What did Paul know?.

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The terror of the Lord.

It is good and wholesome for the Christian believer to have some concept of the dreadfulness that attends the Father of spirits and His beloved Son, Christ. Apart from such an awareness of spiritual authority and power we become much too careless and overconfident concerning the things of Christ.

We are to have no fear of Satan. His authority and power were stripped from him on the cross of Calvary. We are to fear Christ. Those who are teaching that we are not to fear God and Christ are ignorant of the Word of God and also of the realities that are to be disclosed shortly.

Whoever does not fear God has never seen Him or known Him. Whoever does not fear Christ has never seen Him or known Him.

The Christian who has been taught only of God’s love may be quite unprepared when God brings him into a deeper, more rigorous area of discipleship. He may have been pampered to the extent that he cannot understand the harshness of his changed environment. He may not be willing to accept the fact that his loving heavenly Father would permit him to encounter so much pain.

The sight of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross helps us understand both the mercy and the judgment of God Almighty. If we will allow the rigors of the cross to enter our spirit we will not be thrown off balance when we are given the opportunity to suffer for His name.

The believer who fears God and Christ with a wholesome fear and who loves God and Christ with all his heart and strength has a true perception of the Person of God. It is likely that he or she will make a success of the walk of faith.