THE FEAR OF GOD
In this lesson we are discussing the Fear of the Lord, a theological
subject that has intrigued people for the past four or five hundred
years. There is a right kind and a wrong kind of fear, if we are to
believe the word of God. One of the precious messages in the Bible is
"fear not." You will find this expression used about fifty times in
the scriptures. For example, the Lord says "fear not" in Genesis
15:1, Genesis 26:24, Luke 2:10, Luke 12:32, Acts 27:24, and Revelation
1:17. Also, we find variations of the Lord telling someone not to be
afraid when He says things like He said in John 6:20, "It is I; be not
afraid."
But there is a kind of fear that the unsaved man should have, and a
kind of fear that a saved man should have. The same apostle who keeps
writing about being comforted, and not being afraid, etc., said one
time, "...work out your own salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING. For it
is God that worketh in you..." (Phil 2:12-13).
Although we read in I John 4:18, "...perfect love casteth out fear:
because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in
love," we should never forget that the context of John's statement is
limited to the Christian worrying about losing salvation. If there is
one kind of fear that no Christian should be bothered with, it is
letting some heretic upset him with quotations taken out of the
context of Hebrews 3, 6, and 10, Second Peter, or the book of Acts.
If there is one thing God's people have no business doing, they have
no business doubting their salvation, and worrying about going to
hell, when John said in I John 4:17, "...as he is, so are we in this
world." The born again child of God has been "...accepted in the
beloved" (Eph. 1:6), and although there may be many things which he
may have to be afraid of, going to hell is not one of them. Notice
how clearly this is brought out in the word of God in I John 4:17-18:
"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no
fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath
torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."
Now, the Transcendental Meditationists, the Buddhists, the half-
Buddhists, and the pseudo-Hindus have taken these verses out of their
Biblical context to prove that fear is an unhealthy motive, is
negative, and therefore is not to be tolerated in regards to man's
dealings with God in any line. Of course, this is a Satanic teaching
that comes from making a liar out of God. The Bible says in Psalm
111:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The Bible
says in Job 28:28, "...the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom..." Second
Samuel 23:3 says, "...He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in
the fear of God."
The outstanding characteristic of the modern humanists who pervert the
passage of I John to teach all love and no fear is the fact that they
are demon possessed, according to Romans 3:18. They match perfectly
the picture of degenerate man, totally depraved, and given over to the
devil. It says in Romans 3:18 that their outstanding characteristic
is "There is no fear of God before their eyes." In plainer words, the
doctrinal teaching of the word of God is that a certain kind of fear
is very, very healthy for a saved man or an unsaved man. The unsaved
man who fears God will not take chances that might cause God to strike
him down. The saved man who fears the Lord does not take chances that
might ruin his testimony, ministry, usefulness, or might cut his life
short.
When Paul says to the born again child of God, "Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling," he is very careful to add, "For it
is God which worketh in you..." (Phil. 2:12-13). The born again
believer has the Holy Spirit in him, trying to make him Christ-like,
and trying to make him be what God wants him to be. In view of this,
the Christian had better work out his salvation (it didn't say "work
at it") "with fear and trembling," because God is working inside the
believer's body. Now, this great Bible doctrine of the Fear of the
Lord should be gotten down pat by the believer, and he should be
absolutely certain about its true nature, because the people who don't
fear God are always worrying about losing their salvation for some
reason.
The general adage still holds true that "a man who fears God will not
fear men," and "a man who fears men does not fear God." When you find
some big, blustering, bull-shooting bully running around saying, "I'm
going to beat up on that preacher, and I'll show them that I'm an
atheist, and the fellow can't talk to me like that. I m going
to...blah, blah, blah," do you know what you are dealing with? You
are dealing with a man who is trying to put on a show before men
because he worries what men think about him. He is a coward. Haven't
you got that figured out? Let me tell you something. When a man
really fears the Lord, men don't bother him.
What you think about me should be as immaterial to me as if you
weren't even listening to my voice. And let me tell you something--a
man who wants to please God and do what God wants him to do the way
God wants him to do it is not concerned with what you think about it.
You just think anything you jolly well please. If you don `t like it,
put the booklet down. I'm not going to worry about the opinions of
you or your friends. The general adage is true--if a man fears God,
he does not fear men; and if a man fears men, he does not fear God.
When you find these people who are always worried about putting on a
show in front of men, they are men who do not fear God. The are
afraid of what men think of them.
The Fear of the Lord and the Fear of God, as found in Proverbs 14:26-
27, and as taught throughout Proverbs, means that a man. when he is
faced with the holiness and righteousness ot God, should be afraid.
The Scofield notes say that it means a reverential trust, with a
hatred of evil. Of course, it doesn't mean that at all. You are told
in your Bible that a reverence and a fear of God are two entirely
different things. Notice this, please, given in the New Testament,
and given so very clearly that you cannot possibly miss it:
"...whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:28-29). The Lord said in
Deuteronomy 4:10, "...Gather me the people together, and I will make
them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that
they shall live upon the earth..." The essential thing about the Fear
of the Lord is that you fear God enough that you pay attention to what
He says. Deuteronomy 6:13 says, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God,
and serve him...." The wise man in Ecclesiastes 12:13 said, "Let us
hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his
commandments...."
Now, if you want to know what is wrong with America, I can tell you.
It will include the idiot tube, pornographic "literature," X-rated
movies, juvenile delinquency, lack of parental confrontation,
disobedience and lack of discipline in the schools, the shenanigans
and the communistic activities of every government agency in America.
I mean, if you want to boil it right down, and define what is wrong in
this country in regard to inflation, taxes, left-wing candidates, and
no equal time for anyone who is a conservative, I can tell you. You
say, OK, smarty pants, what is it? Why, it's simple--America has
ceased to fear God.
Once, America did fear God. There were unsaved men in this country in
1840 through 1930 who were more concerned about God dealing with them
in punishment, wrath, and chastisement, than the saved people now in
1990 who know the Lord, and know that, "For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (Heb. 12:6).
Did you know that when the Union and Confederate troops went into
battle between 1861 and 1865, men left their playing cards in the
bivouac area before the attack? Do you know why they did it? Because
they did not want to be caught dead with a deck of cards on them.
And, a lot of them were unsaved young men. What do you make of that?
That's a long way from the "Sermon on a Deck of Cards" someone is
singing now, ain't it? (That's the Aramaic for "Is it not?")
This country has ceased to fear God. So, do you know what God is
doing? He is cleaning house. You are not going to grow barley, corn,
and wheat to feed hungry folks with, and then pour it down your throat
in the form of liquor, and then refuse to double the taxes on it,
while you have doubled the price of milk. You are not going to do
that and get away with it. You just think you are going to get away
with it. This country just thinks it can put up billboards of semi-
nude women, and put nude women in its movie ads, and run pornographic,
X-rated stuff all over this country on TV in the living room on Sunday
night and Saturday night for the kiddies to see. This country just
thinks it is going to go on drinking liquor like it is water, and
throwing dope around, and then justifying the use of it. Americans
just think that they are going to do that and get away with it. They
are not going to get away with anything.
The Bible says in Psalms 9:17 that "The wicked shall be turned into
hell, and all the nations that forget God." Proverbs 14:34 says that
"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any
people."
There are certain things which you are to fear, and certain things
which you are not to fear. Second Kings 17:38 says, "And the covenant
that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear
other gods." You are not to get worried about poverty, disease, or
lack of education--the gods of the heathen. You are not to fear the
gods of the heathen--peace, security, prosperity, and other idols.
You are not to fear man. Saul's mistake that he confessed to Samuel
was, "I feared the people" (I Samuel 15:24). That is why Herod had
John the Baptist's head cut off--because he feared to go back on his
vow. Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man bringeth a snare...." You
are not to be afraid of the face of man. Peter said in Acts 5:29, "We
ought to obey God rather than men." We are not to fear earthly
calamities. We are told to look up. We are told to look unto Jesus.
Christ said in Matthew 10:28, "And fear not them which kill the
body...but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell."
We're not to fear the Roman Catholic popes and pagan papists, although
they are out to take over this country. We are to be wise and know
what is going on. We should know the dangers and evils of these
matters, and protest against them.
But fear them? Not on your life!
The Bible says in Hebrews 13:5-6, "For he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is
my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." The true
believer does not fear future punishment. We don't worry about going
to hell. Perfect love casteth out fear. Therefore, we have boldness
in the day of judgment. We are not to fear fear. I mean, the idea of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt standing up in 1941, and saying, "We have
nothing to fear but fear itself." Nonsense. You had better fear the
judgment of God on sin. You had better fear God's holiness if you are
an unsaved man, and not trust in your own righteousness. "And fear
not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell"
(Matthew 10:28). We have nothing to fear but fear itself? Oh, cut it
out, man! Quit pulling my leg! Trouble and anguish shall make the
unsaved man afraid, but the believer casts all his earthly fears on
the Lord. Simon Peter says about the believer in I Peter 5:7,
"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
Only one legitimate fear remains, and that is a holy fear of the Lord
God Himself. Somebody said, You are upsetting these people, and
teaching them to be afraid of God, and putting the fear of God in
them. The fear of God is the most healthy fear you ever had in your
life, you hypocrite. Some of you hypocrites I am talking to now are
afraid of car wrecks, aren't you? So, you have collision and
liability insurance? Answer! Yes or no? Don't stand there with your
thumb in your mouth, and talk about the psychological damage done by
negative preaching, and scaring these children with Biblical passages
on hell. Get off your high horse, man! Just answer me. Aren't some
of you afraid of getting sick, and that's why you carry Red Cross,
Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and all that stuff? Yes or no? Isn't it
true that some of you are worried that you won't get married? And
some of you are afraid that you will? Come on, don't kid me. Go kid
your grandmother. Don't give us all the gas about the "psychological
implications," "total thrust of the indepth experiences" of
psychiatric research would indicate that the "negative value of
instilling the fear of the Lord overbalances and counterbalances the
good that it may have done by..." Get off it, kid! You are liable to
get hit out here in the traffic.
The truth of the matter is that some of you are afraid of getting old.
Some of you are afraid of cancer. Some of you fear leukemia. Some of
you are afraid that you won't get a raise. Some of you are afraid
that you are going to get laid off work. Yes or no? How did you miss
the fear of the Lord, and what are you doing standing up and telling
Bible-believing preachers that fear is an unhealthy motive and bad to
have, when you yourself guide your whole life by it? You have Social
Security because you are worried about your old age. You bought fire
insurance because you're worried about your house burning down.
You've got collision and liability insurance because you are worried
about having a wreck. And you have the gall to sit there and tell a
Bible believer that you don t believe in fearing God? You are crazy.
You are out of your mind, man. You are telling me that you don't fear
the One who is holy and righteous, who flung the stars into space, who
created the galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters, the One who made
your body and gave you life and breath to live on, and has fed you to
this day, has been merciful to you a thousand times, and got you out
of all kinds of disastrous troubles. You don't fear Him? But, you're
worrying about cancer, aren't you ? Boy, you re a balanced character,
aren't you! Imagine some of you psychiatrists talking about us
preachers being fanatics! Ain't that a flip! And imagine some of you
pagan humanists talking about us being extremists! Aren't you cute?
That Book says in Deuteronomy 13:4, "Ye shall walk after the Lord your
God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and
ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him."
Simon Peter says of the Christian in I Peter 2:17, "Honor all men.
Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king." David said, "Ye
that fear the Lord, praise him...glorify him; AND FEAR HIM...." (Psalm
22:23)
Acts 9:31 said about the New Testament Christians under grace in the
local church that they were "...walking in the fear of the
Lord...and...were multiplied." Cornelius was said to be a man who
feared God (see Acts 10:2). Second Corinthians 7:1 tells us that the
fear of God teaches us to live circumspect lives. "Let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." A man who doesn' t fear God is not a
Christian, and a man who doesn't fear God doesn't have good sense.
Outside of that, he may be a very highly educated and religious
fellow. There are a lot of them running around!
Next, what is The Fear of the Lord, specifically? The following
verses are the definitions given by the Holy Bible where the Holy
Spirit is defining the fear of the Lord, and telling you what it is
Paul used to say of the Charismatics of his day who were always
"hubbledy bubbledy, hosta la shondai, untie a bowtie" (and trying to
convince somebody that they were gifted), "If any man think himself to
be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I
write unto you are the commandments of the Lord" (I Corinthians
14:37). And, let me preface my remarks by saying this. If any man
thinks that I am just talking through my hat, giving you my private
interpretation, or giving you just what some denomination teaches, you
better understand, brother, that the verses I am going to quote are
definitions by the Holy Spirit given about the subject under
discussion. You see, I am not going to tell you what I think, for in
the following verses, the words given are The fear of the Lord IS.
I'm not going to tell you what the Bible teaches, but what the Bible
SAYS. And, since we are studying the Fear of the Lord, which is a
biblical expression (see Job 28:28), we are going to see what the
Bible says the Fear of the Lord is. Are you ready?
Number one. Proverbs 8:13: "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil..."
Is that clear? Humanistic relativists who think evil and good are the
same, or that good is evil, or that evil is good, relativists who
think there is no such thing as evil, and that it all depends on how
you look at it, I wonder if they know what their problem is? There is
no fear of God before their eyes. If you don't know the difference
between good and evil, how do you hate evil? "The fear of the Lord is
to hate evil." That's the Holy Spirit's definition. Then, obviously,
your definition is given to you by an unholy spirit. The Holy Spirit
said, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil." What do you say? Well,
then, it must be some other spirit guiding you, fellow.
Number two. Psalm 111:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom...." Wisdom doesn't begin with a high school education. Wisdom
doesn't begin with a college education. Wisdom doesn't begin with The
Harvard Five Foot Shelf of Classics. Wisdom doesn't begin with a
major in physics. Wisdom doesn't begin with an understanding of
Einstein's theory of relativity. "The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom." Until a man learns to fear God, he has not begun
to learn anything! A man starts to get wise when he begins to learn
to fear God. And if you haven't learned that, you are not a beginner.
You are not even a primary. You are still in the nursery, my friend.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
Number three. Proverbs 15:16: "Better is little with the fear of the
Lord than great treasure...." "The fear of the Lord is his treasure"
(Isaiah 33:6). The fear of the Lord, then, is a valuable thing. It
is worth more than silver or gold because it will keep you out of
trouble that silver or gold cannot get you out of. When Paul says to
the New Testament Christian in Galatians 6:7-8, "Be not deceived; God
is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption,"
he is warning you that a person can do things (if he doesn't fear God)
that he cannot fix with money. Is that clear? If it isn't clear,
then why isn't it? One of my best friends used to be a highway
patrolman out of Fort Worth for fifteen years before he got saved,
left the patrol, and became a minister. Do you know what he told me?
He said, "When I was a highway patrolman, and covered the highways on
my paticular route, at one time or another in fifteen years I ran into
people trying to commit suicide. I mean, they had the hose and carbon
monoxide in the car, the whole works. You know what impressed me?"
I said, "What?"
He said, "Well, all five of those cars were Cadillacs, Lincolns, or
Mercedes Benzes. There was not one man out there trying to finish
himself off who was making less than $40,000 per year." Now, do you
know what was wrong with those poor sinners? They didn't have any
treasure. Proverbs 15:16 says that the fear of the Lord is the
believer's treasure. "Better is little with the fear of the Lord than
great treasure and trouble therewith." I guess Howard Hughes knows all
about that now. But it's a little late now, isn t it?
Number four. Proverbs 14:27: "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of
life...." Poor Ponce de Leon came over here, looking for the fountain
of youth, and spent his times in the swamps with yellow fever, flies,
mosquitoes, banyon trees, cypress roots, and gum stumps trying to find
a fountain that could make him live forever. Well, "The fear of the
Lord is a fountain of life."
Number five. Psalm 19:9: "The fear of the Lord is clean...." It
keeps you out of trouble. It is sanctifying. It will make you
careful of how you walk, son. "The fear of the Lord is clean," David
said in Psalm 19:9. If David feared the Lord like he should have, he
would not have taken Bathsheba as his wife, and murdered her husband.
Do you know how David got in that trouble and got unclean temporarily?
By not fearing God! The fear of the Lord is not negative. It is not
destructive. It is not damaging. It does not give you a guilt
complex. "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever..." (Psalm
19:9). In plainer words, what the psychiatrists and shrinks think
about modern fear is nonconsequential, and is not even relevant to the
discussion. What some shrink feels about the fear of the Lord has
nothing to do with Biblical truth. I would not even ask his opinion
about it. After all, having read Dewey, Russell, Mesmer, Angyal,
Jung, Pavlov, and Menninger, why would we be interested, anyway? The
man who does not fear God fears men.
Number six. Hebrews 12:28: "...let us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." The fear of the
Lord is godly. There is a difference between reverence and fear; and
the fear of the Lord is godly.
So, what do we know about the biblical doctrine of the Fear of the
Lord? We know that no matter how much humanists and socialists talk
about negativism, negativism, negativism, they are the most negative
people in the world when you give them the word of God. No matter how
much these people talk about guilt complexes, upsetting people, and
disturbing people, all that they are doing is attacking the convicting
work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in this world to convince
men of sin because they believe not on Christ, and if they don't
believe on Christ, they go to hell. Therefore, the fear of the Lord
is a negative conviction brought upon the sinner by the Holy Ghost.
When you hear a man trying to talk somebody out of fearing God, you
are dealing with a man who is a paid professional, whose life is
dedicated to overthrowing the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.
After all, what he says about it is of no consequence, because the
Bible itself teaches that the fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil.
The fear of the Lord is wisdom. The fear of the Lord is a treasure.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. The fear of the Lord is
clean. The fear of the Lord endures forever. The fear of the Lord is
godly, not ungodly. Therefore, a man who does not fear God does not
hate evil. He is not wise, he is broke. He will not live forever.
He is unclean, and he is ungodly. According to Proverbs 8:13, Psalm
111:10, Proverbs 15:16, Proverbs 14:27; Psalm 19:9, and Hebrews 12:28,
a word to the wise is sufficient. And, if you are not wise, then
don't forget, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." May
you start today putting God first and men second, for "The fear of man
bringeth a snare" (Prov 29:25). Jesus Christ said, "But I will
forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed
hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him" (Luke
12:5).
If you are already saved, remember, there is one thing you never have
to fear. You never have to fear the day of judgment and going to
hell, for, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
on thee" (Isa. 26:3) "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day,
and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8). For the Christian, Paul's prayer was
that the believer "...be preserved blameless unto the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23).
Now let us continue our study on the fear of God, and discuss briefly
the motives that cause us to fear God, the results of fearing God, and
why the fear of the Lord is necessary. In these lessons, we are
adhering strictly to the word of God, and where theologians have
crossed or correctcd the word of God, we quite naturally cross and
correct them.
Motives for Fearing God
Number one: The holiness af God should cause us to fear Him. I
realize that fear is classified by psychiatrists as an unhealthy
motive, but that is because these people are mentally unhealthy
themselves. All of the shrinks and psychologists who recommend to you
that you get rid of fear carry life insurance. So, it is rather
hypocritical to start with. When a man talks to you about getting
fear out of your life, it is certainly the talk of a man who is
mentally unbalanced, or somewhat of a hypocrite himself. You folks I
am talking to carry life insurance, health insurance, collision and
liability insurance, fire insurance, and some of you are on Social
Security, aren't you? I think you are! So, all this nonsense about
"fear as an unhealthy motive" is the talk of a two-tongued hypocrite.
There's nothing to it. If fear is an unhealthy motive, then ninety-
five percent of the doctors and lawyers in America are just as sick in
the head as they can be.
The truth of the matter is that fear is a very healthy motive. As a
matter of fact, it is the fear of going through a red light in an
intersection that keeps you alive. Strangely enough, when we get into
the religious realm, the modernists and liberals (who are scared to
death of going to hell themselves, so they try to pretend it is not
there by making a liar out of God) get the sickly idea that it is all
right to fear man, death, disease, and poverty, but it is a dirty sin
to fear God. The Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10), "The fear of the Lord is his {the
believer's} treasure" (Isaiah 33:6), "The fear of the Lord is a
fountain of life" (Proverbs 14:27), and "The fear of the Lord is
clean, enduring forever" (Psalm 19:9).
In Revelation 15:4, we read, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and
glorify thy name? for thou only art holy...." The reason why
Americans don't fear God is because their God is an unclean god. He
is a hippie god of love. The god of the average American is a hippie
kind of bum. You don't have to be afraid of him; he won't hurt you.
He'll just kiss you, give you a handout, or come to you for a handout.
Of course, this is not the God of the Bible!
When we discussed the descriptions of God the Father in lessons 1
through 4 of this series, we came to understand that God was
omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-
pervading, ever eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable; such
a God, my friend, is to be feared. The greatness of God causes us to
fear him. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, "And now, Israel, what doth the
Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God...."
Deuteronomy 10:17 says, "For the Lord your God is God of gods...."
That is, Chariots of the Gods is play stuff. Our God is the God of
gods. So don't worry about Jupiter, Zeus, Apollo, Venus, Diana,
Adonis, Mercury, Baal, Ashtoreth, and all the kiddies. Our God is the
God of gods. Never mind the astronauts, flying saucers, and the
things that come down that pretend they're from Ezekiel 1 when they're
not. Never mind all of that kiddie stuff. Our God is "God of gods,
and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible" (Deuteronomy
10:17).
Number two: The goodness of God causes us to fear Him. Samuel says,
"Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for
consider how great things he hath done for you" (I Samuel 12:24). The
goodness of God should lead a man to fear Him, for surely if God can
be as good as He is to men who don't deserve that goodness, then
certainly there is another side to God's nature that will be manifest
sooner or later. Paul says to behold the goodness of God, and in the
same sentence, he says to behold the severity of God (Romans 11:22).
Number three: The forgiveness of God should cause us to fear Him.
David said in Psalm 130:4, "But there is forgiveness with thee, that
thou mayest be feared." Joshua. reviewing the Lord's work, says that
the wondrous works that God did for the nation of Israel should cause
them to fear Him (Joshua 4:24).
Number four: Coming Judgments should cause the sinner to fear the
Lord, because in Revelation 14:7 we read, "Fear God, and give glory to
him; for the hour of his judgment is come." Now, I realize, of course,
that many of you have no fear of God at all. You are the ones who are
afraid of men. The old axiom is true: where a man fears God, men
don't bother him very much. And, where men are afraid of men, then
they don't fear God. That is the rule.
If you want to know what is wrong with America, it would include the
idiot box, the juvenile delinquency rate, the drugs and high crime in
the ghettos in New York, Chicago, and Detroit, people being kicked out
of jobs in the government because of private conversations; that is,
if you want to know how America became a totalitarian, fascist
dictatorship ruled by a minority you can state it in one sentence:
There is no fear of Cod before their eyes! A man who fears God
instead of the news media would not behave as our leaders have. A man
who fears God would not go around digging up smut and print it in a
newspaper, and then call it a news item. A man who fears God would
keep his nose out of other people's business, and would not parade it
on three networks. Do you see what I mean, jellybean?
The trouble with this country is very simple. It has ceased to fear
God. It instead fears adverse publicity. And, where the United
States ceases to fear God, it will fear Russia and China. In World
War II, it feared Germany. America feared a country no bigger than
the state of Oregon. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine forty-
eight states (in alliance with Russia and England) being afraid of a
country no bigger than one state?
Where there is no fear of God, there is fear of man. Where there is
fear of God, there is no fear of man. The thing that enabled martyrs
to go to the stake, laugh about it, kiss the stake, and pray for their
tormentors and captors was the fact that they feared God instead of
the stake or their captors.
Why The Fear of the Lord is Necessary
Number one: It is necessary to worship. Psalm 5:7 says, "...in thy
fear will I worship..." It is necessary in service. Psalm 2:11 says,
"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." It is
necessary to keep us from sin. Exodus 20:20 says, "Fear not: for God
is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that
ye sin not." Now, notice this apparent contradiction that unsaved
elders, priests, bishops, deacons, cardinals, and popes could never
understand. "Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his
fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not." The unsaved,
unregenerate religious leader reasons, "Why would he say, `Fear not,'
and then say `Fear'? Doesn't the Bible say, `Perfect love casteth out
fear'?" Yes it does, but then why does it also say, "...work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12)? When Christ
said, "Be not afraid..." (Matthew 28:10), "Peace be unto you" (Luke
24:36), and when Paul said, "For God hath not given us the spirit of
fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7),
why does the Bible also say, "...let us have grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a
consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:28-29)? Why, it is very simple to figure
out, if you are saved--unless you are a backslidden, ecumenical
Christian looking to get a good income.
If you are one of these Christians who is going along with the world
system in order to build yourself a monument, become a celebrity, gain
a large following, and have people speak well of you, it's pretty hard
to understand, isn't it? But if you are a saved man in whom the Holy
Spirit dwells, and who has a Bible written and preserved by that Holy
Spirit, it's very simple. Any man who has a good father feared his
father and loved him at the same time. If you didn't, you either had
a poor father, or you were a punk child. Everyone I am talking to who
has a good mother or a good father understands the text. And if you
don't understand that, you haven't had proper upbringing; and believe
me, whether you had it or not, God the Father will not make the
mistakes that your parents made. The Bible says in Isaiah 66:13, "As
one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you...." Christ said
in Matthew 7:11, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven
give good things to them that ask him?" If you have not had the right
upbringing, don't get on me for recalling it to your mind. You can
get the right upbringing now. But you will have to have God as your
Father to do it.
Number two: the fear of the Lord is necessary for good government.
David said in 2 Samuel 23:3, "He that ruleth over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God." A man, who is the President of the United
States, a king, or a governor, and who doesn't fear God is an
abomination, and has no business being in the office. What right does
any man have to tell somebody what to do when that man himself has no
fear of God, but is only afraid of votes, politicians, inflation,
unemployment, and the news media? Get him out! A God-fearing man
will be careful what he says. A God-fearing man will be careful how
he treats God and God's word. A God-fearing man will not do what some
church tells him to do. He will do what God tells him to do. A God-
fearing man will not let a religious dictator like the pope dictate
religious policy to him. He will go by the book. A God-fearing man
will not regard the whine and cry of special-interest groups and
lobbies who only want to overthrow the government. You need a God-
fearing man. When a man does not fear God, he is not going to do
anything in office except make a mess of things.
Number three: The fear of God is necessary for the administration of
justice. The fear of God is necessary for the perfecting of holiness
in the Christian's life. Paul says, "...work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you...."
(Phil. 2:12-13). He didn't say there that you could work to get
saved. You may already have salvation. But you are to work it out.
He said to work out what God has worked in.
The Results of Fearing God
Finally, what are the results of fearing the Lord? This "fear of the
Lord" which unsaved people are so afraid of, and get neurotic and
psychotic about (and the world is filled with them), brings what kind
of result? If a man actually feared God like the Bible told him to,
does it make him psychotic? Does it make him a candidate for the
funny farm? What are the results of fearing the Lord? Did you ever
think about it?
There are twelve results that come from a man fearing God.
Number one: The man gets wisdom. "The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10). If you want to know what will
keep you out of more trouble, scrapes, sorrow, hcadaches, and
heartaches more than anything else in the world, it is the simple,
clean, and enduring fear of God.
Number two: It brings pleasure to the Lord. The Bible says in Psalm
147:11, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that
hope in his mercy."
Number three: It causes the Lord `s pity for the child of God to
increase. The Bible says in Psalm 103:13, "Like as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."
Number four: It brings acceptance with God. In Acts 10:35, Peter
said, "But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh
righteousness, is accepted with him." The case was an unsaved Gentile
who followed his conscience. Although that Gentile was unsaved, and
needed to hear the gospel to be saved, because he feared God and
followed and obeyed his conscience, God got the gospel to him, sent
him a missionary, and that Gentile (Cornelius) was born again by
believing the gospel. The Lord accepted Cornelius' prayer for further
light, and gave him that further light on the truth, because he feared
Him.
Number five: It brings the mercy of God. Psalm 103:17 says, "But the
mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that
fear him...."
Nunber six: It brings blessing. Psalm 112:1 says, "Blessed is the
man that feareth the Lord...." Now. what do you have to say about it?
The Bible says, "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord." What do
you say? What about some of you who are always quoting the Sermon on
the Mount like you thought you had good sense, and talking about "I'm
OK, you're OK, we're all OK. Think positively, life is beautiful,
etc." How come you are always saying, "Blessed are the pure in heart,"
"blessed are the meek," and never quote "Blessed is the man THAT
FEARETH THE LORD"? A little unbalanced there, aren't you? What are
you doing quoting the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, but not
the beatitudes in Psalms 112:1? The Bible doesn't say, "Blessed is
the man who thinks that God will put up with anything." The Bible
doesn't say, "Blessed is the man who thinks positive thoughts." The
Bible doesn't say, "Blessed is the man who always thinks beautiful
thoughts." The Bible says, "Blessed is the man that FEARETH THE LORD"
(Psalm 112:1).
Number seven: It brings confidence. Proverbs 14:26 says, "In the
fear of the Lord is strong confidence."
Number eight: Fear brings separation from evil. Proverbs 16:6 says,
"...by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." Today, there is
little fear of God in any country, so there is an abundance of evil.
That is all there is to it. You can put America's problem down in one
line. The people who write the television plays do not fear God. The
people who publish the pornographic magazines do not fear God. The
government administration officials in control are only worried about
losing their jobs; they are not worried what GOD thinks of them. That
is all there is to it. When a nation ceases to fear God, it goes down
the drain.
"By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil" (Prov. 16:6). So,
who in America is going to depart from evil, I ask you? Why, they are
going to go right on doing what they want to, and saying evil is good,
good is evil, everything is relative, and it depends on how you look
at it, and go right on with their devilment until this nation is sunk.
Can't you figure that out? The Bible says, "The wicked shall be
turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).
The Bible says in Proverbs 14:34, "Righteousness exalteth a nation:
but sin is a reproach to any people." The Bible says, "Except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain" (Psalm 127:1). And
that goes for a nation, a church, and a school, as well as a
household.
These are very terrible things that I am talking about. I understand
that. I know they are very hard, brutal facts, but you have heard
them indirectly in milder forms from evangelists at different times.
In this country fifty years ago, you would have heard them from every
old time, Bible believing preacher in every pulpit in the United
States. What do you suppose happens to a country where a congregation
of people who want to do wrong come, sit, and listen to a man who is
afraid of them, and is afraid to tell them what is wrong because he
doesn't fear God? He fears his congregation more than he fears God.
Don't you know that church is going to be in a mess?
It is not hard to guess what is wrong with America. It isn't hard at
all. If the preachers have so little fear of God that they change the
Bible in every other verse, and think that because they have twenty
years of education they are smart enough to change it, what do you
think those congregations are going to do? Preachers in America have
so little fear of God left in them that they are altering and changing
the Bible three and four thousand times (there are 30,000 changes
between the New American Standard Version and the Authorized Version).
The Living Bible (called a "Bible") is not even a Bible; it is a
paraphrase. As a matter of fact, it is not even a paraphrase. I've
got 300 references here to show that it is not a paraphrase--it is a
commentary. It was Kenneth Taylor's commentary, and what he thought
the Bible taught. It is not a paraphrase, per se. Anyone who knows
grammar and English should have enough sense to see that. Now, let me
ask you something. If the preachers in America have so little fear of
God that they wouldn't hesitate to tamper with the word of God in
30,000 places, what kind of congregations do you think they are going
to produce? God-fearing, righteous congregations? No! They are
going to produce humanistic congregations. They are going to produce
smart aleck lawyers, doctors, and bankers who think because they make
$100,000 per year that they are intelligent. "The fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom," not a college education! "And by the fear
of the Lord, men depart from evil" (Prov. 16:6).
Do you know why some of your sons don't cast off the chains of
restraint, and just go to hell all the way? Because some of them are
still afraid of what daddy might do to them. Did you know that? Some
of you unsaved people who are reading these words, do you know that
your son has got more sense than you've got? Your son is afraid that
you will take the car away from him, not buy the license for him, or
quit giving him the money for gas if he doesn't straighten up (or at
least cover up his devilment, or lie his way through). Fear is a
good, healthy motive, and it keeps your son from getting into a lot of
devilment he would get into if he didn't fear you. And he knows it!
And yet, some of you people I am talking to don't fear God. And you
fancy that you are intelligent! All you are going to do is get in the
trouble your son would get into if the restraints were taken off him.
This truth now brings up the problem of the modern educational system,
the National Education Association ("NEA"), the work of Mann, Greely,
Pestalozzi, Giovanni Gentile, and the modern educators: what we call
behavioristic psychology. I don't have a lot of time to go into it,
but the long and short of it is that there are basically two
philosophies about training and education: the modern one and the old
one.
The old system of education--the philosophy of education, called
educational philosophy--was that a child was unruly, and by natural
bent tended to mischief, and must be restrained. Whether the teacher
believed in the depravity of man, the need for the new birth, or the
Bible is immaterial at this point in our discussion, because we are
talking about a basic approach to education; the teacher did not
necessarily need to be a Christian in order to implement this
philosophy. The teacher might be an atheist, a Roman Catholic, or a
Jew. I am not talking ahout any religious preference. I am talking
about two basic attitudes towards education. In the old system, it
was taken for granted that the child's natural bent was to evil, and,
therefore, the child should be restrained and prevented from evil; the
child should be given inducements to do right, be rewarded for doing
right, and be punished for doing wrong.
In contrast, the modern system of education which came up in the 1920s
and 1930s, and blossomed in the 1950s and 1960s was simply this:
people are basically GOOD (which is the teaching of liberals connected
with the National Council of Churches of Christ). That is, while
professing to separate church and state, the church teaching of
religious liberals was incorporated into the educational system. The
system now believes that since the child is basically good (which is a
religious conviction), restraints should be taken off, and the natural
bent of the child should be encouraged. Rather than punish evil, the
child should be taught to make up his own mind about what is good and
evil. If the child decides that evil is good and good is evil, that
is all right for the child as long as it works for the child. In
curriculum terminology, this is called values clarification (alternate
spelling, "H-E-L-L"). It simply means that educated sinners overthrow
God's standards of righteousness, and set up their own.
Educated people have always had a way to tell it like it ain't by
speaking about "innate capacities and latent potentialities, and the
validation of ethnic communication in dialogue with a meaningtul
relevant symbolism which crosses the barrier between the heteronomous
influence, and the autonomy of the environment...." You see, by giving
you all that garbage in thirty dollar words, they make you think
something is going on that is not going on. Do you know what is going
on? I know! The teachers are taking the bridle off of sanity and
morality, and then talking about a "generation gap." Ain't that a
flip?
So, one of the results of fearing the Lord is departing from evil, and
where there is no fear of the Lord, there is no departing from evil.
You say. "Well, I don't like..." You don't like a lot of things, but
that is the truth. The truth is that when men fear God, they depart
from evil, and where they don't, they don't. Your child wouldn't be
safe in a town where somebody didn't fear God. You read me? If the
fear of the Lord is taken completely out of your town, your town won't
be safe to live in. Got it? You say, "I still think..." You didn't
have any sense to start with, or you would have gotten it the first
time it came through. I am not talking about opinions. We are
dealing here with scientific law. If you don't believe it, stay in a
neighborhood where there is no fear of God, and watch what happens to
you and your family.
Number nine: The fear of the Lord brings Christian fellowship.
Malachi 3:16 says, "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to
another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it."
Number ten: It supercedes the fear of man. The Lord said in Isaiah
8:12-13, "...neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the
Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear." Quit fearing man!
Start fearing God! Start putting God first in your life instead of
your family. Start putting God's word first instead of the newspaper.
God first! I say "first," because He said, "Let him be your fear."
You want to be afraid of an opinion? Be afraid of what God thinks
about you. If you want to be afraid of gossip, be afraid of what God
says about you up in glory. If you want to be afraid of what will
happen to you if you don't obey men, start being afraid of what God
will do to you if you don't obey God.
Number eleven: It brings answered prayer. The fear of the Lord is a
healthy, clean, good, enduring, positive thing. Psalm 145:19 says,
"He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear
their cry, and will save them."
Number twelve: It brings long life. If you are just plain carnal,
that might be the best of it. Proverbs 10:27 says, "The fear of the
Lord prolongeth days."
Those are twelve results of fearing the Lord. It brings pleasure to
the Lord. It brings wisdom. It causes the Lord's pity to increase.
It brings acceptance with God. It brings the mercy of God. It brings
blessings, confidence, separation from evil, and Christian fellowship.
It does away with the fear of man. It brings answers to prayer, and
it prolongs your life. Now, my dear friend, what do you want more
than that? You say, "Money." Well, if you can get the prayers
answered, live a long time, get blessings, get mercy from God, and
have wisdom, you can make all the money God intended you to have. We
should pray that God will teach us to fear Him.
David said in Psalm 86:11, "Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in
thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name." The fear of the Lord is
the healthiest motive on earth today; alongside the fear of the Lord,
positive thinking does not even run a close third. The positive
thinking mentioned in Philippians 4 is for the prayer life of the born
again believer. The fear of the Lord is for both saved and lost men,
in any station of life, any sex or race, anywhere on the face of the
earth.