with joy fear love and all spiritual graces which give strength to the inner man it enables us to command the winds and storms of our sinful lusts and irregular passions By the power of this Spirit we may eject and cast out all Satans temptations quench all his firy darts In a word by the mighty energie and efficacie of this Spirit we are enabled to every good word and work And hence 't is that sometimes the Spirit of God is called The power of the most High Luk. 1.35 36. the Spirit of power too 2 Tim 1.7 But why the power of the most High why a spirit of power Because of that effectual power which the Spirit puts forth into the hearts of the elect not onely for their conversion from sin to grace but for their confirmation and growth up in grace and in this fear of God So that now Beloved unless we do grow up in the fear of God more and more we do as much as in us lies to frustrate Gods end in sending to us his Spirit nay we cannot conclude that we have as yet received the Spirit And then in the fifth and last place 't is to this end likewise that God hath given to us and continued to us his holy Ordinances Look as the sun and rain are given to make plants to grow so the Ordinances are given to make our souls to grow in grace and in this holy fear of God more particularly for this purpose it is that God hath 1. given us his Word and 2. his Sacraments 1. His Word is given us to make us fruitful Isa 55.10 11. Hence is it that the people of God are compared to grass and tender herbs which grow and flourish which are fed and bring forth fruit when watered with the rain 't is Deut. 32.2 A godly man saith the Psalmist is like a tree planted by the rivers of water Psal 1.3 he is planted and placed where Gods Ordinances are and what then he bringeth forth his fruit in his season 1 Pet. 2.2 saith the Apostle there As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby They are ignorant of the intent and end of the Word that do not grow by the Word The Word is appointed not onely to beget us but also to make the Saints perfect For this you have an excellent text Eph. 4.11 12 13. The end of the Ministery is not onely to plant grace but to strengthen grace and therefore you shall finde that when the Apostles had established Churches they returned to confirm the disciples hearts Acts 4.21 22. And then secondly as to this end God hath appointed his Word so to this end likewise hath he instituted and ordained the Sacraments as they signifie seal and exhibit unto those that are within the Covenant of grace the benefits of Christs mediation so do they confirm and strengthen grace this doth the Sacrament of Baptism and this doth the Sacrament of the Lords Supper this is the very use and end of them Though indeed the Papists tie the grace of God inseparably to them and make the opus operatum matter of sufficient virtue and ascribe Divine power to the very outward signs or elements yet 't is most clear and certain that Jesus Christ set them up in his Church to the end that through the co-operation of his Spirit they might be effectual unto our spiritual growth as I could shew you at large were it needful And thus have you heard what Reasons there are why you whose hearts are already seasoned with the holy fear of God should grow up and abound in this grace more and more I come in the last place to the means whereby we may be assisted and enabled to and in the performance of this weighty but yet incumbent duty And here I might in the first place urge upon you a careful conscionable and faithful improvement of the foregoing Ordinances the Word and Sacraments which as I told you but now were ordained to this very end and purpose Did you but holily employ your selves in the Word and Sacraments you that have this holy fear of God already put into your hearts would grow up and abound in the same yet dayly more and more But I shall enlarge no further upon them There is one Ordinance of God more which is very conducible unto this great end A Word or two of that and so I shall conclude this second Point If you that already fear God would thrive and proceed in this grace why then make a constant and an assiduous use of faithful and fervent-prayer desire God who is able to make all grace to abound who is the finisher as well as the author of grace that he would cause this great and comprehensive grace to abound in you Jam 1.5 saith the Apostle there If any of you lack wisdom let him ask it of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him This if doth not argue doubt but onely inferreth a supposition But why doth the Apostle speak with a supposition is there any man that doth not lack wisdom I answer such expressions do more strongly aver and affirm a thing such suppositions imply a concession as Mal. 1.6 A son honoureth his father and a servant his master If I then be a father where is mine honour and if I be a master where is my fear q.d. you will grant I am a father and a master So here If any of you lack wisdom let him ask it of God you will grant you all lack wisdom The Apostle I confess if you look upon the circumstances of the text by wisdom intendeth wisdom or skill to bear affliction but yet we may also take it generally for every grace If any of you lack wisdom i. e. if he come short of or be defective in any grace let him ask it of God God will have every thing to be fetched out by prayer He is the sountain yea an unexhausted fountain of all grace and therefore saith the same Apostle in the same Chapter verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning Pray mark Every good and every perfect gift all spiritual blessings 'T is true all common gifts come from divine bounty but the Apostle here intendeth special blessings as appeareth by the attributes of them in that he calls them good and perfect as also because these best suit with the context as every good so every perfect gift i. e. such as do any way conduce to our perfection not onely initial and first grace but all the progresses in grace not onely the beginnings but the gradual accesses of them All these now are from God from above from heaven and if perfection and growth in every grace is from above why then likewise in this grace wherein I am now perswading of you to grow
by his holy Spirit who is their domestick Monitor and sweet inhabitant 'T is true what the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 3.5 Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God The meaning of it is that all our strength and help lies in him we daily finde a want in our selves and God as it pleaseth him le ts out from his sufficiency unto us now a little and then a little we are ever receiving from him and enabled by his Grace and Spirit to do what is done I say the Spirit disposeth the heart to this holy meditation and that two ways 1. By enlightning the heart 2. By enlarging the heart But the time being past I shall refer what remains to some further opportunity 1. I say the Spirit enlightens their hearts The first and primary work of the Spirit is to beat out as it were new windows in the dark souls of men and to put in a principle of new light thereby giving the soul some signs of God some sense of his sweetness some glimpse of his glory And hence 't is that the holy Ghost in Scripture is sometimes called a spirit of wisdom and understanding a spirit of counsel and of knowledge Isa 11.2 sometimes a spirit of wisdom and revelation Eph. 1.17 sometimes a spirit of illumination Heb. 6.4 Now the Spirit is so called from this effect which it hath upon the heart because the Spirit causeth a spiritual and heavenly light to shine about our mindes by which spiritual things are made manifest to the eye of our understanding as by the light of the Sun bodily things are made manifest to the eye of our body The Spirit saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 2.10 searcheth the deep things of God and reveals them to us and shews us the back parts of God though somewhat obscurely as through a grate onely or darkly as through a glass In this life we know but in part And then 2. The spirit having possessed the heart he enlargeth or wideneth the heart towards God and the things of God it enables us to captivate our thoughts to the obedience of Christ to conform them to the severaignty of his grace to the rules of his Word and the remembrance of his Name Nay 3. The Spirit sanctifieth the heart and so puts it upon a continual fresh succession of holy thoughts The whole spirit soul and body of a Christian is sanctified thorowout God writes his Law in their hearts stamps his image upon the spirit of their mindes makes them partakers of the divine nature erecteth a new nature a blessed frame of grace And hence have they an ability given them of holy thoughts and meditations for as the man is so will his thoughts dispositions meditations and affections be Hence is that of the Prophet Isa 32.8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things and by liberal things shall he stand A man of a noble liberal and generous spirit will carry his heart out after worthy and noble things Nay hence is that of our Saviour Matth. 12.35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things As from the old and unregenerated heart proceed evil thoughts so from the new and sanctified heart proceed holy and sanctified thoughts gracious considerations of and holy reverend respects to God and to his Name That is the third Reason of the Point It is and should be the practice of all them that truly fear God to meditate diligently upon God and upon the things of God because the Spirit doth to this purpose enlighten their understandings and possesseth and sanctifieth their hearts 4. But then last of all it is and should be the practice of all them that truly fear God to meditate diligently upon God and the things of God because all that truly fear God stand in a marvellous neer and dear relation unto God Neer relations you know will minde one another God and his servants are neerly related he is their friend and father their God and guide their Prince and portion their shield and their exceeding great reward Nay Beloved he is their all in all the stay and the strength of their hearts for ever and therefore it cannot be but their hearts must run much upon God and upon the things of his kingdom Nay a little further every faithful servant of God every true believer hath resigned and given up his name to God he hath devoted himself to his fear Mark what holy David saith Psal 119.38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant who is devoted to thy fear Believers have as it were sworn themselves to the service of God I am thy servant I am thy servant saith the same holy David oftentimes in the Psalms they love the Lord with all their soul with all their heart and with all their strength and as for the Name of God they flie unto it in any difficulty and distress as unto a Garison and strong Fort or Tower Prov. 18.10 The righteous know that the Name of God is so deep that no Pyoner can undetmine it so thick that no Cannon can pierce it so high that no Ladder can scale it and hither they run for refuge Nay they walk in this Name as in a Garden or Gallery Mic. 4 5. We will walk in the Name of the Lord our God for ever and ever they resolve to walk in the Name i. e. By the Laws and under the view of the Lord their God who is God of gods and Lord of lords they rejoyce and delight in it as in all treasure Psal 119.14 Now brethren sum up all together in a word and then you shall finde the force of this Argument Can the fearers of God rejoyce in his Name run unto it upon all occasions walk in it and yet not minde it and yet not have their hearts set upon it This is impossible Can they I say vouch him for their God set him up for their Soveraign converse with him as a friend and yet not think upon his Name this cannot be well conceived And thus you hear what the grounds of the Point are Let us now make some Use of it I shall improve it four ways 1. For Insormation 2. For Increpation 3. For Examination 4. For Exhortation In which Uses I shall proceed so far this day as time will permit I begin with the first the Use of Information 1. Is it so That it is and should be the practice of all them that truly fear God to meditate diligently upon God and upon the things of God Take we then hence notice That those who do not habitually daily and diligently think upon God that make not his Attributes Ways Ordinances Worship and Honour the matter of their meditation these I say are excluded out of the number and society of the true fearers of God Yea the want of this holy and heavenly meditation is laid down in holy Writ as the Badge Cognizance or Character of
the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the Name of the Lord we will not hearken unto thee but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth of our mouth Thus Beloved and many other ways which I might name do wicked men think dishonourably of God Now as I told you in the beginning of this Use the Doctrine which I have in hand looks very wishly and sowrely upon all these As it excludes them out of the society of the fearers of God so it brings them under heavy wrath guilt and punishment God will one day discover and lay open before the whole world angels and men those vile thoughts that wicked men have had of him and against him in their hearts he will set their iniquities in order before them and their secret sins in the light of his countenance as 't is Psal 90.8 he will bring every one of these secret thoughts into judgement Eccl. 12.14 And that none might be ignorant of this he makes proclamation thereof as it were in open Court by the voyce of his holy Prophet Jer. 6.19 I desire all those that are guilty of sinful thoughts against God to observe this text well and to lay it home unto and upon their hearts this evening Hear O earth behold I will bring evil upon this people even the fruit of their thoughts The heavy wrath and vengeance of Almighty God is both the just desert and the certain issue and event of evil thoughts inward distempers and mental abominations shall not go unpunished And this shall suffice to be spoken of the second Use the Use of Increpation I proceed to a third and shall make what progress in it the ordinary time will give me leave and that shall be a Use of Trial and examination to every one that hears me this evening 3. Is it so that it is and ought to be the practice of all them that truly fear God to meditate diligently upon God and upon the things of God Let then every man and woman learn hence to make an estimate of his and her spiritual estate by the quality and disposition of their thoughts For 't is most certain that as the man is such are his thoughts and as the thoughts are habitually and ordinarily whether good or evil so is the man Thoughts are called the possessions of the heart Job 17.11 The thoughts of my heart in the Original 't is the possessions of my heart Now they are called possessions of the heart two ways 1. In a passive and 2. in an active sense Passively because thoughts are possessed by the heart the heart doth inclose and hold our thoughts the heart is the proper vessel and receptacle of thoughts the heart naturally is the soil and seat of thoughts there they are planted and there they dwell And then they are the possessions of the heart actively for as thoughts are possessed by the heart so thoughts do possess the heart Thoughts are full of activity they trouble and they comfort the heart Look what our thoughts are such is the estate of our hearts if our thoughts be quiet our hearts be quiet if our thoughts be unquiet our hearts be unquiet if our thoughts be joyful our hearts rejoyce if our thoughts be sad our hearts are sorrowful And therefore 't is said in the Gospel Luk. 24.38 Why are you troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts i.e. Why do troublesome disconsolate thoughts arise in your hearts 'T is as natural for thoughts to arise in the heart as 't is for water to rise in a spring or fountain Christ did not chide because thoughts but because such thoughts did arise in their hearts We cannot hinder our thoughts from thinking no more then we can hinder the fire from burning or water from wetting They are the possessions of our hearts and being the possessions of our hearts we may easily judge of our estate and condition by them Purity in the inward parts is the most sound and infallible evidence of our fearing God Whatever evil is practised or committed in the life proceeds from the heart Mat. 15.9 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts c. So again on the other side whatever good is acted in the life proceeds from the heart Out of the heart says Solomon are the issues both of life and death And therefore I say again Examine your estate by your hearts and by your thoughts which are the possessions of your hearts Now there are two ways how a man may try his thoughts 1. By the causes of them and 2. By the effects of them A word or two of each and so I shall conclude 1. Try your thoughts by the Causes of them Are they put in by God and his Spirit doth the Spirit of God raise them up in your hearts or else are they injected and cast in by the devil And so I might enlarge my self in shewing when our thoughts are formed and framed in us by the Spirit of God and when thrust in by the devil but that would be a field too large for me and therefore I briefly pass it by 2. Try your thoughts by the matter and substance of them Are they holy heavenly and gracious Carnal men are projecting how to spend their days and moneths in buying in selling and getting gain the fool in the Gospel is thinking of enlarging his barns of pulling down his houses and building greater Luk. 12.17 18. this is that which engrossed all his thoughts One Apostle describes such men thus Minding earthly things Phil. 3.19 another thus Having an heart exercised with covetous practices 2 Pet. 2.14 With covetous practices i.e. with earnest contrivances how to promote their gain and earthly aims But now men and women fearing God they are for gracious projects they are thinking how they may be more thankful saying with David Psal 116.12 What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me They are thinking how they may be more holy and spiritual how they may be more useful and serviceable to God how they may be more fruitful in every good word and work So that I say in the second place try your thoughts by the matter of them 3. Try them from the form and fashion of them Are they notional floating and accidental or are they studious sollicitous and diligent thoughts Do you sit as it were in the door of your hearts on set purpose to entertain good thoughts as Abraham was wont to sit in the door of his tent to entertain strangers or do they fall in onely by the by collaterally and besides the intention These holy men in my text did not onely think upon Gods Name casually or by chance but they did it seriously and in good earnest and stayed up their hearts against all discouragements 4. Examine your thoughts by the duration and continuance of them Are your good thoughts fixed setled constant and permanent or are they flitting fugitive transient and temporary onely as soon
pen of Providence But then thirdly there is a book of love and of remembrance Psal 56.8 Thou tellest my wanderings put thou my tears into thy bottle are they not in thy book i. e. in thy book of remembrance And this latter Beloved is the book spoken of here in my text Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him Liber monumenti A Book of Acts and Monuments so some render it in allusion unto the custom of Kings Esth 2.23 latter part And it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king Tamerlain that warlike Scythian of whom you read in the Turkish History had always by him a catalogue of the names and good deserts of his servants which he daily perused and whom he duely rewarded not needing by them or by any others in their behalf to be put in remembrance Thus Beloved God if I may so speak files up the prayers of his servants puts all their speeches as well as practices upon record that he may make all honourable mention of them at the last day in the General Assembly of heaven Liber Commentarii a book of Commentaries so Junius renders it where God doth as it were descant and comment upon all the holy and gracious speeches and practices of his people You must not understand it so as if God had any such Memorial-book as if he stood in need of it or were subject to forgetfulness no but 't is spoken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the manner of men who have books to help their memories God will no more forget the savoury religious discourses of his people then a man doth that which he hath recorded in his book lying before him A book of remembrance was written before him before his face If we speak but a word for God we shall hear of it again God takes it and pens it down he sets it down presently all was kept upon record As when they who do not fear the Lord speak one to another when wicked men plot against the righteous or conspire against the holy ways of God God hearkneth and heareth and there is a book of remembrance kept of it let them whisper as softly as they can God can hear and will record all their malicious speeches all their evil devices and contrivements whether against himself or against his servants so on the other side when they that feared the Lord spake often one to another in the justification of his ways in the vindication of his providence the Lord hearkned and heard and a book of remembrance was written before him Of the two 't is better exprest by a book then by words for that which is written is more durable and permanent whereas things spoken many times vanish and are blown away in the air and come to nothing Well then in the last place we will consider in whose behalf this book of remembrance was written it was you see for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his Name For them that feared the Lord of that character of the godly spake something but even now and that though upon his Name a word or two onely of this epithet or character The word in the Origina◠here used is derived from a word which signifies not simply or barely to think but to set the head and heart on work about that which we think upon It carries the intention of the mind with it And that thought upon his Name i. e. that had God before their eyes that minded his glory that thought upon his Commandments to do them those are the persons for whom a book of remembrance was written before the Lord. And thus have I at length finished the Coherence the Division and Explication of the text Before I proceed to open the subsequent verses I shall enquire what Observations may be made upon and Deductions gathered from this 16 verse which I have already opened And here first of all I shall take into consideration the connexive or copulative particle Then in the beginning of the verse THEN they that foared the Lord c. Then When Why in those looser and more degenerated times when men were arrived to that height of impudency and profaness as to say it was to no purpose to serve God then when their black mouthes were swoln big with their blasphemies THEN they that feared the Lord spake often one to another they spake of God and for God they then stood up in the vindication of his ways and administrations So that Beloved from hence I shall note this Point namely That the servants of God must labour to shew themselves best in the worst times When others were most against God and contrary unto him then must they be most stirring and active for God most diligent and careful in his business Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another In the prosecution of which Point I shall order my Method in this fashion 1. I shall confirm the Point by precept 2. Commend this duty from the constant practice of the people of God in all Ages 3. Clear it up upon some grounds and rational considerations And then lastly make some improvement of it unto our selves I shall proceed upon these several Heads so far as the ordinary time will permit beginning with those express precepts which are scattered up and down in the Scriptures to this very purpose We will content our selves with three or four The one is Exod. 23.2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil Some whereof are set down by way of negation some by way of affirmation The way to hell is broad and much beaten Per viam publicam non ingredere was one of Pythagoras his precepts Do not do as the most do lest thou be undone for ever Argumentum turpissimum turba saith Seneca An Argument from the multitude is not argumentative Nay you see there is here in this text a special restraint put upon it Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil And the Reason is because man is so apt to be led by many the heart is ready to flatter it self into an opinion that God will not be very angry when a practice is grown common this is the course of the world this is the way of most men surely there is no great danger in it Well now saith God Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil A second text to this purpose you have Prov. 1.10 11 and following verses My son if sinners entice thee consent thou not c. q.d. Do not close in or comply with them And again Rom. 12.2 Be not conformed to this world He doth not say Live not in the world we must live here until God call us hence neither doth he say Use not the world for 't is impossible but that whiles we live here we must use the world though we are cautioned to
quaking of the members of the body The second is the shaking of the bones The third is the standing up of the hair The fourth is the paleness or wanness of the countenance The three first of these appeared upon Eliphaz at the appearance of his vision Job 4.14 15. He trembled his bones shook and the hair of his flesh stood up This natural fear we cannot justly blame because every thing by the instinct of Nature endeavours the preservation of it self and fears the contrary provided it do not degenerate into the second which is carnal fear Carnal fear now is that which is carried after the creature more then after the Creator We read of it Isai 51.12 13. Or else 't is the dread of the Creator as a Judge the apprehension of his severe wrath and punishment and not from a true hatred of sin and this we may call A servile or slavish fear Thus Felix feared Acts 24.25 he feared that judgment to come which Paul reasoned of This fear ariseth partly from a defect of faith in the power and providence of God and partly from want of holy and spiritual fear which I am to speak of in the third place Spiritual fear is a holy affection awing the whole man to obey the whole will of God it makes us loth to displease God by sin by reason of his great goodness and mercy and for the great love which we bear unto righteousness Of this we read Psal 130.4 where 't is said But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared And again Hos 3.5 and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the later days This holy and filial fear is called spiritual in three respects amongst other 1. In regard of its object which is God who is a spirit and the Father of spirits And hence 't is that God is sometimes expresly called fear Gen. 31.53 later part of the verse And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac i.e. by that God whom his father Isaac feared And Psal 76.11 Vow and pay unto the Lord your God let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared In the Original it runs thus Bring presents unto fear Then 2. This holy fear is called spiritual from the principal efficient author of it which is the holy Spirit of God who is sometimes called a spirit of fear Isa 11.2 And then 3. Spiritual in respect of those spiritual effects which it produceth or worketh in the heart of man I shall name three of them very briefly First of all it doth spiritually enlarge the heart towards God Fear under a natural consideration shuts and straitens the heart and makes a man less then he was in all his abilities but spiritual fear or fear spiritualized makes a man more then he was and better then he was it doth exceedingly enlarge the heart toward God and therefore you shall finde fear and enlargement put together Isai 60.5 where the Prophet speaking of the holy fear which should follow that glory of the Church in the abundant access of the Gentiles to the Gospel he saith Then thoushalt see and flow together and thine heart shall sear and be enlarged because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee Secondly this spiritual fear is a bridle to restrain us from sin An example of it you have in Joseph Gen. 39.9 And then thirdly as 't is a bridle to restrain us from sin so 't is a bond to hold us to duty it will constrain us unto well-doing Jer. 32.40 I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me q. d. The more you fear me the closer will you keep to me None live so near God none obey God so much as they who fear him in this manner And thus have I given you the sorts and kinds of fear Now the question will be Which of these three fears we are to understand in the Doctrine when we say That every true and faithful servant of God is a fearer of God why Beloved we are to understand the later hath his heart seasoned and possessed with the holy spiritual filial and reverential fear of God And thus much for the Explication of the Point I come in the next place to the Confirmation of it This Point shall be made good unto you three ways 1. In that the Scripture doth decipher or characterize the true servants of God under the notion of the fearers of God and that not onely here in my text Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another c. but elsewhere Take two or three texts more Prov. 4.2 He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him i.e. He that is sincere and upright in the service of God he that serves him truly and with a perfect heart is such a one as feareth the Lord the fear of the Lord is upon him nay he is in the fear of the Lord all the day long So again Mal. 4.2 But unto you that fear my Name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall You that fear my Name is opposed to the proud and wicked in the first verse of the chapter For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and the proud yea and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up that it shall leave them neither root nor branch Unto you i. e. who are my servants And Acts 13.16 Then Paul stood up and beckening with his hand said Men of Israel and ye that fear God give audience Many other Scriptures might be alleadged unto the same purpose where to fear God is set down as a circumlocution or periphrasis of them that truly serve God When the holy Ghost would express a true servant of God he expresseth him in this variation He is one that feareth God But then secondly That every true and faithful servant of God is a fearer of God may be proved thus in that the service of God and the fear of God are in Scripture conjoyned as two inseparable or individual companions the Spirit of God doth often make them go hand in hand together Josh 24.14 Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the floud and in Egypt serve ye the Lord. Mark it well fear the Lord and serve him intimating that where there is not the fear of God there is there can be no true service performed unto God Reade Psal 2.11 Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Fear and service are here coupled together A fearless heart is always a graceless heart Fear is that affection with which we must worship and serve God
irreligious persons having not the fear of God before your eyes your heads hearts and hands must needs be full fraught with sin there can be nothing but wickedness in you and wickedness issuing from you and believe it unless God shew you the more mercy and put his fear into your hearts before you die you must expect for indeed nothing else can be expected but all the miseries torments and tortures which are the just reward of all such graceless persons and profane wretches as want this holy fear From all which you are utterly unable to free your selves You will be able neither to abide it no nor yet to avoid it And this is your very condition if there be any truth in this Book of God here in my hand I could out of this Book lay out your estate into several branches your present and future miserable estate I profess unto you in the presence of God a man would not be in your case for a million of worlds if there were so many and this you your selves would confess if God should ever season your hearts with his fear But I won't at present trouble you with particulars Do but go a little part from your families when you come home and set your hearts upon the meditation of what hath been spoken unto you in general as to your condition being without the fear of God and this very cogitation or meditation upon your present case may be a means if God will but bless it to any of you to pull you out of it and of your procurement of this grace But then secondly as you are to reflect upon your selves so likewise should you meditate upon God let your thoughts be busied about him and consider how he is 1. Represented unto you in his Word 2. How he stands described in his works You will say it may be What is spoken of God in his Word that may perswade our hearts to fear his Name Friends there are divers things recorded of God in this Book that should prevail with you to fear before him As first of all he is transcendent supereminent and surpassing in majesty and glory And hence 't is that the Psalmist infers a necessity of his fear Psal 76.4 saith Asaph there Thou art more glorious and excellent then the mountains of prey or the mountains of triumph as 't is in the Hebrew i e the kingdoms of this world which tear spoil and prey upon one another like wilde beasts or more particularly the flourishing Assyrians with their goodly Monarchy Thou art more illustrious glorious and excellent then all these What then see verse 7. Thou even thou art to be feared And again verse 11. Vow and pay unto the Lord your God let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared Let you hearts then in the first place stand in a holy awe of God because of his great glorious and terrible Majesty Secondly consider God as armed with infinite power and might the Word bespeaks him able to reward you if you do fear him and able to punish you if you fear him not Servants you know fear their masters because they have power over their flesh over their bodies I but God hath power not onely over your bodies but over your souls too and therefore you should fear him You have this inference to the fear of God implied if not expressed Mat. 10.28 God is said to be able to consume your body and soul in hell-fire Oh therefore fear him upon this consideration Thirdly consider God as Omnipresent and Omniscient as one that beholds and takes knowledge of all that we think speak or do Prov. 5.21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord he pondereth all his goings God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as one saith all eye to him all things are naked and open Heb. 4.13 Psal 139.8 9 10. and following verses Jer. 12.27 29 23. It was this very meditation that kept Joseph in a holy fear of sinning against God Gen. 39.9 And then lastly consider God too as infinitely just and singularly careful to punish sin and this may be a means to beget this holy fear of God in your hearts who would not fear before this just and impartial God! See to this purpose that sweet song of the triumphant Saints Rev. 15.3 4. Nay yet a little further if you would have your hearts seasoned with the holy fear of God consider him as he is presented to you in his works his hanging the heavy and massie body of the earth upon nothing Job 26.7 his setting bounds to the proud waves of the sea Hithereto shall you come and no further Upon this account would the Psalmist have us to fear God You may reade it Psal 33.5 6 7 8 9. 2. Turn your thoughts upon those particular judgements God hath executed upon others for our warning and caution Psal 119.120 saith the Prophet there My flesh trembleth for fear of thee I am afraid of thy judgements When one childe is whipt in a School the rest will tremble Thus should it be with you when you see others punished This is the second particular meditation which may serve as a means to bring you unto this holy fear which I have so much spoken of I come to the third and last and with this I shall conclude this present discourse 3. All you that are yet void of this holy fear of God meditate in the third place upon the general judgement and the unconceivable terrour of that last and dreadful day when as the Apostle speaks the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the element shall melt with fervent heat the earth also with the works that are therein shall be burnt up Knowing the terrour of the Lord in that day I do earnestly perswade you to fear the Lord in this Felix though a Pagan trembled when Paul discoursed of this great day Acts 24.23 nay the devils themselves shake and tremble when they think of it and won't you How is it that you can think of that day wherein the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them who know not God and who do not fear before him The Preacher upon this very ground namely because then God will bring to light the hidden things of darkness perswades us to fear God 't is Eccless 12 13 14. And thus have I shewed you what means you should improve for your obtainment of this holy fear And truly if God had revealed unto me any more excellent way then you have already heard I do so much desire your everlasting good as that I should not conceal it from you Let this therefore suffice for the first branch of the Exhortation which hath been directed to those who are yet without a holy fear of God in their hearts I should proceed unto the second and reflect then upon you whose hearts are already seasoned
with this holy fear you I should exhort to grow up more and more in this grace and lay before you likewise to this end some motives and some means But I shall put these things over unto the next opportunity I proceed unto the second Duty and that shall be prest and inculcated upon you whose hearts are already seasoned with this holy fear of God And you I do earnestly exhort to abound and to grow up in this grace more and more It is not enough for you to get this fear planted into you but you must increase therein with the increase of God you must go on perfecting holiness in the fear of God And here by way of Motive and Inducement I shall refer four or five particulars unto your most serious consideration Pray attend them diligently The first shall be taken from the nature of this holy fear The true fear of God is of a growing of an increasing nature He that grows not and goes not forward in this grace had never yet this grace in truth Pro. 4.18 The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more more unto the perfect day A man truly fearing God sets forth betimes in the morning and travels to meet the day he proceeds from vertue to vertue from knowledge to knowledge from grace to grace until he become a perfect man in Christ Jesus Being once possest with this grace he â—â—ill waxeth brighter and brighter until at length he come to shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars in heaven for ever and ever It may be as the fairest sun may sometimes be overcast and darkned with clouds so the piety and holiness of a man truly fearing God may upon occasion be over-clouded through violence of outward temptation and strength of inward corruption but yet through mercy these mists are dispelled and he shines afterward far more brightly and runs a more swift and setled course in the practise of sanctification Job 17.9 The righteous also shall hold on his way and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger The words are a circumlocution describing the same person who was before called fearing God upright innocent holy now saith Job he shall hold on his way he continues his course both in the holy motions of his Spirit towards God and in the holy actings of his life towards man And as a man fearing God is in a good estate so shall he go on in a good way The goodness indeed of hypocrites is as the morning cloud and goeth away as the early dew Hos 6.4 the wind scatters the morning cloud and the rising sun exhales the early dews thus the goodness of the hypocrite is gone but the goodness of the righteous and of the man truly fearing God like the goodness of God of whom it is endureth in its proportion continually nay such a man holds on not onely in fair way and good weather but in stormy weather and ragged ways when his way lies among sharp stones ragged rocks thorow briers and thorns yea I may say when his way lies among bears and lions he will on The righteous shall hold on his way and then it follows And he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger The words are a circumlocution ut prius he shall saith Job be stronger and stronger in the Hebrew it is he shall adde strength he shall proceed from one degree or step unto another What strength why spiritual strength answerable to that Psal 84.7 They go from strength to strength or from company to company i.e. from one good company to another still gathering goodness and they go as the best go from Duty to Duty from Ordinance to Ordinance from Praying to Hearing to gather grace and strength every grace hath strength and the more grace the more strength till we come to that which is more strictly called strength of grace Nay as it was said of the Israelites that the more the Egyptians afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew Exod. 4.12 they multiplied in number they grew in strength and stature their oppression was their addition in temporals 't is even so Beloved with all true Israelites in spirituals the more they are afflicted and troubled the more they increase And then as this is the nature and quality of men and women truly fearing God so 't is the nature of the true fear of God where ever this is put into the heart it will grow and therefore in Scripture you shall finde it compared to things of a growing and increasing nature as 1. to waters issuing out from the sanctuary Ezek. 47.1 2 3 4 5. Now this saith Mr. Deodate in his Annotations represents the progress and increases of grace and true fear of God in believers of small beginnings 2. It is compared to a grain of Mustard-seed which proves a great tree Mat. 31.31 32. They likewise resemble it to the Stone that smote the Image which became a great mountain and filled the whole earth Dan. 2.34 35. So then this is the first Incentive to the Duty in hand grow up in this grace of the fear of God because if true 't is growing By this you may come to know whether you fear God with a true and lively fear the true fear of God lives and therefore it must needs grow But then in the second place this is that which God requires and commands yea that which he expecteth and looketh for from our hands namely that we should grow up more and more in this grace Hitherto I may refer all those Scriptures wherein we are exhorted to grow in grace in general or in any particular or individual grace whatsoever because as I have often told you in the former part of this Discourse the fear of God is an extensive or comprehensive word including all and every grace For texts referring to our growth in grace or in the fear of God in general reade 1 Cor. 14.12 Even so ye forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so 't is in the Greek 'T is a metaphor taken from rivers of water which the further they run the broader they are Seek that ye may excel in spiritual gifts and graces i. e. that ye may abound in them So 1602. 15.58 Always abounding in the work of the Lord In the work of the Lord i. e. in all actions belonging to your heavenly vocation and to the true service of God See how the Apostle prays for the Ephesians Eph. 3.18 19. that they may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that they might be filled with all the fulness of God Many Wits run riot in Geometrical notions about these Moral dimensions and whereas Naturalists give us but three dimensions of a Body Longitude
perfect Thus more generally But more particularly as to the grace in hand considering that to fear God is a supernatural gift go to God for it and pray with David Psal 86.11 later part of the verse Unite my heart to fear thy Name q. d. my heart of it self is wofully divided and scattered up and down upon lying vanities Oh now do thou unite my heart to fear thy Name The Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make my heart one i.e. apply it onely and constantly to thy fear let not my heart be divided between thy fear and things of a lower consideration let it not be floating between two different ways as if I had two hearts but unite my heart to fear thy Name let the fear of thy great Name be the one onely thing that my heart is carried after Eliphaz alleadgeth the neglect of this duty of prayer as the reason why men cast off this fear of God 't is saith he because they restrain prayer from God Job 15.4 He that throws up the duty of prayer nay he that shortneth or abateth prayer for the word garang in the Hebrew signifieth not onely to withdraw or keep back but to lessen and diminish So that I say whosoever holdeth prayer from God or lesseneth and abateth prayer must never expect to grow up in this grace Nay to fear God and to seek God are frequently in Scripture especially in Psal 34. used for one and the same thing as you may observe if you will but compare together verse 9. and 10. of that Psalm this being the ready way to that Do but see in the last place concerning the benesits and contents of the new Covenant Ezek. 36.37 one clause of which covenant is this I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me Now saith the Lord verse 37. I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them And thus Beloved have you heard the means both how you may get this holy fear of God as also how you may grow up in this grace more and more I am loth by reason the time is almost spent to enter upon a new Point at this present and therefore in the last place I shall adde some few signs of this growth and so commend you to God and to this Word of his grace Well then here the Question will be How a soul may come to know whether or no he do thrive in this grace And here in the first place I might touch at that which was spoken of both in the Motives and in the Means 1. A man may know it by his conscionable use of the Means and Ordinances of growing If we will but measure unto God in sincerity in Hearing Reading Praying and Receiving no doubt but God will measure unto us in the plenty of his blessing We need no more doubt whether our souls do grow in this grace if we can bring constant affections to the means then we need whether the bodies of our children would grow if they have good Nurses and do suck the brests well To this purpose tend such Scriptures as these Isa 64 5 Thou meetest him that rejoyceth and worketh righteousness those that remember thee in thy ways Those that remember thee in thy ways what is that i.e. in thy glorious diâ—pâ—nsations we may refer it either to the dispensations of the rod or to the dispensations of the Word Thoâ—e that remember God in either of these ways those that make a holy use of either them will God meet Thou meetest those that remember thee in thy ways And what will he shake them onely by the hand no he will shake â—hem by the heart too he will bless his Ordinances to their hearts and make them profitable and of great consequence to their growth as 't is yet more fully expressed Mic 2.7 later part of the verse Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly i. e. My words will do good to him and as other good so this good it will make him grow as you have it 1 Pet. 2.2 So then that is the first sign of growth 2. We might discern this further by our disrelishing of sin by our distasting of the world According to the measures and degrees that the sweetness of sin decays and abates in us doth grace grow and thrive in us As there is no vacuum in Nature so neither is there in grace As corruption increaseth so this grace of the fear of God increaseth 3. We may know this likewise by our faith and confidence in God Jer. 17.7 8. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh but her leaf shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought neither shall cease from yielding fruit q d. he shall grow 4. We may know it by our constancy and frequency in good works either of piety or mercy for saith our Saviour in this case Matth. 13.12 Whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have abundance but whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away even that he hath 5. We may know this likewise by our frequency in communion with God by our delight in drawing neer to him this is the way to grow up to an holy temple in the Lord and in the Lords temple you may be sure all will prosper well I might enlarge upon these several symptomes but the ordinary time is spent and therefore a word or two more and I have done In the sixth place we may try our growth in this grace by our humility look as we thrive in the one so do we thrive in the other God hath promised not onely to give grace but to give more grace to the humble Jam. 4.6 But he giveth more grace or he giveth abundance of grace Humble persons shall not onely have a being in grace but they shall receive increases of grace 7. And then last of all we may know likewise whether we grow in this grace by our love and affection to the godly This love is the very bond of perfection Col. 3 14. 'T is not onely a means of that true and perfect union which ought to be among believers but 't is a means of their growth yea and a trial of their growth too in any other grace And thus have I finished this Point as also the first property or periphrasis of those godly ones here in my text they were such as feared the Lord. I should now proceed unto the second they were such as thought upon his Name But of this another time For the opening of which property I shall consider 1. An Object 2. An Act. The Object The Name of God The Act Thinking
prefer God and the things of God incomparably before all other things whatsoever would we once make supernatural and heavenly things our chief portion and treasure then would our hearts be chiefly set upon them and our thoughts mostly run on them See what our Saviour saith Matth. 6.21 Where your treasure is there will your heart be also 5. And then in the last place to this end make use of Prayer too You know that God is both the heart-maker and the heart-mender desire him to put your souls into a spiritual frame and temper to direct your hearts unto the remembrance of his Name Pray for your selves as David did once for his people 1 Chron. 29.18 Oh Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Israel our fathers keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people and prepare our hearts unto theâ— In like manner let us pray Lord keep thy Name for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of our hearts and prepare our hearts unto thee or as he prays Psalm 19.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer Pray that God would raise up your hearts and ravish your hearts that you may so meditate upon his Name that you may have respect unto all his ways I should come to give you some Rules or Directions concerning this holy meditation But of them God willing the next time Now because circumstances bear such a weight in every action as that they either make or mar it before I speak of the form and manner of our thinking upon the Name of God I shall deliver a word or two concerning the circumstances of Meditation There are two circumstances to be heeded in this duty 1. The circumstance of Time 2. The circumstance of Place I begin with the circumstance of Time Though it cannot be denied but that a Christian should have dayly converse and communion with God he should be alwayes ejaculating and raising up of his heart to heaven saying with David Psalm 36.4 later part of the verse Vnto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul Though he ought to take occasion even from those things which do occur and offer themselves unto his outward senses to aspire and climb up to God in his heart yet without doubt every Christian should redeem some â—it and convenient portion of time and set it apart from other employments that so he may solemaly and seriously think upon the Name of God he must not onely do it occasionally but he must appoint some time or other on set purpose that he may the more thorowly discharge this necessary duty at which time he should concentre and draw as it were into one point all the powers and faculties of his soul and command them to attend this heavenly exercise as much as may be without distaction And I suppose Beloved it were no great task to fetch in the practise of some of the holy men of God this way Isaac went out to meditate at the eventide Gen. 24.63 'T is conceived Isaac did this usually though at this time peradventure more earnestly by reason of that important business he had in hand which was his marriage It seems that Isaac did ordinarily go forth about even-tide which was saith Mr. Ainsworth at the ninth hour of the day with us the third hour in the afternoon about three of the clock to meditate This was Isaac's set-time for meditation as I say 't is generally conceived So David the Name of God and the Word of God was his meditation all the day Psalm 119.97 and in the night Psalm 119.55 yet there are some texts which lead us to think that David had his set and solemn times for this purpose amongst others I will instance onely in that one Psalm 139.18 the last words of the verse When I awake I am still with thee Some indeed refer this to the last resurrection and give out David's meaning to be this When I arise out of my grave I shall be still with thee I shall ever be with the Lord. But we need not to force the text as David had other set-times to meditate upon God so the morning was one of them When I awake out of my sleep or as soon as I awake out of my sleep I am with thee in holy meditation So that Beloved ye are not onely to maintain a constant communion with God in this duty but there must be some time laid aside on set purpose for this duty The second circumstance that I shall speak of is the circumstance of Place and here as I spake of the time so I may speak of the place for holy meditation As at all times we should think upon the Name of God so in all places not onely in this place appointed for the publick service of God but in all other places in your houses in your shops and places of trading at board and at bed at home and abroad But yet for preventing of distraction and considering that Satan is ready to take all advantages against us labouring might and main by outward objects to distract and divide the faculties of our souls with impertinent or unprofitable thoughts yea with sinful and corrupt thoughts therefore I conceive it necessary that the place where we meditate most seriously and solemnly should be retired and secret The devil well knows how neer and familiar earthly things are to our senses and how remote and far distant heavenly and supernatural things are therefore he would fain work upon our carnality by presenting earthly objects and by them would fain convey to our hearts earthly-mindedness and so bereave us of the benefit of meditation So that I say to prevent the policie and malice of the devil 't is best whenever we desire in good earnest to set upon this duty to withdraw our selves into some private place into our chambers studies or closets What our Saviour speaks concerning the duty of Prayer we may apply unto the duty of holy meditation Matth. 6.6 When thou prayest enter into thy closet so when thou meditatest enter into thy closet withdraw as much as may be from the noise and clutter of the world do it as privately and reservedly as may be I might give you some instances for this too Isaac did it in the field as you may finde in the text before alledged Gen. 24.63 he was private in meditation and soliloquie Upon this passage of Isaac I finde one to have this observation Domitian saith he about the beginning of his Empire usually sequestred himself from company an hour every day but did nothing the while but catch Flyes and kill them with a pen-knife but Isaac sequestred himself from company to a better-purpose he improved his solitariness for deep meditation and soliloquie David performed this duty in his bed Psalm 63.6 and therefore saith he Psalm 4.4 Commune with your own heart upon your bed And thus
gone as come like a flash of lighting in the air like the stony ground whose fruit was no sooner ripe then rotten or like the grass upon the house top which the Psalmist speaks of which withereth afore it groweth up And then last of all 5. Try your thoughts by the effects which they work in you Do your thoughts of Gods presence purity and holiness make you to tremble and afraid to sin thoughts of his mercy and patience lead you to repentance the thoughts of his power and all-sufficiency work you to a close even and uniform walking with God the thoughts of heaven wean you from the earth the thoughts of the vanity of life fit you for death Do the thoughts of the instability and uncertainty of temporal things edge and quicken your desire after eternal things Are your meditations driven to that issue which Davids were to make you turn your feet unto Gods Testimonies to have respect to his Ordinances to his Ways and Precepts Are your thoughts thus improved are your thoughts improved to such holy ends purposes as these are I beseech you when you come home to commune with your own hearts endeavor to conclude somewhat of your estate and condition by your thoughts And so much of this Use and for this time I proceed unto the fourth last Use of this Point and that shall be for Exhortation 4. Is it so that it is and should be the practice of all them that truly fear God to meditate diligently upon God and the things of God This Doctrine then calls upon all the true fearers of God to be much in meditating and thinking upon his Name And here for the performance and better performance of this great and necessary duty I shall lay down before you in the first place some Motives Secondly some Means and thirdly some Rules or Directions I begin with the Motives and the first shall be taken from the necessity of the duty 'T is necessary in a double consideration 1. in regard of God 2. in regard of our selves 1. In regard of God he requires and commands the duty See what God saith to Joshua Josh 1.8 This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein One would think it should rather have been said This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy heart but thou shalt c. of if not so then thus This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt speak of it day and night Meditation is too high a Muse for the mouth But Beloved because there ought to be much meditation about the Law of God before a word of it comes out of the mouth therefore the Lord saith This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night The meaning of it is this As often as thou shalt speak thou shalt meditate thou shalt not speak rashly it shall not be the work of thy tongue alone but of thy minde and tongue together Now as in this text the Lord requires holy conference of which I shall speak God willing in the next Point so doth he likewise require holy meditation Thou shalt meditate therein This carries with it the full force of a command So again Prov. 6.20 21. My son keep thy fathers commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother binde them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck The phrase of speech is borrowed from Garments or Jewels The meaning of it is Lay them up as safe in your thoughts tie them as fast to your hearts by holy meditation as men do their clothes nay as they do their chains and jewels to their bodies or else deal with them by frequent meditating upon them as men do by those things which they set down in their book or table that so they may keep a precise memorandum of them The like injunction you finde given Phil 4.8 the text which I alledged in the confirmation of this Point So again 1 Tim. 4.15 saith Paul there to Timothy Meditate upon these things give thyself wholly to them that thy profitting may appear to all What things why the things of God and bis Gospel So then this duty is necessary in respect of Gods positive and peremptory command Secondly this duty is necessary in respect of God because 't is he that indued us with reasonable souls with thinking faculties 't is he that hath given us an ability this way I mean an ability or faculty to think or meditate The Apostle tells us Acts 17.28 In him we live and move and have our being 'T is in God that we move I and that with the motions of our mindes no less then with the motions of our bodies in him i. e. by and through him through his power and goodness that we are acted and moved in our minds 2 Cor. 3.5 Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God The Apostle you see instanceth in this very duty of thinking and of holy meditation 'T is not in our own power to think much less to think a good thought all our sufficiency this way is from God Now then if it be God as you hear that hath put into us thinking faculties 't is needful then that we should return them back upon him again by thinking seriously and industriously upon his Name Nay you shall finde that upon this very ground because God hath given us our spirits our souls and the several faculties of them therefore we are to glorifie him with them This is evident 2 Cor. 6.20 the later part of the verse Therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirits which are Gods q. d. your spirits as well as your bodies are Gods therefore glorifie him in your spirits And can we better glorifie God in and with our spirits then by frequent thinking upon his Name Nay Thirdly consider that God will account with us for our thoughts we must one day be as responsible or answerable to God for our thoughts and meditations as for any other things or talents whatsoever Eccles 12.14 At that day of revelation for so the day of account is sometimes called in Scripture we shall be made like a transparent pellucid and diaphanous body and all shall be laid naked and open the books of Gods Omniscience and mans Conscience shall be opened thy secretest thoughts thy most reserved retired and sequestred meditations shall be as legible in thy forehead as if they were written with the most glittering sun-beams upon a wall of Chrystal Not only mens words and actions but their thoughts are all in print in Heaven and God will in that day read them aloud in the ears of all the World although no heart in the earth be privy to them but