STAND STRONG
STAND STRONG
6.11 - First Things First, Part 2
Join us as we continue last week's discussion on the fear of the Lord with a particular focus on what this fear can and should produce in our minds, our hearts, and our lives.
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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/
Well, good morning and welcome back to the Stan Strong podcast. We're here for episode 11. It's episode 10 part two, I guess you could say first things first continued. As we discuss what it means to have a fear of the Lord and what that produces in us and how that changes us. Last episode, Paul, we talked a good amount about what it meant to fear the Lord. And we talked some about how. That should be viewed not as, you know, not as an academic pursuit, but a pursuit of the heart that we're trying to get to the heart of who God is, have a proper understanding of him and therefore what flows from that in our lives. And I really appreciated our discussion last time. I really enjoyed that.
Paul:Yeah. You know, I think of this fear and reverence, standing in all of God, who he is, his person, his promises, all of that. That's our why. Yeah. That's our why.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:And then as we go through the proverbs where he discusses the fear of the Lord, we're, we're just trying to live life with the least amount of difficulties. Not so we can just say, Hey, I, I want, I want the best possible, your best life now.
Noah:Right.
Paul:Ultimately, this is all about the glory of God.
Noah:Right.
Paul:It's His glory is on the line, and, and we are, we are here to honor him for who he is.
Noah:Right. We were created. We were created to live a certain kind of life, a life that glorifies God, and and we should be pursuing that. And, and one of the ways that we touched on briefly in the, at the end of last episode, and it's where I think it would be good to pick up, This week, as we continue this discussion, is how the fear of the Lord changes our perspective. Fundamentally, it's going to change our perspective and therefore change our approach. Last, last week, you brought up how it would change our perspective of evil. Right. Right. It, it, we turn away from evil, like he says in Proverbs chapter three, we have a hatred for evil and pride and for arrogance. Proverbs chapter eight. It needs to fundamentally change. how we think about who we are and how we act. But ultimately, ultimately what that's going to require of us is a change in perspective about who's in control as well.
Paul:Yes.
Noah:And I think that that's a good place to, to start as we move into more of this, again, kind of application side of things is, you know, Proverbs 3, 5 says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. That's such an important verse for understanding how we're going to approach the Proverbs. We're not leaning on our own understanding. There's lots of times where we're gonna, we might look at God's wisdom and go, I don't know. I don't know about that. That doesn't feel quite right. I don't like that. That doesn't jive with what other people around me are saying. Lean not on your own understanding. It's a change, a fundamental change of our perspective as we begin to approach applying God's Word to our lives.
Paul:Yeah, He is perfect. Everything He does or allows, is perfect. He has omniscience. He is all knowing. He is all wise. He cannot make a mistake. I'm, I'm just stating things that the scripture states about who this God is. And when we get to know him better, we will naturally fear him. The way that we should respect and reverence him and his counsel for our lives. And that impacts our faith. Yeah. Our trust. We acknowledge who he is and we acknowledge his way is best.
Noah:Yeah. And I don't want to belabor this, but to appreciate that this is what we were made for. This is what we were made to do was to fear God in this way. Okay. Things don't work right when you use them for things they were never intended to be used for.
Paul:Amen to
Noah:that. And people are the same way. If we try to live our lives Under the, under the guise of, of, or not under the guise, but under the idea that we are meant for our own glory or for our own pleasure or whatever pursuit you want to plug in there. It's not going to result in the kind of life. that glorifies God, and it's not going to result in the kind of life that we'll actually find fulfillment or enjoyment in. Not ultimately. It reminds me, I know we're going outside the Proverbs here, but it reminds me of what the writer of Ecclesiastes says as he concludes his book. Fear God and keep his commandments. Why? For this is the whole duty of man. This is, this is what we were made to do, was to fear God, and bring him glory. And that's good. That's a good thing.
Paul:Yeah. I mean, well, let's stay in Proverbs. I mean, you're right about the Ecclesiastes passage. It's wisdom literature. So it's allowed in this journey, but stay in Proverbs chapter 14, verse 27, Proverbs 14, 27. Fear of the Lord is a life giving fountain,
Noah:turning a man
Paul:from the snares of debt. The Lord's way is perfect. He knows what he's doing. His counsel is for our good. He's kind.
Noah:Yes.
Paul:And he demonstrates that through revealing his nature to us and telling us how to live a life that's free from some of the headache and the heartache. I mean, these are Proverbs that we're reading. But he's telling us it's a life giving fountain.
Noah:Yeah. Yeah. The, the fear of the Lord, one of the things that we can, can quite clearly say from the book of Proverbs is that the fear of the Lord produces in us confidence and comfort in a way that we're not going to find in human wisdom and in human counsel. So, we already looked at Proverbs 3, we've read verses I think 5 through 8 between the two episodes at this point, but the way that that concludes, it will bring healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones, that's found in the fear of the Lord. That's comfort and healing that can only be found in the fear of the Lord. Or in Proverbs chapter 14 which you just read from. The first right before the one you read. In the fear of the Lord, one has strong confidence and his children will have refuge. This is offered in, in a context where we are submitting. We're, we're not leaning on our own understanding. We're submitting to the wisdom and the fear of the Lord. This is confidence that will surpass any confidence we could have in our own ability. One more that I think goes along with this in Proverbs chapter 19, verse 23, the fear of the Lord leads to life, which you already referenced that, and whoever has it rests satisfied. Rests satisfied. Talk about two words. People spend their entire lives searching for rest and satisfaction. Proverbs says, if you want that, here's where you start. And here's where you build. It's on the fear of the Lord.
Paul:Yeah. You know, think, think about something so practical. I love that you mentioned confidence and comfort because that's, that's what the wise man, that's what he says. Security, confidence. Think about how often we lay awake at night because we're gripped by fear. Or there's anxiety in our life. And look, I'm not trying to be hard on anyone listening today because I can tell you, I have been there. We live in a world of evil people who do evil things, unprincipled men. So now that unprincipled person is your boss. And because you did the next right thing out of fear for the Lord, he says, okay, you get a pink slip. You're fired. And you go home and you think, What's next? You know, well, what, what will help us? Well, trust in the Lord, rest confidently in the Lord. The, the, the action that you took today that called someone who had no regard for God to do the wrong thing, the action you took today was the right thing. Right. And so you've got to lean on the Lord. You've got to trust in the Lord. And he says, fear the Lord is what gives security and confidence because we rest in him. We rest in his promises. Okay, Lord. One day at a time. And I think again, we talked about this last week in the first part of this fear of the Lord as something that we teach our children. What a, what a thing to pass on to our children is this family today is going to rest in the Lord because you have followers who look to the leaders and if they see that there's a panic in the leaders, in the hearts of the leaders, then they're going to probably panic as well.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:And I, I know that's, that's a challenge that's tough, but I, I'm so glad you went there because reverence and fear of the Lord is what gives us confidence and security to a man and his family.
Noah:Yes. And as, like I told you recently, my, my mind has been very much on parenting. That's, that's where I'm at in life right now is parenting young children and all of the So the enjoyment that comes with that and all of the challenges that come with that. And I can think of days where Michaela and I will look at the boys and we'll, we'll be saying to each other, why, what's going on? You know, it's like, it's like everyone's lost their minds. And then we think back through how we have acted today and how we've handled the stress that's going on in our lives and how we've handled things. And we go, Oh. Well, the kids are just doing what they see. They're just doing what they've been seeing us do today. And that is, there's something so profound about the idea of, as parents, finding our confidence and comfort, not in ourselves, but in the fear of the Lord. And the, the peace, I'm not saying every day will be perfect, but the peace that that will bring into your home. When you, as parents, when we, I should say, speaking to myself here, as parents put our hope, that's another word, our hope and our confidence in God, and we let our children see that. In fact, now that I say hope, that makes me think of that makes me think of Proverbs 23. Which goes along with kind of the example you gave of the, of, you know, if you're, if you're handed the pink slip by your boss, because. He's living terribly and you make the right decision. And he says, I don't want you to work anymore. Proverbs 23, verse 17 and 18, let not your heart envy centers, but continuing the fear of the Lord all the day, surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off. I mean, what a, what a powerful reminder for us as we deal with the practical ins and outs of our lives. And the pains and the difficulties of, of everyday life. The, the fact that we can have hope and we're setting that hope before our children as well, there is a future and our hope will not be cut off.
Paul:Yes. Wow. What, what powerful passages that connect to our confidence in the Lord. We can sleep satisfied, untouched by evil. You know, we're, we're dealing with Proverbs here. These are not hard and fast rules, but there's wisdom in here that will guide us. I love chapter 10 and verse 27, Noah, fear of the Lord lengthens one's life. Yep. It lengthens one's life. Now this is a proverb. It's not an ultimate promise of 80 years, but to lengthen I mean, there are certain things, certain choices that we make that have consequences in this life. And when we choose to go outside of the will of God, when we choose to put things into our bodies, when we choose to do things with our bodies, then there are consequences. We reap what we sow, and God set that spiritual law into motion. And he's trying to teach us the fear of the Lord to bring us back to a right knowledge of who he is. He is best for our life. His way is always perfect. And he said, Hey, it'll lengthens one's life.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:It will lengthen one's life. True humility. Proverbs now 22 in verse four, Proverbs 22 verse four, true humility and fear of the Lord leads to riches, honor, and long life. So you just add a little twist to that beyond fear of the Lord. True humility.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:And what that causes me to think instantly is you can't separate one from the other. How can I say I have a fear of the Lord if I'm arrogant and proud? Well, Solomon says, no, you don't. True humility and fear of the Lord. Riches honoring lives. You know, somebody heard riches and they're like, Oh, say more, say more about riches.
Noah:Well, yeah. And that's, this is one of those things that I think you already made a great observation about the you. the nature of the proverbs is that by and large, when we live the way that God wants us to live, we will find that the negative consequences of our actions that maybe this is the way to put it, the natural negative. consequences of our actions will be very few. The negative consequences will come from others who do not abide by God's wisdom. And that's going to happen. But ultimately we can find whether we're physically rich and blessed in that way, as that proverb talks about, as a very real possibility. Or if because of our desire to fear the Lord and act on that, we are. You know persecuted to some extent or looked down upon to some extent. We know that ultimately There is a greater reward. There is there is a greater. There's greater riches to be had because of the fear of the lord. In fact, there's there's a proverb that contrasts fear of man versus fear of the lord So some would say well if you want to climb the ladder and you want to get all these nice things You you know, you got to pay due to the people that you got to pay due to you got to You gotta be a mover and a shaker. Proverbs 29 verses 25 and 26 says the fear of a man lays a snare. It's a trap, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. And then the next verse that's so interesting, many seek the face of a ruler. So like many want an audience with powerful people, but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice. What a powerful concept for us when we do see the wicked prosper when we do see Life can be difficult because of the fear of the Lord to be reminded that in the end If we trust in the Lord, we're safe. And we're, when we petition God, we're, we're not petitioning some celebrity. We're not petitioning the president of the United States. We're not petitioning a monarch. We're petitioning the creator of the universe. He will administer justice in his time.
Paul:Yeah. Man is fickle. The Lord is not. Yeah. Man will let you down. The Lord never fails. Yeah. And for that reason, we can safely. Boy, you know, I wish I could say no in this. I wish we could say something that Solomon doesn't say, but I can't say that, that all have a fear of the Lord. Because Solomon says there are still people out there who will choose not to fear the Lord. Fear, fear of the Lord is a choice. It's a decision just like love. Love is a decision. It's an act of one's will. So is to fear the Lord. It's a choice. It's the act of someone's will. It's something that you choose. Proverbs 129, he states very early, those who hate knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord. I mean, if you, if, if the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge
Noah:Right.
Paul:Well, if you hate knowledge, I mean, work that one out.
Noah:Right.
Paul:So there, there are people who choose not to fear the Lord. And the reason I'm stating what probably everybody who's listening already knew, but the reason I'm restating that is not just to remind us that it is a choice that we make. I make that we have to make, but also remind us of the fact that we're going to work alongside of, we're going to live in neighborhoods with, we're going to interact with people, a large degree of them who do not fear the Lord. And because of that, it's going to make life for us difficult. And there are some things that Solomon tells us in this crooked world that cannot be made straight. And so there are some people who have chosen not to fear the Lord that will not be changed.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:But that's not everybody.
Noah:That's true. Yeah. In fact, there are, there are some who right now do not fear the Lord, but because of, you know, the situations in their life, the influence of those who do fear the Lord and other circumstances like that, they will come to make the choice. They will come to the realization. They will recognize the value of fearing the Lord as as it's put in Proverbs 15, six better is a little with the fear of the Lord, then great treasure and trouble with it. There is extreme, unparalleled value in the fear of the Lord. And how encouraging it is that even though there's a large number of people that do not fear the Lord, among that number are people that will. That they will come to the fear of the Lord, and they will choose, like you said, to fear the Lord. Because they'll recognize,
Paul:Yeah, I mean, I, my kids are out of the house. They're grown. I can remember some of the most challenging dinnertime conversations that Amy and I had with our kids is when they went to school and interacted with other kids in the world. And as they got older, listening to some of their teachers, Who had no fear of God and some of the most challenging conversations we had around the dinner table, especially when our kids were young, was stuff like a lot of the why questions. Daddy, why?
Noah:Mama,
Paul:why? And we, we keep, we kept trying to bring our kids back to an understanding and a realization. And I get, listen, 10 years old, it's hard to, to It's hard to appreciate. It just was. A little with a fear of the Lord is so much better than these people that you think are so rich and have everything in life and every advantage in life because of all their prosperity. We are much better kids, our life. We are in a much better position and you think about that better with a little and have the fear of the Lord connected to what we've already mentioned that you've, I think cited in Proverbs 23 due to. Do not let your heart envy sinners. We're trying to teach the young generation that the fear of the Lord is the best way. It's the only way to live life under the sun.
Noah:Yes, absolutely. You know, one, one thing to add to that is that ought to make us appreciate all the more the people in our lives who already, Set an example of what it looks like to fear the Lord. You referenced earlier how one of the bookends of Proverbs is in chapter 31, how the Proverbs writer says, charm is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. When we find people in our lives who exemplify what it means to fear the Lord and set that example and live that way, That is praiseworthy, and we ought to be appreciating that and looking for that in our inner circle. The people that we are allowing to influence us most, the people that we're looking to learn from the most, that we're looking to spend time with the most, we ought to be looking for people Who fear the Lord, because that's going to, that's going to be only a good influence on us as we seek to live in the fear of the Lord as well.
Paul:Yeah, those are our heroes. Yeah. These kinds of people are heroes.
Noah:Which notice that the Proverbs writer there is talking specifically about the kind of, the virtuous woman. And Paul, I would wager to say that you and I are, are married to our heroes in some ways. I have many people that I respect in this life, but I'm thankful that my wife is very adequately described by Proverbs 31. So Okay, well, we're already over our 20 minute mark again. There's a reason that we made this a two parter.
Paul:It's the first thing's first, Noah. It's the beginning of knowledge. It's the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord. It's the catalyst, the motivator, the necessary condition, the beginning, the essential prerequisite to fear of the Lord is our why.
Noah:Yeah, so I hope that we can keep that in mind as we continue through this Proverbs project and even retrospectively as we consider the discussions we've had so far, that we can remember just how key this is to how we seek to, to serve God and understand His will better. And next week that will continue. We're going to be diving into the Proverbs once more, but this time our focus is going to be on the principles of parenting.
Paul:Oh, nice.
Noah:And if anyone was wondering why parenting kept coming up in this one, it's probably because it was on our minds where, as we were preparing for that episode. So our prayer is that you will continue to walk with God between now and then that you will continue to serve him and seek him and to to seek, to live a life that demonstrates the fear of the Lord. Thank you. We ask that you come back next week and join us for that discussion. And until then, we pray that you stand strong.
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