ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "a fountainof life"—the foundation on which all wisdom rests, as well as the source fromwhence it emanates. Upon a principle so vastly important, all the subtle malignityof Satan has been directed, if possible to mislead the very elect; while the ungodlyand impenitent fall under his devices. To the mind enlightened by Divine truth, thedifference between a filial fear of offending God and the dread of punishment isvery plain. Still, by the devil's sophistry, some of the most pious Christians havebeen puzzled and bewildered. Bunyan was not ignorant of Satan's devices, and he hasroused the energies of his powerful mind, guided by Divine truth, to render thisimportant doctrine so clear and easy to be understood, that the believer may noterr.

This rare volume, first published in 1679, soon became so scarce that Chandler, Wilson,Whitefield, and others, omitted it from their editions of Bunyan's works. At lengthit appeared in the more complete collection by Ryland and Mason, about 1780. Sincethen, it has been reprinted, somewhat modernized, by the Tract Society, from an originalcopy, discovered by that ardent lover of Bunyan, the Rev. Joseph Belcher. Of thisedition, four thousand copies have been printed.

The great line of distinction that Bunyan draws is between that terror and dreadof God, as the infinitely Holy One, before whom all sin must incur the intensityof punishment; and the love of God, as the Father of mercies, and fountain of blessedness,in the gift of his Son, and a sense of adoption into his family; by the influencesof which the soul fears to offend him. This fear is purely evangelical; for if theslightest dependence is placed upon any supposed good works of our own, the filialfear of God is swallowed up in dread and terror—for salvation depends upon the perfectionof holiness, without which none can enter heaven, and which can only be found inChrist.

Mr. Mason, on reading this treatise, thus expressed his feelings—"When the fearof the Lord is a permanent principle, inwrought in the soul by the Divine Spirit,it is an undoubted token of election to life eternal; for the most precious promisesare made to God's fearers, even the blessings of the everlasting covenant. Such aresure to be protected from every enemy; to be guided by unerring counsel; and whatwill crown all, to be beloved of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; till, by almightyand effectual grace, he will be translated to those mansions of glory and blessednessprepared for him, where he will sing the praises of his covenant-God while eternityendures."

May this be the blessed experience of all those who prayerfully read this importanttreatise.

Geo. Offor.



A TREATISE ON THE FEAR OF GOD

"BLESSED IS EVERY ONE THAT FEARETH THE LORD."—PSALM 128:1

"FEAR GOD."—REVELATION 14:7

This exhortation is not only found here in the text, but is in several other placesof the Scripture pressed, and that with much vehemency, upon the children of men,as in Ecclesiastes 12:13; 1 Peter 1:17, &c. I shall not trouble you with a longpreamble, or forespeech to the matter, nor shall I here so much as meddle with thecontext, but shall immediately fall upon the words themselves, and briefly treatof the fear of God. The text, you see, presenteth us with matter of greatest moment,to wit, with God, and with the fear of him.

First they present us with God, the true and living God, maker of the worlds, andupholder of all things by the word of his power: that incomprehensible majesty, incomparison of whom all nations are less than the drop of a bucket, and than the smalldust of the balance. This is he that fills heaven and earth, and is everywhere presentwith the children of men, beholding the evil and the good; for he hath set his eyesupon all their ways.

So that, considering that by the text we have presented to our souls the Lord Godand Maker of us all, who also will be either our Saviour or Judge, we are in reasonand duty bound to give the more earnest heed to the things that shall be spoken,and be the more careful to receive them, and put them in practice; for, as I said,as they present us with the mighty God, so they exhort us to the highest duty towardshim; to wit, to fear him. I call it the highest duty, because it is, as I may callit, not only a duty in itself, but, as it were, the salt that seasoneth every duty.For there is no duty performed by us that can by any means be accepted of God, ifit be not seasoned with godly fear. Wherefore the apostle saith, "Let us havegrace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear."Of this fear, I say, I would discourse at this time; but because this word fear isvariously taken in the Scripture, and because it may be profitable to us to see itin its variety, I shall therefore choose this method for the managing of my discourse,even to show you the nature of the word in its several, especially of the chiefest,acceptations. FIRST. Then by this word fear we are to understand even God himself,who is the object of our fear. SECOND. By this word fear we are to understand theWord of God, the rule and director of our fear. Now to speak to this word fear, asit is thus taken.

[THIS WORD FEAR AS TAKEN FOR GOD HIMSELF.]

FIRST. Of this word "fear," AS IT RESPECTETH GOD HIMSELF, who is the objectof our fear.

By this word fear, as I said, we are to understand God himself, who is the objectof our fear: For the Divine majesty goeth often under this very name himself. Thisname Jacob called him by, when he and Laban chid together on Mount Gilead, afterthat Jacob had made his escape to his father's house; "Except," said he,"the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been withme, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty." So again, a little after, whenJacob and Laban agree to make a covenant of peace each with other, though Laban,after the jumbling way of the heathen by his oath, puts the true God and the falsetogether, yet "Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac" (Gen 31:42,53).[1]

By the fear, that is, by the God of his father Isaac. And, indeed, God may well becalled the fear of his people, not only because they have by his grace made him theobject of their fear, but because of the dread and terrible majesty that is in him."He is a mighty God, a great and terrible, and with God is terrible majesty"(Dan 7:28, 10:17; Neh 1:5, 4:14, 9:32; Job 37:22). Who knows the power of his anger?"The mountains quake at him, the hills melt, and the earth is burned at hispresence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation?who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, andthe rocks are thrown down by him" (Nahum 1:5,6). His people know him, and havehis dread upon them, by virtue whereof there is begot and maintained in them thatgodly awe and reverence of his majesty which is agreeable to their profession ofhim. "Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." Set his majestybefore the eyes of your souls, and let his excellency make you afraid with godlyfear (Isa 8:13).

There are these things that make God to be the fear of his people.

First. His presence is dreadful, and that not only his presence in common, but hisspecial, yea, his most comfortable and joyous presence. When God comes to bring asoul news of mercy and salvation, even that visit, that presence of God, is fearful.When Jacob went from Beersheba towards Haran, he met with God in the way by a dream,in the which he apprehended a ladder set upon the earth, whose top reached to heaven;now in this dream, from the top of this ladder, he saw the Lord, and heard him speakunto him, not threateningly; not as having his fury come up into his face; but inthe most sweet and gracious manner, saluting him with promise of goodness after promiseof goodness, to the number of eight or nine; as will appear if you read the place.Yet I say, when he awoke, all the grace that discovered itself in this heavenly visionto him could not keep him from dread and fear of God's majesty. "And Jacob awakedout of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not;and he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but thehouse of God, and this is the gate of heaven" (Gen 28:10-17).

At another time, to wit, when Jacob had that memorable visit from God, in which hegave him power as a prince to prevail with him; yea, and gave him a name, that byhis remembering it he might call God's favour the better to his mind; yet even thenand there such dread of the majesty of God was upon him, that he went away wonderingthat his life was preserved (Gen 32:30). Man crumbles to dust at the presence ofGod; yea, though he shows himself to us in his robes of salvation. We have read howdreadful and how terrible even the presence of angels have been unto men, and thatwhen they have brought them good tidings from heaven (Judg 13:22; Matt 28:4; Mark16:5,6). Now, if angels, which are but creatures, are, through the glory that Godhas put upon them, so fearful and terrible in their appearance to men, how much moredreadful and terrible must God himself be to us, who are but dust and ashes! WhenDaniel had the vision of his salvation sent him from heaven, for so it was, "ODaniel," said the messenger, "a man greatly beloved" ; yet beholdthe dread and terror of the person speaking fell with that weight upon this goodman's soul, that he could not stand, nor bear up under it. He stood trembling, andcries out, "O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I haveretained no strength. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord?for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me" (Dan 10:16-17).See you here if the presence of God is not a dreadful and a fearful thing; yea, hismost gracious and merciful appearances; how much more then when he showeth himselfto us as one that disliketh our ways, as one that is offended with us for our sins?

And there are three things that in an eminent manner make his presence dreadful tous.

1. The first is God's own greatness and majesty; the discovery of this, or of himselfthus, even as no poor mortals are able to conceive of him, is altogether unsupportable.The man dies to whom he thus discovers himself. "And when I saw him," saysJohn, "I fell at his feet as dead" (Rev 1:17). It was this, therefore,that Job would have avoided in the day that he would have approached unto him. "Letnot thy dread," says he, "make me afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer;or let me speak, and answer thou me" (Job 13:21,22). But why doth Job afterthis manner thus speak to God? Why! it was from a sense that he had of the dreadfulmajesty of God, even the great and dreadful God that keepeth covenant with his people.The presence of a king is dreadful to the subject, yea, though he carries it neverso condescendingly; if then there be so much glory and dread in the presence of theking, what fear and dread must there be, think you, in the presence of the eternalGod?

2. When God giveth his presence to his people, that his presence causeth them toappear to themselves more what they are, than at other times, by all other light,they can see. "O my lord," said Daniel, "by the vision my sorrowsare turned upon me" ; and why was that, but because by the glory of that vision,he saw his own vileness more than at other times. So again: "I was left alone,"says he, "and saw this great vision" ; and what follows? Why, "andthere remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned into corruption, andI retained no strength" (Dan 10:8,16). By the presence of God, when we haveit indeed, even our best things, our comeliness, our sanctity and righteousness,all do immediately turn to corruption and polluted rags. The brightness of his glorydims them as the clear light of the shining sun puts out the glory of the fire orcandle, and covers them with the shadow of death. See also the truth of this in thatvision of the prophet Isaiah. "Wo is me," said he, "for I am undone,because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of uncleanlips." Why, what is the matter? how came the prophet by this sight? Why, sayshe, "mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (Isa 6:5). But doyou think that this outcry was caused by unbelief? No; nor yet begotten by slavishfear. This was to him the vision of his Saviour, with whom also he had communionbefore (vv 2-5). It was the glory of that God with whom he had now to do, that turned,as was noted before of Daniel, his comeliness in him into corruption, and that gavehim yet greater sense of the disproportion that was betwixt his God and him, andso a greater sight of his defiled and polluted nature.

3. Add to this the revelation of God's goodness, and it must needs make his presencedreadful to us; for when a poor defiled creature shall see that this great God hath,notwithstanding his greatness, goodness in his heart, and mercy to bestow upon him:this makes his presence yet the more dreadful. They "shall fear the Lord andhis goodness" (Hosea 3:5). The goodness as well as the greatness of God dothbeget in the heart of his elect an awful reverence of his majesty. "Fear yenot me? saith the Lord; will ye not tremble at my presence?" And then, to engageus in our soul to the duty, he adds one of his wonderful mercies to the world, fora motive, "Fear ye not me?" Why, who are thou? He answers, Even I, "whichhave" set, or "placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetualdecree, that it cannot pass it; and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yetcan they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?" (Jer5:22). Also, when Job had God present with him, making manifest the goodness of hisgreat heart to him, what doth he say? how doth he behave himself in his presence?"I have heard of thee," says he, "by the hearing of the ear, but nowmine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes"(Job 42:5,6).

And what mean the tremblings, the tears, those breakings and shakings of heart thatattend the people of God, when in an eminent manner they receive the pronunciationof the forgiveness of sins at his mouth, but that the dread of the majesty of Godis in their sight mixed therewith? God must appear like himself, speak to the soullike himself; nor can the sinner, when under these glorious discoveries of his Lordand Saviour, keep out the beams of his majesty from the eyes of his understanding."I will cleanse them," saith he, "from all their iniquity, wherebythey have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby theyhave sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me." And what then?"And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the prosperitythat I procure unto it" (Jer 33:8,9). Alas! there is a company of poor, light,frothy professors in the world, that carry it under that which they call the presenceof God, more like to antics, than sober sensible Christians; yea, more like to afool of a play, than those that have the presence of God. They would not carry itso in the presence of a king, nor yet of the lord of their land, were they but receiversof mercy at his hand. They carry it even in their most eminent seasons, as if thesense and sight of God, and his blessed grace to their souls in Christ, had a tendencyin them to make men wanton: but indeed it is the most humbling and heart-breakingsight in the world; it is fearful.[2]

Object. But would you not have us rejoice at the sight and sense of the forgivenessof our sins?

Answ. Yes; but yet I would have you, and indeed you shall, when God shall tell youthat your sins are pardoned indeed, "rejoice with trembling" (Psa 2:11).For then you have solid and godly joy; a joyful heart, and wet eyes, in this willstand very well together; and it will be so more or less. For if God shall come toyou indeed, and visit you with the forgiveness of sins, that visit removeth the guilt,but increaseth the sense of thy filth, and the sense of this that God hath forgivena filthy sinner, will make thee both rejoice and tremble. O, the blessed confusionthat will then cover thy face whilst thou, even thou, so vile a wretch, shalt standbefore God to receive at his hand thy pardon, and so the firstfruits of thy eternalsalvation—"That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thymouth any more because of thy shame (thy filth), when I am pacified toward thee forall that thou hast done, saith the Lord God" (Eze 16:63). But,

Second. As the presence, so the name of God, is dreadful and fearful: wherefore hisname doth rightly go under the same title, "That thou mayest fear this gloriousand fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD" (Deut 28:58). The name of God, what is that,but that by which he is distinguished and known from all others? Names are to distinguishby; so man is distinguished from beasts, and angels from men; so heaven from earth,and darkness from light; especially when by the name, the nature of the thing issignified and expressed; and so it was in their original, for then names expressedthe nature of the thing so named. And therefore it is that the name of God is theobject of our fear, because by his name his nature is expressed: "Holy and reverendis his name" (Psa 111:9). And again, he proclaimed the name of the Lord, "TheLord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodnessand truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, andsin, and that will by no means clear the guilty" (Exo 34:6,7).

Also his name, I am, Jah, Jehovah, with several others, what is by them intendedbut his nature, as his power, wisdom, eternity, goodness, and omnipotency, &c.,might be expressed and declared. The name of God is therefore the object of a Christian'sfear. David prayed to God that he would unite his heart to fear his name (Psa 86:11).Indeed, the name of God is a fearful name, and should always be reverenced by hispeople: yea his "name is to be feared for ever and ever," and that notonly in his church, and among his saints, but even in the world and among the heathen—"Sothe heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all kings thy glory" (Psa 102:15).God tells us that his name is dreadful, and that he is pleased to see men be afraidbefore his name. Yea, one reason why he executeth so many judgments upon men as hedoth, is that others might see and fear his name. "So shall they fear the nameof the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun" (Isa 59:19;Mal 2:5).

The name of a king is a name of fear—"And I am a great king, saith the Lordof hosts" (Mal 1:14). The name of master is a name of fear—"And if I bea master, where is my fear? saith the Lord" (v 6). Yea, rightly to fear theLord is a sign of a gracious heart. And again, "To you that fear my name,"saith he, "shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings"(Mal 4:2). Yea, when Christ comes to judge the world, he will give reward to hisservants the prophets, and to his saints, "and to them that fear his name, smalland great" (Rev 11:18). Now, I say, since the name of God is that by which hisnature is expressed, and since he naturally is so glorious and incomprehensible,his name must needs be the object of our fear, and we ought always to have a reverentawe of God upon our hearts at what time soever we think of, or hear his name, butmost of all, when we ourselves do take his holy and fearful name into our mouths,especially in a religious manner, that is, in preaching, praying, or holy conference.I do not by thus saying intend as if it was lawful to make mention of his name inlight and vain discourses; for we ought always to speak of it with reverence andgodly fear, but I speak it to put Christians in mind that they should not in religiousduties show lightness of mind, or be vain in their words when yet they are makingmention of the name of the Lord—"Let every one that nameth the name of Christdepart from iniquity" (2 Tim 2:19).

Make mention then of the name of the Lord at all times with great dread of his majestyupon our hearts, and in great soberness and truth. To do otherwise is to profanethe name of the Lord, and to take his name in vain; and "the Lord will not holdhim guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Yea, God saith that he will cutoff the man that doth it; so jealous is he of the honour due unto his name (Exo 20:7;Lev 20:3). This therefore showeth you the dreadful state of those that lightly, vainly,lyingly, and profanely make use of the name, this fearful name of God, either bytheir blasphemous cursing and oaths, or by their fraudulent dealing with their neighbour;for some men have no way to prevail with their neighbour to bow under a cheat, butby calling falsely upon the name of the Lord to be witness that the wickedness isgood and honest; but how these men will escape, when they shall be judged, devouringfire and everlasting burnings, for their profaning and blaspheming of the name ofthe Lord, becomes them betimes to consider of (Jer 14:14,15; Eze 20:39; Exo 20:7).[3]

But,

Third. As the presence and name of God are dreadful and fearful in the church, sois his worship and service. I say his worship, or the works of service to which weare by him enjoined while we are in this world, are dreadful and fearful things.This David conceiveth, when he saith, "But as for me, I will come into thy housein the multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple"(Psa 5:7). And again, saith he, "Serve the Lord with fear." To praise Godis a part of his worship. But, says Moses, "Who is a God like unto thee, gloriousin holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exo 15:11). To rejoice beforehim is a part of his worship; but David bids us "rejoice with trembling"(Psa 2:11). Yea, the whole of our service to God, and every part thereof, ought tobe done by us with reverence and godly fear. And therefore let us, as Paul saithagain, "Cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfectingholiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor 7:1; Heb 12).

1. That which makes the worship of God so fearful a thing, is, for that it is theworship of GOD: all manner of service carries more or less dread and fear along withit, according as the quality or condition of the person is to whom the worship andservice is done. This is seen in the service of subjects to their princes, the serviceof servants to their lords, and the service of children to their parents. Divineworship, then, being due to God, for it is now of Divine worship we speak, and thisGod so great and dreadful in himself and name, his worship must therefore be a fearfulthing.

2. Besides, this glorious Majesty is himself present to behold his worshippers intheir worshipping him. "When two or three of you are gathered together in myname, I am there." That is, gathered together to worship him, "I am there,"says he. And so, again, he is said to walk "in the midst of the seven goldencandlesticks" (Rev 1:13). That is, in the churches, and that with a countenancelike the sun, with a head and hair as white as snow, and with eyes like a flame offire. This puts dread and fear into his service; and therefore his servants shouldserve him with fear.

3. Above all things, God is jealous of his worship and service. In all the ten words,he telleth us not anything of his being a jealous God, but in the second, which respectethhis worship (Exo 20). Look to yourselves therefore, both as to the matter and mannerof your worship; "for I the Lord thy God," says he, "am a jealousGod, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children." This thereforedoth also put dread and fear into the worship and service of God.

4. The judgments that sometimes God hath executed upon men for their want of godlyfear, while they have been in his worship and service, put fear and dread upon hisholy appointments. (1.) Nadab and Abihu were burned to death with fire from heaven,because they attempted to offer false fire upon God's altar, and the reason renderedwhy they were so served, was, because God will be sanctified in them that come nighhim (Lev 10:1-3). To sanctify his name is to let him be thy dread and thy fear, andto do nothing in his worship but what is well-pleasing to him. But because thesemen had not grace to do this, therefore they died before the Lord. (2.) Eli's sons,for want of this fear, when they ministered in the holy worship of God, were bothslain in one day by the sword of the uncircumcised Philistines (see 1 Sam 2). (3.)Uzzah was smitten, and died before the Lord, for but an unadvised touching of theark, when the men forsook it (1 Chron 13:9,10). (4.) Ananias and Sapphira his wife,for telling a lie in the church, when they were before God, were both stricken deadupon the place before them all, because they wanted the fear and dread of God's majesty,name, and service, when they came before him (Acts 5).

This therefore should teach us to conclude, that, next to God's nature and name,his service, his instituted worship, is the most dreadful thing under heaven. Hisname is upon his ordinances, his eye is upon the worshippers, and his wrath and judgmentupon those that worship not in his fear. For this cause some of those at Corinthwere by God himself cut off, and to others he has given the back, and will againbe with them no more (1 Cor 11:27-32).[4]

This also rebuketh three sorts of people.

[Three sorts of people rebuked.]

1. Such as regard not to worship God at all; be sure they have no reverence of hisservice, nor fear of his majesty before their eyes. Sinner, thou dost not come beforethe Lord to worship him; thou dost not bow before the high God; thou neither worshippesthim in thy closet nor in the congregation of saints. The fury of the Lord and hisindignation must in short time be poured out upon thee, and upon the families thatcall not upon his name (Psa 79:6; Jer 10:25).

2. This rebukes such as count it enough to present their body in the place whereGod is worshipped, not minding with what heart, or with what spirit they come thither.Some come into the worship of God to sleep there; some come thither to meet withtheir chapmen, and to get into the wicked fellowship of their vain companions. Somecome thither to feed their lustful and adulterous eyes with the flattering beautyof their fellow-sinners. O what a sad account will these worshippers give, when theyshall count for all this, and be damned for it, because they come not to worshipthe Lord with that fear of his name that became them to come in, when they presentedthemselves before him![5]

3. This also rebukes those that care not, so they worship, how they worship; how,where, or after what manner they worship God. Those, I mean, whose fear towards God"is taught by the precept of men." They are hypocrites; their worship alsois vain, and a stink in the nostrils of God. "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuchas this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, buthave removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the preceptof men: therefore, behold I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people,even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid" (Isa 29:13,14; Matt15:7-9; Mark 7:6,7).[6] Thus I conclude this first thing, namely, that God is calledour dread and fear.


[OF THIS WORD FEAR AS IT IS TAKEN FOR THE WORD OF GOD.]

I shall now come to the second thing, to wit, to the rule and director of our fear.

SECOND. But again, this word FEAR is sometimes to be taken for THE WORD, the writtenWord of God; for that also is, and ought to be, the rule and director of our fear.So David calls it in the nineteenth Psalm: "the fear of the Lord," saithhe, "is clean, enduring for ever." The fear of the Lord, that is, the Wordof the Lord, the written word; for that which he calleth in this place the fear ofthe Lord, even in the same place he calleth the law, statutes, commandments, andjudgments of God. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: thetestimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple: the statutes of the Lord areright, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening theeyes: the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lordare true and righteous altogether." All these words have respect to the samething, to wit, to the Word of God, jointly designing the glory of it. Among whichphrases, as you see, this is one, "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever." This written Word is therefore the object of a Christian's fear. Thisis that also which David intended when he said, "Come, ye children, hearkenunto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord" (Psa 34:11). I will teach youthe fear, that is, I will teach you the commandments, statutes, and judgments ofthe Lord, even as Moses commanded the children of Israel—"Thou shalt teach themdiligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risestup" (Deut 6:4-7).

That also in the eleventh of Isaiah intends the same, where the Father saith of theSon, that he shall be of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; that he mayjudge and smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. This rod in the text is noneother but the fear, the Word of the Lord; for he was to be of a quick understanding,that he might smite, that is, execute it according to the will of his Father, uponand among the children of men. Now this, as I said, is called the fear of the Lord,because it is called the rule and director of our fear. For we know not how to fearthe Lord in a saving way without its guidance and direction. As it is said of thepriest that was sent back from the captivity to Samaria to teach the people to fearthe Lord, so it is said concerning the written Word; it is given to us, and leftamong us, that we may read therein all the days of our life, and learn to fear theLord (Deut 6:1-3,24, 10:12, 17:19). And here it is that, trembling at the Word ofGod, is even by God himself not only taken notice of, but counted as laudable andpraiseworthy, as is evident in the case of Josiah (2 Chron 34:26,27). Such also arethe approved of God, let them be condemned by whomsoever: "Hear the word ofthe Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast youout for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but he shall appear to yourjoy, and they shall be ashamed" (Isa 66:5).

Further, such shall be looked to, by God himself cared for, and watched over, thatno distress, temptation, or affliction may overcome them and destroy them—"Tothis man will I look," saith God, "even to him that is poor and of a contritespirit, and that trembleth at my word." It is the same in substance with thatin the same prophet in chapter 57: "For thus saith the high and lofty One thatinhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, withhim also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Yea, the way to escape dangersforetold, is to hearken to, understand, and fear the Word of God—"He that fearedthe word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh, made his servants and his cattleflee into the houses," and they were secured; but "he that regarded notthe word of the Lord, left his servants and his cattle in the field," and theywere destroyed of the hail (Exo 9:20-25).

If at any time the sins of a nation or church are discovered and bewailed, it isby them that know and tremble at the word of God. When Ezra heard of the wickednessof his brethren, and had a desire to humble himself before God for the same, whowere they that would assist him in that matter, but they that trembled at the wordof God?—"Then," saith he, "were assembled unto me every one that trembledat the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that hadbeen carried away" (Ezra 9:4). They are such also that tremble at the Word thatare best able to give counsel in the matters of God, for their judgment best suitethwith his mind and will: "Now therefore," said he, "let us make a covenantwith our God to put away all the (strange) wives, - according to the counsel of myLord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be doneaccording to the law" (Ezra 10:3). Now something of the dread and terror ofthe Word lieth in these things.

First. As I have already hinted, from the author of them, they are the words of God.Therefore you have Moses and the prophets, when they came to deliver their errand,their message to the people, still saying, "Hear the word of the Lord,""Thus saith the Lord," and the like. So when Ezekiel was sent to the houseof Israel, in their state of religion, thus was he bid to say unto them, "Thussaith the Lord God" ; "Thus saith the Lord God" (Eze 2:4, 3:11). Thisis the honour and majesty, then, that God hath put upon his written Word, and thushe hath done even of purpose, that we might make them the rule and directory of ourfear, and that we might stand in awe of, and tremble at them. When Habakkuk heardthe word of the Lord, his belly trembled, and rottenness entered into his bones."I trembled in myself," said he, "that I might rest in the day oftrouble" (Hab 3:16). The word of a king is as the roaring of a lion; where theword of a king is, there is power. What is it, then, when God, the great God, shallroar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, whose voice shakes not onlythe earth, but also heaven? How doth holy David set it forth; "The voice ofthe Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of majesty," &c. (Psa29).

Second. It is a Word that is fearful, and may well be called the fear of the Lord,because of the subject matter of it; to wit, the state of sinners in another world;for that is it unto which the whole Bible bendeth itself, either more immediatelyor more mediately. All its doctrines, counsels, encouragements, threatenings, andjudgments, have a look, one way or other, upon us, with respect to the next world,which will be our last state, because it will be to us a state eternal. This word,this law, these judgments, are they that we shall be disposed of by—"The wordthat I have spoken," says Christ, "it shall judge you (and so consequentlydispose of you) in the last day" (John 12:48). Now, if we consider that ournext state must be eternal, either eternal glory or eternal fire, and that this eternalglory or this eternal fire must be our portion, according as the words of God, revealedin the holy Scriptures, shall determine; who will not but conclude that thereforethe words of God are they at which we should tremble, and they by which we shouldhave our fear of God guided and directed, for by them we are taught how to pleasehim in everything?

Third. It is to be called a fearful Word, because of the truth and faithfulness ofit. The Scriptures cannot be broken. Here they are called the Scriptures of truth,the true sayings of God, and also the fear of the Lord, for that every jot and tittlethereof is for ever settled in heaven, and stand more steadfast than doth the world—"Heavenand earth," saith Christ, "shall pass away, but my words shall not passaway" (Matt 24:35). Those, therefore, that are favoured by the Word of God,those are favoured indeed, and that with the favour that no man can turn away; butthose that by the word of the Scriptures are condemned, those can no man justifyand set quit in the sight of God. Therefore what is bound by the text, is bound,and what is released by the text, is released; also the bond and release is unalterable(Dan 10:21; Rev 19:9; Matt 24:35; Psa 119:89; John 10:35). This, therefore, callethupon God's people to stand more in fear of the Word of God than of all the terrorsof the world.[7] There wanteth even in the hearts of God's people a greater reverenceof the Word of God than to this day appeareth among us, and this let me say, thatwant of reverence of the Word is the ground of all disorders that are in the heart,life, conversation, and in Christian communion. Besides, the want of reverence ofthe Word layeth men open to the fearful displeasure of God—"Whoso despiseththe word shall be destroyed; but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded"(Prov 13:13).

All transgression beginneth at wandering from the Word of God; but, on the otherside, David saith, "Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I havekept me from the paths of the destroyer" (Psa 17:4). Therefore Solomon saith,"My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings; let them notdepart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart; for they are lifeunto those that find them, and health to all their flesh" (Prov 4:20-22). Now,if indeed thou wouldest reverence the Word of the Lord, and make it thy rule anddirector in all things, believe that the Word is the fear of the Lord, the Word thatstandeth fast for ever; without and against which God will do nothing, either insaving or damning of the souls of sinners. But to conclude this,

1. Know that those that have no due regard to the Word of the Lord, and that makeit not their dread and their fear, but the rule of their life is the lust of theirflesh, the desire of their eyes, and the pride of life, are sorely rebuked by thisdoctrine, and are counted the fools of the world; for "lo, they have rejectedthe word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?" (Jer 8:9). That there aresuch a people is evident, not only by their irregular lives, but by the manifesttestimony of the Word. "As for the word of the Lord,"said they to Jeremiah,"that thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken untothee, but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth"(Jer 44:16). Was this only the temper of wicked men then? Is not the same spiritof rebellion amongst us in our days? Doubtless there is; for there is no new thing—"Thething that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that whichshall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun" (Eccl 1:9). Therefore,as it was then, so it is with many in this day.

As for the Word of the Lord, it is nothing at all to them; their lusts, and whatsoeverproceedeth out of their own mouths, that they will do, that they will follow. Now,such will certainly perish in their own rebellion; for this is as the sin of witchcraft;it was the sin of Korah and his company, and that which brought upon them such heavyjudgments; yea, and they are made a sign that thou shouldest not do as they, forthey perished (because they rejected the word, the fear of the Lord) from among thecongregation of the Lord, "and they became a sign." The word which thoudespisest still abideth to denounce its woe and judgment upon thee; and unless Godwill save such with the breath of his word—and it is hard trusting to that—they mustnever see his face with comfort (1 Sam 15:22,23; Num 26:9,10).

2. Are the words of God called by the name of the fear of the Lord? Are they so dreadfulin their receipt and sentence? Then this rebukes them that esteem the words and thingsof men more than the words of God, as those do who are drawn from their respect of,and obedience to, the Word of God, by the pleasures or threats of men. Some therebe who verily will acknowledge the authority of the Word, yet will not stoop theirsouls thereto. Such, whatever they think of themselves, are judged by Christ to beashamed of the Word; wherefore their state is damnable as the other. "Whosoever,"saith he, "shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinfulgeneration, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the gloryof the Father, with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).

3. And if these things be so, what will become of those that mock at, and professedlycontemn, the words of God, making them as a thing ridiculous, and not to be regarded?Shall they prosper that do such things? From the promises it is concluded that theirjudgment now of a long time slumbereth not, and when it comes, it will devour themwithout remedy (2 Chron 36:15). If God, I say, hath put that reverence upon his Wordas to call it the fear of the Lord, what will become of them that do what they canto overthrow its authority, by denying it to be his Word, and by raising cavils againstits authority? Such stumble, indeed, at the Word, being appointed thereunto, butit shall judge them in the last day (1 Peter 2:8; John 12:48). But thus much forthis.


[OF SEVERAL SORTS OF FEAR OF GOD IN THE HEART OF THE CHILDREN OF MEN.]

Having thus spoken of the object and rule of our fear, I should come now to speakof fear as it is a grace of the Spirit of God in the hearts of his people; but beforeI do that, I shall show you that there are divers sorts of fear besides. For manbeing a reasonable creature, and having even by nature a certain knowledge of God,hath also naturally something of some kind of fear of God at times, which, althoughit be not that which is intended in the text, yet ought to be spoken to, that thatwhich is not right may be distinguished from that that is.

There is, I say, several sorts or kinds of fear in the hearts of the sons of men,I mean besides that fear of God that is intended in the text, and that accompanietheternal life. I shall here make mention of three of them. FIRST. There is a fearof God that flows even from the light of nature. SECOND. There is a fear of God thatflows from some of his dispensations to men, which yet is neither universal nor saving.THIRD. There is a fear of God in the heart of some men that is good and godly, butdoth not for ever abide so. To speak a little to all these, before I come to speakof fear, as it is a grace of God in the hearts of his children, And,

FIRST. To the first, to wit, that there is a fear of God that flows even from thelight of nature. A people may be said to do things in a fear of God, when they actone towards another in things reasonable, and honest betwixt man and man, not doingthat to others they would not have done to themselves. This is that fear of God whichAbraham thought the Philistines had destroyed in themselves, when he said of hiswife to Abimelech, "She is my sister." For when Abimelech asked Abrahamwhy he said of his wife, She is my sister; he replied, saying, "I thought surelythe fear of God is not in this place, and they will slay me for my wife's sake"(Gen 20:11). I thought verily that in this place men had stifled and choked thatlight of nature that is in them, at least so far forth as not to suffer it to putthem in fear, when their lusts were powerful in them to accomplish their ends onthe object that was present before them. But this I will pass by, and come to thesecond thing, namely—

SECOND. To show that there is a fear of God that flows from some of his dispensationsto men, which yet is neither universal nor saving. This fear, when opposed to thatwhich is saving, may be called an ungodly fear of God. I shall describe it by theseseveral particulars that follow—

First. There is a fear of God that causeth a continual grudging, discontent, andheart-risings against God under the hand of God; and that is, when the dread of Godin his coming upon men, to deal with them for their sins, is apprehended by them,and yet by this dispensation they have no change of heart to submit to God thereunder.The sinners under this dispensation cannot shake God out of their mind, nor yet graciouslytremble before him; but through the unsanctified frame that they now are in, theyare afraid with ungodly fear, and so in their minds let fly against him. This fearoftentimes took hold of the children of Israel when they were in the wilderness intheir journey to the promised land; still they feared that God in this place woulddestroy them, but not with that fear that made them willing to submit, for theirsins, to the judgment which they fear, but with that fear that made them let flyagainst God. This fear showed itself in them, even at the beginning of their voyage,and was rebuked by Moses at the Red Sea, but it was not there, nor yet at any otherplace, so subdued, but that it would rise again in them at times to the dishonourof God, and the anew making of them guilty of sin before him (Exo 14:11-13; Num 14:1-9).This fear is that which God said he would send before them, in the day of Joshua,even a fear that should possess the inhabitants of the land, to wit, a fear thatshould arise for that faintness of heart that they should be swallowed up of, attheir apprehending of Joshua in his approaches towards them to destroy them. "Iwill send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shaltcome, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee" (Exo 23:27)."This day," says God, "will I begin to put the dread of thee, andthe fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven who shall hearreport of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee" (Deut2:25, 11:25).

Now this fear is also, as you here see, called anguish, and in another place, anhornet; for it, and the soul that it falls upon, do greet each other, as boys andbees do. The hornet puts men in fear, not so as to bring the heart into a sweet compliancewith his terror, but so as to stir up the spirit into acts of opposition and resistance,yet withal they flee before it. "I will send hornets before thee, which shalldrive out the Hivite," &c. (Exo 23:28). Now this fear, whether it be wroughtby misapprehending of the judgments of God, as in the Israelites, or otherwise asin the Canaanites, yet ungodliness is the effect thereof, and therefore I call itan ungodly fear of God, for it stirreth up murmurings, discontents, and heart-risingsagainst God, while he with his dispensations is dealing with them.

Second. There is a fear of God that driveth a man away from God—I speak not now ofthe atheist, nor of the pleasurable sinner, nor yet of these, and that fear thatI spoke of just now—I speak now of such who through a sense of sin and of God's justicefly from him of a slavish ungodly fear. This ungodly fear was that which possessedAdam's heart in the day that he did eat of the tree concerning which the Lord hassaid unto him, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."For then was he possessed with such a fear of God as made him seek to hide himselffrom his presence. "I heard," said he, "thy voice in the garden, andI was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Gen 3:10). Mind it, hehad a fear of God, but it was not godly. It was not that that made him afterwardssubmit himself unto him; for that would have kept him from not departing from him,or else have brought him to him again, with bowed, broken, and contrite spirit. Butthis fear, as the rest of his sin, managed his departing from his God, and pursuedhim to provoke him still so to do; by it he kept himself from God, by it his wholeman was carried away from him. I call it ungodly fear, because it begat in him ungodlyapprehensions of his Maker; because it confined Adam's conscience to the sense ofjustice only, and consequently to despair.

The same fear also possessed the children of Israel when they heard the law deliveredto them on Mount Sinai; as is evident, for it made them that they could neither abidehis presence nor hear his word. It drove them back from the mountain. It made them,saith the apostle to the Hebrews, that "they could not endure that which wascommanded" (Heb 12:20). Wherefore this fear Moses rebukes, and forbids theirgiving way thereto. "Fear not," said he; but had that fear been godly,he would have encouraged it, and not forbid and rebuke it as he did. "Fear not,"said he, "for God is come to prove you" ; they thought otherwise. "God,"saith he, "is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces."Therefore that fear that already had taken possession of them, was not the fear ofGod, but a fear that was of Satan, of their own misjudging hearts, and so a fearthat was ungodly (Exo 20:18-20). Mark you, here is a fear and a fear, a fear forbidden,and a fear commended; a fear forbidden, because it engendered their hearts to bondage,and to ungodly thoughts of God and of his word; it made them that they could notdesire to hear God speak to them any more (vv 19-21).

Many also at this day are possessed with this ungodly fear; and you may know themby this,—they cannot abide conviction for sin, and if at any time the word of thelaw, by the preaching of the word, comes near them, they will not abide that preacher,nor such kind of sermons any more. They are, as they deem, best at ease, when furthestoff of God, and of the power of his word. The word preached brings God nearer tothem than they desire he should come, because whenever God comes near, their sinsby him are manifest, and so is the judgment too that to them is due. Now these nothaving faith in the mercy of God through Christ, nor that grace that tendeth to bringthem to him, they cannot but think of God amiss, and their so thinking of him makesthem say unto him, "Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways"(Job 21:14). Wherefore their wrong thoughts of God beget in them this ungodly fear;and again, this ungodly fear doth maintain in them the continuance of these wrongand unworthy thoughts of God, and therefore, through that devilish service wherewiththey strengthen one another, the sinner, without a miracle of grace prevents him,is drowned in destruction and perdition.

It was this ungodly fear of God that carried Cain from the presence of God into theland of Nod, and that put him there upon any carnal worldly business, if perhapshe might by so doing stifle convictions of the majesty and justice of God againsthis sin, and so live the rest of his vain life in the more sinful security and fleshlyease. This ungodly fear is that also which Samuel perceived at the people's apprehensionof their sin, to begin to get hold of their hearts; wherefore he, as Moses beforehim, quickly forbids their entertaining of it. "Fear not," said he, "yehave done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord."For to turn them aside from following of him, was the natural tendency of this fear."But fear not," said he, that is, with that fear that tendeth to turn youaside. Now, I say, the matter that this fear worketh upon, as in Adam, and the Israelitesmentioned before, was their sin. You have sinned, says he, that is true, yet turnnot aside, yet fear not with that fear that would make you so do (1 Sam 12:20). Noteby the way, sinner, that when the greatness of thy sins, being apprehended by thee,shall work in thee that fear of God, as shall incline thy heart to fly from him,thou art possessed with a fear of God that is ungodly, yea, so ungodly, that notany of thy sins for heinousness may be compared therewith, as might be made manifestin many particulars, but Samuel having rebuked this fear, presently sets before thepeople another, to wit, the true fear of God; "fear the Lord," says he,"serve him - with all your heart" (v 24). And he giveth them this encouragementso to do, "for the Lord will not forsake his people." This ungodly fearis that which you read of in Isaiah 2, and in many other places, and God's peopleshould shun it, as they would shun the devil, because its natural tendency is toforward the destruction of the soul in which it has taken possession.[8]

Third. There is a fear of God, which, although it hath not in it that power as tomake men flee from God's presence, yet it is ungodly, because, even while they arein the outward way of God's ordinances, their hearts are by it quite discouragedfrom attempting to exercise themselves in the power of religion. Of this sort arethey which dare not cast off the hearing, reading, and discourse of the word as others;no, nor the assembly of God's children for the exercise of other religious duties,for their conscience is convinced this is the way and worship of God. But yet theirheart, as I said, by this ungodly fear, is kept from a powerful gracious fallingin with God. This fear takes away their heart from all holy and godly prayer in private,and from all holy and godly zeal for his name in public, and there be many professorswhose hearts are possessed with this ungodly fear of God; and they are intended bythe slothful one. He was a servant, a servant among the servants of God, and hadgifts and abilities given him, therewith to serve Christ, as well as his fellows,yea, and was commanded too, as well as the rest, to occupy till his master came.But what does he? Why, he takes his talent, the gift that he was to lay out for hismaster's profit, and puts it in a napkin, digs a hole in the earth, and hides hislord's money, and lies in a lazy manner at to-elbow all his days, not out of, butin his lord's vineyard;[9] for he came among the servants also at last. By whichit is manifest that he had not cast off his profession, but was slothful and negligentwhile he was in it. But what was it that made him thus slothful?

What was it that took away his heart, while he was in the way, and that discouragedhim from falling in with the power and holy practice of religion according to thetalent he received? Why, it was this, he gave way to an ungodly fear of God, andthat took away his heart from the power of religious duties. "Lord," saidhe, "behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept, laid up in a napkin, forI feared thee." Why, man, doth the fear of God make a man idle and slothful?No, no; that is, if it be right and godly. This fear was therefore evil fear; itwas that ungodly fear of God which I have here been speaking of. For I feared thee,or as Matthew hath it, "for I was afraid." Afraid of what? Of Christ, "thathe was an hard man, reaping where he sowed not, and gathering where he had not strawed."This his fear, being ungodly, made him apprehend of Christ contrary to the goodnessof his nature, and so took away his heart from all endeavours to be doing of thatwhich was pleasing in his sight (Luke 19:20; Matt 25:24, 25). And thus do all thosethat retain the name and show of religion, but are neglecters as to the power andgodly practice of it. These will live like dogs and swine in the house; they praynot, they watch not their hearts, they pull not their hands out of their bosoms towork, they do not strive against their lusts, nor will they ever resist unto blood,striving against sin; they cannot take up their cross, or improve what they haveto God's glory. Let all men therefore take heed of this ungodly fear, and shun itas they shun the devil, for it will make them afraid where no fear is. It will tellthem that there is a lion in the street, the unlikeliest place in the world for sucha beast to be in; it will put a vizard upon the face of God, most dreadful and fearfulto behold, and then quite discourage the soul as to his service; so it served theslothful servant, and so it will serve thee, poor sinner, if thou entertainest it,and givest way thereto. But,

Fourth. This ungodly fear of God shows itself also in this. It will not suffer thesoul that is governed thereby to trust only to Christ for justification of life,but will bend the powers of the soul to trust partly to the works of the law. Manyof the Jews were, in the time of Christ and his apostles, possessed with this ungodlyfear of God, for they were not as the former, to wit, as the slothful servant, toreceive a talent and hide it in the earth in a napkin, but they were an industriouspeople, they followed after the law of righteousness, they had a zeal of God andof the religion of their fathers; but how then did they come to miscarry? Why, theirfear of God was ungodly; it would not suffer them wholly to trust to the righteousnessof faith, which is the imputed righteousness of Christ. They followed after the lawof righteousness, but attained not to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? becausethey sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. But what wasit that made them join their works of the law with Christ, but their unbelief, whosefoundation was ignorance and fear? They were afraid to venture all in one bottom,they thought two strings to one bow would be best, and thus betwixt two stools theycame to the ground. And hence, to fear and to doubt, are put together as being thecause one of another; yea, they are put ofttimes the one for the other; thus ungodlyfear for unbelief: "Be not afraid, only believe," and therefore he thatis overruled and carried away with this fear, is coupled with the unbeliever thatis thrust out from the holy city among the dogs. But the fearful and unbelievers,and murderers are without (Rev 21:8). "The fearful and unbelieving," yousee, are put together; for indeed fear, that is, this ungodly fear, is the groundof unbelief, or, if you will, unbelief is the ground of fear, this fear: but I standnot upon nice distinctions. This ungodly fear hath a great hand in keeping of thesoul from trusting only to Christ's righteousness for justification of life.

Fifth. This ungodly fear of God is that which will put men upon adding to the revealedwill of God their own inventions, and their own performances of them, as a meansto pacify the anger of God. For the truth is, where this ungodly fear reigneth, thereis no end of law and duty. When those that you read of in the book of Kings weredestroyed by the lions, because they had set up idolatry in the land of Israel, theysent for a priest from Babylon that might teach them the manner of the God of theland; but behold when they knew it, being taught it by the priest, yet their fearwould not suffer them to be content with that worship only. "They feared theLord," saith the text, "and served their own gods." And again, "Sothese nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images" (2 Kings 17).It was this fear also that put the Pharisees upon inventing so many traditions, asthe washing of cups, and beds, and tables, and basins, with abundance of such otherlike gear,[10] none knows the many dangers that an ungodly fear of God will drivea man into (Mark 7). How has it racked and tortured the Papists for hundreds of yearstogether! for what else is the cause but this ungodly fear, at least in the mostsimple and harmless of them, of their penances, as creeping to the cross, going barefooton pilgrimage, whipping themselves, wearing of sackcloth, saying so many Pater-nosters,so many Ave- marias, making so many confessions to the priest, giving so much moneyfor pardons, and abundance of other the like, but this ungodly fear of God? For couldthey be brought to believe this doctrine, that Christ was delivered for our offences,and raised again for our justification, and to apply it by faith with godly boldnessto their own souls, this fear would vanish, and so consequently all those thingswith which they so needlessly and unprofitably afflicted themselves, offend God,and grieve his people. Therefore, gentle reader, although my text doth bid that indeedthou shouldest fear God, yet it includeth not, nor accepteth of any fear; no, notof any [or every] fear of God. For there is, as you see, a fear of God that is ungodly,and that is to be shunned as their sin. Wherefore thy wisdom and thy care shouldbe, to see and prove thy fear to be godly, which shall be the next thing that I shalltake in hand.

THIRD. The third thing that I am to speak to is, that there is a fear of God in theheart of some men that is good and godly, but yet doth not for ever abide so. Oryou may take it thus—There is a fear of God that is godly but for a time. In my speakingto, and opening of this to you, I shall observe this method. First. I shall showyou what this fear is. Second. I shall show you by whom or what this fear is wroughtin the heart. Third. I shall show you what this fear doth in the soul. And, Fourth,I shall show you when this fear is to have an end.

First. For the first, this fear is an effect of sound awakenings by the word of wrathwhich begetteth in the soul a sense of its right to eternal damnation; for this fearis not in every sinner; he that is blinded by the devil, and that is not able tosee that his state is damnable, he hath not this fear in his heart, but he that isunder the powerful workings of the word of wrath, as God's elect are at first conversion,he hath this godly fear in his heart; that is, he fears that that damnation willcome upon him, which by the justice of God is due unto him, because he hath brokenhis holy law. This is the fear that made the three thousand cry out, "Men andbrethren, what shall we do?" and that made the jailer cry out, and that withgreat trembling of soul, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 2, 16).The method of God is to kill and make alive, to smite and then heal; when the commandmentcame to Paul, sin revived, and he died, and that law which was ordained to life,he found to be unto death; that is, it passed a sentence of death upon him for hissins, and slew his conscience with that sentence. Therefore from that time that heheard that word, "Why persecutest thou me?" which is all one as if he hadsaid, Why dost thou commit murder? he lay under the sentence of condemnation by thelaw, and under this fear of that sentence in his conscience. He lay, I say, underit, until that Ananias came to him to comfort him, and to preach unto him the forgivenessof sin (Acts 9). The fear therefore that now I call godly, it is that fear whichis properly called the fear of eternal damnation for sin, and this fear, at firstawakening, is good and godly, because it ariseth in the soul from a true sense ofits very state. Its state by nature is damnable, because it is sinful, and becausehe is not one that as yet believeth in Christ for remission of sins: "He thatbelieveth not shall be damned."—"He that believeth not is condemned already,and the wrath of God abideth on him" (Mark 16:16; John 3:18,36). The which whenthe sinner at first begins to see, he justly fears it; I say, he fears it justly,and therefore godly, because by this fear he subscribes to the sentence that is goneout against him for sin.

Second. By whom or by what is this fear wrought in the heart? To this I shall answerin brief. It is wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God, working there at firstas a spirit of bondage, on purpose to put us in fear. This Paul insinuateth, saying,"Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear" (Rom 8:15).He doth not say, Ye have not received the spirit of bondage; for that they had received,and that to put them in fear, which was at their first conversion, as by the instancesmade mention of before is manifest; all that he says is, that they had not receivedit again, that is, after the Spirit, as a spirit of adoption, is come; for then,as a spirit of bondage, it cometh no more. It is then the Spirit of God, even theHoly Ghost, that convinceth us of sin, and so of our damnable state because of sin(John 16:8,9). For it cannot be that the Spirit of God should convince us of sin,but it must also show us our state to be damnable because of it, especially if itso convinceth us, before we believe, and that is the intent of our Lord in that place,"of sin," and so of their damnable state by sin, because they believe noton me. Therefore the Spirit of God, when he worketh in the heart as a spirit of bondage,he doth it by working in us by the law, "for by the law is the knowledge ofsin" (Rom 3:20). And he, in this his working, is properly called a spirit ofbondage.

1. Because by the law he shows us that indeed we are in bondage to the law, the devil,and death and damnation; for this is our proper state by nature, though we see itnot until the Spirit of God shall come to reveal this our state of bondage unto ourown senses by revealing to us our sins by the law.

2. He is called, in this his working, "the spirit of bondage," becausehe here also holds us; to wit, in this sight and sense of our bondage-state, so longas is meet we should be so held, which to some of the saints is a longer, and tosome a shorter time. Paul was held in it three days and three nights, but the jailerand the three thousand, so far as can be gathered, not above an hour; but some inthese later times are so held for days and months, if not years.[11] But, I say,let the time be longer or shorter, it is the Spirit of God that holdeth him underthis yoke; and it is good that a man should be in HIS time held under it, as is thatsaying of the lamentation, "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in hisyouth" (Lam 3:27). That is, at his first awakening; so long as seems good tothis Holy Spirit to work in this manner by the law. Now, as I said, the sinner atfirst is by the Spirit of God held in this bondage, that is, hath such a discoveryof his sin and of his damnation for sin made to him, and also is held so fast underthe sense thereof, that it is not in the power of any man, nor yet of the very angelsin heaven, to release him or set him free, until the Holy Spirit changeth his ministration,and comes in the sweet and peaceable tidings of salvation by Christ in the gospelto his poor, dejected, and afflicted conscience.

Third. I now come to show you what this fear doth in the soul. Now, although thisgodly fear is not to last always with us, as I shall further show you anon, yet itgreatly differs from that which is wholly ungodly of itself, both because of theauthor, and also of the effects of it. Of the author I have told you before; I nowshall tell you what it doth.

1. This fear makes a man judge himself for sin, and to fall down before God witha broken mind under this judgment; the which is pleasing to God, because the sinnerby so doing justifies God in his saying, and clears him in his judgment (Psa 51:1-4).

2. As this fear makes a man judge himself, and cast himself down at God's foot, soit makes him condole and bewail his misery before him, which is also well- pleasingin his sight: "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself," saying,"Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to theyoke," &c. (Jer 31:18,19).

3. This fear makes a man lie at God's foot, and puts his mouth in the dust, if sobe there may be hope. This also is well-pleasing to God, because now is the sinneras nothing, and in his own eyes less than nothing, as to any good or desert: "Hesitteth alone and keepeth silence," because he hath now this yoke upon him;"he putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope" (Lam 3:28,29).

4. This fear puts a man upon crying to God for mercy, and that in most humble manner;now he sensibly cries, now he dejectedly cries, now he feels and cries, now he smartsand criest out, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13).

5. This fear makes a man that he cannot accept of that for support and succour whichothers that are destitute thereof will take up, and be contented with. This man mustbe washed by God himself, and cleansed from his sin by God himself (Psa 51).

6. Therefore this fear goes not away until the Spirit of God doth change his ministrationas to this particular, in leaving off to work now by the law, as afore, and comingto the soul with the sweet word of promise of life and salvation by Jesus Christ.Thus far this fear is godly, that is, until Christ by the Spirit in the gospel isrevealed and made over unto us, and no longer.

Thus far this fear is godly, and the reason why it is godly is because the groundworkof it is good. I told you before what this fear is; namely, it is the fear of damnation.Now the ground for this fear is good, as is manifest by these particulars. 1. Thesoul feareth damnation, and that rightly, because it is in its sins. 2. The soulfeareth damnation rightly, because it hath not faith in Christ, but is at presentunder the law. 3. The soul feareth damnation rightly now, because by sin, the law,and for want of faith, the wrath of God abideth on it. But now, although thus farthis fear of God is good and godly, yet after Christ by the Spirit in the word ofthe gospel is revealed to us, and we made to accept of him as so revealed and offeredto us by a true and living faith; this fear, to wit, of damnation, is no longer good,but ungodly. Nor doth the Spirit of God ever work it in us again. Now we do not receivethe spirit of bondage again to fear, that is to say, to fear damnation, but we havereceived the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father. But I would notbe mistaken, when I say, that this fear is no longer godly. I do not mean with referenceto the essence and habit of it, for I believe it is the same in the seed which shallafterwards grow up to a higher degree, and into a more sweet and gospel current andmanner of working, but I mean reference to this act of fearing damnation, I say itshall never by the Spirit be managed to that work; it shall never bring forth thatfruit more. And my reasons are,


[Reasons why the Spirit of God cannot work this ungodly fear.]

1. Because that the soul by closing through the promise, by the Spirit, with JesusChrist, is removed off of that foundation upon which it stood when it justly feareddamnation. It hath received now forgiveness of sin, it is now no more under the law,but in Jesus Christ by faith; there is "therefore now no condemnation to it"(Acts 26:18; Rom 6:14, 8:1). The groundwork, therefore, being now taken away, theSpirit worketh that fear no more.

2. He cannot, after he hath come to the soul as a spirit of adoption, come againas a spirit of bondage to put the soul into his first fear; to wit, a fear of eternaldamnation, because he cannot say and unsay, do and undo. As a spirit of adoptionhe told me that my sins were forgiven me, that I was included in the covenant ofgrace, that God was my Father through Christ, that I was under the promise of salvation,and that this calling and gift of God to me is permanent, and without repentance.And do you think, that after he hath told me this, and sealed up the truth of itto my precious soul, that he will come to me, and tell me that I am yet in my sins,under the curse of the law and the eternal wrath of God? No, no, the word of thegospel is not yea, yea; nay, nay. It is only yea, and amen; it is so, "as Godis true" (2 Cor 1:17-20).

3. The state therefore of the sinner being changed, and that, too, by the Spirit'schanging his dispensation, leaving off to be now as a spirit of bondage to put usin fear, and coming to our heart as the spirit of adoption to make us cry, Father,Father, he cannot go back to his first work again; for if so, then he must gratify,yea, and also ratify, that profane and popish doctrine, forgiven to-day, unforgivento-morrow—a child of God to-day, a child of hell to-morrow; but what saith the Scriptures?"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizenswith the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation ofthe apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; inwhom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord;in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit"(Eph 2:19-22).

Object. But this is contrary to my experience. Why, Christian, what is thy experience?Why, I was at first, as you have said, possessed with a fear of damnation, and sounder the power of the spirit of bondage. Well said, and how was it then? Why, aftersome time of continuance in these fears, I had the spirit of adoption sent to meto seal up to my soul the forgiveness of sins, and so he did; and was also helpedby the same Spirit, as you have said, to call God Father, Father. Well said, andwhat after that? Why, after that I fell into as great fears as ever I was in before.[12]

Answ. All this may be granted, and yet nevertheless what I have said will abide atruth; for I have not said that after the spirit of adoption is come, a Christianshall not again be in as great fears, for he may have worse than he had at first;but I say, that after the spirit of adoption is come, the spirit of bondage, as such,is sent of God no more, to put us into those fears. For, mark, for we "havenot received the spirit of bondage again to fear." Let the word be true, whateverthy experience is. Dost thou not understand me?

After the Spirit of God has told me, and also helped me to believe it, that the Lordfor Christ's sake hath forgiven mine iniquities: he tells me no more that they arenot forgiven. After the Spirit of God has helped me, by Christ, to call God my Father,he tells me no more that the devil is my father. After he hath told me that I amnot under the law, but under grace, he tells me no more that I am not under grace,but under the law, and bound over by it, for my sins, to the wrath and judgment ofGod; but this is the fear that the Spirit, as a spirit of bondage, worketh in thesoul at first.

Quest. Can you give me further reason yet to convict me of the truth of what yousay?

Answ. Yes.

1. Because as the Spirit cannot give himself the lie, so he cannot overthrow hisown order of working, nor yet contradict that testimony that his servants, by hisinspiration, hath given of his order of working with them. But he must do the first,if he saith to us—and that after we have received his own testimony, that we areunder grace—that yet we are under sin, the law, and wrath.

And he must do the second, if—after he hath gone through the first work on us asa spirit of bondage, to the second as a spirit of adoption—he should overthrow asa spirit of bondage again what before he had built as a spirit of adoption.

And the third must therefore needs follow, that is, he overthroweth the testimonyof his servants; for they have said, that now we receive the spirit of bondage againto fear no more; that is, after that we by the Holy Ghost are enabled to call GodFather, Father.

2. This is evident also, because the covenant in which now the soul is interestedabideth, and is everlasting, not upon the supposition of my obedience, but upon theunchangeable purpose of God, and the efficacy of the obedience of Christ, whose bloodalso hath confirmed it. It is "ordered in all things, and sure," said David;and this, said he, "is all my salvation" (2 Sam 23:5). The covenant thenis everlasting in itself, being established upon so good a foundation, and thereforestandeth in itself everlastingly bent for the good of them that are involved in it.Hear the tenor of the covenant, and God's attesting of the truth thereof—"Thisis the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saiththe Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; andI will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people; and they shall not teachevery man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for allshall know me, from the least to the greatest; for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,and their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more" (Heb 8:10-12).Now if God will do thus unto those that he hath comprised in his everlasting covenantof grace, then he will remember their sins no more, that is, unto condemnation—forso it is that he doth forget them; then cannot the Holy Ghost, who also is one withthe Father and the Son, come to us again, even after we are possessed with theseglorious fruits of this covenant, as a spirit of bondage, to put us in fear of damnation.

3. The Spirit of God, after it has come to me as a spirit of adoption, can come tome no more as a spirit of bondage, to put me in fear, that is, with my first fears;because, by that faith that he, even he himself, hath wrought in me, to believe andcall God "Father, Father," I am united to Christ, and stand no more uponmine own legs, in mine own sins, or performances; but in his glorious righteousnessbefore him, and before his Father; but he will not cast away a member of his body,of his flesh, and of his bones; nor will he, that the Spirit of God should come asa spirit of bondage to put him into a grounded fear of damnation, that standeth completebefore God in the righteousness of Christ; for that is an apparent contradiction.[13]

Quest. But may it not come again as a spirit of bondage, to put me into my firstfears for my good?

Answ. The text saith the contrary; for we "have not received the spirit of bondageagain to fear." Nor is God put to it for want of wisdom, to say and unsay, doand undo, or else he cannot do good. When we are sons, and have received the adoptionof children, he doth not use to send the spirit after that to tell us we are slavesand heirs of damnation, also that we are without Christ, without the promise, withoutgrace, and without God in the world; and yet this he must do if it comes to us afterwe have received him as a spirit of adoption, and put us, as a spirit of bondage,in fear as before.

[This ungodly fear wrought by the spirit of the devil.]

Quest. But by what spirit is it then that I am brought again into fears, even intothe fears of damnation, and so into bondage?

Answ. By the spirit of the devil, who always labours to frustrate the faith, andhope, and comfort of the godly.

Quest. How doth that appear?

Answ. 1. By the groundlessness of such fears. 2. By the unseasonableness of them.3. By the effects of them.

1. By the groundlessness of such fears. The ground is removed; for a grounded fearof damnation is this—I am yet in my sins, in a state of nature, under the law, withoutfaith, and so under the wrath of God. This, I say, is the ground of the fear of damnation,the true ground to fear it; but now the man that we are talking of, is one that haththe ground of this fear taken away by the testimony and seal of the spirit of adoption.He is called, justified, and has, for the truth of this his condition, received theevidence of the spirit of adoption, and hath been thereby enabled to call God "Father,Father." Now he that hath received this, has the ground of the fear of damnationtaken from him; therefore his fear, I say, being without ground, is false, and sono work of the Spirit of God.

2. By the unseasonableness of them. This spirit always comes too late. It comes afterthe spirit of adoption is come. Satan is always for being too soon or too late. Ifhe would have men believe they are children, he would have them believe it whilethey are slaves, slaves to him and their lusts. If he would have them believe theyare slaves, it is when they are sons, and have received the spirit of adoption, andthe testimony, by that, of their sonship before. And this evil is rooted even inhis nature—"He is a liar, and the father of it" ; and his lies are notknown to saints more than in this, that he labours always to contradict the workand order of the Spirit of truth (John 8).

3. It also appears by the effects of such fears. For there is a great deal of differencebetwixt the natural effects of these fears which are wrought indeed by the spiritof bondage, and those which are wrought by the spirit of the devil afterwards. Theone, to wit, the fears that are wrought by the spirit of bondage, causeth us to confessthe truth, to wit, that we are Christless, graceless, faithless, and so at present;that is, while he is so working in a sinful and damnable case; but the other, towit, the spirit of the devil, when he comes, which is after the spirit of adoptionis come, he causeth us to make a lie; that is, to say we are Christless, graceless,and faithless. Now this, I say, is wholly, and in all part of it, a lie, and HE isthe father of it.

Besides, the direct tendency of the fear that the Spirit of God, as a spirit of bondage,worketh in the soul, is to cause us to come repenting home to God by Jesus Christ,but these latter fears tend directly to make a man, he having first denied the workof God, as he will, if he falleth in with them, to run quite away from God, and fromhis grace to him in Christ, as will evidently appear if thou givest but a plain andhonest answer to these questions following.

[This fear driveth a man from God.]

Quest. 1. Do not these fears make thee question whether there was ever a work ofgrace wrought in thy soul? Answ. Yes, verily, that they do. Quest. 2. Do not thesefears make thee question whether ever thy first fears were wrought by the Holy Spiritof God? Answ. Yes, verily, that they do. Quest. 3. Do not these fears make thee questionwhether ever thou hast had, indeed, any true comfort from the Word and Spirit ofGod? Answ. Yes, verily, that they do. Quest. 4. Dost thou not find intermixed withthese fears plain assertions that thy first comforts were either from thy fancy,or from the devil, and a fruit of his delusions? Answ. Yes, verily, that I do. Quest.5. Do not these fears weaken thy heart in prayer? Answ. Yes, that they do. Quest.6. Do not these fears keep thee back from laying hold of the promise of salvationby Jesus Christ? Answ. Yes; for I think if I were deceived before, if I were comfortedby a spirit of delusion before, why may it not be so again? so I am afraid to takehold of the promise. Quest. 7. Do not these fears tend to the hardening of thy heart,and to the making of thee desperate? Answ. Yes, verily, that they do. Quest. 8. Donot these fears hinder thee from profiting in hearing or reading of the Word? Answ.Yes, verily, for still whatever I hear or read, I think nothing that is good belongsto me. Quest. 9. Do not these fears tend to the stirring up of blasphemies in thyheart against God? Answ. Yes, to the almost distracting of me. Quest. 10. Do notthese fears make thee sometimes think, that it is in vain for thee to wait upon theLord any longer? Answ. Yes, verily; and I have many times almost come to this conclusion,that I will read, pray, hear, company with God's people, or the like, no longer.

Well, poor Christian, I am glad that thou hast so plainly answered me; but, prithee,look back upon thy answer. How much of God dost thou think is in these things? howmuch of his Spirit, and the grace of his Word? Just none at all; for it cannot bethat these things can be the true and natural effects of the workings of the Spiritof God: no, not as a spirit of bondage. These are not his doings. Dost thou not seethe very paw of the devil in them; yea, in every one of thy ten confessions? Is therenot palpably high wickedness in every one of the effects of this fear? I conclude,then, as I began, that the fear that the spirit of God, as a spirit of bondage, worketh,is good and godly, not only because of the author, but also because of the groundand effects; but yet it can last no longer as such, as producing the aforesaid conclusion,than till the Spirit, as the spirit of adoption, comes; because that then the soulis manifestly taken out of the state and condition into which it had brought itselfby nature and sin, and is put into Christ, and so by him into a state of life andblessedness by grace. Therefore, if first fears come again into thy soul, after thatthe spirit of adoption hath been with thee, know they come not from the Spirit ofGod, but apparently from the spirit of the devil, for they are a lie in themselves,and their effects are sinful and devilish.

Object. But I had also such wickedness as those in my heart at my first awakening,and therefore, by your argument, neither should that be but from the devil.

Answ. So far forth as such wickedness was in thy heart, so far did the devil andthine own heart seek to drive thee to despair, and drown thee there; but thou hastforgot the question; the question is not whether then thou wast troubled with suchiniquities, but whether thy fears of damnation at that time were not just and good,because grounded upon thy present condition, which was, for that thou wast out ofChrist, in thy sins, and under the curse of the law; and whether now, since the spiritof adoption is come unto thee, and hath thee, and hath done that for thee as hathbeen mentioned; I say, whether thou oughtest for anything whatsoever to give wayto the same fear, from the same ground of damnation; it is evident thou oughtestnot, because the ground, the cause, is removed.

Object. But since I was sealed to the day of redemption, I have grievously sinnedagainst God, have not I, therefore, cause to fear, as before? may not, therefore,the spirit of bondage be sent again to put me in fear, as at first? Sin was the firstcause, and I have sinned now.

Answ. No, by no means; for we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;that is, God hath not given it us, "for God hath not given us the spirit offear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim 1:7). If, therefore,our first fears come upon us again, after that we have received at God's hands thespirit of love, of power, and of a sound mind, it is to be refused, though we havegrievously sinned against our God. This is manifest from 1 Samuel 12:20; "Fearnot; ye have done all this wickedness." That is, not with that fear which wouldhave made them fly from God, as concluding that they were not now his people. Andthe reason is, because sin cannot dissolve the covenant into which the sons of God,by his grace, are taken. "If his children forsake my law, and walk not in myjudgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visittheir transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless,my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness tofail" (Psa 89:30-33). Now, if sin doth not dissolve the covenant; if sin dothnot cast me out of this covenant, which is made personally with the Son of God, andinto the hands of which by the grace of God I am put, then ought I not, though Ihave sinned, to fear with my first fears.

Sin, after that the spirit of adoption is come, cannot dissolve the relation of Fatherand son, of Father and child. And this the church did rightly assert, and that whenher heart was under great hardness, and when she had the guilt of erring from hisways, saith she. "Doubtless thou art our Father" (Isa 63:16,17). Doubtlessthou art, though this be our case, and though Israel should not acknowledge us forsuch.

That sin dissolveth not the relation of Father and son is further evident—"Whenthe fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made underthe law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoptionof sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son intoyour hearts, crying, [Abba, or] Father, Father." Now mark, "wherefore thouart no more a servant" ; that is, no more under the law of death and damnation,"but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Gal 4:4-7).

Suppose a child doth grievously transgress against and offend his father, is therelation between them therefore dissolved? Again, suppose the father should scourgeand chasten the son for such offence, is the relation between them therefore dissolved?Yea, suppose the child should now, through ignorance, cry, and say, This man is nowno more my father; is he, therefore, now no more his father? Doth not everybody seethe folly of such arguings? Why, of the same nature is that doctrine that saith,that after we have received the spirit of adoption, that the spirit of bondage issent to us again to put us in fear of eternal damnation.

Know then that thy sin, after thou hast received the spirit of adoption to cry untoGod, Father, Father, is counted the transgression of a child, not of a slave, andthat all that happeneth to thee for that transgression is but the chastisement ofa father—and "what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" It is worthyour observation, that the Holy Ghost checks those who, under their chastisementsfor sin, forget to call God their Father—"Ye have," said Paul, "forgottenthe exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thouthe chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him." Yea, observeyet further, that God's chastising of his children for their sin, is a a sign ofgrace and love, and not of his wrath, and thy damnation; therefore now there is noground for the aforesaid fear—"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgethevery son whom he receiveth" (Heb 12). Now, if God would not have those thathave received the Spirit of the Son, however he chastises them, to forget the relationthat by the adoption of sons they stand in to God, if he checks them that do forgetit, when his rod is upon their backs for sin, then it is evident that those fearsthat thou hast under a colour of the coming again of the Spirit, as a spirit of bondage,to put thee in fear of eternal damnation, is nothing else but Satan disguised, thebetter to play his pranks upon thee.

I will yet give you two or three instances more, wherein it will be manifest thatwhatever happeneth to thee, I mean as a chastisement for sin, after the spirit ofadoption is come, thou oughtest to hold fast by faith the relation of Father andson. The people spoken of by Moses are said to have lightly esteemed the rock oftheir salvation, which rock is Jesus Christ, and that is a grievous sin indeed, yet,saith he, "Is not God thy Father that hath bought thee?" and then putsthem upon considering the days of old (Deut 32:6). They in the prophet Jeremiah hadplayed the harlot with many lovers, and done evil things as they could; and, as anotherscripture hath it, gone a-whoring from under their God, yet God calls to them bythe prophet, saying, "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thouart the guide of my youth?" (Jer 3:4). Remember also that eminent text mademention of in 1 Samuel 12:20, "Fear not; ye have done all this wickedness"; and labour to maintain faith in thy soul, of thy being a child, it being true thatthou hast received the spirit of adoption before, and so that thou oughtest not tofall under thy first fears, because the ground is taken away, of thy eternal damnation.

Now, let not any, from what hath been said, take courage to live loose lives, undera supposition that once in Christ, and ever in Christ, and the covenant cannot bebroken, nor the relation of Father and child dissolved; for they that do so, it isevident, have not known what it is to receive the spirit of adoption. It is the spiritof the devil in his own hue that suggesteth this unto them, and that prevaileth withthem to do so. Shall we do evil that good may come? shall we sin that grace may abound?or shall we be base in life because God by grace hath secured us from wrath to come?God forbid; these conclusions betoken one void of the fear of God indeed, and ofthe spirit of adoption too. For what son is he, that because the father cannot breakthe relation, nor suffer sin to do it—that is, betwixt the Father and him—that willtherefore say, I will live altogether after my own lusts, I will labour to be a continualgrief to my Father?

[Considerations to prevent such temptations.]

Yet lest the devil (for some are "not ignorant of his devices" ), shouldget an advantage against some of the sons, to draw them away from the filial fearof their Father, let me here, to prevent such temptations, present such with thesefollowing considerations.

First. Though God cannot, will not, dissolve the relation which the spirit of adoptionhath made betwixt the Father and the Son, for any sins that such do commit, yet hecan, and often doth, take away from them the comfort of their adoption, not sufferingchildren while sinning to have the sweet and comfortable sense thereof on their hearts.He can tell how to let snares be round about them, and sudden fear trouble them.He can tell how to send darkness that they may not see, and to let abundance of waterscover them (Job 22:10,11).

Second. God can tell how to hide his face from them, and so to afflict them withthat dispensation, that it shall not be in the power of all the world to comfortthem. "When he hideth his face, who then can behold him?" (Job 23:8,9,34:29).

Third. God can tell how to make thee again to possess the sins that he long sincehath pardoned, and that in such wise that things shall be bitter to thy soul. "Thouwritest bitter things against me," says Job, "and makest me to possessthe iniquities of my youth." By this also he once made David groan and prayagainst it as an insupportable affliction (Job 13:26; Psa 25:7).

Fourth. God can lay thee in the dungeon in chains, and roll a stone upon thee, hecan make thy feet fast in the stocks, and make thee a gazing-stock to men and angels(Lam 3:7,53,55; Job 13:27; Nahum 3:6).

Fifth. God can tell how to cause to cease the sweet operations and blessed influencesof his grace in thy soul, and to make those gospel showers that formerly thou hastenjoyed to become now to thee nothing but powder and dust (Psa 51; Deut 28:24).

Sixth. God can tell how to fight against thee "with the sword of his mouth,"and to make thee a butt for his arrows; and this is a dispensation most dreadful(Rev 2:16; Job 6:4; Psa 38:2-5).

Seventh. God can tell how so to bow thee down with guilt and distress that thou shaltin no wise be able to lift up thy head (Psa 40:12).

Eighth. God can tell how to break thy bones, and to make thee by reason of that tolive in continual anguish of spirit: yea, he can send a fire into thy bones thatshall burn, and none shall quench it (Psa 51:8; Lam 3:4, 1:13; Psa 102:3; Job 30:30).

Ninth. God can tell how to lay thee aside, and make no use of thee as to any workfor him in thy generation. He can throw thee aside "as a broken vessel"(Psa 31:12; Eze 44:10-13).

Tenth. God can tell how to kill thee, and to take thee away from the earth for thysins (1 Cor 11:29-32).

Eleventh. God can tell how to plague thee in thy death, with great plagues, and oflong continuance (Psa 78:45; Deut 28).

Twelfth. What shall I say? God can tell how to let Satan loose upon thee; when thouliest a dying he can license him then to assault thee with great temptations, hecan tell how to make thee possess the guilt of all thy unkindness towards him, andthat when thou, as I said, art going out of the world, he can cause that thy lifeshall be in continual doubt before thee, and not suffer thee to take any comfortday nor night; yea, he can drive thee even to a madness with his chastisements forthy folly, and yet all shall be done by him to thee, as a father chastiseth his son(Deut 28:65-67).

Thirteenth. Further, God can tell how to tumble thee from off thy deathbed in a cloud,he can let thee die in the dark; when thou art dying thou shalt not know whitherthou art going, to wit, whether to heaven or to hell. Yea, he can tell how to letthee seem to come short of life, both in thine own eyes, and also in the eyes ofthem that behold thee. "Let us therefore fear," says the apostle,—thoughnot with slavish, yet with filial fear—"lest a promise being left us of enteringinto his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it" (Heb 4:1).

Now all this, and much more, can God do to his as a Father by his rod and fatherlyrebukes; ah, who know but those that are under them, what terrors, fears, distresses,and amazements God can bring his people into; he can put them into a furnace, a fire,and no tongue can tell what, so unsearchable and fearful are his fatherly chastisements,and yet never give them the spirit of bondage again to fear. Therefore, if thou arta son, take heed of sin, lest all these things overtake thee, and come upon thee.

Object. But I have sinned, and am under this high and mighty hand of God.

Answ. Then thou knowest what I say is true, but yet take heed of hearkening untosuch temptations as would make thee believe thou art out of Christ, under the law,and in a state of damnation; and take heed also, that thou dost not conclude thatthe author of these fears is the Spirit of God come to thee again as a spirit ofbondage, to put thee into such fears, lest unawares to thyself thou dost defy thedevil, dishonour thy Father, overthrow good doctrine, and bring thyself into a doubletemptation.

Object. But if God deals thus with a man, how can he otherwise think but that heis a reprobate, a graceless, Christless, and faithless one?

Answ. Nay, but why dost thou tempt the Lord thy God? Why dost thou sin and provokethe eyes of his glory? Why "doth a living man complain, a man for the punishmentof his sins?" (Lam 3:39). He doth not willingly afflict nor grieve the childrenof men; but if thou sinnest, though God should save thy soul, as he will if thouart an adopted son of God, yet he will make thee know that sin is sin, and his rodthat he will chastise thee with, if need be, shall be made of scorpions; read thewhole book of the Lamentations; read Job's and David's complaints; yea, read whathappened to his Son, his well-beloved, and that when he did but stand in the roomof sinners, being in himself altogether innocent, and then consider, O thou sinningchild of God, if it is any injustice in God, yea, if it be not necessary, that thoushouldest be chastised for thy sin. But then, I say, when the hand of God is uponthee, how grievous soever it be, take heed, and beware that thou give not way tothy first fears, lest, as I said before, thou addest to thine affliction; and tohelp thee here, let me give you a few instances of the carriages of some of the saintsunder some of the most heavy afflictions that they have met with for sin.

[Carriages of some of the saints under heavy afflictions for sin.]

First. Job was in great affliction and that, as he confessed, for sin, insomuch thathe said God had set him for his mark to shoot at, and that he ran upon him like agiant, that he took him by the neck and shook him to pieces, and counted him forhis enemy; that he hid his face from him, and that he could not tell where to findhim; yet he counted not all this as a sign of a damnable state, but as a trial, andchastisement, and said, when he was in the hottest of the battle, "when he hathtried me I shall come forth as gold." And again, when he was pressed upon bythe tempter to think that God would kill him, he answers with greatest confidence,"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (Job 7:20, 13:15, 14:12, 16,19:11, 23:8-10).

Second. David complained that God had broken his bones, that he had set his faceagainst his sins, and had taken from him the joy of his salvation: yet even at thistime he saith, "O God, thou God of my salvation" (Psa 51:8,9,12,14).

Third. Heman complained that his soul was full of troubles, that God had laid himin the lowest pit, that he had put his acquaintance far from him, and was castingoff his soul, and had hid his face from him. That he was afflicted from his youthup, and ready to die with trouble: he saith, moreover, that the fierce wrath of Godwent over him, that his terrors had cut him off; yea, that by reason of them he wasdistracted; and yet, even before he maketh any of these complaints, he takes fasthold of God as his, saying, "O Lord God of my salvation" (Psa 88).

Fourth. The church in the Lamentations complains that the Lord had afflicted herfor her transgressions, and that in the day of his fierce anger; also that he hadtrodden under foot her mighty men, and that he had called the heathen against her;she says, that he had covered her with a cloud in his anger, that he was an enemy,and that he had hung a chain upon her; she adds, moreover, that he had shut out herprayer, broken her teeth with gravel stones, and covered her with ashes, and in conclusion,that he had utterly rejected her. But what doth she do under all this trial? dothshe give up her faith and hope, and return to that fear that begot the first bondage?No: "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him"; yea, she adds, "O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul, thou hastredeemed my life" (Lam 1:5, 2:1,2,5, 3:7,8,16, 5:22, 3:24,31,58).

These things show, that God's people even after they have received the spirit ofadoption, have fell foully into sin, and have been bitterly chastised for it; andalso, that when the rod was most smart upon them, they made great conscience of givingway to their first fears wherewith they were made afraid by the Spirit as it wroughtas a spirit of bondage; for indeed there is no such thing as the coming of the spiritof bondage to put us in fear the second time, as such, that is, after he is comeas the spirit of adoption to the soul.

I conclude then, that that fear that is wrought by the spirit of bondage is goodand godly, because the ground for it is sound; and I also conclude, that he comesto the soul as a spirit of bondage but once, and that once is before he comes asa spirit of adoption: and if therefore the same fear doth again take hold of thyheart, that is, if after thou hast received the spirit of adoption thou fearest againthe damnation of thy soul, that thou art out of Christ and under the law, that fearis bad and of the devil, and ought by no means to be admitted by thee.

[How the devil worketh these fears.]

1. Quest. But since it is as you say, how doth the devil, after the spirit of adoptionis come, work the child of God into those fears of being out of Christ, not forgiven,and so an heir of damnation again?

Answ. 1. By giving the lie, and by prevailing with us to give it too, to the workof grace wrought in our hearts, and to the testimony of the Holy Spirit of adoption.Or, 2. By abusing of our ignorance of the everlasting love of God to his in Christ,and the duration of the covenant of grace. Or, 3. By abusing some scripture thatseems to look that way, but doth not. Or, 4. By abusing our senses and reason. Or,5. By strengthening of our unbelief. Or, 6. By overshadowing of our judgment withhorrid darkness. Or, 7. By giving of us counterfeit representations of God. Or, 8.By stirring up, and setting in a rage, our inward corruptions. Or, 9. By pouringinto our hearts abundance of horrid blasphemies. Or, 10. By putting of wrong constructionson the rod, and chastising hand of God. Or, 11. By charging upon us, that our illbehaviours under the rod, and chastising hand of God, is a sign that we indeed haveno grace, but are downright graceless reprobates. By these things and other likethese, Satan, I say, Satan bringeth the child of God, not only to the borders, buteven into the bowels of the fears of damnation, after it hath received a blessedtestimony of eternal life, and that by the Holy Spirit of adoption.

[The people of God should fear his rod.]

Quest. But would you not have the people of God stand in fear of his rod, and beafraid of his judgments?

Answ. Yes, and the more they are rightly afraid of them, the less and the seldomerwill they come under them; for it is want of fear that brings us into sin, and itis sin that brings us into these afflictions. But I would not have them fear withthe fear of slaves; for that will add no strength against sin; but I would have themfear with the reverential fear of sons, and that is the way to depart from evil.

Quest. How is that?

Answ. Why, having before received the spirit of adoption; still to believe that heis our father, and so to fear with the fear of children, not as slaves fear a tyrant.I would therefore have them to look upon his rod, rebukes, chidings, and chastisements,and also upon the wrath wherewith he doth inflict, to be but the dispensations oftheir Father. This believed, maintains, or at least helps to maintain, in the heart,a son-like bowing under the rod. It also maintains in the soul a son-like confessionof sin, and a justifying of God under all the rebukes that he grieveth us with. Italso engageth us to come to him, to claim and lay hold of former mercies, to expectmore, and to hope a good end shall be made of all God's present dispensations towardsus (Micah 7:9; Lam 1:18; Psa 77:10-12; Lam 3:31-34).[14]

Now God would have us thus fear his rod, because he is resolved to chastise us therewith,if so be we sin against him, as I have already showed; for although God's bowelsturn within him, even while he is threatening his people, yet if we sin, he willlay on the rod so hard as to make us cry, "Woe unto us that we have sinned"(Lam 5:16); and therefore, as I said, we should be afraid of his judgments, yet onlyas afore is provided as of the rod, wrath, and judgment of a Father.

[Five considerations to move to child-like fear.]

Quest. But have you yet any other considerations to move us to fear God with child-likefear?

Answ. I will in this place give you five. 1. Consider that God thinks meet to haveit so, and he is wiser in heart than thou; he knows best how to secure his peoplefrom sin, and to that end hath given them law and commandments to read, that theymay learn to fear him as a Father (Job 37:24; Eccl 3:14; Deut 17:18,19). 2. Considerhe is mighty in power; if he touch but with a fatherly touch, man nor angel cannotbear it; yea, Christ makes use of that argument, he "hath power to cast intohell; Fear him" (Luke 12:4,5). 3. Consider that he is everywhere; thou canstnot be out of his sight or presence; nor out of the reach of his hand. "Fearye not me? saith the Lord." "Can any hide himself in secret places thatI shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord"(Jer 5:22, 23:24). 4. Consider that he is holy, and cannot look with liking uponthe sins of his own people. Therefore, says Peter, be "as obedient children,not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but ashe which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, becauseit is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who withoutrespect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourninghere in fear." 5. Consider that he is good, and has been good to thee, goodin that he hath singled thee out from others, and saved thee from their death andhell, though thou perhaps wast worse in thy life than those that he left when helaid hold on thee. O this should engage thy heart to fear the Lord all the days ofthy life. They "shall fear the Lord, and his goodness in the latter days"(Hosea 3:5). And now for the present, I have done with that fear, I mean as to itsfirst workings, to wit, to put me in fear of damnation, and shall come, in the nextplace, to treat


[OF THE GRACE OF FEAR MORE IMMEDIATELY INTENDED IN THE TEXT.]

I shall now speak to this fear, which I call a lasting godly fear; first, by wayof explication; by which I shall show, FIRST. How by the Scripture it is described.SECOND. I shall show you what this fear flows from. And then, THIRD. I shall alsoshow you what doth flow from it.

[How this Fear is described by the Scripture.]

FIRST. For the first of these, to wit, how by the Scripture this fear is described;and that, First. More generally. Second. More particularly.

First. More generally.

1. It is called a grace, that is, a sweet and blessed work of the Spirit of grace,as he is given to the elect by God. Hence the apostle says, "let us have grace,whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear" (Heb 12:28).For as that fear that brings bondage is wrought in the soul by the Spirit as a spiritof bondage, so this fear, which is a fear that we have while we are in the libertyof sons, is wrought by him as he manifesteth to us our liberty; "where the Spiritof the Lord is, there is liberty," that is, where he is as a spirit of adoption,setting the soul free from that bondage under which it was held by the same Spiritwhile he wrought as a spirit of bondage. Hence as he is called a spirit working bondageto fear, so he, as the Spirit of the Son and of adoption, is called "the Spiritof the fear of the Lord" (Isa 11:2). Because it is that Spirit of grace thatis the author, animater, and maintainer of our filial fear, or of that fear thatis son-like, and that subjecteth the elect unto God, his word, and ways; unto him,his word, and ways, as a Father.

2. This fear is called also the fear of God, not as that which is ungodly is, noryet as that may be which is wrought by the Spirit as a spirit of bondage, but byway of eminency; to wit, as a dispensation of the grace of the gospel, and as a fruitof eternal love. "I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not departfrom me" (Jer 32:38-41).

3. This fear of God is called God's treasure, for it is one of his choice jewels,it is one of the rarities of heaven, "The fear of the Lord is his treasure"(Isa 33:6). And it may well go under such a title; for as treasure, so the fear ofthe Lord is not found in every corner. It is said all men have not faith, becausethat also is more precious than gold; the same is said about this fear—"Thereis no fear of God before their eyes" ; that is, the greatest part of men areutterly destitute of this godly jewel, this treasure, the fear of the Lord. Poorvagrants, when they come straggling to a lord's house, may perhaps obtain some scrapsand fragments, they may also obtain old shoes, and some sorry cast-off rags, butthey get not any of his jewels, they may not touch his choicest treasure; that iskept for the children, and those that shall be his heirs. We may say the same alsoof this blessed grace of fear, which is called here God's treasure. It is only bestowedupon the elect, the heirs and children of the promise; all others are destitute ofit, and so continue to death and judgment.

4. This grace of fear is that which maketh men excel and go beyond all men, in theaccount of God; it is that which beautifies a man, and prefers him above all other;"Hast thou," says God to Satan, "considered my servant Job, that thereis none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God,and escheweth evil?" (Job 1:8, 2:3). Mind it, "There is none like him,none alike him in the earth." I suppose he means either [that Job was the onlymost perfect and upright man] in those parts, or else he was the man that aboundedin the fear of the Lord; none like him to fear the Lord, he only excelled otherswith respect to his reverencing of God, bowing before him, and sincerely complyingwith his will; and therefore is counted the excellent man. It is not the knowledgeof the will of God, but our sincere complying therewith, that proveth we fear theLord; and it is our so doing that putteth upon us the note of excelling; hereby appearsour perfection, herein is manifest our uprightness. A perfect and an upright manis one that feareth God, and that because he escheweth evil. Therefore this graceof fear is that without which no part or piece of service which we do to God, canbe accepted of him. It is, as I may call it, the salt of the covenant, which seasoneththe heart, and therefore must not be lacking there; it is also that which salteth,or seasoneth all our doings, and therefore must not be lacking in any of them (Lev2:13).

5. I take this grace of fear to be that which softeneth and mollifieth the heart,and that makes it stand in awe both of the mercies and judgments of God. This isthat that retaineth in the heart that due dread, and reverence of the heavenly majesty,that is meet should be both in, and kept in the heart of poor sinners. Whereforewhen David described this fear, in the exercise of it, he calls it an awe of God."Stand in awe," saith he, "and sin not" ; and again, "myheart standeth in awe of thy word" ; and again, "Let all the earth fearthe Lord" ; what is that? or how is that? why? "Let all the inhabitantsof the world stand in awe of him" (Psa 4:4, 119:161, 33:8). This is that thereforethat is, as I said before, so excellent a thing in the eyes of God, to wit, a graceof the Spirit, the fear of God, his treasure, the salt of the covenant, that whichmakes men excel all others; for it is that which maketh the sinner to stand in aweof God, which posture is the most comely thing in us, throughout all ages. But,

Second. And more particularly.

1. This grace is called "the beginning of knowledge," because by the firstgracious discovery of God to the soul, this grace is begot: and again, because thefirst time that the soul doth apprehend God in Christ to be good unto it, this graceis animated, by which the soul is put into an holy awe of God, which causeth it withreverence and due attention to hearken to him, and tremble before him (Prov 1:7).It is also by virtue of this fear that the soul doth inquire yet more after the blessedknowledge of God. This is the more evident, because, where this fear of God is wanting,or where the discovery of God is not attended with it, the heart still abides rebellious,obstinate, and unwilling to know more, that it might comply therewith; nay, for wantof it, such sinners say rather, As for God, let him "depart from us," andfor the Almighty, "we desire not the knowledge of his ways."

2. This fear is called "the beginning of wisdom," because then, and nottill then, a man begins to be truly spiritually wise; what wisdom is there wherethe fear of God is not? (Job 28:28; Psa 111:10). Therefore the fools are describedthus, "For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord"(Prov 1:29). The Word of God is the fountain of knowledge, into which a man willnot with godly reverence look, until he is endued with the fear of the Lord. Thereforeit is rightly called "the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom andinstruction" (Prov 1:7). It is therefore this fear of the Lord that makes aman wise for his soul, for life, and for another world. It is this that teachethhim how he should do to escape those spiritual and eternal ruins that the fool isovertaken with, and swallowed up of for ever. A man void of this fear of God, whereverhe is wise, or in whatever he excels, yet about the matters of his soul, there isnone more foolish than himself; for through the want of the fear of the Lord, heleaves the best things at sixes and sevens, and only pursueth with all his heartthose that will leave him in the snare when he dies.

3. This fear of the Lord is to hate evil. To hate sin and vanity. Sin and vanity,they are the sweet morsels of the fool, and such which the carnal appetite of theflesh runs after; and it is only the virtue that is in the fear of the Lord thatmaketh the sinner have an antipathy against it (Job 20:12). "By the fear ofthe Lord men depart from evil" (Prov 16:6). That is, men shun, separate themselvesfrom, and eschew it in its appearances. Wherefore it is plain that those that loveevil, are not possessed with the fear of God.

There is a generation that will pursue evil, that will take it in, nourish it, layit up in their hearts, hide it, and plead for it, and rejoice to do it. These cannothave in them the fear of the Lord, for that is to hate it, and to make men departfrom it: where the fear of God and sin is, it will be with the soul, as it was withIsrael when Omri and Tibni strove to reign among them both at once, one of them mustbe put to death, they cannot live together (see 1 Kings 16): sin must down, for thefear of the Lord begetteth in the soul a hatred against it, an abhorrence of it,therefore sin must die, that is, as to the affections and lusts of it; for as Solomonsays in another case, "where no wood is, the fire goeth out." So we maysay, where there is a hatred of sin, and where men depart from it, there it losethmuch of its power, waxeth feeble, and decayeth. Therefore Solomon saith again, "Fearthe Lord, and depart from evil" (Prov 3:7). As who should say, Fear the Lord,and it will follow that you shall depart from evil: departing from evil is a naturalconsequence, a proper effect of the fear of the Lord where it is. By the fear ofthe Lord men depart from evil, that is, in their judgment, will, mind, and affections.Not that by the fear of the Lord sin is annihilated, or has lost its being in thesoul; there still will those Canaanites be, but they are hated, loathed, abominated,fought against, prayed against, watched against, striven against, and mortified bythe soul (Rom 7).

4. This fear is called a fountain of life—"The fear of the Lord is a fountainof life, to depart from the snares of death" (Prov 14:27). It is a fountain,or spring, which so continually supplieth the soul with variety of considerationsof sin, of God, of death, and life eternal, as to keep the soul in continual exerciseof virtue and in holy contemplation. It is a fountain of life; every operation thereof,every act and exercise thereof, hath a true and natural tendency to spiritual andeternal felicity. Wherefore the wise man saith in another place, "The fear ofthe Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall notbe visited with evil" (Prov 19:23). It tendeth to life; even as of nature, everythinghath a tendency to that which is most natural to itself; the fire to burn, the waterto wet, the stone to fall, the sun to shine, sin to defile, &c. Thus I say, thefear of the Lord tendeth to life; the nature of it is to put the soul upon fearingof God, of closing with Christ, and of walking humbly before him. "It is a fountainof life, to depart from the snares of death." What are the snares of death,but sin, the wiles of the devil, &c. From which the fear of God hath a naturaltendency to deliver thee, and to keep thee in the way that tendeth to life.

5. This fear of the Lord, it is called "the instruction of wisdom" (Prov15:33). You heard before that it is the beginning of wisdom, but here you find itcalled the instruction of wisdom; for indeed it is not only that which makes a manbegin to be wise, but to improve, and make advantage of all those helps and meansto life, which God hath afforded to that end; that is, both to his own, and his neighbour'ssalvation also. It is the instruction of wisdom; it will make a man capable to useall his natural parts, all his natural wisdom to God's glory, and his own good. Therelieth, even in many natural things, that, into which if we were instructed, wouldyield us a great deal of help to the understanding of spiritual matters; "Forin wisdom has God made all the world" ; nor is there anything that God has made,whether in heaven above, or on earth beneath, but there is couched some spiritualmystery in it. The which men matter no more than they do the ground they tread on,or than the stones that are under their feet, and all because they have not thisfear of the Lord; for had they that, that would teach them to think, even from thatknowledge of God, that hath by the fear of him put into their hearts, that he beingso great and so good, there must needs be abundance of wisdom in the things he hathmade: that fear would also endeavour to find out what that wisdom is; yea, and giveto the soul the instruction of it. In that it is called the instruction of wisdom,it intimates to us that its tendency is to keep all even, and in good order in thesoul. When Job perceived that his friends did not deal with him in an even spiritand orderly manner, he said that they forsook "the fear of the Almighty"(Job 6:14). For this fear keeps a man even in his words and judgment of things. Itmay be compared to the ballast of the ship, and to the poise of the balance of thescales; it keeps all even, and also makes us steer our course right with respectto the things that pertain to God and man.

What this fear of God flows from.

SECOND. I come now to the second thing, to wit, to show you what this fear of Godflows from.

First. This fear, this grace of fear, this son-like fear of God, it flows from thedistinguishing love of God to his elect. "I will be their God," saith he,"and I will put my fear in their hearts." None other obtain it but thosethat are enclosed and bound up in that bundle. Therefore they, in the same place,are said to be those that are wrapt up in the eternal or everlasting covenant ofGod, and so designed to be the people that should be blessed with this fear. "Iwill make an everlasting covenant with them" saith God, "that I will notturn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, thatthey shall not depart from me" (Jer 32:38-40). This covenant declares unto menthat God hath, in his heart, distinguishing love for some of the children of men;for he saith he will be their God, that he will not leave them, nor yet suffer themto depart, to wit, finally, from him. Into these men's hearts he doth put his fear,this blessed grace, and this rare and effectual sign of his love, and of their eternalsalvation.

Second. This fear flows from a new heart. This fear is not in men by nature; thefear of devils they may have, as also an ungodly fear of God; but this fear is notin any but where there dwelleth a new heart, another fruit and effect of this everlastingcovenant, and of this distinguishing love of God. "A new heart also will I givethem" ; a new heart, what a one is that? why, the same prophet saith in anotherplace, "A heart to fear me," a circumcised one, a sanctified one (Jer 32:39;Eze 11:19, 36:26). So then, until a man receive a heart from God, a heart from heaven,a new heart, he has not this fear of God in him. New wine must not be put into oldbottles, lest the one, to wit, the bottles, mar the wine, or the wine the bottles;but new wine must have new bottles, and then both shall be preserved (Matt 9:17).This fear of God must not be, cannot be found in old hearts; old hearts are not bottlesout of which this fear of God proceeds, but it is from an honest and good heart,from a new one, from such an one that is also an effect of the everlasting covenant,and love of God to men.

" I will give them one heart" to fear me; there must in all actions beheart, and without heart no action is good, nor can there be faith, love, or fear,from every kind of heart. These must flow from such an one, whose nature is to produce,and bring forth such fruit. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?so from a corrupt heart there cannot proceed such fruit as the fear of God, as tobelieve in God, and love God (Luke 6:43-45). The heart naturally is deceitful aboveall things, and desperately wicked; how then should there flow from such an one thefear of God? It cannot be. He, therefore, that hath not received at the hands ofGod a new heart, cannot fear the Lord.

Third. This fear of God flows from an impression, a sound impression, that the Wordof God maketh on our souls; for without an impress of the Word, there is no fearof God. Hence it is said that God gave to Israel good laws, statutes, and judgments,that they might learn them, and in learning them, learn to fear the Lord their God.Therefore, saith God, in another place, "Gather the people together, men, andwomen, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear,and that they may learn and fear the Lord your God" (Deut 6:1,2, 31:12). Foras a man drinketh good doctrine into his soul, so he feareth God. If he drinks itin much, he feareth him greatly; if he drinketh it in but little, he feareth himbut little; if he drinketh it not in at all, he feareth him not at all. This, therefore,teacheth us how to judge who feareth the Lord; they are those that learn, and thatstand in awe of the Word. Those that have by the holy Word of God the very form ofitself engraven upon the face of their souls, they fear God (Rom 6:17).[15]

But, on the contrary, those that do not love good doctrine, that give not place tothe wholesome truths of the God of heaven, revealed in his Testament, to take placein their souls, but rather despise it, and the true possessors of it, they fear notGod. For, as I said before, this fear of God, it flows from a sound impression thatthe Word of God maketh upon the soul; and therefore,

Fourth. This godly fear floweth from faith; for where the Word maketh a sound impressionon the soul, by that impression is faith begotten, whence also this fear doth flow.Therefore right hearing of the Word is called "the hearing of faith" (Gal3:2). Hence it is said again, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of thingsnot seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, bythe which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is byfaith" (Heb 11:7). The Word, the warning that he had from God of things notseen as yet, wrought, through faith therein, that fear of God in his heart that madehim prepare against unseen dangers, and that he might be an inheritor of unseen happiness.Where, therefore, there is not faith in the Word of God, there can be none of thisfear; and where the Word doth not make sound impression on the soul, there can benone of this faith. So that as vices hang together, and have the links of a chain,dependence one upon another, even so the graces of the Spirit also are the fruitsof one another, and have such dependence on each other, that the one cannot be withoutthe other. No faith, no fear of God; devil's faith, devil's fear; saint's faith,saint's fear.

Fifth. This godly fear also floweth from sound repentance for and from sin; godlysorrow worketh repentance, and godly repentance produceth this fear— "For behold,"says Paul, "this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, whatcarefulness it wrought in you! yea, what clearing of yourselves! yea, wha