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Colin Smith: Someone may be saying at this point, "Now, wait a minute. We're in the Old Testament here, aren't we? Isn't it the case that the fear of the Lord is an Old Testament idea? Isn't it the case that people feared God in the Old Testament and then they outgrew that, shook it off, and started to love God in the New Testament? And shouldn't we be doing the same?"

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith. Last time we began a message called "Cultivate the Right Kind of Fear." So obviously, we are, as believers in Christ, to cultivate some sense of fear of the Lord. And we obviously can find the fear of the Lord in the Old Testament. But what about the New Testament?

Colin Smith: Oh, it's quite explicit in the New Testament. First Peter chapter two and verse 17 says quite clearly, "Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God." That's a New Testament command: Fear God. That couldn't be simpler or clearer. So the principle of the fear of the Lord that's the beginning of wisdom carries right throughout the whole Bible.

There's one God. He never changes. And we come to know Him in and through His Son, Jesus Christ. What's important is for us to distinguish between the right and the wrong kind of fear. Perfect love casts out fear. And yet the fear of the Lord, which we're to cultivate, is the beginning of wisdom. We're going to look at how to cultivate the right kind of fear, the fear of the Lord, from the book of Deuteronomy today.

Steve Hiller: We're in chapter five. So grab a Bible, join us there if you can, as we continue the message, "Cultivate the Right Kind of Fear." Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: My case today is that we desperately, desperately, desperately need to rediscover what the fear of the Lord in the Bible is, and especially if our only construct in our minds has been that love and fear are alternatives and therefore that fear can have no place in the Christian life. And I know of no better place for us to learn this today than Deuteronomy chapter five.

Because this whole chapter and indeed, I think we could say the whole book of Deuteronomy, is designed to teach us the fear of the Lord. Now, I hope you have it open in front of you. Notice that it begins with the Ten Commandments. You say, "Don't they occur somewhere else in the Bible?" Yes, of course they do, back in Exodus and chapter 20.

But that was 40 years before Mount Sinai. God had come down and had given the commandments to the earlier generation. But as we saw last time, in the 40 years that followed Mount Sinai, when God gave the commandments in Exodus chapter 20, all the people of fighting age and older, they all died out over the 40 years. And so now the people who are listening to Moses, like us as we're hearing his word today, they were all folks who were not born when God gave the Ten Commandments. They were not present at Mount Sinai.

So Moses, in Deuteronomy and chapter five, as he lays out these commandments, he is simply telling a generation 40 years after Mount Sinai what had happened. He is telling them something that was before their lifetime. This is the second giving of the law. And that is, of course, why the book is called Deuteronomy. The commands for a new generation.

But what I want every parent to notice today is that he does not only give the Ten Commandments. Not enough to teach the Ten Commandments. From verse 22 onwards, having given the Ten Commandments, what's he doing? He is introducing this younger generation to the God who gave the Ten Commandments. This God of such awesome power, this God into whose hands it would be a fearful thing to fall, this God who is a consuming fire.

Notice what he says from verse 22 as he describes the scene. The whole event is absolutely terrifying. It is apocalyptic. Try and imagine the movie. Darkness. The blast of trumpets. The sound of a voice that is amplified so loud that you can hardly bear to hear it.

But overwhelming all of this, and impressed 40 years after the event on Moses' mind and heart, as it would be impressed on the mind and heart of anyone who saw it, was this massive ball of fire that came down and rested on the mountain of Sinai. It so dominates Moses' account that it's right there in every verse.

Verse 22, the Lord spoke out of the fire. Verse 23, the mountain was ablaze with fire. Verse 24, today we have heard his voice out of the fire. Verse 25, they said, "The great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord any longer." Verse 26, what mortal man has ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire as we have and survived? The book of Hebrews tells us in chapter 12 that this was so terrifying that even Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."

And that fear that pressed into Moses' psyche on that day, he now describes to a new generation who had not been at Sinai because he wants them to see and feel the awesome presence of a holy God. Do you know what was happening when the fire of God came down on Sinai? God's people caught a glimpse of the Day of Judgment. The Judge of all the earth came down and they saw His holy fire. They felt His power. The earth shaking. Terror.

And they were able to say, "This God is our God. Look who He is and look what He has saved us from, because we were in His presence and we lived." But God knows that even an experience as intense as that wears off fast. Remember that Moses went up the mountain and what happened within just a few weeks? The people are taking off their rings and their gold and what are they doing? They're casting the golden calf.

And so God says in verse 29, "Oh, that their hearts, oh, that this generation's heart would be inclined to fear me so that it may go well with them and with their children forever." You see, it's got to be more than hearing a sermon on the fearing the Lord. It's got to be more than memorizing a few verses about being fearful to fall into the hand of the living God or our God being a consuming fire. It's got to be more than simply learning the Ten Commandments and living a conservative life in which you try and remain within them. This is the word of God to this new generation who did not see the fire and God says, "Oh, I want the fear of the Lord to be within them because I so want it to go well with them and with their children."

So folks, if you were in the world of thinking that all cholesterol is bad, as it were, and you thought all fear is bad, I hope you're really seeing now that there is a fear that love brings us into. The redeemed people of God in awe in His presence, seeing that they live despite the nearness of that fire. I hope you see that there is a kind of fear that plays a critical role in the Christian life and that it is the kind of thing that we ought to cultivate. A fear that love removes, maybe you've got a lot of that in you. But a fear that love brings, what have you got of that in you?

Steve Hiller: Really a challenging question to think about as we pause for just a moment. You're listening to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Cultivate the Right Kind of Fear." It's part of our series on the book of Deuteronomy called "Take Two: The Power of a Fresh Start."

If you joined us late, have to leave early, or you ever want to go back and listen to a program again or maybe one you missed, you can do that at our website, openthebible.org. You can also listen if you have the Open the Bible app, which is free at your app store. But whether you listen to this program on the radio, online, or through the app, it's all made possible because of your generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin's brand new 30-day devotional book called "Grow in Hope."

It'll show you that hope comes from God, is found in Christ, and is yours through grace. And again, it's our thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365 or openthebible.org. Back to the message. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Let me offer to you at astonishing speed, seven reasons to cultivate the fear of the Lord. You ready? I want you to see how far this goes. I want you to see that this isn't a side theme in the Bible, that it goes everywhere. It's transforming. Seven reasons to cultivate the fear of the Lord.

Number one, everyone will get this one, I'm sure. If you were to write them down yourself, I think most of us would get this. Fearing the Lord will give you wisdom. You know many times in the Bible it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What that's saying is simply this: When God carries weight in your life, you will be on the path of making wise decisions.

When you're asking the question, "How does God see what I'm doing now? How does He view what I'm saying? What does what I'm thinking say in the light of eternity when I will stand in His holy presence?" With this kind of fear, you will make the right decisions. Without it, you'll make the wrong decisions. Without the fear of the Lord, you'll go on the wrong path. You will mess up your life. But the more you cultivate the fear of the Lord, it will be for you the beginning of wisdom.

Number two. Fearing the Lord will keep you from sin. Exodus chapter 20, in the first giving of the commands, Moses says, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." This is wonderful. The effect of a godly fear in your life keeping you from sinning.

If you're in a car and the traffic in front of you suddenly slows up, you are so glad that you've got good brakes. They will save you from disaster. And the fear of the Lord is a brake against sin. It holds you back. If there is too much sin in your life, there is too little fear of the Lord in your soul.

To fear the Lord means that you learn to act as if you could see the fire on the mountain. You feel an impulse to sin, but you say to yourself, "How can I do that when this God is watching?" And the more you know the fear of the Lord, the stronger your defense against sin will be. Can I make a quick, but I feel I should do this today, particular application?

There is a great deal of conversation going on these days about suicide, and especially amongst young people. And some of you have come to a place that you felt was so dark that you even contemplated the possibility of taking your own life. And the fear of God held you back. Thank God for that. It restrained you. You had some sense I have to stand in the presence of Almighty God.

I am so glad for multiple reasons that I learned when I was a little boy it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, because our God is a consuming fire. I need that. I need a brake on what's in this heart. Don't you?

Number three. Fearing the Lord will motivate you in evangelism. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:11 that since we know what it is to fear the Lord, that we try to persuade men. And he's talking about the work of evangelism there. And what does it spring from? He said it springs from our knowledge of the fear of the Lord in the first instance.

You see what Paul is saying? We've seen the holy fire. We have felt the weight of judgment that is to come in our own lives. This is why we have gone to Jesus Christ. This is why we are with Jesus Christ. And since we know what it is to fear God, that's why we try to persuade men. Folks, love and fear are inseparable companions. That's why later he says the love of Christ constrains us. But notice first he says it's because we fear God that we persuade men. Don't neglect that.

A church that ceases to believe in hell may do a great deal of good in humanitarian and social action, but it will not evangelize for long. It is men and women who have seen the fire on the mountain and have learned the fear of the Lord who will be compelled to declare the unique glory of His one and only Son.

Number four. Fearing the Lord will elevate your worship. It goes everywhere. The whole of the Christian life. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 28, "Let us be thankful and so worship God how? Acceptably with reverence and with awe." Now folks, you know, where the fear of the Lord is lost, what happens? Worship is trivialized and adoration becomes entertainment.

But when a congregation becomes gripped by a massive vision of the glory of God, when God's people can say, "We have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," what happens then? Worship is lifted. And God's people come before Him with reverence and with awe.

Number five. Fearing the Lord will make you more like Jesus. You say, "Did Jesus walk in this path of fearing the Lord? I mean, would that be for Jesus?" Listen to these words of prophecy about Him from Isaiah chapter 11 and verse two. "The spirit of the Lord will rest on Him." This is a Messianic prophecy. And then the Spirit is described. "The Spirit of knowledge and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord." Can you see that the Holy Spirit is described as the Spirit of the fear of the Lord? For this is what He brings. And then it is said of the Savior that He will delight in the fear of the Lord. He finds joy in this holy awe of the Father that makes Him say, "It's my food to do your will."

Number six. Fearing the Lord will deliver you from all other fears. Now this is marvelous and it's a truth that comes many times in the Bible, especially Psalm 112. Everyone who struggles with fear, Psalm 112 is a most marvelous Psalm. It begins by saying, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." So you say, "I don't know, I don't want to go to a Psalm that's talking about fearing the Lord." Ah, but wait and see what it says. "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord."

And then verse eight says, "Here's the effect. His heart is secure and he will have no fear." In fact, it even says he will not live in the fear of receiving bad news. Not going to go through this next week saying, "Oh, what's that news going to be?" Because if he fears the Lord, he finds the strength in Christ to face the news that may come this week. That is why one of the great hymns that has been sung in the past has this line: "Fear Him, you saints, and you will then have nothing else to fear." Fears rise as our fear of the Lord diminishes. Fears diminish as our fear of the Lord increases. Knowing this God is for you, that would put strength into you to face whatever is happening for you this week.

And here's number seven. Fearing the Lord will lead you to seek the Mediator. And that is exactly what happens right there in Deuteronomy chapter five. The people say in verse 25 to Moses, "This great fire will consume us and we're going to die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer." They're just amazed that they've seen this fire and survived it.

And so they say to Moses in verse 27, "Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says, and then tell us whatever God says and we will listen and obey." I love that. Here's the whole crowd and they're saying, "Hey, you go. You go up. Just let us stay here. You go." And Moses says right there in verse five, "At that time I stood between you and the Lord."

And I just want you to notice here what God says there in verse 28. "The Lord heard what you spoke to me." That's the Lord heard the people say, "Moses, you go up, you go up. We need someone to go there for us." The Lord heard what you said and the Lord said to me, "Everything they said was good." You see what the Lord's saying? I'm so glad they've seen the need of a Mediator.

I'm so glad that having glimpsed the awesome glory of the holy fire that they see that no man romps into heaven on his own, but that I need a Mediator. Someone who can go up, or better, someone who has come down. When you see the fire on the mountain, when you see the holiness of God in its awesome fear, when you see that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God and that our God is a consuming fire, you will have no question in your mind that you need a Mediator and you will embrace Jesus Christ quickly and gladly and fully and completely.

Now we have a better place than Sinai to learn the fear that love brings. And that place is called Calvary. Where the fire of God's awesome judgment on my sin and on your sin came on the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and He entered your hell. We worship at your feet where wrath and mercy meet and a guilty world is washed in love's pure stream.

And then He rises from the dead, ascends into heaven. And you remember something amazing that happened and with this we close. The Day of Pentecost, they're all gathered in one place and suddenly these believers hear the blowing of a violent wind and it comes from heaven and it fills the whole house where they are sitting. And what happens next? What seemed like, do you remember, tongues of fire came down. Imagine the terror of that. And rested on each of them. Almighty God is with them and He does not consume them. They are in Christ and the presence of the Holy One has come to empower them for life and to bring them into glory.

What do you know of this fear of the Lord in your life? Oh, you've been talking so much about how to get rid of all your fears and there is a fear that love removes, and that's very important. But what about the fear that love brings? What do you know about the fear of the Lord? There's a wonderful prayer that David prayed that you can make your own with me right now. It's from Psalm 86 and verse 11: "Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name."

Steve Hiller: What a great prayer as we wrap up our time together. You're listening to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Cultivate the Right Kind of Fear." It's one of the messages in our series from the book of Deuteronomy called "Take Two: The Power of a Fresh Start."

And if you want to get a copy of this entire series on CD, ask about that when you call us at 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365 or you'll find ordering information at our website, openthebible.org. Well, Open the Bible is a listener-supported program. It's your generosity that allows us to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching each day. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a copy of Pastor Colin's brand new 30-day devotional book. It's called "Grow in Hope." And Colin, who is this book for?

Colin Smith: Well, this is for everybody who wants to have hope. And I think that's absolutely every person. We all need hope. And if you would like to have hope drip-fed into your life for 30 days, then "Grow in Hope" is a devotional that will do just that. It's full of the promises of God. It shows that hope comes from God. It comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ and it comes to us by His marvelous grace. So 30 days of hope, I think that's something that everyone can use and I hope it's going to be a blessing to everyone who reads it.

Steve Hiller: Well, we'd love to send you a copy of this as our way of saying thank you for your financial support. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365 or again the website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.

Colin Smith: A single conversation can change your life, and that happened to me at a conference many years ago. Over lunch, I sat next to a pioneer missionary. He told me the story of how he'd made contact with an unreached tribal group in Northern Thailand. How the tribal chief had invited him to make his home there, how he built his own home and then learned the tribal language and began to serve these people. It was jaw-dropping stuff.

At one point in the conversation, I asked him, "Where do you begin in explaining the gospel to people who don't even know who God is?" And he said, "We tell them the Bible story." Now, I'm convinced that we need to learn from the approach of pioneer missionaries in reaching lost people today.

And that's why I wrote "Fly Through the Bible." "Fly Through the Bible" is short, simple, and shareable. It's a place where someone in your life can begin. So who is there in your life who needs to know the God of the Bible and might be willing to open the Bible with you if you asked them? For more information, visit openthebible.org/fly. That's openthebible.org/fly.

Steve Hiller: Open the Bible Weekend is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.