Having a Proper Fear of God because we will all Appear before Christ’s Judgment Seat

As believers in Christ, we should have a proper fear of God because we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; the holy fear of God is actually a source of joy as a fountain of life and as a tree of life.

To fear God doesn’t mean that we are afraid of God or what He may do to us, neither is it to be scared that God is out there to get us, so we better be good and do the good things, or else. No; all such thoughts are from the enemy.

To fear God and to have a proper fear of God is something that we do in our relationship with God – we revere God, we have a healthy fear of God, and we acknowledge His sovereignty.

There are many examples in the Bible of people who did not fear God, people who didn’t fear the Lord, didn’t regard the Lord and didn’t reject the self.

One such example is Nadab and Abihu in Lev. 10:1; they offered strange fire, which is fire strange to God, the fire that doesn’t initiate from God, that is, not the fire from heaven.

The fire that was burning on the altar was the fire that came from heaven and was maintained by the holy priests; the holy duty of the priests was to maintain the fire.

Strange fire signifies natural enthusiasm, natural affection, natural strength, and natural ability.

We all may have unconsciously offered strange fire when we were enthusiastic about something in the Lord’s work but did not burn with the fire from God; after being so enthusiastic about it, we felt dead inside.

Nadab and Abihu died physically because they offered strange fire; we, however, touch spiritual death whenever we do things in our natural strength, ability, affection, and enthusiasm.

This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be on fire for the Lord; the Lord wants us to be on fire for Him, but this fire should be the holy fire.

As Rom. 12:11 says, we need to be burning in spirit, not burning in our soul-life but in the mingled spirit, serving the Lord.

In the church life, we may be stirred up in our natural enthusiasm, and this may lead us to touch spiritual death; we don’t want to be stirred up in our natural enthusiasm, ability, affection, or strength, but be stirred up in our spirit so that we may serve the Lord in spirit, with the fire that comes from the Lord.

May we be saved from being lukewarm for the Lord – may we be on fire for Him, hot and fervent, burning in spirit, serving the Lord in spirit.

We need to have a Proper Fear of God because we will all appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ

In Rom. 14:10 and Paul says that we will stand before the judgment seat of God and give an account concerning ourselves to God.

He also testified that he’s not conscious of anything against himself, but he’s not justified in this, for He who is examining him is the Lord (1 Cor. 4:4-5).

Before the Lord comes, we don’t judge anything before the time, for the Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsel of the hearts.

We need to have a proper fear of God because we believers in Christ will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; at that time, Christ will judge His believers at His coming back (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 4:4-5; 3:13-15; Rom. 14:10).

When He returns, Christ will judge all believers not concerning their eternal salvation (which is theirs for eternity) but concerning their dispensational reward.

It is at the judgment seat that it will be determined which Christians will receive Christ as the reward for a thousand years and which of them will not receive Him as their reward.

In 1 Peter the word fear is mentioned frequently; we need to fear the Lord, having a proper fear of God.

God is the Father, and He is not a respecter of persons; He judges each one of us according to our work (1 Pet. 1:17).

Therefore, we should pass the time of our sojourning in fear; we are sojourners, those who reside temporarily on this earth, not having our actual residence here.

Our real residence is not on earth – it is the Triune God, our real home.

So today we need to enjoy the Lord and have a proper fear of God until we will enter into an enjoyment of God to a greater degree.

We will all render an account of every idle word on the day of judgment, for by our word we will be justified or condemned (Matt. 12:36-37).

We may criticize or judge our brothers, but on that day God will make us explain our words of criticism and judgment. Oh, Lord.

May we realize that a day is coming, when we all will be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one of us may receive the things done through the body according to what he has practiced, whether good or bad.

On the day of judgment, His eyes will be like a flame of fire, His feet will be like shining bronze that has been fired in a furnace, and out of His mouth will proceed a sharp two-edged sword (Rev. 1:14-16; 19:12).

If in that day we still have things that are not of God or are incompatible with Him, things such as sin, the flesh, natural affections, the world, and the self, they will be searched out by the flaming fire in His eyes, cut off by the sharp sword from His mouth, and trampled on by His feet of shining bronze. Oh, Lord!

May we remain under the Lord’s judging today, for the judgment starts from His house; may we have a proper fear of God and take all the opportunities that He gives us to have a new beginning before His consummate judging.

Every day He gives us a new beginning, a new opportunity to repent, confess, and return to Him to receive grace and mercy.

May we receive His judging today so that we may be spared from His judgement on that day, the ultimate day of His judgment.

He is our judging God who is not mocked; may we live our life in a proper fear of God, having a daily living in the light of the judgment seat of Christ.

Fearing the Lord is a way to lengthen life (Prov. 10:27); God loves, saves, protects, blesses, and provides for those who fear Him (Psa. 103:11, 13, 17; 85:9; 60:4; Prov. 14:26-27; Psa. 115:12-13; 34:9; 111:5).

When we have a proper fear of God, even our human life is extended and lengthened, for God loves, saves, protects, blesses, and provides for us when we fear Him.

The fear of the Lord is in the Spirit of the fear of the Lord with our spirit; such a fear saves us.

Both in the Old and in the New Testament we see many examples of those who feared the Lord, such as Noah (Heb. 11:7), Abraham (Gen. 22:12), Joseph (42:18), David (Psa. 2:11-12; 5:7), Nehemiah (Neh. 1:11; 5:9, 15), and the early church (Acts 9:31).

They lived their life enjoying the Lord and also fearing Him, being filled with a proper fear of God in their daily living.

The early church in Acts had peace, being built up and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied (Acts 9:31).

We can’t bear fruit corporately if we don’t go on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Lord Jesus, fill us with a proper fear of God in our daily living. We are here as sojourners on earth, and we want to pass the time of our sojourning in fear and trembling. Oh Lord, we seek You, we love You, and we want to gain You as our reward. We open to You and to Your judging, for Your judgement starts from Your house. May our daily life with its daily activities be in the light of the judgment seat of Christ, realizing that one day we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Save us from judging and criticizing others. Save us from passing on any judgement or criticism. Oh Lord, fill us with the Spirit of the fear of the Lord so that our life would be lengthened and we would receive God’s love, salvation, protection, blessing, and provision!

The Holy Fear of the Lord is a Source of Joy as a Fountain of Life and a Tree of Life to Dispense God into us

In Psa. 2:11 we are told that we need to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Why does it say that we should rejoice with trembling? This means there’s some fear there.

Paul said that he was in fear and trembling among the new ones; he didn’t want to miss Christ in His God-given ministry, so he was in fear and trembling.

We need to be filled with a holy fear of the Lord; this fear is actually a source of joy as a fountain of life (Prov. 14:27) and as a tree of life (11:30) to dispense God into us for the carrying out of His economy. Amen!

When we have a holy fear of the Lord, a proper fear of the Lord, we live with fear and trembling, and the Lord will be our joy.

The fear of the Lord is actually a source of joy; it is a fountain of life and a tree of life to us.

The book of Proverbs speaks of the fountain of life and the tree of life – the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life and a tree of life to dispense God into us as life.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life so that we may turn aside from the snares of death; for us to fear the Lord, to trust in the Lord, and to take refuge in the name of the Lord is for us to walk on the paths of life (Prov. 2:19; 5:6; 10:17; 14:27; 19:23; Psa. 16:11).

The paths of life are the paths of the tree of life, the source of which is God Himself (Prov. 3:13, 18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4).

It is good to prayerfully read these verses in the book of Proverbs so that we may be infused with God in Christ as the Spirit to be life to us.

If we read and pray over these verses, we will be filled with a holy fear of God, and even our tongue will become a tree of life (Prov. 25:15) – we will become tree-of-life-people!

May we take the paths of life and stay away from the ways of death; that is, may we fear the Lord and trust in Him and stay away from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The fear of the Lord leads to life; it is the constricted way, the way of the few, not of the many, that leads to life.

May we take the paths of life, which is for us to live in God and thus to touch and obtain life (Prov. 19:23; Matt. 7:13-14).

The paths of life are the highways that God has put in our heart for us to enter into Him (Psa. 84:5). Amen!

When we live our daily life on the paths of life, having a holy fear of the Lord, we walk in the constricted way that leads to life.

For us to walk on the paths of life is for us to be delivered from the self and to live in God.

The ways of death are in contrast to the ways of life; the ways of death are the ways of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the source of which is Satan and which is manifested in the self.

For us to live in the self is for us to be without God’s presence, to walk in the ways of darkness, and to be void of life (Prov. 2:13; 3:5-7; 14:12; 16:25; Eph. 5:2, 8-9).

We need to learn to be delivered from the self so as to live in God; the secret of having a proper way of human conduct is to reject the self and live in God.

We don’t do this in and of ourselves; we do this by contacting the Lord as the tree of life and being infused with Him in His word through our prayerful reading of the word of God.

He as life is being dispensed into us to cause us to grow in life, walk on the paths of life, and become persons of life. It all issues out of our having a holy fear of God, a proper fear of God, in all our daily living.

Lord Jesus, we want to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Fill us with the holy fear of the Lord, which is actually a source of joy as a fountain of life and as a tree of life. Amen, Lord, keep us on the paths of life, turning away from the snares of death. We fear the Lord and we trust in the Lord, taking refuge in the name of the Lord so that we may walk on the paths of life. Yes, Lord, we choose to be on the paths of the tree of life, the source of which is God Himself. We come to You in Your word to pray and read Your word so that we may be infused with life, grow in life, walk on the paths of life, and be persons of life. Amen, Lord, may we have a proper fear of God that leads to life and causes us to walk on the constricted way which leads to life! May we remain on the highways which God put in our heart for us to enter into Him! May we learn to be delivered from the self and live in God, being filled with a proper fear of God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1957, vol. 3, “The Living God and the God of Resurrection“, pp. 40-41, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes (2020 winter training), week 11, The Intrinsic Significance of Fearing the Lord in the Economy of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Unto the judgment seat of Christ / I daily look away; / May all my living and my work / Abide the fire that day. (Song on, What comfort I could feel)
  – Just to touch the Word for knowledge / Is to take the very way / By which Eve was lured by Satan / And by knowledge led astray; / But as life to take the Scripture / Is the tree of life to eat; / Thus the Word we must be taking / In the spirit as our meat. (Hymns #816)
  – How blessed are those men indeed! / Trusting in Thee they are made strong; / Highways to Zion in their hearts, / The way they care not, rough or long. (Hymns #851)