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FEAR KEY (7 OF 22)

by Steve Jones

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:17
This content is part of a series.


Fear Key (7 of 22)
Series: Keys of the Kingdom
Steve Jones
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:17


Series Summary: This is an expository sermon series through I Peter. Jesus gave to Peter the ‘‘Keys of the Kingdom’’ (Matthew 16:19). ‘‘Keys’’ will be the uniting theme for the series.

Sermon Summary: Peter tells us that we must live in reverent fear. In this message we explore 1) Fear and holiness 2) Fear as being ‘‘afraid’’ of God, and 3) Fear as reverence for God.

INTRODUCTION: A phobia is a fear. Let’s play a little ‘‘fear trivia’’ this morning. I’ll give you the technical name of the phobia and you tell me what the fear is. Claustrophobia - fear of enclosed places. Arachnophobia - fear of spiders. (The next few you might be able to deduce from their prefixes.) Hydrophobia - fear of water. Bibliophobia - fear of books (not the Bible in particular.) Botanophobia - fear of plants. Dentophobia - fear of dentists. Equinophobia - fear of horses. Insectophobia - fear of insects. Necrophobia - fear of death/dead things. Ornithophobia - fear of birds. Phobophobia - fear of phobias!

Today we continue our ‘‘Keys of the Kingdom’’ sermon series with the ‘‘Fear Key’’.

I. FEAR AND HOLINESS

I Peter 1:16b-17 ‘‘‘You shall be Holy, for I am holy.’ Conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth’’

Peter’s reference to the holiness of God raises the question of theophobia: the fear of God. Though it should not necessarily be thought of as a ‘‘phobia,’’ the fear of God is very real and is a requirement for every human being.

Why should fear be a response to an awareness of God’s holiness? The root meaning of ‘‘holiness’’ is separation. To say that God is ‘‘the Holy One’’ (v.15) means that He is separate or set apart from something. Actually, God is holy (separate, set apart) in two senses.
FIRST, in an ONTOLOGICAL sense. Ontology is the study of ‘‘being’’. God is holy in that he is separate (distinct, different in essence) from all creation and from ...

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