Calvary Road Baptist Church

“THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE”

Proverbs 1.7 

Allow me to begin by defining for you what is called a para-Church ministry. A para-Church ministry is a ministry that exists outside or, supposedly, alongside the ministry of a local Church. Para-Church ministries, being autonomous and separate from local Church ministries, though popular, are not Scriptural.

I can think of seven reasons why members of Calvary Road Baptist Church should not involve themselves in para-Church ministries such as the Gideons, such as Campus Crusade For Christ (now Cru), such as Women’s Bible Fellowship, Manna, or even some Bible study, however innocuous it may seem, that is not a ministry of your Church. Visitors, please remember that I am now speaking only to members of Calvary Road Baptist Church.

Reason #1:   In Ephesians 4.11-12, the Apostle Paul describes gifted men given by the Lord Jesus Christ to congregations to equip Christians to serve God. I maintain that someone other than pastors who teach you interfere with what your pastors are teaching you, and thereby obstruct the Biblical ministry that they seek to discharge as the gifted men given to a Church.

Reason #2:   Matthew 18.15 and following prescribes the proper steps for dealing with a fellow Church member who has sinned against you. I maintain that someone who is teaching the Bible to you who is not a fellow member of the Church you are in is not subject to your Church’s discipline and, therefore cannot be appropriately held accountable for whatever error that person may teach.

Reason #3:   James 3.1 warns, 

“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” 

Here James warns his readers that folks ought not to be so quick to presume that because they can teach the Word of God, they should teach the Word of God, the word “master” meaning “teacher.” I maintain that Bible teachers are Scripturally used when they are under the discipline and authority of their local Church, instead of in some para-Church ministry that is not authorized by God’s Word and not under the oversight of God-called pastors.

Reason #4:   I find it insulting to the ministry of a local Church for folks to have time to involve themselves in a para-Church ministry while not seeming to have time to attend all the services at their Church. I well remember a teacher in graduate school, Dave Hocking, who used to pastor the fastest growing Church in the United States and was the radio Bible teacher for the BIOLA Hour, saying that his study of the issue of para-Church ministries convinced him that folks involved in para-Church ministries were of little use to their Churches, diverting time, energy, prayers, and financial resources to ministries that are simply not a part of God’s plan for this age.[1]

Reason #5:   I seriously question the ethics and the qualifications of someone who has seized upon an unscriptural ministry as a means of teaching members of the flock over which I am the undershepherd and thereby ingratiating himself to members of the congregation I am responsible to the Chief Shepherd for. Experience has taught me that such unscrupulous teachers will then presume to provide counseling to those Church members who would normally seek my counsel, foisting upon naive and unsuspecting Church members unscriptural doctrines and a philosophy of ministry incompatible with our Church’s direction.

Reason #6:   Read Second Timothy 4.2-4:

2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 

This was Paul’s warning to young pastor Timothy.

Para-Church ministries almost universally have departed from the preaching of God’s Word to the softer teaching of God’s Word. And it’s no wonder. Such ministries are an end-time symptom of the slide into spiritual apostasy. People who are rebellious to God’s plan for the Church will not stand for authoritative preaching that is confrontational and Scriptural but will join together with others who are likewise rebellious in their unwillingness to submit their undeniable organizational and instructional skills to the authority of a pastor. If it stopped at that, the damage would be minimal. But the para-Church people won’t keep to themselves, always making sure that they lure and entice gullible and immature Christians from good Churches to attend their ill-conceived activities with them.

There has been an explosion of involvement in parasitic, or should I say para-Church, ministries in recent years that track parallel to the tendency of Americans to claim they are born again while having the same divorce rates, the same abortion rates, the same alcoholism rates as those not professing Christ, and all the while abandoning vital doctrines that are prominent in God’s Word. Para-Church ministries are a part of the problem, not a part of the solution.

Last but not least, such para-Church ministries, with many characteristics like those the Apostle Paul predicted to Timothy in the passage I read moments ago, join with others in the end-time apostasy in departing from essential doctrines taught in God’s Word. What doctrines? Many, I assure you.

What particularly gets my dander up is the tendency of para-Church ministries, as well as almost every Church found in Southern California, to severely water down and pollute what God says about Himself in His Word. Especially the wisdom of fearing God. If you ask the typical evangelical or para-Church ministry Bible teacher concerning the fear of God, you will almost certainly hear that person say something like this: “Oh, we certainly should fear God. Oh my, yes. God deserves our respect and reverence.” But if you ask that person if he or she has ever taught, or ever will teach, that God is One Who is to be feared, in Whose presence one is to tremble, the answer will most definitely be “No, God doesn’t want His children to be scared of Him.”

But is that so? Why, then, is God termed in the Bible “the fear of Isaac”? Why is God to be served with “reverence and godly fear,” Hebrews 12.28? And have you ever noticed what happens to every person in the Bible who finds himself near the presence of God? Perhaps this is why Isaiah 8.13 encourages the reader to “Let Him be your fear; and let Him be your dread.” And maybe this is why Nehemiah described God as “the Fear of His people.”

I don’t think a member of Calvary Road Baptist Church should involve himself or herself in a para-Church ministry. I gave seven reasons why I hold such a strong opinion on this matter. But perhaps there is one more I can leave you with as I approach my message from God’s Word. It’s Psalm 34.11: 

“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.” 

Though I am committed to teaching you the fear of the LORD, and that fear should be reflected in every aspect of our combined worship, it’s not at all likely such truth will be taught in any para-Church ministry.

Do you work with a Christian who is involved in para-Church ministries? If so, be mindful of two truths about that individual. First, Hebrews 5.13-14, where is revealed that individual isn’t mature enough to even know right from wrong, so you shouldn’t presume his or her wisdom to decide involvement in a para-Church ministry: 

13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

Second, consider Hebrews 13.7, suggesting what I passed over quickly moments ago, that person is in rebellion against the pastor or the notion of a pastor. Read this passage with me, noting that those referred to here can be none other than pastors: 

“Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” 

May God bless you as you steer clear of unscriptural pseudo-ministries and as you cautiously seek to persuade those you know who claim to be Christians to involve themselves in Church ministry.

Please turn in your Bible to Proverbs 1.7 and stand for the reading of God’s Word: 

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” 

Back in the days when students in high school took courses dealing with the history of western civilization, there was an era of history, generally referred to as the Dark Ages. It was a time in European history when anarchy was the rule rather than the exception and when the lot in life of those who lived in Europe was bleak and dreary, indeed. But what few public school students, and what fewer parochial school students, likely had pointed out to them was that this era of European history was when the Church of Rome was in the ascendancy and enjoyed an influence and authority over the lives of everyday people unmatched during any other time in history. It was a time that the late Cardinal Timothy Manning described as the golden age of Rome.[2]

Of course, the Roman Catholic Church now looks back on that time with embarrassment because of the excesses of the Roman Church and because of the poverty and ignorance of the people under her spiritual care. But I disagree with most historians on one count. I am of the personal opinion that from a spiritual perspective the Dark Ages of Europe was a spiritually better time in human history than was the latter half of the 20th century here in the United States of America, as well as this time in which we now live. Let me phrase it another way. I think an illiterate and downtrodden European during the Dark Ages was better off spiritually than you may be, with your luxury and educational background and possessions. Though he was lice-infested and filthy, though he was a virtual slave to the Catholic Church and to the local nobility, he may have been better off than you are. You see, the average European during the Dark Ages feared God.

Many people erroneously conclude that a person who fears God is some poor peasant given over to superstition and ignorance. But I submit to you that a person who fears God knows more than most people know, at least about the spiritual world. And the Word of God backs me up: 

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” 

My message is to you who do not fear God. It is not a message designed to scare you. Neither is it a sermon that presents the Gospel so that you might be enticed into making a false profession of faith. Instead, this is a sermon that will show you that there is something wrong with you who do not fear God.

Solomon declared that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” This doesn’t mean that you don’t know anything if you don’t fear God. But it does mean that if you do not fear God, you don’t know anything about spiritual matters, about issues that are eternal, about subjects that really matter. And it certainly means you don't know anything about God.

If you are so ignorant about things that really matter that you don’t even know enough to fear God, then there is something wrong with you. You may be convinced by those around you, and you may have convinced yourself, that you are cool, or that you are somehow marvelous or sophisticated. You may even be convinced that you are right with God. But the Bible shows very clearly otherwise if you are a person who does not fear God.

Let me point out to you seven things you do not know if you don’t know enough to fear God: 

First, IF YOU DO NOT FEAR GOD, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW HIS OMNIPRESENCE 

Omnipresence is a long word that means God is everywhere at once. Another term that describes God’s size is the word immense. God is immense. But so are blue whales immense, as are elephants. God, on the other hand, is immense to an infinite degree. He is so immense that He is omnipresent, which is to say that God is everywhere.

There are many passages in the Word of God which point out or remark about God’s immensity, His enormity, His omnipresence. But there is one passage that wonderfully describes this attribute of God in poetic language. Psalm 139.3-13: 

3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

5  Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 

What does this have to do with the fear of God? Consider this: Human beings are afraid of immensity. We are fearful of enormity. A little child has to be taught not to fear a great big man. The immensity and the enormity of ornate cathedrals, imperial palaces, and governmental buildings are an intentional effort on the part of the architects to strike fear into the hearts of those who behold such magnificent structures. It creates reverence for the authority of the Church or the state to occupy such impressive structures.

If you do not fear God, it is because you have no grasp of His enormity, His immensity, His omnipresence. 

Next, IF YOU DO NOT FEAR GOD, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW HIS OMNIPOTENCE 

I read Deuteronomy 10.12-22: 

12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude. 

Why should the Israelites have feared God?

All of these things served to convince the Jewish people that they were dealing with a Being of incomprehensible might and power.

But consider in addition to those things the fact that God created the physical universe with but a spoken word, that He created man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, that He hung the stars, and that He presently sustains all things.

Excuse me, but human beings are such creatures that, unless trained otherwise, we have a natural tendency to fear incomprehensible power and might. It is usual for every human being to be this way unless experience and training have taught him otherwise. But there has been no training or experience with God that has thus taught humanity not to fear Him.

How then do you explain the utter and complete lack of any fear whatsoever for God among human beings, or with you? Simple. You are devoid of any understanding of God’s tremendous and omnipotent power. You have no exposure to it in your heart and your soul. For if you but thought deeply about this One Who created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is, and about the astonishing power that had to be brought to bear for such creative acts to occur ... you would fear Him. 

Third, IF YOU DO NOT FEAR GOD, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW HIS OMNISCIENCE 

I have so far used three words that begin with the Latin preposition “omni.” To make sure you understand what I am saying, I need to define the term “omni.” It simply means “all.” For example, an omnidirectional antenna is an antenna that works with equal efficiency in all directions. In like manner, omnipresence refers to being present in all places, omnipotence means having all power, and omniscience refers to knowing all things.

God is omniscient because He knows everything. Listen to this portion of Isaiah 46.9-10: 

9  I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

10 Declaring the end from the beginning. 

God declares the end from the beginning because He knows the end from the beginning.

Consider just one example of the Bible’s pronouncement of all knowledge using a poetic phrase. I read Proverbs 5.21: 

“For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.” 

“The eyes of the LORD.” It’s a phrase used many, many times in the Old Testament to emphasize the fact that God knows everything. And what should inspire fear in men from God’s omniscience? Proverbs 15.3: 

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” 

If God sees everything, if God knows everything, even the secrets of your heart, then He will certainly judge what He sees, even judging according to the secrets of your heart, Romans 2.16.

If that doesn’t make you fear God, then you are worse than a brute. If that doesn’t make you fear God, then you are worse than some cur that’s disobeyed its master and fears a swat from a rolled-up newspaper. If that doesn’t make you fear God, then you are a dull fool. If that doesn’t make you fear God, then you do not know His omniscience. 

Fourth, IF YOU DO NOT FEAR GOD, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW HIS HOLINESS 

Five brief biographies to illustrate:

First, there were Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron. Told to offer sacrifices using only fire that came from a fire started initially by God, those two adult sons of the high priest decided to use ordinary fire from an ordinary campfire, termed “strange fire” by God. What did God do to those two for in that way violating His holiness? He killed them.[3]

Leviticus 24. What happened to the Israelite woman’s son who cursed and took the name of the LORD in vain? He was put to death by stoning. Why? With his speech, He had violated God’s holiness.

First Samuel 6. The Ark of the Covenant was seized in battle by the Philistines. After seven months of affliction from God in the form of hemorrhoids, the Philistines returned the Ark to the vicinity of Bethshemesh. When the curious Jewish men of Bethshemesh, who knew perfectly well that it was God’s Ark, they were beholding, decided to satisfy their curiosity and look inside the Ark, what did God do? He killed more than 50,000 men. Why? They had, with their eyes, violated His holiness.

Several years later, when King David ordered the Ark moved from Shiloh, the priests were transporting the Ark on an ox cart. When the oxen stumbled, and the Ark was about to topple a man named Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark. And what did God do? God struck Uzzah dead on the spot for violating His holiness. He had ordered through His prophet Moses that no one was to touch the Ark under any circumstances. “And David was afraid of God that day,” First Chronicles 13.12.

Finally, when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, in Acts chapter 5, God killed them. Why did God kill them? They, by lying, violated His holiness. “And great fear came upon all the church,” Acts 5.11.

Perhaps you have cursed God or taken His name in vain. Maybe you have lied to the Holy Spirit of God. Yet you’ve not been struck dead. Does this mean that you’ve nothing to fear in connection with God’s holiness? Not at all. It only means that God’s holiness has not yet been vindicated. And if you laugh and joke and treat lightly the holiness of God, Who has commanded, “Be ye holy for I am holy,” it only means you do not know His holiness. It only means I have identified yet another subject about which you are profoundly ignorant. 

Fifth, IF YOU DO NOT FEAR GOD, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW HIS WRATH 

Laugh about Hell all you want; the place you will go as soon as you die. Joke about joining your buddies there for a cold beer all you want. Refuse to think about it in the hopes that this place of torment will simply go away. But you know as well as I do that there is something in the heart of an individual that knows, that knows deep down inside him, that a Judgment Day is coming, and that until that final Judgment Day you will be in God’s holding cell, a place called Hell. On that Judgment Day that is headed your way you will stand before this God Who you do not fear, this God Who you refuse to think about, this God Who you refuse to bend your knee to or bow your head to. On the judgment of that great day, when death and Hell will stand before Him, there will be no arrogance, no cockiness, no apathy, no pretended lack of concern for your welfare. But that’s your future.

In the here and now, there you sit, afraid of being sent to prison should you be guilty of committing a serious crime if you have any brains, perhaps scared of your spouse leaving you should you commit serious sins, or afraid of fouling up on a job you love for fear of being fired. Still, without any fear of the wrath of God, you sin against Him every day. Amazing, isn’t it?

How is it that a man can be afraid of what his friends think, fearful of taking a stand for what’s right in the face of many who are doing wrong, and yet not be afraid of God’s wrath? Simple. You do not know God’s wrath. If you knew, you would fear God. Listen to the testimony of a wise man concerning God’s wrath. 

Job 31.23:

“destruction from God was a terror to me.”  

Sixth, IF YOU DO NOT FEAR GOD, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW HIS SOVEREIGNTY 

Psalm 146.10: 

“The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.” 

Proverbs 8.15-16:     

15  By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

16  By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.”

 

There is a bit of the control freak in everyone. People just do not like to think about the fact that they are not in control of their own lives. Lack of control of your own life can be very frightening. I believe that this is precisely why people are so opposed to the sovereignty of God. Same reason they get scared of riding in a car driven by someone else. You want control.

But what is the sovereignty of God? Sovereignty has to do with God’s absolute rule. It has to do with God being in complete control. And can this not evoke fear in the hearts of men? 

Job 25.2: 

“Dominion and fear are with him.” 

And this speaks of God’s rule. 

Psalm 33.8:  

“Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” 

Why would a lost person fear the sovereignty of God? Why would a sinner be motivated to fear God’s absolute control over all things? Listen to what Jonah said from the belly of the great fish: 

“Salvation is of the LORD.”[4] 

Ponder what the Lord Jesus told His enemies in John 6.43-44: 

43 Murmur not among yourselves.

44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

And reflect on what John wrote in John 1.13: 

“Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” 

And this is speaking about the salvation of your eternal and undying soul!

When a sinner becomes mindful of his eternal destiny, and then when he becomes aware that the destiny of his soul is at God’s disposition, and he cannot just decide whenever he wants to be saved, it frightens him. It scares him. It may even terrify him. He doesn’t like the fact that he is not in charge of his own life and that he does not rule over his own destiny, that the disposition of his own soul is in the hands of Another. His entire life has been about rebellion against God and personal independence, and the fact that he is all wrong about everything is abhorrent to him.

But the sovereignty of God doesn’t frighten you at all. Want to know why?

If you were a sensible lost person, God’s sovereignty would strike fear in your heart. 

Finally, IF YOU DO NOT FEAR GOD, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW HIS GRACE 

The grace of God has to do with those here whose sins are forgiven and who know God through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. I will point out only one thing concerning those who know God’s grace also knowing the fear of God.

Writing to those who had already tasted the grace of God in salvation and the forgiveness of sins that comes from knowing Jesus Christ, listen to what the writer of Hebrews says to Christians in Hebrews 12.28-29: 

28  Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

29  For our God is a consuming fire. 

He exhorts them to seek more grace and points out the connection between serving God and the fear of God. Yes, there is a connection between serving God and the fear of God. 

A person becomes a Christian when realizing that he is estranged from the God of the Bible by his sin, he flees to God’s Son Jesus, the Savior we are told of in the Bible, for forgiveness, cleansing, and refuge. This will not happen apart from the Holy Spirit of God using the truth of the Bible through preaching to reprove sinners, to convict sinners of their plight and the wickedness of their sins against so great a god as is our God, and then to work repentance and faith in Christ, thereby saving them that believe.

Then, once converted, Christians continue to fear God because of the inestimable greatness of God. As Job 13.11 says, 

“Shall not his excellency make you afraid?” 

So, the fear of God is a beautiful thing, a healthy thing, a pleasant thing to God. But you do not fear God. And that, my friend, is one of God’s chief complaints against you as you continue your pattern of rebellion and revolt against Him.

Paul wrote about you and others like you in Romans 3.18: 

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 

That there is no fear can only mean that you have no real knowledge of God, for if you knew anything of God, you would fear Him.

__________

[1] He made this statement while serving as pastor of the Grace Brethren Church, Long Beach, CA and president of Grace Graduate School of Theology, during a course on expository preaching in 1978-1979.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Manning

[3] Leviticus 10.1-2

[4] Jonah 2.9

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church