“Then The Churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in The Fear of THE LORD and in The Comfort of THE HOLY SPIRIT, they were multiplied.” Acts 9:31.

Walking in The Fear of THE LORD and in The Comfort of THE HOLY SPIRIT is to keep us in The Right Way and be multiplied — that is, prosper as ordained by GOD.

It is great riches to us in the life now is, The One to come, to live in The Fear of THE LORD. It will guide us to, and in, The Riches of His Glory.

Imagine driving on a beautiful mountain road with AWESOME ravines full of trees on either side. The ravines won’t hurt you, but you will be careful not to veer off the road into them.

The ravines are awesome to behold, but also fearsome to avoid veering off into.

The Fear of THE LORD and Reverential Awe of GOD are like that: both fearsome and awesome. They are for The Glory of GOD and for our own good.

One of various insidiously destructive doctrines of demons increasingly taught in The Church is that the child of GOD should not be in fear of GOD.

You can, they say, be in awe / reverence of GOD, but not in fear of Him.

This lie is as deceptive as saying a baby can be born by a mother without his father (a man’s seed). Both a father and a mother are necessary to produce an offspring.

We are expressly required by GOD to both be in fear of Him and in reverence of Him.

“GOD is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.” Psalm 89:7.

“He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. THE LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His Mercy.” Psalm 147:10-11

This false teaching further argues that GOD is loving and must not be feared.

This is the very opposite of The Truth. GOD is indeed loving; but he expressly tells us to fear Him.

Talking about Himself, JESUS categorically tells us:

“But I will show you Whom you should fear: Fear Him Who, after He has killed, has Power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” Luke 12:5.

When the devil and his angels didn’t fear GOD The Consuming Fire, their fate was sealed in the everlasting fire!

All persons who pleased GOD and succeeded in The Bible had one thing in common: they feared GOD.

Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the Hebrew midwives in Egypt: Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15-17), Moses, Joshua and Caleb, Samuel, Job, David, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel and his three colleagues, THE LORD JESUS Himself (!), Peter, Paul, John, Stephen, Cornelius, among others.

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared GOD with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to GOD always.” Acts 10:1-2 emphasis added.

And when preaching JESUS to Cornelius together with his relatives and friends, Peter said:

“But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” Acts 10:35 emphasis added.

For the avoidance of doubt, “fear” as used in Acts 10:22, 35 above, is Strong’s Greek G5399: phobeó: “to put to flight, to terrify, frighten”.

Without controversy, this is for obedience, not morbidity or mortality.

This is to fear GOD so as not to perish.

Who won’t fear fire…let alone The Consuming Fire?

Paul made this very clear:

“Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom Which cannot be shaken, let us have Grace, by which we may serve GOD acceptably with Reverence and GODly Fear. For our GOD is a Consuming Fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29.

GOD is to be literally feared for purposes of obeying Him and making our election sure.

For example, don’t lie because He says do not lie.

When Ananias and Sephira did not fear GOD but elected to lie to THE HOLY SPIRIT, they were consecutively killed by THE LORD right during a Church service.

“So great fear came upon all The Church and upon all who heard these things.” Acts 5:11.

When THE LORD JESUS came down to Sanai and manifested just a tiny bit of His FEARSOME Side, “so terrifying was The Sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.” (See Hebrews 12:18-21).

This was recorded in The New Testament for our learning.

I am always taken aback when people preach against The Fear of THE LORD, although Scripture teaches us explicitly to fear GOD.

This is not the unGODly fear that some people allow to overcome them because of an adverse situation. This fear is from the devil, and you must NOT allow it. (Please see a previous Word: “Do Not Be Afraid; Only Believe“.)

There is GODly Fear and there is unGODly fear. The former gives life, the latter kills.

The Fear of THE LORD is life-giving and releasing The Riches of His Glory.

Everyone who feared GOD in The Bible also prospered exceedingly – such as Isaac. He feared GOD so much that, GOD is even called “The Fear of Isaac” (Genesis 31:42,53).

Above all, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself, in The Days of His Flesh, had The Fear of THE LORD. And LOOK how He prospered PERFECTLY!

Isaiah spoke of Him, saying:

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 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. His delight is in The Fear of THE LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears;” Isaiah 11:1-3. emphasis added.

It is true riches to fear GOD.

Do not fear anyone or anything. Fear only GOD, and He will take care of your cares as you seek Him and do what He says to you.

“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. THE LORD OF HOSTS, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.” Isaiah 8:12-13 emphasis added.

“THE LORD is my Light and my Salvation; Whom shall I fear? THE LORD is The Strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.” Psalm 27:1-3.

“Who among you fears THE LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in The Name of THE LORD and rely upon his GOD.” Isaiah 50:10 emphasis added.

“And if you call on THE FATHER, Who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;” 1 Peter 1:17 emphasis added.

“Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear GOD. Honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:17 emphasis added.

“And to man He said, ‘Behold, The Fear of THE LORD, that is Wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ” Job 28:28 emphasis added.

“And walking in The Fear of THE LORD and in The Comfort of THE HOLY SPIRIT, they were multiplied.” Acts 9:31 emphasis added.

 

“The LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:22.
“Farewell” Acts 15:29.
~ Jacob Addison Awagah

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Jacob, an apostle of JESUS CHRIST by The Will of GOD, according to The Promise of Life which is in CHRIST JESUS, (2 Timothy 1:1).
Like John, I like to put my head to The Heart of JESUS so as to know and do His Will always. What’s in His Heart is what matters now and FOREVER. His Heart’s Desire is my only desire.
As John was, I am the disciple whom JESUS loves, (John 13:23;19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20)
And like Paul, Jacob is “the prisoner of CHRIST JESUS” (Ephesians 3:1) for His Purpose forever: to obey Him always.
NB. Surely, “the disciple whom JESUS loves” and “the prisoner of CHRIST JESUS”, like ALL The Promises of GOD, are available to every believer to obtain, just as John and Paul did.
“And having been perfected, He became The Author of Eternal Salvation to all who obey Him,” Hebrews 5:9.

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