What is the fear of the Lord?

John Piper said, “Fearing God means that God is in your mind and heart, so powerful and so holy andso awesome that you would not dare to run away from Him but only to run to Him. In other words,fearing God is not another requirement but it’s the way you do relationship, it’s the way you come toJesus and know Jesus.”

The fear of the Lord positions us rightly in humility before God:

• Proverbs 28:14 - “Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”

• In this verse we find that the fear of God is contrasted with a hard and unreceptive heart.
• • Isaiah 66:2 - “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be,declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
• In this verse, again we see that fearing God is corresponding to humility and meekness. It would beinsane to think we can just stroll up to the creator of the heaven and have a cavalier attitude.
• • Philippians 2 - “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as inmy presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear andtrembling.”
• What Paul is say is that you should fear and tremble because God is working to keep you. Theawesome presence of the almighty God in our lives, working for us and not against us shouldproduce trembling.

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So the new testament shows us that the fear of the Lord is a motive to run towards God not away from God. God’s grace in Christ is God’s refuge from God’s wrath outside Christ.

• Hebrews 12:25 - 29 “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did notescape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if wereject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase,“Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that havebeen made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us begrateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to Godacceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

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In other words we see that we are safe and secure in, but our God is a all consuming fire, you don’tcome near Him without reverence and wonder.

[San Diego Zoo Story (lion behind a glass window)]

• Romans 11 shows us that not only do you experience the fear of God as the right way ofworshipping Him in reverence and wonder, but you experience the fear of the Lord as an incentivenot to run away from Him. So fear acts as a preservative, we don’t want to run away from God.

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of True Intimacy Michelle Salviejo

• Romans 11:19-21 - Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be graftedin.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast throughfaith. So do not become proud, but fear.

• Fear what? Fear the prospect of becoming proud, arrogant and self-sufficient and drifting away from Papa God.

But what about His love casting out fear?

• 1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do withpunishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
• God doesn’t desire us to cower like slaves in a home He’s prepared for us to be His children-whoare meant to experience the sweet peace of His nearness
• So this is the aspect of fear we need to get rid of - the fear of not being desired by God.

We are called to delight in fearing the Lord:

• Nehemiah 1:11 - “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name.”
• So the fear of the Lord doesn’t draw us away but it draws us in.
• Isaiah 11:2 - “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom andunderstanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.”
• Jesus himself enjoyed fearing God.
• Psalm 31:19 - Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!

• We are secure in Him being or rock and security that we can actually fully enjoy the awesomepower and wonder that is His presence.

The Prodigal and the Older brother (Luke 15:11-32):

• The Prodigal son had intimacy but no fear of the Lord
• The Older brother had the Fear of the Lord but no intimacy in relationship

The Fear of the Lord positions us in meekness & humility so that we may enter into trueintimacy and receive the fullness of grace.