Do you fear God?

When the United States invaded Iraq to overthrow Sadaam Hussein, they came in with a tremendous amount of firepower with the intention of causing “shock and awe” among the people leading to a quick surrender. When the Iraqi forces experienced the superior firepower of the opposing militaries they quickly deserted their army and allegiance to Sadaam Hussein. The hearts of the soldiers melted in fear and they quickly changed their minds. The shock and awe produced fear and trembling.
The Bible speaks about fear and trembling but not in the same sense as what happened in Iraq. There is a Biblical fear of the Lord and a trembling that comes from a proper understanding of the character and nature of God.
When we read portions of the Old Testament we often come across statements such as these:
Isa 66:1-2 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Jer 5:21-22 "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
Psa 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
The word tremble according to Strong’s dictionary means: to twirl or spin, to writhe in pain, to fall grievously,
We don’t like to think about fear and trembling as a physical and mental reaction we should have in our relationship with God. We would much rather relate to the softer side of God who is gentle, compassionate, kind and merciful. Yet we cannot neglect the kindness nor the severity of God. We need to have a healthy understanding of greatness of God and the holiness of God. He is not to be treated as though he were just a common person. He is God and there is none other like Him. He wants us to take Him seriously and honor his Word through our obedience.
Israel’s failure
One of the problems the Israelites faced was going through all the rituals and ceremonies without a humble and contrite heart. Soon the sacrifices came to mean little to them, they were just an obligation, not a true desire of their heart to worship God in obedience to His word and love for him. It became routine, common and the true meaning was lost. Eventually they tried to offer sacrifices that were blemished, not even respecting the word God had given them through Moses. They lost their reverence for God and the things of God. They honored God with their lips, they said all the right things but their heart was far from Him. Their heart was set on doing things they wanted to do, God was a sideshow to them. They neither feared nor reverenced him. They did not tremble at God’s Word. In the end they gave themselves to worship false gods, idols made by the hands of man turning their backs on God and provoking him to wrath. There was no fear of God which according to Proverbs 8:13 is the hatred of all sin in thought, word and deed.
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Our Challenge
This same issues is something we as believers must constantly be on guard against it happening in our lives. Maintaining a proper fear of God, a humble and contrite heart is needed in this day when it is so easy for us to take lightly the things of God and focus on ourselves, doing things our way, according to what we desire. We become accustomed to the grace and mercy of God and make it cheap, taking advantage of it so we can do things we know are not a reflection of a true fear and reverence for God. This warped view of God has led many believers to embrace universalism. The Christian Post quoted a survey that indicated 1 of 5 Christians believe in universalism which means that everyone will eventually go to heaven because a loving God could not send anyone to hell. He will make a way for everyone to get into heaven. Some believe that even if people are sent to hell, God will continue to reach out in love for them until his love breaks the hardness of their heart and they are saved from their sin and brought into heaven. The Bible does not teach that at all. It teaches that few will find the narrow road that leads to heaven. There are no second chances after death.
Paul understood that one of the reactions to the knowledge of grace was that the people may think they could or should sin more so more grace could abound.
Rom 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
When we come to Christ we receive a new life, a life that desires to not sin, to be holy even as God is holy.
1Pe 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
If there is no desire for holiness, no fear of God which translates into a hatred for sin, no trembling before Him, then one has to question the depth of understanding of God’s nature and the depth of commitment to live in obedience to Him.
In Jesus’ first sermon given at the Mount, his first two beatitudes set the attitude that we must have if we are going to be serious and devoted followers of Christ.
Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
To be poor in spirit means that we see ourselves in our poverty of spiritual status before God. We see how needy we are, how much we need God and need to pursue Him wholeheartedly because in our own strength we fall short of what he requires of our lives. We see that we are nothing in ourselves but because of the grace and mercy of God we have received everything we need in Christ. Apart from Christ we are nothing and have nothing of value to God. When God looks at us, He sees the Christ in us, the righteousness we have received in Christ that has made us acceptable to him and useful to the work of His kingdom. We easily recognize physical or material poverty, it is all around us in Guatemala. But are we as quick to recognize our own spiritual poverty? Jesus said those who see their spiritual poverty are blessed, they are happy.
When we can see our poverty, it causes us to humble ourselves before God with a contrite and broken spirit. Have you ever had those moments when you remember how you responded in your flesh and carnal mind and you shake your head and say to yourself, “What was I thinking!” We see our lack of spirituality and we can only call upon the grace and forgiveness of God. I have had many flashbacks that have caused me to tremble at my own sinfulness and selfishness. Oh how I wish I could relive those moments so I could change the memory. Had I been living in the true fear of God and trembling at His Word I would have never done those things because I would have had the correct attitude toward God, His Word and how He wants me to treat people.
We sing “I am desperate for you.” We will only be able to sing this and mean it when we see our poverty of spirit and how much we must call upon God and cry out to Him to be our life. Jesus said those who mourn will be comforted. We mourn over our spiritual condition when we see ourselves in our great need.
We do not in our human and fleshly nature like to admit our poverty. We like to be self reliant, not needing anyone or anything because we are the captain of our ship. We fight against this attitude all the time when we do not consult others or insist on our way or are quick to give advice to another person without seeking God’s wisdom.
Christ modeled this humility by constantly seeking to only say and do what the Father revealed to Him.
Joh 5:19 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
He came to do the will of His father, not his own.
Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
His teachings were not his own but what the Father had revealed to Him.
Joh 7:16 So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
Christ lived with a dependency upon his Father and without humility he would never have been able to do this. Humility causes us to submit ourselves to God and to one another. We realize our poverty and need and are willing to submit ourselves to God and to each other in true humility.
Because of our poverty of spirit we have to learn to first go to God and in humility and contriteness of heart to seek His wisdom and counsel so we don’t just do what we want to do. We come to God in humility, dependence upon Him because we see our need and in expectation that He will respond. Joy Dawson is one woman who has learned to seek God in her ministry and life. She was invited to speak at a conference but when she prayed about what she should teach, the Lord did not give her a word to share with the people. So when she got up to speak she told the audience that she did not have a word from God and they would have to wait in prayer with her until he gave her something to say. Now for most people this would be very uncomfortable and perhaps humiliating but for Joy she did not care about pleasing people but being obedient to God. She said she waited joyfully for 10 minutes and then the Lord gave her a word to share with the people. She has learned to fear God, to wait upon him until he speaks before she acts.
Pro 18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
This verse is talking about someone who is so intent on getting what they desire that they refuse to seek the counsel of anyone, isolating himself from everyone. He is not open to receiving counsel and in truth does not want it. When we isolate ourselves we insulate ourselves from the help of others and we do it because we do not want them to speak against what we have already determined we want. In so doing we shut out sound judgment and we are destined to fail.
Humility and contriteness of heart is also demonstrated when we invite the counsel of others who will also seek the mind of God. I believe that when we have this attitude we please the heart of God and He will give us what we need.
When the early church had to make a decision about what to do with the new Gentile believers, they met together in Jerusalem to seek the wisdom of God. They came up with a solution that “was good to us and to the Holy Spirit”.
Act 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:
They did not come up with their own solution based on their own ideas but relied on the Holy Spirit to show them what was the right way to respond to the issue they faced. This response reflected that they understood they were poor in spirit and needed the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When we recognize this poverty of spirit it should drive us to our knees in prayer. We should be less prone to make quick decisions based solely on our own understanding and desires. We should immediately seek God for his wisdom and trust that he will give us the answer and the wisdom we need. If we are in a crisis God will respond and give us the solution as we seek Him.
The early church learned quickly to take God seriously and not try to deceive the Holy Spirit. When Ananias and Sapphira were stuck dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit, great fear came upon the people.
Act 5:11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
The church did not shrink nor were people afraid to join the church but it grew quickly and God did great signs and wonders among the people.
Act 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
When God is feared and taken seriously it has a positive effect and people are drawn to him in repentance.
When you read of the revivals in England and in the USA during the 1800 and early 1900 one of the amazing results was how people were convicted of their sin as the fear of the Lord came upon them. Bars were shut down and people fell under conviction of their sin. They got serious with God and abandoned their sins to seek Him with all their heart. There was a healthy fear and trembling that took place in these revivals.
We need to pray and ask for the fear of the Lord to come upon us in our daily pursuit of God. When we have the fear of the Lord it will be demonstrated in hatred for evil and a desire to be obedient to whatever the Lord asks of us. Our main desire will be to please him and do what he desires in instant obedience.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov. 1:7). If we desire to grow in knowledge of God it begins with having an understanding of the fear of the Lord. We must pray not only for ourselves to have this fear but also for those who are teachers and preachers of God’s Word who are held at a higher standard because of the influence they have (James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.)
We must also pray for the lost that the fear of God will come upon them to cause them to repent and seek God wholeheartedly. In the ministry to the homeless many of them are where they are at because of a sinful lifestyle that is marked with addictions to drugs. In talking with some of them there is no desire to totally give up what is holding them back and keeping them in their situation. There is no fear of God, no hatred for the sin that is keeping them in bondage. They are playing with sin and it is destroying their lives. We need to start praying for the fear of God to fall upon them, for such a hatred of what they are doing that they will repent from it and renounce it and seek the help they need to see their lives completely transformed.
Joy Dawson told a story of an evangelist with YWAM Allan Williams. Before he came to Christ, he was living a life of a pagan. He was a sailor and spent every weekend on shore in the bars. When he arrived in New Zealand he did the same things he always did, got drunk and lived immorally. But during this time several people in New Zealand were praying for the fear of the Lord to fall upon sinners and bring them to salvation. One day when Allan was walking down a main street of Auckland he suddenly said to himself, “Is there no other way to live?” As he kept repeating these words he saw a church and went into it, kneeling in prayer, he asked God to show him if there was another way to live. The next day he went walking again and walk into a coffee shop. A believer sitting next to him began to share the gospel message with him. He listened but did not make a decision for Christ at this time. Two days later he was walking the same street and another man came up to him and invited him to go to an evangelistic service at a mission and he accepted. At this service he accepted Christ and never turned back from following him. Allan became one of the most effective street preachers in YWAM and has led many people to Christ.
As we come in contact with people who are lost let’s begin to pray that the fear of the Lord will fall on them to turn them away from sin and toward God who desires to set them free.
I believe God is calling us to a higher standard in these days when evil abounds. He wants us to be separated unto him. When we reverence Him and fear Him, we lay the foundation upon which he can build our lives based on the knowledge of him and live a holy life to honor Him. He wants us to take Him and His word seriously. As we live this out, we can pray for others to also live in the fear of the Lord and enter into the life of obedience that God desires and deserves.