I want us to look this morning
in Proverbs 1, verse 7. I titled the message, A Right
Fear of God. In Proverbs 1, verse 7, it says,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise
wisdom and instruction. It says in Psalm 111, 10, the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding
have all they, that do his commandments, his praise endureth forever. There is a right fear of God,
and there is a wrong fear of God. And as the scripture says,
there is no fear of God. I know this, I know that a right
fear of God leads to life. It says in Proverbs 19.23, the
fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide
satisfied. he shall not be visited with
evil, while all other fears lead to death. A life spent without
this God-given fear is a vain, empty life, better off to have
never lived than to live and not have a proper fear of God.
Also, it is an insult to God not to fear Him. To fear man
more than God is to put man in God's place. Now I want to look
at this message under three headings. No fear of God, a wrong fear
of God, and then a right fear of God. First, no fear of God. In Psalm 36.1, it reads, the
transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there is
no fear of God before his eyes. The Amplified version reads it
like this, Transgression speaks like an oracle to the wicked,
the godless, deep within his heart. There is no fear, no dread
of God before his eyes. Paul repeats this in Romans 3.18. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. We have an example of this in
Pharaoh. in Exodus chapter 5 verse 2,
and Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice
to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. Because Pharaoh knew not the
Lord, he did not believe the Lord, therefore he had no fear
of him at all. The ungodly man has no fear of
God, for he does not believe God. God is not real to him. Even though he may say that he
believes there is a God, he has no fear of the God that he is.
Now, because of no fear of God, his heart is setting him to do
evil. Note the next few verses in Psalm
36 verses 2 and 4. For he flattereth himself in
his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. The words
of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He hath left off to be
wise and to do good. He deviseth mischief upon his
bed. He setteth himself in a way that
is not good. He abhorreth not evil. All of
this because he fears not God. His heart is set in him to do
evil. This lack of fear leads him to
value the things of this life far more than the things of God
and life hereafter. The scripture says, where your
treasure is, your heart is. This man who fears not God is
not afraid to do evil, for he fears no retribution. It says
in Ecclesiastes 8.11, Because sentence against an evil work
is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men
is fully set in them to do evil. This man goes out, he breaks
into a house at night, he steals the goods in the house, he goes
home, he goes to bed, he wakes up in the morning, and nothing
happens. And he does it again and again,
and he has no fear of retribution. Because God has not executed
his wrath upon him speedily. His heart is set within him to
do evil. That's why you see so much evil
that goes on in our day. So much crime that goes on because
there's no fear of God. There's no fear of retribution.
And then there is a wrong fear of God. It comes from sin. When Adam fell, he tried to hide
from God, and when God called him, he replied, I heard thy
voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked. Before the fall, Adam did not
know what a wrong fear of God was, only what a right fear of
God was. He had what the old writers call
a philial fear. It's that of a child to his parents.
It was a fear of respect and love. But when he fell, he lost
that. And his fear of God became that
of a slave to a master. And then this wrong fear comes
from ignorance. Remember the servant who was
given one talent? He went and hid his talent in
the ground because he said, Thou art a hard, an austere, a severe
man. It's evident he did not know
his master. Because God is a God of mercy.
God is a God. He delights to show mercy. The
scripture says he's the God of all comfort and the God of all
grace. So it's evident this servant was ignorant as to who his master
really was. Then his wrong fear is also taught
by men. In Isaiah 29, 13, it reads, Wherefore
the Lord said, For as much as this people draw near me with
their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed
their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught
by the preceptive men." This comes from bad teaching, this
fear, this type of fear comes from bad teaching, bad preaching. It comes from preaching like
hellfire brimstone type preaching instead of preaching Christ and
Him crucified. It comes from preaching a place
instead of a person. It comes from preaching torment
instead of preaching Christ. Then this wrong fear of God has
torment. It says in 1 John 4.18, 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. This wrong fear of God is a fear
that has torment to it. You're scared to death that God's
gonna take it out the door in a casket if you don't do this
or if you do that. It's a slavish bondage type of
fear. It's not a fear that's that of
a child to a parent. And then those who have this
wrong fear of God, their worship of God is not from the heart,
which means it is not true worship. It is written in Isaiah 29, 13,
as I just read to you. He says that with their lips,
they do honor me, but their hearts they've removed far from me.
If the heart is not engaged in worship, there is no worship.
And if there's not a right fear of God in the heart, there is
no worship. Here is the right fear of God. Let's look at this
now. The right, a right fear of God. In Proverbs 1, 7, to
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. It's evident if
you fear God, if you have a right fear of God, God has taught you.
God has given you an understanding. Because it says in Psalm 111,
10, the fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. A good understanding
have all they that do his commandments. His praise endureth forever.
Now, let this be clear. Let this be loud and clear. God
is to be feared for who He is. It is written in Psalm 33, 18.
Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him. It says in Jeremiah 5.22, fear
ye not me, do you not fear me, saith the Lord? Will ye not tremble
at my presence? You know, we have this over familiarity
in preaching today of standing in God's presence, of God being
in our presence. God said, will you not tremble
at my presence? which have placed the sand for
the bound of the sea by perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waters thereof
toss themselves, yet can they not prevail? Though they roar,
yet can they not pass over it? Can you not stand by the ocean
and see the power of water and the power of the waves, and that
when they come crashing upon the shore, they have to stop
and recede back? God says, do you not fear me? Do you not tremble at my presence? Can you not look at what I have
made and see, have some understanding of my power? God is omnipotent. There is no measure of his power. Not only does he set the bounds
of the sea, but he sets the bounds of every human being on this
earth. The Scriptures teach us that He holds the breath of every
living thing in His hand. For you to take, and for me to
take, one breath is of God. And then, God is to be feared
because of who He is. He's God. He's omnipotent. He's omnipresent. None can hide
Himself from God. The darkness, he said, is as
light before me. You can't hide from me. If you're
sitting in darkness somewhere, God sees you. And then God is
holy and just. And he said that he will by no
means clear the guilty. Now what does that mean? It means
this. If a man dies guilty, he remains
guilty. As the tree falls, so shall it
lie. There's no change after death.
If we are justified in Christ, if we have been saved in Christ,
if we have been cleansed in Christ, if we've been made righteous
in Christ, that's the way we will be when we die. But if we
die guilty, That's the way we will be, and that's the way God
will deal with us. And then God is said to be a consuming fire.
In Hebrews 12, 29, for our God is a consuming fire. None by
themselves can stand in His presence. As He said to Moses, as the Lord
said to Moses, no one can look on my face and live. No man in
this flesh, in his sinful nature, can look on God and live. This
is why we need a Mediator to stand between us and God. I need
Jesus Christ to stand between me and God. I don't want to deal
with God as absolute God without a Mediator. I want Christ to
stand between me and Almighty God. Now, let's deal with this
right fear of God. It starts with the work of God
in the soul. It begins with the new birth.
I want you to listen to a couple scriptures here. Deuteronomy
529. Here's what the Lord says. Oh, that there were such a heart
in them that they would fear me. You see, it starts in the
heart. And keep all my commandments
always, that it might be well with them and with their children
forever. Oh, that there were such a heart in them that they
would fear me. Now listen to Jeremiah 32, 39
and 40. And I will give them one heart
and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them
and of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good. But now listen, listen, but I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me. Yes, it starts in the
heart. It starts with a new birth. It
starts with God giving us a new heart, a heart that actually
and truly fears Him in a proper way. And then this fear, this
fear of God, this right fear of God is a godly fear. It says
in Hebrews 12, 28, Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we
may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. It is a fear that is said to
be a godly fear. It's not a slavish fear. It's
not a devilish fear. It's not a fear of torment. It
is a godly fear because it is of God. And then it is a fear
that is reverential affection for God. There's a real genuine
love for God for who He is. There's not one thing about God
we would change. And we have a real true reverential
affection for God. And then this right fear of God
is always attended with repentance toward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's always attended with these.
We repent. of our sins, and we look to the
Lord Jesus Christ for all that we need to stand before God.
And then it is a fear that produces true worship. Without this fear,
there can be no true worship of God. Listen to Psalm 2 verse
11. Serve the Lord with fear. Serve
Him with fear. Worship Him with fear. And rejoice
with trembling. And then it's a fear that relieves
us of fear. of the fear of man, of devils,
of sickness. We know that all things are of
God, and this helps to relieve us of useless fear. If we've
truly feared God properly, we have no reason to fear anything
else or anyone else. Now, how do I know that the fear
I have is a right fear of God? Well, first of all, if it runs
you to Christ and not away from Him, if the fear you have makes
you flee to the Lord Jesus Christ and not away from Him, then it's
the right fear of God. Secondly, if it causes you to
forsake your righteousness and receive His righteousness, then
you have a right fear of God. Because God has taught you that
your righteousness, my righteousness, is nothing more than self-righteousness.
which is no righteousness at all. But a right fear of God
will cause you to flee to Jesus Christ for righteousness. And
then a right fear of God is this, if it makes knowing Christ your
greatest desire, if it makes you to know that there's nothing
on this earth that you need more than Jesus Christ, then you have
a right fear of God. And then, if it's a right fear
of God, it causes you to truly depart from evil. Listen, Proverbs
16, 6. By mercy and truth, iniquity
is purged. And by the fear of the Lord,
men depart from evil. Listen to Proverbs 8, 13. The
fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride, and arrogancy in the evil
way. and the froward mouth do I hate. But the fear of God causes us,
teaches us to depart from evil. And then a right fear of God
will keep you from doing what others are doing wrong. I want
you to listen to Nehemiah in Nehemiah 5.15. But the former
governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people. and had taken of them bread and
wine, beside forty shekels of silver. Yea, even their servants
bear rule over the people. But, now listen, but so did not
I, because of the fear of God. I did not do, I did not run with
them or do what they do because of the fear of God. That's what
Nehemiah says. So a right fear of God now will
keep you from doing what others are doing wrong. It'll keep you
from running with the wrong crowd. And then a right fear of God
is evident by this, when we do not take forgiveness of our sins
politely. We don't take them lightly. Listen
to Psalm 130 verse 4. But there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. God's children do not take forgiveness
for granted. They know that He may forgive
and He may not. Forgiveness is His to give. And
we don't take it for granted. We know there's forgiveness with
God. And we know this, that he is
to be feared. And then let me close by saying
this, it is well with them that fear God. Psalm 31, 19, oh, oh,
how great is thy goodness, which thou has laid up for them that
fear thee, which thou has wrought for them that trust in thee before
the sons of men. I pray that God will enable us
to fear Him as we ought to, that we will give unto Him the glory
and honor that is due unto His name. And I do pray that God
would make that fear, a right fear of God, to grow in our hearts
until He takes us home. I pray the Lord bless you.