The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues, which allows human beings to participates in His divine nature. Thus, it is related directly to God. Faith is the theological virtue. Hope is the theological virtue. Love is the theological virtue.

The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The seven "gifts" of the Holy Spirit are piety, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. They complete and perfect the virtues of those receives them, "A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots: on him the spirit of Yahweh rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh. - Is. 11:1-2 - and the "fruits" of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us. "What the spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course." - Gal. 5:22-23 -

The fear of the Lord is God breath.

He does not judge by appearances,
he gives no verdict on hearsay,
but judges the wretched with integrity,
and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.
His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless,
his sentences bring death to the wicked. - Is. 11:3-4 -

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools spurn wisdom and discipline. - Pro. 1:7; Ps. 111:10; Sirach 1:14 -

The Old Testament does not speak of men without fear, but since it regards the fear of the Lord as the very foundation of wisdom and knowledge it cannot mean that these pious and God's faithful heroes were altogether without the experience. It does mean that they declined to be frightened by relatively small things - such as death.

Admittedly the fear of God is not the same thing as fear of a clenched fist, or of a hungry lion, or of a dizzying height, but there are connections. The fear of God or the fear of the Lord at its deepest is a sense of awe and reverence before the holy, but since the men of the Old Testament believed the Holy God to hold their lives in His hand at every moment, an ordinary prudent sort of fear was present as well. Indeed, the Holiness of God could strike a person physically dead, and the punishments of God included many experiences that could be, and were designed to be, feared in the most natural way. The frightening list of the horrors of exile in the Book of Deuteronomy are explicitly stated to be what happens to people who disobey because they do not fear God's "glorious and fearful name."

See, as Yahweh my God has commanded me, I teach you the laws and customs that you are to observe in the land you are to enter and make your own. Keep them, observe them, and they will demonstrate to the peoples your wisdom and understanding. When they come to know of all these laws they will exclaim, "No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation." - Deut. 4:5-6 -

If you do not keep and observe all the words of this Law that are written in this book, in fear of this name of glory and awe: Yahweh your God, Yahweh will strike you down with monstrous plagues, you and your descendants: with plagues grievous and lasting, diseases pernicious and enduring. - Deut. 28:58-59 -

This God-centered fear made it possible to see all other kinds of fear in perspective. From this belief sprang the celebrated fearlessness of such persons, such as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It enabled them to say not only "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and He will deliver us" but also the much braver and courageous one.

You have issued a decree, O king, to the effect that everyone on hearing the sound of horm, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe or any other instrument is to prostrate himself and worship the golden statue; and that anyone who does not prostrate himself and worship is to be thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Now there are certain Jews to whom you have entrusted the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; these men have ignored your command, O king; they do not serve your gods, and refuse to worship the golden statue you have erected. Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar sent for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The men were immediately brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar addressed them, 'Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, is it true that you do not serve my gods, and that you refuse to worship the golden statue I have erected?

When you hear the sound of horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, or any other instrument, are you prepared to prostrate yourselves and worship it, you must be thrown straight away into the burning fiery furnace; and where is the god who could save you from my power?' Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to king Nebuchadnezzar, 'Your question hardly requires an answer: if our God, the one we serve, is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace and from your power, O king, he will save us; and even if he does not, then you must know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the statue you have erected.' These words infuriated king Nebuchadnezzar; his expression was very different now as he looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He gave orders for the furnace to be made seven times hotter than usual, and commanded certain stalwarts from his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the burning fiery furnace.

They were then bound, fully clothed, cloak, hose and headgear, and thrown into the burning fiery furnace. The king's command was so urgent and the heat of the furnace was so fierce, that the men carrying Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were burnt to death by the flames from the fire; the three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fell, still bound, into the burning fiery furnace.

And they walked in the heart of the flames, praising God and blessing the Lord. Azariah stood in the heart of the fire, and he began to pray:

All honour and blessing to you, Lord, God of our ancestors,
may your name be held glorious for ever.
In all that you have done your justice is apparent:
your promises are always faithfully fulfilled,
your ways never deviate,
your judgments are always true.
...................................................
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Let them learn that you alone are God and Lord,
glorious over the whole earth.

All this time the servants of the king who had thrown the men into the furnace had been stoking it with crude oil, pitch, tow and brushwood until the flames rose to a height of forty-nine cubits above the furnace and, leaping out, burnt those Chaldaeans to death who were standing round it. But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace beside Azariah and his companions; he drove the flames of the fire outwards, and fanned in to them, in the heart of the furnace, a coolness such as wind and dew will bring, so that the fire did not even touch them or cause them any pain or distress.

Then all three in unison began to sing, glorifying and blessing God, there in the furnace, in these words:

May you be blessed, Lord, God of our ancestors,
be praised and extolled for ever,
Blessed be your glorious and holy name,
praised and extolled for ever.
...............................................
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Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his love is everlasting.
All you who worship him, bless the God of gods,
praise him and give him thanks,
for his love is everlasting.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar sprang to his feet in amazement. He said to his advisers, 'Did we not have these three men thrown bound into the fire?' They replied, 'Certainly, O king' 'But' he went on 'I can see four men walking about freely in the heart of the fire without coming to any harm. And the fourth looks like a son of the gods.' Nebuchadnezzar approached the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and shouted, 'Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, come here!' And from the heart of the fire out came Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. the satraps, perfects, governors, and advisers of the king crowded round the three men to examine them: the fire had had no effect on their bodies: not a hair of their heads had been singed, their cloaks were not scorched, no smell of burning hung about them. Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: he has sent his angel to rescue his servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or worship any god but their own.

I, therefore decree as follows: Men of all peoples, nations, and languages! Let anyone speak disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and I will have him torn limb from limb and his house razed to the ground, for there is no other god who can save like this.' Then the king showered favours on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. - Dan. 3:10-97 -

The New Testament suggests that if the fear of God is at bottom a proper reverence before that which is holy, then another emotion will do the job equally well: love involves perhaps an even deeper reverence than fear does, so "love cast out fear."

The are two things to fear about fear itself. One is that it may be present in such strength as to prevent us from taking the necessary action. The other is that it may be absent. The result, then, is likely to be even worse, for without fear to signal to us where dangers lie, we would have little chance of survival.

So what we need is not a recipe for dispelling fear, but a method for containing it within useful bounds. We must separate irrational phobias from healthy fears. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible affirms that its transcendent vision shows all fears in a realistic light and so enables us to have a sense of proportion about them. The wide perspective breeds neither foolhardiness nor cowardice.

Perhaps the most insistent of all fears is still that of the unknown. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible position is that all that is unknown can be faced with faith and love precisely because love is concealed within the unknown. Not everyone can readily embrace this belief, but all have some experience of love as a ground of trust. On such foundations - even when they are invisible - it is possible to build an attitude that can cope with fear.

Then he [Jesus] got into the boat followed by his disciples. Without warning a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat. But he [Jesus] was asleep. So they went to him and woke him up saying, "Save us, Lord, we are going down!" And he said to them, "Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?" And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again. The men were astounded and said, "Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him." - Matt. 8:23-27 -

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. - Matt. 10:28 -

In the countryside close by there were shepherds who lived in the fields and took it in turns to watch their flocks during the night. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, "Do not be afraid. Listen, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." - Luke 1:8-12 -

"Fear not" is a repeated command in the New Testament. It is said to those with spiritual fears [such as the shepherds in the nativity narrative] and to those with bodily fears [such as the apostles when being sent out on a preaching mission] Not that it did much good to issue this command. Up to and immediately after the crucifixion the disciples were no examples of fearlessness. That something then made them what they had never been before is strong evidence for the truth of the resurrection of Jesus and of the gift of the Spirit.

Even then, their courage cannot properly be called fearlessness. They were fearful still, but now they went ahead just the same. Saint Paul acknowledges being fearful to the point of despair. In another passage he lists an astonishing catalog of dangerous and painful adventures through which he has passed. His point is that all such natural fears can be controlled by the Spirit and outmatched by the hope that is in us all.

For we should like you to realise, brothers, that the things we had to undergo in Asia were more of a burden than we could carry, so that we despaired of coming through alive. Yes, we were carrying our own death warrant with us, and it has taught us not to rely on ourselves but only on God, who raises the dead to life. And he saved us from dying, as he will save us again; yes, that is our firm hope in him, that in the future he will save us again. - 2 Cor. 1:8-10 -

God's gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. - 2 Tim. 1:7 -

In love there can be no fear,
but fear is driven out by perfect love:
because to fear is to expect punishment,
and anyone who is afraid is still imperfect in love. - 1 John 4:18 -

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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -