Posted on 12/18/2020 10:28:30 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“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).
There are three truths in his verse.
“The fear of the LORD tendeth to life,” the “fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether” (Psalms 19:9). Noah feared and saved his whole family. “The fear of the Lord tendeth to life” (Proverbs 10:16), and it is “the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10), and of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).
There is just no substitute for fearing God, and the provisions it brings. Children have a natural fear of God if you explain God and hell to them. Don’t steal that fear away from them—cultivate that fear. Use it to their advantage. Give them a good healthy fear (not unhealthy) of God—don’t make God out to be a mean Person or a bully—God is going to reward them. What God wants is right, and its the best for them, and then He rewards them for doing right. That’s a healthy fear of God, because if they don’t do right—God will punish them for it.
Some wacky organization in America said that no child should be exposed to Christianity without the presence of an adult. Some people look at Christianity as a perversion—as a mind bender. It’ll make people crazy they warn. They are the ones that are crazy.
“. . . and he that hath it shall abide satisfied,” there is simply nothing better than knowing that the question of heaven and hell is finally settled once and for all. The war between the sinner and a holy God has been finished, and the fear of hell is abolished. This is the satisfaction of having a biblical “fear of the Lord.” Not only does it “tend to life,” mean fear God and are afraid of judgment, and somebody gives him the Gospel—he gets saved. Saved is past tense, done, accomplished, once and for all. If he has it, he “shall abide.” A Christian that will not be faithful, will not go to church, they just really don’t have any “fear of the Lord.”
The problem is that a man has a “fear of the Lord” which brings him to get saved. But then, once he is saved and he gets to thinking that since he is not safe he doesn’t need to fear the Lord anymore. Nothing can be more false. There needs to be a fear of loss, not of salvation, but of rewards in heaven. A Christian that is walking in the fear of the Lord knows immediately when he is in the wrong, and he begins to ponder, “What if the Lord were to return right now? What if He comes and I have unconfessed sin?”
“. . . he shall not be visited with evil,” you can bet that if you live right for God, the Devil will dog your heels. You will suffer in that respect, but God will not haunt you with an eternal hell any longer. It is not unusual for a lost person to feel the presence of hell as a constant reminder until he either gets saved or completely rejects salvation and God leaves him be. So, a saved man, though he may be visited with evil from the Devil—it will not come from God. The Bible says we have “peace with God.”
If anyone would like to be added to the ping list, please let me know either by post or by p.m.
For more books on all topics of the Bible, visit my web site at:
Bump.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.