1 Sam 12:24, Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
	This morning, we rejoin our current consideration of the truth that we are to fear the Lord and to serve Him in the full deliberation of all that He has done, is doing, and will continue to do throughout the expanse of all the ages upon ages of eternity. Again, this fear of our contemplation is that of reverence and awe with every sustained focus on the reality of learning who God is and how to offer Him the very best of our worship and praise and adoration to His glory Alone!
	We pick up, once again with the directive from of old to honor the Lord as the Children of Israel, our forefathers in Christ, were instructed to honor and obey all His precepts and decrees. This would show the full measure of their commitment and dedication to the Lord God Almighty. We begin this morning with Josh 22:5, if you would turn to that verse in both your Bible and in your heart.
	Josh 22:5, Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." 
	To fear the Lord is to seek to understand some of the magnificence of His ordained path of righteousness in our lives. We cannot do this alone! We are not individually capable of obeying The Lord fully and manifestly every moment of our lives. 
However, we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, the precious gift from above because of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Accordingly, as we are now partakers of our new nature, that of Jesus living forth His perfect life from us, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are enabled to more and more fully show forth that steadfast obedience. This will bring us into a deepening and living relationship with God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
	As we are learning what it means to …be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul…, we begin to gain the greater appreciation of the heart of God toward us. We find ourselves more and more fully captivated by His great working power in us and through us unto others. Our testimony of sanctification being worked out in our lives, day by day, causes others to seek to know the difference that is evident in our walk on this earth. As they cower and dread and are afraid of what might happen and especially the physical death that awaits all men, they do not understand our complete peace and joy and confident assurance that God has all things well in hand.
	They cannot know this until they have turned to Him, called out to Him and received Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Then, they too, will be enabled to learn what it means to fear God in all the majesty of a surrendered and committed and desirously dedicated walk to the pleasure of God in the course of the sojourn of a Christian on this earth.
	This is the declared means of God in the great work of establishing a people who will honor Him no matter what; a people in whom the familial relationship with Him means everything; a people who want to obey Him and who desire to please Him at every decision point of our lives. It is the proclaimed heart of redeemed mankind which chooses, freely chooses to lay down our lives unto Him. This in order for Christ to be more and more effectively and gloriously evidenced in His resurrection power as the way in which we now obediently, humbly, graciously, joyously, and thankfully operate to His glory in our hearts and our minds, with all fear and trembling.
	This is the proclamation which rings so true in our hearts and minds as we face those decision times of our way or God’s way. Joshua encourages us today as he so encouraged and declared this all those centuries ago to the Chosen Nation of God. This foundational heart of the people of God is once again and forever set before us in Josh 24:14+15.	
	Josh 24:14+15, "Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 
	This is that point of demarcation that the Children of Israel faced with respect to how they were going to continue their walk on this earth. Were they going to be just like all the other nations of the earth, worshipping those false idols and gods of their own creation? Or, were they going to walk hand in hand with the Lord God Jehovah, the Creator of all things that are made? The point of decision was set before them with the declaration from Joshua that he was going to follow the Lord no matter what!
	That is the case with each one of us on a moment by moment basis. We need to have the Lord so establish our relationship, through the means in which we learn to positively fear Him with all our essence! Thereby we will not desire anything else but His way in the manner in which we live on this earth! 
	It needs to be so concreted into our being that we will willingly and urgently respond to God as we see Him working and ruling and overruling in all the manner of our sojourn. As He prompts, we respond with that fear of being displeasing to Him. It is not a fear that is set in the concern that we might be punished for disobedience. It is the desire that He will always be blessed and honored in every action, every interaction, and every reaction of our lives. 
In all that we do, we want Him to be fully satisfied that His glory is the priority and the focus of how we operate on this earth. All to His glory Alone! No ulterior motivation! No seeking after any self benefit or self protection. Everything is laid out before Him to work to His perfect joy in us as we declare His Sovereignty to the depths of our beings.
	This then brings us to 2 Kings 17:36-39. Here we have the further encouragement that we are not to fear any other god. As we look to the means of the worship and the adoration that this world puts forth among all the vast deities of man’s imagination, it is readily evident that from the Garden onward, there is the fear of punishment. It is that dreadful and awful fear that man would suffer if the gods of man’s imagination are not satiated by the works of man’s hands. The most dreadful and disgusting and ludicrous and horrible actions of mankind are put forth in order to bring some measure of release from the horrible consequences of what we know is the sinful nature of humanity. 
	However, the fear of the only Living, Holy, and Awesome Lord God Almighty brings life and joy and peace forever and forever. There is that sense of fearing that we might displease Him, but as we grow in our relationship with Him it is not in terms of because He will punish us. It is in terms of our disappointing Him because we do not fully live in the righteousness and the beneficence of His Heart of Love. We are hurting ourselves when we do not offer Him our full and earnest fealty and service. He always proves Himself in all His mercy and loving kindness to those whom He has redeemed.
	2 Kings 17:36-39, But the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment, which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever; and you shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies." 
	Notice, there is to be that recognition that God has done such tremendous and mighty deeds that all work together for the good of those whom He so loves. That is why we desire to bless and honor and please Him in obedient reverence and consideration of how much He will delight in the work of His hands evidenced in our lives. There is no way that we should ever dishonor Him or lower our eyes to the gods and idols of the world. 
We must always seek to delight Him. This is not for what we get, which is unfathomable in its every bestowment, but rather because to not fear Him would be to besmirch and defile and throw filth upon the perfect sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son.
	Consider what the Prophet Ezra has to say about this matter of singly seeking to fear and obey the Lord God Jehovah Alone. Turn in your Bibles to Ezra 9:13-15 so we can read it together.
	Ezra 9:13-15, "And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since Thou our God hast requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us an escaped remnant as this, shall we again break Thy commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Wouldst Thou not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? "O Lord God of Israel, Thou art righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before Thee in our guilt, for no one can stand before Thee because of this." 
	When we do that which is displeasing to the Lord we are the ones who suffer because we are the ones who set aside the wondrous and awesome relationship that He has opened unto us. When we dabble in the affairs of the world with all its entanglements and lures to destruction, we are telling God that He is not enough for us! We declare by our infidelity that His tremendous and indescribable work of salvation and sanctification and glorification and inclusion into His very family in Christ Jesus does not satisfy our cravings or meet our every need! 
We are basically thumbing our noses at God and tempting Him to destroy His witness in us! That is why we have this cry of the prophet regarding a remnant, a holy and consecrated and joyous remnant, a people who will not defile themselves with the filthy lucre of this age. This is the church which is being cleansed and made radiant in all the love of Christ Jesus to the complete and absolute glory and magnification of God.
	Next consider what we are told in Job 28:28. Job 28:28, And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'" 
	It is wise to fear the Lord above all else. More than just smart to do so, it is the basis of all true wisdom. The fear of the Lord brings forth the activity of the Triune Godhead into our lives, our hearts, and our minds. As we learn more and more to trust and to obey, we find that we are facing every situation, every tribulation, every circumstance, and every decision not in any intelligence of this age, but in the vast wisdom of God. He makes Himself, by the indwelling power and Omniscience of the Holy Spirit to be our every source of ability to deal with every decision. 
As we honor and obey Him, so do all the anxiety and doubt and worry and distress fade away. It is fully replaced by that confident assurance that God does indeed have everything well in hand and well ordered in our lives. To know Him, that is the choice of wisdom and excellence in the eyes of the Lord.
	The Psalmist then adds to this discussion with many passages throughout those writings. We will look at but two this morning. We delight ourselves in the wisdom and the encouragement and the joy of Ps 19:7-11. We have sung this psalm frequently in the past in our time of worship and adoration of God.
	Ps 19:7-11, The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. 
	This is such a delightful passage as it manifests exactly how breathtaking and overwhelming and tremendous is our relationship with the Lord. It is such a glorious reality of how God works so mightily and awesomely in the people in whom He develops that wondrous fear of Him. He becomes the focal essence of who we are. He infuses our minds and our hearts with that steadfast faithfulness of Himself in every activity of His love unto us. 
	Then in Ps 126:2, we have the picture painted of the beloved Church of God as we are evidenced for the entire universe to see. It is the certainty that as we look to Him and as we learn of Him and as we honor and obey Him, we will not be a group of miserable and stodgy Christians without any joy in our lives. 
That is what the world says will happen to those who turn their lives over to the Lord. There will be no longer any fun in their lives. They will be the robotic workers of a God Who makes them His manikins, pulling all the strings and forbidding them any enjoyment in their existence. 
	Rather, hear what the Psalmist has to say in the description of those who belong wholly to the Lord. Ps 126:2, Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." 
	This is the joy and the testimony of us, the Lord’s people. We are to shout to the heavens with all the manifested celebration of the goodness and the grace and the mercy and the lovingkindness and the faithfulness of God Almighty, Whom we fear with all our hearts, and all our minds, and all our beings! He is our God! He is the only True and Living God! In Him, Alone is found eternal life and peace and wisdom and rejoicing now and evermore! 
	Lord willing, we will continue with this consideration next week as we encourage each other …to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul…. So be it!
Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. Amen.

	
This morning’s benediction is John 4:24. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Amen.