Exodus 20:18–20Scripture
Exodus chapter 20 is a wonderful chapter. There's so much we could extrapolate out of this text. I am just going to talk about two verses this morning. And last week, to give a bit of a recap, we know that the first, I don't know, 18 or 19 chapters, or 17 chapters, we get a picture, or a glimpse, of a God who saves. And we talked last week that we have shifted into a season in Exodus where, in the following chapters, we're going to see a God who sanctifies his people. And that's very important, because many of us, in and out of the church, will accept and embrace and even long for a God who saves. Believers and non-believers alike will cry out in prayer to a God and ask for salvation. They will ask for God to save them from circumstances, save them from trouble, save them from the problems of this world. They may not ask for salvation for their soul, but they certainly will ask for salvation from immediate needs or problems that they're facing. So we all will embrace a God who saves, but very few of us consider a God who sanctifies. And this is a part, it's two sides to a coin, if you will. And the validity of a coin is that it has two sides. If a coin would come through a factory and it would not have one side, it would be thrown and cast out, because it would have no value.
And so the value of the gospel is not just in understanding that God saves, but also that he sanctifies.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 1:43
It's what gives it value, the gospel. And so we rejoice, because it isn't that we just received a ticket, but there is a work he is actively doing in our hearts and
Introduction
Lives today. Amen? Isn't that good news? And although it's refining at times, and although we feel like we get touched by tongues of fire and it stings a bit, although when we read his Word we are convicted, we are rebuked and disciplined, we are chastised, and we are brought into alignment to his holiness and his goodness, it is still a good refining work. And so we rejoice, because God does this work. It is not something we do in our own strength. It is a work that he does in us, through us, and to the world around us. And so this is good news. We want to talk in continuation today about the God who sanctifies, but I want to zero in on something specific. I have named this sermon "Fear Off You, or Fear on You," or both. I think it's fitting, because we know that God used, we mentioned last week, God used several things to sanctify his people when we looked at chapters 18 and 19. But we see here specifically in chapter 20 that he uses fear to sanctify his people. But it is interesting, because then in verse 18, as we read here in just a moment, we see that Moses is commanding the people to fear not, but then within the same sentence he turns and says that fear has a specific purpose, that God has put fear before the people to accomplish a specific work, that they would not sin. So which is it, Moses? I mean, you can't speak out of both sides of your mouth. Is it fear not, or is it you should fear? Which is it? And for us to understand how God uses fear as a sanctifying means to sanctify his people, we should know which fear we're talking about, and we should know whether it should be doing a work in us or not, and how it does a work in us or not. Because oftentimes we might reject something that God is using to sanctify, thinking we shouldn't have anything to do with it. And it's important for us to be able to distinguish what is happening here. Here's the text, verse 18: "Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning," notice the word "saw"
Here, notice the visual words we see. "Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet," they heard. So there's seeing and there's hearing. There's seeing and there's hearing. "The sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us.'" Yikes. Yikes. This is not my sermon, but just pause for a second here. How many of you would rather hear a good podcast, Instagram video, Facebook video, over God speaking to you? How many of you just by default choose that over his word? And what could be the reason, do you think, for that? And could it possibly align with this text? Could it possibly be that thing? Not necessarily, you know, in the intention of your mind, in the forefront of your mind, but that deep down inside there's something motivating you to look and listen and hear the words of others over the words of God. What is motivating you? Could it be fear? Could fear be the motivator for you rejecting God's voice and listening to others? Could it be? And then we see here a rebuke coming after this type of fear: "Do not let God speak to us, lest we die."
Isn't it crazy that the way they see him is not necessarily determined by what he's done for them?
Pastor Shawn Gray · 6:10
It's crazy. It's almost as if everything he has done to save them, they've forgotten. Can you relate? How quickly we forget the goodness of God. Yes. All the wonderful things that he does for us. Amen? And we see him improperly through our present pain or concerns, our tremblings. "Moses said to the people," here comes a rebuke, "'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear,'" here he switched it. Which is it, man? Fear on you, or fear off you, man? "'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you.'" Notice there are three types of fear here: fear on you, fear in you, fear before you. That could have been my sermon points, but they're not. So now that I just kind of said that impromptu, maybe that should have been my points, but I would just say they're not my points. But that's a pretty good point, right? These would have been three good points that support the main point. But I will say this: there are three types of fear. Two don't help you; one does. What two don't help you? Fear in you and fear on you. What fear helps you? Fear before you. And we're going to talk about the fear before you, and we're going to talk about the fear on you, the kind that is oppressive, the kind that is not necessarily what he wants. We're going to break that down. Here's the first point:
Point 1Get the wrong fear off you
Fear off you. That's what Moses says to begin with. When God tells people "do not fear" in the Bible, he is almost always referring to their circumstances, rather than telling them to not fear him. Now, there are several places where he is telling them to not fear him, but most of the time, and you know, you ever heard that phrase, and you might have heard it in a sermon, you might have heard somebody else say it, "There are 365 'do not fears' in the Bible"? Well, first of all, that's inaccurate. That's not true. Somebody said it, and everybody believed it. It's just not accurate. Do some research; it's not accurate. But the heart of the matter is that there are a lot of times where God is telling us to not fear, but what we do is we then turn and we attach that to God. But then in the New Testament it says the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. So which is it? Fear off you, or fear on you? He's almost always referring to the circumstances, rather than telling them not to fear him. In fact, the fear of the Lord, reverence and awe and actual fear of him and his judgment, is consistently encouraged throughout Scripture. And in fact, there are many instances where people rightly fear God due to his holiness, power, and their sinfulness, and in those moments he does not tell them, "Hey, you know what, just don't fear my holiness." I mean, at the end of the day, he shows up the way he does because he wants you to. If he didn't want you to fear, he would have showed up on Mount Sinai as butterflies and cotton candy. But he didn't show up that way. So there is an element of him trying to accomplish something in the hearts of the people, but it can go awry. We can misappropriate what he intended. So I'm going to break this down to you in two ways. When we say "fear off you," there are verses where God says "do not fear," and it's regarding circumstances, and many of them you will be familiar with. These are some examples where God reassures his people to not be afraid of their situation. Genesis 15:1: "After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: 'Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.'" Now, we might apply that and say he's saying to fear not, to fear not God. But here's the context: Abraham was worried about not having a child. He was worried about how it was going to happen, and God reassures him to not fear about the how. Exodus 14:13–14 says, "And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.'" Israel was trapped at the Red Sea, remember that, with the Egyptian army behind them, and God tells them to not fear the situation in the moment. It's circumstantial. Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua was stepping into leadership after Moses, later on we will experience this, and God reassures him that the same God that helped Moses will help him. Do not fear. Here's another "fear not,"
Although there are not exactly 365. Here's another one, Isaiah 41:10: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Israel was facing exile and hardship, but God promised his presence. Isn't that good? Here are verses where people were afraid, and God does not tell them to stop fearing him, right? Because we think that every time God shows up, he says, "Fear not. Don't fear me." That's not accurate. Most of them are circumstantial. Quite honestly, most of them are about circumstances, not about God. But here's one specifically where he does not, and there are many more. Genesis 28:16–17: "Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.' And he was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'" Jacob had a dream of God's presence, and he saw God, and he is so overwhelmed with holy fear, and God never tells him to stop fearing. He's okay with it, because there's nothing wrong with this holy fear. Oh, but there's something different about the fear in Exodus. Amen? We can learn from these. Exodus 3:5–6, earlier we learned: "Then he said, 'Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.'" And Moses hid his face in fear, "for he was afraid to look at God." And I looked, and I looked, and I never saw God correct him for fearing. It isn't there. Luke 5:8–10: "But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken." Peter realizes Jesus' divine power and is overwhelmed by his sinfulness, and Jesus reassures him but never rebukes his fear. Acts 5:11: "And great fear came upon the whole church." Sometimes I wish great fear would come upon the whole church. Yeah, in our culture it'd be helpful if great fear came upon the whole church. I know that seems negative, but you know that God uses fear to sanctify his people. That's good. It is a good thing. It can be bad. Do you understand the dichotomy behind many theological words and principles? Do you know why there's a dichotomy? Because there always is a perversion of something good. Where do you think that comes from? And it is the responsibility of a believer to understand and be able to discern, that's a word that's lost in our culture, discern the difference between good fear and perverted fear. It's important. We just can't mark everything, "Well, fear, that's bad." We got to be very careful about that. "Well, discipline, that's bad, because there's been bad discipline I've experienced in my life." There's perversion, but there's good discipline. God disciplines his children. If you're his child, he'll discipline you, and that's good, because a good father disciplines his child, like God disciplines his children. Are you with me today? But just because you've run into bad, abusive discipline doesn't make all discipline bad and abusive.
Now, there is a good side and a bad side. Acts: "Great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things," after Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit. The church rightly feared God's holiness, and the fear was never rebuked. Why is that? Because sin demands payment, and payment is death. "Where do you get that, Shawn?" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and he made the whole garden, and he said, "Don't eat from this tree." If you sin and break my law, you will surely die. That's the penalty. And fear came upon the whole church, because they're like, "Oh, yeah, we're dealing with the God who won't be tampered with and played with." And the penalty of messing with him is death. "Oh, yeah, forgot about that. Forgot about that." So if he is okay with them fearing him, what fear did he want off them? That's my first point: fear off
Point 2Fear that makes us draw away from God
Them. "The people were afraid." Let's look at it. "The people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off." Listen to me, I highlighted this: "they stood far off." Notice what this fear was causing them to do: depart, not draw near. Okay? This fear caused them to depart, not draw near. Okay? "And said to Moses, 'You speak to us,'" Moses, "'and we will listen.'" Now, I love this. Let me just pause here. So they are going to Moses to be a mediator. And so we see shadows and types of Moses as the mediator, and Jesus will soon be the mediator, and all of that's beautiful in its context. But I want you to understand something:
Moses ain't no Jesus, because Moses ain't God.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 18:45
And if you draw near to Moses, you draw away from God.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 18:55
How many of you are guilty of drawing near to somebody else that isn't as holy, because it's easier than drawing near to that which is holiest? And this kind of fear ain't good fear. This kind of fear is rebuked. And then it said, they drew near to Moses, and they said, "Do not let God speak to us." So this fear does two things: it makes them draw away from God, and makes them not want to hear from God.
That's the fear you need off you: the fear that breaks a relationship and makes you not want to hear from him anymore.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 19:35
That fear needs to get off you. And it is my prayer today, for those of you who are sitting under
Point 3The law puts a good fear on you
This type of fear, that it would get off you today. But then there's a fear that should be on you. You're like, "Shawn, you always have to bring a downer part of this message." Just stick with me. Don't check out. This is going to be beautiful. First, let me remind you that the Lord has ways of communing with his people which fill them with fear. You must not think that the Lord always appears to his people in robes of light and wonderful splendor. Sometimes he enrobes himself in clouds and in darkness. His paths drop fatness, and yet he often has his way and moves in thunders, lightnings, and whirlwinds. Sometimes the near approach of the Lord fills people with apprehension and alarm, and this is sure to be the case when his coming includes a close application of the law to our hearts. Let me tell you, whenever the Lord comes and shows you what is expected, and you see the disparity between the expectation and your current reality, nothing strikes fear in our hearts more than that. Many people, even after coming to God, have been made to feel, I don't know if you can relate, as if the law is cutting and burning and doing a work in our lives. The law, in the words of one commentator, the law has torn them in pieces, because they themselves and their life tear the law in pieces. The law has worked in them a sense of bondage and burden and despair, even after we have fled for refuge to the hope set before us in the gospel, after we have the full assurance of faith as a believer, and our iniquities have been put away from us. The Lord sometimes still works in us a further work of the law, in which he makes us see its exactness, its perfection, its spirituality, its strictness, its infinite reach, and its winnowing work. It is no little thing to see how the law judges our thoughts, the desires of our hearts, our imagination, and the actions of our hands. Some of you, a beam has hit that thing in your life, and it is the law in your mind right now. It has a way of cutting to the quick and getting to the heart of the matter: that you are not Christ. There is only one who's lived up to the law. And so it is in the acknowledgment of our imperfections that we reach out to a standard that was achieved by only one, who is our hope, who is the way to true salvation, who is Christ. It is no little thing to see how the law judges our thoughts. As the holy law is held up, we see how out of right standing we are, and it distresses us in every way. When you measure yourself and your actions by the unfailing standard of God's law, let me tell you what that does: it takes away all your pride. It fades away, and a deep sense of unworthiness takes its place. And listen, we don't think that has a place in our life today, because we want to talk about how great we are. We think self-motivating words and phrases spoken over ourselves every morning will help us live a life of joy and peace. And no, it's not finding hope in something that's broken, but it's finding hope in that which is not broken. It is reaching out beyond yourself, not finding hope in yourself.
If you try to discover hope in yourself, you will live a hopeless life, and you will only reach out for hope outside yourself when you realize yourself ain't that much.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 24:39
It's not so wonderful.
No one truly grasps the beauty of the gospel until they first see the darkness of the law's judgment.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 25:09
Much of today's shallow faith comes from failing to recognize the seriousness of divine justice and the true ugliness of sin. But when God establishes law in your heart and allows you to feel its weight, not just in one moment but in every part of your life, you will respond as Israel did on Mount Sinai, trembling before the presence of the Most High God. When was the last time you felt that, even as a believer? This is why we are commanded to meditate on the law of the LORD day and night. The Lord may also, the Lord may also come to us and lead us by his light to a discovery of actual sin in our
Point 4Keep the fear of the Lord before you
Lives. Fear on you. There is a good fear. Fear off you, fear on you, and fear before you. Fear before you. Exodus 20:20 says this: "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you." Now, can we just stop there? There's a difference between fear on you and fear before you.
Now, but let me just jump to what it accomplishes. It accomplishes this: "that you may not sin." If you find yourself in a habitual cycle of sin, you may need fear to be before you, and we should pray to that end as believers. Parents, pause. You should pray, if you find your kids, as believers, in a cycle of sin. It would behoove you to pray that fear be before your kids, that it would do its work in them, that sin would not be their master.
We should pray that. But we're too busy praying fear off, and you wonder why they can't get out of a cycle of sin.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 27:32
It's a problem. So much of our life, "in all thy ways," what does it say in the Scripture? "In all thy getting, get under- standing." Because understanding changes everything. Changes how you pray, changes how you walk, changes how you think. It changes how you talk. It changes everything. When you understand something, it changes everything. Why does it say "before," rather than "on" or "in"? Because God's fear is not meant to be a crushing burden on us, nor is it an uncontrolled terror that consumes us from within. Rather, it is meant to stand before us, always present, always guiding, shaping our decisions, keeping us from sin. It's visual. It's before us.
It's not a feeling you feel; it's a sight you see.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 28:22
If fear were merely on us, it would be oppressive. It would weigh us down. That's what the enemy wants to do, making obedience a matter of coercion rather than love, a desperation, that you will never ever live up to anything that's demanded. That's what the enemy does. If it were merely in us, it might become subjective, at the mercy of our wants and our desires and our feelings. Can you relate? Depending on how we feel, rather than on the objective holiness of God.
Your feelings ain't got nothing to do with it.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 29:19
But when it's before us, it acts as a constant, a mainstay, an eternal reality, a reminder of God's holiness, justice, and presence, always influencing us without enslaving us, debilitating us.
In other words, in my words, it's a sign we see, not a shackle we wear.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 29:34
Imagine walking a narrow path along the edge of a towering cliff. I'm terrified of heights. I've never peed my pants when I saw heights, but I always feel like I'm going to. I am terrified of heights, guys, this bad. Now, it's hard for me to explain to my wife, who has no fear of heights in the slightest, what fear of heights is like. She thinks I have maybe mental problems, there's just something broken in there. Yes, heights are high, and yes, you could go crazy, but everybody feels a little bit of caution when you come around a mountain. I kind of don't think my wife does, because my caution is 20 feet back from the edge with a concrete wall in front. You know what I mean? My wife will come up to the edge of a mountain, as we're kind of peering off the Smoky Mountains. She'll stand on the edge, look down there. "Get back from the edge, you crazy lunatic!" Know what I mean? Oh, by the way, we went to the mall the other day. Went to the mall the other day. We were trying to figure out where we're going to go to lunch outside the mall. My wife, you know, they have those, you're on the second floor, and they have those glass barrier things with a wooden top. And Brook says, "Let's just stop here." There was a bench. She didn't want to use that, because that's what normal people do. She begins to lean back on the glass wall, and she said, "Let's stop here and figure out if we can find where we're going to go." I said, "Baby, you don't, that's glass. It's clear. We don't know how. Come back from the edge." "It's okay." And literally, it was moving like this. It's wrong. It's wrong. So here's what fear is like. It's like if I brought somebody up here and I grabbed their shirt and tried to pull them off. That's what it feels like. It wouldn't be fun. Like you're constantly going to make a wrong step. Terrified of heights. But if I don't see it, not so scared of it. Are you with me? It's amazing. Here, this isn't so high. I can stand here like a boss. You know what I mean? But you add 20 feet down there, you ain't going to see me standing here like a boss. You're not going to see it. See, I was hip right there, right? I was teenage level. Or maybe, just because I said it, now they'll
Point 5Holy fear guards your steps and deepens joy
Never say it again. It's officially off our list of things we say. Pastor said it. Imagine walking on a narrow path along the edge of a towering cliff, even though you're scared of heights. But at first you don't realize the danger. The trail is overgrown with thick brush, obscuring what lies just beyond your steps. You can't see the ledge. You walk casually, unfettered and unaware. Your footing is careless, because you don't know that any misstep could cost you your life. You don't see the dangers, the impending doom, the inevitable death just steps away. Then, as you push your way through the brush, the path suddenly opens, and you see it: the sheer drop-off plunging into jagged rocks below. The sight halts you. Your steps become deliberate. Your heart pounds with awareness. You're not crushed by fear, nor do you feel some nameless terror within, but now before you stands a reality so clear and undeniable that it commands, and it demands, that your every step be proceeded with caution. You feeling me?
This is the fear of the Lord before you. It doesn't exist to paralyze, but to awaken you, to keep you from wandering thoughtlessly into destruction.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 34:19
It's there to keep you safe and to guide your steps. It's there to help and to save and to sanctify your ways. You are no longer free to be reckless in your life, to run around, as I always say, willy-nilly, crazy, silly, for before you stands the knowledge of what awaits a careless life.
In the midst of such a sight, yes, this fear does not rob you of joy.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 35:09
Even with the danger before you, you're still able to stand in awe, to take in the splendor of such a beautiful sight. The vast, majestic landscape stretches before your eyes, breathtaking in its depth and wonder. The same fear that keeps you from stepping too close to the edge also allows you to appreciate the grandeur of the height. You don't get too close, but you definitely draw close enough to get it all in, and to take it all in.
In the same way, the fear of the Lord does not steal life's joy; it deepens it,
Pastor Shawn Gray · 35:45
allowing you to walk in wisdom while standing in awe of his glory. That's what the fear of the Lord does.
There is a fear that should be off you, and there is a fear that God puts before you.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 36:16
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