TRANSCRIPT: The Fear of the Lord is the ABC of Spiritual Wisdom: Zac Poonen

See, most of you, if you were to ask yourself, when you came to Christ, what is the first thing that you heard? That God can forgive your sin. And that’s what every Christian hears from childhood in their home. And so we hear about forgiveness and the grace of God from day one.

Now, what I want to say is that is not what the apostles heard. The apostles were Jews. They never heard anything about the grace of God in their home. They lived for 27 to 30 years before they met Jesus. So what did they listen to for 27, 30 years at home? The fear of God. So they heard about the fear of God, the fear of God, the fear of God, reverence for God for 30 years. Then they heard about the grace of God. That was the secret why they endured.

Today’s Christians, from day one, they’ve heard the grace of God, the grace of God, the grace of God. They’ve never learned the fear of God. That’s the reason for failure.

For example, why does God forgive our sin? Supposing you were to ask many of our younger people or even the older people, why does God forgive our sin? Many people say so that we can go to heaven, escape hell. So many good reasons. But if someone were to ask you, say a nominal Christian comes to you and say, “You claim to be a child of God. Tell me, why did God forgive your sin?” What answer would you give? These are questions that we must have an answer to. And that is the purpose of teaching in the church, so that not just do we have the right answer, but that we experience the right answer in our life.

Why Does God Forgive Sin?

So here is the answer which most people would not think of. It’s an answer from Scripture. Turn to Psalm 130. Psalm 130. It first says in verse three, “Lord, if you were to mark iniquity, who can stand before you? Nobody. But there is forgiveness with you.” What for? “That you may be feared.” How many of you have ever thought that that is the reason why God forgave you? Have you ever thought that God forgave you so that you can fear him? I don’t think I’ve met a single Christian who would give me that answer.

I don’t know if you would give that answer to somebody who asked you today before you saw this verse. That shows how ignorant we are of Scripture. It shows how much our mind is not aligned with the mind of God. And that is why I keep on telling people, “Read the Scriptures. Meditate on the Scriptures.” One purpose of the Lord giving us his Scripture is so that my crooked mind can come in line with God’s mind.

I tell you, if I hadn’t read the Bible, I would have also said the same thing. I’m forgiven so that I can go to heaven. But I don’t say that today. My mind is aligned with God’s Word, and I say, “I’m forgiven so that I can fear God.” So when we get, it’s not just a question of getting the right answer like in a quiz program, you get the right answer. That’s not the issue. The issue is, does it, it will lead me to fear God. If I just have the right answer, that’s no use.

So if your being forgiven by the Lord Jesus has not led you to a greater fear of God, you’re completely missed out on forgiveness, on the reason for it. All you think of is going to heaven when you die and escaping hell. “There is forgiveness with you that you may be feared.” And as I said, the early apostles, they had heard about it, heard about it for 30 years, and they were scared of God. And it’s a good thing to be scared to begin, and then hear about forgiveness.

But if we hear it right from day one, God just forgives, forgives, forgives. You have this cheap type of Christianity today where Christians say they are born again, and they watch pornography every now and then. Imagine watching pornography, even married people. Because why? Because there’s forgiveness with God. So I can watch it even tomorrow, He’ll forgive me.

That’s the attitude towards every sin is, it doesn’t matter if I lose my temper at my wife, because God forgives me. There is forgiveness with God that I can be forgiven. That is a contradiction of Scripture. That is the reason why we never come into a life of victory over sin. That’s the reason why every movement declines. Even if it is started by wonderful godly men like Martin Luther or John Wesley or many others, it declines. Because the next generation doesn’t know God like the first generation knew.

The Need for Godly Leaders

And then it happens in every generation. We read in the book of Judges that the people who followed Joshua, they did not know the Lord like Joshua. And so you read in the book of Judges, Israel was constantly going into idolatry and worshipping sexual images and all types of things. Because there was no leader like Joshua. Very often in the Old Testament, you see it is one man who would lead God’s people in the right way.

Look at all those two million Israelites in Egypt. It required one man to pull them out: Moses. And when they came into Canaan’s land, it took quite one man: Joshua, to keep that nation right. And when he died, that was the end of that nation. And when they drifted away, God would raise up one man, Elijah. One man to bring the nation back to God. It was like that throughout the centuries. And the last of those prophets was John the Baptist. One man to turn Israel, prepare Israel for the coming of Christ.

And in the history of the church, God needs men. And I want to say to all of you, dear brothers, especially, he needs sisters too. But he needs people who will bring people back to learn the fear of God.

The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom

So let me share a few things concerning that. First of all, in Proverbs chapter 9. Proverbs chapter 9 and verse 10. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” So my fear is the beginning of wisdom. Paraphrase of that will be, the fear of the Lord is the ABC of the Christian life.

So when a child goes to school, he doesn’t learn physics and science and mathematics. He learns ABC, BAT is bat, CAT is cat. If he doesn’t begin there, he’ll never learn anything further. A child can’t straightaway jump into grade three or even grade one. He’s going to start in the kindergarten.

So here it says, the fear of the Lord is the ABC of wisdom. So supposing we have not learned the fear of the Lord, and you straightaway start reading something in the epistles and think about wonderful spiritual things mentioned in Romans and Ephesians and all. It’s like a child, it’s like putting a child into college straightaway. What will he understand? He’ll be confused in the class. He says, “I can’t understand what they’re saying.” The guy doesn’t even know the alphabet. And he’s sitting in a class hearing about science and physics and chemistry and all, he doesn’t understand a thing. Because he didn’t go to kindergarten and learn ABC.

That is exactly the reason why so many Christians, after so many years of being a Christian, are so shallow in their knowledge of God. Let’s not judge anybody else. I don’t want to judge you. I don’t know your private lives. You see, all of us, how much of my life and your life, how much of our life lives do we know each other? Very, very little. I would say about 1%. Mainly because we don’t know how each of us lives in our home.

I don’t know whether you yell at your wife. I don’t know whether you yell at your wife. I don’t know whether you watch pornography. I don’t know whether you are faithful with money. I’ve got no idea. But here, everybody looks so holy and so spiritual. We speak the right words and we are very polite and courteous and never offend anyone. And we can fool everybody and fool ourselves also, that we are very spiritual. But it is in when we are alone, even your wife does not know everything about your life.

For example, your wife does not know what thoughts you’re thinking. She may have lived with you for 50 years. You could be polluted in your mind and she won’t know anything about it. You could be unfaithful in your mind and she won’t know anything about it. Even someone who’s living so close to you does not know your inner life. And that is really what matters.

So true spirituality begins with the fear of the Lord. That’s the ABC. A person who fears God will be extremely careful about his thought life. Because he’s not fearing his wife or fearing the elders in the church or fearing what other people say about him. He’s fearing God who sees everything. He’ll be careful about his inner attitudes towards people. What is my attitude towards the boss who troubles me? What is your attitude towards your mother-in-law who hates you? Only God knows. Maybe your mother-in-law knows too, but God knows.

We can have a reputation for holiness without being holy at all. And if you live on that reputation, I want to tell you, my brother, sister, you’re living on extremely dangerous ground. You’ll wake up one day in eternity to get a big surprise when God’s opinion of you is not at all what you thought you were. So the solution to all of that is to learn the fear of God. And it’s never too late to learn it. The fear of the Lord is the ABC of wisdom.

The Sevenfold Holy Spirit

You know, in the book of Revelation, we read about the sevenfold Holy Spirit. You’ve probably seen that. Sometimes it’s the seven Spirits of God, the sevenfold Holy Spirit in Revelation. So when I read something like that, I said, “What are the seven points of the Holy Spirit? Why is he called sevenfold Holy Spirit?” And so I searched the scriptures.

I find that Christians, I mean, many of you are in the Silicon Valley crowd, particularly, you know, very inquisitive about technical matters. “Why does it work like, why doesn’t this work?” When it’s a gadget or a program, computer program, very inquisitive. “I want to find why this didn’t work out.” And that’s what made you qualified to get a job in the computer field or something like that.

Why don’t you have that same, or I’m not saying why don’t you, I hope you have the same inquisitive nature when you read the scriptures. Why does the scripture say seven Spirits of God? Why? We know there’s only one Holy Spirit. Why is he called the sevenfold Holy Spirit? Or many questions like this that come up. What does it mean to be crucified with Christ? Exactly what does it mean?

Those who have the same inquisitive nature that a computer science graduate is seeking for in the computer realm, they will really grow spiritually. They come to scriptures and they’ve got an inquisitive nature. They’re not lazy who just, okay, if it says bad, okay, I don’t know what it means. It doesn’t matter. Now, you think a person who’s studying computer science comes to some difficult phrase or statement there and he says, “Oh, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.” You think that guy will ever complete his degree? Never.

We are so inquisitive in a good way about technical matters because we want to get a degree. We want to get a job. We love money. We need money to survive. But when it comes to the Bible, what money can I get by understanding what is the sevenfold Holy Spirit? Zero. It doesn’t interest me. My sins are forgiven. I’m on my way to heaven.

I want to tell you, my dear brothers and sisters, that is the reason for the shallowness of the Christian life of so many people. They don’t respect the word of God. God has given us one book, only one book, and we don’t respect it. Well, no wonder our Christian life is shallow.

So let me turn you to Isaiah chapter 11 and show you what the sevenfold Holy Spirit is. Here we read in Isaiah 11, this is referring to Jesus Christ, by the way. So Isaiah has got a lot of prophecies concerning Christ. Isaiah 53, for example, the crucifixion of Christ is described there. And Isaiah 11, Isaiah 50, for example, we consider that one.

Now it says in Isaiah 50, verse 4, the Lord says, “I am woken up every morning to listen to the Father.” Here’s another place. This is referring to Christ again. “A shoot,” Isaiah 11, 1, “will spring from the stem of Jesse.” Jesse is the father of David, and Jesus is called the son of David. So he’s referring to Jesus. “A branch from his roots will bear fruits,” referring to Christ.

And here are the seven aspects of the Holy Spirit. First of all, he’s the Spirit of the Lord, or Jehovah, the Spirit of God. Secondly, he’s the Holy Spirit that brings wisdom, which is different from knowledge. Wisdom is practical life. Knowledge is understanding in the mind. He’s the Spirit of understanding. Yeah, that’s different from wisdom. And fourth, he’s the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit that gives us advice.

And fifth, he’s the Spirit of strength, gives us strength to power. Jesus said “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” And number six, he’s the Spirit of knowledge, gives us knowledge of God. And number seven, he’s the Spirit that gives us the fear of the Lord. Even the fear of the Lord, the Holy Spirit wants to give it to us.

Now, many people are seeking for the Spirit of strength. “Oh, God, give me the power of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” But it’s the same Spirit that wants to give us the fear of God as well. Do you seek for that? See how we can be bent towards something that will give me glory. It’s a wonderful thing if I have power, because the Christians will admire you. “Here I go around preaching powerfully and manifesting the power of God, casting out demons and healing the sick and all that.”

Brother and sister, what we need is the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. OK, out of these seven, referring to Christ, Christ would have all seven. But interestingly, out of the seven, the Holy Spirit emphasizes one. Which of these seven does he emphasize? The last one, Spirit of the fear of the Lord. See the next verse. Jesus Christ will delight in the fear of the Lord.

There are six other characteristics, but he delights in the fear of the Lord. You see the emphasis here, even Christ. What is the mark of his delighting in the fear of the Lord? If I delight in the fear of the Lord, the same will be true of me. What is that? One of the marks is, he will never again judge or form an opinion by what his eyes see. He sees something and he says, “Yeah, I won’t form an opinion yet. I got to weigh it out.”

Now we are very different. We, as soon as we see something, we form an opinion, we spread the news. “I saw him doing it. Yeah, I actually saw with my own eyes that guy doing it.” Not Jesus. He would not form an opinion by what his eyes see. So when you want to develop the fear of the Lord, start here. If you’re serious, I don’t know how many of you will be serious. “Lord, from today onwards, I don’t want to form a decision. I don’t want to judge people by what I see. I may not know the whole truth.”

I remember a brother who they saw him coming out of a drinking saloon. And sure enough, some other believers went around saying, “We saw this brother. We actually saw him with my own eyes coming out of that drinking saloon.” He had gone in to distribute some tracts there. Five or ten minutes earlier, he went out to some tracts to distribute to people there and came out. People thought he had gone drinking. This is what I mean by judging by what one sees with one’s eyes.

And I believe, you know, one of the reasons God has placed the sun in the sky is to teach us, don’t believe what your eyes see. The sun is not moving. For more than 5,000 years, everybody on earth believed the sun moves around the earth. They believed what their eyes saw. “Actually, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

And not only 5,000 years ago, I remember once in India, I met a villager, a believer. So I was at his church and he asked me, “Brother Zac, are you also one of those foolish people who believe that the earth goes around the sun? Don’t you believe like I do that the sun goes around the earth?” I said, “Yes, I’m one of those foolish people who don’t believe that the sun goes around here, but the earth goes around the sun.” He wouldn’t believe me. He felt he needed to pray for me because I was so dumb.

It’s only when people began to question it, scientists and astronomers, that about 600-700 years ago, somebody discovered the earth goes around the sun. And that is a daily reminder to us. You can teach your children, don’t believe what your eyes see. And that applies to 101 other areas also. If you can learn that lesson from the sun, don’t believe what your eyes see.

It says about Jesus that when he feared the Father, he would never judge by what his eyes saw. Yeah, he would go beyond. Let me give you an example of that. Turn to John’s Gospel, chapter 2. John’s Gospel, chapter 2.

Jesus Does Not Entrust Himself to All Believers

John’s Gospel, chapter 2. And verse 23. “When Jesus was in Jerusalem during the Passover feast, many believed in his name, observing the miracles which he was doing.” Now, don’t you think Jesus should have been excited about that? Hundreds of people believing in my name because of the miracles they see.

But Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew what was in them. He knew what was in their minds. People believed in him. It says so clearly. They believed in his name, verse 23. Aren’t you also one of those like them who believed in the name of Jesus? Do you think Jesus is excited about you just because you believed in his name?

It could be written about you, my brother, sister, that Jesus does not entrust himself to you. Even though you believe in his name because he knows what is in you. He knows what your motive is in believing in him. You want to go to heaven. Not because you want to follow him.

And it says here in verse 25, he did not need anybody to tell him what men were like. Because he knew what was in them. He knew what was in their thoughts, motives. Why is this guy believing in me? Why is this guy coming to church regularly? He knew what is in them.

And from that, I learned something that Jesus does not commit himself to everyone who believes in him. Here are people who believe in his name, verse 23. Now, apply that to yourself. You believe in his name. But could it be written about you that Jesus still does not entrust himself to you because he knows what is inside you?

He knows what type of thoughts you think when you’re alone by yourself. He knows what the motives in your life are. He knows the goal that you’re living for. He knows that you’re out to make a name for yourself or to make money or to live a comfortable life and you don’t want to sacrifice anything for the Lord or something. He knows all that.

Even though you can appear very pious before other people and appear very holy before others. God says, the Lord says, “I know everything inside you. I know your motives. I know how much inner sacrifice you have in your life. And I know how the desires you have. And I know what sort of thoughts you think. I know your attitudes to people.” So he does not commit himself. He did not commit himself.

And I say, “Lord, it would be a tremendous tragedy if I live all my Christian life saying I believe in you and you could never commit yourself to me in my life. And I live my whole life and I enter into eternity and I discover in my entire life Jesus could not commit himself to me because he knew what was in me.”

So Isaiah 11, he would not judge by what his eyes saw. And he would not make a decision by what his ears heard. That’s the other thing. We say, “I heard it. I heard it with my own ears.” And Jesus says, “OK, but I will not make a decision by what my ears hear.” I want to tell you, my dear brothers, this is the mark of a man who fears God. Jesus is the great example.

He does not judge by what his eyes see. He says there could be more to it. That guy came out of the drinking salon. Maybe he went there to give track to somebody, not to drink. Or it could be some other situation like that.

We had a situation like that in Bangalore once. After the conference time, some of you probably heard me mention this. Some young people were sitting around outside at night. And some young boy, one of the children of one of our church members, saw some smoke going up. Puffs of smoke going up. And immediately he went and told his mummy. “Mummy, I saw some of those, our CFC young brothers smoking cigarettes at night.”

Wow. And the mother promptly, like many women do, not all women, immediately went to gossip about that to others. To tell someone else, “My son actually saw them smoking.” So, you know, this news goes around and finally it comes to me. So, my son happened to be in that crowd sitting there, one of my sons. I called him and I said, “What is happening there? Was somebody smoking?”

He said, “No, dad. You know how it is outside in Bangalore, full of mosquitoes. And there’s a thing called a coil, which we burn to drive away the mosquitoes. So when we sit outside, we always light that coil. And that sends up the smoke and the mosquitoes never come near us.”

Now, the boy is not to be blamed. He’s a young kid, he doesn’t know. Who is to be blamed there? That foolish mother of the boy, who first of all did not see it, but judged by what her son saw and what her ears heard. And I don’t know how many people she spread the rumor about. You know how you can damage people’s reputation? By speaking things, by what your eyes have seen and ears have heard.

And some of those things you can never set right. You know, if you take a pillow made of feathers and you open it out and let it fly, try and put it back. You can’t do it. It’s like that. Once you spread something and it’s gone here, there and everywhere. And that person’s heard it and passed it on to somebody else. And that person heard it and passed it on. How will you take it all back now, when you discover the whole thing was a lie? Not the truth.

You can be saved from a lot of consequences of ruining other people’s lives and messing up your own life. If you fear God in such a way that you never take a decision by what your eyes see or your ears heard, till you have investigated it. I’m not saying you should never take a decision. But don’t stop with what your eyes see and your ears heard. Investigate it.

Investigate Thoroughly Before Judging

This is something that the Lord taught the Israelites in the Old Testament. One of the things he told them, one of the laws he told them in the book of Deuteronomy was that he told them that they were to be very careful when they judged anybody or brought anybody to justice. In Deuteronomy chapter 13, there’s a very interesting passage.

This is a law that God gave Israelites. Deuteronomy 13:12. If you hear, okay, remember the mark of the fear of God, you would not judge by what you hear. So if you hear that in one of your cities, which the Lord gave you, some worthless men have gone out and said, “Let us go and worship other gods and serve other gods.” You heard a story. The Israelites, one Israelite tells another, “Brother, I heard that in that city, these people are worshiping idols.” What should you do?

Listen, number one, investigate. Number two, search out. Number three, inquire. Number four, inquire thoroughly. And number five, find out if it is true. Number six, see if the matter is established. Number seven, ensure that this abomination has actually be done. One sentence, there are seven things you have to check up.

Then go and strike the inhabitants of that city. You see how important even in the Old Testament law, God said, when you hear something, you heard that this worthless brother did something. Follow these seven things and you’ll save yourself from passing out rumors and telling lies, and you will save many brothers and sisters from destroying their reputation.

So, when you come back to Isaiah 11, and you see that this is how Jesus lived his entire life, he delighted in the fear of God, and so he would never judge by what his eyes see, and he would never take a decision by what his ears heard. But what did he do? He didn’t just sit back and do nothing. But he investigated carefully, and then, verse four, with righteousness, he would pass a judgment. So, I’m not saying that you sit back lazily and say, it doesn’t bother me.

For example, if your children do something, wouldn’t you investigate it? Well, treat other believers with the same love you have for your own children. Investigate it. You don’t believe some bad report you hear about your children immediately. You’ll investigate it. Why don’t we have the same love for others in the church, or anyone else, if you claim to be a believer? So, then, Jesus acts finally, but he acts with righteousness and with fairness.

So, righteousness and fairness must characterize us. I want you to turn to the New Testament now. In 1 Timothy, chapter 5, it says, you could hear an accusation against an elder brother. That’s a serious thing. We have elders in all our churches. Supposing you hear an accusation against an elder brother. What do you do? Here’s what it says here.

Give Double Honor to Elders

Here’s what it says here. 1 Timothy 5, verse 17. “The elders who rule well must be considered worthy of double the honor that you give to other believers.” I want to ask you a question. You have elders in this church. Do you really give them double the honor that you give to other brothers? Or do you lightly criticize them with your mouth and say, “Ah, they don’t know”?

I just want to ask you, has the fear of God taught you to respect 1 Timothy 5:17? Or you couldn’t care less for it? You just check up. It’s like having a medical checkup. Sometimes you think, “No, no, I don’t have any cholesterol or high levels of cholesterol or diabetes or blood pressure.” Brother, have a checkup. Why are you afraid of a checkup? Have a checkup whether you fear God or not. Do you obey this verse? 1 Timothy 5:17. Do you consider them worthy of double the honor?

That means an elder brother who’s doing a good job sacrificially and taking his own time, not for any payment. Do you give him double the honor that you give to all the other brothers in church? You ask yourself whether it’s true or not. First of all, ask yourself whether you give him at least equal honor, leave alone double honor.

I’m just trying to show you so many verses in scripture. All of you have read these verses, but you never meditate on them. And that’s why you remain ignorant. You don’t take it seriously. I’ll tell you how to read the Bible. When I read the Bible, I follow what it says in Psalm 1. Let me get back there to that verse in a minute. Psalm 1. If you don’t know this verse, please look at it. I followed it for years.

The Blessed Man Delights in God’s Law

Psalm 1. “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the path of the righteous. But instead of — he avoids all that, his delight was to is in the law of the Lord.” The book of Psalms begins with this verse. It’s not just that he reads the Bible. His delight is in the Bible. It’s like giving a child ice cream or chocolate.

But that type of delight you have in the law of the Lord. And he proves that delight by meditating on that law day and night. He’s not reading the Bible day and night. No, no, no, no. He read the Bible maybe only 15, 20 minutes in the morning. But he meditates on that law day and night. He’s not reading the Bible day and night. No, no, no, no. He read the Bible maybe only 15, 20 minutes in the morning. But he meditates on it throughout the day. And even at night, if he’s in bed, he wakes up, he thinks of some scripture that he read.

This is the really blessed man. How blessed is this man who reads maybe just 10, 15 minutes in the morning. But then whenever he has a free moment in his place of work or is driving the car or wakes up in the middle of the night, he’s thinking about what he read. And he meditates. Meditation means saying, “Lord, is there some depth of meaning here which I don’t understand?”

This is how I have studied the Bible for 65 years. I don’t read it all the time. But I meditate. And what will happen? If you meditate like that, you will be like a tree that can never be uprooted. By the streams of water, always producing fruit. You’ll have deep roots and you’ll have fruit in your life. Do you know, my brothers and sisters, God wants every one of you to be spiritually fruitful. Everyone. There must be spiritual fruit in your life.

And if there’s no spiritual fruit coming out of your life, you need to ask yourself why? Then you’ve got to go back to this verse. Because here it says, “He will be like a tree firmly planted in the water which yields its fruit in its season.” Why is it not true? Why is no fruit coming out of your life and ministry?

You may not be a preacher. You could be a witness in the office. I know when I was working even on the ships, people would come to Christ on the ship. They would see my life and they would, I would not be ashamed to be seen carrying a Bible. And one man asked me, one of the sailors said, “Sir, are you an insurance agent? I always see you going around with a bag.” I say, “Yeah, I’m insuring people for eternity.” And I got an opportunity to witness to them.

Lord Christ, never be ashamed to let people know you’re a Christian. They’ll ask you some inquisitive questions. You can give them the gospel. And you’ll be like that and your fruit will always come out of your life.

If no spiritual fruit is coming out of your life, I’d ask you to wake up today and say, “What’s wrong?” And here’s the best part of it. That’s been a verse I’ve hung on to. Last part of verse three. Whatever he does, he prospers.

I said, “Lord, I’m going to fulfill the condition. I’m going to avoid wicked people, verse one. I’m not going to stand there in the queue for the cinema theater. I’m not going to stand in that queue or line. I’m not going to sit in the seat of scoffers and make fun of people. No, I won’t sit there. But I’ll meditate on God’s word day and night.” And you promised me that whatever I do will prosper.

Whatever I do, whether it’s in the realm of spiritual, my personal life, whether it’s the realm of overcoming sin, I will prosper. Whether it’s preaching the word, God will bless me, prosper. Whatever my age, if I live up to a hundred, God will prosper me. If I follow this through, it doesn’t make a difference. My age doesn’t make a difference. And if I’m careful with money, God will prosper me. Not to make me extremely rich, but provide me all my needs so that I never in my life have to depend on anybody or borrow any money. What a wonderful life to live. Whatever he does will prosper.

I’ve taken that phrase. I said, “Lord, I want that to be true in my life spiritually. I want to prosper in whatever I do, everything I touch.” There should be some spiritual prosperity that comes out of it. People who come across my life should be blessed or challenged. These are some of the tremendous blessings that come out of the fear of the Lord. We are missed out a lot by not taking it seriously. Learn the fear of the Lord before learning the grace of God. Make that your pursuit. Ask the Lord to teach you the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

Now, turn to Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is one of those books which many of us don’t read much because it’s a bit complicated, some of those things written there. But, you know, after writing so many things in Ecclesiastes, you know what he finally says in the last two verses? That’s the best part. The last two verses of Ecclesiastes. Here is the conclusion of all that I’ve written in this book. Fear God and keep his commandments because this applies to every person.

Because God will bring every single action to judgment one day. All the things that are hidden, thoughts, attitudes towards people, motives, he’ll bring it all to light, whether it is good or evil. Now, we read in Isaiah chapter 11 that it was referring to Jesus Christ, that the spirit of the fear of the Lord would be upon him. Okay, let me show you in Hebrews one result that came in Jesus’ life one result that came in Jesus’ life because this fear of the Father was in him. He lived in the fear of the Father as a human being.

See Hebrews in chapter 5. It’s referring to Jesus Christ who is called in Christ did not glorify himself. Hebrews 5 verse 5. Christ did not glorify himself but the Father said to him “You’re my son and I made you a priest after the order of Melchizedek.” Verse 6. Okay, that’s wonderful that the Father told him all that and the Father tells us also you’re my child, you’re my son, you’re my daughter.

But what did Jesus do after that? Because of that, he didn’t just sit back and relax. Okay, he said that I’m his son and I’m a priest after the order of Melchizedek. No, he did something about it. We need to do something about it when the Lord tells us we are his son or daughter.

In the days of his flesh, that means when he lived on this earth as a man, he prayed. Jesus prayed. If there was one person who walked on this earth who did not need to pray at all, it was Jesus Christ. But he prayed more than anybody else. And he had supplications. Supplications means specific requests. Pleading with the Father for something. What was he praying for?

Okay, he prayed with loud crying and tears. Wow. Have you ever prayed with loud crying and tears? Even once in your life? What was he praying for? He wasn’t praying, “God give me money, give me a better job or bless my carpentry work.” No, he was praying to the one, to the Father who was able to save him from death and he was heard.

Jesus Prayed to Be Saved from Spiritual Death

Which death was that? To be saved from death. Was he praying, “Father save me from going to death on the cross?” No. Because it says here his prayer was heard. That shows us it was not the death on the cross because that is not heard. He died on the cross. He prayed to be saved from death and he was heard.

So, when you read a verse like that, you need to ask yourself what death was this that he prayed for? Which he was, the Father heard him. There are only two types of deaths. One is physical death, the other is spiritual death. He was not saved from physical death. He didn’t want to be saved from that. He said “Not my will but thine.” He was saved from spiritual death.

What is spiritual death? Turn to James chapter 1. James 1, it says here in verse 14, temptation is when the lust, when a strong lust means strong desire entices you. Go to this pornographic site. Go, go, entices you. Express your anger, express it, express it. It could be any type of desire, entices you. Just like a prostitute entices men, a lust entices you, entices you, entices you.

And if you yield to it, that lust in your flesh will give birth. If you resist it, if a woman resists a man, she will not have a baby. No. She says no, no, no, no, no, no. However attractive that man is, she says no, she will not conceive and have a child. So lust is like that. You can resist it, resist it, resist it, sin will not be born. But the moment you yield to it, conception takes place immediately. Lust conceives, sin is born. It’s exactly like giving birth to a baby.

A woman cannot have a baby if she never yields to a man. And you will never sin if you don’t yield to that lust. So it says here, lust is drawing you just like a prostitute or like an evil man trying to grab you. You’re the woman in this case, the bride of Christ. And the man is trying to attract you, attract you, attract you, and he looks very handsome. And you’re like, oh, I’m going to get you, I’m going to get you, I’m going to get you, I’m going to get you. And he looks very handsome and offers you so many things. And you yield, sin is born. And sin, after it’s born, what is the next result? When it is finished, brings death into your life.

So lust conceives, the sin is born, and then death, spiritual death. That is the death, Hebrews 5:7. Jesus prayed to be saved from death. Because he was tempted, the Bible says, exactly like us. Hebrews 4:14, he was tempted. Hebrews 4:15, he was tempted exactly like us. Which means there was desire coming from outside in this case. From outside tempted, the devil tempted him, attracted something.

He said, “No, no, no, no.” And how did it happen? He prayed, “Father, give me the power.” He prayed with tears to the one who was able to save him from death. He didn’t say, “Oh, I’ve got enough strength to handle this. I’ve come from heaven.” How was he saved from sin? Hebrews 5:7 teaches us clearly. He prayed to the one who was able to save him from death. “Father, give me the power of your Holy Spirit that I will not sin.” And he was heard.

Now, this is the part I want to show you. He was heard because of his godly fear. That’s the meaning of that word. He was heard because he feared God. The spirit of the fear of God was upon Jesus. And that made him, when he is tempted, “Father, save me, save me, save me.” When the devil tempted him in the wilderness for 40 days and then came with different temptations. “Father, give me the right word. Man shall not live by bread alone. Give me the right word. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Give me the right word, Father. You shall worship the Lord God and Him only shall you serve,” always depending on the Father.

And Jesus says, “Follow me.” He has given us an example. And if we follow him, I want to say to you, the same result will take place in your life. Dear brothers and sisters, we have only one life to live. And if you want to live that life in a way that when you stand before the Lord, you’ll have no regret about how you lived on earth, follow the example of Jesus.

Say, “Lord, I want my life to be fruitful.” However much you may have failed in the past, make a decision today that you’re going to allow the spirit of the fear of God to come upon you powerfully. That you’re going to overcome anger, totally. Not 50%, not 80%, not 90%, 100%. That you’re going to overcome the lust of the eyes, 100%. That you’ll never go near pornography, ever.

Flee from Sexual Immorality

Yeah, I want to show you this in closing. What should you do when you’re tempted sexually? 1 Corinthians chapter 6. It says here, sexual sin is in a special category.

The Bible divides sins into sexual sin, second, all other sins. You know that? One is sexual sin, the other is all other sins. Here it says in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19, sorry, verse 18. All other sins, see the second sentence there. Every other sin, that’s category two. It’s outside the body. Sexual sin in the body.

So there are two categories of sin in verse 18. One is sexual sin and all other sins. Did you ever know that? That sexual sin is one and all other sins are another. Every other sin is one category. Sexual sin is one category. Fornication, that’s what immorality, that’s what it’s talking about.

And when you face a temptation to immorality, to sexual sin in your thoughts, or to look at some picture on the internet, or in a magazine, or even sometimes in these news items on the internet. All these temptations of improperly dressed women and all that. There’s only one thing to do. It says flee. Flee is different from run.

Do you know the difference between running and fleeing? Running is a person say running a marathon race or even the 100 meters race. Fleeing is different. It’s when a lion is chasing you, you’ll run faster than the 100 meter run that you can capable of. You can break the world record when a lion is chasing you. That’s called fleeing. And so it says when you see a temptation to immorality, flee. You can never conquer it.

No man can ever conquer the temptation of an attractive woman if he doesn’t run. He will destroy himself. He may be very powerful in other areas. Let me ask you a question. Who’s got more muscles, Goliath or Bathsheba? Look at their hands and see who’s got more muscles. Who’s stronger? Goliath may have more muscles, but Bathsheba is stronger. Why? David could run towards Goliath and bring him down in a moment. But when he saw Bathsheba, he should have run the other way. He did not.

What does it say here? When you are tempted in the area of immorality, run the other way. This is God’s word. God knows all about our personality. The only way to overcome is run the other way. This is the advice I’ve given to people.

Are you tempted to look at something filthy on your phone? Don’t try and battle it. “I’m going to battle it. I’m going to battle it” and keep the phone with you. Switch off the phone. Put it away. Go for a walk or go and meet with some brother. Get out of that place. And if it’s your computer, turn down the computer and go out and go away somewhere. It doesn’t matter who you are, married or unmarried or young or old. There is only one way to overcome immorality. It says here in the Bible, flee. Exactly like a lion.

If you want to overcome sin, immoral sin, sexual sin, think of it as a lion coming at you. What do you do? Don’t try and prove your muscles with the lion. You won’t succeed. It’ll eat you up. Run.

Okay, next question. Who is stronger? A lion or Delilah? Look at the muscles of a lion and look at the muscles of Delilah. Samson could tear a lion in pieces with his own hands. But Delilah tore him to pieces. These things are written in the Bible to show you, to warn you. Be careful.

Run away from sexual temptation. There is absolutely no other way to conquer it. If you stand there and try to resist it, resist it, I can give you a written guarantee you’ll fall and you’ll fall and you’ll fall, you’ll fall. If you run away, you will not fall.

Run away from that phone. Run away from that computer. Go and take a walk and do something else. Go and meet with a brother, talk to someone and then come back later after you cool down. And the heat of sexual desire is there and you should never go near a source of temptation. Flee.

Resist the Devil and He Will Flee

Now I’ll show you the contrast of that. James chapter 4. James 4. Hear the word flee is again there. Flee. F-L-E-E. James 4 verse 7. Submit to God. Resist the devil. He will flee from you.

So let me ask you. The devil comes at you and an attractive sexual temptation comes at you. What should you do? The devil you say “In Jesus name, get away.” It’ll go. Every demon will go in the name of Jesus. I’ve seen that again and again and again. I’ve never in my life seen a demon that remains there after I tell him to get out in the name of Jesus Christ, not even one.

But if an attractive woman, girl comes at you, or in a picture or a poster or a video, there’s only one thing you can do. Don’t try to resist it. The devil, you can resist it. He will run away from you. But when an attractive temptation comes in the sexual area, you got to run away from it. Flee from fornication. The devil will flee from you. Do you see which is more powerful? We thought the devil was the most powerful person in the universe. No, sexual temptation is more powerful. You don’t run away from the devil. You resist him. He’ll flee. But when sexual temptation comes, you better run.

Bathsheba is stronger than Goliath. Delilah is stronger than the lion. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. It’ll save your life if you listen to what I told you today.

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