OPEN: You may have heard the story of some children at a Catholic school who were lined up for lunch at the cafeteria. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. A nun had made a note: "Take only one, God is watching." At the other end of the table was a large plate of chocolate chip cookies. One of the youngsters had taped a note to the plate that said: "Take all you want, God is watching the apples."
APPLY: The past couple of weeks we’ve been talking about “holiness.” Holiness is the idea that we are set apart for God. When God makes US holy, that means God has set us apart for salvation. When we believed in Jesus, repented of our sins, confessed Jesus as our Lord and Master and were baptized into Christ, we were made holy - set apart to be His children.
And when God says WE should make ourselves holy – He means that He expects us to live differently than the world around us. And that’s what THIS passage is all about.
Notice what God tells us here: "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16) In other words BE DIFFERENT from the world around you. But why should we want to do that? What is it that should MOTIVATE us to be holy and be different from the world?
ILLUS: I recently talked with a young person who asked if homosexuality was a sin. It was obvious that they had accepted homosexuality as their “life-style” and were wanting me to get in an argument with them. I focused on telling them that God loved them, but that lifestyle would hurt them… and that was one of the reasons that lifestyle is called sin.
It occurred to me that this person was NOT a Christian. It didn’t matter to them that God would not be happy with their choice. If they loved God… then this would matter to them and they would stop doing what they were doing because they knew it would upset Him. But they didn’t love God.
Now ideally that’s why we should do what we do in life. We should seek to be holy because we LOVE GOD!!!
I BELIEVE that that is why I John 4:18 says “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” We should be so motivated by our love of God that we want to please Him in all we do.
When that happens… we won’t be afraid of being near Him. Hebrews 10:19 says it this way “… we have CONFIDENCE to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus…”
And yet - here in THIS passage - God tells us that we should “…conduct yourselves with fear…” I Peter 1:17
Fear? Fear about what? Well, let’s look at some other passages in the New Testament.
Revelation 14:7 “(An angel) said in a loud voice, ‘FEAR GOD and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.’”
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the FEAR OF GOD.”
1 Peter 2:17 “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, FEAR GOD, honour the king.”
Fear God? Really?
You know, there’s a lot of theologians who have a problem with “fearing God.” They’ll change the word fear – to “REVERE God” or “HOLD HIM IN AWE.” It takes the sting out of the idea of “fearing God” because they just don’t like that idea that we should fear God. It’s kind of intimidating.
So (just for you) I looked the word up in the Greek. In each of those passages the Greek word is “phobos.” That’s the Greek word from which we get “phobia.” What does phobia mean? “Phobia” means “fear.” Phobia does NOT MEAN revere or hold in awe. It means FEAR!
OK, but why should I fear God? Well, here’s the problem. Ideally, I should be holy because I LOVE God, but too often people tend to get lazy in their relationship with God.
ILLUS: One of my friends put it this way: “We must never get so comfortable with our holy God that we forget the important part of our relationship. He was, is, and always will be in control.” (Ryan Llewellyn)
In other words: God is God… and we’re not.
If we forget that, we can begin to think that God will be happy no matter what we do. We’re part of God’s team, so He’ll overlook MY sins. So, I can eat all the cookies I want because God likes ME, and (frankly) He’s paying more attention to the apples anyway.
Knowing that I (and others) are prone to that kind of thinking, God reminds us that fearing HIM is not a bad thing. That’s why that term (Fear God) shows up several times in both the Old and New Testaments. Fearing God is what often keeps ME from doing stupid things. And I fear God because I know God is NOT JUST watching the apples… He’s watching me!
ILLUS: I once heard a popular preacher tell of a conference he spoke at in a faraway city. One night, after he’d finished preaching, he went back to his hotel. He was just about to get on the elevator to take him up to his room when 2 very attractive women got on with him. He turned to them and asked which floor they wanted to go to. They smiled knowingly and replied, “Whatever floor you get off at… will be good for us.”
He knew what they were suggesting. They were saying they wanted to get off on his floor and go to his room with him. They were “Ladies of the Evening,” “Pavement princesses,” … Prostitutes.
As he told the story, he explained that their offer shook him. And as the elevator made its way up to his floor he said he didn’t think about what would happen to his marriage if he did this; and he didn’t think about how it would affect his children; and he didn’t think of the damage it would do to his ministry. The only thing he could think of was this verse: Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
He said, the elevator doors opened on his floor and he turned to the women and said, “I’m very flattered, but we’re not doing this.” When he reached his room, he said he shut the door and fell against it and he literally shook at how close he had come to giving in to the temptation.
Now… why didn’t this preacher give in to the temptation? Why did he decide to stay “holy”? He feared God! He knew God was watching Him.
God disciplines His people if they decide to do bad stuff. Hebrews 12:5-7 says “have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
God loves you… and He WILL discipline you. And it will not be fun if He has to do it. I remember my daddy “discipling” me, and I really didn’t want to go through that. Those were times when I feared DAD! And so I’d try NOT to do the things I knew would bring punishment (well, most of the time).
(PAUSE) And sometimes… being disciplined by God can be REALLY serious.
In the church at Corinth (a congregation in Greece that Paul had started) Christians there had fallen into a lazy faith. They were argumentative, divisive… and (sometimes) just plain mean. Paul wrote them a couple of letters, and in the 1st letter he wrote them (I Corinthians) he talked to them about their communion service.
“When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.” I Corinthians 11:20-22
Paul went on to say “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” I Corinthians 11:27-30
Because of their arrogant mistreatment of each other at the Lord’s supper, some became weak and ill… and some died. You really don’t want to tick God off. You don’t want to make Him angry. There is a reason to fear God… and wise people do fear Him.
But if you LOVE Him - your fear will come in 2nd. Fear will still be a great motivator, but it won’t be the first thought in your mind.
ILLUS: Over here is an electrical socket. It’s a wondrous thing - you can plug in a fan, a hair dryer, a microwave, a refrigerator, or a Computer. You can plug in all kinds of things to make your life EASIER. And did you know they have things like this at the hospital? And they plug all kinds of things into those sockets at the hospital - things to measure your vital signs; things that will pump fluids and medicine into your body; things that will shock your heart… and bring you back to life. At the hospital they plug all kinds of things into these electrical sockets - things to make you HEALTHY and give you your LIFE BACK.
Now… this is a Butter Knife! (Pause)
What would happen if I plugged this butter knife into this electrical socket? (Give audience a chance to answer). It wouldn’t turn out real well for me would it? I would literally “see the light.” Now – I’ve never done that. I’ve never stuck a knife into one of these sockets. Do you know why? Because my momma didn’t raise no fool. I literally fear the POWER that is in this socket…
But, have you ever gone into a room and seen one of these sockets, and thought to yourself “ARGGGH! I’ve got to be careful because I might just accidentally stick my finger into that plugin and electrocute myself”? Of course you haven’t. That would be dumb. We never think like that. We may fear the power in the socket… but we don’t dwell on it.
Whenever I go into a room - whenever I need power for a convenience or a life saving device - I go LOOKING for that socket because I love/appreciate the power that is inside that box
In the same way - I fear God. I don’t want to go doing something that would bring His judgment down on me. But that’s not the first thing I think about when I think about God. The first thing that comes into my mind is all the wondrous things He’s supplied for me by His Power.
CLOSE: Now, one last thought. It’s a good thing that our God is a fearsome God. He has the power to defeat mighty armies and destroy entire nations. He has the power to flood the entire world, and the power to crush the might of even Satan himself. HE IS THE GREAT I AM - and you don’t mess with Him.
But the same God who can destroy any power of evil on the face of the earth… is YOUR God. And that’s a good thing, because He has your back. Romans 8:31-39 says it this way:
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Our God may be a fearsome and powerful deity… but He is OUR fearsome and powerful deity. We belong to Him and we should want to honor Him with holiness because we love Him.
ILLUS: While praying one day, a woman asked God “Who are you God?” And He answered: “I am”. “But, Who is ‘I am.’” She asked
“I am Power. I am Peace. I am Grace. I am Joy. I am Strength. I am Safety. I am Love, I am Shelter. I am the Creator. I am the Comforter. I am the Beginning and the End. I am the Way, the Truth and the Light.”
With tears in her eyes, she said “I think I understand. But who am I?”
God tenderly wiped her tears from her eyes and whispered: “You are Mine.”
INVITATION
