1 Sam 12:24, Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
	We are continuing our discussion of the fact that we, as the body of Christ, are to fear the Lord with all our heart and mind and being. Keep in mind that this is not the fear that equates hesitation, anguish, anxiety, terror, dread, and the so forth. This is the fear that invokes honor, reverence, worship, adoration, and glory. 
This is the fear of the Lord that is developed as we learn more and more as each day passes, Who God is and what He has done, is doing, and will do. That is why we are instructed that as we fear Him, as we serve Him, so will we remember and recount all the great things He has done. We will find ourselves so wrapped up in all the majesty and the power and the wisdom of God that He pours forth unto and into us, that we can do nothing other than declare that He, Alone, is worthy of all praise and adoration.
As a result of the fact that this fear is brought forth through the greater relationship of trust and obedience on our part, and the awesome faithfulness of God in all His mercy and grace and loving kindness and Omnipotence and Omnipresence and Omniscience, we would be fools to not seek to know Him all the more. The sense of this is put forth concisely for us in Prov 1:7.
Prov 1:7, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
This is the refutation that we inherently have as this age casts all its aspersions and insults and taunts and supposed scientific theories against us. The fact is that this age is masking the truth in order to cause those who will rather seek the way of self than turn to the Lord God Almighty to become willing fools of their own making. 
When God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, is rejected, that is the eternal foolishness of a person who has been so deluded and ensnared by all the lies and the philosophies of this realm. They despise true wisdom and instruction and willingly submit themselves to the eternal damnation that awaits anyone who would spurn their Creator. That is the saddest and most profound eternal folly which will be before them age upon age for all the ions of eternity. 
This is brought to the forefront as is so declared in Eccl 12:13+14. After everything offered by this age is viewed and evaluated, after every scheme and action is weighed, after all the so called wisdom of this age is evaluated against the eternal Omniscience of God, the end result of it all is proclaimed.
Eccl 12:13+14, The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
	This is something that is needed in the Church today. So much of the schemes and the lies and the deceit of this present realm has infiltrated and dragged down the preaching of the Word. The people do not want to hear the message that we must die to self that the life of Jesus Christ can be more and more evidenced through us. There is no longing to know God all the more in the every manner of His provision and His strength and His guidance and His wisdom and His mercy and His forgiveness. The doctrinal lie of self has become the clarion call of not just this society in general, but even within the preaching and the counseling of the church leadership. 
Where there should be that distinct and bold stand upon the death, resurrection, and glorification of Christ Jesus, there is now the elevation of that which promotes the growth and the feeding of our self in this social structure of time and space. No one wants to hear the truth that we must die to our self interests and our self exaltation and our self centered demands for the debased acknowledgment that we deserve the things we want.
	Rather, in true wisdom, there needs to be taught the reality that our will needs to be brought into line with God’s will. It is the wisest walk on this earth to follow the path that the Lord sets before us with willingness and gratitude and honor unto Him for so bringing us into this relationship in which we are wondrously and miraculously guided by the Holy Spirit. As the writer of Ecclesiastes so excellently proclaimed …The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.   
	The manner of this development of the reverential fear of the Lord is not something that is just a conceptual element. It is a fact and it is in place as evidenced in the manner of its growth in our relationship with the Only Begotten One. This was declared long before Christ was born, and yet it is a vital element of Who He is as portrayed then by the Prophet Isaiah. Please open to Isaiah Chapter 11 and we will read together verses 1-10.
	Isa 11:1-10, Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze; Their young will lie down together; And the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea. Then it will come about in that day That the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. 
	Notice the fact that it will be the same Spirit of God Who will teach us how Christ lived in the days of His walk on this earth. He was guided and directed in such a manner by the Spirit in which …the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth… 
	It is evident that He came to die to self in order for the eternal life of God, through the witness and the direction of the Holy Spirit, to be made available to any who would but call upon His Glorious Name. And notice that Jesus lived that life which evidenced perfectly and eternally the death to self for the Glory of God to reign in His life, which He willingly lay down for such as you and me. 
Therefore there is no place for the argument that we need to stand up for our self rights and our self promotion and what we think we deserve in this age. That is all to be left on the death side of the cross of Jesus Christ in order for the resurrection side of God’s glory to rule the course of our walk which will evidence the truth that …His resting place will be glorious.
	The Prophet Joel, Joel 2:12-19, addresses the manner in which the people of God, and this includes you and me now in Jesus Christ, are to consider our old life as dead and buried. We are to look to Christ and His life in the walk which shows that we are even now His redeemed. We are His consecrated people who fear Him because we are learning more and more of Him as each day unfolds before us. We are contrite and humble and seeking for His Glory and His praise. We desire to be those consecrated and contrite and repentant people in whom His Sovereignty reigns supreme.  
	Joel 2:12-19, "Yet even now," declares the Lord, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments. "Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a libation For the Lord your God? Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare Thy people, O Lord, And do not make Thine inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, 'Where is their God?'" Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, And will have pity on His people. And the Lord will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations. 
	As a result of this consecrated and honoring fear of the Lord becoming engrained into our moment by moment walk on this earth, the Lord is not only blessed but His glory is evident in His people. There is a difference in the manner of how we conduct ourselves before others. It matters to us that Who is evidenced is the Lord in all His Glory and none of us! This dedicated and consecrated focus of life is because we do not seek to be like the rest of the world! We desire only to be known as belonging wholly to Yahweh and Him, Alone!
	The Prophet Micah highlights this walk as detailed in Mic 4:1-5. Please open to it. It is readily evident that we will live in the fear of the Lord as we learn to walk in His ways forever and forever.
	Mic 4:1-5, And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. And many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. And each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As for us, we will walk In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. 
	The whole crux of the matter of what the Lord has opened to us now in the life that we live before Him was verbalized by Jesus to the woman at the well as recorded in John 4:21-24. The fact is that it is only those who are brought into this living relationship with Jesus, by the power and the work of the Holy Spirit, who can so honor and adore and magnify God to His complete satisfaction.
	John 4:21-24, Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. "You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 
	We see the result of this working power of the Holy Spirit in those whose lives are now found in Christ Jesus. He is alive and sovereign in the hearts and minds of those who are learning what it means to fear the Lord with all reverence and praise. 
The result of living the life that reflects the fear of the Lord was reported in the course of the growth of the early church. In Acts 9:31, it is very apparent that the church was growing because there was the witness to others of the peace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit into this living fear of the Lord, that was evidenced unto others.
	Acts 9:31, So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. 
	The Apostle Paul, in Rom 12:1-5, provides a depth of encouragement as to what is needed within us, individually and corporately as we go forth in the fear of the Lord. This is the way in which we are to be seen by others and the way we are to be known in our relationship with The Lord, Himself.
	Rom 12:1-5, I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 
	Our consideration is brought to a close by the Writer to the Hebrews in Heb 12:28+29. There is a solid assurance that as we live our lives in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord, there will be that sense of thankfulness unto the Lord that will permeate our daily interaction with others. We will be filled with a gratitude unto the Lord for the great work that He has done, as we …consider what great things He has done for you. We will want to honor God and we will desire to serve Him all the more perfectly for the glory that He will receive in the manifestation of His life in us. 
	Heb 12:28+29, Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. So be it!
Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 37:5. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Amen.