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Scripture Reading: Job 1:1, 8; Psa. 25:12, 14; Prov. 1:7; Eccl. 3:14; 8:12-13; 12:13; 1 Tim. 3:16; 4:7-8; 2 Tim. 3:5, 12; Titus 1:1; 2:12
The verses listed above can be divided into two groups. The first group is from Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament and is concerning the experience of the holy people of God in the Old Testament. The second group is from 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus in the New Testament and was written by the apostle Paul at the time of the church’s desolation. The verses from the Old Testament speak of revering God, which includes fearing God, and the verses from the New Testament speak of godliness.
In the previous chapters we saw that, on the one hand, God is the living God and that, on the other hand, He is the God of resurrection. The Old Testament presents the living God, and the New Testament presents not only the living God but also the God of resurrection. The Old Testament presents the signs and wonders performed by the living God in Israel’s history. Adam was driven out of the garden of Eden immediately after he sinned (Gen. 3:24). Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire and died because they had offered strange fire before God (Lev. 10:1-2; Num. 3:4). When Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses, they were rebuked by God, and Miriam became leprous (12:1, 4-5, 10-15). This proves that God is the living God who is not mocked.
In regard to the church, in the New Testament God is not only the living God but also the God of resurrection. The relationship between the God of resurrection and man is more advanced than the relationship between the living God and man. The living God manifests Himself outside of man. The God of resurrection, who has put on humanity and has entered into man, manifests Himself from within man. The living God is manifested objectively, outside of man, without being mingled with man. The God of resurrection is manifested subjectively, by being mingled with and expressed from within man. In the Old Testament God is manifested objectively as the living God. In the New Testament He is manifested subjectively as the God of resurrection by mingling Himself with His people.
The God whom we serve is not only the living God, who is manifested outside of us, but also the God of resurrection, who is lived out from within us. Hence, our relationship with Him should be in resurrection as well as living. We should know and experience Him as the God who is in us as resurrection. We need to express not only the living God but even more the God of resurrection.
We express the living God and the God of resurrection; hence, we must make a distinction between reverence and godliness. God’s people in the Old Testament revered Him, but in the New Testament His people have a godly living. With respect to the living God, man should have reverence, but with respect to the God of resurrection, man should express godliness. In the Old Testament God was manifested as the living God; hence, His people needed to revere Him. In the New Testament God is manifested as the God of resurrection; hence, the New Testament believers need godliness. Let me repeat: reverence is toward the living God, and godliness is toward the God of resurrection. As God’s New Testament people, we need not only reverence but also godliness. This means that in our living we should not only express the living God but also the God of resurrection.
To revere God means to fear offending Him. Reverence is an indispensable attitude that fallen man should possess. If it were not for the fall, man would have no need for reverence. When man fell, three things happened to him. First, sin entered into man. Second, the human nature became corrupt, and man became flesh. The flesh caused further evil in fallen man. Third, the world, which resists God, was produced. When Adam was created, he was without sin and the flesh, and the garden of Eden was not contaminated. Adam did not have anything that opposed, resisted, or offended God. Hence, there was no need of reverence. In contrast, today man is fallen because sin has entered into man, human nature has become flesh, and the world has been produced. Sin, the flesh, and the world are incompatible with God. If man is slightly careless by giving room to sin, the flesh, or the world, he sins against, offends, opposes, and resists God. Therefore, there is a need for man to revere God.
Nadab and Abihu died because they were careless; they were not fearful or reverent in their worship (Lev. 10:1-10). When we are defiled by sin, the flesh, or the world, we are exposed before God. This is a fearful matter that requires us to revere the living God.
In the book of Joshua Achan sinned by coveting the world and stealing what was devoted for destruction; hence, he was judged by God (7:1, 18-26). After their exodus from Egypt the children of Israel were to submit to God’s authority and fight for God, but one man, Achan, coveted a mantle of Shinar, which represented worldly glory and adornment. The land of Shinar is Babel, also known as Babylon (Gen. 11:2, 9). It is the place where men forsook God, exalted man, and assumed authority to rule over others. Achan acted contrary to God’s commandment. He coveted things from the God-opposing Shinar, rebellious Babel, and stole them. God made this manifest and judged Achan.
When David killed Uriah and took his wife, God came and immediately manifested it (2 Sam. 11:2—12:14). God cannot tolerate the defilement of sin in those who belong to Him. Even though David later confessed his sin and was forgiven by God, God was not loose with David: Absalom rebelled against David, there was fornication in the house of David, and the sword remained in David’s kingdom (15:1—19:8; 13:1-22). This was how God manifested, exposed, David’s sin.
Sin, the flesh, and the world are enemies of God. As long as we must deal with these three matters, God is the living God. We need to fear living by the flesh and the self, and we must be cautious of the defilement of sin and of the world. This is reverence. The living God does not tolerate sin. Around the hem of the robe worn by the high priest were pomegranates and bells of gold (Exo. 28:33-35). Pomegranates indicate that the high priest needed the divine life in his living, and the bells of gold signify that he needed to be cautious, not loose. If the high priest was loose in his service in the temple, the bells of gold would give a sound of warning. The high priest could not afford to be loose before God. This is reverence.
In the New Testament God is not only outside of man; He lives in man and is mingled with man. When God lives outside of man, He is the living God, but when He lives in man, He is the God of resurrection. As such, God not only requires that we fear Him but also that we cooperate with Him in order to express Him and be His living image. The expression of God is godliness. First Timothy 3:16 says, “Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” Godliness is God expressed by man (1 Cor. 14:25). This is a great mystery. Godliness is not related to the negative items of sin, the flesh, and the world. It is related to the positive item of expressing God.
To revere God is to deal with sin, the flesh, and the world in our living. To be godly is not only to have the absence of sin, the flesh, and the world but to be mingled with and to express God. Some believers revere God, but others possess godliness. Such believers do not exhibit sin, the flesh, or the world. On the contrary, they exhibit something mysterious, something that is both man and God. This is God being manifested in man. This is godliness.
The apostle Paul says, “Exercise yourself unto godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7). This means that, on the one hand, we should revere God and not touch sin, the flesh, or the world. On the other hand, we should follow God and express Him in our living. If God does not move, neither should we. We should move only when God moves. This is a great lesson that needs much learning and exercise.
Many young saints have a heart to learn the lesson of revering God. Although they see the faults of older saints, they dare not talk about them loosely. This is very pleasing to God. Noah had three sons, and the youngest did not fear God but spoke loosely of his father’s mistake. The other two sons dared not look at their father’s nakedness but covered him with a garment because they feared God. Eventually, the youngest son, Ham, was cursed by God (Gen. 9:20-27). Therefore, we must learn to fear God. The young saints also need the element of God in their behavior and attitude. They need to be mingled with God and to express Him. This is to exercise oneself unto godliness.
In this age of the church’s desolation, the apostle teaches us to pay particular attention to godliness and to measure everything by godliness. Even preaching the gospel should be measured by godliness. Titus 1:1 says that the full knowledge of the truth is according to godliness. Every truth in the New Testament age was produced by God being mingled within man. Hence, all truths are according to godliness.
Many things that are spoken in so-called Christianity are winds of teaching (Eph. 4:14). In order to determine whether a teaching is a wind of teaching, we need to determine if it is according to godliness, that is, God mingled with man. God’s people in the New Testament need not only reverence but also godliness. Godliness is to live out God, to flow out God, and to express God.
