NO FEAR (of God)
Genesis 20:11
“No fear”. It’s on clothing, it’s in commercials.
But having no fear is stupid. Little children with no fear of heights can get hurt badly. Having no fear of boiling water on a stove leads to burns. Having no fear of getting hurt leads to reckless driving. It may sound really brave to say “I have no fear”, but in many situations, fear is a very healthy thing to have!
In our spiritual life, fear is also a very healthy thing to have! In fact, having no fear of God has disastrous effects in our lives, and in the effectiveness of the Church.
The concept of the Fear of the LORD is found all throughout the Bible, with about 200 passages that teach those who are willing to listen how important this attitude is in our relationship with God.
Introduction: Do we still fear God? This country we live in was founded on the very principles and morals of Christianity. God was reverenced, respected and celebrated. Even bad people wouldn’t desecrate a church or hurt a church because they were afraid what would happen to them. They feared God.
In our day and age we have musicians who speak against God and say he was a fake, comedians who make fun of God and have thousands laughing as they poke fun of the Lord God Almighty. Actors who make up their own God and a world full of people like us who allow it and who have even become so desensitized to it that we call it entertainment.
People don’t fear God no more and that is what is wrong with the world today. Part of the problem is that preachers don’t preach it anymore. They want you to know that God is love and he brings peace and he restores and he is always they’re waiting on you, begging you to come home.
This is true, God is all these things but let’s not forget that God says about himself that he is a jealous God. God is a just God that reigns down judgment on the wicked. That God hates sin and will destroy it. That God is the most High that sits on the throne in Heaven that could end your existence with a word. A God that has created a Hell, a place of judgment for Satan and all his followers.
God is to be feared. Because of his power. Because of his greatness. Because of who he is. He is the one and only, I am that I am, Alpha and Omega, Jehovah God
I What is the fear of the Lord (Our Definition has changed)
The word can be interpreted as awe, respect, reverence, terror, dread, and we have taken the light end.
We say Christians need to reverence God but not fear him. And there is some truth to that because there is a change of relationship, but I think we are taking God far too casually because of this new definition.
Fearing God with real fear
A lot of preachers say that the definition of fear is respect but I looked everywhere and never found that. But what I did find is dread, horror, fright, panic, alarm, terror, worry, be afraid of.
a. These are definitions of fear. understand that respect has a lot to do with it but so does fear. Don’t play it off because it doesn’t make you feel all cuddly inside. We should respect God, yes but we should also stand in horror, fright and panic when we sin. We should do this because of who God is and we just disobeyed him. We just did something that he hates and he has the power to judge us and he is the only being that can do that.
. I feared my Father. I loved him and I respected him and I loved to be around him but there was also times that I feared him because I know I did something wrong, and I would face a whipping.
Think about it in this respect. NASA calls you up and says they want to train you to send you into space for a new mission. What an exciting prospect. Then the NASA dude proceeds to tell you that they want to send you to the SUN! Directly into the burning ball of fire! It is not out of respect for the sun that you will turn down the offer; rather it is because you fear for your life. You know that the closer you get to the sun the hotter
it will get and you will eventually be consumed. We respect what the sun can do on a hot day so we put on sun block. But to be sent into the sun goes so far beyond sun block... so much beyond respect. To be sent to the sun is fear. This is much the same in our spiritual life. So often we are content to just respect God. Just like a sunburn, we may have signs that show we have encountered God, but we really very seldom fear God anymore. Every time someone in the Bible saw God their response what fear that they might die. If not that then they fell down in worship of Mighty God. The closer we draw to the SON the more likely you are to be consumed. This is the God we are to fear. And we must fear Him if we expect Him to share with us His secrets, His very covenants.
The fear of the lord goes far beyond a reverential trust. It includes a controlling awe of His power and righteous retribution and a wholesome dread of displeasing Him.
What has brought the American culture to the place where we are today? Last week we touched on four philosophies or ways of thinking common among people today. These are not new ways of thinking; they have been around for a long time. We have just put our own spin on them as Americans.
Title: Hardly Safe
If you have ever been through a tornado. ... One personal encounter with a power that before was only theoretical can make all the difference. You live differently after that. You respect the power. You live in awe of its presence and tremble to think of its potential. Above all, you live in profound humility because you recognize your inability to control it.
If all this for tornadoes, then what of the Almighty God? I am reminded of the quote from C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where Mr. Beaver describes the might and majesty of Aslan, the lion-God. When he finishes, Lucy asks, "Is--is he safe?" Replies Mr. Beaver: "Safe? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you." This is our God: hardly safe but thoroughly good. We cling to the King in fear, but much too afraid to let go.
-- Don Ratzlaff in The Christian Leader (April 23,1991). Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 10.
II When there Is No Fear of God
Abraham knew that the fear of the Lord restrained peoples sinful desires from being acted out. They feared God would retaliate, strike them with death, sickness, failure in business, etc. They didn’t see it in the life to come, but in the here and now.
A man in my hometown worked in the coal mine, and boasted the top rock couldn’t fall fast enough to catch him. And boasted when the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there (pointing down). The rock did fall and observers said it forced the blood out his pores.
a. Anarchy - “no king so Everyone does what is right in their own eyes” Judges 17:6
b. Absolutes gone - No Right or Wrong - Situational Ethics
-Taking something not yours not always wrong (if big company, or government)
-Taking a life not wrong
-Lying is not always wrong
-Sex between unmarried people not wrong
-Greed is not wrong but good (coveting)
-Cheating on test not wrong
-Getting drunk is not wrong
c. Abuse - Rich abuse the poor, Powerful Abuse the weak
d. All Religions are equal - All truth claims equal -Ask Heart Surgeons if all treatments are the same. Call 911 and say just come to any address it does matter.
e. Political leaders claim Christian -but don’t affect their politics.v5 Abortion, Gambling,
Both Candidates for President claim to be followers of Jesus, but one said...(Presidental candidates name not used)
In Obama’s Own Words
BarryA
From the responses to a Q&A sent out by Nature here.
Do you believe that evolution by means of natural selection is a sufficient explanation for the variety and complexity of life on Earth? Should intelligent design, or some derivative thereof, be taught in science class in public schools?
Obama: I believe in evolution, and I support the strong consensus of the scientific community that evolution is scientifically validated. I do not believe it is helpful to our students to cloud discussions of science with non-scientific theories like intelligent design that are not subject to experimental scrutiny. (Uncommon descent .com)
f. Preachers cower at public scrutiny become politically Correct v5
Pat Robertson - Israelie leader had stroke as a judgement of God for giving away land God gave them.
Falwell -God judging on 9/11
"The last few weeks have not been pleasant for Falwell. On Sept. 13—two days after the terrorist attacks that killed more than 4,400— he appeared on "The 700 Club", the Rev. Pat Robertson’s TV show, and made a statement that has inspired widespread anger and mockery.
"What we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is," he said on the show, "could be minuscule if in fact God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve."
"Jerry, that’s my feeling," Robertson replied.
"The ACLU’s got to take a lot of blame for this," Falwell said.
"Well, yes," Robertson agreed.
"And I know that I’ll hear from them on this," Falwell continued. "But throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America—I point the finger in their face and say, ’You helped this happen.’
" Over the next several weeks, Falwell’s comments about those controversial comments kept changing.
A few hours after the TV show, he reiterated his remarks, telling the New York Times that "the collective efforts of many secularists . . . has left us vulnerable."
The next day he issued a statement saying that his comments were made during "a long theological discussion" and were "taken out of context."
A few days later, he appeared on Geraldo Rivera’s cable TV show and repudiated everything he’d said on "The 700 Club": "This is not what I believe and I therefore repudiate it and ask God’s forgiveness and yours."
ADL Outraged at Pat Robertson’s Remarks Blaming Sharon’s Stroke on the Wrath of God
Update: On January 12, Pat Robertson apologized to the family of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for his remarks. In a letter to Sharon’s son Omri, Robertson wrote,"My zeal, my love of Israel, and my concern for the future safety of your nation led me to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as in appropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief experienced because of your father’s illness. ... I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel."
A number of evangelical Christian leaders have spoken out to denounce Robertson’s words. More
_______________
New York, NY, January 5, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed "shock and outrage" at remarks by televangelist Pat Robertson on today’s broadcast of his news program, "The 700 Club." Following a report on the deteriorating health of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Robertson suggested that Sharon was being punished by God for his decision to disengage from Gaza.
"God has enmity against those who, quote ’divide my land,’" Robertson told his television audience. "And I would say, Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations or the United States of America. God says, This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone." Robertson added that the 1995 assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was, "the same thing."
g. Any Lifestyle is accepted and rationalized
-Gay & lesbian, Porn addiction, Drug and alcohol use, Drug Dealer,
h. Everyone is for themselves -Self is King - Takers not givers
i. Other gods are worshiped - knowledge and science, Youth, Beauty, Sports, Music Stars,
II Why Do People not Fear God?
A. They forget God’s past judgements in their lives.
-fear quickly fades -
-near death experience - My Truck wreak
B. Desensitized through the media -Watch much TV or movies fear of God leaks
A Pastor told of walking through a store when a little statue of Jesus caught his attention. Actually, it wasn’t a statue, it was a dash ornament called Buddy Jesus. The statue portrayed Jesus grinning like an infomercial host, with one hand thumbs up and one hand doing a phony Hollywood "Bang-bang" gesture. As I looked at it in disgust
C. God doesn’t always immediately judge sin
When we are told not to do something, but we do it and doesn’t seem to be consequences we
assume we got by and no punishment coming.
D. God’s Judgements are missed and explained away today.
E. God’s people are not living it or teaching it to others.
Pastor gets 17 months for stealing relief funds
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former pastor has been sentenced to 17 months in prison for stealing his church’s hurricane relief funds. Noah Thomas pleaded guilty to a federal charge in April. Thomas was pastor of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, which saw its building in New Orleans flooded following Hurricane Katrina. The church did not have flood insurance and received a $252,000 federal disaster loan and a $35,000 grant from the Bush-Clinton Katrina fund. Prosecutors said Thomas deposited the $35,000 into a bank account he controlled, along with the initial $10,000 loan payment. Authorities said Thomas spent at least $10,000 of the relief money on a personal vehicle. Court records show Thomas also obligated his small congregation for a $39,000 loan for church furniture and accessories.
(Lee Grady - Charisma)
In the American church today we see revival hoopla but not much substance. We make things look good for the cameras. We have fanfare without fire. It’s a show. We’ve lost the fear of God.
I believe if we really want the presence of God, we need the reverence of God. Yet it seems that in many of our churches today we want one without the other.
We love the ecstasy and the goose bumps that accompany revival meetings. We like to shake, rattle and roll on the floor as we soak in the anointing. But I fear we’ve become so flippant about the Holy Spirit that we’ve stooped to playing games.
A case in point: In one meeting recently, two ministers stood on the pulpit and threw "fireballs" of "anointing" at each other. When the imagined glob of raw power hit one man, he fell over laughing. Then he threw his invisible fireball at his preacher friend, and he too fell. It made for good entertainment, but that’s all it was.
There’s also a trendy new teaching that compares a spiritual encounter with God to shooting heroin. In one "revival" service, people pretended to shoot invisible needles into their arms as they prayed for one another and asked God for His anointing.
One minister in Oregon actually refers to God as "Jehovahjuana"--implying that the Lord can give you a marijuana high.
Another conference speaker put a plastic Jesus from a nativity scene into his mouth and urged some teens to "smoke Baby Jesus."
Such flippant mishandling of the Lord’s name is what the Bible calls blasphemy, and it grieves the Holy Spirit. It may seem harmless, but those who cavort so cavalierly with the things of God are in danger of exchanging the truth of the gospel for a counterfeit.
Instead of an imaginary drug, a dramatic smack on the head or a fake fireball, we need a major dose of holy reverence--along with a sobering jolt of reality. Let’s repent of our childishness and stop pretending. Let’s show a watching world the real thing.
IV Why Should we Fear God
a. He always judges sin and rebellion -
-here and now through consequences and punishment
-At the great judgement
-at the cross
b. Hell is Real and many are going there
c. He is already on the record in his word how he responded in the past, and wrote it down to warn us.
Hophni and Phines Lev. 10:
* Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command.
* So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.* Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: " ’Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’ " Aaron remained silent.
* Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary."
* So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.
* Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not let your hair become unkempt, and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the house of Israel, may mourn for those the LORD has destroyed by fire.
* Do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting or you will die, because the LORD’s anointing oil is on you." So they did as Moses said.
* Then the LORD said to Aaron,
* "You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.
D. Every fossil testifies to God Judgement against Sin - Flood
E. We will all give an account of our lives to our creator and be rewarded or punished.
It is appointed unto man once to die, but after that the judgement. Heb
Conclusion: Hebrews 10: 26-31
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
