October 7
And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” — Acts 19:15
Scripture reading: Acts 19:11–20
What is belief? Let me sum it up in a few sentences. To believe is to have the knowledge of Him in whom you believe. It is not to believe in the word Jesus, but to believe in the nature of Christ, to believe in the vision of Christ, for all power has been given unto Him, and greater is He who is within you in the revelation of faith than he who is in the world. (See 1 John 4:4.) And so I say to you, do not be discouraged if every demon has not gone out. The very moment they have gone, do not think that is the end of it. What we have to see is that if all it takes is using the name of Jesus, those evil powers would have gone out in that name by the sons of Sceva. It is not that. It is the power of the Holy Spirit with the revelation of the deity of our Christ of glory; it is knowing that all power is given unto Him. Through the knowledge of Christ, and through faith in who He is, demons must surrender, demons must go out.
I say this reverently: these bodies of ours are so constructed by God that we may be filled with the divine revelation of the Son of God until it is manifest to the devils we confront, and they will have to go. The Master is in; they see the Master. “Jesus I know, and Paul I know.” The ministry of the Master! How we need to get to know Him until within us we are full of the manifestation of the King over all demons.
Brothers and sisters, my heart is full. The depths of my yearnings are for the Pentecostal people. My cry is that we will not miss the opportunity of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that Christ may be manifested in our human frames (2 Corinthians 4:10) until every power of evil will be subject to the Christ who is manifested in us. The devils know Jesus.
Two important things are before us. First, we must surrender the mastery of ourselves to God. Then the embodiment of the Spirit gloriously covers our lives so that Jesus is glorified to the full. So first it is the losing of ourselves, and then it is the incoming of Another; it is the glorifying of Him that will fulfill all things, and when He gets hold of our lives, He can do it. When God gets hold of your life because you have yielded yourself to Him in this way, He will be delighted to allow Christ to be so manifested in you that it will be no difficulty for the Devil to know who you are.
I am satisfied that the purpose of Pentecost is to reestablish God in human flesh. Do I need to say it again? The power of the Holy Spirit has to come to be enthroned in the human life so that it does not matter where we find ourselves. Christ is manifested in the place where devils are, the place where religious devils are, the place where false religion and unbelief are, the place where formal religion has taken the place of holiness and righteousness. You need to have holiness—the righteousness and Spirit of the Master—so that in every walk of life, everything that is not like our Lord Jesus will have to depart. That is what is needed today.
I ask you in the Holy Spirit to seek the place where He is in power. “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” May God stamp this sobering question upon us, for the Devil is not afraid of us. May the Holy Spirit make us terrors of evildoers today, for the Holy Spirit came into us to judge the world of sin, of unbelief, and of righteousness; that is the purpose of the Holy Spirit. (See John 16:7–11.) Then Jesus will know us, and the devils will know us.
Thought for today: It is only when you are conquered by Christ that He is enthroned.
Author: Billy Conrad
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What Does It Mean to Believe?
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The Moral Miracle of Redemption
October 6, 2025
By: Dr. Jim Denison
“The disposition of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the disposition of self-realization—I am my own god.” – Oswald Chambers
The good news, as he added is this: “The moral miracle of redemption is that God can put into me a new disposition whereby I can live a totally new life.” This happens when we yield to God’s Spirit, allowing him to recreate “the disposition that was in Jesus Christ.”
Here we discover one way God redeems the moral failures that dominate each day’s news: as Chambers notes, God cannot work this miracle of transformation in my life “until I am conscious I need it.” Our Father cannot change our hearts without our hearts’ consent.
This is why the first beatitude is foundational to the Sermon that follows: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). When we honestly recognize our abject spiritual poverty, we abdicate the throne of our hearts and enthrone God as our king.
As a result, we experience the “kingdom of heaven,” that realm where God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Imagine such a life-transforming, grace-infused, love-centered world. Now decide if you will pay the price to experience it personally.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously observed,
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
“A day must come in our lives, as definite as the day of our conversion, when we give up all right to ourselves and submit to the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ.” —Watchman Nee -
Believe in Christ
October 6
In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;…they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. — Mark 16:17–18
Scripture reading: Mark 16:9–19
May God help us to understand the ministry of knowing Christ. I am satisfied, first of all, that the power is in the knowledge of His blood and of His perfect holiness. I am perfectly cleansed from all sin and made holy in the knowledge of His holiness. Second, as I know Him; and as I know His power, the same power that works in me as I minister only through the knowledge of Him; and as I know the Christ who is manifested by it; such knowledge will be effective to accomplish the very thing that the Word of God says it will: it will have power over all evil. I minister today in the power of the knowledge of Him. Beyond that, there is a certain sense in which I overcome the world according to my faith in Him. I am more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37) over everything through the knowledge that I have that He is over everything. He has been crowned by the Father to bring everything into subjection (Ephesians 1:22).
Shouting won‘t cast out an evil spirit, but there is an anointing that is gloriously felt within and brings the act of casting out the demon into perfect harmony with the will of God. We cannot help shouting, though shouting won‘t do it. The power over evil spirits is in the ministry of the knowledge that He is Lord over all demons, over all powers of wickedness.
Paul went about clothed in the Spirit. This was wonderful. Was his body full of power? No! He sent forth handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him, and when they touched the needy, they were healed and demons were cast out. Was there power in his body? No! There was power in Jesus. Paul ministered through the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit and through faith in the name of Jesus.
Sometimes demon powers are dealt with in very different ways. But the ministry of the Spirit is administered by the power of the word Jesus, and His name never fails to accomplish the purpose that the one in charge has wisdom or discernment to see. This is because, along with the Spirit of ministry, there comes the revelation of the need of the one who is bound.
The Spirit ministers the name of Jesus in many ways. I see it continually happening. I see it working, and all the time the Lord is building up a structure of His own power by a living faith in the sovereignty of Jesus‘ name. If I turn to John‘s gospel, I get the whole thing practically in a nutshell: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). We must have the knowledge and power of God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God, in order to be clothed with God.
There are those who have come into line: they have the blessed Christ within and the power of the baptism, which is the revelation of the Christ of God within. This is so evidenced in the person who is baptized in the Spirit, and Christ is so plainly abiding, that the moment the person is confronted with evil, he is instantly sensitive to the nature of this confrontation, and he is able to deal with it accordingly.
The difference between the sons of Sceva and Paul was this: they said, “It is only the use of the name that is important.” How many people only use the name; how many times are people defeated because they think it is just the name; how many people have been brokenhearted because it did not work when they used
the name? If I read this into my text, “He who believes will speak in tongues; he who believes will cast out devils; he who believes will lay hands on the sick and they will recover” (see Mark 16:17–18), it seems perfectly easy on the surface of it. But you must understand this: there are volumes to be applied to the word believe.
Thought for today: To believe is to believe in the need of the majesty of the glory of the power of God. Believing in Christ is all power, and it brings all other powers into subjection. -
Power in the Name of Jesus
October 5
There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. — Acts 4:12
Scripture reading: Isaiah 42:1–13
Paul did not have any power of his own that enabled him to use the name of Jesus as he did. But when he had to go through the privations and the difficulties, and even when all things seemed as if they were shipwrecked, God stood by him and caused him to know that there was Someone with him, supporting him all the time, who was able to carry him through and bring out what his heart was longing for all the time. He seemed to be so unconsciously filled with the Holy Spirit that all that was needed was to bring the aprons and the handkerchiefs to him and then send them forth to heal and deliver. I can imagine these itinerant Jewish exorcists and these seven sons of Sceva in Ephesus looking on and seeing him and saying, ―The power seems to be all in the name. Don‘t you notice that when he sends out the handkerchiefs and the aprons, he says, “In the name of the Lord Jesus, I command the evil spirit to come out‘?” (See Acts 19.)
These people had been watching, and they thought, “It is only the name; that is all that is needed,” and so they said, “We will do the same.” They were determined to make this thing work, and they came to a man who was possessed with an evil power. As they entered into the house where he was, they said, “We charge you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out.” The demon said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” (Acts 19:15). Then the evil power leaped upon them and tore their clothes off their backs, and they went out naked and wounded.
Oh, that God would help us to understand the name of Jesus! There is something in that name that attracts the whole world. It is the name, oh, it is still the name, but you must understand that there is the ministry of the name. It is the Holy Spirit who is behind the ministry. The power is in knowing Him.
Thought for today: The name of Jesus brings power over evil spirits. -
The Best Is Yet to Come
October 4
Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 3:13–14
Scripture reading: Colossians 1:9–18
When Jesus was thirty years old, the time came when it was made manifest at the Jordan River that He was the Son of God. How beautifully it was made known! It had to be made known first to one who was full of the vision of God. The vision comes to those who are full of God. When God has you in His own plan, what a change; how things operate! You see things in a new light. God is being greatly glorified as you yield from day to day. The Spirit seems to lay hold of you and bring you further along. Yes, it is a pressing on, and then He gives us touches of His wonderful power, manifestations of the glory and indications of greater things to follow. These days that we are living in now speak of even better days to come.
Where would we be today if we had stopped short, if we had not fulfilled the vision that God gave us? I am thinking about the time when Christ sent the Spirit. Saul, who later became the apostle Paul, did not know much about the Spirit. His heart was stirred against the followers of Jesus, his eyes were blinded to the truth, and he was going to put the newborn church to an end in a short time; but Jesus was looking on. We can scarcely understand the whole process—only as God seems to show us—when He gets us into His plan and works with us little by little.
We are all amazed that we are among the “tongues people.” Some of us would never have been in this Pentecostal movement if we had not been drawn, but God has a wonderful way of drawing us. Paul never intended to be among the disciples; he never intended to have anything to do with this Man called Jesus. But God was working. In the same way, God has been working with us and has brought us to this place. It is marvelous! Oh, the vision of God, the wonderful manifestation that God has for Israel!
I have one purpose in my heart, and it is surely God‘s plan for me: I want you to see that Jesus Christ is the greatest manifestation in all the world and that His power is unequaled, but that there is only one way to minister it. Some of the people in Ephesus, after they had seen Paul working wonders by the power of Christ, began to act in human ways. (See Acts 19.) If I want to do anything for God, I see that it is necessary for me to get the knowledge of God. I cannot work on my own; I must get the vision of God. It must be a divine revelation of the Son of God. It must be that.
I can see as clearly as anything that Saul, in his mad pursuit, had to be stopped along the way. After he was stopped and had the vision from heaven and the light from heaven, he instantly realized that he had been working in the wrong way. And as soon as the power of the Holy Spirit fell upon him, he began in the way in which God wanted him to go. And it was wonderful how he had to suffer to come into the way. (See Acts 9:15–16.) A broken spirit, a tried life, and being driven into a corner as if some strange thing had happened (1 Peter 4:12) —these are surely the ways in which we to get to know the way of God.
Thought for today: Did it ever strike you that we cannot be too full for a vision, that we cannot have too much of God? -
Pentecostal Power
October 3
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. — 2 Peter 3:18
Scripture reading: Hebrews 12:12–24
When I think about Pentecost, I am astonished from day to day because of its mightiness, its wonderfulness, and how the glory overshadows it. I think sometimes about these things, and they make me feel that we have only just touched the surface of it. Truly it is so, but we must thank God that we have touched it. We must not give in because we have only touched the surface. Whatever God has done in the past, His name is still the same. When hearts are burdened and they come face-to-face with the need of the day, they look into God‘s Word, and it brings in a propeller of power or an anointing that makes them know that He has truly visited.
It was a wonderful day when Jesus left the glory to come to earth. I can imagine God the Father and all the angels and all heaven so wonderfully stirred that day when the angels were sent to tell the wonderful story of “peace on earth and good will to men.” (See Luke 2:14.) It was a glorious day when they beheld the Babe for the first time and God was looking on. I suppose it would take a big book to contain all that happened after that day up until Jesus was thirty years old. Everything in His life was working up to a great climax. The mother of Jesus hid many of these things in her heart. (See verse 19.)
I know that Pentecost in my life is working up to a climax; it is not all accomplished in a day. There are many waters and all kinds of experiences that we go through before we get to the real summit of everything. The power of God is here to prevail. God is with us.
Thought for today: When the Spirit of God is waiting at your heart‘s door, do not resist Him; instead, open your heart to the touch of God. -
Test of Faith
“You will have no test of faith that will not fit you to be a blessing if you are obedient to the Lord. I never had a trial but when I got out of the deep river I found some poor pilgrim on the bank that I was able to help by that very experience.” — A. B. Simpson
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Yield to God
October 2
I have come to do Your will, O God. — Hebrews 10:9
Scripture reading: Psalm 51
As we surrender completely to God, He will be delighted to hand to us the gift that He desires us to possess.The more we realize that God has furnished us with a gift, the more completely we will be united with Jesus, so that people will be conscious of Him rather than of His gift.
If everything is not of the Holy Spirit, and if we are not so lost and controlled in the ministry of the gift that it is only to be Jesus, it will all be a failure and come to nothing. None were so self-conscious as those who said, “In Your name, [we have] cast out demons” (Matthew 7:22). They were so controlled by the thought that they had done it all, that God was not in it. But when He comes forth and does it, it is all right.
There is a place in the Holy Spirit where we will not allow unbelief to affect us, for God has all power in heaven and earth. I stand in a place where my faith is not to be limited because I have the knowledge that He is in me and I in Him.
Some of you have broken hearts; you have a longing for something to strengthen you in the midst of the conditions that exist in your lives, and a power to make these conditions different. You have a mighty power that is greater than all natural power. You can take victory over your homes and your spouses and children, and you must do it in the Lord‘s way. Suppose you do see many things that ought to be different; if it is your cross, you must take it and win the victory for God. It can be done, for He who is in you is greater than all the power of hell (1 John 4:4). I believe that anyone filled with the Holy Spirit is equal to a legion of demons any day. The Holy Spirit has His dwelling place within me and is stirring up my heart and life to adore Jesus. Other things must be left behind; I must adore Him.
Thought for today: It is worth everything to gain the Holy Spirit. -
Spiritual Gifts
October 1
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. — 1 Corinthians 12:1
Scripture reading: Romans 11:29–12:8
God wants us to enter into the rest of faith. He desires us to have all confidence in Him. He purposes that His Word will be established in our hearts; and, as we believe His Word, we will see that “all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
There is a great weakness in the church of Christ because of an awful ignorance concerning the Spirit of God and the gifts He has come to bring. God wants us to be powerful in every way because of the revelation of the knowledge of His will concerning the power and manifestation of His Spirit. He desires us to be continually hungry to receive more and more of His Spirit.
In the past, I have organized many conferences, and I have found that it is better to have a man on my platform who has not received the baptism but who is hungry for all that God has for him than a man who has received the baptism, is satisfied, has settled down, and has become stationary and stagnant. But of course I would prefer a man who is baptized with the Holy Spirit and is still hungry for more of God.
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of being filled with the Spirit. It is impossible for us to meet the conditions of the day, to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), to subdue kingdoms and work righteousness and bind the power of Satan, unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
We read that, in the early church, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles‟ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). It is important for us also to continue steadfastly in these same things.
God wants us to understand spiritual gifts and to “earnestly desire the best gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31). He also wants us to enter into the “more excellent way” (v. 31) of the fruit of the Spirit. We must implore God for these gifts. It is a serious thing to have the baptism and yet be stationary. We must be willing to deny ourselves everything to receive the revelation of God‘s truth and to receive the fullness of the Spirit. Only that will satisfy God, and nothing less must satisfy us.
I knew a man who was full of the Holy Spirit and would only preach when he knew that he was mightily anointed by the power of God. He was once asked to preach at a Methodist church. He was staying at the minister‘s house and he said, “You go on to church and I will follow.” The place was packed with people, but this man did not show up. The Methodist minister, becoming anxious, sent his little girl to inquire why he did not come. As she came to the bedroom door, she heard him crying out three times, “I will not go.” She went back and reported that she had heard the man say three times that he would not go. The minister was troubled about it, but almost immediately afterward the man came in. As he preached that night, the power of God was tremendously manifested. The preacher later asked him, “Why did you tell my daughter that you were not coming?” He answered, “I know when I am filled. I am an ordinary man, and I told the Lord that I did not dare to go and would not go until He gave me a fresh filling of the Spirit. The moment the glory filled me and overflowed, I came to the meeting.”
Yes, there is a power, a blessing, an assurance, a rest in the presence of the Holy Spirit. You can feel His presence and know that He is with you. You do not need to spend an hour without this inner knowledge of His holy presence. With His power upon you, there can be no failure. You are above par all the time.
Thought for today: Many people today are in the midst of a great river of life but are dying of thirst because they do not dip down and take it. -
The Fear of the Lord
Posted September 30, 2025
Love and the Fear of the Lord
The Scriptures are clear that we need to obey the Father’s, the Son’s, and the Spirit’s commands if we will make heaven our eternal home. And They are not only concerned about our obedience but also our motive for obeying Them and doing Their will. They want us to serve them out of love and gratitude for what They have done for us.
1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”
Jesus put it this way:
John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Commentator Albert Barnes says this about this verse:
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible: “Do not show your love by grief at my departure merely; or by profession, but by obedience. This is the only proper evidence of love to Jesus, for mere profession is no proof of love; but that love for him which leads us to do all his will, to love each other, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow him through evil report and through good report, is true attachment.”
Sometimes, though, our love for and gratitude to the Godhead is not all that it should be, and in those times, the fear of the Lord will go a long way in helping us to obey Their commands.
Now, we may think that love and fear are not compatible with each other and that they therefore cannot coexist, but that is not so. The type of love that God calls us to manifest, agape love, is not just emotions or strong feelings, but above that, agape love is a deliberate act of the will, a choice we make.
So, when God speaks to us and commands us about something we should do or stop doing, however He may speak to us, and we are considering in our minds whether we will obey His command and do what He says or not. Often there is a struggle going on inside of us because a part of us does not want to obey Him, and sometimes the loving feelings for Jesus are not there, and our will is waffling. In these times, the fear of the Lord and of the consequences of disobeying Him could be the deciding factor in us ending up obeying Him and doing His will.
Though we, mankind, usually make fear out to be a very negative thing, in the Bible the fear of the Lord is always presented as a very positive thing.
Job 28:28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.”
Psalm 19:19 “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”
Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.”
Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”
Malachi 4:2 “But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.”
Acts 9:31 “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.”
Philippians 2:12 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;”
1 Peter 1:17 “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;”
These scriptures, among so many others, demonstrate the truth that is known to all who have an honest heart: we need to both love and fear our glorious Lord.
I will end this article with two more verses from Hebrews that deal with godly fear. The first one pertains to us and the second to Jesus. Lastly, I will include Vine’s definition of “godly fear.”
Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
Hebrews 5:7 “Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear.”
Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words: eulabeia – signifies, firstly, “caution”; then, “reverence, godly fear,” Hebrews 5:7; Hebrews 12:28, in best manuscripts “reverence”; in general, “apprehension, but especially holy fear”; “that mingled fear and love which, combined, constitute the piety of man toward God; the Old Testament places its emphasis on the fear; the New Testament on the love, though there was love in the fear of God’s saints then, as there must be fear in their love now.”Savior AND Lord
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Here is the process by which we are saved. We confess with our mouth Jesus as our Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. With our heart we believe and are made righteous and with the confession of Jesus as our Lord we are saved.
What happens, though, if we believe in Him and confess Him as Lord but do not obey Him as Lord and do His will, are we still saved?
Suppose a person receives Christ as their Lord and Savior and then reads in the Bible the Lord’s command to be baptized in water and with the Holy Spirit. If he refuses to obey Him and do these things, is he saved? How much of God’s will that is revealed to us in His Word, and by His Spirit can someone refuse to do and still be saved? If they refuse water and Spirit baptism, could they also refuse to forgive others, refuse to love one another, refuse the great commission to go into the world and preach the gospel, or refuse to do anything else that the Lord commands us in His Word to do after we are saved, and remain saved?
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
Now, we are certainly not made righteous, justified, by what we do. We are forgiven because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and because we have put our trust, faith, in Him. I understand that. But I also believe that the Bible teaches very clearly that we can be made unrighteous after we have believed in Jesus by what we do or what we refuse to do that is in rebellion to His will as it is revealed to us in the Bible or by His Spirit.
1 John 3:7 “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
8 He who sins is of the devil…”
I know that the process of salvation takes place over a lifetime and is worked out between God and His child. We work through things by God’s grace, and He is patient and gentle, loving and kind, and He never gives up on us. If He did, we would all be lost.
Thank God that we can repent, confess our sin, and ask for forgiveness as many times as we need to in this process, and He will forgive us and we can then continue on with a clean slate. I also thank God that He is the One who judges us, and that it is not me or any other man. He knows what is in our hearts, and I believe that if we love and fear Him, and we are seeking to obey Him and do His will, it will be well with us on Judgment Day even though we are far from perfect.
But I write this because I see many Christians who treat doing the Father’s will as though it were optional. Then I read scriptures like Matthew 7 where Jesus, speaking to His disciples, says, there will be many, many Christians, on Judgment Day who will not enter heaven because they did not do the will of the Father.Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’And there are many leaders in the Church today who teach this easy believe-ism, rather than teaching the full counsel of God’s Word. They don’t warn their followers to flee from sin, worldliness and carnality, and to do the Father’s will, and this scares me. They tell people what they think they want to hear so that they can get them into their churches, when they are supposed to be preaching the whole counsel of God to them so that they can get them into Heaven.
Whose kingdom are they building, theirs or God’s?The Goodness and Severity of God
God our Creator is such a good, kind, loving, merciful, patient, gracious, tender, gentle, and forgiving God to us, that sometimes I think we can make the mistake of interpreting His goodness and love and forgiveness to mean that He does not really care about our sin. But Paul tells us clearly in Romans that His gracious dealings with us are not to cause us to become complacent in our sin, but rather to lead us to repent of it.
Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
6 who “WILL RENDER TO EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS”:
7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,
9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
11 For there is no partiality with God.”
In verse 4, Paul says that the goodness of God is meant to bring us to repentance. He also mentions two other words in that verse: forbearance and longsuffering, which both mean self-restraint before proceeding to action. Peter teaches this same thing in his second letter to the church:
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
We cannot afford to allow the devil and our flesh to convince us that because God is dealing with us in love, kindness, goodness and patience, that it means He does not really care about our sin or carnality.
Some may believe that because God is dealing with me about my sin that means I’m still saved – but God deals with everybody about their sin to one degree or another, so in reality, that is no assurance of salvation.
Others may think God is using me even though I am living in sin, so I must be okay. The Bible records many instances of God working through people who were not saved, so that is not a guarantee of salvation either. He does tell us, though, that if we repent and turn from our sin, carnality, and self-will, and return to Jesus and follow Him, that we will be saved.
God is a good God, and He is trying to keep us from perishing and from experiencing His wrath, but we must repent.Later on in his letter to the Romans Paul warns:
Romans 11:22 “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”
What should our response to Paul’s exhortation be?
He tells us a few verses later:
Romans 12:1“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
We should repent of our sin and present our lives completely to the Lord to live out His good, acceptable and perfect will. God is good and He is severe, so let us allow His goodness to lead us to repentance and then let us continue in His goodness so that we will not experience His severity and be cut off!Love, Fear, and Judgment
By writing as much as I have about; repentance, obedience, receiving the Holy Spirit, the fear of the Lord, getting victory over the flesh, holiness, being conformed to the image of Jesus, walking in the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body, doing the will of God, etc. I am in no way belittling the love of God, His mercy and grace, His patience and goodness, gentleness and kindness, or His faithfulness, the fact that He never gives up on us, nor the truth that He pursues us even when we want nothing to do with Him.
If not for all these wonderful attributes of God and His million other glorious qualities that He manifests towards us, His creation, none of us would be saved. I have not been deluded; I need every one of His gracious mercies and all of His divine love to even have a chance of making Heaven my home. I am under no delusions, without Him, left to myself, I would not even stand a chance of making it into the imaginary realm of purgatory.
My reason for focusing on the subjects I have is that there is so much emphasis on His love and all His other wonderful attributes in Christian literature, preaching and teaching, Christian music, the internet, blogs and all the rest, but so very little mention of our responsibilities to Him.
The revelation of His love is to cause us to fall in love with Him. His goodness is meant to lead us to repentance. His forgiveness is to lead us to forgive others. His desire for our best is meant to lead us to trust and obey Him in every area of our life. His call for us to live holy, be gracious, kind, forgiving, merciful, loving, patient, gentle, self-controlled, humble, faithful, etc. is meant to draw us to Him for His grace to live that way, to show us our need to be born again, filled with the Spirit, connected to the Vine.
Because of His great and steadfast love for us He is doing everything necessary for us to be able to be and do all that He created and redeemed us to be and do, but we have to do our part. No one is going to coast into heaven on cruise control. We can’t just sit back and leave the driving to Him; He’s not Greyhound. We are responsible moral agents, created in His image with a free will and we will be held accountable by Him for what we do with our life. Someday every one of us is going to stand before Him and give an account of what we did with this life He has entrusted to us.
Romans 14:10 “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written: ‘AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD.’
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
There won’t be any excuses on that day. No shucking and jiving and fast talking Him; He knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts. Everything will be exposed for what it is and was, end of story.
There is another portion of Scripture though that gives us great insight and hope for the day of judgment. There are actually a number of them, but I want to look at this one because it relates to what I talked about in the first part of this blog.
1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
What I see in these verses is: God is love and He loves us totally; so much so that He gave His Son for us. He loved us first and because we have known and believed the love He has for us, we have chosen to love Him in return. “We love Him because He first loved us.” This as I said earlier is one of the purposes of God revealing His great love for us; so that we would love Him in response.
Verse 17 says some really exciting things. First that this love has been brought to maturity in us which gives us boldness in the day of judgment. It continues; “as He is;” how is He? He is love; “so are we in this world.” As God has loved us, now we are loving Him and others in the world. The Bible is very clear and says over and over that to love others is the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets. If I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and obey Him and love my fellow man I will not sin against God or man! So, I have no need to fear judgment; I have been made perfect in love and perfect love casts out fear! Let’s make sure that we are clear on this point, the only way I can love others is if I first love God completely. That’s why He can say if I hate my brother, I don’t love God, because if I love God, I would love my brother. And of course, this is only possible because of the work and power of the Holy Spirit abiding in us. He is the One who develops this fruit of love in us. This is great news for us!
God does not want us to live our Christian life in fear of judgment. He wants us to love Him and love one another and live above sin. And if we are doing that then our lives should be filled with the peace of God and the joy of the Lord. But if we don’t love Him, then we won’t love one another either, and if we choose to live in sin and rebellion to Him then we should live in fear of judgment.
Hebrews 10:26 “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
To be honest this admonition was written to a specific group of people, to Jewish Christians who were considering turning back from following Jesus and returning to the Jewish religion, but the principles still do apply to all who choose to sin willfully. If we choose to sin, we will sense that we are endangering our souls, and we will live in fear of judgment. We see this truth evident right from the beginning of the Bible when Adam and Eve sinned, they were afraid and hid from God. The source of this fear in our hearts is the Holy Spirit convicting us in an effort to bring us to a place of repentance. When we repent of and confess our sins, we receive God’s forgiveness, and we will once again be able to enjoy the peace of God and the joy of the Lord.
I said that God does not want us to live in fear of judgment; that should only be our lot if we are living in willful sin. But I am not saying that God does not want us to fear Him. The fear of the Lord is a good thing. It is pure, holy, clean, righteous and to be desired; in fact we should pray for God to give us a healthy fear of Him. The fear of the Lord can help to keep us from sinning, but if we do sin, the fear of judgment can help to bring us to a place of repentance.No Fear
In recent history as the church returns to being the Book of Acts, New Testament church it was meant to be, we see progress was made first with the restoration of the teaching of justification through faith in Jesus Christ. Then a return to water baptism after repentance and trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Then the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and tongues. We’ve also seen a resurgence of miracles, signs and wonders, with more to come in the future I believe.
But one of the things that was prevalent in the Old and New Testament church was the fear of the Lord, and it doesn’t appear that has been brought back to the same place of prominence that it held back then. The emphasis in our day is on grace, faith and love, and rightly so as these are paramount to God’s people, but not to the expense of neglecting the fear of the Lord.
We are commanded all through the Word of God to fear Him.
God said, “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever” (Deuteronomy 5:29)!
Moses said, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12),
Jesus said, “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him” (Luke 12:5).
Peter said, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear” (1 Peter 1:17);
Paul said, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
The writer of Hebrews said, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).
The Bible in Philippians 2:12-13 says, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
But most Christians are not working out their salvation, they are coasting along, and I believe one of the main reasons for that is because they have no fear of God.
In Paul’s description in Romans 3 of how and why all people are sinners, one of the things he lists is:
Romans 3:18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
Sinners have no fear of God and when Christians lose a healthy fear of the Lord, they start to live like sinners again. All people have a sinful nature, the flesh, which has no fear of, nor love for, God; it loves the things of this world. So, if we don’t fear the Lord, we end up living our life in the flesh for the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. And our lives end up producing the works of the flesh, of which the Bible says in Galatians that those who do are not going to heaven.
Galatians 5:19 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
These things are sin, and the wages of sin is death, eternal death, separation from God forever! Hell is for those, sinners, who have no real love for nor fear of God, who don’t repent and serve Him, but live their lives serving the flesh, the world, sin, self and unwittingly the devil.
Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Who are those who do not live according to the flesh and die and go to hell, but who by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, the works of the flesh, and inherit eternal life in heaven?
We can answer that by looking at how the Bible describes those who make it into heaven in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 11:18 “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
Revelation 19:5 “Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great.’”
One of the chief characteristics of those who serve Him and who God says are going to heaven is that they all fear Him; both the small and the great. The reason for this, I believe, is that without a healthy fear of the Lord, we will not serve Him, and serving the Lord is another attribute of those who will make heaven their eternal home.
In fact, we have a Word of prophecy from the book of Malachi, which talks about a people who fear and serve the LORD, which I believe are the same people we just read about in the Book of Revelation.
Malachi 3:16 “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.
17 “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”
18 Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.”
The one who serves the Lord is the one who fears Him, and the Lord puts their names in His book of remembrance (the Book of Life?) and He spares them and makes them His jewels. I believe these are the ones that the Bible shows us, in the Book of Revelation, who are going to be with the Lord in heaven forever and ever!The fear of the Lord is not a negative thing, in fact, the Lord values it in His children because it is one of the chief attributes of those who serve Him; those who will be His bride in Heaven for all of eternity!