GOD FEAR – REAL OR COUNTERFEIT
Matthew 10:28 – “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Matthew 7:21-23 – 21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
I. God Fear Requires the One True God
John 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
• Nobody is just afraid, and nobody just believes.
James 2:19 – You believe that there is ONE GOD. You do well. Demons also believe— and tremble!
• Your FEAR exposes the counterfeit nature of your God.
Proverbs 29:25 – The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.
• Your ACTIONS expose your lack of fear.
Psalm 50:16-17 – 16But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, 17seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you?
Psalm 50:21 – These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.
• Lack of God Fear emboldens you to make EDITS to God.
Exodus 32:1-5 – 1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” 5So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.”
• The God we make up ALWAYS AGREES with us.
Isaiah 55:8-9 – 8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
II. The Reason For and Problem With a Counterfeit God.
• No fear leads to a counterfeit confidence.
Romans 3:10-18 – 10As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11There is none who understands; There is none who seeks aZer God. 12They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. 13Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their LIPS; 14Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15Their feet are swiZ to shed blood; 16Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17And the way of peace they have not known. 18There is NO FEAR OF GOD before their EYES.”
• You EASILY EDIT what you don’t take seriously.
Jeremiah 36:23-24 – 23And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that The King cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, unIl all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. 24Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words.
• The God you assemble is always made out of you.
Romans 1:22-25 – 22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and CHANGED the glory of the incorruptible God into an image MADE LIKE CORRUPTIBLE MAN— and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25who EXCHANGED the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served THE CREATURE rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
• A God you made cannot save you from anything.
Isaiah 44:14-17 – 14He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress and the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 16He burns half of it in the fire; with this half he eats meat; he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17And the rest of it he makes into a god, his carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
III. Let’s Let the REAL GOD Introduce Himself
• The real God doesn’t just introduce Himself; He defines existence by Himself.
Exodus 3:13-15 – 13Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children ofIsrael and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generaIons.’
• The real God doesn’t align with reality — He IS reality!
Isaiah 46:9-11 – 9Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient Imes things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’ 11Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.
• The real God OWNS our existence; We’re all on loan from God.
Colossians 1:15-17 – 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creaIon. 16For by Him ALL THINGS WERE CREATED that are in heaven and that
are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principaliIes or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17And
He is before all things, and IN HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST.
• The real God is Eternal, and man is Temporal like grass.
Isaiah 51:12-13 – 12“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? 13And you forget the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth; You have feared conInually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor?”
Jeremiah 29:13 – And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
John 1:18 – No one has seen God at any Ime. The only begoYen Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
John 14:9 – Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
John 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”