Alan G. Nute
"YOU shall love the LORD your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5). Above this text, at the top of the page in my Bible, is the caption: "The Great Commandment". A parallel command, however, occurs in verse 13 of the same chapter, and this time it reads: "You shall fear the LORD your God". In the light of this, perhaps the caption should have been worded in the plural. The two great commandments are that we should love the Lord and that we should also fear the Lord. Scripture recognises that love and fear are the twin motives that govern and control us. Usually they are opposed the one to the other, but this is only because of the distortion which has resulted from the Fall. As a result of that[69/70] tragic act of disobedience love has become largely self-centred. Indeed, the modern use of the word signifies little other than the gratifying of human passion. As for fear, that which was intended to be a healthy emotion has degenerated into feelings of apprehension or dread. To such an extent is this the case that we tend to regard fear as almost entirely injurious.
One of God's prime objectives in His dealings with His children is the straightening out of that which Satan has twisted. This involves the production within our hearts of a true love and a true fear. In relation to fear, this necessitates first of all the eradication of all false fear. It is this which lies behind the frequent exhortation -- "Fear not". The Spirit which we have received is not "the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear"; for as Paul reminds Timothy: "God did not give us a spirit of timidity". The fear which manifests itself in timidity is one which inhibits, and as a result cripples our witness and robs us of our joy in the Lord. Such fear must be uprooted, and in its place there must be cultivated a true fear, a fear which is noble and beneficial.
Every quality is seen in perfection in Christ. In Him love and fear are present ideally and without conflict. In all His ways we may detect these two currents flowing in the same direction and with equal intensity. With regard to fear, Isaiah prophesies: "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord." The writer to the Hebrews provides us with an example of this. "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear." This is the fear to which we are exhorted. It is constantly commanded (e.g. Ecclesiastes 12:13 and 1 Peter 2:17); and is not only commanded, it is commended. Job, the Psalms and Proverbs all agree that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". It is the highest element of wisdom.
Clearly this is a truth which merits serious attention. And yet for ten thousand sermons on love, we will be fortunate to hear one on fear. Is "the fear of the Lord" a lost concept? Does the quality -- "God-fearing" -- evoke the admiration it once did? Whatever the contemporary situation, of this we may be emphatic, the fear of the Lord is a dominant theme of Holy Scripture.
1. The Essence of Godly Fear
The essence of this fear is reverence. The word is used in the Scripture of the right attitude to parents and implies honour and respect. Everywhere today this is in eclipse. The whole notion of respect is undermined because no longer is there abroad a respect for God, His Word and His laws. The reason for this is to be found in the fact that men have replaced the God of the Bible with a God made in the likeness of man. A God, as some have impiously suggested, "in whom I can believe". Thus is constructed a God whom no one fears, nor needs to. The God revealed to us in the New Testament as in the Old is One who merits our reverence.
This reverence will manifest itself in worship. In Revelation 15 John describes the great company of those who having conquered, "sing the song of Moses and the Lamb". They exclaim: "Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord?" Fearing the Lord, they exalt, extol and magnify His name. We shall only truly worship as our hearts are suffused with a deep sense of awe.
