The Fear of the Lord

 When someone mentions "the fear of the Lord," the first reaction is some type of uneasiness or flat fear.  Then almost immediately those feelings will turn to confusion.  But wait, I thought God was love.  I don't think God wants us to fear Him.  He wants us to love Him.

Well, this expresses the confusion and ignorance around the "fear of the Lord."  So, when there is confusion, let's go the Word of God.

Some think this concept of fear is only an Old Testament concept while the New Testament is all about love.  After all, doesn't perfect love drive out fear, as John declares in I John 4:18?

Yet, in Jeremiah 32:40, he plainly states one of the blessings of the New Covenant is the implanting in believers' hearts the fear of the Lord:  "I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me."

It is a New Testament concept and even a church teaching for Act 9:31 reads "So the church...walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit was multiplied."

Paul and Peter both used the fear of the Lord as a motive for holy and righteous living.  

Isaiah was speaking of Jesus Christ himself when he said, "and he will delight in the fear of the Lord." (Isaiah 11:3).  If Jesus in his humanity delighted in the fear of God, surely we need to give serious thought to cultivating this attitude in our lives.

Some should fear God with an anxious dread because of the realization of God's impending judgment upon sin.  God's wrath is already on the unbeliever, but there is a coming a day of unbridled wrath poured out on sin and sinners.  Paul said in Romans 3:18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."  That seems to indicate our present state of mind among unbelievers today.

So how do we fear Him?  By developing a deep reverence and awe of God.  The awesomeness of God is so captivating we should walk in awe and worship of God.

Revelation 15: 3 indicates that even in Heaven there will be a fear of God:  "Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name?"  In Heaven?  Yes- but it will be pure worship and reverence for the great God.

So when we fear God rightly, we honor Him and bring glory to His name.  We honor Him for who He is and not what we want Him to be or the culture demands of Him.

"Dear Lord, reveal more of who you really are and develop within a pure fear of You resulting in truer worship and honor to your name."

Blessings;

David

This Lord's Day (April 28, 2024) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

There is nothing more sweeter in our lives than relationships that are full of life, laughter, and love.  But there is no greater grief than when a relationship is broken and hurting.

This Sunday we come again to the life of Jacob as he meets his estranged brother, Esau, whom he has not seen for 20 years and the last time they were together it was not good.  In fact, Rachel, their mother, said Esau was going to kill Jacob.  WOW - talk about a broken relationship.

But as Jacob returns home to receive all the promises of God, he knows he will have to face his brother.  But God has done a great (and hurtful) work in his life and he now limps to meet him as a broken, but changed man.  

Genesis 33 will be our text and we will experience "The Joy of Reconciliation."

My Favorite Title for a Pastor

There are several Biblical names for the office we call Pastor.  There is Elder, Bishop, Pastor, Teacher, and then this one...Shepherd.  That is my favorite.  Nobody ever calls the Pastor that in day-to-day conversation, but the name reveals something very deep about the calling and office of the Pastor.  To this day I title my columns I write "From the Shepherd's Heart."  I love the title.

A true Shepherd (over against a hireling - see John 10: 12-13) cares for his sheep.  He has compassion for them, even as Jesus did.  Matthew 9:36 says of Jesus "He was moved with compassion for them..."

True shepherds care when their flock is hurting and in danger.  Their heart is moved when the heart of a sheep is moved to tears or is being torn apart.  That is why a pastor stays close to those who are hurting, sick, experiencing death, and dying.  

This is burdensome carrying the load of many broken hearts, but since the Chief Shepherd carries even a greater load, then it's not too much to ask the under-shepherd to bear his load.

If men are willing to get their hands dirty and heartbroken, then the pastorate is not for them.  You can't be aloof from the people and be their pastor.  I love the people of God.  I have been hurt many, many times, but there is still a genuine love and care for the people God has called me to.

One of the miracles of being a pastor that I did not expect was how God changes your heart and moves burdens.  At the close of my first pastorate at Sardis Baptist Church in 1981, I never thought I could love another group of people like that. I can still see myself walking beside the church crying like a baby when we left.  How can I ever love a church like this again?  But what I didn't know is, God miraculously removes the deep love for a people and gives it again at the next church.  I never expected that.  No one ever told me that in preparation to be a pastor.  But I sure did praise God when I experienced it.  

It's not that you don't love the people in previous churches, you do.  But you can't love them like you did when you were their pastor or else your human capacity would explode.  And God gives them another pastor to love them.  I have always said, I am the pastor for only one time in my life.

Blessings;

David

Humility by A. W. Tozer

 

I recently came across this written by A.W. Tozer:

"The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. . .They have placed someone else before you.  They have whispered that you are small stuff, after all.  And now you feel hurt because the world is saying about you the very things you have been saying about yourself?  Only yesterday you were telling God that you were nothing, a mere worm of the dust.  Where is your consistency?  Come on.  Humble yourself and cease to care what men think."

Boy, I need that reminder often.  Thank you A. W. Tozer

Blessings;

David

This Lord's Day (April 21, 2024) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

The Lord gave me a "word" for our church about three weeks ago that has been prayed through on almost a daily basis.  This past Monday night He finished that word in just a few minutes causing me to see it from the eyes of Gideon.  

This Lord's Day I sense the leading of the Lord to preach "A Fresh Anointing" based on Judges 6: 12-22.  The book of Judges captures the history of Israel from when Joshua captured Canaan until the reigns of King Saul and King David.  It covers a period of about 300 years when there would be good judges and evil judges.  Judges 6 is about Gideon.  He was a "mighty warrior."  He was an ideal judge.

Take a few minutes and read Judges 6: 12-22 and then come prepared this Lord's Day to see five truths from this passage that God has given me for our church in these days.

The title of the message will make sense (hopefully, lol) as we preach it on Sunday.

We look forward to welcoming Isaiah Craig and Isaac Mays home and we will continue to pray for Jimmy Traylor as he is leaving tomorrow (Saturday morning) for Honduras for a week.  What a joy to hear Hunter Wilson this past Wednesday night share about his trip in March to Honduras.  Do you realize we will have had four individuals from our church in Honduras and Uganda in the past six weeks?  Praise the Lord.

The Main Duty of the Pastor

Paul charged Timothy, "Preach the word!" II Timothy 4:2. 

The Pastor/Teacher (as he is called in Ephesians 4:11) is called to be a preacher/teacher of the Word of God.  Yes, there is more to it than that.  But if he fails at this task, he fails at everything.  This is the sink-or-swim aspect of a pastor's calling.   Why?

First, it is what God said to do.

Second, of all the other things a Pastor can and should do (caring for the sick, seeking the ones who have strayed, leading the church, etc), others can do that if he can't.  But the one who is called to be a pastor/preacher is called to dedicate his life to preaching/teaching the Word of God.

The very purpose of deacons in Acts 6 was to relieve the apostles of the daily distribution of food so the apostles could "give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:4)

Third is a more practical reason.  Say, a pastor preaches a 30-minute message to 150 on Sunday morning and he is not prepared to preach the Word and a message directly from God for that group of people, then he has just wasted 75 hours.  If he preaches on Sunday night to 75 unprepared, he has wasted 37.5 hours.  Then on Wednesday night, he preaches to 50 unprepared, and he has wasted 25 hours.  That is a total of 137.5 hours.  That is the equivalent of almost six full days.  In other words, that pastor could be so lazy as not to even get out of bed for most of the week and he would not have wasted as many hours as going to the pulpit unprepared to preach the Word of God.

Titus 1: 3 Paul assures the church "God has manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God,..."  This speaks to my blog last Wednesday about the sense of calling a pastor/elder has.

But then in Titus 1:5, Paul says the pastor is to "set in order the things that are lacking."  The Greek word is epidiorthoo.  It means to correct, straighten further, set in order, put into order.  It is a medical term to set a bone that has been broken.  An orthodontist sets teeth back in order.  An orthopedic doctor sets bone in place.

A pastor is to take the Word of God and "set things in order" in the church.  Since the church is made up of humans; like our teeth and bones, the church is constantly needing to be set back in order.  

Where does the Pastor get that authority?  From God and the Word of God.  The authority of the Pastor is anchored when he preaches the Word of God.   "Thus says the Lord" whether it is from Jeremiah or John. 

Now that brings me to a pet peeve.  All of the Bible is the Word of God.  Don't ever give the impression to your pastor/preacher that you are more excited to hear a message from John than Numbers.  We are to preach "the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:27)  "And all Scripture is profitable..." (II Timothy 3:16)

Preaching is hard work.  

Blessings;

David

A Reminder of the Kingdom of God

I am so appreciative of my relationship with Dr. Jack Taylor who taught me so much about the Kingdom of God.  It was the primary focus of the teaching of Jesus and it is that for which Jesus is returning to this earth to reign supreme over.

The term basileia is the Greek word for the kingdom.  It occurs 162 times in the New Testament and 121 of those are in the Synoptic gospels.  The formula "kingdom of God" or the "kingdom of heaven" occurs 104 times in the gospels. 

It was the focal of the first message Jesus preached as recorded in Matthew 4:17 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

It was the focal of his last message as recorded in Acts 1:3 "...to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."

What is the kingdom of God?  It is the absolute, sovereign rule and reign of God over all that is including humanity and the demonic.  There is nothing outside the reign of God.

In 1989, we had gotten new hymnals at Central Baptist Church, Albertville, AL where I was pastor.  We discovered a song "Our God Reigns" and it quickly became one of our favorites.  Oh the truth of the title.  Our God does reign.

It is not up for vote or debate.  It doesn't matter what I think about it or you.  It is not a Republican or Democratic issue.  God, alone, reigns.

The church (the people, not a building) one day will be raptured away into the presence of God, but the kingdom of God will last forever.  So, our main focus as the church should be the kingdom of God.

It should be our focus individually.  Does God reign supreme in our life?  He has the right.  It is a popular debate today as we hear women say "they have a right to make decisions for their own bodies."  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We belong to God.  He made us. And if we have been converted, then God has purchased us with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.  We belong to Him.

It should be our focus as a church.  We should witness and work, not just to build our own local church, but the wider kingdom of God.  That is what missions is all about.  The people in Africa or New England will never join our church here in Alabama, but our Lord calls us to work in those fields for the sake of building the kingdom.

I call this blog "A Reminder..." because when I became pastor here at Rainsville First in 2015, one of the first series of messages I preached was on the Kingdom.  But we do need reminding because it is easy to lose focus of what is most important to our King - His reign and rule through the Kingdom of God.

Blessings;

David

This Lord's Day (April 14, 2024) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

Have you heard of the wrestling matches with Tojo Yamamoto, Jerry Lawler, Mr. Wrestling?  They would have Hospital Elimination or No Disqualification matches.  Oh, you are too young for that?  

Ok, what about Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Andrea the Giant?  I can't go much further because I don't watch it now.

But in all of these, there are planned (and sometimes predetermined) winners.  

But have you ever had a REAL wrestling match? Unplanned?  Spontaneous? Somebody just come up behind you and start something?

That is the scene of Genesis 32: 22-32 with Jacob and Jesus.  But it was not a preplanned and predetermined match on Jacob's part.  Jesus started it.

This Sunday we will examine the greatest wrestling match of all time as God uses it to make Jacob the Prince.  What a story!!

The Call of God to Be a Pastor

March 20, 2024 was the last Wednesday I wrote on the subject of Elders and Pastors.  I want to continue the series today and for a few more weeks.  I want to highlight the calling of a Pastor/Elder.

I Timothy 3:1 says "If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work."  To desire is to yearn for, to stretch toward.  It has the picture of a horse reaching with all he has for the race he is in and the finish line ahead.  This word carries passion and purpose.

I don't believe it means that a person just "wants" to become a pastor, for in my experience, the office of a Pastor is one God uniquely calls one into.  I will say without any reservation, the call of God to be a preacher/pastor is one of the strongest certainities in my life.  There was a time early in my life when the call to be a preacher was more certain than me being a Christian (story for another time).

There are many today who suggest there is no "call" to be a pastor.  But that simply is not the case with me and I want to say, without reservation, it has been that call that has sustained me through 46 years of being a pastor and 53 years of being a preacher. 

I know all believers are "called" and "sent out," but I also hold to a definite, defining sense of call to be a pastor/preacher.

The sense God chose you and you didn't choose the position of a preacher/pastor.  I know it can sound arrogant, and for that reason, one must walk in humility and dependence on God.  But if I had "chosen" to be a pastor myself, then I would have walked away many, many times thinking I had made the wrong choice and there was another choice better for me.

The one who is a bishop/pastor/elder needs to have a passion within him to run the race well.  There is no place to coast or slow down.  The passion God placed within you is sufficient to carry you across the finish line.

My anchor in the storms of church life, the self-doubts that flood your mind about your abilities, and the harsh treatment of Satan and his allies is God has called me and He will sustain me.  

Blessings;

David