Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW210016S
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, happy Sabbath. 01:12 Welcome to 3ABN Family Worship. 01:15 We're so glad that you our 3ABN family 01:19 are joining the rest of us around this table. 01:21 I'm Shelley Quinn. 01:22 I'm JD Quinn, and our family, 01:26 Tim and Ricky are joining us this Sabbath. 01:30 And we're so much looking forward 01:32 to sharing this time with you. 01:33 This is a good topic, Shelley. Yes, it is. 01:36 And let me just go ahead and tell you what our topic is, 01:38 because it is a little different. 01:41 It's called Benefits of Fear. 01:45 So you wanna stay tuned. 01:46 Amen. Let's have a prayer. 01:49 Father, as we come before you this Sabbath. 01:51 We just wanna thank you, Lord, for life itself. 01:53 Father, just be with us as we go through this topic. 01:56 I know this is something, Lord, 01:57 that we're all wanting to learn more about. 02:00 Take care of us, 02:01 put Your hedge of protection around 02:03 each one of us, Lord. 02:04 We give You praise and glory in Jesus' name. 02:06 Amen. Amen. 02:08 You know, I just have to tell you that 02:11 when I was putting this syllabus together, 02:14 I intended to do this on, do not fear. 02:18 And all of a sudden, 02:19 the Lord just took me 02:21 in a completely different direction. 02:24 Rational fear is a bad thing. 02:27 It can ruin our life. 02:29 It leads to tension and worry and anxiety, 02:32 which can lead to procrastination 02:35 and inaction. 02:38 But there is a good kind of fear. 02:43 God gave us a natural instinct 02:46 that we would protect ourselves against danger. 02:51 And we're gonna be talking about 02:52 the good kind of fear tonight, 02:55 because do you remember your children, 03:00 when you told them don't touch the stove, 03:03 it's hot, burn the baby. 03:05 What did it take for them to learn that? 03:11 Some of them had actually... 03:13 Touched the stove? Right, right. 03:14 Yeah. And so... 03:16 But once they touched the stove, 03:17 what's instilled in their heart, 03:20 the fear of being burned. 03:22 So fear is a good thing when it causes us 03:27 to take appropriate caution. 03:31 And that's what you know 03:32 we're trying to teach our children 03:34 'cause children can be just nearly fearless. 03:36 So, Ricky, why don't you start us off? 03:38 We're going to read in Psalm 55:3-5 03:44 shows us David's natural reaction to fear. 03:48 Yes. 03:50 Psalms 55:3-5 says, 03:52 "Because of the voice of the enemy, 03:55 because of the oppression of the wicked, 03:58 for they bring down trouble upon me 04:01 and in wrath, they hate me. 04:04 My heart is severely pained within me 04:08 and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 04:13 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me 04:18 and horror has overwhelmed me." 04:21 Oh, you read that well. 04:22 So we see that there is this natural instinct 04:26 when we're surrounded by trouble, 04:28 fear is totally natural. 04:30 But, Tim, how did David handle his fear? 04:34 Just a few verses later in Psalm 55:16-19. 04:39 He says, "As for me, I will call upon God 04:41 and the Lord shall save me, 04:43 evening and morning and at noon 04:44 I will pray and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. 04:48 He has redeemed my soul in peace 04:51 from the battle that was against me, 04:53 for there were many against me. 04:55 God will hear and afflict them, even He who abides from of old. 05:00 Selah, because they do not change, 05:03 therefore they do not fear God." 05:05 Okay. 05:06 So this is just an example and what we're doing right now, 05:09 I am going to set some things up here 05:11 before we get into our study. 05:14 And what I mean is, 05:15 if we're talking about the benefits of fear, 05:18 I know that if we don't mention this, 05:20 as some of you are going to write to me and say, 05:23 but the Lord says "Fear not." 05:25 So there is a common biblical theme 05:27 where God says, "Don't fear, man. 05:30 Just realize I'm your source and your sufficiency." 05:33 So let's look at a couple of those very quickly. 05:36 Genesis 15:1, God says, 05:38 "Fear not, I'm your shield, your exceedingly great reward." 05:43 Exodus 14:13-14. 05:46 He says, "Fear not, the Lord will fight for you." 05:49 Isaiah 41:10. 05:51 He says, "Fear not, I will strengthen you. 05:54 Yes, I will help you. 05:55 I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." 05:59 Joshua 1:9. 06:00 He says, "Fear not, for the Lord your God 06:04 is with you wherever you go." 06:06 And, JD, why don't you read Isaiah 43? 06:09 1-3, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you. 06:14 I have called you by your name, You are mine. 06:17 When you pass through the waters, 06:19 I will be with you and through the rivers, 06:22 they shall not overflow you. 06:24 And when you walk through the fire, 06:26 you shall not be burned 06:29 nor shall the flames scorch you, 06:31 for I am the Lord, your God, 06:34 the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." 06:37 That's one of my favorite scriptures. 06:38 Mine too. Amen. 06:40 And in John 14:27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you. 06:44 My peace I given unto you, 06:46 not as the world gives, give I to you." 06:50 He says, "Let not your heart be troubled. 06:52 Don't be afraid." 06:54 So yes, there is this command 06:57 fear not from the Lord, 06:59 but what does that command mean? 07:00 What do you think? 07:02 Do you think that God is saying that 07:03 we're gonna be completely over the emotion of fear, 07:06 this instinctive fear. 07:07 No, we're still gonna have that kind of panic at times. 07:12 But He wants us to trust in His promises. 07:15 Amen. 07:17 So it's basically He's regulating it. 07:20 I mean, He's telling these people, don't panic. 07:23 When you get there, 07:24 just remember that I am your sufficiency. 07:27 Ricky, what does... 07:29 Now we're gonna get into our study. 07:32 Read Jesus' words from Matthew 10:28. 07:36 "And do not fear those who kill the body, 07:39 but cannot kill the soul. 07:41 But rather fear him who is able to destroy 07:44 both soul and body in hell." 07:49 Okay. Have you heard? 07:51 And I think I've said it myself. 07:54 When we talk about fearing the Lord, 07:56 we say, oh, this isn't a knee knocking fear. 07:59 This is reverence and awe for God. 08:03 And that is true. 08:06 But there is an element of fear 08:11 like you would fear a parent. 08:13 Sure. Did you fear your father? 08:15 Oh, yes. Yes. Okay. 08:17 Did your father love you? Oh, yes. He sure did. 08:19 Do you think that what he told you not to do 08:24 was for your own benefit? 08:25 Absolutely. True. 08:26 And what happened when you didn't do it? 08:29 I think we all know. 08:31 We all know what happened. All right. 08:32 So the reason we say that 08:36 we "fear a parent" 08:40 is because there is an expectancy of obedience. 08:45 We are submitting to that parent 08:49 and you know what? 08:50 That's what God wants too. 08:52 I found some ancient literature, 08:55 Near Eastern literature 08:57 that was talking about loyalty, covenant loyalty. 09:03 And we're all in covenant relationship 09:05 with the Lord. 09:06 And you know how they expressed covenant loyalty? 09:11 Fear and love. 09:14 We're supposed to love God, 09:16 but we are supposed to fear God 09:19 in that we reverently, 09:22 humbly submit to His authority. 09:27 So what do you think? 09:29 Let's give a definition. 09:31 Jump in here, anybody. 09:32 What does it mean to fear the Lord? 09:37 Well, I've always heard that 09:39 one of the definition would be we're in awe of Him. 09:42 So consequently, we reverent Him. 09:44 Reverence? Okay. 09:46 And submit to Him. 09:48 Submit to Him. That's a biggy one. 09:52 So why do we submit to His authority? 09:56 You wanna have respect for God, respect for His laws, 10:01 even I would say, submit that, 10:04 even having a dread of offending Him. 10:08 Oh, that's good. 10:09 You just, it should just and to abhor evil, 10:15 I think it's something else that would be part of this, 10:18 definition of the fear of the Lord. 10:20 Amen. 10:21 And, of course, to honor Him. 10:25 If He's our creator, if He's our redeemer, 10:30 shouldn't we be motivated by love 10:35 to humbly submit? 10:37 Right. 10:38 I mean, He knows everything. Right. 10:41 I think we do tend to make it a little bit lofty 10:44 when we're dealing with God, 10:45 because He's God, because He is our creator, 10:49 our redeemer. 10:50 But when we put it in the same perspective 10:53 that we would our fathers, 10:56 our earthly fathers, and granted, 10:58 there are some that 10:59 have a dysfunctional relationship 11:01 with their earthly father. 11:02 So that wouldn't necessarily 11:04 be appropriate for every person. 11:07 They may not feel that way. 11:08 But for those like myself, 11:10 I know, you know, I love my dad. 11:12 I love him. 11:13 I know that he would not do harm to me. 11:17 And he only means good. 11:18 He was a great provider, 11:19 a great husband to my mom 11:21 and a great father to me and my sisters. 11:24 And so, you know, there's just the love. 11:26 I think that's so much of what we need to feel toward God 11:31 about so many of the roles 11:34 that He plays in our life 11:36 is we love Him because it's a relationship. 11:38 It's the personal relationship aspect. 11:41 And so even in the fear we know that it's a good thing. 11:45 If He tells us to fear Him, 11:47 then there's a good reason behind it. 11:50 And it isn't out of... 11:53 Exactly. And you know what? 11:56 And you're gonna see that as we go through this. 11:59 We're going to find out that 12:01 in the same verses where it's talking about 12:05 fear of the Lord, it's talking about His mercy, 12:08 His favor, and they're all combined. 12:11 So, Ricky, let's look at 12:14 what covenant loyalty is all about 12:17 and what are the benefits of fearing God. 12:20 Ricky, you want to kick us off? Yeah. 12:23 Let's read here Jeremiah Chapter... 12:26 And so what is the benefit? 12:28 Okay. 12:30 To fear the Lord, 12:31 we will not depart from the Lord. 12:35 And He will always be part of our lives. 12:37 So what happens without fear of the Lord? 12:42 Jeremiah 2:19 says 12:46 "Your own wickedness will correct you 12:50 and your backslidings will rebuke you, 12:53 know therefore and see that it is an evil 12:57 and bitter thing that you have forsaken 12:59 the Lord your God. 13:01 And the fear of me is not in you, 13:04 says the Lord God of hosts." 13:06 So here's, this is God speaking. 13:10 And He's saying, you don't fear me. 13:14 You don't honor Me. You don't respect Me. 13:17 You're not... And what happened? 13:20 You have forsaken Me. 13:21 You've departed from Me. 13:23 So what happens when we do fear the Lord? 13:25 Jeremiah 32:38-41, 13:29 "They shall be My people, and I will be their God, 13:35 then I will give them one heart and one way, 13:39 that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them 13:44 and their children after them. 13:47 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, 13:51 that I will not turn away from doing them good, 13:54 but I will put My fear in their hearts 13:58 so that they will not depart from Me. 14:01 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, 14:06 and I will assuredly plant them in this land, 14:10 with all My heart and with all My soul." 14:14 I love the juxtapositions in here. 14:17 Yeah. Fear me forever. 14:19 I'm going to put fear in your heart so that what? 14:22 So that I can do good to you always. 14:26 It's just... 14:28 That's one of my favorite scriptures. 14:31 He'll rejoice over them. 14:33 He rejoices over those. 14:35 And so we see that, 14:40 you know, I'm gonna say this. 14:42 My sister was someone 14:45 that never developed fear of my mother. 14:49 She was the most disrespectful, 14:52 rebellious child you could ever see. 14:54 And my mother could have told her, 14:56 if you don't do this, you're gonna get a spanking. 14:59 She couldn't care less. 15:01 And she had a very troubled beginning. 15:05 It took her years 15:07 before she came around to recognize 15:11 that she should have honored and submitted in this. 15:16 So when we don't fear the Lord, 15:21 we have a tendency to walk away from Him 15:23 and that's where we get into trouble. 15:26 So, Tim, what's our second benefit? 15:28 Well, I was going to just comment real briefly 15:30 about the two differences in that. 15:32 What happens without fear of the Lord? 15:34 We walk in consequences. 15:36 But when we... 15:38 What happens when we do fear the Lord? 15:40 We walk in confidence. 15:42 So you choose today, 15:44 whether you're gonna walk in consequences, 15:47 which, you know, it says your own wickedness 15:50 will correct you. 15:51 That so you're gonna walk in consequences. 15:54 Whereas if you're walking in fear, 15:57 fear of the Lord, 15:58 when you do fear a holy fear of the Lord, 16:00 you'll walk in confidence of Him. 16:02 So, okay. 16:03 Fear of the Lord brings wisdom 16:06 that is declared in several times in the Bible. 16:10 So in Job 28:28 says, 16:12 "Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom 16:15 and to depart from evil is understanding." 16:19 Psalm 111:10, 16:22 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 16:24 A good understanding 16:26 have all those who do His commandments, 16:28 His praise endures forever." 16:32 What strikes me about that 16:34 one is if the fear of the Lord brings wisdom, 16:39 then it's wise to fear the Lord, isn't it? 16:41 Amen. Right. 16:43 And then the result is what? 16:46 We depart from evil. Sure. 16:49 But then in Psalm 111:10, 16:53 it says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 16:58 That it's a good understanding 17:01 that we walk in obedience to His commandments. 17:05 Does obeying God save us? 17:10 What saves us? Jesus saves us. 17:12 Jesus saves us by grace through faith. 17:16 So it isn't our obedience that saves us. 17:19 But you know what? 17:20 1 John says, I mean, we're made righteous by faith, 17:23 but yet obedience is so important 17:26 because God calls us into covenant. 17:29 It's a covenant of grace and love. 17:33 He makes all of the promises, 17:36 but He asks of us covenant loyalty, 17:40 and covenant loyalty is to love the Lord your God 17:44 with all your heart, mind, strength, 17:47 and to walk in obedience. 17:50 What did Jesus say in John14:15? 17:53 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 17:57 Yeah. Again, it's based on love. 18:00 If what you love is what you will obey. 18:05 So that's... Yeah. 18:07 And that affects how we act as well. 18:10 I think about a situation 18:12 where there is a student at school 18:16 and the professor at this university, 18:19 he asked for the students 18:21 to write the name of Jesus on a piece of paper, 18:26 put the paper on the ground and stomp on it. 18:32 Now there were several of the students 18:34 who just blindly just did it. 18:37 There is a few students who didn't want to do it. 18:41 And there was one of the students 18:42 who just said, you know, I'm not doing this. 18:44 And he even went and told the administration 18:48 about what this would happen. 18:50 And he was just totally against this. 18:51 And didn't like what was happening. 18:55 The student also told the media 18:58 and the school at first, 19:02 the schools didn't have a problem with it. 19:04 They said it was all right. 19:06 But then after all the flack 19:08 that they were getting in the news, 19:10 they recanted and they apologized. 19:13 Now, what's interesting about this story is that 19:16 it may shock us that, you know, 19:21 we hold Jesus name very dear to us, right? 19:25 But have you ever thought about, 19:28 are there any times that 19:30 we may have stomped on Jesus' name ourselves 19:34 just by maybe how we, 19:38 our attitudes, 19:42 our actions, you know. 19:47 And then, you know, we should be thinking, 19:50 you know, have we stomped on Jesus today, you know? 19:54 So this act of fearing God, 19:59 I think that we need to look twice, 20:05 look at it again and make sure that 20:07 we aren't that we want to have a reverence for God. 20:11 And respect for Him in our thoughts, 20:15 in our actions, how we treat others. 20:17 I think it's important. 20:19 You know, who you're honoring, who you're worshiping, 20:22 who you're choosing to serve, 20:24 who you love, 20:26 with this love comes relationship. 20:29 Yeah. That's who you want to be with. 20:32 Yeah. 20:33 When you said that, Ricky, 20:34 what came to my mind was the third commandment 20:36 that you shall not take my name in vain. 20:39 And truthfully, 20:42 that's a really 20:45 startling example, 20:50 the story you shared. 20:52 But if we call ourselves Christians, 20:56 and then we go out into the world 20:58 and we're rude or crude, 21:00 or we're doing something, 21:02 we are stomping on the name of Christ. 21:07 That's a good analogy. 21:11 This is really quite deep 21:12 if you stop and really think about it. 21:14 Yeah. 21:15 But did he ever explain himself why he had the kids do that? 21:18 I mean, that's... 21:23 So the fear of the Lord 21:26 is the beginning of wisdom. 21:33 I knew a lady who had her ThD, 21:37 that's a doctoral degree in theology. 21:41 She started coming to some of my meetings 21:43 when I was in Texas. 21:47 This woman had spent like 21:50 she had several degrees, 21:51 but nine years studying the Bible, 21:54 had no relationship with the Lord. 21:57 She had a really 22:01 sour personality. 22:05 So was she wise? 22:11 I mean, if the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, 22:14 I mean, that should be, 22:17 the fear of the Lord should come, 22:20 the root should be love, honor, respect. 22:24 Wisdom doesn't necessarily mean 22:26 how much you've studied this Bible, 22:29 but how much has gone from here to here. 22:33 Now there's a difference between a knowledge and wisdom. 22:35 A head knowledge and a heart knowledge, right? 22:38 You can know any book, 22:40 but unless you've applied it 22:42 and fallen in love with it, 22:43 or the writer of it 22:45 in this case that's the difference. 22:49 So wisdom, when we say the fear of the Lord 22:51 is the beginning of a wisdom. 22:52 It's the application of knowledge, right? 22:55 That's our spiritual foundation. 22:58 So to fear the Lord, 23:01 the benefit, we will not depart 23:04 from walking with Him. 23:06 We will begin to apply His Word. 23:10 The benefit of fearing God is that we will become wise. 23:16 JD, what else will happen? 23:18 Well, also, in following this Lamb 23:22 and falling in love with Him, we will want to walk with Him. 23:25 We will want to follow His path. 23:27 We will walk in His ways. 23:30 And Deuteronomy 10:12, 23:33 "And now Israel, 23:35 what does the Lord your God require of you, 23:38 but to fear the Lord your God, 23:40 to walk in all His ways, to love Him, 23:44 to serve Lord your God, 23:45 with all your heart, with all your soul." 23:49 Also in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, 23:53 "Let us hear the conclusions of the whole matter. 23:57 Fear God and keep His commandments, 24:00 for this is man's all. 24:03 For God will bring every work into judgment, 24:06 including every secret thing, whether good or evil." 24:12 So who was Ecclesiastes written by? 24:14 Solomon. 24:16 And what was Solomon's supposed to be? 24:17 Wisest. The wisest man. 24:19 When you look at 24:21 some of Solomon's personal life, 24:22 you kinda wonder about that. 24:24 But after he found all this vanity, 24:29 he chased so many things in his life. 24:32 He ends, Ecclesiastes 12, 24:38 it's the last chapter verses 13 and 14, 12, 13, 14. 24:42 This is a conclusion of everything that he learned, 24:47 fear God, and keep His commandments. 24:50 But we just saw Deuteronomy, to fear the Lord means to what? 24:55 Walk in all His ways. 24:57 Walk in all His ways and love Him. 25:00 So it is, you know, 25:02 when we talk about the fear of the Lord, 25:05 this isn't that the knocking like, 25:08 you know, the Bible says, "Perfect love casts out fear." 25:12 It's talking about that knee knocking, 25:15 you know, oh, like I'm terrified. 25:17 No, it's to love, 25:20 to honor, to reverence. 25:23 You know, I guess, I... 25:29 Go ahead. To be loyal. 25:31 To be loyal. 25:32 It's all about covenant loyalty and love, isn't it? 25:36 I think about us. 25:37 I was not in any armed service, 25:40 but I think of a private for, 25:43 or sergeant or whatever, 25:45 or for a general 25:46 whatever the level of rank is there. 25:51 There is a respect that the lesser has for the greater. 25:56 Yes. But it's more out of title. 26:00 And they know that there are repercussions, 26:05 again, consequences if they don't respect that. 26:07 But as children of God, 26:10 we understand that there is also a rank difference 26:14 of the lesser to the greater, 26:16 but again, because of our relationship, 26:18 because of our desire to please Him, 26:20 our desire to be loyal to Him, 26:22 if we truly do have that kind of a hunger 26:26 to have a godly relationship, you know with God, 26:30 then I think that's where that love, 26:32 that's where our walk and our fear becomes healthy. 26:35 You know, I'm glad you said that 26:37 'cause it reminded me of 26:39 what I was trying to say earlier. 26:41 In 1 John, 26:43 He says in 1 John 3:8, 26:48 "He who sins is of the devil. 26:50 The devil has sinned from the beginning. 26:53 And for this purpose, the Son of God was manifested 26:56 that He might destroy the works of the devil." 27:01 But He goes on to say, 27:04 "We're made righteous by faith." 27:06 There's no doubt 27:07 'cause our righteousness is filthy rags before the Lord. 27:11 But then He says, "Do not be fooled. 27:14 He who practices righteousness is righteous." 27:20 So to practice righteousness means 27:23 you're gonna be in right standing with God 27:26 that you're gonna walk in His ways. 27:28 Amen. So obedience doesn't save us. 27:34 But if we're saved, if we are in that 27:38 redeemed relationship with the Lord, 27:43 we will love Him. 27:45 We will respect Him. 27:46 It shows that we believe in Him. 27:48 Yeah. 27:49 We walk in Him. 27:50 That is our covenant faithfulness. 27:54 All right. 27:55 Now what you read, JD, somebody is gonna say, 27:59 "Oh, Deuteronomy, 28:00 when God said, fear the Lord, walk in my ways. 28:04 That's Old Testament." 28:06 What Solomon said, "Oh, that's Old Testament." 28:09 Does the fear of the Lord play a role 28:12 in the New Testament church, Tim? 28:14 Sure, it does. 28:16 There are examples in Acts 9:31 that says, 28:20 "Then the churches throughout all Judea, 28:22 Galilee and Samaria had peace and were edified 28:26 and walking in the fear of the Lord 28:29 and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, 28:31 they were multiplied." 28:33 Also in 2 Corinthians 7:1, 28:37 "Therefore having these promises, beloved, 28:39 let us cleanse ourselves 28:41 from all filthiness of the flesh 28:42 and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 28:46 Yeah. 28:48 And another text, Tim, is Revelation 14:7. 28:51 It says, "Saying with a loud voice, 28:53 'Fear God and give glory to Him, 28:56 for the hour of His judgment has come, 28:59 and worship Him who made the heaven and earth, 29:04 the sea and springs of water.'" 29:07 You know, of course that's the beginning 29:09 of the three angels' messages 29:12 actually begins in Revelation 14:6 29:15 where it says that 29:17 there's this everlasting gospel 29:19 to give to all the nations of the earth. 29:23 And then it starts off with the first angel saying, 29:26 "Fear God, and give Him glory." 29:29 Now, and it shows here 29:32 we're worshiping Him as a creator, 29:34 but can we go back to Acts 9:31? 29:37 Let's talk about that. 29:39 The New Testament churches throughout Judea, 29:43 Galilee and Samaria had peace. 29:48 They were edified, 29:50 which means to be built up, 29:52 walking in the fear of the Lord and what? 29:56 Comfort of the Holy Spirit. 29:58 Isn't the juxtaposition. 30:01 Every time you see fear of the Lord, mercy, 30:05 fear of the Lord, love, fear of the Lord, comfort. 30:10 The juxtaposition, and that's just to say, 30:16 it's just as if it's positioned by, 30:18 you know, the juxtaposition is when you've got 30:22 two seemingly contrasting ideas 30:26 that are just put back to back. 30:29 So when we say fear the Lord 30:32 and the benefits of fear the Lord 30:35 is to walk in His way. 30:38 We walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. 30:42 So you can see it's not that knee knocking 30:46 kind of experience. 30:47 Amen. 30:48 And then the end results was multiplication. 30:52 Yeah. That's good. 30:54 Putting those two together and... 30:56 So why do you think the church multiplied 30:58 so much as they walked in the fear of the Lord 31:01 and the comfort of the Holy Spirit? 31:03 Well, number one, it's because they were blessed. 31:06 They were blessed because of the relationship. 31:09 And I choose to believe that 31:11 as they walked hand in hand, 31:13 not literally, but together united, 31:17 well then a relationship was formed. 31:23 And then we find 31:24 through the aid of the Holy Spirit, 31:26 joining with them, 31:28 then they say became on fire for the Lord. 31:31 And then they added to the multiplication. 31:33 Yeah. They caused it, didn't they? 31:35 Yeah, they did. 31:36 As they walked and obey, what kind of witness were they? 31:41 You know, if they were multiplying that fast, 31:44 it's because people were looking at Adventists. 31:46 Humanity is attracting. It is. 31:48 Attractive. 31:50 It is attractive, 31:51 but it's also one of these things 31:53 where somebody might look, Ricky, 31:55 I don't know, you're... 31:56 Were you always a Christian? 31:58 I was reared. Yes, ma'am. 32:00 You were reared in a Christian home, 32:01 but did you ever have a... 32:03 Oh, I had my wayward times. Okay. 32:05 So it would be like somebody 32:08 who knew you in your wayward times, 32:10 all of a sudden they see a complete reverse, 32:15 and you're walking in obedience to the Lord 32:18 and the fear of the Lord, 32:20 you've got this piece about you, 32:22 the comfort of the Holy Spirit 32:25 and they go on, "What happened to you?" 32:29 Don't you think that's probably why they multiplied so rapidly? 32:31 Yeah. 32:33 I think they said that about Jesus, didn't they? 32:35 Oh, sure, He didn't come from where we're from. 32:38 He's gotta be somebody else. 32:40 You spared the bench, Ricky. Is that you, Ricky? 32:44 "Does anything good come out of Galilee?" 32:47 Yeah. Yeah. 32:48 But then let's look again at 2 Corinthians 7:1 32:51 'cause if the fear of the Lord keeps us 32:54 walking in His ways, 32:56 what's the ending 33:00 of walking in His ways? 33:04 Cleanse our self 33:05 from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 33:09 perfecting holiness. 33:12 Yeah. All right. 33:14 Holiness is synonymous with sanctification. 33:20 So both of them just mean to be separated from evil. 33:26 Yeah. 33:29 One of my favorite scriptures about the Sabbath, 33:32 I think of the Sabbath, 33:34 it says that it is a memorial of God 33:37 as our creator, 33:38 but He's the one that's recreating us. 33:41 It is a memorial that He is our redeemer. 33:45 Hallelujah, I could never save myself. 33:48 But Exodus 31:13, God says, 33:52 "Remember the Sabbath. 33:54 It is a sign to you that 33:57 I am the one who sanctifies you." 34:01 I'm telling you what? 34:03 I tried for 50 years to sanctify myself. 34:09 I tried to be a good little girl. 34:11 I did my best 34:13 and fell flat on my face constantly, 34:16 constantly. 34:18 Why? 34:19 I wasn't relying on the power of God. 34:23 But when I realized that God's promise is to sanctify. 34:28 I remember that first Sabbath that I kept, 34:30 it was kind of like exhaled. 34:34 And I celebrated Him in a way 34:40 that I never had before. 34:42 So, but my point here 34:45 is in 2 Corinthians 7: 1, 34:49 this perfecting holiness. 34:52 There's something that we do, isn't there? 34:56 If it says that, let us cleanse ourselves. 35:01 Abstaining from evil. Yeah. 35:04 So this is kind of the idea that Paul said 35:07 in Philippians 2:12, 35:09 where he said, "Work out your own salvation 35:12 with fear and trembling." 35:13 Now, I admit, did that scripture 35:17 ever bother you? 35:19 I never got any further than that. 35:21 My knees knocked and it was like, 35:23 that's why I tried so hard 35:25 is because I was fear and trembling and I didn't. 35:29 One day I'm reading and I don't know how many times 35:31 I read through the New Testament, 35:33 several hundred, 35:35 and all of a sudden verse 13, 35:37 which they should never have been separated. 35:40 When it was written, 35:41 there weren't chapters and verses. 35:44 So Paul says, work out your own salvation 35:48 with fear and trembling, 35:49 but not in your own strength for what? 35:53 It is God who works in you 35:58 to will and to do. 36:01 Two stages. 36:03 Stage one, He changes your will, 36:07 He lines your will up with His discipline? 36:11 Amen. Yeah. 36:12 Does He ever force us to act? 36:15 So for Him to work in us to do 36:19 after He's changed the way we think, 36:22 He's changed the desires of our heart, 36:26 what He asks of us is that we take a step... 36:31 And give Him our will. Yeah. 36:33 But even then, I mean, I don't know. 36:36 Oh Lord, I'm willing to do Your will. 36:38 I'm willing to be made willing. 36:41 Okay. He's making me willing. 36:43 Yep. 36:44 I know how to get off the couch and go exercise. 36:46 Yep. 36:48 I got the will, I need it, 36:51 but you have to actually stand up 36:53 and take a step in faith. 36:56 And then the power of the Holy Spirit shows up 36:59 and He works in us to do. 37:02 Nice. Amen. 37:03 So even obedience is by His grace, isn't it? 37:09 You know, Shelley, you were talking about, 37:10 well, I guess it was Tim talking about 37:13 the consequences of evil 37:15 and the confidence of good being good. 37:19 Well, as I was reading here a while ago, 37:21 when we're talking about a clean conscience, 37:25 that's what we were talking about right here, 37:27 you know in 2 Corinthians 7:1, 37:30 "Let us cleanse ourselves 37:31 from all filthiness perfecting in holiness." 37:34 And also that has to do with that perfect walk 37:37 of getting better. 37:41 You know, when we're talking about perfect, 37:43 that doesn't mean that we become 37:44 automatically perfect. 37:46 It means that it's this walk that we're... 37:48 Maturing. 37:49 Maturing, that's the right, that's exactly the right word. 37:52 So how do we cleanse our conscience? 37:55 Well, first of all, it's step by step 37:57 and it's by going to the Lord in prayer, 37:59 it's our relationship. 38:00 I mean, to me, I mean, 38:02 I love that in life itself from our life here, 38:05 but more specifically is with the Lord is relationship. 38:08 We start right here. 38:10 You don't have to, if you can read, 38:12 that's a good place to start. 38:13 You start, you know, with any place, 38:15 because through the comforter, 38:17 He's going to come 38:19 and He's gonna work on our heart, 38:20 cleanse and let us see 38:22 what we need to see at the right time. 38:24 I was speaking in Texas, pretty big group, anyway, 38:29 I was commenting about the joy of repentance 38:33 and you know, of course, 38:35 people are looking at you, like the joy of repentance. 38:39 So I was going through the steps, 38:41 but 1 John 1:9, 38:43 it's one of my favorite Bible verses. 38:46 It says, "If we confess our sins, 38:49 He is faithful and just to forgive us 38:53 and" what? 38:54 "To cleanse us of all unrighteousness." 38:58 So confession 39:00 is the clearing house of the soul. 39:03 And you know, I made the comment, 39:06 I confess my sins daily, you know, 39:09 so I was talking about like daily repentance, 39:11 and this guy came up to me. 39:13 "Well, you don't understand the salvation of the Lord 39:16 if you're confessing daily." 39:17 And I said, "Do you sin?" 39:20 "Well, yes." 39:22 "Well, if we sin, 39:24 we're supposed to be confessing it." 39:25 And there's something about, 39:29 you know, you can say, oh Lord, forgive us, our sins, 39:33 dah, dah, dah, 39:35 that doesn't register with our heart. 39:37 But if you say, Lord, I made, 39:40 and I said this the other night, 39:42 I was watching someone on TV 39:45 and I made a catty remark to JD about this person. 39:49 It was judgmental kind of a remark. 39:53 And, boy, I'll tell you 39:54 what the Spirit of the Lord was all over me. 39:56 And that night I was like, "Lord, forgive me for. 39:58 I don't wanna be that kind of person." 40:01 And who we are in our home 40:05 is who we are in the eyes of the Lord, is it not? 40:07 Right. 40:09 And that's... Go ahead. 40:11 No, you go. And that is part of our walk. 40:13 You know, that's an important part of our walk, you know. 40:15 And in the same way with our relationships, 40:17 you know, for a husband to a wife, 40:20 when you do something wrong you don't just say, 40:24 "Well, we got married back, you know, 25 years ago. 40:26 So I'm still your husband." 40:28 No, I don't think she's gonna appreciate that. 40:31 You're gonna need to go to her 40:33 and apologize and make it right. 40:34 And make it specific. Yeah, and make it specific. 40:37 Absolutely, to the situation. You know, it's not his... 40:39 Oh, honey, I'm sorry, 40:40 I hurt your feelings or I'm sorry, I hurt you. 40:41 Yeah. 40:43 It's like, do you understand why you hurt me? 40:46 So you have to kind of be specific. 40:47 Yeah. And to turn from it. 40:49 Right. Of course. That's the repentance. 40:51 That's to go back doing that again. 40:53 You had to throw that in. 40:55 It takes me back a long time ago. 40:57 You know, I had this farmer friend, 40:58 I still have this former friend and his wife, 41:02 they've been married probably for about 15 years. 41:04 Let's just say, 41:06 whenever I'm telling this story originally, 41:07 I heard it originally. 41:09 And every night she says, I love you, honey. 41:14 He didn't say anything. 41:15 And she'd just tell him all through the day. 41:17 You know, I love you. I love you. 41:18 And he never would say anything. 41:20 "Do you not love me anymore?" 41:22 "Well, I married you, didn't I?" 41:25 And she says, honey, that's been so long ago. 41:28 Says, I don't remember even how you proposed. 41:32 "Well, I do." 41:33 And he says, "I remember I got this place, 41:37 I cleaned it up real nice. 41:38 I had a two car garage and I asked you 41:40 if you wanted your car to share garage." 41:45 Wow. Yeah. 41:47 But you know, that's almost attitude 41:49 that some people take towards God. 41:51 Well, I said a prayer. 41:54 And so He's my Lord. 41:56 He's my savior. 41:57 But they never made Him Lord or acknowledge Him as Father. 42:01 Yeah. 42:02 But I was talking about being woke up 42:04 is that's what you were saying. 42:05 You know, some people don't like, 42:06 and boy, he caught on. 42:08 Yeah. He caught on, he heard. 42:12 And so from then on, 42:13 he started, she'd say, I love you. 42:15 And even once in a while, he'd say, I love you first. 42:18 But he caught on, he just had missed that day in school. 42:21 Yeah. That's crazy. 42:23 Okay. 42:25 So, so far we know the benefits of fearing the Lord, 42:29 we will not depart from the Lord. 42:32 The fear of the Lord brings wisdom. 42:36 The fear of the Lord keeps us walking in His way. 42:42 And the fourth one is God takes 42:46 pleasure in those who fear Him. 42:49 JD, you want to give us a couple of scriptures on that? 42:52 Kind of, where is that Shelley? 42:53 Number four, God takes pleasure... 42:55 Okay. Yes. 42:56 So, yes. 42:59 Let's look at Malachi 3... 43:01 Go ahead and start with the Psalms I would say. 43:03 Okay. Psalms 147:11. 43:05 Thank you, Shelley. 43:06 "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him 43:10 and those who hope in His mercy." 43:12 Stop once again, the juxtaposition. 43:14 Right. 43:15 Those who fear Him have hope in His mercy. 43:20 So I love, you see because it, 43:25 have you ever seen like an old fashioned Western 43:30 where there's some preacher coming to them, "Fear God!" 43:35 You know and it's like, 43:37 they wanna beat people over the head. 43:39 And some parents do that to the children. 43:42 They have this idea that they're gonna beat 43:45 their kids over the head with the Bible 43:48 to get them to love the Lord or to fear Him. 43:51 You know what I say? 43:52 Tim, you'll like this one. 43:54 You can't beat somebody over the head 43:57 with a fiddle to convince them how beautiful the music is. 44:00 Right. Exactly, that's good. 44:03 So this is something that 44:05 we've got to teach our kids to have a relationship 44:08 with the Lord, 44:10 but here God takes pleasure in those who fear Him. 44:15 But those who fear Him have hope in His mercy. 44:20 What a beautiful, fear of the Lord 44:22 is a multifaceted diamond. 44:24 Okay. 44:26 And then we also read in Malachi 3:16-17, 44:30 "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another 44:34 and the Lord listened and heard them. 44:37 So a book of remembrance was written before him, 44:40 for those who fear the Lord 44:42 and who meditate on his name, 44:45 they shall be mine says the Lord of hosts. 44:48 And on the day that I make them my jewels 44:50 and I spare them as a man spares his own son 44:54 who serves Him." 44:56 Amen. I love that picture. 44:58 What a great picture that He has, 45:00 a book of remembrance that He is keeping our names in. 45:03 Amen. 45:05 You know, they're talking about me today. 45:06 Amen. Yeah. 45:07 I mean, really. Yeah. 45:09 Really just an awesome thing. 45:10 Sometimes, that will hit me 45:12 as I'm on a conversation with somebody 45:14 and I'll think, ah, 45:15 the recording angel is writing this down. 45:18 But, Ricky, you know a lot of the kids' songs. 45:21 Isn't there a song about the precious jewels 45:27 that I don't remember how that goes, 45:30 but I think that's so neat that God 45:33 is saying those who fear Him 45:35 and meditate on His name, He will make them His jewels. 45:40 Yes. 45:41 And what caught my attention is that, 45:44 and the Lord listened and He heard them. 45:48 Yeah. I mean, that's very important. 45:53 There's someone that will actually listen to you 45:56 and in listing not just goes over your head, 45:59 but actually heard them. 46:00 And then, because he didn't wanna, 46:02 and I'm certainly not pointing fingers here, 46:05 but this is just bringing it down to her. 46:07 He didn't wanna make a mistake in the book of remembrance. 46:10 So He was listening and He was hearing, 46:13 He was looking at their heart. Amen. 46:15 But it's neat that it's saying, 46:17 "Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another." 46:21 Do you suppose it was like, oh, oh, oh. 46:23 Oh, oh. 46:24 No, God doesn't take pleasure in that. 46:27 Testifying to each other. Yes. Yeah. 46:29 Guess what the Lord did for me today. 46:31 I love that. That's the way it should be. 46:33 He was meditating on his name, thinking about His goodness. 46:38 I love that. They shall be mine. 46:40 Yeah. Okay. 46:42 So God takes pleasure in those who fear Him. 46:45 Tim, what's our next point? 46:48 He accepts, God accepts those who fear Him. 46:51 Accepts. 46:52 In Acts 10:34-35, 46:54 we read what Peter said, 46:56 "In truth I perceive 46:58 that God shows no partiality, 47:01 but in every nation, 47:02 whoever fears Him and works righteousness 47:05 is accepted by Him." 47:07 Now that's interesting 47:08 'cause that's not necessarily a juxtaposition 47:12 because to fear the Lord is to work righteousness. 47:15 Right. 47:16 What does work righteousness mean? 47:19 Right living, right doing. 47:20 Right doing, it's walking in His ways 47:24 obeying the Lord, isn't it? 47:26 I say if you love me, you'll do my commandments. 47:28 If you fear Him, works righteousness. 47:29 Amen. 47:31 And Psalm 112:1, "Praise the Lord. 47:34 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, 47:36 who delights greatly in His commandments." 47:39 So that's almost like 47:40 a definition of fearing the Lord 47:43 is to delight in His commandments. 47:45 Absolutely. Yeah. 47:47 And one more. Oh, you have something? 47:48 Go ahead. 47:50 Well, you know, it says blessed is the man. 47:52 And so in other words, that person could be generous. 47:56 He could be supportive. 47:57 You know, he just might be compassionate. 48:01 He trusted in the Lord, blessed. 48:03 It says, blessed is the man not blessed... 48:08 They will be blessed. 48:10 It says blessed is. 48:11 Right. Yeah. 48:12 It's existing blessing. Amen. 48:15 Luke 1:50, "His mercy is on those who fear Him 48:20 from generation to generation." 48:23 So that does sound like a juxtaposition, 48:26 but I don't think it is. 48:28 I mean, it's those who fear God... 48:30 That's the consequences in a good thing. 48:32 A good way. Mercy. 48:34 We can have confidence 48:37 that God does have mercy. 48:41 That's right. 48:42 So, Ricky, what's the sixth benefit. 48:46 God hears the cry of those who fear Him, saves them. 48:52 And in Psalms 103: 11-14 says, 48:58 "For as the heavens are high above the earth, 49:01 so great is the mercy toward those who fear Him. 49:07 As far as the east is from the west 49:10 so far has He removed our transgressions from us 49:15 as a father pities his children, 49:20 so the Lord pities those who fear Him, 49:25 for He knows our frame. 49:28 He remembers that we are dust." 49:31 I love that. 49:32 That's such a beautiful verse. 49:34 Let's break it down. 49:37 As the heavens are high above the earth, here we go. 49:41 His mercy is on those who fear Him. 49:44 I don't know about you, 49:46 but I'll take all the mercy I can get from God. 49:49 Well, according to the experts, that's a long ways up 49:54 and they say this is the third heaven 49:55 we're talking about... 49:57 Yeah, as far as the heavens. 49:58 That's a lot of mercy. That's a lot of mercy. 50:02 That's good. 50:04 But then as far as the east is from the west 50:07 and east never beats the west, does it? 50:09 Right. Keep going. 50:10 So far has He removed our transgressions. 50:14 He's thrown our sin. 50:16 When we confess before the Lord, 50:19 He throws those into the sea... 50:22 And forgets them. Right. 50:24 Yeah. Isn't that... 50:25 And we are the only one that brings it up. 50:27 Yeah. 50:28 You know, here's an interesting study 50:31 'cause this was really fascinating. 50:32 A friend of mine said, 50:34 I don't believe God ever forgets anything. 50:36 So I started studying this. 50:38 When like in Exodus 4, 50:41 when it says that God heard the cries 50:45 of the children of Israel 50:48 that were in Egypt, He heard their cries 50:52 and it says He remembered His covenant with Abraham, 50:56 Isaac and Jacob. 50:59 The word there remembered means to act upon. 51:04 When God forgets something, He doesn't act on it. 51:10 When He remembers something, He acts on it. 51:14 Right. 51:16 So I just think that's so precious. 51:19 That is really precious. Yeah. 51:20 So He's removed our sins, He forgets they're blotted out. 51:25 He's not acting on that sin. 51:27 He's not senile. He's not forgetful. 51:29 He has the ability to remember. 51:31 He chooses not to remember our sins against us. 51:33 Yeah. 51:34 He says for my own sake, I will forget your sins. 51:37 And that's a lesson we all should learn. 51:39 Amen. Amen. 51:41 But then as a father pities his children, 51:45 so the Lord pities those who fear Him. 51:50 He remembers He's our creator. 51:53 He knows He made us out of dust. 51:56 Dust we are to dust we return. 51:58 And you know, sometimes when I'm praying, 52:01 I'll say, "Lord, 52:02 thank You that you remember I'm but dust." 52:04 Right, exactly. Yes. 52:06 Thank you that though 52:07 I fall seven times you pick me up. 52:11 I often will say, you know, well, I'm human. 52:14 You know, well, that's God's excuse, not ours. 52:17 He made us, He remembers that we're dust. 52:20 Amen. JD, what about Psalms 145? 52:24 First thing that jumps up. 52:25 Well, not the first thing, 52:27 it's one thing that jumps out on that Psalms 145:18-20, 52:31 He's listened all the times. 52:33 He says all, we're part of that all. 52:36 "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him 52:39 to all who call upon Him in truth. 52:42 He will fulfill the desires of those who fear Him. 52:45 He will also hear their cry and save them. 52:49 The Lord preserved all who loves Him, 52:53 but all the wicked He will destroy." 52:58 It's about as straight to the point as you can get. 53:02 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. 53:07 Who honor Him. Here's our cry. 53:10 He fulfills our desire. I think that's so precious. 53:14 So let me just kind of sum up here. 53:17 And I have to look back through my notes. 53:20 We started off very quickly 53:24 talking about what God said, "Do not fear." 53:28 There He's referring to, 53:30 "Don't fear, man, look to Me as your source, 53:33 look to me as your sufficiency 53:37 and you don't have to panic." 53:39 So in that sense, God saying don't fear. 53:43 But then we see that 53:46 there is wisdom in fearing the Lord. 53:50 The benefits of fearing God, this is a covenant loyalty. 53:54 One, if we fear the Lord, 53:57 we will not depart from the Lord. 53:59 And I love your consequences. 54:02 If we don't fear the Lord, 54:04 God says, "Hey, you're backsliding. 54:06 So I'm gonna rebuke you." 54:08 I mean, it is our consequences that are rebuking to us. 54:12 But as you said, there's consequences 54:15 but if we fear the Lord, there's confidence to Him. 54:19 I love that. 54:20 And then the second benefit 54:22 is the fear of the Lord brings wisdom. 54:26 If you're living in a redemption, 54:29 a redemptive relationship with the Lord, 54:32 there should be this reverential awe, 54:36 at least that is for me to think how God saved me 54:39 and what He's doing. 54:41 The fear of the Lord keeps us walking in His ways, 54:45 for the fear of the Lord, 54:48 our God takes pleasure in those who fear Him. 54:53 Five, God accepts those who fear Him. 54:58 Six, God hears the cry of those who fear Him. 55:03 And He saves them. 55:05 He fulfills the desire of their hearts. 55:08 So can you think of a biblical example? 55:12 Why are we talking about this tonight? 55:15 There are some people 55:16 who think, "Oh, we're saved by grace, 55:17 we don't have to worry about obedience." 55:20 But can you think of a biblical example, Tim, 55:23 where someone knew the Lord, 55:27 walked in His ways 55:31 and then turned away 55:34 because of pressure? 55:36 I believe the Old Testament talks about that. 55:40 Aaron, Moses' brother who was a spokesman 55:46 for Moses on behalf of Moses all the things 55:50 that they went through and the children of Israel, 55:52 the plagues they saw God's hand moved. 55:55 And then once the, 55:57 they saw the angel pass over the houses 56:01 and then going through the wilderness 56:04 and the dry land and bitter water into sweet 56:07 and Aaron's rod turned into a serpent, 56:10 all the things that 56:12 he actually saw God move on their behalf. 56:15 And then He turned by, took, putting all, 56:19 melting all the gold into an idol 56:23 while Moses was up receiving a word from God. 56:25 So here's Aaron, who was a pretty cool dude. 56:31 He was a man of God, 56:34 but he let peer pressure get to him. 56:37 Please don't ever let peer pressure 56:39 cause you to walk away from the Lord. 56:41 Here's the last point we want to make. 56:44 We need to pray for the fear of the Lord. 56:46 And let me give you David's prayer. 56:48 Psalm 86:10-13, David's praying. 56:53 And he says, "You are great, you do wondrous things, oh God, 56:57 you alone are God. 56:59 Teach me Your way, oh Lord. 57:04 I will walk in your truth. 57:05 Unite my heart to fear Your name. 57:10 I will praise You, 57:11 oh, Lord my God with all my heart, 57:14 I will glorify Your name forever more, 57:18 for great is your mercy toward me. 57:20 And you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol." 57:26 Amen. Our time is all gone. 57:28 We love you. 57:29 Thank you guys so much for joining us. 57:31 Our prayer for those of you 57:32 at home is that the grace of our Lord 57:34 and Savior Jesus Christ, 57:36 the love of the Father 57:37 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 57:39 will be with you always. |
Revised 2021-05-29