Acts 9:31 (ESV) 31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
Did you see it? Our churches like the part "in the comfort of the Holy Spirit" but we are not doing so well in "walking in the fear of the Lord", are we? I just heard (Romans 10:17 (ESV) 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.) John Piper read Acts 9:31 and I had to stop his message and look up that verse. I really believe that is an answer to 'What is wrong with our churches?'. In fact, I don't think I would be too base to say that not walking in the fear of the Lord is one of the major problems in our churches. Think about it. If we don't fear the Lord, then...
1. We don't repent from all of our sins like we should.
2. We don't respect God's Word like we should.
3. We don't gather as a church like we should.
4. We don't strive to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling" (Ephesians 4:1).
And the list could go on and on.
Because we are not fearing God like we should, we are not living as we should and we are not being the church that we should be, are we? This is interesting to me because one of my friends at church just talked to me about fearing the Lord Wednesday night. She has been doing a study on what it means to fear the Lord. Then today, Acts 9:31 catches my attention and emphasizes why so many of our churches are going through such spiritual battles. Not only are we not being "strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might" [Ephesians 6:10 (ESV)], we are not "walking in the fear of the Lord" either.
Why should we "fear the Lord"? Because "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." [Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)] And what happens if we do not fear the Lord?
Proverbs 1:28-31 (ESV) 28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, 30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
If we do not fear the Lord,
1. God will not answer when we call upon Him. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer
2. God will not be found when we look for Him. they will seek me diligently but will not find me
3. God will make us suffer the consequences of our decisions. they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices
So let us repent of our ways and love the knowledge that comes from God's Word. Then He will answer us when we call upon Him, be found when we look for Him and protect us from ourselves.
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