Be very AFRAID of GOD!

“It was then that I first found what that night on the mountain had done to me.  No one who had seen and heard the god could much fear this roaring old King.”

Orual, from C.S. Lewis' “Till We Have Faces.”

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 

Acts 4:18-20 NIV

"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.  But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." 
The Lord Jesus, Luke 12:4-5

Boldness.

Those who see God are bold.

Why wouldn’t they be?

Who possesses more beauty or power or glory?

To know God is to know true fear, and to be freed from all fear.

As Solomon said, “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence.”

Those who only fear God fear no one and nothing else.

Again, why should they?

I realized the power and conviction of this a long time ago.  I found the fear of God, the supreme respect for Him, to be a natural deterrent from sin.

I asked myself the question, “Is this woman worth hell?  Even if I could have very real bliss in her bed for the rest of my life, every day of my life on earth, yet be guaranteed eternity in the lake fire, would she be worth it?  Would the memory of that pleasure last forever, cooling hell's fire, numbing my madness in God’s absence?”  Of course not!  I’d hate her forever, and she’d loathe me eternally!

I asked myself again, “Who would I rather be mad at me, this supervisor, a mere man and mortal, or God, the Eternal Immortal Invisible?”  This man, whose anger lasts a moment, and may result, at worst, in me being fired, or, if he is insane, in him murdering me, and sending me to heaven!  But God’s anger, though slow, is fierce and focused on purpose.  If I resist Him once and for all, I’ll feel His wrath with out end.  Whose anger would I rather face?

The fear of God makes decisions clear.

Fear

God.