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WEEKLY
Volume 4 Number 15
6 September 2009
A God-Fearing Heart
(Part 1)
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the
Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Sep 6, 09)
Text: Ps 86:11
We are living in this sinful world,
and many people just enjoy their lives and do what they like regardless
of God and His Word. They do not care whether God exists, He is
offended, His name is blasphemed, or some day they have to give an
account of what they have done. Many deny God’s existence and even
expose their hatred towards God, His name and His Word in blasphemously
speaking, writing and producing ungodly products against God and His
Truth. Truly, “there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom
3:18; cf. Ps 36:1). In these last days of ungodliness, compromise and
apostasy, God commands us to turn away from ungodly people, “for men
shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural
affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent (without
self-control), fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a
form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away”
(2 Tim 3:2-5). It is so vital for you and me to have a God-fearing
heart. May God graciously help you and me see the blessings He has for
those who fear Him, understand the fear of the Lord, and then pray to
God like David, “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth:
unite my heart to fear thy name” (Ps 86:11).
Blessed Are Those Who Fear God
God’s Word confirms His blessings for
those who fear Him, “Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that
delighteth greatly in his commandments” (Ps 112:1) and “Blessed
is every one that feareth the LORD” (Ps 128:1), and “He will
bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great” (Ps 115:13). Do
you and I really want God to bless us? May God help us fear Him and His
Name and His Word in order to:
Enjoy God’s great mercy:
“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy
toward them that fear him” (Ps 103:11, 13, 17; cf. Luke 1:50).
Enjoy God’s loving care:
“Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon
them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to
keep them alive in famine” (Ps 33:18-19).
Enjoy God’s guidance:
“What man is he that
feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose”
(Ps 25:12).
Enjoy God’s provision:
“O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that
fear him” (Ps 34:9-10).
Enjoy God’s protection and deliverance:
“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and
delivereth them” (Ps 34:7).
Enjoy God’s healing:
“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise
with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves
of the stall” (Mal 4:2; cf. Ps 103:3; Isa 53:5; Jer 33:6).
Have knowledge and wisdom from above:
“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew
them his covenant” (Ps 25:14) and “The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of knowledge,… of wisdom” (Prov 1:7; 9:10; 15:33;
Ps 111:10).
Have life:
“The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the
snares of death” (Prov 14:27; 19:23).
Have better treasure and heritage:
“The fear of the LORD is his treasure” (Isa 33:6), and “thou
hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name” (Ps 61:5)
and “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure
and trouble therewith” (Prov 15:16).
Have one’s desire fulfilled:
“He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear
their cry, and will save them” (Ps 145:19).
Be heard and remembered:
“Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the
LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written
before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his
name” (Mal 3:16).
Be pleasing to the LORD:
“The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope
in his mercy” (Ps 147:11).
Be praised:
“Favour is deceitful,
and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be
praised” (Prov 31:30).
What Does It Mean To Fear God?
Many assume that they fear God, but
they worship Him according to their own ideas, their own understanding,
and their own ways mixed with worldly values, methods, music, manners or
customs! They even promote ecumenical mindset and compromisingly worship
God together with all kinds of people from different faiths, beliefs,
unbiblical doctrines, idolatry, etc. They are like the mixed people in
Samaria after the people of Israel (Northern Kingdom) were taken in
captivity to Assyria due to their disobedience, wickedness and idolatry,
“they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them
priests of the high places,….They feared the LORD, and served their own
gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from
thence” (2 Kings 17:32-33). They did not care whether their
religious leaders truly feared God, and believed, and knew and kept
God’s Word. They were only afraid of God because “the LORD sent lions
among them, which slew some of them” (v 25), but actually, “they
fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their
ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded”
(v 34).
Many others are also scared of the
Lord but do not obey Him, like the lazy servant, who hid his talent and
said to the Lord, “For I feared thee, because thou art an austere
man” (Luke 19:21).
Then what does it mean to fear the
LORD?
To fear God is to fear and keep God’s
Word: King David
wholeheartedly praised the LORD and His name. Why? “for thy
lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above
all thy name” (Ps 138:2). If you were a boss, a president or a king,
what would you think if your staff or your people did not respect or
keep your words? Surely, you would feel very offended and angry because
they did not respect you when they failed to respect your words. Many
want to show that they fear God and honour His Name, but they doubt,
question or criticise His Word! Is not God offended? Surely He is as He
is the Creator, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords! How about your
attitude towards God’s Word? Truly, God looks to him who trembles at His
Word (Isa 66:2). When God sent His plagues upon Egypt, “he that
feared the word of the LORD” was preserved from the heavy hail
(Exod 9:20). Do you and I truly honour God’s Word?
To fear God is to fear and glorify
God’s Name:
God’s third commandment is, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD
thy God in vain” (Exod 20:7). God commands His people to observe and
do His Word so that they may “fear this glorious and fearful name,
THE LORD THY GOD” (Deut 28:58). God says, “My covenant was with
him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he
feared me, and was afraid before my name” (Mal 2:5), and “Who
shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art
holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy
judgments are made manifest” (Rev 15:4). Do you and I truly honour
and glorify God’s holy name in what we say, hear, watch, read, write and
do?
To fear God is to love God and obey
Him: When
Abraham obeyed God to sacrifice his dearly beloved son Isaac, God
stopped him and said, “now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou
hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me” (Gen 22:12). Our
Lord Jesus says, “If a man love me, he will keep my words” (John
14:23). When we can sincerely say, “We ought to obey God rather than
men” (Acts 5:29), we do love God and fear Him.
To fear God is to worship and serve
Him alone:
“God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints” (Ps
89:7) and “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling”
(Ps 2:11) and “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his
judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the
sea, and the fountains of waters” (Rev 14:7). Satan still tempts
many to serve him and worship him for the vain glory of this world. May
God help us triumphantly resist him as our Lord Jesus did, “Get thee
hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt 4:10).
To fear God is to keep His
commandments:
Besides keeping the ten commandments, we have to keep these, “Thou
shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but
shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD” (Lev 19:14), and “Thou shalt
rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and
fear thy God: I am the LORD” (Lev 19:32), and “Ye shall not
therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the
LORD your God” (Lev 25:17), and “Take thou no usury of him, or
increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee”
(Lev 25:36). It is sad that the young assistant pastors did not honour
the godly elderly pastor and kicked him out. Did they fear God?
Absolutely not!
To fear God is to trust in Him:
“Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their
shield” (Ps 115:11). If you and I fail to trust in our omnipotent,
omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, loving and faithful God, we fail to
fear Him.
To fear God is to humbly rely on Him:
“Who is among you that feareth the LORD,
that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and
hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon
(rely on) his
God” (Isa 50:10). It is evil to proudly forsake God and rely on
oneself, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken
me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer 2:13). Do you and I humbly
rely on our Lord moment by moment like the branches on the Vine?
To fear God is to praise Him and thank
Him: “Ye that
fear the LORD, praise him”
(Ps 22:23). Job still blessed the Lord in his trial, “Naked came I
out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD
gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD”
(Job 1:21), and “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5: 20). If you and
I can praise the Lord and thank Him always for all things, even in our
trials, without any murmuring or complaint, we do fear and honour Him
above all.
To fear God is to keep His day of
worship: God’s
fourth commandment is
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”
(Exod 20:8). “If thou
turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy
day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself
in the LORD” (Isa 58:13-14). Do you and I honour His day and keep it
holy?
To fear God is to depart from sin and
evil: Job
“feared God, and eschewed evil” (Job 1:1). God commands us to
“fear the LORD, and depart from evil” (Prov 3:7), and “The fear
of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and
the froward mouth, do I hate” (Prov 8:13), and “let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1). Do you and I apply
Biblical Separation in our lives, ministry and worship to keep ourselves
pure?
Conclusion
God surely blesses those who fear Him,
His Name and His Word. May God help you and me truly honour and obey Him
with a God-fearing heart. We shall continue part 2 next week if God
willing.
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