The Fear of the Lord (Philippians 2:12)

—

by

Robert Piña
in

Introduction: Our God is a God of love, grace, mercy, compassion, long suffering, and goodness. But our God is also all knowing, all powerful, omniscient (all seeing), omnipresent (present everywhere), and a righteous judge, meaning He doesn’t grade on a curve. Because this is our God, and He knows everything and sees everything, and will judge us one day, we should have a fear of God. Philippians 2:12 “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”. To fear the Lord is to be afraid. It is the natural consequences of sin; it comes as a punishment, chastisement, or the wrath of God. 

I can remember staying away from certain things, people, situations, because I feared my father. The same thing is true about a child of God and his heavenly Father. A Christian will stay away from evil and the fear of man when he fears the Lord.

The Fear of the Lord is necessary because: 

  1. It will cause a person to depart from Sin– Exodus 20:18-20 If you are saved, God will judge our sin at the judgment seat of Christ. II Corinthians 5:11“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men”. Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good”.
  1. It brings the Mercy of God– Psalm 103:17 “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him.” Mercy is compassion or forbearance shown to an offender. A tenderness of heart which disposes a persons to overlook injuries or to treat an offender better than he deserves. 
  • When a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he receives the mercy of God. However, God knows that we are human and fall short of the glory of God after salvation. Because of it, when we mess up, but have a fear of the Lord, God extends his mercy upon us. Thats a great thing! 
  1. It Gives You Wisdom– Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. Wisdom is knowing how to apply what you know, either from experience or from the scriptures. 
  • James 3:13-17 There are two kinds of wisdom that we can have. The wisdom that is NOT from above “is earthly, sensual, devilish”. Then there is a wisdom that comes from above, that is from God and it is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
  • When you get this wisdom from above, it will help you in every area of your life. You will be able to make decisions with full assurance of God’s word and have peace about it. It will be gentle, not pushy. It will keep you out of many troubles, sorrows, and the wrong path of life. 
  1. It brings God’s Blessings– Psalm 112:1 “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.” A blessing is a gift and approval of God. How many of you like it when God blesses you? That’s what happens when you fear God. This can be physical and temporal (food, prosperity, etc) or spiritual and eternal (crowns and treasures in heaven). 
  1. It brings answered Prayer–  Psalm 145:19 “He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him: He also will hear their cry, and will save them.” One of the reasons why Christians don’t get their prayers answered is because they ask of God certain things in prayer but still live the way they want to live: in sin, selfishly, disobedience, pride, and without a fear of God. What if you were in a life or death situation, wouldn’t you want your prayer answered? The fear of the Lord brings positive things like answered prayers. 
  1. It brings pleasure to the Lord– Psalm 147:11 “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fearHim, in those that hope in His mercy.” Do you want God to be pleased with you and your life? Do you want God to smile when he looks down at you? Fear Him and bring much pleasure to the Lord. I want my ways to please the Lord always. 
  1. It will cause you to hate Evil- Proverbs 8:13 Pride, Arrogance, and the evil way and the froward mouth are all bad things that the world loves to do. However, some of these things are also done by saved people and when you fear the Lord, you will stay away from any of those things. Proverbs 16:6 “by the fear of the Lord men depart form evil”. Isaiah 5:20 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness”. 
  • When we fear the Lord we will hate evil thoughts, things, deeds, persons, appearances, and even satan. II Corinthians 7:1 “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”. 
  1. It brings You long Life– Proverbs 10:27 “The fear of the Lord prolongeth days.” Ecclesiastes 7:17 “Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?” When you fear the Lord you wont break laws. 
  1. It brings Confidence– Proverbs 14:26 “In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence.” When we fear the Lord, we have a trust, reliance, and assurance of safety from God and His promises. Romans 8:31 “If God be for us, who can be against us”. 
  1. It may lead a person to Salvation– Luke 12:4-5 A person that is lost and without Christ will die and immediately go to hell. Do you really want to go there? This should cause you to fear the Lord and what He will do if you reject the free gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ. 

Conclusion: If you don’t have a fear of God, today is a good time to start. As you can see, when you have a fear of the Lord, it will bring great benefits to your life, including salvation if you are lost this morning.