A Healthy Fear

I think from time to time everyone at some point gets scared / filled with fear / Fear is an interesting thing / most often when we experience fear / first thing we want to do is run! / We want to get away / entering Halloween weekend / strange to me how many people love this holiday / love the demonic / freaky / loved being scared / scary movies gross millions each year!

I work with a girl who only watches scary movies / this poor girl is not healthy / she lives in fear / she like to say she is just “more alert” / but it’s not just being alert / she lives in genuine fear / always asking people what their greatest fear is / always scared to be alone

However, this is not the fear I am going to talk about / Proverbs talks about a different kind of fear / one that involves God Himself / Bible calls it the “Fear of the Lord”

But what does this really mean, and how does it apply to us today?

Next few weeks / I am going to dive into wisdom / Bible has a lot to say about wisdom / if we obtain wisdom / we will see growth in our lives

Albert Einstein said, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”

Charles Spurgeon said, “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge.”

We all want to grow / Growth for our lives / our businesses / our families / our friendships / growth in every area

This wisdom is what I hope will be produced from this series / We are going to work our way through several teachings from the book of Proverbs in OT

Prov 1, Josh 1, 1 Pet 2

I. Misconceptions of Fear

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

I can remember a few times in my life where I experienced genuine fear / One of those times was when I was younger / and I had a cousin visiting / he was older than I was / and I must have been a bit claustrophobic / Not sure how he knew that / but one night getting ready for bed (we all had sleeping bags on the floor like a camp out) he pushed me down inside of mine and then sat on the top so I could not get out / it was dark / I felt like I could not breathe / I panicked / I thought I was going to die / Obviously I didn’t / eventually he let me out

Other types of fear / fear of heights / Ever see those videos of people who pay for admission to bungee jump / only to get to the top / back out Fear can cause us to retreat / pull back / keep from doing things we really want to do

A. So Is the Bible telling us we need to be scared of God?

1. Bible says Fear is the beginning of knowledge / so should we run from it? Be scared of it?

a. The Bible provides us with a starting point

i. If we want true wisdom in life / we must begin with the fear of the Lord

b. As I said a moment ago / the real question we need to answer is: does God want us to be afraid of Him?

B. This answer, in part, will be provided by allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.

1. This concept means that we cannot answer a question like this simply by reading one verse

a. We must look at what the Bible says / as a whole / to find insight

i. For those of you / grew up in church / you have heard many stories from OT / maybe you can remember on from Book of Joshua

ii. Remember / Joshua and his army / circling walls of Jericho / day after day / until the walls fell down?

iii. Incredible story of what God did / but to find insight into this question of hear / we have to go to beginning of story

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

2. This is one of the most well-known / quoted scriptures in the Bible / on wall decorations throughout Hobby Lobby

a. Do you see what God says in it?

i. First / He tells Joshua that there is no reason for Him to be afraid of the task at hand / that which God has called Him to

ii. Second / the Lord gives Joshua the reason as to why he shouldn’t be afraid

a. That is / because the Lord will go with Him wherever he goes

3. Joshua is taught what it means to gain wisdom by beginning with a fear of the Lord

a. Essentially / Joshua understands by now that what God is calling him to do / Knows it will not be accomplished on his own strength

C. But by recognizing this / Joshua is also able to understand that God’s strength and power are truly beyond anything of this world

1. It seems to be that the first step in the process of gaining wisdom is understanding soemtihing VERY IMPORTANT

a. God doesn’t HAVE to use us for anything!!

b. He CHOOSES to use us

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

2. You and I are used by God to spread His glory / and His gospel to the ends of the earth

a. However / it is the power of His HS that is actually doing this work in / and through us

i. Therefore / we must have a healthy fear of the Lord’s ability to do all this on His own

ii. Let that sink in / God can accomplish His work in this earth without you

a. Never overplay your importance / Like as if somehow God should be thanking you that you are helping Him

I can think back to times on several jobs / where people begin to take on an attitude / they are underpaid / under appreciated / and so they begin to talk about quitting / and talk about how the company is going to fall apart when they are gone / So after time they finally get up the nerve to go / Next day / company goes right on / hires someone new / never misses a beat!

3. Bible is filled with stories of men/women who have written themselves out of history (HIS-STORY)

a. Because they overthought their importance in big picture

i. We must have a healthy fear of the Lord’s ability to do all this on His own.

ii. This will increase our reverence / and ultimately help us find the true wisdom that comes from Him.

II. Fear of God is the foundation of knowledge

A. This fear of the Lord does not just bring us to a point of increasing in wisdom / It also lays a foundation of true knowledge

I can remember back to my school days of college / taking some classes finance classes / other classes in accounting / at the time were so boring! / But today I do quite a bit of accounting / as I have been able to apply things I learned years ago / to help me today

It is cool to be the smartest person in the room / problem is we really never know if we are / we just like to think we are / unless of course we stand in classroom of kindergartners / then hopefully you are

1. But what kind of knowledge is the writer of Proverbs talking about?

a. What kind of knowledge is truly best in this world? Let’s revisit...

Proverbs 1:7 The Bible says that “the fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge”.

2. So it seems to be that having this “fear of the Lord” which we are talking about today / is meant to lay a certain foundation for any knowledge to be gained

B. Let’s look deeper at this word “knowledge”

1. Most of the original OT was written in Hebrew / which means that we have an English translation of this original OT language

a. When we isolate this word “knowledge” / Original Hebrew word used for it is “daath”

b. This word means knowledge in the highest sense / pointing us toward knowledge of God / including obedience to Him!

2. This helps us answer the question of what kind of knowledge in this world is best and most important

a. People fill their heads with all kinds of knowledge / phycology / physics / history / sports / none of those will ultimately matter

i. Knowledge of who God is / and what He is about is all that ultimately matters

b. This is meant to draw us into a deeper understanding of obedience to Him as well

3. For instance / if we lay a foundation of the fear of the Lord / we will be led to study who God shows Himself to be both OT and NT

a. When we give ourselves to WOG / we will see that / shown to us in many ways / our God is one of love

i. He truly cares for His creation (people)

ii. Because of this knowledge of His love / we are then invited to simply love Him in return

b. And how do we do that?

i. By following Jesus Christ and His teaching!

ii. This is what true knowledge can provide for us / as we seek to grow in wisdom and understanding

III. A Healthy Fear Will Produce Good Judgment

So where do we go from here? What next? Maybe you are still wanting some more personal application...

How do we go about our day-to-day lives / working / home lives / what other results can the “Fear of the Lord” produce?

A. The Bible says that true knowledge can produce better judgment all around

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

1. When we know God intimately / we can find it easier / at times / to decide certain things

Let’s take this from a business context / You are sitting in a meeting with fellow employees when your superior asks you to do “whatever it takes” to close the sale / Those around you at the table begin thinking of under the table or behind the scenes ways to get the job done / all of which seem to be unethical / contrary to what you feel God would desire / So you decide to take a different approach / even though it may end up being more time consuming

a. Just one example / if we are willing to begin where God says it’s best to begin / our judgment on daily matters will be better overall

i. We will be able to point out the sinful temptations that will try to draw us in / Something Proverbs talks a lot about

ii. We will be able to surround ourselves with the right people

a. Those who will both encourage ./ challenge us / holding us accountable in the process

2. Please hear me when I say this: there is NOT going to be a negative shift in your life when you lay foundations of wisdom and knowledge

a. There will NOT be a negative shift when you desire to grow in these things

i. The results will lead to your ultimate good and more importantly / the glory of God

B. Conclusion

1. Very simple message / but hopefully I’ve given you something to think about

a. Maybe you need to readdress which foundation you are building your life on

i. Or maybe… just maybe this whole concept of the “fear of the Lord” is a new reality for you

2. Maybe you’ve always associated fear as something bad

a. My hope is that you have gained some insight regarding what it really means to “fear” the Lord

i. Let this message not push you further from God

ii. But rather let it draw you in close so that you may learn more about His love / grace / mercy / and strength

a. Here’s the best part / as we learn about God / we also Gain wisdom / and knowledge in the process

C. Think about Joshua / who we talked about earlier

1. Through faith and obedience he was lucky enough to see just how powerful and gracious God is

a. Through that process it makes sense that he would develop a healthy and righteous “fear” of the Lord

i. Invite and ask God to help develop the same in you

ii. Spend time considering just how powerful, gracious and amazing God really is

Not saved / you should fear God / dont allow God’s delay to be seen as indifference / He will return for His church very soon!

Matt 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Saved

Maybe you once feared God more than you do today / grown apathetic / pleasing God used to be top of your list / now it’s more of a side thought