolute place of safety in him, but it's in the fear of God. If the fear of God's in you, you will not depart. This is his covenant. I'm going to so put my fear in you that the thought of leaving Christ will terrify you. You'll actually go, oh God, help me. And the Lord says, that's why I gave you the fear of the Lord. See all those Christians that don't have the fear of the Lord. You know what they do? I can have my beer and love Christ. I can do both. I can do anything. I can gossip. I can lie. I can, I can just sit here. I can watch television for hours. Never read the Bible. Never pray. Never do anything for God. He doesn't mind. I'm under grace. I'm saved. I'm fine. Aren't I? You're not working out your salvation with fear and trembling. Isaiah 62 verse two that we've dealt with over the past two weeks, but to this man, will I look even to him that is poor of a contrite heart, listen to this, that trembles at my word. God has his eyes on those that tremble at his word. You're to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Some people say, oh, but I don't tremble. You can't work up emotion. You can't put it on. It's a command. You are to work out your salvation and fear and trembling. You better make yourself tremble. You say, oh, but I can't put that on. Who said that? It's like the people who say you can only preach for 20 minutes. People don't have concentration more than five minutes. Who told you that? Paul preached all night. Just go to sleep. Wake up again. The pro guy fell out the window. You can sleep with me. That's fine. But don't you sleep in that window. Be glad we're not upstairs. It says in Isaiah 60, 6, 5, hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word. Have you ever trembled under any sermon or message or preaching? Do you know it's an attitude of heart to say, this is true. You see, if you listen in a casual way, you're not affected by it. You go, uh-huh, uh-huh. If you're just to hear the word and not a doer, you're deceived. Uh-huh, uh-huh. If you play around with your salvation, you're in danger. Uh-huh. Amen. Uh-huh. Not for me. So dangerous. I've watched a lifetime of this. Moses said in Exodus 20, 20, fear not. You're not to fear. For God has come to prove you and that his fear may be before your faces that you sin not. That's why I say holiness is connected to the fear of God. Don't fear about the things around you or in the future. But Moses says, I've come to you that this fear might be in your heart before your eyes. Do you know how I know someone who fears God? They won't sin. Let me prove it. Proverbs 3, 7, be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. Proverbs 16, 6, by mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. And by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. Proverbs 23, 17, let not thine heart envy sinners or be jealous of sinners. Man, look at what they have. Look at what they can do. Don't do it. But be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long and Proverbs 8, verse 13 expands on it. The fear of the Lord. What is it? If anyone asks you, what is the fear of the Lord? Here's the definition. The fear of the Lord, Proverbs 8, 13 is to hate evil. If you do not hate evil, you don't fear God. You might say, well, I know God says that's wrong, but do you hate it? The word hate means treat it like an enemy. Do you treat evil like an enemy? Do you actually go to war with it and say, I'm against you? Then you don't have fear of God. Or if you do do this, you go, I hate this thing that's come into my heart. I'm against it. These temptations, these thoughts, what I just said, I am against it. It's an enemy. Then you have the fear of God. You may have failed this week. You may have failed last night. I understand. But if you hate that and you go to war on it, that's the fear of God. It's a fear of God. If you have a heart to fear God, if you tremble at his word, you go to war on those things. You go, I hate them. If you settle down and make them your bosom buddies, your friends, I can name a lot of sins. And you're your best companions. You don't fear God. He then gives four marks of evil. What is evil? Pride. Do you hate pride? Looking down on people to be majestic, to have high thoughts. If you don't hate pride, you don't fear God. Arrogancy. It's all in this verse. Arrogancy. That's the outward action. You act in a way, you say things that are arrogant. You know, you could be proud in the heart and you don't let it out. Or you could keep it, but those that let it out, you ever met an arrogant person? That's the outward. Someone who doesn't hate arrogancy does not fear God. The evil way, which means the rude way, the evil pathway or the lifestyle. I hope this is a pulpit that fears God. I hope in our preaching, our actions, our church discipline, in our church, that we're a church that fear God. I hope we're marked by that. Job was a man who feared God. Moses was a man who feared God. Paul was a man who feared God. Do you fear God? Is that a mark of your life? And then it says, and the forward, sorry, and the evil way, this lifestyle. I hate, I am an enemy of certain lifestyle, social drinking. I'm an enemy of it. Fornication, I'm an enemy of it. I hate it because I fear God. I love God. And then it says a forward mouth to I hate. That means a mouth that turns, changes, says the opposite. It says this to that person, then this to that person. One minute it's doing the thing, then it's telling other people off for doing the very same thing. It's a forward mouth. It changes it, does the opposite. That's what the word forward actually means. Do you hate the forward mouth? Haven't all of us been guilty at some point? Do you hate it? If you don't hate that, if you're not an enemy of it, you don't fear God. Having been there for these promises, dearly beloved, let's cleanse ourselves. Here this morning, we've seen a heart, a God fearing heart. And we are going to teach an entire series on this and go into this. I haven't even, you know, yesterday, and I went through verse after verse after verse, and I go, I felt like a man drawing in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. Because I went, there's thousands of verses, thousands of verses about the fear of God. Why have we lost the fear of God in today's church? Why is it that new converts come in the door and they don't fear God? Why is it we've got preachers in the pulpit and there's no fear of God that can even preach on it? And with this, I close. This is my final, final. Some years ago, I heard a preacher on the God channel. And as I heard him, he's preaching on the fear of God. And I went, boy, he's different than any preacher I've ever heard. He's a young preacher come up under an association with Benny Hinn. But I went, he's different. He's talking about the fear of God and his wife looks normal. That was the most shocking thing. I went, he must fear God. I mean, look at his wife. I'm talking about American preachers. If you haven't seen an American preacher's wife, you ain't seen nothing in your entire life. I want to assure you, just Google it. Google those, whatever that pink haired lady's called. That's totally gotten me off track as I close. That pink hair. So I see this guy and I go, his wife's normal. They're talking on the fear of God. And I go, oh boy, finally, maybe God's raising up a prophet in the midst of all those mega preachers on the television evangelists. I finally at last have found a real preacher. And my heart rejoiced. I went, amen, amen, amen. See, I believe in the fear of God. I have over the years. And when I heard him, I heard that he's coming over to Northern Ireland and there's a big conference and he's the speaker. And sadly, I was in Britain. I couldn't get back. But I phoned all my friends, older men who used to preach with my dad. I said, go hear him. You've got to hear this man. You've got to get there to that conference. And I just know they're going to hear the word of God. They went there that first night and this young preacher stood, this preacher on the fear of God. And he was angry when he got up the first night. There's about 1500 people there, lots of preachers. And he said, is this, they got treated very well at that conference. And his speaker looked after very well. And he stood up and says, is this how you treat your preachers? If you put me in that, I booked out and booked all my people into a five-star hotel. Is this how you treat us? Is this how you treat your preachers? And he said, all you preachers get up and come down here. And he got them to stand in the front. Then he said, all you people come and lay money at their feet. And I went, when I heard, I went, God help me. This is a man teaching and he teaches accurately on the fear of God. And he's taught many others. And you know what? He doesn't know what it means. And he also went to Scotland to preach and a friend of mine who lived by faith and could hardly feed himself, 50 pounds for a fried breakfast in Glasgow. And that preacher come over, I forget the preacher's name now, but he's very famous, very big. And he went to Scotland. My friend told me, he says, I was never so angry and mad in all my life. I could hardly put food in the table. And he said, I resented paying 50 pounds, but I went, he's a great preacher. And he says, I went there and he stood up at the breakfast and all he talked about, not the fear of God. All he done was talk about his books that you could buy at the back the whole entire time. And he says, my neck was bulging. My face was, I was mad. And he said, so as soon as the meeting was closed, I walked him at the door and he says, I'm going to tell him what I think. I says, how dare you? I can't even afford this. You haven't even given me the word of God. You didn't preach to me, didn't deal with my heart. And he says, just see my secretary, God bless you, and walked off. Friends, I've seen an awful lot of things and I believe in the fear of God. And it's a purifying thing in your heart. You've done very well listening here this morning. I was going to do it in 45 minutes. I was absolutely convinced. Please forgive me. Since I sat quiet for decades in the church and said very little, but when I opened my mouth and he said, you better cry aloud. And if you don't speak up and cry like this in my late twenties, 29 years old, said that from this day forth, if you don't cry aloud, it will be sin onto you and I will confound you. That's enough to scare anyone. And I said, Lord, I'm going to open my mouth and cry aloud from this day forth. You pray with me here. Father, we love you and we bow humbly before you and lowly. And we thank you Lord for your grace and your mercy and your kindness. We thank you for this covenant of grace. And we know that when the grace of God is upon our life, this fear is going to be in our heart, not a manufactured, not a taught man, taught thing, not a religious thing, but something we want in the heart. Will you fulfill your promise to each one of us? Let the fear of God come upon us. And Lord God, we know that if that fear be in our hearts and be in this church, then the goodness of God, you will pursue after us and even our children to bless our children and to do good to our children and to do good to us. And Lord God, all of these thousands of promises that we so desire in our lives. If we fear God, we have your promise and your covenant that you will pour out all of these blessings. If we walk in the fear of God before you and tremble at your word, then my God, I do pray that you make us a holy people. Lord God, to fear God is to depart from evil. And I pray right that on our hearts this morning, and we commit this message into your hand. Bless every person that listens up in Jesus mighty name.