Proverbs 1:7 - The Beginning of Knowledge - Famous Verses

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When was the last time you heard a sermon about fearing God? In our modern Christian landscape, this biblical concept has fallen out of favor, replaced with gentler, more palatable messages about God's friendship and unconditional love. Yet Scripture is unequivocal – "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."

This episode marks the beginning of a special series exploring famous verses of Scripture, starting with Proverbs 1:7. We dive deep into what it truly means to fear God and why this reverence forms the essential foundation for all spiritual wisdom. Far from contradicting God's love, proper fear actually complements it, creating the balanced perspective necessary for spiritual growth.

Jesus himself taught his followers to fear God rather than those who could merely harm their bodies. This divine fear isn't about cowering in terror, but about recognizing God's holiness, power, and authority with appropriate awe and respect. When we embrace both the love and fear of God, we position ourselves to receive his instruction and discipline – the very things that fools despise to their own detriment.

Scripture repeatedly warns about the consequences of ignoring divine wisdom. Like respecting the blade of a skill saw prevents injury, properly fearing God protects us from spiritual harm. Through biblical examples and cross-references from Psalms, Proverbs, and the words of Jesus, we establish that godly fear remains essential for believers today – not as an outdated concept, but as the perpetual beginning point for true knowledge and transformation.

Join us as we challenge popular half-truths and rediscover this foundational biblical principle. Subscribe to continue this journey through famous Scripture verses, and share your thoughts on how understanding the fear of the Lord has impacted your faith journey.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Brothers and sisters, this isone of those weeks I'm taking a
short break on the book ofDaniel, but I wanted to put out
an encouraging word for thosewho are tuning in every week.
I will again pick up in Daniel,chapter 4, shortly, but today's
podcast is going to begin whatI hope will one day continue to

(00:25):
be a series of podcasts thatfocus on famous verses in
Scripture, and in that series Iwill examine those famous verses
of Scripture and do my verybest, with the gifts that the
Lord has given me, to divide theWord of God for you.
Today's verse is Proverbs 1.7.

(00:48):
The fear of the Lord is thebeginning of knowledge.
Fools despise wisdom andinstruction.
The first half of this versesays the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge.
You know, in recent decades thefear of the Lord has come under
great scrutiny and many peoplehave abandoned the very idea of

(01:12):
fearing God.
Many modern preachers teachonly half-truths, proclaiming
that God is our friend and heloves us unconditionally.
They may even quote 1 John 4.18, teaching that God's love has
driven out any need to fear God,while they lead many people

(01:33):
astray.
However, the scripture teachesus something quite different.
The fear of the Lord goes handin hand with our salvation and
with a believer's sanctification.
Jesus himself, who is ourexample of grace and truth in
Scripture, told us in Matthew 8,28, do not fear those who kill

(01:59):
the body but cannot kill thesoul.
Rather fear him who can destroyboth soul and body in hell.
Therefore, according to Jesus,true love does not overcome the
fear of the Lord, but rathertrue love overcomes the fear of

(02:24):
those who might want to kill youphysically, particularly for
your faith.
And who are those Men anddemons?
In Jesus' teaching, he shows usthat the fear of the Lord is
actually an element required foreternal salvation.

(02:45):
Scripture itself also teachesus that someone who fears God is
a person that listens to God'sword and listens to God's
discipline in their life.
Job 5.17 says Job 5.17 says Job28.28 reads the fear of the

(03:21):
Lord, that is wisdom, and toturn away from evil is
understanding.
And Proverbs 12.1 also readsWhoever loves discipline loves
knowledge.
But he who hates reproof isstupid.

(03:44):
There's no doubt that the mostimportant biblical truth we can
come to in our lives is thatthrough faith in Jesus Christ we
have peace with God.
We can come to the throne ofGod through our faith in Jesus
Christ, even calling the Fatherour Daddy.

(04:06):
However, the very reason we cancome to God through faith in
Christ begins with a fear of theLord.
Until somebody receives thegospel of Jesus, which is the
power of God unto salvation,they cannot come before God's
throne as his child.

(04:27):
It's only when we fear God asthe one true God and we reject
every other idol that we willaccept his gospel as truth.
We will accept his gospel astruth, the gospel that reveals
our sinful nature and brings usto eternal life.

(04:48):
Romans 1.16 says For I am notashamed of the gospel, for it is
the power of God for salvationto everyone who believes, to the
Jew first, and also to theGreek.
The overwhelming feeling of joyand peace for what Jesus Christ

(05:09):
has done for us should beequaled by a reverent fear of
his might and power to do so,and power to do so.
Only when we both love and fearGod will we truly surrender our
lives to his direction, as weare abiding in his redemptive

(05:30):
love.
Indeed, it's only through God'spower and might that he offers
his love and forgiveness, and itis thus how God gives his
children the knowledge of thetruth and the power unto
salvation.

(05:52):
The second half of this versesays that fools despise wisdom
and instruction despise wisdomand instruction.
I had heard it once said thatto fear God is like fearing the
blade of a skill saw.
Anyone who has used a skill sawknows that it has great power

(06:13):
to cut through wood and anyother material with the right
blade, and it can quickly do soif properly used.
However, if you don't have aproper fear for what the blade
can do, you could cut your handor even worse.
While this analogy of a skillsaw lacks in that the skill saw

(06:33):
is a tool that we use to createsomething beautiful, and God is
our Lord, who is worthy of allworship, we can see in the
analogy that if we don't have afear for the Lord God, or if we
fail to listen to his word,there will be painful

(06:54):
consequences and we will perishin our sin, and this has
dramatic effects both in thislife and in eternity to come.
Some verses that teach andconfirm this are Psalm 107.17,
which reads Some were foolsthrough their sinful ways and

(07:18):
because of their iniquities,suffered affliction.
Proverbs 13.18 reads Povertyand disgrace come to him who
ignores instruction, but whoeverheeds reproof is honored.
Proverbs 15.10 reads there issevere discipline for him who

(07:41):
forsakes the way.
Whoever hates reproof will die.
Proverbs 15.32 and 33 readWhoever ignores instruction
despises himself, but he wholistens to reproof gains
intelligence.

(08:02):
The fear of the Lord isinstruction in wisdom, and
humility comes before honor.
Thank you for joining me today.
God bless you this week.