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)