Seventh. Would thou grow in this grace of fear? Then always keep close to thy conscience the authority of the Word; fear the commandment as the commandment of a God both mighty and glorious, and as the commandment of a father, both loving and pitiful; let this commandment, I say, be always with the eye, with the ear, and with the heart; for then thou wilt be taught, not only to fear but to abound in the fear of the Lord. Every grace is nourished by the Word, and without it, there is no thrift in the soul (Prov 13:13, 4:20-22; Deut 6:1,2).
Eighth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? Then be much in the faith of the promise, of the promise that maketh over to thy soul an interest in God by Christ, and of all good things. The promise naturally tended to increase in us the fear of the Lord because this fear grows by goodness and mercy; they shall fear the Lord and his goodness; now this goodness and mercy of God, it is wrapped up in and made over to us by promise; for God gave it to Abraham by promise. Therefore the faith and hope of the promise cause this fear to grow in the soul—"Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in fear of God" (2 Cor 7:1). "Perfecting holiness in fear of God"; therefore that fear by the promise must need to grow mighty, for by, with, and in it, you see holiness is perfected.
Ninth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? Then remember the judgments of God that have, or shall certainly overtake, those professors that have either been downright hypocrites or else unwatchful Christians. For both these sorts partake of the judgments of God; the one, to wit, the true Christian, for his unwatchfulness, for his correction; the other, to wit, the hypocrite, for his hypocrisy, to his destruction. This is a way to make thee stand in awe, and to make thee tremble, and grow in the grace of fear before thy God.
Judgments! You may say, what judgments? Answ. Time will fail me here to tell you of the judgments that sometimes overtake God's people and always overtake the hypocrite for his transgressions. For those who attend God's people, I would have them look back to the place in this book where they are particularly touched upon. And for those who attend the hypocrite, in general, they are these: 1. Blindness of heart in this world. 2. The death of their hope on the day of their death. 3. And the damnation of their souls at the day of judgment (Matt 23:15-19; Job 8:13, 11:20, 18:14, 20:4-7, Matt 23:33, 24:51; Luke 20:47). The godly consideration of these things tend to make men grow in fear of God.
Tenth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? Then study the excellencies of the grace of fear, and what profit it yielded to them that have it, and labor to get thy heart into the love, both of the exercise of the grace itself, and also of the fruit it yielded; for a man hardly grows in the increase of any grace, until his heart is united to it, and until it is made lovely in his eyes (Psa 119:119,120). Now the excellencies of this grace of fear have also been discoursed of in this book before, whereby reading thou shalt find the fruit it bears and the promises annexed to it, which, because they are many, I refer thee also thither for thy instruction.
Eleventh. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? Then remember what a world of privileges do belong to them that fear the Lord, as also I have hinted; namely, that such shall not be hurt, shall want no good thing, shall be guarded by angels, and have a special license, though in never so dreadful a plight, to trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon their God.
Twelfth. Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? Then be much in prayer to God for an abundance of the increase thereof. To fear God is that which is according to his will; if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. Pray, therefore, that God will unite thy heart to fear his name; this is the way to grow in the grace of fear.
Lastly, Wouldest thou grow in this grace of fear? Then devote thyself to it (Psa 119:38). Devote me to it, you will say, how is that? I answer, why, give thyself to it, addict thyself to it. Solace thyself in the contemplation of God and of a reverence of his name, word, and worship. Then wilt thou fear and grow in this grace of fear.
What things are they that tend to hinder the growth of the fear of God in our hearts?
And that I may yet be helpful to thee, reader, I shall now give thee caution of those things that will, if way be given to them, hinder thy growth in this fear of God, the which, because they are very hurtful to the people of God, I would have thee be warned by them. They are the following:
First, if thou would grow in this grace of fear, heed A HARD HEART, for that will hinder thy growth in this grace. "Why hast thou hardened our heart from thy fear?" was a bitter complaint of the church heretofore, for it is not only the judgment that in itself is dreadful and sore to God's people but that which greatly hindered the growth of this grace in the soul (Isa 63:17). A hard heart is but barren ground for any grace to grow in, especially for the grace of fear: there is but little of this fear where the heart is indeed hard; neither will there ever be much therein.
Now if thou wouldest be kept from a hard heart, 1. Take heed of the beginnings of sin. Take heed, I say, of that, though it should never be so small; "A little leaven leavened the whole lump." There is more in a little sin to harden than in a great deal of grace to soften. David's look upon Bathsheba was, one would think, but a small matter, yet that beginning of sin contracted such hardness of heart in him that it carried him almost beyond all fear of God. It did carry him to commit lewdness with her, murder upon the body of Uriah, and to an abundance of wicked dissimulation, which is things, I say, that has a direct tendency to quench and destroy all fear of God in the soul.
2. If thou hast sinned, lie not down without repentance; the want of repentance after one has sinned makes the heart harder and harder. Indeed, a hard heart is impenitent, and impenitence also makes the heart harder and harder. So that if impenitence be added to a hardness of heart, or to the beginning of sin which makes it so, it will quickly be with that soul, as is said of the house of Israel, it will have a whore's forehead, it will hardly be brought to shame (Jer 3:3).
3. If thou would be rid of a hard heart, that great enemy to the growth of the grace of fear, be much with Christ upon the cross in thy meditations; for that is an excellent remedy against the hardness of heart: a right sight of him, as he hanged there for thy sins, will dissolve thy heart into tears, and make it soft and tender. "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced,—and mourn" (Zech 12:10). Now a soft, tender, and broken heart is a fit place for the grace of fear to thrive. But,
