Confessions of a Church: The Fear of the Lord
The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.
Deuteronomy 5:16-33 16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you. 17 ‘You shall not murder. 18 ‘You shall not commit adultery. 19 ‘You shall not steal. 20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’ 22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. 25 Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’ 28 “The Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever! 30 Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess.’ 32 So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.
This is the word of the Lord.
When's the last time you left Church on a Sunday afternoon, went home and declared to yourself in awe:
‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives' ?
How often, in between El Nopal and your Sunday afternoon movie or football game, have you stopped and declared with a Holy fear:
For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
Brothers and sisters, the people of God who were at the base of the mountain were struck with awe and dread when He spoke. God speaking from the midst of the smoke and fire was anything but routine or ordinary. It was a magnificent, terrible display of condescension that the God of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, came down from on high to hand deliver His perfect Law to these grumbling, complaining Hebrews.
And the ramifications of this are lost on us.
Awe. Fear. Dread. Trembling. These things accompany God when He speaks, and the people of Israel experience the full range of these reactions as God handed down His Law from the midst of the cloud and fire.
That doesn't sound like us does it?
We listen to fifty theological podcasts per week, another twenty sermons, and have our noses in the pages of multiple deep doctrinal books and blogs, on top of the Lord's day sermon preached by our Pastor, yet, no awe, no fear, no dread, no trembling.
Let's be honest, when President Biden starts talking about how he is going to jumpstart the economy, we are struck with dread.
When Dr. Faucci hands down more mandates and shutdowns from on high, we are struck with fear.
The trembling really kicks in when your favorite show gets removed from Amazon Prime, or your team loses on Sunday afternoon.
But the Word of God which is living, active, and sharper than a two edged sword is preached, and we sit like stoics.
We have a saying around here that if you take your child to the cry room for discipline, and they come back all smiles and giggles, you did it wrong.
This is no different than sitting here on a Lord's day, receiving God's Word which is meant to teach, correct, reprove and train in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16), and you leave here unphased, unchanged, and believing the sermon applies to everybody but you.
"Yeah but: Jesus is gentle, meek, and mild. He is lowly at heart. He wouldn't break a bruised reed."
Are you referring to the Jesus who made a whip, flipped over tables, and flogged blasphemers right out of the temple?
If Jesus were to step foot in here today, whip in hand, who among us would remain when He was done flogging and flipping over tables?
When His Word is preached, who among us can say with a clear conscience that we were untouched by it?
Are we perhaps talking about the Jesus who sits upon a white horse wearing a robe dipped in blood with a sword coming out of His mouth so that with it He can strike down the nations and rule with a rod of iron treading the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty? This Jesus?
Tremble brothers and sisters.
"Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
— Isaiah 13:6-9
Don't wait for tomorrow. Don't delay your repentance for later. Do not tarry in your rebellion. Do not harden your heart against the reproofs of God.
James tells us:
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
— James 4:7-10
The prescription today isn't mourning and weeping for the sake of it. It isn't to give an outward display to show just how broken you are. The prescription is meant to get you to ask, "Why am I not broken over my sin?", "Why am I able to listen to the sermon week after week, and am unphased by it?", "Why does my response to God's Word not match the response of God's people in Scripture?", "Why do I believe the calls for repentance are for everyone but me?". The prescription is for you to not harden your hearts, to have a response to God's Word which acknowledges your sin, flees to the throne of grace with fear and trembling, and confesses those sins to Almighty God in the name of His Son. With this humble response to God's Word, He will exalt you.
At this time, if you are able, please kneel as we confess our sins to God, Who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
THOU BLESSED SPIRIT, AUTHOR OF ALL GRACE AND COMFORT,
Come, work repentance in our souls;
Represent sin to us in its odious colours that
We may hate it;
Melt our hearts by the majesty and mercy of God;
Show us our ruined selves and the help there is
in him;
Teach us to behold our Creator,
his ability to save,
his arms outstretched,
his heart big for us.
May we confide in his power and love,
commit our souls to him without reserve,
bear his image, observe his laws,
pursue his service,
and be through time and eternity
a monument to the efficacy of his grace,
a trophy of his victory.
Make us willing to be saved in his way,
perceiving nothing in ourselves, but all in Jesus:
Help us not only to receive him but
to walk in him,
depend upon him,
commune with him,
be conformed to him,
follow him,
imperfect, but still pressing forward,
not complaining of labour, but valuing rest,
not murmuring under trials, but thankful
for our state.
Give us that faith which is the means of salvation,
and the principle and medium of all godliness;
May we be saved by grace through faith,
live by faith,
feel the joy of faith,
do the work of faith.
Perceiving nothing in ourselves, may we find in Christ
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Pray adapted from the Valley of Vision prayer titled "The convicting Spirit".
Please stand and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:
Hebrews 12: 18-24 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!
(From the January 30, 2022 liturgy of Sovereign King Church. Written by Aaron Sabie.)