"all of them were healed"we are told from the previous passage that "great fear seized the whole church" when the members heard of God's frightful judgment on ananias and sapphira. there must be a correlation between godly fear seizing the church and God's power being demonstrated through "miraculous signs and wonders" in the way of healings and demon exorcisms. the "fear of the Lord" is "reverence and awe before the reality of God's presence", literally a humble recognition of who God is in all His might and power and holiness and purity.
the modern-day church is greatly lacking in this godly fear. we can tell this by the very casual attitude we have when we come into His presence as a body on the Lord's Day. we are not still and quiet and reverent before His presence. we come late to worship service; we blatantly disobey and refuse to repent of our sins, and we live idolatrous lives. this is why we lack power in our witness for the Lord, why we so lack awareness of His presence in our lives.
the fear of the Lord leads to reverence for His word, an obedient and humble heart, and greater faith in both His promises and in His warnings. most of all, "the fear of the Lord" is the beginning of wisdom--wisdom that leads to salvation and to eternal life. in the case of the early church, many many were saved and healed by a few humble men and women who lived in obedience rooted in the "fear of the Lord".
1 comment:
Thank you, Dulla smn!
You are right when you commented about the modern-day church have very little fear of the Lord. I guess were so distracted with everything around us that we tend to forget our place.
Fear the Lord is the first step...it sound so easy and simple, yet it's so hard to do.
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