Dear Brethren and Friends, One of the key attributes God is looking for in His future sons is: do these people have the genuine “fear” of God? The final dramatic “test” for Abraham to qualify as “father of the faithful” was that he had to demonstrate to God that he really was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac—the very son through whom the magnificent promises were to come.
At the very moment when he had the knife in his hand and was ready to slay his son, the voice of the One who became Jesus Christ rang out, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Genesis 22:12). Abraham’s total surrender to be willing to do whatever God commanded him brought this response: “For now I know that you fear God”!
Brethren, the profound awe and the tremendous and active respect and worship for God are all part of the “fear” of God, which our Creator absolutely requires of you and me! Notice what God tells us: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever” (Psalm 111:10). And God inspired this statement in Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Again, Solomon was inspired to conclude the book of Ecclesiastes in this manner: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all [or, his whole duty]” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). So the “whole duty” of man is to fear God and keep His commandments! When we fully grasp that the Ten Commandments reveal the full character of God and the only way to genuinely obey them is through Christ in us (Galatians 2:20), it then shows us the real meaning Solomon had in mind here.
As we see at the end of another book, Isaiah, Almighty God tells us essentially the same thing: “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). Do you and I have the same sense of awe as we carefully read and study the Bible? Do we sincerely try to focus on the fact that this marvelous book really is the inspired word of God—the Instruction Book from our very Creator? “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
Some of our brethren in God’s Church do not have the genuine “fear” of God. Yes, they claim to be “Christian”—to be followers of Christ. But they seem not to really understand Christ’s warning to “would be” Christians or “part-time” Christians. To these very people, Jesus Christ challenged: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
These kind of “part-time” Christians are those who often “skip out” on attending Sabbath services or other Church activities on a regular basis. They often have some wonderful “excuses” as to why they are often not there when a sermon is given which they may need in a special way! Some of these people come to church to “get,” to show off, to argue or to just develop a social fellowship. They are not primarily coming to “seek God” and humbly worship their Creator on His commanded Sabbath day. They are not there through a desire to love, to serve and to help their fellow Christians by their presence, their encouragement, etc. These are the peoples whose “hearts” are not truly given to God in His Work. They are not going “all out” to help proclaim His message going to the entire world and honestly do all they can to support the Gospel in every possible way. As Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong put it over and over, “The depth of one’s conversion is often best measured by the degree to which a person’s whole heart is in helping and supporting the very Work of the living God”!
Jesus Christ said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” (John 4:34–36). Do you, personally, go “all out” for God’s Work in fervent prayers—encouraging and inspiring others to become fully involved in the Work and in happily returning to God His tithe plus generous offerings to support the Work which Jesus Christ is right now performing through His end-time Church?
Do you?
Remember how God’s word tells us: “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6–7). A deeply converted person will have a sense of fulfillment and joy in giving to his God! And he will sincerely want to dedicate his talents, his time and his energy to do everything he can as part of the very Work in which we are all involved!
Those who have the genuine “fear” of God will not regularly sit around and evaluate the ministry and their fellow Christians. True Christians will be very careful not to wrongly or unduly criticize God’s own people. For they will be zealously feeding on God’s word, and therefore will constantly be reading such instructions as Jesus gave in Matthew 7:1–3: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”
Truly zealous Christians, those who genuinely “fear” God, will go all out to avoid or to break wrong habits such as drinking too much alcohol, allowing bitterness and resentments to come into the mind, or allowing a spirit of “competition” to take over their thoughts. They will be filling their minds with the thoughts of God: “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth” (Colossians 3:5–8).
Dear brethren, because we do not want to be practicing a “fear religion” we may sometimes fail to consider the many examples of Jesus Christ Himself powerfully warning His followers to be very careful to avoid the Lake of Fire! Remember, Jesus Himself warned about what will happen at the end of the age: “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:49–50). Again, notice Jesus’ statement to some who took their salvation for granted: “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11–12).
If you or I allow ourselves to get into any ungodly habit that tends to cut us off from God, we must truly cry out to God with all of our might for help and deliverance! For such a habit, left unchecked, will become part of us. It will become like our own eye or ear or hand. Yet our Savior, Jesus Christ, powerfully warns: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched’” (Mark 9:43–44).
Many times, brethren, it may be necessary to literally “flee” a situation that could cause us to act on a terrible temptation. Certainly, the powerful urge to act on a sexual temptation may be one of those circumstances. For the Apostle Paul was inspired by God to write the Corinthians: “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Yes, we may need to literally “flee” a situation that is pulling us into illicit sexual activity. We may need to “flee” the temptation to be around our former friends who smoke or who drink heavily, if we ourselves might easily be drawn into such bad habits again. We may have to “flee” any other situation that we—in our hearts—know might pull us down and out of God’s Church and into the Lake of Fire!
In sermons, I have recited the humorous and yet very meaningful example of my dear friend and brother of the past, Herman L. Hoeh—the first male Ambassador graduate and Executive Editor of the Worldwide Church of God publications for many years. Herman and I were in Ensenada, Mexico, along with Dick Armstrong and Raymond Cole back in 1950 or 1951. We had been staying in a reasonably nice hotel—since the American dollar bought a lot in those days in Mexico. We had a reasonably clean and nice room and a very nice dinner at the hotel, where some Mexican “folk dancing” entertainment was furnished with the meal.
The next morning, we were all heading for breakfast and wondered where Herman was. Normally, he was up early—since he grew up on a farm and always got up early. We waited a bit, but finally had to start breakfast—then Herman came up to us, actually puffing and panting, because he had been running! We asked, “What happened, Herman?” He replied, “I was taking an early morning walk over in this normal-looking neighborhood, when I was approached by these women wanting to sell themselves to me!” Apparently, Herman had never before been approached by a prostitute. He was shocked, and realized that he had to “flee” just as the Bible stated! So, he ran all the way back to the hotel to get away from the situation.
That may seem amusing. And, in a way, it was. Yet it does show to us that we need to take action of this sort if it will keep us out of the very Lake of Fire which Jesus talked about! For the Lake of Fire is real!
Yes, there is an actual “Lake of Fire” that awaits those who are so weak, so careless and so slothful in their approach to God that they show the Creator by their very lukewarm attitude that they do not really worship God with all their heart, and do not really put God’s righteousness and His Kingdom above everything else (Matthew 6:33). Remember, when Jesus was asked what is the “first” of all the commandments, He answered: “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment” (Mark 12:29–30). If we truly love and worship God with all our being, we will fight against or flee any urge to turn away from our Creator.
We in the Living Church of God must not believe in “cheap grace.” We must recognize God’s repeated commands, which tell us to forsake everything for the sake of God’s Kingdom: “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33).
May God help all of us do everything we can to pray for, strive for and exercise the genuine “fear” of the great God in whom we live and move and have our being. This genuine awe—this total respect—is the “key” attitude God is looking for in each of us. May we desire so much to be in God’s Kingdom that we will truly worship and honor our Creator and heavenly Father in this way.
With Christian love,
