The fear of the Lord

Transcription

1 THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT IN WORD, BUT IN POWER. 1 s t C o r i n t h i a n s 4 : 2 0 P O W E R M I N I S T R I E S h t t p : / / P o w e r M i n i s t r i e s. i n f o p a r t n e r i n g w i t h t h e A L P H A & O M E G A The fear of the Lord Introduction: 1. Are we to fear a God of Love? 2. The bible definition. 3. The concept explained. 4. What, the fear of the Lord, does not mean. 5. Why is it called, the fear of the Lord? 6. What, The fear of the Lord, means for the believer. 7. What, The fear of the Lord, means for the unbeliever. 8. The essential kingdom principle. 9. How to walk in, the fear of the Lord. 10. Knowing that we are walking in, the fear of the Lord 11. The benefits of walking in the fear of the Lord. Appendix of scriptures on the fear of the Lord. Introduction. This paper will look at and explain what the fear of the Lord, is. The definitions used are taken from and only from God's Word of what the phase means. Telling us what is the purpose and the benefit of keeping, the fear of the Lord is and how this concept is consistent and aligns itself with other New Testament scriptures. Many people are confused as to what is the fear of the Lord? They wonder if we really need to fear our Creator, who in the garden blessed man?, Genesis 1:28. This would be in contradiction with the Gospel accounts when Jesus, (the Word made flesh), said multiple times to His disciples, fear not. So are we now to fear God? Is Jesus the good guy and God the tough guy? I can assure you that the Godhead is not divided but, is rather unified, for a house divided cannot stand, Luke 12:52. It was also prophesied that Jesus would operate under the fear of the Lord, Isaiah 11:1-3. Knowing that Jesus is, (the Word made flesh), that we do not have a divided kingdom and that God is for us, Romans 8:31. We need to take a closer look at what, the fear of the Lord, really means. It is my hope that this paper will give you a proper understanding of what, the fear of the Lord, is and you will be able to then grow in wisdom and in your relationship with the Lord, Luke 2:52.

2 Are we to fear a God of Love? Most people look at the phase, the fear of the Lord, they pick out the words, fear & Lord, and apply it to themselves, not really knowing what, why or how they are to fear. Or without really looking into the matter, they shun the whole concept and hold onto some justification that they hear and like. But if we are to completely comprehend what, the fear of the Lord means, we first need to define a few foundational truths so that we can build upon them. For God is a Spirit, John 4:24. and God is love, 1 st John 4:8b. It can be said that God is a perfect Spirit of love and we know that, perfect love cast out fear, 1 st John 4:18. Therefore, there cannot be any fear in God, nor is there any reason to fear a God of love. For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, 2 nd Timothy 1:7. God has not given man a spirit of fear, so if man is in fear, it is either coming from the world's system or from the devil himself, it is not from God. If there was some reason to fear God, He would have given man the ability to fear Him. If man is truly seeking and walking with God he will not even have the ability to be in fear. These truths need to be established for two reasons, 1). So that we can properly build upon them, and 2). So we have a correct understanding of God's love and His character. For as long as we think there might be some remote reason to fear the Lord we will not totally trust the Lord, for you cannot fully trust someone you partially fear. At first sight these foundation truths only seem to muddy up the waters since they do not even allow for one to be in literal fear. So what does, the fear of the Lord mean and why was it given such a scary name if no one is to get into fear? This will come together for you as you read on. The bible definitions. The bible defines itself; God does not need man to help Him define His Word. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Proverbs 8:13. By the fear of the LORD men depart from evil, Proverbs 16:6. The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; Proverbs 15:33. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; Psalms 111:10, Proverbs 9:10. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Proverbs 1:7. The above scriptures shows three categories of what, the fear of the Lord has to do with: 1) learning to hate evil, 2) departing from evil, 3) getting wisdom, (walking in the Light). The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever:, Psalms 19:9. This scripture shows us that the fear of the Lord is not something to shun, it is clean, in-fact it is to be desired or embraced as you would that clean garment of righteousness, Revelations 19:8. The fear of the Lord also endures forever, it is still with us today, it was not canceled at the cross, its principal will always be with us, so we best understand it.

3 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death, Proverbs 14:27. The fear of the LORD prolong days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened, Proverbs 10:27. The fear of the LORD tends to life: and he that has it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil, Proverbs 19:23. These three scriptures show us that the fear of the Lord, leads to and prolongs life. It is not something to despise or to (literally fear), it was, it would shorten days rather prolong days. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied, Acts 9:31. The New Testament church walked in, the fear of the Lord, showing us that it applies to us today as new testament believers. The fear of the Lord, is entirely about knowing good from evil, hating evil and departing from evil. The exact phase, the fear of the Lord, is found 27 times in the bible, 26 times in the Old Testament and one time in the New Testament. Whereby 96% of the time the phase is found in the Old Testament, it is wrong to consider this to be just an Old Testament concept. The concept explained. The fear of the Lord is defined in scripture is to hate evil and depart from evil. I believe that this not only tells us what we are to hate, but it also tells us that God hates evil. God, Himself cannot be tempted, James 1:13, or touched by evil for He has already overcome evil and there is no darkness in Him, 1 st John 1:5. However, man that is made in the image of God, Genesis 1:26, bought with the blood of Christ, 1 Corinthians 6:20, and able to be filled with His living Holy Spirit, Galatians 4:6, can be greatly harmed by evil and that is the reason that we are told to walk in the fear of the Lord. For, evil if left unchecked, will eventually overtake and destroy us. I believe it is called the fear of the Lord, because God knows that if man chooses to live in evil and walk in darkness, evil will eventually overtake him and God wants man to live and have life more abundantly, John 10:10. For God has a personal stake in the lives of His children, for we have His living Spirit dwelling within us. Our actions, whether righteous or unrighteousness to some degree are imputed to God. As children of God we are to become as our Father is, and that means thinking as our Father does, hating the darkness (evil) and walking in the Light, 1 st John 1:7. The ability to know good and evil was made available to us back in the garden, Genesis chapter 3. However, we have to apply our minds to know and discern between good and evil, this knowledge does not come automatically. When I was in my careers in technology, even though that was my natural leading, there were certain things I had to learn. And it required the discipline of going to school and applying my mind to the course of study. Jesus also had to grow in wisdom and knowledge, for scripture says, And the Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him, Luke 2:40. Jesus most-likely spent many hours studying the scriptures of the Old Testament, and He grew in wisdom. Likewise, we must also apply ourselves to God's Word to discern good from evil. Getting wisdom, knowledge and discerning good from evil is not going to come to us automatically or by osmosis as we grow older, it only becomes available to those who desire it, ask for it and seek it out, James 1:5.

4 We should not think of, the fear of the Lord, as a literal fear or having a personal dread of the Lord, for the Lord has good plans for us, thoughts of good and not of evil, Jeremiah 29:11. However, those who do unrighteous or evil actions will receive their just reward. Walking in the fear of the Lord, is synonymous with beginning to walk in righteousness. We should think of the fear of the Lord, as more of a kingdom principle, ie. (walking in the Light results in life, and walking in the darkness results in dealing with evil and death), it is really that simple. And a non-partial, just, righteous and Holy God cannot help but to judge evil as evil and good as good, even if it is concerning His own children. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness, Romans 1:18. The scriptures define the fear of the Lord, as the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, Psalms 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 1:7. However, if we fail to even get to the starting point, where we can begin to gain wisdom / knowledge, our spiritual walk with the Lord will be forever stunted. If we reject the fear of the Lord, (the beginning of wisdom and knowledge), as it says in, Hosea 4:6, we will never be able to grow in the knowledge of the Lord, 2 nd Peter 3:18. And thus we will never be able to press into perfection, no matter how hard we try. The way we began to understand the concept of, the fear of the Lord, is told to us in Proverbs. 3 Yea, if thou cries after knowledge, and lift up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seeks her as silver, and searches for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God, Proverbs 2:3-5. The scripture here tells us that if we seek for knowledge, (the knowledge from above), and understanding, then shall we understand the fear of the Lord. From this block of scriptures we can also conclude that if we do not seek and desire knowledge and understanding we will not understand or will have a wrong concept of the fear of the Lord. What the fear of the Lord does not mean. Having the word fear in the phase alone, is reason alone for most people to quickly try and justify the phase. Many people turn this phase into what they consider to be a positive by either ignoring it as being only an old testament concept or by turning the concept into having a reverence for the Lord. Whereby reverence is a good thing and the natural outcome of knowing and walking in, the fear of the Lord, will naturally result in having a reverence for the Lord. If we put the desired outcome, reverence, before the means to achieve that outcome, hating evil, and departing from evil, we deceive ourselves and our reverence become nothing but hypocrisy. For, the concept of the fear of the Lord, needs to be understood and we should not define it through mans cleaver philosophies. For, our adversary, the Devil would love to explain and change the meaning of scripture to us, so he can render the Word of God of no effect to us. If the phase, the fear of the Lord, truly meant reverence, why would scripture not call it, reverence for the Lord? The one time in scripture that both godly fear and reverence appear, the two terms are not combined but separated by a conjunction, for they are two distinct terms. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire, Hebrews 12:28-29.

5 I give a Word of caution here not to go farther than what the scriptures define the meaning as. It may seem like quite a harmless thing and even seem edifying and respectful to add to the definition and say that we need to reverence God. But scripture tells us, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:, Revelations 22:18. I use to think it was a harmless thing when Eve added to what God had told Adam in the garden, and she said to the serpent, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die, Genesis 3:3. By her adding to the instruction and saying, neither shall you touch it, she began to minimize God's command not to eat of the fruit. For when she touched it and nothing happened, she most-likely begin to wonder if anything would happen if she would eat of it. Likewise, when we add reverence into the definition we end up minimizing or completely misplacing our focus and losing the true definition. I wish to emphases how buying into the concept of having reverence for God is what the fear of the Lord means will keep you stuck in your own ignorance. Hebrews 12:28, tells us that we are to have reverence and godly fear, two distinct attributes and actually the Godly fear or wisdom must actually come first. For, we first must have a knowledge of good and evil and acquire a distaste for evil, before we can understand how good God really is and then our reverence for Him will come naturally. For, it is possible to sincerely praise and reverence God and still remain in our ignorance, praise does not bring with it wisdom and knowledge. Many Christians today are living un-godly lifestyles, (adulteries, fornication s, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:), Mark 7:21-23, and they think all is OK, as long as they so-call reverence the Lord. This is not OK with the Lord, the Lord detests this and actually living an un-godly lifestyle and pretending to reverence the Lord, is not reverence at all, it is merely lip service and it will keep your growth in the Lord stunted. Whereby reverence for the Lord is a good thing, I urge you not to dilute or replace the definition of the fear of the Lord, by adding reverence into it. We are given a warning in scripture as to rejecting knowledge, Hosea 4:6 and this directly applies to us deceiving ourselves so we never get to the beginning point were we can start growing in wisdom and knowledge, learning to hate evil and then departing from evil. Nowhere in the scriptures does it define reverence as the fear of the Lord, this has either been done by using dictionaries and bible commentaries, along with man's vain philosophies. I stress again, do not add to God's Word or do not take away from God's Word, this like warning is given in both Deuteronomy 12:32 and Revelations 22:18. Do not reject the wisdom of God's Word, placing man's philosophies above the Word, for the bible can define itself, it does not need mans help to do so. Why is it called, the fear of the Lord? Since there is no fear in Perfect Love, 1 st John 4:18, knowing that God has thoughts of good and not evil for us, Jeremiah 29:11, and God has not given us a spirit of fear, 1 st Timothy 1:7. Establishing the foundation that, in Him there is no fear, His thoughts for us are good, and if we are wholly within Him, we won't even have the capability to get into fear. Why then was it given such a scary name? Why was it not given a positive uplifting name such as, walking in the light? First, we need to realize that, the fear of the Lord, is a phase. We should not take out of the phase the two words, fear & Lord, applying it to ourselves and then let our imagination run wild.

6 This phase was spoken in the first person and the Lord's fear is that His people who are made in His own image, Genesis 1:26, bought with the blood of Christ, 1 Corinthians 6:20, and able to be filled with His Holy Spirit, Galatians 4:6, would walk in darkness and hence be overcome by that darkness. See all believers were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Ephesians 1:13 and after one accepts and acknowledges the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:5. God has a personal stake in that person and wants the best for that believer, for His living Spirit lives within that person. And even if the believer continues to live an ungodly and sinful lifestyle, God will not take back His Spirit once He has given it, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, Romans 11:29. But God wishes for all believers, actually for all people, to walk in the Light, as He also is in the light. For He knows that if we walk in the darkness, evil will eventually overtake us. What, The fear of the Lord, means for the believer. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou have rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shall be no priest to Me:., Hosea 4:6. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding, Proverbs 4:7...., by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil, Proverbs 16:6. For the believer, abiding or not abiding in the fear of the Lord is pretty much synonyms with choosing to live a holy righteous life versus living a carnal worldly life. When we walk in the fear of the Lord, choosing to live a righteous life we will be able to receive the blessings of God. For as long as we are walking in darkness (evil) and perhaps even enjoying the darkness, God's spiritual blessings will not come to us, how can they, we are on the wrong side of the spectrum to receive them. Walking in the fear of the Lord, being able to grow in the wisdom of the Lord, will allow us to fulfill our holy calling becoming a priest unto the Lord. Walking in the fear of the Lord, should be viewed as a prerequisite for every Christian, for it will help us in every area of our lives. However, if we wish to choose our own way apart from the council of the Word, we will reap what the world can give us and that will eventually lead to death. And we cannot blame the Lord for the outcome that we reaped, for it was due to our free will, our own choice, perhaps we were ignorant of the whole matter, but nevertheless it was of our own choosing. What, the fear of the Lord, means for the unbeliever. And 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. (Jesus spoke), But I will warn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, who after He has killed has power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him, Luke 12:5. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him, John 3:36.

7 O man, the one judging those who do such things, and practice them, do you think this, that you shall escape the judgment of God? Romans 2:3. So then each one of us will give account concerning himself to God, Romans 14:12. Unlike the consequences for the believer who does not walk in the fear of the Lord and forfeits living in certain victories, for the un-saved, the fear of the Lord, is burning and being tormented in hell for eternity. Several people will then say, how could a loving God send anyone to hell?. Man chooses his own destination, God merely sends you to your chosen destination. All of us are eternal beings and will spend eternity in either one of two places, (heaven or hell), John 5:29. God has paid the ultimate price to give us the choice and bring us back into relationship with Himself and to give us heaven and all we have to do is believe on His Son Jesus and that God raised Him from the dead, Romans 10:9. We do not have to prove ourselves or be good enough, all we need to do is believe on His Son. God would therefore be an un-just judge if He did not judge the non-believers to damnation. Your eternal destination is your choice, don't blame a just God for fulfilling your desired destiny. God said to the Israelites, today I put before you life and death, blessings and cursing, choose life, Deuteronomy 30:15. God wishes that none should perish, 2 Peter 3:9, but due to man's free will, man's ultimate destination will be his own choice. The essential kingdom principle. I wish to make clear the absolute necessary of walking in, the fear of the Lord, for if we are truly seeking the Lord we must also be walking in the fear of the Lord. By looking at the practical application of what walking in, the fear of the Lord will provide for us, And then by looking back, at how we got there, we can perhaps better understand what the actual concept of walking in, the fear of the Lord is. To fully understand this we must first establish the basic reality that that there are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of Light and we must chose one over the other. For Jesus said that it is imposable to serve two masters or we could also say two conflicting kingdoms or two different kings. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon, Matthew 6:24. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence, John 18: two kingdoms --- kingdom of this world, (darkness) The people which sat in darkness saw great light, Matthew 4:16. on the same spectrum kingdom of God, (Light) I am the light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, John 8:12. As finite mortal men we cannot abide and operate in two different areas at once. We must choose to abide and operate in one kingdom or the other.

8 Scripture then tells us that, by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil, Proverbs 16:6, ie. they turn from the earthly kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Light. Scripture then goes on to say that the, fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, Proverbs 9:10. As long as we are abiding in this worlds kingdom, (darkness), we cannot abide in the wisdom and knowledge of the kingdom of Light. We may understand God's kingdom principles from an intellectual earthly knowledge, but if we are abiding in one kingdom, we cannot live out the principles of the other kingdom, and why would we even want to do this? For example, it would be like living in a country that drove on a certain side of the street and you opted to drive on the other side of the street, this would not work and could lead to disastrous consequences. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, Romans 8:6. No one ever makes a change unless there is a reason to make that change, according to Proverbs 16:6, that reason is to hate evil, (the kingdom of this present world). Once we make the personal decision to walk in and abide in the kingdom of Light, we can begin to acquire true wisdom and knowledge. As long as we are walking and abiding in the darkness of this present world we can only learn the ways of the world and worldly wisdom, for apart from the Spirit this world does not teach true wisdom. For wisdom is a spirit and true wisdom can only be acquired when we are abiding and walking in the kingdom of God. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness, 1 Corinthians 3:19. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him, James 1:5. Again, I say that if you say that you reverence the Lord while yet walking in the darkness, this is not reverence at all, but only lip-service. True reverence for the Lord will only come out of walking in the Light. When dealing with spiritual things, we tend to put the resultant before we put forth the required effort to achieve that desired result. To better see this I will use another scriptural example; Scripture says that, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous, 1 st John 5:3. Keeping God's commandments does not necessary make us love God, but when we love God we will naturally keep His commands. Likewise when we merely say that we reverence God it does not necessary make us hate evil and walk in the Light, but when we hate evil and choose to walk in the Light, we will naturally love and reverence God. How to walk in, the fear of the Lord. We will not learn how to walk in, the fear of the Lord by striving to keep certain rules and regulations within this physical world, the result of this will be personal frustration viewing God's gospel has something to hard to ever achieve or perhaps even as boredom. Rather it is our choice to seek Him or not, and when we do seek Him with our whole heart scripture says that we will find Him, Deuteronomy 4:29, Proverbs 8:17, Jeremiah 29:13. And when we seek a spiritual God, we will turn away from the ways of the world, we will have to. For if we want to see Him as He truly is we must seek Him in the Light and not in the darkness. And the way we first learn to turn away from the ways of this world, is to walk in the fear of the Lord, (to hate evil), then we will began to see the provision of the Lord as we walk in the Light.

9 Knowing that we are walking in, the fear of the Lord We know that walking in the fear of the Lord is to hate evil and depart from it. Again, we achieve God's kingdom by keeping our focus on Him, not by trying to control our outward actions. The scriptures below are not only to be used as moral guidelines, but more-so to be used as a measuring stick that will give us assurance that our walk is right. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate, Proverbs 8:13. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication s, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man, Mark 7: All of us need to depart from evil. However, each of us have become accustomed to certain aspects of this physical world that we live in, for the world has trained us from birth how to think and how to reason. Even though the scriptures call this present world a dark and evil place, John 3:19, 7:7, Galatians 1:4, we have learned to see the darkness of the world in shades of gray, either good, bad or indifferent. I am not talking about only overt sinful actions, but also about some of our everyday thoughts and activities. We might realize that they are not quite grace filled, but we justify them by telling ourselves that is simply how the world works. Scripture tells us that we are in this world but not of this world, John 17: Turning from evil must become a lifestyle, we must make a clear decisive decision, it is not going to come automatic or by osmosis. The only way we can achieve this is to separate ourself from the ways of the world and begin to focus on the Word of God and His kingdom and start to renew our mind, Romans 12:2, that is the only way we are going to begin to see the deeds of this physical world as evil, learn to hate evil and then depart from evil. The benefits of walking in the fear of the Lord. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, 2 nd Corinthian 7:1. Living a holy life can also be defined as living a separated life, that is to be separated from the ways of the world, not from one another. The only way one achieves separation from anything is to discern what is good or beneficial and what is bad or harmful and then to willfully make the separation. Some of the benefits according to scripture are: There is no want to them that fear Him, Psalms 34:9. Your days are prolong, Proverbs 10:27. It brings a strong confidence: and his children have a place of refuge, Proverbs 14:26. It's a fountain of life, allowing you to depart from the snares of death, Proverbs 14: And by humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honor, and life, Proverbs 22:4.

10 Appendix of scriptures on, the fear of the Lord Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding, Job 28:28. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether, Psalms 19:9. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD, Psalms 34:9-11. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endures forever, Psalms 111:10. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction, Proverbs 1:7. For they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD, Proverbs 1:29. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God, Proverbs 2:5. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate, Proverbs 8:13. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding, Proverbs 9:10. The fear of the LORD prolong days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened, Proverbs 10:27. In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death, Proverbs 14: Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith, Proverbs 15:16. The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility, Proverbs 15:33. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil, Proverbs 16:6. The fear of the LORD tends to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil, Proverbs 19:23. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honor, and life, Proverbs 22:4. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 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 of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: Isaiah 11:1-3. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure, Isaiah 33:6. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied, Acts 9:31. Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared;, Hebrews 5:7. ( the prayers of Jesus were effective because He feared, scripture does not say, He feared God, but rather the next verse talks about obedience to God).