What is the Fear of God
The Fear of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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WHAT IS THE FEAR OF GOD
INTRO:
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
I remember back in High School, we had Christian T-Shirts that said “No Fear”
The origin of fear in the Bible can be traced to Adam after the Fall:
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
It is no exaggeration to say that after that terrifying moment in the Garden, the human race has lived with the constant possibility and even threat of being afraid. This is called destructive fear:
Destructive Fear (Being Scared)
1. Corrupt government officials – 62.1
2. People I love becoming seriously ill – 60.2
3. Russia using nuclear weapons – 59.6
4. People I love dying – 58.1
5. The U.S. involved in another world war – 56.0
6. Pollution of drinking water – 54.5
7. Not having enough money for the future – 53.7
8. Economic/financial collapse – 53.7
9. Pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes – 52.5
10. Biological warfare – 51.5
The Bible addresses destructive fear 365 times…once for everyday of the year.
What is your greatest fear most?
Constructive fear
1. Generates Wisdom
10 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.
2. Creates Reverence and Awe For God
28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
John Bevere in His Book Awe of God makes 4 Statements of Truth:
1. We are all human, and we will fear. (Every Character in the Bible has expressed Fear)
2. The awe and fear of God is a way deeper, more beautiful, and more intimate than many dare imagine.
3. The fear of God swallows up all destructive fears.
The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.
Oswald Chambers
4. The fear of God is the beginning of everything good.
TEXT:
Solomon asks God for wisdom
5 That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”
6 Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.
7 “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around.
8 And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted!
9 Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom.
11 So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—
12 I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!
20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They were very contented, with plenty to eat and drink.
33 He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish.
34 And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.
2 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon.
3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy—this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.
4 “As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations,
5 then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods,
7 then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations.
8 And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will gasp in horror. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’
9 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.’ ”
7 I didn’t believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, I had not heard the half of it! Your wisdom and prosperity are far beyond what I was told.
8 How happy your people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom!
As time went on Solomon walked away from God and we read his writings in Ecclesiastes about life being meaningless.
What was missing?
What brought about this change?
1. Solomon Succeeded
2. Solomon Failed
Depressed, bored, thought life was meaningless, he stated the day you die is better than the day you are born, he was at a point where he felt life was pointless.
3. Solomon Recovered
13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.
10 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!
EXAMPLE:
A wise leader once made a radical statement:
“I do not promote anyone to place of authority whose record is perfect.”
He said he learns more about a person’s character by their response to failure.
Did they own it? Did they repent? Or did they justify their behavior and blame others?
Their reaction tells you wether they fear God and indicates the level of wisdom they operate in.
CONCLUSION:
The prize virtue we each need in life is: The Fear of the God
1 Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.
20 “Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”
5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.
Jesus instructed His disciples to fear God.
12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.
Don’t be scared of God, (having something to hide like Adam in the garden.)
Fear God (like Jesus, having reverence, being in Awe of God)
Don’t be a people that says, “How close can I get to the line of sin and not fall in?”
We need to be a people that says, “I want to be so close to God, and so far away from that line, that I can’t even see it.”
ALTAR:
8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”