SIX FUNDAMENTALS OF A DEEPER CHRISTIAN WALK

Bacillophobia- Fear of microbes. Bacteriophobia- Fear of bacteria. Ballistophobia- Fear of missiles or bullets. Bolshephobia- Fear of Bolsheviks. Barophobia- Fear of gravity. Basophobia or Basiphobia- Inability to stand. Fear of walking or falling. Bathmophobia- Fear of stairs or steep slopes. Bathophobia- Fear of depth. Batophobia- Fear of heights or being close to high buildings. Batrachophobia- Fear of amphibians, such as frogs, newts, salamanders, etc. Belonephobia- Fear of pins and needles. (Aichmophobia) I have a healthy fear of needles. I even tried nicely to weasel my way out of a tetnus shot but it didn’t work.

Bibliophobia- Fear of books. ( Bible included ) Blennophobia- Fear of slime. Bogyphobia- Fear of bogeys or the bogeyman. Botanophobia- Fear of plants. Bromidrosiphobia or Bromidrophobia- Fear of body smells. Brontophobia- Fear of thunder and lightning. Bufonophobia- Fear of toads.

This is just the B’s

Some common definitions of fear

1. A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.

2. A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.

3. A feeling of disquiet or apprehension: a fear of looking foolish.

4. A reason for dread or apprehension: Being alone is my greatest fear.

Psalm 33:18 NASB95

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,

Satan has done well to eliminate the Fear of God in our culture and replace it with every other kind of fear.

Our Media sells fear to you. Listen how the news is projected. Its focus on fear is to keep you in your place

The effort is to secularize everything. Meaning take God out of everything.

Some states have removed the 10 commandments from court rooms

What Happens when we have no fear of God?

Moral degeneration comes as one gets further from God. The further you get from God the more morally degenerate you become.

80% of Americans believe they are Christian yet only 10 % of churchgoers live a biblical worldview. This is a fear of God Dilemna

Chaplain (LTC) Robert Leroe, I was sitting around with a few other chaplains, and our conversation focused on war--ministry in a combat environment. One of our small group was a chaplain who had served in Vietnam. We asked him, among other things, "Were you afraid?" He said what I’ve heard from many combat veterans, "Of course--only the foolish were not afraid."

Martin Luther was so petrified by God, he nearly grew to hate Him. Luther had a picture of God that was distorted—he could only envision God as the wrathful Judge; he later saw God as the loving, merciful Father.

Jonathan Edwards’ famous fire & brimstone sermon, "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" had his congregation trembling, grasping the pews lest they tumble into the very pit of hell itself. Some appraise Edwards solely on the basis of this sermon and fail to see that he also preached on God’s grace.

Sometimes fear motivates better than anything else.

One mother decided she would put the fear of a speeding ticket in the speeding drivers going past a local elementary school. Every morning she would park her car in front of the elementary school and point her black hair dryer - shaped like a radar gun, out of the window at speeding cars. The effect was dramatic as drivers slowed down fearing they might receive a speeding ticket.

Job 28: 28 says that behold, the fear of the Lord, is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding

Job 28:28 NASB95

28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

More Biblical Definitions

1. Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power. Devotional Piety and the dread of punishment

Elsewhere in Proverbs the fear of the Lord is

1. the foundation for wisdom (9:10) or

2. the discipline leading to wisdom (15:33);

3. it is expressed in hatred of evil (8:13),

4. and it results in a prolonged life (10:27).

A few Scriptures on the Fear of God Deut 10:12, "What does the Lord require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord."

Deuteronomy 10:12 NASB95

12 “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Eccl 12:13, "Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Psalm 33:8 , "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him."

Psalm 33:8 NASB95

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

Proverbs 16:6 instructs us, "By the fear of the Lord one avoids evil. "

The fear of God affects life itself! In Proverbs we’re also told that "The fear of the Lord prolongs life" (10:27); is a "fountain of life" (14:27); and "leads to life" (22:4). David sings in Psalm 34:7, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them."

Psalm 145:19, "He fulfils the desire of all who fear Him." Are your prayers

OT -The Hebrew words. Several Hebrew word groups express the ideas of fear and being afraid. The most common is the yare' group, which conveys all the meanings of fear. Gur and megorah mean "terror." Both words suggest a cringing fear.

1. Fear as an emotion. OT uses of "fear" often indicate the all-too-familiar feeling of terror. Adam and Eve fled from God in the Garden of Eden, Adam later explaining, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked" (Ge 3:10).

A basic cause of this emotion is awareness of vulnerability because of sin or because of the perceived power of another to do harm.

2. Fear of anticipated evil. Many passages portray the emotion of fear as aroused by an intellectual anticipation of what might happen.

3. Fear of the Lord. This religious fear, or awe, is God's answer to the ordinary fears that master human beings.

Such fear is reverence for God. We who fear God recognize Him as the ultimate reality, and we respond to him.

NT -. The Greek words. The Greek indicate fear, terror, fright, or reverence; and the idea of dread.

1. We have fear of what others will think or how they will react to us. Such fear is a primary source of conformity in society. But Jesus told his disciples to put this kind of fear behind them, even if some would hate them because of him (Mt 10:26). We are to be in awe of God, not of others, for he alone holds the ultimate power (Mt 10:28; Lk 12:4). Such fear of the Lord releases us from bondage to the opinions of others and frees us to act spontaneously and to choose what is right.

2. Fear of God's working. People fear Gods Working and miracles

In Gadara, Jesus released a demon-possessed man and sent the horde of evil spirits that had dominated him into a herd of pigs. The people saw their neighbor "sitting there, dressed and in his right mind," and "they were afraid" (Mk 5:15). Because of this they began to plead with Jesus to leave their region! They were uncomfortable with God's work, even though his power had been used for good.

Man's reaction to God's action and to God's Word is often to reject them or to try to flee from God. Sin has so warped our perception that God's love is difficult to see. Instead, an often-unacknowledged sense of guilt creates in us a fear of exposure and leads us to flee headlong from the only source of healing.

3. Fear in the believer's relationship with God. Two themes concerning fear are found in the NT.

The first is the Lord as reverent awe. This attitude is still wholly appropriate for believers. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and immediately died, this kind of fear gripped the Jerusalem church and "all who heard about these events" (Ac 5:11). Acts reports that immediately there was renewed spiritual vitality that generated healings and stimulated evangelism (5:12-16).

second theme, one that stresses release from fear. Paul reminds us that the Spirit, whom we received at conversion, does not "make [us] a slave again to fear."

Important Point - When our fear of God--that is, our wonder and awe and deep respect for the Lord--grows out of fear of punishment, we have not fully grasped the nature of God or the meaning of Jesus' sacrifice.

Our fear of God is purified when what motivates us is not fright but love.

The fear of the Lord has two sides:

One side is to hate evil, to hate sin, and to avoid sin at all cost.

The other side is delight in doing God’s will. Psalm 112:2 "Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands."

We tend to picture God as a kindly old grandfather who’d never send anyone to hell. This is the 20th Century God of sentimental love and not the God of the Old and New Testaments.

The Fool is the one disdains wisdom and discipline. The term "fools" describes those who lack understanding . do not store up knowledge , fail to attain wisdom , talk loosely, are filled with pride , and are contentious . They are morally unskilled and refuse any correction. Fools are people who "despise" wisdom and discipline; they treat these virtues as worthless and contemptible.

Conclusion

Lets press toward the higher calling in Christ Jesus and Fear the living God.

Invitation

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