Rediscovering The Fear of the Lord
Sermon Blog 11/9/25 - Pastor Jimmy McKinnies
There's a forgotten treasure in the heart of God—something He values so much that He calls it His Treasure; something that determines whether we build with stability or crumble under pressure. It's not a popular topic in modern Christianity, yet it's woven throughout Scripture as the very foundation of wisdom, power, and transformation.
That treasure is the fear of the Lord.
The Anchor We've Lost
Isaiah 33:6 paints a vivid picture: "And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and the strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is His treasure."
When Isaiah penned these words, the nation of Judah faced imminent invasion. The Assyrian army threatened to overwhelm them. In their panic, the people scrambled for security through political alliances and human strategies. But God's message through Isaiah cut through their frantic planning: Your stability won't come from your strategies. It will come from your reverence.
This ancient truth echoes into our present moment. Before we can truly walk in all that God has promised—before there can be genuine growth in the body of Christ—there must be a reverence in His people. Before activity, there must be awe. Before movement, there must be maturity.
The fear of the Lord is the dividing line between those who know about God and those who walk with God. It separates the religious from the righteous, the gifted from the godly.
What Is This Holy Fear?
The fear of the Lord is often misunderstood. It's not cowering terror or paralyzing dread. Rather, it's a profound awareness of who God is—His holiness, His power, His authority. It's standing before the burning bush and recognizing you're on holy ground.
Proverbs 9:10 defines it clearly: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." True wisdom doesn't start in a classroom or through accumulating information. It begins in reverence.
When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, the Lord commanded him: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Moses didn't make the ground holy—he became aware that it was. That's the fear of the Lord: recognizing the sacred nature of God's presence and responding accordingly.
The early church understood this. Acts 2:42-43 tells us they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. But notice the very next sentence: "And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles."
Their gatherings weren't casual. Even in homes, even in living rooms, there was reverence. And that reverence released God's supernatural power.
The Fear That Protects
Proverbs 8:13 reveals something crucial: "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."
The word "froward" means stubborn, rebellious, self-willed—the opposite of "toward." When Jesus says, "Draw nigh to me and I'll draw nigh to you," a froward heart says, "I'm not drawing near to you." That's rebellion disguised as independence.
The fear of the Lord isn't about rules—it's about guarding relationship. It produces a life that hates what pulls us away from God's presence. It's the internal compass that keeps us aligned with His will even when no one is watching.
Proverbs 19:23 promises, "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life." And 2 Corinthians 7:1 instructs us to be "perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
The fear of the Lord doesn't restrict life—it preserves it. It's not a cage; it's a covering. It provides the freedom to live without the paralyzing fears that plague our culture.
The Contrast: Fearing God vs. Fearing Everything Else
Here's where the tension becomes real. Many today don't fear the Lord—they fear everything else. We fear opinions, rejection, failure, finances, change, the future. We even fear our own potential.
But Jesus drew a clear line: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).
When you live aware of who God is, you stop fearing what other people think. When you fear the Lord, you gain courage to stand for truth. The right kind of fear in your life eliminates all the wrong fears.
Consider Noah. Hebrews 11:7 says he "moved with fear" and built the ark to the saving of his family. That holy fear motivated him to obedience even when it seemed unreasonable. He didn't build the ark because it was convenient—he built it because God commanded it, and that fear moved him to action that saved his household.
The same principle applies to us. Are we moved by the fear of the Lord to do what He asks? Or do we only give Him lip service while living by our own preferences?
Working Out Salvation with Fear and Trembling
Philippians 2:12 contains a sobering instruction: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
We're not saved until we're saved. The enemy would love to pluck us away right now. We are being saved—present tense—which means we must actively engage in our relationship with God through reverence.
This isn't about earning salvation through works. It's about recognizing the gravity of what's at stake. There is a heaven and there is a hell. Eternity is real. And that reality should move us to action—not out of guilt, but out of love mixed with holy awe.
David understood this when he cried out, "Cast me not away from thy presence, O Lord." He knew that separation from God was the ultimate loss.
Grace Restores Reverence
Some might worry that emphasizing the fear of the Lord contradicts the message of grace. But Hebrews 12:28-29 beautifully holds both truths together: "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire."
Grace and fear belong together. Grace doesn't replace reverence—it restores it. Grace doesn't lower the standard—it gives us power to live up to it.
We cannot get close to God without grace. Holiness cannot operate in our lives without the mercy and grace of God. We need the blood of Jesus to enter His presence. But true grace doesn't give us a license to put God second. True grace makes us more aware of His holiness, not less.
When Scripture calls God a consuming fire, it reveals His nature. Fire represents both purity and power. It consumes what is unholy and refines what is surrendered. The same fire that judged idolatry also fell at Pentecost and fills believers today.
God's fire isn't meant to destroy us—it's meant to transform us. It burns away everything that doesn't look like Him. It purifies motives, purges sin, and reveals truth.
The Invitation
The fear of the Lord is not a threat but an invitation. It's God saying, "Let My presence purify you and empower you."
Each of us is a temple of God. And in that temple, there should be an awareness—a holy recognition that He is here, that He is holy, that without Him we are nothing, but with Him we can do all things.
This isn't about performance or perfectionism. It's about positioning our hearts in reverence so that His presence can do what only His presence can do: transform us from the inside out.
The question we must each answer is simple but profound: Do we fear the Lord? Not just believe in Him, not just love Him in a casual way, but truly reverence Him with our choices, our time, our obedience?
When we do, everything changes. Stability replaces chaos. Wisdom replaces foolishness. Power replaces weakness. And we walk not in the fear of man, but in the freedom that comes from fearing God alone.
The fear of the Lord—it's the beginning of wisdom, the treasure of God's heart, and the foundation upon which everything else is built.
There's a forgotten treasure in the heart of God—something He values so much that He calls it His Treasure; something that determines whether we build with stability or crumble under pressure. It's not a popular topic in modern Christianity, yet it's woven throughout Scripture as the very foundation of wisdom, power, and transformation.
That treasure is the fear of the Lord.
The Anchor We've Lost
Isaiah 33:6 paints a vivid picture: "And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and the strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is His treasure."
When Isaiah penned these words, the nation of Judah faced imminent invasion. The Assyrian army threatened to overwhelm them. In their panic, the people scrambled for security through political alliances and human strategies. But God's message through Isaiah cut through their frantic planning: Your stability won't come from your strategies. It will come from your reverence.
This ancient truth echoes into our present moment. Before we can truly walk in all that God has promised—before there can be genuine growth in the body of Christ—there must be a reverence in His people. Before activity, there must be awe. Before movement, there must be maturity.
The fear of the Lord is the dividing line between those who know about God and those who walk with God. It separates the religious from the righteous, the gifted from the godly.
What Is This Holy Fear?
The fear of the Lord is often misunderstood. It's not cowering terror or paralyzing dread. Rather, it's a profound awareness of who God is—His holiness, His power, His authority. It's standing before the burning bush and recognizing you're on holy ground.
Proverbs 9:10 defines it clearly: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." True wisdom doesn't start in a classroom or through accumulating information. It begins in reverence.
When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, the Lord commanded him: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Moses didn't make the ground holy—he became aware that it was. That's the fear of the Lord: recognizing the sacred nature of God's presence and responding accordingly.
The early church understood this. Acts 2:42-43 tells us they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. But notice the very next sentence: "And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles."
Their gatherings weren't casual. Even in homes, even in living rooms, there was reverence. And that reverence released God's supernatural power.
The Fear That Protects
Proverbs 8:13 reveals something crucial: "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."
The word "froward" means stubborn, rebellious, self-willed—the opposite of "toward." When Jesus says, "Draw nigh to me and I'll draw nigh to you," a froward heart says, "I'm not drawing near to you." That's rebellion disguised as independence.
The fear of the Lord isn't about rules—it's about guarding relationship. It produces a life that hates what pulls us away from God's presence. It's the internal compass that keeps us aligned with His will even when no one is watching.
Proverbs 19:23 promises, "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life." And 2 Corinthians 7:1 instructs us to be "perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
The fear of the Lord doesn't restrict life—it preserves it. It's not a cage; it's a covering. It provides the freedom to live without the paralyzing fears that plague our culture.
The Contrast: Fearing God vs. Fearing Everything Else
Here's where the tension becomes real. Many today don't fear the Lord—they fear everything else. We fear opinions, rejection, failure, finances, change, the future. We even fear our own potential.
But Jesus drew a clear line: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).
When you live aware of who God is, you stop fearing what other people think. When you fear the Lord, you gain courage to stand for truth. The right kind of fear in your life eliminates all the wrong fears.
Consider Noah. Hebrews 11:7 says he "moved with fear" and built the ark to the saving of his family. That holy fear motivated him to obedience even when it seemed unreasonable. He didn't build the ark because it was convenient—he built it because God commanded it, and that fear moved him to action that saved his household.
The same principle applies to us. Are we moved by the fear of the Lord to do what He asks? Or do we only give Him lip service while living by our own preferences?
Working Out Salvation with Fear and Trembling
Philippians 2:12 contains a sobering instruction: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
We're not saved until we're saved. The enemy would love to pluck us away right now. We are being saved—present tense—which means we must actively engage in our relationship with God through reverence.
This isn't about earning salvation through works. It's about recognizing the gravity of what's at stake. There is a heaven and there is a hell. Eternity is real. And that reality should move us to action—not out of guilt, but out of love mixed with holy awe.
David understood this when he cried out, "Cast me not away from thy presence, O Lord." He knew that separation from God was the ultimate loss.
Grace Restores Reverence
Some might worry that emphasizing the fear of the Lord contradicts the message of grace. But Hebrews 12:28-29 beautifully holds both truths together: "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire."
Grace and fear belong together. Grace doesn't replace reverence—it restores it. Grace doesn't lower the standard—it gives us power to live up to it.
We cannot get close to God without grace. Holiness cannot operate in our lives without the mercy and grace of God. We need the blood of Jesus to enter His presence. But true grace doesn't give us a license to put God second. True grace makes us more aware of His holiness, not less.
When Scripture calls God a consuming fire, it reveals His nature. Fire represents both purity and power. It consumes what is unholy and refines what is surrendered. The same fire that judged idolatry also fell at Pentecost and fills believers today.
God's fire isn't meant to destroy us—it's meant to transform us. It burns away everything that doesn't look like Him. It purifies motives, purges sin, and reveals truth.
The Invitation
The fear of the Lord is not a threat but an invitation. It's God saying, "Let My presence purify you and empower you."
Each of us is a temple of God. And in that temple, there should be an awareness—a holy recognition that He is here, that He is holy, that without Him we are nothing, but with Him we can do all things.
This isn't about performance or perfectionism. It's about positioning our hearts in reverence so that His presence can do what only His presence can do: transform us from the inside out.
The question we must each answer is simple but profound: Do we fear the Lord? Not just believe in Him, not just love Him in a casual way, but truly reverence Him with our choices, our time, our obedience?
When we do, everything changes. Stability replaces chaos. Wisdom replaces foolishness. Power replaces weakness. And we walk not in the fear of man, but in the freedom that comes from fearing God alone.
The fear of the Lord—it's the beginning of wisdom, the treasure of God's heart, and the foundation upon which everything else is built.
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