In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The fear of God is an awful thing. Stop and think about it for a
moment. God has the power to end your existence, simply by willing
it. He can crush you like you swat a fly. His judgment is so terrible
and so beyond comprehension that it makes the earth itself quake and
the seas foam. He makes the foundations of His temple shake, and the
angels, His holy servants, hide their faces from Him.
Fear can paralyze and destroy. Luther was deathly frightened of any
contact with God before he discovered the Gospel. He thought that God
was only a God of wrath and judgment, waiting in heaven to strike
down man to hell for failing to keep even the most minute part of the
Law. Luther perceived only the sword of the Spirit cutting him apart.
But, as terrible as the fear of the Lord can be, having no fear of
God is even worse. Having no fear of judgment leads to lawlessness.
What do you do when you think nobody is looking? At the very least,
having no fear of punishment leads to laziness, because there is no
consequence to not getting anything done.
