A Godly Fear

 “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence—As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!” (Isa 64:1-2). 

What a prayer! What an image! I have always found this passage riveting. Actually, these final chapters of Isaiah are fascinating because they describe eschatological events. Eschatology is the study of the end times, and the Bible has lots and lots to say about the topic. It is in this setting that we find our verses. Isaiah longs for the day when God will reveal Himself to the nations. He will no longer be out of sight, hidden away by the heavens. Isaiah prays that God would rend the heavens much as we read of the curtain of the holy of holies being sundered in two at the Crucifixion (cf. Matt 27:51). In other words, Isaiah is praying, “rip open the heavens and reveal Yourself as at Sinai when the mountains quaked and fire raged” (cf. Exod 19). 

Isaiah uses graphic imagery here. God’s fiery presence is said to set the mountains ablaze like brushwood and to make them boil like water (v. 2). Is this the picture that pops into our minds when we think of God’s presence? Do we think of our God as a consuming fire? (Heb 12:29). We should! Because that is how God has revealed Himself! 

The result of this revelation of God’s fiery presence is that the nations who oppose God would tremble before Him. This will be something that happens in the final days (Rev 6:12-17; Rev 19-20; 2 Thess 1:7-8). The wrath of almighty God will be kindled (Psalm 2:12) and no one will be able to stand before Him. 

I want to focus on this topic of the fear of the Lord. This is a theme that stretches from Genesis to Revelation. 

Consider these statements in the first five books of the Bible.

Gen 20:11 – Abraham was afraid that there was no fear of God in Gerar, so he resorted to deceit

Gen 22:12 – The angel assured Abraham that God knew he feared Him because of his obedience 

Gen 31:42 – God is called “the fear of my [Jacob’s] father, Isaac.”

Gen 42:18 – Joseph, in disguise, told his brothers that he feared God.

Exod 9:30 – Moses told Pharaoh that he knew he did not yet fear the LORD God.

Exod 18:21 – Moses was told to pick men who fear God to serve as leaders

Exod 20:20 – Moses told Israel that God had appeared on Sinai in fire and spoken to them in order to test them and out the perpetual fear of God upon them.

Lev 25:17 – “You shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God”

Deut 4:10 – Moses recounted God’s appearance to the people at Sinai to hear His words so that they would fear Him.

Deut 5:29 – God expressed His desire that the people would fear Him always. 

Deut 6:2 – All generations should fear the Lord to keep His statues and prolong life in the land.

Deut 6:13 – Fear only the Lord your God

Deut 6:24 – The LORD commanded them to fear Him forever.

Deut 8:6 – Keep His commandments to walk in His ways and fear Him.

Deut 10:12 – What does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God?

Deut 10:20 – You shall fear the LORD your God

Deut 13:4 – You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him.

Deut 14:23 – Eating the portion of the tithe in the presence of God to learn to fear Him.

Deut 17:19 – The king would be required to write a copy of the law and read from it daily to learn to fea4 the LORD.

Deut 25:18 – Amalek did not fear God

Deut 28:58 – Fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God.

Deut 31:12-13 – Hear and learn and fear the LORD your God.

That is only the references to the fear of the Lord in the Torah! There are many more references scattered throughout the rest of Scripture! No wonder Solomon wrote that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom! (Prov 1:7).

Someone will counter that these are Old Testament passages. Surely the New Testament does not tell us to fear God. On the contrary. Consider:

Matt 28:4, 8

Luke 1:50; 5:26; 7:16; 8:37; 12:5; 18:2; 23:40

Acts 5:5, 11; 9:31; 13:26; 16:29; 19:17

Rom 3:18

2 Cor 5:11; 7:1,

Eph 5:21

Phil 2:12

1 Pet 1:17; 2:17

Rev 11:18; 14:7; 15:4; 19:5

Note that Ephesians 5:21 says to be subject to one another in the fear of CHRIST! We, the beloved of God, fear Him and serve Him and walk according to His commandments. 

The unbelieving world does not. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Rom 3:18). As I pray for my community and for the nation, my prayer has increasingly become, “Make the people fear you.” It is only when the people regard God’s perfection that they will learn to fear Him on account of their sinfulness. It is only then that they will cry out to Him for grace and mercy. It is only then that Christ can become sweet to them. Perhaps we have recoiled too much from the label “fire and brimstone.” We need to warn of the wrath to come. We need to warn people that they will stand before a holy God. We need to press it into their minds and hearts. Only then will the salvation through Christ be appealing. 

The church has tried to find all kinds of ways to appeal to unbelievers today. The message has been softened. The fear of God has been dropped in favor of thinking of God as your “best friend” and “greatest advocate.” He is that, but He is also the holy, powerful, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, triune King of Creation! O that God would reveal Himself to unbelievers to make them quake with fear and bow to Him. O that they would be driven to cry out, “Woe is me! How can I stand before a holy and fearsome God?” Only then will the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ sound sweet to them! 

Isn't the good news of the gospel marvelous? Christ took our penalty so that we no longer fear the condemnation of God! Now we rejoice in His great love and mercy and grace. Yet there is still a godly and healthy fear of the Lord. It is not a fear of punishment, but a fear of respect. It is often thought of and translated "reverence," but I'm not quite sure that is a strong enough word. We live in an irreverent culture. We are casual with most everybody. The tendency, then, is to be casual with God. While there is intimacy, familiarity, and friendship, there must also be great reverence (dare I say fear) in our relationship with God.

So, friend, how do you approach God? If you find yourself too casual in God's presence, then perhaps it is time for you to saturate yourself with the attributes of God. Bow before the eternal king and bask in the light of His glory. “Great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:11). So, believer, serve Him with fear and rejoice with trembling (cf. Psa 2:11). He is your God and King, and He has adopted you into His own household and promised you an inheritance! 

"What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming day of God, because of which the heavens will be destoryed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!" (2 Pet 3:11-12).

 

Purify Yourself!

 This sentence in 1 John stood out to me during my Scripture reading this morning: “Everyone who has this hope purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). I have preached these verses a number of times and this always convicts me. 

 

One of John’s constant emphases in his first epistle is righteousness. He begins with his authoritative eyewitness message in chapter 1 that brings us into fellowship with the Father and Son (1:1-4). Those who believe the gospel message and come to know the Father will from that moment on be marked by righteous living. He describes this with a metaphor: light. First, he sets forth this proposition: “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1:5). He immediately follows up by saying that all who claim to know God must walk in the light, and anyone who does not is demonstrably a liar. Since God is holy and righteous, so must we be. If anyone hears about God’s righteous character and concludes that they do not sin (or even worse, have never sinned), then they show that they do not understand the gospel. For those who conclude that they have never sinned, he says that they make God out to be a liar. 

 

He continues this theme of righteous living as a characteristic of true Christians throughout the epistle. It is impossible for a believer to read 1 John and walk away without strong conviction of sin. A regular reading of this epistle will soften our hearts and keep us aware of the danger that constantly looms. The worst danger of all is that we would become apathetic to sin. It is to lower our defenses and let down our guard. It is to give in to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life (2:15-17). It is to blindly trust others who make confident assertions about God and the Bible (2:18-27; 4:1-6). It is to bow down before the idols of our hearts (5:21). I am convinced that this last command of the book is a laser-focused summary of the entire epistle: “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (5:21). 

 

So, how do we purify ourselves from day to day? There are many answers we could list: prayer, Scripture reading and memory, accountability partners, Christian books, Christian counseling, etc. Those are all wonderful tools in sanctification. But there is something that will motivate us to unceasing self-purification. What does John say it is? Our hope!

 

What hope is this? First, let me say that biblical hope is not some wish concerning the outcome of a probability. It’s not, “I hope it’s a sunny day tomorrow,” or, “I hope my team wins tonight.” It is a confident expectation of a certain thing. What is the confident, expectant hope that John tells us to fix on Him? Christ’s glorious return and our outward transformation. “We know that when He appears we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (3:2).

 

Beloved, do you yearn for His Coming? Do you earnestly hope for this every day? Or is His coming in the clouds something you let slip your mind for days or weeks at a time? Do you pray, “Lord, hasten the day!” (2 Pet 3:12)? If you do not daily set your mind there (Col 3:1-4), may I suggest that this is part of the reason you struggle with holiness? 

 

Let me end with a personal anecdote. I had a dream one night in April (only a few months ago) where I heard a voice say that Jesus would be coming the next day. I woke up with this statement strongly on my mind. I didn’t know what to make of it. Was it just a dream expressing my own desires? Or was it God? I decided that, either way, I would soon know. Obviously it wasn’t a prophecy. However, it has served as an illustration for me ever since, because I have never experienced such an intense anticipation and expectancy concerning His Coming. My prayers that day were filled with more longing, confession, and petition than ever before. My speech and actions had an increased holiness. My interactions with others was more purposeful and urgent. I’m not bragging. If anything, I am shaming myself because of my comparative coolness before and after this day. 

 

O that we would all be diligent to watch and wait daily for Him! May we look up more. May we be heaven-focused. Fight sin with hope. Biblical hope. Study up on the future. Brush up on your mental image of heaven. Even more, seek the Lord daily and abide with Him. Know Him. Love Him. Walk with Him.