Minister in the Fear of the Lord

Speaker 1 (00:02):

Hi, I'm Brian Mosley, our team here at right now. Media loves serving the church. We believe the mission of the church matters and that discipleship matters. Whether you're watching this message alone or with your leadership team, we hope that it's an encouragement to you. In this session, Matt Chandler talks about the importance of walking in the fear of the Lord and the difference it will make in our lives.

Speaker 2 (00:27):

If you have your Bibles, go ahead and grab those. We're going to look briefly at the book of Malachi, and I know you're probably thinking, don't do that. We don't need to do that. Or if you've been in church for a while, you think I'm about to do an offering and I'm not going to do either of those, but if you do have it, I'd love for you to open those up. We're going to start really inverse one, and then I'm going to bounce around a little bit. I wish I had an hour and a half with you to just do the whole book, but I don't. But let me, if you don't know, I'm going to talk to you about Timothy Treadwell. Timothy Treadwell was an All-American swimmer and diver in high school. He was a troubled soul from the time he was a little boy, but he kind of found some soce.

Speaker 2 (01:09):

He found some peace in swimming and in diving, and he actually gets a full born scholarship to Bradley University, which if you know the swimming and diving world, and I'm guessing you don't, is abnormal. You don't usually get full scholarships, you get partial scholarships, but the guy could do it. And so he gets a full-blown scholarship to Bradley University. He gets there and some of his mental illness begins to kind of rear its head. He introduces himself, he creates a whole new persona, gives a different name for himself, begins to speak in an English accent even though he's not from England, and he starts to really spiral out of control and he stumbles across drugs and alcohol in a way that's probably not the drugs and alcohol many of us played with in high school and college. But he gets deep in, gets addicted, and his whole life begins to fall apart.

Speaker 2 (02:05):

He is constantly struggling with suicidal ideation and things are dark, dark, dark. A friend of his at Bradley University invites him back to his home in Alaska during one of the breaks. And so Timothy wanting to get away from it all, hops on this plane and goes to Alaska and the two head out into the mountains and they're hiking and in their hike they come across a very close encounter with a grizzly bear, a giant massive grizzly bear. And this is a transcendent moment for Timothy. It's a moment in which he believes now that he has found his purpose in life. And really from that moment forward, Timothy no longer uses. He stops the heroin, he stops partying and he hyper fixates on grizzlies. And as he continues to go down this path, he begins to fly to Alaska on his own. He begins to head into the backwoods.

Speaker 2 (03:05):

He begins to find these little pockets of grizzly bears and move towards them. And then he actually gets to where he can approach them. And there's these crazy videos you can find online of Timothy's like petting a grizzly bear. Notice where my hands are, it's not petting. It's petting a grizzly bear. And then he begins to believe that this is his family and these are his people and that God's put him on earth to care for and protect and be a part of these grizzly communities. And if you haven't caught up to this story yet, in 2003 on October 5th, Timothy brought his then girlfriend with him on a trip to Alaska to meet his family, this family of grizzly bears. And it had been a particularly hard summer in the Alaskan outback. The salmon weren't running as hard or as plentiful as usual, and his grizzly family had already pushed off into deeper parts.

Speaker 2 (04:06):

And there was another grizzly group there that threatened and approached them aggressively. And they, by the grace of God, made it out alive, got to the airport only to find out that their flight had been canceled. So rather than just waiting for the next flight, he went back into the outback with his girlfriend Ann. And on October 5th, 2005, Timothy and his girlfriend are mauled to death by a grizzly bear. In fact, the seaplane came to pick them back up, walked into the camp and what they found was human remains scattered about the campsite and a very large famished grizzly bear that then approached them and had to be put down. Now, the reason I'm starting with such a downer of a story is because there's a big difference. Now follow me. There's a big difference in being in awe of a grizzly bear in such a way that you are drawn to it and forgetting that you're tiny and powerless before the strength and might of a grizzly bear you tracking with me.

Speaker 2 (05:25):

I'll keep going. If you're not one of the great hindrances of growth into all that Christ has purchased for us on the cross, one of the great hindrances of gladness and gratitude and spiritual power and life forevermore, one of the great hindrances, the great ceilings, the great walls, the great hurdles that sits in front of us in these current times is like Timothy Treadwell. We have forgotten how mighty and powerful Jesus is and how tiny and powerless we are. See, the book of Malachi sets in front of us that there are two ways to live. There is covenantal order and there is self-indulgence. Those are the two ways that lay before us. You are going to live covenantal, faithful, or you are going to live a life of self-indulgence and you can actually be a Christian and still live in this self-indulgent category. The love of Christ is a powerful thing.

Speaker 2 (06:34):

It will cover your foolishness, but you'll rob yourself of intimacy and power covenantal order. Here's how John Piper would talk about covenantal order. All relationships are made peaceful and pure by the fulfillment of covenants and promises and oaths and contracts and commitments, children to parents and parents to children, husband to wives and wives, to husbands employer to employee and employee to employer, citizen to state and state to citizen. The peace, prosperity and joy, the shalom of the community is held together by the deep strong spirit of covenant keeping that persuades the community. The very fabric of the community is the trustworthiness of its people. Do they keep their commitments on self-indulgence? He writes, the other way for people to try to live together in community is the opposite of covenantal order. It's what you might call the disorder of self-indulgence in this community. The spirit of commitment making and commitment keeping has been replaced by a spirit of emotional and physical impulse.

Speaker 2 (07:47):

The moral fabric of faithfulness to covenants and promises and contracts is unraveled. And what's left are the individual strands of private gratification. Now, the book of Malachi is the prophet screaming to the people of God back towards covenantal faithfulness and away from self-indulgence the people of God had been bringing to God in his temple. Animals that were maimed and diseased and broken and busted. They were not bringing God their best. They were not wholehearted. And then in their halfheartedness and all the mess that is born of life by covenant breaking and self-indulgence, they then accuse God of lacking faithfulness when the only one who had kept the covenant was God himself. And I'm telling you, the air we breathe right now, even in most evangelical circles is self-indulgence, not covenant keeping faithfulness that this idea that life's always going to be up and to the right and that there's never going to be, you're never have drama with somebody in the church.

Speaker 2 (08:58):

The whole church is filled with sinners being sanctified. You're going to have drama. Look, I love you. You probably are some drama. I know you probably don't know that and you probably actually believe that if the rest of the world were like you, it'd be a better place. I get it. I think that I don't know that it's true, but I can find myself thinking that. And so Malachi is challenging the people of God. The issue of your day is not outside of you, it is inside of you the issue of your day. And this is true of Malachi's. It is not a corrupt government. It is not a secularized pagan culture. It's you being half-hearted. That's the argument of Malachi. And if you're thinking we're fragile, buddy, this is a hard time to be alive, why don't you give us some grace? I appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (09:45):

That's what the book wants to do. So if you have, you have Malachi open, let's look at it because it starts the way God always starts. Here's Malachi one, one, the oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. Here it is. I have loved you declares the Lord of host. Now here's why this is important. God always begins Genesis to revelation in the indicative in a statement of fact. He does not begin in the imperative. So Malachi doesn't begin with, Hey, get this stuff in order. God never begins with, here's the law, obey it. God starts where God always starts. And this is present, active, ongoing action. I have loved you declares the Lord. So the way that God has operated with his people throughout our story is to begin with his love and let the motivation of that love shape our moral lives.

Speaker 2 (10:58):

This is how God has always worked. And some of you know that I haven't been too deep into seminary and so you're like, I don't know if that's right. And so I appreciate the curiosity. So let me show you some of this. Like one John four, 18 through 19, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear for fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Why do we love? We love because he first loved us. So who loved first? He loved first. You didn't love first. Your story with God isn't that you fell in love with him and he reciprocated you love because you were loved. You're saved because he opened your eyes to believe it was God who began the good work and it's God who will be faithful to complete the work.

Speaker 2 (11:48):

In fact, he's so committed to that, that he swears by his own name, he'll do it because there's not a greater name than his. So his commitment, he's so committed to letting that love work itself out that he looks, he's like, I swear by, oh gosh me, I swear by me that I'm going to do this. That's huge. I know it's funny, but it's huge. God swore by himself, that's how committed he is to you. He's not going to break. He's not going to lie to himself. He's not going to break a promise to himself. And then again in Romans five, eight through 10, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. When still sinners, look at me. You at your worst, you at your worst. That thing that you did that you still, if you think about getting nauseous, then when you at your worst, that's when Christ moves towards you in love.

Speaker 2 (12:44):

I have loved you declares the Lord present, ongoing, perfect action. I have loved you. Have you ever thought about the fact that God saves Israel from Egypt and then gives him the law? Have you ever thought about that just for a couple seconds? He didn't show up at the 10 Commandments. Go, Hey, grow in this and then I'm going to get you out of here. Hey, put these things into practice and I will bring my mic down on these false Egyptian gods and destroy 'em before your eyes. No. He literally shows up to people who have completely forgotten about him who are going to be a grumbling, complaining train wreck of a people all our days. We ain't different than them. Any rescues them from slavery and death and brokenness and heartache and then says, I've got a way of living that'll lead to flourishing and gladness.

Speaker 2 (13:39):

Let me hand it to you, right? So this is the thief on the cross. I've got to stop making this one point. It's only one of several. I have loved you declares the Lord. He always begins with a statement of fact. I love you before you did anything to earn my affection before. I have loved you declares the Lord. And if we had time to break down all of Malachi and I have never ever broken my covenant promise to you, I have never moved from you. In my covenant promise, I have fulfilled them completely. And what you don't see yet, you will see one day, but I don't have time for that. So he moves on to talk about this covenant in chapter two. So we're going to read a little bit of chapter two and I'm going to bump back to chapter one In Malachi two verse five, he begins to talk about this covenant he's made with his people.

Speaker 2 (14:33):

By the way, we are his people. My covenant with him was one with Levi is one of life and peace and I gave them to him. So I handed to Levi, I handed to the people of God, life and peace. I put it in their hands and in return it was a covenant of fear and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name and true instruction was in his mouth and no wrong was found on his lips. And he walked with me in peace and uprightness and he turned away from iniquity from the lips of the priest who guard knowledge and people who seek instruction from his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord. Now I've got to move really fast here, but he's referencing both the Abrahamic covenant and the mosaic covenant that God had given to his people, specifically the formation of the Levitical tribe.

Speaker 2 (15:24):

And so here are those covenants very briefly. The covenant given to Abraham is that God would undo the fall through a people he was creating. I'm going to create a people from you Abraham that's going to bless all the families, all the nations, all the ethnic groups on earth and those who bless you will be blessed. Those who curse you will be cursed. So that's Abraham covenant. And then the mosaic covenant is he delivers his people out of bondage and death. He gets 'em into the wilderness and then he hands them the law of God. Now, you and I have been trained, I think by and large to view the law differently than maybe David viewed the law. So you and I are like Christ fulfilled the law, right? And what we will mistakenly do at times is put the moral law over there as if God isn't bothered by hellacious moral failings anymore, that Jesus fulfilled that we don't have to worry about that, but that's that's actually not true.

Speaker 2 (16:22):

If you were to think rightly about the mosaic covenant, God gives them the law for the purpose of revealing his wisdom for human flourishing to the nations that are gazing upon them. So the moral law of God is about the wisdom of God for how humanity should flourish. It's how children will be protected. It's how women should come alive in their gifts. And it's about here's what human flourishing looks like and the more you align your life to that, the more flourishing joy and gladness there'll be. And the more you buck up against it, the more you'll become subhuman. You will dehumanize yourself and things will fall to pieces. And all we've got is a few, couple thousand years to gaze upon just how true that actually is. And this moral law that was given to us according to Malachi was given to us for life and peace.

Speaker 2 (17:19):

You want to flourish. Here's the moral law of God. You want to see beauty and goodness and truth established in your countries, in your neighborhoods, in your households. Here's the covenant to keep. I will fulfill you. I will make your hearts new. You will fear my name in return. And this is hard for us. This is hard for us because we live in a, here's why I think it's hard for us, it's hard for us. We live in a really casual culture. It's just so casual. It's funny. I'll be just prepared. Don't gasp. I turned 50 in June. Yeah, I don't believe it either. And the way I grew up is almost gone. I mean it's gone. Gone. I try to get in my head like calling my teacher by her first name. You too, Cheryl. I mean my dad. The kind of violence that was acceptable back then is just gone, gone.

Speaker 2 (18:26):

And it should be, I'm not trying, I'm not saying those were glory days. I'm saying that there was a kind of respect given to authority that is completely vanished. I'm telling you like vanished at the church. I introduced myself on say I'm Pastor Matt and part of that is I'm like, you don't get to call me Maddie Chan Chan, if you're some 12-year-old boy in our church, I'm Pastor Matt. There's a level of respect that's due my position and I'm just trying to show it now, if your parents want you to call me Mr. Chandler, whatever, that's fine. Pastor Matt's beck, it's fine for me. It gets us that respect thing and it gets you. It's teaching them, hey, authority matters, but fear is almost completely gone because there's no authority by which we actually respect or fear anymore. And this is so detrimental to growth because the Bible, I'm going to talk about a spirit of Phil, that fear that's demonic and should be eradicated by the love of Christ. I'm talking about a healthy fear of God one that way transcends just reverence. So lemme show you some of this.

Speaker 2 (19:36):

The apostle Paul writes that we're to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. In two Corinthians, the apostle Paul says, beloved, let us cleanse ourself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, practicing or perfecting holiness and the fear of God. The writer of Hebrews says, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. The apostle Peter writes, if you call on the father who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourself throughout the time of stay here on earth in fear, the apostle Jew declares that we are saved through fear. Jesus urges us to not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Like some of the translations to be better. Translations in the Bible are mega fear, awe, terror, profound respect, trembling, dread.

Speaker 2 (20:28):

And these aren't just words to describe a minor aspect of our Christian life. Rather they're the identity of how our salvation should be working itself out in love, fear, dread, awe, immense respect. And when we talk about working out our salvation, it's a term that describes how our efforts in cooperation with and empowered by the Holy Spirit bring to full maturity what Jesus freely provides for us. Can I do that one again? When we talk about working out our salvation, what the Bible is talking about is a term that describes how our efforts, you don't just sit on the couch and get holy, you don't accidentally stumble into righteousness, external moral righteousness. It's a fight, especially in our day, a term that describes how our efforts, but you won't get there alone per the sermon right before me, right? In cooperation with and empowered by the Holy Spirit because he who began the good work and you'll be faithful to bring it to completion, bring us to full maturity what Jesus freely provides for us.

Speaker 2 (21:38):

And so a fear of the Lord, a healthy fear of the Lord. It's first and foremost, here's how I'd argue it's invitational like the fear of the Lord invites us in. It draws us. It uses awe and majesty to pull us in. It's not repulsive, it's not a spirit of fear. It's like standing in front of the Grand Canyon or if we can talk about it, looking at that grizzly bear and going, oh my gosh, that's amazing. Would you look at that? So the fear of the Lord is invitational. It's an invitation to hate sin because sin destroys and God sees, it's an invitation to hate injustice because God establishes peace. It's an invitation to depart evil in every sense, thought, deed and action because it's pleasing to the Lord. It's an invitation to walk in authentic humility because only God is great. Only God is great.

Speaker 2 (22:40):

It's an invitation to praise the one that can hold up under our praise because only God is big enough to not betray us. It's an invitation and really the starting place for an intimate relationship with God. Look at me. There is no intimacy with God, without holy fear. Look at me. I love you. He is not your homeboy, he's just not. He's just not your homeboy. It's not who he is. If you could see him now enthroned on high, the blood would leave your face and you'd be on the floor. You wouldn't dap him up. And I know some of you, you have intimate love relationships with Jesus and you wouldn't be like, what's up man? Thank you. That's not how this would, he is ent and terrifying enthroned on high. You'd be like, look at this little bear. That's not how this is going to work.

Speaker 2 (23:39):

I would even argue that the fear of the Lord is actually the greatest force of confidence, comfort, and protection available to you and me as followers of Jesus. So the fear of the Lord is invitational, but it's also the beginning of wisdom and this is what some people they kind of get. Yeah, I get that one. So Proverbs one, seven says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Now part of what is in view here is God's order and design so we can have real talk. Have you ever met anyone that's brilliantly smart but can't hardly function in the world? They got a PhD and yet their whole world's falling apart? That's because wisdom is different. The kind of intellectual smartness wisdom is about God's order. It's about living into God's order. And so the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of a life of life and peace, beauty and order is a fear of the Lord.

Speaker 2 (24:38):

It's a fear of the Lord. I'm going to fear he is majestic and mighty and huge and I'm tiny and powerless and he has revealed how life should work. And I'm going to give myself over to how he says life should work because he's the creator of it all and he alone knows how it should work. I'm going to trust that and I'm going to keep my word to him as he has kept his word to me and I'm going to lean into the grace of Christ that's new every morning because I'm going to stumble and fall and do it in ways that are imperfect. The fear of man is the polar opposite of the fear of the Lord. I wish I had more time to unpack this, but the more you fear, man, more than likely, the less you fear God and the more you fear God, you'll just let the crickets chirp. I'm just saying if you're in ministry, this is not an easy time to be in ministry. A lot of people who lead nothing, do nothing. I mean they're just on just ready to tear you down. Okay? You can wrestle with the pigs if you want, but if you fear the Lord, you'll be all right. Just letting the crickets chirp.

Speaker 2 (25:51):

These two can't inhabit the same soul. Fear of man, fear of God. In fact, one of the more consistent prayers of my life is let me fear your name more than anything else. Let me fear your name more than anything else. A life of depth and meaning. Look at me, I did not say ease. A life of depth and meaning is found in submission to the creator of the universe. And then I want to make this point, and then I've got one more point. We'll be fine. Listen to this. In Exodus 2020, Moses said to the people who didn't want to come up on the mountain, the mountain was shaking right? It wasn't Jesus, our homeboy. It was this is terrifying. The mountains quaking, there's fire and wind and smoke and terror in the air. And they're like, you go Moses, we're not going. Moses said to the people, do not fear for God has come to test you.

Speaker 2 (26:43):

That the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. Lemme try to create some categories. A love for Jesus will keep you moving towards grace and moving towards gladness. A fear of God will keep you from being stupid. You can love Jesus and be stupid King David. Anybody want to make the argument the King David on that harp writing love songs to Jesus in love with him? I think he's like a Tim goodness sake. His nickname is a man, right? What's his nickname? This is a man who loves the Lord. He loves Jesus. Didn't stop him from being up on that roof. Didn't stop him from going, what's that? Who's that? Bring her up here, right? You want to talk about these stories that we don't. We like to blow past him by an I and Safari. They have this huddle.

Speaker 2 (27:37):

Barnabas had just given. Joseph was his name then. But Joseph just given this big group of this pile of money to the apostles. And now they're the big deal in the early church and they get together like man, we're not as big a deal as we were. I mean they'd seen the dead raised, they'd seen thousands of people come to know Jesus. They'd seen miracle after miracle after miracle. Clearly this is some conjecture. Lemme step away from Bob. It is some conjecture. I mean clearly they were in love with the Lord and they hatched the scheme. Let's sell this lamb. Let's only give a portion, let's hold back. But let's tell everybody it was all of it. Let's elevate ourselves and God killed them in front of everyone. Why? So that a fear of the Lord might permeate because you can't build on a broken foundation and God's saying you will fear my name.

Speaker 2 (28:28):

And life is there and wisdom is there and peace is there. And the fear of God is invitational. And it's also the beginning of wisdom. And last point, I'm doing well. I'm proud of myself. The fear of the Lord look at me is pleasing to the Lord. A fear of the Lord pleas him. Philippians two 12 through 13, 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. For it is God who works in you both to will and work for his what? Good pleasure you fearing my that pleases my heart, your fear of my name, your awe of my name, your reverence of my name, your in a way, dread of my power. And might again, this is free, but you know what?

Speaker 2 (29:26):

The second coming of Christ the Bible says the mountains flee. You ever thought about that? Anybody been in the mountains like that? Mountain rangers are like, dang it. Go. And they flee like they flee at the coming of the Lord and we're just like, oh our sins. No big deal. And when I see what's up family, this is not that you've got it wrong, second Corinthians five nine. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. Colossians one 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in a knowledge of God and what was happening in Malachi. If you're still in chapter one, that's great. I want to read verses one six to us and then I'm closing in one six. The Lord says, I have loved you declares the Lord.

Speaker 2 (30:17):

I have been faithful to you. I have kept my covenant to you. I have moved towards you even as you have rebelled from me, even as you accuse me now of betraying you because of the mess of your world that's been born of your half heartedness. I am moving towards you in love yet again, even in this moment. But here's his question in verse six of chapter one, A son honors his father and a servant, his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? Says the Lord of host to you. O priest who despise my name, God is making the argument that halfheartedness among his people is a despising of his name that you despise my goodness. It's not that you're indifferent to it, it's that you despise it. You turn up your nose at my covenant faithfulness to you and the prophet Malachi saying, return to the Lord.

Speaker 2 (31:19):

Return to the Lord. It's this precursor of what Jesus does to the woman caught in adultery in the gospel of John. Do you remember the story where he picks up her face and he looks at her eyeballs and says, has no one condemned you? Neither do I go and sin no more. So these appeals in Malachi, although they are offensive to our modern sensibilities, they are a necessary truth for our right orientation under the reign of King Jesus to flourish in a way that the mess of the outside world has something to look at. That's beautiful, right? And good. It's why one Peter says, judgment begins in the household of faith, doesn't begin in the White House. It doesn't begin in the universities, it begins in the household of faith. And what's most wrong in cultures can almost always be tied to what's wrong in the church. So before we go chirping about everything else, we must look inside at what's beautiful, endless what's ugly, and move towards the king of glory. Let me end with this passage in two words. Hebrews 1228 through 29. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving kingdom that cannot be shaken. Look at me. God's not panicked right now.

Speaker 2 (32:45):

There's yet to be a huddle up in the Trinity to figure out the Middle East or what's going on in the west, or there's no blame in the Trinity. Wasn't like the Spirit had Sub-Sahara Africa and Jesus had the Middle East and the Father was over in the western world and they're huddling up going, Hey, what I gave you, how could you make a mess of that? Jesus, I'd worry about your own stuff. Holy Spirit, the Lord reigns on high sovereignly and of course we don't get it. You kidding me? How could we possibly get it? We've been here for like a nanosecond. He's outside of time and space. This should create humility in us, not accusation. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship. What's acceptable? Worship, reverence and awe. Why for our God is a consuming fire?

Speaker 2 (33:39):

Where are those areas of half-hearted devotion and commitment to King Jesus? Are there acceptable respectable sins in your life? Are you listening to that voice that says, these aren't that big of a deal? Are you looking around and doing the very teenage everybody does this? Are you looking around going, I mean, that's a serious one. My stuff's not serious at all. Or are you with holy zeal, hating what Jesus hates and walking in the power that he provided for you to be? Here's my sentence that I'm praying to be all in for all of life. All of life, for all of life. That's the call. That's what Jesus will equip and a power. That's where his presence and growth and delight, and gladness and gratitude and revival are found.

Speaker 1 (34:33):

Matt helps us to see what it means to fear the Lord and how central it is to the Christian life. Take a few minutes to assess your own fear of the Lord. What needs to change for you to develop a deeper reverence for God?

‍