Fear God and Cling to Him

Good morning, everyone. Good to see all of you. And this very nice fall morning. Fall is in the air, and leaves were more turned up here, I noticed, as we kept coming north at the interstate, that things were more...not more beautiful, but they were more beautiful in terms of the leaves being changed than we have them down in Indianapolis. So, it's nice to see that last year we missed the turning of the foliage, because we were gone for about a month during the feast and missed most of that, but look forward to seeing that as it comes upon us this year.

One of the reasons for going to the Feast of Tabernacles, and it was mentioned in a passing comment where we were this year, is to learn to fear God, to take the collection of our festival tithes, and to go and to travel to the place where God's name has been placed, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. It's stated in the book of Deuteronomy as an occasion to learn to fear God. It struck me, as I reflected on that during this feast, that fear is one of those things that is not always completely appreciated within our lives as we look at what God tells us about that particular concept, because when we hear about going to the Feast and we come before God, fear is not necessarily one of those things we think about, because usually we think of fear in terms of the frightfully ghastly things that are popping up around us at this time of year with the ghosts and the skeletons and the emphasis upon the macabre, with the Halloween celebrations, or some other type of fear that might grip us. All of us have our own individual fears of fear of commitment, of relationship, of fear of heights, perhaps, to climb something or to be on a high edifice, fear of storms, fear of death even, even a fear of failure. All of us have our own phobias and fears that we have lived with, battled and fought over the years, and to see that mentioned in the Scriptures can certainly trigger a very interesting reaction from any of us when we think about fear and what really it usually does in our life. But when you look through the Scriptures, you will see that fear is something that is mentioned quite often in terms of a relationship with God and for us as a Christian. Let me turn over to Ecclesiastes 12. Just note one reference here in Ecclesiastes 12. We know this Scripture very well in verse 13. It says, Now, that, as we will see, is a pretty straightforward statement that we see quite often when we look at the Scriptures. And in fact, when we look at it, we're going to see that it's really a key to life. It's really a key to understanding our relationship with God. It's a key really to being an effective Christian. Learning to fear God in a proper way is one of the, some of, a way of taking care of some of the lesser fears in our life.

What we see, what we find when we look at the Scriptures regarding godly fear is how it draws us closer to God. And so thinking about that during the feast inspired this particular approach and idea to look at this from a little different perspective and hopefully open our minds and understanding to something that will help us have a much more closer and intimate relationship with God as we focus on this. Turn back, if you will, to Exodus chapter 3. I want to begin going through a few verses here in the Old Testament just to show a little bit about this. This book of Exodus is filled with a number of different scenes that portray a fear or something to be fearful about regarding God and our relationship with Him. In chapter 3 of Exodus, we find that in this occasion where Moses is brought before God at the occasion of the burning bush, he has an interesting reaction. And he is told by God when he sees this bush and he turns aside and goes off as he is being called by God. He says, Moses, Moses. And Moses said, Here I am in verse 5.

God says, Do not draw near this place, take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. Now, this holy presence, this holy ground, indicates that it's holy because of God. And he says, Take your shoes off of your feet, for that is holy ground. What God is doing here is laying down a method by which He is to be approached, how we approach God. Building a godly relationship with God on the part of Israel wherein God was to be their King, their Lord, and their God, required them to understand the matter that God was holy and that He was to be approached in a unique and special way. It would take an understanding of His presence in the life of this entire nation and all the descendants of Abraham to ultimately keep them on the path of obedience. And it was a major lesson that they would have to learn. You all are familiar with the story in Exodus 19 of Israel coming before God at the time of their receiving of the commandments coming before God at Mount Sinai. And the fact that they were caught in a very awesome occasion as well. Moses seeing God in a burning bush or coming to talk to God in a burning bush, and Israel being brought before God in an awesome sight of a mountain that was quaking like a volcano that was going off, and the ground shaking, and the fire, and the light, and their presence there, not knowing if they would survive that scene, created a situation where, again, the people were in a great deal of fear. When you look in Exodus 19 and begin in verse 16 all the way down through verse 20, you see a very fearsome sight that is something people try to recreate in many different ways. You know, we put on a fireworks demonstration on some type of a festive occasion, 4th of July, or New Year's, or some other festival that may take place, and the booms and fire and the eruptions of the fireworks are meant to create a certain amount of awe and attention for people as things like that take place. Israel was watching an entire mountain erupt, and I always find it interesting in the scholarly debates that go on as to where exactly was Mount Sinai. You may realize that the traditional sight of Mount Sinai is something that is debated by scholars today, and what has been accepted in many, many years in the traditional pictures you see of Mount Sinai and the Sinai Peninsula is not readily accepted by most scholars today. It becomes an interesting debate that I don't really know the full answer to if the one that has always been claimed to be is the one or not. Looking at the sight and looking at all of that, you sometimes wonder when you read what is mentioned here in Exodus 16 that if indeed whatever mountain it would have been, there would have been some type of a residue of the actual event itself that would have been left behind, and that in itself would be a clue to helping to identify which mountain is Mount Sinai. But what is mentioned here is, again, just a great spectacle. But in verse 20, you find that Israel, Moses spoke and God answered him by voice, and the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

And in the subsequent events of the story, Israel drew back because they were fearful of this presence of God, and in one sense, that kind of set a stage and a scene for their whole relationship with God, because they never really fully learned, perhaps, the whole meaning of what it was to respect and fear God in a proper way. In the Old Testament, there are several words that are translated fear.

And really, when you look at the context of so many other references to fearing God, fearing God and keeping His commandments, you will find and walk away not with a sense of dread, not with a sense of an emotional, fearful reaction that causes us to shrink back. What you will come away with is a sense of awe and respect, and ultimately, if it's understood in the proper context, reverence for God with what He is doing. And that should bring us closer to God in our own relationship. A relationship that is hopefully not based on terror, not based on intimidation, but brings us closer to God out of an attitude of awe and respect, and ultimately, love, which moves us into a much more deeper relationship based on trust, on faith, and on loyalty. The book of Deuteronomy has a great deal to say about this in terms of the history of Israel and this particular theme. And I'd like to take a moment to look at a few of these places. If you will, turn over to Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy 6.

And let's just look at verse 13. It says, "...you shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you, for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you. Lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth." Now, just reading those three verses can already begin to put us off.

If our typical mindset in looking at God as a fearful being of wrath and judgment kicks into our minds and into our thinking about God, He says here He is a jealous God. And it says He has anger. Those are not typically ideas that we relate to God and certainly with Jesus Christ on.

However, you will find that those are some pretty deep emotions and they are quite frequently mentioned in relationship to God and His feelings about us as we relate to Him. And it's a matter of understanding, once again, really what it is that God's wanting from us. Verse 13 sets the stage because it touches upon the first commandment, which is to have no other gods.

He's saying don't go after other gods and have any other God before Him. God, the essence of His relationship with mankind and with His people is the fact that we look to God and to Him solely for worship and for a relationship and for understanding of life. And we are able to discern the difference between false gods, idolatry, and images that either are erected by ourselves or by our society that hide the truth of God and destroy that relationship that He's wanting to build with us.

That's at the essence of the whole message here. And God gets pretty jealous about that. He can even get to the point of being angry when it comes to the affection of those that are supposed to be His people and that affection not being returned in a proper way. So it's something, I guess what I'm saying is, anger and jealousy are things that, in terms of our understanding of God, we have to learn to live with and appreciate and ultimately understand in our relationship with God if we are to really grow to the depth of love that God wants us to have toward Him as He indeed has toward us.

Verse 16 says that, "...you shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God in His testimonies and His statutes, which He's commanded you." So again, we're tied right back into that. "...and you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you." And here, once you read through any passage, you begin to see that the real reason that God wants us to take off our shoes and to appreciate His holy presence and to, if you will, reverence and, if you will, fear Him in the right way, that it might go well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers.

It all leads to blessings. It leads to the good life. The Feast of Tabernacles all year round. Wouldn't we love to just continue to keep the feast and the spirit of the feast and the way of living at the feast with the surroundings and if it's a nice condo or nice oceanfront view. So many like to go to Jekyll Island or Panama City or some other place, and for eight days at least, we get an oceanfront view.

The rest of the time, we come back home, we look at cornfields and soybeans. Living in Indiana, that's what we, when we look out our front window, that's what we have. Cornfields and soybean fields, which have their own beauty to them and their own dignity and all, but for eight days we kind of like to either look at the mountains or look at the ocean, and we like to extend that. In other words, we want our share of the good life, don't we? Well, that's what God wants for us. And that's why, again, the whole process leads to ultimately the blessings. And that might be passed on, as verse 20 brings on, that when your children ask you, what's the meaning of all these things, then you say, well, you know, we have what we have because we obey God.

And blessings flow from obeying God. And we pass that on to our children in that way, and as we translate it into the language of our own families and of our own time. When you come down to verse 24, he says, The Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes to fear the Lord our God, for our good always that He might preserve us alive as it is this day. Right there in verse 24, it's all summed up. Why do we fear God? So that He can bless us. Why do we have a proper understanding of that? That He might be able to show us how much He loves us.

That's where it leads. That's what is understood in chapter 10 of Deuteronomy. Chapter 10 and verse 12, he says, I command you today for your good. Skipping down to verse 20, it says, You shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast and take oaths in His name. I want to turn to my new favorite translation of the Bible I picked up during the Feast, which is the New Living Translation, and read Deuteronomy 10.20 out of that.

I was in the bookstore for a period of time during the Feast, and that's always dangerous for me because I buy books. And I decided this year to get a new translation, so I bought an inexpensive copy of one I've been reading about, the New Living Translation, and I'm not ready to pass complete judgment one way or the other on it in terms of its value, but it's already been interesting. In Deuteronomy 10 and verse 20, it says, It says, you must fear the Lord your God and worship Him and cling to Him, and cling to Him. Which is a little different from what it says here in the New King James, where I'm reading, where it says, hold fast. You know, that is the value of certain translations and the way things can be put, just to kind of give a little different perspective, show a little different light on it, that you might cling to God.

As it says here in verse 20, and your old must be in His name alone. You know, have you ever found yourself clinging to something? It's another way of saying, you know, God says of a husband and wife there to cleave to one another, and the two become one flesh. You cleave in the sense that you cling to that person. Sometimes, you know, in relationships we cling on to them. We cling on to a good friend that we have, because they provide a, you know, encouragement, help, or some emotional need, and we may cling to a mate. We might cling on to, you know, we're about to fall off of a hill or something, and we'll cling on to our branch or to our root that's just holding us and keeping us from falling, hopefully only a few feet that could just break a bone rather than many hundreds of feet that could actually kill us or something. But you think of the idea of clinging on to something with all of your might that you have at that moment in order to keep from what? Falling and being hurt, losing a relationship and being hurt deep down inside, which sometimes is even harder than a broken bone, because that's harder to heal from. So we cling on to something. Well, when it comes to God, He's saying, cling to me.

You cling on to me as if it's the last... I'm the last person you want to lose a relationship with. I'm the last... this is the last idea that you would want to lose from your heart and your mind. Some aspect of obedience to God. In one sense, 11, 12 years ago, we were clinging on to the Sabbath, weren't we?

And I remember how we were. We were getting books from an Adventist scholar to reaffirm our belief in the Sabbath.

And kind of consulting with him at a point, because we were clinging to a point of God's law that at that point had eventually erupted the whole ball of the church at that point. But we were clinging on to the Sabbath. And that was right, as we should be. But we have to cling on to God. One of the things I learned from that point, I've mentioned it before, brethren, is that in one sense we waited until the fourth commandment was done away with. The first commandment had been done away with long before the fourth commandment had been done away with.

You know that? And we waited too long. And the first and the second and the third commandment speak to this very issue in this heart of clinging on to God as we don't put any other gods before Him. We don't create any other images before God. And we don't take His name in vain. That has to do with the heart of really worshiping God and having a relationship with God that transcends anything. The Sabbath, certainly, that's the fourth of those first four that really teach us how to obey and love God, as Christ said. And that's important. But we were like that frog in the kettle. And we just didn't...that really got kicked up to high in our own minds. I've been challenged on that over the years, and I have to admit that we waited too long. I don't ever want to have that happen again. When you see the first commandment to be challenged, that's the time to stand up. Actually, any of God's commandments and laws. I get a little...anyway, I won't go any further on that, but you get the point. We're to cling to God as if, you know, His presence in our life, that relationship with Him is so important. It's like, again, a physical relationship becomes a...and that ultimately grows into a deep sense of love and respect as we move on. The fear of God is really a motive to obedience. And that's what God wanted, essentially with His relationship with His people. In Chapter 13, beginning in verse 4, it gets translated into reality in that if somebody came along and told Israelites to follow some other God, that person was to be dealt with in a pretty severe way. In verse 4, it says, Again, it's a sense of clinging or of holding on, but it comes out of...from a proper fear and respect. And then it says, And it says, And it says, And it says, And it says, And either you nor your fathers, nor shall not consent to Him or listen to Him, nor shall your eye pity Him, nor shall you spare Him or conceal Him. In other words, you don't put Him in an attic and hide Him.

You don't protect Him. You don't enable Him. To use a term for our day to day.

But in verse 9 it says, Wow! Put your hand...

Your hand will be first against Him to put Him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And you shall stone Him with stones until He dies. You talk about emphasis.

Kill Him. Make your hand the first one. And keep throwing the stones until there's not a quiver or a muscle twitching.

You know? The muscles in an animal will twitch for a little while after it's actually dead.

That's a pretty strong language. And why? So that all Israel shall hear in fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.

Now that's a pretty strong language. And it's connected in the same way with another situation in chapter 21, which I quickly want to turn to and just mention to blend these two together to make a point.

In Deuteronomy 21, verse 18, you see an instruction regarding a rebellious son.

This is something we've read before and we've thought about. But verse 18, it says, Here's another opposite situation. This is someone in your own family. Now, it sounds with a cursory reading very quickly that this is that Old Testament vengeful God idea again.

And if that's all you focus on, that's all you come up with and that's all you conclude.

But I want you to notice something. Obviously, we're dealing with the heart of the commandments. This gets into the matter of respect for parents, beginning with number 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 of the commandments, which deal with our relationship with man and how we love man.

Stoning a false prophet obviously deals with the first four set of commandments and infringing upon our love with God.

But here he gets to specifics about even a son or a daughter could be implied as well. And it's hard. I don't...you know, I read that. Could I do that? Could you do that?

Abraham took his son Isaac up the hill. Could this be done?

I look at this and I also realize that knowing as human nature and knowing family situations as I do, you've got to realize this would have been the last resort because I've been to a gate of one of these cities. And it's right in the time of Israel when you walked into the city, you passed the main gate. You passed through a main gate. And that's where the Court of Justice was. And some of the places they've excavated over there, they still have a judgment seat right there, judgment throne. By the time you brought a person to this stage, you have a situation that is incorrigible.

You have a situation that not even the parents can deal with. And you have to realize that no doubt the aunts and the uncles and the grandparents have already done all that they can do. The family structure has done all that they can do to keep this from getting to this point. And proper diligence has been made and proper investigation, but it's an individual that says, you know, the son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. And it also says that he's a glutton and a drunkard.

And so this is an incorrigible life that will not change. And they say that he used to be put to death with stones. Now, we don't live under that particular administration. We have an administration of mercy and judgment and justice under the new covenant today. And obviously, the church doesn't even begin to try to deal with situations like this. And we do live in different times. But again, we don't have the full story here.

I think the intent here is that there is a much broader social structure behind this before you ever get to this point to try to correct, to try to work with, and rehabilitate somebody. That is understood by looking at many other aspects of God's administration for Israel.

But we don't have time to go into all of that. What is important to realize is that this is meant to build a just society according to God's laws. And it does make sense when you factor in the knowledge and the understanding of the resurrection. As you look at dealing with a false prophet, dealing with a criminal, a murderer, and dealing with, in this case, a reprobate sibling or child that cannot be worked with.

It's not a situation that can ultimately be brought about, but it's the whole society that is being dealt with here. It is the whole community. And it is bringing about a situation where everyone learns to respect what God says and it filters through. When you look at any of these laws, not just this one, you have to realize that, I made a comment during one of my sermons at the Feast that why not try what God says? All of mankind's ways have led us to where we are today, to where we still have the same questions being asked. And where sin is not dealt with, whatever the nature of the sin, in a proper way, people don't learn to properly reverence and respect God's way of life.

We witness all the situations that we see around us to this day where, you know, somewhere along the line certain injustices are not dealt with. And people's lives go on and they wind up in the adult years in some cases, like what happened with the tragic situation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where four little girls from the Amish community are killed because of a deranged man still reacting from whatever problems and sins, either perpetrated upon him or by him from years past, that were not dealt with.

And people years later suffer from the result of that. Or we see another case of a priest that abuses in a sexual manner a young altar boy. And years later, this altar boy becomes a congressman and then resigns in disgrace because of his impact upon another young person or relationship there. And it sets in motion a chain of events that could bring down a government that, in turn, could have interesting ramifications for a whole people.

When you look at how things sin that is not either not repented of, sin that is not dealt with in a godly way, is allowed to move through a people. And you multiply that out over the years and the generations of a society, you see why we have the problems that we do. And my point is in the statement that I made is, why not try God's way? Man's way has not worked. Why not give God's way a try? Again, within the proper parameters. Well, we know that in the kingdom that that will take place.

But the ultimate respect, the ultimate impact of that is to ultimately that everyone would learn to hear God, hear His ways, and fear in a right, respectful manner. Let's turn over to Job 28. We could spend the whole time here in Deuteronomy. But I wanted to go to Job 28.

In verse 23, Job 28, beginning in verse 23, verse 20, From where then does wisdom come, and where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Here, the wisdom of the ages, the wisdom that can build a society and a righteous society.

Destruction and death say we have heard a report about it with our ears. God understands its ways and He knows its place. And He looks to the end of the earth and sees under the whole heavens to establish a weight for the wind and to portion the waters by measure. When He made a law for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt, then He saw wisdom and declared it, He prepared it.

Indeed, He searched it out. And to man He said, behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil, is understanding. And so, in talking about the source of wisdom, where it does ultimately come from, and looking and surveying the whole scene, God here through Job is saying that the fear of the Lord is wisdom.

And to depart from evil is understanding. And so this respect, this love for God, is really the beginning of wisdom. And it extends a great deal into our life. Let's look at Psalm 103. Psalm 103. And verse 11. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As the Father pities His children, so the Father pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, His days are like grass, as a flower of the field, so He flourishes. As the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.

So mercy here is connected with fear. God's mercy is upon those who respect and love and have a proper amount of affection for God and His ways. Mercy is extended in an unending, everlasting way from those who fear Him.

His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant and to those who remember His commandments to do them. Verse 19 says, The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all, which talks about the sovereignty of God and His rule and how that extends in our life. So several times, this is reminiscent of what we read back in Ecclesiastes 12, which is the whole duty of man, which is to fear God and to keep His commandments.

A great deal is said in the Old Testament regarding this. When we look at the New Testament, it's important to realize that the thought, the meaning, is carried over in the same way in terms of proper respect of God. Because when we see an example in Luke 7 of God through Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, God Himself walking among man, doing His work, we see the same approach come over those who were in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at a time when He was extending compassion and merciful healing upon people.

In Luke 7, verse 16, let's begin in verse 11.

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep, a normal thing that was taking place here on this, this cortege as it was going out, the only son of a lady who had no husband and perhaps no other children is the indication here. But she is a widow, and a widow at this time did not have the social safety net to fall back on that we would have today. They depended upon children and certainly a husband to take care of them. And so she's weeping for the loss of her son. She's weeping for the state of her life. And Christ comes up and He says to her, Do not weep. I imagine Christ had to say that pretty loudly, to be heard over the cries of the woman herself and to get her attention. Think about that. Think what it would take to get through. It says, Don't cry. Stop your crying. Now that's a hard thing to say. As I've done many funerals and been involved in many cases of grief, one thing I've never said is stop crying. I've never said to somebody, Don't weep. Because there's a time to weep. And Christ's actions could be taken as cold or callous, but He said to her, Don't weep. Stop crying. There must have been a bit of confusion there in the crowd as to what He meant by that and why He would even say it. But He went on and touched the open coffin. And those who carried Him stood still, and He said, Young man, I say to you, arise. So He who was dead sat up and began to speak. So those who saw this had a once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing the dead raised to life. We don't know that any of them ever saw anything like that again from either of Christ's miracles or in Jerusalem even at the time when Christ was crucified. We know that people came up out of the grave at that time. The knot of people following this lady out to bury her son saw that son come to life. And they'd been several hours since he died, they knew he was dead. There was no question in their minds that they were seeing something that was a miracle. And he was presented to his mother. And the response in verse 16 was fear. Fear came upon all. Now they didn't shrink back and they didn't stone Christ and they didn't run away from Him. Fear came upon them and they glorified God. This feeling of respect toward a truly righteous person and the presence of a righteous act brought fear or awe, reverence. Who is this man? What is he that this can happen? What have we seen? What does this mean? It's all very positive. And they recognized they were in the presence of someone very special. And it created a glory. It created a feeling of righteousness and saying, a great prophet has risen up among us and God has visited His people. These two statements in verse 16 are kind of a summation of the talk around the town that went out from this. This is what they were talking about around coffee the next morning. And when the word spread, because the report went out throughout the region, Judea and the surrounding region.

So they thought God had visited His people. And so they recognized greatness in their presence. Fear was a very important part of, again, Christ's teaching in regard to God Himself in Matthew 10.

In verse 28, Matthew 10 verse 28, Christ makes a statement. He says, Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Sometimes we focused only on this verse, on the distinction between the soul and the body and the spirit and the physical, and exactly what is being said to show in a negative sense that this is not talking about the immortality of the soul. Really, the thought here is the fear of God, respect for God and what He is doing. And to put that in the context here, it is a matter of our attitude toward God. You go in verse 30, He says, The very hairs of your head are numbered in relation to God as He looks upon us. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows or many birds. The context puts it into a relationship with God in having trust and confidence in God, rather than, again, the idea of the immortality of the soul and the issue of hell.

It is a matter of looking to God who has total control of our life. He has control of our physical as well as the spiritual dimension of our life. God holds the key to not just our physical life, but certainly our eternal life and our spiritual life. And so it is to Him that we owe our respect and our allegiance.

The effectiveness of a relationship with God comes from a proper respect of God. This is what Christ is telling the people, and this is what we see moving throughout the Church. In the book of Acts, several times, there's mention that fear fell upon the Church through the signs and the wonders that were done by the apostles. Acts 2 and verse 43 is one, and we'll turn there. It says there that fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. As the work of God was done through the Church and those pages of Acts, we find several situations. Let's just turn to 1 in Acts 9, where they learned to walk in the fear of God. Acts 9.

Verse 31.

This is in the context of Saul and his even persecution upon the Church, but it says that during a time of growth, the Church is, "...throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit they were multiplied." So again, it's in the context of a respect for God, a love for God, a clinging to God, that the spirit and the attitude, the mood of the Church develops and grows, and it's referred to as a respect for God or a fear of God, and there is comfort and there is growth. And you'd have to say that this is certainly talking about growth in numbers of people coming into the Church. And I would think as well growth in their spiritual knowledge and their condition, as they sensed that God was moving them to a higher, holier life because they wanted to please God and they wanted to do what was lawful in His sight. This whole concept of having a relationship to God that is respectful and connecting it to fear is again part of what Paul told the churches in 2 Corinthians 6.

2 Corinthians 6.

In verse 11, he charges the Corinthians with, again, evading the idolatry of their times and their city, not letting their idols and their pagan worship and the religion of their community, their times, restrict their relationship with God. Beginning in verse 11, he really bears himself to the church and he says, We've spoken openly to you. Our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you're restricted by your own affections. Now in return for the same, you also be open. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness, and what communion has light with darkness? Very clear distinctions is made here in terms of one's relationships. And what accord has Christ with Belial, a false God? For what part has a believer with an unbeliever? The obvious answer is none. And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Therefore, come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. This is even an echo of what was to come in Revelation 19, where the church, the believers, are told to come out of Babylon and not be partakers of her sins. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Then the thought is carried on into chapter 7 and verse 1. Therefore, having these promises be loved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So again, you see this concept of fear being placed within the context of holiness and righteousness, and cleansing oneself from filthiness. And to the Corinthians and to the church there, he's saying, look, don't try to mix and mingle with idolatry, with the religious customs of the time. We would say the same today in regard to the pagan holidays that are so much around us. Halloween, which is becoming even sad to say in our time, it's bigger than Thanksgiving.

That's another indictment of the morality of our own people. That Thanksgiving begins in August. I mean, sorry, Halloween begins in August or September. And this fascination with death and evil becomes a saccharine-coated custom that dominates time through the fall when people should be, in truth, turning to God through His holy days.

And it overshadows Thanksgiving. That has to almost kind of be glossed over on the mad dash to the big pagan holiday of Christmas, all of which hides truth and is a time of darkness and true fear. Paul is saying, stay away from that. That's filthiness that is unholy. And he says, you should be perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So as we have a profound respect for God's way, for His teachings, we are then developing holy and righteous character.

That is the point that He is making. I'm going to take this, brethren, back to a scripture that I spoke on a few weeks before the feast when I was going through the book of Philippians. If you will, in Philippians 2, because Paul mentions it in this as well. In verse 12, since I spent a little bit of time on it in that series, I want to go back to it. Philippians 2 and verse 12, where he says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So again, Paul's teaching to us to work out our own salvation, which really means that it takes labor and takes effort. Paul is really hitting upon a concept to our relationship with God, to Christianity, that involves not terror, not more but fear, but hard work. Work out your salvation. Work it out. Not that we gain salvation by works. We know that. That's another dimension that expands that. We're not saying we're saved by works. We are rewarded by works. Works are important. And he's saying, you work at it. It is hard work to work at this matter of salvation.

And we have to struggle. We have to sweat. We have to hold and we have to cling. Like we would cling to a branch or to a root of a tree that we might hold on to. We've been walking through the woods and we don't know where we are. We fall. We stumble off of a cliff or a steep precipice. And we grab a root.

And that's all we have between us and injury or death. And we cling to God. Like we are going to cling to the root of that tree to keep ourselves from being hurt. Because we know if we cling to God, we're not going to be hurt spiritually, emotionally. We're not going to be hurt righteously. We're going to be clinging to the very source of help that we can have.

And Paul tells us to work out our salvation. He's talking here about an attitude that's not nervous. It's not trembling. Paul really has no patience with a coldness or a formal approach to growth and righteousness that doesn't involve struggle. He's saying that it's going to take your hard effort.

That's really the full meaning of the Greek words that are used here. That it's going to take a lot of work. Like you would work hard at the job you've been given or you've chosen to do. Working on machinery in a factory. Working on a construction crew. And laboring. And it takes effort. It takes one more hit or blow on that pipe or on that wall or whatever to accomplish that particular task within the overall goal. You have to work hard at it and be consistent. That's what Paul is saying. Work at your own salvation in fear and in trembling.

Because we have a relationship with God that demands that. That's what he's saying. And in doing so, we are coming closer to understanding the nature of God than any technical study we could ever want to go into in terms of words about God from the Bible. Understanding God's character and nature is understanding that he is a God who is very jealous and angry, has emotions, and expects us to, in a sense, react to him with the same level of emotion in a positive way that's grounded in fear.

Grounded in a fear that really manifests itself in love. Let's turn finally to Hebrews 12. In verse 18. This whole section begins by him evoking the image of Sinai once again. Verse 18, he says, He goes on to talk about it was a terrifying sight. In verse 22, you've come to the Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to accompany of angels, to the General Assembly, and the Church of the Firstborn, the spirits of just men made perfect.

Ultimately, verse 24, to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, to the blood sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven. Whose voice then shook the earth, but now he has promised saying, Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.

Now this, yet once more, indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Faith and endurance and character. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

For our God is a consuming fire. It's remarkable to really look at the language that is used to describe God and her relationship with him. A consuming fire in the same breath where grace is mentioned. The full dimensions of God and what he is doing with us are important for us to delve into and understand to have a relationship with God that really works in our hearts and our lives. I submit this morning and now this afternoon, for those of you that watch, that it begins with fear and a proper understanding of what it means to look to God with an awe and respect as we would a superior being, even a father or a mother or a teacher or a mentor or someone who has made a distinct impact in a positive way.

That we hold in high regard, whose esteem we highly value. That that gets us more to the feeling that we need to have with God, to have the proper fear, which is the essence of what our human life is about and that of our Christian walk in life. And that forms the cornerstone of our relationship with God that builds character from the inside out.