Gen 42:18, Now Joseph said to them on the third day, "Do this and live, for I fear God: 
	This morning, we will conclude our deliberation of what it means to fear God. We have been looking at this phraseology within the context of what it means to us as Christians, as those who have been chosen by God for His own plan and purpose. The reason that we have been so focused on this is because we want to dispel any erroneous ideas that we are to be afraid of God or to tremble in terror at the thought of Him. 
Unfortunately, there have been those teachings within the Christian churches based on the fact that the English language has changed over the years. The idea of fear has become one of anxiousness and terror and trepidation and horror and dread and fright. It no longer carries with it the reality of reverence and awe and worship at the recognition of the holiness and the righteousness and the perfection of God.
	Consider the vast difference that this understanding presents in the following passage. Ps 19:8-10, 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. 
As we joyously read this passage, we do not sense that we are to be afraid of God or to eternally think of Him with dread and terror in our hearts. We will be reverencing and worshiping and adoring and considering Him with awe for all of eternity. This is a most positive and glorious context of expressing love and thanksgiving and honor to God throughout the eternal ages because of the fact that He is Holy, and Righteous and all deserving of the totality of our worship and honor and praise.
	This extends to that same reverence in our hearts with regard to His Word and His precepts as the Holy Spirit makes them life to us. Please turn to Ps 119:160-165 and follow along as we read it together. Ps 119:160-165, The sum of Thy word is truth, And every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting. Princes persecute me without cause, But my heart stands in awe of Thy words. I rejoice at Thy word, As one who finds great spoil. I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Thy law. Seven times a day I praise Thee, Because of Thy righteous ordinances. Those who love Thy law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble. 
	Please note how the awe and wonder of God is fully incorporated into the reflection and contemplation upon all that God has to tell us in His Word. We find great comfort and truth and strength and guidance and sustenance as we appreciate and study and consume His Word which serves to reveal Himself unto us. Through the manner in which we honor all that He tells us in His Word, we find our peace and our safety and our assurance in His Truth.
	Then we come to the reality of this awe and reverence in operation as God is dealing with those who do not fear Him in this manner. Please turn to Mal 3:2-5. Mal 3:2-5, "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. "And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. "Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years. "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the Lord of hosts. 
	Hopefully the contrast of the terminology is clearly evident in this passage. Deliberate upon it in reverence before the Lord. Those who should tremble in terror of God will be the ones who receive the eternal judgment and condemnation. It will be those who do not fear God with reverence of His Holiness and Righteousness who will be eternally suffering the consequences of their refusal to acknowledge His excellencies. …I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me… 
It is those who do not honor and worship and stand before God in the righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ who will be utterly doomed forever. They will be the ones who will cower at the thought of God’s divine wrath and holy judgment. The ones who do not choose to bring before Him hearts washed white by the blood of the Lamb will be the ones who experience the dread and the anguish and the terror and the panic and the horror of their own foolish and stubborn refusal to acknowledge and worship the Lord God Almighty. 
	And look at what the Lord has prepared for those who do love and honor Him. …For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. "And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. "Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord… 
He has promised to work in our lives to bring forth the purity and the refinement which will establish His Righteousness and His Holiness within us to be pleasing before Him. Our sacrifices of praise and worship will be honoring because they will be forthcoming from hearts and minds and souls who know what is pleasing to Him. There will be an ever increasing living relationship with Him that will show forth His wonderful work of purification in our lives. We will be brought before Him in joy and in gladness and in rejoicing at the majesty of Our Glorious and Awesome Lord God Almighty. 
	Those who do not fear Him will still serve their part in this very process in our lives as we seek after God to do all that He requires and desires in us to His glory. This was evidenced by our Lord Jesus Christ as He shared the parable of the unrighteous judge with His disciples. Please open your Bibles to Luke 18:1-5. Luke 18:1-5, Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man. "And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' "And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out.' " 
	Note that we are not to lose heart as we seek after the Lord to do all that He chooses to do in our lives. We will be facing the onslaught of those who would try to oppose us, as did this widow. We will have those fiery trials and situations and dilemmas that will strain our every source of hope and strength and patience and energy. We will have a relentless force of this age that will try to dissuade and to discourage us in our walk with God. Yet, despite all of that, in God and in our reverence for Him, He will even use those people of this realm who do not fear Him to carry out His plan and purpose with respect to our relationship with Him. Consider within our own lives that boss or that supervisor or that teacher or that doctor who does not yet know the Lord, yet treats us with kindness and with skill and with encouragement because the Lord has caused us to find favor in his or her sight. 
	Our final aspects of consideration are centered in the New Testament writings of the Apostles Paul and Peter. Both of these men ascribe the details of our Lord’s statement with regard to our earthly walk in terms of just how important it is to fear God in every place that He has put us. It is our witness and our testimony on this earth of the life that we have in Christ Jesus that is to be in evidence in our daily carrying out of the tasks given to us. 
	As the Apostle Paul writes in Col 3:22-24, Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 
	It is imperative that our lives on this earth reflect our relationship of honor and praise to the Lord. In our fear and reverence unto the Lord, we interact with all those in our lives as a witness of our dealings with God, Almighty. Our conduct and our attitude and our demeanor will reflect our heart of worship and obedience unto Our Lord and Savior. 
As this passage details, we are to do all things …with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men… In that light, everything we undertake will reflect how we desire to please and to honor God. We will conduct ourselves as those who are being scrutinized under the microscope of the intensity of God’s grace and mercy on display for all to see. There will be no room for anything other than our best behavior and effort in all the service that we are called to perform, whether at work, or home, or school, or in our corporate worship. 
The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters describes this attitude of submitting to the fear of God in the manner in which we live our lives in all instances as follows: Quote, Fear or reverence refers in Paul to the appropriate level of respect and honor to be shown to another, often in light of fulfilling one's service to God. It also implies terror at the prospect of failing to fulfill one's obligation. Paul asserts that believers are to show fear or reverence with respect to God and Christ, the state, and other humans. The relation among these, in Paul's thinking, is that reverence or fear of God constitutes a suitable basis for Christian conduct. Paul's concept of fear or reverence is grounded in the OT idea of fear or reverence not being a completely sinister terror stemming from being subjected to an angry deity. For Paul, fear or reverence reflects an appropriate response in terms of respect, honor and service due to the powerful and holy God who is bound by covenant to his people. Due reverence demands moral …obedience; disobedience or not showing due respect warrants justifiable terror. End quote. (from Dictionary of Paul and His Letters © 1993 by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. All rights reserved.)
	 The Apostle Peter further elaborates upon this truth in 1 Peter 2:16-20. 1 Peter 2:16-20, Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all men; love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. 
	In all our dealings with mankind, we are to present ourselves as those who fear God for the sake of His testimony on this earth. Whether it is before our earthly bosses and supervisors or teachers; whether it is in our service to our community or political leaders; whether it is in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ; or in subjection to those given spiritual authority and guidance over us; we are to show our absolute reverence to God in the manner in which we conduct ourselves. 
	Please notice that Peter does not give us the leeway to only serve those who treat us well and with honor and with respect. He makes it a very specific point to detail the fact that even those who are difficult and mean and unreasonable and causing us tremendous anguish and difficulty are to be treated with respect and with patient endurance as is honoring to the Lord. 
This is often an area in which we have great issues with God because we try to reason our way out of having to give our best to those who are unreasonable and extremely hard to please, especially, it seems, within our own families. We try to persuade God and ourselves that they do not deserve to be treated with respect since they do not always treat us with respect and with kindness and with gentleness and with understanding. 
	Many marriages and family units are so configured with this idea that the only respect and consideration and understanding that is present is that which is reciprocated and earned. But just as we did not deserve or earn our salvation, so also is it the heart of God that expresses these wonderful traits despite any ill treatment or nastiness or hostility or contempt or insolence. 
The fact is that we each so treated God, and sometimes still dishonor Him, with such unruly and unholy displays on our part. As God works with all patience and kindness and thoroughness to bring into our lives the joy and the fulfillment of what it means to be a Child of God, so are we encumbered to express our gratitude and our tremendous regard in our fear unto Him into our every earthly relationship. It can truly be no other way as we live before Him in the honor and the respect and the reverence and the heart of worship that He truly deserves from all of His creation. So be it!
	Now Joseph said to them on the third day, "Do this and live, for I fear God: Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Deut 32:1-4. "Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth. "Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb. "For I proclaim the name of the Lord; Ascribe greatness to our God! "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. Amen.