"The Beginning of Wisdom" - Pastor Stephen Bohr

let's pray Oh wonderful Almighty God what a joy it is to be in your presence today and as we study about how to fear and revere and honor your wonderful and Holy Name we ask for the presence of your spirit and that you will give us understanding as we open your Holy Word we thank you Father for hearing our prayer for we plead and ask it in the precious name of your beloved son Jesus amen in our last topic we studied the everlasting gospel we noticed that the reason why the everlasting gospel is called soul is because the plan was devised in eternity past and we also notice that we will sing the praises of the Redeemer throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity even when the great multitude is on the sea of glass we will sing the praises of the Lamb we also noted that the meaning of the everlasting gospel is that Jesus came to this world to live the perfect life that we should live and then at the end of his life he died the death that we should die and by living and by dying Jesus wove a perfect robe that we can claim and we can be covered with fully and completely but as we studied in last times topic we must repent confess and also trust in Jesus and claim by faith his righteousness and be baptized and in this way Jesus will take the robe of his righteousness and he will cover us and he will look upon us as if we had never sinned what a joyous message that is to stand before God innocent through Jesus Christ our Lord but we also notice in our study last time that the gospel makes demands upon us once we have embraced and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ then God expects something from us and for this reason in the first angels message we have three imperatives three commands or orders from God upon those individuals who receive and accept the everlasting gospel and those three imperatives are fear God give glory to God and worship the Creator in other words when we receive the gospel the gospel gives us great responsibilities and duties towards God now in our study today we're going to take a look at the first of those imperatives we're going to study what it means to fear God let me begin by saying that fearing God does not mean that we are afraid of God because the Bible makes it very clear that we can fear God and experience joy at the same time I'll tell you when I'm afraid I don't experience joy notice for example what we find in Psalm in the Book of Psalms number two and verse 11 Psalm 2 and verse 11 notice how you have the idea of fearing God trembling before his presence and at the same time experiencing joy it says there serve the Lord with fear and then it says and rejoice with trembling now you say that's almost a contradiction in terms but really we're gonna find in our study today that the fear of the Lord does not mean being afraid of him when the Bible speaks about trembling before the Lord we're not shaking out of fear because this verse tells us that we can experience the fear of the Lord and at the same time we can rejoice perhaps an analogy will help us understand a little bit better this idea of what it means to fear God in the Bible we are told that children should fear their father and their mother in fact go with me to Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 3 where we find these very interesting words and I'm reading from the new King King James Version every one of you shall Revere that word Revere is the same word for fear every one of you shall Revere or fear his mother and his father and keep my Sabbath's I am the Lord your God now when the Bible tells us that we're supposed to fear our Father and our mother does that mean that we're supposed to be afraid of them absolutely not what it means is that we're supposed to have a profound respect for them we are to hold our parents in awe in other words the expression to fear God does not mean being afraid of God it entails great respect and awe and reverence for someone now I want to mention some introductory things about the fear of God or what the Bible also calls the fear of the Lord the Bible tells us that fearing God is the beginning of wisdom in other words if we don't fear God we we don't even have the beginning of wisdom and of course if we don't have wisdom were fools the Bible says The Fool has said in his heart there is no God because he has no wisdom notice proverbs chapter 9 and verse 10 where we're told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding so you can have all kinds of information in your brain that you've studied in school but if you don't have the fear of the Lord the Bible says that we do not even have the beginning of wisdom we have not even started to be wise so it's very important to have the fear of the Lord another interesting detail about the fear of God or the fear of the Lord that we cannot simply make up our minds that we're going to feel the Lord because the Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is placed in our hearts by God himself notice what we find in the Book of Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse 40 Jeremiah 32 and verse 40 here God is speaking and he says this and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good but notice this but I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me so you don't make up your mind that you're gonna have the fear of God the Bible says that God himself takes that fear and he plants it in your heart the Bible also tells us that the fear of God or the fear the fear of the Lord is far better than any earthly possession that we might have it's far better than riches notice what we find in proverbs chapter 15 and verse 16 here solomon who by the way for a while was very rich and also very foolish because he did not have the fear of the lord he went astray from god then later on in his life he wrote proverbs so he's writing from experience and notice what he says better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble it's better to have just a little with the fear of the Lord than to have all kinds of riches now another important aspect of fearing God or having the fear of the Lord in your life is the fact that it is a choice in other words to fear God is something that you choose you allow God to take it and plant it into your heart notice Nehemiah chapter 1 and verse 11 Nehemiah chapter 1 and verse 11 there it says Oh Lord I pray please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants notice who desire to fear name so fearing God's name is a desire that we have it's a choice and then it says and let your servant prosper this day I pray and grant him mercy in the sight of this man also in proverbs chapter 1 and verse 29 we find this statement 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 despise my every rebuke so notice once again the idea that Israel is rejected by God at this point because she did not choose the fear of the Lord notice we can choose to fear God or we can choose not to fear God it's not something arbitrary that God plants in the hearts of some people and not in the hearts of other people it's something that we must choose to allow God to plant in our heart incidentally the Bible also says that to fear God or of the fear of the Lord is something that can be taught you can learn it notice Psalm 34 and verse 11 Psalm 34 and verse 11 there the psalmist says come you children listen to me I will teach you the fear of the Lord so the fear of the Lord is a learned phenomenon it can be taught as we have fellowship and communion with God but now we must ask the question what does it really mean to fear God well in order to answer this question we need to examine the expression fear God and also the expression fear of the Lord as it's found in all of the Bible perhaps you know that the book of Revelation contains over a thousand references to the Old Testament alone which means that revelation is getting much of its information from all of the rest of scripture from all of the rest of the Bible so if we want to know what the first angels message means when it says fear God we need to see what that expression means in the rest of Scripture you see the expression the fear of God or the fear of the Lord is like a many edged diamond each edge is a different aspect of what it means to fear God so we must look at the entire biblical testimony about this expression or these expressions now by definition the expression fear God or the fear of the Lord involves respect reverence and worship towards God and the reason why we are to have this respect this oh this reverence and this spirit of worship for God is because he is our Creator and we are his creatures notice Psalm 33 and verses 6 through 9 where this is brought out clearly Psalm 33 verses 6 through 9 it says there by the word of the Lord of the Lord the heavens were made known as creation and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth he gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap he lays up the deep in storehouses let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants of the earth who stand were inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him so why are we supposed to fear the Lord and stand in awe of the Lord it's simply because God is the what the creator and we are creatures Jeremiah chapter 10 verses 6 through 10 Jeremiah chapter 10 verses 6 through 10 adds to this idea it says there in as much as there is none like You Jeremiah is describing God there's none like you Oh Lord you are great and your name is great in might who would not fear you Oh king of the nations for this is your rightful due for among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you so reverence and awe for God fearing God has to do with who he is he's the great God he is the creator of the heavens and of the earth in fact I found this interesting statement it's very short it's in the beautiful and magnificent book on how to bring up children it's called child guidance on page 538 we find this definition of what it means to fear God true reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite greatness and a realization of his presence in other words the reason we fear God is because we discern his infinite greatness and we also realize that he is present but you know the fear of the Lord is is an interesting phenomenon to fear God there's an interesting phenomenon because it has to do with God being distant and at the same time with God being closed in other words God is transcendent but God is also imminent God is over and above his creation but God comes in contact with his creation you know the great writer rudolf otto once said that god is the holy other in other words we should not conceive of god as our good old buddy we can't conceive of god as the man upstairs door is a god who is great omnipotent and he must be respected he's up there he's over and above us he's outside of us he is transcendent but the Bible also tells us that God comes into close contact with those who are humble of heart in other words he's a God that's way out there he is to be respected he has to be held in awe he is to be honored but at the same time those who are humble God comes down and he has contact with them that's why we can fear God and at the same time have joy North Isaiah 57 in verse 15 where we find this this apparent dichotomy between God's other Ness and God's coming to be with us Isaiah 57 verse 15 for thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy I'd well in the high and holy place notice God says I'm up there I'm beyond the Sun the moon and the stars I inhabit eternity but then notice what he says I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones so God is way up there he's transcendent but he is also imminent he has to be respected because he's outside of us he's the Great Creator but he's the Creator who is our Father and comes in contact with us and so when we fear God we respect him as the omnipotent God but at the same time we love him as our intimate father now let's talk a little bit about that intimate closeness that God has to us notice Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse 4 and what I want you to see in this verse is the number of synonyms that are used to describe our relationship with God Deuteronomy 13 and verse 4 notice when it says you shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him and keep his Commandments and obey his voice you shall serve Him and hold fast to him do you see all of the synonymous expressions to fear God means to walk with Him to keep his Commandments to obey his voice to serve him and to hold fast to him by the way that expression hold fast to him really in the King James Version I'm using the New King James but in the King James Version its translated to cleave you shall cleave to him now that's the very same word that's used in Genesis where it speaks about a man leaving his father and his mother and joining his wife and cleaving unto her in other words it's an intimate closeness it's actually becoming one according to scripture by the way the same word is used in Psalm 102 verse 5 where it speaks about the bones cleaving to the skin and it's used in Psalm 137 verse 6 where it speaks about the tongue cleaving to the roof of your mouth in other words this is an intimate closeness it's a sticking together and God says this is what the fear of the Lord means it means to cleave unto the Lord your God fearing God also involves respecting God's holy name notice Deuteronomy chapter 28 and verses 58 and 59 Deuteronomy 28 and verses 58 and 59 here God is warning Israel about the need to respect his holy name which by the way is a reflection of his character God's name and his character are interchangeable when you trample on God's name you're really trampling upon his character says in Deuteronomy 28 verses 58 and 59 God is speaking if you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book that you may fear this glorious an awesome name the Lord your God then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues great and prolonged plagues and serious and prolonged sicknesses notice that God expects the we should what fear his glorious and awesome name and his awesome name is the Lord your God known as Psalm 111 and verse 9 also about respecting the holy name of God in other words we should not unnecessarily repeat the name of God it should not become common on our lips Psalm 111 verse 9 it says there he has sent Redemption to his people he has commanded his covenant forever holy and awesome is his name and of course we all know that the third commandment in Exodus 20 and verse 7 says you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain in other words don't use it unnecessarily for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain and of course we're all acquainted with the Lord's Prayer where Jesus in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 9 says hallowed be your what be your name the word hallowed means sanctified be your name your name is holy you know I think that Hollywood would be would do real well to listen to this because in the movies that are produced by the media God's name is constantly taken in vain not only this we do it also many times as Christians when we use slang words to describe Jesus or to describe God we say for example G which is short for Jesus and we say gosh and I say this reverently you know that to make a point we say gosh it's a slang word for God you know the Jews did not even pronounce God's holy name because it was so magnificent they actually only wrote it they never even pronounced it with their lips because it was such a holy and reverent name how many times don't we just basically repeat the name of God in our prayers the naming of God in our conversation without taking into account the the reverent and awesome and an impotent meaning of that holy name of God do you know that fearing God will not only affect how we use his name but fearing God will also affect how we worship him the our style of worship notice first chronicles chapter 16 in verses 29 and 30 1st chronicles chapter 16 in verses 29 and 30 notice that we have several key words that are found in the first angels message in fact all of the key commands in the first angels message are in 1st chronicles 16 29 and 30 notice give to the Lord what the glory due his name do we find that in first angels message fear God and what give glory to him ok so it says give the Lord the glory due his name bring an offering and come before him Oh worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness is that word worship in the first angels message absolutely and so it says worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness and then notice the idea of fearing God tremble there it is tremble before him all the earth the world also is firmly established it shall not be moved Oh worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness notice that we're supposed to worship Lord the Lord in the beauty of holiness and then it says tremble before him all the earth do you know how Israel worship God you know today many Christian churches come to church to have a party but do you know how Israel worship the Lord in biblical times they came with humility they were not haughty in fact the Bible says that when when God's people encountered God their immediate reaction was to bow their forehead to the ground in reverence towards God I want you to notice what we find in second chronicles chapter 7 verse 3 where it speaks about the inauguration of solomon's temple which is by the way miss named it's God's temple and it was built by Solomon 2nd chronicles chapter 7 and verse 3 notice that worshipping God involves humility we cannot be haughty in our worship style we must be reverent in other words it says there in second chronicles 7 verse 3 when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord on the temple they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement and worship and praise the Lord saying for he is good for his mercy endures forever notice that they put their forehead to the ground and they bowed before the great God you know every great person in the Bible that encountered God was awed by his presence in the worship experience in Isaiah chapter 6 Isaiah was permitted to see God's heavenly temple and he heard the the Seraphim singing and the posts of the temple were shaking and the angels were singing holy holy holy and how did Isaiah feel he says oh I am for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips but when he realized that he was nothing then God made him something because God sent an angel to touch his lips and his sin was cleansed because he came to worship God in humility when Moses met God at the burning bush and he discovered that it was God that was in the burning bush the Bible says that he bowed his head to the ground in other words he was reverent in the presence of God when Jesus encountered Peter after the resurrection Peter said depart from me for I am a sinful man in fact do you know where the word humility comes from the word humility comes from the Latin houmous you know what houmous is it means dirt it means dust in others humility means that you recognize that you are dust and when are we composed of what did God create us of he created us of dust in other words when we come to worship before God we realize that we are but dust but of course in the sight of God we are very precious dust we must come to worship God in humility in other words not with the haughty spirit Psalm 9 and verse 20 explains the importance of recognizing that we are not God that we are simply men it says there put them in fear o Lord that the nation's may know themselves to be but men see when we have a fear of the Lord what do we realize we realize that we are but what we are but men in other words the fear of the Lord creates humility in us Louis Isaiah 45 in verse 9 Isaiah 45 and verse 9 woe to him who strives with his maker let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth shall the clay say to him who forms it what are you making or shell your handiwork say he has no hands you remember the story of Nebuchadnezzar write that great king of Babel and he thought he was hot stuff in fact the Bible tells us that one day he went out on the on the balcony of the palace and he says isn't this great Babylon that I have built with my power and for my glory and the Lord said oh yeah and in an instant God removed the pearl of reasoning from his mind and suddenly Nebuchadnezzar was no better than a beast he was something as long as long as God gave him a reasoning power when God removed that he was nothing and at the end Nebuchadnezzar says I now praise and honor the God of heaven because he is able to humble those who have a haughty spirit so the fear of the Lord entails great humility the Bible also says that fearing God entails a spirit of trust in God it means to trust in him notice Psalm 115 and verse 11 psalm 115 and verse 11 it says you who fear the Lord trust in the Lord see those who fear the Lord they trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield but of course the question is what does it mean to trust in the Lord by far folks the most predominant connotation of the expression fear of the Lord or fear God in scripture has to do with a response of willing obedience to God you know my colleague here at Fresno central church elder James Finn many times has said the better obedience is what obedience is the highest form of worship it's also the highest form of fearing the Lord you say how is this we're gonna notice now several verses in scripture that show that fearing God leads to a change in our lifestyle it leads to loving obedience to God's commandments it leads us to do what God says that we're supposed to do for example you remember when Abraham got to the city of Gerar the king there was a Bimala and Abraham was afraid that Abimelech was going to kill him and take his wife Sarah because it fears that Sarah was pretty good-looking even though at that time she was up in years but she was still pretty good-looking and notice what Abraham said the justification for lying and saying oh she's my sister she's you know he didn't tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth he told a partial truth with intent to deceive notice Genesis 20 and verse 11 and Abraham said because I thought listen to this surely the fear of God is not in this place and they will kill me on account of my wife what happens when there's no fear of the Lord in a certain place people what people kill are you with me in other words when there's no fear of God there's no obedience there's violence in other words notice Exodus 1 verse 17 you remember that Pharaoh said that they were supposed to kill all of the male children you remember that two years and under well the fact is that the Hebrew midwives did not kill the children why didn't they notice Exodus 1 verse 17 but the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them but saved the male children alive in other words where the fear of God is present your life is safe where the fear of God is not present people violate the commandment thou shalt not kill notice Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verses 11 to 13 Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verses 11 to 13 and by the way Solomon knows what he's talking about because Solomon you know he went off on a tangent away from the Lord for years he became almost an atheist he became an infidel so he knows what he's talking about he actually he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes when he was an old man and he had returned to the Lord and he's telling people what life is like away from God notice because the sentence against an evil work it's not it's not executed speedily in other words just because a person doesn't suffer the penalty for sin right away therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil and then he says though a sinner does evil hundred times and his days are prolonged yet I surely know that it will be well with those who what fear God who fear before him but it will not be well with the wicked did you catch that it will not be well with the wicked nor will he prolong his days which are as a shadow because he does not what fear before the Lord what does it mean to not fear God it means to be wicked what does it mean to fear good it means to be righteous and the days of the righteous are prolonged but the days of the wicked or not you say well I know a lot of people that have lived wicked people that have lived a long time yes have they lived eternally you see when the Bible says that the righteous will live a long time it's not only talking about this brief period in human history it's talking about living forever now let's notice Romans 3 and verses 10 through 18 here the Apostle Paul is describing the sinfulness of the human race and I want you to notice how he ends this passage Romans chapter 3 and verse 10 it's a pretty sad description of the sinfulness of the human race as it is written there is none righteous no not one there is none who understands there is none who seeks after God they have all turned aside they have together become unprofitable there is none who does good no not one their throat is an open tomb with their tongues they have practiced deceit the poison of ASPs is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness their feet are Swift to shed blood destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace they have not known and now notice how the passage ends it's described all of this wickedness and then it says there is no fear of God before their eyes why is it that you have all of this list of wickedness because people have know what they have no fear of God before their eyes let me ask you then do you think that the first angels message is talking about the importance of being obedient to God and following what he says in his holy law absolutely now let's notice when the Ten Commandments were given God said something very interesting to Israel a little bit later on notice what we find in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verses 10 to 13 Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verses 10 to 13 here Moses is reminiscing about what happened on Mount Horeb when God gave the law notice especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb when the Lord said to me gather the people to me and I will let them hear my words because God's the ten commandments that they may learn to what when God spoke the Ten Commandments it was to teach Israel to do what to fear him so it says I will let them hear my words that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth and that they may teach their children is there anything in the Ten Commandments that teaches people to fear God are we supposed to teach our children the principles of the Ten Commandments absolutely notice verse 11 then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven with darkness cloud and thick darkness and the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire you heard the sound of the words but saw no form you only heard a voice so he declared to you his covenant which he commanded you to perform the Ten Commandments and he wrote them on two tablets of stone so notice that God gives the commandments and he says to Israel you know these Commandments are gonna teach you to fear me and you are to teach these Commandments to your children so that your children will also fear me by the way do you know that the fear of the Lord involves in our way of treating other people it changes rather the way that we treat other people you know it makes us loving and kind towards the weak and the less fortunate by the way the main principle behind the Ten Commandments is love isn't that right notice what we find in Leviticus chapter 19 verse 14 and then we're going to jump to verse 32 notice how the fear of the Lord when we have the fear of God in our hearts it's going to affect the way that we treat our neighbor and of course the essence of God's law the essence of the Ten Commandments is love notice you shall not curse the death nor put a stumbling block before the blind and then what does it say shall fear your God I am the Lord now notice verse 32 you shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the presence of an old man and then it says and fear your God I am the Lord are you catching how the fear of God in her lives affects the way we treat other people Louis Leviticus 25 and we'll read verse 17 and verse 36 and also verse 43 it says there therefore you shall not oppress one another but you shall fear your God notice that when we fear God we don't oppress other people for I am the Lord your God also notice what it says take no usery you know what user is it's an exorbitant amount of interest it's taking advantage of people financially and so it says take no usery or interest from him but fear your God that your brother may live with you and notice Leviticus 25 in verse 43 Leviticus 25 and verse 43 says you shall not rule over him with rigor that is a it's all over your neighbor you shall not rule over him with rigor but you shall fear your God so in other words having the fear of God in our lives leads us to keep God's law and it leads us to love our fellow human beings now let's read a few other verses that show how important it is when we fear God to obey Him and do his will Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 29 Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 29 notice how God opens up his heart to Israel he says oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me now notice what the sphere lead to that they would fear me and what and always keep my Commandments all my Commandments then it might be well with them and with their children forever what does it mean to fear God it means always to keep what all of God's commandments according to this passage notice Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 6 and I'm need reading so many of these so you don't think that I'm just making and choosing a verse here reverse there in Scripture the main connotation of the fear of the Lord are fearing God has to do with keeping God's commandments departing from evil doing good loving our neighbor in other words it's related very closely with God's holy law notice Deuteronomy 8 and verse 6 therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God to walk in his ways and to what and to fear him notice once again the idea that the commandments are linked with fearing God notice Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verses 12 and 13 Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verses 12 and 13 and now Israel what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God now notice all the synonyms to fear the Lord your God to walk in all his ways and to love him to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes which I command you today for your good let me ask you does fearing God have anything to do with our own practical walk every day walk yes or no it most certainly does because fearing God is explained here as walking with him loving him serving him and keeping his what and keeping his Commandments notice Psalm 103 17 and 18 and by the way I'm reading many of these texts but there are many more that I could have included but there's just too many pages notice Psalm 103 verses 17 and but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting and those who fear him and his righteousness to children's children to such as keep his covenant and those who remember his Commandments to what to do them let me ask you those individuals who fear God do they keep the commandments of God absolutely I want you to notice first Samuel 12 first Samuel 12 and we're going to read verses 14 and 15 and then we're going to jump down to verse 24 I thought about reading the whole passage but it's too long you can read it at your leisure first samuel 12 14 and 15 and then we'll read verse 20 for God is speaking here to the kings of Israel if you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey his voice and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord you see everything that's that has to do with the fear of God here it says if you fear the Lord serve him obey his voice do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God however if you do not obey the voice of the Lord but rebel against the commandment of the Lord then the hand of the Lord will be against you as it was against your father's only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart for consider what great things he has done for you but if you still do wickedly notice that the fear him is the opposite of doing wickedly but if you still do wickedly you shall be swept away both you and your king now there's a special verse in the Bible that is very close to what we find in the first angels message first angels message says fear God give glory to him for the hour is judgement has come now notice Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verses 13 and 14 the similarity in this passage that ends book of ecclesiastes see Solomon in Ecclesiastes basically has told his life story how he blew it how he almost became an atheist how you know he womanized and how he had all of these riches and all these things and at the end of the life his life he felt like committing suicide he says in the book of Ecclesiastes he was totally totally angry at life because everything that he considered important he realized was totally worthless in fact it was vanity you know the word vanity is used 35 times in the book of Ecclesiastes vanity of vanities all is vanity Solomon says when he talks about everything that he had in life notice how he ends his book because yes these twelve thirteen and fourteen let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his Commandments revelation says fear God and give glory to him here it says fear God and keep his Commandments for this is man's all and now knows the idea of judgment for God will bring every work into judgment you see the relationship between this passage and the first angels message God will bring every work into judgment including every secret thing whether good or evil do you remember when God asked Abraham or commanded Abraham to take his son to Mount Moriah and to sacrifice him he and he raised his hand and he was ready to plunge the knife into his son and a voice said don't you plunge that knife into your son I want you to notice what God said Genesis chapter 22 and verse 12 and he said do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him for now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son your only son from me let me ask you did the fear of God lead Abraham to be obedient to God even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his own son absolutely the fear of God has to with obeying the commands of God that's especially what I want us to gather from what we're talking about notice job one eight and nine let me ask you was job a pretty righteous man God said so let's let's hear what God had to say about job job 1 verses 8 and 9 then the Lord said to Satan have you considered my servant job that there is none like him on the earth a blameless an upright man one who what fears God and shuns evil let me ask you if you fear God are your gonna shun evil absolutely that's what it says fears God and shuns evil let me ask you what is it that shows you what is evil and what is good God's holy law shows you what is right and wrong what is good and evil and so it says here God is saying one who fears God and shuns evil so Satan answered the Lord and said does job fear God for nothing no does he obey you free God said yeah and the devil says well let me try them God says oh go go for it and we all know that job remain faithful to God notice a little later on in the book of Job job 28 and verse 28 job 28 and verse 28 listen carefully the Bible is full of this idea it says and to man he said behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom this is a synonymous parallelism what said what it said in the first line is repeated in the second line in different words behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding in other words the fear of the Lord is the to depart from evil notice proverbs 8 and verse 13 there it's explicit it says in proverbs 8 and verse 13 the fear of the Lord is to hate evil pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate so what is the fear of the Lord it is too wet to hate evil and evil is the transgression of God's holy law proverbs 16 and verse six the same idea it says there in mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil what does the fear of the Lord lead you to do to depart from evil notice proverbs 3 and verse 7 proverbs 3 and verse 7 do not be wise in your own eyes fear the Lord and what and depart from evil notice proverbs 14 and verse 12 time and again scripture comes out with this idea proverbs 14 verse 12 he who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord but he who is perverse in his ways despises him let's notice as we draw this to a close some passages in the New Testament that describe what it means to fear God Hebrews 11 and verse 7 you remember that God told Noah to build a boat he told him to build an ark was that a reasonable thing folks that had never rained and God is telling Noah to build this huge transatlantic like the Queen Elizabeth on dry land anybody would say that's ridiculous that can't be God's voice but what did no I do did he obey God even though it appeared to be ridiculous absolutely notice Hebrews 11 verse 7 by faith Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with what with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is by faith you see righteousness by faith which is the gospel involves you having godly fear that leads you to move and to do what God says that you're supposed to do notice Hebrews 12 27 and 28 Hebrews 12 27 and 28 it says there therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken in other words some day we're going to be in a kingdom that's not going to be there not going to be left to any other Kingdom what should we do let us have what grace see some people love to talk about graces Oh young let's have grace yeah but what does grace demand we noticed this in us in our study our last study we talked about what grace commands us to do notice what it continues saying therefore since we have we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken let us have grace by which we may want serve God acceptably with reverence and what and godly fear what is it that grace leads us to do to serve God acceptably with reverence and with godly fear notice one more verse before we talk about the promises that God gives to those who fear his name second Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1 by the way this is after God says do not be on evenly yoked with unbelievers and you've read that passage that comes before and God says if you fulfill what I'm saying I will receive you I will be your father and you will be my children and then he says what we're supposed to do in the light of what he has said not a second Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1 therefore having these promises you can read them in the last verses of chapter 6 of second Corinthians notice what it says therefore having these promises beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God what does the fear of God demand of us we must perfect what holiness according to Scripture do you understand what it means to fear God a little bit better now when we read revelation 14 verse 7 fear God see it's not enough just to read fear God in the first angels message say okay that's nice what does that mean we have to go to all of the Bible and we notice that the fear of God or the fear of the Lord is like a diamond that has many edges and you look at all of the concept have this beautiful diamond multi-dimensional concept of what it means to fear God and primarily it means to obey God out of love for him because he has shed His grace upon us do you know that the Bible has some beautiful promises for those who fear God I'd like to end by reading some of those promises do you know that those who fear God are gonna have their names written in a book of remembrance notice Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6 Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6 then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them see God is eavesdropping on a conversation so a book of remembrance was what was written for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name what was written a book of remembrance not a Psalm 103 and verses 11 through 14 God gives glorious promises to those who fear his name so it's worthwhile to fear let me tell you something folks we can't fear God unless we spend time with God because it's only as we come to know God that we have this all in this reverence for God and we want to please him because he's such a wonderful in such a great God but in order to grasp who he is we must know who he is and in order to know who he is we must spend time with him the closer we come to him the greater in reverence and fear and godly fear we have of him Psalm 103 in verses 11 to 14 for as the heavens are high above the earth so great is his mercy towards those who fear Him isn't that wonderful so great is his mercy towards those who fear him as far as the East is from the West so far as he removed our transgressions from us as a father pities his children so the Lord pities those who fear him for he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust what a beautiful promise actually it's a series of promises that God gives in this passage I'd like to bring this to an end by reading one final verse proverbs chapter 10 and verse 27 notice this wonderful promise of God it says there the fear of the Lord prolongs days but the years of the wicked will be shortened what does God promise for those who fear his name he promises for them long years now what does he mean when he talks about long years is he talking about long years on planet Earth absolutely not because there's a lot of wicked people on earth who have long years who don't fear the Lord what he means is that those who fear God will inherit eternal life because they will be saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ and they will be on the sea of glass praising the Lord for His grace and for his love and they will be obedient because the Bible says that the endtime generation will keep the commandments of God in fact at the end of the first angels message it speaks about people who keep the commandments of God [Music]

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Length: 57min 2sec (3422 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 30 2019