Holy Fear Versus Unholy Fright – A Sermon

Throughout the past two years, the religion of “Scientism” has dominated the world with medical bureaucrats who afflicted whole populations with terror as they first predicted 2.2 million deaths in the United States and then proceeded to impose lockdowns for “two weeks to flatten the curve,” and then extended the lockdowns with “shelter-at-home-orders” and other reactionary and irrational mitigations. Instead of encouraging a sane, calm, and individually responsible approach to the virus, their demands rapidly spread fear and panic. Sadly, many Evangelicals joined in spreading fright by closing churches and imposing unreasonable restrictions upon parishioners.

From the beginning of the COVID pandemic, political leaders and church leaders alike have listened to medical bureaucrats whose public presence has been aimed at scaring, yeah, terrifying the population with looming death from a virus that proved very quickly to be survivable by nearly 99.9% of the population. Thus, reasonable people, especially Christians mindful of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, did not surrender to the fright and panic the bureaucratic busybodies imposed on us daily.

Long ago C. S. Lewis was distressed with “scientism.” His concern was with the uncritical acceptance of science. He forecast that science would become treated as a religion that holds the power to determine ethical questions. He called the resulting form of political domination “scientocracy” which is the “wrong-headed belief that modern science supplies the only reliable method of knowledge about the world and also . . . that scientists should be the ones to dictate public policy and even our moral and religious beliefs simply on the basis of their scientific expertise.”

Shortly after his conversion to Christianity, Lewis wrote to his brother, “A priest is a man who disseminates little lies in defence of a great truth and a scientist is a man who disseminates little truths in defence of a great lie.” A few years before his death in 1963, C. S. Lewis wrote, “I dread government in the name of science. That is how tyrannies come in.”

Yes, there are pandemics and wars. National leaders whose greed and quest for domination prompt them to confiscate other people’s wealth and land or even whole nations. Hardhearted prime ministers and presidents issue orders to trample humans under horse hooves or under military tanks. Government administrations manipulate the masses by exponentially exaggerating the deadliness of a virus by withholding crucial data from their people.

Truly, the world often is a terrifying place, but we need not be terrified.

Fright is incompatible with belief in God who cares for us. There is a vast difference between fright and fear of God.

When Pastor Levi last preached, he concluded his sermon with Ecclesiastes 5:7—“Much dreaming and many words are vapor. Therefore, fear God.”

My concern, today, is to unpack the vast difference between unholy fright and holy fear. How are we to live in this terrifying world without being terrified? And what does it mean to fear God?

I will answer these questions with two affirmations:

I.        Fear Has Its Rightful Place.

II.      Fear Has Its Proper Function.

I.     Fear Has Its Rightful Place.

        A.    The Appropriateness of Holy Fear.

                1.  Fear of God is Our Duty.

It does not take much searching of the Scriptures to make it obvious that it is our duty to fear God.

The passage in Ecclesiastes 5—“Much dreaming and many words are vapor. Therefore, fear God.”—on which Pastor Levi preached last is neither the first nor only directive in Ecclesiastes to fear God. Hear throughout Ecclesiastes the repeated call to fear God.

• I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him (3:14).

• Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out with both (7:16-18).
  
• Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God (8:11-13).

• The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil (12:13-14).

Both the OT and the NT instruct us to fear God.

• “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10).

• “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

• “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding” (Psalm 111:10).

• For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
    no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
    “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
    in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
    “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

• “Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water’” (Revelation 14:6-7).

2.  Fear of God is Entirely Compatible with Trust in God.

• Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened (Hebrews 4:1-2).

• But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh (Jude 20-23).
  
• If 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 (2 Corinthians 7:1).

• We are to “submit to one another out of fear of Christ” (Ephesians 5:21).

• And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:17-19).

B.    A Necessary and Crucial Distinction between Holy Fear and Unholy Fear.

We have seen that God’s Word repeatedly exhorts us to Holy Fear.

Now, we need to identify Unholy Fear, the kind of fear God’s Word rebukes and warns against.

Jesus instructs us with these reassuring words.

• 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.Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:28-33).

Fear, fright, terror characterize this evil age just as Holy Scripture forewarned. Hear Jesus’ warning and admonition.

• “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains” (Mark 13:6-8).

Unholy fear is a Slave Master.

• Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Fear of fellow humans displaces fear of God.

• But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Galatians 2:11-14).

Love for God banishes Unholy Fear before God.

• By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fight in love, but perfect love casts out fright. For fright has to do with punishment, and whoever is frightened has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:17-19).

C.    Contrasts Between Holy Fear and Unholy Fright.

• Unholy fear entails bondage. Holy fear is given by the Holy Spirit. “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
• Unholy fear leads to eternal death. Holy fear draws us to Christ Jesus.
• Unholy fear torments one’s conscience with the impending wrath. Holy fear produces confidence and assurance of acceptance with God in Christ Jesus.
• Unholy fear is inseparable from unbelief. Holy fear is a grace of the Holy Spirit that keeps Christians within the bounds of God’s love and grace.
• Unholy fear entails rebellious contempt for God. Holy fear generates true and reverential worship of God who is holy.

II.    Fear Has Its Proper Function.

1. Fear Prompts Us to be Ever Mindful of God’s Presence.

Fear of the Lord is the pervasive principle that regulates our whole posture before God—our faith, love, obedience, worship. This is so because we acknowledge that God whose wrath is kindled against the unrighteous is the only one who can deliver us from that wrath. This is why Scripture describes true worshipers of God Godfearers.

Let not your heart envy sinners,
    but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day (Prov 23:17).

• Fear Prompts Us to be Ever Watchful over Our Conduct to Obey Christ Jesus.

If we consciously live under the watchful eye of the Lord who is holy, we will fear lest we provoke God’s wrath. This watchful fear arrests us lest we sin and enlivens us to obey God.

Fear of God governs us who are Christians lest we sin, as Moses said to the people of Israel, “Do not be frightened, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin” (Exodus 20:20).

The God of the Old Covenant is the God of the New Covenant.

I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul (Jeremiah 32:39-41).

• Fear Establishes Our Assurance of Faith that We Truly Belong to Christ Jesus.

Scripture distinguishes two kinds of fears: (1) “fear that I shall fall away and perish” and (2) “fear lest I fall away and perish. The former destroys faith and assurance; the latter nurtures belief and confidence.

John Calvin correctly observes,

“There is another kind of ‘fear and trembling,’ one that, so far from diminishing the assurance of faith, the more firmly establishes it. This happens when believers, considering that the examples of divine wrath executed upon the ungodly as warnings to them, take special care not to provoke God’s wrath against them by the same offenses; or, when inwardly contemplating their own misery, learn to depend wholly upon the Lord, without whom they see themselves more unstable and fleeting than any wind” (Inst. 1,568).

Calvin rightly understood the Apostle Paul’s admonition to the Philippians.

• Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, bring to completion your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to desire and to do his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

Distrust of ourselves with fear and trembling and fully entrusting ourselves to the Lord who causes us both to desire and to do what pleases him bolster our assurance that we truly belong to Christ Jesus.

Fear to stand as a reprobate before God motivated the Apostle Paul to be diligent and watchful to persevere in faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable wreath. So, I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself be rejected (1 Corinthians 9:23-27).

How does fearing lest I fall away engender confidence that I shall not fall away but persevere to the end and be saved?

• Fearing to crash is the necessary caution I need to drive safely and confidently. If I do not fear lest I crash, I should never drive on streets and highways. Presumptuous drivers are dangerous to themselves and to others. On the other hand, drivers who lack confidence but are fearful, are also dangerous to themselves and to others. If I fear that I will crash, I should never drive on roadways.
• Fearing to fall is necessary caution for rock climbers. Presumptuous climbing is deadly. If they do not fear lest they fall, they will likely fall. On the other hand, fearing that they will fall is equally deadly. Fear to fall motivates climbers to take every proper caution when climbing.

Faith in God who promises and fear of God who punishes evildoers are friends. Faith and fear work together to establish us in God’s ways.

God has established the human relationship of children to their fathers as earthly analogies of our relationship with God. Fathers who love their children instill in them both faith and fear. Trustworthy fathers inspire their children to trust them by keeping their word. They also teach their children to fear to disobey them by punishing them when they disobey. Fear and faith work harmoniously to bring children to maturity.

Parents, learn how to instill both fear and faith in your children. See to it that fear never becomes fright and that faith never becomes presumption. Remember that you, especially fathers, represent to your children their first impressions of God’s character. Would you have your children frightened before God as an austere and cruel God? Exasperating your children with harsh punishment will induce such frighten. Would you have your children presume upon God’s goodness and grace? Pampering your children and withholding the rod will surely set them on a pathway toward presuming upon God’s mercy.

Instill faith and fear in your children. This is what the proverb envisions when it declares, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Childrearing requires much grace to be properly balanced, for you must strive to be Godlike.

We have no cause to be frightened. Repeatedly, we hear God’s Word tell us, “Fear not!”

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you (Isaiah 43:1-2).

It is evident that God’s Word distinguishes between unholy fear and holy fear. In fact, Scripture distinguishes between God’s people and the people of this world by making it clear that believers fear God and the wicked have no fear of God.

Those who indulge in wicked behavior do not fear God. When they finally face God, terror will overwhelm them.

Do you fear God? Are you a Godfearer? Does fear of God prompt your to obey him as your Heavenly Father? Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.