Is Your Fear of God Too Safe?

We all know the Bible says to “fear God”, but  what does that really mean? Some people say it   simply means to show God reverence or respect but  is that really what the Bible is talking about? People fear all sorts of things. Right now people  are living in fear of things such as disease,   the rising cost of living, losing their  jobs, and government overreach. I want   to start off by looking at something  Isaiah said concerning the fear of God.   He contrasts it with the fear of men and uses  some very strong words to describe this fear. “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that  this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid   of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of  hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your FEAR,   And let Him be your DREAD.“ – Isaiah 8:12-13 Focusing on conspiracies and human threats is   misplaced fear, we should  not fear anything but God. Did you know that Christians were once known as  God-fearing people, but we don’t really hear that   phrase used anymore. In the Bible, a “god-fearer”  was someone who was considered religious.   A “God-fearer” can also mean a “God worshipper”.  Cornelius was called one who feared God. “There was a certain man in Caesarea called  Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the   Italian Regiment, a devout man and one  who FEARED GOD with all his household,   who gave alms generously to the people,  and prayed to God always.” – Acts10:1-2  Cornelius was a devout follower of  God, who was generous in his giving,   and he always prayed. This is a good description  of how a person who fears God will live.   They will live a life of devotion to God,  praying always, and giving to those in need. The first mention of the  fear of God is in Genesis. “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.” – Genesis 22:12  Abraham feared God so much that he was  willing to give up his only son to obey God,   and Abraham is considered the father of  our faith. He was the original God Fearer. I’ve heard people try to downplay the  word “fear”. They say the fear of God   doesn’t mean you actually fear Him, and they  argue it simply means to show Him reverence.   Some Bible translations even replace the word  Fear with the word “reverence”. But when the   Bible describes the fear of God, it includes  words such as trembling, dread, and terror. Hosea compares the fear of God with  trembling before a roaring lion. “They shall walk after the Lord. He will roar  like a lion. When He roars, Then His sons shall   come trembling from the west; They shall come  trembling like a bird from Egypt, Like a dove from   the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in  their houses,” Says the Lord.” – Hosea 11:10-11  Can you imagine standing near a wild lion and  hearing him roar? Would you describe your feeling   at that moment as “reverence” … or “fear”? I  know if I ever came face to face with a lion,   I would definitely feel fear.  Terror would best describe it. I want to read a quote from C.S.  Lewis’ book, “The Lion, the Witch,   and the Wardrobe, and I believe this  quote portrays the fear of God well. “Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a   man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel  rather nervous about meeting a lion”…  “Safe?” said Mr Beaver, “Who said anything  about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe.   But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  People want a “safe god” not a dangerous  and terrifying God. They want to remove   his teeth and fangs and muzzle his roar.  They want a pet they can cuddle with, but   that’s NOT who God is. God is not safe or tame or  weak. The Bible describes Him as the Almighty One. These days Christians are more afraid of the devil   than they are of God because they see satan as  wild and dangerous, but they think God is tame   and meek and basically a pushover. But the  Bible says we should fear God (not satan). God is dangerous, more dangerous than Satan, but  God is good. God is terrifying, more terrifying   than Satan, but God is Holy. And it’s because  of God’s holiness that we should fear Him. “Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!  Tremble before Him, all the earth.” – Psalm 96:9  Our sin should cause us to tremble before  a Holy God. The Bible describes people who   do not fear God as having no understanding,  and says they have eyes that do not see and   ears that do not hear. The Bible also  says it is rebellion to not fear God. “Hear this now, O foolish people, Without  understanding, Who have eyes and see not,   And who have ears and hear not: Do  you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.   ‘Will you not tremble at My presence… But this  people has a defiant and rebellious heart;   They have revolted and departed. They  do not say in their heart, “Let us now   fear the Lord our God…” – Jeremiah 5:21-24 The modern Church has emphasized the grace of   God and neglected the judgment of God. We like  to read Bible verses that emphasized the love   of God and we ignored the verses that speak  about the wrath of God. We have no problem   saying that “God is Good”, but we don’t want  to think about God punishing us for our sins. The Bible says, “My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I   am afraid of Your judgments.” – Psalm 119:120 Are we truly afraid of God’s judgment? I think   not. If we lived in fear of God’s judgment, we  would walk according to His commandments, and we   wouldn’t stray from the Word at all. If we truly  feared God, we would tremble at His feet begging   for forgiveness every time we sin, and we would  make it a priority to never do that thing again. Paul encourages us to work out our  salvation with fear and trembling. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed,  not as in my presence only, but now much more   in my absence, work out your own salvation  with fear and trembling” – Philippians 2:12  The most popular verse in the Bible about  the fear of God is Proverbs 9:10, which says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of  wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One   is understanding.” – Proverbs 9:10 How is the fear of God the beginning of Wisdom?   A wise person fears God, and when we fear God, we  do things that are wise and pleasing to God. We   don’t go around acting foolish and living in sin.  Because we fear God, we do what is right and good. The Bible defines the fear  of God as hatred of sin. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and  arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth   I hate.” – Proverbs 8:13 To fear God is to hate sin because   God hates sin. Thus the fear  of God is the foundation of   morality. We do what is right  and moral because we fear God. I want to make a strong statement here.   If you don’t deal seriously with your own  sin, then you don’t actually fear God. We become holy when we fear God. The Bible  says it is the fear of God that sanctifies us. “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  The fear of God sanctifies us,  but when we don’t fear God,   we live in sin. Proper fear of God causes us  to draw closer to Him and gives us a desire to   do what pleases Him. the Bible says the fear of  God is loving God and obeying His commandments. “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they  would FEAR Me and always keep all My commandments,   that it might be well with them and with  their children forever!” – Deuteronomy 5:29  The Bible tells us over and over to fear God,  not men. Listen to what Yeshua said about it. “And do not fear those who kill the body  but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear   Him who is able to destroy both soul  and body in Gehenna.” – Matthew 10:28  We live in a world full of fear. People  fear disease, they fear the government,   they even fear being disliked on social media.  But do we fear God more than anything else? We   are told to fear God, not men, and the midwives in  Egypt show us a good example of what this means. “But the midwives feared God, and did not  do as the king of Egypt commanded them,   but saved the male children alive.” – Exodus 1:17 These midwives didn’t fear Pharaoh,   which means they didn’t obey Pharaoh. Do  you see how fear is linked with obedience?   By disobeying Pharaoh, they showed that  they did not fear him. And by obeying God,   they showed that they did fear God. We  are told to obey earthly authorities,   but not when it means disobeying God.  We must fear God more than anyone else. So, how do we learn to fear God? 1. CONSIDER GOD’S POWER AND AUTHORITY The first thing we need to do is consider God’s  power and authority. When we realize how awesome   He is, we fear Him. The Bible begins with the  Creation account for a reason, because creation   shows us His power and authority. He created all  things with just the word of His mouth. He didn’t   break a sweat, He didn’t lift a finger, He simply  spoke the word “let there be… and there was…” 2. STUDY GOD’S LAW The next thing we can do to  learn to fear God is to read   and study His Law because the Bible says  we learn to fear God when we hear his Law. “… you shall read this law before all Israel  in their hearing. Gather the people together,   men and women and little ones, and  the stranger who is within your gates,   that they may hear and that they  may LEARN TO FEAR THE LORD your God   and carefully observe all the words of this law,  and that their children, who have not known it,   may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as  long as you live in the land which you cross the   Jordan to possess.” – Deuteronomy 31:11-13 By studying His Law, we learn about holiness   and righteousness. We learn what God loves  and what He hates. By studying God’s Law,   we learn to love holiness and  righteousness and to hate sin. 3. MEDITATE ON GOD’S HOLINESS The third thing we can do to learn to fear  God is to meditate on His holiness because   when we meditate on His holiness, we realize  our own sinfulness, and seeing His holiness   and our sinfulness causes us to fear God. This  also causes us to truly appreciate His grace,   because we are completely unworthy, and God  should destroy us because of our sin. So, when   we receive His grace and forgiveness, we should  fear Him even more, knowing what we truly deserve. “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who  could stand? But there is forgiveness with You,   That You may be feared.” – Psalm 130:3-4 4. REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL JUDGE THE WICKED We also need to remember that  God will judge the wicked. “For we must all appear before  the judgment seat of Christ,   that each one may receive  the things done in the body,   according to what he has done, whether good or  bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord,   we persuade men…” – 2 Corinthians 5:10–11 The judgment of God should cause terror,   and this terror should motivate us to share the  gospel with others so they can escape judgment.   Some people think they get away with sin because  they’re not immediately punished, but the Bible   tells us they haven’t gotten away with anything.  They will be punished on the day of judgment. “For we know Him who said, “Vengeance  is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.   And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands   of the living God.” – Hebrews 10:30-31 Do you want to face the wrath of God? I   sure don’t. Listen to the conclusion  the Bible gives on this topic. “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.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 This is man’s all. This is our whole purpose.   To fear God and obey His commandments. Why?   Because God is going to judge everything  we say, do, or even think about doing.