What Is the Fear of the Lord?
by David K. Bernard
Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Proverbs 9:10, Philippians 2:12-13

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--what-is-the-fear-of-the-lord
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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the word fear even in English but even more so in the biblical languages has a range of meaning so you have to depend on the context to know exactly what it's talking about and I would say when it when the Bible is talking about the fear of the Lord the primary meaning and the connotation is is not being afraid of somebody but it's awe reverence and respect now there is an element when you think of some someone or something that is truly awesome not in our colloquial Modern English but awe inspiring magnificent often there is an element of danger and therefore fear so if you see a majestic Mountain uh or you're in the midst of a hurricane or you're at the edge of a cliff or you're you're at the edge of an ocean all that is a inspiring but part of that is you know if that mountain crumbles I'm dead uh if that Avalanche happens I'm dead if I fall into that sea I'm dead if you know and so there is a close connection so I don't think it's coincidental but the primary focus when the Book of Proverbs repeatedly says for example the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge what it's saying is we have to start with a proper awe reverence and respect that God is omnipotent all powerful omniscient all knowing omnipresent everywhere present he's our creator he's our father he's The Giver of Life and yes there is an element of fear because of someone that magnificent and that powerful if you disobey them there are consequences and so the book of Hebrews does talk about it's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of living God but that's that that being frightened is not the primary connotation I do think it's important for us especially in our Western culture we seem to have lost a sense of reverence and so that's what we need to recapture and as I said so you know even uh going into a church we can be so casual and treated so cavalierly and there's no respect for uh this place where we're meeting with God or no respect for when the spirit of God moves or no respect for leaders that God has chosen not that they're perfect but we we seem to have lost in our culture a respect for any kind of authority and that translates or any sense of sacredness everything is a joke everything is casual everything can be uh made fun of well that's dangerous because God is the author of our salvation and ultimately he will be our judge so just to treat him as our good buddy and make jokes about God and curse using God and use sexually promiscuous language including God that is horrible because you're degrading what is sacred and what is your hope of Salvation so I do think we need to recapture that uh he uh Philippians 2 12 through 13 talks about this uh work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who's working in you and I think that verse 12 highlights something important and I've used this illustration many times but if someone were to hand you um you know a precious antique vase or uh Crystal or somebody give you a stack of precious jewels how would you treat it so let's say you're responsible for transporting it somewhere are you going to just go take off running throwing it up and down from hand to hand juggling as you go are you going to drag it along behind you are you going to throw it at somebody no you're going to take extreme care not that you're afraid of it but you value it so much you don't want it destroyed you have a respect for it if it's an antique or maybe it's an heirloom that comes from your ancestors maybe it's a fragile book so you don't just flip through the pages and and or give them to a a baby you treat it very carefully why you're trying to preserve um you're you're valuing you're respecting uh so you're treating with fear and trembling not as I'm scared that God's going to kill me but I have such a precious gift from God that I don't want to lose it I don't want to destroy it I I don't want to harm it um I don't want to make it trivial where it means nothing to me anymore and so it's that reverential awe of the things of God so we Pentecostals we're used to feeling God's presence every time we pray uh when we come to church we're used to feeling his presence we should never take that for granted but there needs to be a sense of sacredness and awesomeness we to protect that and I don't think the building itself is sacred but there's something about having a reverential attitude towards the things that God uses whether it's a building or songs or ministers because these are vehicles through which God is working and if we trivialize that or make light of that or disrespect that then what means is God going to use if God really wants to get our attention how is he going to do it we've made a mockery of everything that God would ever use and so that's what it's talking about you if you really want to be wise spiritually if you really want to be smart spiritually start with a proper respect for God and the things of God and that's the significance the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom