“Live in the fear of the Lord always”, says Prov 23:17.  “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”, says our Lord, in Matt 10:28.  “In all things obey … fearing the Lord”, writes Paul in Col 3:22.

Clearly, the fear of the Lord is not optional.  But what effect does it have on people, when they truly perceive God in this way?

1. When he saw God, Manoah expected instant death (Jud 13:22).
2. When he glimpsed God’s holiness, Job repented and retracted all that he had foolishly said (Job 42:5–6).
3. When he stood in the presence of God’s holiness, Isaiah pronounced, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!” (Isa 6:5)
4. When he heard the voice of God, Habakkuk trembled (Hab 3:16).
5. When they heard his holy word spoken by the Prophet Haggai, the restored remnant feared God (Hag 1:12).
6. When they came face to face with the power and holiness of our Lord, the disciples were struck with fear, (Mark 4:41).
7. When sinful Peter came face to face with the sinless purity of his Lord, he implored Christ to depart from him (Luke 5:8).
8. When John, James, and Peter heard the voice of God, they fell on their faces and were filled with fear (Mat 17:6).
9. When unbelievers perceived Christ’s holy power, they begged him to leave the region (Mark 5:17).
10. When the Jerusalem churches experience God’s awesome power, they were in deep awe (Acts 2:43; 5:5, 11), as were the churches throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria (Acts 9:31).
11. When he beheld the magnificence of the glorified Christ, John fell in fear at his feet as a dead man (Rev 1:17).

We ourselves are challenged:“Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1).

Based on MacArthur, Alone With God, p61.