Capturing Holy Fear - To Know and Be Known
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For the past few Sundays, we have been expanding our understanding of the fear of the Lord - and hopefully growing our sense of Holy Fear. The first week, I shared the definition of Holy Fear as “to revere God and to be in complete awe of Him.” It does not mean to be scared of God and hide from him, but to fear being apart from Him. In his book The Awe of God, John Bevere stated “To fear God is to esteem, respect, honor, venerate, and adore Him above anyone or anything else.”
I shared the four truths of Holy Fear as outlined by Bevere:
We are human, and we will fear. What we fear greatly influences how we live.
The awe and fear of God is way deeper, more beautiful, and more intimate than many dare imagine.
The fear of God swallows up all destructive fears. Destructive fears include fear of death and sickness, fear of losing all your money and security, fear of taking risk, fear of man - which includes worrying about how others view you…these are just some destructive fears.
The fear of God is the beginning of everything good.
Up to this point, we have focused on what it means to fear the Lord and how we are to live.
We acknowledge that nothing is hidden from God, He sees and knows everything - and He is always present. No matter our current circumstances - whether we are walking through a difficult time or things are going well for us - the decisions and actions we make matter. The Apostle Paul instructs us to work our our salvation with fear and trembling for it is God working in us so we may do His will (Phil 2:12).
We have heard the call to pursue holiness. 1 Peter 1:15-16
but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
If we have accepted Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, and have received his abundant gift of grace which covers all our sins, then we have been set apart for God. Our allegiance is no longer to the corrupt systems of this world or to the satisfying the sinful desires of the human heart - we now belong to the Lord and the Holy Spirit lives inside us, -reshaping us into the image of Christ.
Last week, we spoke of trembling at God’s Word.
When we tremble at this Word, we:
Obey God immediately
Obey God even if it doesn’t make sense.
Obey God even when you don’t see a personal benefit
Obey God even it it is painful.
Obey God to completion.
As I just mentioned, up until now, we have focused on what it means to fear the Lord and how we are to live accordingly. Today we shift to the benefits and blessings we receive when we fear the Lord. There are many.
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
When you fear the Lord, you become His friend. What greater blessing can there be?
In the course of your life, you meet many people. Classmates, work colleagues, church members, neighbors - but it is a select few that become close friends. People who really know you, those whom you allow behind the wall that you present to the world. These are folks that you share your secrets, that push you to succeed and provide encouragement, that are forgiving when you are not at your best.
Listen to what Jesus tells his disciples during the Last Supper before he was to be arrested, tortured and killed.
You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
One of the greatest benefits of Holy Fear in intimacy with God. You are invited into close relationship with your Creator - this is what God desires.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
God already knows you completely, His love has already has been shown to you by the fact that while you were rebelling against him, living a self-centered life in defiance to Him, while you were still neck deep in sin - He sent Jesus to die for you - that by His blood you would be redeemed.
God loves you. And the fear of the Lord is what opens the way for you to love God back and to enter into a deep, close, intimate relationship with Him. The fear of the Lord is what opens your ears to what He wants to share with you and opens your eyes to what He wants to show you.
You are the one who determines how close you are to God, not God. He has already made Himself available to you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
The fear of the Lord leads us to know God. But the opposite is also true: no fear results in no knowledge.
This is wonderfully illustrated by John Bevere in his book The Awe of God:
Let me set the scene. John arrived at a leadership conference in Hawaii. He was waiting for his room to be ready for check-in, so he decided to wait by the resort pool. There was business woman poolside also waiting for her room - she was there to attend a different conference. John shares their conversation
“We began talking, and once she discovered I was a Christian author and minister, she began to elaborate on her relationship with Jesus.
It didn’t take more than a couple of minutes to realize that she didn’t know him. She kept confidently stating what she believed, but very little corresponded to what scripture reveals. I silently asked the Holy Spirit for wisdom, and within moments He revealed what to say.
Once she finished, I asked, “Do you see the man sitting across the pool?”
With a surprised look on her face, most likely from my abruptly changing the subject, she responded, “Why yes.”
I cheerfully added, “His name is Jim, and he’s from Fresno, California. He lives on a strict vegan diet. His dream is to be on the United States Olympic water polo team. He works out in both the pool and the gym three hours a day. His hobbies are pickleball, skydiving, and painting. Jim’s married to the woman just over there by the hot tub; her name is Beth, and she’s ten years younger.”
Now intrigued by how well I knew him, she asked “Is he attending the conference with you?”
I quickly responded, “No ma’am.”
She became more curious, “Well, how do you know Jim so well?”
I then turned, looked her in the eyes, and stated: “I’ve never met him.”
I let that sit for a moment, then confidently stated, “That’s what I believe about him.”
She was speechless.
I continued, “You just spoke with great confidence of your belief of who Jesus is, but almost everything you just said about Him is not true; it’s contrary to what the Bible teaches. I know this because I know Him.”
There are a lot of people today who claim to be know Jesus - but who do not know him at all. They may take some of his teachings out of context and use it to prop up their own opinions and worldview - but they have no fear of the Lord. They have never stood in awe of God, never bowed down in humility and reverence before Him, never sought His wisdom, never worked out their salvation with fear and trembling.
They want Jesus’ gift of grace, but they don’t want His Lordship.
And so they readily will listen to false teachings and continue to live in defiance to God. This is nothing new in the church.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church…
For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
How could this church that Paul founded accept a false gospel - how could they be so easily deceived?
Simply put, they were lacking in their fear of the Lord, and as such, they believed in Jesus but did not know Him.
Jesus warned his disciples what it will be like when He returns:
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
The key statement there is workers of lawlessness - lawless behavior does not adhere to the authority of God’s Word.
But a healthy fear of the Lord leads us on the path of holiness and obedience. When we trust in His Word, when we spend time in His presence, and worship Him with reverence, the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us. God himself will speak to our heart and instruct us.
We have some great examples in the scriptures of people who enjoyed intimacy with God. God called them friend. They were not perfect people. Each one had their flaws. It does not take special qualities that are unattainable to you and me in order to live with the same relationship with the Lord. But it does take an intentionality to pattern our lives after those saint of old and to ask the Lord to give us the power to do so.
One such saint that I want us to consider on All Saints Sunday is Moses.
Listen to these passages that describe the relationship Moses had with God.
Exodus 33:11 (ESV)
Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
Numbers 12:7–8 (CEB)
But not with my servant Moses. He has proved to be reliable with all my household. I speak with him face-to-face, visibly, not in riddles. He sees the Lord’s form. ”
The Lord said Moses proved to be reliable - and so God spoke with him face-to-face. The Lord trusted Him. What builds trust?
Bevere outlines 4 things:
Unconditional obedience - always doing what is asked
Absolute integrity - always keeping your word
Unwavering priority - always putting God’s desires first
Knowing His heart - always choosing God’s will when making decisions.
These are all trust-building actions and characteristics that we witness in the life of Moses. We also witness the same in the life of Jesus. Unconditional obedience, absolute integrity, unwavering priority and knowing His heart.
And there is nothing preventing us from doing the same.
The fear of the Lord is the key. It opens up intimacy. God is our friend. We can boldly come before him and know what He desires - to know HIs will - and then we can ask in prayer and it will be given. James 5:16 tells us…
James 5:16 (CEB)
The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we desire above all else to be one of your intimate friends. We don’t want to know you from afar; we want to be close to you. We choose the fear of the Lord - to obey you unconditionally, to love you with all our heart, soul, body and strength, and to love people in truth as You do. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
