Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs
chapter 14, that is page 626 in the Bible box, Bibles. Proverbs
chapter 14 and verse 27. Verse 27, the fear of the Lord. is a fountain of life to depart
from the snares of death. With the Lord's help this morning
to speak to you of being saved from the snares of death. Proverbs chapter 14 and verse
27. And of course we've read the
testimony of David, King David, and the way the Lord delivered
him and delivered him out of the hand of King Saul in a very
literal way, but many snares, spiritual snares as well. Our text, it speaks really of
life and it speaks of death. The fountain of life and the
snares of death, and that life is the deliverance from death,
and that the spring or fountain of life, it comes from the fear
of the Lord. Really our text is a very vivid
illustration of a snare, A snare is something that a hunter would
put in the ground, really we could perhaps use another word
to say a trap, and it is hidden so it can't be seen and usually
associated with it will be some kind of pleasing bait as well. And the animal usually that is
aimed at trying to be caught that will come along and drawn
by the bait right to where that snare is. And before it ever
is aware, suddenly it is taken and sometimes it is instant death. The snare actually kills the
animal. Other times, the snare actually
holds the animal and holds it for maybe quite a period of time. until the hunter comes along
and then dispatches that animal and kills it. So they are snares
of death. They are snares that result in
the death of the animal. And those that are caught in
those snares, unless they escape out of that snare, then they
know as soon as the hunter comes that they will be killed. And
so to be preserved from those snares, the ideal is to be preserved
so that we do not even get into those snares. That in the illustration
that the animal doesn't even go near it, that senses the danger
that is preserved from ever entering into it. But if it does enter
into it, then to be delivered out of that That is the illustration. It's a very vivid one. And we
should realise, looking upon it, the seriousness of what is
in the text here. Snares of death literally mean
that. It ends in death. But when we're
speaking of a person, of a human being, an animal does not have
a soul. It just has a body. And all that
can happen to that animal is that it dies and loses its existence. Whereas with a person, those
snares that are aimed at that person, it is speaking not just
of a literal death, but of eternal death. After death, the judgment. Man has a soul as well. Solomon,
he says in Ecclesiastes, who knoweth the spirit of the beast
that goeth downward into the earth, and the spirit of man
that goeth upward. When man dies, the body returns
to the dust as it was, but the spirit returns to God that gave
it. And so our lives are precious,
our lives are precious because in the day of our lives is also
the day of grace. It is the day when we are to
be delivered from that of which we are already under in a spiritual
way. We have the sentence of death
upon us. If we go back to the illustration
of the animal, and we can picture perhaps a fox and it's got the
rope around its foot and it's struggling, it's trying to get
through, It is in the snares of death, it knows the hunter
is coming, and death will soon come. It has life at the moment,
but it's certainty of death. And that is where we are. We have life at the moment, but
we are under the sentence of death. Sin entered into the world,
and death by sin, and that all have sinned, so death has passed
upon all men. and all must die, and after death
the judgment. Spiritual death as well came
upon us, and man now cannot, by searching, find out God. In God's wisdom he has ordained
that, that though man has much wisdom to find out many, many
things, he cannot find out God. But that death, that spiritual
death, dead in trespasses and sins, which holds all men as
a snare, is possible to be delivered from it, but delivered from it
only in the way of the text, in the fear of the Lord. In that of which the Lord Jesus
Christ has come to give to his people life, I am come that they
might have life that they might have it more abundantly, to deliver
his people from death. And so we see in our Lord in
going into death and being raised from the dead, a deliverance
from death. Death could not hold him. Death
could not bring corruption upon him. And our Lord says, because
I live, ye shall live also." So the illustration in a literal
way, we view it in a spiritual way. The snares of death, they
lead to eternal death if we are not delivered from it. The snares
of death, even for a believer, lead to death of spirit, to deadness
and hardness. The Apostle Paul puts it in another
way. To be spiritually minded is life
and peace. To be calmly minded is death. And the believer will prove,
and they'll know that, but there are those times in their lives
we get entrapped, ensnared, we get in a low place, we get entrapped
with sins and habits and thought patterns, ways that we cannot
deliver ourselves from. But while we are under that,
there is just death upon our spirit and we do not enjoy the
Lord, we have not the life of God feelingly within. And so
the word that is before us here, in one way, It is to those that
yet are dead in trespasses and sins. May you hear this word
as a word of hope to deliver from what actually is a snare
and a snare of death. And to the people of God that
hope to be delivered from those things that are causing such
death upon our spirits. I want to look, with the Lord's
help, at three points. Firstly, the snares of death. And secondly, the fear of the
Lord. And thirdly, the fear of the
Lord as a fountain of life. But firstly, the snares of death. The snares of death. The children of Israel, when
they were in Egypt, they were actually in bondage there. The Egyptians were putting them
to hard rigour, but it wasn't until Moses was sent to deliver
them that it became apparent how much they were held in Egypt
as a snare as it were. They couldn't get free of themselves. Very often you might have seen
pictures of snares that have been made for animals and with
the bait there when the animal is first there it's quite happy.
It is not alarmed, it's enjoying itself, it's eating the food,
it doesn't realize that the door has dropped perhaps, or the snare
is already around it, until it tries to get free. And then it realises that actually
it is in captivity. And so the children of Israel,
God sent nine great signs and wonders upon Egypt, and Pharaoh
would not let them go, though his own men said that do not
know that the whole of Egypt is destroyed. And yet so much
was Pharaoh's resolve to hold the people. They were not at
liberty to go. They needed the Lord to deliver
them. And the Lord did deliver them.
And in the wonderful way of the Passover, the death of the firstborn,
prefiguring the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Passover Lamb. When
I see the blood, I will pass over you. So what are some of
those snares of death? Now, it is not possible, of course,
to name all the snares that men are held under. and what the
snares of death are, but the scriptures do make some very
clear. And when the children of Israel
were coming into the Promised Land, the Lord warned them about
specific things. One of the things that God said
would certainly be a snare unto the children of Israel was the
gods of the Canaanites. They were not even permitted
When they saw those idols to ask, how did they worship them?
How did they serve them? They were told that should they
take up with those idols, they would be a snare unto them, a
snare of death. And we read even Solomon, even
Solomon who wrote this book of Proverbs, even him did outlandish
women cause to sin. because the many wives that he
had and took of other nations, he even made idols for their
gods and so that they could serve them. They were a snare and a
cause of the Lord's splitting the kingdom into parts, Judah
and Benjamin, and then on the other side, the other 10 tribes. So idols, gods that are no gods,
Thou shalt have no other gods beside me. That is a snare of
death. There is only one true and living
God. And as soon as we give credence
to another or go after that, why we have that which is written
in Jeremiah 10, the gods that have not made the heavens and
the earth, they shall perish from under the heavens and the
earth. They were also forbidden. to
make any agreement or covenant with the inhabitants of the land. God's people are not to do that. They're not to join with unbelievers. Sometimes it gets very close,
and this is where Jehoshaphat, a godly king of Judah, he looked
upon Ahab as a brother, that his horses were as his horses,
his people as his people. Why? because they were all of
the tribes of Israel. But what Jehoshaphat didn't take
into account, that Ahab, though he was over the 10 tribes, was
a wicked king, and they were walking in ungodly ways. Whereas the Lord had blessed
Jehoshaphat with life, with his blessing. And so Jehoshaphat,
while he nearly lost his life time that they joined when Ahab
wanted to, Ahab did lose his life, but he disguised himself
but wanted Jehoshaphat to go in his robes and the Lord preserved
Jehoshaphat. But he and his son also were
liable to the same faults and reproved by God through his prophets. The Lord's people are not to
think that when God makes a difference by his grace, that there is no
difference. And then to join with the world,
come out from among them and be separate, touch not the unclean
thing and I will receive you. And you shall be my sons and
my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Many of the Lord's
dear people, whether in business or Sometimes even in the church
connection, they've made agreements or entered into contracts that
prove to be such a snare to their soul. Another snare is the fear of
man. You have this also in the book
of Proverbs. The fear of man bringeth a snare. We read a most solemn thing when
our Lord was upon earth. that there was not just some,
but many, many of the chief priests, they believed on him, but they
did not confess him because of the Pharisees. The fear of the
Pharisees was what stopped them from confessing the Lord. The man that had been born blind
and the Lord gave him sight, they, His parents were asked
concerning the Lord Jesus, what did they think? But they wouldn't
answer because already it had been decided if any man confessed
that Jesus was the Christ, he would be put out of the temple.
So they said, hey, he is of age, ask him. Referred it to him,
the fear of man. It can prevent those that have
a conscience telling them there's something real in religion, the
word of God is speaking to me. But what about my wife? What
about my husband? What about my children? What
about my parents? What about my reputation? What will so-and-so say? And
those things keep back, and they prove to be a snare, snare of
death, a snare to hold one in an evil way, a way that will
end in eternal room for the soul. And the thing that he's holding
is the fear of man. It's a blessed thing to be delivered
from that. It comes in many, many ways. You think of that godly man We
have Kusai and Ahimehas. Ahimehas, a godly man. And it
was when Absalom had risen up against David, and Joab had slain
Absalom, and David was waiting at Mahanaim in the city, and
the messengers came. And Ahimehas came. Well, he wanted
to run quickly with a message, but Joab said to him, Thou shalt
not run today, because the king's son is dead." And when he came
to David, David's one thing was to know, was Absalom safe? Is the young man Absalom safe? And poor Ahimehas, the fear of
man, the fear of giving a direct, clear message to David, he said,
I saw a great commotion, but I knew not what it was. No help
today, but Kusai came later, was able to tell him very clearly
what the situation was. And so even a godly person, through
the fear of man, keeps back part of the truth, not able to truly
confess. We think of Peter with our Lord. The Lord says that before the
crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And even with a maid questioning
thou art one of them, the fear of her, and he denies his lord
and master. Don't ever underestimate what
a strong snare is the fear of man as to hold in the ways of
death. Then we have the lips of a fool
is said to be a snare to his soul. Very easy to utter things,
and because we've said something, we say that, well, we are now
bound by that. And we have the case of the King
of Judah, our Messiah. He hired the men of Ephraim to
go with him in battle and help him in battle. But a man of God
said to him, God is with you. but not with the men of Ephraim."
Again, you have Judah and you have Israel represented here. And he said to him, you know,
send these men back. Don't let them go with you. And
he said, well, yeah, but what about the agreement? What about
the money I've paid for these soldiers? What about this that
I've said to them? I've said you are to go with
me. And the prophet said, the Lord is able to give you much
more than this. You break that agreement just
because you've said you can go back on that. When you see the
danger, when you see what your lips have let you in for, when
you see it's a matter of life and death, you can go back on
that. There's snares of death even
with those things that we say. Another snare is the is anger. We are forbidden to go with a
furious man or an angry man and the whole reason is lest we get
a snare for our soul. That is in Proverbs 22 and verses
24. Make no friendship with an angry
man and with a furious man thou shalt not go lest thou learn
his ways and get a snare to thy soul. We think of Paul's warning
to Timothy of the snare of riches and how often the love of riches
and the things of this world, our Lord told the parable of
the rich man. We have the account of Gehazi,
the servant of Elisha, and when Naaman was here to live his leprosy
and wanted to give a present to Elisha, Elisha wouldn't take
it. But Gehazi coveted that riches and he wanted them. And so he
deceived, he lied, he made out that there was those people coming
and that there was a reason to give the gifts, that Elisha changed
his mind. No, Elisha knew what was happening
and Gehazi ended up a leper himself. How easy we can be entrapped
by the false riches of this world as if they were everything. We came into this world with
nothing and we shall go out with nothing. We cannot carry anything
out of this world. Then we think of adultery. Proverbs 7 speaks of those snares
that are attendant with sexual sins. The picture of one going after
an adulterer, he goeth after her straightways, an ox goeth
to the slaughter, who is a fool to the correction of the stocks,
till a dance, drawing through his liver as a bird, hasteneth
to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. And many, and of course in our
day, we have so much in electronic form. We can be snared, snared
with things that we see on the internet, snared in thought patterns,
snared in the evils of our heart. So many things that we can get
into habits and form ways that pleasing to the corrupt and evil
nature that we have. And really in all our walk, in
all of our conduct, we're to expect snares. While we are here
below, we are no sooner out of one than into another. There's
no place that we can walk. Satan is all the time trying
to ensnare the people of God. The world is what the natural
man loves, and it holds its own. It doesn't like to let go its
own. It hates where there is a change. I have given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them. And so the snares of death, we
wouldn't isolate them to those that we've mentioned, but you
prove it. If it is to be a snare, You try
and get rid of it. You try and loose from it. You
try and change it and see if it holds you fast. See how much
liberty you have and ability to deliver yourself from it.
It was a snare of death. How does it have an effect upon
your soul, your spiritual life, your communion with the Lord,
in the assurance that you have of eternal life? And that will
clarify as to whether something really is a snare of death by
how it holds us and what effect it has upon our spiritual life,
even while we are here below. I want to look then secondly
at the fear of the Lord. I want to make it clear that
the fear of the Lord that is spoken of in scriptures is praiseworthy
and is essential for a child of God, and this is spoken of
in our text, is not a slavish fear. It's not a fear that men
would have of a tyrant or of a burglar that was burgling into
their home or of a person that was really fearful to behold
and made us very, very frightened. What is spoken of here is a filial
fear, a fear that a child would have of a parent, a child knowing
that that parent loves them. They know it because They care
for them, they feed them, they look after them, and they give
them those evidences of love. But they fear that parent because
they respect the parent. They know that if they do something
wrong, then out of love, that parent will correct them. They're
told very clearly in Hebrews 12 that the Lord correcteth every
son whom he receiveth. And that is a mark of love. And so with the fear of the Lord,
we look upon the Lord who has power to correct us and will
correct us. We look upon one in who our breath
is. In him, says Paul, we live and
move and have our being. One before whom we must stand at
the last great judgment day, one who has power to give life
or to live in death, to have mercy or to withhold that mercy. The Lord is the sovereign and
we know that in the fear of the Lord, we view the Lord as the
one that truly has authority over our lives. We read of those
with faith, he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And with the fear of the Lord,
the Lord is very real. He sees us, he knows us, he knows
our thoughts, he knows the intentions of our hearts, And we know his
power, his power over us, what he has power to do. And the Lord
said to those that would fear man, that we are to even not
fear them that even kill the body, but fear him who hath power
after he hath killed to cast both body and soul into hell. There's a looking. upon the Lord
in that way. Now we have one that spoke as
if he knew the Lord or feared the Lord that was given the talents
but he just buried his talent in the earth and he says that
he feared him because he was an austere man and the picture
that this man gave of the Lord, he truly did not know the Lord. Because if you ask David, if
you ask Moses, if you ask any of the Lord's people that truly
fear the Lord, they would say that the Lord is good and merciful
and gracious and long-suffering, that he has not dealt with us
as our sins have deserved. They give a very different picture.
The hymn writer says, my soul stands trembling while she sings
the honours of her God. He mentioned in prayer, God is
greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him. When we truly know God, then
like Daniel, when he had God revealed, then he fell down at
his feet as dead. A profound effect. We won't have
small thoughts of God, nor light, flippant thoughts, or ungracious,
unholy thoughts. We would truly know him as he
is. We would understand what it was
to come before an earthly monarch, and that we should act in a way
becoming that. and we should understand when
we come before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and we come
before the Lord, and to truly worship and fear Him. Wherever
the Lord brings a revival in the Church of God, He brings
the fear of God. We had this with David when he
brought up the ark from Kirjath-Jerim, to Jerusalem. And when they first
did it, they actually followed the pattern of the Philistines
who had put the Ark of God on a cart and have it pulled with
oxen. And we read that when they came
to Uzzah's threshing floor, that then Uzzah put forth his hand
and steadied the ark because the oxen shook it. And the Lord
slew him for his error. And David then was frightened
of the Lord, that the Lord should so deal with them in that way. And he stopped. He couldn't bring
the ark up. And it was moved into the house
of Obed-Edom. And the Lord didn't say, well,
here's a people. They're doing what is good. They're
bringing up the ark. They're all joyous, they're all
having a lovely time. I won't trouble them, I won't
affect them. No, he touched them. Why did he do it? Because they
did not do it, and David said this afterwards when they eventually
brought up the ark. He said to the Levites, now you
carry the ark on your shoulders. You did it not in the due order
at the first, therefore the Lord dealt with you. But where is
the fear of the Lord? Because on one hand, the Lord
dealt with them because of their error. On the other hand, when
the ark went into the house of Obed-Edom, the Lord blessed the
house of Obed-Edom. So the fear of the Lord had two
sides to it. One, the Lord demanded the worship,
the carrying was according to his word, and that it be done
in a right way. On the other hand, he blessed
them and he favoured them. And so then David, after he saw
that, then he brought up the Ark of God. And so the fear of
the Lord has those two sides. In New Testament times, we have
it as well. You'd think it would have been
an adverse thing to the growth of the Church of God to have
two people struck dead who were amongst those that were disciples
of the Lord. And that's what happened with
Ananias and Sapphira. They kept back part of the price
that they made out. They sold the land, and they'd
given all the money to the apostles. In fact, they'd only given half.
They conspired together, and both of them were struck dead
because they had lied not to men, but to the Holy Ghost. And we read, great fear came
upon the church, great fear dealing with such a God. But there was many thousands
added to the church. You might say it didn't put them
off that God dealt in that way. But not only so, it was balanced
because we have Saul of Tarsus, He wasn't lying to the Holy Ghost,
as it were, but he was hailing men and women to prison, all
that called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was
persecuting them. He took the clothes of those
that stoned Stephen to death. What did God do with him? I wonder
how many in the church was praying that God would strike him dead,
just like Ananias and Sapphira, but instead, The Lord called
him by grace and the Lord changed his heart and the Lord made him
a believer and the Lord blessed him. And we see the sovereignty
of the Lord and the mercy of the Lord. And when we see that,
then that brings the fear of the Lord because we come before
a sovereign God who doesn't consult with man, but he gives mercy
to whom he will. and that He deals with others
in really what they deserve, in solemn judgments. So the fear
of the Lord, it would take away from us a light, trifling, mocking way, but really evidence
in all that we say and all we do that we believe He is, and
that we have to do with Him and that He has power. He has power
to save unto the uttermost and all that come unto God by Him. Really the fear of the Lord as
taught by the Lord will bring us in and not to flee from Him
but to Him and to come to Him on His terms as it were. not on man's terms. There's so
many today we fear have a name to live, they come as it were
to the Lord, but on their own terms, worshipping the Lord according
to their own ideas, instead of the way the Lord has prescribed.
Not in the fear of the Lord, but in a worldly way. We want to look then, thirdly,
the fear of the Lord as a fountain of life. We mentioned about David, and remember that was some 400
years, 400 to 450 years After the Lord gave specific
direction to the Levites that they were to carry the Ark, but
that command still stood. Many would say, well, some of
the things in the Word of God, the old-fashioned, they don't
need to be adhered to. Well, the mind of the Lord is
discerned by comparing Scripture with Scripture. And our desire
should be, Lord, what will thou have us to do? And if we're to
be delivered from the snares of death or from those ways that
are grieving to the Lord, displeasing to the Lord, then it is to the
law and to the testimony. It is to the word of God that
we are to pay hee. The Apostle Peter, he says that
you have a more sure word of prophecy, more sure than the
visions that they had upon the Mount of Transfiguration, whereunto
you do well to take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place until the day star arise in your hearts. That is the word
of God. The word of God is a lamp unto
our feet, a light unto our path. One cannot hid or hide a snare
in our path if we've got such a light to guide us in the way. The fear of the Lord is a fountain
of life. It brings us to esteem the words
of God more than our necessary food. and to have that word as
our chart, our compass, our guidance, our light, everything. If we truly fear the Lord and
esteem every word of the Lord as right and from Genesis to
Revelation, that will deliver us from every snare of death. I sometimes say to the school
children when we give them the Bibles, You have now the Holy
Word of God, the only Word of God to man in your own tongue. By this you can test every teaching,
every other religion, everything. Bring it to the test, the Word
of God. You don't need to know all of
the different things that are taught in the world. If you know
this, you know the truth. You have the standard. Sometimes
I've used the illustration. of bringing in a spirit level. If you want to find whether a
wall is straight up and down or not, you put the spirit level
against it and you will soon find out. You know that level
will always give a true verdict of whether something is vertical
or not, level or not. And the Word of God gives a true
verdict and It is a fountain of life. It is the word of life. That is what it is. And the Lord
has said that he's given his dear people the word. And having
that word, we have the word of the true and the living God. Another way that is a fountain
of life is respect to God's plan. of salvation. God does have a
plan of salvation. He does have his counsels, his
purposes, and the Word of God describes what that plan is. A people that were eternally
loved and given by the Father to the Son to redeem, and the
Son given so that the eternal Son of God should come and be
made of a woman, and made under the law, so that he could redeem
them that were under the law. And by the deeds of the law no
man living shall be justified. It is not by our works to obtain
salvation, but solely through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Him putting away our sins at Calvary, Him living a life of
perfect obedience that then is put to our account that believe
on his name. The reason why we are saved is
because Christ has suffered in our stead and Christ has given
us life and he has given us his righteousness and he's put his
fear in our hearts and he's given us that hope of heaven through
him. And the Lord will not only give
spiritual life to his people here, but keep that life alive
and keep their souls alive and delivering them from those snares
of death. Father, keep through thine own
name them whom thou hast given me. It's a beautiful prayer. The Lord says in John 10, that
no man shall pluck them out of my hands. My Father which gave
them me is greater than I, no man is able to pluck them out
of my Father's hand. And when we know the plan of
salvation, then to be in that plan and to see ourselves in
it. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Another way that the fear of
the Lord is a fountain of life is when we imitate the Lord. Our Lord is holy. Be ye holy
as I am holy. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. I am meek and lowly in heart. You shall find rest unto your
souls. Love is of God. If any man say
that he love God and hate his brother, how dwelleth the love
of God in him? We know that we have passed from
death unto life in that we love the brethren, and in the fear
of the Lord is an imitation of him, that we may be like him
and walk in his ways. And it is a fountain of life
when the fear of the Lord eclipses the fear of man. When man just,
as it were, melts into the dust, when we see man for what he is,
and we see the Lord, and we see him who he is, and then that
is how Elijah could stand before Ahab. That is how Jeremiah could
stand before those kings who had power to kill them. That is how The Apostle Paul
said, I count not my life dear unto death. And whether he came
before kings or whatever, he didn't think first before he
spoke, if I say this, I might be killed. If I say this, I might
be put in bonds. If I say this, this will happen.
He just declared the word of God. The fear of God was so great. His knowledge of the Lord, protection,
care over him. The Lord's plan of salvation,
the hemorrhoid disease, not a single shaft could hit till the God
of love sees fit. And then the fear of God then
eclipses the fear of man. The fear of the Lord as a fountain
of life is when we are given that discernment, that knowledge. You know, Paul, when he gives
directions about eating things given to idols, He says, the
idol is nothing in the world. It's only a piece of wood. It's
only a piece of gold or whatever it is. And he had that knowledge
and that delivered from those snares. I always remember years
ago, just after I joined a firm that I was with for 12 years
and then coming over here to England. And I'd only been with
them a week or so. And the girls in the office were
really agitated and upset. And I asked the reason why. And
they'd been given this chain letter. And they were supposedly
from a missionary in Africa. And if they didn't copy it 20
times and send it round, some terrible curses would come upon
them. And it made me so cross. I wrote
on the bottom of it 10 reasons why this was not written by a
missionary, but by one of Satan's agents, and I put it on the main
notice board. And it just stopped the fear. I heard them say, just say nothing,
but it stopped that fear. I thought, what if someone could
be so bold as to defy those mystical powers that we are so fearing? And I trust it broke the snare
from them. But it is the knowledge of the
true, God and the true Word of God that delivers from those
powers of darkness that many, many are held under in superstition. Their lives are governed by so-called
the stars and by all sorts of things instead of the fear of
God. The fear of the Lord as a fountain
of life is also the life of prayer. When we come before the Lord
in prayer, coming for the Lord, the true and the living God. Prayer is a weapon for the feeble,
weakest souls, they wield it best. And it is a fountain of
life as well, when we realise our dependence upon the Lord. Again, the Apostle Paul, he says,
when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we appear
with him. And what a fountain of life that
is. Paul was able to say to those
in Mars Hill, in him we live and move and have our being. And what a fountain of life to
be able to say that. Christ is our life. He maintains
our life natural, our spiritual life. He has died, he has risen
again, and by that we live as well. Because I live, ye shall
live also. Father, I will that they whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. And so with the fear of the Lord,
it brings forth life for a child of God, revives that which is
dead, quickens their souls. They walk in the spirit, not
in the flesh. They walk with the Lord in sight,
and yet they run, The Apostle said, let us run the race that
is set before us, looking unto Jesus. Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith. May we then be blessed with the
fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a fountain
of life to depart from the snares of death. Are you in the snares
of death? Am I? Do they hold us? Are we in a deathly state of
our soul? Are we very low? Discouraged? Disheartened? Far off from the
Lord? Calmly minded? How we need that
fountain of life, the Lord to be pleased to come, revive us
again. We see him again. Then were the
disciples glad when they saw the Lord. We think of the verse
before our text. In the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence and his children shall have a place of refuge. May we have that place, may we
have that blessing and be delivered from every snare of death. Amen.