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YWAM DTS Notes Lordship and the Fear of God based on lectures by Ari Sloots Then Jesus said to His
disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up
his cross and follow Me.
25 "For
whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My
sake will find it. The cross is not a
burden to bear, but rather an instrument of torture and death. The cost of
discipleship could be my very life. Survive at all costs," is a flawed
philosophy by which to live. "Be faithful to Christ no matter what the cost," is
the philosophy Jesus' disciples came to live by. Missionaries of the nineteenth
century, often packed their belongings in a coffin instead of a trunk so they
would have something to be buried in. They never expected to return.
Furthermore I ought to reckon myself as dead to sin daily, losing my own life in
His. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
My progress in understanding more of Him Prayer is even more
important than I thought. How I long to know Him more. At night my soul longs
for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
O God, You are my God; I
shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a
dry and weary land where there is no water. So my soul pants for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? Satan’s strategies The Enemy would have us to fear man and to fear him, rather than fearing God. I was reminded again that Satan loves religion but hates relationship. The demons believe and tremble but don’t acknowledge truly His Lordship. Understanding myself It was an interesting take Ari had on the carnal and spiritual Christian or the immature and mature in comparing it to the death on Friday, the grave on Saturday, the resurrection on Sunday, and sharing with others on Monday as four types of Christians. I have been a Monday Christian for a long time, but have also had a number of lapses into earlier types.
To fear the Lord is to stand in awe of Him. As we surrender, God’s purposes can be done throughout the earth. God’s primary purpose is to see His Kingdom established on earth Matt. 24:14. Lordship is not just relinquishment of rights but freedom and surrender. “Jesus is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.” As I understand more who He is, it becomes easier to surrender and to obey Him. The fear of Lord is
reverence for God, not because you are afraid, but because of who He is. Let
all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe
of Him. The fear of the Lord is:
Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid;
for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may
remain with you, so that you may not sin." This involves word, thought and deed. Sin starts in our thoughts. Temptation -> thought-> attitude -> action -> habit ->lifestyle -> destiny For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. I need to resist evil back in the thoughts stage. …the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, In our thoughts we make choices, “Am I going to be a servant?” “Am I going to be kind?” God wants us to be clean in thoughts. Males are tempted through the eyes. Sow righteousness and you will reap righteousness, sow unrighteousness and you will reap unrighteousness.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for
whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own
flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit
will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
When Potiphar’s wife made a move on Joseph he
fled, even though it was just the two of the them in the house. Does your
private life match your public life? Do I still thing pure thoughts, and love
my neighbor in private? God will judge me according to my actions. When
tempted with my eyes, do I look again? Do I speak against gossip or listen to
it and encourage it? Do I live out of the new man or the flesh? Jesus was
tempted in every way, just as we are, ye He was without sin.
Jesus is in me, so I can be free of sin. Jesus did not come, to remove the flesh but so that we might not be ruled by it, Gal. 2:20. Lordship is doing the things God wants us to do whether we feel like it or not. When we make choices to follow God and worship Him, often the feelings will come. If we don’t turn from temptation, there are consequences. Saul was rejected as king because of disobedience in not destroying the Ammonites, see II Chron. 20, and Gen. 19 for the background of the Ammonites and Moabites. Recommended book: “Intimacy Through the Fear of the Lord” by Joy Dawson. Accountability can help in Lordship issues, especially in struggling with sin and temptation. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever
is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely , whatever
is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
dwell on these things.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love
casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not
perfected in love. To fear the Lord means to have God’s attitude toward sin and a deep understanding of His holiness. A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, And awesome above all those who are around Him The greater revelation we have of His glory, the less we want to seek our own. God is holy, there are three reasons why we should study His holiness:
1.
It is proclaimed in Heaven, And
one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the
whole earth is full of His glory."
2. The name of the third person of the godhead is called the Holy Spirit 3. It is the basis of our respect for Him. He is the One with the most perfect character. There is security in His holiness. If you love God, you set aside time to spend with Him, a daily quiet time. More than that, I count
all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but
rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a
righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I
may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the
resurrection from the dead. If you want to see life change, pursue God. Our response to evil Prov. 13:5; 8:13; 14:16 and
If we would truly hate sin, we wouldn’t do it. If we sin, it may indicate we don’t hate it. We need a hatred for sin in thought, actions, relationships, and speech.
1.
Thought life – anything that
consumes your thoughts will consume your life. Our minds should not control us,
we should control our minds, we are the gatekeepers. I need to be ruthlessly
accountable in areas of past struggle. Don’t fight battles alone. The battle
is won or lost in the heart. 2. Relationships- trust can be broken, relationships must be built on love.
3.
Obedience gives evidence of the
fear of the Lord · Lack of intimacy with God, He resists the proud. · Missing our inheritance. · Deception – not doing what God wants, so we miss His counsel. · Hardness of heart. · Little or no spiritual growth. · Frustration · Lack of grace · Tired Results of obedience Lev. 26:12: · Rest and peace · Walking in His call and inheritance · Protection · Victory · Blessing · Intimacy · Trust 4. Speech – wrong communication always indicates a lack of the fear of the Lord. Whatever is in the heart, will come out given the circumstance. Honor and respect leadership in heart and word. Speak positively to others. David still honored his son Absalom who tried to take the kingdom from him. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. 3 Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. 4 Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. 5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See how great a forest is set aflame by such a
small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue
is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire
the course of our life , and is set on fire by hell . 7 For every species of
beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been
tamed by the human race . 8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless
evil and full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with
it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; 10 from the same
mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be
this way. 11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and
bitter water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce
figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” that is Lordship. Jesus as Lord is mentioned fifteen times more often than Jesus as Savior. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped , 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:5-11 (NASB) Lordship involves: 1. God’s will and purpose 2. Hearing His voice 3. Obedient service 4. Recognizing His power 5. His will is done There are four types of Christians 1. Friday Christians know Jesus died but live a dualistic lifestyle. They have one foot in the world and the other in the Church. They are not growing, they are still on milk. They are carnal. Other characteristics: fearful, anxious, confused, unbelieving, depressed, closed up due to hurt, and weak at overcoming temptation. The solution Gal. 5:24; Rom. 6:6-7 2. Saturday Christians know Jesus was buried but may fail to recognize He has overcome death and overcome the Enemy, Heb. 2:14. 3. Sunday Christians know Jesus rose, death was defeated. They walk in victory, there are battles and temptations but death and sin no longer have mastery. They live in the fear of the Lord. 4. Monday Christians live for Jesus, they stand up and speak up. They speak against sin. They are world changers, sharing Christ with others with grace and truth. You must surrender all. The Rich Young Ruler was not willing to surrender his riches. Am I willing to surrender desires, family, fears, food, attitudes, comforts, free time, calling, country, reputation, rights, and clothing for the Lord? The difference between the fear of the Lord and the fear of man Saul feared man, I Sam. 15:24-31. The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the
LORD will be exalted. The fear of man:
The fear of the Lord
The grace, kindness, grace, mercy, justice, generosity, and love of God are all connected. How do we deal with the fear of man and obtain the fear of the Lord? F.O.M. > F.O.G. 1. Acknowledge we lack the fear of God 2. Ask God for the fear of God and receive it in faith 3. Walk into our fears, step out in faith 4. Make a willful choice Prov. 1:29; Heb. 11:6 5. Be a seeker of God Jer. 29:13; Matt. 6:33; Is. 555:6; I Chron. 28:9; II Chron. 7:14; and Matt. 7:7 Additional Scripture references mostly regarding the fear of God Deut. 10:12-13; Is.
11:2-3; 33:5-6; Eccl. 12:13; Truth confirmed Jesus has been my boss, my Lord and Master for a long time. I was reminded to take every thought captive. I was reminded to hate sin. I was reminded not to fear man but only be concerned about what will please my Lord. What God is saying to me It is amazing how many times throughout the Scripture, especially Psalms and Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is mentioned. How very important it is. I was reminded again to die to self. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. When Mark from IWT spoke on Friday night I was reminded that the Lord’s return might indeed be very imminent, making the work of evangelism in Southern Thailand as well as everywhere else, very urgent. Implementation I must be all the more in
awe of Him, and ask often am I walking in the flesh or in the spirit? Therefore
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of
death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God
did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for
sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might
be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the
Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit
is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God;
for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do
so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
God wants to be honored
with my heart not just my lips. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. |
Dana and Cindy Bratton serving with YWAM Thailand and Love in Action Asia
