The Fear Of The Lord Is The Beginning Of Wisdom Series

A. Robert Ingersoll, who lived from 1833 to 1899, was nicknamed “The Great Agnostic.”

1. On one occasion, Ingersoll, after delivering one of his addresses in defense of agnosticism, pulled out his watch and said, “According to the Bible, God has struck men to death for blasphemy. I will blaspheme Him and give Him five minutes to strike me dead and damn my soul.”

a. There was a period of perfect silence while one minute went by.

b. Two minutes passed and people began to get nervous.

c. At three minutes, a woman fainted.

d. At four minutes, Ingersoll curled his lip.

e. At five minutes, he snapped shut his watch, put it in his pocket and said: “You see, there is no God, or He would have taken me at my word.”

2. In response to the story, one man said: “And did the American gentleman think he could exhaust the patience of God in five minutes?”

3. God is so much greater and more powerful than anyone, and God will not allow anyone to force His hand or paint Him in a corner.

B. One of the saddest statements in the Bible about a person’s position in life is the statement: “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Ps. 36:1; Romans 3:18)

1. And I’m afraid that this is where our society is today.

2. During my lifetime, our society has gone from being one with a moral, spiritual foundation that included a healthy fear of God, to a society with no sense of God and no clear sense of right and wrong.

3. Our society has raised an entire generation without a consciousness of God and therefore a generation without a conscience.

4. The late Chuck Colson said: “Without ultimate justice, people’s sense of moral obligation dissolves; social bonds are broken. People who have no fear of God soon have no fear of man, and no respect for human laws and authority.”

C. “Don’t you fear God?” is a great question.

1. It’s a question that I don’t think we hear much anymore.

2. But fear of God is an important aspect of understanding of who God is and what God does.

D. In The Chronicles of Narnia, which is an allegory by C.S. Lewis, the author has two girls, Susan and Lucy, getting ready to meet Aslan the lion, who represents Christ.

1. Two talking animals, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, prepare the children for the encounter.

2. “Ooh,” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

3. “That you will, dearie.” said Mrs. Beaver. “And make no mistake, if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knee’s knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

4. “Then isn’t he safe?” asked Lucy.

5. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course, he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you!”

E. Our God is a God of love and justice; a God of grace and wrath, and sometimes I think we need to hear Him roar to remind us of His holiness and power.

1. Oswald Chambers wrote: “The remarkable thing about fearing God, is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

F. Today’s sermon is the second in our new sermon series “God’s Wisdom: More Valuable Than Gold.”

1. In last week’s sermon, we started by declaring that there is nothing more valuable than the wisdom of God – it is more valuable than gold and silver and jewels.

2. God’s wisdom is something that we need and something that God wants us to have.

3. But in order to have God’s wisdom, we need to realize we need it and then ask for it.

4. After we ask for it, we need to search for it like buried treasure, and then once we find it and receive it, we must put it into practice.

5. God gave Solomon, the third king of Israel, greater wisdom than anyone else on earth, but Solomon failed to apply God’s wisdom in his own daily life, which led to moral and spiritual failure.

G. Today, as we continue our pursuit of God’s wisdom, which is the most valuable thing in the world, we begin our pursuit with a the most important truth that is the foundation of God’s wisdom: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

1. Let’s begin by looking at the first seven verses of Proverbs 1:

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

2 For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings;