God identifies a saint as one who “trembles before My Word.” This is one who shows ultimate reverence toward it and affords it the same exalted status that He does. The ultimate questions for anyone claiming to be His spiritual child (a saint) are: Do I tremble at the Word of the Lord? Realizing that obedience to that Word is the only path to eternal life, do I diligently, honestly and humbly search the Scriptures to see if I am meeting the standards He commands me to meet? Notice in Isaiah 66:1 that we individually build our own “house.” The Lord provides the proper building material (His Holy Scriptures) and Satan provides his building materials (his church doctrines). The choice of materials is entirely ours. Notice also that we each decide upon who’s foundation (God’s Rock or Satan’s sand–Mat. 7:24-27) we will build our house. The Lord’s Rock is identified in 1 Corinthians 10:4 as Jesus Christ, Who is identified as the Word of God in John 1:1-4,14 and Revelation 19:13), which is the instrument by which God will judge every human being who ever lived (Jn. 12:48). Those Scriptures alone tell us why God demands that we tremble before His Word/Son/instrument of judgment.

Trembling is the result of fear. In the case of spiritual fear, trembling refers to the fear of failing God and not being allowed to enter His Kingdom at the return of His Son to earth. (No one has been, is, or will ever be in heaven except Jesus Christ. See Life After Death.) Fear and trembling are not limited to human beings. Knowing what fate awaits them, “the demons/devils also fear, and they tremble” (Jam. 2:19). We are commanded in the Scriptures to fear God. How many professing Christians do so? Judging by the number who openly defy Him by doubting and disobeying His Word–not many. God tells us in Matthew 7:13,14 that only a “few” believe His Truth enough to search for it, find it and embrace it. Those who reject God’s Word in whole or in part are eating of the same forbidden fruit as Adam and Eve and will suffer the same consequences. God speaks about the Word-sin relationship in the creation story. In it we learn that Adam and Eve lost everything because of one word–NOT. God had told them that if they ate of the tree they would die–lose eternal life. Notice that their standing with Him depended on their obedience to His WORDS. Satan substituted one word, his congregation believed him, and the rest is history. The Serpent told Adam and Eve that they could sin and NOT die–have eternal life. The vast majority of those who call themselves God’s people believe Satan. Unless true conversion takes place, they will lose eternal life. To be continued. L.J.