Finding Acceptance Through Reverential Fear of God

Understanding the awe of God is a supernatural experience.

Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, not human will.

The Holy Spirit's inspiration is a divine influence on writers.

This divine influence gives Scripture prophetic authority and trustworthiness.

I message today by asking you if you have truly been touched by the awe of God in a personal experience or acknowledgement or revelation of the wonder and realization of the greatness, the power, and almightiness of your Creator, Jesus Christ. This awe I speak about is beyond the realm of the natural or usual or physical or intelligible with the familiar things in everyday life, but rather it falls in the limits of the supernatural, the divine realm where the hand and the grace and mercy of God is totally inspired and the realization what is not of this earthly realm is because your heart has just been filled with the absolute wonder and astonishment that what has been shown is absolutely of God without a doubt. You know it is because this kind of inspiration from the goodness of your creator parallels the very words that are expressed in the book of life, and are not outside the realm of the truth of the divine message, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit and given to holy men who were influenced by him to record the books of the Bible. The Holy Spirit's inspiration was a supernatural divine influence on the prophets, the apostles, or sacred writers by which they were qualified to communicate God's moral and divine truths with authority. This is a godly supernatural influence which qualifies men to receive and communicate divine truths of God opposed to uninspired untruths which are profane or secular as though they are inspired writings found in sacred scriptures. 2 Timothy 3.16 declares that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. God has chosen men called prophets and apostles, the distinctive responsibility and charge to write these scriptures, which originated divine inspiration with what they wrote, and God kept them from error in all the writing processes. All Holy Scripture has prophetic authority. None of it originated with the will of men. It came about through the will of God. Again, stressing that all Scripture was given by inspiration of God. We read of this when Apostle Peter stated in 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 20 and 21 when he declared, yet first you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of any personal or private or special interpretation, loosening and solving. Verse 21, for no prophecy ever originated because some man willed it to do so. It never came by human impulse, but men spoke from God, who were born along, moved, impelled by the Holy Spirit. Now making our point further, Apostle Paul declares in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16-17, Every scripture is God-breathed, given by His inspiration, and profitable for instruction. for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness, in holy living, and conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action. Verse 17, so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted, and thoroughly equipped for every good work. You see, according to the Bible Dictionary, inspiration is defined as a supernatural influence exerted on sacred writers by the Spirit of God, by virtue of which their writings are given divine trustworthiness. In defining scriptural inspiration, there are three considerations or points that must be kept in mind. The first one, the primary accomplished cause is the Holy Spirit who acts upon man with divine and supernatural influence. And the second one is the chosen participant of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is man, who is the agent upon whom the Holy Spirit directly inspires. And the third is the result of this holy divine inspiration is a written revelation given once and for all, thoroughly accredited and tested by miracles and fulfilled in prophecy. Now, we need to understand that the supernatural influence is illumination and a miracle, which is the ministry solely of the Holy Spirit, who allows and authorizes all who are in right relationship with God to understand the purpose, plan, and design of this written revelation found in God's holy book of life. One of my favorite scriptures is found in Ephesians 1, beginning in verse 16. It is written by Apostle Paul, whose heart's desire above all things was for the brethren to have this precious illumination of the Holy Spirit when he prays. I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. For I always pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that he may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation of insight into mysteries and secrets in the deep and intimate knowledge of him. Verse 18, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light so you can know and understand the hope to which he has called you and how rich is his glorious inheritance in the saints, his set apart ones. and so that you can know and understand what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of his power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of his mighty strength. Dear listener, some may be thinking or asking, Patricia why do you speak or talk so much about the supernatural and divine or miraculous inspiration or involvement of God the Holy Spirit in believers lives You see, my purpose in this is that when we, mere creatures of clay, grow in understanding, and when we truly and sincerely have had a glorious salvation experience in our Lord Jesus Christ, Christ, the knowledge and understanding that we continually grow in and gain from the Holy Scripture must come from God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, just like we read in verse 17 and 18 in Paul's heartfelt prayer, which again, he says, for I always pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that he may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, of insight into the mysteries, the secrets, and the deep and intimate knowledge of him by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light so that you can know and understand the hope to which he has called you and how rich is his glorious inheritance in the saints, his set-apart ones. But also, dear one, Verse 19 declares, so that you can know and understand what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of his power in and for us who believe as demonstrated in the working of his mighty strength. Paul wanted the Ephesians to know the great power of God, which is the surpassing greatness of his power, which impacts the believer and gives the divine and supernatural understanding to the knowledge that they were learning and growing in daily. And you see, without this wonderful impacting power of the Holy Spirit, who is called our teacher, working in our lives, impacting our understanding, we would be dwarfs without enlightened spiritual truths, which help us to grow and develop into mature, fruitful children of God who stand in awe of him and have deep and devoted reverential fear of him and become agents of his by sharing the gospel truths. this power of the Holy Spirit in the Greek is called his dunamis power which refers to a spiritually dynamic living force which is inherent in God alone and moves within the heart and soul of a hungry heart of one who is growing in fellowship with their loving creator Paul used three words here in verse 19 to define and describe the holy spirit's power and these words are working strength and might or mighty he said so that you can know what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of his power in and for us who believe as demonstrated in the working, here we go, in the working of his mighty strength. So these key words describe the power of the Holy Spirit as energetic and inherent in God alone, which is able to overcome all resistance that stands in the way of a sincere believer who is hungry for knowledge and wisdom of God in their lives. This is the power of God, which is available to all believers. Think about that. Just think about that. Can I tell you, please, that growing in understanding and enlightenment of the precious godly truths of spirit, of scripture and fellowship with the one our hearts are seeking is growing in the Greece process to love him more and more each day. This is our journey as believers in this life on earth as we search for him with all of our hearts. Jeremiah 29 verses 11 through 14 declares, for I know the thoughts and plans I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome and then you will come and call upon me and you will come and pray to me and i will hear you and heed you then you will seek me inquire of require me as a final necessity and find me when you search for me hear this when you search for me with all of your heart i will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you from captivity. Huh. This is so very exciting, dear listener, because this word tells us that as we pursue our precious Savior, Jesus Christ, by faith, he delivers us from the bondage of sinful pleasures of our past lives through the power of his Holy Spirit and releases us from the hold of the evil one called Satan the devil, who held people as prisoners and slaves to perform immoral, evil, and ungodly, sinful acts. He says in verse 14, I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you from captivity. And dear one, he does this by the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit, according to verse 18, we have previously read that is accompanied by the light, which Paul again prays. by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so you can know and understand the hope to which he has called you, and how rich is his glorious inheritance in the saints, his set-apart ones. This light Paul speaks of would help those who are sincere to truly know God and to gain greater knowledge, as he would graciously enlighten the understanding of their hearts. The heart refers to the center of personality in the Bible, which is the whole inward self comprising mind and emotions. In the eyes of the heart is a figurative meaning, a vivid figurative meaning, that suggests not just intellectual understanding, but greater comprehension of God as one grows and matures in greater spiritual understanding and wisdom. You see, the Lord your God is the only God of true knowledge. There is no greater reliable saving knowledge but what comes from him alone. And because of this, we can search it out and look for it, and we must search for it like it is the greatest treasure that one could ever find. And in the gospel of Matthew 13 beginning in verse 44 Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field which a man found and hid again Then in his joy he goes and he sells all that he has and he buys that field Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine and precious pearls who on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. well we see by this analogy Jesus is possibly describing the field as the gospel of God and Jesus is the true treasure that has been buried in that field awaiting to be discovered and revealed to every true and genuine hungry believer are you one of these? in Jesus Christ the only true treasure is in abundance of all that is rich and useful and will be a portion for us all in the fullness of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, of righteousness, grace, peace, and love. In Jesus Christ, there is abundance of mercy and forgiveness and salvation. And if you've ever tasted any one of these, you will know that you only want more of what he offers because it is not of this earthly realm. These are laid up for us in him, in him alone. And if we have an interest in him, dear listener, these await us and will be owned by us because of the price that he paid to own us. The field representing the gospel awaits whoever will come and search the scriptures. In Proverbs chapter 2 beginning in verse 1, the word declares, My son, if you will receive my words and treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to skillful and godly wisdom, and inclining and directing your heart and mind to understanding, applying all your powers to the quest for it. Yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek wisdom as for silver and search for skillful and godly wisdom as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of our omniscient God. For the Lord gives skillful and godly wisdom from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Verse 7, he hides away sound and godly wisdom and stores it up for the righteous, those who are upright and in right standing with them. He is a shield to those who walk uprightly and in integrity. The proverb is absolutely rich in describing the hard and true and genuine seeker of God when we read that we must desire to lay up the truth of the scripture in our hearts. And verse 3 declares, we must cry out after knowledge, as one that is ready to perish for hunger would beg for bread. You see, feeble or unenthusiastic desires will not profit anyone. We must be persistent in our faith and earnest like those who know the worth and value of knowledge and where it in 1 Peter 2, verse 2, tells us that we must cry out like newborn babes after the sincere milk of the word. Did you or have you ever heard a baby cry? It cries out and continues until he or she is well fed? That is a wonderful analogy. We must all be willing to take pains to search for it. far above all wealth of this world. Now, having made our point, in the great quest and search, in all of our digging for these treasures, we must not forget what and who we are searching for and long to find. It is all about Jesus Christ. It is all about the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who spoken of and pointed to from the Old Testament to the New Testament and has been hidden from the world, but revealed to those who are willing to part with all that they held dear in their own accomplishments and consider it all loss so that they may gain and win Christ and be found in him, just like Apostle Paul said in Philippians chapter 3, beginning in verse 7, when he declared, But what things were gained to me, I have counted at loss for Christ. Yet, indeed, I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and counted them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not as having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. Verse 10, that I may know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering, be conformed to his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Paul tells us, in essence, that Christ Jesus is the pearl of great price. a jewel of inestimable value which will make those who have him rich truly rich rich towards god in having him and we have more than enough to give us abundant peace and joy in this life and the life hereafter apostle paul in romans chapter 15 verse 13 offers up a plea on behalf of the brethren, praying for them and not for himself, by saying, may the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing through the experience of your faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound and be overflowing, bubbling over with hope. It is quite evident that Paul's prayer was asking God that they might be filled with all joy and peace in believing the truth of scripture, which always points to the eternal living triune God. Joy and peace are two of those things in which the kingdom of God consists, according to Romans chapter 14, beginning in verse 17. After all, the kingdom of God is not a matter of getting the food and drink one likes, but instead it is righteousness, that state which makes a person acceptable to God and heart and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. He who serves Christ in this way is acceptable and pleasing to God and is approved by men. This joy and God and peace of our conscience both arise from a sense of our justification in Christ Jesus who provides That all that we need You know that carnal earthly joy puffs up the soul but it cannot fill it Consequently then this is saying even in their laughter the heart is sad For those who stand in awe of God and have grown in maturity of his ways and word, God continues to satisfy and provide more than enough for the weary soul. Joy like this is possible, even in the midst of sorrow. The joy required of the righteous person is produced by precious Holy Spirit, the living God, and is even called one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Also, Philippians chapter 4, verse 4 commands us to rejoice in the Lord always, to delight, gladden yourselves in him. Again, I say rejoice. And this kind of joy looks beyond to the present, to our future salvation, and to our sovereign God, who works all things out for our ultimate good, which is Christlikeness, in that we may be granted our true inheritance, which is called eternal life, and found only in Jesus Christ, our Savior. You see, God is infinitely glorious in himself, and all glory is due to him from his creatures of clay. He gives knowledge by giving his glorious spirit of knowledge to each one who have truly repented and asked forgiveness of their sins. Since one of the names of the Holy Spirit is called Teacher of the Redeemed Children of God, He imparts and enlightens a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know the truth within them. We have the revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God, but will that provide any advantage for us? If we do not have his wisdom and enlightenment of growing and manifesting that in our hearts? If the same Spirit who wrote and composed the sacred scriptures does not remove the veil from the eyes of our hearts and enable us to understand and grow in them, we will never be any better than those who have never really known him. we shall never truly know and stand in awe of our heavenly Abba Father and our dear Lord Jesus Christ in showing them the reverential fear and worship which they alone deserve and are worthy of we will never be accepted if we be accepted by the triune God without having this holy reverential fear and awe in the knowledge of him or for the lack of acknowledgement of him, not only an abstract knowledge of Christ and what relates to him, but an acknowledgement of Christ's authority by an obedient conformity and obedience to him must be by the help of the Holy Spirit and revelation from him. This knowledge is first in understanding. Paul prayed that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened in verse 18. To those who have their eyes open and have some understanding in the things of God need to be more and more enlightened and to have their knowledge more clear and distinct and experiential. Believers should not think just to have some warm, fuzzy feelings or affections for God is enough. But they should labor to have clearer understanding, and they should be desirous of growing into greater maturity and greater yearning and longing to know more deeply their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let's understand as well that revelation understands and perceives God's giving truth. Inspiration of the Holy Spirit embraces man under divine control and accurately receiving the truth that is given. And the illumination deals with man's understanding of God-given inspired revelation. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, the word declares, But the natural non-spiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are falling meaningless and nonsense to him and he is incapable of knowing them and progressively recognizing and understanding and becoming better acquainted with them because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. You see it is by this way only that we will gradually grow and mature in one who stands in awe of our God and has reverential fear of him and can truly worship him in spirit and truth. It is in this way that the children of God are accepted. And this awe of God is directed to the supreme deity of our God and his actions. When so directed this way, the awe that we experience in a state of mind which contemplates that which is quite beyond the sphere of the usual, of the intelligible, and the familiar, and know that you know, that you know that you've heard from God, that you've seen the great creator in your heart, and your mind has been filled with wonder and astonishment. And you know that you have beheld the Most High God, and you are filled with wonder, a commingling of fear, of astonishment, of reverence and worship and adoration for your precious Savior, Jesus Christ. It is in this way that the children of God are accepted. This is our walk, and this is our journey, dear listener. And this begins and ends with faith. For those who are new to this life in Christ, begin by looking at the Creator's creation and stand in awe for the beauty in all of his wonderful works. Learn to give him praise and ask him to enlarge your heart of understanding and wisdom and he will never fail you. And for all of those who have greater understanding, know that you know that if you stand in awe of God and walk in this way, you have reverential fear for him that you are accepted in him just as Paul quoted in the scripture. Continue on. This journey is never ending as long as we have breath in this life. Amen. Thank you.

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