HOLY FEAR STUDY

Week 1

Introduction

A Barna research study shows from 2000 to Present Day Over 23 million People who were practicing Christians are now non-believers practicing non-Christian religions such as atheism, agnostic, spiritualist etc. But why is that? Because the 23 million people didn't fear God. Have you ever wondered why someone can sit in a church pew for 30 years and still be in bed with somebody's wife or husband? Do you know why a Pastor can preach behind the pulpit, and still cheat on his wife? It's not rocket science. The man and the woman that cheats are the same man and woman that doesn't fear God.

I have studied for 4 months on the fear of the lord using Sermons by John Bevere. I also read the Awe of God by John Bevere. I also watched John Bevere preach a message very similar twice. I pray this message transforms you like it did me. stay tuned till the end. I am sharing a part of John Bevere's message last weekend at gateway Church.

Welcome to week 1. In the first week we are going to break down the word fear. We are going to look at the word fear and how it relates to us as believers. We are also going to look at why churches don't talk the fear of the lord anymore.

FEAR

The word fear has many different meanings. It has a negative meaning which is the meaning most people are familiar with. There is also a positive fear. Then there is a Godly fear. Most people understand negative fear and positive fear but there are only a few people who understand the Godly fear. The Hebrew concept of fear is similar to an English understanding of the word. However, the concept becomes more significant when the fear is directed toward God. While fearing God in the Old Testament can sometimes refer to a terror or dread of God But what about when we are talking about the fear of the Lord? God isn't bad or negative we know God is a good God. He is our heavenly father, our creator who loves us and who made each of us in His image. So why are we supposed to fear the Lord? What is the fear of the Lord? Let's look at what fear means. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "fear as an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger; anxious concern; or unpleasant alarm also it means "profound reverence and awe, especially toward God."

HOLY FEAR

If fear is looked at like a bad thing than why does God say to fear him? If God is loving and gentile like we learn in church and like we read in the Bible than why would he want us to be afraid of him? Fear does not have to be a bad thing. Fear can save your life. There is a difference between a healthy fear of the lord and an unhealthy fear of the lord. Fear is used throughout the Bible, as well. Fear means terror or awe depending on the context. For example, in the Book of Proverbs, Mounce's tells us, "The fear of God is central to the acquisition of wisdom in this sense, fear is a positive quality and something to be pursued in the life of the believer. Ecclesiastes 12:13 tells us the end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Let's break this verse down. For this is the whole duty of man. Fear God and keep his commandments. That's the end of the matter. The end of the natter. We read in Psalms 33:8-9 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be he commanded, and it stood firm. Let's break down this verse. Let all the earth fear the LORD let all the inhabitants of the world animals' plants not just humans. Let all the world stand in AWE of God. What does that mean? What awesome means to humans isn't what it means for God. Do you go to a movie and say wow that was a great movie. Or you may go to a restaurant and say wow that was a great hamburger. That was AWESOME. God is awesome. Not the emotion or feeling but the definition of awesome. Gods' awesomeness is different than our understanding of awesome. God himself is all awesome! Gods character is awesome. So, to answer the question, what is holy fear? Holy fear love's fear is, namely, the kind of fear that is inspired by love. It's a fear based upon reverence and respect for a person or a thing we love. When we genuinely love another person we will live inside of a healthy anxiety, a worry that our actions should never grossly disappoint, disrespect, or violate the other person. We live in holy fear when we are anxious not to betray a trust or disrespect someone. But this is very different from being afraid of somebody or being afraid of being punished.

Now we need to understand why the church doesn't teach holy fear. The church cannot neglect, water down, or avoid preaching the fear of the Lord in the hope of not offending or securing an audience. The fear of the Lord offends, and rightly so. The goal of the church is faithfulness to God, not crowd appeal. The church, as a whole, may have forgotten the fear of the Lord, but it doesn't follow that we should. I truly believe many people do not know about holy fear because the generation before them never taught it. So, it is not their fault. The church cannot ignore the fear of the lord. In week 2 we will discuss more about what scripture says about the fear of the lord.

Week 2

A frequent command given to God's people in the Old Testament is to "fear God" or "fear the Lord.