Dost Not Thou Fear God?

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 6
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The case of the thief on the cross who believed is a remarkably beautiful illustration of God’s mighty work in a soul — the total change in the man. And besides this, we have in this scene the mighty work of Christ for him, which enabled him to take his place with Christ that very day.
The case of the other thief, too, is truly and deeply solemn — a soul passing away from this world into another, approaching the portals of an eternity from which there is no return with a scoff on his lip and the taunt for the blessed One in his mouth, “If Thou be the Christ, save Thyself and us.” Deeply solemn is such a closing hour of a man’s brief life here, Christless, faithless, sinning against his own soul. Well is it said of the wicked, “There are no bands in their death; but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men” (Psa. 73:4-54For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 5They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. (Psalm 73:4‑5)).
Let us look at the same hour in the life of the other thief — the brightest hour it had ever known. “The other answering, rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God?” — grand illustration of the work of God in a soul. It began with only a little word, but a word by which one reads a heart which had been taught in wisdom’s ways, for “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:1010The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)). We have in this little word a precious work of God in his soul. It is said of the wicked, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:1818There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:18)). God is not in all their thoughts. “Dost not thou fear God?” Here was the root of this mighty change in this man: the holy fear of God. God had His proper place in his thoughts, although he did not know Him yet as a Saviour. It was like Abraham’s comment on the men of Gerar: “Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.” It was the fear of God which guarded Joseph’s heart, when in the land of his exile: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” It is that which guards the heart in a world of sin. It is the beginning of wisdom. Its absence leaves room for the actions of man’s corrupt and wicked will.
May we ask how it is with us? Can we say that this holy fear of God has been the guide and fashioner of all the thoughts and intents of our heart, the actions of our life, and the motives which have governed our ways? Have all these been governed by the fear of the Lord? Has His fear restrained our will? Job was a man who “feared God, and eschewed evil”; Cornelius, one who “feared God, with all his house.” “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name” (Mal. 3:1616Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. (Malachi 3:16)). It was the proof of Abraham’s faith: “Now I know that thou fearest God” (Gen. 22:1212And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Genesis 22:12)). Now this “fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death” (Prov. 14:2727The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. (Proverbs 14:27)). It “tendeth to life” (Prov. 19:2323The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil. (Proverbs 19:23)), and we see this so remarkably in the thief on the cross. It led him to take his true place before God. Blessed peace — to own, in full, our true and proper condition before God and thus take the sentence of death home to our own soul, as he did. How the work of God grew brighter and brighter, till he was with Christ in paradise! God had His true place in his soul, and he was in his true place before God!
Words of Truth, 1:66, adapted