Are we lacking the fear of God?
If the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, then in my opinion this nation is contributing to its moral demise by embracing philosophies which lack an understanding of that fear. A country whose very foundation was built on the fear of God and an understanding of what this fear entails, needs to be admonished again to rightly divide the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV).
The power of God and the power of electricity both have this in common: They are both governed by limitations — electricity by the laws of science and God by the doctrines that He has set forth in His Word.
On one occasion in 1899 the famous inventor Nikola Tesla found out just how destructive electrical power can be. Although the list of his discoveries is long,he did make some mistakes. Tesla invented the “Tesla coil,” which was designed to transmit wireless electrical power. Tesla’s goal was to send a transmission from Colorado's 14,115-foot mountain, Pikes Peak, all the way to Paris. During his experiments with the Tesla Coil, Tesla accidentally sent a thunderous transmission that friedthe electrical generator in Colorado Springs about six miles away from his lab, putting the whole city in the dark.
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A careful study of the Word of God can also bring out truths about His power, a power whose visualization is limited only by our imagination. Describing creation, Genesis 1:2b tells us, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters…” This gemstone of truth connects with Genesis 1:9, which states “and God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear: and it was so.” I'm not sure if our limited mind can process that much power, but if it can, it is the type of realization that implants a healthy fear of God into our minds. It boggles the mind that the same Holy Spirit whom we experience during worship is the same one who stands behind the creation of the earth.
In Joshua's long day of battle, Joshua said, “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon” (Joshua 10:12). Today we understand what they could not have understood then; God actually had to stop the rotation of the Earth to accomplish that. Science teaches us that God would also have to had suspended gravity to simultaneously hold millions of objects on the earth from flying into space. Scripture says that this lasted “about a whole day.” God designed this incident to demonstrate His power to move whole planets, instilling in us a healthy fear or respect for the Lord. According to Scripture, possessing this kind of fear is the beginning of knowledge.
In today’s efforts to modernize the Church, God is portrayed as a buddy or grandfather who is seldom revered because He excuses everything. These spiritual experiments which remove teaching on the fear of God, are creating a foundation for the immoral Church that Christ and all of the Apostles warned us about. Like Tesla’s careless experimentation with the unknown power of electricity, these modernist doctrines could be forcing a spiritual power outage, grieving the Holy Spirit. We could see true revival if God’s incredible power is taught in our churches again, and His majesty is revered properly.
Rev Nolan J Harkness is the President and CEO of Nolan Harkness Evangelistic Ministries Inc. since 1985. He spent most of his adult life working in youth ministry. He also felt the calling of Evangelist/Revivalist and traveled as the door was open holding evangelistic meetings in churches throughout the Northeast. His website is www.verticalsound.org.
