Religious Converfation recommended. 3 89 tively, they are the obje ±s of his peculiar SERM. care, and 'hall at laf} be highly honoured XV. and happy in his favour. Firfl, the difpofition and behaviour of thefe pious perlons in a time of prevailing irreligion. They that feared the Lord, thought on his name, and fpake often one to another. Their general character is, that they feared the Lord, which every one knoweth is in fcripture a fhort and com- prehenfive defcription of good and reli- gious perfons, becaufe the fear of God is a powerful principle of fincere and uni- verfal obedience to his laws ; not a fervile dread of his vengeance, which may indeed refirain men from fome heinous crimes, but can never produce an ingenuous imitation of his moral perfections, and an inward refped to holinefs and virtue ; this, I fay, is not what the fcriptures mean by the fear of the Lord, but a pious and affectionate reverence for the tranfcendent purity and goodnefs of the divine nature. This principleexerted itfelf, and it always will naturally exert itfelf, in thinking frequently, ferioufly, and with pleafure, on the name of Cc3 God
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