
The topic that is before us this morning is found there in verse 11, where Paul says “therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” The fear of the Lord or the fear of God is one of the most preeminent concerns of Scripture. The phrase is used well over 300 times in its pages and descriptive of some of the most august figures in Scripture.
Obviously Paul here expresses that this “fear of the Lord” was descriptive of him. As we shall see it was the very driving force of his ministry.
Abraham was also one who was described as one who feared God. Interestingly, much of his life was lived in the fear of man. You may remember that he told people that his wife, Sarah, was really his sister. It was because he feared what might be done to him if they knew she was his wife. But later on in life, when he was much older, he took his son Issac up the mountain to sacrifice him. And you’ll remember that God stopped him at the very last moment. And God said, “Now I know that you fear me.”
In the book of Hebrews we are told that the fear of God was that which urged Noah to build the ark prior to the flood. It is interesting that he built that enormous boat, not because he feared the flood or the death that it would bring, but he set to work because he feared God.
You may remember Job, he was a guy who feared the Lord. As a matter of fact, it was this characteristic that instigated the whole controversy between God and Satan.
Nehemiah the great reformer and leader during the post exilic period stood out from many others because of this one attribute.
Cornelius, a gentile and a Roman soldier. He was not a member of the synagogue because he was not circumcised. But he was considered to be a man who feared God.
Perhaps the most significant person was the Lord Jesus himself. In Hebrews we read that he offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears and it is said that the Father in heaven heard him because he was filled with godly fear.
As I said the phrase is used many more times throughout Scripture to describe many other people. When we consider all the uses we find that this is to be the centerpiece of a Christian’s life. It is that which makes him a Christian. It is the goal and aim for which we ought to strive.
As a matter of fact, this was Solomon’s conclusion to his study in unbelief. In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon gives himself over to the pursuit of pleasure and embraces a worldview where God is absent. What he finds is that everything is meaningless. In the end he concludes, “This is the end of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments.”
All in all, God’s people—if they are to be God’s people—must be people who are filled with the fear of the Lord. Or, as Paul says here in this passage, we are to be people who “know the fear of the Lord.”
To know it, of course is not just to have a cognitive understanding of it. We will be looking at it today and seeking to grow in our understanding of what it means. But the aim of this message is not just to increase your comprehension or equip you with the ability to win at a Bible trivia game. The goal is that you would know the fear of the Lord—that is, that you would be defined by this fear and personally express it. That you would truly be a people who fear God, like Paul himself did.
Of course, we do need to understand the basic idea of the fear of God. If we are going to be people who fear Him, we need to orient ourselves as to exactly what it means. Once we know what it means we can see how important it is for us to have it.
I. What it means
We understand that there can be some confusion as to what it means. The phrase “fear God” or “the fear of God” isn’t something that is commonly talked about in our world today. Nor is it used in common parlance.
Interestingly, it is used heavily in Scripture, but our modern evangelical world seems almost unaware of the concept. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine, Rev. Arnold Frank, wrote his doctoral dissertation on this topic. And the title he gave it was “The fear of God: a forgotten doctrine.”
If anything, you might say that our modern culture is completely adverse to the idea of the fear of God. Not long ago it was not uncommon to see cars with bumper stickers that said, “No fear” or “Not Skeered.”
But this hasn’t just been a cultural phenomena. A healthy fear has been all but been eradicated even in the church. In the 1990’s the seeker sensitive movement came along and the whole goal of it was to make people feel comfortable in church. There was a shift in the way services were laid out and it even affected the whole design of church architecture. If you think about it, most buildings for worship are a far cry from the old gothic cathedrals that were erected in the 12th century and the Romanesque buildings that continued to be built into the 19th century.
Even if you go downtown today and see some of the older church buildings. What you see there was a style that sought to emphasize the grandeur of God and it was intentionally seeking to create an environment that filled you with a sense of the fear of God. Now a days though, the emphasis is on making you feel comfortable and cozy. Pull up a cushy seat, grab your cup of coffee from the café, enjoy the jazzy band, and make sure you drop your kids off in the far back of the church so you aren’t disturbed in your worship experience.
All this is to say, the idea of the fear of God has all but been extinguished in our modern era.
But this was not so in times past. It used to be basic to the Christian world. It was part of the ordinary lingo of the church. The Reformers often preached on the idea, or at least it was frequently addressed in their sermons. You might say it was a basic staple of their worship services. The same was true for the puritans. The fear of God was something that was standard to most of their preaching. They also wrote whole books on the subject.
But since it has fallen on hard times, it is important that take time to clarify what the Bible means when it speaks of the fear of God.
Now, our first impression, when we hear the terms “fear of God” might be the idea of being scared. When we today talk about being full of fear, we usually think of horror flicks, ghost stories, extreme sports, or really poor reality shows like Fear Factor. That show sought to capitalize on people’s most dreaded phobias. If you were afraid of snakes, you had to sit in a room full of slithering creatures in order to with the prize.
Now, I want you to know that that concept of fear—the idea of terror, or alarm, or fright—is a part of, but not the essential core of, the biblical notion of the fear of God. It is included in it. The fear of God is a multifaceted thing and this idea of dread or terror is one dimension of it. But it is not the core of it, or even the major defining factor.
A lot of people will tell you that it isn’t about fright and doesn’t involve any kind of alarm. But when you look at the Bible, we have to admit that there’s a place for trepidation.
There are certainly places in the Bible where the fear of God is equated with pure panic. When God came down on Mt Sinai, he came with fire, thunder, and lightening. It was an awesome display of various phenomena that would have terrified those who were camped at the foot of the hill. As a matter of fact, Moses even cried out in distress, “I am exceedingly terrified.” It says that he shook. All in all, the presence of God at that moment was such that it scared the people to no end.
To be sure, the unbeliever has this kind of fear. They are terrified of God, that’s why they work so hard to disbelieve him. The thought of God horrifies them and there’s coming a day when they will run to the hills and call upon the rocks to fall upon them. When Christ comes back, their fears will be shown in their utter panic.
But the Bible also shows us that solid believers have a dose of this kind of fear. It is not to the same degree. It is more fundamental to the unbeliever and it expresses itself in much more significant degrees. But a believer will have some apprehensions when it comes to God. Moses had it. Issaiah had it. When Isaiah came into the presence of God, remember what he said? He said, “Woe to me!” And he fell on his face.
All through the Bible you see people falling on the ground prostrate. It isn’t just an act of worship. They do it because there is no small concern that comes over them.
But as I said, this is only part of the fuller concept of the fear of God. And anyone who is a Christian will recognize that the Lord is a consuming fire. There is a sense in which we should be downright scared of a holy God who is inflamed with red hot displeasure when it comes to sin.
This idea, I recognize, is adverse to many today. God is typically supposed to be thought of as your friend. The Big Guy Upstairs. He’s all love and indulges your every care. But this happy clappy god is not the God of Scripture.
Even in this passage we find a hint of this. In the verses before Paul talked about how we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And when we do we each will receive what is due for what we did in this life, whether good or evil.
Throughout history pastors and commentators have recognized that this was something that troubled Paul. Paul recognized that God was judge and it gave him a sense of dread. And it was because he had grasped this that he says that he knew the fear of the Lord.
As a matter of fact, if you have the old KJV, it says, “Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord.” Those who translated it that was put an emphasis on this frightful dimension of the fear of God.
But, as I said earlier, this idea of dread or terror, is only a small part of the true concept of the fear of God. There is more to it.
But before I get to the deeper, fuller meaning, I want to address another misconception. As people talk about the fear of God, they often say that it the real meaning is that of honor or respect. And I get that. I see where they are going and I appreciate their seeking to express this sentiment. But I don’t think that this is really the true sense of the fear of God. I might even be a little hesitant to use the word reverence, though that word is more fitting.
Think of it this way. I can respect my children. But I do not fear them. I may honor and revere my wife, but I’m not sure that I can say that I fear her.
The word revere is good, I might just add the word profound to it. The fear of God might be said to be a profound reverence. It is certainly more than respect or simple honor. We might use the word awe if that carried the same meaning as it used to. The word awe came from the word awful, which used to indicate something overwhelmingly wonderful, yet slightly terrifying.
To tell you the truth, I like the way CS Lewis defined the idea. He defined Biblical fear in a similar way. He said it should be regarded as “A sense of wonder mixed with a certain shrinking.” If that is what you mean by reverence, then I am fine with the word reverence as a synonym for the term fear.
But let’s think about this: a sense of wonder, mixed with a certain shrinking. We can now apply the word fear to a number of different things, including our relation to God.
I would suggest this is the way you regard fire, or perhaps a fully grown horse. Fire is something we fear. It isn’t something we necessarily dread or are completely scared of. We use it on birthday cakes, after all. Birthday candles don’t frighten us. But we do have a wonder with a sense of shrinking when it comes to birthday candles. We will typically tell children to stay back when we are lighting those candles. And we’ll make sure that they are careful when the glowing cake is before them.
There’s a reason why we don’t let kids play with matches and we make sure that when we are lighting the birthday candles on a cake that we demonstrate every precaution. We know that fire can be a dangerous thing. It can kill us or destroy everything we have.
But we don’t completely stay away from fire, do we? We are, in many ways, attracted to it. Fire is useful: We cook with it, keep warm by it, and do many other things with it. And there is something awe inspiring about fire. Who here hasn’t sat and stared at a flame of fire and not been amazed by it?
So fire is something that we marvel at. We love fire, we appreciate fire. We are amazed at it. But we are never flippant with it. Fire is something that is a wonder, that is mixed with shrinking. And when the Scripture says, “Our God is a consuming fire” we know what that means and we know what reaction it is trying to evoke in us.
I mentioned a horse as an example too. Whenever we go to the fair, we go to see the horses. And these beasts are huge. You can tell by their muscular definition that they are powerful things. And you’re very careful around them because you know that any second it could kick or buck and you’d be in the hurt. So you can’t help but be in wonder at it for its power—not to mention its beauty and majesty. But you also have a sense of shrinking. That is a healthy fear—a fearful reverence.
Again, I am not going to dispel the use of the word revere or reverence. That can be a good synonym for the fear of God. I know that I am a Reverend and I have had people have a healthy reverence at times in my presence. There will be points where people will be speaking with coarse language or cursing, then they will notice that I am there and they will suddenly change to the most angelic conversationalist that anyone has ever met. Or you will hear someone say, “Don’t talk that that in front of the minister!” It is somewhat funny, but they understand something of the nature of the office. Speaking obscenely in front of me or doing something to me as an ambassador of Christ is to offend God more directly and adds a greater offense to their actions.
But it is this profound reverence, this wonder with a sense of shrinking, that should characterize our relationship towards God. We hold these two things held in tandem: that God is grand, and we are drawn in because he evokes awe and wonder. His power and glory are appeal to us in the sense that they arouse profound admiration. But there is a certain shrinking, as it is overwhelming and could bring harm if we were not cautious.
And it is only this characteristic that is fitting for a Christian. Because when you have this sense of profound reverence and true fear of God, then (and only then) will you truly live for Him.
II. How important it is [11b-13]
You notice that’s what the rest of our passage is about. Paul says, "Therefore, knowing the fear of God, we persuade others.”
Paul says that the reason he is willing to proclaim the gospel and engage in the ministry to the degree that he does is because he fears God. That is what drives him. That is what urges him on. He did not seek to persuade men because he love to study the Bible. He did not go around the mediteranian world because he wanted to see the world or even because he was enamored with Christianity. No one could shut him up because he feared God. This wonder with a sense of shrinking filled his blood.
We’ve talked before about the opposition Paul has had. He has faced every sort of obstacle that would seek to deter him from preaching the truth, but he is undeterred because he fears God more than he would fear damage to his reputation. He feared God more than he feared death. His financial standing didn’t matter much to him because He feared God.
You’ll notice that in verse 13 he says, “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.” There were likely people who were saying that he was crazy. They were saying, “Paul, you are out of your mind. You are such a crazed nut-ball that you seem like you are beside yourself.”
Paul didn’t care what they thought of him. He wasn’t controlled by them. He went about doing what he was supposed to do because he was controlled by God. God was the one who dictated his actions because God was feared above all things.
Look again at verse 11. He says, “What we are is known to God and I hope it is known to you.” Paul’s fear of God allowed him to live a life of integrity. He lived for God and he could say, “God knows that we fear him and live for him. And we hope you know it too. You know that I have not lived one way with one person and another way with someone else. I have not been swayed by anyone’s opinions and lived a double life. My life has been lived solely for God and you know it.”
Paul’s fear of God allowed him the freedom to minister. Paul was not willing to shrink from his duties because no man was able to sway him. No man filled him with wonder and a sense of shrinking like God did.
That is the problem that many people have. They are controlled more by the fear of man than they are by the fear of God. Since they do not fear God the way they should, the do not serve God the way they should.
That’s why I have said earlier that the fear of God is the core of what it means ot be a Christian. This is why the Bible makes such a big deal out of the fear of God. This is why it is used 300+ times in Scripture. Because to be a Christain means that you follow God and do what he says. A Christian is one who is driven to obedience because he fears God above everything else.
Ed Welch, in his book “When People are Big and God is Small,” deals with this very thing. He gives several examples of how the fear of man impedes a person’s obedience to God. Let me run through a few of these examples.
1. The first one he lists is peer pressure. Peer pressure, he says, is nothing more than a euphemism for the fear of man. Peer pressure is when you capitulate to doing something simply because you know your peers want it that way. It is evidenced in the kids that take a beer at a party or an adult who won’t report some sort of abuse at work because his coworkers are against it. It is the pastor who dances around certain issues because he feels that he might lose his job or the offering will drop off.
All these are examples of peer pressure, and all of them are forms of ungodly fear. And it is an evil thing because it means that men are driving your life more than God is.
2. Another example is that of people pleasers. Welch says that people who are overcommitted are and will not say no when called upon to do something are not living in the fear of God. These are people who are people who want acceptance by men rather recognizing their acceptance with God. They want to be thought well of by other men or women, and their not putting what God thinks of them first. So they let others dictate how much work they are taking on.
3. Here’s another one: Marriages are to be governed by the fear of God. Welch says that some marriages are more governed by the fear of man. A wife may feel like she can’t live without her husband or a guy may feel like he can’t exist without her. So each ends up doing all kinds of silly things. Some call it “codependency.” But it is a lack of the fear of God. Don’t get me wrong. Marriage is designed for the two to become one. There should be a good union and healthy interactions. Marriages are built on trust and husbands & wives depend on one another to a degree. But marital relationships can go too far so that the spouse takes the place of God and your actions end up being controlled not by God, but by the other person.
4. Welch also notes that self-esteem falls into this discussion of the fear of God. If you are concerned about criticism and your feelings either broken or built up by other people’s opinions, then that is wrong. You’re not living in the fear of God. Your identity is to be found in Christ, not in anyone else. If it is, you are not fearing God.
I highly encourage you to check out Welch’s book. It has a lot more examples of the fear of man. But the point of it all is that right living (integrity) is built on the fear of God. If you do not have a deep sense of awe at God, mixed with that certain shrinking feeling, then you will be moral play-dough. People will mold and fashion your life exactly the way they want it. They will be able to shut you up when they want to, they will be able to make you say what they want. They will impede upon your life to no end.
If you want the freedom that Paul himself experienced, then you must live in the fear of God.
In the book of Hebrews we are told that the fear of God was that which urged Noah to build the ark prior to the flood. It is interesting that he built that enormous boat, not because he feared the flood or the death that it would bring, but he set to work because he feared God.
You may remember Job, he was a guy who feared the Lord. As a matter of fact, it was this characteristic that instigated the whole controversy between God and Satan.
Nehemiah the great reformer and leader during the post exilic period stood out from many others because of this one attribute.
Cornelius, a gentile and a Roman soldier. He was not a member of the synagogue because he was not circumcised. But he was considered to be a man who feared God.
Perhaps the most significant person was the Lord Jesus himself. In Hebrews we read that he offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears and it is said that the Father in heaven heard him because he was filled with godly fear.
As I said the phrase is used many more times throughout Scripture to describe many other people. When we consider all the uses we find that this is to be the centerpiece of a Christian’s life. It is that which makes him a Christian. It is the goal and aim for which we ought to strive.
As a matter of fact, this was Solomon’s conclusion to his study in unbelief. In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon gives himself over to the pursuit of pleasure and embraces a worldview where God is absent. What he finds is that everything is meaningless. In the end he concludes, “This is the end of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments.”
All in all, God’s people—if they are to be God’s people—must be people who are filled with the fear of the Lord. Or, as Paul says here in this passage, we are to be people who “know the fear of the Lord.”
To know it, of course is not just to have a cognitive understanding of it. We will be looking at it today and seeking to grow in our understanding of what it means. But the aim of this message is not just to increase your comprehension or equip you with the ability to win at a Bible trivia game. The goal is that you would know the fear of the Lord—that is, that you would be defined by this fear and personally express it. That you would truly be a people who fear God, like Paul himself did.
Of course, we do need to understand the basic idea of the fear of God. If we are going to be people who fear Him, we need to orient ourselves as to exactly what it means. Once we know what it means we can see how important it is for us to have it.
I. What it means
We understand that there can be some confusion as to what it means. The phrase “fear God” or “the fear of God” isn’t something that is commonly talked about in our world today. Nor is it used in common parlance.
Interestingly, it is used heavily in Scripture, but our modern evangelical world seems almost unaware of the concept. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine, Rev. Arnold Frank, wrote his doctoral dissertation on this topic. And the title he gave it was “The fear of God: a forgotten doctrine.”
If anything, you might say that our modern culture is completely adverse to the idea of the fear of God. Not long ago it was not uncommon to see cars with bumper stickers that said, “No fear” or “Not Skeered.”
But this hasn’t just been a cultural phenomena. A healthy fear has been all but been eradicated even in the church. In the 1990’s the seeker sensitive movement came along and the whole goal of it was to make people feel comfortable in church. There was a shift in the way services were laid out and it even affected the whole design of church architecture. If you think about it, most buildings for worship are a far cry from the old gothic cathedrals that were erected in the 12th century and the Romanesque buildings that continued to be built into the 19th century.
Even if you go downtown today and see some of the older church buildings. What you see there was a style that sought to emphasize the grandeur of God and it was intentionally seeking to create an environment that filled you with a sense of the fear of God. Now a days though, the emphasis is on making you feel comfortable and cozy. Pull up a cushy seat, grab your cup of coffee from the café, enjoy the jazzy band, and make sure you drop your kids off in the far back of the church so you aren’t disturbed in your worship experience.
All this is to say, the idea of the fear of God has all but been extinguished in our modern era.
But this was not so in times past. It used to be basic to the Christian world. It was part of the ordinary lingo of the church. The Reformers often preached on the idea, or at least it was frequently addressed in their sermons. You might say it was a basic staple of their worship services. The same was true for the puritans. The fear of God was something that was standard to most of their preaching. They also wrote whole books on the subject.
But since it has fallen on hard times, it is important that take time to clarify what the Bible means when it speaks of the fear of God.
Now, our first impression, when we hear the terms “fear of God” might be the idea of being scared. When we today talk about being full of fear, we usually think of horror flicks, ghost stories, extreme sports, or really poor reality shows like Fear Factor. That show sought to capitalize on people’s most dreaded phobias. If you were afraid of snakes, you had to sit in a room full of slithering creatures in order to with the prize.
Now, I want you to know that that concept of fear—the idea of terror, or alarm, or fright—is a part of, but not the essential core of, the biblical notion of the fear of God. It is included in it. The fear of God is a multifaceted thing and this idea of dread or terror is one dimension of it. But it is not the core of it, or even the major defining factor.
A lot of people will tell you that it isn’t about fright and doesn’t involve any kind of alarm. But when you look at the Bible, we have to admit that there’s a place for trepidation.
There are certainly places in the Bible where the fear of God is equated with pure panic. When God came down on Mt Sinai, he came with fire, thunder, and lightening. It was an awesome display of various phenomena that would have terrified those who were camped at the foot of the hill. As a matter of fact, Moses even cried out in distress, “I am exceedingly terrified.” It says that he shook. All in all, the presence of God at that moment was such that it scared the people to no end.
To be sure, the unbeliever has this kind of fear. They are terrified of God, that’s why they work so hard to disbelieve him. The thought of God horrifies them and there’s coming a day when they will run to the hills and call upon the rocks to fall upon them. When Christ comes back, their fears will be shown in their utter panic.
But the Bible also shows us that solid believers have a dose of this kind of fear. It is not to the same degree. It is more fundamental to the unbeliever and it expresses itself in much more significant degrees. But a believer will have some apprehensions when it comes to God. Moses had it. Issaiah had it. When Isaiah came into the presence of God, remember what he said? He said, “Woe to me!” And he fell on his face.
All through the Bible you see people falling on the ground prostrate. It isn’t just an act of worship. They do it because there is no small concern that comes over them.
But as I said, this is only part of the fuller concept of the fear of God. And anyone who is a Christian will recognize that the Lord is a consuming fire. There is a sense in which we should be downright scared of a holy God who is inflamed with red hot displeasure when it comes to sin.
This idea, I recognize, is adverse to many today. God is typically supposed to be thought of as your friend. The Big Guy Upstairs. He’s all love and indulges your every care. But this happy clappy god is not the God of Scripture.
Even in this passage we find a hint of this. In the verses before Paul talked about how we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And when we do we each will receive what is due for what we did in this life, whether good or evil.
Throughout history pastors and commentators have recognized that this was something that troubled Paul. Paul recognized that God was judge and it gave him a sense of dread. And it was because he had grasped this that he says that he knew the fear of the Lord.
As a matter of fact, if you have the old KJV, it says, “Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord.” Those who translated it that was put an emphasis on this frightful dimension of the fear of God.
But, as I said earlier, this idea of dread or terror, is only a small part of the true concept of the fear of God. There is more to it.
But before I get to the deeper, fuller meaning, I want to address another misconception. As people talk about the fear of God, they often say that it the real meaning is that of honor or respect. And I get that. I see where they are going and I appreciate their seeking to express this sentiment. But I don’t think that this is really the true sense of the fear of God. I might even be a little hesitant to use the word reverence, though that word is more fitting.
Think of it this way. I can respect my children. But I do not fear them. I may honor and revere my wife, but I’m not sure that I can say that I fear her.
The word revere is good, I might just add the word profound to it. The fear of God might be said to be a profound reverence. It is certainly more than respect or simple honor. We might use the word awe if that carried the same meaning as it used to. The word awe came from the word awful, which used to indicate something overwhelmingly wonderful, yet slightly terrifying.
To tell you the truth, I like the way CS Lewis defined the idea. He defined Biblical fear in a similar way. He said it should be regarded as “A sense of wonder mixed with a certain shrinking.” If that is what you mean by reverence, then I am fine with the word reverence as a synonym for the term fear.
But let’s think about this: a sense of wonder, mixed with a certain shrinking. We can now apply the word fear to a number of different things, including our relation to God.
I would suggest this is the way you regard fire, or perhaps a fully grown horse. Fire is something we fear. It isn’t something we necessarily dread or are completely scared of. We use it on birthday cakes, after all. Birthday candles don’t frighten us. But we do have a wonder with a sense of shrinking when it comes to birthday candles. We will typically tell children to stay back when we are lighting those candles. And we’ll make sure that they are careful when the glowing cake is before them.
There’s a reason why we don’t let kids play with matches and we make sure that when we are lighting the birthday candles on a cake that we demonstrate every precaution. We know that fire can be a dangerous thing. It can kill us or destroy everything we have.
But we don’t completely stay away from fire, do we? We are, in many ways, attracted to it. Fire is useful: We cook with it, keep warm by it, and do many other things with it. And there is something awe inspiring about fire. Who here hasn’t sat and stared at a flame of fire and not been amazed by it?
So fire is something that we marvel at. We love fire, we appreciate fire. We are amazed at it. But we are never flippant with it. Fire is something that is a wonder, that is mixed with shrinking. And when the Scripture says, “Our God is a consuming fire” we know what that means and we know what reaction it is trying to evoke in us.
I mentioned a horse as an example too. Whenever we go to the fair, we go to see the horses. And these beasts are huge. You can tell by their muscular definition that they are powerful things. And you’re very careful around them because you know that any second it could kick or buck and you’d be in the hurt. So you can’t help but be in wonder at it for its power—not to mention its beauty and majesty. But you also have a sense of shrinking. That is a healthy fear—a fearful reverence.
Again, I am not going to dispel the use of the word revere or reverence. That can be a good synonym for the fear of God. I know that I am a Reverend and I have had people have a healthy reverence at times in my presence. There will be points where people will be speaking with coarse language or cursing, then they will notice that I am there and they will suddenly change to the most angelic conversationalist that anyone has ever met. Or you will hear someone say, “Don’t talk that that in front of the minister!” It is somewhat funny, but they understand something of the nature of the office. Speaking obscenely in front of me or doing something to me as an ambassador of Christ is to offend God more directly and adds a greater offense to their actions.
But it is this profound reverence, this wonder with a sense of shrinking, that should characterize our relationship towards God. We hold these two things held in tandem: that God is grand, and we are drawn in because he evokes awe and wonder. His power and glory are appeal to us in the sense that they arouse profound admiration. But there is a certain shrinking, as it is overwhelming and could bring harm if we were not cautious.
And it is only this characteristic that is fitting for a Christian. Because when you have this sense of profound reverence and true fear of God, then (and only then) will you truly live for Him.
II. How important it is [11b-13]
You notice that’s what the rest of our passage is about. Paul says, "Therefore, knowing the fear of God, we persuade others.”
Paul says that the reason he is willing to proclaim the gospel and engage in the ministry to the degree that he does is because he fears God. That is what drives him. That is what urges him on. He did not seek to persuade men because he love to study the Bible. He did not go around the mediteranian world because he wanted to see the world or even because he was enamored with Christianity. No one could shut him up because he feared God. This wonder with a sense of shrinking filled his blood.
We’ve talked before about the opposition Paul has had. He has faced every sort of obstacle that would seek to deter him from preaching the truth, but he is undeterred because he fears God more than he would fear damage to his reputation. He feared God more than he feared death. His financial standing didn’t matter much to him because He feared God.
You’ll notice that in verse 13 he says, “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.” There were likely people who were saying that he was crazy. They were saying, “Paul, you are out of your mind. You are such a crazed nut-ball that you seem like you are beside yourself.”
Paul didn’t care what they thought of him. He wasn’t controlled by them. He went about doing what he was supposed to do because he was controlled by God. God was the one who dictated his actions because God was feared above all things.
Look again at verse 11. He says, “What we are is known to God and I hope it is known to you.” Paul’s fear of God allowed him to live a life of integrity. He lived for God and he could say, “God knows that we fear him and live for him. And we hope you know it too. You know that I have not lived one way with one person and another way with someone else. I have not been swayed by anyone’s opinions and lived a double life. My life has been lived solely for God and you know it.”
Paul’s fear of God allowed him the freedom to minister. Paul was not willing to shrink from his duties because no man was able to sway him. No man filled him with wonder and a sense of shrinking like God did.
That is the problem that many people have. They are controlled more by the fear of man than they are by the fear of God. Since they do not fear God the way they should, the do not serve God the way they should.
That’s why I have said earlier that the fear of God is the core of what it means ot be a Christian. This is why the Bible makes such a big deal out of the fear of God. This is why it is used 300+ times in Scripture. Because to be a Christain means that you follow God and do what he says. A Christian is one who is driven to obedience because he fears God above everything else.
Ed Welch, in his book “When People are Big and God is Small,” deals with this very thing. He gives several examples of how the fear of man impedes a person’s obedience to God. Let me run through a few of these examples.
1. The first one he lists is peer pressure. Peer pressure, he says, is nothing more than a euphemism for the fear of man. Peer pressure is when you capitulate to doing something simply because you know your peers want it that way. It is evidenced in the kids that take a beer at a party or an adult who won’t report some sort of abuse at work because his coworkers are against it. It is the pastor who dances around certain issues because he feels that he might lose his job or the offering will drop off.
All these are examples of peer pressure, and all of them are forms of ungodly fear. And it is an evil thing because it means that men are driving your life more than God is.
2. Another example is that of people pleasers. Welch says that people who are overcommitted are and will not say no when called upon to do something are not living in the fear of God. These are people who are people who want acceptance by men rather recognizing their acceptance with God. They want to be thought well of by other men or women, and their not putting what God thinks of them first. So they let others dictate how much work they are taking on.
3. Here’s another one: Marriages are to be governed by the fear of God. Welch says that some marriages are more governed by the fear of man. A wife may feel like she can’t live without her husband or a guy may feel like he can’t exist without her. So each ends up doing all kinds of silly things. Some call it “codependency.” But it is a lack of the fear of God. Don’t get me wrong. Marriage is designed for the two to become one. There should be a good union and healthy interactions. Marriages are built on trust and husbands & wives depend on one another to a degree. But marital relationships can go too far so that the spouse takes the place of God and your actions end up being controlled not by God, but by the other person.
4. Welch also notes that self-esteem falls into this discussion of the fear of God. If you are concerned about criticism and your feelings either broken or built up by other people’s opinions, then that is wrong. You’re not living in the fear of God. Your identity is to be found in Christ, not in anyone else. If it is, you are not fearing God.
I highly encourage you to check out Welch’s book. It has a lot more examples of the fear of man. But the point of it all is that right living (integrity) is built on the fear of God. If you do not have a deep sense of awe at God, mixed with that certain shrinking feeling, then you will be moral play-dough. People will mold and fashion your life exactly the way they want it. They will be able to shut you up when they want to, they will be able to make you say what they want. They will impede upon your life to no end.
If you want the freedom that Paul himself experienced, then you must live in the fear of God.