1 Peter chapter 2, we'll get back into where God has guided us for these past couple of years and continue our study in 1 Peter. We're presently looking at chapter 2, verse number 17. So if you'll take a moment just to kind of look at this, we'll draw at our sermon. It's very short, significant statements that Peter makes. Honor all, all men, all those that your life is connected to. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Our text is Fear God. It will be our primary focus this morning. And this one that is found here among these other three is similar. It functions in a similar way as those we've already preached, two of them, before we've come to this one this morning, Fear God. We have noticed, and they're all the same, that they are driven by an imperative mood, an imperative verb in each one of them. And they call for immediate action that must be given now and sustained. All four are directed to God's people. And we are receiving the apostolic Word of God by His Spirit this morning. These are directed to us as the people of God. And these must be given. And these are directives, are summary statements, as we've noticed, of Peter's previous instructions. So they don't just appear, they are the summation of all that he has been saying about these four primary categories. Do you remember the first imperative statement? Just a brief summary here to get us moving in the right direction. The first imperative, we are to give honor to all, to all men, meaning we are to fix a value on all that we are connected to or that we interact with. We identify what is priceless in every life, their soul. They are made in the image of God and we are to show that every life has value to us. We treat everyone with respect. Why is this Peter's summary of his instructions of our relationship to the world? Why does he say it this way? Because we are called to be witnesses of God in the world. That has been emphasized over and over by Peter. The God who has saved us, we are now appointed to be God's light bearers to a world that is lost in spiritual darkness. because we've been assigned this task. We must guard our life and not allow our fleshly lusts, as Peter has said, to hinder our influence as God's witnesses. We are made partners with God in the process of the redemption of his own elect. And we are told to live honestly before the Gentiles or before the world. A life that is beautiful and well balanced is how we are to live. And we cannot show regard and respect and be able to influence those around us if we are not careful with our life. And so honor all. Set a value on them. and know what your mission is to them. The second directive he gave to us, the imperative, is love God's people. God's people are to love God's people. That's the directive. And we are told here to love with a godly kind of love. that we are to give to our brethren. God has planned that we join together as pilgrims and we share life with others as we journey through this world. We are a saved community of believers who fellowship and support each other on our journey. One of the most important virtues that we can give to each other is love. Even though we've associated and committed ourselves to others who share our values, our beliefs, our goals, unless we love one another, we will not survive. Documents will not hold us together. Unity cannot be sustained without godly love. And Peter has said much about our journey together, and he summarizes his instruction with one duty that we must give freely to one another, love the brotherhood. It's a summary of all that he's been saying. And so Peter has capsulized our primary duty to the world where we live, give honor, and he's summarized our primary duty to the brethren, give love. And now he adds to our list of imperative duties that are summarized in a very simple exhortation to us, fear God. Everything he has taught us about God in this letter, he condenses into this one imperative, fear God. There are many layers or parts to this duty that we are to give to God. It may sound odd at first when we hear Peter summarize his instructions with this duty, give God fear. We give all mankind honor, we give brotherhood love, we give God fear. If I had met you this morning when you came in and asked you, when you gathered to meet with your brethren for the purpose of worship, what is your primary duty that you are to give to God? You may have said several things. You may have said, well, you know your catechism well, we are to give God glory. Or, you know what Jesus says, the greatest of all the commandments, we're to give God love. Or we're to give God obedience. And all of these are correct statements. But Peter seems to be saying that what we give to the world and what we give to our brethren is not possible if we have not first understood our duty to God, to give godly fear. For Peter, this is where everything begins. And if Peter summarizes everything that he's taught us about God in this statement, then this statement, fear God, is behind everything that he said about the person and work of God in 1 Peter up to this point. This is a summation statement of all that he has taught us about God already. This should be a natural move for us if we have been listening to what he said about God. Fear God is not a surprise. In an effort to make sure that we understand this concept, that Peter has set before us. We'll look at it from three different perspectives or angles. And it's almost been good for me to have been down not well for the last several weeks because I was ready to preach one sermon with three parts. But while I was on my back and alone, I realized, no, this is not one sermon with three parts. This is three sermons. I don't want to cut the parts short. My first sermon this morning is going to be kind of an introductory sermon for you. We'll define these words, fear God. We'll explain their usage in our statement. And it's obvious to us that this concept has shaped Peter's mind, the fear of God. and he's endeavoring to shape our minds. We'll consider a few references, we'll be selective this morning, but we'll look at several from both the Old and New Testament on this duty, the fear of the Lord, which is essential to everything. We cannot know God without this fear, and we will not understand his will unless we begin with the fear of God. So that will be my focus this morning. God willing, next Sunday I want us to follow Peter's theology of God as he develops it in the previous portion that leads up to verse number 17. There are 12 different statements that Peter makes about God before we get to this place in verse 17. And all of them provide for us Peter's theology of God. An important thing for us to grasp and understand because this statement here is not in a vacuum. It isn't just some place along the line just said, fear God. This is the result of his theology of his 12 views of God that he's already stated before he gets here. And so we will take time to kind of look that over and see how Peter's theology develops. The third sermon, God willing, will gather up all of, have you ever, I know some of you have, you've read through many of the Psalms and other portions of the scripture and you look at all of the blessings that God promises to those who fear him. There are many. These are promises to bless those who fear him. And so we want to gather those up as well. And they're not all in the Old Testament. A lot of what we're going to read is in the New Testament. This is not an Old Testament concept. Apparently it's a New Testament one, right? Here it is right in front of us, fear God. And so we want to spend time and not rush through this and hopefully provide some fresh thought or remind you of some things you've already known and understood over these next few weeks. Okay, this morning, fear God. What is this? How are we to understand this imperative? I mean, he's not saying, hey, I got a good idea for you. He is saying, fear God. This is an imperative. You don't have a choice here. This is a duty that you owe to God. And if you are not willing to give that duty to God, to fear God, then there's something very wrong in the heart and mind of a person who's unwilling or doesn't want to do this imperative that we are called to do. So what does it mean that we are to give fear to God? And this is for all of us this morning who are believing people of God, we are to fear Him. Fear, the basic, of course, common Greek word, we have heard it in the English, phobia, we understand essentially what that word means. The definition, however, is determined by how it's used, as so many words are, how it's used, influences the definition of that word, and that is the case with the word fear. This word that we have here is used in two different ways, depending on the text. It is used to convey what we might often think as a human emotion, a terrible dread of something or someone who can bring great harm to your life. This kind of fear can immobilize a person. It is a human emotion that every one of us feel. We've all felt fear. And it can also cause us to run or to seek refuge or hide. Fear has that capacity. to affect us in such a powerful way. And this kind of fear is a response to what threatens us or our loved ones. It's also the kind of fear that we are told throughout Scripture that the lost world will experience when they encounter the judgment of God. Can you imagine standing before someone you've thought very little of the moment you leave this world and you're in the presence of this infinite being where his presence fills the whole of eternity? What fear is going to be felt in that moment? And there is no place to hide. There is no refuge. That's the kind of fear that is often mentioned in the scriptures as this terrifying, terrible dread that our human emotions can experience. The other way that it's used in the scriptures, depending on the text again, describes a reverential awe. Now, the danger of shifting our thinking to reverence from this terrifying fear is that somehow, if we're not careful, we reduce God to something that is not quite as great as he really is. We can revere him. But with that revering of him, we sometimes have a tendency to lose the reality of his being. the greatness of his being, who he really is, our creator, to whom all are accountable. A reverential fear. Our knowledge of God leads us to venerate or regard with the highest and utmost respect God. we give him this reverential awe and high regard. And as pilgrims who are God's children, we highly value the person and work of God revealed to us, not only in creation, but in and through his word and through his son. And the more we know and understand this God, the more we revere him. It's impossible to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God and decline in reverence. Not if it's real knowledge and understanding of God. This kind of godly fear is what inspires us to worship him, is it not? Why do you gather to worship him? And the very word, as you've heard Steve and others denote, it's a word that means essentially falling. It pictures someone who's lowering themselves in humble posture before God. Worship. And it's this kind of reverential fear, godly fear, that inspires us to worship God and to render to him his due. We are in his presence. We are humbled. And in his presence, we give to this great infinite being. We give him our praises, our thanksgiving. We dedicate our life to be obedient to his will. This is reverential awe. This is the fear of God that Peter is talking about. This godly fear that causes us to live out our life as his witnesses on this earth who guard our life with great care because of our reverence for God's glory. We are careful about how we live and who in godly fear also worship him. This is giving fear to God. This is Peter's exhortation, fear God. Give him the reverence that is due to him. How many of the Psalms do we use as opening calls to worship that say that very thing? Give to God his due. Give to God his due. And it speaks of his glory and his holiness and we are to fear before him. Give him his due. This is what Peter is saying. If you have been listening to Peter as he has articulated 12 times the great, right, the great God, the great Theos, If you have heard what he has said about God as he's moved through his instruction, you come to this place and fear God is your normal accepted response. Yes. Yes, this is not difficult. It makes sense. So this is a great subject that just, it moves through the scripture and it touches on so many aspects of our Christian life. I want to just kind of glance at some passages, not exhaustive digging out everything, but just a few selective ones. If you'll follow, I want you to see these, read these with me. Start in Deuteronomy chapter number 10. There's about a half a dozen here I want you to look at with me about this concept, this idea that we are to fear God. And it is a concept that we reach after we have studied God. This is not something you just on your own wake up one day and say, I'm going to fear God. This is a concept that is produced by your reading and studying and learning about him as Peter has done for us. It's amazing how many times we find this phrase and this concept in the Old Testament books of Moses. But here's an example here in chapter 10, in verse number 12, and now Israel This is Moses appealing to them just before they are going to enter into the land of promise. He revisits everything they have learned about God, and that's why Deuteronomy, or the second giving of the law, is for us here. Moses is saying, verse 12, and now Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God? If you take up all the things that God has said to you, Moses is saying, brethren, this is the bottom line. What does he require of you? But to fear the Lord thy God and to walk in all his ways. You see, when the fear of the Lord is active and real in your life, it spills over. It has fruit to it. The fear of God flows over in our life this way. that we would walk in all his ways. We have interest in everything God has said about family, about marriage, about this and about that. We're interested in all that God has said. To walk in all his ways and to love him. Can you put that together in your head? Love the Lord thy God and fear the Lord your God? Do those work together? You bet they work together. These are not conflicting ideas. And to serve the Lord thy God with all your heart and all your soul. To fear God looks like this. And as your fear and reverence for God grows because your knowledge and understanding of God is growing, this is how we know that you know God. You fear him. And this is how it shows itself. Look at Ecclesiastes. It was read just a moment ago by Brother Shane. But I want to read it again with what we're thinking specifically about this morning. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 12, just verses 13 and 14, if you would, as he comes to the end of what Shane described for us. The end of his life. I love how Moses is saying to Israel, listen, I'm gonna bottom line it for you. Solomon is doing the same thing here. He said, listen, I've been on a long road of learning and studying and reading books and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? Brethren, my son, you don't have to do that. I'm gonna bottom line it for you. Verse 13, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God. Oh, you must have a reverential fear of God. You must hold him in the highest esteem. Your life must be filled with the awe of God. Fear God, son. I mean, to those who are listening to him as he writes, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, and keeping in mind, because the New Testament deals with the same connection, for God shall bring every work into judgment. Sometimes we have such a soft view of God that we forget about judgment of our works. of our thoughts. It's almost as if Peter has borrowed this. Peter seems to be very familiar. Let me give you the conclusion of the whole matter. That's what Peter's doing in verse 17. Let me summarize everything I've taught you. Here it is. Fear God. Look at Psalms. Go back to Psalms chapter two. This is a very interesting mixture of odd emotions being blended together in chapter 2 in a context that's exalting the Messiah, the Son of God, in his coming with power and authority and establishing the work of God. in light of his coming and his work that he will do. We are exhorted in verse 11, in verse 10, be wise. In verse 11, serve the Lord. Verse 12, kiss the son. I mean, these are things, this is how we ought to respond to God's work through Christ. And here in verse 11, he says, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. These are seemingly odd mixtures of ideas here. Serving with fear, isn't that a slavish kind of thing? I mean, what's pleasant about that? Laboring to serve our God with fear. Our labor for God, our efforts that are often tiring, is motivated and continues because we fear God. We know the value of what we're doing. We know His value. We know the accountability of what we're doing. So let us serve God with fear. Let us have a reverence and all for Him as we go about laboring for Him. That's not slavish. That's empowering. That's strengthening. If you love him and you know that he loves you, this is not a troublesome thought. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, these verbs serve rejoice, and they're linked to these ideas of with fear and with trembling. And we rejoice as we stand in awe of what God is doing with his son, that he has accomplished for us through his son. And we in the New Testament age understand that psalmist very well, do we not? And we rejoice and stand in awe of what God is doing with his son, because we see with spiritual eyes his work as it unfolds. And so we rejoice with trembling, we stand in awe of what he's doing. Have you ever experienced something that is so unbelievably unexpected that you're overwhelmed with joy, that you tremble by the event? And this is what the psalmist is saying to us, that what God is doing through his son is so stupendous, so great, Let us rejoice with trembling, standing in awe of what God is doing as we marvel at his handiwork. There are dozens of places that we could look in the Old Testament. I'm going to draw your attention to a couple of New Testament passages before we close this introduction to fear God. Look at Philippians chapter two. It's similar to Psalm 2 verse 11, or the whole Psalm actually. Paul here is doing a similar thing. He's setting before us this magnificent work that God has achieved through his son. And we marvel at what he has done. We stand in awe and we rejoice as he describes what his son has done for us. And now even now where he sits, and He is above all things. We as God's people marvel at this. We stand in awe of what God has done, that He has provided for us salvation. Wow! Don't minimize what God has done in the saving of your soul. This is a magnificent feat, accomplishment of God that He has accomplished through his Son for us. And it's as if Paul, kind of like the Psalm 2 verse, that whole section there in verse 11 especially, wherefore he says in verse 12, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. The same idea, the same language. Seeing what God has done for you. The great price that he's paid for you. What Christ was willing to do. Work this out. Stand in awe. With great reverence for your salvation. Work it out with fear and trembling. because it is God who is at work in you. Right? Fear, this reverence and awe for God, this reverence and awe for what God is doing is what Peter is telling us to do. Fear God. Have a reverential awe of him and his work, his person. and his work. Work it out. You have been given no common salvation. You have been given the greatest gift that could be given to any creature. Take that gift, value it, and work it out into your life. And know that you're not doing it alone. God is at work in you to enable you to do that. Fear God. Fear his person, fear his work. Stand in awe. Show reverence to this. One other reference before we close. Look at Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, verse Verse 28 and 29, it sits in a wonderful context here. I don't have time to go into it, but I would encourage you to look at at least a few verses ahead and what follows. But verse 28 of chapter 12, he is writing here to Hebrew converts, Jews, Jews who've come to faith in Christ. but they're questioning with, oh, do I really need to follow this path? Can I go back to the old system and the old ways? This, this new plan seems to be very difficult. And my own brethren, my Jewish brethren are turning their back on me. They're persecuting me. So they're waffling, wavering. Many are abandoning, going back. And he is saying, wherefore, brethren, we receiving a kingdom. Brethren, think of what God has given to us. He's appealing to the Jews, but we are a part of that. He's just trying to help the Jews see what we have received, Jew and Gentile together. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom. which cannot be moved, God planted a kingdom that will never be uprooted like all of those in the Old Testament. This kingdom will continue to move forward and expand in its authority all over the world. It will bring people into it who will bow their knee to the King, Jesus Christ. And that kingdom will continue until He, the Son of God, in 1 Corinthians 15, when the work is finished, He will take that kingdom and offer it up to His Father, and we will go into eternity forever. What a beautiful thing God is doing actively now on our behalf. And He's saying, don't you see this? Don't you see what God has done and he's given to you? We receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved. And for this reason, let us have grace. Let us take this grace that God has given to us. Let us use this grace. that has been given whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. And so again, this brings us to a place of, what is it all about? God is doing something grand all over the place. The world looks like a mess, but it's not, God is at work. advancing his eternal plan through the chaos. And those with spiritual eyes can see what God is doing. So let us have grace. Let's take this grace. of what God has done for us in the giving us of his son, which is Hebrews. It's all what Hebrews is about. And the kingdom that God has given to us, let us take this grace so that we by this may serve our God in an acceptable way. This is important little adverb here. In an acceptable way. It indicates that there are ways that are not. You could be busy serving God and it's not acceptable. The day of judgment is going to reveal that. That we might serve God. This is a part of what people that fear God do. They serve God acceptably with reverence and awe. And this is not the same thing as that next phrase, godly fear. In fact, this is a little bit of a twist on what Peter has given us. We are conscious as we go about serving God of the opportunity to bless our brethren and we guard ourselves as we serve as those who serve under the eye of God with godly fear. conscious of how we are to go about our work and how we are to treat our brethren and how we are to live in this world. We go about serving God with this spirit of reverence and godly fear. Because we understand the grace that has been given to us. Let us have grace, let us take this grace, Grace that is revealed in Hebrews about Christ. The grace that is revealed about this kingdom that has been given, brought to us. And he manages that kingdom as he taught it in his parables. And it serves his divine purpose until the end of time. Fearing God, to fear God, Looks this way, it looks like people who understand the grace that has been given to them, and they are actively engaged in serving God with this disposition. And then he says, with godly fear, because our God And that is a beautiful phrase. I have been greatly impacted by hearing that simple phrase throughout the Psalms. Our God. Our God. For this God is our God, said the psalmist that he has just described. He's not just any God, he's our God. For our God is a consuming fire. That's supposed to encourage me, inspire me and build me up. Yes. The reality of our God is not something that intimidates and discourages us and causes us to run and hide. The reality of our God is what inspires us, makes us conscious of our service in this world. Because everything we do is going to be put to the fire, right? And everything we've done that is not pure and true and honest is gonna go up in smoke. What's left? will be that which is rewarded by God. Knowing this, our God is, is at this very moment. He is at work in our life. He's at work purging, consuming things that don't need to be there, that are a hindrance to our life. Our God is now and will always be through the judgment that will be rendered a consuming fire. And so when we hear Peter say, fear God, as a summary statement of all that he has said in all of his instructions leading up to that point, We understand what Peter's saying. Revere him. Revere him. Highly regard him as you live out your life. Don't ignore his teaching to you. Don't ignore the appeals of the spirit that is his spirit who now lives in you and appeals through his word to you. Don't ignore his voice. Harden not your voice, he says here just a few chapters earlier, like they did in the wilderness. Don't do that. But rather fear God is how he begins in chapter four at the end of chapter three. Fear Him, revere Him, live your life conscious of who He is. Understand what, not only who He is, but what He's done for you. That ought to be our motivation, our inspiration, why we gather to worship, why we go out to witness. We know who He is, and we know what He's done for us. Fear God. We understand that appeal. We know that nothing is acceptable to God, nor will we work our life out well if we do not fear God. But rather, fearing God enhances everything we do. It inspires our godly living and genuine interest in others and will make our labor for God and his kingdom of great value, not only to us, but to God. Fear God. That's Peter's exhortation to us. We'll look at how he develops this, God willing, next Sunday. Father, we thank you for the time to just reflect on your word about this concept, this idea that you have given to creatures like ourselves who are broken by sin, who need clarity, who need a vision of what is right. Help us to see and understand you better, and help us, Father, that these things that we know and understand about you, your person and work, would bear fruit in our life. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, knowing that our life is going to give an account to him. May this be our disposition today, I pray, in Christ's name, amen.