March 31, 2019 -- Acts 9:31 -- The right place for fear
/So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace
and was being built up.
And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit
it multiplied.
Acts 9:31 English Standard Version
The “fear of the Lord”. That is an expression mentioned so often in the Old Testament. It is like the echo of belltower clock sounding the hour across a village. Already way back in Genesis 20:11 the expression is used. Through-out Deuteronomy and the Psalms the phrase resounds. Sounds loudly in the prophets. For those who think it is only an Old Testament term, know that it is found liberally sprinkled in the New Testament as well (Matthew 10:28; Luke 5:26; 7:16, 8:37; 12:5 etc). And in Revelation the Spirit of God is the Seven-fold Spirit (this is drawn from Isaiah 11:2-3a where the Spirit is revealed to be: the Spirit of the LORD, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD). Notice that the power of the Spirit revealed among believers is that He manifests the “fear of the LORD”.
What does it mean that believers “fear the LORD”?
Those who “fear the LORD”
~worship Him with reverence
~submit to the Bible and its authority above all other authority
~desire to know God better
~receive the counsel of the LORD
~know Jesus Christ as Jesus promised believers would receive His Spirit
~sin becomes more and more abhorrent to us and we turn from it and repent of it
~find the things of God to be a delight (this is from Isaiah 11:3)
If you do not find the things of God and His presence to be your delight, ask yourself this: am I really a follower of Jesus? Perhaps I should heed the warning of Revelation 2 “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Rev. 2:4). What a devastating condemnation.
Notice from our passage in Acts that the fear of the LORD leads to the comfort of the Spirit. The Old Testament background which instructs believers in “the fear of the LORD” also teaches us the seven-fold revelation of the power of the Spirit among believers (Isaiah 11:2-3a) which brings the result that believers delight in God.
Living God of Power and Glory, blessed be Your Name!
Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit Who leads us in the fear of the LORD and the delight of knowing God.
This day, bless Your preachers and evangelists, Your chaplains and ministers of the Word so that the fear of the LORD will go out among Your people and worship will be transformed into the soul-refreshing wells of salvation and joy in Your Presence. Help Your people to walk in the fear of the LORD so that we will be salt and light in this world, but even more critically, so that we will bless Your Name and be kept in the path of righteousness for Jesus Name’s sake. Amen.
