Worship in the Wilderness: How Am I Supposed to Fear God? | Exodus 19

Next, we take a deep dive into the theme of fear, sharing a harrowing personal camping story that mirrors the Israelites' fear in Exodus 19 when they encountered God in the wilderness. We unpack what it truly means to fear God with reverence and awe, contrasting the respectful fear of believers with the fear of judgment faced by unbelievers. With the help of biblical passages, we highlight the abundant blessings and wisdom that come from fearing the Lord.

Finally, we reflect on the importance of relationship and reverence, both in our interactions with others and in our divine connection with God. Using relatable analogies, we underscore how truly knowing God can transform our lives. We wrap up with prayer and reflection as we seek a deeper, biblical fear and love for God in our hearts.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:21

Amen, and so just thank you for all of the ways that you serve and thank you for being here today. I just want to give a just a warm welcome to everyone who's here in the room, everyone who is watching online. God is just working in so many incredible ways, and I am so thankful that you are a part of it. You matter, your presence matters because God has a purpose for your life, and I believe today God has a word for your life. There's a very, very important topic subject doctrine that I want to talk about today, that I don't think that we talk enough about, that. We are going to get there, but I just want you to know how thankful I am for you. I'm thankful for you as our church family. You I'm thankful for you as our church family, just as we have had our third child, our baby girl, eliana Joy, just almost three weeks ago It'll be three weeks tomorrow, and I just want to thank y'all for every single meal, every casserole, every dessert, every cake. Eliana Joy was nine pounds six ounces and I have gained nine pounds six ounces, so just thank you so much. Y'all have helped us so much with the kids. As many of you may know, michelle spent the night in the hospital this past Thursday night. They found a small blood clot in her lung, and so thank you so much for your prayers. She was discharged Friday at noon. She's at home resting. So, babe, if you're watching I know y'all are, unless you're taking a nap, but you need one. I love you and I'm so thankful for you, and I'm thankful for all of your prayers and all of the ways that y'all have helped us all along the way. Well, we're going to continue in our series. This morning, you can go and open up to Exodus 19,. Exodus, chapter 19,. And while you're going there, I just want you to see all that God is doing in our church. First of all, next week we're gonna be celebrating Father's Day, so we're gonna be celebrating all the dads. We're gonna be celebrating biblical manhood. Why? Because the world doesn't celebrate biblical manhood, but the word of God does. So we're gonna celebrate biblical manhood next week, and so every guy gets a free slice of bacon. Can I get an amen? And none of this turkey bacon stuff either. It's going to be fatty bacon, amen. And all Baptist men said amen, and so that'll be all next week, celebrating all of the guys, all of the men, all of the dads, biblical manhood. We want you to be a part of that. Also, we've got some dads who are going to be doing some baptizing next week of their kids, so we're very excited about that as well. I want to remind you, next week is our student summer camp and, as always, there is a spot open. There's always one more spot open, and so there's a spot open for every teenager that still wants to come. That's going to be the 17th through the 21st for all of our teenagers, and so we want to invite you to be a part of that special week.

Speaker 1: 4:03

Our student summer camp Basketball camp is coming up. It's going to be in here June 24 to 28. It's going to be during the evenings. Adam Sears, who is always leading that for us, which we appreciate him so much, is always looking for coaches, always looking for volunteers. This is an opportunity for the community to come in and we're going to teach them basketball skills and teach them the gospel of Jesus, and so if you want to be a part of that week or if you want your kids to come and be a part of that week, then you can register online. It's $40 per player, but scholarships are always available. I want you to know we've got Chick-fil-A Windshapes Camp coming up on our campus July 1 to 5 for all of those kids that have completed K-5 through the fifth grade, and so again it is for the kids of our church and for the kids of our community. Donna Johnson is over that and she just wants you to know that she can always use your prayers, but also anybody that wants to volunteer their time that week. We have a lot of spots still open for volunteers that we would love to have you for. That God's going to provide, and so we're very thankful. And she wants to remind us it's not just a sports camp, it's a camp for everybody. There is so much more going on than just sports, and so we want your kids and kids in your neighborhood than just sports, and so we want your kids and kids in your neighborhood make sure and spread the word in your neighborhood and when you're out and about, because we want to be able to share the gospel with others. Just gonna advance here we go. Go and open up your Bibles, if you haven't already.

Speaker 1: 5:36

To Exodus 19,. Exodus 19,. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, we believe your word is true. We believe your word is true. We believe your word changes lives. So, god, we pray that your spirit would fill our hearts this morning, that we may hear your voice, and, god, that you may change us, transform us into be more and more like Jesus from what we hear today. God, I pray for anyone that is unsaved. That they would get saved today. Anyone, god, that you need to move in their life in a special way. God, I pray that you would do so and, father, we're listening. Thank you for loving us and we pray these things in Jesus' name and all God's people said amen.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Have you ever had an experience, an unexpected experience, where you came in contact with something or someone that you were literally afraid for your life? I can remember back in my 20s I went on a little camping trip with some buddies of mine and we went to the hills of Tennessee and we went to the Gatlinburg area and we were going to do some hiking and some camping. We were just going to camp for one night. So I can remember we were hiking up one of the mountains and we pitched a tent at the top of the mountain and we were coming back down to go back into town just to get something to eat before. We went back up to camp and as we were coming back down the mountain we saw what we never thought we would see. We saw some wild bear off in the distance. About 50 yards away was a mama bear and her two cubs, which is close enough for me, 50 yards and so we were like man, that is cool and we didn't really startle us too bad. So we just kind of kept walking, walked down the mountain and we went and got something to eat. We hung out in town too long and it got pitch black, dark that night and so we can remember thinking you know, bears hunt for food at night and we remember seeing bear. So we were all too chicken to go back up to the tent that night so we slept in the car. We slept in the car that night and we went back up the next morning to go and get our tent, get back to the top of the mountain. We packed the tent up, I put the tent in my backpack.

Speaker 1: 7:36

We're coming back down the mountain and we see the mama bear again. Now she wasn't down the mountain about 50 yards, she was right up along the path with her two cubs, about 10 yards ahead of us. So what did we do? We went back up the mountain and had what is called a revival and prayer service, a revival and prayer service, and we just prayed to God God, would you spare our lives today? We come back down, she's still there. We go back up, we sing chorus two, the second verse and all that right, and we just keep singing, we keep praying. We come back down, she's still there. We go back up, we sing. We're literally worshiping God on our knees, crying out to God take this bear away. We come back down, she's still there. We're like God, you're going to have to put your glory on display today. We're going to have to see your power. God, show us your power. And so we decided we're just going to have to walk by this wild bear and her two cubs not the brightest idea we've ever had. So she was just up the trail. We started walking toward her. She takes her two cubs, kid you not. She throws them up in a tree, she sprawls the tree and we're looking at her and she's looking at us, and we're looking at her and we walk right by her.

Speaker 1: 8:48

And then I remember the number one rule in surviving a bear attack, outrun everybody around you. That's all you gotta do. So I started running as fast as I could. Right, I was running like a deer, like one step every 12 feet, just running like a deer, and I can remember running as fast as I could. And then I felt it Something swiped the back of my legs and I just knew the bear had caught up. No, the tent had fallen out of my backpack. Falling out of my backpack, hit the back of my legs. I jumped 20 feet in the air, screamed like a woman. It was embarrassing. Turned around, it was just the tent. I went back and got it. We walked back down and we lived a tale to tell. We were not expecting for our lives to be in danger that day with an unexpected experience that we did not see coming.

Speaker 1: 9:29

Well, in Exodus, chapter 19,. I want you to know that the people of Israel, the people of God, they were walking, they were wandering through the wilderness and they had an unexpected experience that they feared for their very lives. It wasn't an animal, it wasn't a human being, it wasn't an army. This is the story where they first met God, and there's something about this story that you and I we need to pay very close attention to, because if there's anything that this story comes down to, is talking about the doctrine of the fear of God.

Speaker 1: 10:07

Everyone say fear, and the question I want to answer this morning is how am I supposed to fear God? Well, let me back up for a second. Are you supposed to fear God? The Bible says yes, I am, you are, we are supposed to fear God. So then we must ask well, how am I supposed to fear God? And the answer is it depends on who you are.

Speaker 1: 10:35

The Bible says for the believer. The Bible says the believer, we are to fear God. But the Bible says it's not a fear as though we are afraid of him, that we have nothing to be afraid of with God, because he is our loving heavenly father and he has saved us in Jesus. In fact, the reason you are saved is because you fear God. You ever thought about that? You feared God, knowing that he is the righteous judge. You feared God, knowing that if you did not give your life to him then you would not have real life. Judge, you feared God, knowing that if you did not give your life to him then you would not have real life. You have already feared God, knowing that God has the right to throw you into hell. But in Jesus, who you gave your life to now, you no longer have to fear him, in a way of being afraid.

Speaker 1: 11:19

Now the Bible says how do you, as a believer, fear God? The Bible says you fear God. Hear me with reverence and awe. In other words, whenever you think about him, whenever you worship him, whenever you read about him in his word, whenever you pray to him, you come to him and you are awestruck with his holiness and his majesty and his glory and his infinity and his eternality. You are awestruck with all of the greatness that God is.

Speaker 1: 11:58

But to be honest with you this morning, if you're a believer, if you're an unbeliever, your fear is different than a believer. Jesus said in Matthew, chapter 10, verse 28, to fear the one who can throw your body into hell. And I want you to know that is not because that God doesn't love you, but that's because that God is holy and sin cannot last in the presence of God, and he loves you so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for you and to raise from the dead so that you don't have to be afraid of him, so that you don't have to be afraid of him, so that you don't have to be afraid of your eternity, but rather that you can believe in him and you can be awestruck by his glory and not in fear of what he has for your life. So I wanna show you in Exodus, chapter 19, what the Bible teaches us about the fear of God. But first of all I wanna show you just very quickly 10 biblical passages that show us that actually fearing God for the believer is a blessing. Let me show you these. These are awesome.

Speaker 1: 13:15

Proverbs 1, verse seven says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. In other words, we begin to know things when we fear God. Psalm 34, 11,. Come you children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, verse 13,. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all.

Speaker 1: 13:36

Proverbs, chapter nine, verse 10,. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 34, nine there is no want or no lack to those who fear God. Psalm 25, verse 14,. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him. Psalm 31, 19,. Oh, how great is your goodness, oh God, which you have laid up for those who fear you. Psalm 33, eight. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. Psalm 147, 11,. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him. Proverbs 14, 26, and 27,. In the fear of the Lord there is strong. Confidence in the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.

Speaker 1: 14:27

So this morning I want to share with you three ways that you can grow in your biblical fear of God, because I think at times when we grow very familiar with God, we might fear God less. And when we think about God again, we need to be in awe, we need to be amazed, we need to be humbled, we need to be people who at times hit our knees before him. When we worship God, our hearts need to be filled with the glory of God and when we pray to God we need to be so enthralled with this opportunity that we get to talk to God when we read God's word and have the opportunity on a daily basis. What an honor it is to run to God, to be able to hear from him on a daily basis. Can I get an amen? So three ways to fear God. Number one I would encourage you from this passage is the voice of God. Everybody say voice, the voice of God.

Speaker 1: 15:32

It says here in Exodus 19, verse one, on the third new moon. By the way, we don't know what that means, but they would very naturally reading it, it means that they have been in the wilderness now for seven weeks, seven weeks prior that God rescued them, delivered them, by the plagues from the enslavement in Egypt. So seven weeks ago the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt and on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from the Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai and they encamped in the wilderness. Now it says that they had just left the Rephidim. I just wanna stop here for a second because I think this is so important.

Speaker 1: 16:13

God did miracles in their life in the Rephidim. There are times in our life that God does different things. God doesn't do the same thing in our life at all the different times. God loves to do different things in different seasons of our life. In fact, when they came to Sinai, they stayed there for about 10 to 11 months, but God didn't bring them to Sinai because they were stuck. He brought them to Sinai because he wanted them to study him. Sometimes you go throughout your life and you feel like you're stuck. Sometimes you go through your life and you feel like man, my life's not going anywhere. That was probably because God has got you in a season of not moving forward but of staying, because God wants you to study him and to draw closer to him and draw closer to his ways.

Speaker 1: 17:04

In. The Rephidim is where Moses struck the rock by the command of God, and God provided miraculous water to give them all of the water that they need. The Rephidim was where the Amalekites came and attacked them, and the Israelites had no business beating the Amalekites in battle. But as long as Moses had his arms raised in the air, with Aaron on one side and her on the other side, that Israel won the victory by the miraculous power of God. It says that there, israel encamped before the mountain. This is so important Because the mountain that he's talking about is Mount Sinai. It was the exact same mountain that, while Moses was tending his sheep when he was living in Midian, that Moses comes to this mountain. And there, at that mountain, years Prior, moses saw the burning bush, where God called Moses to believe in him, to trust him, to lead his people out of slavery to the promised land. And Moses believed him. And Moses trusted him and God said you know that I am with you when you come back to this mountain again. And here is Moses in the mountain again.

Speaker 1: 18:22

There are some times that you feel like that your life is going in circles, but God doesn't lead anybody in circles. He does lead people in cycles. He may not lead you in circles, but he will lead you in cycles. And the difference is this God loves to bring you back to a point to where you've been before, to show you how far you've come or to show you how far you still need to go. God brings us back to where we've been before to remind us of his presence in our life and how he has been changing our lives, the voice of God.

Speaker 1: 18:57

While Moses went up to God, the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel. It's interesting that he called the people of God two different names. So who are they? The house of Jacob or are they the people of Israel? The house of Jacob is who they used to be. The name Jacob meant deceiver and they were all children, ultimately, from Jacob, this nation that God has brought about, and so God is reminding them. Remember who you used to be, and you need to remember who you were before your salvation. You need to remember who you were before Jesus. You need to remember where your life was going, where your life was heading, what Jesus saved you and what Jesus called you out of so that we could be the people they were the people of Israel, so that we could be the people of Jesus. We need to remember not only who we used to be, but who God has called us to now. The Bible says that God only called Moses up and God only spoke to Moses, and Moses spoke to the people for God. Why God always had one person speak to his people on his behalf? Because he was setting a pattern.

Speaker 1: 20:13

Hebrews 1.1 says long ago, at many times, in many ways, god spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he spoke to us by his son, jesus Christ. What God loves to do. No longer does he just speak to you through a prophet. No longer does he speak to you through a king or a priest. God ultimately doesn't speak to you through a pastor, even though he calls us to assemble together in churches, but ultimately I can't speak to your heart. Jesus is the one speaking to your heart. I can't preach a sermon good enough to change your life, but God uses sermons and preaching to change the lives of people, because Jesus loves to speak through his word in his church to see life change happen in people.

Speaker 1: 21:01

And this is my favorite part of the passage verse four. Verse four says you yourselves have seen. God said to Moses, to the Israelites you've seen what I did to the Egyptians. Now I just want to show you a couple of things here. First of all, he says look at what I did to the Egyptians. What he's showing them is he's saying I want to remind you of the judgment that I poured out on sin in order to save you. And then God says I want to show you how I bore you on eagle's wings. It would be like a mother eagle swooping down to save an eaglet that had fallen out of the nest. And God is saying look at how I rescued you, look at how I delivered you through my son Jesus, who died for your sin. And he said look, I brought you to myself. God is saying look at how much I love you. I didn't just save you and send you away. God is saying I'm bringing you to myself, I want you in my presence, I love you Now. This is fascinating.

Speaker 1: 22:06

He says if I think this is important if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my commandment, you shall be Now. I think that word if is very important here, because if we're not careful, we can read the ifs of the Bible and it sounds like if you obey his voice, then you can be saved. But that's not what God is saying, because we're not saved by works, we're saved through faith, by God's grace. Can I get an amen? So when he says if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, my commands, here's what he's saying. He's not saying if you obey me, then you will be saved. He's saying this if you are saved, then you will obey me, because he's saying he's changed our heart for sin to a heart for him.

Speaker 1: 22:56

If you're someone here in this room and you are struggling with doubting your salvation, wondering whether or not you're truly saved, the question is do you have a heart to obey God? Do you have a desire to obey God? Do you see that obedience, not in perfection, but in direction in your life, that you want to obey him. That is the greatest evidence of your salvation that you want to obey his word, his covenant, and I love this. Here's what happens, he says if you do that I'm going to circle these then you will be a treasured possession.

Speaker 1: 23:31

A treasured possession, hear me, is our identity. Everyone say identity. Identity is a huge word today. Why? Because God created us. He wired us with this need for an identity, and our identity is a treasured possession of God. If you could imagine God's voice speaking directly into your life, what do you think God would want to say to you? Some of you here this morning would think that God would just be desperate to say to you. Some of you here this morning would think that God would just be desperate to say to you I can't believe you. You did that. I can't believe you lived that way. You promised me you never would. I'm ashamed of you. I'm embarrassed of you. I'm ashamed of you. I'm embarrassed of you. I'm so disappointed in you.

Speaker 1: 24:22

But notice the voice of God to his people. He says you wanna know who your identity is. Your identity is a treasured possession among all people, for the earth is mine. Now let me go to the next screen here, for the earth is mine. To the next screen, he says and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests. I need to show you this a kingdom of priests, a kingdom of priests for you being a priest and me being a priest. And that's the beauty of the gospel is, in the Old Testament there was always a priest or different priest.

Speaker 1: 24:55

Today, every believer is a priest. Why? Because a priest is one who goes to God for people that's prayer and who goes to people for God that's evangelism. A priest is one who goes to God for people in prayer and who goes to people for God in evangelism. He says that he gives us an identity which is a treasured possession. He says that he gives us a mission, which is a kingdom of priests. And then he gives us a community. He calls us. He says and you are my holy nation, these are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. Here's what God is saying. Everybody today wants an identity. They want a purpose, a mission, they want a community of people. God is saying let me give that to you, that you are my treasured possession, you are my kingdom of priest and your community one another. We are a holy nation. Holy means to be set apart, that we are set apart from the world. We're set apart to God and hear me, we're set apart to one another. So we get this identity. We get this identity, we get this mission, we get this community that is found in everything that God is offering to us. And here's what's fascinating. Just to back up for a second, here's what's fascinating.

Speaker 1: 26:13

I remember a cousin of mine called me on the phone this was years ago and he said, chip, you won't believe it, I heard the voice of God. I said that's awesome, bro. What did he tell you? And he said well, I was so distant from God, I was just living a life of disobedience toward God. And so he said I went to church and I was just on my knees at the altar praying. And he said I literally heard the voice of God with my own ears. And I said what did he say? And he said God told me I love you. He said, chip, weeks have gone by and I haven't heard the voice again. He said have you ever heard the voice of God? I said, to be honest, I hear the voice of God all the time. He said well, how do you do it? I said to be even more honest, I've never heard the audible voice of God.

Speaker 1: 27:05

But the Bible says, talks about this story and Peter's gonna tell us just his translation of the story. When Jesus goes on a mountain with Peter James and John, he goes on this mountain with Peter, james and John and the Bible says that Jesus is revealed in all of his glory and his humanity is peeled back and they get to see his deity for who he truly is. And the Bible says that God speaks down from heaven. He says this is my son, in whom I'm willed, please. They heard the very voice of God and you won't believe what Peter says about it. He says we ourselves heard this very voice, born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain and we have the prophetic word more fully, and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention. In other words, peter said we heard the very voice of God call out from heaven, but he said we have an even better word from God, the prophetic word, which is the written word of God call out from heaven, but he said, we have an even better word from God, the prophetic word, which is the written word of God. In other words, every time you open up God's word, it's how you hear God's voice. You may not hear God's voice in your ears, but you may hear God's voice in your heart, which is even louder, which is even more clear. See, in order to grow in the fear of God, first it starts by the voice of God and then it continues by understanding the holiness of God.

Speaker 1: 28:31

The Lord said to Moses go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. God's about to come down and visit on the mountain, and he said you need to be ready. He said I want you to wash your clothes, I want you to wash your body. It would be like having family coming over to your house or special guests. What do you do? You clean the entire house. Everybody gets a bath before these people come over.

Speaker 1: 28:58

Could you imagine let's see this coming Friday, june the 14th, michelle and I we're going to celebrate 10 years of being married, our 10th wedding anniversary, this Friday. And could you imagine 10 years ago if I showed up to the altar to marry my bride and I didn't take a bath and I didn't brush my teeth and I wasn't wearing a tux and I was all looking Alabama, right there, right in front of her. You know, just in all of my glory and just all nasty, I'm going to go ahead and tell you, I think she would have still married me, just not in that moment. I think the wedding would have been postponed. And God is saying in order to be in the presence of God, we have to be consecrated. He told them take a bath, wash your clothes. And here's what he's saying. Hear me, isn't it wonderful today that we don't have to consecrate ourselves? The Bible says that we are consecrated in Jesus Christ. The Bible says that we are clothed in his righteousness.

Speaker 1: 29:55

I think it's fascinating that God told them that three days ahead he was going to come down on the third day. Why? Because Jesus rose on the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai with the sight of all the people. And he said to the people be ready for the third day. And I love this Out of anything he could have said. He said be ready on the third day and don't even go near a woman. That's just funny to me. Out of everything he could have said don't drink alcohol, don't do drugs, don't go near a woman. That's what he went with. Don't go near a woman. Why? Because there's something about for a married man that our greatest intimacy needs to be with the Lord. Our second greatest intimacy needs to be with our wife. The Bible even talks about in 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, that there's a time that we break from intimacy with our spouse in order to spend time in prayer. But the Bible says don't go too long, make sure and get back together.

Speaker 1: 30:52

I think this is also talking about sexual sin. We can't fear God and struggle in sexual sin. In fact, it's the fear of God that helps us to overcome all sin. We will never be perfect, but we need to live for the Lord in every single area of our life. He said you shall set limits for the people all around, saying take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot. Whether beast or man, he shall not live. Here's what we're seeing. Here is the seriousness of the presence of God, that sin cannot be in the presence of God and we need to take very seriously the presence of God in our life. What we are seeing here in this passage.

Speaker 1: 31:39

We have to ask ourselves the question, because you do have passages that tell us in Hebrews 4.16,. Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. So I would ask which is it? Are we not supposed to go near the presence of God or are we supposed to draw near to the presence of God? Which one is it?

Speaker 1: 32:06

I love the fact that today I can walk up to my wife at any time, wrap my arms around her and just smack a sloppy, wet kiss right on her mouth. I love it. I love it At any time. No stiff arm, no block. She's good, she's good. But had I done that before we ever met, had I just seen her on the side of the road, just walked up to her, wrapped my arms around her and put a big old, fat, wet kiss on her boy, what she would have done? She would have knocked me out. She would have kicked me in the throat. That's what she would have done Like. That is very creeper, stalker-ish and that should never happen, right? Why? What is the difference between today and then? Relationship, why can you draw near to God? It is because of relationship.

Speaker 1: 32:48

We see that in the holiness of God. And then, lastly, the presence of God. Everyone say presence. Very quickly. It says on the morning of the third day there were thunders and there were lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. You know what God is doing Because we, in our human, earthly bodies, we cannot be in the presence of God. What God is doing is he is cloaking his very presence and he is using the creation to communicate the display of his glory and his holiness, the very power and the presence of God. He says that he used thunder and lightning and a thick cloud on a mountain and very loud trumpet blast and all the people in the camp trembled. We are seeing earthquakes here in this moment. Trumpet blast and all the people in the camp trembled. We are seeing earthquakes here in this moment. Moses brought the people out to the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain, mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly like earthquakes, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder and Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder and then the Lord came down on Mount Sinai and the top of the mountain and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up.

Speaker 1: 34:23

The only thing that I could liken this to in your life would be if you're vacationing in Florida and a hurricane comes through, a life-threatening hurricane, and if you can imagine going through all the wind and going through all the storm and going through all the damage and going through all of the devastation, that is like someone's life without God. But then when you get into the eye of the storm and you have destruction and chaos and turmoil all around you, but there in the eye of the storm, there in the eye of the hurricane, you have peace and you look up and you see all of the serenity. They say in this eye that it's just beautiful and you can even see rain clouds all around you, rain walls all around you, but yet you're experiencing safety and peace, and that is exactly what it's like to be in Christ. That's the fear of God that we are called to have, that we are in awe of him. And the Bible actually says this is fascinating to me the last passage, and I'm done.

Speaker 1: 35:48

The Bible says just as the people of God, the Israelites in the Old Testament, came to a mountain, the Bible says that we New Testament believers come to a mountain as well. It says for you have not come to what may be touched a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest but you have come to Mount Zion. The writer of Hebrews is saying when we come together as a church and when we worship together, we come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable angels in festal gathering. And he says this let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and with awe. Here's what God is saying that what we do here in this room, together matters, what we do here matters. He's saying that together, as the church of Jesus Christ, that we get together and we come to this mountain and we're worshiping God and we are joining the angels and we're joining all of the people of the earth and we're joining all of the other believers and we are worshiping God and the fear of God with reverence and awe, because of all that God is and all that God does.

Speaker 1: 37:00

What we do here in this room matters because one day we will face God, you will face God, and when you face God after your death and you face God and you see him in all of his glory in his throne room, a natural fear will come upon you and it will either be a fear of awe, reverence and worship, because you've entrusted your life to him, because you've lived your life for him him or it will be a fear of terror because you know what is going to happen next. I'm going to ask every head to be bowed and every eye to be closed, with no one looking around. Every head bowed and every eye closed. This morning, I just want you to pray right now and I want you to just focus your heart and just pray to him. And maybe you're here and God's just convicted you this morning that you don't fear him, as you should. Maybe this morning you just need to focus on his voice, dwell on his holiness, remember his presence and just be in awe of who he is, dwell on his holiness, remember his presence and just be in awe of who he is and his love for you, and be reminded of the presence and the power of God in your life. And that God is not telling you don't come near. God is inviting you to come near because of Jesus Reestablishing the importance of the presence of God in your life.

Speaker 1: 38:52

And maybe you're here today and you just need to give your life to him. You need to give your heart to him. Maybe you've never said God, I ask Jesus to be my savior, I ask Jesus to be my Lord. Maybe this is your day of salvation. You need just to pray to him right now. I can't pray this for you, but I can help you through this prayer.

Speaker 1: 39:10

You could give your life to him right now and you can say oh God, I believe in you, god, I need you. You can tell him God, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin and I turn away from my sin and I turn. I wanna give my life to Jesus as my Lord and I ask you to forgive me of all my sin. You can tell him right now and, god, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. He's alive and I want him in me. I wanna live life with him, no longer alone, but God with you, calling him to be the Lord of your life. And the Bible says that you will be saved. And, heavenly Father, we believe that in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen, would you put your hands together right now for anybody who gave their life to Jesus? We believe. We believe that heaven rejoices every time a sinner gets saved. I just want you to know this morning that, as we talk about the voice and the holiness, the presence of God, that we do have our Next Step cards there in front of you. If you have any decision you need to make or if you're a first-time guest, we'd love to meet you at our Next Step station this morning and help you in those decisions, remind you about our Next Step lunch that's coming up. I'm gonna ask us all to stand up right now.

Speaker 1: 40:33

During this time, I wanna pray one more prayer and I want us, as the church of Jesus Christ, to worship him in reverence and in awe because of all that he is. Heavenly Father, we love you and God. We pray in Jesus' name that you would continue to fill us with your spirit, god, that we would worship you for all that you are, with all that we are, god, that we would just be amazed by your voice, your holiness, your presence, your majesty, your glory and your greatness and your goodness and Father. I pray, lord, that your spirit would move in all of our hearts, that we grow in biblical fear of you. We love you In Jesus' name. We pray Amen. Let's all sing together.