Introduction
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Proverbs 9:10) ESV.
This is good however, can you even imagine dealing with God’s wrath? Fear God for He Who can send you to hell does this easily, without remorse.
“Therefore will I also deal in wrath; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” (Ezekiel 8:18)
This quotation from the book of Proverbs is often spoken when discussing gaining wisdom but not necessarily about fearing God. Today you seldom hear of Fearing God spoken of from the pulpit. The days of preaching “Hellfire and damnation” are gone. Only the Love message is spoken. The fact that God loves you is not a new message but was reintroduced to the Church by Oral Roberts in the early 60’s. Both messages are true but without balance the entire message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is lost. It would be well if many of today’s Evangelists started preaching that if you do not accept Jesus Christ as your savior and if you do not live according to His commandments you will be condemned to Hell for eternity. No one will see their friends there as some boast. Endless suffering will be your justified reward.
There are times, even as a Christian, when I am afraid of God. I’m afraid of not doing exactly what He wants when He wants it, and the way He wants it. When the Holy Spirit comes upon me, He reminds me that God is aware of every word that comes out of my mouth, every thought in my head, and every action I commit behind both closed and open doors. I find it frightening. I suddenly became wise telling myself I must be mindful of these all these things and areas of my life. Why? Simply because I am accountable for all that I say, do, and think; whether it be obvious or not, whether it be done in secret or not. God always knows. Justifying yourself by saying everyone does it, will not work. It is only by His grace that I am not immediately snuffed out and condemned to hell for eternity.
Fear of mankind and what mankind can do is far less important than what God can do. That is what this paper is about.
“Don’t be afraid or intimidated by others, for God will bring everything out into the open and every secret will be told. (Your Secrets) What I say to you in the dark, repeat in broad daylight, and what you hear in a whisper, announce it publicly. Don’t be in fear of those who can kill only the body but not your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10: 26-28) TPT
Hell is a forever present and imposing danger.
Definitions – these are my definitions as they are used in this paper.
Fear
Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., Whether the threat is real or imagined, Spiritual or physical, it is a feeling or condition of being afraid. This fear can be either placed, upon another or imposed upon oneself.
God
We must always remind ourselves that God is the Creator of the universe and man. He has other traits as in: He is supreme, absolute, all-powerful (no limitations), and commands the universe. His persona is so strong that if we were to meet Him face-to-face we would immediately die.
“But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” (Exodus 33:20) ESV
Often in our spiritual walk, we gloss over these traits, belittling them, thinking “I don’t need to worry I am saved and He is so full of grace and mercy that nothing will happen to me”. We always look at His promises and claim them as ours forgetting the promises we made to Him and that if not for His grace and mercy many of us would die immediately. Look what happened in the Bible to Ananias and Sapphira (Read Acts 5:1-11). They died on the spot for lying. They, as well as we, do not realize that the commandmant to not lie is an absolute. If we say, “I didn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings” or “If I did not lye they would be in trouble”, we are not trusting God nor do we have faith in His Word. This is what Jesus died for. We must have faith that He will work it out no matter what the circumstances.
There is no justification for lying.
Few of us know God or even understand what the word “God” connotates. I am continuously seeking and so should you.
Fear of the Lord
We can not possibly understand what “Fear of the Lord” is unless we have a proper understanding of God Himself. Fear of the Lord comes before we can love Him as He should be loved. This fear includes: Holiness, Respectfulness, Deference, Veneration, and Devotion along with an all-encompassing Awe with mouth open, knees bent and head bowed. All these attributes drive us toward one thing, obedience. Total uncompromised, absolute obedience is the outcome of fearing Him and it is God’s only requirement of His followers. Just as Esther, the Queen of Persia did when coming before the King of Persia, Xerxes, her husband, we should do when approaching God and even more so. (Must read Esther for more understanding)
Hell
Hell is not Satan’s domain. It is his final resting place, a prison, of fiery torment for him and all his fallen angels and humankind who refuse to follow Jesus. This damnation is eternal without reprieve.
Wisdom
Wisdom is often regarded as the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. (Wikipedia) When applied to Christians these claims take into account God’s Word when obeyed.
Hell Fire and Brimstone Preaching
If I were to guess I would think that the phrase “Hell, Fire and Brimstone” would have come from the Old Testament. It was often used by preachers and evangelists calling their congregation to repentance in early churches of the 18th 19th and 20th centuries.
“The Old Testament uses the phrase “fire and brimstone” in the context of divine punishment and purification. In Genesis 19, God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah with a rain of fire and brimstone, and in Deuteronomy 29 the Israelites are warned that the same punishment would fall upon them should they abandon their covenant with God. Elsewhere, divine judgments involving fire and sulfur are prophesied against Assyria in Isaiah 30, Edam in Isaiah 34, Gog in Ezekiel 38, and all wicked in Psalm 11.” For the source click here.
This type of preaching often brought about an awakening to those within earshot. Preachers intended to instill a sense of fear into their congregation that they should repent before it was too late or they would perish in Hell. Here are some examples.
“There is a real fire in hell, as truly as you have now a real body – a fire exactly like that which we have on earth in everything except this – that it will not consume, though it will torture you. You have seen the asbestos lying in the red-hot fire but when you take it out, it is unconsumed. So your body will be prepared by God in such a way that it will burn forever without being consumed – it will lie, not as you consider in a metaphorical fire, but in actual flame” (Spurgeon)
“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince, and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment.” (Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”)
As a blessing to your soul, if you have not read, now read Johnathan Edward’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Click here for a copy.
“Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it”. Johnathan Edwards.
“When sinners are careless and stupid, and sinking into hell unconcerned, it is time the church should bestir themselves. It is as much the duty of the church to awake, as it is for the firemen to awake when a fire breaks out in the night in a great city.” Charles Grandison Finney
“John Wesley tells of a dream he had. In the dream, he was ushered to the gates of Hell. There he was asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?” “Yes!”, came the answer. Then he asked, “Are there any Baptists? Any Episcopalians? Any Methodists?” The answer was Yes! Each time. Much distressed, Wesley was then ushered to the gates of Heaven. There he asked the same question, and the answer was No!” No?” To this, Wesley asked, “Who then is aside?” The answer came back, “There are only Christians here.”
When was the last time you heard something like this preached? Truth without compromise must be preached. Both the “feel good” sermons and the “Hellfire” sermons must share equal ground. The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is one of both Grace and Truth. Here’s another story that should give you incite. It is not a true story but a “Truth” story. You’ll see what I mean.
“In a galaxy far away (sound familiar?) there live a group of people called the Alcyones. They were a very happy people. They had little crime, no famines, blights, or problems of any kind. And, they were quite bored. One day they called a town meeting. The only item on their agenda was, “What do we do about this boredom?” The council deliberated over this problem for several hours until a small hand was seen raised in the back of the chamber. “Address yourself sir”, the chairman said. “My name is Bezel and I’ve been giving this much thought and I think what we need is a god. Someone who can tell us what to do, how to live, and so forth”. The chairman and members were stunned. “I think you’re on to something”, he said. To make a long story short, Bezel was given the task of finding a god that they could call their own. During his search throughout the galaxies, he came upon Earth and was very fascinated. After considerable study, he traveled back to his home planet. The Alcyonians immediately called for another assembly to hear of Bezel’s discovery. Bezel told them that he had traveled to a planet far away called Earth. When studying all their history and all the races and types of people living there he discovered that the Earthlings had two gods. One of them was very feminine. This god was very gentle, very forgiving, and very loving, safe. Her name was Grace. The people of Earth loved her. The other was the exact opposite, quite warlike, with no compromising and absolute in all He did and said. The people of Earth saw this god as one who only wanted things his way. His name was Truth. Again, after much deliberation, the council could not approve of either god. It was then that Bezel came up with the idea of having only one god but one that was filled with the ways of both Grace and Truth. The counsel agreed and there they found their answer. They adopted a god of grace and truth believing that “There was no Grace without Truth”.
God’s Word says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”. (John 1:14) ESV
Consider This
I have long looked at our Muslim neighbors (believers in Allah) with admiration. This is what I see:
1. They pray (salah) five times a day, often on their prayer rugs, kneeling and bowing fervently often facing Mecca.
‘And be steadfast in prayer; practice regular charity; and bow down your heads with those who bow down in worship.’ (Qur’an, 2:43)
I see this occurring in many public places. I have often seen it at my place of work. It may have been in a vacated office or even in a bathroom.
“According to Islamic law, the five ritual prayers are obligatory upon every sane and pubescent Muslim man and woman and should be performed within their prescribed periods. In Islam the rules of cleanliness are a matter of sanctity, not just hygiene; for Muslims to perform ritual prayers it is necessary to wash away impurity through ablution.” For more information click here.
2. They actively and violently oppose any desecration or making fun of their God and his prophet Mohammad as in cartoons, poems, and other writings. Picturing Mohammad in any obtuse manner is prohibited. Violation can be followed by beheading.
3. They fear Allah (Taqua).
“O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].” (Quran 3:102).
This fear is often regarded as a reverent awesomeness. It is the first step toward loving Him.
We Christians, do these things also. But seldom with the same conviction.
1. Our prayers are at our convenience and seldom consistent.
2. Actively we often allow jokes, improper caricatures, and treat God as an equal not honoring and respecting with reverence or even understanding Who He really is.
3. Our fear of Him is often belittled not giving due recognition and proper respect to Who He is.
4. We often disobey Him by taking His Law and bending it to serve our purpose as in lying and being full of “Self” instead of His Spirit. etc.
I chose Islam as an example but I also see this among our own Amish and, Mennonites and also among Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Shouldn’t we be ashamed that we are not as dedicated as these in our reverence, prayer life, and service?
Why Are We Not More Reverent Toward These Things
I can only blame the Church. We are too lax. We do not preach “Grace and Truth” as mentioned above. In short, we do not fear Him even to the point of not believing His Word and, have become weak because of it. We have lost the meaning of Holiness, Reverence, and Fear of the Holy, not recognizing or understanding His power.
Conclusion
I was taught at an early age that there were two ways to go to heaven. They are mentioned in “The Act of Contrition” which I learned as a child. It goes as follows.
“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because:
(1) I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of hell, (Fear)
(2) but most of all because I offend Thee, my God, (Love of God)
Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.”
Dwight L. Moody preached in his message “Into Hell” that,
“Christians should live in the world, but not be filled with it. A ship lives in the water; but if the water gets into the ship, she goes to the bottom. So Christians may live in the world; but if the world gets into them, they sink.”
Both these ways encompass acknowledgment of sin and true repentance. Let me bluntly say, “If you do not fear God, you do not know God.”
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;” (Psalms 103:11)
But, fear Him you must!
“By mercy (Grace) and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of Jehovah men depart from evil.” (Proverbs 16:6) ASV
Enough Said
“When I found your words, I devoured them; your words made glad, they gave me joy; because, Adonai Tzv’ot you had me bear your name” (Jeremiah 15:16) CJB
