The Fear of the Lord Is His Treasure — Paul Lloyd

The Fear of the Lord as God’s Treasure

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Praise God. Enjoy that. Let's stand together and pray. Yes, Jesus, we love you, Lord. We love that you're our friend, Lord. We love to be your friend. We love your word, Lord. We love the way it works in our life.

Lord, we're glad you're not the kind of friend who just always tells us what we want to hear, Lord. But you tell us what we need. And you encourage us. And you bless us. You're a perfect friend, Lord.

We ask you to give us what we need this morning, Lord. God, I pray for your grace to speak your words. Lord, have mercy on me. Your word says that those who teach will be judged more harshly. Mercy in my life, O God.

Mercy in my life, O God. As I teach your word today. In Jesus' name, amen. That's the title this morning. The fear of the Lord is his treasure. I don't know if that sounds a little funny to you or odd or different.

It did to me. That's a scripture quote. Isaiah 33 and verse 6. You can turn there if you want, if you will. I want to give a message today on this subject, the fear of the Lord. I was trying to think of how many messages I've heard on that over the years, 24 years as a Christian.

And I can only remember one. It's not a very popular subject. We do hear about it here. We hear about it from time to time and the concept of it. Today, I'd like to give a whole message on this subject.

Because I believe you'll see that it's very important. And I believe you'll see that it's his treasure. This subject of the fear of the Lord is something that I have studied off and on through the years.

It has fascinated me and interested me. And just recently was again captivated by it in our home fellowship group. We were studying Proverbs chapter two and we'll turn there in a minute. Let's let's read these verses in Isaiah here.

Thirty three. And verse six and wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times and strength of salvation. The fear of the Lord is his treasure. The fear of the Lord is his treasure. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter two.

We've been studying how to study the Bible in our home fellowship group. And so these verses from verse one to five were verses that I wanted to go over together. And go through the process that we saw up on the board there this morning.

And so we did that as a group. I want you to notice something here as we read these verses. Verses one through four. Note the sense of anticipation. This is a father talking to his son. Telling him something very important.

And just here. Put yourself in the place of this son. Hearing your father talk like this to you. He says, my son. If you will receive my words. And hide my commandments with you. You got that son? Receive my words.

Hide my commandments with you. So that you incline your ear unto wisdom. And apply your heart to understanding. Understanding. The son starting to think this must be something very important. Okay. All right.

I'm going to receive. I'm going to hide it with me. I'm going to incline my ear. And I'm going to apply my heart. I'm going to stretch my heart to understand. And he says, yea, if. You cry after knowledge.

And lift up your voice for understanding. And if you seek her as silver. And search for her as for hid treasure. You can almost feel the son just saying, what is it dad? What is this great thing? Tell me.

If you do all these things, son. Here's the treasure. Then you shall understand the fear of the Lord. And find the knowledge of God. God does have ifs in the Bible. If and then. There is an if. He said to his son, there's something very valuable.

That I want you to have. Like the things we've talked about this morning already. These things are so valuable that you're not going to find them just laying on the ground. Valuable things aren't just laying on the ground to stumble over, are they?

Have you have you stumbled over any gold rocks in your yard recently? Now, men have to go search for those things. They go underground. They dig tunnels. They get dynamite and blast rocks out. Those things aren't just laying all around.

To just be plucked up. What is it that makes something valuable? Is it not the fact that it's rare? And that it is difficult to obtain. And it's useful. Those are three I thought of. Maybe you can think of some more.

Yes. Valuable things are rare. They're not easy to get. And we might as well complain. If we're going to complain that the ways of God sometimes are difficult. Sometimes it's tough sometimes to get the things that God says in his word.

We might as well complain that it's hard to find diamonds in our backyard. I'm just not stumbling over any. I can't find any. I hear about these other people getting them in their caves in South Africa.

But I just can't find any in my yard. We would never do that. No. Neither should we complain that it's difficult sometimes. The promises of God, yes, they're there and they're for us. Yay and amen. But they don't just fall off the tree in our lap.

They don't just get heaved up by the frost. They take some digging. In the 1800s, there was a California gold rush. People really went crazy. I mean, they left the East Coast, got in a wagon, drove all the way over to California through mountain passes, snows, heat, wild Indians, starvation, you name it.

Many of them died along the way. What for? They wanted to get a few shiny rocks. And what it could buy for them. Men have gone crazy. And done outrageous things for stuff that isn't even treasure. Should it be something that we should blame God for?

That his treasures are not just falling out in front of us? We should only expect that to be so. His treasures are the most valuable. There's no greater treasures than what God wants to give to you and I.

We heard about some of them this morning. Pleasures forevermore. Pleasure forevermore. Pleasure forevermore. Does that sound like a treasure? Yes. So we want to talk to you today about his treasure. The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

Now, I want to show you. I want to do three parts here. I want to show you what the treasure is. Then I want to say I want to show you. I want to convince you that the fear of the Lord is a treasure worth pursuing first.

And then I want to show you what it is. I want to excite you, first of all, that this is a treasure that I should be pursuing. That's worthy of my time, my effort. Then I want to show you what it is. And last, I want to show you how you can get it.

I want to leave you with something that you can do. So that's it, three parts. All right. We read the verse there in Isaiah. It's God's treasure. There's two ways that I look at that. First of all, I see it as God's treasure that he finds in us.

It's his treasure. It's what he treasures. It's what he's looking for. When his eyes go out all through the earth, he's looking for some people that fear him. Why? Well, why is it a treasure to him? It's so rare.

How many fear God? Especially in the day that we live in. Romans chapter three. And as I go this morning, I'm going to be turning pretty quickly. So you may just want to get a pen and write the reference down and look it up later.

I hope you're going to be like the Bereans, who were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they searched the scriptures to see whether those things were so or not. Romans chapter three. Listen to this testimony.

Listen to what God is looking down upon. In business as usual on the earth. As it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understand it. There is none that seek it after God.

They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There's none that do it good. No, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues, they have used deceit. The poison of asked is under their lips.

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. In the way of peace, they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

That's what God looks down upon in most of the earth. That's why it's a treasure to him when he sees a soul over here and over there. Maybe a group of them who fear him. It's a treasure to him. It's a treasure to him.

In Exodus 19, verse 5, God said to his people there. Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people. For all the earth is mine and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

That was God's will. He wanted that peculiar treasure. He was seeking for it. He's still seeking for it. Malachi 3. The end of the Old Testament. Look at this. Look at this verse. Malachi 3, verse 16 and 17.

Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name.

They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. And I'll spare them as a man spares his own son that serves him. It does something to God when he sees people that fear him.

He says, I'm going to write their name down in a book and I'm going to stick them. I'm going to make them one of my jewels. They're a treasure. How many of you would like to bring God pleasure? We heard about that in the song this morning, right?

I want to be his friend. Well, amen. Psalm 147 tells us how we can do that. Psalm 147, verse 11. It says here, verse 10. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse. He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.

The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him. In those that hope in his mercy. Yes, we want to bring him pleasure. We need to understand what it means to fear God. He takes pleasure in them that fear him.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Think about that for God. Where is his treasure? Them that fear God. Where is his heart going to be? His heart is with them that fear him. Praise God.

All right, now. I believe we can see clearly that it's God's treasure. It's something he desires. It's something he loves. It brings him pleasure. He's looking for it. When he sees it, it blesses him.

It's a rare jewel. And it's something useful. When people fear God, they're useful. He can do something with that person. Someone who doesn't fear God, he can't use them. Because they're not listening.

They're not obeying. They're not following like we heard about this morning. Those subtle impressions of go this way. Walk that way. Now, second point there. The kingdom of heaven. The fear of the Lord is God's treasure storehouse for us.

Is the other interpretation of that. It's the same interpretation, which I believe are both equally valid. As we'll see in scripture. I just want to show you what it is from scripture today. I want to show you what the Bible says about the fear of God.

I don't want to give you my idea. I want you to see what God says. It is our treasure. It's a storehouse of treasure that God wants to give you and me. Matthew 13, 44 says the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

Which when a man find it. He hides it and goes and sells everything he has so he can purchase that field. Jesus used that image of treasure. That's what the kingdom of God is. It's a treasure. Salvation and knowing the Lord.

And the fear of the Lord. So much so that we should sell all that we have. To go buy that one. There's over 40 promises that I counted. Connected with the fear of God. In the Bible. 40 of them. We won't have time to go through all of them this morning.

But I hope I can whet your appetite so that you will want to find out for yourself. You know that's the way we should approach the Bible, isn't it? It's promises to me. It's something God wants to give me.

It's something God wants to do in me. And do in me. And how he wants to use me. I hope you don't see the Bible that it's for somebody else. God meant that one for somebody else. But it must not be for me.

So what are some of these treasures that are promised to those who fear God? Turn with me to Acts chapter 10. And by the way, this is not just an Old Testament principle. I think there'd be some today who would try to relegate that to the Old Testament.

And you know, the old dark religion. And so forth. It's in the New Testament. Ten times. It's commanded. Eleven times, I mean. Acts chapter 10. Look at this. The first treasure that is promised to those who fear God is accepted.

You will be accepted by God. What's that worth to you? How much would you give? To be accepted by God. Look at Cornelius. This man. He was a soldier. Centurion. But it says in verse two, he was a devout man.

And one that feared God with all his house. And gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always. Wasn't even saved yet. And it says in verse 22, and they said. And this was. Yeah, verse 22. And they said, Cornelius, the centurion, a just man.

And one that fears God. There it is again. And of a good report among all the nation of the Jews. Was warned by God. By a holy angel to send for thee into this house and to hear words of thee. And then, of course, Peter gives him the gospel.

And. They come to know the Lord. Peter says as he gets ready. To preach. Peter opened his mouth and said of the truth. I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation. He that fears him and works righteousness is accepted with him.

There is a treasure. Acceptance with God. It comes through the fear of God. Cornelius, it was said of him three times that he feared God. That's significant. He didn't take it lightly when he went to the synagogue on Sunday.

He didn't just ho hum through the service. And. Look out the window. He was interested. He feared God. He believed he gave alms. He did something about it. And God rewarded him. God rewarded that man.

God accepted him. What would you give to be accepted by God? What would you do? Is that a treasure to you? Someone or 317? His mercy is from everlasting. To everlasting. To them that fear him. And his righteousness is to children's children.

Praise God. His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. Eternity past. Eternity future. Is that a treasure? Praise God. What's that worth? Is that worth more than gold? Praise the Lord. And his righteousness to children's children.

That's grandchildren. To grandchildren. Then that fear God. It says here. His righteousness is from. Children. To children. To children's children. You want your children to follow God. You need the fear of God.

And listen in our day. There's this. This idea of. Sort of these legalistic transactions of. I pray to prayer. I got saved. Now I'm a Christian. And everything's just. You know, I can claim everything and so forth.

I don't believe the Bible teaches that. That there's a fear of God that some Christians have that others don't seem to have yet. That God wants everybody to have. Fear of God. And there's promises that are given to those who fear God.

I don't see a promise given to somebody who's casual and takes things lightly. We can. We can take that. For me. For us. God has promised me. If I fear him. All right. Turn to Psalm 25. We're going to look at some more treasures.

Psalm 25. If this doesn't excite you, then I don't know what will. Verse 12. What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. We heard about it in Psalm 16 today.

He will guide me. Yes, he'll guide me. Why did Jesus get that guidance? He learned the fear of God. Isaiah chapter 11, the prophecy, there shall be a root out of Jesse. It says there that he shall be of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.

Jesus. He was of a quick understanding. And yes. He was taught in the way that he should choose. God will teach you in the way that you should choose. How much is that worth to you? It says here, his soul shall dwell at ease.

Isn't that what everybody wants? Isn't that what all of mankind is trying to get? They're trying to get their soul to dwell at ease. So they're trying to numb the pain of the guilt through drugs, through other idols, music.

No, God says your soul will dwell at ease if you fear me. Your soul will dwell at ease. And your seed shall inherit the earth. Another promise for our children. And I love this verse 14. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.

And he will show them his covenant. There's there's a secret council room. That's what that actually means. There is secret council room with God. If you fear him. It's a secret place that you can go and you can talk with him.

He'll tell you secrets. Things you need to know. What's that worth to you? How much is that worth? And I'm just going to read through the Proverbs here quickly. There's many, many ones in the Proverbs.

Proverbs three, five through eight. It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. Physical health. Health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. Proverbs nine and ten. It's the beginning of wisdom.

It's the beginning of knowing how to live. Of how to go about your life, to know what to do. If you would know everything there was to know, what would you do? That's wisdom. Why do this? That'd be the wise thing.

The beginning of wisdom. But Proverbs chapter 15, 33. It's the instruction of wisdom. It's the beginning, but it's also the instruction. It's walking on and learning more. It's not strong confidence. It's not self-esteem that we need.

You know, the world looks on at people who lack, they quote, lack self-esteem. No, you don't need to love yourself more or think more highly of yourself. You need the fear of God. And it says here that you're going to have strong confidence.

You're not going to be insecure anymore. You're not going to be inferior. Proverbs 14, 26. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. We heard about that in a sermon a couple weeks ago. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.

Proverbs 16 and verse 6. The fear of the Lord enables men to depart from evil. By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. How many would like to get rid of those sins that bother you? That hold you down.

You don't want to do it, but you do. The fear of the Lord. By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. What's that worth to you? What would that be worth to you? If you could buy that. I'm free from sin.

Proverbs 19, 23. He that hath the fear of the Lord shall abide satisfied. You're going to abide satisfied. You're going to be satisfied. You're not going to need anything else. All the paraphernalia that the world needs to make them happy.

You won't need it. Praise God. And he shall not be visited with evil. I don't want evil visiting me. That's worth something. Proverbs 22 for the fear of the Lord. By the fear of the Lord, men. I'm just trying to quote it here, but receive riches, honor and life.

Treasure. It's a treasure house. Is it not now? Now, Psalm 34. It says the angel of the Lord encamps around about them that fear him. It doesn't say the angel of the Lord encamps about others. But it does promise those who fear him have an angels, angels around them.

And what for? To deliver them. Valuable. And it says that he will have no lack at all. Psalm 34, 7 or 9. And in the New Testament there, it says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. That's the way we work out our salvation.

By the fear of God. Have I convinced you that this is a treasure? Worth pursuing. Is it more valuable than the gold out in California? Is it more valuable than the diamonds in South Africa? Is there anything as valuable as this?

Nothing. What will we do to get it? Let's not let those gold rush people put us to shame. Let's not let them put us to shame. It went through all that trouble for a bunch of old dirty rocks. They're all going to melt and burn up.

Unbelievable. Let's not let them put us to shame with their zeal. And their commitment to get their treasure. We've got treasure too. All right. Let's go on now. Number two. What is the fear of God? We know it's a valuable treasure.

It's something very rare. We've already seen that. As I told you, it's a command. Thirty times over. Over 30 times in the Bible. Eleven in the New Testament. We are commanded to fear God. So that's significant.

Something God tells us we need to do. Deuteronomy chapter six and verse 24. It says here. Deuteronomy 624. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes to fear the Lord our God. Why? For our good always.

That he might preserve us alive as it is at this day. God's commandments are for our good. The fear of God is not something bad. It's not something to be shrunk back from. It's something to love. To embrace.

Matthew 1028. The words of Jesus. He said. Don't fear people that can kill your body. I will tell you who you should fear. Fear him who has power to kill your body and then to cast you into hell. That's New Testament.

It's a command. Jesus told us you need to fear the one. Who has power to do that. All right. The next point. The fear of God is proven. By our actions. Not by what we say. Not by what we aspire to. The fear of God is proven by our actions.

And I'm going to prove that to you through Genesis 22. Remember the word that God gave to Abraham. He said, Abraham, take your son, your only son, Isaac. The one that you've been waiting for, for all these years.

The one that I gave you. Take him and sacrifice him. And look what God says. And Abraham. Let's see. Right when he was lifting up the knife. To slay him. The angel said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him.

For now I know that you fear God. Seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son for me. The fear of God is proven. By our actions. God knows who fears him. It doesn't matter what we say. It doesn't matter what we aspire to.

Or what we hope to be. Or all these things. What matters is what we do. Abraham could have said, yes, Lord. I think that's a command I'd like to obey. Someday. And not done anything about it. And he wouldn't have feared God.

He proved it. The angel said, now I know that you fear God. It's proven. You did something about it. You showed it to us. You showed it to the whole world. Abraham feared God. Next point. The fear of God.

Proverbs 8 .13. Is to hate evil. Pride. Arrogancy. And the froward mouth. Do I hate? The fear of God is something that gives it within us a hatred of evil. And pride. And arrogancy. And the froward mouth.

That is what the fear of God does and what it is. Proverbs 3. Five through eight. Some of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. In fact, I think they are my favorite. Because I was I was such a leaner on my own understanding before I came to God.

This verse is such a relief to me. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct your path. Be not wise in your own eyes.

Fear the Lord. And depart from evil. Many verses in the Bible. The fear of God is contrasted with self-confidence. It's the opposite. In this verse here. Isn't that what he does? Don't lean on your own understanding.

Don't think you can figure it out good enough to make out OK. Fear God. Fear God. And depart from evil. There's a connection there. The fear of God is connected with total distrust in my own self. And my own abilities to be a Christian even.

And leaning on God. I have a little definition that I worked up. In our one of the things that we wanted to do in our home fellowship was each come up with the definition. So I got to do that this weekend.

I hope it doesn't. Hope you all got yours already done. But listen to this definition. I don't know if it's perfect, but it's one that means something to me. From all the scriptures I've studied. The fear of God.

The trusting. Reverent. Fear and respect of the almighty. Knowing that his eyes are all seeing. And his judgments are everlasting. That causes one to flee from evil and pursue good. And to have no confidence in the flesh.

Let me read that again to you. The fear of God. The trusting. Reverent. Fear. And respect. Of the almighty. Knowing that his eyes are all seeing. And his judgments are everlasting. That causes one to flee from evil and pursue good.

And to have no confidence in the flesh. Amen. Lord. Give it to us. Do you want it? How bad do you want it? I believe if you're saved that you have it to a degree. All of us. But how bad do you want it?

How bad do you want those promises that we read about? How much do you want that treasure? Now I want to talk about how to get it. I got three. Three points. How can I get the fear of God more? Number one, it may sound like an obvious thing, but.

Asking God for the Fear of God

Ask for it. James said you have not because you ask not. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Ask for it. Have enough faith in you to. Be willing to ask God to give it to you.

How much do we go through life? And this actually demonstrates a lack of the fear of God. We just live our life. And we don't ask God to do things. We don't ask him for wisdom. We don't ask him for direction.

And so we just stumble along. Ask him for the fear of God. You know, it's part of him. The sevenfold spirit of God in Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah chapter 11. I'll just read it to you. The sevenfold spirit of God.

Listen to what it is. And there shall come forth. A rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Jesus. And the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him.

The spirit of wisdom. The spirit of understanding. The spirit of counsel. The spirit of might. The spirit of knowledge. And the spirit of the fear of the Lord. It's part of God. If you then be evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children.

How much more will the father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. And in that Holy Spirit is encompassed this fear of the spirit of the fear of God. It's part of him. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

It will be forever. Psalm 19. OK, so we ask God for it. We just be simple enough like a child to just come and ask him, God, I want that. Lord, I want that treasure. We could be like the psalmist in Psalm 86.

Prayed a beautiful prayer. I love the book of Psalms. It teaches us how to pray. Psalms 86 and verse 11. Teach me thy way, O Lord. And I will walk in thy truth. Pray all the stuff that's ununited, that's together with that.

To fear thy name. Pray that prayer every day. If you're going to be praying the prayer of Jabez every day, let's pray that one, too. Unite my heart to fear thy name. That's point one is ask for it. Ask for it.

Ask and you shall receive. It's the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Number two, after you've asked for it, choose it. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter one. The fear of God is something you choose.

According to this verse, I'm going to read to you. Not something you feel, not something that you hope comes on you someday. Proverbs. This is a book, a chapter here where the father's teaching his son and he's telling him, don't go with these youth that get together and they want to rob people and put their purse together and and, you know, be foolish and go down a road of destruction.

And at the end here, he says in verse twenty eight, these people who all this things came upon, he said in verse twenty six, I'll laugh at your calamity. I'll mock when your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Then they'll call upon me, but I won't answer. They'll seek me early, but they shall not find me. Why? For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. In other words, he's saying they had a choice set before them.

The fear of God. The pleasures of sin. And he says they didn't choose the fear of God. They chose the sin. And they went on and on and on. And there came a day finally they went so far that God would not even hear them.

He would not hear them because they didn't choose the fear of the Lord. That should be good news to us today in the sense that you can choose that. It must be possible for you to come here this morning and hear this message and go home tomorrow morning and next week and the rest of your life and choose the fear of God.

And that's an awesome thing. You ask for it, then you choose it. God, I want the fear of God. The Holy Spirit is prompting us now. Working in my life. You don't need to take that extra bite of food there, that extra plate of food, do you?

That little voice that we hear? Speaking to some people I haven't eaten for a while. Praise God, that's a privilege. Well, I think I need it, Lord. You choose the fear of God. Now, I'm not talking about something where you become all bound up in a bondage.

But when the spirit of God is speaking in your life, you choose it. You get ready to open your mouth and say that unkind thing about somebody. And you feel that little check. And you make a choice. Psalm 36, verse 1, it says, The transgression of the wicked says to me there is no fear of God in him.

The choices that the wicked man makes tells me there's no fear of God in him. Psalm 36, verse 1. The Apostle Paul said, Herein do I exercise myself. That sounds like a choice, doesn't it? How many of you have exercised recently by accident?

Now, that's painful. And that's a choice, right? Paul said, Herein do I exercise myself. In Acts 24 and 16. That I may always have a conscience void of offense toward God and man. That's the fear of God.