"Fear God"

There are a couple of meanings the dictionary has for the word “Fear.”  First it says:

A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.  The second meaning is where I want to go today and that definition says: reverential awe, especially toward God.

It appears to me that we, and when I say we I mean the church, believers, have lost their fear of God.  No, I’m not saying we have lost our belief or our salvation, or our desire to serve Him, but it seems to me we have lost our reverence for Him.  We have lost our awe of the creator God, the God of the universe, the One and only True God.  The Apostle Paul tells the Romans that:  

 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”       Romans 3:18

I know this has been prevalent for centuries, but it seems that the lack of the fear of God has permeated the church more than ever.  Why has this happened?  Because we have lifted one of the great attributes of God and left the other by the wayside.  

What does the church lift up?  God is a God of love.  He loves us and a loving God would never be a judgmental God.  A God of love would never be a God of justice.  Many churches, pastors, leaders, and congregates have dropped the God of justice.  When we do that, the fear, the reverence for God stops.  

God is a God of love and His desire is for all to be saved.  But as scripture tells us, there will be those who are not saved, never coming into a relationship with Him and will be judged to eternal damnation, hell.  We can leave those verses out of our teaching, but it does not change the facts.  

“And he said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.’”                Revelation 14:7

I believe the church has to be more intentional in the teaching of “Fearing God.”  We have dumbed down our Christianity to the point that God becomes our sugar daddy.  Let’s go to Him when we need something or when something is not going right or we find ourselves in a health crisis and want Him to fix it.  The world, along with many in the church, has lost its fear of God.  We need to be teaching our children and adults to have reverence, awe, fear for God.  Why?

Here is why.  The “fear of God” changes our attitude towards Him.  When we revere Him we view Him as He really is.  He becomes the LORD of the universe and the LORD of our lives.  We realize that nothing else will do.  There is NO one else that can fill that void in our life but Him.  When we “fear God” our worship changes.  When we “fear God” our obedience changes.  When we “fear God” everything changes.  Not only should we “fear God,” but He commands it.

“You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name”.  Deuteronomy 6:13

“Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”  Deuteronomy 8:6

 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy; for all the nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.” Revelation 15:4

Church, let’s “fear God” and glorify His name for He is worthy of our praise.  Let us teach our children what it means to “fear God.”  Bringing the “fear of God” back into our church vocabulary, I believe, could be a good thing.  Again, something for us to think about!

Blessings friends,

Pastor Marty

Worship, Grow, & Serve