Fear God - Steps to Life

February 15 – 21, 2026

Key Text

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

Study Help: Early Writings, 56–58; Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 182, 183

Introduction

“You can never enter heaven unless you enjoy the communion of God here below, for this is our fitting-up place for heaven. God should be the object of the soul’s highest reverence, love, and fear.” In Heavenly Places, 161

Sunday

1 APPROACHING OUR MAKER

1.a. What should we realize about God, and how is it to affect our attitude in approaching Him? Psalms 31:19; 89:6, 7

Note: “Instead of coming in contrition before God, men come without reverence in the family circle and in the congregation of the people. How many come to the season of prayer full of self-importance, and their prayers sound more as if they thought they must give the Lord information than as if they expected to receive something from His hand. They do not approach God as humble suppliants, realizing that they are dependent upon Him for life and health, for food and clothing, and for every temporal and spiritual blessing.” The Review and Herald, May 28, 1895

1.b. What should we understand about the fear of God? Proverbs 9:10

Note: “How few realize how solemn a thing it is to approach the throne of God. Angels bow before that throne with veiled faces, yet men who are stained by sin rush heedlessly into the divine presence. Let us remember that the holy angels approach the throne of God in reverence and holy fear.” The Review and Herald, May 28, 1895

“The Lord would have His people trust in Him and abide in His love, but that does not mean that we shall have no fear or misgivings. Some seem to think that if a man has a wholesome fear of the judgments of God, it is a proof that he is destitute of faith; but this is not so.

“A proper fear of God in believing His threatenings works the peaceable fruits of righteousness by causing the trembling soul to flee to Jesus. Many ought to have this spirit today and turn to the Lord with humble contrition, for the Lord has not given so many terrible threatenings, pronounced so severe judgments in His word, simply to have them recorded, but He means what He says.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 6, 1100

Monday

2 GODLY FEAR

2.a. Why are we given special admonition to fear God in these last days? 2 Timothy 3:1–5

Note: “The great danger of this age and one which brings much unhappiness to individuals and families is an intense and increasing worldliness. The love and fear of God, reverence for His name, and thoughts of heavenly things, are banished through busy, anxious seeking for the things of the world. God has made His claims known, but men pay no heed to them. Religious principle becomes extinct in the family.” The Review and Herald, February 24, 1885

“Christ’s followers today should guard against the tendency to lose the spirit of reverence and godly fear. The Scriptures teach men how they should approach their Maker—with humility and awe through faith in a divine Mediator.” Prophets and Kings, 48

2.b. Describe the type of godly fear which the Lord would have us develop. Philippians 2:12, 13

Note: “With the peace and joy of those who thus serve God, there is always seen a godly fear, ‘lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.’ This sanctified fear is entirely proper. It is not a servile, cowardly fear; it is a dread to do anything that Christ will not approve. This fear regulates the Christian experience. Those who feel it sanctify the Lord in their hearts. They regard God with a reverence and love that leads to self-abasement. But their fear is very different from the terror of a slave, who lives in expectation of the lash. This genuine fear leads to firm reliance on God.” The Signs of the Times, September 22, 1898

Tuesday

3 UNGODLY FEAR

3.a. If we do not cultivate godly fear, what type of fear will we eventually experience? Daniel 5:1–6

Note: “Hushed was the boisterous mirth, while men and women, seized with nameless terror, watched the hand slowly tracing the mysterious characters. Before them passed, as in panoramic view, the deeds of their evil lives; they seemed to be arraigned before the judgment bar of the eternal God, whose power they had just defied. Where but a few moments before had been hilarity and blasphemous witticism, were pallid faces and cries of fear. When God makes men fear, they cannot hide the intensity of their terror.

“Belshazzar was the most terrified of them all. … [He] had impiously lifted himself up against the God of heaven and had trusted in his own might, not supposing that any would dare say, ‘Why doest thou thus?’ but now he realized that he must render an account of the stewardship entrusted him, and that for his wasted opportunities and his defiant attitude he could offer no excuse.” Prophets and Kings, 524–527

3.b. The destruction of Jerusalem is a symbol of what? Luke 21:25, 26; Matthew 24:3

Note: “The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled upon His law. … The records of the past—the long procession of tumults, conflicts, and revolutions, the ‘battle of the warrior … with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood’ (Isaiah 9:5)—what are these, in contrast with the terrors of that day when the restraining Spirit of God shall be wholly withdrawn from the wicked, no longer to hold in check the outburst of human passion and satanic wrath! The world will then behold, as never before, the results of Satan’s rule.” The Great Controversy, 36, 37

Wednesday

4 PREPARING FOR FUTURE PROTECTION

4.a. What is the experience of those who fear the Lord and how does the Lord respond? Malachi 3:16, 17

Note: “Do not gratify the enemy by dwelling upon the dark side of your experience; trust Jesus more fully for help to resist temptation. If we thought and talked more of Jesus and less of ourselves, we should have much more of His presence. If we abide in Him, we shall be so filled with peace, faith, and courage, and shall have so victorious an experience to relate when we come to meeting, that others will be refreshed by our clear, strong testimony for God. These precious acknowledgments to the praise of the glory of His grace, when supported by a Christlike life, have an irresistible power which works for the salvation of souls.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 1183

4.b. What does God say brings peace? Isaiah 48:18. Where will we find refuge? Isaiah 26:20, 21; 33:16

Note: “The Lord has shown me repeatedly that it is contrary to the Bible to make any provision for our temporal wants in the time of trouble. I saw that if the saints had food laid up by them or in the field in the time of trouble, when sword, famine, and pestilence are in the land, it would be taken from them by violent hands and strangers would reap their fields. Then will be the time for us to trust wholly in God, and He will sustain us.” Early Writings, 56

“The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted and distressed, while they endure privation and suffer for want of food, they will not be left to perish.” The Great Controversy, 629

“ ‘Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.’ What are the chambers in which they are to hide?—They are the protection of Christ and holy angels. The people of God are not at this time all in one place. They are in different companies, and in all parts of the earth; and they will be tried singly, not in groups. Everyone must stand the test for himself.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 1143

Thursday

5 OUR ONLY HOPE

5. Where can our hope be confidently placed in any circumstance, and what assurances are given to those who do put their entire trust in the Lord? Psalm 46:1, 2; 91:1–10

Note: “Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children.” Steps to Christ, 100

“In the ninety-first psalm is a most wonderful description of the coming of the Lord to bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end, and to give to those who have chosen Him as their Redeemer the assurance of His love and protecting care. …”

“In the time when God’s judgments are falling without mercy, oh, how enviable to the wicked will be the position of those who abide ‘in the secret place of the Most High’—the pavilion in which the Lord hides all who have loved Him and have obeyed His commandments!” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, 1150

Friday

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

What characteristic is essential for us to develop and why?
How can we best describe “godly fear”?
What causes “ungodly fear” and how can it be avoided?
What are the special chambers in which God’s people can hide?
How will the faithful be comforted in the time of God’s destructive judgments?