John Bevere - God's Approval or Man's Approval
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The fear that swallows up all other fears, including the biggest one of all, the fear of man, is the holy fear of God. Okay, we’re starting our third week; you just read chapter 15. Wow, the fear of man! Now, I just want to share something I have discovered in my study since I wrote the book: almost every Church father and mother, whether from the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, or even the years 200 or 300, wrote that the fear that swallows up all other fears, including the biggest one of all, the fear of man, is the holy fear of God. So, the holy fear of God protects us from the fear of man. Now, what is the fear of man? It’s not about being scared of a man; it’s about wanting that man’s approval.
Now, Paul made this statement in Galatians 1:10: he said, «Does it sound as if I’m trying to win human approval?» In other words, is my motive to win others' approval? He said, «No indeed!» with an exclamation point. What I want is God’s approval. Am I trying to be popular with people? If I were still trying to do so, I would not be a servant of Christ! Wow, there is so much here! Paul is actually saying that he would depart from being a servant of Christ if he tried to be popular with people. So, I want you to be really gut-level honest with yourself: is your motive, when you get up in the morning, that you want to be popular with people? Are you going to project an image to help that popularity? Is that your motive?
If that’s your motive, you will see it all burned up at the Judgment seat, and I know you don’t want that. This is what you want: you want to be rewarded at that judgment seat. So, you don’t want an entitled attitude; you don’t want an attitude of «Oh, I’m going to do whatever it takes to be popular. I’m going to do whatever it takes to be known by people.»
Listen, if that’s your goal, you’re not going to receive eternal rewards. If your goal is to serve people, now you’re positioning yourself to be a servant of Christ, and in doing so, you’ll receive eternal rewards. What keeps you in that servant role is the fear of the Lord. If you look at Philippians chapters 1 to 3, and read the whole thing in context, it’s saying, «Hey, let this mind be in you which was in Christ.» What was that mind? «Do nothing through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, esteem others better than yourselves.» He said, «Let this mind of esteeming others better than yourselves be in you that was in Christ.» Then he talks about Christ, who humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. He goes on in the next verses and starts talking about working out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
So, if you’re in the fear of the Lord, what happens is it keeps God’s voice of working in you very clear. In other words, there’s a connection there, and now you’re going to do what pleases Him, not what pleases others. This is a trap that people can fall into. In Galatians chapter 1, Paul wrote about this because in Galatians 2, he talks about how Peter, Barnabas, and the other apostles and leaders, who were Jewish, fell into hypocrisy because they were concerned about what their fellow friends thought about them.
So, this is why I believe Paul opened that book of Galatians with, «Hey, if I still am trying to please people, I exit being a servant of Christ.» I know you want to be a servant of Christ, and I want to encourage you to keep the fear of the Lord burning in your heart so it keeps you in touch with your motives, thereby keeping you in a place of being a servant instead of someone who is entitled.