Introduction
“The fear of man brings a snare.” (Prov 29:25).
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Prov 9:10).
I was in a church meeting recently, mostly with pastors and para-church leaders, we were discussing the possible committee members for a major outreach. In the midst of the pleasant discussion and deferring to titles, I asked the Lord what we going on, I believe he directed me to Isaiah 33:6 (NIV), “The Lord …will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.”
I believe God was saying this evangelistic event would see an abundance of “fruit that would last” (John 15:16) – long term disciples of Jesus who would not fall away, if it was characterized by “the fear of the Lord”. At the same time as I was meditating about this I sensed that there was a tangible atmosphere in the fear of the opposite to the fear of God, the fear of man. Unless the fear of man was replaced by the fear of God then there would be a great falling away of those who would respond to the gospel message.
The Fear of the Lord and Evangelistic Power
“I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1Cor 2:3- 4) Here Paul establishes a relationship between the presence of the fear of God in the evangelist and the power of the words he/she speaks.
Even clearer is the association between the fear of God in the hearers and the depth of their conversion. The connection is remarkably clear on the day of Pentecost, when Peter reproaches the crowd over the death of Jesus, they are deeply convicted of sin and in their fearfulness cry out for mercy, “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,this Jesus whom you crucified.”Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers,what should we do?”Peter said to them, “Repent….”” (Acts 2:36- 38).
When was the last time we saw this sort of active response to the gospel? Such things however are not limited to the Bible. When Jonathan Edwards preached the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, people screamed aloud, clutched the backs of pews and the stone pillars of the church, lest the ground open and swallow them alive into hell! The effect of this sort of awe was permanent.
When George Whitefield preached in New York in 1740 100,000 professed Christ. 10 years later 85% still in church. One of Billy Graham’s most famous crusades was at Wembley Stadium in London in 1954. 5 years later 5% of those who came to the altar were still in church. The outstanding difference is the fear of the Lord.
Whitefield’s great evangelistic compatriot John Wesley knew the key to bold preaching was the fear of God. He said, “Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but God, hate nothing but sin and are determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and I will set the world on fire with them.” The world is not set on fire because we have substituted the fear of man for the fear of God.
The Fear of the Lord as the Depth of Repentance
“Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and thought on his name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.” (Mal 3:16 -18).
At the moment, the church is truly a mixture between “the righteous and the wicked”. Every form of sin and depravity can be found amongst the people of God. It is not just gross sins, like the sexual ones, but more subtle matters.
One qualification for leadership in Israel was a fear of God that manifested itself in the following way, “Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”(Ex 18:21). Where the fear of God is genuinely present leaders will not have a desire to accumulate material goods! Surely this is a sign that we are short of the fear of the Lord in our day.
We are a church, I fear, containing many persons described by Jesus in the parable of the sower, “As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” (Luke 8:14). These are ones whose response to the Word of God shows no evidence of the fear of God, for the greater the fear of the Lord the greater the depth of repentance.
In his Institutes of the Christian Religion (III, 3, 7) the famous Reformer, John Calvin said, “repentance proceeds from a sincere fear of God. Before the mind of the sinner can be inclined to repentance, he must be aroused by the thought of divine judgment; …it will not allow him to rest, or have one moment’s peace, but will perpetually urge him to adopt a different plan of life, that he may be able to stand securely at that judgment-seat ….Paul, in his discourse to the Athenians says, “The times of this ignorance God overlooked; but he now commands all men every where to repent: because he has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness,” (Acts 17: 30, 31.) …As repentance begins with dread and hatred of sin, the Apostle sets down godly sorrow as one of its causes, (2 Cor.7: 10.) By godly sorrow he means when we not only tremble at the punishment, but hate and abhor the sin, because we know it is displeasing to God.”
Calvin is correct in pointing out the incredible focus on God alone that comes when we fear him. It is both my personal experience and observation that in the fear of the Lord, everything else is screened out and the mind and conscience is totally focused on being right with God. Matters of health, finance, family, career and all else become totally secondary to reconciliation with God. Think, for example of the response of Isaiah to the terrifying holiness of God revealed to him, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isa 6:5). People who have been encountered by a true holy fear do not backslide easily.
It has been well said that those who are being lost fear being found by God, but those who are being called to salvation fear losing God. For this reason they are freely willing to abandon all idols and sins to be found in Christ. This was Paul’s own experience. “More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”(Phil 3:8).
What Needs to be Done?
Let us recognize that the fear of God is an essential part of a healthy and holy spirituality. We know this because the greatest fearer of God has been Jesus. “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord–and he will delight in the fear of the Lord...” (Isa 11:2-3); “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear.” (Heb 5:7). The fear of losing the communion of his Father through submitting to temptation motivated Jesus to obey God, at whatever cost.
We need to confess that we live at a time when both in church and nation the fear of God is largely absent. “We aren’t afraid of God, we aren’t afraid of Jesus, we aren’t afraid of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we have ended up with a need-centered gospel that attracts thousands… but transforms no one.” (Mike Yaconelli)
This is a sign of God’s judgement, “Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?” (Isa 63:17). Paradoxically, the absence of the fear of God revels that we do not understand the gospel. “If you,Lord, should record iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared.” (Ps 130:3 -4). Those who appreciate forgiveness are deeply fearful lest they lose its benefits through presumption and sin.The fear of God is not a pathological state but a gift that brings us in line with the real and desperate spiritual state of humanity.
Both in the context of the major evangelistic outreach mentioned at the start of this paper and the wider movement of the kingdom of God in Perth the following needs to happen.
1. We need an army of intercessors across our city praying in the fear of the Lord. We can be assured that God will hear the prayers of these saints both because he heard the prayers of his fear- filled Son (Heb 5:7) and the explicit promises of scripture. “He fulfils their desire if only they fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.” (Ps 145:19)
2. We need the Word spoken evangelistically in the fear of the Lord. This will be done in incredible boldness by fearless people because the ear of God expels the fear of man.
What God Will Do
When the people of God fear him this constitutes a sort of “field” or “atmosphere” that God inhabits because it is pleasing to him – “the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” (Ps 147:11)
Where God’s pleasure dwells, he is pleased to give the gifts of faith and repentance. We see this happening in Acts when repentance is “given” to the household of the “God –fearing” Cornelius (10:35;11:18). This principle still holds today; the greater the fear of God the deeper the gift of repentance.
Such deep repentance is God’s way of holding people from falling away, “I will fill their hearts with fear of me, and so they will not turn away from me.” (Jer 32:40). The result will be a blessed move of God and a blessed city, “The Lord will bless all who fear him, high and low alike…” (Ps 115:13).
Conclusion
” I am suggesting that the tame God of relevance be replaced by the God whose very presence shatters our egos into dust, burns our sin into ashes, and strips us naked to reveal the real person within. The Church needs to become a gloriously dangerous place where nothing is safe in God’s presence except us. Nothing–including our plans, our agendas, our priorities, our politics, our money, our security, our comfort, our possessions, our needs…Our world is… longing to see people whose God is big and holy and frightening and gentle and tender… and ours; a God whose love frightens us into His strong and powerful arms where He longs to whisper those terrifying words, ‘I love you.’”(Mike Yaconelli)
This fulfils the wisdom of the Old Testament, “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.” (Prov 8:13); “…the fear of the Lord makes men turn from evil.” (Prov 16:6 (NEB)).
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”(Prov 9:10) illustrated by Isaiah 6.
Godly wisdom teaches the heart to fear God and this issue sin the fruit of repentance cf. not the Pharisees “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance.” (Luke 3:7b-8a) but “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ” (James 3:17).
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem,the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn…. In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.” (Zech 12:10; 13:1)
“Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,this Jesus whom you crucified.”37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?””(Acts 2:36 -37)
“16 Then those who revered the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the Lord and thought on his name. 17 They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. 18 Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.”(Mal 3:16 – 4:2)
A soft heart senses the need to fear the Lord cf. codification of church structures > leads to fear of man Isa 63:17 “Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?”
“Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”(Ex 18:21).
As long as the stone keeps dropping deeper into the pond the ripples continue to move outward i.e. as long as in the fear of the Lord we go deeper into “the unfathomable riches of Christ” (Eph 2:7) the work of God will continue to move outwards cf. stabilization by institutionalisation.
The lost fear being found by God, those who are being saved fear losing God.
John Wesley once said, “Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but God, hate nothing but sin and are determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and I will set the world on fire with them.”
“If you,Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that you may be feared.” (Ps 130:3 -4)
The gospel has an aura of power that is wholly unique. In the proclamation of the suffering of Christ for us is simultaneously revealed the wrath of God against sin and the grace of God in forgiveness. God’s full punishment against sin and the complete restoration of humanity in the resurrection is proclaimed in the one message. Therefore the gospel has the power in itself to effect a transition from an unhealthy fear to a wholesome fear of God.
Practical Implications
- Army of people praying in the fear of the Lord
- Word spoken in the fear of the Lord i.e. fearless people lose God (notice how this correlates with my “Holy Witness” article.
- Repentance by gift of Holy Spirit is in proportion to 1. and 2.
1., 2., 3., constitutes a “field” or atmosphere/presence of the fear of the Lord. God inhabits this realm because it is pleasing to him cf. Ps 147:10
http://www.reformed.org/books/institutes/index.html
John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion
A New Translation, by Henry Beveridge, Esq III, 3, 7
“repentance proceeds from a sincere fear of God. Before the mind of the sinner can be inclined to repentance, he must be aroused by the thought of divine judgment; but when once the thought that God will one day ascend his tribunal to take an account of all words and actions has taken possession of his mind, it will not allow him to rest, or have one moment’s peace, but will perpetually urge him to adopt a different plan of life, that he may be able to stand securely at that judgment-seat.”
….Paul, in his discourse to the Athenians says, “The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: because he has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness,” (Acts 17: 30, 31.) ….Sometimes God is declared to be a judge, from the punishments already inflicted, thus leading sinners to reflect that worse awaits them if they do not quickly repent. There is an example of this in the 29th chapter of Deuteronomy.
“As repentance begins with dread and hatred of sin, the Apostle sets down godly sorrow as one of its causes, (2 Cor.7: 10.) By godly sorrow he means when we not only tremble at the punishment, but hate and abhor the sin, because we know it is displeasing to God.”
Fear and Trembling
by
Johannes DE SILENTIO, 1843
(alias Søren Kierkegaard)
tr. Walter Lowrie, 1941
Chapters Preface Prelude A Panegyric upon Abraham Problemata: Problem I Problem II Problem III Epilogue
PREFACE2
PRELUDE10
I
Abraham’s face it was changed, his glance was wild, his form was horror. He seized Isaac by the throat, threw him to the ground, and said, “Stupid boy, dost thou then suppose that I am thy father? I am an idolater. Dost thou suppose that this is God’s bidding? No, it is my desire.” Then Isaac trembled and cried out in his terror, “O God in heaven, have compassion upon me. God of Abraham, have compassion upon me. If I have no father upon earth, be Thou my father!” But Abraham in a low voice said to himself, “O Lord in heaven, I thank Thee. After all it is better for him to believe that I am a monster, rather than that he should lose faith in Thee.”
II
III
IV
Every time he returned home after wandering to Mount Moriah, he sank down with weariness, he folded his hands and said, “No one is so great as Abraham! Who is capable of understanding him?”
A PANEGYRIC UPON ABRAHAM
he who expected the impossible became greater than all. Everyone shall be remembered, but each was great in proportion to the greatness of that with which he strove.
but he who strove with God became greater than all.
but he who strove with God was greater than all.
there was one who overcame God by his impotence.
he who believed God was greater than all.
but Abraham was greater than all, great by reason of his power whose strength is impotence, great by reason of his wisdom whose secret is foolishness, great by reason of his hope whose form is madness, great by reason of the love which is hatred of oneself.
everything tempted his soul to melancholy yearning–and yet he was God’s elect, in whom the Lord was well pleased! Yea, if he had been disowned, cast off from God’s grace, he could have comprehended it better; but now it was like a mockery of him and of his faith.
So were it not better if he had not been God’s elect? What is it to be God’s elect? It is to be denied in youth the wishes of youth, so as with great pains to get them fulfilled in old age.
For it is great to give up one’s wish, but it is greater to hold it fast after having given it up, it is great to grasp the eternal, but it is greater to hold fast to the temporal after having given it up.15
Now all the terror of the strife was concentrated in one instant. “And God tempted Abraham and said unto him, Take Isaac, thine only son, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon the mountain which I will show thee.”
All was lost! Seventy years of faithful expectation, the brief joy at the fulfilment of faith. Who then is he that plucks away the old man’s staff, who is it that requires that he himself shall break it? Who is he that would make a man’s grey hairs comfortless, who is it that requires that he himself shall do it? Is there no compassion for the venerable oldling, none for the innocent child? And yet Abraham was God’s elect, and it was the Lord who imposed the trial. All would now be lost. But Abraham believed precisely for this life, that he was to grow old in the land, honoured by the people, blessed in his generation, remembered forever in Isaac, his dearest thing in life, whom he embraced with a love for which it would be a poor expression to say that he loyally fulfilled the father’s duty of loving the son, as indeed is evinced in the words of the summons, “the son whom thou lovest.” Jacob had twelve sons, and one of them he loved; Abraham had only one, the son whom he loved.
Yet Abraham believed and did not doubt, he believed the preposterous. If Abraham had doubted–then he would have done something else, something glorious; He would have plunged the knife into his own breast. He would have been admired in the world, and his name would not have been forgotten; but it is one thing to be admired, and another to be the guiding star which saves the anguished.
Who gave strength to Abraham’s arm? Who held his right hand up so that it did not fall limp at his side? He who gazes at this becomes paralyzed. Who gave strength to Abraham’s soul, so that his eyes did not grow dim, so that he saw neither Isaac nor the ram? He who gazes at this becomes blind.–And yet rare enough perhaps is the man who becomes paralyzed and blind, still more rare one who worthily recounts what happened.
thou hadst need of a hundred years to obtain a son of old age against expectation, that thou didst have to draw the knife before retaining Isaac; he will never forget that in a hundred and thirty years thou didst not get further than to faith.
PROBLEMATA: PRELIMINARY EXPECTORATION
only he who draws the knife gets Isaac.
There were countless generations which knew by rote, word for word, the story of Abraham–how many were made sleepless by it?
“The great thing was that he loved God so much that he was willing to sacrifice to Him the best.” That is very true, but “the best” is an indefinite expression. Isaac and “the best” are confidently identified, What they leave out of Abraham’s history is dread;
to the son the father has the highest and most sacred obligation. Dread, however, is a perilous thing for effeminate natures, hence they forget it,
If faith does not make it a holy act to be willing to murder one’s son, then let the same condemnation be pronounced upon Abraham as upon every other man.
The ethical expression for what Abraham did is, that he would murder Isaac; the religious expression is, that he would sacrifice Isaac; but precisely in this contradiction consists the dread
For if one makes faith everything, that is, makes it what it is,
I catch sight every moment of that enormous paradox which is the substance of Abraham’s life,
I think myself into the hero, but into Abraham I cannot think myself; I cannot shut my eyes and plunge confidently into the absurd
What Abraham found easiest, I would have found hard, namely to be joyful again with Isaac; for he who with all the infinity of his soul, propio motu et propiis auspiciis [by his own power and on his own responsibility], has performed the infinite movement [of resignation] and cannot do more, only retains Isaac with pain.
He believed by virtue of the absurd; for there could be no question of human calculation, and it was indeed the absurd that God who required it of him should the next instant recall the requirement
Abraham I cannot understand,27
the knight [of Faith] will have the power to concentrate the whole result of the operations of thought in one act of consciousness
Let us then either consign Abraham to oblivion, or let us learn to be I would first depict the pain of his trial. To that end I would like a leech suck all the dread and distress and torture out of a father’s sufferings, so that I might describe what Abraham suffered, whereas all the while he nevertheless believed.
PROBLEM I
Is there such a thing as a teleological
suspension of the ethical?
Faith is precisely this paradox, that the individual as the particular is higher than the universal, is justified over against
Abraham’s relation to Isaac, ethically speaking, is quite simply expressed by saying that a father shall love his son more dearly than himself.
The difference between the tragic hero and Abraham is clearly evident. In so far as the universal was present, it was indeed cryptically present in Isaac, hidden as it were in Isaac’s loins, and must therefore cry out with Isaac’s mouth, “Do it not! Thou art bringing everything to naught.”
Why then did Abraham do it? For God’s sake, and (in complete identity with this) for his own sake. He did it for God’s sake because God required this proof of his faith; for his own sake he did it in order that he might furnish the proof.
The tragic hero gives up the certain for the still more certain, and the eye of the beholder rests upon him confidently. But he who gives up the universal in order to grasp something still higher which is not the universal–what is he doing?
One cannot weep over Abraham. One approaches him with a horror religiosus, as Israel approached Mount Sinai
But now when the ethical is thus teleologically suspended, Does he then sin
for if he is justified, it is not by virtue of anything universal, but by virtue of being the particular individual.
If Abraham had actually sacrificed Isaac, would he then have been less justified?
But people are curious about the result, as they are about the result in a book–they want to know nothing about dread, distress, the paradox.
To be sure, Mary bore the child miraculously, but it came to pass with her after the manner of women, and that season is one of dread, distress and paradox when she says, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord”–then she is great, and I think it will not be found difficult to explain why she became the Mother of God.
PROBLEM II
Is there such a thing as an absolute duty toward God?
Ethical relation is reduced to a relative position in contrast with the absolute relation to God.
In Luke 14:26, as everybody knows, there is a striking doctrine taught about the absolute duty toward God: “If any man cometh unto me and hateth not his own father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” the verse immediately following there is a story about a man who desired to build a tower but first sat down to calculate whether he was capable of doing it, lest people might laugh at him afterwards. The close connection of this story with the verse here cited seems precisely to indicate that the words are to be taken in as terrible a sense as possible, to the end that everyone may examine himself as to whether he is able to erect the building.
The words are terrible, yet I fully believe that one can understand them
One can easily perceive that if there is to be any sense in this passage, it must be understood literally. God it is who requires absolute love. But how hate them? The absolute duty may cause one to do what ethics would forbid, but by no means can it cause the knight of faith to cease to love. This is shown by Abraham. when God requires Isaac he must love him if possible even more dearly, and only on this condition can he sacrifice him; for in fact it is this love for Isaac which, by its paradoxical opposition to his love for God, makes his act a sacrifice. But the distress and dread in this paradox is that, humanly speaking, he is entirely unable to make himself intelligible. Only at the moment when his act is in absolute contradiction to his feeling is his act a sacrifice,
He spent seventy years in getting a son of his old age. What other men get quickly enough and enjoy for a long time he spent seventy years in accomplishing. And why? Because he was tried and put to the test. Is not that crazy?
PROBLEM III
Was Abraham ethically defensible in keeping silent about his
purpose before Sarah, before Eleazar, before Isaac?
Abraham cannot speak, for he cannot utter the word which explains all (that is, not so that it is intelligible), he cannot say that it is a test, and a test of such a sort, be it noted, that the ethical is the temptation (Versuchung)
And Abraham said, God will provide Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
But in the way the task was prescribed to Abraham he himself had to act, and at the decisive moment he must know what he himself would do, he must know that Isaac will be sacrificed. In case he did not know this definitely, then he has not made the infinite movement of resignation, then, though his word is not indeed an untruth, he is very far from being Abraham,
as for Abraham there was no one who could understand him. And yet think what he attained! He remained true to his love. But he who loves God has no need of tears, no need of admiration, in his love he forgets his suffering, yea, so completely has he forgotten it that afterwards there would not even be the least inkling of his pain if God Himself did not recall it, for God sees in secret and knows the distress and counts the tears and forgets nothing.
http://www.acts17-11.com/snip_tozer_terror.html
The Terror of the Lord
Excerpt from A. W. Tozer
A truth fully taught in the Scriptures and verified in personal experience by countless numbers of holy men and women through the centuries might be condensed thus into a religious axiom:
- No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God.
[Examples of Fear preceding revelation of grace:]
The first announcement of God’s redemptive intention toward mankind was made to a man and a woman hiding in mortal fear from the presence of the Lord. The Law of God was given to a man trembling in terror amid fire and smoke, and quaking at the voice of thunder and the sound of the divine trumpet. When Zacharias’ tongue was loosened by the mysterious operation of God “fear came on all that dwelt round about.” Even the famous annunciation, “On earth peace, good will toward men,” was given to shepherds who were “sore afraid” by reason of the sudden overwhelming presence of the heavenly host.
This terror had no relation to mere fear of bodily harm. It was a dread consternation experienced far in toward the center and core of the nature, much farther in than that fear experienced as a normal result of the instinct for physical self-preservation.
I do not believe that any lasting good can come from religious activities that do not root in this quality of creature-fear..
for the knowledge that God loves us may simply confirm us in our self-righteousness.
that it cannot be induced by threats made in the name of the Lord they cannot induce that mysterious thing we call the fear of the Lord. Such fear is a supernatural thing, having no relation to threats of punishment. It has about it a mysterious quality , often without much intellectual content; it is a feeling rather than an idea; it is the deep reaction of a fallen creature in the presence of the holy Being the stunned heart knows is God. The Holy Spirit alone can induce this emotion in the human breast. All effort on our part to super-induce it is wasted, or worse.
Whence then does the true fear of God arise? From the knowledge of our own sinfulness and a sense of the presence of God. Isaiah had an acute experience both of his personal uncleanness and of the awesome presence of Jehovah: the two were more than he could stand. On his face he cried out a confession of his own sinfulness, make all the more intolerable because his eyes had seen the King, even the Lord of Hosts.
A congregation will feel this mysterious terror of God when the minister and the leaders of the church are filled with the Spirit. When Moses came down from the mount with his face shining the children of Israel were afraid with a fear born out of that supernatural sight. Moses did not need to threaten them. He had only to appear before them with that light on his face.
http://www.acts17-11.com/fear.html
Fear And Repentance
“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.” (Prov 8:13)
Jer 32:38-40 (NEB) They shall become my people and I will become their God. I will give them one heart and one way of life so that they shall fear me at all times,.. I will fill their hearts with fear of me, and so they will not turn away from me.
Prov 16:6 (NEB) …the fear of the Lord makes men turn from evil.
Job 28:28 (NEB) …”The fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to turn from evil is understanding.”
Fear and Jesus
Isa 11:2-3 (NIV) The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord–and he will delight in the fear of the Lord…
Heb 5:7 (RSV) In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear.
Other scriptures
Mal 3:16 (NIV) Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honoured his name.
Acts 5:13 (NIV) No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.
Acts 9:31 (NRS) …Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it [the church] increased in numbers.
Miscellaneous Verses
Ps 103:11-17 (NIV) For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him… As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him… But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him…
Ps 33:18 (NEB) The Lord’s eyes are turned towards those who fear him…
Ps 115:13 (NEB) The Lord will bless all who fear him, high and low alike…
Ps 145:19 (NEB) He fulfils their desire if only they fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
Ps 34:7 (NEB) The angel of the Lord is on guard round those who fear him, and rescues them.
Ps 90:11 (NIV) Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Ps 147:10 NRSV
Luke 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear : Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
Romans 3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Rom 11:22 (NIV) Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, PERFECTING HOLINESS IN THE FEAR OF GOD.
“I would like to suggest that the Church become a place of terror again; a place where God continually has to tell us, “Fear not”; a place where our relationship with God is not a simple belief or a doctrine or theology, it is God’s burning presence in our lives. I am suggesting that the tame God of relevance be replaced by the God whose very presence shatters our egos into dust, burns our sin into ashes, and strips us naked to reveal the real person within. The Church needs to become a gloriously dangerous place where nothing is safe in God’s presence except us. Nothing–including our plans, our agendas, our priorities, our politics, our money, our security, our comfort, our possessions, our needs.
:”Our world is… longing to see people whose God is big and holy and frightening and gentle and tender… and ours; a God whose love frightens us into His strong and powerful arms where He longs to whisper those terrifying words, ‘I love you.’”
:”We aren’t afraid of God, we aren’t afraid of Jesus, we aren’t afraid of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we have ended up with a need-centered gospel that attracts thousands… but transforms no one.” (Mike Yaconelli)