Healing and the Fear of the Lord I

Jesus Heals with shadow-site

Wednesday 07/03/13

Topic: The Fear of the Lord & Healing

 

Series – And He Healed them all:

The Fear of the Lord and Health I.mp3 

 

Key Text:

Prov. 3:7-8

Deut. 10:12-18

Ps. 34

Ps. 110:10

Prov. 9:10

Prov. 15:33

Prov. 1:7

 

The Fear of the Lord and Healing…

In this last set of sessions we will be learning about the Fear of the Lord. We are doing this because the scriptures are clear in many places that in the fear of the Lord there is heath and healing. So rather than talking about HOW the Fear of the Lord effects our health (which I’m sure we will do from time to time) we will simply trust that God meant what He said, and therefore focus on the cure which is…the Fear of the Lord.

In this first session I offered what I call a “reason to listen” opening verse. It is found in Prov. 3:7,8,

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.”

I chose this verse from a current list of 8 passages which all say the same thing in various ways. I chose this one in particular for four reasons.

  1. It’s brevity – it is short and sweet.
  2. It is unambiguous – it is clear and guaranteed. 
  3. It mentions the FLESH and BONES as the focus of the health specifically. This is IMPERATIVE because there are entire Christian denominations out there whose sole “back door” to explain away why healing seems to have passed away is to claim that God is only offering “spiritual healing”. Such people can find no back door in these verses.
  4. It is not time locked into a particular covenant in that it is NOT spoken in direct relation to the Adamic, Abrahamic or Mosaic covenants. It is a statement which stands alone regardless of what covenant you are in at the time. The Fear of the Lord and the benefits it offers are tied inexorably to His character and our relationship to Him as His creatures it is NOT tied to His covenant with any specific generation.

I wanted to end with the fear of the Lord because it has a way of tying everything we have covered up to this point together – even some of those areas which we sort of left hanging – the Fear of the Lord connects them all!

Defining the Fear of the Lord

Often the fear of the Lord is defined as holding Him in affectionate reverence. That is an awesome definition which total fails to deliver the correct impact. This is NOT because of some short coming in the definition itself, it is mostly due to a shortcoming of understanding in us and an over-expression of selfishness in us. We simply are not meet for the task because we are so hopelessly self-aware, self-focused and self-serving. So let’s define it by way of function and illustration.

The fear of the Lord is our first peek into the eternal condition of the Godhead. Our first glimpse through the temple door to gaze upon the Perichoresis.  For eternity past the Triune God has lived in perfect deference towards each other. Each person of the Godhead loves, prefers, honors, serves, caters to and dotes upon the other members of the godhead. They do this not out of a obligation, but out of genuine Agape towards each other. As the authors and architects of all creation, their inter-preference of each other is the truest expression of Agape. For them to ever place a created thing on equal footing with the creators would be to lie for they are not on an equal footing with their deity. We are on an equal footing with Christ in His humanity, but NOT His deity. We are and forever will be the created NOT the creator.

This deep, and abiding and enveloping agape they all share in common is the sole motivation for all they do.

In steps humanity… What is the correct response from a creature to such a holy and all powerful Creator? Jesus demonstrated perfectly what our position and response should be and so we will examine it…

“Let the same disposition be in you which was in Christ Jesus.

Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped.

Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory, and took on Him the nature of a bondservant by becoming a man like other men.

And being recognized as truly human, He humbled Himself and even stooped to die; yes, to die on a cross.” ~ Phil. 2:5-8

This humility to God was not only realized in how Jesus lived and thought, it effected the way He spoke to and about God.

“In this manner therefore pray: ‘Our Father Who art in Heaven,

may Thy name be kept holy;

let Thy kingdom come;

let Thy will be done, as in Heaven so on earth;

give us to-day our bread for the day;…etc. ~ Matt. 6:9-11

Notice the emphasis and focus on God as the artificer of all and source of all. This is as great a demonstration of what the fear of the Lord looks like and how the fear of the Lord is lived as any I know. Furthermore, you will see these themes throughout the scriptures in direct relation to the fear of the Lord as we continue.

There are many statements about the fear of the Lord, such as “The fear of the Lord is the hate evil…etc.”.  In this verse, hating evil stands as an expression of the fear of the Lord. In other words, what it is saying is “If you truly fear the Lord, you will hate evil”. Let’s look at the verse in its entirety.

“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

Notice the REASON why hating evil is an expression of fearing Him…it is because HE hates it. So the fear of the Lord is to act with deference to the Lord, acclimating yourself to Him and His desires, focusing on His heart and His way. To prefer Him above all and in all we do.

THAT is the fear of the Lord!

Reasons for Fearing the Lord

  • He is Creator and owner of all creation.
  • It is the only proper response from the created to the Creator.
  • He delights in us. – Deut. 10:14
  • He does not show partiality. – Deut. 10:17
  • He personally administers justice for the weak (the fatherless, the widow, the stranger…etc.). – Deut. 10:18

Learning about the Fear of the Lord

  • Deut. 10:12-18 Describes it. 
  • Psalm 34 – Teaches about it.
  • Psalm 111:10; Prov. 9:10; Prov. 15:33 & Prov. 1:7 – It IS the BEGINNING of knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

Knowledge is the accumulation of facts.

Understanding is the comprehension of facts.

Wisdom is the application of facts.

So in the facts of Knowledge 101 class – fearing the Lord is the first topic taught.

In the comprehension of Understanding 101 class – fearing the Lord is the first topic taught.

In the application of Wisdom 101 class – fearing the Lord is the first topic taught.

In the end, it all points to Jesus,

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” ~ Prov. 9:10

The Holy One is one of several Old Covenant names offered to the coming Messiah. The word “knowledge” in this verse takes on the meaning of knowing by experience, relationship, or encounter. So this verse is saying, “Knowledge of Christ obtained by experiencing relationship with Him IS understanding.”

No wonder Paul said,

“but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom.” ~ 1Cor. 1:24

and

“It is because of him that you are in union with Christ Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.” ~ 1Cor. 1:30

For more concerning this teaching please listen to the recording.

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!