Sermon Central
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Fear...yes Or No?
Contributed by Lorraine Greeff on Nov 1, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: To fear God, yes to have fears because of man, situations, no
FEAR…YES, OR NO?
Good evening, all, I hope that this day finds you well.
May I ask a question? IF GOD WERE TO COME AND TELL YOU THAT HE IS TIRED OF PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOUR AND THAT HE IS GOING TO DESTROY THE ENTIRE BOKSBURG AREA, WHAT WOULD YOUR REACTION BE?
Throughout the Bible we are given a command to fear God, or to fear the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:1-2 Amplified Bible
6 “Now this is the command; the statutes and the judgments (precepts) which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you might do (follow, obey) them in the land which you are crossing over [the Jordan] to possess, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson may fear and worship the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], to keep [and actively do] all His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you, all the days of your life, so that your days may be prolonged.
Romans 3:14-18 Amplified Bible
14 “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths, 17 And they have not known the path of peace.”
18 “There is no fear of God [and His awesome power] before their eyes.”
So, what does it mean to fear God?
Is it to be afraid, it is fear or apprehension that we feel when a punishment is surely near, it is not terror or suspicion, it is not the fear which makes a man run and hide? Let me explain it this way, the fear of the Lord is like the fear of a loving child, that reverence and Holy desire to please God. We must remember that God and God alone has the power to cast each and every soul into hell, in other words, God has life and death in His Hands, he is able to bring us into His Kingdom, to save us from darkness, however it is all in His control, maybe we need to ask…
Lord, what does it mean to fear you?
To fear God is to follow and obey Him, to follow His ways knowing that He is King above all.
To fear God is to seek Him, mind, body, and soul, in spirit and truth.
Entering a battlefield to wage war, requires physical, mental, and spiritual preparation. In a real war, the soldier is taken through rigorous training exercises (boot camp), not to demoralize but to strengthen the body, the soul, and the spirit, to be enabled, equipped with the best fighting armor for waging the war. In saying that, our spiritual warfare requires the same attitude and discipline of commitment, yet so many of us are lacking to do battle on our knees. It takes preparation, equipping ourselves with God’s word and putting on the spiritual armor of God.
Turn with me to
25 See to it that you do not refuse [to listen to] Him who is speaking [to you now]. For if those [sons of Israel] did not escape when they refused [to listen to] him who warned them on earth [revealing God’s will], how much less will we escape if we turn our backs on Him who warns from heaven? 26 His voice shook the earth [at Mount Sinai] then, but now He has given a promise, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the [starry] heaven.” 27 Now this [expression], “Yet once more,” indicates the removal and final transformation of all those things which can be shaken—that is, of that which has been created—so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire.
HOW DOES HAVING A FEAR OF GOD TAKE AWAY FEAR?
WILLIAM D EISENHOWER put it this way:
‘Many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God’s function is to offset it. We give it unwarranted power, which is temporary, yet the Biblical position is that God is far scarier than the world…’
Let us remember the flood, the cities Sodom and Gomorrah, the story of Ahab and Jezebel (found in 1 Kings 16). God decreed punishment, every male in his household would be killed.
GOD SITS IN JUDGEMENT YET FORGIVES.
Jesus warned us throughout the Bible to fear God not men, (it is interesting to note that fear is mentioned over three hundred times in the Bible), Jesus spoke lovingly to all and yet did not mince words when people needed to face their sin and repent, so why do we?
