Ninth. Another motive to grow in this grace of fear is that where the fear of God in the heart of any is not growing, no grace thrives, nor duty done as it should.
No grace thrives, neither faith, hope, love nor any grace. This is evident from that general exhortation, "Perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor 7:1). Perfecting holiness, what is that? But as James says of patience, let every grace have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing (James 1:4).
But this cannot be done but in the fear of God, yea, in the exercise of that grace, and so consequently in its growth, for there is no grace but growth by being exercised. If then you would be perfect in holiness, if you would have every grace that God has put into your souls, grow and flourish into perfection; lay them, as I may say, a-soak in this grace of fear,[30] and do all in the exercise of it; for a little done in the fear of the Lord is better than the revenues of the wicked. And again, the Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous, the soul that liveth in the fear of the Lord, to famish, but he casteth away the abundance of the wicked. Bring abundance to God, and if it be not seasoned with godly fear, it shall not be acceptable to him, but loathsome and abominable in his sight; for it doth not flow from the spirit of the fear of the Lord.
Therefore, where there is no growth in this fear, no duty is done so acceptably. This flows from that which goes before, for if grace instead decays than grows, where this grace of fear is not in the growth and increase thereof, duties in their glory and acceptableness decay likewise.
Tenth. Another motive to stir thee up to grow in the increase of this grace of fear is that it is a grace, do but abound therein, that will give thee great boldness both with God and men. Job was a man none-such in his day for one who feared God and was so bold with God as Job? Who is so bold with God, and who is so bold with men as he? How daring was he with God, when he wishes for nothing more than that he might come even to his seat, and concludes that if he could go at him, he would approach even as a prince unto him, and as such would order his cause before him (Job 23:3-7, 31:35-37). Also, before his friends, how bold was he? Forever as they laid to his charge that he was a hypocrite, he repels them with the testimony of a good conscience, which good conscience he got, and kept, and maintained by increasing in fear of God; yea, his conscience was kept so good by this grace of fear, for it was by that that he eschewed evil, that it was common with him to appeal to God when accused and also to put himself for his clearing under most bitter curses and imprecations (Job 13:3-9, 18, 19:23,24, 31).
This fear of God keeps the conscience clean and tender and so free from much of that defilement that even a good man may be afflicted with for want of his growth in this fear of God. Yea, let me add, if a man can, with a good conscience, say that he desires to fear the name of God, it will add boldness to his soul in his approaches to the presence of God. "O Lord," said Nehemiah, "I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and servants, who desire to fear thy name" (Neh 1:11). He pleaded his desire of fearing the name of God, as an argument with God to grant him his request. The reason was that God had promised "to bless them that fear him, both small and great" (Psa 115:13).
Eleventh. Another motive to stir you up to fear the Lord and to grow in this fear is, By it, thou mayest have thy labors blessed, to the saving of the souls of others. Levi, of whom mention was made before, said he feared God and was afraid before his name—that he saved others from their sins. "The law of truth was in his mouth, and he walked with me in peace and equity and did turn away many from iniquity" (Mal 2:6). The fear of God that dwelt in his heart showed its growth in the sanctifying of the Lord by his life and words. The Lord also blessed this with his growth herein by blessing his labors to save his neighbors.
Wouldest thou save thy husband, wife, children, &c., then be significantly in the fear of God.
This Peter teaches, "Wives," saith he, "be in subjection to your own husbands, that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, while they behold your chaste conversation, coupled with fear" (1 Peter 3:1,2). So then, if wives and children, yea, if husbands, wives, children, servants, &c., did but better observe this general rule of Peter, to wit, of letting their whole conversation be coupled with fear, they might be made instruments in God's hand of much better than they are. But the misery is that the fear of God is wanting in actions, which is the cause of so little good being done by those who profess. It is not a conversation that is coupled with a profession—for a great profession may be attended with a life that is not good but scandalous, but it is a conversation coupled with fear of God—that is, with the impressions of the fear of God upon it—that is convincing and that ministereth the awakenings of God to the conscience, to save the unbeliever. They are a sweet couple, a Christian conversation coupled with fear.
The want of this fear of God is that it has often been a stumbling block to the blind. Alas, the world will not be convinced by your talk, by your notions, and by the great profession that you make if they see not, in addition to that mixed, the lively impressions of the fear of God but will, as I said, instead stumble and fall, even at your conversation and at your profession itself. To prevent this mischief, that is, of stumbling of souls. At the same time, you make your profession of God by a conversation not becoming your profession; God bids you fear him, implying that a good discussion, coupled with fear, delivers the blind world from those falls that otherwise cannot be delivered. "Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord" (Lev 19:14). But shalt fear thy God, that is the remedy that will prevent their stumbling at you, at what else soever they stumble. Paul says to Timothy, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee" (1 Tim 4:16).
