Fear of the Lord - 3

                Fear of the Lord - 3

Subject – Content with Jesus

By Rick Welborne

Isaiah 33:5-6 (NIV)
⁵  The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
⁶  He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. 

Numbers 21:4-9 (NLT2)
⁴  Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey,
⁵  and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”
⁶  So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died.
⁷  Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.
⁸  Then the LORD told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!”
⁹  So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed! 

The fear of the Lord - can be defined as a continual awareness that you are in the presence of a holy, just, and almighty God, and that every motive, thought, word, and action is open before Him and will be judged by Him.

--As I sat here praying for the people I love and the people I have invested about half of our lives in, I simply asked God, what is He saying to the church right now.

--I believe he immediately led me to this story in the book of Numbers. I truly believe God has much He wants to say to us so please open up your heart to receive the Word. 

1. The People Grew Impatient.

--God had brought them out of Egypt and had delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh. He set them free from their bondage and oppression. No more whips and beatings. 

--He opened up the Red Sea in front of them so they could walk across on dry land. How awesome is that?

--Pharaoh’s army pursued them and tried to follow them on the floor of the Red Sea (for them it was the Dead Sea). Just saying, but didn’t someone think that was a bad idea?

--If God can make water stand up and part, couldn’t that same God make that water come back together and destroy whoever was in its way or wake? Rage can make us dash into our own disaster.

--We see two sides of God in this story, we see a God Who rescues and a God of judgment who deals with those in rebellion to Him. In America we have only chosen to see the love side of God.

--That being said, when something horrible happens to us or in our world, we begin to question the character of God. The truth is, He has always had both sides, we have just chosen not to acknowledge them. 

Numbers 21:4-5 (NLT2) ⁴  Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey,
⁵  and they began to speak against God and Moses.

--Please get this, God delivered them by His mighty hand, He sent plagues on Egypt and Pharaoh, He opened up the Red Sea so they could walk across on dry land. 

--He destroyed their enemy by drowning them. Before that, even though they were complaining, God brought water from a rock.   

Numbers 20:4-5 (NKJV)
⁴  Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here?
⁵  And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink."

--Israel became extremely impatient and if we are not careful, we can become impatient with what is going on. Please be careful what comes out of your mouth.

--They began to complain against God and against Moses. We are quick to complain against those who are in authority…what they are doing or what they are not doing.

Romans 13:1-5 (NLT2)
¹  Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.
²  So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.
³  For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you.
⁴  The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong.
⁵  So you must submit to them…

--Please be patient with those in authority and pray for them. --I know none of us probably want to hear this, but when the people began to speak against God and Moses, it was God who sent the snakes.

2. The Secret.

Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV)
¹⁰  I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.
¹¹  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
¹²  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
¹³  I can do everything through him who gives me strength. 

--Most of us have heard that last verse to mean I can do anything, I can climb mountains, I can build a great business, I can get wealthy, but the context here is quite different.

--Paul is in prison, yet, he is still teaching and sharing a secret to living in tough times as a Christian. This is one of his prison epistles. Writing to the church in Philippi…First city he hit on his 2^nd missionary journey.

--The church in Philippi remembered Paul and how he blessed them by preaching the gospel so they sent gifts to him. Prisons of that day, if people didn’t come and help you, you were in trouble. He was thankful.

--Paul is sending a letter back with Epaphriditus telling the church that he appreciates the gifts that they have sent him but then, he says something strange…Not because I was in need. What? You are in prison.

--Paul tells them that I have learned a secret in my Christian walk which takes me to a different level. I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in. Better than a PHD.

--Our education or status in life has very little to do with contentment. You can have more degrees than a thermometer and not be content. You can have the title of CEO or CFO and not be content.

--Unhappy people will find a reason to be miserable. Glass always half empty. Paul is writing that I have learned that in every situation to be content. Can you see how this is being applicable?

--But the man who has been beaten, stoned, left for dead, and thrown in prison says I have learned a secret. He is content? He is okay with where God has him.

--Paul said I have learned to be content when I have very little. I have a roof over my head and enough food to live on. He had learned the secret.

--Paul said I have learned how to be content with plenty. Paul said I have learned the secret. I have had little; I have had more. Life changes…I guess we all know that.

--Our world changed so quickly with Covid. People being told to stay home. You can only shop at certain times. Restaurants closed. People getting sick and dying. Struggling!

--Are we going to trust God and attempt to learn the same secret that Paul learned? To be content and rest in Jesus.

--Our son Jeremy had one of those slips of the tongue that made me laugh so hard. He said: We all have a skeleton full of closets! Of course he meant: We have a closet full of skeletons!

--As we look at this Pandemic I think he may have been right in what he accidently said. We are struggling as if we are a shell of what we used to be and it is exposing the closets we have hidden in our lives. 

--The secret is this, do we have Jesus with us? Isn’t Jesus enough? So how did Paul get to the secret place of I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me? 

--I am sure Paul first thought about what Jesus went through. We may have it tough but nothing like Jesus. If Jesus could go thru what He went thru, can’t we get thru whatever?

--Think about those who have it worse than we do. Paul learned that whatever we go through, it has a beginning and an end. We will get through this with God!

Psalm 30:2-5 (NKJV) ²  O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.
³  O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
⁴  Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
⁵  For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. 

3. A Snake on a Pole

--What’s that all about? So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” 

--So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed! What a strange way for people to be healed. Maybe it was a type.

John 3:14-16 (NKJV)
¹⁴  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
¹⁵  that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
¹⁶  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

--Jesus is still the answer…look to Him Who hung on the cross (like the snake on the pole). A snake on a pole?

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) ²¹  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him