Calvary Road Baptist Church
“FEAR HIM ... IN WORSHIP”
Matthew 10.28
The text for this message is Matthew 10.28:
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Why is it that people are afraid of some man with a gun who can only kill your body, but they refuse to fear God, Who can both kill your body and cast your soul into Hell? Why is it that people are concerned about the opinions of their unsaved family members and friends, but they are without concern for the opinion of the One Who can destroy both soul and body in Hell?
The Lord Jesus Christ made a very pointed statement to the twelve disciples He was sending out to preach two by two for the very first time. Distilled down to the very essence of what He directed His men to do, as they went forth, we have the simplest phrase:
“Fear Him.”
Everything the Lord Jesus said leading up to this directive and everything He said after uttering this statement provided the proper setting for this utterance, this command, this directive, and this order. You see, those twelve men, the apostles, were about to go and serve God. But you can’t just go and serve God. Ecclesiastes 12.13-14:
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
It has always been God’s will for us that we fear Him and then serve Him, that we fear Him and then obey Him, that we fear Him and then worship Him, that we fear Him first and then do what He wants us to do. As you read, you have a twofold duty toward God. First, you are commanded to fear Him. Then, you are commanded to worship Him. Do you not, from time to time, sing the wonderful hymn titled “Come Let Us Worship The King”?
Understand that worship is not worship where there is no preceding fear. Service is not service where there is no preceding fear. Ministry is not ministry where there is no preceding fear. Evangelism is not evangelism where there is no preceding fear. Do you doubt what I say? The Apostle Paul wrote, in Second Corinthians 5.11,
“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”
I once preached a message about a congregation’s tendency to withstand a preacher’s words. And I showed the clear correlation between withstanding the words of a Gospel preacher and resisting the Holy Spirit of God. But I noticed at the time and drew attention to the fact that even while I was preaching against withstanding my words, folks were withstanding my words.
I want to deal with a more fundamental problem than withstanding my words. I want to direct your attention to the command of the Lord Jesus Christ that you fear God. “Fear Him,” Jesus said to His apostles. And I want to apply what Jesus said about fearing God to worship.
Folks like us gather each Sunday morning each Sunday evening and each Wednesday evening to worship the one true and living God. It is His will that we do this. But it is never possible to do His will until we precede our obedience with fear unless fear comes before we intend to obey God.
To wrap up my opening remarks, let me make mention of four aspects of your fear of God in connection with worship.
First, YOU MUST FEAR GOD ... IN WORSHIP
How can we know that we must fear God in worship? Simple. We must fear God in all things. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of understanding. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. And the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. So, if you are to act with understanding, knowledge, and wisdom, your actions must be preceded by fear. Thus, we see that in all things, and indeed that does not exclude worship, fear of God is a prerequisite to pleasing God.
Let us now take note of what fear of God is not. There is much confusion in the world today regarding the fear of God. The fear of the LORD is a topic hardly mentioned from pulpits, perhaps because so few preachers fear God. But I can tell you one thing about fear that may unsettle some of you. Whatever fear of God is, it is not carelessness before Him. When you stroll into the auditorium, laugh, joke, act silly, talk about computers and golf, and whatever else comes to mind, that is not the behavior produced by any kind of fear of God. Neither do I have in mind the kind of ungodly fear that drives an individual away from God. Remember Adam and Eve hiding from God because they were afraid? They had an ungodly and erroneous kind of fear of God. Do you recollect the times the risen Savior told terrified people, “Fear not”? He was not dismissing all fear of God, but only that fear of God which tends to drive a person away from God. So, when you come to worship God, you should not be careless and irreverent. But neither should you have that carnal and ungodly fear that causes you to want to leave this place and never come back because you hate being convicted of your sins and you hate to be reminded that you are violating God’s will.
Consider, then, what proper fear of God is. Understand that, though the Lord Jesus Christ directed His men to fear God, He would not accept just any fear of God. He would never have wanted His men to fear God in an ungodly manner. Rather, He wanted His apostles to fear God in a godly way, to fear God in a manner that drives men to serve Him, as Hebrews 12.28 shows us:
“Serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
So, fear God, but fear Him in a way that causes you to pay attention. Fear God in a way that causes you to sing loudly. Fear God in a way that prompts you to greet everyone courteously. Fear God in a way that causes you to receive God’s Word meekly and attentively.
Next, WHY YOU MUST FEAR GOD ... IN WORSHIP
First, because this is the worship of God. Sunday Church services are not a time to fool around. Though smiling and welcoming is appropriate, we are not here to have fun. Our gathering for worship is not to tell jokes and laugh. We are here to worship God. There is a time for laughing and having fun, but not during worship of the Most High God. Read the Bible, and you will not see one single example of a creature of God, angel, or human, who does not worship God with fear. Why? Because He is God.
Second, you must fear God in worship because God is present in His worship. Revelation 1.13:
“And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.”
In many places, we are told that Jesus sits at the right hand of God on high.[1] But in a mystical sense, perhaps too difficult for us to understand, Jesus is amid His candlesticks and Churches. In a sense, He is here. As well, know that our congregation is the temple of God, First Corinthians 3.16, and the Spirit of God is here. Perhaps the sense in which Jesus is here is in the person of His representative, the Holy Spirit of God, Whose temple this congregation certainly is. Add to this Deuteronomy 7.21, which reminds us that,
“the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible,”
and you can see that because God is here during our worship of Him, we need to fear Him in worship.
Third, you must fear God in worship because He is jealous of His worship. The next time you horse around in Church, the next time you approach your worship service in a lackadaisical way, the next time you come without prayerfully preparing yourself, remember that of all the Ten Commandments, the only one to which God associated His jealousy was the one associated with bowing before Him in worship and in service. Note what David wrote in the Psalms:
“Serve the LORD with fear,”
Psalm 2.11.
“In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple,”
Psalm 5.7.
So, make no mistake about the fact that God expects, God demands, God commands that His creatures fear Him in worship.
Another reason to fear God in worship? He judges those who attempt to worship Him without fear. Look up Leviticus 10.1-3 sometime. God killed Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire, a presumption brought on by their complete absence of fear in worship and service. Read First Samuel chapters 2 & 4 sometime. God killed Hophni and Phineas, who dared to worship a holy God without fear. Ananias and Sapphira, for telling a lie in the congregation when they were before God because they lacked fear and dread of God’s majesty and God’s name, were killed, Acts 5.1-10.
Under my preaching at my first pastorate, I well remember Mrs. Brown, who had no fear of God, was run down by a car and killed the day after she displayed insolence during worship. Excuse me but look closely at the lives of those who demonstrate no fear of God in worship, who undermine and bad mouth, who disrupt and distract.
After careful examination, you will tell me God has not already begun to judge them? Moms and dads? Deal with your children who show no respect of God in worship. And if you can’t deal with them, learn how from someone who does. It is not your assignment to create in them a fear of God, but it is your assignment to train them how to behave.
Third, WHO YOU ARE WHO MUST FEAR GOD ... IN WORSHIP
You who do not worship God at all must fear Him in worship. Jeremiah 10.25:
“Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name.”
People can play their silly games with God all they want. But when His judgment begins to fall upon your children because of your insolence, your stubbornness, your rebellious refusal to worship Him, and your proud and haughty arrogance toward Him, then remember my words. I fear some know, perhaps too late to do anything about it, that God has judged their children because of their past refusal to worship Him with fear. “Pastor, what do I do now?” Cry out to God. Plead for mercy. Worship with fear. Serve Him with fear.
You who do not worship God with fear must also fear God. You worship God, supposedly. But you come to worship to doze off. You come to worship God to visit with family and friends. You come to worship God to admire pretty girls or show yourself off to boys. Or maybe you come to worship God for reasons that are no longer clear to you. My friend, do you come to Church but not to worship God? You come not to meet with Him. You come not to please Him, to obey Him, to satisfy Him, to serve Him. Oh, what a sad day that will be when you give an account of yourself, and you are damned because you refused to worship Him in fear.
Then, there are those of you who worship God religiously. Do you honor God with your lips? Do you seem to draw near to Him if the words that come out of your mouth are any indication? Then why does God say your heart is removed far from Him, Isaiah 29.13? It’s because the precept of men teaches your fear of God. In other words, you’ve not truly been taught by God to fear God. You only mimic other people. What will happen to you? The scorner will be consumed, Isaiah 29.20. Those who watch for iniquity will be cut off. In other words, nothing good will happen to you so long as you lack fear in worshiping God.
Finally, BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION, HOW YOU MUST FEAR GOD ... IN WORSHIP
First, by your fearful attendance. Does a person who fears God in worship, whose fear does not turn him away from God, absent himself from God’s house during worship? If you fear God rightly, you will not absent yourself from Church when the doors are open, Hebrews 10.25. You are commanded to worship God in fear, something you cannot do with other members unless you are here with other members.
Next, by your fearful attentiveness. When you are here, you must recognize that you are in the presence of God, and you must be swift to hear His Word, James 1.19. You recognize that God’s grace is ministered through the spoken Word and that the welfare of your soul is at stake in worship. No wonder, then, you should fear God in worship.
Finally, you must fear God in worship by your fearful attitude. It is possible to pay close attention but still have the wrong attitude. So, you need to examine your heart to see how you receive and respond to the preaching of God’s Word. James 1.21 challenges us to receive the Word with meekness, an impossible task without the fear of God in worship. So, consider your attendance, your attentiveness, and finally, your attitude in worship.
God is doing a gracious work here. Prayers are being answered in people’s lives. Some are being stirred. So, while we rejoice with the angels, let us also fear with them. As we pray to God for demonstrations of His remarkable presence, let us also undertake to behave ourselves properly in His presence.
Do you want God to bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you? I do. Our whole Church should want such a blessing.
“To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word,”
Isaiah 66.2. Therefore, during every service, let us purpose to tremble at His Word and fear God in our worship.
Turning to the lost among us, I have only a little time for you. I’ve spent most of my time charging the converted to obey the command of Christ and fear God, most specifically during times of worship. But I want to speak to the unsaved about fearing God and your complete lack of fear. I feel you deserve an explanation for the reason why you do not fear God, while perfectly intelligent and sensible people that you know do fear God.
Having once been like you, I can safely say that you are likely of the opinion that those who fear God lack something you have. You conclude yourself to have a level of sophistication that those who actually fear God do not have. You think something of yourself. However, you are profoundly mistaken in your conclusion and pride, and the tendency accompanying pride to exalt oneself has overtaken you. You have thus concluded that there is something wrong with those who fear God while completely exonerating yourself.
Unless I can, by using God’s Word, correct you of this terrible error, you might well remain without any fear of God until He ends your life and casts you into Hellfire. Then, of course, you will fear God. But then, of course, it will be too late.
So, in the remaining time, let me point out three connections you need to understand, for your soul’s sake.
#1, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN GRACE AND SALVATION
Ephesians chapter 2. Please note the last phrase of verse 5:
“(by grace ye are saved;)”
Now take a look at the first phrase of verse 8:
“for by grace are ye saved.”
These two phrases, and many others besides, plainly declare that the salvation, which Jesus alone provides, is a salvation which cannot be earned, is a salvation which cannot be worked for, and cannot in any way be merited or deserved.
This is substantiated by Romans 11.6, which shows the utter incompatibility of grace with works when it comes to salvation:
“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
It is established that salvation, the deliverance of the sinner from his sins by Jesus Christ, is by grace. That would necessarily mean that whatever a sinner may do, such as believing on Jesus, or coming to Jesus, or trusting Jesus, or receiving Jesus, the human side of the sinner’s saving union with Jesus Christ must also be by God’s grace.
#2, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN GRACE AND FEAR
Fear of God, not the kind of fear that turns you away from God, like Adam and Eve initially did, but the kind that is pleasing to God and is beneficial, is a grace, God’s unmerited favor. Remember Hebrews 12.28:
“Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
As well, let me bring Isaiah 11.2 to your attention, where the Holy Spirit is described as
“the Spirit of the fear of the LORD.”
Fear of God, then, is something that the Holy Spirit must graciously bestow upon a sinner. He is the Author of the fear of God and the Sustainer of the fear of God. It is the Holy Spirit, then, Who gives understanding, knowledge, and wisdom, all of which begin with the fear of the LORD.
Listen to me now; you are not converted. If you do not fear God, the Holy Spirit is not dealing with you. If you do not fear God, you utterly lack understanding of important spiritual realities, especially about God. If you do not fear God, you are woefully lacking in knowledge. And if you do not fear God, you are deprived of meaningful wisdom.
So, you can see how wrong you are in your estimation of yourself compared to those who do fear God. It is not they who lack understanding, but you. It is not they who lack knowledge, but you. It is not they who lack wisdom, but you. And what should terrify you, and what would terrify you but for your blindness and spiritual stupidity, is that the absence of any fear of God means the Holy Spirit, who is the Author of the new birth, is nowhere to be found in or around your life. Absence of fear means absence of God’s grace.
#3, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FEAR AND SALVATION
What a pity it is that the evangelical Christian community and most fundamental Baptists are so far from God’s truth about salvation that they see no connection between godly fear and salvation. With their sermon jokes, their irreverent music, and their casual attitude toward God, they are too blind to see the connection between the fear of God and the salvation of sinners.
God’s indictment against you is that you have no fear of Him, Psalm 36.1. And the greatest testimony of your lost condition is the absence of any fear of God, Psalm 55.19. But what about those who do fear God?
“Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him,”
Psalm 85.9.
Someday, you will die and go to Hell. You will someday die and go to Hell. You ... will someday die and at that time you will go to Hell. You will die someday, and when you do, you will go to Hell. You will inevitably die, for all men die, and when you die, you will go to Hell. How will you justify your lack of fear in worship, then?
Should you ever be saved, it will be because you came to fear God so much that you fled to Jesus to escape God’s wrath. You will not flee the wrath of God if you do not fear the God of wrath. You will not seek Jesus if you do not fear God. Unless you feel that our God is a consuming fire, you will not come to Christ. Unless you are convinced that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, you will not seek to escape that fate by coming to Christ.
Three connections. Three relationships you need to see. The connection between grace and salvation is that God graciously gives salvation to sinners through Jesus Christ. The connection between grace and fear is that fear is also something God graciously gives to sinners. The connection between fear and salvation that the fear God graciously gives sinners is what prompts sinners to flee to Christ, to come to Christ, to believe in Christ, to be saved from God’s fearful wrath.
Oh, how important it is for Christians to fear God in worship, for then the unconverted will see their fear of God. Their fear of God is so pleasing in God’s sight. But for you who are here who are not converted, heed my words. You should be concerned that you don’t fear God enough to attend Church faithfully. If you feared God, you would do whatever it takes, whatever it takes, to attend Church. And when you attend Church, if you fear Him, you will worship Him, really, truly.
But you don’t fear God. Do you realize what that means? It means God’s salvation is not close to you. It means you are not close to coming to Christ. It means that your next appointment is with death, and after that, Hell. As you reflect on your Thanksgiving, thank God for your Church. Thank God for your access to the Bible, to your fellow Church members, and your opportunity to serve. Thank God for His mercy and grace. Thank God for His Son.
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[1] Psalm 16.11; 110.1; Matthew 26.64; Mark 12.36; 14.62; 16.19; Luke 20.42; 22.69; John 3.13; 13.1; 14.2-4; Acts 1.9-11; 2.33, 34-35; 7.56; Romans 8.34; Ephesians 1.20; 6.9; Colossians 3.1; Second Thessalonians 1.7; Hebrews 1.3, 13; 8.1; 9.24; 10.12-13; 12.2; 1 Peter 3.22; Revelation 19.11
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