No Fear of God

America was once a great nation because there was still a fear of God in the land, but we no longer are great and we no longer fear God, neither in society nor in the church. I was listening to a famous pastor and he said this to his congregation, he said, When you read the words fear God in your Bible, that doesn't mean fear like to be afraid, it only means to show reverence to God. Well, that big preacher was dead wrong.

The first definition of the word fear in the Hebrew and the Greek is to be afraid of. That's what's meant by the following scriptures. In Deuteronomy 10, 12, we read, What doth the Lord require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

In Joshua 24, 14, we read, Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth. In Ecclesiastes 12, 13, Solomon sums up the duty of man by saying, Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. And we see the word fear means to be afraid for in Isaiah 8, 13, we read, Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

In Jesus, in Matthew 10, 28 had this to say about fear in God, and fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And the apostle Peter, who knew Jesus well, wrote, Not only to fear God, but to pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. I submit to you friends that there is no fear of God in society today, or even in the church.

A good portion of the church is given over to antinomianism, which holds that because we're saved by grace, we can sin all we want to and still go to heaven. But Jesus never preached a sin in religion. When Duncan Campbell landed on the Isle of Lewis in 1949, which would eventually be known as the Lewis Revival, where God saturated that entire island with his presence, Duncan Campbell was greeted by some elders of the church, and one of the men asked him, Reverend Campbell, are you walking with God? To which Duncan Campbell replied, I can say this, I fear God.

And God used Duncan Campbell in a powerful revival. And that's what we need today, friends, a healthy dose of the fear of God. We need it for revival.

We need it for our nation. We need it for our churches. We need it for ourselves.

But I believe the main reason why we don't fear God today is because we don't believe in a God who will and must punish sin. Our God would never send anybody to hell. I heard a Baptist pastor foolishly say, you send yourself to hell.

Really? In the book of Revelation, it states, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. If you end up in the lake of fire, friend, you won't jump in there on your own volition. You'll be bound hand and foot.

You'll go kicking and screaming as you're thrown in there by strong angels. Listen, God is a God who must punish sin. The church has turned the God of the Bible into a big, jolly Santa Claus today, who's more tolerant towards sin and who exists only to bless his little darlings.

But the God of the Bible is to be feared as we see in this terrible description of God atop Mount Sinai, where the mound is altogether on a smoke. And in Hebrews 12, 21, we read, and so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. Listen to me, friends.

We need a fear of God in the land today. We need it in the church. I was listening to a Baptist pastor and he said, I can't wait to go to heaven.

And when I get there, I'm going to run up to Jesus and grab his hand and shake his hand and thank him for all he's done for me. This seminary trained pastor is going to walk up to the king of kings as if he'd walk up to a deacon in the hallway of his church and glad hand him like he's his pal. We've shrunken God down to our size today.

We preach a man centered gospel that says Jesus exists only to make us happy. But listen, the God of the Bible is a God who will and must punish sin. In Mark's gospel we read, and the soldiers led him away into the hall called Praetorium and they called together the whole band and they clothed him with purple and plated a crown of thorns and put it about his head and began to salute him, hail king of the Jews.

And they smote him on the head with a reed and did spit upon him and bowing their knees, worshiped him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him and put his own clothes on him and led him out to crucify him. Oh, listen, friends, as those cruel soldiers laid hands on Jesus to fasten them to that cross, as they drove those nails into his hands and feet, every stroke of the hammer was an explanation point, crying out, God must punish sin.

God must punish sin. God must punish sin. We need a revival today, friends, because the days are growing darker by the minute, and the spirit of Antichrist is already in the land.

It's either rune or revival. When will we fear God again? God have mercy upon us all.