The Fear Of The Lord

The Fear Of The Lord

Two types of fear talked about in the Bible:
Fear of the Lord (Deut 10:12) – Beneficial & to be encouraged
Spirit of fear (2 Tim 1:7) – Detrimental and to be overcome

The Fear Of The Lord
Many kinds of spirit of fear:

Demonic influenced fear – 2 Tim 1:7
Fear of man – 1 Samuel 15:24
Religious fear or superstitions

The Fear Of The Lord
What does it mean to fear the Lord?

The fear of the Lord is to “Stand in reverence & awe of God.”

Psalm 33:8
“Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him.”

The Fear Of The Lord
What does it mean to fear the Lord?

With “Reverence” & “Awe”

Reverence – Deep respect or devotion

Awe – Mixture of wonder & dread

The Fear Of The Lord
What does it mean to fear the Lord?

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

Psalm 8:13
“To fear the Lord is to hate evil”

The Fear Of The Lord
What does it mean to fear the Lord?

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

Psalm 111:10
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follows His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise.”

The Fear Of The Lord
Then why should we choose the fear the Lord?
Because there are many wonderful promises to those who fear Him

It will keep us clean – Psalm 19:9
It is good wisdom – Proverbs 111:10
The Lord reveals His secrets to us – Psalm 25:14
The Lord protects us – Psalm 34:7
The Lord will instruct us – Psalm 25:12
The Lord watches over us – Psalm 33:18
The Lord will fulfill our desires – Psalm 145:19
The Fear Of The Lord
Then why should we choose the fear the Lord?
Because there are many wonderful promises to those who fear Him

It leads to life – Proverbs 19:23
It lengthen our lives – Proverbs 10:27
It is the fountain of life – Proverbs 14:27

The Fear Of The Lord is to:
Respect God with great reverence – Deut 10:12
Obey & trust in Him – Isaiah 41:10
Submit to His discipline – Hebrews 12:5-11
Worship Him in reverence & awe – Hebrews 12:28 & 29

The Fear Of The Lord
Walking in the fear of the Lord – the challenge to Abraham (Gen 17:1,2,24)
Walking in perfection – Blameless before God (v 1)
What does it mean to walk in perfection? – Job 1:1 & 8
Job was blameless and upright; one who shun evil and fear God
Being perfect towards God is a right attitude towards God and towards evil.

The Fear Of The Lord
Examples of the lack of the fear of the Lord:

Death of Nadab & Abihu, sons of Aaron (Lev. 10) O.T

Death of Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5)
N.T