Fear of the Lord

part 1 of a 4 part series as of now

old school, stand and read with me

Proverbs 1:7 NASB95

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

What is fear? . . . it’s fear

I am afraid of what you can, might, could . . . do to me

We fear the storm . . . (Florida) - it could take my life, destroy everything I own

fear the inflation . . . it took take away my provision: food, clothes, and shelter

I fear the robber . . . take away my valuables, might injure or kill me

I fear sickness . . . cripple me, kill me

political group . . . take away my rights, control my life, put me in jail

we are afraid of what these type of things can, might, or could do to us.

and some say this is talking about respect, and respect is a part of it

but even then, not all but a lot of respect starts with fear

I fear what the police officer could do to me (ticket, give me a hard time, arrest me, subdue me, shoot me)

and some people who have never respected anyone in their life, get a very respectful vocabulary real quick . . . yes sir, Mr officer . . . because of fear of what the officer can, might, or could do

Who is the Lord?

When you see The Lord, it is talking about the God who revealed himself through the words of the Bible.

the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

the God that called Moses to deliver his people

The God that raised David from a shepherd to a king

The God that Solomon built a temple for

The God that saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace

the God who spoke when Jesus was baptized and said this is my beloved son in whom I am well please, hear ye him

The God that after Jesus suffered, bled, and died, raised same Jesus from the dead, on the 3rd day

This is who we should fear - can’t stick whatever god you choose, or you have already missed the whole point . .

put it all together, and this verse is teaching that we should fear the God of the Bible

you should fear what the Lord can, might, or could to to you

think about this:

The Lord created you

The Lord created everything around you

and The Lord can do whatever He wants with everything he created

Therefore it makes sense to fear The Lord

let me put in real plain: fear the one who can squash you like a bug if he wanted to

fear the one who can take away your sight, hearing, ability to walk, talk

fear the one who can stop the sun from shining, or the moon from rising, or the rain from falling

fear the one who can take away your ability to breathe in an instant

fear the one who everyday makes the decision on whether or not to keep your loved ones alive

in addition, not only does the Lord have power in this life, He also has power in the after life

Jesus said it this way . . .

Matthew 10:28 NASB95

28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

There is no safe space from God . . . not even the grave

someone says, “I don’t believe in a scary God”

first, your lack of belief doesn’t change reality

whether you believe or not doesn’t change reality

more importantly, I did not say that God was scary . . . he is not a monster in a horror movie, He’s God, and the scripture says there needs to be some fear “of him”

I wrote a song, I know him, I love him, I thank him, and I praise him

and I do, because HE is a good God, but I also have some fear of Him

there’s room for all of that

I loved my parents, and I knew they loved me, but I also had some fear of them

there was room for all of those feelings

good lesson to all parents

someone might be wondering . . . . but the Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear, the Bible also says that perfect love casts out fear

those scriptures are talking about a different kind of fear

the fear of this scripture is a good fear, a healthy fear of the true and living God

back to our main scripture:

Proverbs 1:7 NASB95

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Now this fear, this healthy fear, is the beginning of knowledge

in other words, it’s foundational knowledge, the basics of knowledge

just like learning your alphabets in kindergarten is the beginning, the basics, and it lays the foundation for reading and learning the rest of your life

in the same way, the fear of the Lord is the kindergarten knowledge, and it lays the foundation of understanding your very existence.

When you know God is in control, God has all power, he can do whatever he wants to, when he wants to, and how he wants to . . .

you naturally become very interested in what God wants, what God requires, What God has said, and and what God is saying . . . and you get wisdom and instruction

and therefore you gain a basic understanding of life

you gain perspective

it becomes easier to prioritize

you can measure your true progress

fools despise wisdom and instruction

fools have no fear of God because they despise wisdom and instruction

fools don’t believe in God or have fear of God because they don’t want God telling them what to do

at the heart of atheism, is I don’t want anyone telling me what to do

they look for reasons to not believe God, they foolishly deny his existence, deny his power, deny his authority . . because they want to be their own boss

they don’t want wisdom or instruction, WHY? . . . . the reason is that wisdom and instruction brings about change

have to stop doing something I want to do

have to start doing something I don’t want to do

so i will walk around like there is no God

I live everyday like God is NOT watching

I figure I can get away with this, and get away with that

I try not to think that I will have to give an account to Him one day

I try to justify everything that I want to do, even if it is contrary to God

and we live in a time of justification . . . people have justified every choice you can make

because they have the fear of the Lord

lady said, “I told the Lord, he should have done this, if he wanted me to . . . “ and she went on to justify her choices

I don’t want to get to the point where i roll my neck about what I told the Lord

it’s a terrible thing to fall into the hands of a living God

That’s the word, don’t forget who the Lord is, keep that healthy fear of Him

doing right, coming to church, learning the word

it doesn’t matter that a whole lot of others are walking around like God doesn’t matter”

(that just means there are a lot of fools out there) . . . don’t be one of them!