[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).
