Fear

I want to talk about something that we hear very little about in many of our churches today.  It almost seems like a foreign word today when it comes to God.  I would like to talk about the fear of the Lord.  How do we know if we fear the Lord?  This verse might help you, read Proverbs 16:6, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.”

The things we hear about most in the church are the love, mercy, grace and forgiveness of God.  While these are all true and without them we could never be right with God, if we have no fear of God before our eyes, won’t we have a tendency to take advantage of Him?  We know that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but how many believers fear God to the extent that it truly makes a difference in their lives?  How many are hiding secret sins in their lives, coming to church making like everything is fine, praising the Lord and having a good time?  How many are gossiping and how many hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness or how many are having affairs and how many are mistreating their wives?  How many are lying and deceiving others or conniving behind people’s backs?  How many are filled with pride and arrogance?  The list could go on and on and, if you are hiding these sins, this will eventually take place.

If you are involved in these sins, or any that I haven’t mentioned, and sit under a pastor that preaches the truth and you are not responding by truly repenting, confessing and turning away from these sins, then you are hardening your hearts.  If you don’t deal with these sins you may get to the point where all you will do is make excuses for them or try to manipulate scriptures so that you can feel good about yourself.  Judas tried to hide his sin while stealing money out of the disciple’s money bag that he was in charge off, then he betrayed Jesus and then he ended up going out and hanging himself, not a good ending to his life.  If he would have just repented, things could have been so much different.

Read what Salomon said about wisdom in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Sin is enticing but if you have a healthy fear of the Lord and hate sin knowing how destructive it is, than you will try to avoid it like the plague.  Read what Paul says on this subject in Romans 6:1-14, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

My pastor that was in the church I went to years ago, kiddingly said it like this, “Should we sin that grace should abound, of course not stupid.”

I heard this said last night from a preacher, it went pretty close to this, ‘With fear and trembling be subject to one another and in the fear of Christ there is only one way to heaven but many ways to hell.’  If you’re hiding your sin and you refuse to deal with it when the Lord’s been dealing with it, you will end up a very miserable person and very ineffective for the Lord.

Look at Peter and David’s example, Peter denied the Lord and David committed adultery and murder but they both had something in common, they both repented of their sin and found love, grace and forgiveness and you can too!! God’s Word says this in 2 Corinthians 7:9-11, “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

If you are in these situations I talked about, go and do likewise.  I hope this has been a help and a blessing and yes this is talking to me also.  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!