“…living in the fear of the Lord”

The last two weeks we have been learning what Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes and what the Bible says about “Loving God Is Living a Life With Meaning and Purpose”. We saw how a Christian living a life with meaning and purpose is related to living a life that “fears God” or in “the fear of the Lord”, even though this term is only mentioned three times in the New Testament, it still significantly applies to Christians today.
One of the three New Testament verses that mentions the term the fear of the Lord is, Acts 9:31, “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.” This particular verse Luke, the author of the book of Acts, points out four characteristics about life of the church. These four different points of the context in which this term is used are very important and should not be overlooked as we study about “Loving God Is Living a Life With Meaning and Purpose”.
What did Luke mean by the term church? “CHURCH—a local assembly of believers as well as the redeemed of all the ages who follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.” Hayford’s Bible handbook
The first characteristic of the church that Luke tells us about is that the body of believers in Christ Jesus or the many congregations in the three Roman provinces of Palestine, who after a period of persecution under Saul or Paul (Acts 13:9), now “enjoyed a time of peace”. To fully appreciate the significance of what Luke meant we need to read chapter nine starting with verse one.
Saul, later on known as Paul, was now a believer in Christ, a follower of “the Way” (Acts 9:2). As a result, there was no reason any more to be concerned or worried of being persecuted for being a Christian. In Paul’s own words he tells us how he persecuted Christians.
Acts 22:4-5, “4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.”
The second characteristic of the churches Luke tells us about is the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believers. There were two ways that the presence of the Holy Spirit influenced the believers of the churches. The churches were “…strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit”.
Why did the church need to be “strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit”?
After the church suffered a period of persecution there needed to be a period of spiritual recuperation which involved time to be strengthened and encouraged (reinvigorated or refreshed) spiritually. This could only be done by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit working in the life of each believer.
If a local body of believers is going to be restored after a period of being persecuted and grow spiritually and grow in numbers, the Holy Spirit needs to be present and active in the life of every believer in the church. One way the presence of the Holy Spirit is experienced and expressed is by the love of God in the lives of believers. “…God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:5.
The other way the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of the church was through encouragement. If the church needed to be encouraged that meant it was discouraged because of the recent persecution. When someone is discouraged they lack, hope, peace, joy and the confidence to be who God has created them to be in Christ Jesus and to do what God has called them to do. Only the work of the Holy Spirit can restore a body of believers in Christ after suffering persecution.
Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”.
Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
As the result of the Holy Spirit being present in life of the churches, they experienced numerical growth, which is the third characteristic that Luke writes about, “it grew in numbers”. If the Holy Spirit is not actively present and working in the lives of believers there will not be spiritual nor numerical growth. Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
In this verse, Jesus said you will receive power as the result of receiving the Holy Spirit and He also said that “you will be my witnesses”. The church cannot expect to be an effective witness of who Christ is if they do not have the Holy Spirit. In addition, when the church is in effective witness because of the Holy Spirit, it will not only grow spiritually but also grow numerically.
The final characteristic stated by Luke in Acts 9:31 is that the church was “living in the fear of the Lord”. In last week’s article, we saw the meaning of this term and how it related to the life of church and the Christian. “The fear of the Lord refers to a holy reverence before God. Reverence is recognized as the proper response of men to God and expresses itself in worship and in obedience.”
If the church today is “living in the fear of the Lord” as were the believers of Acts 9:31, what should that look like? What is it that others will see and experience? How does it happen?
To begin to answer these questions we need to first look at some key Old Testament verses. Psalms 34:11 says that the fear of the Lord needs to be learned, Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. If the fear of the Lord has to be taught to us, then we must be willing to put ourselves in an attitude to listen to the Lord and to learn from the Lord.
Another important aspect to realize is that there are also conditions that need to be met or fulfilled in the life of a Christian to have the fear of the Lord. A good example is found in Proverbs 2:1-5 which tells us that there are seven things that Christians must do to understand the fear of the Lord.
Proverbs 2:1-5, 1 My son, a) if you accept my words and, b) store up my commands within you, 2 c) turning your ear to wisdom, d) and applying your heart to understanding, 3 e) and if you call out for insight, f) and cry aloud for understanding, 4 g) and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Next week we will look at these and other verses in more detail to help us understand how fearing the Lord begins with me if it is to be a characteristic of the church. And how fearing the Lord in my life is instrumental to the numerical and spiritual growth of the church.
Pastor John