Fear Him!

 “Oh, fear Yahweh, you His saints; For there is no want to those who fear Him.” Psalm 34:9

At first, it seems uncharacteristic of God that He would command his followers to fear Him. We must understand what fearing God means. It does not mean being afraid of Him. All believers are called to fear Him, but we have no need to be afraid of Him. In fact, if you are afraid of God, you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

A non-believer needs to be afraid of God, very afraid.   Jesus warned, “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who     is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”  Those who deny Jesus as Savior will spend eternity in hell apart from God suffering without end. But, for all who will believe in His Son, the elect, we are not to be afraid but to fear Him.

The Bible repeatedly calls people to fear God. In Psalm 111:10, the psalmist declares that “the fear of the Lord     is the beginning of wisdom”, while Proverbs 23:17       commands, “Live in the fear of the Lord always.” A wise father counsels his son to “fear the Lord and the king” (Prov. 24:21), while Peter exhorted his readers to “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king” (1 Pet. 2:17).

What does it mean to fear God?  John MacArthur gives his definition: “To fear God is to live in the reality of His holiness, His sovereignty, and His judgment of sin. It is to love God, respect Him, reverence Him, adore Him, hold Him in awe, and worship Him. And that can only be done by loving His Son the Savior (John 5:23).” Think about a godly father who raises his children. He loves them and supports them. He teaches them how to be a godly man. His children love him, but they are aware that if they    disobey him, there will be consequences

They love him, respect him, and, yes, fear him. They are not afraid of him that he will harm them, but they understand that to fear him is to love him. We, as believers, love God     but are not afraid of what will happen to us when we die.    We know because we belong to Him, we will spend eternity with Him and every other believer who has ever lived.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark