To Fear or Not to Fear?

SCRIPTURE ANNOUNCEMENT

Please turn with me in your Bibles to…

Exodus 20

SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION

As we have been going through the book of Exodus,

we have seen how God has saved His people from slavery in Egypt through His power.

God is going to bring them to the Promised Land, but first they make a pit stop at Mount Sinai.

This is where God is going to give them the 10 commandments…

which we saw in Pastor Jake’s sermon last week.

We pick up this morning in…

REPEAT SCRIPTURE ANNOUNCEMENT

Exodus 20:18—21

READ SCRIPTURE

Exodus 20:18–21 ESV

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Father, we thank You for Your Word that You have given to us.

We know that it reveals our sinfulness…

So we thank You that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus came to show us Your glory, through grace and truth.

We thank You that You dwell in our hearts through Your Spirit,

and we ask that He would open our eyes this morning as we study Your Word,

so that we might understand and obey You..

In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

INTRODUCTION

There once was a king who reigned over the European country of Hungary

In this particular season of life he was depressed and unhappy.

Looking for someone who could help him find peace, he called for his brother.

He never seemed to be worried about anything!

When his brother came, the king told him the reason he was depressed, "I am a great sinner; I fear to meet God."

Though he was a believer, the king had gotten a glimpse of his guilt for the way he'd been living lately, and he seriously wanted help.

But his brother just laughed at him. “You worry too much!”

The king became frustrated with his brother’s indifferent attitude, so he came up with a way to get his brother’s attention.

In those days, if the executioner sounded a trumpet in front of someone’s, it was a signal that he was to be led to his execution.

So the king sent the executioner in the dead of night to sound the fateful blast at his brother's door.

When his brother heard the trumpet blast and realized what was going on, he was filled with horror.

Quickly dressing, he stepped to the door and was seized by the executioner, who dragged him into the king's presence.

As the brother came before the king, he was pale and trembling.

In an agony of terror he fell on his knees. “What have I done wrong? Please tell me how I can make it right… I’ll do anything!”

"My brother," answered the king,

"if the sight of a human executioner is so terrible to you, shouldn’t I, having grievously offended God, fear to be brought before the judgment seat of Christ?"

FCF

It is not something that we like to think about, but I would guess that most of us, if not all of us, have wrestled with fear when we think about coming before God.

Like the king who feared God’s judgement, we all have a sense of fear because we know that God is holy, and we are not.

We are all stained with sin, and therefore guilty before God.

Likewise, I’m sure we all know what its like during certain seasons of our lives to be indifferent toward God like the brother, who had a carefree attitude.

We don’t spend much time thinking about eternity, and how that impacts how we live our day to day lives.

When we live with this attitude we willing live with blinders on… We are refusing to face reality.

“To Fear or Not to Fear?”… that is the question… and also the title of my sermon this morning.

God reveals His awesome power to the Israelites as He gives them the 10 Commandments…

As He does there is:

thunder, and lightning…

a trumpet blasting…

the mountain is smoking…

and the people are terrified!

Then Moses says in Exodus 20:20

Exodus 20:20 (ESV)

“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

What the Israelites needed to learn, and what we need to learn, is that…

Fear of God is a Necessary Motivation for Holiness

The fear of God motivates us toward a proper worship of God, as well as proper relationships with others.

First…

Fear of God Motivates Proper Worship (Ex. 20:22—26)

Since God is the only TRUE God, then He must be worshiped the right way.

God is concerned that His people worship Him properly.

So…

How do we properly worship God?

We put God first (vv. 22—23)

Exodus 20:22–23 ESV

22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

Here God is reiterating the first and second commandments:

You shall have no other gods before me, and…

You shall not make for yourself a carved image.

It was common in those days to make an idol, which they believed was a representation of a god.

But God Himself commands them not to do this.

God Himself had spoken to them… the thunder, lightning, trumpet, and smoke made it clear that it was God!

And He did not reveal Himself with any sort of image.

God is Spirit, and so God commands them not to make any image of Him that they should worship.

God is the only true God, who is deserving of worship, and He doesn’t want to compete with false gods, so He commands them to put Him first.

In what other ways do we properly worship God?

We follow God’s pattern (vv. 24—25)

Exodus 20:24–25 ESV

24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.

God wants the full attention of worship to be on Him, because He alone deserves to be worshiped.

Typically altars were made to be flashy and costly…

This would draw attention away from God and to the altar itself, or the one who made it.

The purpose of the altar was to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings, which was a continual reminder of the people’s sin, and God’s gracious provision of a substitute.

God wants the attention to be on Him as He offers a way for His people to be forgiven and cleansed.

For this reason, they need to follow God’s pattern of worship.

One final way that we properly worship God is…

We protect one another (vv. 26)

Exodus 20:26 ESV

26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

It was not uncommon in pagan worship for there to be drunkenness, orgies, and all kinds of sin.

This was not to be the case with God’s people.

He is not only concerned with how He is worshiped…

but He is also concerned about the Israelite’s holiness.

Priests wore robes when they ministered to God, and if they walked up steps, then there was an opportunity for their nakedness to be exposed.

For this reason God forbids the use of steps, so that they can protect one another from sin and strive for holiness.

Summary Statement

God desires that we properly worship Him. We do that by:

Putting Him first

Following His pattern; and

Protecting one another.

and a healthy fear of God is necessary in order to motivate us to do that.

ILLUSTRATION

“I still would not worship him.”

Those are the words from a woman in a short video clip I saw this week.

She had a painful past, and someone asked her the question…

“What would you do if God appeared to you and you knew? Would you still not worship him because of your past?”

Her response was…

“If the biblical God came down from heaven right now and stood in front of me and proved to me that he exists… I still would not worship him.”

This woman has no fear of God.

She clearly does not understand the God she is referencing.

GOD IS SO HOLY…

GOD IS SO RIGHTEOUS…

GOD IS SO MAJESTIC…

GOD’S PRESENCE IS SO PURE…

If God came down from heaven, and stood right in front of her, she would fall on her face!

There is no choice but to worship God!

One day every knee will bow…

every tongue will confess…

That Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Transition Statement

But we have to admit that at times, we don’t have a healthy fear of God either.

APPLICATION

This is shown when we willingly choose to sin rather than obey God.

When we choose sin, we are choosing to worship ourselves over and above God,

because we’re doing what’s pleasing to us, rather than what’s pleasing to God.

We need to be reminded of God’s majesty and power!

We need a healthy fear of God that will motivate us to worship Him properly!

Throughout His Word, including our text here this morning, God shows His power and glory so that we will fear Him.

As we learn of His holiness, we learn to have a healthy fear of Him.

This fear of God comes from the fact that He is a holy and righteous judge, who must condemn sin.

When we have a healthy fear of God, we are motivated to worship Him the way He deserves to be worshiped.

God is so awesome and powerful and splendor, that He is deserving of the best.

Is there anything in your life that you are putting before God?

Maybe it’s:

Work

Video games

Sports

Social media

When these things get the first and best of your time, you are forcing God to compete with these things.

The worship that He deserves is getting misdirected to other, less important things.

Summary Statement

We must put God first in our lives, and not allow anything to come before Him.

As we are confronted with His glory, in His Word and in His creation, we cultivate a healthy fear that will motivate us to worship Him the way He deserves.

Next, we see that…

Fear of God Motivates Proper Relationships (Ex. 21:1—11)

Exodus 21:1–11 ESV

1 “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever. 7 “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

This passage talks about male and female slaves, but we must understand that this is not talking about slavery the way we tend to think about it in our day.

When we think about slavery, we think most commonly about African American people being kidnapped, sold and treated like cattle.

The person buying the slave in this sense, “OWNS” the slave.

During the time in history when this was common and legal, the owner of the slave had every legal right to treat the slave however they wanted.

This is not the kind of slavery God is instituting here.

In those days there were four basic reasons an Israelite would need to become a slave to another Israelite:

In extreme poverty

They had no means to provide for themselves, so they willingly became slaves who worked for someone else so that their basic needs were taken care of.

A father might sell a daughter as a servant

The purpose of this agreement was so the daughter would eventually marry into the family.

In the case of bankruptcy, a man might become a servant to his creditors.

A thief who has no means to repay what he has stolen.

But what we must understand about these relationships is that they were:

chosen and mutually agreed upon.

And here, as God is giving His law to His people at Mt. Sinai, He is making it abundantly clear…

EVERY ONE OF YOU IS MINE…

You do not have the rights to anyone…

You do not get to take advantage of others just because you can...

I have created all mankind in MY IMAGE, so each person is worthy of dignity and respect…

I own you all, so you must follow MY WORD so that you treat one another properly…

Transition Statement

And since God is the all-powerful Judge, a fear of Him will motivate His people to obey His Word as they strive to have proper relationships.

But what do proper relationships look like?

Proper relationships have boundaries (Ex. 21:2; 10-11)

For the male slaves there were terms.

Exodus 21:2 ESV

2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.

You could not own them indefinitely.

They had to be given an opportunity to become free after 6 years.

The female slaves did not have the same right to go out after 6 years, but that was because the intention was that she would become the wife.

But this relationship had boundaries as well…

Exodus 21:10–11 ESV

10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

If a man takes another wife, he is not allowed to stop taking care of the first wife.

We could wonder here: is God is condoning polygamy?

No! The Bible describes lots of sinful behaviour, but that does not mean it is approving it.

The point here is that the woman has rights, and she can leave if she is not being taken care of.

Proper relationships have boundaries!

What else does a proper relationship look like?

Proper relationships are mutually beneficial (Ex. 2:3-4; 8-9)

The slave was the more vulenerable person who needed to be protected…

But that doesn’t mean the master did not have any rights.

Exodus 21:3–4 ESV

3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone.

The slave and the master’s rights are protected so that it is fair for both parties.

If the slave was given a wife by his master and they had children, the reason he cannot go out with them is because their term would not yet be done, and they needed to fulfil the terms of the contract.

Likewise with the female slave…

Exodus 21:8–9 ESV

8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.

Once again, both parties have rights.

If the master changes his mind about making the woman his wife, he can get rid of her.

But he does not have the right to sell to anyone he wants… he must allow her family to redeem her.

We see that both the rights of the slave and master are protected.

This relationship is mutually beneficial.

The final characteristic of proper relationships is that they…

Proper relationships have the goal of lifelong committment (Ex. 2:5-6; 10—11)

The slave could go out after 6 years of service, but, it may be that his situation was so good that he would want to stay.

Exodus 21:5–6 ESV

5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

What a beautiful picture this is!

The servant has the fulfilled his obligations… he has served what was owed… and yet he says…

“I love my master and am so grateful for what he has given that I will gladly give myself to him for life, not out of debt or shame or defeat, but out of love.”

Summary Statement

Our relationships to one another are to resemble our devotion to God.

We willingly give ourselves to Him in surrender because of all that He has done for us.

In this same way our relationships to one another should:

have healthy boundaries,

should be mutually beneficial, and

should be committed to one another for life.

ILLUSTRATION

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818 in the state of Maryland.

Growing up as a slave he experienced the brutality of slavery himself, and saw others suffer as well.

Children being forced to eat from animal troughs…

People being whipped when they did not obey fast enough…

When Frederick Douglass was 15 years old he became the slave of Thomas Auld.

Thomas Auld was a cruel master who would regularly:

starve his workers

beat them

break up their worship services

and stop them from learning to read and write.

While a slave, Frederick Douglass got married, and when he was 20 years old, he and his wife escaped.

As a free man he could not forget those he left behind, so he fought to help put an end to slavery.

He became a well-known speaker, and author as he shared about the cruelty he experienced in slavery firsthand.

In 1848, Frederick Douglass wrote Thomas Auld, his former owner, a personal letter, calling him out for his cruel treatment of slaves.

In the letter, Douglass openly told his former master that he was going to use him as a weapon to tear down the system of slavery.

This sort of attitude does not surprise us at all.

In fact, we praise Frederick Douglass’s courage in standing up for others who were sinfully oppressed in slavery.

But what is suprising, is the compassion that Douglass showed to his former owner.

In the same letter that he wrote to Thomas Auld, calling him out for his harsh treatment, he told him that he was not trying to harm him personally.

In fact, he said,

“There is no roof under which you would be more safe than mine,

and there is nothing in my house which you might need for your comfort, which I would not readily grant…

I am your fellow-man, but not your slave.”

Before Thomas Auld died, Frederick Douglass had the opportunity to visit him.

Both men could not stop crying as they clasped hands, and were reunited and reconciled.

Frederick Douglass understood that before God, all men are equal.

Rather than seeking ways to get revenge on his former owner for all the evil he did to him, he showed him love.

Douglass was motivated to do this because of his fear of God, and his understanding that all men are created in His image, and therefore worthy of being treated according to God’s standards.

APPLICATION

Who in your life are you taking advantage of?

Who in your life are you treating disrespectfully?

In what ways are your relationships one-sided, where you are the only one who benefits?

When we treat others in sinful ways, we are following our fleshly desires and feelings.

We say disrespectful things to our spouse because they disagree with us…

We are impatient with our kids because they are interrupting us…

We lash out at a coworker or employee because they made a mistake…

We treat the person in the drive-thru disrespectfully because they messed up our order…

These are all sinful behaviours and attitudes that put us at the center.

We exalt ourselves, thinking we are better than others, and that we can treat them however we want.

What we need is a healthy fear of God!

We need to understand that God has created all people in His image.

They are His! He cares about them!

Therefore, we must treat them according to His Word!

Summary Statement

When we understand that God is the perfect Judge who will defend the cause of the those who suffer, we will be motivated to treat others the way they deserve to be treated… according to God’s Word!

We have seen that having a healthy fear of God motivates us to:

worship Him properly, and

have proper relationships.

Fear of God also…

Fear of God Motivates a Proper Approach (Ex. 20:18—21)

When God gave His people the 10 Commandments, He spoke to them directly.

But as we shifted to Exodus 21, God began fleshing out the details of the Law to Moses on the mountain.

What happened?

Why wasn’t God talking directly to the people anymore?

Let’s go back to Exodus 20:18-21

Exodus 20:18–21 ESV

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

When the people saw the glory of God, and when they heard His voice…

They were terrified for their lives!

They literally thought they were going to die,

so they stood far off.

They realized they needed a proper approach to God.

They needed someone to go to God for them, and then speak to them.

THEY NEEDED A MEDIATOR!

Moses would be that man for Israel.

His words to the Israelites here are interesting. Look at Exodus 20:20 with me…

Exodus 20:20 ESV

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

“Do not fear…” but “fear”?

So which is it?

The fear that the Israelites were experiencing was the fear that God would kill them!

But God had chosen them as His special possession… they were His people.

He didn’t want them fear that He would destroy them…

He wanted them to have a healthy fear that would:

help them to have an attitude of reverence and honour…

which would lead to obedience.

As they journeyed throughout the wilderness over the next 40 years, Moses would act as the mediator for Israel.

Moses would meet with God, and talk with Him,

and then come back and speak His words to the people.

Israel would fail miserably by disobeying God,

But then Moses, their mediator, would intercede on their behalf before God.

He was a faithful mediator between Israel and God.

Summary Statement

The Israelites knew they were sinful, and that God was holy. So they knew they would be judged as guilty!

This brought about a healthy fear that motvated them to approach God properly.

And so Moses would go to God on their behalf, and God would forgive and cleanse them.

ILLUSTRATION

Last week Pastor Jake talked about North Yungas road in Bolivia.

It is a 69 km narrow, winding road that leads up a mountain.

It is nicknamed, “Death Road” because it is so dangerous.

It was made in 1930, and for 64 years, around 300 drivers were killed every year.

That’s 19,200 people that have died using that road.

That got me thinking… “WHO ON EARTH WOULD WANT TO USE THAT ROAD?!?”

So I began researching it to find out.

What I found out was that “Death Road” connects Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, to the town of Coroico.

And until 2006, “Death Road” was the only road connecting these 2 cities.

So when you needed to travel between La Paz and Coroico, this was the only option.

I doubt you were making this trek because you ran out of milk...

But for merchants who needed to sell their goods to make a living, they NEEDED this road.

Transition Statement

Even though this road caused fear, people were motivated to use it since it was the only way to way.

APPLICATION

If the Israelites were so scared of God, why even go to Him? Why even go to Him through a mediator?

BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY GOD!!!

He had proven His supremacy over all other so called ‘gods’ by delivering them out of Egypt…

and now He showed them His majesty and splendor at Mt. Sinai.

The Israelites understood that if God is the only true God, then He is the only way!!!

They had to Him, but they had to come the proper way.

Their fear of God motivated them to approach God through a mediator… Moses.

The problem is that Moses was also a sinner, and He eventually died.

So this points us to the need for a better mediator…

At the beginning of John’s gospel we read this…

John 1:14–18 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

God gave His law through Moses.

And that law condemns us, because it shows us how sinful we are. Noone could obey it perfectly.

But Jesus came bringing grace and truth.

He Himself lived a perfect life, and died as the perfect sacrifice for our sin.

The apostles had seen His glory in the transfiguration, and also His resurrected body, proving He is God!

Jesus Christ is the door through which we must enter heaven.

There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved!

God is glorious and majestic, and His presence would terrify us.

But we must allow that fear to motivate us to go to the perfect Mediator, Jesus Christ.

Who has paved the way for us to come into the presence of God…

holy, blameless, and without any blemish…

as we look forward to spending eternity in God’s presence!

CONCLUSION

God is almighty, and all-powerful...

He is the righteous Judge who will judge the living and the dead.

It is not a question of whether or not you will come before Him…

But HOW are you going to come before Him.

Are you going to come, trusting in yourself?

Luke 18:9–14 ESV

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

God’s standard is perfection, which we cannot live up to.

Therefore we all know we are guilty before the almighty Judge, which should cause us to fear.

But God desires that fear to drive us to Jesus Christ, the perfect Mediator.

Through Him and the power of His Spirit living in us, we can:

Worship God,

and love others

properly, according to His Word!

Let’s pray.