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derstood. Let's understand its full
significance. " By the fear of the
Lord men depart from evil" (Prov.
16:6). This fear warns us that God
will punish us if we harm ourselves
by doing evil!
When we do evil, we harm our–
selves. To teach us not to do evil,
God sometimes has to punish us.
That is how the fear of God leads us
away from the danger of evil-both
physical and spiritual danger. "The
fear of the Lord is the instruction of
wisdom" (Prov. 15:33).
When we fear God, we respect
what he says. What he says has
been recorded in his Word, the
Bible. In the Bible is the wisdom of
God. Its instruction tells us right
from wrong. It defines for us the
pitfalls of sin.
lt
warns us of
the dangers of evil that rob
us of happiness and prosper-
ity and eterna! life. "The
fear of the Lord tendeth to
life: and he that hath it shall
abide satisfied; he shall not
be visited with evil" (Prov.
19:23).
The need for the fear of the
Lord is also a New Testament
teaching. Peter said, "Fear
God" (1 Pet. 2: 17}.
It
is
repeated again in Revelation
14:7. The early Church of
God had peace when "walk–
ing in the fear of the Lord,
and in the comfort of the
Holy (Spirit] " (Acts 9:31 ).
How to Act on the Fear
of God
How will the proper reaction
to the fear of God rid us of all the
needless mental sufferi ng we
impose on ourselves? How will the
fear of God. teach us to manage and
direct our minds until we master
every nervous fear?
The apostle John wrote, "There is
no fear in love; but perfect love cast–
eth out fear: because fear hath tor–
ment. He that feareth is not made
perfect in love" (1 J ohn 4:18).
The worries and mental torments
stemming from fears occur when
love has not been perfected. Love is
doing what God commands. "For
this is the love of God, that we keep
his commandments: and bis com–
mandments are not grievous"
(1
John 5:3).
The commandments of God
June
1983
define right and wrong. They tell us
of the dangers of sin. Sin is the
"transgression of the law" (1 John
3:4). By obeying God we avoid the
dangers of evil and we fill our minds
and emotions with love. Love
removes worries and torments. This
is how we act upon the fear of God.
Now Jet us Jearn how to acquire
perfect love. Here is what Peter
says: " Add to your faith virtue; and
to virtue knowledge; and to knowl–
edge temperance; and to temper–
ance patience; and to patience godli–
ness; and to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness
[love)" (11 Pet. 1:5-7). (The archaic
word
charity,
found in the Autho–
rized Version, should be rendered
/ove.)
When the mind
1s
not properly
managed, the natural
fear for
self-protection is
turned into unnatural
fears for
the protection
of self.
First, notice that you begin with
faith.
What is fa ith? " But without
faith it is impossible to please
[God]: for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligent–
ly seek him" (Heb. 11 :6).
You cannot fear God without
having faith that he exists and that
he rewards us for what we do,
whether good or evil. Faith is not
something you try to make yourself
think you have when you don't
have it. Faith is the recognition that
God exists and that it is foolish for
you to defy bis purpose in your life
by refusing to turn from your sins!
This faith is acquired.
It
is learned
by experience. You cannot hypno-
tize yourself into receiving faith.
Perhaps you need to become a
constant reader of
The Plain Truth
to learn faith in the authority and
power of God!
Let's follow the instruction of
Peter throughout his sevenfold plan
to conquer fear by adding to fait h
the mind and character of God.
The Sevenfold Plan
First, add virtue to your faith in the
power of God. Virtuous means
decent, chaste, modest, well-man–
nered. It is the opposite of being
coarse and vulgar. The first step is
to remove the cause of self-con–
demnation, the secret sins that are
often committed under the guise of
extreme prudery!
We must Jet the Bible
define decency, chastity and
good manners for us. Study
the lives of men and women
recorded within its covers.
Recognize their mistakes.
Don't make the same mis–
takes. Remember, too, that
the fear of God teaches us
not to make up our minds as
we wish to believe, but to
believe and act upon what
God says virtue is. It is nei–
ther self-righteousness nor
coarseness.
It
is proper
refinement.
Second, add knowledge to
virtue. Knowledge refers to
the learning of ideas and
principies of conduct. We
must continually increase in
knowledge until we clean up
our character!
Third, add temperance to knowl–
edge. When we learn that God per–
mits us to use things that we
thought were forbidden, we must
exercise the proper balance in han–
dling any new freedom. We must
be temperate. Temperance does not
mean prohibition. Prohibition is
abstention. Temperance is moder–
ate use. Paul said, "And every man
that striveth for the mastery is tem–
perate in all things" (1 Cor. 9:25).
Temperance means self-cont rol.
This is one of the most vital steps in
controlling the mind and stilling
fears. You need to exercise self–
discipline over mind and body if
you want to overcome fears.
Fourth, add patience to seif-con–
(Continued on page 29)
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