The Fear of God

Happy Sunday! Thank you so much for joining me today. Some of you are listening via podcast, others are watching on YouTube or on my website, davidshivers.com. There are websites for everything. There's a site called phobialist.com.

On the side are hundreds and hundreds of phobias, things people are afraid of. Some I have heard of, others were new to me. Fear of the number 13 is triskadekaphobia. Fear of bald people is pallidophobia. Fear of cooking, believe it or not, is a thing: magerichophobia.

Fear of your mother-in-law is known as pentheraphobia. The list goes on and on. It's an interesting read. Today we're going to talk about what it means to fear God. We continue in our study called Great Expectations.

There's a story in Acts chapter 5 about a couple that lied about giving all the profit they received from the sale of some land to the early church. They did this in a very public setting. They bragged about their generosity while not telling the whole truth. They tried to build themselves up by making up a story and only only telling bits and pieces.

Ananias and Sapphira both died. They dropped dead as a result of their sin. There were many witnesses. I want to read to you verse 11 from Acts 5. These words were written right after they were buried: "Great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things."

I would think so. Great fear. I bet from that day forward all who saw this happen were very careful with their own words. Ananias and Sapphira needed to fear the Lord, and they didn't, and they paid for it with their lives.

I think most of our world does not have the fear of God. Television executives and script writers and actors are not afraid of God. You ever heard or seen something on television and wondered why in the world that God didn't do something about it right then and there? It is hard, or it should be hard, for a dedicated Christian to watch most of the things on the air today.

Just the other day, Salmon Rusty was stabbed. He wrote a book in 1988 that angered the Muslim world. A contract was put out on his life. He went into hiding for a while and then led a somewhat normal life, but 34 years later there was an attempt on his life.

Out of fear, our media is careful not to say anything negative about some religions. However, God and Jesus are fair game. Christianity is under attack. God's name is taken in vain in just about any movie you may go to. Many comedians poke fun at Jesus, and some television shows are downright blasphemous.

It's sad to see. Our world is out of control. The lack of the fear of the Lord is most evident. Here's the question that we must ask ourselves: do we fear God? Jesus said in Luke 12 that we should fear God because He is the one who has the power to cast us into hell.

To most in this world, those words go in one ear and out the other. I've actually heard people say that they were headed to hell and were proud of it. No fear. Psalm 36:1 says, "The wicked have no fear of God." In our world that is absolutely true. The wicked have no fear of God at all.

I suppose it would be a good idea for me to define what it means to fear God. To me, fearing God means living a life that pleases Him. Let me put it this way. My father was my best friend. He was a godly man, and I would often describe him as a cross between Billy Graham and and Mike Tyson.

No, he never hit me, but yes, I had a healthy fear. I remember having a genuine desire to please him. My fear of my father was not a negative thing. It was a motivator to do my best. It was very positive.

My fear of God is very positive. It's a motivator, a healthy respect. I want to live up to God's great expectations. There are great benefits to fearing God. Proverbs 8:13 puts it this way: "All who fear the Lord will hate evil."

That's good, isn't it? If you fear God, you will do your best to keep away from sin. You'll fear God and won't do evil. Proverbs 16:6 says, "By fearing the Lord, people avoid evil." The opposite is also true: by not fearing God, people run towards evil.

The book of Ecclesiastes ends with these words: "That's the whole story. Here is now my final conclusion: fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad."

Let me repeat part of that: "Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad."

There's a beautiful prayer for the world in Psalm 33:8: "Let the whole world world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of Him." What a world it would be if everyone feared the Lord.

Thanks for being with me today. If you watch this on YouTube, I'm told it'll help if you like it there and maybe follow. The same can be said on some of the venues in the podcast. So thanks for for helping us out.

Let's pray together. Lord, one of my supporters and viewers asked for a prayer for his friend Sharon, and together, the viewers and listeners don't have to know who Sharon is, but I just asked that they would pray for Sharon. You know who she is.

Help us, Father, in our fear of You, our healthy fear that motivates us to do the right thing, to follow You and to love You as we should. Bless those that hear these words, and Father, we look forward to the next time as we continue to try and meet Your great expectations. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

God bless. Thanks for being with us.