Please turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. We're reading from verse 13. 1 Peter chapter 1 from verse 13. Again, verses 1 to 12 are all the facts of what God has done in salvation for us who are Christians. Then the commandment starts from verse 13 as the word of God. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that has to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Amen, and may God bless the reading of his holy word. Let's praise Him once more in Psalm 119. Psalm 119 from verses 116 to 120. Psalm 119, the 15th part, from verse 116 to 120. According to thy faithful word, Uphold and establish me, that I may live, and of my hope ashamed never be. And he speaks of the attitude of this man as he hopes and as he lives in verse 120. For fear of thee my very flesh doth tremble, all dismayed, and of thy righteous judgments, Lord, My soul is much afraid. Psalm 119, 116 to 120. The goodly good I give to thee, the poor and savage me that I may live and die. of Thine own, our shame will never be. O Maria, so shall I live in peace until death is still, until thy service I'll respect. Now living I will. The dreams that hold the proud to stay, All say we see the blue, blue mead I cross now. For bitter pills never I know I love. by her head he pledged the prayer for the wholeness made, and for thy righteousness, Lord. My soul is much afraid. Please turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1 coming to verse 17. And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. If you call on the Father, conduct your lives in fear. The fear of God. Something we do not hear much of these days. So much so that there's a recent book published, not read it myself, but the title is The Forgotten Fear. Where has all the God-fearers gone? And this book by Al Martin seems to have a care for the church. That the fear of God is missing from her vocabulary. The fear of God is missing from her practice and her theology. For too much of evangelicalism, too much of our own lives, is full of carelessness, taking things for granted, an almost irreverence of spirit. As we treat God as easy going, as friendly in the casual sense. And so often the fear of God is missing from our lives. And yet Peter says the fear of God is central to the Christian life. In fact, if we are to be pilgrims on this earth, sojourning until we reach that promised land, until we receive the promises of God, then we are to live our lives in the fear of God. He's already stated that the Christian pilgrimage is one of hope. It's one of holiness. And then in verse 17, he says it's a life to be conducted in fear, the fear of God. And it's not a suggestion or even an invitation. Again, from verse 13, we now have the commandments. Since we have been chosen, Since we are blessed beyond we can even begin to imagine. Since we are so much loved of God, we have such an amazing salvation that even the prophets look to us and the angels of heaven, they desire to look in. Therefore, with the commandment of the apostolic Peter, He says we are to conduct our stay on this earth in fear. And the word stay is the exact same word for sojourning. We are in the wilderness. We are not at home. And so our attitude of mind is to be categorised. It is to be full of what is called the fear of God. And so this morning we will look at the fear of God as a motive for the Christian life. The fear of God as a motive for the Christian life. And if this is so, we must ask first of all, what is Christian fear? What is Christian fear? Fear is an attitude of the mind, It's an affection of the soul, an emotion, where one dreads the threat of danger, pain, or hurt. Someone may fear the dark. Why? Because there's the threat of danger, fear of the unknown. They may be hurt in that situation. Someone may even fear exams because of the threat of possible failure. So when we fear, it has the idea of threat or a danger in the pain and hurt of oneself. But fear also has respect, honour, reverence. Once upon a time, children feared parents. Children were brought up to fear the police, those who are in government, those who are in authority, such as teachers. There was a respect and an honour for those who are in authority. And this is to be the fear of God. We have a dread of the threatenings of God, the danger, the pain that could come our way because He is a holy God. There is the danger of what He can do to a creature. And then there's the respect, the honour, the awe, because He is in authority and He is worthy of all our fear. And many Christians say that this cannot be the attitude of a Christian. How can a Christian have a dread? How can he have a fear of God? And they may point to a verse such as 1 John 4 verse 18, where the apostle there says, there is no fear in love. Perfect love casteth out fear. Surely then, fear and love, they're different, they're opposite. They cannot come together. But we must understand there are two forms of fear in the Bible. There's what's called a slavish fear, and there's what's called a philial fear, a fear as in a father. And 1 John 4 is speaking about a slavish fear. That is the slave who fears his master because he fears that he will come and the danger is punishment only. It's a code, being scared, if you like. That is the fear of a slave to a master. And 1 John, if you read the whole verse, it says, there is no fear in love. Perfect love casteth out fear. Then it describes why, because Fear hath torment. Fear has punishment. And that's the fear, if you like, of the natural man. It is a fear that looks at God and doesn't see the love, the mercy or the grace. It's an unconverted soul in terror and the anger of God because of his disobedience. That's the man's disobedience. There is a slavish fear and scared because fear has a trembling torment promised to that person. And that's the fear of Adam when he fell. When he ate from a tree of knowledge of good and evil. And he heard God And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And that's the slavish fear of man that has nothing to do with Christian fear. That is the fear of man that is contrary and antithetical to love. It is the fear of man knowing they are sinners and knowing that they hide from God That's when the fear of man doesn't want anything to do with obedience, love, mercy, grace. It's a fear of man that is so scared because it's disobeyed and they do not know God. But there's another fear. There is a Christian fear. And that's the fear of a son towards a father. A child loves their father. A child does not want to disobey their father. There's honour, there's reverence, and there is respect. And that fear and love come together. And that's presented in Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 12, where God speaks what is required of the people of Israel. He says, this is what is required, to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him. To fear him and to love him. And we can clearly see Christian feeling as the thread of offending our God. of offending our Father, because we love Him so. We know His grace and we know His mercy. We know the Gospel and it has touched our souls in salvation. And therefore, because He is the Holy God, we will not desire to offend Him. We dread disobedience. because it dishonours the God of heaven and earth and the God of our souls. And everything in the Christian life is fuelled by love and fear. The more love we have for God, the more we'll fear Him. The more we understand God, the more we will fear Him. We will know His holiness, his justice and his righteousness. We will know more about his word and his perfect law. And as the act of faith grows and is strengthened in life, and as the love comes into a fiery flame, when we love him with all our soul, mind, strength, every ounce of our being, we will never desire to offend him. we will fear Almighty God. And this is the fear of a Christian. And it's necessary. All true Christians have this fear. For the statement here in verse 17, if you call on the Father, The language of the original is something that's true of someone, and that's why many translate it as, since you call on the Father, then you will conduct your time here in fear. It's necessary. If we have a slavish fear of God, we're simply afraid of torments and punishments, We fear hell and that alone, that's not a Christian fear. It's the fear of an unconverted soul who does not know grace or love. And that's what natural man has. That's what Roman 3 says. When Paul expresses what's in the mind and in the soul of natural unconverted man, he says there's no one who does good, no not one. There is no one righteous, no one. There is no one that seeks after God. And then he also says, there is no fear of God before their eyes. And notice again, that's Christian fear. Natural man doesn't have it. This is why nations may have slavish fears of God. That's why nations may have biblical laws in the statute books, not because the monarch or the government are Christian, but they have been blessed to have the revelation of God, and they fear it. Our nation has had it in the past. There were times, of course, those in government were godly, and there have been seasons where they were not godly, but the law of the land was in the Bible. Why? Because they're in a fear of God. And there is no fear of God in this society, is there? No respect, no honour. They suppress it down to even denying his existence. But this good, gracious, Christian fear, natural man doesn't have it. But in conversion, it changes. Grace comes into the soul and the Holy Spirit implants the fear of God. So often we talk about marks of grace. How do you know if you're a real Christian? Do you believe in Him? Do you love God and love the brethren? Well, here's a mark of grace. Do you fear God? Because in Jeremiah 32, when he speaks about the new covenant, There's a promise to the people of God. It says in Jeremiah 32 verse 40, I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Clearly the covenant of grace. And what will he do? I will make an everlasting covenant with them and I will put my fear into their hearts. I will put my fear into their hearts. And so when we're unconverted, we have a slave, But when the grace of God comes in, we have God's fear in our hearts. But we dread the danger and pain of disobeying Him, because we love Him, because we respect and honour Him. We treat His name with reverence. This Bible is the core of our lives. We love Him because He is holy and righteous. We love Him because He sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins. And when the Lord says, if you love me, keep my commandments. How we have a fear in our hearts at disobeying and dishonouring Him. Because He is our Heavenly Father. And that's the mark of grace. Do you fear God? Do you have the Christian fear of God? Dishonouring Him and offending God, you fear it. Because you love Him. Because you believe in Him. because you know Him as your heavenly Father. That's a mark of grace. If you have a slavish fear, how it is immersed with a fear of man, is it not? That you may come to love God and you say, I don't want to go to hell, because who wants to be punished on this earth? No one. Of course not. But do not fear, my friends, that fear. You say, come to it and turn it, I pray, into a fear of God, a fear of offending Him, and a fear in offending Him because who He is, a God of salvation, a God of holiness, and a God of honour. Do not fear them, says our Lord, that are able to kill your body, but fear Him who is able to kill you and to punish you in body and in soul forever in hell. And this is a testimony of a true Christian. Isaac had the fear of God. Moses, when he came to that burning bush, he had the fear of God. All the saints, all the regenerate had the fear of God, even so that Solomon, As he looked for the pleasures of the world, the meaning of life, he concluded on the matter, fear God and keep His commandments. So, true Christian fear is a dread and offending God out of a love and a reverent honour of Him. But as we see, fear should be a motivation for the Christian. So how then does fear motivate the Christian? Well, fear motivates us by giving us the correct attitude towards God and His judgments. Fear motivates the Christian by giving us the correct attitude towards God and His judgments. And that's something Christians may deny. Many Christians do. that God judges His people. Many people say that if you simply believe in Jesus Christ, God will not judge you. People say since we are justified by faith alone, there is a once and for all act and declaration of God declaring one righteous and forgiving our sins that He does not judge us anymore. And some Christians even say that on that great day of judgment, that great white throne in Revelation 20, Christians are exempt from that judgment. But all three of them are wrong. God still judges the Christian, but in a certain way. The one who is justified, just to clarify, he does not judge us in terms of we don't know if we're going to be saved or not. No, Christians can have full assurance. It's not saying he's going to treat us and pour out his wrath and indignation on us. Not saying that at all. A Christian comes under the grace of God and we're loved and there's a difference between the judge of the unconverted and the judge of the Christian. And to those who are unconverted, I'm going to speak about the judgment of God towards his Christians. This coming Friday, the Evangelistic Services will look at the judgment of God towards the unconverted. But God still judges the Christian in certain ways. In what way? First of all, he judges to say if our faith is true. Is it a true saving faith? Because we may say we believe, but it may be a false faith. Many believe and they deny later. And there is a true and false belief. And this is the faith of James chapter 2. Where James speaks about those who come to a Christian, they're hungry and they're thirsty. and they come to a Christian and the Christian says depart and doesn't feed them or bring them anything to drink. James rebukes that as a false faith. He says, you may say you have faith or you may show your faith without any works but I will show you my faith by my works. Faith, he says, if it hath not works is dead. What's James saying there? He's saying faith is not without works. Again, to clarify, just in case there's any misunderstanding, we're justified by faith alone. As Luther once said, the faith that justifies is not alone. It's full of the graces that follow. And so faith always produces these good words. It produces love, compassion, a love for the brethren. So when someone comes and is in need, especially the household of faith, faith acts. It does what is good. It produces a true action. You see, someone can say they have true faith and then they can be living a life of inequity. And they may be in secret or in private. But the father seeeth those who are in secret. You see, a child may disobey his father because the father is absent. The father is not in the presence of the child at that moment. So a child may disobey, but not with our heavenly father. He sees all things. He knows what you do everywhere you go. And He knows if it's a false faith without any fruit at all. And so He declares, God does, whether it's a true faith or a false faith. And we are to produce good works. We are to be full of the fruit of the Spirit. And this is given time and time again in the Scriptures. You think of the people of God in the wilderness. And what did they do? They said they believed in Jehovah. They said that they feared God. And when the thunder and the lightning came, they feared out of threatenings. But so much of Israel had the slavish fear, false faith, and not that Christian faith of fear. And that's why when the twelve went into the land of Canaan to spy, ten came back And they were afraid. They looked at this people and how mighty they were. And what did God do? He punished them. They did not go into the promised land because they denied God. But two, of course, in Joshua and Caleb. The people may have been mighty, but no one is mighty like Jehovah. And there's a true faith there. So God judges whether it's a true faith or a false faith. And true faith produces good works. Faith is obedient. And secondly, people say that God doesn't judge a Christian because we're justified. That he's not angry with us. He's never disappointed with us. That's wrong. God judges us as a father. And Hebrews 12 tells us, If we are really children, our father will correct us. What father among yourselves or others has a child who's disobedient and simply lets them do what they want, when they want, leave them as they are? No true father would do that. There's correction, there's discipline, there's chasing. It's done in love. It's done because the father loves and desires the good of the child. And so the father corrects the child. And our God is not like Eli of old, who is so reserved in chastening his disobedient children. That's not God. He loves us so much that there is a fatherly judgment, a fatherly correction. And that when we do wrong or disobey, He will correct us. And such is the correctness, it could be light, it could be a thing where it's so gentle, or it could be more. When David was chastened of God for his adultery, his child, he lost his child. Who's there as we saw last week in the holiness of God? It wasn't that that thing was a mark of no grace. but he disobeyed, and his chastening was death. Don't ever treat lightly, Hebrews 12 tells us. Do not despise or treat it lightly, but fear it, honour it, respect it, because God does judge as a father and corrects his children. And also, thirdly, Christians say that God doesn't judge Christians on the day of judgment. That's not correct. Clearly here Peter is speaking to Christians. If you call on the Father, who what? Who without impartiality judges everyone according to our works. And we know who's going to judge us. The Father has given judgment to the Son. On that day of judgment, 2 Corinthians 5.10 tells us we must all, Christian and non-Christian, rich or poor, Scottish or Australian, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone will render unto God everything that's been done in our body, whether it's good or evil. And again, Romans 2, we read there, there will be a judgment. And the judgment in Paul in Romans 2 is between those again who have false faith and true faith. Because true faith, what does it produce? Good works, patience, love, reverence, the fear of God. And false faith doesn't. And that's why Matthew 25, those three parables, how are we to act in this life? It matters on the day of judgment. Christians are justified by faith alone. But what we do now matters on the day of judgment. The parable of the ten virgins. There are five false and five true professors of the Christian religion. And what's the difference? Oil and lamp. Spiritual graces where we watch, for we neither know the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. We will pray. We will pray, read the Scriptures, and obey the parable of the talents. We've all been given talents and gifts in this world, and we are to use them to the glory of God. We labour in the workplace. Honourable, fair, gracious. We promote God's glory at home, at work and in the church. We live our lives to the glory of God. And in the third parable of the sheep and the goats, what happens there? Well, did you feed my people? Clothed them? Give them something to drink. When they were in prison, did you visit them? All telling us that what happened on the day of judgment affects us. It affects us. Because if we don't have oil in the land, we're closed out of the presence of the God. Depart from me, ye who work iniquity. If we're not producing our works and the workplace and the talents, what happens? Thou slothful and wicked servant. But if we are, enter into the joy of thy master. And if we're not loving the brethren, if we're not giving our lives to love one another, what happens? Come ye cursed, depart from me. But those who do, who love, come ye blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of this world. Do we see what matters? God will judge. But remember who's on that throne, our beloved Saviour. And the requirement is not perfection, talking to Christians, the requirement is not perfection in and of ourselves because we cannot do anything perfectly. But, in the blood of Jesus Christ, it is accepted. If it's done with the correct motive and principle of the heart, out of a love and fear of God, He accepts it. And there's an encouragement, because the more gracious God gives us, the more grace God gives us, and the more we use that grace in holiness, prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, evangelism, being kind, fair, loving in the workplace and at home, Revelation tells us, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Why? Why are they blessed? For their works. Follow them. All that you do in the Christian life follows you. There's a reward for these things. So how is the Christian motivated in this life? To have a correct attitude of God and His judgments. Which means we will fear Him. Because when we disobey and we offend, it's sinful. And Christians hate that. And that's what we need to get back in the church, a fear of God. Not taking disobedience as lightly. Not taking a careless and lackadaisical attitude to the Christian life. Treating God as one of the pals, one of the lads. That's the language so often of evangelicalism. But with respect and honour. Taking God seriously. With a joy, yes. A happiness that can only come from a Christian soul, absolutely. But never, ever, without a fear of the Holy God. Because he is impartial, his judgement. He doesn't look at you because you're from Lewis or from Scotland, because your father or your mother were godly, and think, oh, I'm going to judge you and think you're different. Do what you want, live your life as you want. Absolutely not. He is impartial. If you are in Christ, and it's in Christ's blood, and for the glory of God, yes, he accepts it, but he does not accept your disobedience. There's still chastening. There's discipline. And that's why Paul exhorts us, the Philippians, to work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. That's to categorise every part of our lives, prayer, Bible reading, worship, when you're talking about God and using His name, reverence. Respect. Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. And it's a great motivation because you will look to your life and you see how slothful you may be in one aspect and your fear will come in and it'll put it away. Fear keeps you in the perseverance of the saints. It will keep you from not falling away. Not that Christians can fall away, but a false profession will. And that's why in Jeremiah 32, when he says, I will make an everlasting covenant with them. I will put my fear in their hearts. Why? So that they shall not depart from me. They will not be like the 10 spies. They will not be like those who are in the wilderness. complaining to the extent that they denied my power, they denied my provision, and they denied me in redemption. Because when you have fear, not slavish fear, Christian fear, every time you sin, you'll grieve it. You'll mourn. And not only that, godless sorrow will lead to repent. Repentance from that evil disobedience and repentance towards the mercy and love of God. Because there's rest and there's forgiveness for when we truly repent. But Peter goes on and he tells us that this fear is to affect our conduct. And the word conduct is the same as last week. Every manner and aspect of the life is to be saturated with the wrath and the fear of God. If we are going to be in the presence of God, we will fear. When you pray, I hope we are in the presence of God. When we are in the house of God on the Lord's day, we should never assume, never ever assume. We pray God is present in our midst. And our attitude is to be that of fear, so that we prepare ourselves the night before on a Saturday. We don't stay up, and do all manner of things, wake up late and then just roll out of bed into the house of God. Where's the respect? Where's the honour in that? When you pray, you don't just have a few words, get it out of the way and finish. Where's the respect and honour in that? If you are a Christian who may not experience the fear of God at this time, Pray with David in Psalm 86, 11. Unite my heart to fear thee. Lord, teach me thy ways. Show me thy paths. and unite my heart with Thee. May my soul be united with Thee, so that I would know Thy word, Thy judgments, Thy testimonies, and I may fear Thee. Stop being careless, stop taking things for granted, but fearing Thy name. Because if we do, our whole life will be conducted in fear. And it starts with our piety. For Calvin, he described Christian piety as fear of God. He called piety the childlike fear of God, where we live our whole lives to the glory of God and in reverent awe of his majesty. That's devotion. A quick reading, living to the glory of God and reverent awe of his majesty. Because when we do, it will burst forth a life full of piety and holiness. You think of prayer. Thomas Watson says, fear begets prayer, prayer begets strength, and strength begets steadfastness. Because if we fear God and His disobedience, if we fear God and we are reverent and respectful of Him, who will come in prayer, O God, I confess my sins. O God, help me not to disobey. O God, Thou art majestic and worthy of my praise and my adoration. And when you pray, the strength of God will come in your soul. Because when you have the means of grace, it is a means, an instrument, and grace will be poured into your soul. And then you will be steadfast. You will persevere as a sojourner, as a pilgrim in this world. Why? Because you're fearing God. And then your whole Christian life will be holiness. Because a Christian who hates disobedience and looks to respect God and His commandments will be holy. When Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10.1, he says, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Do you want to be holy? Do you want to grow as a holy Christian? Do you desire to be sanctified? Fear God. Because when you fear God, the lusts will be nothing to you. Disobedience, sin, covetousness, blasphemy, breaking the Lord's Day, whatever it is, the things that take your eye away from God will lose its power and attractiveness because you fear Him. And you'll see things and you'll instantaneously just go away from it. That's disobedience. And if I do that, God is holy. And I fear his chastisement. I fear dishonouring and disrespecting him. And you won't do it. and you'll sit and you'll listen to something on TV, and the program will change maybe, and you sit there, maybe not knowing what it is, you're innocent so to speak, and you sit there and the language comes up, blasphemy, cursing, you won't wait an hour till it's finished, well that wasn't good language was it? The fear of God will creep in, dishonours my Lord, he's worthy of respect, I will not listen to that, and you'll turn it or turn it off. Fear of God is the foundation and the fountain of all our holiness. And so we see, biblically, Christians are to fear. Fear him in his majesty. Fear him in his honour. Fear him in his judgements. And may God give us all a real glimpse of his purity and his holiness. So we will be like David in Psalm 119. My flesh crumbleth for fear of thee. I am afraid of thy judgments. Do we see the attitude? Our forefathers had a real fear, did they not? They feared God. Every aspect of society was under God. Why? Because they feared Him. Christians were holy. Holy. Why? They trembled at God. And if you and I desire to be holy, to please Him, to grow, to have such an increase of love, we will fear him. Because when we do, there's the blessedness. The proverb says, happy is the man that feareth always. Happy. You'll be happy because things won't take you away from God. Your fear will take you towards him. And when you're with him, you know his grace, his presence, his power, his forgiveness of sins, wonderful. And you'll look forward to judgement. You won't slavishly fear it. You'll fear it, respect it. You'll look to do good works, yes. But you know on that day, He will give you your reward. Your works will follow after you. And on that day, He will declare you as righteous. Justification by faith alone. And then, what will this fear do? that fear forever and ever and ever will behold the face of that judge, the God-man, the beloved Jesus Christ. So fear God. Fear God. Amen. Let's sing of God in Psalm 33. Psalm 33, singing verses 8 to 11. Psalm 33, 8-11. Let earth and all that live therein with reverence fear the Lord. Let all the world's inhabitants dread him with one accord. And here we have the judgment of God in verse 10. For his counsel is his decree, his purposes. God doth the counsel bring to nought which heathen folk do take. So men have their ideas, but they will not come to fruition. And what the people do devise, of none effect doth make. Oh, but the counsel of the Lord doth stand forever sure, and of his heart the purposes from age to age endure. What power! Let all the earth, let all of us fear God. Standing then, Psalm 33, 8 to 11. With reverence, hear the Lord. Let all the world sing of his love. Praise him with one accord. For in this we, the Lord, have done, it was with a feeling. His salvation never list'd, whatever He did say. The council bring to God, Wishing them more beauty, And more than people, to divide its own uneffected way. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Lord, our God, thou art the one who is worthy of our fear. O Lord, we dread to disobey thee, because thy laws are wonderful and perfect, and thou hast loved us so much that we dare not disobey thy word. Lord, help us to fear thee, to honour and praise thy name always, and give us, in this time of our sojourning, a real attitude and motivation to fear thy name. Be with us this day, thy holy day, and help us to fear thee now. In Christ's precious name we ask, Amen.