Living in Fear of the Lord.
Pray
In life we can fear many things. We can have a fear of the future, a fear of failure, a fear of losing our job, a fear of people, a fear of not looking good, or a fear of punishment. Many people, including Christians are trapped by these fears. There are now more phobia’s than ever before. While all these fears are increasing, one fear is decreasing, and that is a fear of God. It is decreasing not just in the world, but also in the church. Yet the Bible commands that this is the only fear that we should have.
Luke 12:4
"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
5:But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
We are told not to fear people as in the scripture above and in Proverbs 29:25. We are told not to fear troubles all incidents that may come our way. Luke 21:25-28 & Isaiah 41:10. These fears only trap us and lead us into sin as Saul found out in 1 Samuel 15 after disobeying God by failing to destroy the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 15:24
Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD’S command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.
Saul failed to deal with sin because he feared people more than he feared God. In the same way the church of today is suffering because it does not have the fear of God. I read recently about a knife throwers assistant who in the middle of an act gave out a cry and collapsed onto the floor. Everybody feared the worst, but it was later revealed that a harmless spider had simply crawled up her leg and being terrified of spiders she collapsed in the fright. She was more fearful of the spider that couldn’t hurt her than being still for the knifes that could. We can often find ourselves fearing things instead of God in the same way.
It seems people would rather concentrate on the Mercy of God rather than his fear. The Bible takes the fear of God very seriously. In the old testament alone I counted 158 verses directly relating to, or encouraging people to fear God. This however is part of the problem. Christians see the God of the Old Testament as one to be feared, but the God of the New as one that flows in mercy. We have to realise that the God of the Old, is also the God of the New. He flows in both grace and judgement just as much before as after He sent Jesus into the world. The God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old, is the same God that killed Ananias and Sapphira for their sin in the New. I counted almost 40 references in the new testament calling us to have a fear of God.
I want to look at two stories in the life and work of Jesus where people came under the fear of God. I want to look at the different reactions and learn How we can live in the fear of God, what the fear of God produces, and how it affects Gods Kingdom. Both stories are contained in Luke 8 26-48.
Luke 8:26
They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.
27:When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.
28:When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!"
29:For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
30:Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him.
31:And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
32:A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission.
33:When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34:When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,
35:and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
36:Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.
37:Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
38:The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,
39:"Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over the town how much Jesus had done for him.
40:Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.
41:Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house
42:because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.
43:And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no-one could heal her.
44:She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45:"Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."
46:But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
47:Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.
48:Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
How do we live in fear of God?
1. From both these stories the first thing that we need in order to fear God is an encounter with God himself. With the people and the pigs, they weren’t expecting this encounter, but in the case of the woman she was searching for it. Whenever we encounter God and realise some of His power and Holiness then we are brought into fear. This is because we realise our own unworthiness in the face of His glory. Even Isaiah, one of the great prophets of old, considered himself a ruined man when he faced the glory of God in chapter 6 of Isaiah. ’Woe to me for I am a man of unclean lips.’ The first way that we can learn to fear God is to seek him for such an encounter. If we don’t our encounter with the Holiness of God can come at a time when we don’t expect it and aren’t ready for it.
2. Secondly, when we have a revelation of His Holiness we must realise that our sin will be revealed. He we see the difference in the two stories. The people of the Gerasenes region were keeping pigs were God had declared to be unclean to eat or touch.
Deuteronomy 14:8
The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.
The people shouldn’t have been keeping these animals. They were doing exactly what Isaiah had warned the people about a few hundred years before.
Isaiah 65:4
who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat;
They were keeping vigil of the pigs on the hillside next to the tombs. In allowing the demons to flee into the pigs and destroy themselves Jesus was exposing the sin of the people and cleansing them from it. The trouble is the people didn’t want it. Instead of welcoming Jesus’ cleansing effect they ushered him away not willing to give up on the sin.
How did this compare to the story of the woman. Just as Jesus had visited the Gerasenes people in their unclean state, this woman had been unclean for twelve years. She had been haemorrhaging and had been having a period for 12 continual years. We read in the book of Leviticus that this would have meant that she was unclean.
Leviticus 15:25
"`When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period.
What does the woman do. Instead of trying to hide her unclean state she throws herself at Jesus’ feet and confesses in front of the whole crowd how Jesus had healed her. This wouldn’t have been easy. She would have felt the glare of the crowd. They would have been classed as unclean also as they would have touched her amongst the pressing in of the crowd. Instead of the fear of God causing her to run away, she decides to stay and live in that fear. She demonstrated that she feared God more than she did the people.
We gain a fear of God by encountering His Holiness. Both the people of Gerasenes and the woman with the bleeding had that encounter. However to live in fear of God we have to allow Him to expose our sin and to cleanse us. It was only the woman who remained living in the fear of God.
What the fear of God produces in individuals.
The bible tells us that the fear of God produces many good things and as I haven’t got long enough to go through all of them now I will just touch on those that are relevant to these two stories.
1. In both Proverbs 9:10 and Job 28:28 we are told that the fear of the Lord makes us wise. In Matthew 11:19 we find that Jesus states that he Himself is wisdom. If we read in proverbs chapter 8 all the characteristics of Wisdom we find that these characteristics themselves are also attributed to Jesus. Jesus is the true fulfilment of wisdom. How does this relate to these accounts in our passage? Well in the first instance we find that because the people of Gerasenes refuse to live in the fear of the Lord, the reject Jesus, asking Him to leave, and therefor reject Gods Wisdom also. The woman on the other hand throws herself at Jesus’ feet, and in accepting Him is made wise.
2. Next we find that living in fear of God produces true worship. In Revelation 19:5 we find that the fear of God causes His servants to praise Him. What does the woman do when she suddenly fears God? She falls at Jesus feet. In falling at somebody’s feet you are lifting them higher and lowering yourself down. It is a way of truly worshipping them and giving them praise. We will never know the true worship of God until we learn to fear Him, and live in that fear.
3. The next thing about fearing God is that it brings pleasure to Him.
Psalms 147:11
the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
We see the pleasure that the fear of God in this woman’s life brings to Jesus. He calls her daughter. We see a picture of Jesus as a father proud of one of His children. With the Gerasenes who refuse to live in the fear of God, all they have to look forward to is judgement from the Father.
John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him."
4. The fear of the Lord restores a relationship with Him. We can only have a relationship with God if we are cleansed of our sin, avoid evil and are obedient to Him. Proverbs 14:27, Proverbs 16:6, Deuteronomy 5:29 and many others tell us that the fear of the Lord helps us to do exactly that. In the life of the Gerasenes who weren’t willing to live in that fear, we find that they aren’t cleaned of their sin and don’t obey His commands. In doing so they are unable to have a relationship with God. The woman however is cleansed of her sin and made right with Jesus. Living in the fear of God produces Holiness.
What effect does the fear of God have on His Kingdom?
If the fear of God is in believers then it will not only impact of the lives of those individual believers but will also have a impact on the overall kingdom of God.
1. If we live in the fear of God then people will fear us also. In the book of Micah we find exactly this.
Micah 7:17
They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the LORD our God and will be afraid of you.
How is this displayed through the passage in Luke? If you remember what Jesus was doing when He was stopped by the woman, He was going to heal Jairus’ daughter. The condition of this little girl was life threatening where the woman with the bleeding wasn’t. Yet nowhere in any of the gospel accounts do we find anybody reprimanding the woman for stopping Jesus from getting on to His more important task, not even Jairus. The fear of God also falls upon them as they see this miracle take place. In fact in Marks account of this story we read that at this point Jesus and Jairus are approached by some messengers who tell them that it is too late and the girl has died. Surely somebody would have to say something now to the woman for delaying Jesus? Because the fear of God was there Jesus was able to tell Jairus not to be afraid of this message and just to believe.
If we fear God then that fear will spread. If we truly fear God then the enemy will fear us. We won’t have anything else to fear and the kingdom of God will be feared. When the unsaved see how we fear only God then they will respond to that also.
2. When his people truly fear God and this produces Holiness in their lives then we shall also see many miracles happen again in the church. It was because of this woman’s fear of God, and faith in who Jesus was that she was healed.
3. When the fear of God is on its church we can expect to see new birth. God will increase His kingdom when His people fear Him. At the time when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt and the Pharaoh ordered the babies to be killed, there were many midwives who feared the Lord. Because they feared God more than the Pharaoh, they didn’t carry out the Pharaohs orders. In response to this God gave them families of their own.
Exodus 1:21
And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Here we see new birth coming as a direct result of people fearing God. In the same way when His church fervently fear God and refuse to disobey Him even when there is great pressure to do otherwise, then God will bless and ensure growth in new spiritual births. This is clearly seen in these stories. In the account of the Gerasenes, they refuse to stay living in fear of God and so don’t have a relationship with Him. The woman on the other hand, becomes a child of God. Possibly many others were also won to Jesus because of her testimony.
Conclusion:
All of the above points can also be seen in one of the most famous passages of the New Testament concerning people living in the fear of God, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.
Acts 5:1
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
2:With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3:Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
4:Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
5:When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
6:Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7:About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8:Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price."
9:Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
10:At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11:Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
12:The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
13:No-one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.
14:Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
15:As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
In this event we first see the Church having an encounter with Gods Holiness. Gods glory and hatred of sin is displayed to the church in a devastating way. Through this event sin is revealed and great fear seizes the church. The church then continues to live in that fear, although we read in verse 13 that many acted like the people of Gerasenes and didn’t dare to join them.
This produces the fruits in individual lives as a direct result of the fear of the Lord. The peoples relationship with God was increased and they were able to worship Him for who He truly is.
As a result the kingdom of God is glorified. People feared God and His church. The church was brought to true Holiness and miraculous healings began to take place. Most importantly new birth came as a direct result, as in verse 14 it states that many more people came to know the Lord and were added to their number.
In the same way as the fear of God was brought on the church then it can also happen now. God can come in His power at any time and we need to be ready and waiting for that. We can be actively seeking that encounter. As we learn to fear God we need to be willing to let go of that sin in our lives or God will expose it for us. Let this church be known as a church that fears God. Be warned, if we are not willing to seek His Holiness and learn to fear Him, He is more than able to impose that fear Himself.
Psalms 86:11
Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
