The Fear of God in Nehemiah | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

It sounded like there's a lot of free people today. Powerful singing. Thank you for the worship, praise team. And now we continue to worship in the word. Amen?

Turn your bibles to the book of Nehemiah with me, please. Nehemiah in chapter one. And as we turn there, it is a habit of ours that once we complete a series, a verse by verse study, we we pause and we we take the time to address certain truths that, that may require clarity or application without delay, before we start and begin another series in a verse by verse study in another book. What this does is it really gives us the opportunity to be reminded of certain concepts that may have become dull to our understanding or blurred in our perception. And that is what we are going to do today as we come to this book, to consider a subject that is unfortunately underemphasized in many places today, underemphasized by some and by others totally ignored from a preaching standpoint.

And yet at the same time, it is a scriptural theme that is extremely important for us to grasp if we want to be flourishing in our faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. And what I am alluding to, what we will be looking into today, is the call for all men, especially those who believe that they are children of God, to fear the Lord. To fear the Lord. What we will do together today is to look at this because this subject is of vital importance. It is a subject that is dear to my heart for many reasons, and those reasons go beyond the fact that it is it is riddled throughout the scriptures.

It is a call from beginning to end. In fact, the very first reference to the fear of God is found in the first book in Genesis. And if one is mistaken to believe that such a concept only fades as you read to the right, you are in for the shock of your life when you realize how stressed it is in the final book of this divine library. And any honest student of the word of God who has looked at the scriptures between Genesis and Revelation will find it very difficult to deny that it is sprinkled. It is sprinkled in so many places.

And why is that? Because Psalm 19 verse nine tells us something very important about the fear of the Lord. First it says that the fear of the Lord is clean. It is clean. And not just the fact that it is clean, but it will endure forever.

The fear of the Lord will endure forever. What does that mean? Well, it means that it is relevant and applicable to all men. It is relevant and applicable in all ages. Whatever dispensation you might know of, the fear of the Lord was and still is relevant.

Whatever covenant, the fear of the Lord is relevant. And here in 2022, as we sing and believe and preach the grace of God, I wanna tell you today that the fear of God is relevant. It is important. That verse alone, the fact that the fear of the Lord endures forever is enough to grip us and to tell us just how important it is to God and it should be to you and I. And one place that may not be the go to source in understanding the fear of the Lord is the book of Nehemiah.

It's the book of Nehemiah. That might be a surprise because usually the wisdom literature, like Proverbs or the Hebrew hymnal, the book of Psalms, is a priority in terms of understanding the principles of the fear of the Lord and rightfully so. But I I have to admit, though this has been a a study of mine on a personal sense that has been so dear, I've I've realized that whenever I feel like I had a comprehensive understanding, there's yet another layer to this. There is so much that is involved with the fear of the Lord. Not just in the fact that it is referenced but the blessings that are attached with it.

The glories that it produces. The great honor that it gives to God. And as we come to Nehemiah, we are going to see some facets of the fear of the Lord that prayerfully will make this spiritual discipline, this attitude of the soul to be all the more attractive and all the more desirable. And so I want us to consider at least three, not limited to these three, but three insights about the fear of the Lord found in Nehemiah. Nehemiah's recorded life and Nehemiah's ministry.

Nehemiah possessed this fear. Nehemiah expected this fear from those that were under his leadership. So let's begin together in Nehemiah chapter one verse 11. And this is when Nehemiah for weeks has been broken before God, praying and seeking him because he has received the report of the ruins of Jerusalem while he was a cupbearer to the king as an exile. His brother and other servants came along and when he had asked what is going on in the holy city, they described the shame that Jerusalem was experiencing because of their broken walls.

And this man was pricked to the heart and so he began a quest, a quest of great prayer seeking the Lord that he would do something for the sake of his glory and the good of his people. Oh God, will you not do something with your holy city? Will you not revive? Will you not restore? And we come to this prayer in chapter one that is worthy enough to study as a series in itself.

But there's one particular place that that is relevant to our subject today and it's found in verse 11. Look how Nehemiah prays here. Oh Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name. And give success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Here's a passionate plea from Nehemiah for God to do something about his home city.

And this desperate prayer alone is so rich with meaning, but here's a meaning to consider in this verse. Nehemiah shows that that he was not the only one that was interceding. He was not the only one that was shattered in his heart. He says here that there are other servants who are also unnamed heroes, like many people who, who, who love to pray for ministries and pastors and others and they are behind the scenes. They are still part of the team, are they not?

They are still instrumental, are they not? And here are these servants who are in the background. We do not know who they are. All we know about them is that they also were praying for God to rend the heavens and come down and shower mercy upon the people of Israel. But notice though we do not know the names of these prayer warriors, we do know something about them.

And what we know about them is so vital and very revealing. They delight to fear your name. Other translations would say, who desire to fear your name. What a thing to say about anybody. Isn't it fascinating?

To delight to fear something sounds absurd almost. Who would desire to fear something? If there's any relation from desire with fear, it is less of fear, not more of it. And yet, here we see that there is this yearning to be fearful of God. There is a desire, a longing for this fear to become more of a reality in their lives.

They wanna live under that banner. They wanna know what it's like to tremble before God and before others in the name of God. And it's important to understand that there's a reason for these servants and for servants of God today to delight in fearing him. Why would anybody want that kind of reality, that kind of dimension to their relationship with God? Well, there are many places to point to, but may I give you one today in your bibles?

It's in the prophet Isaiah's words in Isaiah 33. I want you to see something that is quite amazing as it pertains to the fear of the Lord. In Isaiah 33 verse six, notice what the man of God says, And he will be the stability of your times, being the Lord. Abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure.

The fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure. What an incredible declaration of truth. But what is the connection between this statement and the promises that are given before it? It is very simple. The fear of the Lord is the key that unlocks the blessings that were just mentioned in your life and mine.

It is the means by which we know the fullness of such graces. It is what gives us access to stability. It is what gives us access to an abundance of salvation, not just of your soul, a saving of many troubles, a saving of many errors, a salvation in so many ways. It is it is what we need to have wisdom as what we heard so many times in our lives. It's the beginning.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You can't even have the elementary facets of wisdom without the fear of the Lord and knowledge. There's no wonder that those from Zion and and Nehemiah's time delighted. They they longed for it because they realized the jewels that were available through it. And these blessings are inseparable from the fear of God.

I say this so many times whenever I teach on this subject. It's no wonder that Satan wants Christians to be afraid of the fear of the Lord. But it still begs the question. Are these incentives enough to encourage anyone to be afraid of God? And that's where many people are mistaken.

It is a great error to to equate the fear of the Lord as a synonymous term of being paralyzed by a dread of God. Of having this morbid fear of God is not what the fear of the Lord means. This fear does not produce a view of God that makes him unapproachable or unpredictable. That is not the idea at all. I believe one of the best leaps that we can make to coming that much closer to the most sound definition of the fear of the Lord and the most applicable way of honoring it in our own lives is by realizing that the fear of God is something that the Lord Jesus Christ himself possessed and delighted in.

Does that does that mess with your understanding of the relationship between Christ and the father? Jesus feared God. Jesus walked in the fear of the Lord. Where do we get that from? The same book.

Isaiah chapter 11. Look at verse one as we are given a prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ. A prophecy of the Messiah who would walk on this earth, and the manifold ministry that he would have by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. In Isaiah eleven one, we read concerning Jesus, Unless you disagree that this is about the Lord. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Look at verse three.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear. Jesus feared God. While while in the flesh, he perfected the fear of the Lord. He walked in the fullness of it because the spirit, the seven fold ministry of the Holy Spirit was given to Christ without measure.

I love to use this text to ask people who object to the fear of the Lord, do you desire to be like Jesus? Of course I do. I love him. I I want to walk in his ways. I want to be like him.

Then you know what I say following that? Then you will delight in the fear of God, because Jesus did. You will not deny it. You will not despise it. You will not try to argue it away because of your personal perception of Jesus.

You will delight in the fear of the Lord if you want to be like Jesus. And go beyond that. Now go beyond that and consider the dynamics. Consider the relationship that the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated through the gospels and even in the accounts of the epistles. And ask yourself, how did Jesus relate to the Father?

Did he cower from him in fear? Was he uneasy about serving him? Did he always long to have his way, but he always felt as though there was a loaded gun pointed at his back? No. A thousand times, no.

You go to the gospels, you go to the new testament, and you collect all the data of the way Jesus prayed to the father, of how he represented him and how he spoke of him, of the joy and the steadfast commitment that he had to the cause that he was given while being here on earth. And you will come to this conclusion, no doubt, that Christ feared God. And it was a revelation of the almighty that inspired an awe in his soul. An attitude of great reverence and honor that he deserves. It's it's really an amazement.

What the fear of God does is it awakens an amazement as you behold and properly understand who God is, all that he is and all that he is capable of doing. It stuns you. It brings a weightiness to you. It destroys any habit of being indifferent or casual with him. It inspires this reverence and the sense of being astonished by his manifold beauty, which includes everything from his holiness to his goodness to his grace to his judgments.

You read in Hebrews five in verse seven, and what you will see is that when Jesus was on the earth and he prayed, it says that God heard him because of his reverence. And that is what it means to fear him. It's a mixture. This this fear is a mixture of a constant awareness of how otherworldly God is from the rest of creation. And that is mingled with the knowledge that he will indeed hold men accountable for his actions.

And it is also included with the experience, the personal experience of his goodness that causes you to be in dread of even the thought of displeasing him or misrepresenting him in any way. This fear of God, though it is it is obvious in the scriptures, is so complex in how it it applies to us. But Jesus had it. He walked in it. And the greatest men of God who have done the greatest things for God have a common denominator and it is this, they walked in the fear of the Lord.

Nehemiah was such a man. Nehemiah was that man and you see it play out in his life so wonderfully. You see how it actually practically influences the different things that you and I do on a day to day basis. How we think, how we decide, how we plan. Nehemiah is often a book that is referred to in order to get a congregation all ready for some project and how unity is necessary to get things done and wholehearted sacrifices needed to do great things for the kingdom.

That's all right. But have you ever considered that it's more than just people who have this common goal, who just want to see building projects completed? Can we not see together that if we're going to do anything for the Lord, whether it's practical, whether it's spiritual, and oftentimes those things merge, that it's going to require what this leader had and what he demanded of those who would serve along with him. The fear of God. The fear of God.

And I wanna show you what the fear of God does. I wanna show you what it can do. I wanna show you what it can prevent. I wanna show you that it is indeed a treasure to be sought after. We come to Nehemiah chapter five.

And this is not a comprehensive study by the way. This is just to wet our appetites a little bit. In Nehemiah chapter five verse six, let's read a few verses to understand what's happening here. I was very angry when I heard the outcry and these words. I took counsel with myself and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials.

I said to them, you are exacting interest each from his brother and I held a great assembly against them. And said to them, we as far as we are able have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us. They were silent and could not find a word to say. What's happening here? Nehemiah with a bunch of others have returned from exile to the promised land.

The city is in ruins. Homes are destroyed. More importantly, the house of God is in rubble. And now they are trying to build their way back. They're trying to restore what was destroyed.

And in the process of this, while many are in poverty, while many are burdened, while many only have the shirt on their own backs, As they were trying to do this for the kingdom of God, they were also concerned about their personal well-being. And so what you had people do is some were more wealthy than others, and those who were who were least fortunate were willing to serve fellow Israelites for pay or to get a loan. And these other Israelites who had more in their name would give, would lend, but it would exact interest. And if the interest could have paid if they went into further debt, then these families would sell their children to these neighbors as slaves to pay off any debt. And the reason why that is so important is that in Exodus, God prohibited the Israelites to charge interest when they borrow or lend to one another.

And so that was to never be a practice. And yet here we see that they're taking advantage of the destitution of people in order for personal profit. Nehemiah hears about it, and he's losing his mind. He comes in, he says, are you kidding me? We just got delivered from slavery, and now you want to exact interest and cause more slavery now that we're back home?

And now look what he says in the following verse. So I said in verse nine, the thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations, our enemies. You know what the fear of the Lord does? When the Holy Spirit inspires that within you, when you come to the word of God to discover who he is, the person of Jesus Christ, the person of the Holy Spirit, God the father, as your soul is taught to revere him and respect him and honor him, the fear of the Lord will protect your testimony.

The fear of the Lord will protect your testimony and mine. Notice here that Nehemiah, as a man who feared God, we will find that out in the next point. He he explicitly says, I didn't do certain things because of the fear of the Lord. As a man who fears God, was constantly on guard about how his conduct would be perceived by a watching lost world. In order to not give them another reason to scorn at the truth that we believe in or to harden their hearts and further unbelief.

Nehemiah, as he's processing what is happening with his own people, you know where his mind is going? What are our enemies going to say about this? Look how you're treating one another as the people of God and do you not consider how this will ruin our testimony? Because a man who fears God cares about his testimony. Cares about the impact that his life and the lives of those that he's connected to would make on a watching world.

And we see here that Nehemiah wanted to prevent scandal. The evangelical world in the past couple of years has been rocked by one scandal after another from top leaders. And I can recall the podcast and the interviews and the snippets on YouTube of leading evangelical voices today who are still producing such content to try to understand how this happened, to try to get theological reasons. How is it that these men who have ministered for so long can come crashing down? How is it that these grand ministries can be discovered for such great scandal and moral failure?

And then they go on to discuss how we can prevent it. And they have all these ideas. May I suggest something to you? If somebody were to interview Nehemiah today and say, Pastor Nehemiah, would you tell us how it is that as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, how can we prevent from the world mocking us and despising us because of our obvious failures and our gross inconsistencies? You know what I believe he would say?

What he says here. The greatest prescription to prevent, as he uses that word, to prevent the taunts of the nations is to walk in the fear of God. Walk in the fear of God. The fear of the Lord protects our testimonies. Not by hiding or concealing sin, but by so suffocating it that it doesn't even have the chance to live long enough to accuse us of anything.

The fear of the Lord is so powerful that it grips sin by the throat and kills it before it is able to rise up and point us and say, look at this Christian. I want that. And some might object and say, brother, it can't be that simple. Sin is much more complex than that. People's histories and their past must be considered when we are trying to bring some kind of treatment to their behavior.

And I don't wanna paint a broad brush on every issue and say that there is a one solution to it all, but I must ask this question at the same time. Would anybody in here honestly make the immediate connection between these Israelites exacting interest and demanding payments from fellow brothers to the lack of fear of God in their lives? Think about it. If somebody were to bring that solution to us and say, you know, there are people who are cheating others and they're doing this to each other and they're taking advantage of them in their poor condition, would our minds immediately go to, you don't fear God. That's why you're doing this.

We must rediscover. This is the case that I'm trying to make today. We must rediscover how the absence of the fear of the Lord is often the reason for the presence of so much injustice, iniquity, and compromise. We must rediscover how the absence of the fear of the Lord is the reason for the presence of so much sin that is tolerated and damaging to the testimony of the kingdom of God. Proof?

Proof. Okay. Proof. Let's go to Psalm 34. Let Let me show you just one example of how one component of life is related to the lack of the fear of the Lord.

Psalm 34. I sought the Lord and he answered. That's where it comes from. Right? Let's go to Psalm 34 in verse 11.

Look what David wants to teach us by the spirit. Come, oh children. Listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is taught.

The fear of the Lord is learned. And what's the best way to know how to fear God? Know him. Know him. Know him in his entirety.

Know him in his completion. Know him in his ways and his thoughts. Know him in his holiness. Know him in his love. Know him.

I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days that he may see good? Because that's what the fear of the Lord will do. It will preserve your days. Now look what he says.

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. You know what that teaches me? I learned from this that as we consider the flow of thought of David, that one of the main marks that a man can know that this reverential awe of God abides in his soul is that it will affect his speech. In other words, one of the initial influences of the fear of God being impressed in the deepest parts of the child of God is recognize in how we use this tongue. If that is true, then we must all admit that there is a great lack of fear of God today.

Right? Anyone who can lie, anyone who can take a reputation and rip it apart with their words so easily. Anyone who can lash somebody with their tongue with rage and heavy sharp language does not fear God. They don't. Because the fear of the Lord puts a restraint.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord produces knowledge and a person who fears the Lord understands the power of this thing. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Oh, I challenge you. Go home tonight and look up the first reference to the fear of God and you'll be brought to Abraham in Genesis.

And you'll realize that the fear of the Lord and its first mention is related to sexual immorality. It connects to so many things. In Nehemiah, it connects to the fact that they were taxing their own brothers. Here, it is connected to the fact that there is an unreserved evil in the tongue. And the first mention, it has to do with Abraham being afraid that they were gonna take his wife as he was in a foreign land to take her for their sexual pleasure.

It is connected to almost everything. And yet it is so under emphasized. Barely mentioned today. But the fear of the Lord, it does something. It it pumps up this this passion.

I am concerned about my testimony. I am concerned about what a watching world will save me as I wear the badge, ambassador of Jesus Christ. But it's more than that as we come to the same chapter in Nehemiah in verse 14. In Nehemiah five fourteen, we read of something else concerning the fear of God. Nehemiah says in Nehemiah five fourteen, moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty second year of Artaxerxes, the king, Twelve years neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor.

The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them, from their daily ration, 40 of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people, but I did not do so because of the fear of God. This is a really interesting inclusion in the scriptures because in this part of this chapter, we get a personal testimony from Nehemiah about the account of his leadership. And what he is trying to do by the spirit is show us. Show us the integrity that he had.

Show us the transparency, the the generosity, the selfless love that he gave to others even from a position of authority. And what is he doing here? He's drawing a contrast. He was not the first governor over the people. There were governors who preceded him.

And what he's saying is that these governors, because of their position of authority, demanded taxes from the people even though it would be a burden upon them. They wanted to live in luxury. They wanted to live in abundance, and, and they used the, the right of a governor to ask for more and to demand for more. As Nehemiah reflects about this, he thinks, I did not do this. I did not even consider it.

I thought about the poverty of the people. I thought about their struggle. But these men, they abused their position. They had power and demanded payment that brought them profit at the expense of burning them even more than they were already burdened. And do you know what Nehemiah said?

Though they had such authority, though they had such ability, I didn't go there because I feared God. This teaches this teaches us at least two things. You ready for this? Number one. You know what the fear of God will do?

The fear of God when it is living in a man, will provide a sense of discipline and strength where money has no hold on him. When you talk about money, people irk a little bit. A personal profit is never a motivation for a man who fears God. When he serves God, there is no alluring power from anything to steer him to do that which is right or that which is even wrong. He is untouchable.

He is not easily shaken. He is not moved by any bribe, by any promotion, by any bonus. A man who fears God does not even calculate in the equation of service to God what might come to him as profit or gain. And that is very difficult for Satan to try to bring down when a man lives in such a standard. But secondly, you know what I see from this as he reflects on his stance as a governor in comparison to those who preceded him?

A man who fears God can hold a position of authority without corrupting his character. Think about it. It is possible to be a leader with much influence and not abuse that power ever. The fear of God can make pastors with great influence humble. Ready for this?

Can even make a politician radiate with humility. That's what it can do. Put a man in a position of authority who lacks a fear of God, and you have just elected a curse. But put a man in any position, whether it's lowly or high. And just like how any invitation for profit of gain bounces right off of them, so does the suggestion that you are someone who could demand something of others because you have a title or a gift.

The fear of God silences those temptations. It puts them to death. Has no ability to live. And what Nehemiah's account of his leadership shows us is that a man who has this reverence for God does not think to himself as he plans or as he positions himself or as he makes decisions. What are my rights in this?

What are my rights? He doesn't even think, how can I take advantage of this position or situation for my benefit? Nothing of the sort. There is a dominating motivation. There is a thought that swallows up all of that and it is this, what would my God have me do?

What would my God have me do in this situation? What is the wisest thing to do in this situation? That's why you have a man like the Apostle Paul who did not take payment from the Corinthians because he assessed the situation and he realized if I take payment, people will use this as an excuse that I am bleeding people for their money. He said that in the same chapter where he says pastors should be paid. That if they serve in the gospel, their payment should come from the gospel.

And yet he still says, but I did not exercise that right. Why Paul? Because he feared God. And he didn't consider what are my rights in this situation. He considered his testimony, God's glory, the gospel above all.

Oh, that we would have leaders who fear God. The great blessings that would flow from their position instead of the great burdens. No. A man who fears God lives by a higher standard, higher than money, higher than praise, higher than power, One that directs him to do that which is right. You see, the fear of the Lord does not just eliminate the negative.

The fear of the Lord is the breeding ground for righteousness to excel. Oh, I remember hearing this from somebody who was doing an internship at a church. And don't worry, you don't know about this church. And they wanted to have an event. And in wanting to have that event, they were trying to bring some Christian band.

And when they had reached out to have an invitation to be with them for that event, this Christian band, this young cool band I guess, sent back a request. And the request was a list of demands that they would need from the church if they were gonna host them. You know what the demands were? Along the lines of we want these brand of chips in the green room. And we want blue and red M and M's.

No other color. Can I tell you what that tells me of that Christian band that was played on radio stations and whatnot? They don't fear God. Oh, they sing about him. Oh, they're full time ministry.

How ridiculous would it be if the apostle Paul asked for a brand of chips when he would visit Jerusalem for a season? I remember when I was speaking at a conference at one point. And as I was ready to share, the worship band played for a long time, talented group, people were so excited for the worship team. And the moment the word of God was opened, that entire worship team got up, went to the back of the room, and were laughing and joking throughout the entire service only to come back on the stage when it was their time to sing after the message. They don't fear God.

I don't care what kind of songs they wrote about him. The fear of the Lord, it does something to your standard in decisions and how you present yourself and how you minister for his glory. Lastly, let's come to the third point before we break bread, shall we? In Nehemiah seven verse two, I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah, the governor of the castle, charge over Jerusalem for he was a more faithful and God fearing man than many. I love it.

I love it. Here is Nehemiah as a leader, A supernatural acceleration in building those walls was accomplished. And he is not just about fireworks success, he wants to see sustainable success. And so he positions the right men in the right posts. And here we are told that there are two two men in mind that he had for a specific charge over Jerusalem, and one of them was actually his blood brother, Hanani.

Not the first time that he was mentioned in this text. He's actually mentioned in the first three verses of chapter one of Nehemiah. He was the one who came to his brother with the concern in his heart for Jerusalem. He was the one who was burdened by the destitution. And from chapter one to this chapter, that was true.

That remained with him. It wasn't seasonal. This was something deep in his soul. He really cared about God's glory and God's people. And some would charge Nehemiah of nepotism, right?

Giving favorable positions to relatives just because they're a relative. Not so. And we see here that there was not just Hananiah, there was Hananiah. And he is the focus of our last point here. Hananiah is highlighted for two qualities that are married together.

Hananiah was elected as a as a leader over the people to a certain extent because of these two qualities. He was a faithful man and he feared God. Listen, more than many. More than many. What this shows us is that faithfulness to God in service to him is deeply connected to that reverence you have for the Lord.

The greater the fear of God in someone, the greater the quality of their service for God. It's very difficult to believe how anybody can be sloppy, unconcerned, careless with whatever ministry that they've been given, and believe at the same time that they have a reverence for God. Hananiah was promoted here, which means he was faithful and he feared God when he was in a much lower position. Because a man who esteems the Lord does not consider it a small thing to serve God in any capacity. Because of that personal growing knowledge of the beauty of his holiness is enough as a motivation to serve with a steadfastness regardless of the troubles or temptations along the way.

Read Nehemiah and realize that as they're building this wall, there was great conflict, different means that Satan was trying to bring this people down. And yet still a man like Hananiah remained constant. He was trustworthy. He was reliable. He was consistent.

Why? Why? Why? Because he feared God. That's why.

God was his motivation. God was the only audience that he was living for. And the fear of God is so powerful that it even encourages such faithful service in the most menial of tasks. It doesn't matter. Because the fear of the Lord also positions a man or a woman to be promoted.

To be promoted. Not for a position, not for a title, but for greater influence if God sees fit. And this was Hananiah's case because there is nothing more promising to the success and to the safety of a ministry than when you put a God fearing man or woman to supervise it. That's what we look for here at NBC. That's what the leadership constantly prays for as we long to see more elders raised up, more deacons raised up.

Do you know what we're looking for? Not your position in society, not what kind of money you make, not even how much scripture knowledge you have. Do you tremble before God? Do you fear him? What struck me about the quality of Hananiah is that he was not just faithful or God fearing, it's specific more than many.

More than many. Do you believe that the fear of God is observable? Yeah. Of course it is. Is it measurable?

Absolutely. And the fact that this is brought up is not to encourage a competition of holiness among one another. Oh, she's more God fearing than they're Oh, look at her. She's more He's more No. That's not why this verse is here.

This is more about Hananiah than it is about anybody else who observed Hananiah or compared Hananiah. The idea is this, this man had a conviction that he was willing to walk in the fear of God even if nobody else wanted to. Even if nobody else wanted to believe it or ask God for it or to walk in it or to groan it. Hananiah was a man who was convinced. Let let the others be casual with the things of God.

Let others not consider how their decisions, how their social media posts, how their treatment of the ministry will potentially affect their witness to the world. Let them do it. I will fear God. I will walk in his ways. I will delight in trembling before him.

I will continue to be on a quest to removing the layers of the flesh that would just make his holiness and his glories all the more known so that my soul can be in constant astonishment of just how amazing he is. If your friends want to remain spiritual skeletons, let them remain spiritual skeletons. But you fear God. You fear the Lord. I want to tell you today that it is my conviction that this is a that there needs to be a revival of this.

There needs to be a revival of this and God will bring it as we preach it and as we prayfully live it out. My message is done. But I wanna show you one more verse as we break bread, and it has to do with the fear of the Lord. And it's found in Psalm one thirty. As we prepare our hearts to come, to reflect on the mercy of Jesus Christ, to reflect on the grace of God, consider how it relates to the fear of God.

Psalm one thirty verse three. If you, oh Lord, should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who could stand? Answer, no one. Verse four. But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared.

Wait. With you there is forgiveness so that I may fear? Yeah. So that you and I would fear. How does that connect?

Here's how it connects. When you realize the the payment for forgiveness. When you realize the display of God's wrath and justice that was poured out in order to make forgiveness available, when you when you come that much closer to the foot of the cross and you consider all the implications that made this sacrifice necessary, you cannot help but fear him. This is how holy God is. He is so holy that he is willing to crush his beloved son.

This is how loving he is. He's willing to do this for me. You see the gospel does not eliminate the fear of God. It intensifies it. And it is a delight.

Would we tremble today as we come before the bread and the cup to consider what need to be done for forgiveness to be made known in your life and mine. Lord, we thank you. We realize, Lord, that it is a strong message today, but a much needed one to be reminded of. Oh, Lord, we delight to fear your name. You are brilliant.

You are holy. You are worthy of our reverence. We look to Calvary's Hill now and we consider the blackness of that sky and the trembling earth beneath our feet and the sinless savior hanging with bruises and blood and dry spit on his face. And we tremble. Unite our hearts to fear your name.

Help us believe that the fear of the Lord will draw us closer to you. Your word says that the secrets of the Lord belong to those who fear him. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. We love you, Lord. In our hearts we bow before you.

Holy is your name. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Matchless in power and in majesty. May the success of this ministry of this family of God be connected to a shared fear of you. We bless you now.

In Jesus' name, amen.