The Fear of God
Back to The Precepts of Jesus
"I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!" Luke 12:4-5.
The representations which are given of God in His Word are eminently calculated to produce, in every reflecting mind, a feeling of sacred awe. What is there declared of His infinite greatness — is especially adapted to secure such a result. How striking, for example, are the words of the prophet:
"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?" Isaiah 40:12
What a view of the Divine greatness is here presented! Let us think of the mass of waters contained in the caverns of the various oceans. How vast their depth, and how extended their length and breadth! Yet to God so insignificant are they — that He measures the whole in the hollow of His hand!
Let us think again of the heavens above — the sun, and moon, and stars; how amazing their dimensions, how immense their orbits! But He measures with a span — almost the least of measures — all the boundless regions through which they sweep in their majestic courses!
Let us also think of the earth beneath, with its islands, its cloud-capped mountains, its trackless forests, its boundless plains; yet He measures the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighs the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance!
And as to the nations, with their teeming myriads of population, "Behold all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. Yes, all the nations of the world are worth nothing to Him. In His eyes they count for less than nothing — mere emptiness and froth."
How reasonable is it, then, that this glorious Being, whose greatness is unsearchable, should be regarded with feelings of the profoundest reverence. "Who would not fear you, O King of nations!" It is, indeed, His due, and as such He claims it from all His creatures. To have no fear of Him before our eyes, is at once the greatest injustice, and the most unutterable folly! All who have the boldness to lift up their puny arms in rebellion against Him — are engaged in a conflict, which, if persisted in, is sure to terminate in their utter destruction!
Reader, think of His incomprehensible greatness and majesty. Think of Him as the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity — the heavens His throne, the earth His footstool, the light His garment, the clouds His chariot, the thunder His voice! Viewing Him thus — it will be impossible for you to treat Him with indifference, far less with scornful disdain. If you are only brought in some measure to realize the fact that He is great — you cannot fail to acknowledge that He is greatly to be feared, and to be had in reverence by all His creatures.
Just so, with all the other attributes of His nature. Who can think of His power so mighty, so irresistible — a power that is able to crush us into atoms with infinitely greater ease than we can tread the crawling worm beneath our feet — and not fear Him?
Who can think of His knowledge, nothing being hidden from His omniscient glance, the darkness of midnight and the splendour of noon, being altogether alike to Him — and not fear Him?
Who can think, especially, of the terrors of His avenging justice, as when He proclaims from His exalted throne, "I kill, and I make alive, neither is there any who can deliver out of My hand! If I sharpen My flashing sword and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me!" — and not fear Him? Our God is, truly, a consuming fire! It is most befitting for us, to regard Him with reverence and godly fear.
It is not those who can deprive us of our present life, that we should so much dread. It is not the loaded musket aimed as us; it is not the axe of the executioner suspended over our heads; it is not the naked sword ready to be plunged into our vitals — which should alarm us. The sight of the instruments of death has, it is true, unnerved the stoutest heart; even the frowns of a fellow-worm have often caused the most reckless to tremble. Limited, however, and of brief duration — is the power of all mortal foes at best. They can kill the body — and then have no more that they can do. "But," says the faithful witness, "I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!"
Back to The Precepts of Jesus