That God is so righteous and Holy that our response to being in His presence- even in a worship service- should be as Isaiah's. That is because He is Almighty and Awesome and Omnipotent and “Holy-Holy-Holy” -beyond our ability to fathom holiness.

Our fear should be in a sense truly "fear" but the fruit of that should be awe and reverence. To be clear: it is fear, not just awe or reverence. For instance, Jonathan Edwards' sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" focused on God's anger at men due to their sin. Some today say that sermon focused too much on wrath and that God is not angry, but He has every reason to be angry. Our world has chosen to sin against the Sovereign God. They shake their fists at Him and claim disbelief when a tsunami, hurricane or earthquake hits, what vanity. We should ask ourselves who are we to lift a finger in opposition to the God who created us? He holds our lives in His hands and owes us nothing. But for His own pleasure we would be snuffed out. It is the height of arrogance and ignorance to be irreverent toward God. We need a healthy fear of God.

In the churches, too many want games and a show. That is rejection of the fear of God. He is not "the man upstairs" as if we lived in an apartment with Him- He is God!

The lack of the fear of God produces false teachers such as Benny Hinn, Robert Tilton, Kenneth Copeland, TD Jakes, Kenneth Hagin, etc. The fear of God should provoke us to study God's Word for what He says, not to support our pet doctrines- or our pet want for a lack of doctrine.

This treatment of the Gospel is extremely dangerous- to the forfeiture of men's souls to the darkest reaches of hell. God is not a game to be played at the whim of a man- He is Sovereign and Almighty.

Labels: Reflections