(Clip) What Happened to the Fear of God? — Shane Idleman

The Fear of the Lord as the Beginning of Wisdom

The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, it's the beginning of knowledge. Where does that come from? Fearing the Lord. Later in Acts we'll read that the church, why was the church so powerful?

The Church's Power Through the Holy Spirit

Twelve men, eleven of them were killed, and now you've got this message nobody can silence. Not Pilate, not Caesar, not Rome, not atheism, not communism. Nothing can silence the voice of truth. Where does that come from?

It comes from the church walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and the fear of God. That's what it says. Because you can't have the power of the Holy Spirit without the fear of God, because it's the fear of God that allows the power of the Holy Spirit to run through us.

The Triune Nature of God

And this isn't some mystical force like Star Wars. Let me clarify, the Holy Spirit, God says, I am one, Israel. Oh Israel, I'm one. But he reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the triune nature of God, Elohim.

It's a plural word for God in the Hebrew language. Don't try to understand it. You can't. I've got headaches over this. And Jesus isn't a ventriloquist mimicking the voice of the Father, it's the Holy Spirit is part of the triune nature of God.

Reverence in Daily Life

So God says, I will fill you with my Spirit, I will guide you, and I will lead you, but you have to come in with fear and reverence. Not only into the house of God, but how you lead your life. Or how you live your life.

I often wonder, I start laughing sometimes, how much different would we live if Jesus was sitting on the couch? Come on, who are you fooling? Everybody in this room would be nice, courteous, and gracious, loving.

No, spouse, I'll do the dishes. Right? Can I take out the trash? Can I vacuum? I just want to vacuum. Can I do the laundry? Is that the baby at 2am? Can I do it? Can I change the diaper? Jesus, let me handle it.

We would be, wouldn't we? Why? There's reverence there, there's respect there. But how much more when almighty God says, I will reside in you through the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, and you can quench and grieve the Spirit's power to such a degree that you have no spiritual power in your life.

Fear of God and Holy Living

The very thing we need is the very thing we're afraid of. Walking in fear will change the way you live. I fear God. I fear God. It will change everything. Jesus is my savior, but he's also my judge. Jesus will come back again, but John said he saw heaven open, and the white horse, and he who sat on it was called faithful and true.

And in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like flames of fire, and on his head are many crowns, and no one knows his name except himself. And the armies of heaven follow after him, and out of his mouth goes a sword that he will strike the nations.

Christ's Judgment and the Wrath of God

He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress and fierceness and wrath of almighty God. So how can a loving God, he doesn't do anything. You reject the offer of salvation. You reject the offer of love.

Rejecting Salvation and Human Arrogance

We reject it. And I asked somebody, they said, well, none of that's true. Really, show me one thing in the Bible that's not true. Out of all these chapters, one thing. You know what they told me? It says don't eat shellfish.

That's what you got? You're going to bank eternity on not eating shellfish? It's a dietary law given. Now we also know that those types of fish consume all the debris at the bottom of the ocean, and they are toxic, and it's not a good thing to eat.

Neither is pigs. God knows what he's doing, so that's your argument? Why you don't want to follow God? Show me one thing in the Bible. They can't. It's human arrogance and pride. This is I don't want to follow him.