Learning to Fear God - Part 1

Proverbs 9:10

 

Introduction:  We are living in a pretty lenient society when it comes to our relationship to God.  Where did even God's people lose their respect and fear of the Lord?  When did God become:

 

- "The man upstairs"?

- "The big guy"?

- "The old man"?

- A "she"?

- "One of the gods"?

 

There was a time when committed Christians were known as "God-fearing people."

 

It happened when mankind no longer wanted to become like Christ but wanted Christ to become like them.  What a shame that we have humanized our God and deified ourselves.

 

The Bible tells us that many, who live in darkness, have no fear of God in their lives, "There is no fear of God before their eyes."  (Romans 3:18)  The fear of God is so much more than simply a "reverential trust" of God.  It is actually, according to its meaning, "a quaking in the knees."  To fear God means to take Him seriously at His Word.

 

A Biblical fear of God will change our lives forever and ever.  Fearing God is the foundation for a correct perspective about life.

 

1.         It is the beginning of knowledge. - Proverbs 1:7

 

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

 

- The fear of God is the foundation upon which knowledge is built!

- Today, much knowledge is shared without the fear of God.  That's why there's a thing called evolution, among many false teachings including theistic evolution.

 

* This is why it is so important that children learn truth in light of the Word of God.  Those, who home school, and those, who have their children in a Christian school, have an awesome responsibility to teach their children the fear of the Lord in that classroom.  Those children in public schools need desperately for their parents to teach them the fear of the Lord!

 

- This means that any knowledge we gain should be first filtered through the Word of God in order to have the right perspective on that knowledge.  For example, in Columbus' day, men said the earth was flat; yet the Bible speaks of the "circle" of the earth, "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:"  (Isaiah 40:22)

- Knowledge is more than the gathering of facts.  Solomon teaches us that knowledge should be in the fear of the Lord.

- Charles Darwin, without God's wisdom, concluded that man evolved from apes and other lower forms of life.  With God's wisdom, we understand that God created man and did not evolve him from anything.

- People, who fear the Lord, can bring glory to God with the knowledge they receive.

- Why would intelligent people reject God?  Because they have no fear of God.

 

2.         It is the beginning of wisdom. - Proverbs 9:10

 

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

 

- Knowledge and wisdom are both different one from the other.  Knowledge is the gathering of facts, but wisdom comes from viewing knowledge from God's perspective.

- Wisdom does not come just because a person gathers a great deal of knowledge.  As our text says in Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom..."

- As Christians, we must take God seriously at what He says, for this is the beginning of not only knowledge but wisdom, that is the proper way to use that knowledge.

 

3.         It is the source of God's blessing. - Psalm 31:19

 

"Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!"

 

- Just exactly what this goodness is and when it is given is up to God, but notice that God promises to lay up goodness for the person who will fear the Lord.

- Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a promise from God Himself.  He simply said that He has stored all this goodness up just for those who choose to fear Him, that is, for those who choose to take Him seriously at His Word.

- This is a conditional promise.  God's goodness is shown to everyone, but there is a goodness especially laid up for those who are serious about the Lord and fear Him accordingly.  This stored-up goodness is not for everyone but only for those who have chosen to fear Him.

- One may ask, "How come God doesn't bless me like He blesses THAT person?"  The reason very well may be THAT person fears God, and you don't.  (Think about that!)

- Even David, in Psalm 25:14, makes a strong statement concerning some of this goodness that the Lord has laid up in store for those who fear Him, "The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant."

 

Conclusion:  This message begins a Sunday night series on fearing the Lord.  As your pastor, it is my sincere belief that if we become serious about fearing the Lord, that God will bless this church family beyond description.

 

In a day when the fear of the Lord has been lost in contemporary Christianity, I want the Timberline Baptist Church family to fair better than this new-age system of belief that humanizes God and deifies man.  Do you possess a real, honest fear of God?  Is your desire to have Him lay up in store for you all the goodness that God can bestow?  This is my desire.