April 16th, 2000, Sunday Morning
"When the Fear of the Lord Falls"
When God takes action against a sinning heart
OPENING: Acts 5:1-11, KJV
Many people do not call upon the name of the Lord until there is a death or disaster
in someone's life. Sometimes, God has to do something drastic in your life to get your
attention because perhaps you're falling too far back in your spiritual life.
Psalm 36:1: This verse proves that catch-phrase you see on
many vehicles and shirts today--"NO FEAR." Sinners (a.k.a. transgressors)
have no fear of God. God placed fear in man to bring man back to God. Adam had it.
It just wasn't "turned on" in him until he ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Then Adam
was ashamed of his nakedness and hid from God in fear (Genesis 3:10).
We fear God BECAUSE he is righteous and He will deal with fear.
THE RESULT OF FEARING GOD:
- #1: So we may depart from evil.
- #2: So that His name may be magnified
- #3: So we may sober up--spiritually
- #4: Sinning people repent
- #5: So that we may walk softly and humbly with the Lord
Today, we are being influenced by the WRONG things
- Movies distort what the bible and cause people to believe what's not true
- "Armageddon" with Bruce Willis: a movie where meteorites destroy earth.
In the bible, Armageddon means not the end of the earth but rather nothing more than
the name of a valley. It came from the Hebrew word "Megiddo."
- "The Last Temptation of Christ" by Martin Scorsese: A movie where the Son
of Man has incest with his mother. I don't even want to get into that!
- The false teachers
- Scientists and the evolution of man and earth
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and how prayer and Christianity
is offensive and should not be exercised in schools or in public
- Music band Marilyn Manson and his pledge to end Christianity
- The fear of God isn't there anymore
- No fear in the court system
- No fear in the president or our congress
- Children's attitude today: "They can't prosecute me!!"
Acts 5:11-14: When fear is incorporated, God gets
respect! You "get right with God!"
TRUE STORIES DEMONSTRATING THE FEAR OF GOD
- 2 Samuel 6:1-9: WHEN YOU DISOBEY GOD: David and the people of Israel
were instructed to move the Ark of the Covenant to Zion. The Ark was to be carried by only
priests and Levites. But David did it his way--he had the Ark carried on a cart by oxen
with music being played. When the Ark began to slip off the cart, Uzzah, who wasn't a
priest or Levite, touched the Ark with his hand to balance it and was killed instantly
by the Lord for that. See, David was following God's will but not His way. And for that,
the penalty was death.
- 1 Kings 21:17-19,27-29: WHEN YOU DISOBEY GOD BUT ARE
REMORSEFUL AFTER: Ahab, the king of Israel at that time,
desired the vineyard of one of his own--Naboth. He offered to buy Naboth's vineyard
because it was near Ahab's house. Naboth refused because of 1 Kings 21:3.
Therefore, Ahab had him killed. Therefore, prophets delivered a message from God to Ahab
saying he will die just where Naboth did. Because of that, the "fear of God" entered
Ahab and he humbled himself before God. For that, God did not kill him.
CLOSER
With God, unlike many people today, you'll get mercy and forgiveness.
When the "fear of God" enters you, you will depart from evil.
Let the fear of God enter you--and not leave, today.