In his sermon titled 'Sanctification Through the Fear of God - The 1689 SLBC 13:3,' Scott Brown explores the concept of fear in the context of sanctification as presented in the Baptist Confession. He identifies four kinds of fear: natural, filial, servile, and sinful fear. The sermon emphasizes filial fear as the fear that leads to sanctification, characterized by reverence, affection, and a desire to please God. Brown outlines four parts of sanctification: growth in grace, perfecting holiness, pressing after a heavenly life, and evangelical obedience. The fear of God is depicted as a sanctifying force that causes believers to grow in holiness and obedience to God's commands. Brown stresses that the fear of God is not a terrifying fear but an affectionate reverence that drives believers away from sin and towards holiness. He further discusses twelve ways the fear of God causes sanctification, including learning through tithing, desiring God's nearness, and receiving goodness and wisdom. The sermon concludes by emphasizing the superiority of God's ways and the blessings of fearing the Lord.

That new song, what a great song. Could we sing that song one more time at the end? That be okay? Yeah, at the end. That'd be great.

Okay, so you should have an outline in front of you that gives the sense of where I'm going. This is going to be a quick flyover in 30 minutes to do this, but I want to try to give a flavor of this element of the fear of God in the Baptist Confession, chapter 13 and the third paragraph There and just by way of a very quick review. I'm trying to identify four kinds of fear There first is a natural fear that everyone experiences like when a building is coming down and you ought to run then there is what has been called by theologians and preachers a filial fear this is the fear of love this is the fear that is out of desire and reverence and affection. It's that kind of fear. And it's what the Apostle John speaks of when he says, there's no fear in love.

Because that kind of fear involves judgment. And a believer has no judgment. Because their son of God has taken the judgment of the wrath of God and then there's servile fear of the unbeliever This is the kind of fear you find it in in people who explicitly hate God You also find it in church people who do what they do not because they love God but because they're trying to Be somebody trying to do something and then there's the sinful fear of the believer We often fall into sinful fear. So those are the four kinds of fear. Now tonight we're going to talk about the fear of God in sanctification and so let's read this paragraph.

I've highlighted the section that I think you know is the center of this matter But the paragraph reads this, In which war, although remaining corruption for a time, may much prevail, yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome. And so the saints grow in grace, perfecting in holiness in the fear of God, pressing after and heavenly life in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as head and King in his word hath prescribed them This phrase captures one of the most beautiful Aspects of the filial fear of God. It's the fear that causes sanctification, that overcomes the world in you. It's such a helpful and blessed fear. So let's pray before we dive into it in any more detail.

Oh Lord, we thank you. We thank you for the way that you have caused our hearts to fear It was grace that taught our hearts to fear and grace our fears relieved. Oh Lord, we thank you for this fear You put in our hearts that loves you that wants to chase after you and be near you. I pray that you would give us much fruit in progress in our sanctification. Lord, increase our fear so that our progress and sanctification would be increased.

Lord, I pray that You would do that for us. You said You would do this for Your church. Please do it for this little church here. Amen. Okay, so you've seen a sense of the doctrine there.

Now there are four parts to this. You see the outline. And the first is growth in grace. And this is the faith that overcomes the world. God plants a seed of faith, and this is faith that causes the world to be expunged by degrees.

It's such a blessing to have affections for the world destroyed by degrees, you know, one day at a time, one year at a time. The removal of impurity and just the beauty of God's grace that gives you a desire. It's the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person, He works in you. He imparts grace to the believer.

And as a result of that impartation of grace, you grow. You're being sanctified by the grace of God. That's why Paul said, be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's such a powerful and beautiful grace. Be strong in the grace.

It's a sanctifying grace. And then the second part is defined by these words perfecting holiness. Perfecting holiness. And here we encounter this word holiness. Now what is holiness?

You know last year we spent quite a bit of time trying to define holiness. We actually Conducted a major conference on the matter of holiness. Well, here's what holiness is Holiness is every beautiful thing holiness is goodness holiness is happiness. That's what holiness is Holiness is the most underrated virtue that you can imagine, but it's such a marvelous, cleansing, hapifying thing to be made holy, and this is part of sanctification. John Bunyan, speaking of the fear of God, said it like this happy is the man that fears always.

It shall be well with them that fear God fear. Therefore the spirit of the fear of the Lord is a grace that greatly beautifies a Christian, his words and all his ways. It's a beautification. This perfecting and holiness is a beautifying act in the soul. God actually, he makes all things beautiful in his time.

He does it through this fear of God that he implants within your soul. And where does it come from? Well, the English Puritan William Goos said it like this. He said that quote it arises from faith in the mercy and the goodness of God It's this kind of desire for holiness and the perfecting of holiness It comes from believing that the mercy of God and the goodness of God is what you need more than anything else. Charles Spurgeon spoke of it like this, what is this fear of the Lord?

It is that affectionate reverence By which the child of God bends himself humbly and carefully to his father's law His wrath is so bitter his love is so sweet hence springs an earnest desire to please him because of the danger of coming short from his own weakness and temptations, a holy and watchful fear that he might not sin against him. Why is this? It's because of holiness, It's being perfected. It's the only way that that can happen. You know, in defining this whole matter of the fear of God, we have to recognize what it really is.

It's not a terrifying fear. It's a pleasing fear. It's an affectionate fear. A humble awe. It's a joyful desire, an honor, a thankful worship that arises out of a heart that desires the greatest and purest and kindest and truest Savior in the world.

That's what the fear of God is. It's when you want Him. It's when you don't want the world but you desire Him. And it's born out of a true heartfelt belief in the perfection of God that His ways are pleasant ways, that all his paths are peace, that he is a tree of life to those who embrace him. And it arises out of that.

And what is the result? There's a perfecting of holiness. And this perfection of holiness inspires this heartfelt belief in the loving kindness of God. And it's a perfecting of holiness. And this language that the authors of the confession use speak of this trajectory.

It is a perfecting. It isn't absolutely perfected in this life. It is being perfected. And that's what the fear of God does. It causes a trajectory of your life.

When you see the trajectory of your life going away from holiness. You know that your fear, your filial fear is reducing somehow, and how do you build it up? Well, there are ways that God tells us of how you do build your fear. And Then the third element of this is pressing after and heavenly life. Do you see that?

I love this phrase in the confession because it speaks of this desire for heaven. And really longing for the things of heaven is the essence of Christianity. And You know, what is the heavenly life? What is it really to long for the things of heaven? Well, the only the only way to answer that question is to understand what heaven is all about And the heavenly life is this Well, you know what it is.

It's everlasting life. It's everlasting love. It's everlasting joy It's everlasting happiness. It's everlasting truth. That's what heaven is And the fear of God produces this.

As the authors say, a pressing after and heavenly life. You know, we're preparing ourselves for heaven here. We should do everything that we can to prepare ourselves for that place of eternal joy, eternal satisfaction, that place where every tear is wiped from your eyes. And you receive a new body, and the perfection that you longed for and never could have, the desire for freedom from sin and the degrading parts of your personality, all of those things will be taken care of. It's that longing.

And that's the fear of God. It's this reverence that gives you the ability to turn away from sin. Your longing for heaven, that better country, it gives you this internal hope that you can turn from sin. And that it's a progressive turning toward heaven. You know, one of the most significant statements on sanctification that relates to this comes out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ when he said, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments.

It arises out of love, love for heaven, love for the things of God. And Then the fourth element is what the authors Speak of as evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as head and king in his word hath prescribed them. So it's a lot like what the Apostle John has been talking about when he says if you say you love God but you don't keep his commandments you're a liar. Because it is in a desire to keep the commandments of God that is found the evidence of a true Christian. And that's what evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as head and king in his word hath prescribed them.

You know, because of our sinfulness, we often prefer one commandment over another, and we neglect some. We neglect that weightier matters, the law. This is one of the sins of a heart. And so what the authors are saying here is that a fear of God is marked by evangelical obedience, a desire to obey the commandments of God. Now, the Bible makes it so clear that when you obey the commandments of God, what happens to you?

One thing, blessing. That's what happens. It's always the better path. And so that's the fear of God in these four elements in this third paragraph in chapter 13. Now, I wanna direct us to a passage of scripture that speaks of this matter of growth in the fear of God.

It's Philippians 2, 12. You have your Bibles, if you could open up to Philippians 2, 12 and 13. This is perhaps one of the key verses that explains this matter of sanctification and fear because fear and sanctification are related. That's why the authors of the Confessions speak of it the way they just have because you you don't have sanctification without fear and It's this kind of filial fear that we've been talking about so Philippians 2 12 Reads like this therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not in my presence only but now much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for his good pleasure.

I'd like to just take some of the various parts of these two verses and frame them in the context of this section of the confession. He's speaking of working out your salvation. And it means to produce, to bring about. It means that there are actually two parts of sanctification. There's the work of the Holy Spirit, but God always uses human effort in the midst of sanctification.

And so there's this this phrase of this continuous sustained strenuous effort to develop the fear of God in your life. That's what this working out is all about. Now there's a self-conscious demonic war being waged against your soul, and so there should be a self-conscious resistance to that demonic attack on your soul. And that self-conscious resistance is the fear of God. Its heart is the fear of God.

How do you wage this war? It begins in the heart, but then it continues on have a buildup of this fear We're very well aware of how sometimes our bodies can be depleted of certain minerals or certain vitamins and things like that. And we have to build them back up. Well, it's the very same thing with the fear of God. You have to take action to do something to increase your fear of God.

And that's what this word work out your salvation indicates, because there is there is an activity. Here's what you should go away with from this tonight. Ask the Lord how you might increase your fear of God. And by the way, Proverbs two makes it very, very clear how you do this. Proverbs two makes it very, very clear that the fear of God is built and increased in your life by seeking him with all your heart.

It's really kind of simple in that sense. Read Proverbs 2. The entire proverb is dedicated to this one proposition How do you increase the fear of God in your life? I discovered this when I was memorizing Proverbs 2 with my grandchildren I didn't realize that that's what this proverb was all about but that's what it's about the entire Proverb and so you work out your salvation and then he says in fear and in trembling Now what kind of fear is this? It's the kind of filial fear that we've been talking about.

It's the kind of fear that senses God's nearness, that finds pleasure under his watchful eye, that has at its basis the understanding that he sees you, that everywhere you go, he knows who you are and he knows what you're doing and he's with you. The fear of God is one of those things that has to do with our senses, our sense of the presence of God. When we're talking to someone, we know that God is watching, and we love it. We are so thankful that He's watching, because it keeps us walking in the ways of truth. It keeps us from slander and gossip.

It keeps us from silly talk when we know that God is with us. That He sees us. And it makes us tremble. But it's not a servile trembling. It's not the trembling of someone shaking in their boots.

It's someone that trembles with joy at the idea that Jesus Christ is watching. That's the kind of trembling... It's the kind of trembling that you have if someone so important, so wonderful is in your presence that you straighten up and you listen. And you're very well aware of the moment because something very remarkable is happening. You are in the presence of a very marvelous person.

That's the kind of trembling that he's talking about here. And Vincent's word studies grasps this element. He explains this fear and trembling with these words, not slavish terror, but wholesome, serious caution. This fear is self-distrust. It is tenderness of conscience.

It is vigilance against temptation. It is the fear which inspiration opposes to high-mindedness. In the admonition, be not high-minded, but fear. It is taking heed lest we fall. It is a constant apprehension of the deceitfulness of the heart and of the insidiousness and power of inward corruption.

It is the caution and circumspection which timidly shrinks from whatever would offend and dishonor God and the Savior. And these the child of God will feel and exercise the more he rises above the enfeebling, disheartening, distressing influence of the fear which has torment. Well might Solomon say of such fear, happy is the man that fears always. That's the kind of trembling that he's talking about in Philippians chapter two. Now, there are four elements of this sanctifying fear that I've identified in your outline here.

And I'll move through them very quickly here, but I want to mention them because they kind of collect up some of these elements of the fear that causes your sanctification. And there are four of them. These things cause rapid sanctification in your life. If you want to increase the pace of sanctification, pay attention to these things and ask yourself, are these mine? Is this my hard attitude?

Is this me? And the first is this, fear of displeasing the Lord. Is there that fear of displeasing the Lord you know Martin Luther's smaller catechism addresses this matter the fear of God here is how article number 60 explains this he says what is filial fear When from love to God we fear to do anything against his will. And then he quotes Genesis 39 9 which was the statement of Joseph when he resisted Potiphar's wife. He said, how can I then do this great wickedness and sin against God?

It's a fear of displeasing the Lord. Vilheimus of Brackel says it like this, filial fear is a holy inclination of the heart generated by God and the hearts of his children, whereby they out of reverence for God take careful pains not to displease God and earnestly endeavor to please him in all things. Earnestly endeavor to please him in all things. And you can think about that on almost any level. You can think about that in your celebration of the Sabbath.

Do you earnestly desire not to displease him on the day of rest? Do you earnestly desire not to displease him on the day of rest do you earnestly? Desire not to displease him when you're having a conversation With your girlfriend or your best friend and you're tempted to talk negatively about people that you absolutely shouldn't Do you have this fear in your heart to displease him? The second is the fear of harm from sin. The fear of harm from sin.

George Swinick, the English Puritan, said that the fear of God was like a guard, standing on the stairs, examining all who go in as a sign that there's a king within. In other words, it examines who are going in. It desires to protect from a traitor, from a thief, from a destroyer, that the fear of God acts like a sentry in order to proclaim the fact that sin is so harmful that you need a guard and the fear of God is that guard. And You need that guard, you want that guard, because you recognize how devastating sin is. You know that sin always destroys immediately and for as long as it exists without repentance.

And even so, The results of that sin don't always go away. So it's a fear of harm, of sin. And then number three, it's a fear of disconnection from Him. Spurgeon included this element of sanctification in his definition, speaking of this earnest desire to be connected to him that we might not be estranged from him and That the fourth is the fear of losing the beauty of the Lord. The fear of losing the beauty of the Lord.

You know, our family, just late this afternoon, watched a film called Polycarp. I highly recommend it. And in that film, Polycarp, by the way, was a disciple of the Apostle John, and Policarp quotes John. I really loved those parts. But a young man was martyred in the Roman Coliseum, and Policarp is explaining his death to his sister.

And Polycarp says this of the young man who was killed in the Colosseum. He said, he only feared denying the Lord. He only feared denying the Lord. Why? Because he understood the beauty of the Lord.

He understood that you lose the beauty of the Lord in denying the Lord. And the fear of God fears losing the beauty of the Lord. This is actually the primary reason men do not look at pornography. It's because they do not want to lose the beauty of the Lord. And they recognize the defilement that takes place, the weakening, the downgrading, your spiritual power and sensitivity, and how it harms and pollutes every relationship you have but it's because you desire not to lose the beauty of the Lord that is the greatest motivation at least for me in turning away from sexual sin because I know where it leads The beauty of the Lord is damaged as a result of that.

And Bunyan grasped this when he said, it's the fear of God that beautifies. Happy is the man that fears always. That it's a grace that greatly beautifies a Christian his words in all of his ways it's a fear of losing the beauty of the Lord in other words to have your eye clear and clean and your mind ready for action ready to minister ready to care for people ready to speak words of life rather than having your mind confused and polluted with all the junk that you've imbibed. It's the fear of losing the beauty of the Lord. And so these are elements of the growth and the fear of God if you want to grow in the fear of God Examine your fear of displeasing the Lord number one secondly examine your fear of the harm of sin and examine your fear of disconnection with Him and examine your fear of losing the beauty of the Lord in your life.

Now I've listed in the next segment of your outline in front of you how the fear of God causes sanctification. And there are actually 12 of them. And they're listed there for you in order for you to do your own study. There really isn't any way that I could walk through these in any level of detail. But I want to mention them, each one of them, so that you can get a sense of them.

How does the fear of God cause sanctification? Well the fear of the Lord is learned in the same way that sanctification is progressive And here David cries out in Psalm 34 verse 11, Come, O children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The growth and the fear of the Lord runs parallel to the growth and sanctification, you can't have one without the other. If you want to grow in sanctification, you must grow in the fear of the Lord.

You know, it's something that you grow in, by the way. No one ever reaches the top of the fear of God. And maybe some of us are even just becoming even aware of this whole subject. And you know, our cry is let's learn the fear of the Lord. Let's go further in the fear of the Lord.

Let's have a greater sense of his presence. Let's have a greater sense of our fear of sin and all the different elements of the fear of God. Number two, the fear of the Lord causes the church to minister to one another. That's a sanctifying work. In Malachi chapter 3, 16, we read, then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them.

So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name. Now that's a remarkable text, but it's the fear of God that causes the church to speak to one another. And when the church speaks to one another the Lord listens and it says here that he he writes their names in a book a book of remembrance And it's for those who meditate on his name and They meditate on his name and What happens they speak to one another? It's such a beautiful thing. It's a sanctifying power of the fear of God And then thirdly God uses actually tithing to teach the fear of the Lord.

Deuteronomy chapter 14, 23. I learned this from one of my speakers at the Fear of God conference when he was telling me about the message he was going to preach. Gary Powers, You should hear his message when he gives it at this conference. And he directed me to Deuteronomy chapter 14, 22 to 28, where the whole context is bringing in your increase into the storehouse and bring it to the Lord. You know, give.

Give sacrificially. That's the whole picture. And listen to this, what Moses says in verse 23. That you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. God calls you to give sacrificially, so you'll learn how to fear God more.

It's part of your growth. Give more, fear more, delight more. That's what happens. You want to increase your delight? Give more.

Because God wants to teach you his fear. And in teaching you his fear, he's always simultaneously teaching you delight. And then number four, the fear of God causes a person to desire the nearness of God. That's Jeremiah 32, 38 through 41. And here the message is that it is God who puts his fear in your heart and As a result you desire his nearness.

What a gift and then number five Repentance which is the engine of sanctification requires the fear of God. You are not going to be able to repent unless you have the fear of God is running strong and you can read about that in 2nd Corinthians 7, 10 through 11. Repentance is an underrated category of scripture. And by the way, next year our conference is on repentance. The reason is it's on the Reformation and it's a celebration of the 95 theses and the impact of Martin Luther's nailing of those on the Gwittenberg door.

The very first of the 95 says, repentance is the essence of Christianity. And so we'll examine that. Number six, the gatherings of God's people teach them the fear of God and they grow. That's Deuteronomy 4, 9 through 11. Number seven, the discipline of the Lord which God uses for our sanctification is designed to cause fear.

The discipline of the Lord is so good for us. You know the hardest things are always the most helpful things in our lives It's always that way for a true Christian Those are the things that cause you to grow more you love him more You know the people that I know went through a pinnacle hard time They always say the same thing if they're real Christians if they're real Christians They say it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It drew me near It made me want him more and So The discipline of the Lord is a great stimulus to sanctification We should never despise the discipline of the Lord or resent his rebuke for whom the Lord loves He disciplines and then number eight Those who fear God receive goodness now that there are so many texts on this matter Psalm 31 19 is one that I've listed here. Oh how great is your goodness which you have laid up for those who fear you. God lays up goodness.

He just lays it up. He's collecting it up. He's putting in a storehouse. And then for those who fear him so that they can draw upon the wealth and the treasure that's there. They go into the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High and there they are the treasure house of His mercy.

And there's goodness laid up there for the Christian. And then number nine, those who fear God are taught of God, which causes sanctification. That's Psalm 25, verses 12 through 14. Number 10, those who fear God are being healed, which is part of sanctification. I love Malachi 4 too, but to you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves." How about that?

Healing, happiness, running around like a calf, happy in the pasture. You ever seen that? It really is a beautiful sight. It's very inspiring and it makes you smile every time you see it and Then number 11 those who fear God are preserved by God Which is part of sanctification Deuteronomy 6 24 and then number 12 those who fear God grow in wisdom Ecclesiastes 7 18 Proverbs 1 7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Those who fear God, they grow in wisdom.

So there you have it. What causes us to grow is that we believe that God and the things of God are so vastly superior that we want to escape the worldliness of this world and cling to him because of this reverential awe, this longing desire for such a being, such a perfect and beautiful savior. And it's what keeps us from sin. And that's why David said in Psalm 128 verse 1, blessed is everyone who fears the Lord who walks in his ways behold thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord." Well, that's the fear of God and sanctification that is communicated in the confession in chapter 13, paragraph number three. Pretty neat, huh?