Psalm 128:1 (cf. Deuteronomy 5:24-29)
The modern church is quite adept at communicating some of the
great moral attributes of God such as His love, mercy, grace, patience, and
goodness. I am grateful that we have placed these eternal truths and divine
qualities at the forefront of our teaching and preaching. But, in the process,
we have become less adept at speaking about His other moral attributes such as
His holiness, righteousness, justice and wrath. As a result, we too often have
given people a skewed view of the person of God rather than presenting Him as
He is described in scripture. I believe it is important that we do more to
communicate the whole picture of the God we serve and not just our favorite
truths about Him.
One of the results of a skewed view of God is a diminished “fear of the Lord”
that too often characterizes the lives of believers, as well as loss of a deep
appreciation for His attributes of love, mercy, grace, patience and goodness.
What motivated the early Christians as much as their blessings
from God was their “fear of the Lord.” For instance, it was the “fear of the Lord”
that helped them to purify their lives
(2 Corinthians 7:1—“…perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”). It
motivated them to work together in the
family of God (Ephesians 5:21—“submitting to one another in the fear of God.”).
It enabled them to live godly lives
before others (Philippians 2:12 — “…work out [outwardly] your own salvation with fear and trembling.”).
It compelled them to win souls to Christ
(Acts 9:31—“…the
churches…walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost,
they were multiplied.”).
What you discover when reading your Bible is that these
phrases, “fear of
the Lord,” “fear of God,” “fear the Lord,” “fear God,” or “fear Me”
are mentioned numerous times throughout the scriptures, both in the Old and New
Testaments.
Even Jesus instructed that the One to be feared was the Lord
Himself.
“And do not fear those who kill the
body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28—this is a verse
often misinterpreted)
1.
The “Fear of the
Lord” Defined
A.
This fear for believers does not
involve terror of the type that makes you want to flee into hiding.
(2 Timothy 1:7) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but
of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
(1 John 4:18) “There is no fear in love; but perfect love
casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been
made perfect in love.”
Example:
Adam & Eve’s terrifying fear came from their sin.
David
McCullough’s biography of Teddy Roosevelt, Mornings
On Horseback, includes a story of young Teddy as a child in New York City:
“Mittie
[his mother] had found he was so afraid of the
Madison Square Church that he refused to set foot inside if alone. He was
terrified, she discovered, of something called the ‘zeal.’ It was crouched in
the dark corners of the church ready to jump at him, he said. When she asked
what a zeal might be, he said he was not sure, but thought it was probably a
large animal like an alligator or a dragon. He had heard the minister read
about it from the Bible. Using a concordance, she read him those passages
containing the word zeal until suddenly, very excited, he told her to stop. The
line was from the Gospel of John 2:17: Then His disciples remembered that it was
written, ‘Zeal for Your house hath eaten Me up.’” But, that is not the kind of fear implied in
the phrase, “the
fear of the Lord.”
B.
The “fear of the Lord” comes to
believers in the context of filial love.
A child has a healthy fear of his
parents in the context of love. The same is true of the Child of God and his
Heavenly Father.
C.
The “fear of the Lord” has been
universally defined as a reverential awe of God.
The
American Heritage Dictionary defines awe as, “A
mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority,
genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might”
D.
This fear, though not terror, is
associated with “trembling,”
which comes from a concern of offending a holy God.
(Philippians 2:12) “Therefore, my
beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”
E.
Perhaps we could combine these
thoughts to define the “fear of the Lord” in this manner:
It is a reverential awe of God that sincerely desires to
please Him & trembles at the mere thought of displeasing Him.
2.
The “Fear of the
Lord” Described
A.
Joseph won his brother’s trust after
he told them he “fear[ed] God” (Genesis 42:18).
B.
It was because the midwives “feared God”
that Moses was saved alive (Exodus 1:17).
C.
Pharaoh brought disaster on his
nation because he did not yet “fear the Lord God” (Exodus 9:29-30).
D.
Moses chose leaders on the basis that
they “fear[ed] God” (Exodus 18:21).
E.
The Israelites “feared the Lord” after the
destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exodus 14:26-31).
(Exodus 14:31) “Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in
Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant
Moses.”
F.
Moses told the Hebrews that God met
with them in a terrifying display of His power so that they might “fear” Him and not sin (Exodus 20:20).
G.
The Mosaic Law cites “fear of God”
as a reason to treat the disabled and elderly well (Leviticus 19:14, 32).
H.
Isaiah “feared” the Lord when he saw
Him “high and
lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1-5).
I.
The early church experienced the “fear of the Lord”
when Ananias and Sapphira lied to God and were killed for doing so (Acts 5:1-11).
(Acts 5:11) “And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as
heard these things.”
3.
The “Fear of the
Lord” Detailed
A.
God lays out in the book of Proverbs
some of the blessings that may be received by those who “fear the Lord.”
● The “fear of the Lord” is the beginning
of knowledge.
(Proverbs 1:7) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
● The “fear of the Lord” will cause one to
hate evil.
(Proverbs 8:13) “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride
and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.”
●
The
“fear of the
Lord” tends to prolong life.
(Proverbs 10:27) “The fear of the
Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.”
●
The
“fear of the
Lord” gives strong confidence and is a fountain of life.
(Proverbs 14:26-27) “In the fear of the
Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of
death.”
●
The
“fear of the
Lord” persuades us to depart from evil.
(Proverbs 16:6) “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for
iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”
●
The
“fear of the
Lord” produces a satisfying life.
(Proverbs 19:23) “The fear of the
Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not
be visited with evil.”
●
The
“fear of the
Lord” is the path to true riches, honor, and life.
(Proverbs 22:4) “By humility and the fear of the Lord are
riches and honor and life.”
B. It is important to notice that the “fear of the Lord”
in these verses does not give you the totality of the things spoken of, but it
puts you in a position to experience them as God gives them.
4.
The “Fear of the
Lord” Desired
(Nehemiah 1:11) “O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be
attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who
desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray,
and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.’ For I was the king’s cupbearer.”
A. It must be embraced (i.e., chosen).
(Proverbs 1:29-30) “Because they hated
knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none
of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.”
B. It can be learned.
(Deuteronomy 4:10) “...especially
concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord
said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words,
that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and
that they may teach their children.’”
C. It will be followed (the evidence is
obedience).
(Genesis 22:12) “And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad,
or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have
not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’”
Conclusion:
5.
The “Fear of the
Lord” Developed
A. By Reading God’s Word
(Deuteronomy 31:10-13) “And Moses commanded
them, saying: ‘At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the
year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear
before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this
law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and
women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may
hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully
observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known
it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the
land which you cross the Jordan to possess.’”
B. By Recognizing God’s worthiness
As Isaiah did when He saw the Lord “high and lifted up,”
we too must see Him in His exalted position if we are to learn the “fear of the Lord.”
In his book, Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer writes: “In
olden days men of faith were said to ‘walk in the fear of God’ and to ‘serve
the Lord with fear.’ However intimate their communion with God, however bold
their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as
awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent runs through the whole
Bible and gives color and tone to the character of saints. This fear of God was
more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was...an acute feeling of
personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty.
Wherever
God appeared to men in Bible times the results were the same… a wrenching
sensation of sinfulness and guilt. When God spoke, Abraham stretched himself
upon the ground to listen. When Moses saw the Lord in the burning bush, he hid
his face in fear to look upon God. Isaiah’s vision of God wrung from him the
cry, ‘Woe is me!’ Daniel’s encounter with God was probably the most dreadful
and wonderful of them all.
Conversely,
the self-assurance of modern Christians, the basic levity present in so many of
our religious gatherings, the shocking disrespect shown for the Person of God,
are evidence enough of deep blindness of heart. Many call themselves by the
name of Christ, talk much about God, and pray to Him sometimes, but evidently
do not know who He is…”
C. By Rehearsing God’s works
Recalling the mighty acts of God.
The problem with our sinful world (and many that
are believers) is that they DO NOT “fear the Lord!!”
·
(Romans 3:18) “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
·
(Hebrews 10:31) “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.”
The fear of the Lord is a reverential awe of God
that sincerely desires to please Him & trembles at the mere thought of
displeasing Him.
