HoHum:
Sometimes fear of punishment motivates better than anything else. One mother decided she would put the fear of a speeding ticket in the speeding drivers going past a local elementary school. Every morning she would park her car in front of the elementary school and point her black hair dryer - shaped like a radar gun, out of the window at speeding cars. The effect was dramatic as drivers slowed down fearing they might receive a speeding ticket. “Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.” Psalms 34:9, NIV.
WBTU:
Start with Vs. 10- Fear. Two kinds of fear:
1. Fear in the sense of being afraid of God. This is not the original fear of God, this came to be because of sin. It is the fear of sinners before the all knowing God of wrath and judgement. Given the fact of sin, the fear of terror is a legitimate fear as experienced by sinners. This kind of fear will never completely leave us even after trusting Christ for salvation and this is a good thing. The fear of God is a strong motive for obedience and service. It is an incentive for avoiding sin and doing good.
2. This is not how God wants us to feel about Him. There is another fear that is more basic and more natural than terror, and which is the proper response of the creature to the Creator. This fear is a sense of reverence, respect, and awe. Vs. 9 says that awesome is His name. This fear is that the great and glorious Creator is a Being so awesome that we cannot help but be overwhelmed with an sense of awe at the very thought of Him.
“Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you--majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” Exodus 15:11, NIV.
Since our God is beyond us (transcendent) and invisible to the human eye, we need to see some of the things that God has done to appreciate Him. We need something tangible. “Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works on man’s behalf!” Psalms 66:5.
Why should we fear God? Because of God’s great wonders or works on our behalf. “O Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?” Deuteronomy 3:24, NIV.
Thesis: Let’s look at 3 great works of God this morning
For instances:
Creation
Glorious works (deeds) vs. 3
The glory of God is God’s infinite significance, the totality of His perfections, the fullness of God compressed into a single word.
God is called the King of glory, the Lord of glory, the Father of glory, and the God of glory.
No work of God displays His glory more intensely than His work of creation. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone” Job 38:4-7, NIV.
It is difficult to imagine a more impressive event than creation. Even though we were not there to witness this, we do see the results all around us. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalms 19:1, NIV.
Majestic works (deeds) vs. 3
Majesty speaks of supreme authority. God is the supreme authority. Still to this day when someone speaks to a king or queen they begin with “Your Majesty.” New Testament says this “God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” 1 Timothy 6:15.
“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” Psalms 8:1, NIV.
Powerful works (Vs. 6)
The greatest evidence of God’s omnipotence is creation. In 6 days God made all of it.
Think about the atom. Our minds cannot appreciate the minuteness of a single atom, nor the wonder of its construction. Electrons move around the atom’s nucleus at nearly the speed of light. By virtue of its construction, an atom is mostly empty space. The actual material in it amounts to only one trillionth of its volume. By using this one basic construction unit, God made the universe whose diversity and beauty stagger the senses.
If God can do this by His power, He can give the Israelites the lands of other nations.
Salvation
Righteous works (Vs. 3)
“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”” Romans 1:17, NIV.
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” Isaiah 64:6, NIV.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV.
“he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.’ Titus 3:5, NIV.
During a famous battle between baseball’s Babes, Babe Pinelli was the plate umpire and Babe Ruth the batter. Pinelli called the legendary slugger out on strikes. Ruth would have none of it. “There’s 40,000 people here who know that last one was a ball, tomato head.” “Maybe so,” umpire Pinelli said, “but mine is the only opinion that counts.” So it is with God.
Gracious and compassionate works (vs. 4)
When God looks on us, He sees sinners whose main need is grace, forgiveness and salvation.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Peter 1:3
Redemption works (vs. 9)
To buy us back with price. Picture of slave auction where someone buys slave and sets free.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” Ephesians 1:7, NIV.
Bible
A. Faithful works (Vs. 7)
The end of the verse (and vs. 10) talks about God’s precepts- commandments, laws, guiding principles. This is talking about the Word.
The Dead Sea Scrolls found in 1947 have several scrolls of the OT. These scrolls were made before 70 AD. Taken our current Hebrew text and compared it to Dead Sea Scrolls. Very few differences. The OT that has been faithfully passed down to us.
Trustworthy works (Vs. 7-8)
Are these words inspired and inerrant- incapable of error? Is that possible?
“He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth--the LORD God Almighty is his name.” Amos 4:13, NIV.
God has revealed his thoughts through His Word. “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring for ever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.” Psalms 19:7-9, NIV.
Flavel- Bad men or devils would not have written the Bible for it condemns them and their work. Good men and angels could not have written it, for in saying that it was from God when it was their own invention, they would have been guilty of a falsehood and could not have been good. The only remaining Being who could have written it is God.”
Covenant works (Vs. 9)
By offering a covenant or agreement, God is doing a work. God is the superior party and we are the lesser party. God does not have to offer a covenant but He does because of his mercy and grace. Need to be thankful that we have a covenant with God.
“For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.” Deuteronomy 4:31.
“In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”” 1 Corinthians 11:25, NIV.
Conclusion and invitation:
We need to acknowledge God’s greatness and glory in praise and worship and thanksgiving.
Vs. 1- Praise the Lord. In the council of the upright, confession. “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:9, 10, NIV.
In the assembly (out in public). ““Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32, 33, NIV.
