Why The Fear Of The Lord

Ken Claytor

Hey everybody.

Tabatha Claytor

Hey everyone.

Ken Claytor

Good to have you with us for Doing Life with Ken and Tapitha. It's another episode. We've got a great one for you today. We're going to talk about understanding the fear of the Lord. You know, this is an um a topic that a lot of people don't talk about anymore regularly. You know, we hear a lot of messages about the love of God. Um, and you can have a great love for God and still miss the fear of the Lord. And when the fear of the Lord disappears, compromise increases, convictions weaken, pride grows, um, casual Christianity becomes a thing. And so this is one of those Bible topics that you must hear. We're going to look at Ananias and Sapphira. We're going to talk a little bit about Uzzah in the Bible. We're going to talk about people who miss the fear of God and then something happened. And this is something that we really have to embrace. We have to embrace understanding the fear of the Lord.

Private Life And Real Reverence

Ken Claytor

And so when you hear the fear of the Lord, sweetheart, what comes to your mind?

Tabatha Claytor

Um, I hear, you know, reverence, respect from, you know, for the Lord. And um I feel like, yeah, when I talk about the fear of the Lord, I I think about what I do in my private time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

Tabatha Claytor

You know, I think about it's not so much like when you're in public and everyone's watching you, but like in my bedroom, um, in my own heart and soul, things that you, being my husband for 27 years, may not, you know, ever hear or see or whatever, what's going on inside there. That's where the fear of the Lord comes in play.

Ken Claytor

Okay. Okay. All right. I'm meditating on the part things that I don't know. What don't I know?

Tabatha Claytor

I'm saying there's nothing that you don't know that I know about so far. But it's just those really private, intimate, you know, thoughts that you're just like, wow, you know.

Ken Claytor

I think we're big on letting our public life and our private life match and not having a um a double life to where we are looking one way towards man, but if God examines us, our heart isn't right towards God. The fear of the Lord helps close that gap. Um, how would you define the fear of the Lord? Because it's not being afraid of God, it's not being scared of God. And I think when you hear the fear of the Lord, some people take it from like this angry God perspective, but that's not biblical fear of the Lord.

Tabatha Claytor

I would I would define it as reverence, reverential fear or respect in the realm of honor. Uh, like if I fear the police, I'm not afraid of the police. I think that, you know, their job is to keep me safe. Uh, but I am afraid to get, you know, a traffic ticket. You know, I don't want the police to catch me doing something that I shouldn't be doing because that's a fear that, like, you know, I don't want to break the law. That makes me fearful.

Ken Claytor

That example is hard. Let's let's get another one that will connect with the whole thing.

Tabatha Claytor

Well, why is that hard?

Ken Claytor

Well, I think some people just have a wrong view of the police altogether. Okay. And um, I think that that can be something where different people can hear it differently. I got you. And um, yeah, let's just try another example.

Tabatha Claytor

Parents.

Ken Claytor

Uh-huh.

Tabatha Claytor

You know, so you know, mom and dad, you know, growing up, my mom would not play. Okay. So if my mom told me to do something and I didn't do it, it it was going down. I was getting a spanking, a whooping, a beating, whatever

Fear That Produces Holiness

Tabatha Claytor

it was. Go get a switch off the tree.

Ken Claytor

Once again, I'm not sure if that analogy uh completely grabs fold of so the fear of the Lord is I would say reverence, I would say awe, I would say deep respect. That is, I would say awareness of God's holiness. Yes. Um, that God is holy and my life belongs to Him fully. That realization is a healthy fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord causes you to do right when nobody's around. The fear of the Lord causes you to steward your body in a certain way. Um, the fear of the Lord causes you not to want to do things with other people just because it's popular and that's what they're doing. I'm going to live my life for the audience of one. Um, this is the healthy fear of the Lord. So the fear of the Lord is a posture, it's a position, but it also produces an action. So it's not just I have reverence for God, I have reverence that produces holiness, I have reverence that produces um like uh obedience. I have reverence that produces integrity. Does that help? I like that. Your examples went more so like more on the fear side, like not the reverence side.

Tabatha Claytor

It's minus the awe, you know, it's the awe of God.

Ken Claytor

Yeah.

Tabatha Claytor

That has to be coupled in with it.

Ken Claytor

The reason that I'm differentiating, because the examples you just gave us, boy, my mama would give me a beat and a whooping, and we had a fear. Well, that is how a lot of people look at God. They look at God as, man, I messed up, I'm about to get zapped with lightning, or man, I couldn't go into church. I just bust in the flames. And I understand what you mean, but it's still that is not really the fear of the Lord is it God loves us, but there is this reverence for his holiness that's there that causes us to want to live right and do right. I think that's what I'm going for more.

Tabatha Claytor

I like that.

Ken Claytor

You understand?

Tabatha Claytor

Absolutely. What do you think about what um I think it's yeah, uh I agree. I agree.

Ken Claytor

The fear of the Lord is like one of the most foundational principles that every new believer needs because it has us hold on to that which is godly. If you don't have a healthy fear of the Lord, compromise is so easy. It's easy to say, well, it's not a big deal. That's what everybody's doing. Yeah, you know, um, and this is how adultery begins. This is how you have pastors and leaders who have positions of authority, but then they get involved in sin. This is how um the all of those lifestyles of sin, if you trace it back, there was a missing fear of the Lord. You didn't have that off of God, that reverence for God that produces a holy lifestyle.

Tabatha Claytor

That's really good, you know. And and I think that the examples that I gave really reflect, you know, where we are in society, that there there's nothing that compares to God. It's hard to compare. It's hard to say, well, he's like this or he's like that. You can, um, but it it's going to not envelop all that he is. Uh so I think that's that was really beautiful. Yeah. I think it's the awe of God.

Ken Claytor

Yeah, the awe of God.

Tabatha Claytor

It's the awe of God.

Ken Claytor

The reason I move your hand is just because you're making a lot of noise like this. I don't know if that's a a problem or not, but um the fear of the Lord is a deep reverence, all and honor for God that causes us to obey him, to hate sin, pursue wisdom, to walk humbly, to live surrendered, so it's not toxic fear. Okay. So let me give you an example.

Early Lessons In Church Honor

Ken Claytor

So for me, I grew up in a um, I grew up in southern West Virginia, and I went to a smaller mainline denominational church. It wasn't a big church, about 40 people or so. But I remember as a kid how I felt about the pulpit. And I was taught that only the Reverend and the other men and w men of God go into the pulpit. So it was almost like as a kid, it was like I had a fear of the Lord towards the pulpit. Like as a kid, you would sneak up in there and just, you know, they would have like waters and oil and different stuff in, you know, in the little podium. But it was like there was this fear of the Lord, like, man, should I step into this pulpit? You know what I'm saying? Because there was a reverence. Okay, let me do another one. Um so when I was growing up, my we call him Reverend, um, but let's just call him pastor. Uh, he would smoke um pipes. So back in the day you put tobacco in a pipe, and after service, he would go out and he would smoke, you know, like outside of the church or no, right on the church property still. And I remember being like eight, nine, ten years old, and I just would have a problem with that. And I remember telling my dad, hey, why is Reverend uh so-and-so smoking on church property? See, even at eight or nine years old, I had this fear of the Lord. Like, hey, man, now all I knew is like you're on church property and you're smoking. I didn't really realize that he was church property, that he is the church, that he probably shouldn't be smoking, whether he's at church or at home. Right. He needs a steward his body in a certain way. But all I knew is at eight or nine years old, like, you probably shouldn't be doing that on church property. What was that? That was a fear of the Lord. So God gave me at a very early age a healthy fear of the Lord. I remember when I was in college, I don't know if you remember this, I had a picture of Jesus that I would hang on the wall. Yep. And um, I had a picture of Jesus on my wall, and it wasn't Jesus, but it was a picture of Jesus. And uh, whenever I wanted to do wrong um and do something that was sinful, I would take Jesus' picture off the wall, put it under my bed, do wrong, then put Jesus.

Tabatha Claytor

Now I did not know you did that though.

Ken Claytor

Yeah. Well, that was that's religion. Um, but I had a that fear of the Lord was in my heart. Now I didn't know how to walk it out, but it was the beginning of the fear of the Lord, like, okay, I'm gonna do this, but not in front of Jesus. You know what I'm saying? Like I had a crucifix and necklace on, I would take it off, do something wrong, and then put my necklace back on. All right, so that was like an immature, fleshy fear

Safeguards That Keep You Steady

Ken Claytor

of the Lord. But if we can develop it to now, to when I really understood the fear of the Lord, it's the thing that's caused me to be faithful to you for 24 years, use no profanity for 24 years, watch no pornography for 24 years, not cuss for 24 years, tithe for 24 years. I think it's I've been able to have longevity in ministry where I've seen other people come and go and fall into sin. And I don't think it's because I'm all that. I think it's just that I gotta fear the Lord. And if there's one thing that I would love to give husbands, it would be the fear of the Lord. Like I have a fear of the Lord. Like I know that when I stand before Jesus, I have to give an account of how I led you as my wife and my good thing, how I imparted into my children. I have to give an account of how I live my life based upon his word. And I don't want to hear him say, Well, yeah. I want to hear him say, Well done. I think a lot of people can get to heaven and you Jesus gonna be like, Well, you barely made it in. Well, I want to hear him say, Well done, that good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord. I think the fear of the Lord is so important because it keeps me faithful to you, it keeps me faithful to God, it keeps me in line.

Tabatha Claytor

So it's it's a fear of the Lord, it's you're where you're motivated not through fear of punishment, but through love, through wanting to please the Father.

Ken Claytor

Yes, that He loves me so much. Jesus died on the cross, he gave me life. I want to do everything that I can to live a life that's beyond reproach, well pleasing, and I want to hear him say, Well done. Because I understand that his nature is holy and he's called me to be holy as well. I want to live so when it comes to like I don't drink and I don't use profanity, and I don't want to wrestle with are those things sin. I just know that they're not gonna lead me to Jesus. They're not gonna bring me closer to Jesus. They could lead me into a place that would hurt the Father's heart, and I live with a fear of the Lord where I can live beyond the gray. I just feel like everyone needs that uh today. We need a healthy fear of the Lord.

Tabatha Claytor

We do.

Ken Claytor

You know, Proverbs 9 and 10 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is the principal thing. You need wisdom for business, you need wisdom for the investment, your portfolio, you need wisdom in marriage. And the fear of the Lord is actually the beginning of wisdom. And I think people, especially when they cheat in their marriages, they got stupid. They got stupid. The fear of the Lord will keep you from being stupid. So it's not the end of wisdom, it's the beginning. Meaning that if I don't reverence God correctly, I won't see life correctly.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

Ken Claytor

Proverbs 8 and 13 says, To fear the Lord is to hate evil. So the fear of the Lord gives you a strong disposition towards holiness. Um, I had um a friend of mine who is a great pastor and a great man of God. Um I I released a clip that did pretty good, and it was just talking about how pastors and leaders who fall into sin, they didn't start that way. They had a heart and they had a love for God, man. They really did. But then as increase came and as notoriety grew, warfare and weight grew, number one, they probably didn't have they had unresolved trauma that had not been healed or even dealt with that came to the surface. And number two, they just didn't submit to the parameters around them. They didn't put the right parameters in place so they wouldn't fall. And what happens, they fall into sin. And when they fall into sin, people get hurt, people get disenfranchised. Some people like, I don't even want to serve God anymore just because his representatives messed up. And the clip went out, and man, I had a guy uh just leave me a voice memo and says, Man, I respect you so much. And um, I mean, that was me. That was me. I just um I love Jesus and I've messed up here and I've messed up there. And man, that that clip just really, really spoke to me. And I left him a voice memo back and I says, I don't have a special anointing, I don't have a special God. I know my flesh, I know what I'm attracted to, I know what I like, so I don't watch radio movies. It's not because I'm not a grown man. I can watch whatever I want to watch, but I also know that when I see other people's boobies jumping around, it distracts me from the boobies that I should be focused on. I know my flesh enough to put parameters and safeguards around me to keep me from sinning because I've already counted the end from the beginning and what sin would do to your heart, to the people that follow me, to my podcast audience, and also, but most importantly, the heart of Jesus. So the fear of the Lord causes me to live in a fishbowl. And I'm I have joy in the fishbowl. People act like a fishbowl is a bad thing. No, I got a joy. People are watching me, they're following me as I follow Christ. I want to live a life that's beyond reproach. The fear of the Lord helps me with all of that. I need you to jump in because I feel like I'm talking a lot today. I'm passionate

Love And Fear Held Together

Ken Claytor

about it.

Tabatha Claytor

Yeah. No, I I think, I mean, I hear you talking about the fear of the Lord. I I am having a hard time separating in my own thoughts the fear of the Lord from the love of the Lord. Because you can replace that word fear and put love in it. And because because I fear the Lord, I do this. Because I love the Lord, I do this. You know, so when you have a fear of the Lord, you stand up for God, you fight for God. Um, you don't tolerate sin. I think that's what you said. You know, you you'll you're less likely to fall into sin.

Ken Claytor

It's to hate Proverbs 8:13.

Tabatha Claytor

Yeah, well, you can, you know, I could kind of if, well, because I love the Lord, I hate evil. Yeah. When you love him, you hate what he hates, you love what he loves. You, you, you, you're all about God. You put him first. You're kind of you it's all about pleasing him. And I don't know what you think about that. It's just that the fear of the Lord and the love of the Lord, it's like they go hand in hand.

Ken Claytor

Yeah, that's it. I think they go hand in hand. Because if I fear the Lord, I think I'm loving him. And if I love him, I will fear him. So they go hand in hand.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Ken Claytor

There's a scripture that says, if you love me, keep my commandments. So the love language of God is not us just singing to him or even serenading him and saying, God, I love you. It's when we do what he told us to do.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

Ken Claytor

So the love language of God is obedience. So if you love me, keep my commandments. And so the reason that I'll do that, so that love and that fear goes hand in hand. Like if you love me, keep my commandments. So I'm living holy and I'm keeping the commandments of God because I love him, but the fear of the Lord is also the anchor. So to me, you're right. They kind of go hand in hand. You know, and I think both of them are really important.

Tabatha Claytor

That's so good. There's not a lot of places in society today, like in the world, like, you know, just going to school, like our kids growing up in school and stuff, that we have this awe that we could like, what else can you be in awe of besides God? You know, like so it's almost like you have to come to church to even talk about awe toward something, like this type of honor, like honor times a thousand.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

Tabatha Claytor

You know, respect times a thousand. No one can enter into that realm except God.

Ken Claytor

Well, I think we current culture tries to bring God down the human level. And I love it that we are the friend of God. The Bible talks about how different people were the friend of God. And one of the greatest songs from back in the day, um, Israel dropped a song called I Am a Friend of God. And it was so liberating because we realize that we are his friend. But our relationship is multifaceted. So I'm a son of God, I'm a friend of God, I'm a servant of God, you know, all at the same time. Um, but at the same time, I can't bring God down just to that human level. So I'm a friend of God, and I thank God for the closeness and the communion of the Holy Spirit, but then there's also this realization that he's sovereign, that he's powerful, and that he's above all, and that he's holy, and there's no sin in him, there's no darkness in him, there's no shadow in him. If he thinks it, it's right. And so sometimes we almost feel like God made a mistake. God, there's no mistakes in God. Right. He doesn't have the capacity to make mistakes. Well, God just doesn't understand this. There's no lack of understanding in God. You're bringing him down. See, we don't understand something. Right. There's darkness in us, but there's no darkness in him. So the reason that people lose their awe of God because they've brought God down from his majesty and his power and his holiness and all that he is. And if we can do both, be a friend of God, but still have awe for God, I think that there's there's a beauty in in both of those things being held at the same time. But that's where the the fear of God is so needed.

Tabatha Claytor

God is so amazing. It's like he's so rich. These three are one: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It's like we have, you know, Jesus, we've seen him. Humanity has seen Jesus face to face. We we relate to Jesus. He became us, he became like us, died for us. The Holy Spirit, we kind of we're familiar with him. He's living in us, he brings us Jesus. He's he's we s we talk to him, he's here. But then I s there's this father that sits on the throne that no man can see face to face and live, you know, like Moses. Yeah, not this side of heaven.

Ken Claytor

It's like that at like the Father God, God in all of his glory and all of his might and all of his majesty, where the elders are bowing their crowns down and casting their crowns before before his feet, like the the one who is filled with glory, where uh, you know, the that that's that spoke light and light was who was there, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the one who is all-powerful, all-knowing, uh omnipotent, God Almighty, all by himself. Man, I hope we we can get another revelation of that part of the attribute of God. Absolutely. Because it helps us walk in the fear of the

Reverence That Creates Intimacy

Ken Claytor

Lord. And Psalms 25, 14 says that the Lord confides in those who fear him. What that means is that reverence creates intimacy. He confides, you know, like I would confide in you. I come home, baby. This is what's going on. Right? God confides in those who fear him. So if you ever want secrets downloaded from God, the fear of the Lord is an access point where God begins to speak to us because we have a healthy fear of the Lord. He doesn't entrust like secrets and wisdom and insight to babies and carnal people. He he entrusts that to people who have closeness and proximity and relationship with him.

Tabatha Claytor

I I think that's because if you fear him, which is this extreme respect, extreme honor, extreme awe, you're careful with what he gives to you. You know, if somebody comes into the room, you know, some people trip out over celebrities. That's fine, it's fine, you know, whatever. But imagine, you know, a man walks into the room, presidents, rulers, whatever. You kind of like, oh, snap, I've definitely, there's people that I respect that I'm in the sitting at the table with, like, okay, I'm a little nervous right now. You're careful about what you say just because there's some reverence there. Now, with God, you know, if he's entrusting us with secrets and things, it's just, it's because we're careful. Yeah. You know, you're careful with in the presence of God, you're careful with how you present God and what you say on his behalf because he's God. You just you want to protect that relationship.

When Christianity Turns Casual

Ken Claytor

And so let's talk a minute about what happens when the fear of the Lord is not there. When the fear of the Lord is not there, Christianity becomes casual and it becomes that's the best word, just casual. Like you come to church late, you might come this Sunday, you might not. You read the Bible if you can, you might not, you everything is casual. Oh, it's no big deal, but it is a big deal.

Tabatha Claytor

You know, it's normalized.

Ken Claytor

When it comes to the time of worship at your church, you know, most churches have like devotion or they have a music session. That's not just for somebody to come and sing. Those are times where we honor God for his majesty and his glory and all that he is, and it prepares our heart for the reception of the word of God. Some people treat that like it's intermission to get from kids' church or from the parking lot and they come to church late, but then they want on-time blessing. What's wrong? They're missing the fear of the Lord. You're believing God for an on-time harvest, but you keep sowing a late seed. I'm not saying that, you know, life is gonna happen every once in a while, but I'm just talking about you consistently don't honor the atmosphere where God abides in.

Tabatha Claytor

Well, worship, yeah, is a way that we can reverence God. It's it's not just to sing songs and have fun. We worship because that's what the Bible says. We lift our hands because the Bible says, we sing songs because the Bible says this, we clap our hands, not just because it's a it's a way to worship God. So it is a part of our Sunday worship. Right. To sit down, I don't know. I mean, I get, you know, to sit down and just listen to what, you know, the word of God. I mean, I guess it's a form of worship to receive instruction from God, but really that's for us, you know, to edify us. The real worship is when we say, God, you're holy. We open up our mouths and honor Him.

Ken Claytor

And listen, I came from a background, I was a Christian atheist for about 10 years of my life. And I remember going to churches and I would never lift my hand. It was Too too weird for me. Why? Because I wanted to be in control. I would come into his presence, other people would stand, I would remain sitting. Other people and I would look at them as weird. And actually, it was me who was weird that didn't understand I was in the presence of a king. And that king deserves worship. He deserves praise. He deserves surrender. And so now I'm getting out of the car like this. Not really, but you know what I'm saying. That's where my heart is. And that our approach towards his throne is not casual. Like I understand we can come before his throne of grace with boldness and ask what we have need of and find mercy in our time of help, in our time of need. But there's just something still about approaching the throne

Uzzah And Ananias With Sapphira

Ken Claytor

of God. See, uh there was a reverence in how they approached the most inner place in the tabernacle. Like only the high priest could go in, Yom Kippur, once a year to offer an atonement for the people's sin. And then everybody else would be on the outside in the outer court. And then there were some things happening in the inner court where you had the table of shoe bread and you had the candlesticks, but then you had the most holy place where the glory of God was over the Ark of the Covenant, where the Shekinah glory of God was. And it was like there was such a reverence for God, even the Ark of the Covenant that represented the presence of God. Remember that time where David was trying to transport the ark and 30,000 people were dancing because he was bringing the ark back into Jerusalem. And then a guy who was not supposed to touch the ark because God said, Don't touch it, it begins to kind of wobble and he lifts out his hand and he touches the ark and he dies. That's not something we hear a lot of people preaching on, but it's in the Bible for a reason. What was that? It was the missing of the fear of the Lord. God is basically sending a message to everybody that my presence is holy. Don't make it normal, don't make it casual. My presence is holy. So good. So he was judged on the spot. David trips. David is like, I don't want nothing to do with the Ark of the Covenant. So he leaves it in the house of a man named Obed Edom. And the Bible says that the ark, the presence of God, was in Obed Edom's house to where everything Obed-Edom did begin to prosper. And then David was like, go get the ark and come on, let's bring it in. Now that's Old Testament, and people will leave it at that. Well, why would somebody just die like that? Well, that's Old Testament. But the New Testament equivalent is a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. And the Bible says that they had an opportunity to bring an offering and they didn't have to give it, right? But they lied in their heart and said that they sold a piece of land and they was given it all, but they kept back part of it. And so Peter, I believe, comes to them and is like, hey, did you sell the land for this much? And the guy was like, Yeah. And he's like, You don't lie to the Holy Ghost. And he drops dead right there. And then it would seem like Peter would tell the wife, like, hey, your husband died. You might want to watch your lie, but he's like, Hey, did y'all sell this land? And the wife conspires together with her husband to lie.

Tabatha Claytor

The word says, conspire together.

Ken Claytor

They conspire together. And they lied to the Holy Ghost, drop dead. This is New Testament. This is under grace. What's that? That's the fear of the Lord. God allowed this judgment to happen because the fear of the Lord is what caused miracles through the book of Acts. So after that, everybody was like, we ain't even joining these people. We don't know if we want to join them, what we want to do. It was weird because it was almost like people were afraid to join them, but then thousands did. It's this mix of language, miracles, science, and wonders happen because the foundation of Acts is a healthy fear of the Lord. If you want miracles in your church, you have to establish the healthy fear of the Lord. If people are so casual with God and they just get in a latte with God all the time, and it's no big deal. And I can just sin here and you're missing the very power and the holiness of God and who he is. And when the glory of God like comes into the room, everybody knows it. It's just like the glory's here. There's something that's different. It's not human, it's God. Yeah. You know?

SPEAKER_02

That's so good.

Ken Claytor

So that part of God is just it's an interesting attribute that oh my God, comes on the coattails of the fear of the Lord. So to say

Holy Ground And Honoring Leaders

Ken Claytor

good.

Tabatha Claytor

I'm reminded of the scripture where God said, take off your shoes for the place that you are standing.

Ken Claytor

Holy ground. Man, I think that we need to maybe determine what is in our life that's holy ground. I fight for us because this marriage is holy ground. Yeah. And I think some things we've made common that God calls holy. And we need to get back to there are some things that are God things that are holy ground. I I never, I, I never publicly talk negative about another man or woman of God. Not that God is using, because I believe that that the office that they're in is holy ground.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

Ken Claytor

We live in a day and time where people will use their platforms to tear down other people's platforms in the name of doctrine. Well, I don't believe this, you're a false prophet and a false this, that, and the other, but you'll know if tree bides fruit. And there's a lot of people that was generals in the last generation that we cut our teeth on that today the social media world has made a mockery of. And they're going to be the cores of this day. The Bible says that Kor was a leader in the Old Testament, I think in the book of Numbers, and there were some other leaders that was there. So he was a leader, but he began to put his mouth on Moses. And Moses was in an office that God had assigned. Yes. He's like, hey, we all hear from God. Why do you try to put yourself above God's people? Who do you think you are? And the Bible says that the ground opened up, swallowed up core and his and his and their leaders and their families and their children. And then a plague broke out and 14,000 people died because don't touch what's what's holy. One of the greatest things that I learned years ago was touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm. There are people that I don't agree with their doctrine. I don't agree with their style. And there's some people that I'm like, I don't even know if you're a truth teller. You know what I'm saying? However, because I have a Davidic heart, David wouldn't even cut the robe of Saul.

SPEAKER_02

That's so good.

Ken Claytor

Because Saul was in an office that he honored. There's too many people cutting the robes of people that have led millions of people to Jesus. The last generation, they do it different, they sound different, but you're cutting their robe and the ground is opening up. And it's not a literal swallowing, but I see people being swallowed up because they've assigned themselves to judge other men and women of God, and they're actually rebelling against God because they don't honor what God honors.

Tabatha Claytor

They don't understand.

Ken Claytor

They don't understand the fear of the Lord.

Tabatha Claytor

Yeah. And and like and it you you don't really have proof. What if you're wrong?

Ken Claytor

What if you're wrong?

Tabatha Claytor

What if you're wrong?

Ken Claytor

What if you're wrong? What if you're wrong about Joel Osteen? What if God's hand is on him? What if you're wrong about Benny Hann? What if you're wrong about Creflo Dollar? What if you're wrong about Kenneth Copeland? What if you're wrong about Smith Wigglesworth? What if you're wrong about Billy Graham? What if you're wrong about whoever it is in our day and time that's on your feed that as soon as they get popular, you didn't say nothing about them when they wasn't popular. But now, what if you're wrong about Philip Anthony Mitch? What if you're wrong about Mike Todd? What if you're wrong about I mean, go down through whoever it is? You know what I'm saying? Right. T.D. Jakes. I don't know. I don't a lot of these guys, I don't know them personally. I've never sat down and had a meal with them. I've never sat down with with and had an eye-to-eye conversation. I mean, some of them I have, right? But I I I would thank God. Back in the day, I was taught, don't touch my prophets. Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm. And I don't want to get into a doctrinal debate because I understand, listen, I got flaws and everything that I say is not accurate, but I'm doing what I do by faith. And sometimes you're learning and growing. You're not a false prophet and false this and false that out.

Tabatha Claytor

Because you make a mistake, that doesn't make you a false prophet. Do you know faith?

Ken Claytor

Do you know how to define blasphemy? Do you know what blasphemy is?

Tabatha Claytor

Isn't it to um uh you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit?

Ken Claytor

Well, blasphemy is the one sin that the Bible says unforgivable. I think we need to do a whole podcast about blasphemy.

Tabatha Claytor

People think that I, you know, I grew up thinking that blasphemy was like cussing, you know.

Ken Claytor

I thought blasphemy is just you saying God doesn't exist. I thought that was blasphemy. Do you know what blasphemy is? Blasphemy is when you call a work of God a work of the devil. So it was the time where Jesus was doing certain things and they said he cast devils out by Belzebub, the prince of the deep powers. And he says, if demons cast out demons by demons, then the kingdom of Satan is divided. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Isn't it amazing that the Jesus that we all say we worship, there are many people in today's time will call him a false prophet and a heretic, the same one that we say we love. And I understand judgment starts in the house of God and we need to examine ourselves first, but I think that there's a lot of people with the wrong spirit that are missing the fear of the Lord and they are blaspheming the very people that God has chosen.

Tabatha Claytor

Seems like there's a whole lot of blaspheming going along.

Ken Claytor

There's a spirit of core and that's really sad blasphemy.

Tabatha Claytor

That's sad. That's not good for the body of Christ.

Ken Claytor

I love the church. Like I have a pretty large tent. Like I understand that there are some Catholics that are saved and love God and doing miracles. I understand there's some Presbyterians, some Baptists, some reformed guys, some non-denominational guys, some people for prosperity, some people against prosperity that God's hand is on.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

Ken Claytor

I just understand enough to know that there's some apologists and there's some people. My tent is a little bit bigger. How do I know if we're family? You believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. There's no way to the Father except by Him. And there's different streams and different styles. And some of them I don't agree with and don't like. Right. But I'm not going to attack you. Right. Because if I'm going to attack you, I might be attacking God. And I got too much fear of the Lord. That's it. I just got to fear the Lord.

Tabatha Claytor

You might be attacking his bride.

Ken Claytor

Yeah.

Tabatha Claytor

You know, the church is the bride of Christ. I don't think you would like it if people started talking bad about me and saying whatever and all of this stuff about me. I mean, but when we do that to the church, we do that to the bride of Christ.

Ken Claytor

Oh, Lord help us.

Tabatha Claytor

It doesn't feel good in my stomach, honestly. It's a little bit, I feel almost grieved.

Ken Claytor

Yeah, Lord help us. Thinking about a young man who feels that he's called to correct the body of Christ. That's all that's always interesting to me. That you feel called to correct the body. The beautiful bride, the big old body. You feel called to correct us because we're all wrong. But now you you got prophetic words and you know something we don't know. You got a demon. That's a demon. That's a demon, and we gotta cast it out, and it's wrong. A demon of pride, demon of religious pride. And it's a lot on the internet right now. And um, it's sad, it's sad, but we're gonna overcome. We're gonna be that church without spot or wrinkle, we're gonna be a glorious church, wanna steward revival. Um it's the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord. So I understand, man, that man, I I just think uh humility is huge right now. You know, we got churches in different cities, and man, there's all kinds of beautiful churches in those cities. Some of them are more traditional in their worship, some of them are more boisterous in their worship, some of them are quiet, some of them are deep dives into theology, some of them are storytellers. It's all beautiful to me. Yeah. As long as Jesus is being lifted up, people are coming to him and the gospel's being preached. That's like I I'm thinking about this young man who says, I'm called to judge the church, but why aren't you so that passionate about the about the witches and the warlocks and the polygamy and the and the drug dealers? And you know what I'm saying? Like, if you're called to do something, why aren't you called to use that? Why are you so passionate that you're making a a a YouTube about another pastor? God is the judge of the world. Listen, I ain't got time to get on my own YouTube. Like, what how do you have the time to make a YouTube page about another pastor breaking down his sermon? Breaking that you don't have nothing else to do. There's no other witches, warlocks, drug dealers, there's no other abortion clinics you need to be standing in front of. There's nothing that you can't go to visit prisons and hospitals. Why are you spending your time?

Tabatha Claytor

There's a lot to be done. When Jesus be um Jesus ascended to heaven, he gave us ex he could told us what to do as a church. He said, preach the gospel, he said, heal the sick, cast out demons. That's what we that's what we could do. Preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons. There's so much work to be done in those three things.

Ken Claytor

Nor does he say go debate with your brother. Right.

Tabatha Claytor

Over over judging the body of Christ was not one of them.

Ken Claytor

Yeah. So my position in this is just that I I just have a fear of the Lord. And we're gonna raise up thousands of people, if not millions of people, who have that same fear of the Lord. Meaning that, watch this. If you feel called to judge someone else, why don't first commit to pray for them? You pray for them three years every day for at least 30 minutes a day, then we'll I might want to hear your judgment. There's a lot of people that ain't thought not that their judgment is a spirit of judgment and it's missing the fear of the Lord. The bride should be beautiful, it should be united, it's the most powerful entity on the planet. Don't weaken the bride, don't attack the bride. Don't, don't, don't, don't push off the bride. Don't step on your brothers. Don't talk down people. The fear of the Lord. Too much, too much fear of the Lord for that. So I think I'm done today. This has been good for me. How do you grow in the fear

Practical Steps Prayer And Next Moves

Ken Claytor

of the Lord? Here's some things. Let's get practical. Spend time in God's word. You can't reverence the God you don't know. Number two, meditate on God's holiness. God is loving and holy. Number three, obey quickly. Delate obedience, it hardens hearts. Number four, repent often. Keep short accounts with God. Number five, remove compromise. Small compromise weakens conviction. Number six, guard your heart because sensitivity matters. Number seven, stay humble. Pride resists reverence. Number eight, worship intentionally because worship realigns the heart. Number nine, surround yourself with spiritually serious people. Casual company creates casual Christianity. That's a word. Number ten, remember who God is. He's loving, but he is also the king of glory. I want to pray for you if you don't mind. Lord, I pray for my friend who is watching this right now. I pray that the fear of the Lord be a revelation for them. And I pray that this mindset of the fear of the Lord or this heart set be downloaded into them right now. And I thank you that from this day forward, no condemnation, but conviction that they are sensitive to your spirit, they honor you and the beauty of your holiness, that we don't just have a friend, we have a soon-coming king, that you are royalty, that there is no sin, no darkness in you. Open the eyes of our understanding. And so I pray over you a healthy fear of the Lord from this day forward, that you will live a life of awe and reverence towards an Almighty God till you meet them face to face. In Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_02

Amen.

Ken Claytor

If you enjoyed today, please let us know. I want to know what you got from today. Today was heavy, but it was also good. And sometimes we need heavy things. That's how we get stronger. We're out of time, but we release a new episode every Thursday at 3 p.m. We would love for you to share this episode and come and join us every Thursday. We got a conference coming up, y'all. Oh, you I gotta tell you about this. You see this shirt that I got on and this hat that I got on. It is from my son's company. Me and him, I've I've put together, my son is um, my son is now uh 15, and he has put together a merch company and a company uh and I said, Man, I want to help you with that because he just loves Jesus. And so you can check some of this clothing out if you so desire at uh communionaparel.com. Communionapparel. We got some hats, we got some hoodies, and I think it'll bless you. But anyway, um back to our normal scheduled routine. Shout out, Kenny. Love you, homie. Um, but yeah, we got a conference coming up November called a live conference. If you want tickets, get it quickly. People are coming from around the world to have an encounter with God as we reverence and have a fear of the Lord. It's going to be a powerful time. Hey, we love you guys. We'll see you next Thursday.

SPEAKER_02

Peace.