Herbert W Armstrong

   Now, Mr. Johnson, of course, he's responsible for the North Shore area of Vancouver Church. He got this green card, and the green card means, you know, that's, that's a new prospective, and he got this green card a week or so ago and he was just floating. Uh, you know, just floating through the office because he hadn't seen one for so long. It just seemed that, uh, very rarely we seem to get any new prospectors. So we were very happy about it and he was certainly.

   And so we did go over and visit the lady, elderly lady over in West Vancouver, and, uh, no, it's not British Properties. But uh, anyway, uh, this lady over in West Vancouver, we visited her a, a week ago and then again we saw her this week and, uh, I was mentioning, I think I mentioned to her, uh, at the Pentecost services to the Vancouver Church, and she's really excited and really interested, has, you know, tons of questions. And, uh, we just haven't got the time that, uh, uh, you know, we'd like to stay there all day and I'm sure she'd like us to stay there all day, but, uh, we can't do that and so we said, "Hey, well, it's okay, don't worry, we'll come back next week," uh, you know, "that's alright," and so she's really, really happy and really wants to see us, really hungry, uh, for truth, as she says.

   And during the course of that visit, she asked one question in particular and she said, because you've got to understand her background now. She is elderly, she is, uh, let me see, uh, Czechoslovakian, uh, and her background, of course, has been in the Catholic Church and she was brought up and she is a young girl was sent to a, a nunnery, uh, convent, whatever, uh, it's called, and, uh. Well, I, I wasn't brought up that way. I never went to a nunnery anyway, yeah. But uh, but she went all, you know, all through that and of course a very staunch, uh, parent, uh, parental training with respect to the, uh, Catholic Church and the religion.

   And so she wanted to know from us, she said, "Now, um, is your religion a fear religion?" And she asked that question. Now, of course, understanding the background, you understand why she would ask the question. And of course, we went on and discussed that situation, but I sort of, um, thinking about that. And the answer to that question. Is yes. You know, the answer to the question is this: Church of God, does it have a fear religion? And the answer is yes, it does.

   Now I didn't come right out and say that to her, you know, when she asked the question, "Do you have a fear religion?" I didn't say, "Yes, we do." Because I would have scared her. And didn't want to do that. I didn't say that, uh, but in thinking about it and, uh, you know, coming back to the question again, and hopefully that, uh, we can understand this, that, that the Church of God has a fear religion, we do. It is a fear religion.

   I can prove that to you. Sure, I can, in fact, I will. Just turn to, uh, uh, let's see, Psalm 115. Psalm 115. If you don't think we have a fear religion. Psalm 115 and verse 11, beginning in verse 11. Psalm 115:11. It says, "Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield," and they're going on to the verse 13. "The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great."

   Well, so the answer is that we have a fear religion. Doesn't it tell you here to fear? It says God's going to bless you if you fear. Sure it does. So the, again, the answer is yes. We have a fear religion.

   Over in Psalm 128. Psalm 128 beginning in verse 1 (Psalm 128:1). Once again it says, "Blessed is every one that fears the Lord; blessed is every one that fears the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For you shall eat the labour of your hands: happy shall you be, and it shall be well with you. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: your children like olive plants round about your table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord."

   So again, we have a fear religion. You're going to be blessed if you fear God. Have a look at Psalm 145, just over a couple of pages. Psalm 145 verse 17. Psalm 145:17. "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Verse 18, "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth," and in verse 19, "He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them."

   Well, here you are again, you find that, uh, to the individual who fears God. That individual is going to receive blessings. That individual is going to have his desires fulfilled. He's going to be saved by God. God is going to be there with him, with that kind of a person who has fear. So once again, I mean, the Bible does say all this and, uh. We can truthfully say that the Worldwide Church of God teaches a fear religion. We teach a fear religion.

   Now, going over, if you just turn your page, uh, let's see, I turned my page once and you'll end up in the book of Proverbs. That's if you were in Psalm 145. If you're still looking for Psalm 145, you may not be in the book of Proverbs if you just turn one page, but if you find Psalm 145 and you turn your page, you may be in the book of Proverbs, which is where I want you to be.

   So, uh, look at verse 7 of Proverbs 1 (Proverbs 1:7). "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Very basic scripture right there. In fact, the whole key to the entire book of Proverbs and the whole key to, well, really everything. The key to knowledge, the key to wisdom. The key to everything is what? It's fear. What it says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning, that's where you start. If you don't have fear, you can't even begin to comprehend or understand or come to know wisdom, come to know the truth. You've got to fear. Again, that's what it says. So we do. Once again, teach a fear religion.

   Continuing in Proverbs, just looking at a bunch of scriptures here that basically all say the same thing. Proverbs 19. And verse 23. Proverbs 19:23. It says, "The fear of the Lord tends to life: the fear of God, the fear of the Lord tends toward life that will produce life, and he that hath it," that is fear, right? "He that has fear, fear of God, he that hath it shall abide," that means live, "satisfied." He shall be satisfied. Doesn't mean you're gonna have seven kids, but nevertheless, you'll be satisfied. What it says. No, I won't go any further at all. "He shall not be visited with evil." To the person again who fears.

   Uh, Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22 and verse 4. All right, you want your heart's desires, you want prosperity, you want success in life. What does this proverb say? Verse 4 (Proverbs 22:4). "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life." And then verse 5 is the other, the other side of the coin, uh, without fear, you see, without fear of God, uh, "Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: and he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them."

   Fear again is going to produce. Your desires are going to fulfill your desires. You're going to be satisfied. You're going to be prosperous, healthy. All the blessings that God promises. And again promises to those who do what? To those who fear. So I mean, we do believe these scriptures, don't we? I mean those scriptures are in the Bible and we believe that this is the word of God, this book, we believe that it's inspired from God. And we've just read what it says. Have to conclude that we have. Yeah, to conclude it because you have to. In order to live this way, you have to fear.

   Look at the, if you just think I'm quoting Old Testament, have a look at the New. Acts chapter 13. In the book of Acts, right at the very beginning of the Church of God. Acts 13, in verse 16, first of all, Acts 13 and verse 16. This is when Paul was in Antioch, in the synagogue on the Sabbath, standing up preaching to the people, and he says in verse 16 of Acts 13 (Acts 13:16), "Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience." In other words, listen to what I have to say, you that fear God. Then don't listen to what I say. It's not going to do you any good.

   Do in verse 26. Verse 26, he says, "Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent." As Mr. Schedler was talking about our, you know, throwing off this old tabernacle, as Paul referred to it too, and putting on the new man, the tabernacle. Salvation, saved from death, saved from eternal death and given eternal life that comes through the fear of God. So if you don't think that fear are integral parts. You want to use that term, it's better the way of life, but religion of the Church of God. God's way of life says that we must fear. And if we don't, even salvation will not be sent to it because it is sent to them who fear.

   Again, another scripture: II Corinthians chapter 7. II Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1. II Corinthians 7:1. I mean, you could take a Concordance and you could look up the word fear. And, uh, you could, uh, well, you could come up with quite a few scriptures. Because if you want to say there's one word that, uh, does, you know, um, show itself quite a bit in the Bible, that word is fear. In the Bible quite a bit.

   And here in verse 1 of II Corinthians chapter 7, Paul says, "Having therefore these promises." What promises is he talking about? Well, if you just back up into verse 18 of the previous chapter where it says, "And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Well, that's the promise, salvation to be in the family of God. That's what God holds out for us. So he says, "Having therefore these promises" of becoming a son of God. "Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

   Once again, fear enters into salvation. It enters into conversion. It enters into the process of receiving salvation. It's an integral part of the way of God, a way of life of the Church of God. Fear is an integral part of the way of life that this church teaches.

   And, uh, well I have one last, well, no, I don't have one last one. I mean, I never have a last one. Philippians 2. And verse 12. Now you all know this scripture. Philippians 2:12, you know what that says, uh, "Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only," Paul says, "but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

   Hey, it's getting bad, you know, I mean, uh, are you all sitting down there fearing and trembling? Oh, well he says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So who says that fear is not a part of the religion of the Church of God? Who says we don't live by a fear religion? The Bible, uh, indicates.

   And one other scripture, Revelation 14. This is the easy way to do it because you just look them up in the, uh, uh, Concordances and then you've got them all down on a big long list. Revelation 14. And, uh, verse 6 (Revelation 14:6), first of all, here's a part of the vision that John saw, and he says here, "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice." Now what did he say? "Fear God." That's what he cries out. "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

   Fear God is the message that the angel came to preach the gospel. It's a gospel of fear. It's a message of fear. It's a religion of fear. It's a church that teaches fear. It's that what it says. Yes, that's what it says. We just read it, right? Okay.

   Well, getting back to this, uh, uh, new prospective member over in West Vancouver and her, uh, concern and her enthusiasm, you know, sort of that first love that, uh, uh, I believe was talked about. I think Mr. Johnson talked to you about first love, uh, on Pentecost. I mentioned it over in Vancouver, that first zeal, that first, uh, enthusiasm we received when we first come in contact with what we know is the true way. We may not have all knowledge yet. We may not know everything, but we know this, that we've come in contact with the right way. We've come in contact with it.

   Many of us came in contact with it through the radio, especially more often years ago through the radio, many more times now through television, and, uh, just through the fact of the Plain Truth magazine, or people, you know, friends, relatives, neighbors, or again picking up, uh, uh, the magazine somewhere or buying it, buying the Plain Truth. Yeah, you know you could buy the Plain Truth. You can actually buy the Plain Truth with money. Sure you can. You just got to go into the right used bookstore. And you will find, uh, in some of those, uh, some Plain Truths on sale.

   Well, that's all right. I mean, if he sells them, good for him, and I hope someone buys them and if they buy them, I hope they read them. You know, it might help. Not that we, we don't, don't get me wrong, we're not selling the Plain Truth magazine, but a used book dealer or magazine dealer gets hold of some of our literature and as of course they do, they sell them. I mean, I've seen all, you know, the United States, British Commonwealth in Prophecy for sale. I could have, I could have picked up what was it, um, oh, I could have picked up the New Immortality book for I think about 75 cents. Of course I have a free copy, so I wasn't going to pick it up, but, uh, no, you can buy them.

   And that's how people come into the truth for the first time and, and there's a real zeal and a real enthusiasm and again it's, it's so nice to, uh, to witness this. You know, it's so nice to have a visit where, uh, the person is just bubbling over in their enthusiasm for new knowledge, you know, they're just sitting there like little birds, you know, with their mouths wide open in a nest, uh, and just, uh, craving, whatever is going to be fed in there, you know. That is really nice and that's, uh, really enjoyable to be in, um, in that part kind of a visit. To be with that kind of a person.

   And we've all experienced that in our own lives, lives as we've come up to the truth for the first time. And we do, and we, we come to understand that and it's really great and wonderful.

   Well, this lady, when she was asking this question again, coming from her background and basically it's a background of teaching, hey, if you don't obey, you know, then you're going to, uh, go to hell, you're gonna end up in purgatory or you're going to, or, or thunderbolts are going to come down or whatever. A lot of us have grown up in religions that teach that kind of a way where, where we've been oppressed to the sense where if you don't do this, you're gonna get it. And that's, that's hold over in our minds. All of us are affected, I think one way or another, uh, with that kind of an attitude and that kind of approach.

   Just, uh, when was it? It was just, uh, uh, well, just this past week, someone asked the question that, uh, "Do you think God punished me because of this?" You know, and we get this idea that, hey, God has punished me, you know, you start ducking from the lightning bolts that, uh, Jupiter there, you know, which is of course an old Roman, uh, uh, way of life. That's where it's held over from, that they're shooting these lightning bolts at us and you got to keep ducking, you know, when you do something wrong for fear that, uh, well, you're gonna get struck by them.

   All of us have to some degree this kind of a feeling because we always ask the question when we are afflicted, we have a problem, uh, trial, uh, injury, sickness, we say, "Oh, what did I do wrong? Here's God punishing me." Now. I deserve it, that's for sure. We deserve all these things, that, that's for sure, but we always say, "Why is God doing this?" And of course, we get that idea of the fear religion. Where if you do something wrong, God punishes. You do something wrong, God steps out and you're, you know, you're struck by a lightning bolt.

   Well that is, that is a fear religion, all right. But that's one kind of fear religion. There is another kind. There is another kind of fear religion, and it is the right kind. There's the wrong kind of fear religion and there's the right kind of fear religion. And of course, when the Bible talks about fear, it is talking about it in those scriptures that I read. It is talking about the right kind of fear. Because again, there are two kinds of fear. Two kinds of fear.

   In fact, I, I, I, to make sure that I got this point across to you today, I, I even brought my old Webster's New Collegiate. Well, it looks kind of old here, but, uh, uh, Webster's New Collegiate dictionary that I purchased, uh, from Eaton's department store at the corner of, uh, Yonge and Queen Streets in Toronto back in 1950, hmm, was it 6. I think it was, no 55, I think. I thought you'd like to know that little bit of trivia that, uh, so you know where this, so I speak with authority. From Eaton's department store.

   Now, um, so I still happen to have this, uh. Oh, Webster's dictionary. Well, what difference does it make? I mean, I'm sure the word fear has not changed its meaning all that much in those, uh, few years. It may have for me, but, uh, um. Not as far as Webster is concerned.

   And so, just to read very plainly out of what, um, well it's not so plain because first of all, ghastly, someone lend me their glasses. Uh, no, uh, I think I can see it. But what he says here under fear. Okay, fear is a noun, right? First of all, this is a noun part of fear. It can also be verb to fear. I'm not gonna give you an English lesson here, but, uh. Unless you want one. I'll even give you a French lesson. No.

   Uh, it says 1. Now when it says 1 in the dictionary, that means it's usually followed after a few words by a 2. So, which will then mean that there's at least 2 different ways to use the word. At least 2 different if there's a 1 followed by a 2. Now if there's a 1 followed by a 2 followed by a 3. That will mean that there's 3 different meanings for that. This one has 4.

   Anyway, fear, number one, here's a, here, here is a meaning, one meaning for the word fear. "Painful emotion marked by alarm, dread, disquiet. Also an instance of this feeling." Fear, you know, you're, uh, you're alarmed. You're, um, uh, painfully emoting. Emoting painfully. That's fear. Well sure it is. I bet it is. Um. That is a meaning.

   In fact, there are, there are some very good, uh, synonyms with respect to that, uh, particular kind of fear, and they are like this: dread, fright, alarm, dismay, consternation, panic, terror, horror, trepidation. Now, all those things fall into the same category as the first meaning of fear, a painful emotion.

   Is your religion a fear religion? Now what she meant was, it's, is it this kind of religion, where, where there's panic, horror, dread, fear, you know, in the sense of trepidation that you're afraid to step out of line because if you do, then you're going to be sentenced to hellfire or something. And, and, and the parents stand over you with these threats of what's going to happen unless you, you know, repent and change. Well, now there's a scripture that says that too. But this kind of a thing where people live in fear, terror, and panic. And it has to do with an emotional experience where it is painful.

   Most of us have gone through that. If we were brought up in any kind of religion, basically, because basically all religions teach that, that kind of thing. I say basically, there are some exceptions to that. But primarily and and especially in this particular, uh, lady's case. This was how she was brought up in that fear, and that panic, and that horror, and that dread. And, and how, you know, if there is this kind of thing. This horror, this dread, this panic, this, uh, terror. If, if, if this is in the religion, then, then how can you, uh, think of a God of love, mercy. With that kind of a fear that hangs over you. It's pretty difficult. It's pretty difficult to think of God as a loving Father. You know, sort of standing there with these lightning bolts. Or I guess sitting there is the usual picture of Jupiter, uh, or Zeus, standing there with these lightning bolts and they're ready to hurl them. At the least, uh, you know, error that someone makes.

   So sure, fear does have that meaning of panic and terror and horror. But that's not the fear that the Bible talks about in the scriptures that we were looking at. That's not the kind of fear that the Church of God teaches. We have a fear religion, but it is a different kind of fear than what we have just looked at. It's a different kind of fear than the panic and fright, alarm, dismay, consternation, panic, etc. Different from that, but it still is a fear religion.

   What we then have to see is, well, what, what do you mean fear? What does that mean then? How and because we've read the scriptures where we've got to fear God. We've got to have fear. But it isn't panic or terror or horror or alarm or again consternation and all that. That's not the fear that God wants us to have. That's not the fear that will lead to salvation. That's not the fear that's involved in conversion and living a godly way of life. That's not the kind of fear at all that's equated with the Church of God and there shouldn't be. Not that kind of fear.

   But the kind that Webster does, matter of fact, say here. He says, in fact, it's the 3rd, uh, meaning that he gets here. He says that fear can mean awe. AWE, awe. Profound reverence. That's what that means. Profound reverence. Profound reverence, especially for the Supreme Being. So that's fear, see, that's fear. If you have profound reverence for God, you fear God. It doesn't mean you're in terror, in horror, in panic, in trepidation, in dismay. No. It means you're in awe of God. You revere God. You show a respect to God.

   Now that's positive, that's certainly not negative, like dismay and fear and all these, uh, negative emotions that come about from a wrong kind of fear. But rather it's a positive fear that reveres, honors, respects God. That's the kind of fear that the Church of God teaches, kind of fear the Bible teaches, and what kind of fear the Bible is talking about. The profound reverence for God. Now that's what we need to have. Profound reverence for God.

   Over in, um, in, uh, the, uh, Cruden's Concordance. I also, uh, looked it up there because of course they have fear, uh, there in all the different scriptures for fear. Uh, Cruden says the fear of God means that reverence for God which leads to obedience because of one's realization of his power as well as his love command. Reverence and respect. You respect God because of his power. Respect God. Because of what he is, God. With all power, all authority, all love, all mercy, and all of the attributes, characteristics that God has, and of course, all of his characteristics and attributes are perfect. So God who is perfect and who has perfect character, we revere him because ee has and is perfect. Because he has perfect character and because he is perfect. So we fear God because he's perfect. And fear meaning revere.

   And if we can understand again, uh, get that meaning straight because, uh. I've said this before, and people from time to time will still keep asking. They still have the wrong concept of what fear is. And let's make it plain that we're talking about reverence for God and as Webster said, profound, that means deep. That means deep reverence, not just lip service. "Oh yeah, I respect God, I love God," you know, and, and this kind of thing. Not just that, but it's deep. It's real, not fake, not put on, but real, genuine, profound. Respect that is going to be shown by your actions. Because you can't have deep, profound reverence or respect for God and not show it. You can't have it not show it because if you have it deep, it's a part of you and it's going to come out. And what you say. How you act. You know, by their fruits, you shall know them.

   So anyone who has the right kind of respect and, uh, reverence toward God is going to exhibit and produce the right kind of fear. And you're going to say, be able to say that there's a God-fearing person. Well we mean God-fearing, we mean God revering, God honoring, God respecting person, one who respects God. Because of his authority, because of the fact that God is perfect. And because of what he offers us and of his love toward us and all the right kind of things.

   How do children respect their parents? Of course, that may be a problem. And it is today in this society, but, but still there are, uh, children who respect their parents. A child, again, uh, the authority that God has given to a parent, there is authority there to teach and even to discipline, that's part of it, but not to overbear. Not to beat into subjection, that's not the kind, because then you'll have your, your child, you see, your child will follow you out of fear, which kind? Which kind. You can get to a point where your, your child is afraid to do something because it's going to hurt if he does, you know, uh, he's just, he's just terrified of his parents. And some parents have built terror into children. They've built fear all right, but it's the wrong kind. The wrong kind of fear.

   Now, the right kind of fear is for a child to certainly honor his parents. And that will be because the because he sees the parent as one he loves and respects. Because of course there's discipline there too, but it isn't just the discipline, it's not the terror of the discipline, you know what I mean? There's a balance there. There's a balance where some parents have gone overboard in punishing, child beating to beat children into submission, and you can do that. You can beat them into submission where they're going to submit because they just don't want to get bunked anymore. And that's not the right kind. That's not the right kind of fear.

   In many cases, children that are oppressed that way will go the opposite direction and the minute they're able to, they will leave. They'll get out of that situation, the minute they can. They'll get out of the oppression. The answer is not oppression. That'll instill fear, sure it will. Some governments, you know, run, are run by fear, a totalitarian state run by fear. Well, that'll work, that'll keep people in line. Only as long as you've got that iron fist. But it doesn't mean they like it. It doesn't mean they respect it. I mean they respect it in the sense where, uh, they have no choice. But given a choice, what will they do?

   Well, again, God says no, the right kind of fear is a reverence and respect. Now there is some discipline in that, but it isn't all, you know, disciplined by way of beating or punishing. That must be part of it. The Bible tells us, I'm not getting into a sermon on child rearing. It's not the point. The Bible says, you know, that we don't withhold the rod. If we spare it, then we're going to spoil the child. So we shouldn't do that, but we should do it in love and concern the way God does, the way God does to us. Because he teaches us that very same way.

   So the fear of God means, again, going back to Cruden's, that reverence for God which leads to obedience. You have a reverence for God because of his power, his authority, his love, his mercy. And because you honor God you want to please him. You want to go the way that will please God, and of course in so doing, you're going to reap benefits for yourself. Because we all agree that God's way is the right way to live. And we've already read the scriptures, and if you believe what the Bible says, you read in the Psalms and the Proverbs, that if you fear God, then the blessings are going to be there. You're going to have your heart's desires, you're, you're going to be blessed. God is going to save you. He's going to be involved in your life, and he's going to deliver you from trials and problems if you fear him, that is if you love him to the point where it says it will lead to obedience because you realize what God is.

   And so a person who properly fears God in the proper sense of the term is one who is obeying God, one who will follow the way of God. One who will love it, not follow it because he's forced to. It isn't just a ritual. But it's a way of life. And it isn't just a weekend, you know, way.

   A lot of people that, uh, uh, call themselves Christians. As you know, are what, what one calls weekend Christians. Yeah, you could take that two ways too, couldn't you? They're weak all right. They're weak weekend Christians. They show up good, you know, on Sunday. And the rest of the week, of course, it doesn't matter.

   In fact, there was, uh, a statement made, uh, this past week too. Someone was talking about somebody, uh, uh, this is no offense to anybody, uh, here, because it doesn't involve anybody here first of all, the fact that I don't even know the person, but, uh, someone was talking to me and telling me about this person who is an Anglican, and again, and no offense to Anglicans, that's fine, but, uh, this person is an Anglican and, uh, this other person was trying to convince them that they were a Christian too, see, and this Anglican says, "Well, what do you mean God? You know, I mean, uh, I believe evolution, see." This Anglican was saying this. "I believe evolution. I believe that God is made in man's image." Not the other way around. Well, that, that's good, that's a good statement. He's right in many cases.

   So here, but this is the interesting part about it. Here is an Anglican who professes to be an Anglican. And I, and I know the Anglican Church believes God, you know, I mean they, they believe there is a God. I'm sure they have basic, uh, uh, statements and doctrines and all of that. So here is one who says, he's Christian and yet doesn't believe it. Doesn't even believe God exists. I mean, I just cannot understand that. Oh, well, I understand why and I understand that, but I mean I can't understand the the fact that you're going to say you're a Christian and you don't believe God exists, well, uh, how can you be one? If Christ is God, I mean, how, how, how are you gonna follow him? Well, you know, you can't. The world is confused, of course, with respect to religion. They have their religions and they're, they're confusing. It's a Babylon of religion.

   So what about us? The Christian way is one of living totally that way. I mean, your, your, your whole way of life revolves around that way and, and, and everything else comes into, uh, focus or into contact with that way of life and you've got to make decisions about that. Most people only have to make a decision when they go to church on Sunday. Rest of the week is nothing to do with religion.

   No, uh, if you fear God, if God doesn't change. So God is the same yesterday, today and forever. If God is always the same with the same power, the same love, the same mercy, day after day after day, after year after year, etc. then how can we only be weekend Christians? If we say we fear God. Well, again, we can't be. We have to be God-fearing Christians, but that means totally. And of course means total involvement. And is a way of life. So there's none of this halfway. There's none of this, uh, you know, well, I'll just, uh, be good or put on my Sabbath face when I come into services.

   Look, I mean, uh, you can put on a Sabbath face, you can change the minute you walk in the door and pretend that you're somebody else. But if that's not your basic way of life all the time. Well then we need to do what I hope we have been doing, and that is examining ourselves to see where we do stand. With respect to our fear toward God. And our respect toward him.

   I mean that, that, that area of respecting God, uh, a lot of things enter into that. A lot of things enter into that. And I, I couldn't possibly go through all the, the checklist of things that all of us should think about when we talk about fearing God. Fearing God means reverencing him, means respecting him. Well, how do we respect God? Do we respect him? Do we show respect toward God?

   Well, we, we do if we keep his commandments. If we obey him. We can show it or not show it by just coming to Sabbath services. In the way we come. You, you ask, how do I come to Sabbath Services? I mean, I'm coming here now this is a school auditorium, uh, much like any others, rope ladders notwithstanding. Or with climbing, whatever, and we could say, well, here I am again, you know, another Sabbath, and do we come?

   Now, now, I fall into the same trap, and we all do, but I think we should think about it. We should try to remember why we're coming. You know, not just because it's another Saturday and if I don't come, my, uh, you know, friends will, uh, think I'm. You know, uh, backsliding or something. Are we coming again before God?

   Now, uh, this is the church of God. We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of this church. In the opening prayer, we always ask for God's presence to be here. We ask for it. Now, do we ask for it and say, "Well, I wonder if he will," you know, "I wonder if that prayer will be answered." Or do we have faith? Well, if this is the Church of God, we've got faith. We've got God's faith. We therefore believe that we will receive what we ask.

   I mean, I, I, I do. Now, if I think about it. Now, most times I, I'll be honest, I don't think about it and I, I would think the same thing applies to you that you really don't consciously think about it. Most times when someone gets up to give the opening prayer and we ask for God's presence to be here, most of us, uh, and especially I think the older members who have been around for a number of years, like myself, we don't really think all that much about that because we've heard it so often.

   Well, that's, that's okay. I mean, I'm not saying we have to be aware and alert to every single, uh, you know, syllable and, uh, statement that's made, but maybe we've forgotten though. That we ask for God's presence here. Now if we really believed, you know, or really could see God here. I mean if Jesus Christ would come right here. And he could, you know, if he wanted to, he could do that. He did appear before the disciples after his resurrection, so that that's no great problem. He could appear here in person. As far as us communicating with him on a, uh, basis, how, how you gonna phrase this because he's here anyway, isn't he? Uh, uh, you see, if you really understand it spiritually, he is here in spirit.

   But you know what I mean? Personally, in the flesh and bone that the disciples saw him after his resurrection, he could do that. He could appear. You know, it's not like that, uh, marquee or that thing that was out on 1, 1 theater, uh, down the street. It was a great play. They had a sign up, uh, "Invisible Man appearing here tonight." And, uh, got to wait for that one. Anyway, yeah.

   Christ could appear here if he, if he wished, if he desired. But and, and if he did, let me just, if he did, how would we act? Would we act differently? Hmm. Would we dress differently? Would we respond differently? How would we be? Would we be different? Well, you see, if we're fearing God now, then we wouldn't be different, would we? We wouldn't be different because we're already revering, honoring, respecting God.

   But if there are changes that we would make. Then maybe just in the sense of coming to services, that's just I think just one small area of our lives and of our fear respect toward God. If we would change anything. Then why don't we? And why don't we change if we would. I think it's something to think about by way of again respect toward God.

   You know, it's like Paul said, we read it and I didn't mean to get into that point that we read where Paul had said that, you know, uh, "in my presence, uh, you were doing certain things and now much more in my absence." Man, that's terrific. Are we only, uh, are we workers on the job that only work when the boss is around? See that that's the kind of an attitude. We're only concerned when the boss is there with respect to respecting him and working, you know, uh, to, to show our respect. Or do we show it all the time when the boss isn't around?

   Well, of course, in the case of God, God is always around. I mean, he just knows. He's always around, so there's no way you can say that we're falling down or dropping down from being under the eyes of God by our actions. We need to examine ourselves. We need to ask, do I have that reverence and godly fear? Do I have the right kind of fear? The fear that does make me think. And make me ask myself, hey, am I overcoming? God knows I'm not perfect. He knows that. None of us are, but am I trying? Do I have a proper respect for God, for his government?

   You know what's his government? Well, you know what his government is, it's the church. The church is run by government from God, from Jesus Christ on down. Do we have respect for the ministry? Because you know, it's, it's, see, now again, if this is God's church, now, you know, let's, let's use some logic. Of course if you don't believe it's God's church, well, uh, you, you got, you're gonna have to back up and prove that, of course. Anyway, uh, I, I'm, I'm going to say it is because I've already proven it, but okay, that's still up to you.

   If this is God's church, then, then the ministers. And the Church of God are God's ministers. Now, is that logical or not? Yeah. Anyway, I mean, to me it is, it's pretty logical to me. Now maybe I'm very simple. I am, but, uh, it's still logical. See, I can understand the Plain Truth because it's simple. A lot of books I can't understand. That's why God has a Plain Truth. He makes it simple, the simplicity that is in Christ. It's very simple. That's why the learned of the world can't understand the simplicity because it's too simple. Nothing that simple could be right. It's got to be difficult, complex. Yeah, truth's not complex, truth's not difficult, simple. Fear God, simple. What's, what's hard about that? I mean, understanding it, I mean. You know,

   Ecclesiastes chapter 12? Sure you do. You still, if you still got your finger in Psalm 145. Then turn a page and you'll end up in Proverbs one and then go to the end of Proverbs and you'll find yourself in Ecclesiastes. Okay. And the trouble was I wasn't in Psalm 145, so now I can't find Ecclesiastes.

   Ecclesiastes chapter 12:13. It's simple. It's not difficult at all to understand about fear religion. Very simple. Very easy to understand. Just says, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter." Let's, okay, let's, uh, no other words need to be spoken. We don't have to go into any great arguments. We don't have to strive over the law. We don't have to go into genealogies. We don't have to, uh, you know, uh, be all that educated, not that education is, well, I'll put it this way, knowledge is not wrong, education maybe, uh, but then all education is not based on knowledge necessarily. Anyway, the two are not necessarily the same.

   So really, you know, we don't have to not understand. Which is a difficult way of saying we can understand. We can understand what it's all about. And again, it's very simple. He says, here, here, "hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God." Now, now, is that difficult now to understand? Fear God? What does that mean? I'm afraid. No, that's not what it means. It's not what it means. It means, right, I honor God. I respect. God, I revere him, I worship him, I adore him. I serve him. I love him. I want his way of life. I love his way of life, and I can't get enough of his way of life. That's what it says. "Fear God. And keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

   That's what it's all about. Fearing God and keeping his commandments. Now, what's so hard about that? Understanding it. Now of course, we realize we have a nature that tends to pull us the other way from keeping the commandments, but all right, we still know what the commandments are. We still know what they are and, and all God wants us to do is to strive, is to love that way. It's an attitude. It's an approach, uh, as far as our mind is concerned.

   He doesn't want us coming here and just occupying a seat at Sabbath services. He doesn't want us sending our money in and getting our, letting our tithe receipts pile up so that we can deduct 20% from our, uh, net income. God isn't interested in that. God's interested in your mind. How you think. And of course, how we think will be evidenced by our actions. It will be. But we, we can mask it, you know, we can masquerade it, we can pretend. But a pretense is not the real us, and the real us after a while will, uh, will show through. After a while, it'll show through.

   Scripture that says, uh, there's nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. That's kind of an interesting scripture, you know, I, I'm not saying it applies right now, it could apply to the future when, uh, when we do know everything, but, uh, over a process of time, people's, people's true colors. True colors come through.

   And you know, I'm not all that surprised. I, I, I, I'm sorry, sometimes that people get a little critical. They get critical of the church. Now remember, it's God's church. What? What are you getting critical about? Careful now, you know, careful, careful. It's God's church. If anyone has the right to be critical, it's God. Alright? We don't have the right to be critical. It's not our church. It's God's church. Now, if God wants to be critical, he can do it, and he can criticize, and he can change whatever needs to be changed. But for us to presume. For us to presume to criticize the Church of God or God's ministers or decisions that are made, whatever.

   Now, now again, you know, maybe it, maybe they're not the way we would do it, right? Probably not. I mean, if, if I were responsible for a certain area in the Church of God, I, I would do it differently than someone else is doing it. Well, of course. What's wrong with that? That's fine. Until you are in that position. You don't, you don't change things. The person who's in that position does it, the way he sees the best, and he's responsible to God.

   So we do, you know, in the Church of God tend to criticize. But why do we really, that that that that that's not fearing God. That's not revering him. That's not honoring God by criticism. You see, we do need to make sure we're fearing God. In the right way. We need to make sure we are. And sometimes some of us aren't, we, we, we, we may think we are, but really our actions, what we say proves we're not by our criticism. Uh, of what is going on or what should be done, whatever, and there's always room for improvement. No one's ever going to say, uh, or put it this way, it would be a foolish person indeed who would say that, hey, nothing needs to be changed or nothing needs to be improved upon. Believe me, everything needs to be improved upon. I do and so do you. But you've got to realize that. I hope you do.

   Fearing God again is adoring him. And his government. His church, his ministry, his people. And anything contrary to that that goes against is not fearing God. And what you need to do is to go over all those scriptures that I, uh, we went through in the beginning, you know, starting with Psalm 115 and all the way through Revelation 14, well, Revelation 14. Go through those scriptures again now understanding, I hope, what fear is. What the right kind of fear is and notice the blessings that are going to come as a result of again honoring and revering God and respecting him, respecting his judgment, respecting his church, respecting his ministry, respecting his people.

   If we have that attitude of respect. Of reverence. Of profound reverence as Webster said. Profound reverence toward God, then we've got fear. We've got that fear religion. But the right one, the right kind of fear. Not a horror or terror. Not that kind out of which this lady has come, that I was talking about. She's come out of that, and she wanted to know if that's the kind we had. But we're gonna say unless you do this, you're gonna be hit over the head, you know, with something. And force you to obey.

   Well, God doesn't force us to obey, and if we have to be forced to obey, then we don't have godly fear. If we have to be forced to do it, if we don't want to do it. And we don't understand, and we certainly are not referencing God. No, the proper kind of fear is a fear that you want. It's the respect that you want to give. And if you don't want to give it, then you need to examine yourself. And find out whether I am in the faith or not. That we should want to respect God. We should want to fear God. We should really want to.

   So I hope that little explanation of the right kind of fear, the right kind of fear religion is going to help us in maybe taking stock again of ourselves, our, our approach to the church. Because I think, and maybe this has been overset. I don't know what's been said here in Surrey all that much, but I find in Vancouver and in other areas that, uh, you know, we've got a little bit lazy in certain things.

   Fine, I don't think, I think, in fact, I didn't think of this, some person mentioned it to me as a matter of fact, and I think it's a good idea, and that is the holy days of God. I think we've forgotten a little bit about the holiness of the holy days of God. Maybe similar to the Sabbath. We've forgotten about the holiness of those times and those days that God set aside.

   So I, I'm going to look myself personally and, uh, I hope that, uh, maybe, you know, you all can do it too, and that is when the holy days coming around looking towards the Feast of Trumpets, when that time comes, let's look at it a little more closely as holy time, as God honoring time. As God revering time, just as the Sabbath is. This is God honoring time and God revering time, especially the Sabbath, especially the holy days.

   Now we can honor revere God throughout the week, of course, but especially on the Sabbaths. And holy days. This is where we can really show God how much we appreciate him, how much we respect him, how much we honor him. By having, I think, a more profound reverence, and you get back to that what Webster says, I don't think you can improve upon that. To have a deep respect and reverence to God.

   We should be looking, I think, to the holy days, and I'm gonna try myself to, to change my sort of indifferent approach, my, I mean, you know, we were dull of hearing, most of us have been around the church a long time and we've heard all these things so often that there's nothing new anymore. Well, that's true. I haven't given you anything new today. Not at all.

   But yet to be thinking about these things and to get that enthusiasm that this lady has. Like she doesn't want her old religion, she doesn't want that. She doesn't want what she would say that fear religion. But she's going to have to accept fear religion. But the right kind, the right kind of fear religion. And I hope all of us will want the right kind of fear religion. And we'll ask for it. That right kind of reverence and respect toward God.

   And if we do, well, again, uh, the Church of God is, as Mr. Armstrong knows. It's going to go surging ahead. It really is. But again, it depends on us, it depends on our attitude toward it.

   So let's get back to, uh, I'll I'll coin a phrase here. Let's get back to the fear once delivered.