Emboldened By the Fear Of The Lord

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Go to TruthNetwork.com and click on the Fan the Flames Bibles for Asia! Welcome back. I'm really glad you're here. As we look at the things that God is doing in these end times, in the last of the last days, we understand that there's a supernatural outworking. And it's not just signs and wonders, which we talk about often, miracles, the miraculous.

We do talk about that. But there's a feature, there's an indwelling aspect of the life of the believer that connects us. This is how we connect to those things.

Otherwise, you might say we're disconnected. We may not even see or notice or realize, think about or understand that these things are for us. In the work of our ministry, in the messages that we produce, our book Running with Horses, our podcast by the same name, and if you're here listening to this message, it's through one of those outlets, through some of the things that we've published.

And so I'm glad that you're here. We're building this understanding of who we are in Christ Jesus. And we really love the word, let this mind be in you, that was also in Christ Jesus.

Let it allow this mind that was in Christ Jesus to also be in you. We have the mind of Christ, so we think like him. These manifestations of God's supernatural power in this day, in the lives of believers, and also in the lives of those people that don't even know him, don't have experience with him, nevertheless, God loves them unconditionally, loves them. There's an element of understanding that comes when you encounter the Lord.

Actually, there are two things. Well, there are many things, but two of the things that we want to focus here is on the fear of the Lord, the fear of the Lord and the indwelling Spirit, the Spirit of God on the inside of you. So first of all, the fear of the Lord. You know, personally, the fear of the Lord acts as a restraint, so that you may think to do something about to say something, and there is a check on the inside of you about that choice of words, or the timing, or the action itself, or the whole thing.

I mean, it could just all be wrong, or there could just be an element that is misplaced. The fear of the Lord is a keeping power. We call it not the fear of the Lord as in, I'm afraid of him. It is the reverential. It's that I know that he comes first.

He knows more. He goes, I hold the Lord ahead of me, before me, because he's always the preeminent one. That's what I mean by the fear of the Lord. Not a fearfulness, not a shying away from him, but a reverential all of him, so that it's a restraint to protect you, see. It protects me.

It protects our going forth. It keeps us from projecting our own view and will when we really need to just fine-tune things just enough to make sure we deliver what God is saying and what God wants. You see it in the story of Jehoshaphat, who was king of Judah. I'm looking at 2 Chronicles 19, just a few verses here, and I'll do some paraphrasing.

Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. He, this Jehoshaphat king, appointed judges in the land, one in each city, city by city, and he said to the judges, consider what you do, for you judge not for man, but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment. Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God.

No partiality are taking bribes. And then later in that passage, again paraphrasing, moreover in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, heads of families, underline heads of families, to give judgment for the Lord and to decide disputed cases, and he charged them, thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord in faithfulness and with your whole heart. Whenever a case comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, you see this positioning, God, through Jehoshaphat, went throughout the cities to appoint judges, giving them authority, giving them positions to decide matters that were difficult, to keep the peace and the harmony that was necessary, to keep the people together and keep strife out. But the warning, the requirement was on those who were given the authority and on those who were given actually power to speak for the Lord. Remember, remember, Jehoshaphat said, the Lord is judging with you.

You are judging through him and with the Lord there is no injustice. You must do this task, your response should be in the fear of the Lord, in the fear of the Lord, because whatever is coming to you, whatever you are hearing to say is from him. So this fear of the Lord established in the heart of God's people is a prerequisite to building the kingdom of God. Fast forward, the fear of the Lord added to being filled with the Holy Spirit. We're looking in the New Testament now. And once you know, once you have the indwelling presence of God and you have his Holy Spirit, then you become a discerner.

We say a discerner of the times to know what is necessary to do, but really in every area. This kind of ability should embolden you. It should embolden me not to hold back, but to have courage when it's time to step forward and speak with courage, or to act with courage. This passage from Ephesians, Barnabas and Saul, and you know soon that relationship would become Paul and Barnabas. Correction, this is out of Acts, the book of Acts. When they had gone through the land as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the pro-counsel, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God from them. But this magician, this false prophet, opposed Barnabas and Saul and tried to turn the pro-counsel, the leader of the area, the man in authority in the area, away from the faith, away from what was being said to them through Barnabas, through Saul, who became Paul and Barnabas. So you had this element, this carnal, ungodly man, call for the men of God to come speak to him. He was curious about this faith, this Jesus they were preaching. He wanted to know more, but there was a false prophet. He was a magician. You know, magic arts are not of God. Magic, magic arts, black magic, white magic, all of that, that's not of God. It is an enemy of God's plan, as was the case with this man Bar-Jesus.

And this is what happened. We're speaking about the fear of the Lord that is a restraining power on us, and we're also saying that the power of God that comes through the indwelling spirit of God tells us when it's time to speak up and to be emboldened for what is on the heart of God. And this is what response followed this action of this man intercepting the preaching of the gospel. But then Saul, we know him as Paul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at this magician, this false prophet, who was interfering with the preaching of the gospel. He looked intently at him and said, You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the Son for a time.

Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. If you grasp the power and the understanding of the fear of the Lord, it was obviously true of this man Barnabas and this man Saul, the apostles Paul and Barnabas. The element of the fear of the Lord is in there, guarding them from projecting their own will, but also the presence of the Holy Spirit, contending against the powers of darkness and standing in the way of this pro-counsel, Sergius Paulus, a man seeking to know the truth, but being interfered with by, I would say, my wording would be the enemy would be working to discredit, to interfere with, to distract, and to make it impossible for the man to hear. Even to hear, you know, sometimes the enemy does that.

They keep you from hearing the things that God wants you to hear and that really in your heart of hearts you want to hear your seeking. But back to this point, Paul did not shy away. He really called it what it was, and not only did he call the man, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, he said you're full of deceit and villainy. You're making crooked a straight path that God has built for this man Sergius Paulus, the pro-counsel. And God feels that way about anyone who is in the path trying to make crooked the path that is a straight path God has for you and for me, for our families, for the church, you see. So Paul called it and then pronounced judgment on the action.

This is some amazing power right here. An authority to back up what he's saying. You see, prophetically when we speak, God backs up what we say. If the fear of the Lord is there and we only speak when he says speak and we don't shy away when he does, the Lord backs up what we say. He confirms the word, meaning his word, with signs and wonders following, and it happened right here. He said listen, you false prophet, you magician, you worker of iniquity, you're going to be blind now and dumb, blind and unable to see the sun, not dumb, blind, and it's because the hand of the Lord is upon you.

And then it happened. I mean it's right there. You know, what God says he is seriously intending to do, to perform and to accomplish, and when you represent him, you have both the accountability before him to fear him and give him all the preeminence, but also to know that he's called you to speak and to be bold and not to hold back. And when the two are together, you see a blend of perfect humility and godliness that accomplishes the preaching of the gospel in this hour. Very important.

So important that this message that will save the souls of those that God loves is accomplished through us, and without us, it cannot be accomplished. God bless you. See you next time. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others. Post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365-day devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again, and we'll see you next time. .