(music) Well, what's the big deal with fearing man? What's the problem with trying to impress one another? The desire for pure approval. That dopamine hit that we get when we impress others. That desire to be admired. What's the problem with it all? Well, on Monday we looked at 1 Peter 3.15 and there we saw that the commission that we honor Christ or revere Christ in our hearts.

It's a text about fearing God. And it brought back to mind a sermon Pastor John preached 42 years back in the fall of 1980. I wanted to share a clip from that old sermon today that we talked about on Monday. Here's 34 year old Pastor John to explain this connection between revering Christ and dying to the approval of others.

What is this reverencing the Lord Christ in our hearts? What's this amazing thing that has the power to turn the fear of man into hope and the power always to give us a reason for the hope that is in us that we can speak to others? Now, to answer that question in accord with the immediate context, what we need to do instead of importing our ideas in there and say, "Well, everyone knows what reverence is," is to notice what Peter's doing.

Peter is quoting from Isaiah. He's quoting from Isaiah chapter 8 verses 12 and 13. And I'd like you to look at that with me. Isaiah chapter 8 verses 12 through 13. He's taken this quote that God gave to Isaiah for his day and he's adapted it for his own situation.

God gave Isaiah a warning in these verses about how he should feel about his adversaries and about how he should feel about the Lord God. We'll start reading at verse 11 of Isaiah 8 and you'll hear immediately the similarity to 1 Peter. "The Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, 'Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.

But reverence the Lord of hosts; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.'" You can see clearly that Peter was alluding to this text. Not an exact quotation, but an adaptation for his own situation. God had warned Isaiah, "Don't fear what men fear. Fear me. Reverence me in your hearts." Peter takes it, adapts it to the people who are being persecuted in his own day and says, "Don't fear what men fear.

Reverence the Lord Christ." He puts Jesus right in the place of Jehovah in the Old Testament, which is done more than once in the New Testament. So if we can find out what Isaiah meant by reverencing or regarding as holy or sanctifying, depending on which translation you have, the Lord in his heart then will have a sound and solid foundation for determining what Peter meant when he said, "Reverence the Lord Christ in your hearts." Now, verse 14 of Isaiah 8 makes it very clear what Isaiah means by reverence God.

It means, "Fear him instead of fearing men, or dread him instead of dreading men." It says, "Reverence the Lord of hosts; let him be your fear; let him be your dread." So that's Isaiah's, or God's, explanation of what it means to reverence the Lord in your heart. But now, probably, if you're really with me, you're saying, "But surely God doesn't want his chosen people to walk around filled with the emotion of fear towards God." That wouldn't be a very exciting invitation, but only one of misery.

But that's not what God meant here, and we can see that it's not what God meant if we just look at the next phrase in verse 14 where he promises that those who do fear him, for then he will become a sanctuary. And then he goes on and talks about what he will become for those who don't believe him, but he will become for those who fear him a sanctuary.

Now, a sanctuary is a place where you feel peace and security and hope. So I don't think it would be fair to say this text is teaching that we're always cringing when God is our God. That sounds kind of paradoxical. Let God be your dread, and he will become your sanctuary.

But that's what it says. But it's not really as paradoxical as it seems if we take verse 14 to mean not be filled with the emotion of fear towards God all the time, but rather take it to mean something like this. If you reverence God, you will consider the prospect of displeasing him as a more fearful prospect than displeasing men.

That's what it means to let the Lord be your fear. The prospect of offending or displeasing God will be a more dreadful or a more fearful prospect to you than worrying about what men can do to you. The degree of Isaiah's reverence for God was the same as the degree of his desire not to displease God.

Now, what in this particular context in Isaiah 8 displeased God? What here in these several verses did God want Isaiah to avoid? Because it would have displeased him. And the answer is given in verse 12, "Do not fear what they fear, and do not be in dread." God would have been displeased with Isaiah if Isaiah had feared men or feared what men could do to him.

Why? Why is God so displeased when we, his people, fear men? Why does that offend God? Isn't the answer this? He has made promise upon promise upon promise that he would take care of us, and if we believe those promises, it should take away fear of men. It should fill us with confidence and hope if we believe those promises.

But if we fear men, then it's a sign, isn't it, that we're not believing those promises to take care of us. And when you don't believe an honest man, he ought to be offended and displeased because you don't trust him. And so it is with God. God had said to Isaiah, for example, in chapter 41, "Fear not." And he gives some reasons.

"For I am with you. I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, 'Fear not. I will help you.'" You can just see God pleading with Isaiah and the people of Israel, "For goodness sakes, believe me." Chapter 35, "Say to those who are fearful, who have a fearful heart, 'Be strong.

Fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with recompense. He will come and save you.'" Now, there are many, many such promises in Isaiah and in the whole Old Testament. And therefore, if Isaiah fears the threats of men, he is casting his vote against the trustworthiness of God.

And he does not reverence God in his heart. But if he does not fear men, but instead fears to displease God and thus trusts in God's promises, then he is reverencing God in his heart. Yes, if you reverence God, you will consider the prospect of displeasing Him as a more fearful prospect than displeasing man.

Sobering. That's a lesson we are all learning, I guess. This was a clip from John Piper's sermon way back on October 19, 1980. It's titled, "Make a Case for Your Hope." The whole audio recording is online at DesiringGod.org. And Pastor John reflected on the making of this sermon, a process he has not forgotten all these many decades later, as we heard him recount on Monday in ABJ 1840.

Check that out, too, if you didn't hear that. And if you have a John Piper sermon clip to share, email me. Give me your name, hometown, the sermon title, the time stamp of where the clip happens in the audio. Make a note of what stands out to you. Put the word "clip" in the subject line of an email and send it to me at AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org That's an email address.

AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org I'm your host Tony Reinke. We are rejoined in studio with Pastor John when we return on Friday. We'll see you then. (Silence) (Silence)