Recapturing Holy Fear: Walk in Holiness
Notes
Transcript
As many of you know, my son is currently working his way through his first semester of college after serving four years in the military. I spoke to him this week and asked how school was going - and he told me that he is staying on top of his assignments and his grades were good. The fact that he is doing well in school continues to amaze me.
There were many days during his high school career that my wife and I prayed fervently to the Lord that he would just get a passing grade on a test and somehow squeak through a class. We were not convinced that he would actually graduate on time - even up to the week of graduation! To say that he struggled with academics is an understatement.
However, he thoroughly enjoyed the social aspect of school. He enjoyed hanging with friends, participating in team sports, going to parties and, as we would later learn, hosting parties at our house when we were out of town. He excelled in that kind of behavior.
My son has always known that he is loved. My wife and I made sure that both of our children know that they are loved. We made it clear to them that nothing would ever change the fact that we loved them.
But love alone is not enough to keep them on the right path. Love alone is not enough to ensure that they would make wise decisions and live into their full potential.
A healthy dose of fear is the key to parenting well - and I am pretty sure, a healthier dose than Krista and I tended to administer.
My son needed to know his boundaries and the consequences that would follow if he crossed those boundaries - which he routinely would do. His love for us may have pricked his conscience and put a desire in him not to let us down, but especially for a teen boy - that is rarely enough to override day to day temptation. The fear of our parental response if he took things to far, or if he didn’t study or turn in his assignments, of if he put himself or others in harms way - that fear acted as guardrails on life’s highway.
In similar fashion, it is the fear of the Lord that helps us pursue holiness and draws us closer to God.
For those of you who were here last week, you may recall the Paul’s instruction to the church in Philippi:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
Paul doesn’t say, work out you own salvation knowing that God loves you and is kind. While it is true - God does love you and He is kind - He is also a Holy God and he commands us to be holy as well.
but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
If we lack the fear of God, then we will easily excuse our disobedience to His Word and justify our actions by saying things like “I’m only human…God wants me to be happy…Jesus loves me and that is all that really matters.” Sadly, this is the view of many in the Church today. The problem is that it completely goes against the teachings of scripture and the words of Jesus presented in the gospels. Simply put, they are following a false Jesus - a Jesus of their own making.
Jesus did not die on the cross so we could go on living the same way as before. His resurrection was not so we do whatever we wanted now with the assurance that heaven awaits us.
He died and rose again to defeat the power of sin and death, the very power that Satan held over every human going all the way back to the garden of Eden. Why would he do all that then turn around and say, carry on doing what you have always done, try to do some good - I’ll see you in heaven some day?
He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.
In this book Awe of God, John Bevere explains holiness this way:
True Holiness is to be completely God’s.
Think about that. Holiness is to be all His, 100%, to live and be as one set apart by God for His purposes.
I actually like how the NIV Bible website defines holiness:
“Holiness” is commonly defined as being separate or set apart. God is holy in that he is set apart from everything that is not God, and God's people must be holy by being set apart from sin. Holiness according to this definition is separateness that entails moral purity.
To believe and follow Jesus, is to be set apart for God and to become like Christ. The church word for this transformation is “sanctification” and it is a work of God, one that we must willingly yield ourselves to. Timothy Tennant states “To be sanctified is to receive a gift from God which changes our hearts and reorients our relationship with the Triune God and with others, giving us the capacity to love God and neighbor in new and profound ways.”
We are given the capacity and the power to change - this gift is from God - yet how many set that gift on a shelf and never put it to use? Why do we not pursue holiness? Why do we get frustrated when we don’t see spiritual growth in our lives? Or when we feel that God is distant? Could it be a lack of Holy Fear?
Do we believe that our actions will have no consequence? Do we believe that God is not worthy of our awe, our respect, our honor, our reverence? Do we believe we can cheapen Jesus’ sacrifice and treat his commands as suggestions? I have to admit, when I began to actually look up and read the passages in the Bible, and there are many, that either directly speak to or reference the fear of God - it was like a lightbulb went on. This is a key to life that the ancient writers shared with us - but so often it goes unnoticed.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
God says in…
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.
Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, sings in Luke 1:50
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
Jesus says in Matt 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
and one more, from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth - speaking directly to our focus today on pursuing holiness.
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Cleanse ourselves - this speaks to our response to God’s grace.
And what promises is Paul talking about, when he says “Since we have these promises”?
If we jump back a few verses, we find Paul teaching Christians on how we are to be set apart for God, separate from the world. We are to be in the world, but not of the world - as Jesus prayed in John 17:14
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Listen to what Paul instructs:
Don’t be tied up as equal partners with people who don’t believe. What does righteousness share with that which is outside the Law? What relationship does light have with darkness? What harmony does Christ have with Satan? What does a believer have in common with someone who doesn’t believe? What agreement can there be between God’s temple and idols? Because we are the temple of the living God. Just as God said, I live with them, and I will move among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.Therefore, come out from among them and be separated, says the Lord. Don’t touch what is unclean. Then I will welcome you.I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
We are to be holy, because God is holy. And He is our good, good Father.
I started this message by stating that “a healthy dose of fear is the key to parenting well.” Does having a fear of your Father mean you are scared of him? No. Holy fear does not chase us away, it draws us in. As I stated when I began this series: “someone who’s scared of God has something to hide…in the garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve disobeyed and sinned, they hid from God. However, the person who fears God has nothing to hide. He or she is terrified of being away from God. Holy fear does not quench intimacy, it does just the opposite - it enhances our interaction with God.”
May we recapture holy fear as we pursue holiness and draw close to God.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, forgive me for assuming I’m exempt from judgment due to my service in Your kingdom. I repent of this and heed Your command to be holy as You are holy. I choose to embrace Your love for me but also the holy fear of You. By choosing both, Your Word promises that I will stay in the highway that leads to life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
