The God Fearing Man

by Olusegun
(Nigeria)

JONAH 3: 3 - 10

If you ask the average single Christian woman what qualities she looks for in the choice of a marriage partner; she is certainly going to say that the man must be God fearing. A God fearing man therefore is a "hotcake" in the choice of marriage partner.

Apart from the Christian women, Christian men would also readily agree that it is better to relate with a God fearing man. But the meaning of a God fearing man seems relative. It does appear as if our understanding of a God fearing man is a man that does things in a way that agrees with our desire.

It is therefore imperative to look at the word of God to understand what it means when God remarks that a man is God fearing. This is even more important because the scripture says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7)

There cannot be a God fearing man without Christ. It is IMPOSSIBLE for a man outside Christ to be God fearing. That is why repentance from dead works is the first quality of a God fearing man. The book of Jonah gave a good illustration of this.

"And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." (Jonah 3:3-10)

"… let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands." This is the first issue we are seeing about a God fearing man. He is a man that trembles at the words of God. Whatever God says he believes it and acts immediately on it. Make no mistake; a man who has not turned from his old (sinful) ways of life cannot be regarded as a God fearing man. When the king of Nineveh heard the word of God, he commanded all his subjects to repent.

That is a God fearing man. A man that will repent at the word of God. But the king could not have done this if he had not believed God. "So the people of Nineveh believed God." The king did not trivialize the word of God. He did not consider it to be the word of man. He believed the word and repented. He did not procrastinate.

Be not deceived; any man who has not turned from his sinful life is not God fearing. The first manifestation of a God fearing man is repentance from dead works. "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."

God had mercy on them because they repented. This was because the king of Nineveh feared God and believed the word of God. No God fearing man continues to live in sin. No God fearing man continues in his evil ways of life.

No man can be said to be God fearing unless he has repented of his sinful life. The challenge before us is whether the Lord can say of us that we are God fearing.

Do you fear God?

Men may consider you to be God fearing, but what is God’s testimony about you. Are still involving yourself in secret sins? Listen to what God says,

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
(2 Timothy 2:19)

THE GOD FEARING MAN (PART TWO)

by Olusegun Mokuolu
(Nigeria)

Click here for Lesson One of The God Fearing Man.


GENESIS 39:7-12
In our last discussion, we started to look at the characteristics of a God fearing man. We saw that a God fearing man is a man who trembles at the word of God. He is such a man that does not delay in obeying God. We concluded that repentance is a mark of a God fearing man. No man, continuing in sin can be said to be a God fearing man.

We will be continuing by looking at other important characteristics or attributes of a God fearing man. It is our prayer that we will all be a God fearing man indeed. No God fearing man plays with sin. God fearing men don’t deal with sin lightly. We shall therefore be looking at the life of a God fearing man in the scripture and how he handled the issue of sin.

"And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out." (Genesis 39:7-12)

Joseph was a Godly man that we should learn from. His attitude towards sin will help us to understand better who is a God fearing man. "And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me."

Joseph was busy going about his normal business in the house when his master's wife casted her eyes on Him. It is very clear from the scripture above that Joseph did not go out of his way to seek sin. Sin just came knocking. This is very instructive. We may not go out of our way to look for sin but sin will eventually stare us in the face.

Whether we like it or not sin will keep knocking on our door. We should not allow this to bother us. We should rather concern ourselves with the way we will handle the sin. Temptation is bound to come, how we handle the temptation is what is most important.

We should remember that even our Lord Jesus Christ was also tempted. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)

We see again that being tempted is not an issue. The issue is being without sin. That Joseph was confronted with sin should not bother us. Let's see how he handled it as a God fearing man.

"But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

The Bible says, "But he refused". This is the way God fearing men handle the issue of sin. They simply say no. they don't play around with sin. They don't look for an excuse to sin. They simply say no. A God fearing man will refuse every opportunity to sin. He will refuse to go to places when the standard of God is being compromised. He will refuse every demand made on him to sin.

A God fearing man is a man who has learnt how to say NO to the pleasures of sin and every form of ungodliness.

"...How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" This is a God fearing man indeed. He called a spade a spade. What several people would have called pleasure, Joseph called it great wickedness. Our estimation of sin determines how far we will walk with the Lord.

Many times, we don't see sin as great wickedness. That is why we easily compromise and fall into all kinds of foolish things. What we call pre-marital sex, is what Joseph called great wickedness. A God fearing man does not esteem sin lightly.

"...And sin against God?" A God fearing man senses the presence of God everywhere. He is afraid of sinning against God. He knew sleeping with his master's wife would amount to sin.

How then can YOU do this great wickedness and sin against God?

THE GOD FEARING MAN (PART 3)

by Olusegun Mokuolu
(Nigeria)

Just starting this Bible Study?
Click on these links for the first two lessons on the God Fearing man: Lesson 1 Lesson 2

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1 KINGS 18:3-4
We shall be concluding our study on the God fearing man by looking at the life of a man the Bible described as God-fearing. It is our prayer that the Lord will help us to see why the Holy Spirit refers to this man as God-fearing.

And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) (1 Kings 18:3-4)

The man is Mr. Obadiah. Here is what the scripture says about him, "Obadiah feared the LORD greatly." This man did not just fear the Lord rather he feared the Lord greatly. This seems to me as if we have various degree of the fear of the Lord. It is therefore a glorious thing to greatly fear the Lord. It would have been good if the Bible had simply said "Obadiah feared the LORD" but what we have is that "Obadiah feared the LORD greatly."

One important instruction from the testimony concerning this man is that it's not just sufficient to fear the Lord, we must fear the Lord greatly. For example, there are brothers and sisters who fear the Lord so much that they will not commit fornication but they don't fear the Lord so much as not to tell lies. It means that their fear of God has not reached such a level as to keep them from lying. God's perfect plan is that we will greatly fear Him.

Our obedience to the Lord must be total. Our commitment must be complete. And our love for the Lord must be absolute. We are to greatly fear the Lord. This is a serious matter before the Lord. What is the testimony of the Lord concerning you? Listen to Mr. Obadiah's testimony about himself, "but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. (1 Kings 18:12b)

To fear the Lord is not a perceive state of mind. That is why the scripture immediately tells us about actions that were products of the fear he had for the Lord. "For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)" (1 Kings 18:3-4)

What Mr. Obadiah did, he did because he greatly feared the Lord. He took risk; putting his life in danger because he feared the Lord. He was not afraid of Jezebel who was killing the prophets of baals. He was ready to save the people of God at the expense of his life. When a man fears the Lord, he immediately overcomes the fear of men. He will be prepared to obey God rather than man.

In a society like ours today, where the fear of the Lord is a things only read in the books, we who are children of God must stand for the truth. We cannot afford any compromise any more. We must defy human philosophy and do the will of our Father in heaven. We must make ourselves vulnerable for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Several of the brothers and sisters today don't wanna steak their neck out for God because they are afraid of what people will say or do. But like Mr. Obadiah, let's rise and protect the things of our God.

We can also see that Mr. Obadiah spent his resources in taking of the people of God. He could have kept his resources to himself because it was a period when there was serious famine in the land. But he made his resources available for the use of God. "and fed them with bread and water." if Mr. Obadiah had neglected these prophets, no one would have held him responsible. But he put his resources in the kingdom.

When we truly fear the Lord, we will make ALL our resources available to the Kingdom of God. Our time, energy, body, money will be willingly made available for service of the Kingdom.

Are you a God fearing man? I mean practically!

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