Art thou in thine own thoughts, or in the thoughts of others, of these last small ones, small in grace, small in gifts, small in esteem upon this account, yet if thou fearest God, if thou fearest God indeed, thou art indeed blessed with the best of saints. The last star stands as fixed, as the biggest of them all, in heaven. “He will bless them that fear him, small and great.” He will bless them, that is, with the same blessing of eternal life. The different degrees of grace in saints do not make the blessing, as to its nature, differ. It is the same heaven, life, glory, and eternity of felicity that they are promised to be blessed with in the text. That is observable, which I mentioned before, where Christ, on the day of judgment, particularly mentioneth and owneth the least—” Since ye did it not to one of the least.” The least then was there, in his kingdom, glory, and the biggest of all. “He will bless them that fear him, small and great.” The small are named first in the text and are so the first in rank; it may be to show that though they may be slighted and little set by in the world, they are much set by in the eyes of the Lord.
Are great saints only to have the kingdom and the glory everlasting? Are great works only to be rewarded? Works that are done under great grace and the abundance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost? No: “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his (a disciple’s) reward.” Mark, here is but a little gift, a cup of cold water, and that given to a little saint, but both taken particular notice of by our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 10:42). “He will give reward to his servants the prophets, and to his saints, and to them that fear his name, small and great” (Rev 11:18). The small, therefore, among them that fear God, are blessed with the great, as the great, with the same salvation, the same glory, and the same eternal life; and they shall have, even as the great ones also shall, as much as they can carry; as much as their hearts, souls, bodies, and capacities can hold.
Thirteenth Privilege. Dost thou fear God? Why, the Holy Ghost hath on purpose indited for thee a whole psalm to sing concerning thyself. So that thou mayest even as thou art in thy calling, bed, journey, or whenever, sing out thine own blessed and happy condition to thine own comfort and the comfort of thy fellows. The psalm is called the 128th Psalm; I will set it before thee, both as it is in the reading and in the singing Psalms—
” Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house; thy children, like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children and peace upon Israel.”
AS IT IS SUNG.
Blessed art thou that fearest God, And walkest in his way: For of thy labor thou shalt eat; Happy art thou, I say! Like fruitful vines on thy house side, So doth thy wife spring out; Thy children stand like olive plants Thy table roundabout.
I was done with the privileges when I removed one objection.
Object. But the Scripture says, “perfect love casteth out fear”; and therefore it seems that saints, after that a spirit of adoption comes, should not fear, but do their duty, as another Scripture saith, without it (1 John 4:18; Luke 1:74,75).
Answ. Fear, as I have shown you, may be taken several ways. 1. It may be taken for the fear of devils. 2. It may be taken for the fear of reprobates. 3. It may be taken for the fear wrought in the godly by the Spirit as a spirit of bondage; or 4. It may be taken for the fear that I have been but now discoursing of.
Now the fear that perfect love casts out cannot be that son-like, gracious fear of God, that I have in this last place been treating of; because that fear that love casts out hath torment, but so has not the son-like fear. Therefore, the fear that loves casts out is either that fear that is like the fear of devils and reprobates or that fear that is begotten in the heart by the Spirit of God as a spirit of bondage, or both; for, indeed, all these kinds of fear have torment, and therefore may be cast out; and are so by the spirit of adoption, which is called the spirit of faith and love, when he comes with power into the soul; so that without this fear we should serve him. But to argue from these texts that we ought not to fear God, or to mix fear with our worship of him, is as much as to say that by the spirit of adoption, we are made very rogues; for not to fear God is by the Scripture applied to such (Luke 23:40). But for what I have affirmed the Scripture doth plentifully confirm, saying, “Happy is the man that feareth always.” And again, “It shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him.” Fear, therefore, the spirit of the fear of the Lord, is a grace that intensely beautifies a Christian, his words, and all his ways: “Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts” (2 Chron 19:7).
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