King Solomon, the wisest person that ever lived, after he had pondered on life and its meaning, declared in the Book of Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:
“Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” NLT
So, what does it mean to fear God?
Well, fear of God can mean a godly reverence for him.You should love, honor, worship and obey God and deal with the things of God with reverence. Fear of God can also mean that you obey his commandments, statutes, laws, decrees etc which can be found throughout the Bible. The most obvious are the 10 Commandments and other laws on social justice. Furthermore, the Bible declares in Micah 6:8:
“He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God.”
NET Bible
When a Pharisee expert in law wanted to trap Jesus Christ, he asked him what he considered to be the greatest law in the Bible. In Matthew 22:37-40:
“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” NLT
Furthermore, the Bible says in Proverbs 1:7:Fear
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”NKJV
In Psalm 36 :10-13, we see some of the basic requirements that are prescribed by the Psalmist to show reverence and fear of the Lord. It says:
“Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord. Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! Turn away from evil and do good.Search for peace, and work to maintain it.” NLT
Some of the benefits and blessings that comes from the fear of the Lord are found found in Psalms 33:17-18 and 145:17-20:
“But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love. He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine.” NLT
“He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked. The Lord is righteous in everything he does;he is filled with kindness. The Lord is close to all who call on him,yes, to all who call on him in truth.” NLT
The Lord is not pleased with those that do not fear him. However, he has reserved special punishment for those who do not fear him and show this by being hostile to a certain category of those considered as weak and helpless in society. In Deuteronomy 27:19, there is a special curse reserved for those who oppress this class of people.It says:
“‘Cursed is anyone who denies justice to foreigners, orphans, or widows.’And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’NLT
Also, in Malachi 3:5, the Lord says:
““At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” NLT
Now, let us look at some Bible characters that did not fear God and were instantly punished by him. First, let us look at the children of Aaron, the Priest. Even though they were consecrated as priests, they did not fear God. They offered a strange fire to God and were instantly punished by him. In Leviticus 10:1-2:
“Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. So, fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord.” NLT
In Daniel 5:1- 12. And 25-30:
“Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him. The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!” But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant. So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.
But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, “Long live the king! Don’t be so pale and frightened. There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your predecessor, the king—your predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar—made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers of Babylon.
This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”
“This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, and Parsin. This is what these words mean:
Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.”NLT
In Acts 19:13-16:
“A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.” NLT
There are many blessings associated with those that fear and obey God.Let us take King David as an example.
Even though he was not a saint and did some unsavory things like impregnating Uriah’s wife and getting her husband killed in battle, he was still loved by God. The good thing about King David is that as soon as he is confronted with his trespasses, he immediately admitted and confessed his sin. He also spent time in repentance
to God.He displayed a good attitude of being sorry for his sin.
In contrast, when King Saul was accused.Of his sin, he still insisted that he had done the right thing and tried to talk his way out of his obvious act of disobedience to God. Let’s admit it. David did a horrible thing. However, he immediately begged for forgiveness. Psalm 51 was written by David to show his remorse over his actions. He had a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
In 2 Samuel 12:13:
“Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.” NLT
In contrast, King Saul did not immediately admit his sin, but sought to explain it away. It didn’t work for him, and he lost his kingdom and God’s blessings.
In 1 Samuel 15:17-23:
“And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king of Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’ Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?” “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.”
Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!”“What did he tell you?” Saul asked. “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord:your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,he has rejected you as king.”NLT
As you are reading this Sermon today, let us ask you this important question:
“Do you fear God?”
If you do, then we congratulate you!
If you don’t, you better repent!
A word is enough for the wise!
Invitation to Salvation.
Jesus is calling you today. He is saying to you:
“Come to me all who are tired from carrying your heavy loads and I will give you rest”. Mathew 11:28
If you want to accept this invitation, pray to God. You can say something like this:
“Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I confess my sins before you today. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I want to know you personally.I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in and be my Lord and personal Savior.Take control of my life.Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.Make me the kind of person that you want me to be. In Jesus name I have prayed. Amen.”
If you have sincerely put your trust in Jesus to be your Savior, welcome to the household of God!
