Well, our subject this morning again is the fear of the Lord or the fear of God. I told our ministerial this morning this is my last Sunday of freedom from now on it's back to 45 minutes from an hour and I'm afraid I said I'm afraid if you gave me an hour and a half I'd be here for an hour and 35 or an hour 40 minutes so on. But I trust that you will not find the subject of fearing God a negative subject. I believe we have lost largely the fear of God in the church and thus in the world. I believe that fearing God has tremendously positive benefits and we will see some of those in this message. I have assembled many of the verses in scripture that speak about the fear of the Lord or of God and arranged them in topical form. There are numerous verses that command us to fear the Lord. Then there are verses that give us events that bring the fear of the Lord. Then there are verses that give further instructions to those who already fear the Lord. And another category of verses lists the benefits of fearing the Lord and there are many benefits in fearing God. Then there are examples of those who feared the Lord. Then there are verses that give reasons why we should fear the Lord. One of the very instructive categories of verses are verses that teach us how to fear the Lord. Then there is one last call to fear the Lord in scripture. All of this involves 80 some verses. I read one writer who said that 230 some times this subject is addressed in the Bible. That's a lot, isn't it? Is this subject important? And I fear. We don't preach on fear very much. I trust you will not find it tedious, but I want to read a lot of those verses so that we will get an idea of how important this subject truly is. Now let me just mention again briefly, that as I understand it, when the Bible speaks of the fear of the Lord, it speaks of actual fear. I have explained it in the sense of the law of the land. In our country, you know, just the other day I woke up and I heard this, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It's goose hunting season in our land. So let's say that you have set up your blind for hunting geese and you are shooting geese, but you do not have a license to hunt geese. Now your hunt is over and you come to your vehicle with a bunch of geese and they're parked by your vehicle is the game warden. Does anybody here know what that feels like? Oh, yeah, okay. Listen, both my hands are up. The sight of the game warden causes what? Yes, actual fear and makes you want to run and hide what you have. But on the other hand, let us say you have purchased your license and you have come to your vehicle and there is the game warden. Now you do not fear because he will find everything in order. So it is with God. If we live right, we do not have to fear his judgment. Scripture says that by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. If we love God, we will obey him by keeping his commandments. Did you know that? How do you know you love him? Just by how you keep his commandments. John 14, 21. And if we keep his commandments, his love is perfected in us so that we have boldness in the day of judgment. I can't think of a greater achievement than to have boldness in the day of judgment after this life is over. 1 John 4 17 and this verse also says there is no fear in love because perfect love or perfect obedience to God casts out fear basically then the fear of the Lord is fear to do wrong because God the righteous and holy judge will judge us someday And so in this message I want to briefly go over a number of verses that I have put Into several categories and we will begin with the commands found in scripture to fear the Lord We had Deuteronomy 6 read for us before let's go there one more time Deuteronomy chapter 6 want to just read verses 1 through 3 Now this is the commandment and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess that you may fear the Lord your God to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command you you and your son and your grandson all the days of your life and that your days may be prolonged therefore here oh Israel and be careful to observe it that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey by the way there is a land flowing with milk and honey for the obedient to the Lord So God gave Israel commandments, which if they obeyed them, it would cause them to fear the Lord. And if they feared the Lord, it would go well with them and the Lord would bless them. the text goes on to say that they were to teach these commandments to their children so look at verse 13 you shall fear the Lord your God and serve him and shall take oaths in his name then look at verse 24 and the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our good always that he might preserve us alive as it is this day You see, God gave Israel commandments, which if they obeyed them, it would cause them to fear the Lord. And if they did this, it would be for their good. You say, you know, I don't really fear God very much. Well, start obeying Him. Start obeying Him, and you will. There's a direct link between God's commandments, obedience, and the fear of the Lord. The fear of God and righteousness go hand-in-hand. Lack of the fear of God and unrighteousness go hand-in-hand as well. Another command to fear God is found in Deuteronomy 10, 12 through 13, which says, and now Israel, what does the Lord God require of you? Do you know what the first one is? but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve him, serve your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes, which I command you today for your good. Note again that the Lord's directives and the call to fear God is for man's good. Obedience to the laws of our land is for our good as well. Disobedience to God destroys man's relationship with God, and it destroys man. Let me read a few more verses on commands to fear God. Psalm 34 9 says, O fear the Lord, you his saints. There is no want to those who fear him. Proverbs 3 7 says, Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Another verse says that it is by the fear of the Lord that men depart from evil. It is then obvious that when we do not fear the Lord, evil takes over. Why is our nation where it is? Why is the church where it is? We have lost our fear of God. When Solomon was done searching out life and its purpose, and he saw that all was vanity, he concluded like this in Ecclesiastes 12, 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God. and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man a verse I mentioned in the previous message gives a command to fear God by Jesus himself he said in Matthew 10 28 and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell I reminded you last Sunday he's talking to believers Luke puts that like this in 12.5, but I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he has killed has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, fear him, fear him. Well, those briefly are some commands in scripture to fear God, but God allows certain events to happen from time to time. And these events cause the fear of God to come over people. Excuse me. It is interesting that when tragedies or horrific events happen, that one of the first things many people say, oh my God, oh my God. Think back to the event of 9-11 and the Twin Towers. How many times did people not say, oh my God? Great fear came on people in America. For a few weeks, churches were filled until the fear of God subsided. Then they left church again. When King Esau warred with the Ethiopians, it says in 2 Chronicles 14, 14, then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them. That is the enemies. And they plundered all the cities for there was exceedingly much spoil in them. When God's people live right and the fear of God comes upon the enemies of God. When the church fears God, the surrounding people know it. We sometimes try to win the world by offering the same things to them that they are doing. Take for example, rock music. But when we do that the unbeliever loses all fear of God and all respect for the people of God. In times of revival when God's people repent and begin to live right the world begins to fear God. Isn't that interesting? So 2nd Chronicles 17 10 says of the days of Jehoshaphat a godly king and the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around them so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. What is one of the major problems of the church today? We do not fear God. But man can become so hardened that not even catastrophic events cause men to fear God. You know, after the seventh catastrophic plague in Egypt, Moses said to Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 9 verse 30, but as for, seven plagues already happened, horrific events. And after the seventh one, Moses said, but as for you talking to Pharaoh and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God. I know it's not enough yet. The harder we become, the less we fear God. Do you want to know how hard you are this morning? It depends exactly on how obedient you are to God. Do you want to know how soft you are? Depends exactly how well you respond to the things that he says. From time to time, God allows events into our lives and sometimes into the lives of certain localities or nations that cause us to recognize there is a God to whom we must someday give account. I don't have time for stories this morning. I want to tell you one. I had to go to town school, which would have probably been grade eight back then or so. And I was caught doing something wrong, and I was supposed to go see the principal. That was a very new thing for me. And I didn't pray very much back then, but I remember going behind a building and praying. Something had happened that caught my attention, and I went to God. And amazingly, amazingly, the Lord took care of it for me. There came times later when I didn't fear God like so. Young children here, I see so many children here. When you learn to fear God at home, let me encourage you, listen to your parents, do what they say, and you will learn to fear God. Another category of verses I found regarding fearing God gives instructions to those who fear the Lord. Those verses are written to those who already fear God, but it instructs them further. Listen to Psalm 115 verse 11. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. So those who fear the Lord are also to trust in him Psalm 22 23 says to the believer you who fear the Lord praise him All you descendants of Jacob glorify him and fear him all you offspring of Israel Those who fear the Lord are further exhorted to praise him and glorify him Psalm 118 4 says let those who fear the Lord now say his mercy endures forever. I When we fear the Lord, we learn of His tender mercies. Now, do you know what? It takes a lot of experience in life and a lot of hard knocks before we can truly say His mercy endures forever. I went back to my messages on God, and I did not do one on the attribute of His mercifulness. I can't believe I didn't do that. Someday I must preach on mercy. It is such an incredible subject. But when you can from your heart say His mercy endures forever, I know you have gone through things in life. I know you have learned to know this God. What a huge thing it is for God to bring those who fear Him to where they truly come to the place where they say His mercy endures forever. Psalm 135 verse 20 instructs the believer like this. Bless the Lord, O house of Levi. You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord. Those who fear the Lord are here instructed to bless him also. Now I define blessing God as saying good things to other people about God. That blesses him. Here is instruction for us as believers. You say, you know, I don't know how to bless God. What do they say? Bless God, bless God, bless God. No, no, no. You go tell other people how good he is. That blesses him. Another category of verses is that, verses that give the benefits of fearing the Lord. We saw earlier in Deuteronomy 6, 24, that to fear, the fear of the Lord is for our own good. The scripture gives positive benefits for those who truly fear God. Job 28, 28 says that to fear the Lord is wisdom. What a benefit. Wisdom is a tremendous benefit to anyone. Are you a mom or a dad? How much wisdom do you need? but from all that we also gather that not fearing the lord is foolishness oh how we need wisdom in life parents how much do we not stand in need of wisdom then listen to this benefit from fearing the lord psalm nineteen nine says the fear of the lord is clean isn't that incredible the older i get the longer i go The greater I see what this is like to be clean in life. When your words can be fully trusted, there's no guile in the heart, there's just cleanness. It's incredible. The fear of the Lord is clean. It's clean. Enduring forever. Oh, young people, that you could but learn how precious such truths are before you defile yourselves. with sin. The fear of the Lord is clean and it endures forever. Psalm 25 14 lists the further benefit of fearing the Lord. It says that the secret of the Lord is with those who fear him. Oh how incredible it is when God lets you in on a little secret. I can tell you that from this past week in my life. My feet had well nigh slipped. What a difference a little secret from God can make. And then it says, he will show them his covenant. Psalm 33, 18 says, behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him. Isn't that incredible? God is looking at you. His eyes on them that fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy. Oh, how much time we could spend on some of these benefits. Psalm 34, seven says, the angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear the Lord and He delivers them. Just wait till the day when you need some deliverance and you will see how incredible this is. I wonder if you have experienced that. I'm sure if you lived any amount of life, you will have. In how many circumstances of life do we not need deliverance? Then Psalm 34 9 says, there is no want to those who fear Him. Isn't that incredible? Maybe it tells us there's not that much fear in us. Oh, how many are in desperate want and they don't even know it. There are people who have a lot of money and they are in want. Psalm 85 9 says, Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Psalm 103 verse 13 says, As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. Only life and life's experiences can tell you how incredible these verses are. That's an incredible picture. When man falls into deep needs, God takes pity on those who fear him. Psalm 103 verse 17 promises, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. Psalm 111 verse 5 says, he has given food to those who fear him. He will ever be mindful of his covenant. Oh, the benefits of fearing God. Do you see how great this matter of fearing God is? In Psalm 145, 19, the writer says of the Lord, He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. Listen! Did you hear it? He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. He will also hear their cry and save them. Do you know how satisfying fulfillment is? Do you know what I know? Every last one of you wants fulfillment. I know that. I'm one of those as well. We live on a street where young men show off their powerful pickups and cars, and I would like to stop them and tell them, vanity of vanities, sayeth the preacher, but then I have to remember I wore like that once too. These young men find fulfillment in squealing the tires of their cars. When you get older, you begin to see just how vain and proud such things are. Is that right? Now, some of you don't know about this yet. You're still squealing tires. But true fulfillment comes when our desires are godly, not selfish. and God will fulfill the desires of those who fear Him and those who truly fear Him will have their desires changed to want what is right and for those God will listen to their prayers and save them when they are in trouble Psalm 147 verse 11 gives this amazing statement the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him God Almighty takes pleasure in them. Can you imagine this? You can't even imagine Harper taking pleasure in you, right? But when you fear Him, God Almighty says, oh wonderful, wonderful. He takes pleasure in them. When God sees those who fear Him, He is pleased with them. And no doubt, their lives are fulfilled by that as well. Then here's a statement that has greatly challenged me in Psalm 111 verse 10. I spoke to you on that last Sunday. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's the beginning. Without the fear of the Lord, there is no wisdom. Then 112, 1 through 3 says, praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in his commandments. Who delights greatly in his commandments. Could I ask you this morning, do you delight in God's commandments? Well, you say not that much. No, you don't fear God very much. I know that. And it says, his descendants will be mighty on earth, the generation of the upright will be blessed, wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. As I mentioned in the last message, it is not love that is the beginning of wisdom, it is not mercy, it is not joy, it is the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 1, 7 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. See, the fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom, it is the beginning of true knowledge. Until we learn to fear God, we have not even truly learned to know. You can check that out with men who don't fear him like Richard Dawkins. When we are too stiff-necked, sometimes God has to allow us to see some tragedy before we begin to fear instruction. Let me say to every one of us here, it does not matter who we are. This morning, right here, if God allowed some things to happen to us, we would be lured to the dust of the ground in a very short time. It doesn't matter who we are here. We would be brought down from any height of pride. Then listen to Proverbs 8, 13. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Do you want to know how much you fear God? How much do you hate evil? There's a measurement. He says, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance, the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. God says that. Do you want to know how much you fear God? Well, let me ask you, how much do you hate evil? Also check to see what comes out of your mouth. That is where you will find out how much you fear God. Pride, arrogance, and the evil way. If I enjoy any of these, I am far from fearing God. When I learn to fear God, I begin to hate evil. I will learn to hate pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the mouthy mouth, if I but learn to fear God. You know, so many times, I watch young people, and I see what they do, and it just, it's repulsive, and I see, that's me! That's me! There's not too much young people do that I don't think I've thought or done. I only have to think back. That's me. But if I hate these things, and I want to tell you something. I think to a degree, I have learned to hate sin. It is hateful. It's horrible. Proverbs 10, 27 again makes a promise. It says, the fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. Proverbs are general rules. It does not always happen like this, but these are general rules. When a person fears God, it tends to lengthen life. That is true of all obedience to God as well. Obedience, righteousness, and the fear of the Lord belong together. Proverbs 14, 26 says, in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence and his children shall have a place of refuge. There is strong confidence in a very proud man too. Did you know that? There are proud people who have very big confidence, but one tragedy and all confidence wipes away. but not so with those who fear God. When one fears God, it wants to give confidence in life and in tragedies. It will take you through everything. And the children who grow up in such a home, they have a place of refuge when they are in trouble. Could I exhort dads this morning? Train your children. Train your children. 1427 it says the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death It is see the fear of God. It's a fountain of life It's so easy to read over verses and not think through them, isn't it? not temporary frivolous life It is wonderful to have a fountain of life, true life. You can drink again and again. My wife and I were sitting and discussing scriptures the other morning, and we said it just breathes life everywhere. The longer you read through, you cannot read anywhere that doesn't breathe life. It's incredible. Proverbs 15, 33 says, the fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. To fear the Lord is like having a teacher who constantly teaches one wisdom. And to fear the Lord also deals with pride in one's own life. Now listen, I dare tell you that most times when we have pride, we don't know it. But the fear of God will reveal it. What a horrible thing pride is I only have to look at my past life I don't know how much God has not revealed yet, but but I am terribly ashamed of many things What a folly It is oh so very foolish Yet it lies there deeply entrenched in every natural fleshly man Then Proverbs 16, 6 says, by the mercy, by mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. And by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. Wow, what scriptures? Mercy and truth purges sin. What benefits? And by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. Dave Hunt speaks in his last message of Christopher Hitchens. He was a very brilliant Jewish man raised as a Christian. A man who really spoke in fond terms of his Sunday school teacher of years gone by. But he hated the Lord. And this is one of the things he would say. Calling God that heavenly dictator up there. He would say, we've got to love Him but at the same time we're supposed to fear Him. Now how are you going to work that out? And I say, see what a fool unbelief makes of an otherwise brilliant man. Then Proverbs 19.23 says, the fear of the Lord tends to life and he that has it shall be satisfied. He shall not be visited with evil. These are just such great benefits that come out of fearing God. What would almost everyone give to be satisfied? What would you give to be satisfied? But here we learn where we are to find it. Proverbs 15, 16 says, better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble therewith. To have the fear of God when one is financially poor is to be truly rich. To shorten our time on these incredible benefits of hearing God, let me just read the remaining verses. Proverbs 22, 4. By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Isaiah 33, 6. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times and strength of salvation. The fear of the Lord is his treasure. 1 Samuel 12, 14. If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. You see, a land that fears the Lord will be a blessed land. for Samuel 12 24 fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart for consider what great things he has done for you some 15 1 through 4 Lord who may abide in your tabernacle who may dwell in your holy hill He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart, he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend, in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord, he who swears to his own hurt and does not change, God honors people like that. Psalm 115, verse 13, He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great. Jeremiah 26, 19, regarding a certain prophet, it says, Did Hezekiah, king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and seek the Lord's favor? And the Lord relented concerning the doom he had pronounced against him? But we are doing great evil against ourselves. the Lord may change his mind about allowing difficult things into our lives if we learn to fear Him. Luke 1.50, His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. His mercy is on them. Could I tell you this morning how great mercy is? And it's on those who fear him from generation to generation. Acts 9.31, then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. Well, with regard to the list of benefits of fearing the Lord, the list is long. Let me give you a negative to that. There are a lot of positives. Turn to Proverbs chapter one. Proverbs chapter one. I'm gonna check and see if I got the right verses here. Let's start in verse 28. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer. No, let me start from verse 23. turn at my rebuke surely I will pour out my spirit on you I will make my words known to you because I have called and you have refused wisdom is speaking here I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded because you disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your terror comes when your terror comes like a storm and your destruction comes like a whirlwind when distress and anguish come upon you Then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own doing and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to Me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil." You know who's speaking here? Wisdom is speaking. And the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. While there are scriptures that give examples of those who fear God, I'm not going to spend time here. There was Obadiah, 1 Kings chapter 18 verse 12, Hezekiah, Jeremiah 26, 19, the children of Israel, Hosea chapter 3 verse 5, and Jonah, Jonah chapter 1 verse 9, and so on. The scriptures also set out reasons why God is to be feared Jeremiah 5 24 says they do not say in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God who gives rain both the former and the latter in its season He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest Why should we fear him? We are dependent on him for everything. You know one thing we learned again this summer When God gives no rain, you can't make it rain. We are dependent on him. Listen, we cannot even breathe without him. Did you know that? We are dependent on him for everything. We just don't realize it. If he should be unfaithful for a very short time, we would all die. And we could sing, great is thy faithfulness now. We cannot even breathe without Him, even though most of us don't know it. Psalm 67, 7 says, God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him. When God blesses the believer, the unbeliever takes note, but God blesses such as fear Him. When men fear the Lord, it has positive benefits for that person and for the people who live around such a person. There is a reason to fear God. Matthew 10 28 verses I've read a number of times gives us one great reason to fear God Jesus himself said and do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul But rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Let me remind you again He's talking to believers. Let me ask you. Are you a believer and do you fear him? Why should we fear God? Because He and He alone is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. We might fear those who persecute us, but they can only harm the body, not so with God. Now, one of the very important and key categories of verses on fearing God is verses that teach us how to fear God. So let me now pose this question. How can I learn to fear the Lord? Is there something I can do to learn to fear the Lord or to increase my fear of God? Well, we can't just say, you know what? I'm going to fear God from now on. And so we just fear Him. You just can't do that. You need to try it. And I found verses that instruct us on how to learn to fear God and it has to be learned We begin with Deuteronomy 17 verse 19 which says regarding the word of God, and it, that is the word of God, shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord. Whoa! How is it that it comes? Do you know what has blessed me? The many homes we have visited who said, I am reading through the Bible and it's just amazing how much more interesting some of this stuff in the Old Testament is becoming. We learn to fear God by reading, learning His word. How can I learn to fear God? By reading the word of God. I believe there is one major reason why many do not fear God very much. It is this, they do not know Him very well. If we knew Him well, we would fear Him. Before I fear God, I must get to know Him. I must learn of His holiness, His sinlessness, His abhorrence of sin. I must learn of His justice. Every sin, listen, every sin must be justly dealt with. It must take place. Deuteronomy 6, 1 and 2 adds to that. Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you and your son and your grandson all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. First, we must know the word of God. and what God wants of us, and then we must obey Him. You say, well, you know, I just really don't see why we need to be fearing God all the time. You know what I know about you? You don't obey Him very much. If you would obey Him, you would know why this needs to be. Obedience is one of the ways we learn to fear God. Deuteronomy 8, 6 says, therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God to walk in His ways and to fear Him. You know how people know if we love the Lord or not? If we keep His commandments. In Deuteronomy 31, 11-13 it says, When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing, gather the people together, men and women and little ones and the stranger who is within your gates, that you may hear and that you may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law and that their children who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess I think that we might take from this that when we go to the house of the Lord and learn the things of God there we learn to fear God too Joshua 4 21 through 24 says then he spoke to the children of Israel saying when your children ask their fathers and time to come saying what are these stones then you shall let your children know saying Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before You until you had crossed over as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea Which he dried up before us until we had crossed over and all the peoples of the earth may know The hand of the Lord that it is mighty that you may fear the Lord your God forever Tell them about all this stuff in order that you may learn to fear God all your days It is when we read of the mighty acts of God in his word that a fear of God begins to grow within us Another instructive verse is found in 2nd Kings 17 28 it says then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel and taught them how they should learn to fear the Lord first according to this one can be taught how to fear God and second it is one of the pastor's tasks to teach the people to fear God and if the pastor does not walk uprightly how will the people Well, in Revelation chapter 14, maybe you wanna turn to it. It's the last call to fear God. It's the last call in the scriptures to fear God. It says in verses six and seven, And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having the everlasting glad tidings to announce to those settled on the earth and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God! fear God and give him glory for the hour of his judgment is come and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains and waters last call to fear God as there is a last call in the Bible to fear God so for those who have heard the truth there comes a last call to fear God as well and then comes death or the Lord comes to take his people home and the consequences of a life lived in turning away from the fear of God catches up with us. And so in conclusion, I'm going to close this subject for now. We're going to talk about other things that I think are those that have caused us to lose the fear of God in the church. And let me say in conclusion that I greatly wrestled in preparing this message. But I have concluded that in the church, by and large, we have lost the fear of God. We have seen God as a God who loves and loves and loves and loves. We have seen a God who loves unconditionally to such an extent that we have lost sight of the fact that he is holy and just and righteous. And that someday, every one of us must stand before him to give account of their lives. I cannot think I cannot think of anything greater to achieve in this life than to be able to have boldness in the day of judgment. You want to ponder that? I cannot think of anything greater. The only way we will be able to stand boldly in the day of judgments is if we have dealt with our sins and lived righteously before him. That is the only way. If you are living in sin now and Jesus came, you would hide. You would hide. Like the game warden and the geese. The only reason I see that we have to fear God is sin. and sin always lies at the door. It is amazing, it is amazing the boldness and strength and courage righteous living brings to those who live it. It's amazing to see. It does that. It is righteousness that will give us boldness in the day of judgment. And if we truly fear God, we will live right. We will live right. May the Lord encourage us to righteous living through a reminder from these scriptures to fear God. And maybe you are here this morning And maybe you are not a Christian. I can tell you one thing. You will shudder the day you stand before God. But there is very, very good news. The longer I preach, the greater this message becomes to me, repent. It is so incredible. I cannot describe to you how I feel about this word. By repentance, we can have our sins washed in a moment of time. It is very incredible. You won't know it until you stand before God in judgment, how incredible that is. And the scripture says we must repent because we have, tell me what? All what? All sin to come short of the glory of God. It is, listen, someone has said, the only thing you can do to go to hell is unbelief. No, it is not unbelief. It is sin that causes us to go to hell. Then if we are an unbeliever, listen, if we sin, we're going there. It is sin that is our problem. It is sin why Jesus died. He died that we might believe. And yes, unbelief will do it. So we must repent and then believe. And when we believe, we must receive Christ and accept that when I have repented of my sins, I must repent first, that when I repent of my sins, he washes me clean. And when I have done that, I must say, thank you, Lord God, for washing me clean. That's faith, that's faith. And if you are here this morning, and you do not know Jesus Christ, and you would like to know him, I want to encourage you to repent. That is to come before God and tell Him that you are a very wicked sinner, which you are. It's true of every one of us, has been. And then tell Him that you are, you're just very sorry that you've lived like that and you're going to change your life and repent of your sins and then believe on what He has done and He will give you eternal life. And if he gives you eternal life and you have done this, then I'm going to tell you one more thing. Tell somebody what you have done. Tell somebody what you have done. With our mouth, we confess the Lord Jesus. Then we stand Then we stand with our mouth where our heart has been. Well, may the Lord encourage us out of these messages to learn to fear him. And if we learn to fear him, all will be well with us. God bless you.