Sermon Central
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Fear God Only
Contributed by David Leach on May 20, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: Do you live in the fear of the Lord all the day long?
Do you live in the fear of the Lord all the day long?
Bible Expression: The fear of the Lord, # of times used (NKJV) 27; Bible expression: Fear the Lord, # of times used: 36; Bible Expression: Fear God, # of times used: 17; Bible Expression: Fear Him, # of times used: 24; Bible Expression: Fear of God, # of times used: 8. Total = 112 Times
Acts 9:31 Then the churches (and each Christian)…had peace and were edified
…walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit…
What does it mean to walk in the fear of the Lord?
It means for me: (1) To regard God with my highest respect.
(2) To be yielded to Him in absolute submission.
(3) To completely trust Him with all of my life.
(4) To love Him supremely above all others.
What does it not mean to be in the fear of the Lord?
It does not mean to be scared of God as of someone evil who means to harm me.
But the word “fear” does mean to be afraid – but in this very specific sense:
(a) Afraid of wronging the one I dearly love and who so much has loved me, and
(b) Afraid of the danger if by disobeying God I put myself in the hands of my enemy.
What is the opposite of the fear of the Lord; the fear of man. What are its consequences?
Prov 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare…
Ps 124:7 Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers…
2 Tim 2:26 …And escape the snare of the devil…
The fear of God and the fear of man are mutually exclusive. To be in the fear of man is to become a captive to the devil who set the snare of fearing man in front of me to catch my soul, to turn my will away from God. What does it mean to be in the fear of man, it means:
(i) To be intimidated by how people may react to what God wants me to do or say.
(ii) To be in fear of offending them, making them angry, or causing an atmosphere;
(iii) To be in fear of being disliked or losing their friendship, love or financial support.
(iv) To abandon my first love for God and to be captured by the snare of the devil.
This doesn’t mean that we go out of our way to make people mad. It’s simply that the anticipation of how people might react to what God wants us to do is no longer a factor. Part of living in the fear of the Lord is to be made free from the fear of man with its snare.
What are some of the benefits, God wants me to have, by being in the fear of the Lord?
No want: Ps 34:9 …There is no want to those who fear Him.
God’s blessing: Ps 115:13 He will bless those who fear the LORD
No actual evil: Prov 19:23 The fear of the Lord… he who has it rests satisfied; he cannot be visited with actual evil. AMP
Angel protection: Ps 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
God’s secrets: Ps 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.
Just a few of the priceless benefits, God says, of learning to live in the fear of the Lord.
How do we receive the fear of the Lord in order to live in that fear all through the day?
As with all the things of God, His truths about the fear of the Lord are visible to the tender hearted, they know what God means; but these truths are hidden from the hard of heart:
Listen: Ps 34:11 …Listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Be instructed: Prov 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom…
Choose: Prov 1:29 …They hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
Receive: Prov 2:1-5 …If you receive my words…Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
Meditate: Mal 3:16 …For those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.
Do you Ps 19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever…
see it? 1 Pe 1:25 But the word of the LORD endures forever…
The fear of the Lord is the word of the Lord. To have the fear of the Lord is to have God’s words increasingly alive and well in your heart and to be walking in the light of them. Now when we know Jesus after the spirit, He is the word of God (John 1:1). Further the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9) is also the Spirit of the fear of the Lord:
