Purity - Fear of the Lord

SURVIVING THE ANOINTING by David Ravenhill

Chapter 5: Purity - Develop a hatred of Sin

In order to guard ourselves, we need the fear of God in our lives, don't we? The fear of God, which is to hate evil, is one teaching that is missing in the church at large today. When you fear something, you avoid it. If I fear heights, then you won't find me looking down from a 30-story building. If I have a fear of heights, I'm going to be as far away from that edge as I can possibly get. Likewise the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. If you hate something, there is no longer any real temptation. If you hate chocolate ice cream (not too many people do), and you are faced with a choice, you're not even going to be tempted by it because you hate it. So it makes sense that what you fear, or what you hate, is not really a temptation. That's why the Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Pro. 1:7). The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Pro. 8:13).

We need the fear of God to come into the church, to give us a hatred for sin. Too many people know that sin is wrong - we all know that - but we don't hate it. I've asked God many, many time, "Lord, give me a hatred for sin." It's one of the greatest keys to surviving the anointing.

At a certain conference (YWAM), the message that made the greatest impact on my life was given by a great man of God named Milton Smith. He spoke on the "fear of the Lord" for an entire hour. At the end of the message, I remember asking some of the leaders if they would pray over me. Joy Dawson was one of those people, along with some others, who joined me in a small office only some six feet by ten. I knelt down and asked if they would lay their hands on me and pray that the Lord would place a fear of God on my life.

You see I knew that sin was wrong, but I didn't fear it, and over the years I've asked God to continue to place His fear in my life. I think the best way I can explain the fear of God is like this. When I was a student in high school I was subjected to every temptation like everybody else. We had just moved from England to America as a family, and I was 15 years old at the time. There was every opportunity to be involved in sin, sexual activities, drinking, smoking, plus a hundred other things. Drugs weren't very prevalent in those days, but everything else was, and I was tempted like anybody else. But I knew one thing: If I got involved in any of those things, and my father found out about it, that I would devastate my father. I knew everything my father stood and lived for, his message of holiness, his emphasis on prayer and knowing God. I knew that if I became involved in any of these things, and my father found out that I was smoking, drinking or sleeping around, it would literally break his heart and destroy his life.

Even though I was tempted to do those things, I had such a regard, such a love, for my father, I held him in such high honor and esteem, that I did not want to hurt my father. So basically, the thing that kept me safe through those years of high school was my love for my father. That's what the fear of God is: It's the love for a greater Father, an understanding of who He is and what He represents, His nature, His character, His holiness, and the knowledge that when we sin, we break the heart of God.

God is looking for a holy people. The message prior to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ was a message of repentance, and I believe the message that will precede the second coming is also a message of repentance, "Prepare the way of the Lord" (Luke 3:4). The Bible emphatically declares that without holiness "no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

One evening during the "Pentecost revival," there was a large number who responded to the invitation. I was sitting on the platform and was asked if I could assist with those who had come forward. I randomly went towards a man and said, "Can I pray with you?"

And he said, "Yes."

I asked, "Is there any specific area I could pray with you about?"

"Yes," he said and then told me that he too was a preacher. "I travel around the world preaching the faith message. I'm a faith preacher." He continued, "I was sitting in the meeting tonight as Steve Hill was preaching. God spoke to me and said, 'Without faith it's impossible to please Me.' But then I heard Him say, 'Without holiness no man will see Me.' I have some unfinished business that needs to be taken care of." Later he told me, "I realize that while faith is important, holiness is essential."

"Of itself purity is not power, but it clears the way."

-T. Henry Howard