No Fear -

What is an underlying distinction between the saints and the wicked? Psalm 36 says of the wicked: "There is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes, when he finds out his iniquity and when he hates. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. He devises wickedness on his bed; He sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not abhor evil." Proverbs 9 says: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..."

A wholesome, righteous fear of God is present in the heart where there is a work of grace and is the means through which God reveals our sin and our need for the cleansing blood of Christ. Some false teachers proclaim that God is a friend to the lost and that He loves all people everywhere. This is a misrepresentation of the Scriptures and causes confusion among pagans. If we help the unregenerate to believe that God does not judge their sin, they are comforted in their sin and are not presented with the true God whose holy justice will not relent upon the unrepentant for all eternity.

A man who does not fear God cannot abhor evil; he will be a friend to this world. Spurgeon says, "He who has the friendship of the world is an enemy to God." While Christians seek to remain at peace with all men according to the Scriptures, we recognize that Jesus "came not to bring peace on earth, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). Darkness has no fellowship with light. In the same meditation from Spurgeon, we find this comment, "if you are true and faithful to the Most High, men will resent your unflinching fidelity, since it is a testimony against their iniquities."

May God continue to build His kingdom and use us to proclaim His holiness.