Surfer’s Chapel, Huntington Beach: Pastor/Teacher Bill White “Power of Reverence” (#4 in a series) preached 7/29/95

Reverence: A deep respect awe, love, and esteem

Psalm 111:10

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;All those who follow His commandments have a good understanding;His praise endures forever.”

Yaree – Hebrew word for fear. This reverence is part of the fear of the Lord, recognizing the power and position of the revered. The heavenly and holy attributes therein.

Exodus 20:20

“However, Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you will not sin.”

This is a beneficial fear, an awe for God, that deep respect, awe, love and esteem.

HE IS CONSTANTLY LOVING US.

Ex 20:20 ends with that fear keeping us from sin, as He is with us and always sees us in His Love for us. Having this, you should be stoked to be on His team, pleasing Him out of this reverence and fear.

Deuteronomy 20:12-13 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?”

FEAR HIM = Serve Him. Our reverence should cause us to fully give up our everything, heart/soul/strength to serve and adore Him. Give up your life and be always actively looking where and how He can work through you where He is at work in your midst.

WE are ALL part of His family, and should reverence Him together.

Ephesians 3:6  “..to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel…”

1 Peter 2:5, 9:

5 “…you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” [This Paul is quoting from Exodus 19]

We are His chosen people, we as either Gentiles (Not Jews) or Jews, as Jesus believing saints walking obedient in His Spirit. We are all together in His wonderful family, He loves us more than we can comprehend, and requires us to not just love affectionately, but reverently. There is power in that! Power to fuel obedience. Obedience enables the abundant life.

The Bible teaches us that our lives are in His hands, as His folks, He Loves us!

Romans 5:8 “While we were yet sinners, He saved us…”

Matthew 10:28 “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Hebrews 10:26-31

26 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Our reverence matters to Him. He’s not merely the Big Guy, and we shouldn’t only have Him in our car with us, He should be driving, and as the TobyMac song tells it, we shouldn’t want to be any sort of backseat driver (we don’t even deserve to be strapped on the trunk lid!

Psalms 25:12-14

12 “Who is the person who fears the Lord?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
14 The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will make them know His covenant. “

Check that out, if we fear the Lord He will instruct us in our steps!

Vs. 13 – Our souls dwell in prosperity! That sounds pretty abundant! And our children inherit the land! Amazing!

Verse 14 is pretty awesome, imagine that, we get the secret of the Lord if we properly fear Him.

Psalm 31:19 “How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have performed for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of mankind!

Psalm 103:13 “Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.”

Luke 1:50 “And His mercy is to generation after generation toward those who fear Him.”

Jesus will accept you! He’ll say to the Father, “Hold it Dad, he or she is one of mine”.

These last three passages really get to the source, foundational in my mind. There is incredible power in our reverence of God. Just hear those three again, and seek Him with your whole heart.