“…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.” Philippians 2:12,13
When revival or an awakening came to individuals, peoples, or nations, as mentioned in the Scriptures, there was the consciousness and the conviction of God being in the midst. That awareness of His presence resulted in what is called the “fear of the Lord.” Solomon, in the first chapter of his Proverbs, wrote: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (v.7) What is this fear of the Lord, and why is it so very important to know, if one would know the working of the Lord in the heart?
When Moses, in his description of his meeting with the Lord in Exodus 33, revealed God’s words to him, and his response to those words, he said to the Lord: “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” (v. 15) The manifest presence of God in the midst of Israel was that most glorious, and powerful distinguishing element that set them apart from all other nations on earth at that time. Moses’ plea was that above all else, God’s glory would be revealed not only to the people, among the people, but in and through them. Now that in these latter days before Christ comes again, we find ourselves in what many call “the age of the church,” where God has declared that He will “tabernacle,” or dwell among us, is the issue the same as in Moses’ day concerning His presence, and that working by the Spirit? In some respects, it is the same, only now, since Pentecost, the Spirit has been poured out so that God’s presence should be revealed in the life of every believer, and in the entire body of Christ, wherever there is an assembly of believers. However, the working of God upon, and in the body of Christ, is to have its fundamental, powerful realization in the life of every believer in Christ. How?
If God is to be real to every believer, then each individual will need to learn to worship Him in Spirit and truth, to pray by the Spirit according to the truth, and to preach, or declare Him, as Christ is King, Sovereign Lord, and coming Messiah and only Savior. If Christ, who IS our life, light, and love, and a thousand times more, and in greater measure than we can grasp, is to dwell freely, powerfully, and wondrously in our hearts by faith, then we must learn to worship Him, then abide in Him, living to serve Him, being kept in a position and attitude of faith as we walk with Him, war a good warfare in conflict with the enemy, and trust Him for the full realization of His purposes for our lives, ever stretching forth to apprehend that for which Christ has apprehended us. So, how does one begin to know Christ’s working?
In the book of Jeremiah, he writes: “Thus says the Lord; ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for our souls.” (6:16) What are these “old paths,” by which the individual soul is met by God, accompanied by Christ working in the heart? The first essential aspect of these “old paths” is the knowledge that God is only one God, and that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all. This is the beginning, so that one sees Him as He is, the Almighty, Sovereign God, worthy to be worshiped alone, loved and served. Secondly, He is the only Redeemer, or Savior of men from sin, self, the world and the devil. And thirdly, He is waiting to hear the cry of the heart, appealing to him from the desperateness of its helplessness, believing God Himself, by the Spirit, in the name of the Lord Jesus, to come certainly, revealing Himself to save and sanctify.
Dear Father, Teach us Thy fear. In Jesus’ name, Amen.