Hi all,
I've
heard and read repeatedly over the years I'm supposed to have the fear
of God, but no sermon nor book has ever told me how I could get it. The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom*, but what is
it? I know what it isn't that's for sure, because I've wondered
sometimes upon observing the actions of others, 'Have they no fear of
God?' *Proverbs 1:7, 9:10
This
series is about that 'reverential respect' or 'fear of the Lord' and
why the body of Christ and society has no concept of the sacred, no fear
of God, no respect for things ranging from the life of the unborn to
the life of someone they don't agree with politically or doctrinally,
and how one might acquire a 'fear of God'.
Solomon
The
Lord appeared to Solomon two times, documented in I Kings 3:5-15 and
9:2-9. In the first visitation the Lord asked him what he wanted, and he
asked for "...an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may
discern between good and evil..." The Lord granted his request for
wisdom conditional upon Solomon walking with Him.
The
second time He appeared to him was after the dedication of the temple,
for the purpose of establishing a covenant to confirm someone from
David's family would always be on the throne of Israel, as long as he
walked with the Lord.
But
Solomon didn't follow the Lord, chapter 11:6 stating: "And Solomon did
evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow after the Lord
as did David his father." Verse 9 continues: "And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice."
Accountability is the result of revelation
Notice the accountability expected of Solomon. The Lord was angry because He had appeared to him twice, yet it made no impact on Solomon's behavior. He went ahead and sacrificed to other gods among other sins.
Seeing
the Lord two times was a revelation that was to have brought a sense of
accountability and responsibility coupled with a reverential fear of
God - He was the one after all, who wrote Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10
about the fear of the Lord. But Solomon turned his back on the
revelations, and did not hold them as sacred and something to which he
felt accountable.
Solomon therefore felt no fear of God when
he sacrificed to other gods. Not holding revelation personal in the
heart nor letting it impact one's life, leads to a calloused heart
indifferent to the things of God.
A revelation OF God changes lives - if we let it
A
revelation in the heart changed Peter's life in Matthew 16:16-17 when
he proclaimed, "You are the Christ! The Son of the Living God!" Jesus
said it was the Father who showed him that fact. In truth, the Father showed each of us Jesus is the Christ, and we responded.
What
was the process by which Peter received that revelation? The text says
the people were talking about who Jesus might be - maybe Elijah,
Jeremiah, or another prophet back from the dead? Peter heard all the
speculation, he thought through it in his mind, and down in his heart
the Father by His Spirit showed him that Jesus was His Son. The same
thing happened to you and I - the Father showed us Jesus, and we
responded as we considered all the other 'voices' and opinions out
there.
Just 2 chapters earlier*
Jesus
had come walking on the water to them saying (in the Greek) "Take
courage. I AM. Now stop being afraid!" to which Peter replied, "Lord, if
you are (the I AM), command me to come to you on the water!" *Matthew 14:27, Exodus 3:14 Amplified Version
That
experience in chapter 14 most certainly contributed to Peter's
revelation in chapter 16: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!
So we see revelation came by experiencing God personally, and then thinking through that - personally.
Calloused hearts
In
Mark 6:51-52 when Jesus gets into the boat after He and Peter walked on
the water back to it, and the wind and waves calmed, it says "And they
were astonished exceedingly beyond measure. For they failed to consider
or understand the teaching and meaning of the miracles of the loaves; in
fact their hearts had grown callous had become dull and had lost the
power of understanding." Amplified Version
Each
disciple had a pesonal revelation of Jesus with the multiplying of the
food, and even took part in it as He used each of them to distribute the
food - yet not a one stopped to consider what they had experienced -
thus they were astonished above measure when He walked on water.
But
think about this - they were evidently expected to have considered the
food multiplied in the short time between sundown when they got into the
boat, and 3-6:00 AM as they'd rowed all
night, when Jesus came walking on the water to them - for if they had
the verse says, they would not have been astonished nor would their
hearts have become callous.
We
live in a busy world, yet God's expectation for us to stop
immediately and consider the revelations we've received, to consider the
miracles we've experienced, remains the same.
Take time to consider Him. Nurture solitude. Be still and know that He is God.
Revelation from God is first personal, not congregational
Each
case of a revelation of God leading to a fear/respect of God in
scripture involves revelation on a personal basis, not a massive
congregational basis. Holding the fear of God in our hearts is personal -
that reverential fear that God is God and we will give account of
ourselves one day.
Any auditorium church
service, home gathering, or even a meeting with a friend to pray and
worship, is to flow from a deeper and more personal one on one walk with
God we have. "Church" shouldn't be where we go to get revelation; That
comes on a day to day basis as we walk with Him. "Church" is merely a
part of our lives that only compliments and is peripheral to our
personal walk and revelation with Him.
As
a result of Christians lacking true revelation that only comes from
being with Him, they have deluded themselves into thinking going to a
'good worship service' or a 'good teaching' is experiencing God. Most
have no clue what truly experiencing God is like. Like trying to see
details through a fog, they know He is out there, but most refuse to
take the time and press through and learn for themselves at home how to
come into His presence just one on one, them and Him.
A congregation
can bring His presence felt corporately, but revelation must flow from
the congregational level to a personal level for any life changing
effect. A 'good teaching' can resonate and cause excitement in a
person's spirit as they listen, and thousands can keep notes of new
things seen in the Word, but unless each individual applies that
revelation personally, they will remain unchanged.
BUT: Having a revelation OF God not FROM God is what changes lives.
A
play list of great worship songs means nothing if you don't first
worship God in your heart without any accompaniment. Notebooks full of
teachings means nothing if you don't first apply what He has dealt with
you about in your heart just between Him and you, first.
The
fear of the Lord - that reverential respect for God - begins with
personal revelation. But not just revelation, the effort to let that
revelation sink into our hearts to become part of our lives through
application of the revelations.
Next week, Chris and 'the girl'. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
New CD/MP3 Series
And the 3 Fall Festivals #1 (2 cd/MP3, $12/set or MP3 $10)
For the first time ever as a stand-alone teaching, John sits down and teaches from the Word and ancient Rabbinical sources
what Judaism teaches about the resurrection of the righteous dead and
their meeting with Messiah during Rosh haShanah, the days leading up to
and including Yom Kippur, which is a type of the return of Jesus, and
about what to expect during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus on the earth,
celebrated in Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Covering all 3 fall
festivals starting with understanding the rapture as foretold in the
Feast of Trumpets, you'll gain a clearer understanding of the days we
are living in, what will happen on earth while the body of Christ is in
heaven, and insights into the millennial reign.
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