The Spirit of Fear

“Who knows the power of Your anger and Your wrath, such as the fear of You requires?” Psalm 90:11. Those who have the spirit of the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:2. It is therefore extremely important that we have the proper understanding of the fear of the Lord in our relationship to God.

God is not only unspeakably good to people; He is also extremely severe when it comes to sin. Romans 11:22. It is difficult to express this severity in stronger terms than what the third angel says in Revelation 14:9-11: those who worship the beast shall be tormented forever and ever, and they shall have no rest, day or night.

Because people lack godly fear, they do not take sin seriously enough; they do not think it is as dangerous as it is. The one who steals a little takes care not to land in jail, and the one who has a mildly derogatory thought about a brother is careful not to be mali­cious. However, this is where the deceitfulness of sin enters in. Hebrews 3:13. Sin makes a person stupid; it hardens him and before he realizes it, he has fallen away from the living God. Hebrews 3:12.

A person does not consider that there are degrees to God’s anger when he repeatedly commits the same sins. Because of a hard and impenitent heart he heaps up wrath. Romans 2:5. By hating sin he can put it to death, and then the spirit of fear can rest over his life.

Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 6:1, “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to the law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?” Yes, if one does not have the spirit of fear, one dares to do it—and even more than that. Such a person dares to dress vainly, dares to look, think, and speak evil, and dares to draw back from God’s promptings in his conscience.

The spirit of fear sees the seriousness of the strength of God’s wrath that comes because of adultery and covetousness. Ephesians 5:6. This wrath is within the dispensation of grace; therefore a person can repent and receive forgiveness. On the other hand, the wine of God’s wrath is poured out in full strength over those people who have the spirit of the beast. Revelation 14:10-11. When this happens, sin will have fully matured. This is extremely serious!

There are several examples of God’s severity in the old covenant. Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and two hundred and fifty men of renown, together with their wives and children, were swallowed up by the earth in an instant. Numbers 16. This is how God showed His great wrath toward those who rebelled against the leaders of the congrega­tion.

An example of how a person with an uncircumcised heart can hear and see the manifestations of God in the church, and yet draw back because of a lack of fear, is Uzzah. He was slain because he laid hold of the ark. 2 Samuel 6:6-7. This cannot be understood if you do not possess the spirit of the fear of the Lord. When David saw what had befallen Uzzah, we read, “David was filled with the fear of the Lord that day.” Verse 9.

Two sons of Aaron, when performing their priestly ministry, dared to offer profane fire on the altar, and they were struck down. Leviticus 10:1-2. Any priest who had a blemish was not allowed to draw near to offer the bread of his God. Leviticus 21:17. If these laws were so extremely serious, then the laws of the Spirit are no less se­vere. Spiritual death begins the moment the holy laws of holy broth­erhood and priesthood are broken.

Ananias and Sapphira were struck down because they lied. Acts 5:1-10. This should be a deterring example of God’s great severity for all times. The sinner dares to do evil a hundred times because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily. Ecclesiastes 8:11-12. This is what happens when one is totally devoid of the spirit of fear and has little knowledge of God.

“Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.” Hosea 6:3. The most basic teaching concerning God’s severity is, “God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7.

God’s severity and His infinite goodness are clearly evidenced by the fact that He visits the iniquity of the fathers unto the third and fourth generation, but He shows mercy for a thousand generations. Exodus 20:5-6. We need to live in this goodness of His mercy. With the fear of the Lord in our hearts, we can receive the knowledge of both the strength of His wrath and His anger, so that we would rather die than transgress the least of the laws and commandments of His goodness.

The Word we hear will not profit us if we do not have this fear. Then we can hear the most precious truths for years without any transformation taking place. When Jesus comes like a thief, such people will be naked, and their shame will be seen. Revelation 16:15.

May God’s goodness spur us on to an ever increasingly deeper repentance, and may His great severity preserve us in a spirit of fear. Who knows the strength of God’s wrath and anger as he ought to know it?

God grant us abundant grace to this end for His name’s sake.