Walking in the Fear of the Lord

This is a concept that many of us misunderstand. When you think about fear, do you think about it in a positive or negative way? In our languages, Spanish and English, when we think of the word “fear,” it’s often from a negative perspective. Fear means to dread or have terror. For me when I think of the word “fear,” I think of phobias—things like Acrophobia (the fear of heights), Coulrophobia (the fear of clowns), Thantophobia (the fear of death), and Nomophobia (the fear of being without your mobile phone).

It reminds me of a funny story about my dad. He was a military man, was an ambulance driver and nurse, and he wasn’t afraid of a good fight. Knowing these things as a kid, I thought my dad was fearless. In the late 90’s my dad had open-heart surgery. He wanted to see all the tools and instruments they were going to use on him. So they showed him the bone saws, the rib separators, and everything else. My dad thought it was so cool. But then it was time to start the IV. The second my dad saw the needle, he passed out! That’s when we learned my dad is afraid of needles. To this day, my dad still denies that this ever happened.

Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”

Central Idea:

To grow spiritually and for the church to multiply, we must Walk in the Fear of the Lord.

Historical Context:

The Book of Acts show us that the church in Jerusalem was growing, and upset the Jewish high priests. Who in return started the first major persecution of the church. We also see that Saul stood by, watching with approval as Stephen became the first martyr of the church. Saul became the chief persecutor of the early church, causing believers to flee Jerusalem. This was how the church began growing outside of Jerusalem, and set the stage for the Gospel to be taken to the rest of the world. Saul was given permission to hunt down the believers and bring them back to Jerusalem. The believers feared being put in jail, being beaten, and even feared being killed. This is why the disciples locked themselves in the upper room in John 20:19.

After Saul’s dramatic conversion, everything changed. I encourage you to read this story in Acts 9. His encounter with God brought the Fear of the Lord not only on himself but on those who were with him too. His testimony spread from church to church faster than a squirrel hyped up on energy drinks. People were stunned about how God took this murderer and made him a disciple. Saul entered Damascus blind, was persecuted by his own people, and under the cover of night received a VIP (Very Important Person) basket ride to escape through a hole in the city wall.

The church had peace and was being built up, because their chief prosecutor was now one of them. They walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church grew in number.

What does it mean?

Now this doesn’t answer the question: “What does it mean to walk in the fear of the Lord?” To fully understand it, we need to look to the Old Testament, specifically in Deuteronomy 6:1-2.

Deuteronomy 6:1-2 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules— that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you (this is Moses speaking to the Israelites), 2 that you may go do them in the land to which you are going over, to posses it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your sons and your son’s son, by keeping all His statutes and his commandments, which I command you all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.”

“Fearing the Lord” was first introduced to the Israelites as a command. At this time the Israelites feared the Egyptians, the people in the areas they were traveling through, they feared not knowing where their next meal was coming from, and they feared for their lives. This command to “Fear the Lord,” was to correct their mentality. They were there when God saved them, and then provided for all their needs as He lead them through the wilderness. They even saw God descend on Mount Sinai and heard his thundering voice. After everything they went through, this command to “Fear the Lord” was God’s way of saying, “you should fear me, not these worldly things.”

There were two ways the Israelites expressed “Fear of the Lord”: A negative and a positive way. The negative way was their fear of God’s divine punishment that would ultimately end their lives. We see this in Deuteronomy 5:24-26 when they told Moses to speak to God and relay the information to them. They were terrified of God’s transcendence, that is His superiority as the creator of the universe. They were scared of the His power that they witnessed first hand. They were so in awe of God’s holiness, they feared their inability to live up to His holy standards would lead to death. This is why they appointed Moses to meet with God in their place (Deut. 5:27).

In Deuteronomy 6:2, the Hebrew word used for “fear” is different from our understanding of the word “fear” today. In the Hebrew context, “Fear of the Lord,” means to revere, honor, and worship the Lord. This is their positive view of “Fearing the Lord.”

Here Moses instructed the Israelites with an “IF / THEN” statement. IF you Fear (worship) the Lord, by keeping his commandments, THEN everything will be good just as the Lord promised. This meant that IF they didn’t fear the Lord, THEN they wouldn’t receive the lords promise. For the Israelites, this was the promise of the land God was giving to them.

Both types of fear are what kept the Israelites in God’s good graces. But when they failed to worship God, it was the fear of God that brought them back to Him. We see this through reading the historical accounts of the Old Testament.

The Books of Wisdom tell us a lot about the Fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 8:13a “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.”

Proverbs 10:27 “The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.”

Proverbs 16:6 “By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity (sin) is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from Evil.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Fear God and Keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of all mankind.”

New Testament:

Now that we have a better idea of what the Fear of the Lord means, let’s go back to Acts 9:31.

Acts 9:31 “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

The believers in Acts were mainly Jews. They knew what the “Fear of the Lord” truly was. It was through their fear of God, that the gospel message spread to other people groups. For them, to fear God was to give reverence for God’s authority and power as the creator and judge. This bilateral fear of God, both positive and negative, is what produced trust and obedience in the early church. Early Christians lived with this strong belief in God and aligned their lives to His will.

Application:

So now we know that the“Fear of the Lord” has positive and negative sides. Let’s bridge this gap between then and now. Remember our central idea: “To grow spiritually and for the church to multiply, we must walk in the Fear of the Lord.”

For unbelievers, the Fear of God is a soul-shaking thing. Jesus teaches in Luke 12:4 and 5 when He said,

Luke 12:4-5 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 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.”

This is what unbelievers face if they don’t worship and obey God—Hell. Hell is a scary place. Its the ultimate separation from God and anything that is good. The Israelites described Hell as a punishment in the afterlife and used the imagery of a smoldering waste dump (Jeremiah 7:30-34) of the Underworld (Num. 16:30), as a valley of slaughter (Jer. 19:6), and a place of drought and heat (Job 24:19). The New Testament says its a place of darkness where people experience suffering, pain, despair, and anger. Its a lake of fire (Rev 20:14), and a permanent place of anguish and torment (Lk. 16:19-31) for those who don’t fear and obey God.

Okay, I know this isn’t the most comforting thing to hear, but it’s true. For those who have rejected Jesus, there is real danger to fear. This puts a lot of weight on the unbeliever and honestly is brutally oppressive. There is no way to escape this outside of accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord, God, and Savior and obeying what He says through the Bible.

Let’s switch gears and look at the positive side of fearing the Lord. For those of us who believe in God and accept what His Son did for us on the cross, the Fear of the Lord is something much different. This fear is the reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28 says: “Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.”

Our fear of God, that is our awe and reverence of Him, is the foundation for walking in His ways, serving Him, and loving Him. This doesn’t mean that we get a “Get out of Jail Free” Card. When we get tripped up by sin, the author of Hebrews teaches in chapter 5 verses 1 through 11 that God disciplines us. Verse 6 specifically says, “For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as His child.” Because we fear the Lord and have accepted Jesus, God has adopted us as children. So we should fear God like we fear the discipline of our parents growing up. As children of God, our names are written in the Book of Life (Rev 21:27), we have eternal life that includes entrance into Heaven (Mk 10:23-25) and citizenship there (Phil 3:20), and we are set free from sin (Rom 6:22). On top of this, while we are here on earth, we are given the Holy Spirit to help us (Jn. 14:16-17), to teach us (Jn. 14:26), and to give us power (Acts 1:8).

Back to our main verse:

Acts 9:31 “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”

This was a time when the early church was strengthened and at peace. Believers grew spiritually, they were comforted through the Holy Spirit, and the church multiplied. This verse shows that the believers were committed to obeying God, and how they were empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is also an example of how the church can grow in modern times.

Like the early church, as we walk in the Fear of the Lord and worship Him, we receive the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean life will be easy. What it does mean is that we no longer need to fear the things of this world, like the Israelites feared. We will be able to stand strong in times of temptation, say no to sin, and turn from evil. The Fear of the Lord leads us to obedience, and as we grow spiritually, the church will multiply.

Fearing the Lord is our key to growing spiritually. But because none of us are fully mature, we’re all at different stages in our walk of faith. All of us need to spend more time with God, some need to learn to stop reading the Bible out of context and read it correctly, some need to learn obedience, others need to evangelize, and this list can go on for a while.

If we want to grow spiritually and see the church grow here in Spain, it starts with each of us as we walk in the fear of the Lord.

Here in a moment, we are going to pray. If you need prayer for anything specific, find Pastor Carlos, Ale, or any of the other church team to pray with. As you pray, whether by your self or with someone else, ask God how He wants you to grow in the Fear of the Lord, and what you can do this next week to grow spiritually and help multiply His church.

Questions to think about:

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “Fear of the Lord”? How does it differ from other fears you experience?

In what areas of your life are you more concerned about the opinions or threats of people than walking in the fear of the Lord?

How does your reverence for God influence your daily decisions, actions, and relationships?

Are there areas in your life where God is calling you to deeper obedience? How can you respond to this call this week?

How can walking in the fear of the Lord empower you to stand strong against temptation and sin?

Related Media

Related Sermons