Sister Brenda Sunday School 2/17/13

Sister Brenda Sunday School 2/17/13

Continued lesson on the fear of God.

What does the fear of God mean to you? 

Response from the congregation:

I read in my devotion that before we are saved, we fear God in the thought of punishment of what we have done.  After we are saved we have the fear of God in the thought that we want to please Him.

I don’t want to hurt or disappoint God after all He has done.  I don’t want to reach out to something that He would not like and justify myself and hurt or grieve God.  I’m reading through the Bible and in the New Testament I am reading the crucifixion story and it brings it back fresh what He did for us.

Pro 14:26  In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

Pro 14:27  The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

The fear of God to me is a worshipping and a humility.  It brings into my life something that causes me to not want to displease Him.  It is a respect and it causes me to worship Him.

I think of the fear of God as awesomeness, a worship of God.  I remember when my husband was killed; I had the fear of God on me that I would take proper care of my children.  My husband was what I had cleaned house for and cooked for.  I did not want to be a reproach to the church.  That was the fear of God too.

Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

The fear of God will cause people to get saved.  As a young man endeavoring to serve God, during a revival I remember talking to some sinners to invite them to the revival and to work with them.  They said that you shouldn’t live for God because you fear Him.  At the time I did not have anything to say to them.  In the messages of the meeting the evangelist bought out that when we get saved it is from the fear of God but as we walk with God it is because we love Him. 

Even though I live for God because I love Him and walk with Him, I remember a time in the past that I was so hurt by what someone had done to me that if I didn’t know that there was a hell to shun I would have walked away.  Knowing that if I were to depart from God I would go to hell, it was the knot in my rope to hang onto.  The wrong done wasn’t God’s fault, we are just human, but that was the knot in my rope.

1Ch 16:28  Give unto the LORD, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

1Ch 16:29  Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

1Ch 16:30  Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.

Act 4:18  And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

Act 4:19  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

Act 4:20  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

Psa 61:5  For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.

Psa 103:11  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

Psa 103:12  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Psa 103:13  Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

If we will fear, obey, and serve God then He will bless us.  This mercy is high above the earth.

Psa 111:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 

From Barnes: The fear of the Lord - Reverence for God; respect for his law, his will, his government, himself; the fear of offending him, which will lead us to do right. This fear is not that of a slave; it is not mere dread; it is not terror. It is consistent with love, and springs from it. It is consistent with calmness of mind, and promotes it. It does not produce terror, but rather delivers from it, and preserves the mind from alarms. The word here rendered “fear” is a noun of the same origin as the word rendered “reverend” in the previous verse.

Is the beginning of wisdom - The foundation, the origin, the commencement of being truly wise. It is so. There is no true wisdom which does not recognize the being, the perfections, and the claims of God. The highest wisdom - the most lofty endowment of man - is that he “may” know and honor God. This, in capability, makes him wise above the brute creation; this, in exercise, makes one man more wise than another; this, when it springs up in the soul, makes a man more wise than he was before - or, is the “beginning” of true wisdom in the soul.

From Clark: - Wisdom itself begins with this fear; true wisdom has this for its commencement. It is the first ingredient in it, and is an essential part of it. In vain does any man pretend to be wise who does not fear the Lord; and he who fears the Lord departs from evil: he who lives in sin neither fears God, nor is wise.

That is, They who act according to the dictates of wisdom, the commencement of which is the fear of Jehovah, have a sound understanding, discern their duty and their interest, and live to secure their own peace, their neighbour’s good, and God’s glory.

When we serve God, what a protection we have to pray and have God deal with our hearts.  What protection to counsel with Brother Gary or some of the Saints that have such wisdom!

Input from the congregation:

If you believe there is a hell and you are not saved, it doesn’t even make sense why you are just carrying on.  By people responding it is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of thinking right.

We see people that believe what they believe, even though it will destroy them and not produce good fruit.  They have no thought of rightness or what it produces.  This fear produces rightness.  Even when we are not saved, if we fear God then it will cause us to stand up for what is right.  They without the fear of God have no vision to see.  There are people that really believe that abortion is ok.  They don’t see the evil of it.

God honors right principals even when people are not saved.  Humility and fear of the Lord are riches honor and life.  Some sinners have the fear of God but are not humble enough to get saved. 

Gill - The fear of the Lord, whose name is revered, is not a fear of his judgments here or hereafter, but of his goodness and grace; it is a reverential affection for him, a fiducial fear of him, a fear of offending so good a Being as he is; and it includes all religious worship of him, inward and outward, private and public; and at this true wisdom begins; a man begins to be wise when he fears the Lord, and not till then; this is his highest wisdom, and this is, as it may be rendered, "the chief of wisdom"

FIDU'CIAL, a. [from L. fiducia, from fido, to trust.]

1. Confident; undoubting; firm; as a fiducial reliance on the promises of the gospel.

2. Having the nature of a trust; as fiducial power.

A man begins to be wise when he fears the Lord.  It is advantageous to us to fear God. 

Psa 145:19  He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

Isn’t that good?  What a promise!  We need that kind of a God.

Ecc 8:12  Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

If we serve God then we have a cushion to lean on.  It shall be well with them.  We will not have a life free from troubles and problems, but we will not be alone.  The fear of God helps us to align our self with Him. 

Luk 1:50  And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

 

We want it to go from generation to generation.  We want our children to carry on.  We want them to carry the torch.  Losing one generation: what hope do the grandchildren have if their parents are not saved?  It cuts down on their chances of being saved.

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Psa 147:11  The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

God is happy about you.  We are happy about a child that is obedient and is good.  If we fear Him and do what is right then He is happy about us.

Pr 9 10

Pro 10:27  The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

This wraps everything up.  If we will do this, then we will keep our ticket to heaven.

Isa 33:5  The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

We don’t want to quit growing and working to be more like Christ. 

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

We each have to take care of ourselves.  We are responsible for ourselves.  It is our job to see that we make it to heaven, to preserve our ticket and make it.