How is the fear of God manifested within the church? Paul Washer explains in this video that as a church grows in the fear of the Lord, many things happen. For one, a church will begin to see the seriousness of worship in the sense that we don’t worship God according to how we like, but we worship Him according to what He has commanded. The fear of God also leads to a natural exaltation of the Word of God and a realization that we need to conform our lives to it. One of the greatest manifestations of the fear of God in the body of Christ is a love for one another. We will look at a fellow Christian that we dislike or struggle to get along with and realize that God sent His Son to shed His blood on Calvary for this person. To mistreat, ignore, or gossip about them is a sin against God and would hurt an individual that Christ died for. The fear of God doesn’t result in a rigid, strict following of His commandments, but rather an outpouring of love. If there is no love, we become almost like monsters. But that isn’t true Christianity. Instead, the fear of the Lord is manifested in love, humility, and sacrificial service towards others. Philippians 2:3-8 (NKJV) “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Well, as a church grows in the fear of the Lord, many things are going to happen. Their worship will probably change. They'll begin to see the seriousness and even the danger of worship In the sense that we don't worship God according to the precepts of our own heart or what we decide we most like. We worship the Lord according to what he's commanded. What does he desire from us in worship?

We will also see, again, an exaltation of the word of God and the necessity to conform our lives to it. But I think and I'm going to kind of maybe say something a little bit unusual here. One of the greatest manifestations of the fear of God in the body of Christ will be love for one another. Because you'll look at this person who may be before you could easily offend or you could easily talk about or ignore. And then you realize, hold it.

God sent his son to shed his blood on Calvary for this person to mistreat this person in any way is a horrible sin against God to hurt them, to ignore them, to avoid them, to critique them from behind a curtain. It's all wrong. I must pour myself out in love. So it's not just going to be if you fear the Lord, you're going to have all these people following these commands rigidly. They will respect the commands of God and seek to obey them, but they will love.

They will love. And if you don't have that, I've seen most churches that boast in the fear of the Lord, but do not grow in love. They become monstrous, tearing one another apart. Who's the most righteous? Who fears God the most?

Who can be strictest with regard to his commands? That's not Christianity. My greatest fear is hurting a brother and sister or sister in Christ. My greatest fear is doing damage to the daughter that God has given me, the wife that God has given me, the son that God has given me. It's to walk in love and walk in service, because, you know, as long as you're humbling yourself before God and before men, As long as you're pouring yourself out in service to others, then you're doing all right.

And so I think the fear of the Lord is going to be manifested in humility, love and sacrificial service.