Wisdom: Caution: Be Very Afraid Series

Caution: Be Very Afraid!

Proverbs 8:13

Proverbs 8:13

13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

(NIV)

I hate “Idiot” Lights. You know, those warning lights on the car dash to let you know something is not quite the way it should be. Because I am such an “idiot” when it comes to mechanical things, I really should pay close attention to those lights. But they annoy me! Some cars have gauges, some have chimes, some have voices! I always seem to wind up with lights.

Twice I have run out of gas. Both times the arrow on the gas gauge pointed toward “E”. Doesn’t “E” mean that as soon as you find an “Exxon” station you should stop and buy some? Really, I’m not that much of an “Idiot”, but everyone knows there is still a little fuel in the tank! Both times, that “Idiot” light also flashed to indicate that the gas tank was not happy about the amount of fuel left. And both times I was determined to stop as soon as I could get to the next Exxon station.

Both times I had to walk to the next Exxon station. And why don’t Exxon stations sell gas cans anymore? As my un-luck would have it, both times I ran out of gas predated cellphones and I was not currently a member of AAA. Thank God for comfortable shoes!

I don’t like Idiot lights, but I am learning to value them. My current vehicle has a fuel gauge, an Idiot light, and a chime! Maybe with the three of them to warn me, there won’t be a third time to charm me into paying attention!

Why do we not listen to WISDOM’S WARNINGS? The Book of Proverbs is full of warnings…warnings to tell us of danger, of trouble ahead, of how we should live our lives “to fear the Lord”.

What did God create first? WISDOM!

Proverbs 8:22-23

22 "The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old;

23 I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.

(NIV)

Since God knew how badly we would need wisdom that He made sure wisdom was in place before creating man, and since “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…” (Psalm 111:10 NIV), we need some “warning lights” to remind us to FEAR THE LORD!

The key to developing an intimate friendship with God is

understanding and developing a healthy FEAR OF THE LORD.

Hebrews 12:28-29

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

29 For our God is a consuming fire.

(NKJ)

I. Understanding the Fear of the Lord

There is one place in all of scripture that actually tells us what the fear of the Lord is.

Proverbs 8:13

13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil… (NIV)

To FEAR THE LORD means to have an appropriate awe and respect for God’s holiness.

If we are to fear the Lord, we must cultivate reverence for Him for who He is.

1 Peter 1:15-16

15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;

16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

(NIV)

The only way to be “HOLY” is to be “WHOLLY” His!

To FEAR THE LORD means to hate evil as God hates it.

You cannot love God without having the fear of God in you. You cannot love Him without obeying His Word. And you do not truly fear God unless you love and obey Him.

Psalm 97:10

10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

(NIV)

Psalm 101:2-4

2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life…. I will walk in my house with blameless heart.

3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.

4 Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.

(NIV)

Romans 12:9

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

(NIV)

If you truly fear the LORD, you tremble at the thought of being involved in things that would stain you with sin, that would cause Him to be angry with you. If you don’t have the fear of God, you will eventually believe that God is easy on sin. You’ll think that since He’s your loving Father, He’ll never reject you - that you can sin all you want and keep getting up. You’ll get on a merry-go-round of "sin, confess, sin, confess" - and you’ll say to yourself, "I can do whatever I want, I’ll just run back to Jesus and make it right. He’ll forgive me at any moment!"