Proverbs 19:23
Introduction: "The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." What an interesting assurance given to us by the Holy Spirit here in Proverbs 19:23!
Should a Christian actually fear God? If so, why should he? John Murray said, "The fear of God is the soul of Godliness." If you desire to be a Godly person, you must understand and grow in the fear of the Lord.
To do so, you must go beyond just being afraid of Him without losing that particular aspect of fearing Him. Last time, we learned, "It is the essence of impiety [ungodliness] not to be afraid of God when there is reason to be afraid...The Scripture throughout prescribes the necessity of this fear of God under all circumstances in which our sinful situation makes us liable to God's righteous judgment."
Also, we learned, "All wickedness flows from a disregard of God...Since the fear of God is the bridle by which our wickedness is held in check, its removal frees us to indulge in every kind of licentious [i.e., without moral restrain] conduct."
There are many reasons to have a healthy fear of the Lord. In this message, I want to give you four reasons.
1. Fear Him because of His greatness. - Exodus 14:31
"And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses."
- Of all the great miracles God did in the Old Testament, Israel's deliverance from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea are the greatest.
- When they saw what God had done, the result was that they feared the Lord. They feared at the thought and sight of Pharaoh's army bearing down on them, but they were awed at what God did. They experienced two types of fear.
* They were afraid of Pharaoh's army.
* They were awed at the power of God.
- Fearing the Lord and trusting Him go hand in hand. Notice that they both "...feared the LORD, and believed the LORD..." To fear Him is to trust Him!
- Psalm 33:16-19 says, "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine."
- We should fear Him because of His greatness:
* 1 Chronicles 16:25, "For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods."
* Psalm 48:1, "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness."
* Psalm 145:3, "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable."
- Notice Jeremiah 10:6-7, "Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee."
2. Fear Him because of His holiness. - Isaiah 6:1-3
"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
- Reginald Heber penned:
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
- Fanny Crosby wrote:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!
Sing, O ye people, gladly adore Him;
Let the mountains tremble at His word;
Let the hills be joyful before Him;
Mighty in wisdom, boundless in mercy,
Great is Jehovah, King over all.
(Refrain) Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!
Let the hills be joyful before Him.
* The Lord is holy.
* The Lord is perfect.
* The Lord is pure.
* The Lord is sinless.
* The Lord is light with no darkness at all.
- The proper response to the great holiness of God is stated plainly in Isaiah 6:4-8, "And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."
* The Lord is holy in justice.
* The Lord is holy in mercy.
* The Lord is holy in grace.
- When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, it humbled him and caused him to fear. The closer you are to holiness, the filthier you feel.
3. Fear Him because of His wisdom. - Psalms 139:14
"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."
- Teamwork, trial, and error are required to build a modern-day sophisticated jet fighter. But the fighter jet is simple compared to the human body.
- Consider...
* The heart.
- 75-year life expectancy.
- Requires no maintenance or lubrication.
- Weighing only 10.5 ounces.
- Capacity of 2,000 gallons per day.
- Valves operating 4,000 to 5,000 times per hour.
* The hands.
* The feet.
* The blood.
* The eyes.
* The human brain. In Dr. Michael Denton's book, "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis," he states, " The human brain consists of about ten thousand million nerve cells. Each nerve cell puts out somewhere in the region of between ten thousand and one hundred thousand connecting fibers by which it makes contact with other nerve cells in the brain..."
- Even the Psalmist said, "O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." (Psalm 104:24)
* Think about God's wisdom and power in His creation of just butterflies and moths. In the US and Canada alone, there are no less than 700 varieties of butterflies and 8,000 varieties of moths. Charles Spurgeon said, "If the numbers of the creatures be so exceedingly great, how great, nay, immense, must needs be the power and wisdom of Him Who formed them all!"
- God had no team of engineers, neither did He have to depend on trial and error. He got it right the first time!
- Job learned of God's great wisdom in His creation in Job 39-41. His response to God's wisdom is found in Job 42:2-6, "I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
4. Fear Him because of His love. - Psalm 130:3-4
"If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared."
- "God is love..." (1 John 4:8)
- God showed His love by sending His Son, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..."
- God introduced His love to a sinful world by Jesus' death on Calvary, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
- Sin had to be paid for because, "...the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23) Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross satisfied God, and the sin-debt was paid in full, "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:10, 11) This sacrifice turned aside the wrath of God.
- God could have let sinful man pay for his own sins, but He sent Jesus to do this and then gave man a choice to receive forgiveness.
- "He Ransomed Me"
There's a sweet and blessed story
Of the Christ Who came from Glory,
Just to rescue me
From sin and misery;
He in loving kindness sought me,
And from sin and shame hath brought me,
Hallelujah! Jesus ransomed me!
Chorus:
Hallelujah! What a Saviour
Who can take a poor lost sinner,
Lift him from the miry clay and set him free!
I will ever tell the story,
Shouting, "Glory, glory, glory!"
Hallelujah! Jesus ransomed me!
From the depths of sin and sadness
To the heights of joy and gladness
Jesus lifted me,
In mercy full and free;
With His precious blood, He bought me,
When I knew Him not, He sought me,
And in love divine, He ransomed me!
From the throne of Heavenly glory,
Oh, the sweet and blessed story!
Jesus came to lift
The lost in sin and woe
Into liberty all glorious,
Trophies of His grace victorious,
Evermore rejoicing here below!
By and by with joy increasing,
And with gratitude unceasing,
Lifted up with Christ
Forevermore to be;
I will join the hosts there singing,
In the anthem ever ringing,
To the King of Love Who ransomed me!
Conclusion: We should fear the Lord because of at least four truths: His greatness, His holiness, His wisdom, and His love. Therefore, we should fear Him enough to obey Him in all things.