The Fear of the Lord - Part 1

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, December 26. Jesus is more than just the baby in a manger that we celebrated yesterday. He was and is God. Let's learn how to cultivate a healthy sense of awe as you hear what it means to fear the Lord. Are you afraid of God? You know, if a person picks up the Bible and they don't know any better, they could get confused because the Bible says, fear the Lord. All through the Old Testament, the emphasis is by the prophets, we are to fear the living God. We are to fear the Lord. But then the Bible says, fear not.

Fear not, fear not, fear not. The Scripture says that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. So why would He say on the one hand we are to fear the Lord, on the other hand we are to fear not.

That God hasn't given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Fearing the Lord is a vital lesson that God wants every one of His children to learn. And you and I are living in an age when the fear of God is not very prevalent. But all through the Scriptures, we are taught to fear the living God. Now what is the fear of God? Well, this is one passage of Scripture. We won't have to wonder, we won't have to question what is the definition because I want you to turn, if you will, to Proverbs chapter 8.

Now this is not our primary text but it is a part of it. Proverbs chapter 8 and the 13th verse gives us a biblical definition of what the fear of the Lord is. He says in Proverbs 8 verse 13, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Now what is evil?

Any form of disobedience is evil. Any kind of immorality is evil. There are all kinds of adjectives we could describe evil. I think we understand what evil is. Now the question is why does God tell us to hate evil? Because God hates evil. Why does God hate evil? He hates evil because evil by its very nature is corrupting and destructive. Anything that will corrupt the life of a believer, his body or her mind, her emotions, her spirit, anything that corrupts the life of a believer is evil and God hates it. Anything that will destroy one of God's creations, God hates it.

Now God hates it because of its destructive corrupting force. We are to hate evil for the same reason. The difference is that God sees perfectly how corrupting and destructive evil is in our life. We are to think in terms of the way God thinks. He sees things as they are and when we begin to learn to fear the Lord, we too shall see things as they are. We too will hate evil because the hatred of evil is the fear of the Lord.

Now you and I are to think the way God thinks. That is we're to get on God's side and his attitude as we view things from his perspective. But he says very clearly in this passage that the fear of the Lord is what? It is to hate evil. Listen, it is not only to have an attitude to say that it's bad, but the hatred of evil is an attitude whereby I shun it, I reject it, I refuse it, I want to move away from it, I will not be drawn to it. That does not mean that you and I will never be tempted to sin against God. But when we have a holy hatred of evil, temptation will not be as strong on the one hand. Secondly, getting God's viewpoint of it, Satan will not have the power and the inroads into a life that he has when we do not understand and have a hatred for evil.

You see, genuine true repentance, the Bible says, means a change of mind which goes so far that it begins to hate the things God hates because you see, confession means that I agree with God about what he has brought to my mind in my life that's not right. God hates sin because of its corrupting destructive force. Therefore, whenever God says I want that out of your life, when God brings up something in your life and says it's got to go, I want to tell you there's only one reason God wants it to go because he has already seen that it is destroying and corrupting your life. It is not only a hatred of those things that are corrupting and destructive, but it is a holy reverence, that is, reverence for God is a love and devotion and submission to him based on my recognition of who he is. So that the fear of God involves not only the hatred of evil, but it involves a wholesome and holy recognition and adoration, love, devotion and submission to God. So if someone says to you, do you fear the Lord God? We're not talking about being scared of God. We are talking about the biblical view of the fear of the Lord. Do you fear the Lord God? Do you hate evil?

Do you reject those things that are corrupting and destructive by nature? Do you have an awesome sense of the awareness of the presence of God? Have you, do you submit yourself to him? Do you love him?

Are you devoted to him? Do you want to walk in his ways? Then if those things are true, you fear the Lord. And all through the scriptures the prophets are saying, tell the nation of Israel to fear the living God. Now, I want us to take Psalm 112, if you'll turn in your Bible, and I want us to illustrate what the Bible says will be true.

Listen, the wonderful truths, this life on the highest plane, life at its best is offered to those who are willing to fear the Lord God. Now, I want you listening carefully. I'm going to say something now.

I'm going to say it at the end of the message. The fear of the Lord is a choice we make. You and I choose whether to fear God or not to fear him. Somebody says, oh, but I can't help it. Scratch that.

Yes, you can. You can choose to fear God or not to fear him. And I want you to listen to see as we seem to take verse by verse in this 112th Psalm, God's description of the kind of life that God offers to one who is wise enough to learn and to practice fearing the Lord God. I don't believe anybody in their right mind will reject the lifestyle and the offer God has to give once you and I begin to understand the meaning and the truths as listed in this 112th Psalm. Now, to save time, I'm not going to read all the Psalm, but we're going through it verse by verse, and we'll begin in verse 1. Praise the Lord. Listen to how he starts. Happy, contented, blessed is the man or the woman who fears the Lord. Now, listen. Happy is the person, how blessed is the man or woman who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments.

So if you're taking notes, the first thing you want to jot down is this. The person who fears the Lord is a person who greatly desires, listen, a person who greatly desires or greatly delights in the law of God, in the word of God. Why do you think they have a fear of the Lord? Because in the scriptures, they began to understand who God is. When you and I began to understand who this God is, how loving he is toward us, how gracious, how good, how kind, how forgiving, what happens? We want to get more into the word.

We want to discover more what he's like. You see, listen to what he says in verse 10 of Psalm 111. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If I fear the Lord, I'm going to be in his word doing what? This God who has motivated me to shun evil and to reverence him as I begin to study the word of God, my comprehension of who he is begins to expand. I begin to understand that every area of my life God is interested in. This almighty, omnipotent, righteous God is interested in little old me. He's interested in my personal life, my private life, my public life, my business life, my social life, my financial life.

He's interested in everything I'm interested in. The person who learns to fear God is surely a person who delights in his commandments. Now, when you think about that, look if you will in Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 14 for just a moment. And look at this verse, Proverbs 14. He says in verse 26, in the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence. Verse 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. How do you and I become strong and confident? We become strong and confident as a result of what? Of pouring over the word of God, hearing what God is saying to us, listening to how God is encouraging us and assuring us and building up confidence in us. He says in the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence.

Why? Because the man or woman who fears God is in the word of the Lord greatly desiring his commandments. Now, I want you to look if you will in Psalm 111 and go back to verse 10 again for just a moment. He says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do his commandments.

You see, if I'm going to have a good understanding, that means I'm going to be wise. And the only way for me to be a wise person is to fear the Lord, and I fear the Lord by hating evil and reverencing my God. All right, the second thing I want you to jot down in this verse is this. The person who learns to fear God will have a strong family.

Listen to this verse, verse 2. His descendants, that is the descendants of a man or woman who fears the Lord, not only will delight in the law of God, but that person, he says, his or her descendants will be mighty on earth. The generation of the upright will be blessed.

Now, what does that mean? It means that their children will be strong, valiant, and courageous for the truth. They will be influential. Listen, his descendants will be mighty on earth. The generation of the upright will be blessed.

God will honor them. Do you want to have a strong family? You cannot have a strong family simply by attending church.

A strong family comes as a result of a husband or wife, mother or father, who are wise enough to teach their children very early in life to fear the living God, not to be scared of him, not to be afraid of him, but to fear him. Son, you must learn to hate evil. You must learn to shun those things that will corrupt your life and destroy your life, those things that will destroy your potential, those things that will get you off track of the will of God for your life, those things that will derail you in God's perfect plan for your life.

Learn to shun those things, resist those things, deny yourself of those things. He says, the descendants will be mighty on earth, strong and valiant for the truth, upholding the truth, living by the truth, firm for the truth, not denying the truth, but willing to stand against opposition because of the truth. They will grow up strong and stalwart like spiritual giants. And he says, they will have influence in the world because they learn to fear the living God. Third thing I want you to notice in this passage. Verse three says that the person who learns to fear God, he says, wealth, listen, wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. But that verse is not only just talking about finances, because notice the next phrase, in his righteousness endures forever. There is something more important than financial security. And that is the security of a person who has learned, listen, who has learned to fear the Lord and to walk in that fear. They are walking on solid ground.

They're walking on the rock that is immovable. What about this? If you will go back to, let's turn to Psalm 34 for just a moment. And here is the familiar verse of Scripture, but I want you to notice it in the light of what he is describing here for the person who's learned to fear the Lord. He says in verse nine of Psalm 34, oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for to those who fear him, there is no what, no want.

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. And that does not mean that sometimes I won't want something if I fear the Lord. But I won't want something that God doesn't want me to have, because you see, the fear of the Lord is to hate and shun evil. If God brings to my attention that something that I'm wanting is not good, listen, two words. Remember, if God says no, you remember that the two reasons is corruption and destruction. The reason God doesn't want that in my life as much as I may want it, God knows it may have a corrupting, destructive result in my life.

It may be something that appears good. It may be good for someone else, but in my life or your life, it has a corrupting, destructive nature and character to it. He says those who fear the Lord shall not want any good thing. Now, my friend, listen, do you expect God to bless you financially while you do not hate and shun, but you toy play and endorse evil? While you're so caught up in the world doing your thing, not being submissive to God, loving him and obeying him, quoting and playing and making provision for the flesh, as the Bible warns us against, you expect God to prosper you. If you want to prosper both materially and spiritually, he says, just learn to fear the living God.

And look how this works. When a man or woman fears God, what are they doing? They're in the Word, gleaning the principles of God.

They're building a strong family. And a man or woman who's in the Word of God and building a strong family, learning to fear the Lord, hating and despising evil, hating and despising evil is sharpening up my discerning spirit. It is sharpening up my discernment so that in my business and in my financial affairs, I'm going to make wise decisions because I'm fearing God, I'm submissive to him, I'm waiting upon him, I'm listening to him, and I'm not taking shortcuts by cheating my brother, doing dishonest things, and losing my integrity in the process. A wise man, a person, a man, a woman who fears God will be blessed of God both spiritually and materially for the simple reason that those who fear him have a discernment about the circumstances of their life that oftentimes is not there.

The question is this. Do you want God's very best in your life or do you want to keep on playing around with sin, courting evil, compromising your conviction, while at the same time you're trying to get what God has offered freely but it'll never be there because you do not fear God? You see, a person who plays with sin and courts its disaster doesn't fully love the living God with all of his mind, all of his heart, all of his soul, as God has warned us and has admonished us.

Let's move on. Listen to what he says. He says, Now wealth and riches are in his house and his righteousness endures forever. Oh, look at verse 4. Light arises in the darkness for the upright. What is he saying here?

Simply this. God protects the man or woman who fears him in time of great difficulty. Now, when he says light arises in darkness, what is he speaking of here? We'll turn back to Psalm 34 for just a moment. Listen to what he says in verse 7.

He says, The angel of the Lord encamps a roundabout around those who fear him and rescues them. Now, when he says here in this passage, Light arises in the darkness for the upright, here's what he means. That because you and I live a life fearing the Lord and obedience to him, that doesn't mean we're not going to have our dark times. It does not mean that we're not going to have periods of distress and valley experiences and difficulties and heartaches and trials and headaches and tears and all the rest.

We're going to have them. But here's what he says. He says, For the man or woman who learns to fear God, when the darkness comes, he says, there will be light. It may be dark to everybody around you, but there's going to be light.

He says, here's the reason why. The angel of the Lord encamps roundabout those who fear him. And that's the reason that you and I in the midst of great, overwhelming, thick, almost impenetrable darkness, you and I can walk with their head up our shoulders back and a perfect confidence in our step because we see the light all around us and the darkness. Listen, for the child of God, the darkness always has to keep its distance. You and I are encompassed by the living God. He says the angel of the Lord encamps roundabout those who fear him. In the midst of great difficulty and heartache, he says what? He says the light arises in darkness for the upright. Thank you for listening to The Fear of the Lord. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.