Tuesday, May 22
After talking about the proclamation of the “everlasting gospel” to all the world, the first angel’s message then expands on this message. As we proclaim the “everlasting gospel”, we must include the truths that are part of this gospel message for this time. In other words, “present truth” for the last days also includes Revelation 14:7.
Read Revelation 14:7. What does it mean to fear God and to give Him glory? How are we to do that? How do these concepts fit in with the gospel?
To fear God and to give Him glory are not unrelated concepts. If we truly fear God in the biblical sense, we will give glory to Him. One should lead directly to the other.
Read the following texts. How do they help us understand what it means to “fear God” and how that relates to giving glory to Him? Genesis 22:12, Exodus 20:20, Job 1:9, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Matthew 5:16.
In these verses above, the idea of fearing God was linked to obeying Him, and when we obey God, when we do what is right, we bring glory to Him. Though it is often said that to fear God is to be in awe of God and to reverence Him, it should go deeper than that. We are told to fear God. We are fallen. We are sinners. We are beings who deserve death. Who hasn’t at moments faced the startling realization of the evil of their deeds and what they would deserve at the hands of a just and righteous God for those deeds? This is the fear of God. And it is the fear that drives us first to the Cross for forgiveness, and second to claim the power of God to cleanse us from the evil that, if it were not for the Cross, would cause us to lose our souls (see Matthew 10:28).
What has been your own experience with fearing God? How could a good dose of this fear be good for us spiritually and help us take more seriously our faith and what God asks of us?
