could not but express his Zeal for God at Athens when he had none to back him Acts 17. Come see my Zeal for the Lord says Jehu a Kings 10.16 An Hypocrite is not well pleased if he have not some to take notice of his Zeal some that will applaud him for it His Zeal in a good cause is soon cooled if he have not some about him such as would encourage and help to blow it up Whereas true Zeal will burn still when there are none about it but such as endeavour to blow it out As Lot's Soul was vexed from day to day in Sodom with their unlawful deeds 2 Pet. 2.8 If a Zealous Christian hath his lot cast in a wicked prophane Place or Family even there will his Zeal be breaking forth True Zeal will not be smothered or put out with the coldness and deadness of others about it but rather useth to be more excited and intended As Fire burns hottest in cold frosty Weather 5. True Zeal is not Partial but would appear for all that wherein God's Honour and Interest lieth It is as Extensive as sincere and sound Obedience It is Quantitas intensiva obedientiae according to Dr. Ames Thus to be Zealous of good works in the whole kind of them ready to promote any good Work earnestly desirous to abound in every good Work would shew our Zeal to be right But a partial Zeal as a partial Obedience is not right As partial heats in the Body are no signs of good Health To be Zealous for works of Charity but no friends of Holiness and true Piety Or to seem forward for pious Exercises but to be careless of other Moral Duties To be negligent in the duties of our particular Callings and Relations cannot be right True Zeal in a Magistrate will make him active for God as a Magistrate as Nehemiah was True Zeal in a Minister will make him diligent in the work of his Ministry Like Apollos who being fervent in Spirit spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord Acts 18.25 True Zeal in the Master of a Family will make him Industrious in his Place To instruct his Houshold in the Way of the Lord and to engage them in God's Service after Abraham's example Yea one that is truly Zealous of good Works will act uniformly Not be hot in Prayer Hearing Conference and Cold and Heartless as to other Duties 6. True Zeal sets against all Sin as it is discovered This will cause ones Blood to rise against Sin So a Man will be ready to reprove and shew his dislike of Sin as he has opportunity So he will endeavour in his Place according to his Power to oppose Sin to prevent suppress it True Zeal will make a Man an enemy to Sin wheresoever he sees it wheresoever he meets with it To appear very forward to condemn the faults of an Enemy of such as bear no good will to us and to bear with Sin in our Friends in such as are nearly related to us this is not right True Zeal would make one like Levi in God's Cause Who said unto his Father and to his Mother I have not seen him neither did he acknowledg his Brethren nor knew his own Children Deut. 33.9 As Asa would not bear with Idolatry in his own Mother 2 Chron. 15.16 In the trial of your Love observe its working at a distance as this will better appear in its workings towards those that are farthest off in its being extended to Strangers Enemies than in its workings towards Friends and Relations that are near you But in the trial of your Zeal on the contrary especially observe how it worketh near hand To condemn Sin in others but to indulge and spare our own Sins is not right Some are so Zealous against others Offences De Adventu Dom. Ser. 4. as Bernard says that they might seem to hunger and thirst after Righteousness if they had the same judgment also of their own Sins But now a weight and a weight as he alludes is an abomination to the Lord. True Zeal would least endure Sin in its own Territories As Fire has most power on what is next it Zeal where it is in truth will be firing out ones own Corruptions Like an Hearth of fire among Wood and like a Torch of fire in a Sheaf As the Psalmist says My Zeal hath consumed me Psal 119.139 So Zeal will be consuming ones Lusts Are we salted with this Fire according to the expression Mark 9.49 A truly Zealous Christian has the greatest indignation against his own Sins and is most forward to take revenge on himself and them 2 Cor. 7.11 And he would not spare one of his Sins Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel yet this shewed his Zeal was not right that he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam he was still for the Golden Calves 2 Kings 10.28 29. A resolved indulgence and allowance of any known Sin and true Zeal are inconsistent 7. A right and regular Zeal is most vehement in the greatest Matters As Fire the grosser the substance that it takes hold Ignis in materia densiori acriùs urit and feeds upon the hotter it burns True Zeal is more for plain and necessary Duties than for any disputable point or matter of Controversie So likewise it riseth against Sin according to the quality and aggravations thereof What one noteth to have always been the Hypocrites guise Dr. Downam on Psal 15. p. 33. is the genius of false Zeal scil To neglect the greater Duties and to affect the observation of the less to prefer Circumstances before the Substance and Ceremonies before the works either of Piety or Charity to place the height of their Religion either in observing or urging Ceremonies or contrariwise in inveighing against them Observe it to be more Zealous for or against a Ceremony than for the weightiest and most substantial Duties or than against great and foul Enormities to be more Zealous about some disputable Point and Opinion wherein sound Christians may have different apprehensions than for main matters of Faith and Godliness matters essential to true Christianity wherein all that are Christians indeed must agree both as to Belief and Practice is no good sign You would not take him for a wise and careful Builder that laid the greatest weight on the weakest part of the Wall So it must be indiscreet Zeal or worse than indiscreet which is more for unnecessary Opinions than for the most substantial Duties and fundamental Truths Is that true Zeal for God Or rather is it not a selfish Zeal which is for ones own Opinions neglecting those things which make most for the Honour of God and wherein the main interest of Religion lieth Though many warm themselves at these Sparks many comfort themselves that they are Zealous in their way for their own Parties and Opinions yet in the end they may lie down in sorrow for it But some will say Would you not have us Zealous for
be an offence of another nature a greater offence against them than to grieve them This is real scandal Like Peters withdrawing and separating himself from the Gentiles for fear of displeasing the Jews Gal. 2.11 12. And yet I confess when we care not unnecessarily to grieve the spirits of the Godly this is not to walk charitably Rom. 14.15 If thy Brother be grieved with thy meat now walkest thou not charitably or according to the rule of Charity But it is a greater wrong to them sure to be unnecessarily an occasion of their offending God and wounding Conscience It is no charity to neglect duty that we may not displease some of our Brethren when thereby we should both wrong our selves and their souls too thus allowing and encouraging them in their mistakes 7. If we love the Godly we shall take well their just reproofs and faithful admonitions We shall not be offended thereat nor have our hearts thereupon alienated and drawn from them Psal 141.5 Let the Righteous smite me it shall be a kindness And yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities They that are so in love with their sins that they cannot endure any should speak against them have little love to Holiness They that are offended at others zeal against Sin should not pretend to love them for their Holiness Prov. 9.8 Rebuke a wise Man and he will love thee None but fools would fall out with their friends for telling them of their faults If we love the Godly indeed it will more endear them to us the more experience we have of their love and faithfulness this way As was observed of Mr. Whately Clark's Lives Par. 1. p. 932. He was glad when any of the Righteous smote him and would take it well not only from his Superiors but from his Equals and far Inferiors and would really shew more testimonies of his love to such afterwards than ever he did before 8. If we love the Godly as we wish well to their souls we should watch over them and be ready to admonish them as there is occasion Bern. Epist 243. Habet vera amicitia nonnunquam objurgationem adulationem nunquam A sharp rebuke is not so contrary to true love as smooth flattery If we love our Brethren we must neither despise them for their infirmities nor sooth them up with flatteries cloke over their infirmities but do what in us lies to cure them As we would not hate our Brother in our heart we must rebuke him and not suffer sin upon him Lev. 19.17 And one offers this sense of it That if we know any fault by our Brother Byfield on 1 Pet. 3. p. 104. and feel our selves tempted to an alienation from him upon that account we must not suffer our hearts to be withdrawn from him but give them vent by a plain and discreet rebuke We must do what we can to reform him that we may not have our hearts withdrawn from him When Absalom hated Amnon he would speak to him neither good nor bad 2 Sam. 13.22 But how many alas who instead of watching over their Brethren to prevent their falling and to raise them up when fallen do rather watch for their halting How many that can extenuate or make light of the foul miscarriages of others who love to aggravate the least failings of serious Professors and are forward to speak of them to others never admonishing the guilty parties themselves Have such any true love to them Are they not false Brethren That in Lev. 19.17 Thou shalt not suffer sin upon him Some render thus Mr. Pools Synopsis Criticorum Non elevabis super eum peccatum Thou shalt not lift or hold up sin upon him And give this sense Thou shalt rebuke privately not openly As Mat. 18.15 Tell him his fault between thee and him alone And so it is covered as it were but when it is proclaimed abroad then it is as it were held up over him 9. If we truly love the Godly than we really sympathize with them We shall be like those Twins that used to laugh and weep together The prosperity of such will be our joy and their adversity and sufferings our grief and sorrow As it is Isa 66.10 Rejoyce ye with Jerusalem and be glad with her all ye that love her As if one member be honoured all the members will rejoyce with it 1 Cor 12.26 So on the other hand if one member suffers all the members suffer with it Now do we rejoyce with them that rejoyce and weep with them that weep As Job 30.25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble Was not my Soul grieved for the poor Thus Nehemiah shewed his love to God's People when hearing that the remnant of the captivity were in great affliction and reproach he mourned and wept and fasted and prayed Neh. 1.3 4. He could not but look sad upon it Chap. 2.1 2. The believing Hebrews were companions with them that suffered Heb. 10.33 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were partakers had afflictions in common with them were grieved for others troubles as if they had been their own or more then if they had been their own for we read in the next verse they took joyfully the spoiling of their own goods So they had compassion on the Apostle in his bonds ver 34. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye sympathized as if ye had been fellow-sufferers with me So if indeed we love the Godly a friend loveth at all times we shall love them when they are most hated of the World we shall honour them when most contemned and trampled on we shall be pittiful and have our bowels troubled for them when others may shew themselves harsh and cruel full of spite against them The Trials of the Faithful will be so far from cooling and abating our love if it be sincere that rather they will occasion a drawing of it out more If we are only summer-summer-Friends our love is nothing-worth 10. If we love the Godly we shall not be ashamed to own them when under reproach and sufferings When they are black with lying among the Pots we shall not therefore turn away our faces from them As Onesiphorus shewed his love to the Apostle Paul 2 Tim. 1.16 17. He was not ashamed of my Chain says the Apostle But when he was in Rome he sought me out very diligently and found me As Vegetius Epagathus was called The Advocate of the Christians Euseb Ecclesiast Hist lib. 5. cap. 1. We shall be ready to vindicate and plead for them when slandered reproached and unjustly condemned of others To be like the Samaritans that would claim kindred with the Jews while they were in a flourishing and prosperous estate but would disown them when at an under To seem to be on their side while they are countenanced and favoured but to forsake them when the World frowns on them would argue our love unsound To love them but in subordination to our reputation in
what he allows and much more to be zealous against what he approves and commandeth is contrary to his Will Interest and Honour This is not in a true account Zeal for God but rather against him That Zeal which is not according to knowledg which is not guided and warranted by the Word hath an errour in the foundation It hath nothing to difference it from the Zeal of the grossest Idolaters in the World A Papist may be heartily zealous in his way zealous to promote his Religion and gain Proselytes to it zealous against the soundest Christians crying out against such as dangerous Hereticks wishing that they might come to their old work again to burn such as Hereticks In this his Zeal he may follow his judgment thinking he should do God good service as Joh. 16.2 even in persecuting the faithful to the death if it was in his power when alas he is miserably mistaken This will not justifie any in their Zeal for Idolatry that they think God best served most honoured that way This will not warrant any in their rage against the Saints and Servants of the most High God that they take them to be Hereticks or Hypocrites But they shall find it was their duty to have informed themselves better and not to condemn the righteous and not to call good evil The Devil that cannot endure but is an utter enemy to right Zeal is ready to promote a false blind Zeal all he can He is never weary of blowing this coal This he knows would do him Knights service He cannot but account such his best servants who are zealous in his service Such do as much as can be to credit his Cause who put the honourable title of Zeal for God upon the service they do his grand enemy Such fight against God while they carry his Colours blind Zeal is a piece of the greatest disservice to the interest of God and Religion Sometimes blind Zeal fights with a shadow strikes at a Sign-post but letteth the enemy quietly pass by And which is worse it sometimes falleth foul on those whom it ought to defend A Man acted with Blind Zeal is like one that shoots at Rovers who is more likely to do mischief than hit the Mark or like one that fighteth blindfold striking Friends as soon as Foes What sad havock what woful work hath blind Zeal oft made in the Church Even like a violent Fire that getting head layeth all waste before it The Devil has no stiffer prop to uphold his Kingdom and no fiercer engine of Persecution or battering Ram to employ against the Kingdom of Christ Therefore let not any please themselves in this that they are Zealous in their way when perhaps they are out of the way And if so the more haste the worse speed Zeal in a false way casts Men more behind No Offering acceptable to God without Fire yet to offer strange-Fire here is very perillous And that is not Fire from Heaven where there is heat without Light Where these go alone either Heat without Light Zeal without Knowledg or Light without Heat Knowledg without Zeal it is sadly ominous but where they go together very comfortable Are you zealous but who and what are you zealous for And what is your Zeal against I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts says Elijah because the Children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant thrown down thine Altars and slain thy Prophets c. 1 King 19.14 Is thy Zeal against Sin indeed So that thou canst not indure to see God dishonoured his Worship neglected and contemned his Truth opposed his Saints and Servants evil intreated c. Is thy Zeal for that which is good Gal. 4.18 It is good to be zealously affected alwayes in a good thing The Apostle Paul was very zealous before his Conversion but of the traditions of his Fathers Gal. 1.14 Many have a Zeal but for their own fancies and private opinions Oh what pitty is it that such spirits should evaporate and be lost Let a Man's Zeal be never so hearty if the Mettal have not a right stamp it is not currant Zeal unless it be rightly guided sayes learned Hooker when it indeavoureth most busily to please God Eccl. polit l. 5. §. 3. p. 190. forceth upon him those unseasonable Offices which please him not For which cause if they who this way swerve be compared with such as are sincere sound and discreet as was Abraham the friend of God the service of the one is like unto flattery the other like the faithful sedulity of friendship 2. Right Zeal burns within before it flames out Hypocrites can be hot in their expressions but are not fervent in spirit Hot in the Mouth but cold at Stomach cold at Heart Like Glow-worms fiery in appearance yet really cold in themselves Blind Zeal is strange Fire an hypocritical fained Zeal is false Fire But true Zeal is not all in shew though it will shew it self It lieth chiefly in the fervency and intention of the Spirit and Affections The life of Zeal is in the Heart As when the Apostle Paul was at Athens seeing the City wholly given to Idolatry his spirit was stirred in him and this stirred him up to dispute and Preach against their Idolatry Act. 17.16 c. As Ezekiel's hearers with their mouth shewed much love Ezek. 33.13 it is possible that many in their outward expressions may shew much Zeal declaming freely and often against the Sins of the Age as the horrible increase of Prophaneness growth of Popery c. and may seem to bewail the woful declining state of true Piety amongst us but are our hearts deeply touched and affected with the sense of these things Surely that Zeal which is only from the teeth outward is not true but feigned 3. True Zeal hath respect to God it pointeth towards God As Fire ascends Sparks fly upwards That is not right Zeal which is flashy vain-glorious in pretence for God but really for self To pretend Zeal for the Lord as Jehu did but really to design and aim at self-applause and self-advantage this is to mock God or this is but to flatter him And certainly that God which searcheth the heart will put a difference betwixt such flatterers and his true friends They that have a true Zeal for God will ordinarily prefer God's Honour and Interest before their own concerns True Zeal is accompanied with self-denial Such can be zealous for God when they are like to suffer for their Zeal They could better endure to suffer themselves than that the Truth should suffer They could take it more patiently to be reviled themselves to have their names cast out as evil than that the good wayes of God be evil spoken of 4. True Zeal will burn alone As Elijah was zealous for the Lord God of Hosts even when he seemed to himself to be left alone when he knew not of one that would take his part 1 Kings 19.10 As the Apostle Paul
worldly comforts Would an interest in God with us weigh down all the World This is a surer evidence of true love to God if the settled bent and inclination of our Souls be towards him than any sudden transports and flashes of affection or passionate workings or ravishments that come and go and leave not the Soul in such a frame Well lay up this Note and try and judg of your selves by it So much as the Will is inclined towards God and the Heart set upon him above all things in the World so much there is of the Grace of Love so far a Soul loveth God in sincerity 5. If we love God indeed than we cannot be satisfied without an interest in God and we cannot but earnestly desire to have our interest in him cleared to us I do not say we must know our special propriety in him that he is our God before we can truly love him No but a true love to God is that which must evidence God's especial love to us and our special interest in God By being such as love God we may know we are in special relation to him of the number of those who are the Called according to his purpose Rom. 8.28 But if we love him indeed we shall long to come to a sense of his love and to see our special interest in him As the Psalmist Psal 119.58 I intreated thy favour thy face with my whole heart Lord one good look one smile from thee A little in the World with God's favour would give us more content than the whole World without it As the Spouse says Cant. 6.3 I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine So if God hath our love we shall be restless till we can say that he is ours till we can call him our own As they that are in love cannot injoy themselves unless they may obtain their Beloved As they say Love would be paid in its own coin If we love God we cannot be content unless we may be in his Eyes as them who find favour So we shall desire rather to enjoy the light of his Countenance than the greatest affluence of worldly comforts as Psal 4.6 7. But are not most of us of another mind How many that are more intent upon the World to get Estates here than to get an interest in God How many who if they may have the World smiling on them never regard though they are under God's frowns How many that seek the favour and friendship of Men more than the favour of God Doubtless such have not the love of God in them 6. If we have the love of God in us then we shall greatly desire and delight in his presence and mourn take on sadly in his absence Psal 42.1 2. As the Hart panteth after the Water brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God Psal 101.2 O when wilt thou come unto me If we love God we shall long for his gracious visits It will be our delight to draw nigh to God in holy Duties in his Ordinances and especially when we can find the Lord drawing nigh to our Souls as we are joyed at the coming of a special friend And as intimate friends are not content to be long asunder we shall not be satisfied without God's presence As Moses said Exod. 33.15 If thy presence go not with me carry us not hence He would have chosen to be in a Wilderness with God's presence rather than to enjoy a Canaan without it so if we have the love of God in us we shall rather desire to be in affliction and have his presence with us than to enjoy great worldly prosperity without him So we shall account this one of the saddest afflictions if the Lord withdraws and estrangeth himself from us as the Psalmist Psal 30.7 Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled We know not how to bear his frowns In such a case we shall have many sad and serious self-reflections often asking our Souls What is the matter what have we done that the Lord takes unkindly that has set him at such a distance We shall not rest till we have found out the cause and removed it till this sad breach be made up and we restored to our communion with God If indeed our hearts be with him we can no longer enjoy our selves than we enjoy him A soul that loves God cannot but say It is not good Lord for me to be alone counting it an Heaven upon Earth to enjoy him but an Hell to live without him in the World As the Needle touch'd with the Loadstone will be turning to such a point the Heart being touch'd with the love of God will be moving and inclining towards him it cannot rest but in the enjoyment of him as Psal 63.8 My soul followeth hard after thee Such a soul is in a trembling posture and is fainting for him when the Lord carrieth more strange when he hides his face Psal 84.2 My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God my soul even fainteth This is Love's sickness Are we thus sick of Love as the Spouse was Cant. 5.8 There is a lamenting love as well as a delighting love As the Child crieth for its Mother As we are grieved at the loss or long absence of a dear friend Absence is the Lover's night God's absence makes the darkest and faddest night to the souls of his People My soul fainteth for the Courts of the Lord because there he was wont to have fights of God Psal 63.2 there he was wont to enjoy sweet communion with him And my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God He would send his hearty and carnest cries after him So if we love God we shall seek him still though he be a God that sometimes hideth himself Isa 45.15 Thus the Spouse shewed how her heart went after her Beloved whenshe sought him in the streets of the City sought him in the broad ways Cant. 3.2 went about up and down seeking him and could not rest till she had found him As they shewed how they were taken with their Idols Jer. 8.2 Whom they have loved and whom they have served and after whom they have walked and whom they have sought By love the Soul is knit to the Lord and cleaveth to him Deut. 11.12 and it must needs go fore with such a soul to be parted to be separated from him Nothing in the World can be more grievous to it 7. If we have the love of God in us while we are our selves are in our right frame and act like our selves we are breathing after and longing for the full enjoyment of God in Glory We desire and are glad of his presence with us here yet are not satisfied therewith but set a longing after Heaven where our love to God shall be perfect our communion with him more immediate and our joy in him full so if we love God how
of God in us our indignation will be moved when we hear the Name of God profaned and see his Majesty affronted his Laws violated his truth and interest opposed Now what say you to this If you can be sensible enough of any injury done to your selves but no way touched or affected with the great indignities you oft see and hear offered unto God If you can see Sinners as it were flying in God's face and yet remain sensless and speechless having nothing to say in God's cause as the Psalmist was dumb in his own cause Psal 38.14 as a Man that beareth not and in whose mouth are no reproofs If you can have fellowship with Sinners delight in their company and rather countenance than discountenance the Ungodly and love them that hate the Lord will these things shew any love to God Would you take him for your friend that could see others evil intreat you and yet stood by as one wholly unconcerned And can you be friends with those who shew themselves enemies to God and no way manifest your displeasure against them and their evil ways and will you yet pretend to love God 11. If we love God we have a desire to win and draw in others to him Cant. 1.4 Draw me we will run after thee When she was drawn she would be for drawing others to him She was not content to come alone but would endeavour to bring in others with her As the Psalmist Psal 34.3 O magnify the Lord with me So one that loves God will be ready to call upon others O love the Lord with me O serve the Lord with me If we have the love of God in us it will grieve us to see others enemies to God As the Psalmist I beheld the transgressours and was grieved And especially it will be our grief to see any of ours alienated from God to see any of our friends enemies to God any of our Relations such as are near to us afar off from God to see any of our Children backward to that which is good Children of disobedience carrying so that we may know they have not the love of God in them We shall be earnest with God in Prayer that he would change their hearts that he would circumcise their hearts to love him What is it that we would chuse for ours if we might have our choice Whether would we chuse God or the World Had we rather see them in a state of Grace and in favour with God though they were never so poor and low in the World than see them rich and graceless And would we in the first place acquaint them with God Are we still admonishing perswading charging them to come in to him If we are less afraid of displeasing God by a sinful silence here than of displeasing them by plain and faithful dealing with them is not this to honour them above the Lord And if we can be well enough pleased with Children though we cannot see the least spark of Grace in them if they are but likely to thrive and prosper in the World and if we regard not though our Servants are backward to God's Service while they follow our business close if we take no pains with them to get them better principled such things would shew as little love to God as to their souls 12. If the love of God be in us then we are no longer in love or in league with Sin Psal 97.10 Ye that love the Lord hate evil How can we love God who is Holiness it self and yet be in love with Sin that is so contrary to God He that loves his Prince hates Treason and Rebellion against his Prince He that loves his Father Ubi regnat charitas non regnat cupiditas Lud. Carthus does not delight to walk cross to his Father The predominant love of God and reigning Sin are things utterly inconsistent If we love God we cannot but hate and dread that which would separate betwixt us and our God Here I may allude to that Text Deut. 13.4 6 8. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God and cleave to him And if thy friend which is as thine own soul entice thee secretly saying Let us go and serve other gods Thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him neither shall thine eye pity him neither shalt thou spare neither shalt thou conceal him But thou shalt surely kill him thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death So if we love God and cleave to him we shall not be for concealing and sparing any sin how dear so ever it may have been though it hath been as a right Eye or as a right Hand to us we shall no longer connive at any Darling Lust that would entice and draw away our hearts from God we shall be resolved on the mortifying and crucifying of it The love of God and friendship with Sin will not stand together Oh! think seriously of this While thou art wedded to any lust to thy Pride to thy Flesh-pleasing Sensuality or to thy Covetousness c. thy heart is not with God Thou canst not cleave to God and Sin both Thou canst not be for two Masters so contrary but if thou lovest the one thou must needs hate the other if thou cleavest to the one thou must needs forsake the other If thou lovest evil more than good as Psal 52.3 if thou art so far linkt in and in league with any lust that thy Will is more for keeping than for parting with it more for serving and gratifying than for subduing and crucifying it the love of God is not in thee 13. If we love God then it is our delight to serve and obey him 1 Joh. 5.3 This is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous So in 2 Epist v. 6. This is love that we walk after his Commandments To love him and keep his Commandments are joyned Exod. 20.6 Neh. 1.5 When a friend says If you love me do such a thing for me his Intreaty useth to have the force of a Command If God's Commands have no force with us it is a sign we love him not If we have the love of God in us Nunquam est Dei Amor otiosus Operatur etenim magna si est Si vero operari renuit Amor non est Gregor Mag. Hom. 30. we shall delight in his Law as the Psalmist did Psal 119.70 we shall delight to do the will of God and chuse the things that please him As we must shew our faith so our love by our works Qui non placet Deo non potest illi placere Deus Bern. As I told you before Love is a well-pleasedness with God above with a desire in all things to please him Now if we are more for pleasing our selves than for pleasing God more for having our own wills than for doing the will of God if we are more at Mens command at the command
of the World than we are at God's command and that habitually and ordinarily it is plain we prefer our selves and honour the Creature above God and while it is thus how can we say that we love him If we love God we shall follow him and love to walk in his ways As they said of their Idols Jer. 2.25 I have loved strangers and after them will I go Had they loved God indeed they would have been for following him and not strangers The counsel of a special friend is much regarded and surely if we love God we shall not despise his counsels Psal 119.128 I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right He approved of them all he would not have any one of God's Laws nulled and abrogated To love the Lord to walk in all his ways and to cleave to him are conjoyned Deut. 11.22 And to love the Lord and to walk ever in his ways Deut. 19.9 So the love of God will incline souls to sincere impartial and constant obedience 14. If we love God we shall desire to be more like him Eph. 5.1 Be followers of God as dear Children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imitators though we cannot be like him in respect of those Attributes stiled incommunicable Our first Parents fell from God when they affected to be as Gods And in some other respect too we may not be like him We may not act for our own glory as God does This would entrench upon the glory due from us to God and cross the end of our beings Yet if we love God we shall desire to be like him so far as we may There is an assimulating vertue and power in love We are ready to imitate those we love Their example is very moving and is wont to take much with us If we love God we shall desire that we may have hearts after his heart to love that which he loves and to hate that which he hates Amicorum idem velle idem nolle We shall desire to be holy as he is holy and merciful as he is merciful and perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect Though it is impossible for any Creature to be as holy as merciful as perfect as God is Though an equality here is not to be thought of yet a likeness and similitude a conformity to God in our measure such as we may attain to we must study and endeavour and this the love of God would put us upon But if we rather wish that God was altogether such a one as our selves if we rather desire that he would come down to us and comply with allow of our crooked Tempers and Manners than to have our souls raised up to him by the restoring of his Image and a divine Nature wrought in us it would shew indeed that we are little taken with him but rather how little cause soever there is for it we are still in love with our sinful selves 15. If we love God we shall highly account of his favours We shall not despise common benefits as coming from him but we shall most prize any special Love-token he hath given us We set a value on Mercies according as God's love appears in them When Tamar had got Judah's Signet and Bracelets she would not part with them for a Kid. One would have prized a kiss of Cyrus above the golden Cup he gave him The soul that loves God will value spiritual Mercies above temporal enjoyments The consolations of God will not be small in such a ones account His comforts will be more desired longed for or if enjoyed will more delight and refresh the soul than any worldly comforts And the more we love God the more we shall praise him for any intimations and expressions of his love We shall delight to tell others what he hath done for our souls as the Psalmist Psal 66.16 Come and hear all ye that fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my soul Psal 103.1 2 3 4. This would in part shew we love God for himself and not only for his Benefits if indeed we set the highest value and account on those Benefits wherein we might read his special love But they that would account more of the Birth-right than of the Blessing and set more store by Corn and Wine than they could do by the light of God's Countenance shew little love to God 16. If we love God we are for putting a good construction on his severest dispensations We would not take any thing unkindly from him We are not for entertaining hard thoughts of God Si mihi irascatur Deus num illi ego similiter reirasear non utique sed pavebo sed contremiseam sed veniam deprecabor Ita si me arguat not redarguetur à me sed ex me potius justificabitur Nec si me judicabit judicabo ego eum sed adorabo Bern. in Cant. Scr. 83. though he shew us hard things We shall desire to keep up good thoughts of God still but have worse thoughts of our selves When he afflicts us we shall fall out with our selves fall out more with Sin not be displeased at him We shall still follow him even though he walk contrary to us as Isa 26.8 9. When we are chastened of him we shall not censure his dealings but judge our selves We shall be ready to justify God and to condemn our selves acknowledging God to be righteous and to punish less than our iniquities deserve If we cry to God and he seem not to hear we shall not hereupon take pett but conclude with the Psalmist Psal 22.2 3. Yet thou art holy Indeed we shall be ready in our troubles to complain to him as we use in trouble to complain to our friends but we would not complain of him If we love God Afflictions will not ordinarily drive us from God but rather drive us nearer to him If he shews his displeasure it will grieve us most that we have displeased him that we have offended our good and gracious Father that we have provoked the God of Patience a God so rich in Mercy And so we shall be for humbling our selves and making our peace with him But if when we are afflicted instead of accepting of the punishment of our Iniquities and humbling our selves and seeking his face our hearts do nothing but fret against the Lord we are strange Children We have had Fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence and if we are not much rather in subjection to the Father of Spirits we shew not a childlike disposition And how sad is it if in our afflictions we are ready to say with him of whom we read This evil is of the Lord why should I wait on the Lord any longer How sad is it when Crosses that should crucify and deaden our hearts more to the World have this contrary effect deadning them towards God and towards holy Duties That we have less heart to serve God have less
heart to Pray to Read and Hear the Word c. It is noted of the Hypocrite Job 27.9 10. When trouble comes upon him will he delight himself in the Almighty will he always call upon God 17. If we love God indeed we shall desire to love him more and more and to express our love more and more We shall never think we love him enough or that we do enough for him or that what we do in God's service at any time is done well enough It will be our unfeigned desire to honour God more and to serve him better As the Psalmist 71.14 I will yet praise thee more and more Love in the Heart will set the Head on contriving the Tongue on pleading the Hands on working for God Love is kind is bountiful Amicorum omnia communia If we have the Love of God in us we shall desire that all we have may be at his service that our parts interest estate may be imploy'd and improved for him Love to God will put us upon holy Projects for God As it is very pleasing to us to serve a special Friend it will be our joy and delight to serve God to act for his Glory to do any thing to promote his interest And such as abound in Love to God will also abound in the work of the Lord. Whereas a Soul without Love is like a Bird that has lost his Wings or like a Chariot without Wheels it moves very heavily What such may seem to do for God is done without heart with no alacrity or delight but rather with pain and trouble further than self-interest and self-love carries them out Thus if what is done for God be done grudgingly and if we are weary of his service and if we are setting our selves bounds and think we have done enough already these things would not shew any love to God 18. If we love God it will be a joy to us to see others active for God Though we shall be ashamed to think how little we have done for God though it will grieve us that we can do no more yet withall it will be a pleasing sight to us when we can see his Interest and Honour promoted and advanced be it by others Though we shall desire in our places to do as much as those that do most for God yet it will be no eye-sore to us when we see others out-stripping us We shall honour them the more and shall desire to imitate them we shall not envy or stomach them But if we are offended at those that are more forward and zealous if we grudg that any cloud us by their shining brighter if we have a secret dislike of those that excell in Holiness and Vertue and quite out-do us in the service of God though the Lord hath more honour by them this is an ill sign a sign that we prefer our own interest before Gods interest and prefer our own reputation before his Glory and so that we love him not as we ought 19. If we love God we shall be ready not only to act but to suffer for him too Be willing to suffer any thing for God rather than forsake him Amanti nihil difficile Love makes any cross tolerable They that endure temptation or trial and they that love God are made all one Jam. 1.12 True Love is fugatrix timoris et animatrix confessionis according to Tertul. Many Waters cannot quench Love Where this divine spark is kindled it oft flameth forth more the more it meeteth with opposition It is intended by an Antiperistasis as Fire burns hottest in cold frosty weather How oft have the Faithful rejoyced in tribulation gloried in their sufferings Though we are not to run upon Sufferings uncalled yet how many have counted it à joy and pleasure when they have fallen into them I grant some may be carried on to suffer for God and his Truth who are only animated with vain-glory or with a vain proud conceit of meriting highly by their sufferings and not with a principal of Love Yet that Mans Love to God is to be suspected or rather concluded unsound that will not carry him through sufferings and tryals here He that loveth Father or Mother Wife or Children Liberty or Estate or Life it self more than God does not love him sincerely If we had rather incur God's displeasure than Man's had rather forgo an interest in God than forgo Estates in the World for him if we had rather venture on an everlasting separation from God than lay down our lives here for him surely we care little for him 20. If we love God we shall love others for his sake Love all Men love Enemies and especially love the Godly for his sake The Love of God includes under it the Love of our Neighbour and Love of the Brethren As it is well defined thus It is a Grace whereby we love God for himself above all and all others for God and in God 1 Joh. 4.20 21. If a Man say I love God and hateth his Brother he is a liar c. And this Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God loveth his Neighbour also Here I should say something of Love to Men. 1. Of Love to Men in general 2. Of Love to Enemies in particular 3. Of Love to the Godly in special 1. The Love of God will incline the heart to love all Men As it is a thing that God requires And as there is something of God to be seen in all Men Yea more than in Sun and Moon or the most excellent Creatures in the World that are without life and void of Reason All Men are worthy of our love as they are God's Workmanship as they are reasonable Creatures and capable of enjoying God and Happiness though such in a special manner are worthy of our love who are more especially God's workmanship being created again in Christ Jesus It is true the Damned are none of our Neighbors but removed quite out of all society with us and out of all capacity of ever loving and enjoying God And such as have sinned unto Death if we can certainly know them we may know to be utterly outlaw'd and lost Creatures to all Eternity for whom there remains nothing but a certain fearful expectation of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the adversaries But excepting such do we bear an universal Good-will to Men for God's sake with respect to his holy VVill and Command and to his Honour and Glory Then certainly it will be our Prayer and hearts desire that his way may be known upon Earth his saving health among all Nations And then we cannot but pity those that sit in darkness and in the region and shadow of Death And then we shall have aking and bleeding hearts for those that enjoy the Gospel and ordinary means of Salvation but plainly reject the counsel of God against themselves and will not attend to the things of their peace Then it will affect us
and of preserving the community both from guilt and punishment And thus the due execution of justice on Evil-doers is to be willed 3. When we desire not their punishment so much as their repentance and reformation We may will their temporal punishment and yet earnestly desire that it may go well with their souls And this is not inconsistent with true love to will their punishment but not for it self as punishment to them but as a means to reclaim them to bring them to a sense of their sin c. So much of love to all Men. 2. More particularly the love of God will incline a Man even to love those that hate him to love his very Enemies Amicos diligere omnium est Tertul. lib. ad Scapul inimicos autem solorum Christianorum It is common to all to love their friends but proper unto Christians to love their enemies Diligere enim diligentes est naturae Ludol Carthus in Evang. diligere non diligentes est gratiae Nature teacheth to love those that love us but only Grace teacheth to love those that love us not So this would be a notable proof that our love to God is sound if for his sake we love our enemies Therefore let us search and enquire how our hearts stand affected towards those that manifest and declare enmity and ill-will to us Mr. Baxt. Christian Directory Par. 4. p. 186. qu. 2. As one says Anothers enmity must not blind and pervert our judgment of him and hinder us from discerning all that is amiable in him nor must it corrupt our affections and hinder us from loving it and him I grant we may be sensible of others enmity and the injuries we receive from them yet their sin should be a greater trouble to us than our own affliction or suffering by them We may reprove an Enemy but in love we may not reproach an Enemy We may in many cases defend our selves yet must we take heed of a spirit of revenge and take heed of being injurious our selves under pretence of defending our selves from injury We may be cautelous and watchful not to expose our selves to the will of an Enemy yet not uncharitable in our censures and speeches making him worse than indeed he is We may not presently judg every one an Enemy to God that is contrary to us It may be from Prejudice and Passion not from rooted Malice what they do against us But however it is with them the Lord hath taught and commanded us to love and carry well towards them and we must do so as we would shew our selves his Children Mat. 5. 44 45. We cannot tell but they may belong to God He can make them Vessels unto honour And though they are unprofitable yea injurious to us yet they may be helpful and beneficial unto others whom we are bound to love We ought to love them for any good in them for any good that any other may receive from them And if we can love them when no self-respect moveth us thereunto it is a clearer evidence that we love them for Gods sake But if you cannot forgive their trespasses how can you hope that God will forgive you yours See Mark 11.25 26. Thou that sayest and speakest thy very heart I can never love such or such a one I shall never be friends with them while I live know this is sad language it speaks thee to be in the gall of bitterness And as one says Cor. Burgess Chain of Graces pag. 252. He that hath not grace to love an Enemy did never love his Friend from his heat Flee his friendship that cannot love an Enemy If ever thou move him he will be ready to remove thee for ever from his heart Now what say you to this Some indeed have an Art of carrying fair and smooth they can keep in their wrath that it shall not appear in their looks or speeches But can you truly say that you love and bear an hearty good will towards others how ill soever they carry towards you Do you wish no worse to them than to your own souls Do you pray for them a kindness which they cannot reject Father forgive them Lord lay not sin to their charge Would it rejoyce you to see them come on to a participation of Grace with you here and so to have fellowship with you in Glory hereafter And do you desire their prosperity here so far as may be good for them And would you not be unwilling if it lay in your way to promote it Are you so far from desiring to revenge your selves on them that you wait for opportunities to befriend them Oh! how few of such a spirit and yet how plain a duty Exod. 23.4 5. If thou meet thine enemies Ox or his Ass going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him again If thou see the Ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden and wouldst forbear to help him or wouldst cease to leave thy business for him thou shalt surely help him Rom. 12.20 If thine enemy bunger feed him if he thirst give him drink Mat. 7.12 All things whatsoever you would that Men should do unto you do ye even so to them Not as others do to you but as ye would that others should do unto you and that with a regular will a will guided by a right and sound judgment So on the other hand Quod tibi non vis fieri alteri nè feceris Do not that to another which thou wouldst not have another do to thee Rom. 12.21 Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good It was said of Julius Caesar Benignitate adeò praedictus ut quos armis subegerat clementiâ magis vicerit He was so gentle courteous that whom he subdued with force of Arms he overcame more with clemency and yet might he be far from loving Enemies as the Word of God and the Spirit of Grace teacheth But do you unfeignedly desire your enemies welfare and would you gladly be instruments of promoting it Are you for doing good to them that hate you unless where it may be more to your own hurt or danger than to their benefit and advantage And are you sorry grieved for them when evil befalleth them Prov. 24.17 Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth Job 31.29 30. If I rejoyced at the destruction of him that hated me or lift up my self when evil found him Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul Is it no joy to you to see an enemy fall into misery much less a joy to see him fall into sin Charity rejoyceth not in iniquity 1 Cor. 13.6 And are you ready to take notice of any good and commendable thing in an enemy and to speak well of him for it Have you no delight to hear or speak of his faults and miscarriages Are you for hiding rather than discovering his nakedness Had
David 1 Sam. 18.1 And here is no respect of persons but a respect of goodness to love them best who are best But if on the contrary a Man only beareth with Holiness in a lower degree and with such as may be Godly in the main but very remiss too much complying with the manners of the World or perhaps can afford such a good word sometimes saying such are honest sober moderate Men when he would thereby condemn those who are more forward when he utterly dislikes and his heart is rising against those whose hearts are lifted up in the ways of God when he cannot endure such as are more exactly conscientious and more zealous for God when he is barking at them as Hot-spurs Fanaticks and I know not what or if he lash them not with the tongue yet his heart is full of envy against them what can this shew but a graceless spirit And let such a one know that the love of God is not in him If the holiness of a Saint be such an eye-sore to thee for which thou canst not affect him how canst thou love God who is Holiness it self There is none holy as the Lord he is infinitely holy If the light of the Moon offends thee which yet shines not without its spots how canst thou bear the surpassing brightness of the Sun it self And how unmeet art thou for fellowship with the Saints in Heaven with the Spirits of Just Ones made perfect who canst not away with such as have attained to any eminent degree of holiness here The Saints in Heaven are more holy than any of those thou thinkest too strict too precise Perhaps thou wilt say 1. Thou couldst love and honour them if they were as good as they seem but they are Hypocrites they do but make a show Answ And dost thou indeed hate Hypocrisie O then take heed that thou beest not guilty of Hypocrisie in this very plea pretending that thou canst not love them because they are not so good as they seem when in very deed thou couldst like well of them if they were worse than they are Again Though it is true Hypocrites there will be among the Saints here yet take heed that thou dost not censure and condemn those as Hypocrites whom the Lord accepteth and approveth of as sincere and upright Thy hard censures cannot hurt and prejudice them so much as thy self The Devil accused Job to be no better than an Hypocrite As he is called The Accuser of the Brethren Rev. 12.10 That this is a Diabolical Practice And to justifie the Wicked and to condemn the Righteous are both of them an abomination to the Lord. How angry was the Lord with Job's three friends for their rash censures of him and harsh dealing with him The Vpright though they are abhorred of many in the World are God's delight And think of it Shall not the Saints judg the World at last Many that censure and accuse them here shall be judged and condemded by them hereafter Yea their holy lives that the World is so offended at shall condemn the World And thou that abhorrest their strict lives think of it whether with Balaam thou wouldest not desire to dye their Death Or 2. Perhaps thou wilt say They make more ado than needs Answ And wherein Indeed it becomes not a Christian to be a busy-body in other Mens matters He has work enough of his own to mind And let all that fear God have a care to walk so that others may find no occasion against them but in the matters of their God But certainly the Command Mat. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart c. will bear them out in their greatest Zeal and Activity for God So Luke 13.24 strive to enter in at the straight Gate c. And Phil. 2.18 Work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling And 2 Pet. 2.10 Give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure will warrant their most strenuous endeavours to get to Heaven And Ephes 5.15 See that ye walk circumspectly And 1 Thes 5.22 Abstain from all appearance of evil will justify their tenderness of Spirit and fear of Sin And Col. 1.10 Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitfull in every good work And 1 Cor. 15.58 Always abounding in the work of the Lord will prove that the best are so far from doing more than needs that they fall very far short of doing what they ought in Religion And therefore as Christ said to his Disciples Mat. 26.10 Why trouble ye the Woman for she hath wrought a good work on me So why do any go about to discourage such as for his Name sake are labouring and taking pains to glorifie God and save their souls Are any offended that they do so much Alas they see great cause to be ashamed that they have done so little that they do no more for God and Jesus Christ for their own and others souls It 's granted we should not be righteous over much as we should take heed of being over wise Eccles 7.16 To be wise above that which is written is Wisdom falsly so called and to be righteous above that which is commanded is but a Pharisaical righteousness That which is beyond the Rule is not true Religion but vain Superstition And works of Supererrogation are works of Superarrogancy But keeping to the Rule none can be over-righteous When it is said there v. 17. Be not over-much wicked surely the meaning is not that we may allow our selves a little here They that would shun all impiety more and less are not to be condemned as over-precise or doing more than needs Or 3. perhaps thou wilt say Thou canst not be quiet for them they will not let thee alone but are still reproving thee Answ And does that offend thee Then as the Psalmist says For my love they are my adversaries thou dost ill requite thy best thy most faithful friends Then it seems thou lovest thine enemies but hatest thy friends And is this well done of thee If they could be satisfied to suffer thee to go on offending and provoking God and wronging thine own Soul which is not love but hatred then thou couldst be better pleased with them If it be thus thou neither lovest the Godly nor thy self aright You may think me very long on this third particular Note That if we love the Godly for God and Godliness-sake then we love them most who are most like God most eminent in Godliness And yet before I pass on to another there is a Question or two that fall in here to be answered Quest 1. Are we to love the Godly more than near Relations if they be not Godly and to love those who are eminent in Godliness above Godly Relations that are not so eminent Answ 1. There is a peculiar love due unto Relations as such which is in part natural and sensitive as irrational Creatures also have a love to their mates and
the World and to our carnal interests is not to love them sincerely Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season And esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Aegypt Heb. 11.25 26. So love to the Godly and to their society would make us willing to ship our selves in the same bottom to take our lot with them in sufferings rather than forsake the assembling of our selves together with them 11. If we love the Godly than we shall be ready to relieve them As we are required to do good unto all Men as we have opportunity but especially to those that are of the houshold of Faith Gal. 6.10 We shall not love in word or in tongue only but in deed and in truth But whoso hath this Worlds good and seeth his Brother have need and yet shutteth up his Bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God or of his Brother in him 1 John 3.17 As one says of true Friends they will not come in prosperity when called but they will come in adversity uncalled Like that saying of Chilo Lacrt. c. 1. in Chilo p. 47. Promtiùs ad amic rum adversos casus quam ad secundos successus accurrendum Ib. in Zeno. l. 7. 513. As the Stoicks said Among Friends there is a certain community of those things which are necessary to life we using our Friends as our selves As we read of the primitive Christans Act. 4.32 Neither said any of them that ought of the things that he possessed was his own but they had all things common Then a community of goods was very needful and expedient when so many from remote parts came to joyn themselves with the Church at Jerusalem But instead of that community afterwards Christians were required to be ready to distribute and willing to communicate 1 Tim. 6.18 And to the end they might be more ready and free this way the Apostle ordered 1 Cor. 16.1 2. that every one should lay by him in store something every week as God had prospered him And true love would not be satisfied in our giving a few good words to our Brethren and fellow-Christians in necessity and distress as saying Depart in peace be warmed be filled Jam. 2.16 but it would cause us to abound in good works As the Apostle speaks of their work and labour of love shewed to God's Name in ministring to his Saints Heb. 6.10 And thus the Apostle would prove the genuineness and sincerity of the Corinthians love 2 Cor. 8.8 If we would prove that our love is not adulterate or spurious but right indeed we must be free and forward this way in ministring to the necessity of the Saints and that for the Lords sake And certainly while we grudg them any part of our Estates they have little share in our hearts Read Mr. Gouges Sermon of good works with Mr. Baxters Directions or Letter annexed To say as Nabal Shall I take my Bread and my Flesh and give it unto Men whom I know not whence they be or if we give any thing to do it grudgingly not as a matter of bounty but of covetousness rather when what we give beareth no proportion to their necessities and our abilities and is given more to salve our own credit than to relieve their wants such things would shew us without compassion towards them and so without true love As one sayes He that loves the Godly in sincerity Mr. B. Christian Directory part 4. p. 175. q. 15. He loveth Godliness and Godly Men above his carnal worldly Interest his Honour Wealth or Pleasure and therefore will part with these in works of Charity when he understandeth that God requireth it Job would not see any perish for want of clothing or any poor without covering Job 31.19 He that was so much concerned for any that were poor what care would he have taken of poor Saints Clark Lives part 1. p. 795 796. It is said of J. Fox that wrote the Acts Mon. c. That he never denied to give to any one the asked for Jesus sake And one asking him whether he knew a certain poor Man whom he used to relieve Yea said he I remember him well and I tell you I forget Lords and Ladies to remember such 12. If we love the Godly then we shall heartily lament the loss of such We are true Mourners when we hear of such being taken away When Jesus wept over Lazarus the Jews could say Behold how he loved him Joh. 11.35 36. And are we thus expressing our love to the Godly by our grief at parting with them Are we ready to cry out Help Lord for the godly Man ceaseth When the righteous perisheth and we lay it not to heart it shews want of love to them It 's true some can be sorry when merciful Men Men of kindness are taken away can bewail the death of a good Man or Woman such as had estates and hearts to do much good such as were Benefactors But the poor wise Man is not remembred Eccl. 9.15 The loss of such is regarded of few Few are affected with the death of the righteous as such though alas their number is but small compared with the ungodly yet how many that would not be sorry to see their company lessened How weary is the World of those of whom the World is not worthy But if we love them it will go near our hearts to lose them Acts 8.2 Devout Men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him Thus try your love He that loveth not knoweth not God 1 Joh. 4.8 He that loveth not his Brother abideth in death Chap. 3.14 Of Godly Fear PSAL. 112.1 Blessed is the Man that feareth the Lord. FEar is a reverend respect which the highest and best of Creatures owe unto God their Soveraign Lord. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say some as some would have the Latine word Deus God to come from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fear Jacob calleth God the fear of his Father Isaac Gen. 31.53 The Seraphims are said to cover their faces standing about his Throne Isa 6.2 They cannot but adore and reverence Divine Majesty They fear to behave themselves any way unseemly in such a presence Jude ver 9. Even Michael the Archangel when contending with the Devil he disputed about the body of Moses durst not bring against him a railing accusation The Lord is the dreadful God He it is that ought to be feared Psal 76.11 Unto him doth it appertain Jer. 10.7 This is certainly the Creatures duty yea so great a duty that it is oft put for the whole worship of God Psal 34.11 Deut. 6.13 And 10.20 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God which we read thus Mat. 4.10 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God And the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used for Fear or