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Sermon: Phobos & Tromos
by Chris Cumming I was driving home from Whidbey Island the other day along 405 by the town of Bothell. It was dark and the rain was pouring down in buckets. I could hardly see the road at all.
As some of you might know, they are still working on that stretch of highway and the jersey barriers are lined up right at the left edge of the pavement. In addition, the traffic to the right of me was quite heavy.
Talk about white knuckle driving. I was a picture of “fear and trembling”; the same picture we see in Philippians chapter 2
Phil 2:12 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
We all know what the Salvation Process is but what do we mean by “fear and trembling”?
What do these words mean? How do these words impact how we are to conduct ourselves in the Salvation Process?
Today we are going to answer these questions as I encourage all of us to …
WORK THE PROCESS
First, let us define the terms from a Webster’s dictionary:
Fear:
A painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger.
Apprehension of incurring, or solicitude to avoid, God's wrath; the trembling and reverence felt toward the Supreme Being.
Tremble:
To shake involuntarily, as with fear, cold, or weakness; to quake; to quiver; to shiver; to shudder
Now let us check the Bible dictionaries:
Fear (5401):
be afraid, exceedingly, fear, terror
Trembling (5156):
quaking with fear.
So we are to be in the Salvation Process, invoking the Power of the Holy Spirit, building the character of Jesus Christ and doing the Work of God and all this in fear and trembling.
Now right away, someone might bring up one or both of the following subjects:
1) I thought “Fear and trembling” meant respect and reverence. 2) What about all the compassion, mercy, and forgiveness of God?
Let us address those issues.
1) Respect and Reverence
There are 11 words for “fear”. 4 of them list “reverence” but only with the word “fear” or “terror”.
There are 12 words for “trembling”. None of them are rendered “reverence” or “respect”
There are separate words for “respect” and “reverence”.
“Reverence” is used 13 times but only twice, in Hebrews, is it used as directly reverence to God. Example:
Lev 19:30 30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
“Respect” is used 34 times but only once or twice as direct respect for God. It is used mostly in the discussion of “respect to persons”.
The point is that “Fear and Trembling” means exactly what it says. We are to work out our Salvation with “fear and trembling” but fear and trembling about what exactly?
We will see as we go along.
2) Compassion, mercy, and forgiveness
Clearly God shows all of these …
Ps 111:4-5 4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. 5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.
Ps 103:11 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Ps 130:3-4 3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
God shows all these principles but never without obligation on our part.
In each of these three verses, God invokes compassion, mercy and forgiveness but did you notice that in each case it was toward those who FEAR Him?
In each of these verses, the word “fear” is rendered “revere” in the margin and in Strong’s. I happened to look up the word “revere” and here is what it says…
Revere
Revere--- To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation.
So one cannot have reverence or respect or even affection for God without “fear and trembling”.
The problem with mankind and the nominal Christian religions is that they have never found the balance between the mercy, compassion and forgiveness of God with the fear.
For hundreds of years and half of the 20th century, it was all hell and brimstone. Those preachers put the “Fear of God” into people. Not only was this unbalanced, they often put the wrong focus or definition on this fear.
Today, the churches have gone clear into the other ditch, preaching only compassion and tender mercies of God. So much so that it is easy for man to be apathetic about God and His plan.
They openly reject any concept of a Salvation Process. Many feel that all they have to do is believe on Jesus Christ and the rapture will take care of the rest.
A PROPER FEAR OF GOD SHOULD INCLUDE:
1) Reverence and awe. 2) Being afraid to offend God in any way. 3) Being afraid to fall away from the Salvation Process. 4) A dread of not repenting of sin. 5) A terror regarding the wrath of God and the Lake of Fire.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “FEAR OF THE LORD”
1) The “fear of the Lord” is the beginning of knowledge.
Prov 1:7 7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools
despise wisdom and instruction. 2) The “fear of the Lord” will cause one to hate evil:
Prov 8:13 13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
3) The “fear of the Lord” will prolong life:
Prov 10:27 27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
4) The “fear of the Lord” provides strong confidence and is a fountain of life:
Prov 14:26-27 26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. 27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
5) The “fear of the Lord” prompts one to depart from evil:
Prov 16:6 6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
6) The “fear of the Lord” leads to a satisfying life, and spares one from much evil.
Prov 19:23 23 The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.
7) The “fear of the Lord” is the way to riches, honor, and life:
Prov 22:4 4 By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.
So we see here and all through the Bible that God gives us blessings for working out our Salvation in Fear and Trembling.
Point: We cannot please God without the “Fear of the Lord”. Notice…
Isa 66:1-2 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Ps 103:17-18 17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; 18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
IMMERSING OURSELVES IN THE WORD
This is rather easy to do. Just obtain a book entitled, “The Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge”. For every verse, you get a list of scriptures which touch on the same subject or elements of that verse. I put in our key verse, Phil 2:12.
The first thing we want to look at is just how we hold this fear and trembling. You see, the normal fear and trembling we have is with worldly things. We understand that concept. Fear and trembling with God is completely different because God is God Almighty.
ITEM ONE:
Ps 2:11 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Now notice the commentary on this simple verse:
Ps 2:11 [Serve the LORD with fear] With reverence, and with deep apprehensions of the consequences of not serving and obeying him. That is, serve him in not opposing, but in promoting his purpose of establishing a kingdom under the Messiah, with the deep apprehension that if you do not do it, he will arise and crush you in his wrath.
Ps 2:11 [Rejoice with trembling.] If ye serve God aright, ye cannot but be happy; but let a continual filial fear moderate all your joys. Ye must all stand at last before the judgment-seat of God; watch, pray, believe, work, and keep humble.
Now notice some verses that support Ps 2:11…
Ps 97:1 97:1 The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
Ps 99:1 99:1 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
Ps 95:1-8 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
ITEM 2:
Ps 119:120 120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
Now to the commentary:
Ps 119:120 [My flesh trembleth for fear of thee] I stand in awe of thee. I shudder at the consciousness of thy presence. There is nothing unaccountable in this. Any man would tremble, should God manifest himself to him as he might do; and it is possible that the mind may have such an overpowering sense of the presence and majesty of God, that the body shall be agitated, lose its strength, and with the deepest alarm fall to the earth. No man could meet one of the departed dead, or a good angel, without this fear; how much less could he meet God!
[And I am afraid of thy judgments] Of thy laws or commands. My mind is filled with awe at the strictness, the spirituality, the severity of thy law. Reverence-awe-is one of the essential elements of all true religion.
ITEM 3: Now let us look at Paul the first time he showed fear and trembling before God:
Acts 9:1-6 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Now listen as I read the commentary and notice Paul’s example to us…
Acts 9:6 [And he, trembling] Alarmed at what he saw and heard, and at the consciousness of his own evil course. It is not remarkable that a sinner trembles when he sees his guilt and danger.
[And astonished] At what he saw.
[Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?] This indicates a subdued soul, a humbled spirit. Just before, he had sought only to do his own will; now he inquired what was the will of the Saviour. Just before he was acting under a commission from the Sanhedrin; now he renounced their authority, and asked what the Lord Jesus would have him to do. Just before he had been engaged in a career of opposition to the Lord Jesus; now he sought at once to do his will. This indicates the usual change in the mind of the sinner when he is converted.
ITEM 4: I want to digress for a moment to look at a different kind of fear and trembling Paul experienced and how God came to the rescue.
1 Cor 2:1-5 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Now the commentary:
[And I was with you] Paul continued there at least a year and six months. Acts 18:11.
[In weakness] In conscious feebleness; diffident of my own powers, and not trusting to my own strength.
[And in fear, and in much trembling] Paul was sensible that he had many enemies to encounter (Acts 18:6.); and he was sensible of his own natural disadvantages as a public speaker, 2 Cor 10:10. He knew too, how much the Greeks valued a manly and elegant species of oratory; and he, therefore, delivered his message with deep and anxious solicitude as to the success. It was at this time, and in view of these circumstances, that the Lord spoke to him by night in a vision, and said, "be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace; for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city,"
Notice the verses that show God coming to the rescue…
Acts 18:9-10 9 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10 For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
ITEM 5: Next, I want to see how “fear and trembling” is stated between ministers and the congregation for this gives us more insight into how “fear and trembling” works in our relationship with God.
This is the account by Paul of his sending Titus to the Corinthian church:
2 Cor 7:13-16 13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. 14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. 15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. 16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
Now the commentary on verse 15..
[And his inward affection ...] He has become deeply and tenderly attached to you. His affectionate regard for you has been greatly increased by his visit. On the meaning of the word here rendered "inward affection" splangchia (NT:4698), Margin, bowels) see the note on 2 Cor 6:12. It denotes here: deep, tender attachment, or love.
[How with fear and trembling ye received him] With fear of offending, and with deep apprehension of the consequences of remaining in sin. He saw what a fear there was of doing wrong, and what evidence there was, therefore, that you were solicitous to do right.
Note: This is the kind of “fear and trembling” God wants from His firstfruits in the Salvation Process.
“with deep apprehension of the consequences of remaining in sin”
“a fear there was of doing wrong”
“a deep concern about doing right”
ITEM 6: Question: How should we treat anyone in authority?
Eph 6:5-7 5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
Here now is the commentary on just the phrase “as to the Christ”
[As unto Christ] Feeling that by rendering proper service to your masters, you are in fact serving the Lord, and that you are doing that which will be well-pleasing to him. Fidelity, in whatever situation we may be in life, is acceptable service to the Lord. A Christian may as acceptably serve the Lord Jesus in the condition of a servant, as if he were a minister of the gospel, or a king on a throne. Besides, it will greatly lighten the burdens of such a situation, and make the toils of an humble condition easy, to remember that we are then "serving the Lord."
DEVELOPING A FEAR OF THE LORD
This is easy because we have discussed it a number of times now..
Develop a “fear and trembling” attitude and work by Immersing Yourself into the Word of God. Notice some scriptures:
Rom 10:17—the essential verse 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Deut 31:10-13 10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, 11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: 13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
Note: God commanded this for Israel. How much more important for us now, His firstfruits, with His Holy Spirit in the Salvation Process.
Rom 2:4-11—jumping into a discourse against sinners 4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
Note: Paul is encouraging “fear and trembling” before God.
2 Peter 3:7-14—Here Peter describes not only the promise but the sharp distinction between the promise of the Kingdom and the Moment of Judgment for those who lack “fear and trembling”
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
Note: The only way we will be without spot and blameless is to remain in the Salvation Process and the surest way to stay in the Process is with “fear and trembling”.
We can conclude now by stating it one more time for the record…
Phil 2:12 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
A fear and trembling against offending God
…against falling away
…and regarding the Moment of Judgment when that door to the Kingdom is shut.
Remember Ps 2:11 and let your “fear and trembling” be in joy and rejoicing before your loving Father and before your elder brother, Jesus Christ.
Finally…
Ps 89:7-8 7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. 8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? |