vale of Siddim slimy and slippery full of Lime-pits and pitfals snares stumbling-blocks laid on purpose to maim and to mischief our souls But now he that truly fears God comes off without great hurt he keepeth his heart with all diligence he watcheth the very thoughts and motions of his heart he will not suffer vain thoughts to lodge there but labours to wash it from all filthiness that so he may perfect holiness in the fear of God This fear of God weeds hypocrisie out of the heart pride arrogancie and every secret way of iniquity Job was a man fearing God and therefore he durst not once to think lustfully upon a maid this was that which made him to refrain contemplative wickedness Job 31.1 And then 3. As this holy fear of God cleanseth the Head and the Heart so it cleanseth the Hands too it keeps the Life and Conversation pure Prov. 3.7 saith Solomon there Fear the Lord and depart from evil The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil that Beloved is the definition of the fear of God Eschewing of evil is not onely put as an effect of the fear of God as when 't is said of Job Chap. 1.1 that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil but it is put I say in the very definition it self of the fear of God 't is the nature of this fear of God to depart from evil not onely from habitual and inward but likewise from outward and practical evil from publike as well as from private and secret evil See what Jehoshaphat saith in his charge unto his Judges when they were going their Circuit 2 Chron. 19.7 Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you take heed and do it for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of persons nor taking of gifts q. d. This fear of God if it be upon you if it be radicated and rooted in your hearts will teach you to forbear Bribery and iniquity with your hands It was the fear of God Beloved that reined in Joseph from condescending to the wicked motion of his wanton Mistress though he might have committed that folly and the world have been never the wiser I can proceed no further at present in the tryal of this holy fear of God Examine your selves by what hath been said If with those godly ones here in my Text you are men and women truly fearing the Lord then this fear of God hath had this cleansing influence upon you and hath cleansed your Heads Hearts and Hands Secondly As this holy fear of God cleanseth the Head Heart and Hand from sin so doth it no less frame the heart to the doing of duty and that 1. towards God 2. towards men For as you heard before the fear of God is a very extensive and comprehensive grace it includes the whole duty of man not onely his Negative duty what he ought not to do but his Positive duty too what he ought to do In the first place then this holy fear of God frames the heart to the performance of its duty towards God And here I shall instance onely in two duties 1. It perswades the heart to believe God and his Word The Scripture noteth this expresly of the Patriarch Noah Heb. 11.7 By faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an ark c. Moved with fear what is that i. e. with a reverent fear of that God that spake unto him Noah's heart being touched with the true fear of God believed God even in those things which were not as yet seen he believed those forewarnings of God concerning the judgment he purposed to bring upon the world and accordingly prepared an Ark whereby he saved his houshold and condemned the wicked world Thus the Israclites possest with this filial fear believed God and his servant Moses You may see this clearly Ezod 14.31 And the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses Pray observe it well the people feared the Lord c. As Faith may be and is the ground of holy Fear so holy Fear may sometimes draw forth acts of Faith it will make a man tremble as much at the Threats of his Word as at the Strokes of his Hand And then 2. As it frames the heart to a believing of God and his Word so likewise to an obeying of God and his Word the holy obedience of his revealed will Psal 103.17 18. saith David there But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto childrens children to such as keep his covenant and to those that remember his commandments to do them He describes you see them that fear God to be such as keep his Covenant and remember his Commandments to do them A soul truly fearing God is afraid to disobey God his heart with David's will stand in awe of Gods Word And hence 't is that in Scripture sometimes you finde the fearing of God and keeping of his Commandments sometimes fearing God and working righteousness joyned together The former you may see Psal 119.63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts Of them that fear thee and keep thy precepts a man cannot fear God but he must observe his precepts So again Eccles 12.13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man The connexion of these two shews us that the fear of God is a principle of obedience they that fear him will keep his commandments yea they do so in an Evangelical way though they cannot attain unto yet they wish well to exact and accurate obedience The later you shall finde Acts 10.35 But in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him A man fearing God will be active and doing he will be working righteousness and that which is good And thus have you briefly heard to what particular duties this Fear frames the heart towards God I am to shew you in the next place how and in what duties it draws the heart in reference to Man The Fear of God hath a double bond in it a bond of Obedience to God and a bond of Love to Men. Well then in the first place the true fear of God is ever joyned with love unto our brethren The Apostle puts so much of Religion or of the fear of God for they are both one in the love to our brethren as that in one place he makes it all Religion yea the very definition of the fear of God Jam. 1.27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this To visit the fatherless in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world This is Religion and pure Religion i.e. This is a great branch and part of Religion 't is a
one main cause why a man cannot take care for the things of the Lord as he ought to do such a man such a woman cannot attend upon the Lord in any duty without distraction Mat. 6.24 saith our Saviour there No man can serve two masters i. e. two masters of contrary interests and who issue forth contrary commands Every wicked man serves more masters then two he is a servant to lust yea he serves divers lusts and pleasures Tit. 3.3 but yet he serves not that One who is infinitely better and more deserving our service then all and serving Mammon he cannot serve God as he ought in any service and therefore not in that which I am now speaking of Col. 3.2 Set your affections on things above not on things on the earth q. d. If your thoughts run upon the things of the earth they wo'n't carry you out after things above And thus much of the Negative means or rather the hinderances of this holy meditation I come in the next place to speak of the Positive helps and with them I shall conclude this days publick Exercise 1. If you desire to think upon the Name of God then begin the day with the thoughts of him and of his mercies renewed upon you not onely every morning but every moment This seems to be Davids constant course from such texts as these are Psal 5.3 Psal 59.16 Psal 88.13 and the like you may finde in many other places that to begin with the thoughts of God in the morning is the way to put the soul into an heavenly frame and temper the whole day following We have a saying amongst us that the morning is a friend to the Muses Aurora Musis amica i. e. the morning is a good studying time I am sure the morning is a great friend to the Graces 't is the best time to begin our thoughts and meditations it will dispose the heart to and for communion with God all the day after And withal remember to close up the heart with God when you go to bed at night and if possibly you can fall asleep out of some heavenly meditation So will your heart be in a better plight when you awake He that thus raketh up fire over-night as one saith shall finde fire again in the morning That is the first Means to the Duty in hand 2. Guard and watch over your hearts all the day long that they be not drawn from God or from the thoughts of him either by any corruption from within or temptation from without Prov 4.23 Keep thy heart with all diligence defend it from all inroads and incursions from the flesh world and devil Keep but the heart well in tune and then it will not so easily go out from God Beloved if you suffer your hearts to be scattered up and down upon earthly vanities it will be far to seek when you should wait upon God either in Prayer or Meditation as a wilde horse turn'd to range up and down into a wilde Common that can hardly be taken when he should be sadled As you should be in the fear of the Lord all the day long so should you be raising elevating and winding up your hearts to God all the day long You should hold communion with God even in the duties of your particular callings and civil employments Phil. 3.20 saith the Apostle there Our conversation is in heaven The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conversation in the Greek is properly rendred thus Our civil life or our civil conversation is in heaven q. d. we exercise our general callings in our particular we go about earthly businesses with heavenly mindes extracting by a Divine Alchymie heavenly mediâ—â—â—ionâ— out of earthly objects and occasions And I conceive there is something to this purpose in that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 7.39 where he saith Brethren let every man wherein he is earth abide with God How doth a man abide with God in his particular calling not onely by keeping within the bounds and limits of that calling wherein God hath placed him but also executing the duties of it as in the sight of God by minding God in the several passages and occurrences of it This also is to abide with God in our calling and this we must do if we will be conscionable to the duty enjoyned 3. Would you have your thoughts to be set upon the right object upon God and goodness with these godly ones here in my text Then hold a strict hand over your thoughts be often in and upon the examination of them Evils you must know begin first in the thoughts Mat. 15.19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witness blasphemies First evil thoughts and what then murders adulteries fornications thefts false witness blasphemies Evil thoughts are set in the front of this black Roll. When God would express the wickedness of the old world he saith Gen. 6.5 That every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was onely evil continually The imagination gives shape to every thing that the minde works upon The reason of Atheism is Blasphemy in the thoughts the reason of worldliness is some wicked thought that lies hid in the bosome and therefore saith God Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts You must not onely mark your way but your thoughts trace every corrupt desire every inclination every affection every transient motion whatever passeth thorow your hearts in the whole day call it to an audit set upon the tryal of it Our thoughts are even infinite nimble slippery and therefore we had the more need to watch them and to set upon the search of them and having found of what nature they are and of what tendencie they are cherish the good and check the bad One evil thought one sinful cogitation being uncontrolled and given way to O how may it vex and disquiet our hearts when we come to lie upon our death-beds As David dealt with his wayes so do you with your thoughts I considered my wayes saith he so do you your thoughts 4. If you would think of God and the things of God then heighten your love to God and the things of God Strong affections make strong impressions and cause great thoughts of heart A man cannot but think much of that which he loves much and therefore saith David in Psalm 119. verse 97. O how I love thy law it is my meditation all the day q. d. I do abundantly love thy law I do love it so greatly as that I cannot well express how greatly I love it O how I love thy law and therefore 't is that I am so much in the meditation of it Be sure of it that our infinite wandrings and woful trifling away of our golden hours in idle and evil thoughts is caused very much by our coldness and luke-warmness in our love to God and the things that are of divine concernment Would we but
another Which duty is illustrated or set forth two ways 1. In the circumstances of it 2. In the matter and substance of it In the circumstances and they are two 1. Of Time 2. Of Persons Of time Then Then they c. Of persons They were such as feared the Lord and thought upon his Name as you see in the beginning and conclusion of vers 16. And then the duty is illustrated in the matter and substance of it and that was frequent mutual conference they spake often one to another Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another So much of the first general branch the second is a mercy returned and that is twofold First Gods gracious acceptation 1. In that for the present he regarded and respected what they did The Lord hearkned and heard it 2. In that for the future he registred or recorded it And a book of remembrance was written before him Secondly His righteous remuneration or retribution 1. Of mercy to his people which reflects 1. Upon their persons 2. Upon their performances Upon their persons which he will 1. Own They shall be mine saith the Lord. 2. Honour In that day when I make up my jewels Secondly This mercy respects their performances in passing by the weaknesses defects and failings of them I will spare them as a man c. And then lastly you have Gods just and righteous retribution of judgement unto his enemies vers 18. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not And thus you have likewise briefly heard both the Division and Subdivision of the Text. There is yet one thing more which I must wade thorow before I proceed on to the Doctrine and that is Explication Now that I may make way unto the Doctrine the sooner I shall open the 16 verse onely and the two other verses when I come to the handling of them Well then first of the 16 verse Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkned and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name In the Hebrew we read it thus Az nidhbaru jirra Jehovah ish El raganaha Then they fearing God spake often man or every man to his neighbour or companion For though the Hebrew word for spake in the conjugation Kal notes a bare speaking yet in the conjugation Niphal sermonis continuationem seu frequentationem significat it signifies the continuation or frequencie of their speaking one to another they did not do it onely once or twice but they did it often Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another Those few names that had not defiled their garments in so foul a season but had kept themselves unspoâ—ted of the world they spake often c. Some render the text Tunc vastati sunt timentes Domini sc ab impiis atheis impunè eos invadentibus i. e. Then were those that feared the Lord wasted and destroyed viz. by those atheists who fell from fierce words to bloudy blows And the reason of this version or reading is because the word dibhi in the text in the conjugation Pihel is rendered to kill or to destroy But I conceive that this is far fet and nothing so agreeable unto the minde of the holy Ghost as our Translation is For 1. 'T is not dibberu in Pihel but nidhberu in Niphal Besides this reading is not so answerable to the following words I but you will ask me What did these men fearing the Lord speak when they spake so often one to another Stock in his Exposition upon Malachi and some others think the words following to be theirs and not God's words who they say speaking not until the 17 verse in comforting one another they said The Lord hearkned and heard c. But for my part I rather incline to those who tell us that the Prophet hath not in express words declared what these men fearing the Lord spake one to another onely in telling us that they spake one to another and by opposing them to the ungodly of that time it must be supposed that they spake good and gracious things they stood up to stickle for God to stop the mouth of Blasphemy and to establish one another in the perswasion of Gods holy Truth and constant care of his own children Those wicked ones did not speak so much against God against his providence and government as they did for God in defence of his providence and government And this they did for mutual strengthening and confirmation that that which was haply halting might not be turned out of the way but healed rather that they might confirm each other against those great and grievous temptations which lay in their way It followeth And the Lord hearkned and heard it Did they whisper so in one anothers ear that no ear else heard them No the Lord hearkned and heard it the Lord listened as it were at the key-hole he was under the window The word jachebil in the Original he hearkned comes from a root which signifies to attend and lift up the ear Gestus est diligenter auscultantis 't is the gesture of one that hearkneth diligently and so the word is taken Isai 52.3 the later part of the verse i. e. They shall diligently hearken Nay the word imports not onely attention of body but attention of minde as when a man listeneth as for life and makes hard shift to hear all thus the Lord hearkned and heard the Lord did diligently observe what they said and what they did nothing drops from them but the Lord attentively regards it Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkned and heard it And a book of remembrance was written before him In the Hebrew we read it thus And there was written a book of memory before his face We read in Scripture of a threefold book of God The first is a book of his resolved Decree of this we read Exod. 32.32 Saith Moses there Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin and if not blot me I pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written So Psal 69.28 So in many other texts where by book we are to understand the book of Gods Decree or Pre-ordination Secondly there is a book of Gods acted Providence Psal 139.16 Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy book all my members were written c. i. e. in thy book of providence Now this later is but a transcript or copie of the former Those huge original volumes of love and blessings which he hath laid up in his heart for his own people those also of wrath and judgment which he hath laid up there against his enemies from all eternity those volumes I say of love or wrath are writing out every day by the hand and
Latitude and Profundity the love and wisdom of God have Altitude added which is a fourth All these dimensions serve onely to shew the immensity both of the love and wisdom of God Take this onely in passage and so we might that expression too To know the love of God which passeth knowledge the meaning is to know so much of it as is knowable the love of God is past the knowledge not onely of Nature but of Grace because 't is infinite But this is not the thing that I urge this text for the passage which is to my purpose and which I would insist on a little is that in verse 19. the later part of it That ye might be filled with the fulness of God Divines distinguish of a twofold fulness There is say they an universal fulness and there is a modified or qualified fulness For a creature to be universally so full as God is is impossible as he is infinite so his fulness is infinite and a finite creature is not capable or receptive of any such fulness But now take this in a qualified or modified sense so we may and 't is ordinary to be filled with the fulness of God i. e. with all fulness accomplishable or attainable by us thus we ought to be filled with the fulness of God We are not onely enjoyned to get some grace or some fear of God but 't is our bounden duty to aspire to and endeavour after the perfection of it and after augmentation and growth in it And to this end too is that 2 Pet. 3.18 Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This shall suffice to be spoken of those texts which conduce to the growth in grace or in the fear of God in general I shall likewise briefly touch some texts which require an abounding in the several branches of this holy fear as 1. We are commanded to abound in saving knowledge in true spiritual wisdom Col. 1.10 2. We should grow in faith that which is lacking to our faith must be supplied and made up 1 Thess 3.10 2 Thess 1.15 We should labour to grow both in the assurance of faith and in the exercise of it in the full assurance of it using all diligence that we might get and keep the full assurance of faith and hope unto the end labouring to be established rooted and soundly grounded in our particular assurance of Gods favour in Jesus Christ and of our own eternal salvation Col. 2.6 7. Heb. 10.22 And then for the exercise and improvement of faith we should learn every day to live by faith let faith be upon the wing in all the occasions and occurrences of our life holding fast our confidence and striving to be examples one to another in our faith in God according to that 1 Tim. 4.12 3. We must abound in love Phil. 1.10 bearing with and forbearing one another seeking to enlarge our acquaintance with such as fear God and to do them good 4. We must grow in mercy and the fruits of mercy 2 Cor. 8.7 Therefore as ye abound in every thing in saith in utterance in knowledge and in all diligence and in your love to us see that ye abound in this grace also he means tender heartedness or bowels of compassion 5. We should grow in patience meekness and lowliness of minde Jam. 1.4 I might instance contentation heavenly mindedness contempt of the world and several other parts of this fear of God but by these few links you may guess at the whole chain or series of this grace So then the strength of this second Motive lies thus God requires and expects that we should grow up more and more in the fear of his Name he calls for it at our hands In the third place this is the end of our union with and implantation into Jesus Christ namely that we should in all things grow up into him who is the head To which purpose reade Eph. 4.15 16. But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ from whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of it self in love The importance of which words is this namely that we are joyned and united unto the Lord Jesus Christ that so of his fulness we might all receive grace for grace that look as an infant groweth not in one but in every member so we should grow every way in every member and in every particular grace appertaining unto the new creature We must not walk by halfs or obey God with reservation but grow up unto full holiness As from the natural head sense and motion floweth into the body so there is internal influence of grace from Christ the Head into the whole mystical body every true believer receives a vital and quickning power or virtue from Christ even as a graff set into a stock partaketh with it in the sap and life of it Unless we walk in Christ we can never assure our selves that we have received Christ If we shall sit down and rest in a mediocrity and scanty measure of grace and of the fear of God except we are still on the growing hand labouring to arrive to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ we cannot say that we are yet put into Christ A soul as one notes very well that hath union with Christ will not be like Hezekiahs sun which went backward or like Joshua's sun that stood still but like David's sun that great and glorious gyant of the heavens that like a bridegroom comes out of his chamber and as a champion that rejoyceth to run a race If he be joyned to Christ he will joyn grace to grace according to that of the Apostle Peter 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7. And thus briefly of the third Motive In the fourth place as God hath given us his Son to the end we should grow up in his fear so hath be to the same end given us the Spirit of his Son he hath sent forth his Spirit into our hearts not onely for the conveying of grace to us but for the strengthening and increasing of grace in us Observe how the Apostle prays for the Ephesians Chap. 3.16 That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man This is the very office of the Spirit he is sent of God to this purpose not onely to give us a being in grace but to strengthen us in grace he doth not onely make us new men but living men in Jesus Christ As the soul is to the body so is the spirit to the soul the Spirit furnisheth and enableth every faculty it enlightens the Understanding it rectifies the Will it sanctifieth the Affections it filleth a man
of the righteous is onely good So again Pro. 12.5 The thoughts of the righteous are right What is that why the meaning is that he feeds his thoughts upon the best objects and if worse break in as sometimes they will he justles them out again rids the room of them and will not suffer vain thoughts to take up their residence or lodging within him An instance hereof you have in David Psal 119.113 David was a man as you may finde thorowout the Book of the Psalms whose heart was much set upon God Psal 16 8. he was a man very much busied in holy and heavenly meditation the ways and words and works of God were the chief objects of his meditation as you may finde almost every where Another example of this you have in the Church Isa 26 8. 'T is said of these godly ones in my text that they feared the Lord and thought upon his Name and saith the Church here The desire of our soul is to thy Name and to the remembrunce of thee i.e. to all the signs gages and testimonialls which thou bast given us of thy grace by thy words works or the like the desire of our soul is to the remembrance of these or we desire to remember these in our whole souls To the same purpose is that of the Church Psal 44.17 18 19 20. So that now from all these Scriptures and many more it appears clearly 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 one text more which shews that this should be the practice of all that fear God as it is so it ought to be their practice they are enjoyned to it by command as namely Phil. 4.8 whence you may perceive what the objects of our thoughts ought to be the things that we think upon must be true honest just pure lovely and of good report they must be heavenly and spiritual things And so again Col. 3.2 Set your affections on things above not on things on the earth The word for set your affections in the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we may render it minde or think upon supernatural things upon things that are above things that are of a heavenly and celestial concernment And thus you have heard the Point made good from Scripture I shall in the next place give you the grounds and reasons of it and proceed therein further as far as time will permit Well then in the first place they that fear God will be thinking upon his Name their thoughts will be taken up with and exercised about the things of God because they know that God knows the secrets of their hearts as he that makes a Watch knows every winding and turning in the Watch so he that made our spirits and is the father of our spirits knows all the motions and contrivances of our spirits Nay 't is the sole priviledge of God to know the thoughts the heart is his peculiar which none can unlock or look into but the most High Jer. 17.10 I the Lord search the heart I try the reins Now what is the heart that God searcheth or what doth God search for in the heart The heart is nothing else but the treasury of our thoughts and God searcheth for nothing else there but our thoughts either simple as they are in our meditations or compound as they are in our affections David you shall finde ascribes this glory to the Lord Psal 139.2 O Lord thou hast searched me and known me thou knowest my down sitting and mine up rising thou understandest my thought a far off i. e. thou knowest all my outward motions but is that all no saith he thou knowest my thoughts afar off Our thoughts are evident to God even before they are Our thoughts are said to be afar off when they are not thought yet then they are as nigh to God as they are to us when we are thinking them even actually present to him Nay our thoughts are as audible to God as our words are to men he hears the language of our spirits and what our hearts say when our tongues are silent One man knows not the meaning of another mans thoughts while he is speaking unless he speak his thoughts as some do not but now let the tongues of men be never so cross to their hearts and what they speak not a light to discover but a shadow to darken their thoughts yet God knoweth them 'T is said of Christ in the Gospel Matth. 9.4 that he knew their thoughts and this was an unanswerable argument of his Divinity or that he was God Onely God or as Christ was God man can reach the thoughts of man and he knows as well what is in them as what is without And this the godly well know and hence 't is in the first place that they are so thoughtfull of his Name But then secondly Psal 44.17 18 19 20. the godly will be thinking upon God out of love and strength of affection to his Name 'T is the nature and property of love to set the thoughts awork upon the thing or object beloved according to that in the Proverb Animus est ubi amat non animat the minde of a man is not where it lives but where it loves Pray observe that passage Cant. 1.3 the later part of the verse Thy Name is as oyntment powred forth therefore do the virgins love thee Christ hath his name both in Hebrew and Greek from ointments and these three words Messiah Christ and Anointed are all one in signification Now when the holy Ghost in the mouth and ministery of his faithful servants shall take of Christs excellencies as it is his office you know to do and hold them out to the world when he shall hold up the Tapestry as it were and shew men the Lord Jesus Christ with an ecce virum behold the man that one Mediator betwixt God and man the man Christ Jesus when they shall see him in his Natures in his Offices Works and in the blessed effects of all when his Name as oyntment is poured forth this cannot but stir up wonderful love in all good souls therefore do the virgins love him By virgins we are to understand the faithful so called for their spiritual chastity They love him for the odours of his good oyntments and out of their dear love and respect which they bear to him they will be continually thinking upon him they have tasted and seen how good the Lord is they have heard it not onely by the hearing of the ear but their hearts are experimented in it God hath shed abroad his love that part of his Name in their hearts by the holy Ghost and therefore they cannot chuse but love him back again and loving him be much in contemplation or meditation about him 3. The Saints are set upon thoughts of Gods Name because they are instructed and enabled thereunto
have I given you a word or two concerning the circumstances that are to be considered in and about this duty Before I come to the form or manner of performance I might speak something of the matter or substance of the duty But I shall onely hint at this because I have spoken already to this purpose in the opening of this part of the text And thought upon his Name That which we think upon must be the Name of God A little word but of large extent We must think upon all that is possible for us creatures to know of God think upon his Essence think upon his Attributes Wisdom Power Justice Mercy Infiniteness Holiness Omniscience Omnipresence c. We must think upon his Ordinances Ways Word and Worship think upon his workâ— whether common to the world as creation and providence or as more proper and peculiar to his Church as Election Redemotion Justification Sanctification Upon these must we think and whatsoever is comprised under the Name of God But I pass by this and come unto the more particular directions I desire you to observe these following Rules in reference unto Meditation 1. Think upon God primarily chiefly and in the first place Let the Name of God have the first-fruits of your thoughts begin with God in the morning as David did in the place fore-alleadged Psalm 139.18 and as the Church did Isai 26.9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within 〈◊〉 will I seek thee early i.e. I have not onely thought upon thee in my most retired thoughts but thou hast had my first as well as my last thoughts I ended with thee at night and I began with thee in the morning Oh Beloved as 't is a sweet thing to close our eyes so 't is our duty to open our eyes and to begin the day with God I shall not stand upon this because I spake something to this purpose in the Means That rule of our Saviour is general and therefore holds here Matth. 6.33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness Let heavenly things or objects have the priority superiority and principality in your thoughts No doubt but 't is lawful for us to think of our necessary businesses but we must think of them in their proper place and season secondarily subordinately and in the second place Be sure that God have the Primitiae and first-fruits of your thoughts But in the second place 2. Think upon the Name of God sollicitously and carefully and with all your might So much is implied in that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matt. 6.33 The word seeking includes pain toil and labor not an idle velleity or a supine and lazie wish If we urge the extent of the word it notes so to require or exact as doth an importunate disputer in the Schools or a violent tormentor on the Rack This Greek word implyeth the same that the Hebrew word hashabh doth in my text it carries with it as I told you in the opening of this phrase the intention of the minde I confess that with Martha we are apt to trouble our heads about many things apt to turmoil our spirits with fretting vexing carking and corroding cares and thoughts of the things of this life quite contrary to that Gospel-precept Mat. 6.31 Phil. 4.6 This I say we are prone and ready enough unto Oh that we could but more largely more affectionately more carefully and industriously think upon the things of God! This is a duty of the first Commandment yea this is that first and great Commandment Thoushalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy minde and with all thy might This duty of meditation upon the Name of God requires much earnestness 3. Practise this duty chearfully readily and willingly The worldly man needs not to be invited to minde his profit the voluptuous man his pleasure or the ambitious man his honour these they do naturally and what men do naturally that they do freely and willingly Oh but how many invitations and inducements must Christians have to this duty how averse from it how backward are we unto it We can think of any thing more easily and readily then we can think of God and the things of God I beseech you that fear God to consider that God loves not to strain upon any neither regards he an involuntary or unwilling service 'T is said indeed 2 Cor. 9.7 later part of the verse God loveth a chearful giver And what is spoken of that service is as true of any other God loves to see us set upon our duties chearfully and with a willing minde this is acceptable and delightful to him Isa 1.19 Psalm 110.3 God expects a free and a Princely spirit from his people towards his service Exod. 35.5 A true worshipper of God is not thrust and driven on by an outward written Law but findes a law written in his own heart They who have felt the day of Divine power are not acted by humane power by the coertions and ordinances of men they are under no constraint in this duty of meditation especially but that of the love of God and of Christ If God shall delight in what thou doest let it be thy delight and recreation to think upon his Name I must not stand long upon these particulars because I see the time hasteneth away Well then in the fourth place 4. Think upon God soberly not thinking to pry into Gods secrets further then he hath been pleased to reveal them Deut. 29.29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us This is one of those places which in the Hebrew is marked with a special note to the end that we should take special notice of it As we must not think of our selves beyond sobriety according to that of the Apostle Rom. 12.3 so neither must we think of God beyond sobriety or above what is written of him if we do we shall quickly lose our selves and be swallowed up in a Maze or Whirl-pool of errours Ye may sooner drain the Ocean with a shell or spoon then the perfections of God with our largest understandings Job 38.22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail There are secrets in Nature which were never entred into by Art the treasures of the snow and of the hail descend upon us but we cannot ascend into the treasures of them We cannot enter into natural things how then shall we enter into spiritual how shall we enter into or our thoughts comprehend the God of spirits 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath propared for them that love him and if the things that God hath prepared for man are not yet entred into his heart how can God who hath prepared these things enter into his heart And therefore be modest and sober keep within the bounds of the Word in your divinest contemplations 5. Think of God spiritually To frame any gross carnal or earthly image of God in our mindes or to represent him to our understandings by the similitude or likeness of any creature whatsoever this is plain idolatry forbidden in the second Commandment See what God saith Dâ—ut 4.15 16 17 18. Nay this was a chief part of their Hellenism or Gentilism of whom the Apostle speaks Rom. 1.23 However this may be very helpful to us in our thoughts of God to conceive of him as of God in Christ Christ is as the author to the Hebrews tell us Heb. 1.3 The brightness of his glory and the expross image of his person Christ is as it were the ladder of ascention by which we may climb up safely unto God Doubtless we may six our mindes upon the humane nature in which the Godhead dwells bodily and to which 't is personally united And under any other character or resemblance we may not think of God 6. Think upon God reverently We are bid to serve him with fear Psalm 2.11 i.e. with a holy filial and reverential fear If we do not thus think upon his Name we take his Name in vain we defile and pollute his Name Thus those wicked Priests spoken of in the beginning of this Prophecie of Malachi are said to despise the Name of God yea to pollute it and why was it why because they thought that any thing was good enough for God Mal 1.6 7 8. Beloved the Name of God is a great dreadful and terrible Name and therefore we had need to think of it with prepared hearts and composed affections While we think upon his Name let us awe his Name and dread his Name But I can enlarge my self no further the time being past And therefore in the last place 7. Perform this duty constantly not onely primarily sollicitously chearfully soberly spiritually and reverently but perpetually and constantly These godly ones here in thy text as they did not confer together onely once or twice but often so they often thought upon the Name of God they did it habitually it was their usual practice We should never give over thinking upon the Name of God until our thinking upon his Name be impoved to and for practise Hos 6.3 saith the Prophet there Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord i.e. We shall experimentally know the Lord if we shall prosecute knowledge and not content our selves with measures already attained And so much for this Point and for this time FINIS
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
Heb. 12.28 Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear Fear you must know is a comprehensive word it is more then a particular grace it contains Faith and Love too though perfect love casteth out tormenting fear 1 Joh. 4.18 yet perfect love casts in obeying fear When Abraham had offered up his son Isaac that was a work of mighty faith but yet when God commends him for it he doth not say Now I know thou hast a great faith but Now I know thou fearest God Gen. 22.12 Fear is all duty 't is every grace it carries every particular duty and grace in the womb of it Eccles 12.13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man or a◠is in the Hebrew This is the whole man this is that which maketh a perfect and a complear Christian a Christian indeed But then thirdly and lastly as the true fear and service of God are in Scripture sometime conjoyned so are they likewise confounded and taken promiscuously the one for the other as reciprocal and convertible terms fearing of God is worshipping or serving of God You may see this clearly by two texts of Scripture conferred or compared together Matth. 4.10 saith Christ there to the devil Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve Compare this now with Deut. 6.13 and there you shall have it thus exprest Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his Name That which in the one place is worship in the other is fear So again Matth. 15.9 saith Christ there In vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men Now the Prophet Isaiah from whence that Scripture is taken expresseth it thus Isa 29.13 at part Their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men They worship me according to the precepts of men saith Christ Their fear is taught by the precepts of men saith the Prophet So that fear and worship or fear and service are identical one and the same thing And thus have you here the Point confirmed by Scripture That every true and faithful servant of God is a fearer of God I shall now answer an Objection and so proceed unto Application The Objection is this briefly How do you say That the true and faithful servants of God are fearers of God or that the service of God and the fear of God are coupled together yea that they are one and the same thing whenas in Scripture we are required to serve God without fear as namely Luke 1.74 by this text it appears that the service of God and the fear of God do not commingle much less are one and the same thing If our service must be done without fear how then do fear and service go together This is the Objection Beloved by way of answer we must learn to distinguish of Fear Qui benè distinguit we say benè docet he that distinguisheth well teacheth well There is a hellish fear and there is a holy fear a slavish fear and a son-like fear The hellish or slavish fear is such as slaves have of those or towards those to whom they are in bondage 't is a respect they carry to those in whose power and under whose command they are they do indeed that which is enjoyned them but they neither love their commanders nor take any complacencie or delight in that which is commanded them what they do they do by coaction and enforcement and in fear of the whip Such is the fear of God in reprobates and in wicked men they are stricken with a kinde of awe of Gods great and terrible majestie they do even tremble at his judgements they do it may be what is required but their obedience proceedeth not out of any love to God or out of any true affection to the service Thus Cain Esau Pharaoh Ahab Judas and others feared they had some apprehensions of the terrour of the Lord and that wrung something from them in which otherwise of themselves they took no manner of delight Cain cast down his countenance Esau wept Pharaoh let the children of Israel go Ahab humbled himself Judas repented as I could shew you from several Scriptures But then secondly there is a holy filial and childlike fear and 't is a fear to offend arising out of the sense and feeling of the love of God as when the experience I have had in mine own soul of Gods merciful and gracious dealing with me makes me to entertain a fear lest I should abuse his love and turn his grace into wantonness and do ought that might displease his Majestie as I shewed you before in the opening of the Doctrine And this kinde of fear may be where is the greatest and firmest yea the most respective love as betwixt the father and the son the husband and the wife This distinction of Fear being thus premised it will be easie to untie the knot or to solve the Querie When we are required to serve God without fear we are to understand the foresaid hellish servile or slavish fear When Zacharies meaning in that Luk. 1. is this whereas the face of God is naturally a terrour to us even as the face of a Judge is to a malefactor and whereas our services are so full of defects and blemishes as that we can have no courage to present them unto God nor hope that he will accept them This is the end of our Redemption that being certainly perswaded of the favour of God in Christ and of remission of sins by him this servile and slavish fear must be laid aside and we may come boldly unto the throne of grace and comfortably assure our selves that God for Christs sake will accept even our imperfect and scant measure of obedience This servile fear now and the true service of God cannot stand together yea they are opposite and contrary one to another But now when I say in the Doctrine That the true and faithful servants of God are fearers of God and that the fear and service of God are joyned together I intend as I told you before a holy filial child-like and reverential fear and with such a fear every true servant of God fears God The fear and the service of God are put together and must ever go together nay without it we can never serve God truly and as we ought to do And thus having answered the Objection I should in the next place proceed unto Application The Uses of the Point shall be three 1. For Information 2. Of Examination 3. Of Exhortation But the ordinary time being spent I shall adjourn the prosecution of them unto the after-noon Let this suffice for the present The first Use shall be for Information Is it so That the true and faithful servants of God are fearers of God Why then it will in the first place follow by