6月2日
标 题：畏惧主
经 节：我们既知道主是可畏的，所以劝人。但我们在神面前是显明的，盼望在你们的良心里也是显明的。（哥林多后书五章11节）
畏惧神最能遏止人犯罪（出埃及记二十：20；箴言十六：6）。那些把神当作仁慈温和的老祖父的人，对罪的看法很肤浅。他们冷冷淡淡地敬拜神，任凭自己的喜好而行，不照着神的心意而行。而敬畏神，会出人想像地改变个人的生命。即使保罗身为耶稣基督的门徒，他敬畏神，并且知道有一天，他将要站在审判台前，为自己的所作所为交帐（哥林多后书五：10）。
我们的世界并不鼓励畏惧。我们教导孩子爱神，但是不用畏惧神。我们向未信者传福音时，为了让基督教更吸引他们，我们以仁慈和不可惧来描述神的形像。我们这时代最大的审判，可能是我们自己失去敬畏神的心。我们向人传述祂是我们“最好的朋友”，祂拯救我们，且“住在我们的心里”，可是我们不畏惧祂。我们是神的儿女、神的后嗣，甚至是耶稣的朋友（罗马书八：16～17；约翰福音十五：14～15），但我们与神并不同等。祂已经赦免我们，而我们仍是祂手所造之物。祂是神，我们不是。
倘若你对神的命令安心自得，对自己的罪无所谓，你已经与神的圣洁隔绝了。花时间默想神可畏的圣洁，并允许圣灵逐渐地教导我们，在生活中合宜地敬畏这位全能神（以赛亚书四十：12～26）。深深地敬畏神是不可缺的。
The Terror of
the Lord
Knowing,
therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to
God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:11)
The fear of God is the greatest deterrent for sin (Exod. 20:20; Prov.
16:6). Those who perceive God as a benevolent and gentle grandfather will treat
their sin superficially. They will worship halfheartedly. They will live life
on their own terms rather than God’s. But a reverent fear of holy God will
dramatically affect the way a person lives. Even though Paul was an apostle of
Jesus Christ, he feared God and knew that one day he would stand in judgment to
give an account for everything he had done (2 Cor. 5:10).
Our world does not applaud fearfulness. We teach our children to love
God, but not to fear Him. We want to present a loving and nonthreatening image
of God to nonbelievers in the hope that Christianity will be more appealing to
them. One of the great condemnations of our day may be that we have lost the
fear of God. We promote Him as a “best friend” who saves us and “lives in our
hearts,” but we do not fear Him. It is true that we are God’s adopted children
and that we are fellow heirs, even friends, with Jesus (Rom. 8:16–17; John
15:14–15), but we are not His equals. He has forgiven us, but we are still His
creatures. He is God, and we are not!
If you find that you have become complacent with God’s commands and have
become comfortable in your sin, you are completely isolated from God’s
holiness. Take time to meditate upon the awesome holiness of God and allow the
Holy Spirit to instill into your life a proper reverence for almighty God (Isa.
40:12–26). A deep sense of awe is essential to knowing God.
