Thursday, April 16, 2015
We Need Fear
Shane Idleman:
God is better than us in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. He is not like us, just morally more sound. He is simply better in every aspect. He made us. He is to us as we are to the crayon art of our youth. Smarter, wiser, sounder, more powerful, all of it. We must respect that.
And yet we fail so often to do so. I wonder if how we do worship services mught not be a good place to start?
fear respect worship
The overall direction of the church away from the fear of the Lord is a sad reality. It is an indication that we may fear men more than God. Those who avoid teaching the fear of the Lord to soften the message are missing the balance. We are running from the very thing we need: "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come" (Revelation 14:7). Acts 9:31 says that the early church walked "in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit." Did you catch that: the church was powerful and multiplied because they walked in the fear of God (not man), and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Anointing and fear go hand-in-hand. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:12 that we should work out (not work for) our own salvation with "fear and trembling."God id not our buddy - He is our Lord. We may approach our Rule and we may know that He is good and gracious, but we may not approach Him with the proper amount of reverence. I am not sure we understand this in America these days. We do not have royalty and we are all wont to approach anyone in the most impertinent of manner lest they think they are better than us. And while the average celebrity is not better than us, God most certainly is.
We must lovingly proclaim the fear of the Lord again in our pulpits if we are to experience genuine change. Fear often motivates a person to repent. The fear of the Lord will cause an adulterer to seek forgiveness. It will motivate the prodigal to return. It will cause pastors to spend extended time in prayer for anointed sermons. When the fear of the Lord is preached the world will repent: "Falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you" (1 Corinthians 14:25). A true fear of the Lord saves man from himself. We should take His commands seriously...not legalistically, but reverently.
God is better than us in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. He is not like us, just morally more sound. He is simply better in every aspect. He made us. He is to us as we are to the crayon art of our youth. Smarter, wiser, sounder, more powerful, all of it. We must respect that.
And yet we fail so often to do so. I wonder if how we do worship services mught not be a good place to start?
fear respect worship
