God Is To Be Feared

PSALM 34:7-11 “GOD IS TO BE FEARED”

A) All through the Bible we are taught to fear God! * Listen to these phrases in the KJV Bible ...

* “Fear God” is found 10 times ... “Fear of God” is found 8 times ...

* “Fear of the Lord” is found 30 times ... “Fear the Lord” is found 32 times ...

* “Fear thy God” is found 5 times ... and “Fear Him” is found 23 times. (Total – 108 times)

B) Now let me give you a few verses of Scripture to remind you that God is to be feared!

* Prov. 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and

instruction.”

* Prov. 8:13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the

froward mouth, do I hate.”

* Ecc. 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his .......”

* Heb. 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

* The reason for spiritual decline ... Rom. 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

C) Let us look at some things in this message that we should fear .......

(1) WE SHOULD FEAR BEING OUT OF THE WILL OF GOD!

A) There is a perfect will of God, and we are miserable out of that will!

* I know first hand because I have been out of God’s will.

* But we must also remember that God will chastise us to bring us back into His will!

* Example: Jonah ... David ... My coming back to the Lord Mother’s Day, 1994 .......

(2) WE SHOULD FEAR UNCONFESSED SIN!

* Prov. 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh

them shall have mercy.”

* People need to know that the church is serious about holy living, starting from the pulpit to the

pew! * Every member needs to understand that God hates sin!

A) Think of the examples in the Bible that reminds us how much God hates sin!

* He put Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden because He hates sin.

* He destroyed the earth in the flood as a judgment against sin.

* He allowed His chosen people to wander in the wilderness until an entire generation died

because of their sin. * God even put His Son to death on the cross to pay the penalty for sin.

B) We like to rank sins according to human standards! * “What do you mean Preacher?”

* For instance ... Murder is much worse than gossiping! * Well, murder may be worse in terms

of human consequences, but not in terms of God’s attitude ... To Him, sin is sin!

* If God takes sin so seriously, the church had better get serious about it too!

* If there’s any place where the church can demonstrate to the world that God’s standards are

different, it’s our attitude toward and the treatment of sin!

C) The world thinks sin is funny ... Prov. 14:9 “Fools make a mock at sin:”

* But we know that sin is fatal ... Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death;”

* Remember, no matter who we are, sin separates us from God ... Isa. 59:1-2 “Behold, the

LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But

your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from

you, that he will not hear.”

* A person living with known unconfessed sin is taking a chance of dying with unconfessed sin

in their heart! * FORGIVENESS DEMANDS CONFESSION!

(3) WE SHOULD FEAR HAVING AN UNFORGIVING SPIRIT!

A) Many people harbor hate, jealousy, resentment, and unforgiveness in their heart!

* Turn to Matt. 5:23-24 ....... * Mark 11:25-26 “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have

ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

B) In Matt. 18:21-22, Peter asked the Lord, “How oft shall my brother sin .......”

* Then Jesus told the story of a servant owing 10,000 talents .......

* We receive forgiveness to the extent that we forgive others!

(4) WE SHOULD FEAR UNTOLD TESTIMONY! * Turn to Isa. 62:6-7 .......

A) Christians are watchmen ... We are told to watch for men’s souls!

* Ezek. 33:8-9 “When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not

speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood