[Biblemat] A) OUR NEED OF REVERENCE

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Monday
morning to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.
Here is an article from my files:

OUR NEED OF REVERENCE

     Reverence toward God is the only proper way for us to draw near to Him.  
"Therefore, since we are receiving a king-
dom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we
may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear"
(Heb. 12:28).  "Holy and reverend (awesome -- NKJV) is His
name" (Psa. 111:9).  It it because of reverence for God that
we can love Him and walk humbly with Him (Mic. 6:8).  Rever-
ence also helps us to worship in spirit and in truth (Jno. 4:24)
"God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in 
reverence by all those who are around Him"
(Psa. 89:7).

     "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is
man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You
visit him?" (Psa. 8:3,4).  "By the Word of the Lord the heav-
ens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His
mouth" (Psa. 33:6).  "It is He Who has made us, and not we
ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture"
(Psa. 100:3).  "The earth is the Lord's, and all its fulness, the
world and those who dwell therein" (Psa. 24:1).  "All things 
are of God" (2 Cor. 5:18).  "In Him we live and move and have
our being...We are the offspring of God" (Acts 17:28,29).  "And do not fear 
those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul.  But rather fear Him Who is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).

     We show reverence for God when we use His name only
with the greatest respect.  "Hollowed be Your name" (Matt. 6:
9).  It is irreverence to use His name as a by-word or in any
other empty fashion.  We also show reverence when we res-
pect the authority of God and of His Son.  We show respect
for His authority when we study diligently to learn what He
wants us to do, and when we then obey His instrustions with-
out murmuring or disputing with His Law (Phil. 2:14).  Humili-
ty demands that we "consent to wholesome words, even the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is
according to godliness" (1 Tim. 6:3-5).

     All of us should be able to see that reverence is a learned
dispostion of mind and behavior.  Children must be taught
continually in order that they learn to show reverence to God
in a PROPER way.  Cain's, Nadab's, and Abihu's offerings were not displays of 
true reverence, regardless of how "rever-
ently" they offered them.  We as adults must also be remind-
ed of these lessons.  We should prepare our minds as the
time draws near to offer praise and worship in the assembly
of the saints.  We can (but should not) set a wrong example
for children by acting indifferently and frivously as worship
is offered to God.  Our quietness and reverence and our hearty singing of 
praise to God, plus our teaching our child-
ren to participate and our restraint upon them in requiring
respectful behavior, will show them the way until they are
able to understand why we are behaving this way.  No person
of understanding expects little children to understand the
depth of meaning in songs, in prayers, and in the Lord's Sup-
per; but we have every reason to expect proper discipline to
be exercised in order to train children in the ways of righteou-
sness.  All of us msut learn the greatness of God and our
complete dependence upon Him so that we may live in awe
of His power, in respect of His holiness, and in love for His
love and mercy offered to all who will obey Him (Heb. 5:9).
                                       ----------- Gilbert Alexander.   </HTML>
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