1. Since we know the fear of the Lord Vs 11

This is coming from the fact that we are going to stand before the judgement seat of God.

1.  Since we know what the fear of the Lord is…

  1. By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil Proverbs 16: 6
  2. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil Proverbs 8: 13
  3. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom Psalm 111: 10
  4. He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me John 14: 21
  5. And this is love that we walk after His commandments 1 John 1: 6

2.  Love, fear and obedience – when it comes to walking with God, they all mean the same thing.

  1. You cannot love God without having the fear of God in you.
  2. You cannot love Him without obeying His Word.
  3. And you do not truly fear God unless you love and obey Him.

Ask yourself: What is your motivation for gaining victory over lusts, passions and besetting sins? For obtaining holiness, godliness and purity of heart?

3.  Problems can develop

  1. Too much teaching on fear…
  1. Some teach that only the fear of God provokes believers to flee lusts.
    1. “Destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:16-18).
    2. “Fear the Lord, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7).
    3. “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:27).

2.   Too much talking about Love …

EXAMPLE:  a Baptist pastor thundering on the radio recently: “Fear is not for the Christian – it has torment! You can’t walk with God if you fear Him. Love is the only response to grace you’ll ever need. If you love God, you’ll obey Him.”

That sounds good – but it’s not what the Word of God says! You may answer, “But didn’t Jesus say the two most important commandments hinge on love – that we’re to love God and love our neighbor?”

Yes, He did! I have no argument with those who teach that love ought to be our primary motivation as believers. My problem is the difference between the modern-day church’s definition of what Jesus calls love!

Love is not merely an emotion or an affection for Christ. It cannot be fully shown just through worship or preaching. And it can’t be measured by emotions.

EXAMPLE:  Many Christians can sit in church and feel great emotion, crying out to God and weeping and then walk straight out of the church and disobey God. Jesus says that’s not loving Him!

2.  Nothing Could Be Clearer in God’s Word: Love Means Obeying the Commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ!

  1. Jesus said the only kind of love acceptable to Him is obedience to His every command – obeying His Word in all things and at all times!
    1. “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15)
    2. “If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10).
    3. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). Christ could not have made it plainer: Loving Him means obeying His every command!

2.  But what produces a consistent, lasting obedience? I am convinced that godly, loving obedience springs from one source: the fear of the living God! Obedience birthed by a true and pious fear of God is love perfected.

  1. ”3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.(1 John 2:3-5).
  2. “28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire.(Hebrews 12:28-29).

3.  Instead, Jesus is portrayed as a doting grandfather who overlooks sin! 

  1. He knows we’re all weak, and that at times we’re going to fail.
  2. Scripture is saying something different here:
    1. It’s saying that obedience to His commands is love perfected –
    2. the fear of God is what motivates us to obey!

Simply put it all boils down to this: If you truly have the fear of God in you, then you will obey His every word and by doing that, you will be loving Him in the way He says is acceptable to Him.

  1. Our obedience will show our love
  2. We won’t have to continually keep checking our hearts to see if we love him.

On the other side.

  1. Ways we think we express our love to Jesus by singing songs with tears in our eyes.
  2. We are called to forsake the world and its lusts
  3. Without this we are just noise

4.  Many Christians Do Not Take God’s Word Seriously – They Don’t Believe God Means What He Says!

Did Jesus really mean what He said to His own dear friends? He told the disciples,

  1. ”Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that has no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed has power to cast into hell:. I say unto you Fear Him” (Luke 12:4-5).
  2. Does God really mean it when He says, “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15)? Or,
  3. “When lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death?” (James 1:15).

EXAMPLE: I heard one preacher say recently, “You can’t obey all the commandments in the Bible. And even if you did obey them all, it still wouldn’t save you. That would be legalism!”

No!

  1. No one can ever be saved by works. But I ask you: Which of the Ten Commandments can you break and go to heaven?
    1. Adultery? “Adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4),
    2. Lying? “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burn with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:5).

5. You Obtain the Fear of God Just as Israel Did: You Learn It!

The Lord is ready to teach His fear to all who desire it: “Come, children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11)

  1. Before he died, Moses prescribed for Israel’s kings how to walk in obedience. Moses could see prophetically that the children of Israel were going to make kings after their own lust. So he prophesied to these future kings:
    1. 15 If this happens, be sure to select as king the man the Lord your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner.16 “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ 17 The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself. 18 “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees.(Deuteronomy 17:15-19).
    2. Every king was to constantly feed his soul and mind on God’s record of past dealings with Israel. He would learn to fear God by seeing how the Lord Jehovah blessed the obedient – and how he utterly destroyed and cursed all who disobeyed His Word.
    3. This is how we can learn to fear the Lord
      1. When we see what happens to a king who loses the fear of the Lord we can see the results
      2. When we see a king serve God we can see the results.
    4. God has never winked at sin, but a repentant heart will be a heart God loves.
  2. Moses also commanded Israel to read anew the commandments of the Lord to every generation. The people were to call a special assembly every seven years, to recount all of God’s righteous dealings with their fathers. Moses prophesied to them:
    1. 12 Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions(Deuteronomy 31:12-13).
    2. We are called to raise up our children in the knowledge of the Lord

6. The Fear of the Lord is being obedient to what we already know

“If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will  understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:4-5)

7.  Let Me Share With You the Glorious Benefits of Obedience!

1. You’ll be blessed with a manifestation of Jesus Himself in your inner man. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”(John 14:21).

  1. God will have a special love for you because you obey Him
    1. We know God has a corporate love for the whole world. But Jesus is talking about something else. He’s saying the Father has a special love in His heart for you when you walk in obedience to His Son. He begins to love you in a very special way!
  2. And I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). Jesus also says that if you obey Him, He will manifest Himself to you! That is so incredible,
    1. We can hang onto this promise from God even though we do not know how he will do it.
    2. We will continue to get to know him better until our last day.
  3. Finally, Jesus said 23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them(John 14:23).

Imagine it: Jesus has given you His personal promise. If you simply love Him through your obedience to Him,

2. You’ll be blessed with a special unction and anointing to hear and know His voice.27 But you have received the Holy Spirit,[a] and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit[b] teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

” (1 John 2:27).

  1. We begin to hear the voice of the Lord.
  2. Many are not hearing God but only the flesh or devil because of their sin.

EXAMPLE: I have known Christians, including ministers, who were living in sin – lust-filled, sensual, bound by some wicked stronghold. They began hearing still, small voices.- lovely voices, directing them and promising them good things. These voices said, “My dear, beloved child – God is with you! You will behold wonders, miracles and blessings on all sides,”

3. You’ll be blessed with answered prayers and fullness of joy!

  1.   “if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you…. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:7,11).
  2. Beloved, fullness of joy comes from hearing His voice clearly!
  3. If you will but say to Jesus, “Lord, I want to walk in Your righteousness, to truly love You through obedience,” God promises:
    1. “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer,’ and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24).
    2. “The Lord is far from the wicked: but he hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29).
    3. “The prayer of the upright is his delight” (Proverbs 15:8).

Ask God to put a holy fear in your heart; begin to walk fully in obedience to all you know of His commands – and you will be perfected in your love for Jesus!