Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. Psalms 9:20

God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

(Nahum 1:2-5)


            Some say there should not be fear in the relationship the fellow man has with God. However, how can man truly love God if he does not show respect through fear for God's greatness, power and majesty. Let us remember we are just men and women, the creation not the Creator. To honour God is more than just to say we love him. It is also to fear Him for when a man is able to comprehend a small percent of God's glory and power, it is enough to put that man trembling on his knees acknowledging all flesh has sinned, yet we are given a chance of redemption. 


          Are we so foolish to ignore the tales of the past and not pay heed to what God requires of us? He wants to be worshipped and honoured because of who He is and God is great therefore fear men and women because our God holds life and mercy in one hand and vengeance and death in the other. He is a just judge and will give each of us according to what we have given to God. 


           In all honesty we have nothing to give for all is God's, even the air you breathe, therefore, what have we to give but obedience to His commandments and a hope that we fulfill His will, that it will be a sweet smelling sacrifice unto our eternal Father. Now these words come forth earnestly and a great hope that you turn to fear God for there is no other force greater than that of our heavenly master.


             "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."1.


            Giving glory to God is more than just repetitious acts and fearing God is more than just believing He is God for if  "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble"2. “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people"3. “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"4 and so "Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil"5.


      "And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,"6 so “... that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD”7. Therefore, "let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long"8.


            But there are many people that seem to be deaf and blind that "Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee"9


For, men think themselves as great and become slothful to where "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes"10


"Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life: Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD"11.


            God has called us out but how can we hear if we are a slave unto the world? Jesus teaches to not be controlled by the world "fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell"12. Yet if we do not listen we ignore the spirit and deny the truth about God, what He wants from us. 


          Jesus, our mediator clearly says "but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven"13. And those who Jesus denies must face the judgement of God, and God has spoken "And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them"14. For "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it"15.

     

        "God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God"16. The time to make the change is now, for if you do not put on a clean garment you will be as the parable;

Matthew 22:1-13

(1)  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, (2)  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son. (3)  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. (4)  Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. (5)  But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: (6)  And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. (7)  But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. (8)  Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. (9)  Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. (10)  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. (11)  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: (12)  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. (13)  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

           

“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”17


Therefore my friend beware of the path you are travelling for Jesus says “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”18.


My brother, my sister, “trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”19. “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately”20.  He will not be knocking forever. Will you answer the door before it is too late? 

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”21.

 Depart from the world and fear any part of it for “no man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon22. You can not either be lukewarm therefore choose before it is too late, whether to live in the pleasures of the world or fear God and devote your life unto Him.


            “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God”23


       “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”24.  Do you desire a treasure that will not last, one you will not be able to forever hold? 


      “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field”25. When we know what we are to be doing we must receive it and with a diligent heart, seek the treasure all the days of our life.


      “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven”26. But do we know what it means to exceed the scribes and Pharisees’ righteousness? If we can not daily give glory to God than what better are we than the Pharisees who daily remembered God and served Him, yet their heart was absent. Therefore if our hearts are in tune with God, should not His desire be entrenched into our every moment?


      Fear God for He is jealous and wants to be worshipped as God. Take heed to the words of Jesus and “be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”27


      To be perfect, “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me28.


      Be careful of your thoughts “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned”29. And so “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”30.


      Remember the stories passed down to us from those men who lived knowing they were but men what can we do but fear God so great. God’s power astounds us and brings fear because God is who we shall answer to if we fail Him. 


     "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds); The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities"31.


     Therefore be not confident in the worldly lust, satisfy not your flesh with the treasures your eyes see but rather hunger after with love and fear the treasure you can not see, the grace and mercy you will feel in the bosom of the Father. And in that bosom “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire”32.

 

     Fear is the beginning of knowledge and you must“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling33.


“And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him”34.


     Revelation speaks in wisdom for “who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest”35.


      These words have been many yet the message one, “Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you”36.


And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart. 2 Chronicles 19:9

          

     And now being finished, may you know that this letter was empowered by love, yet not love alone but also fear. For fear that we are not walking with God in our lives with fear and trembling, remembering He is God. We all are given the opportunity to love and serve God the way He desires and not by how we want to worship Him. 

      

      Let us remember we are only men and Jesus tells us "remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent”37. For "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent"38.  


     God is full of mercy and love, patient and desires as many as possible to become his children. However, God can not change and therefore we must remember who He is and what He desires from us. Jesus tells us the path is narrow and few even are able to find it, so strive for truth, righteousness and love, always remembering with fear that our Creator is also our Judge and though He is fair and good, we are also sinful and of the flesh. Make haste and leave the flesh and hold to the spirit sent from God. Do not be overwhelmed, God sent us Jesus to lead the way. Trust in the wisdom from Jesus for he understood the desires of our God.


Verses Used:

1.     (Revelation 14:6-7)

2.     (James 2:19)

3.     (Hebrews 10:30)

4.      (2 Thessalonians 1:8)

5.      (Proverbs 3:7)

6.      (Deu 10:12)

7.     (Deuteronomy 28:58)

8.     (Proverbs 23:17)

9.     (Ezekiel 28:18)

10.  (Romans 3:11-18)

11.  (Ezekiel 13:22-23)

12.  (Matthew 10:28)

13.  (Matthew 10:33)

14.  (Eze 25:17)

15.  (Matthew 10:37-39)

16.  (Psalms 55:19)

17.  (Matthew 15:8-9)

18.  (Matthew 7:21-23)

19.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

20.  (Luke 12:35-36)

21.  (Revelation 3:20)

22.  (Matthew 6:24)

23.  (Proverbs 2:1-5)

24.  (Matthew 6:21)

25.  (Matthew 13:44)

26.  (Matthew 5:20)

27.  (Matthew 5:48)

28.  (Matthew 19:21)

29.  (Matthew 12:37)

30.  (Luke 13:3)

31.  (2 Peter 2:4-10)

32.  (Hebrews 12:28-29)

33.  (Phi 2:12)

34.  (Luke 12:4-5)

35.  (Revelation 15:4)

36.  (1 Samuel 12:24)

37.  (Revelation 2:5)

38.  (Revelation 3:19)

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