Download NOTES: The Primary Motivation for a Ministry of Persuasion

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The Primary Motivation for a Ministry of Persuasion
Sam McVay, Jr.!
08.17.14
2 Corinthians 5:10-11
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for
what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade
others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.
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Defining the Fear of the Lord
The Bible connects fear with the Lord over 300 times.
Psalm 19:9
the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules oft he Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
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Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Matthew 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul
and body in hell.
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Psalm 86:11
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
1 Peter 2:17
Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
William D. Eisenhower puts it this way in his article 'Fearing God" in Christianity Today:
Unfortunately, many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function is to offset it.
How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world …. When we assume that
the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for in truth, the world's threats are temporary.
When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world's equal …. As I walk
with the Lord, I discover that God poses an ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from
my delusions, so he may reveal the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He
sits in judgment of my sin, but forgives me nevertheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but
love from the Lord is its completion.
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So, the Fear of God is a appropriate heart culture of the creature. It is not a heart that is afraid but rather a
heart that is aware of the thorough, un-manipulated, uncontested authority of the Lord. Grounded in love,
yes, but you do not know what kind of love if you do not know the “clean” fear of the Lord.
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The fear of the Lord is connected to an understanding of the thorough judgment of the Lord Jesus.
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Acts 10:39-43
And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to
death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all
the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose
from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed
by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who
believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
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Acts 1:1-3
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he
was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
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Acts 17:30-31
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because
he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and
of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
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2 Timothy 4:1
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his
appearing and his kingdom:
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Romans 2:16
on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Jesus had told them:
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John 5:21-23
For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22
The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just
as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
John 5: 26-27
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
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And he
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Matthew 25:31-34, 41
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious
throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but
the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
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“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his angels.
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We are to be motivated to share the gospel with people because of obedience, compassion, God’s glory,
and because of the FEAR of the Lord.
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2 Corinthians 5:11
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it
is known also to your conscience.
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Do you KNOW what it is to fear the Lord?
I think we should be concerned if we do not.
It is a spiritual revelation that is linked, as well as other things, to the ultimate judgment that is placed in Jesus
that determines my eternal reality.
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The gospel of Jesus and his shed blood for your sins will not mean much to you unless you know the fear of
the Lord and his thorough righteous judgment that is coming up.
The Judge of the living and the dead is - the Justifier of the living and the dead.
May the Lord introduce us afresh to the fear of the Lord so that we will see people differently and be
persuaded to tell them the merciful good news of the gospel for their salvation.
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