This past sunday I heard that we were surely not going to have to face our worst fears: no bird flu, our kids won't die... That our worst fears are as irrational as being bitten by a shark (there was someone there who had been). That its just not right to live in irrational fear. We were challenged to cast off our worst fears, since the likelihood of them being realized is so small. It was an effort to enter into a state of "fearlessness". The fear of God, without reference to hell (hell was distinctly not the topic, "we'll do a series on hell some other time...MAYBE"), was offered as the key to fearless living... It was confusing. People's "takeaway" was definitely not the teaching of Scripture.
Yet Israel saw her worst fears realized again and again, as she abandoned faithfulness and followed folly. Look at the judges! Look at the days of Elijah and Elisha! Look at the kings and prophets! Look at the exiles and dispersion! Look at the million+ dead in the wilderness who refused to believe that He was truly God, and craved the comforts of Egyptian slavery more than the Words of the Consuming Fire... 1 Cor. 10 warns us that these things happened to warn us not to be like them! Not to commit immoral acts; not to whore after the gods of this world; not to grumble against God...
Instead of pushing our worst fears off, it would be better for us to count this world's worst as nothing compared to the glory that is prepared for us in the Kingdom of our Lord! ...compared to the fiery second death that will overtake the faithless disobedient. We would do well to deal with out fears by what might be called "Replacement Therapy". That is, to take on a deeper, more abiding, disturbing fear that will displace the petty and transient, comfort-based fears of this temporal world. The Scriptures describe the punishment of the ungodly as more horrific than any shark bite, car accident, or accounting scandal. That is what Christ has rescued us from. That is why we serve Him reverently, with awe. That is why we grieve over our lost relatives and friends.
so they actually said we wont have to face our worst fears? wow i think nothing could be farther from the truth. some of us do each day everyday. like my worst fear is a faith (corporate) that has lost its base gets closer each day here is paradise.
ReplyDeleteOh Lew, why'd ya have to bring up Hell? It's not like the scriptures or Jesus speak of Hell...oh wait, they do.
ReplyDeleteBut a better topic is the Fear of God. Do we as Christians, adopted and grafted, need to continue to fear God? It seems that it is good to fear God's wrath, but that is saved for the unrighteous. Although I do not believe that I can be assured of my salvation, as some of my brothers and sisters. I believe that I am entirely capable of losing my salvation through unrepentance of acts I commit. So maybe this is the fear of God. A constant awareness that I am entirely capable of going astray and losing the empyrian heaven, the beatific vision prepared and reserved for the Lord's faithful. So those are my thoughts lately. I heard a brother that I trust say that one who does believe does not need to fear God because the fear of God pertains to God's wrath, and since the believer is spared from the wrath, we should not fear God. These are just some thoughts for a little discussion. The scripture says you should fear and this brother is very solid who I heard speaking. I think he was speaking more about some of our inclinations to FEAR the punishing God, instead reverencing the One who has brought us into the light and being vigilant in the knowledge that we can fall away and the need to persevere (suffer through)
So there it is "Once saved, always saved, provided he persevere". I know I am such heretic in protestant circles. Yet, I feel in good company because so are you , Lew.
; )