The Fear of The Lord Is - Part 3 The Beginning of Wisdom

     Proverbs 9:10

 The fear of The LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

    The Fear of The Lord is the basic foundation upon which all other tenets of religion are built. Without it, nothing worth building will stand. A reverent, honest fear of God is to be had by the people who choose to hear and obey The Word of The Lord God. 

    This foundation, this beginning, is only the start of a deeper walk with God. We cannot merely stand on the seashore and hope the water will come to us, but we must enter in and strive to go deeper into the holy things of God. 

    Any relationship must have a beginning and continuity in it in order that it may withstand the storms of life and endure through joys and sorrows, hard times and good times. Especially our relationship with our God. Which will be tested time and again, that our faith in our God may stand stronger through and after every test, every trial. 

   

    

    Knowledge of the holy, of what is holy, what the holy things are, is understanding that these things are holy and why they are called holy. We know that God is holy and that being holy, sin has no place at God's table. Therefore whatever is righteous is holy because unrighteousness is unholiness. Whatever is unrighteous is left howling at the closed door to God's kingdom. [Revelation 21:27a; Revelation 22:15; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Matthew 5:21, 22; Exodus 20:3-5]. 

    Knowledge with understanding of the definition of holiness is applied wisdom. This wisdom is applied to our hearts via The Holy Spirit, and we, in turn, apply it to our lives in loving obedience to our God.

    WHAT IS HOLY

God Is Holy. Exodus 15:11; Leviticus 11:44; Psalm 99:9; Isaiah 6:3

The things of God are holy:

Priestly garments - Exodus 28:2

Christ our Garment- Romans 13:14

The temple of God is holy - Psalm 11:4; Habakkuk 2:20

The dwellingplace of God is holy -  Psalm 28:2; Leviticus 26:11-12; 2 Corinthians 6:16

    WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HOLY

Set apart for God's use. Whether a person or an object.

    Acts 26:16-18 (Paul's testimony to King Agrippa) Set apart from where he was (persecutor of believers) to go to a new place (becomes a believer and travels ancient Europe and ancient Middle East preaching the gospel).

    Malachi 4:5; Isaiah 40:3; Luke 1:5-25 John the Baptist's ministry foretold

    In the middle of Exodus 25 through Exodus 40, wherein God details the building of the place where He will come and visit Israel (His tabernacle), sits Exodus 35:2 which informs the Israelites that the seventh day is "holy unto The Lord". This seventh day is set apart for to honor God. Every seventh day is The Lord's day. 

    The color GOLD represents the holiness of God. This gold is in every facet of the building of the nomadic tabernacle of God. Holiness adorns God's temple in heaven and is mirrored in His tabernacle in Exodus. 

    Even in the hearts of the people whom God has called to be His people who were not His people before but are now. A people who once lived in darkness and far off from God's dwellingplace and His Light are now His places of habitation. For we worship a God we have seen and heard and known and are loved by. 

    HOW HOLINESS IS OBTAINED 

    Holiness, a set-apartness, a setting aside for God and by God, is being consecrated for The Lord's purpose. God ordains who and what is to be used for Him. All born-again believers, whose sins have been washed clean by the blood of God's Holy Lamb, are set apart unto God. 

    Ephesians 4:11-13

    Some are set aside for evangelism. Some are set aside for pastors. Some are set aside for teachers. Some are set aside for apostles. Some are set aside for prophets. They are not set aside to gain wealth and fame in this life. These offices are not separate offices, they are to be found in every person whom God has called to salvation AND empowered with His Holy Spirit [Acts 1:8; Galatians 1:1].

    We are set apart by God to: Evangelize (go into all the world); Apostolize (from The Topical Lexicon:  a person personally sent with full authority to represent the sender): An ambassador of the gospel [2 Corinthians 5:20]; Pastor (spiritual caretaker) [Matthew 9:36-38; John 15:16]. Teach (instruct competently with reverence) [Luke 6:40; 2 Timothy 1:13, 14]. Prophecy (reveals the mind/message of God to the hearers) [2 Peter 1:21]. 

    This knowledge of the holy can only be understood by the person who has the fear of The Lord evident in their lives. This knowledge of the holy is only the beginning of wisdom. There is so much more The Spirit of God wants to show us, to reveal to us. 

    We must be faithful pursuers of God, endeavoring to see God more clearly, without a veil or cloudy mirror blocking our view. We must look for God where He can be found. And we absolutely must be and remain faithful to Him once we have found Him. We look to Him with awe and reverence rooted in our deep and profound grace with which He has bestowed Himself upon us. This is the fear of The Lord in the born-again believer's life. 

    And how does this fear of The Lord propel us? We lead people to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our love for Him impels us to tell everyone about our Jesus, that they, too, may have the opportunity to give their hearts to Him and live to make Him happy. 

    Proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise.

    Daniel 12:3

Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

HOLINESS IS WHAT I LONG FOR  - Micah Stampley

    

Statements of Faith - Sanctified and Set Apart

 

Ephesians 5:25-27

Husband, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of The Word,That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

SANCTIFIED

    When Jesus prayed for you and I in the garden on the night of His arrest (John 17:17), He prayed for God to sanctify us with His Truth, with His Word. It is only with God's Word that we can be saved, sanctified and set apart for Himself. 

    To ignore or disregard The Word of God is to bring condemnation on one's self. To remove any part of The written Word from The Scriptures or to add anything to The written Word is to bring judgment and destruction upon one's self (Revelation 22:19).

    God's Word is powerful:  Hebrews 4:12. It burns:  Jeremiah 23:29; Psalm 97:5 & Nahum 1:5; Malachi 3:1-3; 4:1. God's Word increases and spreads: Acts 12:24. The Word of God is Alive and lives in every believer: 1 John 2:14. 

    The Word of God sanctifies ( purifies, makes holy) the hearts of every believer who has The Word living in him or her. The Word is holy and demands a holy dwellingplace. He cannot live where sin dwells: only in a righteous man or righteous woman or righteous child. The Word of God cannot reside in anyone who declares themselves to be other than what God has made them to be. Be warned: God will not be mocked. 

    You who think you can live any lifestyle you want to and still make it to heaven are only fooling yourselves. The day will come when they who live in sin will be judged by God for their self-centered lifestyles. Everything that is not of God will be burned up by His holy fire. Now is the day of repentance. Now is the time to answer God's call on your lives to turn from sin and turn to God. 

    Today is the day of salvation for someone reading this. Today is the day of reckoning and getting our hearts right with The Word of God. Tomorrow is not promised. We can pray anywhere, so whenever you make your way to the cross where Christ died for our sins, that is the right time to confess our sins and receive forgiveness from God. No man or woman can forgive us. absolve us,  for the sins we have committed against The Word: only God can forgive those who sin against Him. 

SET APART

    Every believer of The Word of God is not only sanctified by The Word but we are set apart by The Word. We are different from the world (John 17:14). We are strange and peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). We are called by God to listen to Him and to Love like him: (1 John 4:6) and (John 13:34). 

    In this Love of God expresses through God's Word we are able to love like God. We show compassion and mercy and lovingkindness to everyone we meet, even if they don't love us back. We love anyway. We are bold in The Spirit for The Spirit of God is with us. We are fearless for our God is always with us. We are Christians, faithful followers of Christ Jesus, and we serve a risen Savior and coming King. 

    While we pray, Come, Lord Jesus, come, we also pray for the salvation of souls who need Jesus. We pray for the salvation of Israel (Romans 9:33 - 10:1) and the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). We are praying people because we have a God Who hears us and answers our prayers. Especially the prayer that brings us into His kingdom. 

    So we beg you, Come to Jesus. Come today. 

    ANCIENT WORDS

IN CHRIST ALONE

ALL TO JESUS I SURRENDER . 

The Lord Is Strength

 

The LORD is STRENGTH

Proverbs 10:29

The Way of the LORD is Strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

Hosea 14:9

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.

Isaiah 30:21

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is The Way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Isaiah 35:8

A road will be there and a way; it will be called the Holy Way. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks the path. Even the fool will not go astray.

To walk in The Way of The LORD is to walk in The Way of Holiness; it  is to allow God's Holy Spirit into our lives to sanctify us and make us holy: without blemish, without stain that we may be presentable to God and remain in His presence. For our God is a Holy God and His very self demands holiness in His people. We cannot make ourselves holy, just as the pot on the potter's wheel does not make itself a beautiful useful pot. 

To walk in The Way of The LORD is to walk in integrity, maintaining a constant vigil and remaining consistent in our faith that our words would match our actions. To walk in The Way of The LORD is to walk humbly before The LORD and surrender ourselves to His Way. 

To Walk in The Way of The LORD is to live in His Strength and His Wisdom, knowing that He keeps His Word, that His words are True and Faithful. Revelation 21:5.

To Walk in The Way of The LORD is to walk the acknowledgement of His Strength and the admission of our weakness, our inability to walk the way He wants us to walk, to live out our daily lives. 

The LORD is MY STRENGTH 

2 Corinthians 12:9

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

AUTHOR/PERFECTOR - Rivers & Robots 

SO IN LOVE - Isla Vista Worship

A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Holiness

 

    1 Peter 1:16

But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: "Be holy, for I am holy."

    Holiness is a process. We gain a little bit more of it each day that we are obedient to The Holy Word of God. 

    It is this process which is implemented in us when we receive The Holy Spirit of God, Who is instrumental in making us holy. 

    Why is holiness necessary? It is consecrating ourselves for God's purpose, choosing to be God's people in a world where doing so can kill us. Idolatry and self-righteousness abound in our world today. Even now someone is plotting how to rid the world of real Christians and real Christianity. 

    We have been set free from the bonds of sin and are living examples of God's Mercy; reflections of Christ's Love. Therefore, we are already in the process of becoming holy. Though some may not go through the process because they are at death's door when they receive Him, their level of holiness is implied when they believe and receive Jesus into their hearts. 

    Holiness is Consecration

    Leviticus 11:44-45 

"For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground. 

For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy."

    Leviticus 20:7

"Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am The LORD your God."

    Holiness is a Way. 

    Isaiah 35:8

"And there will be a highway called The Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it--only those who walk in The Way--and fools will not stray onto it." 

    

    Consecration is making a choice, a decision, to be different by being obedient to God's Word. Sanctification is the process that follows consecration. It is The Way of Holiness. 

    Why do we want to be holy people of God? We want to see God and live.

    Hebrews 12:14 

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 

    Matthew 5:8 tells us to be pure in heart, for then we shall see God. 

    Romans 6:22 

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. 

    This is what we have been studying for the last year and a half. What it means to be born again. How to live a born again life. This crucified life. Answering God's call to service and faithful obedience to Him in His Word. 

    When sin in a person sees the holiness of God, it cries out and is immediately subdued by the power of God. Isaiah said "Woe is Me!" (Isaiah 6:5). Gideon was stunned to find that he was in God's presence (Judges 6:22). Moses wanted to see God's glory but {without holiness} no one can see God and live (Exodus 33:18,20,23). 

    Only One has ever seen God face to face and lived to tell about it: 

    John 1:18 

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, Who is Himself God and is at the Father's side, has made Him known.

    1 Timothy 6:16

He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

    I want to be holy. Because God wants me to be holy. That I may see Him and live. Live eternally with Him. Don't you?

CALLED TO HOLINESS

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (also includes the history of the song) -  Luke Powell

Refiner's Fire - Vineyard Worship

Take My Life - Micah Stampley

Refiner - Maverick City Music

Holy Spirit - Jesus Culture/Kim Walker-Smith

Living For Jesus A Life That Is True - Marlie Gardyne

Psalm 69:32

The humble will see and rejoice. You who seek God, let your hearts be revived!