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Another topic which was suggested to me by several people was addressing “The Fear of The Lord.”
The phrase is found all through the Scriptures.
And so you ask yourself what this is all about?
And how does it fit with the Gospel and passages like: ?
And you begin to ask yourself what this is all about?
It is a good and right question.
And I hope to give us some light on it by following this outline:
?
We’re Christians.
We’re joined to God in Jesus Christ who has died for our sins.
How does living in God’s love and acceptance square with notions of fearing God?
What gives?
Or
These are good and right questions.
And I hope to give us some light on it from God’s Word.
And I am going to follow this outline:
And you begin to ask yourself what this is all about?
It is a good and right question.
And I hope to give us some light on it by following this outline:
1 - The Fear of the Lord: Why Should I Care?
The Fear of the Lord:
1 - Why Should I Care?
2 - What it isn’t.
3 - What it is.
4 - How it is obtained.
5 - What are its benefits?
1- The Fear of the Lord:
Why Should I Care?
There are a number of good reasons for spending time on this topic.
a. 1st off is the frequency with which it’s mentioned in the Scripture.
The phrase “fear of the Lord” itself is used more than 30 times.
When you add to that other similar phrases like fearing God or God-fearing and the like - you have well over 100 instances.
So it is a theme that pervades Scripture - both the Old and New Testaments.
The Holy Spirit didn’t inspire that many mentions by accident.
b.
The nature of some of those references catch our attention.
for instance reminds us how the fear of the Lord is the very beginning of true wisdom.
Wisdom we are aware, is the skill of walking rightly with God in life.
Then we confront a passage like
We are met with the emphasis God Himself places upon this idea when addressing His people.
This is the supreme thing the Lord requires of His people - to fear Him.
To fear Him - which in some way also encompasses walking in His ways, loving Him, serving Him with all our hearts and souls and keeping or treasuring His commandments and statutes.
That is a pretty powerful call.
When it is all said and done, what does God require of His people most?
To fear Him.
This needs to be understood.
We’ll come back to this.
Or consider Peter’s summary after telling the saints that the will of God is that we should silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.
Which he then exhorts us to do by living as free people, not using our freedom as an excuse for sin, but living as servants of God - and so
Peter asserts the normal Christian life includes the fear of the Lord.
These are just a few of the compelling passages that require us to reckon with the fear of the Lord.
c. 3rd, we read in several places that the absence of the fear of the Lord is the defining feature of the lost.
uses it as the summary description of all outside of Christ.
In Genesis, when Abraham was excusing his lie about Sarah being his 1/2 sister to Abimelech - he said the reason he lied was:
Abraham’s reasoning was clear - people with no fear of God are people who would live without accountability for their actions, and thus do whatever they want.
While he was wrong about Abimelech in this case, he was right in principle.
When there is no sense of accountability among people, all restraint disappears.
And where there is no sense of ultimate accountability, we lose even the most basic morality; indeed, we have no basis FOR morality itself.
After all, who is to say anything is truly right or truly wrong, except in each individual’s eyes?
And if there is no ultimate accountability to anyone or anything above ourselves - then who cares what we do?
So why should we care about this issue of the fear of the Lord?
Because Scripture addresses it so often.
Because Scripture places such emphasis upon it.
Because a lack of the fear of the Lord is the signal mark of those who are Godless and lost.
2 - The Fear of the Lord:
2 - What it isn’t.
What it ISN’T.
Before we venture too far, let me take just a few minutes to take some errant notions of the fear of the Lord off of our plates.
For sadly, we can develop ideas of this concept from less than reliable sources.
a.
The Biblical fear of the Lord is not the slavish fear of the pagan.
That is what drives ritualism and the idea that we need to keep God happy through a complex system of rules, regulations, rites and ceremonies.
It flatly ignores Scripture like
Or
It treats the God of the Bible like the false gods of idol worshippers.
b.
The Biblical fear of the Lord is not walking with God like He is perpetually testy and irritable.
Tiptoeing around an infinite minefield where He is liable to explode at any moment or is constantly cantankerous and easily upset.
The fruit of the Spirit - the inherent disposition of God is JOY!
In His presence is fullness of joy David proclaims.
God’s natural disposition is beautifully outlined for us in - Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
This is His very nature.
We do not serve the God of the Perpetually Provoked.
The approach to His throne is not paved with celestial eggshells.
c.
The Biblical fear of the Lord is not like living with one who is irrational.
Yes, there are times when His wisdom and understanding so outstrip our highest abilities that we are left confused - but that is not because He is capricious or irrational.
His decisions are all wise and fully in keeping with perfect wisdom and holiness: Even when we do not understand.
d.
The Biblical fear of the Lord is not owing to His being petty or punitive.
Just, yes.
But justice which also offers grace to all in the preaching of the Gospel.
Love, as His Word reminds us, covers a multitude of sins.
When we fall, He does not kick or abuse His own, but seeks us out like He did Adam even though we are so ready to hide ourselves.
His desire is always that we would run to Him in our failures and sins, so that we might find mercy.
When do I need mercy most?
When I’ve sinned.
That is my time of need!
And where do I find that sympathy and mercy?
Drawing near to His throne in faith.
The fear of the Lord is not a slavish fear rooted in trying to appease an intractable, irritable, cranky, unappeasable, irrational, petty or punitive God.
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