Works of John Bunyan: A TREATISE OF THE FEAR OF GOD. 470

 

[USE SECOND, an exhortation to fear God.]

SECOND USE. My next word shall be AN EXHORTATION TO FEAR GOD. I mean an exhortation to saints—"O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him." Not that every saint doth fear God, but as the apostle saith in another case, "I beseech you, do it more and more." As I have shown you, the fear of the Lord is a grace of the new covenant, as other saving graces are, and so is capable of being stronger or weaker, as other graces are. Wherefore I beseech you, fear him more and more.

It is said of Obadiah that he feared the Lord greatly: every saint fears the Lord, but every saint does not greatly fear him. There are but few Obadiahs in the world, among the saints on earth: see his whole relation (1 Kings 18). As Paul said of Timothy, "I have none like-minded," so it may be said of some concerning the fear of the Lord; they have scarce a fellow. So it was with Job, "There is none like him in the earth, one that feareth God," &c. (Job 1:8). There was even none in Job's day that feared God like him; no, there was not one like him in all the earth, but doubtless, there were more in the world that feared God; but this fearing of him greatly, that is the thing that saints should do, and that was the thing that Job did do, and in that he did outstrip his fellows. It is also said of Hananiah that "he was a faithful man, and feared God above many" (Neh 7:2). He also had got, as to the exercise of, and growth in, this grace, the start of many of his brethren. He "feared God above many." Now, seeing this grace admits of degrees and is in some stronger and in some weaker, let us all be awakened as to other graces, so to this grace also. That like as you abound in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I will labor to enforce this exhortation upon you for several reasons.

First, let God's distinguishing love for you motivate you to fear him greatly. He put his fear in thy heart and hath not given that blessing to thy neighbor; perhaps not to thy husband, wife, child, or parent. O, what an obligation should this consideration lay upon thy heart greatly to fear the Lord! Remember also, as I have shown in the first part of this book, that this fear of the Lord is his treasure, a choice jewel, given only to favorites and those greatly beloved. Great gifts naturally tend to oblige and will do so. I trust with thee when thou shalt ingeniously consider it. It is a sign of an evil nature when the contrary shows itself; could God have done more for thee than to have put his fear in thy heart? This is better than to have given thee a place even in heaven without it. Had he given thee all faith, knowledge, and the tongue of men and angels, and a place in heaven to boot, they had all been short of this gift, of the fear of God in thy heart. Therefore love it, nourish it, exercise it, use all means to cause it to increase and grow in thy heart, that it may appear set by at thy hand, poor sinner.

Second. Another motive to stir thee up to grow in this grace of the fear of God may be the privileges that it lays thee under. What or where wilt thou find in the Bible, so many privileges so affectionately entailed to any grace, as to this of the fear of God? God speaks of this grace and of the privileges that belong unto it, as if, to speak with reverence, he knew not how to have blessed the man that hath it. It seems this grace of fear is the darling grace God sets his heart upon at the highest rate. As it were, he embraces the hugs and lays the man in his bosom, that hath, and grows strong in this grace of the fear of God. See again the many privileges in which the man is interested that hath this grace in his heart: and see also that there are but few of them, wherever mentioned, but have entailed to them the pronunciation of a blessing, or else that man is spoken of by way of admiration.

Third. Another motive may be this: The man that groweth in this grace of the fear of the Lord will escape those evils that others will fall into. Where this grace is, it keepeth the soul from final apostasy, "I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me" (Jer 32:40). But yet, if there be not an increase in this grace, much evil may attend, and be committed notwithstanding. There is a child that is healthy, and hath its limbs, and can go, but it is careless; now the evil of carelessness doth disadvantage it very much; carelessness is the cause of stumblings, of falls, of knocks, and that it falls into the dirt, yea, that sometimes it is burned, or almost drowned. And thus it is, even with God's people that fear him, because they add not to their fear a care of growing more in fear of God, therefore they reap damage; whereas, were they more in his fear, it would keep them better, deliver them more, and preserve them from these snares of death.

Fourth. Another motive may be this: To grow in this grace of the fear of God is the way to always be kept in a conscientious performance of Christian duties. An increase in this grace, I say, keeps every grace in exercise, and keeping our graces in their due exercise produces a conscientious performance of duties. Thou hast a watch perhaps in thy pocket, but the hand will not as yet be kept in any suitable order, but does always give the lie as to the hour of the day; well, but what is the way to remedy this, but to look well to the spring, and the wheels within? If they indeed go right, then the hand will also do it. This is thy case in spiritual things; thou art a gracious man, and the fear of God is in thee, but yet for all that, one cannot reasonably tell, by thy life, what time of day it is. Thou give no faithful and constant sign that thou art indeed a Christian; why, the reason is that thou dost not look well to this grace of the fear of God. Thou dost not grow and increase in that but sufferest thy heart to grow careless, and hard, and so thy life remiss and worldly: Job's growing great in fear of God made him eschew evil (Job 1, 2:3).

Works of John Bunyan: A TREATISE OF THE FEAR OF GOD. 469

 

12. They fear not God, who are strangers to the effects of fear. "If I am a master, where is my fear?" That is, show that I am so by your fear of me in the effects of your fear of me. "You offer polluted bread upon mine altar." This is not a sign that you fear me; ye offer the blind for sacrifices; where is my fear? Ye offer the lame and the sick; these are not the effects of the fear of God (Mal 1:6-8). Sinner, it is one thing to say: I fear God and another to fear him. Therefore, as James says, show me thy faith by thy works, so here God calls for a testimony of thy fear by the effects of fear. I have already shown you several effects of fear; if thou art a stranger to them, thou art a stranger to this grace of fear. Therefore, to conclude this, it is not a feigned profession that will do; nothing is good here, but what is salted with this fear of God, and they that fear him are men of truth, men of singleness of heart, perfect, upright, humble, holy men; wherefore, reader, examine, and again, I say examine, and lay the Word and thy heart together, before that thou concludes that thou fearest God.

What! fear God, and in a state of nature? Fear God without a change of heart and life? What! Fear God and be proud and covetous, a wine-bibber and a riotous eater of flesh? How! Fear God and a liar, and one that cries for mercies to spend them upon thy lusts? This would be strange. True, thou mayest fear as devils do, but what will that profit? Thou mayest by thy fear be driven away from God, from his worship, people, and ways, but what will that avail? It may be thou mayest so fear at present, as to be a little stopped in thy sinful course; perhaps thou hast got a knock from the Word of God and are at present a little dazzled and hindered from being in thy former and full career after sin; but what of that? If by the fear that thou hast, thy heart is not united to God, and to the love of his Son, Word, and people, thy fear is nothing worth.[26] Many men also are forced to fear God, as underlings are forced to fear those who are by force above them. If thou only thus fearest God, it is but a false fear; it flows not from love to God: this fear brings not willing subjection, which indeed brings the effect of right fear; but being over-mastered like a hypocrite, thou subjected thyself by feigned obedience, being forced, I say, by mere dread to do it (Psa 66:3).

It is said of David, "that the fame of him went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations" (1 Chron 14:17). But what, did they now love David? Did they now choose him to be their king? No verily; they, many of them, rather hated him and, when they could, made resistance against him. They did even as thou dost—feared, but did not love; feared, but did not choose his government that ruled over them. It is also said of Jehoshaphat, when God had subdued before him Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, that "the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of these countries when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel" (2 Chron 20:29). But, I say, was this fear, that is called now the fear of God, anything else, but a dread of the greatness of power of the king? No verily, nor did that dread bring them into a willing subjection to and liking of his laws and government; it only made them, like slaves and underlings, stand in fear of his executing the vengeance of God upon them.

Therefore, still, notwithstanding this fear, they were rebels to him in their hearts, and when occasion and advantage offered themselves, they showed it by rising in rebellion against Israel. This fear, therefore, provoked but feigned and forced obedience, a right emblem of the obedience of such, who being still enemies in their minds to God, are forced by present conviction to yield a little, even of fear to God, to his Word, and to his ordinances. Reader, whoever thou art, think of this, it is thy concern, therefore do it, and examine, and examine again, and look diligently to thy heart in thine examination, that it beguile thee not about this thy so great concern, as indeed the fear of God is.

One thing more, before I leave thee, let me warn thee of. Take heed of deferring to fear the Lord. Some men, when they have had conviction upon their heart that the fear of God is not in them, have through the overpowering of their corruptions yet deferred and put off the fear of God from them, as it is said of them in Jeremiah: "This people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord" (Jer 5:23,24). They saw that the judgments of God attended them because they did not yet fear God, but that conviction would not prevail with them to say, "Let us now fear the Lord." They were for deferring to fear him still and for putting off his fear of them longer. Sinner, hast thou deferred to fear the Lord? is thy heart still so stubborn as not to say yet, "Let us fear the Lord?" O! The Lord hath noticed this rebellion and is preparing some dreadful judgment for thee. "Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" (v 29). Sinner, why shouldest thou pull vengeance down upon thee? Why shouldest thou pull vengeance down from heaven upon thee? Look up, perhaps thou hast already been pulling this great while, to pull it down upon thee. O! pull no longer; why shouldest thou be thine own executioner? Fall down upon thy knees, man, and up with thy heart and thy hands to the God that dwells in the heavens; cry aloud, Lord, unite my heart to fear thy name, and do not harden mine heart from thy fear. Thus, holy men have cried before thee and prevented judgment by crying.

[A few things that may provoke thee to fear the Lord.]

Before I leave this use, let me give thee a few things that, if
God will, may provoke thee to fear the Lord.

1. The man that feareth not God, carrieth it worse towards him than the brute beast, doth carry it towards that man. "The fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth," yea, "and upon every fowl of the air," and "upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea" (Gen 9:2).

Mark, all my creatures shall fear you and dread you, says God. None of them shall be so hardy as to cast off all reverence of you. But what a shame is this to man, that God should subject all his creatures to him, and he should refuse to stoop his heart to God? The beast, the bird, the fish, and all, have a fear and dread of man, yea, God has put it in their hearts to fear man, and yet man is void of fear and trepidation, I mean of godly fear of him, that thus lovingly hath put all things under him. Sinner, art thou not ashamed, that a silly cow, a sheep, yea, a swine, should better observe the law of his creation than thou dost the law of thy God?

2. Consider, he that will not fear God, God will make him fear him whether he will or no. That is, he that doth not, will not now so fear him, as willingly to bow before him, and put his neck into his yoke. God will make him fear him when he comes to take vengeance on him. Then he will surround him with terror, and with fear on every side, fear within, and fear without; fear shall be in the way, even in the way that thou goest when thou art going out of this world; and that will be dreadful fear (Eccl 12:5). "I will bring their fears upon them," saith the Lord (Isa 66:4).

3. He that fears not God now, the Lord shall laugh at his fears then. Sinner, God will be even with all them that choose not to have his fear in their hearts: for as he calls and they hear not now, they shall cry, yea, howl then, and he will laugh at their fears. "I will laugh," saith he, "at their destruction; I will mock when their fear cometh, when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you; then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer: they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord" (Prov 1:27-29).

Sinner! Thou thinkest to escape the fear, but what wilt thou do with the pit? Thou thinkest to escape the pit, but what wilt thou do with the snare? The snare, say you, what is that? I answer it is even the work of thine own hands. "The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands," he is "snared by the transgression of his lips" (Psa 9:16; Prov 12:13).

Sinner! What wilt thou do when thou comest into this snare; that is, into the guilt and terror that thy sins will snaffle thee with, when they, like a cord, are fastened about thy soul? This snare will bring thee back again to the pit, which is hell, and then how wilt thou do to be rid of thy fear? The fear, pit and the snare shall come upon thee because thou fearest not God. Sinner! Art thou one of them that hast cast off fear? Poor man, what wilt thou do when these three things beset thee? Whither wilt thou fly for help? And where wilt thou leave thy glory? If thou fliest from the fear, there is the pit; if thou fliest from the pit, there is the snare.

Works of John Bunyan: A TREATISE OF THE FEAR OF GOD. 468

 

8.  They fear not God, who can look upon a land as wallowing in sin and yet are not humbled at the sight thereof. "Have ye," said God by the prophet to the Jews, "forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? They are not humbled to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law" (Jer 44:9,10). Here is a land full of wickedness, and none to bewail it, for they wanted the fear of God and love to walk in his law. But how say you, if they that are not humbled at their own and others' wickedness are said not to fear, or have the fear of God, what shall we think or say of such that receive, that nourish and rejoice in such wickedness? Do they fear God? Yea, what shall we say of such inventors and promoters of wickedness, as of oaths, beastly talk, or the like? Do they, do you think, fear God? Once again, what shall we say of such who cannot be content to be wicked themselves and invent and rejoice in other men's wickedness but must hate, reproach, vilify, and abuse those they cannot persuade to be evil? Do they fear God?

9. They that take more heed to their own dreams than to the Word of God fear not God. This also is plain from the Word—"For in the multitude of dreams, there are also divers vanities, but fear thou God"; that is, take heed unto his Word (Eccl 5:7; Isa 8:20). Here, the fearing of God is opposed to our overmuch heeding dreams: and it is implied, that it is for want of the fear of God that men so much heed those things. What will they say to this that give more heed to a suggestion that ariseth from their foolish hearts or cast in thither by the devil than they do to the holy Word of God? These are "filthy dreamers." Also, what shall we say to those that are more confident of the mercy of God to their soul, because he hath blessed them with outward things, than they are afraid of his wrath and condemnation, though the whole of the Word of God doth fully verify the same? These are "filthy dreamers" indeed.

A dream is either real, or so by way of semblance, and so some men dream sleeping, and some waking (Isa 29:7). And as those that a man dreams sleeping are caused either by God, Satan, business, flesh, or the like; so are they that a man dreams waking, to pass by those that we have in our sleep. When bodily awake, men may have dreams, that is, visions from heaven; such are all they have a tendency to discover to the sinner his state, or the state of the church according to the Word. But those that are from Satan, business, and the flesh, are such—especially the first and last, to wit, from Satan and the flesh—as tend to embolden men to hope for good in a way disagreeing with the Word of God.

These Jude calls "filthy dreamers," whose principles were their dreams. They led them "to defile the flesh," that is, by fornication and uncleanness, "to despise dominion," that the reins might be laid upon the neck of their lusts; "to speak evil of dignities," of those that God had set over them, for their governing in all the law and testament of Christ, these dreamt that to live like brutes, to be greedy of gain, and to take away for it, as Cain and Balaam did by their wiles, the lives of the owners thereof, would go for good coin in the best of trials. These also Peter speaks of (2 Peter 2). And he makes their dreams, that Jude calls so, their principle and errors in life and doctrine; you may read of them in that whole chapter, where they are called cursed children, and so by consequence such as fear, not God.

10. They fear not God, who are sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, and that oppress the hireling of his wages. It is a custom with some men to keep back by fraud from the hireling that which by covenant they agreed to pay for their labor; pinching, I say, and paring from them their due that of right belongs to them, to the making of them cry in "the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth" (James 5:4). These fear not God; they are reckoned among the worst of men, and in their day of account God himself will bear witness against them. "And I," saith God, "will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord" (Mal 3:5).

11. They fear not God, who, instead of pitying them, rail at God's people in their affliction, temptations, and persecutions and rather rejoice and skip for joy than sympathize with them in their sorrow. Thus did David's enemies, therefore did Israel's enemies, and therefore did the thief, he railed at Christ when he hanged upon the cross, and was for that, even by his fellow, accounted for one that feared not God (Luke 23:40; Psa 35:1,22-26. Read Oba 10-15; Jer 48:2-6). This is a common thing among the children of men, even to rejoice at the hurt of them that fear God, and it ariseth even of an inward hatred to godliness. They hate you, saith Christ, because they hated me. Therefore, Christ takes what is done to him, in this, as done unto himself, to holiness of life. But this falls hard upon such as despise at, and rejoice to see, God's people in their griefs, and that take the advantage, as dogged Shimei did, to augment the sorrows and afflictions of God's people (2 Sam 16:5-8). These fear not God; they do this out of enmity, and their sin is such that it will hardly be blotted out (1 Kings 2:8,9)

Works of John Bunyan: A TREATISE OF THE FEAR OF GOD. 467

 

3. The riotous eaters of flesh have not the fear of God. For this is done "without fear" (Jude 12). Gluttony is a sin little taken notice of, and as little repented of by those that use it, but yet it is odious in the sight of God, and the practice of it a demonstration of the want of his fear in the heart: yea, so odious is it, that God forbids that his people should so much as company with such. "Be not," saith he, "among wine-bibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh" (Prov 23:20). And he further tells us that they that are such, are spots and blemishes to those that keep them company, for indeed they fear not God (2 Peter 2:13; Rom 13:13; 1 Peter 4:4). Alas! Some men are as if they were for naught else born but to eat and to drink, and pamper their carcasses with the dainties of this world, entirely forgetting why God sent them hither; but such, as is said, fear not God, and so consequently are of the number of them upon whom the day of judgment will come at unawares (Luke 21:34).

4. The liar fears not God. This also is evident from the plain text, "Thou hast lied," saith the Lord, "and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart: have not I held my peace even of old," saith the Lord, "and thou fearest me not?" (Isa 57:11). What lie this was is not material; it was a lie, or a course of lying that is here rebuked, and the person or persons in this practice, as is said, were such as feared not God; a course of lying and the fear of God cannot stand together. This sin of lying is common, and it walketh in the world in several guises. There is the profane scoffing liar, there is the cunning artificial liar, there is the hypocritical religious liar, with liars of other ranks and degrees. But none of them have a fear of God, nor shall any of them, they not repenting, escape the damnation of hell—"All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (Rev 21:8). Heaven and the New Jerusalem are not a place for such—"And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie" (v 27). Therefore another scripture says that all liars are without—"For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Rev 22:15). But this should not be their sentence, judgment, and condemnation if they that are liars were such as had in them this blessed fear of God.

5. They fear not God, who cried unto him for help in their calamity, and when they are delivered, they return to their former rebellion. This Moses, in a spirit of prophecy, asserted at the time of the mighty judgment of the hail. Pharaoh then desired him to pray to God that he would remove that judgment from him. Well, so I will, said Moses, "But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God" (Exo 9:30). As who should say, I know that so soon as this judgment is removed, you will to your old rebellion again. And what greater demonstration can be given that such a man feareth, not God, than to cry to God to be delivered from affliction to prosperity and to spend that prosperity in rebellion against him? This is crying for mercies that they may be spent, or that we may have something to spend upon our lusts, and in the service of Satan (John 4:1-3). Of these, God complains in the sixteenth of Ezekiel and in the second of Hosea—"Thou hast," saith God, "taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images" &c. (Eze 16:17). This was for want of the fear of God. Many of this kind there be now in the world, both men, women, and children; art, not thou that readest this book of this number? Hast thou not cried for health when sick, for wealth when poor, when lame for strength, when in prison for liberty, and then spent all that thou gottest by thy prayer in the service of Satan, and to gratify thy lusts? Look to it, sinner, these things are signs that with thy heart thou fearest not God.

6. They fear not God that way, his people, and seek to overthrow them or to turn them beside the right path, as they are journeying from hence to their eternal rest. This is evident from the plain text, "Remember," saith God, "what Amalek did unto thee by the way when ye were come forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary, and he feared not God" (Deut 25:17,18). Many such Amalekites there be now in the world that set themselves against the feeble of the flock, against the weak of the flock especially, still smiting them, some by power, some with the tongue, some in their lives and estates, some in their names and reputations, by scandals, slanders, and reproach. Still, their ungodly practice is because they fear not God. For did they fear him, they would be afraid to so much as think, much more of attempting to afflict and destroy, and calumniate the children of God; but such there have been, such there are, and such there will be in the world, for all men fear not God.

7. They fear not God, who sees his hand upon backsliders for their sins, and yet, they will also be backsliders. "I saw," saith God, "when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not but went and played the harlot also" (Jer 3:8, 2:19). Judah saw that her sister was put away, and delivered by God into the hands of Shalmaneser, who carried her away beyond Babylon. Yet, though she saw it, she also went and played the harlot—a sign of great hardness of heart and of the want of the fear of God indeed. For this fear, had it been in her heart, it would have taught her to have trembled at the judgment that was executed upon her sister, and not to have gone and played the harlot also, and not to have done it while her sister's judgment was in sight and memory. But what is it that a heart destitute of the fear of God will not do? No sin comes amiss to such: yea, they will sin, they will do that themselves, for the doing of which they believe some are in hell-fire, and all because they fear not God.

But pray observe, if those that take not warning when they see the hand of God upon backsliders are said to have none of the fear of God, have they it, think you, that lay stumbling blocks in the way of God's people, and use devices to cause them to backslide, yea, rejoice when they can do this mischief to any? Yet many of these people in the world even rejoice when they see a professor fall into sin and return from his profession as if they had found some excellent thing.

Works of John Bunyan: A TREATISE OF THE FEAR OF GOD. 466

 

I come now to make some use of and apply this doctrine.

THE USE OF THIS DOCTRINE.

Having proceeded thus far about this doctrine of the fear of God, I now come to make some use and application of the whole and my:

[USE FIRST, of Examination.]

FIRST USE shall be a USE OF EXAMINATION. Is this fear of God such an excellent thing? Is it attended with so many blessed privileges? Then this should put us, every soul of us, upon a diligent examination of ourselves, to wit, whether this grace be in us or not, for if it be, then thou art one of these blessed ones to whom belong these glorious privileges, for thou hast an interest in every of them; but if it shall appear that this grace is not in thee, then thy state is fearfully miserable, as hath partly been manifest already, and will further be seen in what comes after. Now, the better I can help thee to consider and not to miss finding out what thou art in thy self-examination, I will speak to this—First. In general. Second. In particular.

First. In general. No man brings this grace into the world with him. Everyone by nature is destitute of it; for naturally, none fear God, there is no fear of God, none of this grace of fear before their eyes, they do not so much as know what it is; for this fear flows, as was shown before, from a new heart, faith, repentance and the like; of which new heart, faith, and repentance, if thou be void, thou art also void of this godly fear. Men must have a mighty change of heart and life, or they are strangers to this fear of God. Alas, how ignorant most of this is! Yeah, and some are not afraid to say they are not changed, nor do they desire to be. Can these fear God? Can these be possessed with this grace of fear? No: "Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God" (Psa 55:19; Psa 36:1; Rom 3:18).

Wherefore, sinner, consider whoever thou art that art destitute of this fear of God, thou art void of all other graces; for this fear, as also I have shown, floweth from the whole stock of grace where it is. There is not one of the graces of the Spirit, but this fear is in the bowels of it; yea, as I may say, this fear is the flower and beauty of every grace; neither is there anything, let it look as much like grace as it will, that will be counted so indeed if the fruit thereof is not this fear of God; wherefore, I say again, consider well of this matter, for as thou shalt be found concerning this grace, so shall thy judgment be. I have but briefly treated of this grace, yet have endeavored, with words as fit as I could, to display it in its colors before thy face, first by showing you what this fear of God is, then what it flows from, as also what doth flow from it; to which, as was said before, I have added several privileges that are annexed to this fear, that by all, if it may be, thou mayest see it if thou hast it, and thyself without it if thou hast it not. Wherefore I refer thee thither again for information in this thing; or if thou art loath to give the book a second reading, but wilt go on to the end now thou art gotten hither; then.

Second and foremost, I conclude with these several propositions concerning those who fear not God.

1. That man who is proud and of a high and lofty mind fears not God. This is plain from the exhortation, "Be not high-minded, but fear" (Rom 11:20). Here you see that a high mind and the fear of God are set in direct opposition the one to the other; and there is in them, closely concluded by the apostle, that where indeed the one is, there cannot be the other; where there is a high mind, there is not the fear of God; and where there is the fear of God, the mind is not high but lowly. Can a man at the same time be a proud man and fear God, too? Why is it said God beholdeth everyone that is proud and abases him? Again, He beholds the proud afar off? He, therefore, that is proud of his person, of his riches, of his office, of his parts, and the like, feareth not God. It is also manifest further, for God resisteth the proud, which he would not do if he feared him. Still, in that he sets him at such a distance from him, in that he testifies that he will abase him and resist him, it is evident that he is not the man that hath this grace of fear; for that man, as I have shown you, is the man of God's delight, the object of his pleasure (Psa 138:6; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Mal 4:1).

2. The covetous man feareth not God. This also is plain from the Word because it setteth covetousness and the fear of God in direct opposition. Men who fear God are said to hate covetousness (Exo 18:21). Besides, the covetous man is called an idolater and is said to have no part in the kingdom of Christ and of God. And again, "The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth" (Eze 33:31; Eph 5:5; Psa 10:3). Hearken to this, you that hunt the world to take it, you that care not how you get, so you get the world. Also, you make even religion your stalking horse to get the world; you fear not God. And what will you do whose hearts go after your covetousness? You who are led by covetousness up and down, as it were by the nose, sometimes swear, lie, cozen, cheat, and defraud when you can get the advantage to do it. You are far, very far, from the fear of God. "Ye adulterers and adulteresses," for so the covetous are called, "know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God" (James 4:4).

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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.

Thus art thou blest that fearest God, And he shall let thee see

The promised Jerusalem And her felicity. Thou shalt thy children’s

children see, To thy great joy’s increase; And likewise grace on

Israel, Prosperity, and Peace.

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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Tenth Privilege. Dost thou fear God?—"He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry, and will save them" (Psa 145:19). Almost all those places that make mention of the men that fear God do insinuate as if they still were under affliction, or in danger because of an enemy. But I say, here is still their privilege; their God is their father and pities them—"He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him." Where now is the man that feareth the Lord? Let him hearken to this. What sayest thou, poor soul? Will this content thee, the Lord will fulfill thy desires? It is intimated of Adonijah that David, his father, did let him have his head and his will in all things. "His father," says the text, "had not displeased him at any time in (so much as) saying, Why hast thou done so?" (1 Kings 1:6). But here is more, here is a promise to grant thee the whole desire of thy heart, according to the prayer of holy David, "The Lord grant thee, according to thine own heart, and fulfill all thy counsel." And again, "The Lord fulfill all thy petitions" (Psa 20).

O thou that fearest the Lord, what is thy desire? All my desire, says David, is all my salvation (2 Sam 23:5), so sayest thou, "All my salvation" is "all my desire." Well, the desire of thy soul is granted thee, yea, God himself hath engaged himself even to fulfill this thy desire—"He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him, he also will hear their cry and will save them." O this desire when it cometh, what a tree of life will it be to thee! Thou desirest to be rid of thy present trouble; the Lord shall rid thee out of trouble. Thou desirest to be delivered from temptation; the Lord shall deliver thee out of temptation. Thou desirest to be delivered from thy body of death; and the Lord shall change this vile body, that it may be like to his glorious body. Thou desirest to be in the presence of God and among the angels in heaven. This thy desire also shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt be made equal to the angels (Exo 6:6; 2 Peter 2:9; Phil 3:20,21; Luke 16:22, 20:35,36). Oh, but it is long first! Well, learn first to live upon thy portion in the promise of it, and that will make thy expectation of it sweet. God will fulfill thy desires; God will do it, though it tarries long. Wait for it because it will surely come; it will not tarry.

Eleventh Privilege. Dost thou fear God?—"The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him" (Psa 147:11). They that fear God are among his chief delights. He delights in his Son, he delights in his works, and he takes pleasure in those who fear him. As a man takes pleasure in his wife, children, gold, and jewels, the man who fears the Lord is the object of his delight. He takes pleasure in their prosperity, and therefore sendeth their health from the sanctuary, and makes them drink of the river of his pleasures (Psa 35:27). "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures" (Psa 36:8). That or those that we take pleasure in, that or those we love to beautify and adorn with many ornaments. We count no cost too much to be bestowed on those in whom we place our delight and whom we make the object of our pleasure. And even thus, it is with God. "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people," and what follows? "he will beautify the meek with salvation" (Psa 149:4).

Those in whom we delight, we take pleasure in their actions; yea, we teach them and give them such rules and laws to walk by, as may yet make them that we love more pleasurable in our eyes. Therefore they that fear God, since they are the object of his pleasure, are taught to know how to please him in everything (1 Thess 4:1). And hence it is said, that he is ravished with their looks, that he delighteth in their cry, and that he is pleased with their walking (Can 4:9; Prov 15:8, 11:20).

Those in whom we delight and take pleasure, many things we will bear and put up that they do, though they are not according to our minds. A man will suffer that in, and put up at, the hand of the child or wife of his pleasure, that he will not pass by nor put up in another. They are my jewels, says God, even them that fear me; and I will spare them, in all their comings-short of my will, "even as a man spareth his own son that serveth him" (Mal 3:16,17). Oh, how happy is the man that feareth God! His good thoughts, reasonable attempts to serve him, and good life pleases him because he feareth God.

You know how pleasing in our eyes the actions of our children are when we see that they do what they do even of a reverent fear and awe of us; yea, though that which they do amounts but to trim, we take it well at their hands, and are pleased in addition to that. The woman cast in her two mites into the treasury, cast in not much, for they both did but make one farthing; yet how doth the Lord Jesus trumpet her up, he had pleasure in her, and in her action (Mark 12:41-44). This, therefore, that the Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, is another of their great privileges.

Twelfth Privilege. Dost thou fear God? The last dram of that fear giveth the privilege to be blessed with the most prominent saint—"He will bless them that fear the Lord, small and great" (Psa 115:13). This word small may be taken three ways—1. For those that are small in esteem, for those that are but little accounted of (Judg 6:15; 1 Sam 18:23). Art thou small or minor in this sense, yet if thou fearest God, thou art sure to be blessed. "He will bless them that fear him, small and great," be thou never so small in the world's eyes, in thine own eyes, in the saints' eyes, as sometimes one saint is little in another saint's eye; yet thou, because thou fearest God, art put among the blessed. 2. By small, sometimes is meant those that are but small of stature, or young in years, little children, that are quickly passed by and looked over: as those that sang Hosanna in the temple were, when the Pharisees deridingly said of them to Christ, "Hearest thou what these say?" (Matt 21:16). Well, but Christ would not despise them, of them that feared God, but preferred them by the Scripture testimony far before those that did contemn them. Little children, however small and soever, and although of never so small esteem with men, shall also, if they fear the Lord, be blessed with the most significant saints—"He will bless them that fear him, small and great." 3. By small may sometimes be meant those that are small in grace or gifts; these are said to be the least in the church, that is, under this consideration, and so are by it least esteemed (Matt 25:45). Thus also is that of Christ to be understood, "Since ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me" (1 Cor 6:4).

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Eighth Privilege. Do you fear the Lord? Hearken yet again—"The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children" (Psa 103:17). This still confirms what was last asserted, that is, that his salvation is nigh unto them. His salvation, that is, pardoning mercy, that is nigh them. But mind it, he says it is nigh them, but here it is upon them. His mercy is upon them; it covereth them all over, encompasseth them about as with a shield. Therefore, they are said to be clothed with salvation and covered with the robe of righteousness in another place. The mercy of the Lord is upon them, that is, as I said, to shelter and defend them. The mercy, the pardoning preserving mercy, the mercy of the Lord is upon them. Who is he then that can condemn them? (Rom 8).

But there is more behind, "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them." It was designed for them before the world was and shall be upon them when the world is ended; from everlasting to everlasting, it is on them that fear him. This from everlasting to everlasting is that by which, in another place, the eternity of God himself is declared—"From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psa 90:2). The meaning, then, may this; that so long as God has his being, so long shall the man that feareth him find mercy at his hand. According to Moses—"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them" (Deut 33:27).

Child of God that fearest God, here is mercy nigh thee, mercy enough, everlasting mercy upon thee. This is long-lived mercy. It will live longer than thy sin, it will live longer than temptation, it will live longer than thy sorrows, it will live longer than thy persecutors. It is mercy from everlasting to contrive thy salvation and mercy to everlasting to weather it out with all thy adversaries. Now, what can hell and death do to him that hath this mercy of God upon him? And this hath the man that feareth the Lord. Take that other blessed word, and O thou man that fearest the Lord, hang it like a chain of gold about thy neck—"As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him" (Psa 103:11). If mercy as big, as high, and as good as heaven itself will be a privilege, the man that feareth God shall have a privilege.

Ninth Privilege. Do you fear God?—"Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him" (Psa 103:13).

" The Lord pitieth them that fear him"; that is, condoles and is affected, feeleth and sympathizes with them in all their afflictions. It is a great matter for a poor man to be in this manner in the affections of the great and mighty, but for a poor sinner to be thus in the heart and affections of God, and they that fear him are so, this is astonishing to consider. "In his love and in his pity, he redeemed them." In his love and in his pity! "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bare them and carried them all the days of old" (Isa 63:9). I say, in that he is said to pity them, it is as much as to say, he condoles, feel, and sympathizes with them in all their afflictions and temptations. So this is his happiness, and he fears God. He has a God to pity him and be touched by all his miseries. It is said in Judges, "His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" (Judg 10:16). And in the Hebrews, he is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" and can "succor them that are tempted" (4:15, 2:17,18).

But further, let us take notice of the comparison. "As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Here is not only pity but the pity of a relation, a father. It is said in another place, "Can a woman," a mother, "forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may, yet will not I forget thee." The pity of neighbors and acquaintances helpeth in times of distress, but the pity of a father and a mother is a pity with an over and above. "The Lord," says James, "is very pitiful and of tender mercy," Pharaoh called Joseph his tender father because he provided for him against the famine, but how tender a father is God! How full of bowels! How full of pity! (James 5:11; Gen 41:43). It is said that when Ephraim was afflicted, God's bowels were troubled for him and turned within him towards him. O that the man that feareth the Lord did but believe the pity and bowels in the heart of God and his father towards him (Jer 31:18-20).

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Sixth Privilege. Dost thou fear God? he hath given charge to the armies of heaven to look after, take charge of, to camp about, and to deliver thee—"The angel of the Lord encamped round about them that fear him, and delivereth them" (Psa 34:7). This also is a privilege entailed to them that in all generations fear the Lord. The angels, the heavenly creatures, have it in commission to take charge of them that fear the Lord; one can slay men in one night 185,000. These are the ones that camped about Elisha like horses of fire and chariots of fire when the enemy came to destroy him. They also helped Hezekiah against the band of the enemy because he feared God (2 Kings 6:17; Isa 37:36; Jer 26:19). "The angel of the Lord encamped round about them"; that is, lest the enemy should set upon them on any side; but let him come where he will, behind or before, on this side or that, the angel of the Lord is there to defend them. "The angel." It may be spoken in the singular number to show that everyone that feareth God hath his angel to attend on him and serve him. When the church, in Acts, was told that Peter stood at the door and knocked, at first, they counted the messenger mad, but when she constantly affirmed it, they said, It is his angel (Acts 12:13-15). So Christ saith of the children that came unto him, "Their angels behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." Their angels, those of them who feared God, had each of them his angel, who had a charge from God to keep them in their way. We little think of this, yet this is the privilege of them that fear the Lord; yea, if need be, they shall all come down to help them and to deliver them, rather than, contrary to the mind of their God, they should by any be abused—"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Heb 1:14).

[Quest.] But how do they deliver them? The text says, "The angel of the Lord encamped round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Answ. The way they deliver them that fear the Lord is sometimes by smiting their enemies with blindness, that they may not find them; so they served the enemies of Lot (Gen 19:10,11). Sometimes by smiting of them with deadly fear; and so they served those that laid siege against Samaria (2 Kings 7:6). And sometimes by smiting of them even with death itself; and thus they served Herod, after he had attempted to kill the apostle James, and also sought to vex certain others of the church (Acts 12). These angels who are servants to them who fear the Lord are them who will if God doth bid them, revenge the quarrel of his servants upon the stoutest monarch on earth. This, therefore, is a glorious privilege of the men who fear the Lord. Alas! Some of them are, so it means that they are counted as not worth taking notice of by the high ones of the world, but their betters do respect them. The angels of God count not themselves too good to attend on them and camp about them to deliver them. This man had his angel to wait upon him, even that he feared God.

Seventh Privilege. Dost thou fear the Lord? Salvation is nigh unto thee—"Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land" (Psa 85:9). This is another privilege for them that fear the Lord. I told you before that the angel of the Lord did encamp about them, but now he saith, "his salvation is also nigh them"; although it doth not altogether exclude the conduct of angels,[20] but include them; yet it looketh further. "Surely his salvation," his saving, pardoning grace, "is nigh them that fear him"; that is, to save them out of the hand of their spiritual enemies. The devil, and sin, and death, do always wait even to devour them that fear the Lord, but to deliver them from these his salvation doth attend them. So then, if Satan tempts, here is their salvation nigh; if sin, by breaking forth, beguiles them, here is God's salvation nigh them; yea, if death itself shall suddenly seize upon them, why, here is their God's salvation nigh them.

I have seen that great men's little children must go no whither without their nurses be at hand. If they go abroad, their nurses must go with them; if they go to meals, their nurses must go with them; if they go to bed, their nurses must go with them; yea, and if they fall asleep, their nurses must stand by them. O my brethren, those little ones that fear the Lord, they are the children of the highest; therefore, they shall not walk alone, be at their spiritual meats alone, go to their sick beds, or to their graves alone; the salvation of their God is nigh them, to deliver them from the evil. This is the glory that dwells in the land of them that fear the Lord.

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Third Privilege. Dost thou fear the Lord? he will open his secret unto thee, even that which he hath hid and keeps close from all the world, to wit, the secret of his covenant and of thy concern therein—"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant" (Psa 25:14). This, then, further confirmeth what was said but just above; his secret shall be with them, and his covenant shall be showed unto them. His secret, to wit, that which hath been kept hid from ages and generations; that which he manifesteth only to the saints, or holy ones; that is, his Christ, for he is that is hidden in God, and that no man can know but he to whom the Father shall reveal him (Matt 11:27).

But O! What is there wrapped up in this Christ, this secret of God? why, all treasures of life, heaven, and happiness—"In him have hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." And "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col 2).

This also is that hidden One, that is so full of grace to save sinners and so full of truth and faithfulness to keep promise and covenant with them, that their eyes must needs convey, even by every glance they make upon his person, offices, and relation, such affecting ravishments to the heart, that it would please them that see him, even to be killed with that sight. This secret of the Lord shall be, nay is, with them that fear him, for he dwelleth in their heart by faith. "And he will shew them his covenant." That is, the covenant confirmed by God in Christ, that everlasting and eternal covenant, and show him that he is wrapped up therein, as in a bundle of life with the Lord his God. These are God's thoughts, purposes, and promises to those who fear him.

Fourth Privilege. Dost thou fear the Lord? His eye is always over thee for good, to keep thee from all evil—"Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine" (Psa 33:18,19). His eye is upon them; that is, to watch over them for good. He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. His eyes are upon them, and he will keep them as a shepherd doth his sheep; that is, from those wolves that seek to devour them and to swallow them up in death. His eyes are upon them, for they are the object of his delight, the rarities of the world, in whom, saith he, is all my delight. As I said before, his eye is upon them to teach and instruct them—"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye" (Psa 32:8; 2 Chron 7:15,16). The eye of the Lord, therefore, is upon them, not to take advantage of them, to destroy them for their sins, but to guide, to help, and deliver them from death; from that death that would feed upon their souls—"To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine." Take death here, for death is spiritual and death eternal. The famine here, not for that is for want of bread and water, but for that which comes on many for want of the Word of the Lord (Rev 20:14; Amos 8:11,12); and then the sense is this, the man that feareth the Lord shall neither die spiritually nor eternally; for God will keep him with his eye from all those things that would in such a manner kill him. Again, should there be a famine of the Word; should there want both the Word and them that preach it in the place that thou dost dwell, yet bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure; thou shalt not die of the famine, because thou fearest God. I say that man shall not behold he shall not, because he feareth God, and this the next head doth yet more fully manifest.

Fifth Privilege. Dost thou fear God? Fear him for this advantage more and more—"O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord," that fear him, "shall not want any good thing" (Psa 34:9,10). Not anything that God sees good for them shall those men want that fear the Lord. If health will do them good, if sickness will do them good if riches will do them good, if poverty will do them good, if life will do them good, if death will do them good, then they shall not want them, neither shall any of these come nigh them, if they will not do them good. The lions, the wicked people of the world that fear not God, are not made sharers in this great privilege; all things fall out to the contrary because they fear not God. Amid their sufficiency, they want that good that God puts into the worst things that the man that feareth God doth meet within the world.