Fear of the Lord - 4

Fear of the Lord - 4

Subject – Understanding the Fear of the Lord

By Rick Welborne

Isaiah 33:5-6 (NIV)
⁵  The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
⁶  He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. 

--The more I look into this subject of the fear of the Lord the more I realize God wants us to understand how serious it is for us. Pastor, this is uncomfortable for us. 

--Let me ask you this question…Is it the Word of God? Do you want a minister who preaches the whole counsel of God?

The fear of the Lord - can be defined as a continual awareness that you are in the presence of a holy, just, and almighty God, and that every motive, thought, word, and action is open before Him and will be judged by Him.

--The Apostle Paul wrote about a third of the New Testament and I believe he was definitely serious with his exhortations and commands. We want a gospel and a Jesus who makes us feel comfortable.

Philippians 2:12 (NIV)
¹²  Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 

Adam Clarke's Commentary - With fear and trembling—Considering the difficulty of the work, there is a danger of miscarriage. If you do not watch, pray, and continually depend on God, your enemies will surprise you, and your light and life will become extinct; and then consider what an awful account you must give to Him whose Spirit you have grieved, and of whose glory you have come short.

--I have had many opportunities to share Christ with many in our community who are fearful and wondering what in the world is going on. They need hope.

--Hear your pastor…we must live lives that show we are living with a healthy fear of the Lord and we must live knowing we are either a good witness or a bad witness for Christ. 

--The time of only talking to people about Jesus only when they ask us is over. Jesus is coming soon and we need to tell as many as we can. We are not just staying afloat; we must reach out. 

Psalm 89:7 (NKJV)
⁷  God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him. 

1. The Fear of Me…Jesus.

 Matthew 10:7-8 & 24-28 (NKJV)
⁷  And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
⁸  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
²⁴  A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
²⁵  It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!
²⁶  Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
²⁷  "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
²⁸  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. 

--Jesus is sending His disciples out and He is warning them that it is not going to be easy to be one of His followers. We have not only made it easy…it has become cool. Jesus told them:

Matthew 10:16-18 (NKJV)
¹⁶  "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
¹⁷  But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
¹⁸  You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

--Jesus said I send you out…He didn’t say He gave them the option to stay comfortable in their churches. The fear of the Lord tells us we must go or we must send missionaries.

--After Jesus gives them warnings and exhortations about what their lives will be like following Him, He gets on the topic of fear. Who to fear and who not to fear.

--In Luke 12 which is the parallel verses to Mat. 10, Jesus says something quite interesting to me.

Luke 12:1 (NKJV) ¹ "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 

--He was saying beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees…people who have an appearance of religion or a relationship with God but really do not. No fear of God. 

Luke 12:2-3 (NKJV)
²  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.
³  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

--This strikes the fear of the Lord in me…nothing is hidden or covered from God that will not be revealed. I need to make sure that all of my sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus.

--More fear…whatever you have spoken…one translation…every idle word will be proclaimed from the rooftops. Have you ever said something evil about someone? An accidental text. 

--Those things are terrifying enough in themselves but Jesus does not stop there in talking about how we should have a healthy fear of the Lord.

Luke 12:4-5 (NKJV)
⁴  "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
⁵  But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!

--Don’t be afraid of those who can kill your body. Did some of them, no probably most of them, give their lives for their testimony with Christ. Glad that is not happening now. I just received this. 

Jay Sekulow - Islamic radicals are slaughtering Christians in Nigeria, and there is no end to their deadly rampage in sight. If the bloodshed continues, Africa's Christians face a very real threat of extinction.

--Jesus was telling His disciples and the Christians in Nigeria not to fear people who can kill you and that’s all they can do. Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell.

--I wonder if we even believe that anymore because of how we live. Remember this from our first sermon.

1 Peter 4:18 (NKJV)
¹⁸  Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 

Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV)
¹³  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
¹⁴  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

--It is hard for me to get away from these statements…If the righteous one is scarcely saved and narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

--Scarcely and few. All we hear today is how easy it is to get in…just repeat this prayer. Few who find it. You would probably be surprised if God could show us who are actually on the narrow way.

--Pastor, are you trying to create fear in our hearts about our salvation. What I am trying to do is get you to consider if you truly fear and revere Jesus in your life.

--If you come to church and look the part, and then, go home and cuss out your wife and live contrary to God’s Word, you maybe should be glad someone is sending you a wakeup call.

Ephesians 5:11-15 (NLT2)
¹¹  Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.
¹²  It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.
¹³  But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,                                                       ¹⁴  for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
¹⁵  So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 

2. The Apostle Paul – The fear of the Lord

--Paul in speaking to the Romans is trying to warn them to make sure that they have a healthy fear of the Lord. 

Romans 11:20-22 (NLT2)
²⁰  Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen.
²¹  For if God did not spare the original branches, He won’t spare you either.
²²  Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. 

--Isaiah 33 tells us that God wants to be our sure foundation, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; but he tells the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. 

--Paul says to the Gentiles (to us) not to think too highly of ourselves but to fear that what happened to the Jews could happen to us. ²¹ For if God did not spare the original branches, He won’t spare you either. 

--God is both kind and severe. Psalm 89 - God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him. 

Hebrews 12:28-29 (NKJV) ²⁸  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.                                   ²⁹  For our God is a consuming fire.