Joy Dawson emphasizes the critical need for the fear of the Lord within the body of Christ, explaining that true fear is not about being afraid of God but rather having a deep reverence and hatred for sin. She discusses various levels of attitudes towards sin and how the fear of the Lord can lead to a genuine transformation in our lives, enabling us to avoid evil and live in holiness. Dawson also highlights the importance of prayer and intercession in restoring this fear, urging believers to take their relationship with God seriously and to seek His guidance earnestly. The sermon culminates in a call for prayer, emphasizing that the fear of the Lord is essential for true revival and spiritual awakening in the church and the world.

None of the messages that I have given to you in these last five days, the last three days, five messages in three days, came easily to me to hear. I sought God with all my heart, and it has taken many hours in God's presence to be absolutely sure that I knew the exact Rhema word for each time I would speak. And the way God gave me this message tonight was no exception. It was perhaps one of the hardest ones. Saturday mornings and this one took the longest to get. And God just started speaking to me all over the word of God in relation to the fear of the Lord. Now I have this whole book on that subject, and a series of messages with notes in there, but that's not what he was saying to me. Then I have another message on restoring the fear of the Lord to the body of Christ, and I have another one. But he didn't confirm it to be just that, and directed me to many scriptures on prayer. And I thought, what in the world is going on? Now I have a whole book of notes on prayer, something like 25 messages on the subject of intercession. All different, and I'm in the process of writing a book on it. And so of course when he speaks on prayer, I want to know which of the 25. And when it's on the fear of the Lord, well there's a whole book on that, 17 chapters and about five hours teaching, and I need to know, well, what part on that. He wasn't confirming it was just on the fear of God, and he wasn't confirming it was just on prayer, and yet I get scriptures confirming that it was on both. I said, God, I just have to keep seeking, that's all. And then he showed me it was a combination of messages, and this is after hours of listening to him. And that I'm to start on the subject of the need for the fear of the Lord, and how it is to be restored to the body of Christ, I am to incorporate some of my teaching in my book. So that's two combinations right there. Because this restoring of the fear of the Lord to the body of Christ is a different message from the whole teaching on the fear of the Lord, although it incorporates some of it, it's a different slant. And then the part that I kept getting on prayer all the time, is that we're going to have a prayer meeting at the end of this message, and we're going to pray seriously for what I will be teaching you. Again, I say to you, God and I have taken this message very seriously. He expects you to take it equally seriously in the application. That's fair enough, isn't it? Do you think that's reasonable? Well, two people do anyway. I'm going to ask you again, if you're serious, would you respond? If God takes a meeting very seriously and causes a speaker to be hour after hour after hour in prayer, seeking his face to get the exact message. Do you think it's fair that the people take it seriously? That's better. The need for the fear of the Lord and how it can be restored to the church. First of all, we have to know what the fear of the Lord is. I think the fear of the Lord, that phrase is one of the most unknown in understanding phrases in all of God's word. It has nothing to do with being afraid of God in the sense of fearing to come near him. And so we need to understand what it is. And the Bible doesn't leave us in any doubt about it. And I'm going to give you some of the definitions. First of all, it is having God's attitude towards sin, having God's attitude towards sin. Proverbs eight 13 tells us what that is. The fear of the Lord is to hate sin. It did not say the Bible does not say the fear of the Lord is not to sin. The fear of the Lord is to hate sin, because you see, there are four different levels that we can be on in relation to our attitude towards sin. And as I give them to you, you understand why the definition is hatred of sin. The first level is the person doesn't want to sin and chooses not to only because the consequences are too great. The love for the sin is in the heart and the sin is frequently committed in the mind. For instance, a person lusting in adultery or fornication in their minds after somebody else wanting to have the experience with the body, but afraid of the consequences might be felt, found out all kinds of things. Disgrace. There is no hatred of that sin whatsoever. The fact that they haven't committed it with the body is incidental to God. There is no fear of God on the person. The love for it is there and they're committing it in the mind. Next level, a person who, if you ask them, do you fear God? They would say, of course. Hadn't you noticed? Noticed what? I never missed a church service other than when I was desperately ill. I wouldn't even think of it. I'm always regularly in the house of God, every Sunday, every prayer meeting. Hadn't you noticed? I always tithe and give offerings. I've never, ever had a bill outstanding. All my bills are paid on time. And you asked me, do I fear God? You need to hear what else I do. I grow six cabbages and always give one over the fence to the neighbor. I mind my own business. I never stir up any trouble anywhere. I'm committed to living by the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I, no neighbor could ever say I'd ever been mean to them. And you ask me, do I fear God? Yes, I still ask that person, do they fear the Lord? Yes. If I went on or you went on to ask some questions like this, have you a burden for the last? When is it the last time you had an effective witness? What is your prayer life like in relation to the multiplied millions? You've never even heard the gospel. Have you been obedient to the great commission? Have you made definite steps in your life to prepare for missionary service? Because God has said to every Christian go, have you a story of divine guidance to stay at home in relation to the great commission? How involved with the poor and the needy are you? God has many commands that we are to be. The person would say, Hey, stop, stop right there. I don't need any more questions. Why? Because the answer could be no to all to the whole lot. Therefore, there is no hatred of those sins of omission. No fear of God in all that huge area of that person's life. Are we understanding now? No hatred of the sin of disobedience in relation to those commands from God. All commands from God. No fear of God in those great big areas of the life. Then there's the person on the third level. This person is aware of the things we've been talking about, sensitive to God, committed, wanting to do God's will, taking God seriously. Sins is concerned about it. Runs to confess to God only to find that he or she is committing the same sin, maybe the next day or the next week and back and back and back in a circle of confession and defeat and despair often. That's level three, trying but confessing and failing. But confessing sincere is level four. The person with the fear of the Lord. If the fear of the Lord is to hate sin, that means there is not a love for sin in the heart. We do not do, do not choose to do what we hate unless forced by a power over us, higher over us in authority. Is that correct? Have you anything ever done anything you hated to do, was obnoxious to you unless forced by a power over you in authority? Well, there's no response from this audience. There's an interesting audience tonight. Is there anybody here who, who chose to do what they hated to do unless forced by an authority over them, or that it was something they hated to do, but they knew they ought to do? I suppose that could come into it. That must be drudgery. But here's the, this is the point God is making. When we hate sin, can you see that that's the greatest antidote not to sin? And that if we don't hate the sin, then we have a measure of the love of that sin in our heart to one degree or another. Therefore, how do you get free from sin? Having a hatred of it, so you don't. A hatred has to take over for the love that is there. You see that person on the third level, constantly confessing sin, hasn't seen that there is still the love for that sin there, that has to be replaced by a hatred. Now when the hatred comes and it comes, there's only one way. It's through the fear of the Lord. Listen to the next verse of scripture, Proverbs 16, 6, Through the fear of the Lord, a man avoids evil. In this little book, Intimate Friendship with God Through Understanding the Fear of the Lord, I give the illustration. I'm going to give it tonight again for one reason. That is that I was seeking God about an hour and a half ago, and he told me to give it to you. I didn't have it in these notes to give it to you, but he spoke to me and said, give it tonight. So I'm just here to be obedient. That's where the action is. If there was cow manure on the floor, this carpet, in front of this pulpit tonight, and I knew that there was going to be cow manure there because someone would tell me when you're speaking tonight, there's going to be cow manure. Now, if I said to my dear friends, Alan and Dorothy Landstar, I desperately need your help before the meeting tonight. And they'd say, well, Joy, we're available to help you in any way that we can. That's what they like. And I would say, well, this may be an unusual request, but I'm desperate and desperate people are not self-conscious. And this is why I need help. I have a secret love for cow manure. Oh, I know it's embarrassing to tell you, and it must seem amazing to you to hear it, but that's just how it is. And I'm desperate and I have to speak in the pulpit and I actually will have to pass the cow manure to get up to the pulpit to speak. And if you knew the strong temptation that cow manure is to me, just one whiff of it sends me. So I will need you to pray me through that. I will get up to the pulpit without wanting to just get my finger into it. And then I will need you to intercede all through the time I'm preaching because I'll be able to smell it. And it'll be a distraction because the temptation is so strong to want to get down in there with it. And they would say to me, Joy, as pastors over many, many years, we have had some strange requests, but never anything like this, but nevermind dear, we see you're sincere and we will pray for you. Oh God, they would even lay their hands on me. Dear God, please help Joy overcome the strong temptation, getting up to the pulpit and in the pulpit while she's preaching on the fear of the Lord. Get the humor. It obviously, obviously wouldn't be this subject, whatever she's speaking on so that she can make it through. So she will not be tempted. Help her God to overcome this temptation. We pray in Jesus name. Thank you that you will. And they sit there praying like crazy. They can't take notes because they've got their prayer project and we all laugh and it's absurd. It's crazy. It's ridiculous, but it's going on all the time in the body of Christ in relation to sin. This is my besetting sin. This is my weakness. I inherited from my father or my mother or my grandfather or something. This is how I'm made. This is how I'll always be. I know it's wrong. Please pray for me, Buncombe, Bologna and whatever else. If anybody comes and prays, asks you to pray for them over something they're sending over all the time, say to them, you need a great big healthy dose of the fear of the Lord. And as you have that, you will quit your sin and you will hate it. And, and God will give you a love to do what you're not supposed to do. I, why he'll give you a love. Yes. But what you're not supposed to do. Okay. Why are we, why would all of us, every one of us want, if we knew cow manure was going to be in the front of the church tonight, those in the pew and those in the pulpit, we would all want to either get a bucket and a shovel and a, and some disinfectant and get that stuff out of the building as fast as we could and put lots of disinfectant back on the carpet, or we would want to vacate the building. One of the two. Why? Because we have an instinctive hatred for it. Why? Because it stinks. It's terribly simple. Now, if you don't come into that category, we can pray for you afterwards. We have prayers going on in this church for people in need. You can become normal. Normal Christianity is meant that we have a hatred for sin. And God has given us this wonderful thing called the fear of the Lord, which is to hate sin. And in this little book, I give you five or six steps of how you can get the, the fear of God, how to obtain the fear of the Lord. It means also to stand in awe of God's name. Malachi chapter two, verse five, my covenant with him was a covenant of life and peace. And I gave them to him that he might fear. And he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. How in the world can you stand in awe of the name of God? Well, you've got to know what his name is. And of course we could be all night having a Bible studies on the names of the Lord. But there are two words that God uses in the word of God to sum up who he is better than any I know. And those are the two words I am. Now, what does I am mean? I am everything we will ever need God to be to fulfill it. I am everything we will ever need for him to work in us in order to conform us to the image of his dear son. I am everything we will ever need to work through us to make him known to others. We respond and say, wow, you are, you are, you are absolutely completely all sufficient for any need I will ever have all sufficient to need to work in me to make me conform to the image of your son, Jesus, and everything that you, that I will need for you to work through me to work, to bless others. And we stand in awe of a being so totally sufficient and sufficient to meet man's need. It also means that's two things. Here's the third. It means to stand in awe of God's authority and power as the creator and sustainer of the universe. Psalm 33 verses eight to nine, let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him for reason. He spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood forth. We need to constantly meditate on the, on the awesome, terrible power of God. A being so powerful, so far removed from anything that we can comprehend with our little pea-sized finite mind that with spoken words, he can create worlds and with a spoken word can uphold the universe, including worlds by the word of his power. What a being. I stand in awe of him. I fear the Lord. It means point four, being more impressed with God's reactions to our actions than man's reactions to our action. Isaiah eight, 13, the Lord almighty is the one you are to regard as holy. He is the one you are to fear. To regard God as holy is to be constantly, listen, every single second, every single second of our life in our conscious, when we're conscious, is to be concerned with his reactions to our actions and, and therefore, I'm concerned relatively in relation to man's reactions to our action. You know, that means it means in any situation, every situation you choose to be nothing that God may be everything. Now that's relatively easy when you're on your own. Had you noticed? No big test. I mean, there's nobody to criticize you anyway, what you're doing. You're just there. I'm not talking about when God gives you a command to do that, that you don't take terribly seriously his reaction when you're on your own. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about where in, when we're in group situations, whether there's one other human being or 1 million other human beings. And there can be millions of human beings on television. And I'm on television a lot. And I'll give you an example. I was on television in the States here, uh, teaching on the subject of intercession. And it was by an interviewer who wanted me to teach. He didn't want, um, to be interrupting or interacting hardly at all. And he'd worked out ahead of time. I think it was just three basic questions he would ask me in a whole half an hour so that I could go for it and just teach. And, uh, I was in the middle of giving an illustration out of my life of something to illustrate a point on intercession that I was making. And I gave the story correctly until I came to the end. And then I added no more than four or five words to the true account of, of that story out of my life to make a humorous ending to the story. Are you with me? Immediately the Holy Spirit convicted me as immediately the Holy Spirit convicts all of us. When we know we have exaggerated or lied to be humorous or for any other reason, this was to add humor, by the way, why would I want to add humor to draw attention to myself? I mean, why would I, why would I not just make it factual? So I had a decision to make that every one of us has to make when we have lied and confession should be in the circle in which the sin has been committed. What was my circle? Television audience in America, which can be, you know, who knows how many. Instantly, because of the fear of the Lord, I turned to the interviewer and I said, I'm very sorry to have to interrupt your program like this, but I have just sinned. I said in that sentence that I, in that illustration that I gave out of my life, those five words at the end, I said they were not true. I added those and I said, I would ask your forgiveness. And then I looked into the little box in front of me and I said, and those of you who are listening to this program, please forgive me. I lied. Those extra five words to make that humorous were not true. That is not what I said or did. Please forgive me. And then I prayed and I said, Father, I want the anointing of your spirit. I want the Holy Spirit to be upon me and you don't anoint liars. Please forgive me. I ask that you will, and I thank you for your blood that cleanses me and forgives me. Words to that effect. And then I went on. That's the fear of the Lord. But listen, if I'd had more of the fear of the Lord, I wouldn't have lied in the first place. It was a demonstration of a measure of the fear of God. But it sure let me know that I needed more of the fear of God upon me. That was an indication of an area where it wasn't, but it's also an indication of when there is a real degree of the fear of the Lord, what your reaction to sin will be immediately you have sinned. Another illustration. Now that's being more concerned with God's reaction to your actions than men's reactions to your actions. Another occasion. I was standing up in obedience to God in front of an audience of spiritual leaders giving the message that God had spoken very clearly to me to give. I had been speaking for exactly three minutes on my watch when the Holy Spirit suddenly and sovereignly said to me, lie on your face on the floor. What would you do? You're in front of the spiritual leaders. You have the word of the Lord. He's spoken to you to give it. You've been going three minutes. I just said to the leaders, I have just been given a mandate from God. I am to lie on my face on the floor. So that's what I'll be doing. And then I went five and a half hours later, every one of those spiritual leaders picked themselves up from the same floor because God by his spirit swept in immediately. I had been obedient, sovereignly spoke to every single one of them quietly and told them to go down to no human being told them to lie down. The leader under whose, whose authority I was, who had asked me to speak never said a word either. He just went down. Every one of them one by one spoken to by God, the Holy Spirit lay on their faces on the floor. And then God started to move slowly, not quickly, slowly, slowly, but surely all over that room and in conviction of sin in one way or another. And for five and a half hours, there was openness and brokenness as God started to reveal hearts and motives and a deep, deep move of God took place. And then when it was all through, when we all knew it was through up, we came again, humbler, wiser, all God needed was for the person who had been invited to speak to start and then to choose to be nothing, that he may be everything. Can you imagine what would have taken place if I hadn't laid on my face on the floor? I'll tell you what would have taken place. I'd have gone on speaking with the fear of man based in pride. All anointing would have lifted off me. I would have been humbled and embarrassed by God in front of all the leaders. And they would have been in a whole horrible situation, which often happens. You just go on with the show. The speaker keeps speaking. The people know the anointing of God is not there. And you go through the motions of having a meeting and God has nothing to do with it other than that he's withdrawn from it. Or you can have a move of God that is absolutely history making and life changing. And God is looking for men and women who will feel the Lord and, and be impressed and concerned every single second, only with his reaction to their action. On another occasion, I was speaking to spiritual leaders again, because that's the majority of my calling in life. I was speaking on the subject of the fear of God. I had been speaking for 20 minutes, first three points on that message that would take at least two hours. But it's a spiritual leadership conference and two hours had been allotted. I was the main speaker for the whole morning. 20 minutes through, three points, the Holy Spirit speaks to me clearly again and says, sit down and don't say another word. Now on that occasion, I wasn't even allowed to tell the audience, sit down and don't say another word. What you do when you fear God, that's exactly what you do. So I did. One minute, all the leaders had a speaker for the two hour session. The next minute they didn't have one. I'm sitting, I found the chair, like over there on the left hand side of the platform and sat down. You can choose to believe me or not. That's going to be your problem. But I was as relaxed as a poached egg. A fried egg is frazzled. A scrambled egg is mixed up and a boiled egg is uptight. And a poached egg is relaxed. I was relaxed. I was fascinated. Everything to do about my amazing God intrigues me. I've been studying his character for about 34 years. I'm turned on to God. He's the most amazing, incredible, fascinating being. I was fascinated. What are you going to do now? No concern on me. It's not my conference. It's his. These are not my leaders. They're his. This is not my truth. They're his. It's not my Bible. It's his. I'm not my own. I'm bought with a price. I'm his. He says sit down and don't say another word. I say yes sir. Now I watch your show. I did. Intrigued. The chairman got up, who was the visionary for this big spiritual leadership conference. He got up behind the microphone and said all he knew to say three times in ten minutes, which amounted to nothing. And sat down. Truly. It's not being unkind. It's factual. Silence. Everybody wondering what in the world. Nobody moving. Then God moved upon Campbell McAlpine. Anybody know Campbell McAlpine? About what, six people? Okay. So you know Campbell. You know he fears God, right? God moves on him. I don't know that. I don't even know if he's there. He was one of the co-speakers. It was a conference being conducted. We had three speakers. Lauren Cunningham, Campbell McAlpine, and Joy. And I didn't know where my two brothers were. But I saw Campbell coming up from the back. So that told me he was in the audience. He came up in obedience to God. He knew there was no point in ever coming near me. I was told not to say another word. So he just came up behind the microphone in obedience to God. God had given him the plan of what now to do. And he simply walked to the microphone and said you've heard the three points in relation to the fear of God. Now we're going to have a time of applying those points in humbling. By that I mean he said wherever you have not been living those three aspects of the fear of the Lord that she's just taught you, be open and broken. And let's have a time of confession. Public confession and humbling. Because I believe that's what God wants us to do. For the next hour and a half there was an amazing move of God's spirit. All over that room again. As God by his spirit revealed where the people were not living the fear of God. And one by one they were getting up confessing. There were all kinds of things happened that morning. Marriages were put back together. I can remember some people were lying on their faces on the floor. Others were broken and sobbing. And restitutions were being made. And just the fear of God was just moving amongst the people. All God needed was one little person to be nothing that he may sweep in and be everything. I can hear the Holy Spirit talking to me very clearly. I always have one ear so attuned to him here when I'm preaching. I can hear him saying I have spiritual leaders right now in this audience that need desperately to hear this because I'm going to test them. And in my love for them I have brought forth these illustrations that they may be prepared. Better not keep that to myself that would be rather selfish wouldn't it. I just delivered the goods to you. That's what he said to me. Another occasion I was teaching a lot of mature people I remember. It wasn't a leadership conference but I remember they were mature people. And I had been speaking. I had finished teaching. I had been teaching for about two hours. I was in a school situation. We came to the end of the teaching time and I didn't know, I hadn't prior knowledge from God how to close the end of the meeting. I always asked God to show me how do you want this teaching to be applied. And he hadn't shown me. So I came to the end and what do you do if you don't know? Seek the face of God. If you fear the Lord and you wait on him even if it's up in front of the people. So I said I don't know how to close this meeting and I don't know what the application is. But God does. And I just bowed my head like this and I said God how do you want us to close this meeting or apply these truths. And it came again. Lie on your face on the floor. I thought well that's an interesting application of the message but that's alright. That's what he wants me to do. That's what he wants me to do. So down I went again. Now only the women will really understand just how a woman would feel lying on your face on the floor. It's about the most undignified. You know what I mean girls? May not be any big deal to the men but you know. Anyway I'm lying down on the floor there on my face and I thought oh well now some God will probably do what he did at that other time. Someone else will come forward and you know God will take over. Nobody moved. Nobody came forward. And whereas I had sat in that chair in the previous story for maybe 10 minutes I tell you with God as my witness and all those people who were there. I must have laid there for I don't know 15 minutes. It seemed like an eternity anyway. But a long time. And I remember thinking well who knows I could be here for the afternoon. It was a morning session. And I thought well I could do worse at least I'm resting. And again I said to God those people are not my people. I'm not responsible for those people. They're yours. This isn't my school. It was in one of YWAM's schools. I think it was a crossroads. Where the older people are. And I said none of this is mine. This is all you. It's your show. You're well able to take over and it'll be interesting to see the purpose that you show me. I thought any minute I'll be getting the purpose of why I'm showing, lying here. Never ever did he tell me. I still don't have a clue. Other than it was a demonstration of the fear of God to the people. So at the end of it 15 minutes to 20 minutes nobody moved. That's miracle one. Right there. But they didn't move. And I didn't move. And then I got up. And I'm sure they thought I was going to come up with a big explanation. I said I have no explanation. He just said to me just stand and get up. That's why I'm up. And then it happened. The Spirit of God just said to me these words. Say to this audience do whatever he tells you to do. So I delivered that sentence and stood there. I'm here to tell you for hours. Not one hour. For hours. The Spirit of God came upon those people as one of my people. And that's why I'm up. And then it happened. The Spirit of God just said to me these words. Say to this audience do whatever he tells you to do. So I delivered that sentence and stood there. I'm here to tell you for hours. Not one hour. For hours. The Spirit of God came upon those people as one of my people. And that's why I'm up. And that's why I'm up. And that's why I'm up. And that's why I'm up. And that's why I'm up. And that's why I'm up. And that's why I'm up. And that's why I One after the other got up and said or did whatever God told them to do. I mean there was a demonstration of God's miraculous power all over that place. There were healings of the mind. There were healings of bodies. There were words of knowledge. There were vision given people. I mean God broke loose amongst the people. He only needed me to be nothing. That he may be everything. It comes from the fear of the Lord. Being totally unimpressed with men's reactions to your actions. Consumed with concern of his reactions to your actions. We need to recognize that it affects every aspect of our lives. In this little book, The Fear of God, 17 chapters, I think it is. I haven't counted them up for a long time. 16 chapters. On how it affects thought life, obedience, relationships, fear of men. Awesome chapter here in relation to touching the Lord's anointing. Please stop your machine at this point and turn your cassette over. Is that clear? And I remember walking out of a very large meeting, many thousands of Christians and sitting in this meeting by a minister who I had just met in the meeting and we'd been chatting on the way out and he said to me this sentence. I don't remember what our prior conversation was. He said, God's greatest judgments on me in my life have always been when I have criticized another preacher or another spiritual leader. I do not know why God is causing me tonight to speak about this. I did not have any thought that I would, but when I was seeking God, what aspects of the fear of the Lord do you want me to speak about tonight? He showed me this was one and he confirmed it to me strongly when our brother here. What was your name again? Chuck was sharing with us about the conference and the Spirit of God said to me, yes, joy, you do speak about this subject. I don't know why. I have no idea in the world. Maybe it's got something to do with next week. I don't know. You take note of what I'm saying now. I know you will. It's a very grievous thing to touch the Lord's anointed. How do we know? We know because God says not to do it and we know from God's judgments in the word of God on those who disobeyed it. The classic examples in the word of God are both women and one is Michael, Saul's daughter, David's wife. When she speaks critically of her husband David in the way he worshiped and praised God at a time of rejoicing in victory. And what does God do to her? He gives her a very, very severe punishment. Much more severe that would be in those days than it would be today. She had a barren womb for the rest of her life. Now that's a severe punishment to any normal woman who loves to have a child. But in those days it was far worse because it was considered a social disgrace not to be able to bear a child. So she had a heartache and a disgrace that she lived with. Now why would God do that? God is always just. She lived with the man who spoke more about and lived more than any other leader that we read in the Bible about touch not the Lord's anointed. Remember? Think of the times that David had Saul at his feet when David was being, had attempted murder by Saul. And even when David just cut off a little bit of Saul's robe when he was in the cave there when Saul was asleep. The Bible says and his heart, David's heart smote him with conviction that he just cut off a little bit of his garment, of Saul's garment. I mustn't touch the Lord's anointed. You see, God had not removed the headship, the kingship from Saul at that time. Even although he was, had the sin of murder in his heart, he was still God's leader over the people. And that's a tremendous lesson to it. No matter how wrong the spiritual leader must be, if God hasn't removed him, he's still the leader there. And we better not mess with it. I don't know how else to say it, but that's about as colloquial as we can get here in America, isn't it? He didn't have to agree that what Saul was doing was right, but it wasn't for him to bring the judgment on him. He had to leave that to God. Now, what about the other woman? The other classic example is Miriam, a leader, prophetess, Micah chapter four, I think it is tells us she was a leader. I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam, three leaders. And here was this woman who was the sister of this wonderful prophet leader, Moses. And she speaks to Aaron. How I know that she instigated the jealousy and the criticism, instigated the criticism coming from the jealousy in relation to Moses was that God put the leprosy on her, not on Aaron. Why did God put the leprosy on the woman when the man and the woman were involved? Do you think, do you ask God these questions or do you just say, oh, well, he just did it. He's God. No, he does it for a reason. Everything he does is for a reason. He works by divine principle. And when you inquire, you look into the word and you find out, you'll find in Matthew 17. So there is a greater judgment of God. And God let the children of Israel know. What criticism against the Lord's anointed was by causing one of their leaders to be in leprosy and that with leprosy. And that meant she had to be outside the camp for a whole week. The Bible tells us. Now imagine the scene is these about three million people amongst the children of Israel out there in the desert. And they're about to move on to the next place when suddenly a command goes out right throughout the whole camp. No, we can't move. Why? Miriam has got leprosy and she's outside the camp. Miriam? Outside the camp? Yes. God called the three leaders together. The Bible says he did. That's one of the most awesome pictures in the word of God to me. God speaking with an audible voice. Moses, Aaron, Miriam, come out. Three of them came out. God called them. They line up. Why? He looks at Miriam and Aaron. Were you not afraid to speak about my servant Moses? I speak to others in dreams and all kinds of ways. But to this man, I speak to him face to face as with a friend. They had judged him for the wife he had taken. They in jealousy, they had said, who does he think he is? He's not the only one who hears from God. We hear from God. Of course they heard from God. They were spiritual leaders and they had to by virtue of their leadership and they did. But Moses had a more intimate relationship with God than they had. And they instead of having the humility to see the incredible privilege of having a leader and a brother who was in more intimate friendship with God and learning the principles by which he lived, that they too might have that intimacy. That's what humility does. What does pride do? It's jealous and speaks against the person to demote that person in someone else's eyes. And God says, I want to show not only you Miriam and you Aaron, but I want to show this whole camp of people what it means to speak against the Lord's anointed. And they couldn't go on. They were held up on their journey while she was outside the camp. And listen, the greatest intercessor in the Old Testament, unquestionably, when you study the ministry of intercession in the Old Testament was, was Moses. I'll tell you why, because he paid the highest price than anybody else. He's the only one in the Old Testament who said, God, blot me out. If necessary, that the children of Israel may be spared the judgment of death that you have pronounced upon them. He actually gave his life to God on behalf of those people. It's the ultimate in intercession. Now, God never accepted it. He said, Oh, no, it's the one who sinned. It's going to suffer. But, but Moses gave his life up for those people in the ministry of intercession. And the greatest intercessor who talked to God and God changed his mind over a whole nation of people. When he prayed to God for the healing for Miriam at that time, God says, no way. No, Moses, I'm not even going to answer your intercessory prayer for your sister Miriam. No, I will not change my mind. Out she goes with leprosy. Are we beginning to see this sin in God's sight? That's how we see it. Look what God did. He's just. She must have been healed later because she came in the camp and went on with the children of Israel and lepers were not to come in. And she then died later and doesn't say with leprosy. But there was this period of time where she and everybody had to see God's viewpoint on touching the Lord's anointed. I have no idea why God wanted all that shared, but not my service, not my people. I don't need to know why. I'm just the message girl. Now let's see how the fear of God operated in the early church. They took God seriously. We see that the fear of God was the secret of a thriving, successful group of believers. Did you know that was the secret? Next chapter 9 verse 31. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It was multiplied. If you want a key to a church, there you've got it right there. Do you know for what it's worth? There are a number of pastors in America who having read this little book have so believed that it was the key to a successful church that one pastor got the whole congregation to buy a book to start with. It was a large church. Second, he took a chapter at a time and taught on it every Sunday morning until the book was finished. Another pastor got the subject of it just because it's the subject that's so needed. That's why. The pastor got all the home groups in the church studying it a chapter a week right throughout. These are just two examples. Many times it's been taken as a whole study guide so that the congregation may understand and walk in the fear of the Lord. And for what it's worth, let me tell you, just coming back to my remembrance. The pastor who preached on it for 16 Sundays, a chapter every single Sunday and got everybody to buy the book. His testimony at a recent spiritual leadership conference where we were both speaking and ministering. He said up until the time my congregation understood and was saturated with and was taught and walked in the fear of God, I always had some major problem somewhere. If it wasn't here, it was there. I seem to be facing crisis after crisis all the time, somewhere along the line amongst my people. But from the time that people were saturated in the fear of the Lord, we've had difficulties, we've had challenges, we've had tests. But never, never anything like, I've never had the problems with the people since they walked in the fear of the Lord. Problems from tests from without, you understand. But not problems from within. For what that's worth. Doesn't surprise me, I've read you the secret from the early church. I'm going to read it to you again. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied. Friends, I'm not pushing a book. I'm pushing a truth from God's word. You don't need that book. It's just there as an aid because there's a lifetime of study that I've got out of this book that's in there. But you only need this book. I didn't have that book that I've written. I had this book. Of course this book is out of, my book, the book I've written is out of this book. It's laced with the fear, the word all the way through. But if you don't have a book, Intimate Friendship with God by J.D., you've got the book and this book of the Bible is saturated with information about the fear of God. How it operated in the early church, first they took it seriously and it was the secret of their success. Look at it in repentance of sin, in relation to repentance of sin in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1. Since we have these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit and make holiness perfect in the fear of God. That was the early church. And holiness in your life and mine is never made perfect in any other way than having the fear of God. And then in humility and unity, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 21, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. And then we see the early church under God's judgment with the fear of God being manifest. In Acts chapter 5 when God's judgment in death fell on Ananias and Sapphira for holding back part of their money that they had pledged to give God, the fear of God increased. The fear of God will always increase when there is true judgment on sin by spiritual leaders in the body of Christ. The word says people didn't join them lightly without weighing the consequences. Verse 13 of Acts 5, none of the rest dared join them when they heard about the death of these two people because they were disobedient over money. None of the rest dared join them but the people held them in high honor. What does that tell me? Tremendous respect for that group of people. But boy, you don't go in and join them unless you're serious about obedience to God. It could cost you your life. I love it. But God used it to attract the people who wanted reality. The people who wanted to be real would run to that church. How do we know? Verse 14. And more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, multitudes both men and women. You want to build a church that's solid? Have holiness as the criteria. It'll keep out those who are not meaning business and you'll fill it with the people who do. I welcome any means God uses to separate the clean from the unclean and the holy from the unholy among his people. Do you know what? From this story in Acts chapter 5, we could say, well, we're not sure whether they had ushers but they sure had pallbearers. Holiness excites me. I would rather be in a move of the fear of the Lord with God's awesome holiness manifest than any other kind of fear of the Lord. I mean that with all my heart. Do you stop to think and ponder why God has the seraphim and the living creatures spoken about in the book of Revelation day and night incessantly, speaking out and singing, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Why not loving, loving, loving is the Lord God Almighty? Why? Because holiness is the greatest attribute of God and the most important. And if all heaven needs to hear about it, repeated constantly and reminded, how much more do we need to study his holiness down here on earth? You'll never understand the love of God until you've studied the holiness of God. You'll never understand the mercy of God until you've studied the holiness of God. You'll never understand God's wrath against sin until you've understood his holiness. You'll never understand the love of God until you've studied the holiness of God. You'll never understand the mercy of God until you've studied the holiness of God. You'll never understand God's wrath against sin until you've understood his holiness. You'll never understand God's wrath against sin until you've understood his holiness. You'll never understand God's wrath against sin until you've understood his holiness. You'll never understand God's wrath against sin until you've understood his holiness. You'll never understand God's wrath against sin until you've understood his holiness. You'll never understand God's wrath against sin until you've understood his holiness. God has his ways to distinguish between the men and the boys, the phonies and the real. Spiritual depth or spiritual shallowness will inevitably be revealed by an all-seeing God. Neither is hidden from him, and truly spiritual people will discern both. It cannot be hidden. Don't think your shallowness doesn't show, or your depth. Matthew 10.26, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. As the last days become more lost, the polarization of true and false, holy and unholy, will become more manifest. I believe that with all my heart. We need to recognize our desperate need to return to the Bible's standard of holiness. What is it going to take to restore the fear of the Lord to the body of Christ? Seven things. Nine things. Very quickly. It's going to run through them. What is it going to take to bring or restore the fear of the Lord to the body of Christ? First of all, as individuals, we choose that we want it and that we need it. Proverbs 1.29, they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. We need to say to God, I choose to have the fear of the Lord. I want this because I see my desperate need of it. That's the first thing. Second, humble ourselves before God for our lack of it and ask for his mercy to be extended to us. Three, ask for it often with intense desire and receive it by faith. You probably won't feel anything physically or emotionally, but you'll notice a whole new attitude towards sin. You know that you receive it if you by faith and then the manifestation of it will be your reaction towards sin. You'll have a new hatred for it and you'll notice that and then, oh yeah, that's because I've been receiving by faith the fear of the Lord. Four, make a diligent study of the subject from the word of God. Proverbs 2.1-5. If you will seek it like silver and search for it for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. God will never give the fear of the Lord to the casual inquirer. So if you just ask a couple of times and you're not serious about studying, don't expect much. If you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding. Yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Step five, apply the truths in daily living. Everything he shows you in relation to the fear of the Lord as you study it from the word, apply it. It affects the tongue. It affects obedience. It affects your thought life. It affects every single part of your life. All your relationships with others. Do you know that your relationship with others is only as pleasurable as it is holy? Who's our model for unity? No, Jesus Christ isn't our model for unity. Jesus Christ is part of our model for unity. Who's he teamed with? God the Father and the Holy Spirit. So who's our model for unity? The Trinity. Ever studied their relationships? That's another whole subject. Can't go into it. Time's flying. I've made a study of that. And as you study the characteristics of the Trinity, you see that that's what God expects all of us to be relating to each other as they do. One of the points out of the seven that I give that I haven't got time to go into right now, one is that they have the most pleasurable relationships that could possibly be because they are based on absolute holiness. Do you want to enjoy people? Have the absolute ultimate in holiness in relationship. Now what does the devil say? As soon as you've made that decision, what does the devil say? Aha! So you've got a beautiful holy relationship going, have you? Just add a little sin to it. I can make it more exciting for you. To lie from the pit. Every little bit of sin starts to destroy the pleasure of the relationship. Sixth, intercede regularly for the rest of the body of Christ to do the same. The five steps that you've just taken. James 5 11, verse 3, the fervent effectual prayers of a righteous person avails much. Seven, I told you I was just going to race through them. Seven, intercede for anointed teachers who are living the truth of the fear of the Lord in all aspects of their lives to be raised up to teach it and writers to write about it. The subject so little known or understood in the body of Christ worldwide. Now that's absolutely scriptural because listen to second Kings chapter 17, verses 27 to 28. Then the king of Assyria commanded send there one of the priests who you carried away since and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the God of the land. So one of the priests who may carried away from the scenario came and dwelt in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord. It's absolutely scriptural to pray that anointed teachers living it will teach and write on the subject that the people may understand. Point eight, intercede for the lost to be gripped with the fear of God, not just the body of Christ, but the last, because remember you were going to be interceding regularly for the rest of the body of Christ to enter into the fear of the Lord, but intercede for the lost to be gripped with the fear of God. Romans three, verses 17 to 18 describes the lost without the fear of God and the way of peace. They do not know there is no fear of God before their eyes. Pray that the fear of God will fall upon the lost in your city, in your neighborhood, in your nation. I pray for all the nations of the world. My husband and I take three nations a day and always I'm crying out to God, put the fear of God upon the church, motivate them to study it. I pray this and God bring the fear of God upon the lost, bring a hatred of sin. Now God answers those prayers. He does. Here's an, here's an example that will build faith in you that the fear of God will start to fall on the lost. I've been praying that way for some time when I heard it for a city that I lived in, not the one I live in now, but another one. And I heard this come, this story come right out of the city that I had been praying for. There was a young man who was a, um, a sailor who came from Liverpool out of London with a background that had absolutely zero, any Christian influence whatsoever. He did not know any grandmother, mother, aunt, uncle, anybody who was a Christian who had ever prayed for him. It was a terrible home of strife and, and, uh, just, just a dreadful background in every way. He was brought up in the slums of Liverpool. And this young man grows up and he becomes a seaman and he travels around the world on one of the ships. His own testimony was my weekends were spent like all the others on the ship in drunkenness and in immorality, port to port. He came to this city that I lived in at that time. And I've been praying, God, may the fear of God fall upon the lost in the city. He was walking up the main center street of that city one day. And suddenly his own words were, I started to feel almost like a physical sickness at the life I was leading. He said it like an, a nausea just came over me. And I, I thought, Oh God, never heard the gospel, never heard it. And he thought, Oh, if he said the words were, is there no other way to live? Is there any way that I could ever be clean? And then he said, he looked for the nearest church and he walked and walked. And I know the city so well. He walked a long way and up a long street, up a long hill. And he finally came to a church and the door was open and he went in and he knelt down there alone. And he said, God, if there's a God, and if there's another way to live, please show me. I want to be clean. Never heard the gospel. That's the fear of the Lord falling upon him. That's a hatred for sin coming. And he prayed that prayer and he walked out of the church and about that was on a Thursday on a Sunday again, being a seaman just in the port, lonely. He was walking down the main street again because the ship was docked at the end of the main street. He's walking down the street and, uh, oh no, he went into a little coffee shop a couple of days later and he was sitting there having a little simple meal. And a man came and sat down in front of him and said to him, excuse me, but he said, do you know anything about the Lord Jesus? And this man said, the Lord who? He had no clue. No, he said, he said, uh, would you, could I talk to you about Jesus Christ, the son of God? He says, yeah, I've got nothing else to do. And the man started to talk to him and tell him the gospel for the first time in his life. He was stirred. He was moved by the spirit of God. Never heard anything like it. He was intrigued, but not ready yet to commit his life. Two days after that, he was walking down the same street again, nowhere to go, nothing else to do. And he, a man was standing outside a little mission was called the way side mission. And a man was standing out there and the mission was downstairs below the level of the street. And a man said to him, seeing he was a sailor, have you got anything you wouldn't, anything to do in particular? Would you like to come into this Sunday service? He says, yes, I would. And he went in, heard the gospel for the second time, got converted, gloriously converted. His name is Alan Williams. He was one of the Athens three. You know who I'm talking about? He was, he became youth with a mission to me, outstanding street preacher evangelist. We've never had a better radical street preacher evangelist in youth of the mission. He, he probably led more people to the Lord Jesus Christ and outdoor evangelism than anybody else in youth of the mission. Anybody here in youth of the mission who knew Alan Williams, you know what I'm talking about? Talk about a burden for the lost. A remarkable young man. Now, do you remember, you don't remember the Athens three? Well, that's Alan. Great personal friend of mine, but he was not having a time to go into who the Athens three was, ask some of the others who know, but I mean, you know, that young man made history in this world around the nations of the world. And it just needed somebody to be crying out to God, put the fear of the Lord upon the lost in this city. God will hear your cry. And you can, and as a result, a dynamic evangelist that can affect continents for the Lord can come from it. Does that story fill you with faith to believe it pays to pray? Okay. Then the final thing is intercede and believe for true revival. Like under Charles Finney's ministry in the 1800s for every nation of the world. Why, what in the world is revival got to do with this subject, everything to do with it, because in true revival, it is the most effective and long lasting way of bringing the fear of the Lord to any people. Nothing will bring the fear of God quicker to any people than revival the church and the last, because we've got true revival, like under Finney in the 1800s produces a revolution of righteousness. I'm going to give you one illustration before we start praying. Do you understand that in true revival in a great spiritual awakening, God does more listen in seconds, seconds, or minutes than would normally take place in weeks, months, or years of God inspired God energized Christian activity. Now, when you really believe that you make revival playing the absolute top of your list. I do every day when I pray for these three nations, every day, three different nations going right through all the 242 nations of the world, circling through from A to Z. It's the first prayer I ever uttered. Oh God, pour out your spirit in revival power, first upon the church and then a spiritual awakening upon the last, because that'll produce the fear of God more than any other thing. It will bring a revolution of righteousness. Listen to this illustration. Uh, it's taken from the book rain from heaven by my dear friend, Alpha Wallace, who went to be with the Lord a couple of years ago. And he's speaking about the revival in Ulster, Ireland. No town in Ulster was more deeply affected by the 1859 revival than Coleraine. A boy at school, one little boy, get this was so troubled. Now just imagine that this in an American culture, and I'll tell you revival is coming. And this sort of thing is going to happen when the, when the church does its homework and we're going to do some homework on our knees in a minute. But just imagine this in a classroom in America, a boy at school was so troubled about his spiritual condition that he had to be sent home under such conviction. Couldn't stay in the classroom. Ill with conviction of sin. An older boy who was a Christian accompanied him. And before they had gone far, led him to Christ. Returning once to the school, this latest convert testified to the school master. Oh, I am so happy. I had the Lord Jesus in my heart. Now the effect of these artless words was extraordinary. Boy after boy rose and silently left the room. When the teacher investigated what was happening to his class, he found these boys ranged alongside the wall of the playground, everyone apart from the other and down on his knees. The silent prayer soon became a bitter cry, which brought conviction to those inside. Not only the other boys, but to girls' school room above. Soon the whole school was on its knees. Can you imagine this in American classroom, in American school? I can, it's coming. Soon the whole school was on its knees and its wail of distress brought people flocking in from the street, who as they crossed the threshold came under the same convicting power. Imagine just being an adult, you're walking along the road, you hear this wail of conviction of sin, you walk through the pressure threshold and whammo, God has zapped you and you're groaning away yourself. Every room was filled with men, women and children seeking God. You can't match that with anything else than a revival. No program can produce that. That's the kind of thing, one little boy under conviction and God moves and the whole community starts to be affected and people, the whole school is filled up with people groaning under conviction. Listen to this description here out of Oswald Smith's book, The Revival We Need. The power of God was present. He's describing a revival, at least James Coey is describing the revival in Oswald Smith's book, The Revival We Need. The power of God, this is an eyewitness, was present. They came to be saved and were not disappointed. The sobs and cries were wonderful. It seemed as if God had come down in terror and power, this was an evangelistic meeting, as if the spirit were passing through every region of every soul, diffusing himself through all its capacities and recesses, throwing light into the understanding, assailing and subverting the fortress of sin in the heart, revealing himself as the antagonist of sin, disturbing and tracking it in all its windings, stirring the soul to its depth, drawing it closely but surely to a crisis, piling up these sentences of condemnation one upon another until the whole soul, collecting all its energies into one outcry for mercy, exclaimed, God, be merciful to me, a sinner, what must I do to be saved? Save, Lord, or I perish. Oh, save or I sink into hell. That's the cry of people in revival when the gospel is preached. Heal my soul, oh God, for I have sinned against thee. Nothing outside revival can produce that. You can see some tears flowing and feel a little bit of sobbing and people up at the altar, but nothing with that kind of agony. You see, my friend Arthur Wallace in his book Rain from Heaven has a description of revival where he says it is in revival everyone, and he's talking about the Christians right now, he was talking about the Christians, he said everyone else is oblivious, you are oblivious of everyone else but yourself in the agonizing grip of a holy God. Do you want revival? Do you want to be in the agonizing grip of a holy God? Friends, I desperately want to, because I desperately need to, because I desperately need a conviction of sin. Do you know that? I cry out to God for conviction of sin, for this one reason. I cannot see my heart as God sees it. I can't convict myself, and sin is the greatest destroying agent in my being and in yours, and we can't confess it and we can't repent of it and we can't turn from it to get rid of it until we see it, until we feel his convicting power, and in revival we see it in technicolor. Oh, how we desperately need holy spirit conviction of sin that we may turn from everything that hinders the manifestation of the beauty of the Lord Jesus in us and through us. Do you want to pray for revival as a way of life? Do you want to pray for the outpouring of God's spirit, that the manifestation of his holiness will be revealed, that mankind, church and lost, may see their unholiness and repent? That's what we're going to do. And God doesn't want us to have a small vision tonight. He doesn't want us to pray just for revival for this church. He doesn't want us just to pray for revival for Minneapolis. He doesn't want us just to pray for revival for America. He wants us to cry out tonight for revival to come to the church of Jesus Christ in every nation of the world. Every single nation of the world. The church first, then the lost. That's always God's order. For the reign of the spirit to come down, that the Holy Spirit may reveal the holiness.