A BETTER WORD pt 2
The fear of the Lord
Hebrews 12:24 NKJV ”to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.“
- WOW, the blood of JESUS speaks of BETTER THINGS!
But to experience the fullness of “His Better Word” there are two important things I want to touch on today:
- Integrity of God’s Word
- The Fear of the Lord
We are in a war for the souls of mankind, Jesus was clear about this….
Ephesians 6:10-18 confirms this “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…..
So if we don’t trust in the Integrity of God’s Word, what is our foundation and then starting point “to fight this battle”
Many say the Bible is a good book, stacked with great principles, if that’s how you are going to use it, go ahead (amazing thing about gods goodness he blesses the righteous and the unrighteous) they are correct but it’s much more, it’s the living Word and Will of God, it’s 100% accurate and it’s dependable, to believe it is to live by it.
I Corinthians 15:17-19 NKJV ”And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.“
Matthew 13:45-46 NKJV “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Every believer has the responsibility to live right, to be a doer of the Word, and not just a hearer. Motivated by the reverential fear of the Lord, we can learn to live carefully and begin to make a difference in the world we live in. You and I need to be careful about what we allow into our spirits and how we live our lives.
Hebrews 5:7-8 NKJV ”who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.“
The blood is the reminder that Jesus suffered whatever it is you are going through, so you could live in victory and fight from a place of security in Him!
Psalm 19:9-10 ESV ”the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.“
Choosing the fear of the Lord is a path encouraged throughout Scripture. It is understood not as a paralysing terror, but as a profound respect and awe for the Almighty, acknowledging His authority and aligning one’s life according to His will. ITS A choice leads to wisdom, guidance, and protection.
LISTEN TO WHAT King David wrote about the “Fear of the Lord” and he wrote often about it;
Psalms 112:1-4 NKJV ”Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.“
With this background, let’s look at seven attributes of godly fear in the Bible.
- The fear of God is a gift from Him, you must cultivate.
Real conversion is accompanied by the fear of the Lord and comes from yielding to Him and receiving His Holy Spirit.
We must then choose to cultivate the fear of the Lord and protect it!
Proverbs 1:28-31 NKJV ”“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord, They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies.“
NT Parallel: Philippians 2:12-13, work out your salvation with fear & trembling (it’s Gos working in you)
- The fear of God produces godly humility
When someone fears God, it makes the person yield to Him-no matter what. This person is in awe and properly trembles before God and His Word-it’s not a passing thought.
As David wrote, “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him” (Psalm 33:8).
Isaiah 66:2 NKJV ”For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.“
Proverbs 22:4-5 NKJV ”By humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches and honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them.“
This kind of fear recognizes how small we are before the infinite majesty of God and keeps us from thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to. It further helps us to be considerate and not haughty toward others, especially when speaking about our faith and beliefs.
Peter explains, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).
- The fear of God instills obedience.
The fear of God creates the desire to obey and please Him above all things, not wanting to disappoint Him.
The Bible says Noah moved with Godly Fear to obey God and build the Ark. (The fear of the Lord will protect you from bad choices)
Hebrews 11:7 NKJV ”By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.“
(Notice how many times nearly all the time “fear” & “righteousness” are connected)
It also helps us be reminded that we will have to give an account of ourselves before Him. So godly fear is more than mere respect for God. It goes far deeper, acknowledging there is a reckoning that will take place.
As Paul wrote: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-11).
David understood the connection between the fear of God and obedience when he wrote, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psalm 111:10).
- The fear of God develops courage.
When we walk in the fear of the Lord, we don’t have to “fear” anything else that the enemy or people would try to do to us or say about us!
WHY, because the fear of God produces is godly courage.
Psalms 27:1-4 NKJV ”The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.“
When you fear God more than man, then you will fear man less than God.
We see an example of this when the apostles went before the powerful Jewish leaders and were threatened with violence if they continued preaching about Jesus. Peter and the other apostles responded, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
They then received a beating and were told to cease speaking in the name of Jesus, but they didn’t back down—they continued to do the right thing before God!
Paul also encouraged his young fellow minister Timothy to have godly courage and to avoid cowardly fear. Paul exhorted him: “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands [this being the means to conferring God’s Spirit and authorization to spiritual office]. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).
- The fear of God helps us avoid sin.
Another quality that accompanies godly fear is the shunning of sin and following God’s way of righteousness.
Proverbs 8:13 NKJV ”The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.“
Proverbs 16:6-9 NKJV ”In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil. When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice. A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.“
Paul admonished the Christians in Corinth when he wrote, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
We should strive for and never lose that godly fear that causes us to flee from sin and its deadly consequences!
- The fear of God builds and encourages godly leadership.
Exodus 18:21 NKJV ”Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.“
One of the requirements to serve God is to rightly fear Him. Moses, following the wise advice of his father-in-law, set up leaders with the following qualities:
Those who possess godly fear will resist the urge to take advantage of others by abusing their positions of authority.
Nehemiah 5:15 NKJV ”But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.“
To choose the fear of the Lord you need to Recieve from:
- the Holy Spirit
- From his leaders
- From the Word
- The fear of God leads to loving God and others.
I John 4:16-19 NKJV ”And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.“
The early Church was characterized by godly fear and love that led to an affectionate fellowship among the brethren.
As Acts 9:31 “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.”
So the fear of God must grow into the love of God in us and toward other Christians. The apostle John showed we should avoid having cowardly and paralyzing fear and worry, and that we should instead have confidence in God’s love toward us and of our love toward God and to those who truly fear Him.
As John wrote: “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:16-19). We see here that godly fear and love expel the wrong type of fear.
In sum, may we all develop that vital and proper fear of God that leads to loving Him and others and avoid cowardly fear by putting God first in our lives. This is what the Bible means in telling us to have the fear of God!
Ecclesiastes 12:12-14 NKJV ”And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.“
