The "shake in your boots" fear of the Lord

 

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

 

Isaiah foretells of the descending of the Holy Spirit that rested on Jesus at His baptism. The Holy Spirit who proceeds from the throne of God brings 7 “aspects” with Him. Today we will talk about the seventh “aspect,”  that of “fear of the Lord.”

 

This is a “shake in your boots” kind of fear, we typically don’t want to talk about.

 

The Holy Spirit brings with Him an aspect of fear. He isn’t called “Holy” for nothing. Just think about it, if Jesus had not been clothed in human flesh, not one person would’ve been able to stand in His presence. There were times when people were given glimpses of the Holy Spirit in Jesus and every single time it was accompanied by this aspect of fear.

 

There was the time, He calmed the wind and the sea, and this was the response of His disciples in Mr 4:41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

Then there was the time when Jesus told Peter where to fish, note Peter’s reaction! Lu 5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"

On the Day of Pentecost, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on His church, note the response of the general public to this phenomenon:  Ac 2:43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

What a great reminder to us all that we are dealing with a holy, sinless, all powerful God who does not dwell with evil.

 

Ps 5:4 says, “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You”

 

No wonder Isaiah became undone when he was ushered into the presence of God! Isa 6:5 So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts."  6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged."

 

If we desire to spend eternity with our loving heavenly Father, we need to have our sin removed and that’s where faith in Jesus comes in. 2Co 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 

Your only hope for heaven is faith in Jesus Christ, there is no other way. Put on Christ in faith and spend eternity in peace. Ignore the gospel invitation and spend an eternity in dread!

 

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word