This coming Lord’s Day I will want to address this question from Deuteronomy 17; “Where have all the God-fearers gone?”
To my embarrassment, when I evaluate the length of my days in ministry, I am ashamed of how little thought I have given to the mountain of a subject in Scripture, the fear of God. We so rarely even use the language of fear anymore.
Who even preaches on this subject anymore?
Where is a pulpit in the land today where this phrase is even common?
O how I want the fear of God to be so expected by the hearers at Eastside Baptist that they ask me why I didn’t mention the fear of God in a sermon. May the fear of God once again be championed by the Lord’s elect that this must be considered before we say or do anything.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning… it’s the beginning of knowledge, it’s the beginning of wisdom. We’re more likely to consult with what others are doing before we humble ourselves and seek God’s direction. We’re more likely to read a secular business book based upon a survey of the opinion of men before we begin with prayer. Our usual starting place shows what we think of God. O how I long for this in my own life, in my own church, from my duty in the pulpit.
When you read or hear of godly men/women of old, they would usually be referred to as a “God-fearing man/woman”. That would say a lot about the person. It means something to be called a “God-fearer”.
Today, the label of “Christian” means hardly anything and nearly everything.
But to be among the “God-fearers”…
- Sermons on the Fear of God from the National Center for Family Integrated Churches conference.
- My sermon at the Fear of God Conference: During the Time of Your Stay on Earth
The fear of God is to be our safety net to cover all of our wandering ways, as well as our sinful indulgences and actions against our Creator. However, there are many who spend a lifetime of energy trying to walk “in His ways” (Ps. 128:1) or “keep His commandments” (Eccles. 12:13), without ever actually coming to a true knowledge and fear of Him (1 Peter 1:17). If we are to walk in His ways in a manner that is considered an acceptable service, we are to do so with reverence and awe “for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29). In this session, Paul Thompson explains the importance of the fear of God as we go about our lives during our stay on this earth.
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