Shalom dear doves,
Please note the contrast in the scriptures of these two definitions of 'fear':
1. 'fear' as taught 'by the precept of men':
Isa 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said,
Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,
and with their lips do honour me,
but have removed their heart far from me,
and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: ...Mt 15:7-9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth,
and honoureth me with their lips;
but their heart is far from me.But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
or ...
2. 'fear' as taught by God:
Isa 11:2,3 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD:
and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.Psalm 32
11 ¶ Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he
may see good?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open
unto their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the
remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out
of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth
such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth
him out of them all.
20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall
be desolate.
22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that
trust in him shall be desolate.Luke 6: 47-49 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them,
I will shew you to whom he is like:He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the
foundation on a rock:
and when the flood arose,
the stream beat vehemently upon that house,
and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.But he that heareth, and doeth not,
is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth;
against which the stream did beat vehemently,
and immediately it fell;
and the ruin of that house was great.
Yesterday there was the following statement posted at 'doves':
"We have an anchor of the soul which is sure and steadfast, and it
will hold! But it doesn't matter how sure the anchor is, if you let
go of it. If some have let go, does that make the anchor any less
sure? Not at all! However, denying that you can let go won't cause
you to hold on either!"But when I cross the streets with my two youngest grandchildren, I ask
them to each hold my hand.Would you let go of their hand ... if they were to let go of your hand?
So God promises us:
Jer 32:40
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them,
that I will NOT turn away from them, to do them good;but
** I will put *** my fear in their hearts,
that they shall *** not depart from me. ***
So we see that God puts His fear in the hearts of His children.
Now the question becomes ...
Is the fear that we have ... the fear taught by men?
or
Is it ... the fear taught by God?
One is promised to keep us ... the other is not promised to keep us.
A little analogy for all (would-be) "Rock Climbers" out there ...
who might know what an anchor system is that is set by their leader to be ...
'bomber, redundant, and no-extensions.'
Now Jesus, our leader, is belaying us from Heaven.
And HE has promised to never let go of our rope once we have actually
'tied in' and 'begun our climb.'It is true that if we would get to the top ...
we must climb ...
Only the unwise would NOT tie in to the anchor system.
Now the supreme joy of rock climbing is to get to the top without falling.
But the reality is, that many do fall, especially when learning the
basics of climbing.And so it is vital to have a bomber, redundant, no-extension top
anchor system ... and to be properly tied in to that anchor system,
before you begin the climb.Also, Jesus, knowing all about us, has set out a 'route' for us that
we are able to climb, and has made sure that all the aids me might
need, in our ascent, are 'in place'.1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to
man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to
escape, that ye may be able to bear it.So, we must, ... rightly 'fearing God', ... tie in then to His Anchor system:
Luke 6: 47-49 Whosoever cometh to me,
and heareth my sayings,
and doeth them,I will shew you to whom he is like:
He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the
foundation on a rock:
and when the flood arose,
the stream beat vehemently upon that house,
and could not shake it:
for it was founded upon a rock.But he that heareth, and doeth not,
is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth;
against which the stream did beat vehemently,
and immediately it fell;
and the ruin of that house was great.
Shalom shalom,
David
--
dwzavitz@gmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/dwzavitz