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Teaching Our Children “The Fear of the LORD”

9/28/2014

I had gone to bed after reading the horrible stories of local children killed in automobile accidents and one article about Christian children being martyred for their faith under the hands of Islamic terrorists. It was a chilling moment. I must admit that I was so tired that I really don't remember thinking of anything as my head hit the pillow. I was out like a light. As a young man I was taught to go to bed quoting scripture memory work. That is an excellent idea too. But this night I did not.

I have been teaching for years that a person's last thought in the evening will be taken up by the subconscious mind. The mind then continues to work on the matter while we sleep. I have heard testimonies of those who have done this and when they woke in the morning they understood the solution to the problem they were facing. Now I am not trying to tell you that this is some revelation from God. It is not. It just seems to be clear to me that this is the general way our minds work. I mentioned above that I went to bed right after reading the stories of troubles faced by children. And what did my subconscious mind do with those thoughts? This morning I woke up to a verse of scripture swimming around in my head. It is one of the songs we have on our CD. I am so grateful for those who taught me to sing scripture. It was not one person but many who shared various scripture verses with me through the years.

I woke up this morning singing, "In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death." Proverbs 14:26-27

Just a coincidence? I don't think so! God used the scriptures I have learned and comforted my heart throughout the night. Bless His Holy Name! I pray that God will comfort and help the families of those children and will help other children facing the dangers around them. And this is not the first time this has happened to me. The point I am making here is simple. The Spirit of God who is the Spirit of Truth takes the Word of Truth and applies it to situations in our lives and gives us strength, encouragement, direction and confidence. There is no doubt that God was directing me to prayer and encouraging me to fortify myself, my children and you as a reader with scripture. It is rather early in the morning and I don't want to wake my family but my spirit is shouting inside my chest as I write these words! “O Magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt His Name together.” Psalm 34:3

Children need “strong confidence.” They need “a place of refuge.” Children need help to avoid “the snares of death.” And they can find those things in “the fear of the LORD!” God declares it. "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD." Psalm 34:11 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." Proverbs 9:10 Now these promises do not mean that children will not face dangers like car accidents, persecution or even martyrdom. God does care for these children and He makes special provisions for them. But, the importance of learning the fear of the LORD can not be over estimated.

Note the following additional benefits of the fear of the LORD:

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

Long Life "The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened." Proverbs 10:27

Satisfaction and avoidance of evil "The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." Proverbs 19:23 "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil." Proverbs 16:6 "Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith." Proverbs 15:16

Riches, honour and life "By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life." Proverbs 22:4

Cleanliness and endurance "The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether." Psalm 19:9

Wisdom "And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job 28:28 "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." Psalms 111:10
"The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility." Proverbs 15:33

Knowledge of God "Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:5

We all want these benefits for our children. And they can have them if we are willing to make the effort to teach them. We can build the truth of God's Word into their lives. We can read the Word to them, give them verses to memorize, demonstrate God's truth in our own lives, and take them to church and Sunday School. The fear of the LORD will teach us what God hates. "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." Proverbs 8:13 It will teach us what not to do. "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long." Proverbs 23:17

The converse is true. Look at Proverbs 1:20-33 and you will see the results of rejecting the fear of the LORD. "For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:" Proverbs 1:29 It is sobering to realize that wisdom laughs and mocks and does not answer when one rejects it. We certainly don't want that for our children.

Finally, we are encouraged by the truth that Jesus, our Savior, is prophesied to be the embodiment of all we have stated above. "And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;" Isaiah 11:2 It should be the goal of every child of God to grow up into the stature of the fullness of Christ. See Ephesians 4:13. Then we can experience the words of Isaiah 33:6 that states, "And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure." What a marvelous verse and promise from the LORD! You may wonder if the phrase appears in the New Testament. Note the words of Luke: "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." Acts 9:31 May it be so for each of us. The LORD be magnified!

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The Mystery

9/23/2014

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It is a mystery to me that I have begun to write things down. For one I am a perfectionist (a sin for which I must often appeal to God and my family for forgiveness) so nothing I ever write is good enough to suit me; and two, there is so much to write about that choosing a topic is difficult. And man did I “bite off more than I can chew” with the subject of this blog? As it turns out there is far more to say about this subject than is allowed for in this hopefully brief essay. It looks like we will have to break it into parts. But here we go.

God loves a mystery. I have a good word on that. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” Proverbs 25:2. The word “mystery” appears twenty-seven times in the New Testament and is a beautiful expression for... things God has chosen to reveal to us in our age that He had kept secret for ages. Of course, the truth is that God has always had secrets that He reveals only to those of faith. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29 and Psalm 25:14 states, “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” What a glorious thought! God desires to show His children mysteries that the world can not receive. Just look at the some of the great mysteries God reveals:

The Mystery...

Of His Kingdom, Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10
Of Israel's blindness, Romans 11:25, 16:25
Of Wisdom, 1 Corinthians 2:7, 4:1, 13:2, 14:2
Of The Resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:51
Of His will...a oneness in Christ, Ephesians 1:9
Of inclusion of the Gentiles, Ephesians 3:3, 4, 9
Of Christ and His Church, Ephesians 5:32
Of The Gospel, Ephesians 6:19
Of Christ in you, Colossians 1:26, 27, 2:2, 4:3
Of Iniquity, 2 Thessalonians 2:7
Of Faith, 1 Timothy 3:9
Of Godliness, 1 Timothy 3:16
Not to mention those of Revelation 1:20, 10:7, 17:5, 7

You can do a fuller study of the subject with the verses listed above. The thing that led me to this subject was a study of the book of Ephesians. I have already preached through chapters one and two and as I approached chapter three the word “mystery” jumped out at me. Many of us love mysteries and God uses that word six times in this short book. Therefore it must be important.

In chapter one the apostle Paul announces that the Will of God contains a mystery that involves the uniting of all things in heaven and earth. In other words, absolutely nothing can be properly understood without realizing Christ is in control. This doctrine of the Preeminence of Christ was once a mystery but now it is revealed. Paul will expand this understanding in chapter three and also in Colossians 1:15-17. In chapter three he reminds us that this knowledge came to him “by revelation” from God through the Holy Spirit. And then he drops the bomb shell that raises the eyebrows of both Jews and Gentiles in verse six. “ That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:” Ephesians 3:6 Four things are clearly revealed here. 1.) Gentiles are fellow heirs with the Jews; 2.) Gentiles and Jews are in the same body; 3.) Gentiles, like Jews, partake of the promise; and 4.) Gentiles receive all this through Christ (a Jew) by believing the gospel.

To be a fellow heir is to be equal in those benefits received from the Father.

To be in the same body means we have an intimate relationship with the Son and are endowed with His purpose.

To be a partaker in the promise is to receive the Person, protection and power of the Holy Spirit.

And thus we are the recipients of the fullness of the Godhead by faith in the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God.

Paul will later explore, in chapter five, the mystery of the intimacy of Christ and His Bride, the Church. He will reveal the Sacrificial love of the Savior, the Sanctifying Truth of His Word, the Satisfying Care of His Oneness, and the Submissive Reverence of His Bride.

Finally, in chapter six he will conclude with a call to prayer that he may boldly make this mystery of the gospel known to the world. It is our desire to follow him in asking that God's people pray the same prayer for us and for all who proclaim this mystery of the gospel. Hallelujah! To God be the glory; great things He hath done!

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The War Within and the Work of Grace

9/16/2014

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My college English professor made us write papers for which we were required to submit a title and suggested outline. I was going through a little crisis at the time and decided to write about my experience. My professor looked at my choices and stated, “It looks like you will be doing a “catharsis.” I hated to admit that my vocabulary was so poor that I didn't know what a catharsis was. I swallowed my pride and admitted my ignorance and he laughed, not at me, but with me. He patiently explained the meaning of the word. By the way, if you don't know the meaning of “catharsis” don't feel bad. The English word means “a cleansing or purifying of emotions.” It describes a person using writing or art or even some act to cleanse. You will find it in Ephesians 5:26 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” Paul is describing the work of grace in the life of a believer that is produced by the Word of God. When we apply the truth of God's word to our lives it has a cleansing effect. That effect is applied by confession. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:13 You will note in these passages that the act of cleansing is the work of the Lord. That which is of grace is never accomplished by our works

In James 4:1-10, the brother of our Lord shares an important word on the subject of cleansing. He employs a contrast between the kind of person we are in the flesh and the kind of person we are when under grace. Remember, he is speaking to believers. James had earlier stated, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:8 This phrase “double minded” literally “double souled” refers to a person who is driven by two differing desires. Thus he is unstable. It appears only here and in James 4:8. But the concept appears in Paul's discussion in Romans 7 and in Galatians 5. It refers to the struggle that believers have with the old sinful nature and the new new nature given us in salvation. Note this constrast.

A man of flesh is described as:

warring and fighting within himself,
lustful,
killing, fighting and warring
prayerless, or
selfishly praying
adulterous,
a friend of the world,
an enemy of God.

But in verse six he begins to describe a man under grace as:

humble,
submissive,
fighting, not with himself, but with the devil,
worshipful,
broken and contrite,
dependent on God for victory.

What a difference God's grace makes!

It is in the midst of this discussion that James appears to draw a mental picture of how a worshiper obtains cleansing: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:8 You see, we have a natural tendency to be driven by our old nature, the flesh, the old man. That is why he describes a believer as “double minded.” But God desires that we be single minded, led by the Spirit of God, directed by the Word of God and that we put to death the old man. Paul used the phrase, “Mortify” that is to put to death the deeds of the body. James seems to be using the mental picture of a person worshiping God at the temple. Notice...

(1) drawing nigh to God (as if to offer an offering),
(2) cleansing his hands (as if at the laver of washing in the temple of God), and
(3) purifying the heart by offering (the body and blood of Jesus, God's chosen sacrifice).

It is only through the substitutionary work of Christ that we are able to overcome the flesh and sin and the devil. This is the only means of cleansing and victory for the child of God. It is not our own abilities and gifts, our own intellectual prowess, our own internal goodness or our money, position or fame. The victory is all of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. To God be the glory!

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Michael R. Thornton is a career teacher/minister/
counselor currently serving as the director of Vital Connections, as well as an itinerant minister in the Pine Belt area. He has been counseling youth and families for over 20 years.

Teaching Our Children “The Fear of the LORD”

The Mystery

The War Within and the Work of Grace

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