Many who claim to know God do not know the God of the Scriptures, many who claim to know Jesus do not know Him as Lord, they are serving false ideologies, they have been led away like silly women. (2 Tim. 3:6) They are serving only the imagined constructs within their minds; they are serving idols. The God that they serve is not a God of wrath and fury, He is only love and forgiveness, He loves everyone all the time, no matter what. There are of course certain religious organizations, quasi-Christians if you will, that do portray Him as malevolent, as a God-in-waiting to punish, these are all lost, for they do err greatly, they attempt to sway this deity they serve with works and favors, traditions and rote routines, by speaking many words. (Matt. 6:7)
But the other side of the coin has flipped in the general population of those who will call Him Lord, they cannot envision a God who punishes sins, save only for those that they would call grave, and so they have deemed Him worthy to serve for He requires nothing from them, they have repeated the words, got themselves baptized, and now are upstanding members of the church and the community, but do not look for them to serve in any great way, you will not find them conversing about Christ on any street corner. “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” (Prov. 1:26) This is not the Lord Jesus that they will serve, this is not the “wisdom of God,” (1 Cor. 1:24) that they came to hear about.
Read Proverbs 1:20-33, do you not believe this is the Lord Jesus speaking, does that word “she” throw you off, would you rather believe there is the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and some gal named wisdom who created all that is, or would you prefer to think of wisdom as some abstract idea, some non-entity, a form of speech meant to persuade the world of man. Jesus has been made the wisdom of God for us, (1 Cor. 1:21) this trait was not imputed to Him after His resurrection, He has always been this attribute, He is the only One who ever has been wisdom. And what is He going to do when fear, destruction, distress, and anguish come upon both those who have rejected Him and only served Him with their lips? “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” (Prov. 1:26) He is not going to answer them. This is the Lord God we are to be serving, not some simple-minded buffoon who does what we ask of Him, not some false idea of a deity who only loves, who never kills, (1 Sam. 2:6) who never mocks.
You would do well to fear Him, and not just the reverential trust and hatred of evil that the fear of the Lord means, but to bow yourself in great fear and awe of His majestic power, of the One who has the power to destroy both the body and soul in hell. (Matt. 10:28) There are a lot of people calling Jesus their friend who are not His friends, they are not even part of the family of God, they have taken great liberties with the Most High, and soon He will be laughing and mocking them. No man is even to have a casual relationship with the Most High, He regards no man, (Romans 2:11) even John, who loved Him perhaps more than any other, fell at His feet as one dead more than once, (Rev. 1:17) Paul, who received the revelations directly from Christ, was bold as a lion in front of men, but knew the meaning of abject humility in the presence of our Lord. Too many have not just sinned by taking Him for granted, but have found a pathway to an even greater sin by professing His name, but never being obedient, by calling Him Lord, but offering no real sacrifice to Him, by calling Him Savior, but never in their hearts.
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” (Matt. 15:8) Take the time to study the Scriptures and see just how many times the words “The fear of the Lord” is in them, apply them in contemplation by His Spirit, and then search within yourself to see if you will be laughed at when your calamity comes, or if you will be quiet from fear of evil.
