FEAR OF GOD Part 3
The Fear of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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It’s A Lifestyle
It’s A Lifestyle
INTRO:
Survey for the Church going into fall after a 7 months of two services.
Unshakeable Faith (Always B Ready, Local Church Apologetics, Creation Today)
Series on the fear of God
Fear is such a common characteristic of people today. But most often it is not a healthy fear for of the LORD.
Quote from A.W. Tozer
The only fear I have is to fear to get out of the will of God. Outside of the will of God, there’s nothing I want, and in the will of God there’s nothing I fear, for God has sworn to keep me in His will. If I’m out of His will, that is another matter. But if I’m in His will, He’s sworn to keep me.
And He’s able to do it, He’s wise enough to know how to do it and He’s kind enough to want to do it. So really there’s nothing to fear.I get kidded by my family and friends about this, but I don’t really think I’m afraid of anything. Someone may ask, “What about cancer? Do you ever fear that you’ll die of cancer?”
Maybe so, but it will have to hurry up, or I’ll die of old age first. But I’m not too badly worried because a man who dies of cancer in the will of God, is not injured; he’s just dead. You can’t harm a man in the will of God. A. W. Tozer
How many of you were able to apply 10 minutes of meditation 3x’s per day?
The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying not “What a lovely sermon!” but “I will do something.”
Francis de Sales
TEXT:
1 My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.
Proverbs 2:1-5 KJV
1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,And apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,And lift up your voice for understanding,
4 If you seek her as silver,And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,And find the knowledge of God.
Look at all the conjunctives “and” ; and the stipulations
Treasure God’s commands (and)
Listen (and)
Concentrate on understanding (and)
Cry Out for insight and understanding (and)
Then:
(Then) You will understand what it means to Fear the LORD
(Then) You’ll gain the knowledge of God.
ILLUSTRATION:
Working with people can be healthy, hard, and hurtful. That’s because everyone including myself and yourself have faults.
I had an employee quit this week.
STOP
Calm yourself in the presence of God to ensure you don’t go down a slippery path
Evaluate and put things into perspective. Try to understand both sides.
MEDITATE UPON GOD
Align your spirit and attitude
Humble yourself
PRAY
Give it to God
Ask for discernment and wisdom
7 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Repent for your part
Pray for those involved
TRUST GOD FOR THE REST
God will work things out for the best for those who love Him.
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
This process will prevent you from overreacting and going off the rails, as you too, have to deal with people.
KEYS TO LIVING A LIFESTYLE OF FEARING THE LORD
1. TREASURE GOD’S WORD
1 My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.
What do you do with treasure and valuables?
13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.
b. Leviticus 10:1-3 “1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. 2 So fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when he said, ‘I will display my holiness through those who come near me. I will display my glory before all the people.’ ” And Aaron was silent.”
They were authorized to enter into God’s presence
They approached God irreverently and disobeyed His commands
c. God’s Word will not return void (Good or Bad)
A man will reap what he sows.
God did not violently attack them. They put themselves in harms way.
ILLUSTRATION: The sun is 93,000,000 miles away. The beach is great, but get too close to the sun and you will burn up.
Titan - Get too deep in the worlds pressure without an inward pressure that is greater or equal and you will implode.
People often live on their own terms: (Irreverent and Godless.)
Destructive patterns…When they reap the seed they have sown they cry about their circumstances.
Divorce because we have grown apart. Don’t cry when you reap the outcome of broken covenants,
God didn’t attack you,
There is a kingdom principle playing out in your life.
Affairs have consequences that will effect your marriage.
Alcoholism and drug addiction. It may cost you everything.
Evaluate the patterns that you have control over in your life. Are they healthy patterns? Are they Godly patterns?
The world and the god of the world minimizes purity,
Satan even gets people assuming that God has made an exception for them because they haven’t been burned up yet.
Delayed judgement is not a lack of judgement.
In David’s Psalms we often see him say things like my evil enemies prosper, while I am in anguish.
Psalms 73
13 And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
14 Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
15 What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their evil deeds in the dark! “The Lord can’t see us,” they say. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!”
d. Memorizing God’s Word brings purity
9 How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.
10 I have tried hard to find you— don’t let me wander from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
2. LISTEN TO WISDOM CONCENTRATE ON UNDERSTANDING
2 Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.
a. Just listening does not make a man wise or even fear God.
b. We have to understand it, so we can apply it. (James 1:22 ) Don’t just listen to God’s Word. Do what it says.
c. You could hear 100 sermons on tithing, loving others, fearing God…but just hearing them does nothing…APPLY IT.
d. When we apply our heart to the biblical principles we learn, we begin to practice the lessons that the Spirit of God is teaching us, and see the results reaping the
principles of God’s Word
e. If you engross yourself in anything, you will become an evangelist for it, good or bad.
3. CRY OUT FOR INSIGHT
3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.
a. This is the disposition of the heart that will inherit the fear of the Lord—to stay in a process where you desperately want more wisdom, guidance, and insight into your relationship with God.
b. Crying out to God has so many applications in godliness, the way we behave in personal relationships, in relationships in business, or even in just being better followers of Christ.
4. SEEK AFTER GOD’S WORD, WISDOM, INSIGHT, AND UNDERSTANDING LIKE HIDDEN TREASURE
4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
ILLUSTRATION: Florida Keys last year. MEL FISHER
In 1969, Mel Fisher began the search for the Atocha, a Spanish treasure galleon that sank off the coast of the Florida Keys in 1622.
16 year adventure: financial hardship, tragic loss, and triumph.
Each day began with Mel's rally, "Today's the Day!" Finally, on July 20, 1985, it was.
The search for the Atocha is more than one man's journey. Mel's wife, children, friends, investors, and community were involved in the quest. Years of underwater exploration were matched by years of archival research. Success was met with costly court cases, while the loss of loved ones tempered the gain of treasure.
Atocha is a story of treasure and tragedy. Two hundred and sixty five people were lost at sea.
5. Through these disciplines, we are given a great promise: the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.
a. It's our intentionality and our continued discipline that is necessary to gain the fear of God
b. The knowledge and fear of the Lord are not a weekend treasure hunt, but rather a lifelong disposition.
c. We know all the riches are found in Christ Jesus. (Col. 2:3)
d. Solomon is giving instructions that guarantee results
TAKE ACTION AND APPLY IT
ALTAR:
As believers, we look in the Word of God. We read, study, research, obey, and let the Word speak to us.
I keep sensing repentance
Are u closer to God right now than ever before?
The horrifying picture of sinful humanity painted in Romans 3:10–18 winds its way to the climactic statement, “They have no fear of God at all.”
Solomon's advice to attain the fear of God is to have discipline toward the things of God and be less focused on what the world says. I want to be clear: throughout your Christian walk you will hear secular values and you will hear worldly things. An important question to ask yourself is, who has your ears attention most of the time? Who or what are you intentionally listening to? These answers can help you decide if you are turning your ear to wisdom.