A life that reflects His thinking

The famous old African-American spiritual song begins, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?"

*****

The easiest way to define in your mind "the fear of God" is it’s just submission to Him, says Richard Jordan.

Psalm 111: [9] He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.
[10] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

That’s the verse that we often quote. Sometime someone will introduce me as Rev. Jordan and I bristle at that a little bit.

On the radio station’s (WYLL AM 1160 Chicago) website they had me listed as Rev. Jordan and I asked them to take that off. The secretary said, “Well, why? We’re trying to show you respect.” I said, “Well, I don’t want the respect of the religious system.” That’s where that title comes from, and that’s the verse I quoted to her. “Reverend is His name.” The fear of the Lord is our response to that position He has and it’s the beginning of wisdom.

Look at the next psalm, Psalm 112: [1] Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
[2] His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
[3] Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
[4] Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

The “fear of the Lord” is really simply the attitude of, “What He thinks is more important than what I think, so I’m going to submit myself to what He thinks, as opposed to rebelling against it.”

Why am I going to do that? Because of who He is and the regard that I have for who He is as God.

I say to you a lot that the middle letter of the word sin is really our problem. It’s the same middle letter that’s in the word pride. It’s also the middle letter of the name Lucifer.

The problem is we trust ourselves, our views, rather than God’s.

Proverbs 3: [5] Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
[7] Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

That’s good advice for Israel, but that’s good advice for anybody during any age. “Be not wise in thine own eyes.”

Don’t let your ways, your attitudes be what runs your life. If you fear the Lord, what are you going to do? Depart from evil. Why? Because your life is going to reflect His thinking.

Now somebody says, “What about the verse that says ‘perfect love casteth out all fear’?” That’s a good one because that’s what we usually rely on. Anybody know where that verse is?

I John 4: [18] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

That verse is not negating, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” I know that’s the way we use it. But oftentimes we pull a verse out of its context and, as the phrase stands on its own, we give our desired meaning to it.

(to be continued tomorrow)