November 24, 2025 • 58 mins
What comes to your mind when you hear the words fear God? Panic? Confusion? A vague sense of, “I know I’m supposed to…but how?”
In this episode, host Kate slows down to look inside Luke 1:50 and help uncover what Mary understood long before she ever sang her Magnificat: that God’s mercy is deeply tied to a right, biblical fear of Him.
But this week, Kate is doing something she has never done before on the podcast—something that invites you to sit at the feet of a faithful voice from church history and see the fear of God with a clarity that just might move you to tears.
If you’ve ever wondered what it truly means to fear God in daily life…or if that phrase has ever made you shrink back instead of draw near…this episode is for you. Come behold the mercy of God, the tenderness of His confirmation to Mary, and the awe-filled fear that leads to deeper love and greater joy.
If this episode encourages you, consider supporting the show or becoming an abidible+ member through Buy Me a Coffee (linked below).
Introducing abidible+
☕ Become a Member ☕
☕ Buy Me a Coffee ☕
Important Links:
Abidible Advent Study: Mary's Song
"A Fear to Be Desired" (Charles Spurgeon)
Try our Free Demo Study
Abidible "How to Study the Bible" Course
Subscribe + Enter to Win a Free Study
----
Thanks again for listening. If you know someone who would be blessed by what you just heard, please share The Abidible Podcast with them. Help us spread the word so we can make MUCH of the Word. Be sure you are following our podcast so you’ll be notified when new episodes drop. And finally, if you’re enjoying this series, please take a moment to give us a review or become a monthly supporter.
You can:
Learn more about us at abidible.com
Follow us on social media
Email us anytime with questions: hello@abidible.com
---
"Rhodesia by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org/"
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kate (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're
listening to the AbidiblePodcast.
I'm just a regular wife and momwho's had my life transformed
by learning to study the Bibleon my own.
If I can, you can.
On this show, I help you knowand love God more by abiding in
Him through His Word yourself.
(00:21):
Fear God.
What just came to your mindwhen I said those two words?
I'm gonna challenge you to hitpause and identify your
immediate response.
(00:42):
When I said fear God, whathappened for you?
Did you feel panic, resistance,concern, agreement, confusion?
Maybe consider writing yourthoughts down.
Fear God.
That's what we're talking abouttoday.
This is what Mary, the motherof our Lord, and the subject of
(01:03):
our Advent study here in Luke 1,fear God, that's what Mary
wants us to do.
And what is of criticalimportance is this.
Before Mary ever tells theworld to fear God, we can tell
that she has already experiencedGod's mercy personally, a mercy
(01:23):
that actually shaped how shefeared him.
In Luke 1.50, she says, and hismercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
What does it mean to fear God?
I think we can read a verselike that and say, okay, fear
God, got it, moving on, butactually have no clue what it
(01:46):
means biblically to fear God orhow in the world to apply it to
daily life.
At least that's how I feel.
It's a two-word phrase, fearGod, that appears
straightforward on the surface,but carries with it profound
depth.
It's a command, right?
So skimming over it or rushingpast it simply won't do.
(02:07):
This is why we study.
This is why we pause.
This is why we have thispodcast to camp out on a verse,
to pull it apart, toinvestigate, and to gain true
understanding by the grace ofGod and with the Holy Spirit's
help, so that we can live itout.
Because if it's in God's word,it matters and it's for our
(02:30):
good.
I want to know what this meansbecause honestly, I don't feel
like I know how to fully livethis out on a daily basis.
Do you?
So let's begin with somequestions.
What does it look like to fearGod?
Is this the concept Mary madeup?
Is our verse today, Luke 1.50,the very first time we are
(02:54):
introduced to the idea offearing God in the Bible?
Is fearing God just reservedfor Mary or for the people of
her time?
Or does it carry over to ustoday?
It looks like God's mercy iscontingent on fearing him.
So how do I know if I'm doingit correctly?
Is this idea of fear meant tobe a cowering fear, an
(03:18):
all-consuming panic?
Am I to flinch at the hand ofGod?
Or is it something else?
In a moment, to answer thesequestions, I'm going to do
something I've never done beforeon any of our podcast episodes.
But before I get to that, Iwant to quickly set the stage.
We are in the fifth verse ofMary's song.
(03:39):
This verse, verse 50, is atransition point in the song,
and we want to note that change.
Mary is going to go frompersonal to public, from who God
is and always has been to herpersonally, to who God can be to
all.
So far, we have seen thatMary's heart is filled with joy
(04:01):
upon being given the news thatshe has been favored and chosen
by God to carry the long-awaitedMessiah.
She magnifies him and rejoicesin him with all that she is.
She calls him by name, theLord.
She indicates the personalnature of her relationship with
him by saying, God, my Savior.
(04:24):
She demonstrates that she knowshis proven historical character
and attributes by calling himthe God who sees, Almighty God,
and the one whose name is holy.
No matter what this news ofcarrying a child might cost her
as a betrothed virgin, in aplace and time where the
consequences of turning uppregnant could be fatal, what
(04:48):
naturally pours out of Mary arethe very words of God.
This has given us clearevidence that Mary knew Torah.
And because of it, she knew theGod written about in it,
personally, intimately, andactively.
And yet, there is a verypersonal human element to the
(05:09):
timing of her song.
And I think this reveals anaspect of God's character that
we don't want to miss before wetransition with Mary to the more
public portion of her song.
Remembering the work we didwith context, we have seen that
Mary's praise comes on the heelsof an important confirmation of
her call to carry this child.
(05:30):
But it isn't the words ofGabriel that cause her to burst
into song.
Upon seeing her cousinElizabeth, the baby in
Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy.
Elizabeth calls Mary the motherof her Lord and blessed among
women, confirming everythingthat God had already said to
Mary through the angel Gabriel.
(05:52):
This is where mercy and fearmeet in a human moment.
God could have left Mary withonly angelic words, but he chose
to use Elizabeth, anotherGod-fearing woman, to confirm
his favor.
That tender human confirmationis itself evidence of God's
(06:14):
mercy poured out to one whoalready feared him rightly.
It shows us how fear of God andexperience of his mercy go
together.
And it's these merciful wordsof Elizabeth that cause Mary to
burst into song.
Commentator Alexander McLarennotes this purely personal
(06:35):
expression of the glad emotionsawakened by Elizabeth's presence
and salutation, which came toMary as confirmation of the
angel's annunciation.
Not when Gabriel spoke, butwhen a woman like herself called
her mother of my Lord, did shebreak into praise?
There is a deep truth there.
God's voice is made more sureto our weakness when it is
(06:59):
echoed by human lips, and ourinmost hopes attain substance
when they are shared and spokenby another.
What a beautiful picture ofGod's mercy through community to
two women who feared him.
God could have just sentGabriel, but he didn't.
To reassure Mary, he sends Maryto Elizabeth.
(07:20):
Knowing what added humanconfirmation would mean to Mary,
God goes the extra mile.
He uses another beautiful,God-fearing woman to comfort,
assure, and strengthen Mary inher new calling.
Just pause here with me for amoment and allow this element of
God's nature to wash over you.
This is mercy meeting afaithful, reverent heart, and it
(07:45):
shows the mercy promised tothose who fear him.
He sees, he knows, and he meetsour every need.
He is tender and caring.
And if he calls us to it, hewill find clear ways to confirm
it and equip us for it.
Now, Mary, the one whom theangel Gabriel first addresses in
(08:07):
128 by saying, Greetings, Ofavored One, turns her personal
experience of God outward.
In the rest of the verses inher song, we're going to see
that her focus shifts toward anew message.
The God who is my God can beyour God too.
This past week, I saw a quotethat said, Don't stand on the
(08:31):
stage before you sit at hisfeet.
The topic of today's podcast isabout fearing God.
It's the first thing Marywanted to share from her
figurative stage as the nowpublic person she would become
as the mother of the Messiah.
But before she ever considerslooking about her, speaking in
(08:53):
her song essentially to allmankind, we have seen that she
has spent much time sitting atthe feet of God.
That time is what now qualifiesher to call the rest of us to
fear God.
Again, and it should not comeas a surprise, fearing God is
not a concept made up by Mary.
(09:13):
Yet again, she's referring toScripture and the ages-old
concept, as old as Abraham, infact, in Genesis 22, of fearing
God.
It's even tied to the end ofthe Shema that we studied in our
God is one series fromDeuteronomy 6.
Do you remember?
It is the Lord your God, youshall fear.
(09:34):
From this place, theGod-fearing woman Gabriel calls,
O favored one, now calls allothers to fear God too.
This Greek word for favored hasnothing to do with Mary and
everything to do with God'smercy.
It means to pursue with grace,compass with favor, honor with
(09:56):
blessings, and make accepted.
Mary is able to say that hismercy is on all who fear him
from generation to generation,because the very theme she'd
studied all her life inScripture had now come true for
her.
The most profound demonstrationof the mercy of God, the Son of
(10:17):
God, now grows in her womb.
He will be her savior, but notjust hers.
He will be the savior of theworld.
And that's what we seehappening here.
Mary turns her attention toGod's dealings with all mankind.
And the first message of hermission is an intimately
(10:38):
personal one.
It's a promise and a warning.
God is a God of mercy, but hismercy is reserved for those who
fear him.
God was Mary's God.
That personal relationship wasthe foundation for the message
she now shares.
My God can be your God, butonly if you fear him.
(11:01):
And because of the criticalnature of this message, I'm now
going to do something I've neverdone before on the podcast.
But first, real quick, ifyou're a big fan of the Abidible
Podcast, please check out thelink in the show description to
learn more about partnering withus by buying us a coffee.
So, what is this thing I'mgoing to do for the first time
(11:24):
ever?
I'm going to share an entireCharles Spurgeon sermon.
As I researched what it meansto fear God, I came across this
message, a fear to be desired,that Charles Spurgeon preached
on November 7th, 1878.
I had tears streaming down mycheeks multiple times as I read
(11:46):
it.
And so I thought, how can Iwrite anything better than this?
I can't just share excerpts ofit.
I want to share all of it.
So that's exactly what I'mgoing to do today.
Because this sermon is publicdomain, I'm able to share it
with you like this, but I'llalso link it for you from
spurgeon.org in this episode'sdescription.
(12:08):
Let me quickly add one morething.
The verse Spurgeon uses forthis sermon is Hosea 3.5, which
refers to the nation of Israeland essentially says, afterward,
the children of Israel shallcome in fear to the Lord and to
his goodness in the latter days.
While Spurgeon offers a briefsummary of this specific
(12:30):
scenario addressed here byHosea, what Spurgeon primarily
deals with in this message isthe concept of fearing the Lord.
And that's where I'll begin.
Are you ready?
Here is the rest of his messagein its entirety.
It's amazing.
On this occasion, I intend onlyto call your attention to this
(12:51):
expression, they shall fear theLord and his goodness, for what
Israel will do in a state ofgrace is precisely what all
spiritual Israelites do when thegrace of God rests upon them.
The fear of the Lord, which isthe beginning of wisdom, fills
the heart, and the goodness ofthe Lord becomes the source and
(13:12):
fountain of that fear in thehearts of all those whom the
Lord has blessed with his grace.
So I shall, first of all, askyou to notice a distinction
which is to be observed,secondly, a grace which is to be
cultivated, and then, thirdly,a sin which is to be repented of
(13:34):
in the case of many.
First, then, here is adistinction to be observed.
Human language is necessarilyimperfect.
Since man's fall, andespecially since the confusion
of tongues at Babel, there hasnot only been a difference in
speech between one nation andanother, but also between one
(13:54):
individual and another.
Probably we do not all meanexactly the same thing by any
one word that we use.
There is just a shade ofdifference between your meaning
and mine.
The confusion of tongues wentmuch further than we sometimes
realize, and so completely didit confuse our language that we
do not, on all occasions, meanquite the same thing to
(14:18):
ourselves, even when we use thesame word.
Hence, fear is a word which hasa very wide range of meaning.
There is a kind of fear whichis to be shunned and avoided,
that fear which perfect lovecasts out, because it hath
torment.
But there is another sort offear which has in it the very
(14:40):
essence of love, and withoutwhich there would be no joy even
in the presence of God.
Instead of perfect love castingout this fear, perfect love
nourishes and cherishes it, andby communion with it, itself
derives strength from it.
Between the fear of a slave andthe fear of a child, we can all
(15:04):
perceive a great distinction.
Between the fear of God's greatpower and justice, which the
devils have, and that fear whicha child of God has when he
walks in the light with his God,there is as much difference,
surely, as between hell andheaven.
In the verse from which ourtext is taken, that difference
(15:26):
is clearly indicated.
Afterward shall the children ofIsrael return and seek the Lord
their God, and David theirking, and shall fear the Lord,
so that this fear is connectedwith seeking the Lord.
It is a fear which draws themtoward God and makes them search
for Him.
You know how the fear of theungodly influences them.
(15:50):
It makes them afraid of God, sothat they say, Whither shall we
flee from His presence?
They would take the wings ofthe morning if they could, and
fly to the uttermost parts ofthe earth if they had any hope
that God could not reach themthere.
At the last, when this fearwill take full possession of
(16:11):
them, they will call upon therocks and the hills to hide them
from the face of Him who willthen sit upon the throne, whose
wrath they will have such causeto dread.
The fear of God, as it existsin unrenewed men, is a force
which ever drives them furtherand yet further away from God.
(16:33):
They never get any rest of minduntil they have ceased to think
of Him.
If a thought of God should,perchance, steal into their
mind, fear at once lays holdupon them again, and that fear
urges them to flee from God.
But the fear mentioned in ourtext draws to God.
(16:54):
The man who has this fear inhis heart cannot live without
seeking God's face, confessinghis guilt before him and
receiving pardon from him.
He seeks God because of thisfear.
Just as Noah, moved with fear,built the ark wherein he and his
(17:14):
household were saved, so dothese men, moved with fear, draw
nigh unto God and seek to findsalvation through his love and
grace.
Always notice this distinctionand observe that the fear which
drives anyone away from God is avice and a sin, but the fear
(17:35):
that draws us towards God, aswith silken bonds, is a virtue
to be cultivated.
This appears even more clearlyin the Hebrew, for they who best
understand that language tellus that this passage should be
read thus.
They shall fear toward the Lordand toward his goodness.
(17:56):
This fear leans toward theLord.
When thou really knowest God,thou shalt be thrice happy if
thou dost run toward him,falling down before him,
worshiping him with bowed head,yet glad heart, all the while
fearing toward him and not awayfrom him.
(18:18):
Blessed is the man whose heartis filled with that holy fear
which inclines his step in theway of God's commandments,
inclines his heart to seek afterGod, and inclines his whole
soul to enter into fellowshipwith God, that he may be
acquainted with him and be atpeace.
(18:38):
It is also worthy of noticethat this fear is connected with
the Messiah.
They shall seek the Lord theirGod and David their king, who
stands here as the type of Jesusthe Messiah, the King of
Israel.
And further on, it is said,they shall fear the Lord and his
goodness.
(18:59):
And I should not do wrong if Iwere to say that Christ is
Jehovah's goodness, that in hisblessed person you have all the
goodness and mercy and grace ofGod condensed and concentrated.
In him dwelleth all thefullness of the Godhead bodily.
(19:20):
So that fear, which is a signof grace in the heart, that fear
which we ought all to seekafter, always links itself onto
Christ Jesus.
If thou fearest God and knowestnot that there is a mediator
between God and men, thou wiltnever think of approaching him.
(19:42):
God is a consuming fire.
Then how can thou draw near tohim apart from Christ?
If thou fearest God and knowestnot of Christ's atonement, how
can thou approach him?
Without faith, it is impossibleto please God.
And without the blood of Jesus,there is no way of access to
(20:05):
the divine mercy seat.
If thou knowest not Christ,thou wilt never come unto God.
Thy fear must link itself withthe goodness of God as displayed
in the person of his dear son,or else it cannot be that
seeking fear, that fear towardthe Lord of which our text
(20:28):
speaks.
It will be a fleeing fear, afear that will drive thee
further and yet further awayfrom God, into greater and
deeper darkness, into diredestruction.
In fact, into that pit whosebottomless abyss swallows up all
hope, all rest, and all joyforever.
(20:49):
Let this distinction be kept inmind, and then we may safely go
on to consider in the secondplace the grace which is to be
cultivated.
They shall fear the Lord andhis goodness.
We will divide the one thoughtinto two, and first I will speak
about that fear of God, whichis the work of the Holy Spirit,
(21:14):
a token of grace, a sign ofsalvation, and a precious
treasure to be ever kept in theheart.
What is this fear of God?
I answer first in a sense ofawe of his greatness.
Have you never felt this sacredawe stealing insensibly over
(21:34):
your spirit, hushing and calmingyou and bowing you down before
the Lord?
It will come sometimes in theconsideration of the great works
of nature, gazing upon the vastexpanse of waters, looking up
to the innumerable stars,examining the wing of an insect,
(21:54):
and seeing there the matchlessskill of God displayed in the
minute, or standing in athunderstorm, watching as best
you can the flashes of lightningand listening to the thunder of
Jehovah's Voice.
Have you not often shrunk intoyourself and said, Great God,
how terrible art thou, notafraid, but full of delight,
(22:18):
like a child who rejoices to seehis father's wealth, his
father's wisdom, his father'spower, happy and at home, but
feeling oh so little.
We are less than nothing.
We are all but annihilated inthe presence of the great,
eternal, infinite, invisible,all in all.
(22:40):
Gracious men often come intothis state of mind and heart by
watching the works of God.
So they do when they observewhat he does in providence.
Dr.
Watts truly sings, here heexalts neglected worms to
scepters and a crown.
Anon the following page heturns and treads the monarch
(23:03):
down.
The mightiest kings and princesare but grasshoppers in his
sight.
The nations are as a drop of abucket and are counted as the
small dust of the balance thathas not weight enough to turn
the scale.
We talk about the greatness ofmankind, but all nations before
him are as nothing, and they arecounted to him less than
(23:27):
nothing and vanity.
Again, Dr.
Watts wisely sings, Great God,how infinite art thou, what
worthless worms are we.
When we realize this, we arefilled with a holy awe as we
think of God's greatness, andthe result of that is that we
are moved to fall before him inreverent adoration.
(23:51):
We turn to the word of God, andthere we see further proofs of
his greatness in all hismerciful arrangements for the
salvation of sinners, andespecially in the matchless
redemption wrought out by hiswell-beloved son, every part of
which is full of the divineglory.
(24:11):
And as we gaze upon that glorywith exceeding joy, we shrink to
nothing before the eternal.
And the result again is lowlyadoration.
We bow down and adore andworship the living God with a
joyful, tender fear, which bothlays us low and lifts us very
high.
(24:32):
For never do we seem to benearer to heaven's golden throne
than when our spirit givesitself up to worship him whom it
does not see, but in whoserealized presence it trembles
with sacred delight.
It is the same fear, but lookedat from another point of view,
(24:52):
which has regard to the holinessof God.
What a holy being is the greatJehovah of Hosts.
There is in him no fault, nodeficiency, no redundance.
He is whole and therefore holy.
There is nothing there buthimself, the holy, perfect God.
Holy, holy, holy is a fit notefor the mysterious living
(25:18):
creatures to sound out beforehis throne above.
For all along he has actedaccording to the principle of
unsullied holiness.
Though blasphemers have triedmany times to snatch from his
hand the balance and the rod,re-judge his judgments, be the
God of God, they have alwaysfailed.
(25:40):
And still he sits in the lonelymajesty of his absolute
perfection, while they, likebrute beasts, crouch far beneath
him and despise what theycannot comprehend.
But to a believing heart, Godis all purity.
His light is as the color ofthe terrible crystal of which
(26:01):
Ezekiel writes.
His brightness is so great thatno man can approach unto it.
We are so sinful that when weget even a glimpse of the divine
holiness, we are filled withfear, and we cry with Job, I
have heard of thee by thehearing of the ear, but now mine
eye seeth thee.
(26:21):
Wherefore I abhor myself andrepent in dust and ashes.
This is a kind of fear which wehave need to cultivate, for it
leads to repentance andconfession of sin, to
aspirations after holiness, andto the utter rejection of all
self-complacency andself-conceit.
(26:43):
God grant that we may becompletely delivered from all
those forms of pride and evil.
The fear of God also takesanother form, that is, the fear
of his fatherhood, which leadsus to reverence him.
When divine grace has given usthe new birth, we recognize that
(27:04):
we have entered into a freshrelationship towards God,
namely, that we have become hissons and daughters.
Then we realize that we havereceived the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Now we cannot truly cry untoGod, Abba, Father, without at
(27:27):
the same time feeling, behold,what manner of love the Father
has bestowed upon us that weshould be called the sons of
God.
When we recognize that we areheirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ, children of thehighest, adopted into the family
of the eternal Himself, we feelat once, as the spirit of
(27:51):
childhood works within us, thatwe both love and fear our great
Father in heaven, who has lovedus with an everlasting love and
has begotten us again into alively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fadethnot away.
(28:13):
In this childlike fear, thereis not an atom of that fear
which signifies being afraid.
We who believe in Jesus are notafraid of our Father.
God forbid that we ever shouldbe.
The nearer we can get to him,the happier we are.
Our highest wish is to beforever with him and to be lost
(28:37):
in him.
But still, we pray that wemight not grieve him.
We beseech him to keep us fromturning aside from him.
We ask for his tender pitytoward our infirmities and plead
with him to forgive us and todeal graciously with us for his
dear son's sake.
As loving children, we feel aholy awe and reverence as we
(29:00):
realize our relationship to himwho is our Father in heaven, a
dear, loving, tender, pitiful,meaning having pity on us,
Father.
Yet our heavenly Father, who isgreatly to be feared in the
assembly of the saints, and tobe had in reverence of all them
(29:20):
that are about him.
This holy fear takes a furtherform when our fear of God's
sovereignty leads us to obey himas our king, for he to whom we
pray and in whom we trust isking of kings and lord of lords,
and we gladly own hissovereignty.
(29:40):
We see him sitting upon athrone which is dependent upon
no human or angelic power tosustain it.
The kings of the earth must asktheir fellow men to march in
the ranks in order to sustaintheir rulers.
But our king sits on noprecarious throne, nor borrow
no.
Leave to be a king.
(30:02):
As the creator of all thingsand all beings, he has a right
to the obedience of all thecreatures he has made.
Again, I say that we whobelieve in Jesus are not afraid
of God even as our king, for hehas made us also to be kings and
priests, and we are to reignwith him through Jesus Christ
(30:24):
forever and ever.
Yet we tremble before him lestwe should be rebellious against
him in the slightest degree.
With a childlike fear, we areafraid lest one revolting
thought or one treacherous wishshould ever come into our mind
or heart to stain our absoluteloyalty to him.
(30:45):
Horror takes hold upon us whenwe hear others deny that the
Lord reigneth.
But even the thought that weshould ever do this grieves us
exceedingly, and we are filledwith that holy fear which moves
us to obey every command of ourgracious King so far as we know
it to be his command.
(31:06):
Having this fear of God beforeour eyes, we cry to those who
would tempt us to sin.
How then can I do this greatwickedness and sin against God?
It is not because we are afraidof him, but because we delight
in him, that we fear before himwith an obedient, reverential
(31:26):
fear.
And beloved, I do firmlybelieve that when this kind of
fear of God works itself out tothe full, it crystallizes into
love, so excellent, so glorious,so altogether everything that
could be desired, so far aboveour highest thought or wish, art
(31:47):
thou, O Jehovah, that we liebefore thee and shrink into
nothing.
Yet even as we do so, we feelanother sensation springing up
within us.
We feel that we love thee, andas we decrease in our own
estimation of ourselves, we feelthat we love thee more and
(32:11):
more.
As we realize our ownnothingness, we are more than
ever conscious of the greatnessof our God.
Thine heart shall fear and beenlarged, says the prophet
Isaiah.
And so it comes to pass withus.
The more we fear the Lord, themore we love him, until this
becomes to us the true fear ofGod, to love him with all our
(32:35):
heart and mind and soul andstrength.
May He bring us to this blessedclimax by the effectual working
of His Holy Spirit.
Now, I want to dwell withsomewhat of emphasis upon the
second part of this fear.
They shall fear the Lord andHis goodness.
(32:56):
It may at first seem to somepeople a strange thing that we
should fear God's goodness, butthere are some of us who know
exactly what this expressionmeans, for we have often
experienced just what itdescribes.
How can we fear God's goodness?
I speak what I have often felt,and I believe many of you can
(33:16):
do the same as you look backupon the goodness of God to you,
saving you from sin and makingyou to be his child.
And as you think of all hisgoodness to you in the
dispensations of his providence,you may perhaps be like Jacob,
who left his father's house withhis wallet and his staff, and
(33:37):
when he came back with a familythat formed two bands and with
abundance of all that he coulddesire, he must have been
astonished at what God had donefor him.
And when David sat upon histhrone in Jerusalem, surrounded
by wealth and splendor, as herecollected how he had fed his
flock in the wilderness andafterward had been hunted by
(34:00):
Saul like a partridge upon themountains, he might well say, Is
this the manner of man, O LordGod?
In this way, God's goodnessoften fills us with amazement,
and amazement has in it anelement of fear.
We are astonished at the Lord'sgracious dealings with us, and
(34:21):
we say to him, Why hast thoubeen so good to me for so many
years and in such multitudes offorms?
Why hast thou manifested somuch mercy and tenderness toward
me?
Thou hast treated me as if Ihad never grieved or offended
thee.
Thou hast been as good to me asif I had deserved great
(34:45):
blessings at thy hands.
Had thou paid me wages like ahired servant, thou would never
have given me such sweetness andsuch love as thou hast now
lavished upon me, though I wasonce a prodigal and wandered far
from thee.
O God, thy love is like thesun.
(35:06):
I cannot gaze upon it.
Its brightness would blind myeyes.
I fear because of thy goodness.
Do you know, dear friends, whatthis expression means?
If a sense of God's goodnesscomes upon you in all its force,
you will feel that God iswonderfully great to have been
(35:26):
so good to you.
Most of us have had friends whohave become tired of us after a
while.
Possibly we have had some verykind friends who are not yet
tired of us, but still they havefailed us every now and then at
some points.
Either their power could notmeet our necessity, or they were
not willing to do what weneeded.
But our God has poured out hismercy for us like a river.
(35:51):
It has flowed on without abreak.
These many years he hascontinued to bless us and he has
heaped up his mercies mountainupon mountain until it has
seemed as though he would reachthe very stars with the lofty
pinnacles of his love.
What shall we say to all this?
(36:12):
Shall we not fear him and adorehim and bless him for all the
goodness that he has made topass before us?
And all the while feel thateven to kiss the hem of his
garment or to lie beneath hisfootstool is too great an honor
for us.
Then there will come upon uswhen we are truly grateful to
(36:35):
God for his goodness toward us,a sense of our own
responsibility, and we shallsay, What shall I render unto
the Lord for all his benefitstoward me?
We shall feel that we cannotrender to him anything compared
with what we ought to render,and there will come upon us this
(36:56):
fear that we shall never beable to live at all consistently
with the high position whichhis grace has given to us.
And God said, concerning hisancient people, we shall fear
and tremble for all the goodnessand for all the prosperity that
he has procured for us.
It will seem as though he hadset us on top of a high mountain
(37:18):
and had bidden us walk alongthat lofty ridge.
It is a ridge of favor andprivilege, but it is so elevated
that we fear lest our brainshould reel and our feet should
slip because of the height ofGod's mercy to us.
Have you never felt like that,beloved?
If God has greatly exalted youwith his favor and love, I am
(37:42):
sure you must have felt likethat many a time.
Then, next, this holy fear isnear akin to gratitude.
The fear of a man who reallyknows the love and goodness of
God will be somewhat of thiskind.
He will fear lest he shouldreally be or should seem to be
ungrateful.
(38:03):
What he asks, can I do?
I am drowned in mercy.
It is not as though my shipwere sailing in a sea of mercy.
I have been so loaded with thefavor of the Lord that my vessel
has gone right down, and theocean of God's love and mercy
has rolled right over themasthead.
(38:24):
What can I do, O Lord?
If thou had given me only alittle mercy, I might have done
something in return to expressmy gratitude.
But oh, thy great mercy inelecting me, in redeeming me, in
converting me, and inpreserving me, and in all the
goodness of thy providencetoward me, what can I do in
(38:47):
return for all these favors?
I feel struck dumb, and I amafraid lest I should have a dumb
heart as well as a dumb tongue.
I fear lest I should grievethee by anything that looks like
ingratitude.
Then the child of God beginsnext to fear lest he should
become proud.
For says he, I have noticedthat when God thus favors some
(39:11):
men, they begin to exaltthemselves and to think that
they are persons of greatimportance.
So if the Lord makes the streamof my life flow very joyously,
I may imagine that it is becausethere is some good thing in me
and be foolish enough to beginto ascribe the glory of it to
myself.
(39:31):
A true saint often tremblesconcerning this matter.
He sometimes gets even afraidof his mercies.
He knows that his trials andtroubles never did him any hurt,
but he perceives that sometimesGod's goodness has intoxicated
him as with sweet wine.
So he begins to be almostafraid of the goodness of God to
(39:53):
him.
He thinks to himself, shall Ibe unworthy of all this favor
and walk in a way that isinconsistent with it?
He looks a little ahead and heknows that the flesh is frail,
and that good men have oftenbeen found in very slippery
places.
And he says, What if, after allthis, I should be a backslider?
(40:14):
Thou, O Lord, hast brought meinto the banqueting house, and
thy banner over me is love.
Thou hast stayed me withflagons and comfort me with
apples.
Thou hast laid bare thy veryheart to me and made me know
that I am a man greatly beloved.
Shall I, after all this, everturn aside from thee?
(40:36):
Will the ungodly ever point atme and say, Aha! Aha, this is
the man after God's own heart?
Is this the disciple who saidhe would die rather than deny
his master?
Such a fear as that veryproperly comes over us at times,
and then we tremble because ofall the goodness which God has
(40:57):
made to pass before us.
I think you can see, dearfriends, without my needing to
enlarge further upon this point,that while a time of sorrow and
suffering is often to theChristian a time of confidence
in his God, on the other hand, atime of prosperity is, to the
wise man, a time of holy fear.
(41:19):
Not that he is ungrateful, buthe is afraid that he may be.
Not that he is proud, he istruly humble, because he is
afraid lest he should becomeproud.
Not that he loves the things ofthe world, but he is afraid
lest his heart should get awayfrom God, so he fears because of
(41:39):
all the Lord's goodness to him.
May the Lord always keep us inthat state of fear, for it is a
healthy condition for us to bein.
Those who walk so very proudlyand with too great confidence
are generally the ones who firsttumble down.
My observation and experiencehave taught me this.
(42:02):
When I have met with anyone whoknew that he was a very good
man and who boasted to otherpeople that he was a very good
man, he has generally proved tobe like some of those pears that
we sometimes see in the shop,very handsome to look at, but
sleepy and rotten all through.
Then, on the other hand, I havenoticed a great many other
(42:25):
people who have always beenafraid that they would go wrong,
and who have trembled andfeared at almost every step they
took.
They have feared lest theyshould grieve the Lord, and they
have cried unto him day andnight, Lord, uphold us, and he
has done so, and they have beenenabled to keep their garments
unspotted to their life's end.
(42:47):
So my prayer is that I maynever cease to feel this holy
fear before God, and that I maynever get to fancy for a moment
that there is or ever can beanything in me to cause me to
boast or to glory in myself.
May God save all of us fromthat evil, and the more we
(43:09):
receive of his goodness, themore may we fear with childlike
fear in his presence.
Now I must close with just afew words upon this last point,
which is a sin to be repentedof.
I cannot help fearing that I amaddressing some to whom my text
does not apply except by way ofcontrast.
(43:32):
Are there not some of you whoare unsaved and yet who do not
fear God?
Oh sirs, may the Holy Spiritmake you to fear and tremble
before him.
You have cause enough to fear.
If you live all day longwithout even thinking of God, or
(43:52):
if, when you do think of him,you try to smother the thought
at once.
If you say that you can get onvery well without him and that
life is happy enough withoutreligion, I could weep for you
because you do not weep foryourselves.
You say we are rich, yet allthe while you are wretched and
(44:14):
miserable and poor.
Your poverty is all the worsebecause you fancy that you are
rich.
You are also blind.
That is bad enough, yet you saywe can see.
It is doubly sad when thespiritually blind declare that
they can see, for they willnever ask for the sacred eye sav
(44:34):
or go to the great oculist whocan open blind eyes so long as
they are satisfied with theirpresent condition.
It is a great pity that manyunconverted men do not fear God
even with a servile fear.
If they would only begin withthat, it might prove to be the
lowest rung of the heavenlyladder and lead on to the
(44:57):
blessed fear, which is theportion of the children of God.
There are others of you, I amafraid, who never fear either
God or his goodness.
How I wish you would do so, forthe Lord has been very good to
you.
You were saved at sea after youhad been wrecked.
You were raised up from feverwhen others died.
(45:20):
You have been prospered inbusiness on the whole, though
you have had some struggles,blessed with children and made
happy in your home.
All this you owe to the Godwhom you have never
acknowledged.
The goodness of God to someungodly men is truly wonderful.
I think when they sit down atnight, when everybody else has
(45:42):
gone to bed and remember howthey began life with scarcely a
shilling to bless themselveswith, yet God has multiplied
their substance and given themmuch to rejoice in, their hearts
ought to be full of gratitudetoward their benefactor.
I would like all such people torecollect what God said by the
mouth of the prophet Hosea.
(46:03):
She did not know that I gaveher corn and wine and oil and
multiplied her silver and gold,which they prepared for Baal.
Therefore will I return andtake away my corn in the time
thereof, and my wine in theseason thereof, and will recover
my wool and my flax given tocover her nakedness.
Take care, O ye ungratefulsouls, that the Lord does not
(46:27):
begin to strip you of themercies which you have failed to
appreciate.
I pray that you may be led toconfess whence all these
blessings came, and to cry, MyFather, thou shalt be my guide,
henceforth and forever.
Since thou hast dealt solovingly and tenderly with me, I
(46:48):
will come and confess my sinunto thee, and trust in thy dear
Son as my Savior and Friend,that I may henceforth be led and
commanded by thee alone, andmay fear before thee all the
days of my life.
May God grant every one of usthe grace to believe in Jesus
and to rest in him, and then towalk in the fear of the Lord all
(47:13):
our days for Christ's sake.
Amen.
Okay, you see why I had to readthe whole thing, right?
That was unbelievably powerful.
And do you see it?
Jesus is the mercy of God.
In her song, it is clear thatMary had personally experienced
the mercy of God, and she knewthat his mercy was tied to fear.
(47:35):
To fear God means to love him,to make much of him, and to
magnify him.
Mary does this in hermagnificath.
That was the backgroundsoundtrack to her life.
But Mary didn't want to keepthis to herself.
My God can be your God, shesays as she now turns outward.
(47:58):
Fear him, magnify him, lovehim, and his mercy will wash
over you generation aftergeneration.
She understood the covenantalpromises of Scripture.
I will establish my covenantbetween me and you and your
offspring after you throughoutall generations for an
(48:18):
everlasting covenant to be Godto you and to your offspring
after you, showing steadfastlove to thousands.
But McLaren points out the mainsubject is the new revelation,
which is not confined to Mary,of the threefold divine glory
fused into one bright beam inthe incarnation.
(48:41):
Power, holiness, eternal mercyare all there, and that in
deeper and more wondrous fashionthan Mary knew when she sang.
Even Mary's anticipations fellfar short of the reality of that
power in weakness, thatholiness mildly blended with
tenderest pity and pardoninglove, that mercy which for all
(49:05):
generations was to stretch notonly to them that fear him, but
to rebels whom it would makefriends.
She saw dimly and in part.
We see more plainly all therays of divine perfection
meeting in and streaming out tothe whole world from her son,
(49:25):
the effulgence or radiance ofthe Father's glory.
The baby in her womb was ademonstration of God's mercy
that had never before been seen.
Matthew Henry says, For thereare gospel privileges
transmitted by entail andintended for perpetuity.
Those that fear God as theircreator and judge are encouraged
(49:49):
to hope for mercy in himthrough their mediator and
advocate.
And in him, mercy is settledupon all that fear God.
Pardoning mercy, healing mercy,accepting mercy, crowning mercy
from generation to generationwhile the world stands.
In Christ, he keepeth mercy forthousands.
(50:12):
Here's the big idea.
Mary's baby is the greatestdemonstration ever of God's
mercy.
And his mercy through Christextends to all who would come to
him in reverent fear or love,including rebels like you and
me.
I am dumbfounded by God'sdesire to show me a far-off
(50:37):
rebel mercy.
I do not deserve it, and Inever could have earned it.
I hope this burgeon's sermonhelped give you a better
understanding of what it meansto fear God.
It helped me tremendously.
And I realized fearing God issimply loving God with all my
heart, soul, and might.
(50:57):
It's what we discussed in ourGod is one series, and it's the
place we arrive when we abide inHim through His Word.
We come to know Him, andtherefore we can't help but love
Him and live for Him.
This is the same as fearingHim.
It's the awe and wonder andreverence that we arrive at in
increasing measure as we abidein Him.
(51:20):
It's choosing God first andmost.
He says, I picture myselfclimbing in the mountains, say
the Himalayas, and I'm on thesemassive rock faces and I see a
storm coming.
It's going to be a massivestorm, and I feel unbelievably
(51:44):
vulnerable on these mountainprecipices.
And so I am desperately lookingfor a little covert in the rock
where I won't be blown off theside of the cliff to
destruction.
And I find a hole in the sideof the mountain, and I spin
quickly, and suddenly theholiness and justice and power
and wrath and judgment of Godbreaks over me like a hurricane.
(52:07):
But I know I am totally safe,which means all that horrible
danger is transposed into themusic of majesty, and I can
enjoy it rather than fearing it.
And I think that is what thecross is.
Jesus died for us to provide aplace where we could enjoy the
(52:28):
majesty of God with a kind offear and trembling and reverence
and awe, but not a coweringfear.
Fear God, friend.
And as you do, his mercy willmeet you all the days of your
life.
Stand in trembling, reverentawe of who he is and of all that
(52:50):
he's done.
Your best path there is throughhis word.
And that's why we abide.
If you have never bowed yourknee to Jesus, I'll close by
repeating Spurgeon's finalprayer.
Pray this with me if you desireto cry out to God today.
My Father, thou shalt be myguide henceforth and forever.
(53:14):
Since thou hast dealt solovingly and tenderly with me, I
will come and confess my sinunto thee and trust thy dear son
as my savior and friend, that Imay henceforth be led and
commanded by thee alone, and mayfear before thee all the days
of my life.
(53:34):
And that's it for this episode.
If you know someone who wouldbe blessed by what you just
heard, please share the Abidiblepodcast with them.
Keep spreading the word so wecan make much of the word.
Drop us a review, tell us whatyou love and what you're
learning.
Check out the link to learnmore about partnering with us by
buying us a coffee one time, byjoining our Abidible Plus
(53:57):
women's membership community for$10 a month, or by becoming a
monthly supporter.
For those of you followingalong in the workbook, go ahead
and begin working on our nextverse in this series, Luke 1.51,
on pages 38 to 41 in your studyworkbook.
Ideally, you would have thissection done before you listen
to the next episode, number 75.
(54:19):
In this episode, we begin thesection of Mary's song that
provides the supporting evidencefor God's worthiness.
Five times we'll hear Mary say,He has.
This section is rich with themighty, merciful actions of God,
real history-shaping works thatreveal who he is and why he is
(54:40):
worthy of fear that manifests aslove, trust, patience, and
surrender.
The verse next week is Luke1.51.
He has shown strength with hisarm.
He has scattered the proud inthe thoughts of their hearts.
Next week, we will zoom in onthis picture of God's arm, his
power, his justice, his decisiveaction in the world, and we'll
(55:04):
watch Mary pull back the curtainon a God who isn't distant,
passive, or indifferent, butstrong and active on behalf of
his people.
We're going to talk about whyhis strength comforts the humble
but confronts the proud.
And how this one verse exposessomething deep in every human
heart.
If you've ever wondered whatGod's strength really looks like
(55:28):
or how it meets you in youractual life, you're not gonna
want to miss this episode.
I'll pray for us and then wrapthings up with our memory work
for verse 50.
Father, as we sit under theweight of this message, we ask
you to give us that fear whichis truly to be desired.
Not the fear that drives usfrom you, but the holy, reverent
(55:51):
fear that draws us near to you.
Grant us the fear that is agift, a grace, a safeguard for
our souls.
Deliver us from the fear thatdreads your presence and work in
us the fear that seeks refugein you.
Lord, teach us to tremblerightly.
Let us tremble at yourholiness, your justice, and your
(56:15):
majesty, but not as those whoare hopeless.
Give us the trembling of theforgiven, the trembling of those
who know that the God who couldcondemn has chosen instead to
save.
Shape us in that fear whichSpurgeon called joyful,
humbling, purifying, andpreserving.
(56:36):
May this fear keep us from sin,keep us small in our own eyes,
keep us watchful and keep usnear the cross.
Let it slay our pride, quietour self-confidence, and fix our
eyes on the blood of Christ,our only safety from the
righteous wrath we deserve.
(56:57):
Make us those who delight tofear your name, because in
fearing you rightly, we findourselves most secure.
And Holy Spirit, we ask foryour help in this daily.
We cannot produce this fear inour own hearts.
Work it in us.
Sustain it.
Cause us to walk each day withthat holy awe that Spurgeon
(57:22):
described.
The awe that is both tender andtrembling, both rejoicing and
reverent, both cautious andconfident in Christ.
Father, give us this fear thatleads to life.
The fear that abides forever.
The fear that glorifies you.
We ask this in the name ofJesus, our Savior and Mary's,
(57:47):
the one who was and is thegreatest demonstration of your
mercy.
Amen.
Let's close by doing our memorywork together.
I'm going to repeat Luke 155times.
Say it out loud with me orquietly to yourself.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
(58:09):
generation.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
generation.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
generation.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
generation.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
(58:34):
generation.
Luke 1 50.
Remember, you are able to abidein the Bible.
We'll see you next time.
Until then, let's abide.
Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're
listening to the AbidiblePodcast.
I'm just a regular wife and momwho's had my life transformed
by learning to study the Bibleon my own.
If I can, you can.
On this show, I help you knowand love God more by abiding in
Him through His Word yourself.
(00:21):
Fear God.
What just came to your mindwhen I said those two words?
I'm gonna challenge you to hitpause and identify your
immediate response.
(00:42):
When I said fear God, whathappened for you?
Did you feel panic, resistance,concern, agreement, confusion?
Maybe consider writing yourthoughts down.
Fear God.
That's what we're talking abouttoday.
This is what Mary, the motherof our Lord, and the subject of
(01:03):
our Advent study here in Luke 1,fear God, that's what Mary
wants us to do.
And what is of criticalimportance is this.
Before Mary ever tells theworld to fear God, we can tell
that she has already experiencedGod's mercy personally, a mercy
(01:23):
that actually shaped how shefeared him.
In Luke 1.50, she says, and hismercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
What does it mean to fear God?
I think we can read a verselike that and say, okay, fear
God, got it, moving on, butactually have no clue what it
(01:46):
means biblically to fear God orhow in the world to apply it to
daily life.
At least that's how I feel.
It's a two-word phrase, fearGod, that appears
straightforward on the surface,but carries with it profound
depth.
It's a command, right?
So skimming over it or rushingpast it simply won't do.
(02:07):
This is why we study.
This is why we pause.
This is why we have thispodcast to camp out on a verse,
to pull it apart, toinvestigate, and to gain true
understanding by the grace ofGod and with the Holy Spirit's
help, so that we can live itout.
Because if it's in God's word,it matters and it's for our
(02:30):
good.
I want to know what this meansbecause honestly, I don't feel
like I know how to fully livethis out on a daily basis.
Do you?
So let's begin with somequestions.
What does it look like to fearGod?
Is this the concept Mary madeup?
Is our verse today, Luke 1.50,the very first time we are
(02:54):
introduced to the idea offearing God in the Bible?
Is fearing God just reservedfor Mary or for the people of
her time?
Or does it carry over to ustoday?
It looks like God's mercy iscontingent on fearing him.
So how do I know if I'm doingit correctly?
Is this idea of fear meant tobe a cowering fear, an
(03:18):
all-consuming panic?
Am I to flinch at the hand ofGod?
Or is it something else?
In a moment, to answer thesequestions, I'm going to do
something I've never done beforeon any of our podcast episodes.
But before I get to that, Iwant to quickly set the stage.
We are in the fifth verse ofMary's song.
(03:39):
This verse, verse 50, is atransition point in the song,
and we want to note that change.
Mary is going to go frompersonal to public, from who God
is and always has been to herpersonally, to who God can be to
all.
So far, we have seen thatMary's heart is filled with joy
(04:01):
upon being given the news thatshe has been favored and chosen
by God to carry the long-awaitedMessiah.
She magnifies him and rejoicesin him with all that she is.
She calls him by name, theLord.
She indicates the personalnature of her relationship with
him by saying, God, my Savior.
(04:24):
She demonstrates that she knowshis proven historical character
and attributes by calling himthe God who sees, Almighty God,
and the one whose name is holy.
No matter what this news ofcarrying a child might cost her
as a betrothed virgin, in aplace and time where the
consequences of turning uppregnant could be fatal, what
(04:48):
naturally pours out of Mary arethe very words of God.
This has given us clearevidence that Mary knew Torah.
And because of it, she knew theGod written about in it,
personally, intimately, andactively.
And yet, there is a verypersonal human element to the
(05:09):
timing of her song.
And I think this reveals anaspect of God's character that
we don't want to miss before wetransition with Mary to the more
public portion of her song.
Remembering the work we didwith context, we have seen that
Mary's praise comes on the heelsof an important confirmation of
her call to carry this child.
(05:30):
But it isn't the words ofGabriel that cause her to burst
into song.
Upon seeing her cousinElizabeth, the baby in
Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy.
Elizabeth calls Mary the motherof her Lord and blessed among
women, confirming everythingthat God had already said to
Mary through the angel Gabriel.
(05:52):
This is where mercy and fearmeet in a human moment.
God could have left Mary withonly angelic words, but he chose
to use Elizabeth, anotherGod-fearing woman, to confirm
his favor.
That tender human confirmationis itself evidence of God's
(06:14):
mercy poured out to one whoalready feared him rightly.
It shows us how fear of God andexperience of his mercy go
together.
And it's these merciful wordsof Elizabeth that cause Mary to
burst into song.
Commentator Alexander McLarennotes this purely personal
(06:35):
expression of the glad emotionsawakened by Elizabeth's presence
and salutation, which came toMary as confirmation of the
angel's annunciation.
Not when Gabriel spoke, butwhen a woman like herself called
her mother of my Lord, did shebreak into praise?
There is a deep truth there.
God's voice is made more sureto our weakness when it is
(06:59):
echoed by human lips, and ourinmost hopes attain substance
when they are shared and spokenby another.
What a beautiful picture ofGod's mercy through community to
two women who feared him.
God could have just sentGabriel, but he didn't.
To reassure Mary, he sends Maryto Elizabeth.
(07:20):
Knowing what added humanconfirmation would mean to Mary,
God goes the extra mile.
He uses another beautiful,God-fearing woman to comfort,
assure, and strengthen Mary inher new calling.
Just pause here with me for amoment and allow this element of
God's nature to wash over you.
This is mercy meeting afaithful, reverent heart, and it
(07:45):
shows the mercy promised tothose who fear him.
He sees, he knows, and he meetsour every need.
He is tender and caring.
And if he calls us to it, hewill find clear ways to confirm
it and equip us for it.
Now, Mary, the one whom theangel Gabriel first addresses in
(08:07):
128 by saying, Greetings, Ofavored One, turns her personal
experience of God outward.
In the rest of the verses inher song, we're going to see
that her focus shifts toward anew message.
The God who is my God can beyour God too.
This past week, I saw a quotethat said, Don't stand on the
(08:31):
stage before you sit at hisfeet.
The topic of today's podcast isabout fearing God.
It's the first thing Marywanted to share from her
figurative stage as the nowpublic person she would become
as the mother of the Messiah.
But before she ever considerslooking about her, speaking in
(08:53):
her song essentially to allmankind, we have seen that she
has spent much time sitting atthe feet of God.
That time is what now qualifiesher to call the rest of us to
fear God.
Again, and it should not comeas a surprise, fearing God is
not a concept made up by Mary.
(09:13):
Yet again, she's referring toScripture and the ages-old
concept, as old as Abraham, infact, in Genesis 22, of fearing
God.
It's even tied to the end ofthe Shema that we studied in our
God is one series fromDeuteronomy 6.
Do you remember?
It is the Lord your God, youshall fear.
(09:34):
From this place, theGod-fearing woman Gabriel calls,
O favored one, now calls allothers to fear God too.
This Greek word for favored hasnothing to do with Mary and
everything to do with God'smercy.
It means to pursue with grace,compass with favor, honor with
(09:56):
blessings, and make accepted.
Mary is able to say that hismercy is on all who fear him
from generation to generation,because the very theme she'd
studied all her life inScripture had now come true for
her.
The most profound demonstrationof the mercy of God, the Son of
(10:17):
God, now grows in her womb.
He will be her savior, but notjust hers.
He will be the savior of theworld.
And that's what we seehappening here.
Mary turns her attention toGod's dealings with all mankind.
And the first message of hermission is an intimately
(10:38):
personal one.
It's a promise and a warning.
God is a God of mercy, but hismercy is reserved for those who
fear him.
God was Mary's God.
That personal relationship wasthe foundation for the message
she now shares.
My God can be your God, butonly if you fear him.
(11:01):
And because of the criticalnature of this message, I'm now
going to do something I've neverdone before on the podcast.
But first, real quick, ifyou're a big fan of the Abidible
Podcast, please check out thelink in the show description to
learn more about partnering withus by buying us a coffee.
So, what is this thing I'mgoing to do for the first time
(11:24):
ever?
I'm going to share an entireCharles Spurgeon sermon.
As I researched what it meansto fear God, I came across this
message, a fear to be desired,that Charles Spurgeon preached
on November 7th, 1878.
I had tears streaming down mycheeks multiple times as I read
(11:46):
it.
And so I thought, how can Iwrite anything better than this?
I can't just share excerpts ofit.
I want to share all of it.
So that's exactly what I'mgoing to do today.
Because this sermon is publicdomain, I'm able to share it
with you like this, but I'llalso link it for you from
spurgeon.org in this episode'sdescription.
(12:08):
Let me quickly add one morething.
The verse Spurgeon uses forthis sermon is Hosea 3.5, which
refers to the nation of Israeland essentially says, afterward,
the children of Israel shallcome in fear to the Lord and to
his goodness in the latter days.
While Spurgeon offers a briefsummary of this specific
(12:30):
scenario addressed here byHosea, what Spurgeon primarily
deals with in this message isthe concept of fearing the Lord.
And that's where I'll begin.
Are you ready?
Here is the rest of his messagein its entirety.
It's amazing.
On this occasion, I intend onlyto call your attention to this
(12:51):
expression, they shall fear theLord and his goodness, for what
Israel will do in a state ofgrace is precisely what all
spiritual Israelites do when thegrace of God rests upon them.
The fear of the Lord, which isthe beginning of wisdom, fills
the heart, and the goodness ofthe Lord becomes the source and
(13:12):
fountain of that fear in thehearts of all those whom the
Lord has blessed with his grace.
So I shall, first of all, askyou to notice a distinction
which is to be observed,secondly, a grace which is to be
cultivated, and then, thirdly,a sin which is to be repented of
(13:34):
in the case of many.
First, then, here is adistinction to be observed.
Human language is necessarilyimperfect.
Since man's fall, andespecially since the confusion
of tongues at Babel, there hasnot only been a difference in
speech between one nation andanother, but also between one
(13:54):
individual and another.
Probably we do not all meanexactly the same thing by any
one word that we use.
There is just a shade ofdifference between your meaning
and mine.
The confusion of tongues wentmuch further than we sometimes
realize, and so completely didit confuse our language that we
do not, on all occasions, meanquite the same thing to
(14:18):
ourselves, even when we use thesame word.
Hence, fear is a word which hasa very wide range of meaning.
There is a kind of fear whichis to be shunned and avoided,
that fear which perfect lovecasts out, because it hath
torment.
But there is another sort offear which has in it the very
(14:40):
essence of love, and withoutwhich there would be no joy even
in the presence of God.
Instead of perfect love castingout this fear, perfect love
nourishes and cherishes it, andby communion with it, itself
derives strength from it.
Between the fear of a slave andthe fear of a child, we can all
(15:04):
perceive a great distinction.
Between the fear of God's greatpower and justice, which the
devils have, and that fear whicha child of God has when he
walks in the light with his God,there is as much difference,
surely, as between hell andheaven.
In the verse from which ourtext is taken, that difference
(15:26):
is clearly indicated.
Afterward shall the children ofIsrael return and seek the Lord
their God, and David theirking, and shall fear the Lord,
so that this fear is connectedwith seeking the Lord.
It is a fear which draws themtoward God and makes them search
for Him.
You know how the fear of theungodly influences them.
(15:50):
It makes them afraid of God, sothat they say, Whither shall we
flee from His presence?
They would take the wings ofthe morning if they could, and
fly to the uttermost parts ofthe earth if they had any hope
that God could not reach themthere.
At the last, when this fearwill take full possession of
(16:11):
them, they will call upon therocks and the hills to hide them
from the face of Him who willthen sit upon the throne, whose
wrath they will have such causeto dread.
The fear of God, as it existsin unrenewed men, is a force
which ever drives them furtherand yet further away from God.
(16:33):
They never get any rest of minduntil they have ceased to think
of Him.
If a thought of God should,perchance, steal into their
mind, fear at once lays holdupon them again, and that fear
urges them to flee from God.
But the fear mentioned in ourtext draws to God.
(16:54):
The man who has this fear inhis heart cannot live without
seeking God's face, confessinghis guilt before him and
receiving pardon from him.
He seeks God because of thisfear.
Just as Noah, moved with fear,built the ark wherein he and his
(17:14):
household were saved, so dothese men, moved with fear, draw
nigh unto God and seek to findsalvation through his love and
grace.
Always notice this distinctionand observe that the fear which
drives anyone away from God is avice and a sin, but the fear
(17:35):
that draws us towards God, aswith silken bonds, is a virtue
to be cultivated.
This appears even more clearlyin the Hebrew, for they who best
understand that language tellus that this passage should be
read thus.
They shall fear toward the Lordand toward his goodness.
(17:56):
This fear leans toward theLord.
When thou really knowest God,thou shalt be thrice happy if
thou dost run toward him,falling down before him,
worshiping him with bowed head,yet glad heart, all the while
fearing toward him and not awayfrom him.
(18:18):
Blessed is the man whose heartis filled with that holy fear
which inclines his step in theway of God's commandments,
inclines his heart to seek afterGod, and inclines his whole
soul to enter into fellowshipwith God, that he may be
acquainted with him and be atpeace.
(18:38):
It is also worthy of noticethat this fear is connected with
the Messiah.
They shall seek the Lord theirGod and David their king, who
stands here as the type of Jesusthe Messiah, the King of
Israel.
And further on, it is said,they shall fear the Lord and his
goodness.
(18:59):
And I should not do wrong if Iwere to say that Christ is
Jehovah's goodness, that in hisblessed person you have all the
goodness and mercy and grace ofGod condensed and concentrated.
In him dwelleth all thefullness of the Godhead bodily.
(19:20):
So that fear, which is a signof grace in the heart, that fear
which we ought all to seekafter, always links itself onto
Christ Jesus.
If thou fearest God and knowestnot that there is a mediator
between God and men, thou wiltnever think of approaching him.
(19:42):
God is a consuming fire.
Then how can thou draw near tohim apart from Christ?
If thou fearest God and knowestnot of Christ's atonement, how
can thou approach him?
Without faith, it is impossibleto please God.
And without the blood of Jesus,there is no way of access to
(20:05):
the divine mercy seat.
If thou knowest not Christ,thou wilt never come unto God.
Thy fear must link itself withthe goodness of God as displayed
in the person of his dear son,or else it cannot be that
seeking fear, that fear towardthe Lord of which our text
(20:28):
speaks.
It will be a fleeing fear, afear that will drive thee
further and yet further awayfrom God, into greater and
deeper darkness, into diredestruction.
In fact, into that pit whosebottomless abyss swallows up all
hope, all rest, and all joyforever.
(20:49):
Let this distinction be kept inmind, and then we may safely go
on to consider in the secondplace the grace which is to be
cultivated.
They shall fear the Lord andhis goodness.
We will divide the one thoughtinto two, and first I will speak
about that fear of God, whichis the work of the Holy Spirit,
(21:14):
a token of grace, a sign ofsalvation, and a precious
treasure to be ever kept in theheart.
What is this fear of God?
I answer first in a sense ofawe of his greatness.
Have you never felt this sacredawe stealing insensibly over
(21:34):
your spirit, hushing and calmingyou and bowing you down before
the Lord?
It will come sometimes in theconsideration of the great works
of nature, gazing upon the vastexpanse of waters, looking up
to the innumerable stars,examining the wing of an insect,
(21:54):
and seeing there the matchlessskill of God displayed in the
minute, or standing in athunderstorm, watching as best
you can the flashes of lightningand listening to the thunder of
Jehovah's Voice.
Have you not often shrunk intoyourself and said, Great God,
how terrible art thou, notafraid, but full of delight,
(22:18):
like a child who rejoices to seehis father's wealth, his
father's wisdom, his father'spower, happy and at home, but
feeling oh so little.
We are less than nothing.
We are all but annihilated inthe presence of the great,
eternal, infinite, invisible,all in all.
(22:40):
Gracious men often come intothis state of mind and heart by
watching the works of God.
So they do when they observewhat he does in providence.
Dr.
Watts truly sings, here heexalts neglected worms to
scepters and a crown.
Anon the following page heturns and treads the monarch
(23:03):
down.
The mightiest kings and princesare but grasshoppers in his
sight.
The nations are as a drop of abucket and are counted as the
small dust of the balance thathas not weight enough to turn
the scale.
We talk about the greatness ofmankind, but all nations before
him are as nothing, and they arecounted to him less than
(23:27):
nothing and vanity.
Again, Dr.
Watts wisely sings, Great God,how infinite art thou, what
worthless worms are we.
When we realize this, we arefilled with a holy awe as we
think of God's greatness, andthe result of that is that we
are moved to fall before him inreverent adoration.
(23:51):
We turn to the word of God, andthere we see further proofs of
his greatness in all hismerciful arrangements for the
salvation of sinners, andespecially in the matchless
redemption wrought out by hiswell-beloved son, every part of
which is full of the divineglory.
(24:11):
And as we gaze upon that glorywith exceeding joy, we shrink to
nothing before the eternal.
And the result again is lowlyadoration.
We bow down and adore andworship the living God with a
joyful, tender fear, which bothlays us low and lifts us very
high.
(24:32):
For never do we seem to benearer to heaven's golden throne
than when our spirit givesitself up to worship him whom it
does not see, but in whoserealized presence it trembles
with sacred delight.
It is the same fear, but lookedat from another point of view,
(24:52):
which has regard to the holinessof God.
What a holy being is the greatJehovah of Hosts.
There is in him no fault, nodeficiency, no redundance.
He is whole and therefore holy.
There is nothing there buthimself, the holy, perfect God.
Holy, holy, holy is a fit notefor the mysterious living
(25:18):
creatures to sound out beforehis throne above.
For all along he has actedaccording to the principle of
unsullied holiness.
Though blasphemers have triedmany times to snatch from his
hand the balance and the rod,re-judge his judgments, be the
God of God, they have alwaysfailed.
(25:40):
And still he sits in the lonelymajesty of his absolute
perfection, while they, likebrute beasts, crouch far beneath
him and despise what theycannot comprehend.
But to a believing heart, Godis all purity.
His light is as the color ofthe terrible crystal of which
(26:01):
Ezekiel writes.
His brightness is so great thatno man can approach unto it.
We are so sinful that when weget even a glimpse of the divine
holiness, we are filled withfear, and we cry with Job, I
have heard of thee by thehearing of the ear, but now mine
eye seeth thee.
(26:21):
Wherefore I abhor myself andrepent in dust and ashes.
This is a kind of fear which wehave need to cultivate, for it
leads to repentance andconfession of sin, to
aspirations after holiness, andto the utter rejection of all
self-complacency andself-conceit.
(26:43):
God grant that we may becompletely delivered from all
those forms of pride and evil.
The fear of God also takesanother form, that is, the fear
of his fatherhood, which leadsus to reverence him.
When divine grace has given usthe new birth, we recognize that
(27:04):
we have entered into a freshrelationship towards God,
namely, that we have become hissons and daughters.
Then we realize that we havereceived the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Now we cannot truly cry untoGod, Abba, Father, without at
(27:27):
the same time feeling, behold,what manner of love the Father
has bestowed upon us that weshould be called the sons of
God.
When we recognize that we areheirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ, children of thehighest, adopted into the family
of the eternal Himself, we feelat once, as the spirit of
(27:51):
childhood works within us, thatwe both love and fear our great
Father in heaven, who has lovedus with an everlasting love and
has begotten us again into alively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fadethnot away.
(28:13):
In this childlike fear, thereis not an atom of that fear
which signifies being afraid.
We who believe in Jesus are notafraid of our Father.
God forbid that we ever shouldbe.
The nearer we can get to him,the happier we are.
Our highest wish is to beforever with him and to be lost
(28:37):
in him.
But still, we pray that wemight not grieve him.
We beseech him to keep us fromturning aside from him.
We ask for his tender pitytoward our infirmities and plead
with him to forgive us and todeal graciously with us for his
dear son's sake.
As loving children, we feel aholy awe and reverence as we
(29:00):
realize our relationship to himwho is our Father in heaven, a
dear, loving, tender, pitiful,meaning having pity on us,
Father.
Yet our heavenly Father, who isgreatly to be feared in the
assembly of the saints, and tobe had in reverence of all them
(29:20):
that are about him.
This holy fear takes a furtherform when our fear of God's
sovereignty leads us to obey himas our king, for he to whom we
pray and in whom we trust isking of kings and lord of lords,
and we gladly own hissovereignty.
(29:40):
We see him sitting upon athrone which is dependent upon
no human or angelic power tosustain it.
The kings of the earth must asktheir fellow men to march in
the ranks in order to sustaintheir rulers.
But our king sits on noprecarious throne, nor borrow
no.
Leave to be a king.
(30:02):
As the creator of all thingsand all beings, he has a right
to the obedience of all thecreatures he has made.
Again, I say that we whobelieve in Jesus are not afraid
of God even as our king, for hehas made us also to be kings and
priests, and we are to reignwith him through Jesus Christ
(30:24):
forever and ever.
Yet we tremble before him lestwe should be rebellious against
him in the slightest degree.
With a childlike fear, we areafraid lest one revolting
thought or one treacherous wishshould ever come into our mind
or heart to stain our absoluteloyalty to him.
(30:45):
Horror takes hold upon us whenwe hear others deny that the
Lord reigneth.
But even the thought that weshould ever do this grieves us
exceedingly, and we are filledwith that holy fear which moves
us to obey every command of ourgracious King so far as we know
it to be his command.
(31:06):
Having this fear of God beforeour eyes, we cry to those who
would tempt us to sin.
How then can I do this greatwickedness and sin against God?
It is not because we are afraidof him, but because we delight
in him, that we fear before himwith an obedient, reverential
(31:26):
fear.
And beloved, I do firmlybelieve that when this kind of
fear of God works itself out tothe full, it crystallizes into
love, so excellent, so glorious,so altogether everything that
could be desired, so far aboveour highest thought or wish, art
(31:47):
thou, O Jehovah, that we liebefore thee and shrink into
nothing.
Yet even as we do so, we feelanother sensation springing up
within us.
We feel that we love thee, andas we decrease in our own
estimation of ourselves, we feelthat we love thee more and
(32:11):
more.
As we realize our ownnothingness, we are more than
ever conscious of the greatnessof our God.
Thine heart shall fear and beenlarged, says the prophet
Isaiah.
And so it comes to pass withus.
The more we fear the Lord, themore we love him, until this
becomes to us the true fear ofGod, to love him with all our
(32:35):
heart and mind and soul andstrength.
May He bring us to this blessedclimax by the effectual working
of His Holy Spirit.
Now, I want to dwell withsomewhat of emphasis upon the
second part of this fear.
They shall fear the Lord andHis goodness.
(32:56):
It may at first seem to somepeople a strange thing that we
should fear God's goodness, butthere are some of us who know
exactly what this expressionmeans, for we have often
experienced just what itdescribes.
How can we fear God's goodness?
I speak what I have often felt,and I believe many of you can
(33:16):
do the same as you look backupon the goodness of God to you,
saving you from sin and makingyou to be his child.
And as you think of all hisgoodness to you in the
dispensations of his providence,you may perhaps be like Jacob,
who left his father's house withhis wallet and his staff, and
(33:37):
when he came back with a familythat formed two bands and with
abundance of all that he coulddesire, he must have been
astonished at what God had donefor him.
And when David sat upon histhrone in Jerusalem, surrounded
by wealth and splendor, as herecollected how he had fed his
flock in the wilderness andafterward had been hunted by
(34:00):
Saul like a partridge upon themountains, he might well say, Is
this the manner of man, O LordGod?
In this way, God's goodnessoften fills us with amazement,
and amazement has in it anelement of fear.
We are astonished at the Lord'sgracious dealings with us, and
(34:21):
we say to him, Why hast thoubeen so good to me for so many
years and in such multitudes offorms?
Why hast thou manifested somuch mercy and tenderness toward
me?
Thou hast treated me as if Ihad never grieved or offended
thee.
Thou hast been as good to me asif I had deserved great
(34:45):
blessings at thy hands.
Had thou paid me wages like ahired servant, thou would never
have given me such sweetness andsuch love as thou hast now
lavished upon me, though I wasonce a prodigal and wandered far
from thee.
O God, thy love is like thesun.
(35:06):
I cannot gaze upon it.
Its brightness would blind myeyes.
I fear because of thy goodness.
Do you know, dear friends, whatthis expression means?
If a sense of God's goodnesscomes upon you in all its force,
you will feel that God iswonderfully great to have been
(35:26):
so good to you.
Most of us have had friends whohave become tired of us after a
while.
Possibly we have had some verykind friends who are not yet
tired of us, but still they havefailed us every now and then at
some points.
Either their power could notmeet our necessity, or they were
not willing to do what weneeded.
But our God has poured out hismercy for us like a river.
(35:51):
It has flowed on without abreak.
These many years he hascontinued to bless us and he has
heaped up his mercies mountainupon mountain until it has
seemed as though he would reachthe very stars with the lofty
pinnacles of his love.
What shall we say to all this?
(36:12):
Shall we not fear him and adorehim and bless him for all the
goodness that he has made topass before us?
And all the while feel thateven to kiss the hem of his
garment or to lie beneath hisfootstool is too great an honor
for us.
Then there will come upon uswhen we are truly grateful to
(36:35):
God for his goodness toward us,a sense of our own
responsibility, and we shallsay, What shall I render unto
the Lord for all his benefitstoward me?
We shall feel that we cannotrender to him anything compared
with what we ought to render,and there will come upon us this
(36:56):
fear that we shall never beable to live at all consistently
with the high position whichhis grace has given to us.
And God said, concerning hisancient people, we shall fear
and tremble for all the goodnessand for all the prosperity that
he has procured for us.
It will seem as though he hadset us on top of a high mountain
(37:18):
and had bidden us walk alongthat lofty ridge.
It is a ridge of favor andprivilege, but it is so elevated
that we fear lest our brainshould reel and our feet should
slip because of the height ofGod's mercy to us.
Have you never felt like that,beloved?
If God has greatly exalted youwith his favor and love, I am
(37:42):
sure you must have felt likethat many a time.
Then, next, this holy fear isnear akin to gratitude.
The fear of a man who reallyknows the love and goodness of
God will be somewhat of thiskind.
He will fear lest he shouldreally be or should seem to be
ungrateful.
(38:03):
What he asks, can I do?
I am drowned in mercy.
It is not as though my shipwere sailing in a sea of mercy.
I have been so loaded with thefavor of the Lord that my vessel
has gone right down, and theocean of God's love and mercy
has rolled right over themasthead.
(38:24):
What can I do, O Lord?
If thou had given me only alittle mercy, I might have done
something in return to expressmy gratitude.
But oh, thy great mercy inelecting me, in redeeming me, in
converting me, and inpreserving me, and in all the
goodness of thy providencetoward me, what can I do in
(38:47):
return for all these favors?
I feel struck dumb, and I amafraid lest I should have a dumb
heart as well as a dumb tongue.
I fear lest I should grievethee by anything that looks like
ingratitude.
Then the child of God beginsnext to fear lest he should
become proud.
For says he, I have noticedthat when God thus favors some
(39:11):
men, they begin to exaltthemselves and to think that
they are persons of greatimportance.
So if the Lord makes the streamof my life flow very joyously,
I may imagine that it is becausethere is some good thing in me
and be foolish enough to beginto ascribe the glory of it to
myself.
(39:31):
A true saint often tremblesconcerning this matter.
He sometimes gets even afraidof his mercies.
He knows that his trials andtroubles never did him any hurt,
but he perceives that sometimesGod's goodness has intoxicated
him as with sweet wine.
So he begins to be almostafraid of the goodness of God to
(39:53):
him.
He thinks to himself, shall Ibe unworthy of all this favor
and walk in a way that isinconsistent with it?
He looks a little ahead and heknows that the flesh is frail,
and that good men have oftenbeen found in very slippery
places.
And he says, What if, after allthis, I should be a backslider?
(40:14):
Thou, O Lord, hast brought meinto the banqueting house, and
thy banner over me is love.
Thou hast stayed me withflagons and comfort me with
apples.
Thou hast laid bare thy veryheart to me and made me know
that I am a man greatly beloved.
Shall I, after all this, everturn aside from thee?
(40:36):
Will the ungodly ever point atme and say, Aha! Aha, this is
the man after God's own heart?
Is this the disciple who saidhe would die rather than deny
his master?
Such a fear as that veryproperly comes over us at times,
and then we tremble because ofall the goodness which God has
(40:57):
made to pass before us.
I think you can see, dearfriends, without my needing to
enlarge further upon this point,that while a time of sorrow and
suffering is often to theChristian a time of confidence
in his God, on the other hand, atime of prosperity is, to the
wise man, a time of holy fear.
(41:19):
Not that he is ungrateful, buthe is afraid that he may be.
Not that he is proud, he istruly humble, because he is
afraid lest he should becomeproud.
Not that he loves the things ofthe world, but he is afraid
lest his heart should get awayfrom God, so he fears because of
(41:39):
all the Lord's goodness to him.
May the Lord always keep us inthat state of fear, for it is a
healthy condition for us to bein.
Those who walk so very proudlyand with too great confidence
are generally the ones who firsttumble down.
My observation and experiencehave taught me this.
(42:02):
When I have met with anyone whoknew that he was a very good
man and who boasted to otherpeople that he was a very good
man, he has generally proved tobe like some of those pears that
we sometimes see in the shop,very handsome to look at, but
sleepy and rotten all through.
Then, on the other hand, I havenoticed a great many other
(42:25):
people who have always beenafraid that they would go wrong,
and who have trembled andfeared at almost every step they
took.
They have feared lest theyshould grieve the Lord, and they
have cried unto him day andnight, Lord, uphold us, and he
has done so, and they have beenenabled to keep their garments
unspotted to their life's end.
(42:47):
So my prayer is that I maynever cease to feel this holy
fear before God, and that I maynever get to fancy for a moment
that there is or ever can beanything in me to cause me to
boast or to glory in myself.
May God save all of us fromthat evil, and the more we
(43:09):
receive of his goodness, themore may we fear with childlike
fear in his presence.
Now I must close with just afew words upon this last point,
which is a sin to be repentedof.
I cannot help fearing that I amaddressing some to whom my text
does not apply except by way ofcontrast.
(43:32):
Are there not some of you whoare unsaved and yet who do not
fear God?
Oh sirs, may the Holy Spiritmake you to fear and tremble
before him.
You have cause enough to fear.
If you live all day longwithout even thinking of God, or
(43:52):
if, when you do think of him,you try to smother the thought
at once.
If you say that you can get onvery well without him and that
life is happy enough withoutreligion, I could weep for you
because you do not weep foryourselves.
You say we are rich, yet allthe while you are wretched and
(44:14):
miserable and poor.
Your poverty is all the worsebecause you fancy that you are
rich.
You are also blind.
That is bad enough, yet you saywe can see.
It is doubly sad when thespiritually blind declare that
they can see, for they willnever ask for the sacred eye sav
(44:34):
or go to the great oculist whocan open blind eyes so long as
they are satisfied with theirpresent condition.
It is a great pity that manyunconverted men do not fear God
even with a servile fear.
If they would only begin withthat, it might prove to be the
lowest rung of the heavenlyladder and lead on to the
(44:57):
blessed fear, which is theportion of the children of God.
There are others of you, I amafraid, who never fear either
God or his goodness.
How I wish you would do so, forthe Lord has been very good to
you.
You were saved at sea after youhad been wrecked.
You were raised up from feverwhen others died.
(45:20):
You have been prospered inbusiness on the whole, though
you have had some struggles,blessed with children and made
happy in your home.
All this you owe to the Godwhom you have never
acknowledged.
The goodness of God to someungodly men is truly wonderful.
I think when they sit down atnight, when everybody else has
(45:42):
gone to bed and remember howthey began life with scarcely a
shilling to bless themselveswith, yet God has multiplied
their substance and given themmuch to rejoice in, their hearts
ought to be full of gratitudetoward their benefactor.
I would like all such people torecollect what God said by the
mouth of the prophet Hosea.
(46:03):
She did not know that I gaveher corn and wine and oil and
multiplied her silver and gold,which they prepared for Baal.
Therefore will I return andtake away my corn in the time
thereof, and my wine in theseason thereof, and will recover
my wool and my flax given tocover her nakedness.
Take care, O ye ungratefulsouls, that the Lord does not
(46:27):
begin to strip you of themercies which you have failed to
appreciate.
I pray that you may be led toconfess whence all these
blessings came, and to cry, MyFather, thou shalt be my guide,
henceforth and forever.
Since thou hast dealt solovingly and tenderly with me, I
(46:48):
will come and confess my sinunto thee, and trust in thy dear
Son as my Savior and Friend,that I may henceforth be led and
commanded by thee alone, andmay fear before thee all the
days of my life.
May God grant every one of usthe grace to believe in Jesus
and to rest in him, and then towalk in the fear of the Lord all
(47:13):
our days for Christ's sake.
Amen.
Okay, you see why I had to readthe whole thing, right?
That was unbelievably powerful.
And do you see it?
Jesus is the mercy of God.
In her song, it is clear thatMary had personally experienced
the mercy of God, and she knewthat his mercy was tied to fear.
(47:35):
To fear God means to love him,to make much of him, and to
magnify him.
Mary does this in hermagnificath.
That was the backgroundsoundtrack to her life.
But Mary didn't want to keepthis to herself.
My God can be your God, shesays as she now turns outward.
(47:58):
Fear him, magnify him, lovehim, and his mercy will wash
over you generation aftergeneration.
She understood the covenantalpromises of Scripture.
I will establish my covenantbetween me and you and your
offspring after you throughoutall generations for an
(48:18):
everlasting covenant to be Godto you and to your offspring
after you, showing steadfastlove to thousands.
But McLaren points out the mainsubject is the new revelation,
which is not confined to Mary,of the threefold divine glory
fused into one bright beam inthe incarnation.
(48:41):
Power, holiness, eternal mercyare all there, and that in
deeper and more wondrous fashionthan Mary knew when she sang.
Even Mary's anticipations fellfar short of the reality of that
power in weakness, thatholiness mildly blended with
tenderest pity and pardoninglove, that mercy which for all
(49:05):
generations was to stretch notonly to them that fear him, but
to rebels whom it would makefriends.
She saw dimly and in part.
We see more plainly all therays of divine perfection
meeting in and streaming out tothe whole world from her son,
(49:25):
the effulgence or radiance ofthe Father's glory.
The baby in her womb was ademonstration of God's mercy
that had never before been seen.
Matthew Henry says, For thereare gospel privileges
transmitted by entail andintended for perpetuity.
Those that fear God as theircreator and judge are encouraged
(49:49):
to hope for mercy in himthrough their mediator and
advocate.
And in him, mercy is settledupon all that fear God.
Pardoning mercy, healing mercy,accepting mercy, crowning mercy
from generation to generationwhile the world stands.
In Christ, he keepeth mercy forthousands.
(50:12):
Here's the big idea.
Mary's baby is the greatestdemonstration ever of God's
mercy.
And his mercy through Christextends to all who would come to
him in reverent fear or love,including rebels like you and
me.
I am dumbfounded by God'sdesire to show me a far-off
(50:37):
rebel mercy.
I do not deserve it, and Inever could have earned it.
I hope this burgeon's sermonhelped give you a better
understanding of what it meansto fear God.
It helped me tremendously.
And I realized fearing God issimply loving God with all my
heart, soul, and might.
(50:57):
It's what we discussed in ourGod is one series, and it's the
place we arrive when we abide inHim through His Word.
We come to know Him, andtherefore we can't help but love
Him and live for Him.
This is the same as fearingHim.
It's the awe and wonder andreverence that we arrive at in
increasing measure as we abidein Him.
(51:20):
It's choosing God first andmost.
He says, I picture myselfclimbing in the mountains, say
the Himalayas, and I'm on thesemassive rock faces and I see a
storm coming.
It's going to be a massivestorm, and I feel unbelievably
(51:44):
vulnerable on these mountainprecipices.
And so I am desperately lookingfor a little covert in the rock
where I won't be blown off theside of the cliff to
destruction.
And I find a hole in the sideof the mountain, and I spin
quickly, and suddenly theholiness and justice and power
and wrath and judgment of Godbreaks over me like a hurricane.
(52:07):
But I know I am totally safe,which means all that horrible
danger is transposed into themusic of majesty, and I can
enjoy it rather than fearing it.
And I think that is what thecross is.
Jesus died for us to provide aplace where we could enjoy the
(52:28):
majesty of God with a kind offear and trembling and reverence
and awe, but not a coweringfear.
Fear God, friend.
And as you do, his mercy willmeet you all the days of your
life.
Stand in trembling, reverentawe of who he is and of all that
(52:50):
he's done.
Your best path there is throughhis word.
And that's why we abide.
If you have never bowed yourknee to Jesus, I'll close by
repeating Spurgeon's finalprayer.
Pray this with me if you desireto cry out to God today.
My Father, thou shalt be myguide henceforth and forever.
(53:14):
Since thou hast dealt solovingly and tenderly with me, I
will come and confess my sinunto thee and trust thy dear son
as my savior and friend, that Imay henceforth be led and
commanded by thee alone, and mayfear before thee all the days
of my life.
(53:34):
And that's it for this episode.
If you know someone who wouldbe blessed by what you just
heard, please share the Abidiblepodcast with them.
Keep spreading the word so wecan make much of the word.
Drop us a review, tell us whatyou love and what you're
learning.
Check out the link to learnmore about partnering with us by
buying us a coffee one time, byjoining our Abidible Plus
(53:57):
women's membership community for$10 a month, or by becoming a
monthly supporter.
For those of you followingalong in the workbook, go ahead
and begin working on our nextverse in this series, Luke 1.51,
on pages 38 to 41 in your studyworkbook.
Ideally, you would have thissection done before you listen
to the next episode, number 75.
(54:19):
In this episode, we begin thesection of Mary's song that
provides the supporting evidencefor God's worthiness.
Five times we'll hear Mary say,He has.
This section is rich with themighty, merciful actions of God,
real history-shaping works thatreveal who he is and why he is
(54:40):
worthy of fear that manifests aslove, trust, patience, and
surrender.
The verse next week is Luke1.51.
He has shown strength with hisarm.
He has scattered the proud inthe thoughts of their hearts.
Next week, we will zoom in onthis picture of God's arm, his
power, his justice, his decisiveaction in the world, and we'll
(55:04):
watch Mary pull back the curtainon a God who isn't distant,
passive, or indifferent, butstrong and active on behalf of
his people.
We're going to talk about whyhis strength comforts the humble
but confronts the proud.
And how this one verse exposessomething deep in every human
heart.
If you've ever wondered whatGod's strength really looks like
(55:28):
or how it meets you in youractual life, you're not gonna
want to miss this episode.
I'll pray for us and then wrapthings up with our memory work
for verse 50.
Father, as we sit under theweight of this message, we ask
you to give us that fear whichis truly to be desired.
Not the fear that drives usfrom you, but the holy, reverent
(55:51):
fear that draws us near to you.
Grant us the fear that is agift, a grace, a safeguard for
our souls.
Deliver us from the fear thatdreads your presence and work in
us the fear that seeks refugein you.
Lord, teach us to tremblerightly.
Let us tremble at yourholiness, your justice, and your
(56:15):
majesty, but not as those whoare hopeless.
Give us the trembling of theforgiven, the trembling of those
who know that the God who couldcondemn has chosen instead to
save.
Shape us in that fear whichSpurgeon called joyful,
humbling, purifying, andpreserving.
(56:36):
May this fear keep us from sin,keep us small in our own eyes,
keep us watchful and keep usnear the cross.
Let it slay our pride, quietour self-confidence, and fix our
eyes on the blood of Christ,our only safety from the
righteous wrath we deserve.
(56:57):
Make us those who delight tofear your name, because in
fearing you rightly, we findourselves most secure.
And Holy Spirit, we ask foryour help in this daily.
We cannot produce this fear inour own hearts.
Work it in us.
Sustain it.
Cause us to walk each day withthat holy awe that Spurgeon
(57:22):
described.
The awe that is both tender andtrembling, both rejoicing and
reverent, both cautious andconfident in Christ.
Father, give us this fear thatleads to life.
The fear that abides forever.
The fear that glorifies you.
We ask this in the name ofJesus, our Savior and Mary's,
(57:47):
the one who was and is thegreatest demonstration of your
mercy.
Amen.
Let's close by doing our memorywork together.
I'm going to repeat Luke 155times.
Say it out loud with me orquietly to yourself.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
(58:09):
generation.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
generation.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
generation.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
generation.
And his mercy is on those whofear him from generation to
(58:34):
generation.
Luke 1 50.
Remember, you are able to abidein the Bible.
We'll see you next time.
Until then, let's abide.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.