Two weeks ago, I explained how the fear of the Lord is required to sustain the glory of God.
What is God’s glory? It is all of His goodness passing before us.
God is pouring out His glory now. We’ve already tasted it. And it will continue to intensify.
We will see not just some of His goodness but ALL of His goodness. And it won’t be long before His glory announces the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So right now, the Holy Spirit is looking for those who fear the Lord because they are the only ones who can sustain this final move of God.
We are those people. NoLimits Church is a church that fears the Lord. We live our lives in holy reverence of God almighty while we enjoy His love and goodness.
But since we are coming out of a long season where the church misused grace - and many still are - I imagine there is a conflict many of you are working through. I want to help you work through that today.
The grace of God is not God going light on sin. God’s grace is the power that enables us to live without sin!
For the past several decades, the American church has used God’s grace to make sin comfortable. That’s a false doctrine that leads people to hell.
God’s grace is a consuming fire. It comes into our life and purifies us by the power that is in the blood of Jesus Christ. It destroys everything not of God and enables us to live holy lives.
With the misuse of grace being so prevalent, it is tough for us to understand how the fear of the Lord is something we should cry out for.
If you are having that inner struggle. Don’t worry. I will take you to the Word of God today for resolve. We are going to read the book of James together.
James was written to Jewish believers. It was written to people who were used to following the law - sacrifices, food restrictions, circumcision, the full bit.
These people knew how important it was to live a holy life. But now, they were tempted to misuse grace because the entire book of James reminds them to live a holy life.
People who once feared God were now going light on sin, and the book of James was written as a correction.
He was reminding them to fear the Lord! Reverence Him by the way you live.
So let’s read it together. Follow along in the NLT.
