Command #3: From Futility to Fear - May 17th, 2026

I'd like to just start with a reading of the Word of God. And we're reading First Peter chapter 1, verse 17 to 21. That's our text for today. And let me read that for us. And if you address as Father, the one who impartially judges according to each one's work. Conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your feudal conduct inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and your hope are in God.

Let's pray together. Father, we are so delighted to come into your house this morning to worship, not only with songs, but with giving, and also now to offer our hearts and to rend them before you respond appropriately to the proclamation of your truth. Help us to not just hear the words, but to listen well and to find great encouragement this morning. And I pray that as we receive encouragement and strength that you would teach us not only to obey but to love one another, to have compassion on the loss that surrounds us, and help us to be excellent witnesses of your transforming work in our lives. So we thank you for just our time and protect and guide us through it. Help us to understand your truth and not to live on our own paradigms, but help us to see things clearly as you would have us see them.

So Lord, we desire to have ears to hear, and that's something that only you can grant. And so grant it to us this morning for your glory and for your joy. And pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Go ahead and take your seats. Well, I generally try and stay away from movie references, and I don't think I've ever used one quite yet. Um, but I felt the need to use one this morning, because I concluded it may be very helpful in feeling the truth of our passage for the sermon. One of my favorite movies of all time is a movie called Saving Private Ryan, which won five Academy Awards in 1998. Have you guys watched it? Anybody? Okay, it's a half-half. So loosely, based on a true story, it's a movie historically set in World War II, just after the D-Day landing.

So D-Day historically was where the tides of World War II shifted. The Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, and the Allied forces won that battle. But over 4,000 soldiers lost their lives. And so the movie Saving Private Ryan pretty much begins there with a scene of many soldiers just being gunned down on the beach. And among those gunned down and killed are three brothers from one family. They're fro, they're the Ryan family of Iowa. And so the death of all three of his older brothers leaves Private James Ryan, the sole surviving son of his family. So in response to this horrible and unfortunate situation, the general of the U.S. Army gives a direct order for a team to be assembled to find and to rescue Private Ryan to send him back home to his mother.

So a team of eight very confused and begrudgmen men who just survived the beaches of Normandy are then sent out into hostile French territory in search of this man. So eight men are commanded to risk their lives, and they are sent on a dangerous mission to find one man. So eight lives put at risk for the saving of one. And that's the tension that runs throughout the whole movie. Is one man's life really worth risking the lives of eight other men? So the unit succeeded. I'm sorry if I gave you a spoiler. It's almost 30 years old, so it's your fault. They find, they protect, and they save Private Ryan. And they successfully send him home. But six of the eight men die in the process. And the most famous quote of the movie is given toward the end as the captain in charge of the mission with his dying breath pulls private Ryan close and he whispers to him.

Earn this. And the movie ends with the scene of Private Ryan. Now he's an elderly man, many years into the future, in front of the captain's grave, weeping. I think it's memorial day. He sees it, he's weeping, and he says the following.

And then the elderly James Ryan breaks down and crying and trembling, and then his family comes and consoles him. Because for his whole life he had lived a life almost haunted by the reality of what the saving of his life had cost. Six men gave his their lives to save his.

Amen. And by belief alone, sinful man could now be restored to holy, holy, holy God, and not just be spared, but be elevated to an heir of heaven. And all that person did was receive it by believing upon the gospel of Christ. And that we learned God had prepared from the very beginning at the time of the fall, but from the creation of the world, even. And the gospel of Jesus the Messiah had been something that had been prepared from the foundation of the world and then carefully passed down until the arrival of Christ to the earth. And that was the inheritance offered to man freely by grace and received by that believing man through faith. And we learned that the inheritance, this gift is beyond our wildest and imagination, and literally almost too good to be true, except it is true.

But then it came at a cost. Right? And that's the cost we often take for granted. That's the content of the opening 12 verses of 1 Peter. All of this came at a cost. And so after giving the description of this great inheritance, Peter wrote how the believers of Asia Minor were then to appropriately respond. Earn this, right? So verse 13 begins with the word therefore, and you guys remember, therefore in the scripture are always significant. The word therefore connects what's just been said with an expected application. So the apostle Peter wrote, therefore, at the beginning of verse 13, followed by three commandments, he expected the Christians of ages or minor to obey. Christians were to obey, not to earn salvation.

They were to obey because they earned salvation, because they were saved. Believers were not to obey all the commandments in order to receive God's blessing, but they were to obey because they had received God's blessings already. Amen. So obedience was the only appropriate response. They were given life, they were given a great inheritance, and now they're called to earn this. By way of review, the first command of the three was for believers to keep their eyes focused on the price. They were to fix their hopes completely on their reward in heaven, not on their painful circumstances here on earth. The second command, which we looked at last week was with their eyes focused on the future, believers were to be pre holy in the present.

That was last week. And today we land on the third of the commandments or the commands, which believers are to obey in appropriate response. And this is the command literally to live in fear. Now that's a little bit jarring. And we're gonna unpack this. Believers are commanded to conduct themselves in fear. And I want to backtrack a little bit and read from the beginning of the section at verse 13. And I've highlighted all three of the commands in yellow. Verse 13, therefore, having girded your minds for action, being sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not being conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the holy one who called you, second command, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct.

Because it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you are a Christian, if you address as Father, the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn. And so we arrive at verse 17 this morning, and verse 17 contains two truths about the Christian, two truths about God, and a very important third command that's often incorrectly understood. Okay, and so we're gonna look at this. Two truths about the Christian, two truths about God, and the very important third command. The first truth is that the believer is an heir of heaven. Right? You guys see that in the verse. One did not dare to call God his father ever. We take that for granted, but this was simply not in the paradigm of the Jew or the pagan Greeks in the ancient Near East.

You didn't call God Father. But now in Christ, all believers address God, the creator of the universe, as Father. So this is truly mind-boggling, and it's such a remarkable thing. Believers who had once been hostile enemies outside of God's grace, believers who had formerly lived in the futility of their minds and in their conduct, believers who had inherited their frustrated, feudal, corrupt ways from their earthly fathers, verse 18, have now been adopted into God's family and have been made heirs of the kingdom of heaven. So for believers, first, we are no longer of our former father, the devil, John 8 44. You guys know that you're either of the devil or you're of God. That's what the Bible teaches, right?

You're either one or the other. But one we who once were spawned of Satan, Ephesians chapter 2, are now adopted as children of God, and we address him as Father. So God is the Father. We are sons and daughters, and as adopted sons and daughters, God has made us an heir. Galatians 4 7. We are heirs of heaven. Our citizenship is now where? Philippians 3 20. It's in heaven and heaven only. There is no such thing as dual citizenship in eternity. You guys know this, right? You're taking nothing here with you. Amen. Some of you guys are like, oh man, some of you guys are like, uh oh. Some of you guys are like, awesome, right? But we are heirs of the kingdom only if you're a Christian. This world is not home, and we are literally just passing through.

And then that's a second truth that's given about the Christian in verse 17. Christians are sojourners. That's actually how the letter opens up. Christians are sojourners. Chapter 1, verse 1. So we're just passing through. So we hold to things loosely here. This is not where we will spend eternity. I've stayed in many hotels in my lifetime. Many.

Because again, I was literally passing through. Likewise, Christians are sojourners, you will check out. Right? Christians are heirs of heaven, sojourners here on earth. And so those are the two truths that we are reminded of in regard to our Christian identities in verse 17. You guys see that? Two truths about the Christian. My hope, this is slightly tangential, but not that none of us are found living opposite of those truths. Okay? So those are the two truths. Verse 17 also contains two truths about God. The first truth is that God is a father. Now, being a father can mean many, many things. There are many things that fathers do, right? There's many things that fathers have always done. Fathers train up, father's discipline, father's model.

I mean, this is like we hope, right? Fathers provide. Fathers also delight, fathers also love. Fathers pass on their names, their legacies, and their inheritances to their children. In 1 Peter, though, when God is mentioned as father, it's always referring to this last fatherly attribute, the passing on the inheritance to the children. Okay. God is called father over 250 times in the Bible, but in 1 Peter only twice. And in 1 Peter, both times God is referred to as a father, there is specifically in reference to him being a giver of an inheritance. Chapter 1, verse 3, chapter 1, verse 17. So that just kind of etched that in your mind. God is called many things in 1 Peter. You'll see him being referred to as an exalted king, as an owner, a distributor of gifts, a slave master, a shepherd, an impartial judge, like verse 17.

And only twice he's mentioned as a father. So God is referred to many times here, but when God is mentioned as father in 1 Peter, Peter is talking about the inheritance giver. He is the dad who writes a will, writes the child's name in order to make that inheritance a legal promise. That's the first truth, God's father. Okay, so whatever other truths about God and fatherhood that come into your mind, they're not necessarily untrue, but in 1 Peter, he is a gift giver, an inheritance passer. You guys with me? Okay. But verse 17 also gives you a second truth, which is very strange. He's an impartial judge. Think about the logic. So what does it mean for God to be an impartial judge? And that we're supposed to conduct ourselves in fear.

So here's an important question. Is this truth read in verse 17 about God being a judge? Is that a threat? Or is that a message of reassurance? Because when a normal person will read, conduct yourself in fear, God is an impartial judge. You automatically think, is he gonna revoke my inheritance? That's how it actually feels. If you mess up as a son, the father, the impartial judge, is gonna kick you out. Is that what he's saying? In context, Peter is not threatening the saints to be holy to conduct themselves in fear, lest they lose their inheritance. He's using the facts of God being the inheritance giving father and an impartial judge as a reassurance and not as a threat. If you read this just by itself, it sounds like a threat because you can understand why, right?

It is not a threat. So now, what does it mean that the father is also an impartial judge, his children need to fear? And I want to unpack this because this is of supreme importance in understanding the letter. Fearing God is supposed to bring me comfort. Huh? That's gonna be the initial reaction. How is this to be a comforting and a reassuring thing for his children? Well, God being an impartial judge means that God is no respecter of persons.

What does that mean? A powerful king of many empires will be judged in the exact same way as a lowly peasant. You guys checking. A CEO of a fortune 500 company will be judged in the exact same way as the janitor of that company. Rich man will be judged in the same way as the orphan or the widow. A cruel master will be judged in the exact same way as a faithful slave will be judged. God isn't just and impartial only to the Egyptians. God is also just and impartial to Israel as well. God will judge the Israelite and the sojourner the exact same way based on their works. This is basically what Moses taught in Deuteronomy. The impartial judgment of God has always been communicated clearly in the law and the prophets and in the Old Testament as well.

So I'm gonna give you an example of the Old Testament teaching of this. For Yahweh your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the fearsome God who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe. So God cannot be bought, right? Okay, you guys, you guys tracking with that. No amount of righteous work can purchase a salvation. Okay, no matter how, no matter no amount of money. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow. Shows love for the sojourner by giving him food and clothing. So you show love for the sojourner, for you are sojourners in the land of Egypt. So the impartiality of God was meant to be a comforting truth, that he is a good God. So God is no respecter of persons, God's judgment toward every person, and his hatred towards every person's sins is exactly the same.

God is impartial. Amen. So there's we're all on equal footing before holy, holy, holy God. It's not good footing outside of Christ, but we're all on equal footing. In the New Testament, also, the doctrine of the impartiality of God was to be a source of encouragement and actually a motivator for the Christian to work hard. Okay, here we go. Because earthly masters will see and then look the other way. Earthly masters will try to cheat you. God's not like that. So, this is what he says. Slaves in all things, obey those who are your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but with integrity of heart, fearing the Lord, whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.

How many guys have seen these verses before? Okay. Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. Serve the Lord Christ, who's always watching you. For he does who he who does wrong, the cheater, the oppressor, the bad boss, will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. So what does this mean? The earthly master may be unfair, but God is always fair and faithful. Hallelujah. The earthly master may treat you unfairly. The earthly judge may treat you unfairly. But God will always reward you richly for your faithfulness. There is no favoritism or partiality with God in regard to his holy judgments or his holy standards. Amen.

So going back to verse 17. The truth, two truths we learn about God is that first, he is the inheritance-giving father. Second, he is a judge. Before we jump into the command, I want to have us look carefully at the following verses, so that you understand in context, I'm not just speaking out of my wishful thinking. Alright, verse 18, or I'll read verse 17. If you address as Father, the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold from your feudal conduct inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, gave him glory, so your faith and your hope are in God. Does that sound like a threat when you read the whole thing? No, it doesn't. It's reassurance. Everything contained in verses 18 and following are all statements. Do you guys see that? They are all completed actions that cannot be undone. First, believers have been redeemed. Past tense. Do you see it? They were redeemed, and then they were sealed with precious blood. Verse 19. And the blood of that lamb, you don't have to do this every year because even earthly lambs are in current it's corrupt, right?

But that lamb was unblemished and spotless. And God, the Son was foreknown, prepared and ordained for the shedding of his blood for the elect from the foundation of the world. So Christ was prepared on purpose. Christ's death was on purpose. God the Father and God the Son knew exactly what they were doing. And so for the sake of the elect, verse 20, God the Son, in the fullness of time, made his appearance to save.

And verse 21 is as important a statement as a Christian will ever encounter in the scripture. So I'm going to read it again for us. Pay attention. Verse 21, super important. Who through Christ are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, gave him glory, your faith and your hope are in God. What happens when you believe upon God and your faith and your hope are in God? You're secure.

Amen.

No. He's saying your inheritance is perfectly secure. There is absolutely nothing to fear in regard to your salvation or your inheritance because you are believers. Your faith is in God. Did you guys know that the eternal security of a believer is all over the pages of the Bible? You guys know this. This is what the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the saints in Ephesus, chapter 1, verse 13 to 14. In him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge as of our inheritance unto the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory. The believer has been sealed.

The God who cannot and who does not lie has pledged this. The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God does not save and then reject the person after he has been saved because of a lack of judgment, because of a lapse back into fleshly weakness. So truly, one saved, always saved. Amen.

Because it's not based on the believer's works anyway. It's based on the promises of God. So the believer's inheritance is protected by God Himself, was what we just looked at last month, right? Verse 5 is up there for you on the screen. The apostle Peter wrote that believers are protected by the power of God, chapter 1, verse 5. God does not say, oops. He also never says, never mind. He is not like someone who randomly picks out a puppy, and then when that puppy peas and poos all over the place, I take him back. God is not like that. So he is a God who never says, never mind. He never says, I take it back. So the saints' inheritance perfectly is secure. It's protected by the power and the oath of God.

So in verse 6 of chapter 1, it's not up here on the screen. The believers all rejoiced in this. So in verse 17, the apostle Peter is not contradicting everything he had previously written. He is not issuing a threat where he tells them they must conduct themselves in fear before the impartial judge. Are you guys tracking along? Do you know for whom the impartial judgments are coming? The non-believers who are oppressing them.

In all this, the wicked, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, maligning you. But they, the wicked, they're gonna give an account to him who's ready to judge the living and the dead.

The living and the dead.

Keep your mind alert. God the judge is going to appear a few times through, another few times through in this letter, right? Jesus entrusted himself to God the judge, 1 Peter 2, 23. Judgment begins with the house of God, 1 Peter 4, 17. So, yes, God the impartial judge will judge believers. But when God the impartial judge judges believers, he already has given the verdict. What's their verdict? Righteous. Why? Believers have been washed by the blood of the Lamb. So your judgment, my judgments, if our hearts have been made new by the Holy Spirit through our faith in Christ, it's already been determined. The outcome and verdict has already been finalized and made secure. So righteous. Repeat after me.

If I believe, I am righteous. That's all over the Bible. Amen. If I believe, he has already said I am righteous. So believers, in being born again, they've been united and buried with Christ in his death, and then raised with him into his resurrection. There's a fancy word in English and in the Greek called baptism. You guys know what that word, right? Right. Believers have been buried with Christ into his death, raised with him into his resurrection. We call that baptism. So everyone who's been baptized into Christ is receiving the same verdict, innocent, righteous, enter into the joy of your master. And that has a, it's it's been pledged through the blood of Christ. 1 Peter 3, 21 to 22. Baptism now saves you.

Not the water, but being united with Christ in his death and resurrection, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal of a good standing to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers have been subjected to him. The resurrection of Jesus Christ has sealed the deal for those who have put their faith in him. So once saved, truly saved, always saved, let all God's people say, Amen. So first, two unchangeable truths regarding the believer. He is an heir of heaven, he's a sojourner on earth. Second, two unchangeable truths about God. He's a generous father who lavishes an inheritance on his adopted children, and then he is a judge who is to be feared.

Amen? But he is a it's a fear that involves terror for the wicked, and a fear that is reverent and trusting for those who have been purchased and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. So now we're gonna, with that in mind, we're gonna look at this command. If you address as Father, the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn. So the third command for us who have our faith in Christ is to conduct ourselves in fear while we are living our lives here on earth. This is a command. And this is the first of more than a half dozen references to fear mentioned in this epistle. The Greek word for fear is the word phabas, phobas, it's actually phabas, but where we get the word phobia.

You guys have heard that word before, right? That's actually a very important theme throughout the whole letter. But in each mention of fear in this letter, it's in reference to the fear of God, which causes the believer to have a fear-filled boldness in the presence of man. In every mention of the word fear in 1 Peter, it's never used as a threat. It's used as trust-filled motivation and source for the believer's strength. Let me show you. Chapter 1, verse 2, or chapter 2, verse 17. Because believers fear God, they can show proper reverence and honor to the king. President 2. Whoever the president is, you can subject yourself to him. Good, bad, ugly, old, young, because you fear God. 1 Peter 2 18.

Because believing slaves fear God, they can trust and subject themselves to even abusive masters. Do you see this? Because he's gonna, he's a judge. 1 Peter 3, unbelieving husbands can be won over because their believing wives fear God. Believing wives can even go as far as calling their husband Lord, like Sarah did to Abraham, because they are fearful of God. Chapter 3, verse 6. In 1 Peter 3 14, believers who are being persecuted because of their fear of God, they don't need to fear any slander, harm, or even if they lose their life, no need to fear. The fear of God may not remove negative circumstances, but it will remove all anxiety and trouble from the heart, no matter what the circumstances.

And when that believer, 1 Peter 3.15, makes a ready defense and boldly proclaims the gospel, the fear of God causes him to be gentle and gracious, even in the face of the most hostile accuser. When we're sharing the gospel and we're hated for it, and they're yelling at our face, they're throwing things at people, the fear of God causes you to respond in kindness. Right? I don't need to worry about this. God will take care of this. The theme of the fear of God runs through the whole letter, and it's a good fear, it's an appropriate fear. It's a righteous fear because it's the fear of an awesome and terrifying God and not a fear of men. So for the fear for the believer, this fear of God is not one of dread or of terror, but a fear of reverence and awe.

You guys tracking? If I fear God and God only, I fear the supreme. If I fear God, there is nothing in this life or in this world that I need to fear. The fear of God completely does away with any fear of man or any circumstances. King David feared God alone. You guys know who King David is, right? Homey through a rock and kill the giant. He fought bears and lions. He feared God. Psalm 27, 1 to 3. Yahweh is my light, my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is a strong defense of my life. Whom shall I dread? When evil doers come upon me, came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries, my enemies, they stumbled and fell. The host encamp against me.

My heart will not fear. The war arise against me, in this I trust.

I will not fear. What can man do to me? All of this is echoed in Paul's rhetoric toward the end of Romans chapter 8. If God is for us, who is against us? He who indeed did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who's going to bring a charge against God's elect? God's the one who justifies. I don't even fear Satan is the point here. Conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn. The apostle Peter is going to unpack this for the rest of the letter. Fearing God and fearing God alone actually will cause you to love one another. Interesting connection. That's going to be the next week's sermon. Or two weeks from now.

I'm not speaking next week. I get a little break. Fearing God and fearing God alone empowers us to love our enemies. Fearing God and fearing God alone empowers me to be gracious to the most pagan of all the rulers. Fearing God and fearing God alone will enable me to endure and still be faithful under horrible bosses, under horrible diseases. It will cause me to rejoice in trials, to lovingly and gently respond to even harsh and difficult spouses. Rejoice in the face of persecution, suffering, and even execution. Fearing God does not mean that I will be exempt from perhaps execution for my faith. But I don't fear the outcome of the execution of my faith if I fear.

Amen.

Our problem is not that we fear God too much.

Amen.

We don't see God clearly because our understanding has been influenced by the world. It's flawed. So obviously we don't fear God as much as we should. We have made God in our image. So much so that our fear of man and fear of circumstances is far greater than our fear of God. We've created God in our image so that our fear of God is based on superstition, that He's going to take away and snatch away things if I displease him. Oh, he's like playing games with my life. You wouldn't say that if you feared God. Jesus exhorted in Matthew 20, 28, do not fear the one who can kill the body, but fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell. You guys have seen that verse before, right? But many of us fear those who can kill the body more than the God who is able to destroy souls in hell.

Because we do not fear God enough, we undervalue grace. Think about this. You're not as thankful as you ought to be because you don't fear God enough. The fear of God leads to wisdom, it leads to knowledge, it leads to understanding, it leads to proper living, it leads to good for all mankind. That's the book of Proverbs. Right? The fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is beginning of understanding. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. It turns aside from the snares of death. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance in the mouth of perverted words. I hate.

So our fear, or our problem, again, is not that we fear God too much. It's we do not fear God enough, and we don't fear God enough because of our ignorance and our utter stupidity. The fool says in his heart, Psalm 14.1, there is no God. The modern fool also says, God is love. So he cannot hate. Therefore, he need not be feared by the Christian. Folly. Yet another fool says, approaching the throne of grace with confidence, and he might even quote, it's Hebrews 4 16. Means I don't have to fear God at all. No, dumb dumb. Approaching the throne of grace with confidence means that I fear only God, but God said, righteous. So my knees are knocking, but I'm like, thank you. I work out my salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 2 13. With joy-filled gratitude because God sees the lamb of the blood, or he sees the blood of the lamb on the doorpost of my soul, and whoop, he passes over. Do you think any Israelite in Exodus was goofing around and giddy when they were hearing the screams of the firstborn children of all of Egypt ringing out? Do you think they're like, ha ha, this is so fun. We're safe. No. They're like, oh. What just happened? The blood of the Lamb covered our doorpost. He passed over us. God the just, God the impartial judge was satisfied to look on the Lamb and to pardon me. God the just was satisfied to look on him and pardon you of me.

The deal was sealed. Amen. Verse 19. But with precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. So you don't need a priest anymore. He did away with it. Okay. He was foreknown from the foundation of the world, but was been revealed in these last days for the sake of you, the elect. Who through Christ are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. So our faith and our hope are in God, and for the rest of our lives, fearing only God, we seek to earn this.

Earn this. May we be daily haunted by the reminder of the cost of our salvation. Amen. I feel like that'll fix a lot of our problems. If we're daily haunted that the precious Lamb of God died for my sake, and now I am alive because of him. May we conduct ourselves in appropriate fear during the time of our sojourn. May we earn this, work it all out with fear and trembling. Here's a secret to growth. The greater our knowledge of God, the greater our fear will become. And the greater our fear, the greater our boldness and courage before man will become. The greater our fear, the clearer our understanding of grace. And the greater our understanding of grace, the more true and appropriate our worship.

Amen. May the increase in our knowledge of God. Don't skip Bible study. All you're doing is you're depriving of yourself of knowledge, and you're living in stupidity. Don't deprive yourself of daily reading. Because you're going to fear man over fearing God. And you think you're going to come on Sunday and worship. We don't fear God enough. The fear of the Lord is a fountain alive, Proverbs 14, 17 or 14, 27. Let me close with a quote by JC Ryle. We must beware of thinking too much about our meals, our furniture, our houses, and all those many things which concern the life of the body.

We must strive to live like people whose first thoughts are about the immortal soul. We must endeavor to pass through the world like people who are not yet at home. Are not so troubled about the fare they are with on the road and at the end. Blessed are they who feel like pilgrims and strangers in this life and whose best things are all to come. Blessed are the pilgrims and the strangers who fear God and fear God only. Our Father and our impartial judge, again, has already given the final verdict. Righteous, innocent, good and faithful servant, child heir. Before the throne of holy God above, we have ourselves a perfect pledge, a plea.

Amen.

Yvonne. Hallelujah. Because if we would, if we couldn't lose our salvation, I think 100% of us would. Amen. It's like ah, we would all lose it. So the doctrine of election and eternal security of the believer are awesome things. Because God is not fair. Because God is merciful and gracious. The blood of Christ has already won our salvation. Precious blood has already been shed for the saving of our lives and our souls. So my plea, and this is that movie reference again: earn this. Amen. Let's pray together.

Lord, be gracious to us. We are so easily a distracted and you're forgetful people.

And in our flesh, we don't like to fear you because it makes us feel uncomfortable. So I think, Lord, we tell ourselves things to delude ourselves into thinking that we don't need to fear you. But remind us afresh that the fear of the Lord liberates us into true and awesome worship and fulfillment and perfect joy. And help us, Lord God, to love because we fear, help us to serve because we fear, help us to be bold and courageous because we fear you alone. And no matter what the circumstances that we're going through, help our fear of you put joy in our faces, even if the rest of our circumstances and our bodies are breaking apart. Help us to worship you in spirit and in truth. Thank you that we can, because of the precious blood of the Lamb, unblemished and spotless, shed for our behalf.