Fear of God is a Treasure
The Treasure is Fear of God
Isaiah 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 Prophet Isaiah said something very provocative when prophesying about Jesus our Messiah. Did you know that the fear of God was Jesus’ treasure? While Jesus is indeed the Lord, He came to earth as man and walked fully in the Spirit of God doing only what the Father told Him. We are to walk as Jesus walked and the fear of God was at the core of Jesus’ walk on the earth. Jesus showed us the way, the truth and the life.
Elsewhere Isaiah spoke of Jesus ancestoral roots and the seven Spirits that would rest upon Him, one of which was the Fear of the Lord. Of the seven Spirits of God, Jesus’ delight was the Fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:1-3 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 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
This concept that we are to treasure and take great delight in fearing God seems so foreign to most Christians. They just never hear about Godly Fear and our need to embrace it and live by it. The powers of darkness (the evil one and his army of demons) have brought their deceptive and evil doctrines into the churches built by men and have used carnal logic (philosophy) to deceive man into believing a perverted half gospel called the gospel of love. This is no gospel at all, it is following after doctrines of demons and what has since become the traditions of men.
True love includes rebuking, chastising and disciplining those we love to make them better and save them from the error that comes from a lack of understanding and Christian maturity. This is what the fear of God does for us in our Christian walk as well. Political correctness has run amuck in our practice of religion. We define being religious and loving as someone who does not offend anyone but tells them nice things they want to hear. That is not love, that is deception. Do you think Jesus walked around telling people what they want to hear or did He tell them the truth out of love for their souls? All real Christians will be persecuted and rejected, especially from those inside the churches that know a different gospel and worship a different Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:12 Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted
The flesh does not want to hear about God the Judge as it is hostile to God and cannot please Him. Flesh only wants to hear the part about Jesus being the Savior. Paul told Timothy that in the end times, “believers” would rally around nice sounding teachers that would tickle ears with pleasant stories that would be made up. We are in the midst of that right now. The blessings of God if not understood with the curses of God is a perverted gospel that does not lead people to Christ and the full surrender of their hearts to Him. The judge is standing at our very door, yet most are foolish sleeping virgins and have been deceived into believing their faith will be judged yet it actually is their deeds.
2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
I wrote recently on God’s Judgment of the Nations. I described the truism that our flesh wants a Savior but wants nothing to do with a Judge. But Jesus is both, perfect in every role and the Wrath of the Lamb is coming, it is standing at our very door; yet many foolish virgins sleep clinging to a false security. There would be a lot less foolish virgins if the Fear of the Lord was given the due it deserves in true doctrine and conformity to godliness. Paul taught the fear of God but today’s preachers have been blinded to the truth or have rebelled against God and choose not to teach it in order to win the favor of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.
When was the last time you heard what Solomon said as our whole duty preached from a pulpit? Most sermons I hear reference books written by men instead of citing the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospels or the Holy Spirit inspired Epistles in the New Testament. Men with forms of godliness write books and many are highly esteemed by churches and their “Christian” members. People are now looking to men as the source of truth and wisdom instead of God who reveals all truth to those that ask with a pure heart. Solomon told us that false teachers would come writing many books and that these books will not bring us peace but distress in our souls.
Ecclesiastes 12:12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
Why is this happening? Why is the Fear of the Lord not being taught? It seems foolhardy to take what was the treasure of Jesus and just throw it away. That is a scary proposition and we can bet the source of this apostasy is the enemy who is out to steal, kill and destroy us. Make no mistake, the Fear of God is extremely important to any successful Christian walk.
Whatever You Fear is Your God
Most people are out to seek the approval of their fellow-man. Being popular, famous, rich, esteemed, looked upon with favor FROM men; is really an evil desire of an impure heart. Yet the apostate church teaches that is AOK, even welcome and that we can live with two natures, remain dead in our sins with idols in our hearts. Understanding of the fear of God would change this in a heartbeat.
As part of his deception, the devil uses fear as one of his chief weapons. God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, sound mind and love. The perfect love of God in our hearts will cast out all worldly and carnal fear, leaving only the reverent fear of our Creator, God, Master, Lord, King, Savior, Judge and our all-in-all. If we fear man we will not and cannot fear God. Fearing men will lead to all kinds of demonic oppression, rejection, self-rejection, depression, fear of failure and a total lack of confidence in not only ourselves but God. To understand the Love of God we must understand and possess the fear of the Lord. To the carnal mind this sounds outrageous but is the wisdom of God.
We cannot come to know God unless we come to fear Him. Solomon’s Book of Proverbs tells us how this process works. We seek to please God, cry out for wisdom, search the word of God, then we will understand the Fear of the Lord and will begin to know God.
Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
3 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;
5 THEN you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.
Why Fear of God Must Be Taught
Without an ever present fear of God, we can easily be led astray to follow our own selfish ambition. We are not in control, God is and when we really understand that, we will fear the Lord. Another scheme of the devil is to pump us up into thinking more of ourselves than we should. The devil will flood us with prideful and selfish thoughts to entice us into building our earthly kingdom and reputations. When we fear God, we have a natural defense against pride and selfish ambition. Remember, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. At the end of the day, we are here to please God. Our flesh cannot please God, it is always hostile to Him. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and the circumcision of our hearts into the very image and likeness of Jesus. Just as Jesus delighted in the fear of God and looked to it as His treasure on earth, we should too. It pleases the Lord.
Psalm 147:11 The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him
When we fear God, He is there to protect us from the enemy. When we fear God why would we fear anything else? We would not and that means we will be submitted to the Lord and our protector and deliverer is there for us in our time of need.
Psalm 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
When we do not fear God, we are like the lukewarm church of Laodicia. We think we are rich and in need of nothing but God tells us we are actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Godly fear keeps us looking to God for our strength and our joy. He really is our all in all and as soon as we stray off that truth, we are creating idols and will not have the peace that comes from a walk of holiness before the Lord.
Those of us who please God will be with Him in heaven. I was struck the other day while reading in Revelation what the Saints in heaven were saying in Chapter 15.
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.
Let those who fear the LORD say:
“His love endures forever
This video I made subsequent to this post may edify you on this important topic.
Very acurately written. This piece will be a blessing for those that have not done their homework and studied the scriptures for themselves.