The Fear of the Lord

 

The Fear of the Lord

( Job 28:28)  And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

(Psalms 111:10)  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

(Proverbs 1:7 ) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The fear of the Lord is not evident in the lives of many Christians now days. The Hebrew word for fear in these passages is defined as "Awe" or "Respect". There doesn't seem to be any reverence for God ,or his house, anymore. In the past, many churches taught their people to repent of their sins and to allow the Holy Spirit to do his sanctifying work, but this sound doctrine has been replaced by the lukewarm grace message. There is grace for those who repent of their sins and are truly born again, but this truth has been distorted by the man pleasers. Many churches are more interested in making people happy in order to receive large tithes than to teach them what God's Word really says in regard to salvation, as well as sanctification (Being set apart from the world).

 (2 Timothy 4:2)  Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

 (2 Cor 6:17 ) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

Many people believe that there is automatic grace for all of their present and future sins, however, God's Word is clear that we are not to continue in sin once we come to Christ. (Romans 6:1) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

 Paul was speaking of habitual sins, known also as bondages. No man is without sin in this fallen world, but we are called to put away the old nature and to be born again by God's Spirit. We are to be set apart from the sinful crowd, this does not indicate perfection, However,  we are called to righteousness (right living). We are not to continue drinking in excess, drugging, partying, cussing, smoking, lying ,or committing fornication, these are examples of habitual sins and there are many. We are to allow God's Spirit to set us apart (sanctify us), this is a process that is lifelong. (1 Peter 1:14 ) as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  16 because it is written,“Be holy, for I am holy.”

Those who believe that our works don't matter are denying God's Word. Christ gave messages to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, he told them repeatedly to repent, because he knew their works! Also consider what James says, (James 2:14 ) What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

As you can see, our works do matter and that will be evident on judgment day, for EVERY man shall be judged according to his works. (Rev 20:12) And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13  The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. God's word is clear that faith without works is dead. The Apostle Paul said that we are saved by faith, not by works lest any man should boast. If  Paul meant that we are saved by faith alone, then his doctrine would be at odds with the teachings of Christ, John, Peter, as well as James, but that is not what he was saying. Paul was telling the Jews that the works of the Law of Moses could not save them, it took the atonement of Jesus Christ upon the cross to provide salvation. And Christ said that we must repent of our sins and be born again to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

I am also very disturbed by the lack of respect shown in God's house. When we come before the Lord to worship him and to receive teaching from his Word, we need to show respect for the Lord. Christians should dress modestly, as unto the Lord, and not to attract attention from the opposite sex. I also believe that we should be physically clean and wear our best clothes out of respect. This does not mean that we must be flashy in our appearance, but to wear whatever our best attire may be. Church should not be a fashion show either, we are not in a competition, we are there to worship the Lord.

Also, if a poor man is made to sit in the back because of his appearance, then we are showing prejudice and sin.  If a tee shirt, or jeans ,is your only clothing ,then come as you are. However, there is a trend to look tacky, in order show humility within many churches today and that is disrespectful to the Lord. People dress up for weddings, funerals, as well as work ,and job interviews to show respect, then why not do the same for the Lord? In biblical times, the Jews immersed themselves in mikva'ots before entering the Temple. This ritual purification was commanded by the Law, so the people would be clean when coming before the Lord. The priests bathed, as well as wore clean, spotless garments when ministering unto the Lord. Yet, today we have preachers wearing tee shirts ,and cutoff  jeans ,or shorts, while preaching. I believe that the spiritual condition of the church is reflected by the irreverence that is shown today.

Also, many churches allow disco tech style dancing during their so-called worship services. This, as well as the so-called Holy Ghost hop is lewd, as well as shameful, in God's house. The majority of the dancing done during worship services is an affront to a holy God.

 The Lord gave me a dream concerning the dancing going on in many churches today. I was seated in gym style bleachers with people my age and much younger, within a church building. There was another set of bleachers to my right ,that contained senior citizens.  The worship leader began to sing, “clap your hands to the Lord” then “lift your hands to the Lord”. The people were clapping and lifting their hands to the Lord in heartfelt worship. Next, the worship leader sang, “dance to the Lord.” The people were dancing along with the worship leader as he exclaimed, “take your clothes off  before the Lord.” The worship leader then took his shirt off. Nudity is symbolic of shameful behavior.  The senior citizens seated in the bleachers to my right began to shake their fingers at the younger generation and chant repeatedly, “shame on you.” The older generation were scolding the younger ones for their lewd, shameful ,display of the flesh going on in their form of dance and music.

Also, the religious rock concerts going on in God's house is bringing in an unholy spirit. The majority of Christian rock music is demonic. Many churches are now experiencing counterfeit revivals because of their lukewarm preaching and irreverent music and worship. The fear of the Lord is lacking among most today. In order to replace the apostasy(Great falling away) with a true revival, we need to teach repentance, holiness, as well as respect for the Lord, as the churches of yesteryear once did!!