Do you fear The Lord? I wonder how many times you have been asked that question, or even if you have ever been asked that question. Let me tell you a story. A few months ago now, I was out on Street Pastors we were out in two teams so there were four of us together. We had made our customary stop outside Plush, the club on Wote Street the door staff there are excellent and we always stop for a good chat with CJ and his team. During our stop a man came out of the club and approached us. He was middle-aged, well dressed, and to all intents and purposes looked like the normal sort of punter you get at that establishment. He came marching out of the club, straight up to the four of us and proceeded to ask us this very question Do you fear the Lord? As you might expect, when faced with that sort of question our initial reaction was to try and engage with him in conversation. But he was having none of it. He was persistent in his question and would brook no response than a yes or no. If we tried to respond in any other way, or tried to qualify our answer, he would immediately shut us down. And so eventually we capitulated and one by one gave our answers. No word of a lie, two of us said yes and two said no. We made our excuses and left, he went off and we didn t see him again. Now I am not sure what was motivating him that night, and in fact I would go as far as to say I do not believe it was the Holy Spirit. He was a very disturbed fellow. However, I do believe that what men may intend for harm, God can use to accomplish His purposes (amen?) and he had unwittingly asked a very insightful question that planted a seed in me that the Spirit of God is nurturing. Because for the very first time, I was forced to confront that question no excuses, no ifs, buts and maybes. And so, with hopefully somewhat better intentions, I now take the opportunity to ask you that same question. No buts, no qualification don t answer out loud, God knows your hearts anyway but be honest with yourself, do you fear the Lord? I am now going to break my own rules and qualify your responses if your answer was yes then it should be yes, but I want to know it more, and if your answer was no then I hope that after this morning I will have at least imparted to you a desire to know what this fear is and how to obtain it. If you weren t here last week or didn t hear Pete speak then I urge you to listen to the recording not only was it an excellent message and a strong challenge, but it also goes hand in hand with what I am covering today. Pete gave us Galatians 2:20 to memorise and meditate on: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I think sometimes we miss the weight of that statement, when you fully grasp the terrifying beauty of that verse you begin to glimpse what it is to fear the Lord. Pete spoke about how our sin has condemned us to death how much easier is it to place the emphasis on the sin? But if you hear Pete right, it is the righteousness of God which cannot coexist with sin that results in the death sentence. Yes because of His great love, He has made a way for us to be reconciled, but we are making a huge mistake if we think that in reaching out with His love he came down to our level we are called up that we might become the righteousness of God 2 Corinthians 5:21, it is not that our sinfulness is somehow made acceptable to God when God s glory meets sin it is irradicated, destroyed without trace, entirely ceases to exist are you starting to get a sense of the Fear of the Lord?
Right, before we get carried away let s look at what we mean by fear. There is a massive problem before we even begin here with language. The concept of fear as the bible uses it in relation to the Fear of the Lord is completely absent in our culture. There are three types of fear that we would immediately be familiar with and relate to the first is natural fear, the fear of falling, fear of pain, our self-preservation instinct the second is demonic or spiritual fear, a fear that is completely debilitating, beyond a natural reaction the third is the fear of man, what do others think of me, this one is all about or self-image and reputation. When you hear the question do you fear God put each one of those types of fear out of your mind because they are not what the bible is talking about. The fear of the Lord is a completely different type. So what does it mean well there are some words in the English language that come close, but nothing that is a direct equivalent so these words need to be taken together to help us form a picture of what the fear of the Lord is, you cannot simply pick your favourite and substitute it for Fear. What I am not trying to do is to suggest a gospel of fear, that has often been the foundation of Christian outreach I am sad to say, but I genuinely do not believe that God is after a people who follow him because they are afraid of the consequences of not doing so, that is natural, self-serving, humanistic fear and is not the true meaning of the fear of the Lord. The gospel is love, for God so loved the world. But I think the church has allowed God s love to take a disproportionate importance over the fear of the Lord we are always hearing about God s love and how he is a loving Father who wants to embrace us and give us good gifts, but when was the last time you were exhorted to fear God? The truth of the matter is that our relationship with God is dependent on both of these things in balance with one another. 2 Corinthians 5 gives us the perfect example of this. If you have been a Christian for any amount of time you must be familiar with 2 Corinthians 5:14 For Christ s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. But how often have you heard 2 Corinthians 5:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. So there, separated by just three sentences in Paul s letter to the church in Corinth are these two ideas, that are not separate at all but rather inseparable, in fact I would go as far as to say they are interdependent. Because we know what it is to fear the Lord Christ s love compels us. This means that we cannot truly know God s love, unless we truly fear Him. Incidentally it also means that the fear of the Lord is as relevant in the New Testament context as it is in the old, just in case anyone was still under the delusion that the Old Testament isn t relevant to us now. Another place we can see this love and Fear of the Lord working together is in marriage I have always said there are two main reasons that I wouldn t cheat on my wife. One is that I love her, of course, but we all know that love can be transient God willing it has not and will not ever diminish but there remains the possibility and life is not. The other is that I have always placed a great level of importance on the vows I made before God the fact that these vows were made before God and in covenant with him really means something to me, no matter what my feelings are. That I now recognise to be the fear of the Lord. I hold that promise in high esteem because it was a solemn oath before God. The aim of these sessions and this series is to equip us to grow and to guide others in their growth. So how then do we get to the point of understanding what it is to fear the Lord? Remarkably, the answer is in the bible Proverbs 2:1-5
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. There are four keys to understanding the fear of the Lord in these verses, and they are 1. You must accept God s words and treasure them or store them up within you you must treat God s word as valuable and important what does that look like a. Reading the bible b. Paying attention on a Sunday morning c. Not easily disregarding what your brothers and sisters in Christ, through whom God speaks, say to you 2. Turn or incline your ear and apply your heart to incline your ear is to bow your head, to adopt a submissive pose, to be teachable a. Do not be proud b. Do not pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge or the sake of ego c. Be humble, not delighting in power 3. Call out for insight, cry aloud for understanding there is only one person who can give you insight and understanding and that is the Holy Spirit a. Pray passionately for insight and understanding 4. Look for it, search as for hidden treasure if I was to tell you, and you were to believe me, that there was a chest containing 10m buried under your house, would you not tear it down to get at it, and would you not do it right away? a. Search for the fear of the Lord b. Be motivated in looking through the scriptures c. Read books, listen to sermons be proactive not passive This is a journey folks, and not something that you can complete in one session. You must catch the fire of it and continue to move toward it. Understand this the fear of the Lord is the key to His treasure Isaiah 33:5-6 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. In fact, the fear of the Lord in scripture is associated with more blessings than anything else, here are just a few but you will have to look them up for yourself: Positions our hearts to receive answers Heb 5:7 Assures that God s great goodness abounds Ps 31:19 Promises angelic protection Ps 34:7 Secures God s continual attention PS 33:18 Supplies God s provision Ps 34:9 Contains great mercy Ps 103:11 Fulfils our desires and saves us from harm Ps 145:19 Confidence and a long life Prov 14:26-27 Provides clarity and direction Ps 25:12
Produces successful leaders Ex 18:21 & 2 Sam 23:3 There are many more; search for the fear of the Lord yourself, use an old fashioned concordance or use a web tool like Bible Gateway or Blue Letter Bible. So the fear of the Lord is something that will bring you great blessing, but it is also something that you need as a day to day part of your life. After all, even Jesus needed the Fear of the Lord Isaiah 11:1-3 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. The branch refers to Jesus, this is a messianic prophecy. The Spirit mentioned is the Holy Spirit, not seven distinct spirits but seven aspects of the same spirit the Spirit of the Lord, that speaks God s will in the first person, the Sprit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might notice how these things balance each other out and the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord. With the knowledge of God, comes the fear of God. The scripture says these aspects of the Spirit of God will rest on Jesus, empowering him to do what he had to do. And it says that he will delight in the fear of the Lord, it is not a burden or a force that compels us against our will, not being afraid of the consequences, but something to delight in because it motivates and empowers us to live the life we are called in Christ to live. Last week Pete pointed us to the verse Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. This obedience was not a begrudging, teenage harrumph of I suppose so it was not a well I better do what he says because he can be really vicious when he doesn t get his own way it was a willing obedience to lay down his life for God s good purposes Jesus showed us what it meant to Fear the Lord. Last week Pete described Paul s reaction in Romans 6 to the idea that grace means we can go on sinning with the phrase: What a ghastly thought Paul describes this attitude as abhorrent because we are those that have died to sin, are you ignorant of the fact that all of us have been immersed in Christ Jesus, immersed in His death. So what are we actually doing by continuing to sin, by waiving away each infraction with an it s ok, God has dealt with it. We are daring to devalue and disrespect the death of Christ, because we have participated in it, we are immersed in it. We cheapen the value of the gift which God has given, we see it as a free pass, a get out of jail free card. And I am telling you that, is the opposite of the Fear of the Lord. We don t have time now, but look throughout the bible, particularly in Exodus, and you will see the consequences of devaluing or acting irreverently towards God. Pete posed a question, which he was only able to partially answer - How do we grasp hold of this so that our reaction is God forbid that I should sin? Part of the answer is that we claim the truth that we have died to sin, the other part of the answer is that we Fear of the Lord. Because if we do that we find not only the motivation to be free from sin but that God has made it a possibility for us. How then should we conduct ourselves? Last week Pete encouraged us to think about whether we give our eyes to sinful things or whether we choose to fix our eyes on God, whether we allow our mouth to speak hurtful, rude or blasphemous words or whether we speak the words of God, truth, love, encouragement and whether we turn our hands to works that are sinful or motivated by selfish desires or do we turn our hands to serving God.
Today I want to take that thought one step further and suggest to you that if we properly fear God then how can those things that we have dedicated to the service of God, be allowed to be used for sin? In the Old Testament the tabernacle and then the temple contained the glory of God anything used in its construction or in sacrifices, even the priests who ministered to the people had to be sanctified and kept clean and pure. To use them for anything else was to defile them and disrespect God, this often brought with it a heavy price. This has not changed from the Old Testament to the New, Hebrews 12:28-29 says Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (some translations say holy fear or Godly fear) for our God is a consuming fire. The only thing that has changed between the Old Testament and the New is that now God s presence doesn t reside in tents or buildings but in us we are his temple, and the instruments used to worship him are our hearts (the desires of which are influenced by what our eyes are fixed upon), our mouths and our hands. If we are walking in the fear of the Lord we are compelled to keep those things away from sin, so that we don t defile them and thereby dishonour God. I m going to stop referencing Pete now. When Robin spoke at the beginning of this series he said that we are a royal priesthood, wherever we go we carry the presence of the King. Wherever we go we represent him, like an ambassador. Under international law ambassadors have what is known as plenipotentiary powers this means that they have full authority to represent the government. Or in other words what they do, the government does, what they say are the government s words on a matter. No wonder Jesus says this in John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. What Jesus is saying here is that his words and deeds on this earth were in fact the words and deeds of the Father. If we are a royal priesthood, and we carry the presence of the King wherever we go, should we not be adopting the same attitude as Jesus? We only do and say what the Father does and says. Surely going in under our own power or in our own wisdom is not only futile but risks completely misrepresenting, and therefore seriously dishonouring the Lord. So now I need to try and wrap things up not because there is no more to say, believe me there is so much more but because we have made a start and now we need to consider, digest and build on what we have heard. As I have already said the aim of these sessions and this series is to equip us to grow and to guide others in their growth. So I have structured these points as a guide to examine your own understanding, and to help others ground theirs so that you and they are able to develop the pursuit of the fear of the Lord this is not a tick list of points which once grasped complete the journey, it s just the beginning. 1. The Fear of the Lord is an entirely new type of fear, not known to this society 2. It is not at odds with or opposite to God s love but is rather symbiotic, one cannot properly exist without the other 3. To pursue it we must receive and treasure God s word, be teachable/humble, cry out in passionate prayer and be motivated in searching 4. The result is the key to God s treasure and an abundance of blessings
5. It is necessary for life even Jesus needed it 6. It is completely incompatible with sin 7. It should influence the way we conduct ourselves on a daily basis 8. It should influence the way we deal with and respond to others So let me ask you again, the same question I asked you at the start. Do you fear the Lord? I don t know about you, but my answer to that question has certainly changed as I begin to understand more of what it really means to fear God. If you are feeling like this has stirred something in you this morning, maybe you feel like you really didn t know anything about the fear of the Lord, all you had ever heard was about his love. Perhaps you knew it once but have in more recent times forgotten. Or perhaps you are ahead of me on that journey but have been stirred to renew your efforts. I m not going to ask for any show of hands, standing or coming to the front this is between you and God so you better be honest. If there is something in you that identifies with one of those scenarios would you bow your heads and pray along quietly with me. Oh God my Father, I come to you through Jesus Christ my saviour. And today you have put in my heart a desire for the fear of the Lord. And I am asking you from now on to lead me, to teach me and to impart to me this wonderful treasure, the fear of the Lord Amen Now, if you have prayed that prayer this morning please share it with someone you trust, who will hold you accountable. If you were sincere in that prayer the Holy Spirit will teach you, but you have a part to play to, remember to treasure his words, be teachable, pray passionately and seek fervently. Make sure there is someone who can hold you accountable to your end of the deal. Now I said there was so much more, and before I end and hand back I just wanted to give those of you who want it some homework, or should I say further study. The first is a couple of resources that I used in preparation for this morning. This book, The Fear of the Lord by John Bevere he has some strong views in places, but it is clear that this is someone who has experienced this journey first hand, it s a very easy and approachable read. It s available on Amazon about 12 or 8 on kindle you can even get it on Audible as an audio book. The other is a talk by Derek Prince The Lord s Treasure The Fear of the Lord you can get it from dpmuk.org and it s 99p for the mp3 download. Memorise and meditate on: Isaiah 33:5-6 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. Claim those promises for your own and eagerly desire to know more. Consider Proverbs 2:1-5 1. Ask yourself, how seriously do I take God s word? How much time do I spend reading the bible? What is my attitude on a Sunday morning? 2. How teachable are you? Are you humble? 3. How passionately to do you pray for insight and understanding? 4. How committed are you to searching for it?
In your small groups, families or any other appropriate gathering, why not discuss this statement from Derek Prince What you fear is your God. Anyway, that is quite enough from me. Thank you for listening and God bless.