Hearing God: The Burden of the Fear of the Lord

Apr 18

Apr 18 Hearing God: The Burden of the Fear of the Lord

I. What is the Fear of the Lord?

a. This might be a phrase many of us are familiar with, but do we actually know what it means? We can use it correctly in a sentence but it’s kind of hard to define clearly if you haven’t thought about it much.

i. Dictionary definition: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain

1. God IS dangerous… the book of Leviticus compiles written instructions on how to ensure you are not consumed and killed by God’s presence when you enter it…

a. High priests atoned or paid the debt caused by Israel’s sin, iniquity and transgression, by the blood of an animal sacrifice. Blood was required to cleanse humans enough to enter the presence of God safely.

2. Jesus, with the cross, His broken body, and poured out blood, has cleansed us and given us His righteousness so that we can enter boldly into the presence of God.

Hebrews 4:14-16 New King James Version
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

a. We should not forget, that even with the blood of Jesus God is still to be feared for He is still holy and dangerous, even to us under the New Covenant.

Acts 5:1-11 New King James Version
5 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 6 And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.
7 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?”
She said, “Yes, for so much.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

ii. Let’s look at one of the places in scripture the fear of the Lord is explained. This is Moses speaking to the Israelites one last time before they enter the promise land.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 New King James Version
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, (1)to walk in all His ways and (2)to love Him, (3)to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and (4)to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your [a]good?

1. It is good to fear the Lord?

2. Fear – yare

a. To fear, be afraid

b. To stand in awe of, be awed

i. Camden Aquarium – shark exhibit

ii. Emerald, the dark depths of the water

c. To fear, revere, honor, admire, respect

i. Being in front of someone you look up to and feeling incredibly concerned with the way they think about you

iii. How does Moses break this down further?

1. Walk in all His ways

a. We study and meditate upon scripture not only to come into agreement with what God says about the truths of existence but to exemplify and bring about, with our lives, God’s intention for creation.

b. Treasure map analogy – we follow it to the treasure

i. Jesus is the treasure

2. Love Him

a. As we find Jesus we fall in love with Him

John 15:13 New King James Version
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

3. Serve Him with all of your heart and soul

a. Heart – inner man

b. Soul – nephesh – throat

i. Your appetites, your breath

4. Keep the commandments and statues of the Lord

a. Your life is aligned and conformed to the desires and design of God

i. (My personal definition of God’s will = design and desire for all of creation, including you)

b. The fruit or evidence of the Fear of the Lord in our lives is ultimately obedience

i. Aligning your attitudes, appetites, thoughts, words, and behaviors to the desires and design of God.

ii. Holding Him in such high regard that you follow his example, love Him, serve Him, and thus fulfill His intent and design for your good.

iii. Fearing the Lord is being afraid to be found outside of His will (design and intention for His creation)

c. You OBEY who/what you FEAR

II. Doesn’t the bible say not to be afraid?

2 Timothy 1:7 New King James Version
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind(self-control).

a. Raquel’s sermon, “Who Told You?”

i. Holy Spirit invites from ahead, the spirit of fear drives from behind

1. We’re not supposed to partner with fear

b. There is a BIG difference between feeling fear/being afraid and making fear-based decisions

ii. We will ALL experience fear, regularly. Feeling afraid isn’t a sin, partnering and making decisions out of the place of fear is sin.

1. Fear surrendered to God becomes faith.

a. Fear apart from God is faith in the wrong god.

c. Holy Spirit will lead you to fear nothing but God, the spirit of fear, wants you to fear anything BUT God.

i. It is a fight for your loyalty- you OBEY who/what you FEAR

III. How does Fearing God Relate to Hearing His Voice?

Exodus 9:19-21 New King James Version
19 Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.” ’ ”20 He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. 21 But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.

a. The word regard in verse 21 is used as a synonym (substitute) for the word fear (yare)

i. Regard – sum

1. To put, place, appoint in order to make/bring something to pass

2. Bring what to pass? The purpose/intention of the word of God

a. God, as He was passing judgment on Pharaoh, desired to spare the Egyptians and their livestock

John 16:12-15 New King James Version
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He [a]will take of Mine and declare it to you.

b. Holy Spirit at some point is going to tell each of us about things to come. Why? 2 reasons

i. Holy Spirit will take what is Jesus’ and declare it us

1. The future (what is to come) belongs to Jesus

a. This is such good news and a reason to fear no one but Him

b. Fun Fact: It also belongs to YOU as coheir with Christ

1 Corinthians 3:21-23 New King James Version
21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

ii. So that we can partner with Holy Spirit to see Jesus’ intention for future things come to pass

1. Again, remember when regard (sum) was used as a synonym (substitute) for the word fear.

2. Holy Spirit wants to give you an ACTIVE and IMPACTFUL role in bringing about His will for the future

a. Family

b. Religion

c. Education

d. Business

e. Government

f. Media

g. Arts and Entertainment

c. Our fear brings about the will (desire and design) of whatever we put it in

i. Holy Spirit

ii. The spirit of fear

d. The intention of the words of God in regard to things to come will not come to pass if you do not possess the fear of the Lord.

i. God intended to have the Egyptians cattle spared when He told them about the hail

1. Only those Egyptians who feared the Lord saw His intention for them come to pass

a. To save them and their livestock

e. Without the fear of the Lord we risk missing out on the intent of what Holy Spirit speaks to us.

IV. A Tale of Two Kings - The First Two Kings of Israel: King Saul & King David

a. Both men were called by God to be King

b. Both men were anointed by Samuel the prophet

c. Both men were filled with Holy Spirit

1 Samuel 9:15-16 New King James Version
15 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him [a]commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
1 Samuel 10:1 & 6 & 9-10 New King James Version
10 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: “Is it not because the Lord has anointed you commander over His [a]inheritance?
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
9 So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God [a]gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
1 Samuel 16:13 New King James Version
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

d. Both men failed at some point in their reign, but Saul lost the throne while David kept the throne, Why?

i. Saul partnered with the spirit of fear and put his fear in man, not God

1. How do I know? We obey who/what we fear

1 Samuel 13:7-14 New King James Version
7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might [b]greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
1 Samuel 15:24-26 New King James Version
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

2. Saul, feared people, thus he obeyed people

2 Samuel 6:9-10a, 16-17, 20-22 New King James Version
9 David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him into the City of David;
16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. 17 So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows [b]shamelessly uncovers himself!” 21 So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore, I will play music before the Lord. 22 And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”

3. David, although He too failed multiple times during his reign, feared the Lord, and learned a valuable lesson, fear God (do everything to please and obey the Lord, no one else)

4. David had tried to move the ark of the covenant into the city of David, but did not do it God’s way. A man died as a result. David learned to fear the Lord.

a. When we choose not to do things God’s way, the people around us get hurt

e. The spirit of fear may try to convince us that operating in the fear of man is more loving than operating in the fear of God.

i. Saul sparing King Agag

ii. Even though we might be deceived into thinking that we are considering/loving other people, this inevitably hurts others.

1. Story of Esther – Agag’s descendant almost wipes out the Jews exiled

f. The spirit of fear/fear of man always stands in opposition to the fear of the Lord.

i. The spirit of fear NEVER wants you to do the things God wants you to do.

1. We will OBEY who we FEAR

g. You have to be ok looking like a fool like David did, before men so long as you are approved in the eyes of God.

i. The fear of God is wanting to be affirmed in God eyes, more than in the eyes of anyone or anything else

V. The Practical

a. Remember that this is a process

i. You must first walk in ALL His ways

1. We read the bible not only to agree with the truth found in it, but to conform our life to the prescribe way of life found in it

ii. As you walk with Him, you will find yourself growing in love for Him

1. This will lead you to lay down your life for Him

John 15:13 New King James Version
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

iii. As you grow more and more in love with Him you will serve Him with all of your heart and soul

iv. As your serve Him out of love (heart and soul) you will keep His commandments and His statutes

1. You will obey His voice and maintain His design for/prescribed way of life

b. Again, I will say that Holy Spirit isn’t sharing future things just so you’re privy to the information, but because it’s your inheritance and you have a role to play in these things to come

i. This is why we should always be asking Him questions after He speaks to us.

1. What are You communicating?

2. What is your heart/intention?

3. What would You have me do about it?

4. When and how do You want me to do it?

c. Example: Vision of the back of someone’s neck, Holy Spirit speaks the word “neck” to you, you feel heat on the back of your neck, etc…

i. What are you communicating?

1. I want to heal people who have neck/back problems

ii. What do you want me to do?

1. Intercede, pray in tongues, just watch Me, ask the pastors if you can declare it over the congregation, raise your hands to receive, lay on the floor, dance like a wild person, etc…

iii. When should I do this?

1. Right now, right as worship ends, at the end of service, next week, every day at prayer for three weeks, etc…

VI. A Call to Repentance

Matthew 10:27-39 New King James Version
27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 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[a]hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a [b]copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to set (alienate) a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

a. If you have been partnering with the spirit of fear, instead of fearing the Lord, you can come boldly before the presence of God and find mercy and grace.

i. Forgiveness and empowerment await those who would repent from their sinful ways and commit or recommit to the way of Jesus today.