The Fear of the Lord

It is by the renewing of your mind that you will grow in the fear of God. See, there at the cross where our forgiveness is achieved, there we see the awesome righteousness, holiness, graciousness, compassion of God. When you see the momentousness of his character and what he's done for us in salvation, then you can no longer simply hold this in your head. You must find yourself affected by who he is. What is the fear of the Lord?

And how would you explain it to someone? And is it a good thing to fear God? Why does the Scripture say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? I'm Nathan W Bingham and you're listening to Renewing Your Mind. Well, I had the opportunity to sit down with Michael Reeves at this year's Ligonier National Conference to ask him some of those questions and to talk about his brand new series, The Fear of the Lord.

It's just been released this month, and you can request your copy with a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. Before we get to that interview, here's a preview of what you'll hear the rest of the week on Renewing Your Mind as we feature messages from his new series, The Fear of the Lord. Now I think is a good time for us to pause and for you to ask yourself what things you fear, because our fears are highly revealing. What you fear shows what you really love. So we fear our children getting hurt because we love them. We fear losing our jobs, we fear losing the security and identity they give us.

We fear rejection, we fear criticism because we love approval. And some of our fears are healthy, some are overblown, and others reveal deeper sicknesses in our character. So ask yourself, what do your fears say about you and your priorities? What do they say about what you treasure?

What do they say about where you're looking for security? Ask yourself, which do you fear more? Do you fear being sinful or being uncomfortable?

Which do you fear more, being a sinner or being exposed as a sinner before others? See, our fears are like an ECG reading. They're constantly telling us about the state of our hearts. The fear of the Lord is a heart-level indicator of that warm communion with God that God wants with his children. It is the wondering temperament of those who've been brought to know the everlasting mercy of God and therefore who take pleasure in the one who takes pleasure in them. It is the mark of those who are being brought into the joy and life of Christ their Savior and who therefore share his joy and delight in his Father, his fear of the Lord. Believers who have a right fear of the Lord will know God and they'll know the promises that are given to those who fear God. They'll bemoan their prayerlessness, but they will know something of a heartfelt affectionate prayer life.

They'll want to know God better, to enjoy sweeter communion, more constant communion with him. The fear of God tells you about the state of your heart. That was Michael Reeves from his new series, The Fear of the Lord.

You'll hear messages from that series all week. But today, as I said, here's a conversation I had with Dr. Reeves earlier this year to introduce you to this important topic. Well, Dr. Reeves, I am grateful that you could take some time out of your schedule here at National Conference to talk about the fear of the Lord. And as I was thinking about this conversation and thinking about your teaching series, I think if we surveyed the evangelical church and said, what is the topic you would like for a new book or a new teaching series? I suspect that they wouldn't say, we want to learn about the fear of the Lord.

And there'd be a lot of other subjects that they might select from. But as someone listens to you, speak on this subject and teach on the fear of the Lord, it is evident that you have spent a lot of time thinking about this, reading about this, praying about this, mulling it over. I would really like to know, how did you get to this place where you're teaching on the fear of the Lord? What were you reading? What were you studying?

How did we get this teaching series? Well, I think the reason people wouldn't choose that topic to dive into is because they're looking for the superficial how-tos. When actually, to be more transformative, you want to look at the underlying issues. And I think what everyone does recognize today is that we are living in a culture that is so fearful. We live in a climate of fear. And what's so strange about that in the West is that we are physically safer than ever before, with our seat belts and our additional nutritional pills and our food and our food, and all the things that we have.

We've removed the asbestos from our buildings. We're safer than ever before, but we're more fearful than ever before. And all the health and safety regulations that are supposed to protect us only seem to exacerbate our OCD. Have we made sure we've double-checked our seat belt?

Have we made sure we've locked that door because someone might break in? We go through life more than ever now driven by fears and anxieties. And the reason I wanted to get into this was that it struck me that scripture presents the fear of the Lord as the antidote to our other fears.

And therefore, what a timely book it is for today, though people won't necessarily recognize that immediately. I think this is exactly what people need in a culture where we're consumed by anxiety. When we look at the Bible and we see it speaking about fear, we see it speaking about it in really two different ways, sometimes negatively, sometimes positively. Don't be afraid, don't fear, don't be anxious. But then the fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. Why does the Bible speak about fear in different ways like that? Well, because there are two different sorts of fear that scripture speaks of. There's a wrong fear that you can have. And the wrong fear that many people think is what scripture is commending is the sort of fear that Adam had when he was guilty having just sinned, and so he hid from the Lord and was afraid. And so that's the sort of fear that runs away from the Lord. And I think this whole topic is difficult for people because they're thinking, we know that scripture tells us to love the Lord your God.

That makes sense. But why should we want to be afraid of him? But that's not what scripture is saying at all.

Scripture is saying at all. For the fear of the Lord, which scripture commends, actually drives out that desire to flee from the Lord, that afraidness. And so there was a moment in Exodus 20 where the Israelites come to Mount Sinai and there's the thunder and the trumpet blast and the clouds and the people are afraid. And Moses says, do not be afraid for the Lord has come to test you that the fear of the Lord may be upon you. So don't be afraid that the fear of the Lord might be upon you. So the fear of the Lord is what will drive out being afraid of him. And so the right fear of the Lord is something utterly different to that terror, that dread that makes you want to shrink from him. And it's that right fear that scripture commends and which is so health-giving, so strengthening, so fortifying to Christians. How can we know if the fear we have for God is the right commendable fear?

Yes. The two fears are distinguished by this. A wrong fear makes you want to run away from God. And now unbelievers will have this and they're right to be afraid of God in that sense, for God is a holy judge. But for Christians to want to run away from God is simply to have misunderstood the gospel.

It's to fail to understand our justification by faith alone, the fact that we are clothed in Christ's righteousness and stand before God, not in our own merits, but in Christ's. And because of that, we are able to have the other fear, which rather than making us want to run away from God, makes us want to run to him. So this right fear that scripture commends, the sort of verse people are going to think of quickly is the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs 9. And this fear really defines in scripture the believer's love and joy in God. It's described as a joyful thing. We rejoice and tremble in our worship.

The sons of Korah shout in Psalm 47, shout to the Lord with great songs of joy for the Lord the Most High is to be feared. So you shout for joy because he's to be feared. And so when you have a right fear, that means you are rejoicing in him, that your trembling is not trembling in dread wanting to creep away, but in wonder and adoration.

So does your fear lead you away from God or lead you to God? That's what's going to tell you whether you have a right fear or a wrong fear. I want to come back to what you mentioned earlier, that we live in an age filled with anxiety. We're worried about so many things. For those that are listening and they're thinking, you know, I am one of those people.

I am double checking my seat belt. And as I look at the Twitter sphere or as I watch the news and I see all the things that are happening around the world, I am filled with anxiety. Speak to them about how these lesser fears can be displaced when you rightly fear God.

Yes. I take people to Isaiah 8 to start with, where the Lord says to Isaiah, do not fear what this people fear, nor be in dread, but the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear. Let him be your dread.

And he will become a sanctuary. And so what is being said there is that the fear of the Lord is an expulsive affection. It's an affection, a desire that you have that expels other affections and desires. And so when you are more filled with a fear of the Lord, that fear of him drives out the other fears.

It's a bit like Aaron's staff that becomes a snake and it eats up the other snakes. Have the fear of the Lord and it'll eat up your other fears. Because what we're talking about is what will happen is when you fear the Lord, you see with a right perspective in life. See the reason you're so fearful and so anxious is because you think the Lord's not in control or he doesn't care.

He's not kind in his control. And therefore I might lose all that I and lose it for nothing. And therefore I fear bad things happening to my family. I fear bad things happening to me because I'm not trusting him. But when you have your perspective filled by his holy glory, by his goodness, his sovereign providential care of us, then your other fears subside.

So the fear of the Lord will drive those out. So if you are an anxious person, then as Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And what will happen with your fears is that those will simply diminish as your perspective is set right. In this series, you mentioned that you can know God either as creator only or as creator and redeemer. And you also suggest that the same is true with fearing God. We can fear God as creator, but as Christians, we should fear him as creator and redeemer. Yes. Help us understand that.

Yes. I think when people think about the fear of God, they often think, well, we'd love God as father, but fear him as creator, which is actually very lopsided way of thinking. And they're thinking God is lovely as a redeemer, but fear surely that's just about trembling before him in his transcendent majesty. And that's right, that we do tremble before him in his transcendent majesty when we get a sense of how high and lifted up he is.

But if your knowledge of God and therefore your fear of God stops there, that's actually a truncated view of God. Because before God was ever creator, eternally, he was a father loving his son. And so to know God simply as creator, to know merely his transcendent majesty and creative power is almost like to know only his public face.

If you want to know what's the character of this person behind all that omnipotence, well, you've got to look to his self-revelation in Jesus Christ. And there you see as Jesus Christ, the son sent from the father comes in mercy to die for us. There you see the one who wields sovereignty is a kind father who is full of grace. And when you see that, then your fear of him is enriched as you find I'm no longer just trembling at his power. I'm trembling at his graciousness, his majestic humility, kindness, and that's a deeper, richer fear. Some of our listeners today might be hearing you and saying, okay, I understand that I ought to fear God. I'm understanding what I need to do.

They're hearing you. They're having an intellectual understanding of this topic. And they're wondering how does it move from being intellectual head knowledge to actually moving and growing their affection for Christ?

Yes. Well, the fear of the Lord grows through encountering God himself. It grows with knowledge of God. So it is by the renewing of your mind that you will grow in the fear of God. And you can encounter God's self-revelation through all of creation. But if you want to grow in the knowledge of God, go to scripture, to his self-revelation there in scripture. And if you want to see his glory most clearly, the place in scripture to focus on is the cross.

And so if there's one verse I'd give anyone who wants to grow in the fear of the Lord, it'd be Psalm 130 verse 4. But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. See, there at the cross where our forgiveness is achieved, there we see the awesome righteousness, holiness, graciousness, compassion of God.

And that will affect us. When you see the momentousness of his character and what he's done for us in salvation, then you can no longer simply hold this in your head. You must find yourself affected by who he is. And then knowing that the cross has purchased your salvation means that you can actually stand before him with confidence, with joy, with boldness that he wouldn't have dared to do before. And all that to give you joy before a God that you're adoring, grateful to, marveling at for your salvation, that's what's going to drive that happy, rejoicing, wondering fear down into your heart and its affections. With you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. This series is so helpful because the church in general is not speaking about the fear of the Lord or speaking about it biblically.

What has the church lost by de-emphasizing this topic and not having it in the pulpits? Well, the first thing I'd say is that by not having the fear of the Lord, that is why we've got a culture of fear. Because when you don't fear him, because that fear is what it will expel your other fears, that is why we're in a culture of anxiety. And so we thought, this is what the atheists promised, the atheists said, this is why we're in a culture of fear. The atheists said, get rid of religion, get rid of God and all that fear of God nonsense and suddenly we'll be free.

And actually what we've seen over the last hundred years, it's the other way round. You get rid of the knowledge of God and suddenly we are swimming, drowning in anxiety. So that's the first thing that we will witness what we're seeing now, an anxious, fretful culture. Also, because the fear of the Lord is so transformative, we'll see less Christ-like Christians because the fear of the Lord makes you more like him. Jesus Christ himself is filled with Isaiah 11, the spirit of the fear of the Lord and his delight is in the fear of the Lord. To be like Jesus means to share his delight in the fear of the Lord. And to share his fear of the Lord means you become like him. It means marveling at who God is, you are humbled in yourself. Marveling at his graciousness, you become gracious. So having more fear of the Lord means having less fretful, less weak, less people-pleasing Christians, more gracious, kind, faithful Christians.

Renewing Your Mind has significant reach and our daily listeners, they're not all Reformed Christians and some are broadly evangelical. As they're listening to you today, what do you say to someone that says, I don't know if that's the God I worship. The God I worship is a God of love and I don't think we should be fearing God and if we are, well, that's the God of the Old Testament, not the God of the New Testament.

Yes, that argument is to misunderstand what we mean by fear. That fear and love are commonly put in parallel in Scripture. So Moses, for example, when he's introducing the law says, you shall teach these laws to your children that they may fear the Lord.

And then what's the first thing he says? Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one. You shall love the Lord your God. So the right fear of God is love for God defined. The problem is love is a word we bandy around.

And so we say, you know, I love having a nice chat with you. I love being able to have a nice walk in the countryside and I love God. But my love for things changes according to its object. So my love for my wife is different to my love for a walk through the countryside because the object is different. And so my love for God must be different because of who he is.

And your love for God is not a right if you love him just like you love a coffee or a walk in the countryside. When you consider consider God, your love should be a wandering, trembling, amazed, dazzled, adoring, fearful love. And so the fear of the Lord here really is a way of talking about the intensity, the humility, the wandering, the overwhelmed nature of our love for God because of how overwhelmingly wonderful how God is. I'm so grateful for this series, Dr. Reeves. Do you have any closing thoughts or comments for those that are listening that you want to share with them as they listen to this series this week on Renewing Your Mind?

Yes. I'd say as you listen to this series, what I would love for you is that all your misconceptions about what the fear of the Lord is might be renewed, not just as you analyze an idea, but as you see just how fearfully wonderful our God is. And so my hope is that those who are listening might be themselves affected and without even trying to work at something in themselves, find that actually as their minds are filled with the knowledge of this marvelous God, they might simply find that rejoicing, wandering, just welling up in them so that they say with the sons of Korah in Psalm 47, shout to Lord with loud songs of joy, for the Lord, the most high is to be feared. Dr. Reeves, thank you for this series and thank you for joining us today on Renewing Your Mind.

My pleasure. There are so many misconceptions about the fear of the Lord, and I love how Michael Reeves ended that conversation with his hope that this teaching would help us see how fearfully wonderful God is, and that it would ultimately lead to worship. You just listened to a special episode of Renewing Your Mind that we recorded at Ligonier's 2023 National Conference.

I'm your host, Nathan W. Bingham. Michael Reeves' new eight-part series can be yours for a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. It's only been released this month, and it explains what the fear of the Lord is, what it means to have a delightful fear of God, and practically what the benefits are to clearing up all of the misconceptions. So request your copy today or get one as a gift along with the digital study guide with your donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org.

And as always, you can give us a call as well at 800 435 4343. If it's not clear already, not all fear is the same. Scripture often commands, do not be afraid, yet we're told to fear God. We're also told that perfect love casts out all fear. Today's conversation with Michael Reeves was just a glimpse of what you'll hear for the rest of the week, and tomorrow he begins by explaining that all fear is not the same. So join us tomorrow here on Renewing Your Mind.