SCRIPTURES
Gen. 43:23 - Peace be to you, fear not.
Ex. 9:20 - He that
feared the Word of the Lord.
15:11 - Fearful in
praises, doing wonders.
Lev. 19:3 - Fear
every man his mother, and his father, and keep my
Sabbaths.
Deut. 1:21 - Fear
not, neither be discouraged.
6:24 - And the Lord
commanded us to do these statutes, to fear the Lord.
8:6 - To walk in his
ways, and to fear him.
28:67 - For the fear
of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear.
31:6 - Be strong and
of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them.
31:12 - Fear the
Lord your God, and observe to do all words of this
law.
Jos. 24:14 -
Therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity
and in truth.
Jud. 6:23 - Peace be
unto thee; fear not.
II Ki. 17:35 - Ye
shall not fear other gods.
II Chron. 19:9 - He
charged them, thus shall ye do in the fear of the
Lord.
Job 3:25 - For the
thing which I greatly feared is come upon me.
21:9 - Their houses
are safe from fear.
28:28 - Behold, the
fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.
Psa. 15:4 - But he
honoureth them that fear the Lord.
23:4 - I will fear
no evil.
25:14 - The secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him.
74:20 - Have respect
unto the covenant.
89:7 - God is
greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints.
96:4 - He is to be
feared above all gods.
96:9 - Fear before
him , all the earth.
119:6 - When I have
respect unto all thy commandments.
119:15 - And have
respect unto thy ways.
119:117 - And I will
have respect unto thy statutes continually.
147:11 - The Lord
taketh pleasure in them that fear him.
Prov. 8:13 - The
fear of the Lord is to hate evil.
10:24 - The fear of
the wicked, it shall come upon him.
14:26 - In the fear
of the Lord is strong confidence.
14:27 - The fear of
the Lord is a fountain of life.
15:33 - The fear of
the Lord is the instruction of wisdom.
23:17 - But be thou
in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
28:14 - Happy is the
man that feareth always.
29:25 - The fear of
man bringeth a snare.
Ecc. 12:13 - Fear
God, keep his commandments: this is the whole duty of
man.
Isa. 8:13 - And let
him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14:3 - The Lord
shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy
fear.
17:7 - And his eyes
shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
41:14 - Fear not,
thou worm Jacob. (Fear not preachers to tell the
truth.)
44:8 - Fear ye not,
neither be afraid.
Dan. 5:19 - All
people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared
before him.
Mal. 1:6 - And if I
be a master, where is my fear?
3:16 - Book of
remembrance was written for them that feared the Lord.
Matt. 6:30 - Shall
He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
8:26 - Why are ye
fearful, O ye of little faith?
10:28 - Fear not
them which kill the body, are not able to kill the
soul.
Luke 12:5 - Fear
him, which after he hath killed hadth power to cast
into hell.
21:26 - Men's hearts
failing them for fear.
Rom. 8:15 - For ye
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.
II Cor. 7:1 -
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Eph. 5:21 -
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of
God.
5:33 - And the wife
see that she reverence her husband.
Phil. 2:12 - Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
II Tim. 1:7 - For
God hath not given us the spirit of fear.
I Pe. 2:18 -
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear.
3:2 - While they
behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
I Jo. 4:18 - There
is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.
Rev. 21:8 - Fearful
shall have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire.
WHAT IS
FEAR? - Fear: an unpleasant often strong
emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger,
an instance of this emotion, a state marked by this
emotion, anxious concern, solicitude, PROFOUND
REVERENCE AND AWE ESPECIALLY TOWARD GOD, reason for
alarm, danger. Do you have profound reverence and awe
towards God?
FEAR, DREAD,
FRIGHT, ALARM, PANIC, TERROR, TREPIDATION
mean painful agitation in the presence or anticipation
of danger. FEAR is the most general term and implies
anxiety and usually loss of courage; DREAD usually
adds the idea of intense reluctance to face or meet a
person or situation and suggests aversion as well as
anxiety; FRIGHT implies the shock of sudden, startling
fear; ALARM suggests a sudden and intense awareness of
immediate danger; PANIC implies unreasoning and
over-mastering fear causing hysterical activity;
TERROR implies the most extreme degree of fear;
TREPIDATION adds to DREAD the implications of
timidity, trembling, and hesitation.
FEARFUL,
APPREHENSIVE, AFRAID mean disturbed by
fear. FEARFUL implies often a timorous or worrying
temperament (the child is fearful of loud noises)
APPREHENSIVE suggests a state of mind and implies a
premonition of evil or danger (apprehensive that war
would break out) AFRAID often suggests weakness or
cowardice and regularly implies inhibition of action
or utterance (afraid to speak the truth). (How about
that preachers, are you afraid to preach the truth?
Are you more afraid of man than of God?)
HOW ABOUT
FEAR MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE? - Fear is
used frequently in the Word of God. Some definitions
of fear are terror, sorrow, tremble, fright,
REVERENCE, dread, rage, anger, timid, afraid, pain,
caution and horror.
Reverential fear
means fear, fearful, dread, terrible, terror, that
ought to be feared, be afraid, reverence, be feared,
be had in reverence, terrible acts, terrible things,
affright, make afraid and put in fear. The number of
times that reverence means fear is significant.
SHOULD WE
RESPECT AND/OR FEAR THE LORD? - In recent
years, I have told people not to fear the Lord or to
be deathly afraid of Him but to have enough respect
for God that they would obey His Word. Satan causes
many Christians to fear lost salvation and implies
that God is a harsh God that wants to hit people with
a big stick as soon as they do anything wrong. Instead
of respecting God, they fear God. We need to fear the
judgements of God. God is holy and righteous, and will
not compromise His Word. Do you fear the judgements of
God?
We should respect
God's Covenant, Commandments, Ways, Statutes, and
Being. Psa. 74:20 - Have respect unto the covenant.
119:6 - When I have respect unto all thy commandments.
119:15 - And have respect unto thy ways. 119:117 - And
I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
Isa. 17:7 - And his eyes shall have respect to the
Holy One of Israel.
Some of the Body of
Christ want to dwell on the God of Love and not the
God of Judgement. God's Love is balanced with God's
Judgement. Most people do not want to think about
God's Judgement. We want to think about God's Love and
what He will do for us. We do not want to think about
what is our part of the Covenant with God and what we
are supposed to do for the Lord.
This study has
indicated to me that we need to have a very healthy
respect and fear for God and His Holiness. We actually
need to have somewhat of a fear for God so that we
don't take Him and His Word lightly and casually. We
should fear God in the manner indicated in the Bible.
Do not take God for granted! Do you?
ARE THERE
BENEFITS FROM FEARING GOD? - Is there a
positive side to fearing God? Absolutely, there are
many benefits that accrue to the person that fears
God. That person will work at keeping God's
commandments and will be blessed rather than cursed.
The list of selected
scriptures used above indicate that we can have peace,
be encouraged, be strong and of good courage, fear not
nor be afraid, not fear other gods, houses are safe
from fear, be instructed in wisdom, will be honored by
God, fear no evil, receive the secret of the Lord,
takes pleasure in those that fear Him, have strong
confidence, drink at the fountain of life, be happy,
have rest, be written in the Book of Remembrance,
perfecting holiness through fear of God, and work out
our salvation.
We can have rest,
peace, calmness, sleep and quietness that comes from
God. To obtain these benefits, we must respect and
reverence God; and dread His Judgements. Do you have
the peace of God that passes understanding?
WHAT DOES IT
TAKE OTHER THAN MENTALLY FEARING GOD? -
Fear is an emotion or state of mind. We need to do
more than just think about God in this manner. We need
to put feet to our thoughts and walk the Christian
walk not just talk the Christian talk.
The verses that we
used above tell us to keep the Sabbath and His
Statutes, walk in His Ways, observe all the Words of
the Law, serve God in sincerity and truth, hate evil,
keep His Commandments, perfect holiness towards God,
submit ourselves one to another, wives reverence their
husbands, work out our salvation, be subject to our
masters, have a chaste conversation, and love God and
man.
SHOULD WE
FEAR DEATH? - Death is the ultimate fear
for most people. Should a Christian fear death? For a
Christian, death is leaving this life on earth for a
better life in Heaven. It is walking into eternal life
with God. It is leaving an imperfect body for a
perfect body.
We should not fear
death. What should we do? We should walk out our
salvation with fear and trembling, and prepare to die.
We should love God, trust in God and relax in His
Peace. If we can't trust God for the here-and-now, how
are we going to trust God for the here-and-after? Do
you fear death?
NERVOUS HABITS -
Let's look at several definitions: Nervous:
originating in or affected by the nerves; easily
excited or irritated; JUMPY, TIMID, APPREHENSIVE;
tending to produce nervousness or agitation; UNEASY;
appearing or acting unsteady, erratic, or irregular.
Nervous breakdown: an attack of mental or emotional
disorder of sufficient severity to be incapacitation
especially when requiring hospitalization. Nervous
Nellie: a timid or worrisome person. Do you have
nervous habits or characteristics that other people
would notice?
Habit: manner of
conducting oneself; BEARING; bodily appearance or
makeup especially as indicative of one' capacities and
condition; the prevailing disposition or character of
a person' thoughts and feelings; mental makeup; a
settled tendency or usual manner of behavior; a
behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or
physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity
or increased facility of performance; an acquired mode
of behavior that has become nearly or completely
involuntary; ADDICTION.
HABIT,
PRACTICE, USAGE, CUSTOM, WONT mean a way of
acting fixed through repetition. HABIT implies a doing
unconsciously and often compulsively; PRACTICE
suggests an act or method followed with regularity and
usually through choice; USAGE suggests a customary
action so generally followed that it has become a
social norm; CUSTOM applies to a practice or usage so
steadily associated with an individual or group as to
have almost the force of unwritten law; WONT usually
applies to an habitual manner, method, or practice
distinguishing an individual or group.
FAITH, TRUST
AND LOVE OF GOD - We need to be fearless:
free from fear. We do not need to be fearful,
apprehensive or afraid. Perfect love casts out fear, I
Jo. 4:18. Perfect love of God drives away fear of man
and fear of what will happen to you. For God hath not
given us a spirit of fear, II Tim. 4:8. (Try singing
this verse over and over again to dispel fear.)
Demonic fear comes from Satan, not God. Shall He not
much more clothe you, Matt. 6:30. Do not be fearful
about what you shall eat or drink, or how you will be
clothed. Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith,
Matt. 8:26. Have faith in God and get rid of your
fear.
Nervous habits stem
from the emotion of fear. For the Christian, nervous
habits stem from the lack of faith and trust in God
and His Provisions. They stem from trusting in
yourself or man rather than God.
What are you hiding
from? What are you afraid of? Did your parents abuse
you as a child? Does your husband or wife mistreat
you? What have people done to you to cause you to fear
others or things?
SHOULD WIVES
FEAR THEIR HUSBANDS? - Eph. 5:33
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so
love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that
she reverence her husband. In this verse, reverence
(phobe) means to be terrified, affrighted, afraid.
Here is a good verse for you women to ponder; are you
reverencing your husband? If not, what are the
consequences to your marriage and family?
Earline-Erma-Patti do you fear your husbands:
Gene-Glen-Kevin?
SHOULD
HUSBANDS LOVE THEIR WIVES? - Col. 3:18-21
Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it
is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be
not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents
in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the
Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger,
lest they be discouraged. These four little verses are
the keys to a perfect family in God. For you husbands,
this love (agapao) is the Love of Christ. Eph. 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved
the church, and gave himself for it. This verse spells
it out clearly for you men; you know what Christ gave
for the church - his life. Gene-Glen-Kevin do you love
your wives: Earline-Erma-Patti?
REFERENCES -
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Young's Analytical
Concordance to the Bible.