Holy Boldness

one survives the coming storms as well as the final judgment.

Furthermore, this parable brings the fear of the Lord front and center as it asserts the significance of preparing one’s life for eternity. It clearly and plainly resuscitates the reality of the judgment of God for believers. This is essential. Imagine listening to Jesus speak such things to the Jews 2000 years ago and what kind of impact it must have made. More importantly, the church must hear the words of Jesus today as if it was one of the original hearers. Again, to quote D. A. Carson, The sermon ends with what has been implicit throughout it- the demand for the radical submission to the exclusive lordship of Jesus, who fulfills the Law and the Prophets and warns the disobe dient that the alternative to total obedience, true righteousness, and life in the kingdom is rebellion, self-centeredness, and eternal judgment. 24 In this parable and indeed throughout the entire sermon, the judgment of God, meaning a final evaluation, is presupposed. The sermon makes no sense if there is no real evaluation at the end of the journey. What’s the point of morality at all if there is no discrimination between good and bad, true and false, wide and narrow, life and death. Jesus called the world to himself to re-access the purpose of life and its boundaries and conditions. He was not seeking to bring people into bondage but to teach them how to prosper while protecting themselves from damaging forces. In the same way that a doctor or a hygienist prescribes a certain regimen of diet or medicine to benefit health, Jesus prescribed a lifestyle that prepared someone for the ultimate challenges of life. The Sermon on the Mount is, in its full effect, a call to the fear of the Lord, a call to live life with the conviction that God is real, that He is engaged, that He cares, that He wants to bless and that life which is meaningful and eternal is that which is lived before Him. Is there really going to be a Judgement?

The Fear of the Lord delivers from fear

The fear of the Lord is not the same as the fear of punishment. As a matter of fact, if a person is afraid of God then they probably do not have the fear of the Lord in any significant degree. The fear of the Lord 24 Ibid. p. 194

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