The world’s treasure:
Matt 6:20-21
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
THE LORD’S TREASURE: THE FEAR OF THE LORD
Isa 33:6
Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the Lord is His treasure.
The thing that this nation needs most today is ‘The Fear Of The Lord!’ Actually, the thing that all families in the world need is ‘The Fear Of The Lord!’
Yet nobody likes that word fear because it seems to be sending something unwanted in the lives of so many people… This is because fear has a paralyzing effect. When one is paralyzed, it means you are unable to move and do what you desire to do, you are powerless and bound.
You are at the mercy of others who may take advantage of you – nobody wants that.
Prov 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
This verse is telling us that the Lord is hiding something from many people, that we need to search for it in order to know it.
Ps 25:14
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.
But though the Lord hides something, in truth He truly desires to reveal it or to unveil to those who will ‘draw near’, to those who are His friends!
Q? Do you put your treasure out in the sala of your house so everyone can see them? Or do you tell everyone where you hide your jewelry and valuables so they can freely come and pick from them?
Of course not, but only to those who are closest to you, to those who are worthy of your trust.
It’s the same with God, He would not just call anyone and reveal to him the secrets of His heart, or His treasure. The secret to finding any treasure is the search, and we search for God’s treasure in His Word!
Q? Are you one of those who earnestly seek the Word of God to find His heartbeat in order for you to obey it?
If truth be told, many are actually afraid of what they might find or what God might say or ask them to do when they search. They are afraid that God would ask them to do something they don’t want to do, or to give something they don’t want to give.
What Are The Signs That A Person Has The Fear Of The Lord?
1. If you obey Him instantly.
2. If you obey Him even if it doesn’t make sense.
3. If you obey Him even if it hurts.
4. If you obey Him even if you don’t see a benefit.
5. If you obey Him to completion.
So they just give God 10 to 15 minutes every day to suit their conscience, it’s a big thing already. Many can be industrious in their jobs or businesses, earning a living, taking care of their children, yet suffer a malignant disease – spiritual laziness!
But the thing is, they are only lazy in this area of their lives but not in any other aspect!
Your enemy has succeeded in hindering you from doing the most important thing in your life, and that is ‘to search the scriptures for His treasure’.
Don’t be a spiritual pauper!
Don’t accept this spiritual disease!
Don’t miss out on the Love of God that He wants to reveal to us through His Word.
Remember that Jesus is the Word that became flesh for us!
The fear of the Lord has become irrelevant today in our modern times of humanism.
Humanism is a doctrine centered on human interests and values…
It teaches that all our problems can be solved using reason instead of coming to the Lord. Humanism teaches us that we have the right and responsibility to give meaning to and shape our own lives – it’s in our hands, it’s up to us.
Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings.
There is no fear of God in humanism. It’s just us and only us!
We can make it happen on our own.
That my friend is demonic because we have taken God out of the equation!
What The Fear Of The Lord Is Not:
1.) It Is Not Natural Fear.
2.) It Is Not Demonic Fear.
2 Tim 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
3.) It Is Not The Fear Of Men.
The fear of God actually delivers us from the fear of man, instead…
It empowers and enables us to show honor and reverence to the Lord.
REMEMBER: You will always serve the one you fear.
Prov 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
So What Is The Fear Of The Lord?
1st It Is An Extraordinary Kind Of Fear.
Sometimes it is a very powerful physical fear as when Moses was confronted by the Glory of God.
Heb 12:21
The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
But it is not a harmful fear, and we all need to have that kind of an experience of the Majesty and the Power of God. The word to best explain it is awe where we get the word awesome, it is respectful fear inspired by authority.
It expresses our reaction to majesty, to power and to holiness – it is reverence!
Reverence is our response to a revelation of God – you can’t have reverence without revelation.
When God reveals Himself, I believe that the only appropriate response we can give is reverence and awe.
2nd is SUBMISSIVENESS
A submissive attitude towards God is an expression of the fear of the Lord in our lives.
If a person is self-proclaiming, arrogant, self-centered and self-sufficient, there is no fear of the Lord in the life of that person.
If you fear peoples opinion, then that’s your god – people!
If you fear poverty, disease or sickness, then money is your god! Why money?
Whatever you fear, for you that’s your god.
The greatest prison people live in, is the fear of what people think. We fear the opinion of man so much because we seek our identity in Christ so little. Whatever you fear is your god!
Let’s look at the fear of the Lord in the life of Jesus…
Isa 11:1
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
Isa 11:2-3a
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
We understand this as the seven Spirits of the Lord. But the final mark of the Spirit unto Jesus as the beloved Son of God and Messiah is His delight in the fear of the Lord. If Jesus Christ our Messiah and Savior, beloved Son of God, delighted in the fear of the Lord, how can anyone say we don’t need this in our lives, that we don’t search for it!
Ps 25:14
The Lord confides in those who fear him; He makes his covenant known to them.
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. God will only share His secrets to those who fear Him, He won’t share them to His enemies. God will even reveal His covenants to you and the covenant is the most critical truth of the Bible.
Why?
The entire Bible revolves in covenants, it is the theme of the Scriptures both the Old and the New covenant.
Ps 2:11
Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
How can we possibly rejoice with trembling and fear?
This may look silly to the carnal mind, but it is pleasing to the Lord.
How can one receive the fear of the Lord?
Prov 2:1-2
My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you 2So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;
Prov 2:3-5
Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.
So, how can one receive the fear of the Lord?
Prov 2:1
My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,
Don’t argue or reason with the Word of God!
Prov 2:2
So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;
Inclining your ear includes an act of bowing, humility, submission and being teachable.
Prov 2:3
Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding.
Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,
You’re literally crying, as a beggar in need, broken and contrite, for understanding.
Prov 2:4-5
4If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.
There are a lot of clever people, probably a lot more than those who are good.
But the knowledge that is from God can never be undermined, it can never be separated from the fear of the Lord.
Isa 66:2
“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.