924 A Difcomfe of the Fear of God. ~kni t the So~~ve- is that Gra;:;~ich unites theSau!;;;G:;:-;;;;d Fear Lhap. )· l< eeps the Soul from dcpartmg from God . ]uu /1 p11t my jtar m dmr hearts t iJa t thq /hall ~not depart from me. Theft two Gr~ces have the fame Promifes made to .them; fa you !hall find Pfalm '4S· r9 , 20. He >VIII fulfil the d<jirer of tbew that fear IJtm, /, aljo will htllr therr ''!and 1vJ/I ht:lp them, the Lord pre/tr'l.eth all 1hem r/;at love lnm. Thefe two Graces do embrace and fupport each other. Objeefion, Doth not the Scripture tell us, there is no fw in love, 1 John 4· 18. bur perfe{f love .ajlethout fear. A nfiver, This Fear that is here made unrcconcilable with Love, is not-aFearofGod's Judgments, but a Fear of Perfecution in the World; and fo. indeed, when our Love is perfeEted it con~ucrs the Fears of Death. Thus Tertulilan of old underftood this place, f3.ith he, Ulut {e&r_ can be un_derfi.ood here, but tiJe Author of our de11ial of Chrijf. ~~b~;':r,:7 ,ch~~~~t:tfrut~~i~h't~~d ~~:a~l::l;ea~i~~~=s~~~0 :<:~~t.ffi~~~1} Chrift? And there are three Reafons which confirm this Interpretation. 1 . The firft is drawn from that Expreffioo in the qth Verfe, Herein it our Love wudt perjerf, that we may have boldnefs in the Da1 of 'Judgment, which may be inter· prer:ed thus; Herein is our Love made perfect and crowned , that we may have Doldnefs in the Day of Temporal .Judgmem, when we are arraigned before Princes for the Caufe of Chrift. 2 . Second!], Confider the Parallel that is made between Chrift and us, becaufe at he ;~jfd~~~'j,(;{!ire~:t.:i t~~h~r~t~~er:,~~:;:~~v~f~:: i~~~~:i~'\J~r~h~~o~p~heEC~~ of God's Providence, we fhould lay down our Lives for the Confellion of the Truth. ~· Decaufe it is faid in the 18th. Verfe, He that feareth is not made fer{e{f in Love, Jtnd fiar hath torment in it, that is, tbere is a Rac~, a Pain, that is con~ered . by the Fear of Death, as it is faid, Heb . 2. 1). who all thezr daJs were tmder a Sptrtt of hondag~ through [eAr of Death. And wherever there is a Fear of Death there cannot be a per~ feEt Love of Chrift; for the Perfon that is a Coward is next to an Apo!lato. That Perfon which fears Death is ready to apoftatize from Chrift, when his Life is in Danger: Dut when this perfeEt Love of Chrift reigns and triomphs it is ftronger than Death. How formidable foever Death is, yet the Love of Chrill will caufe the Soul to imbrace it; if this Interpretation be either Novel to you, or if you think it not Co Genuine, you may reconcile the Text by m~ D?~rine ; for the~ underftand here, a llavifh Fear of God meerly as ofa Judge, wl11ch IS mconfiftcnt Wtth Love; but for ought I know the other Senfe may comport well enough with the meaning of the Spirit. 4· Fourth!J, Another Grace that is united i_n the Soul with this holy Fear is JoY.. This is a Riddle to a Carnal Spmt, and yet 1t li one part of the Myftery ofGodhnels which Grace teacheth, and which a holj• Soul is inftruEted in. Hence it is faid in Scripture, That ti"J did rejoyce in God's Goodnefs, atJd yet tbey feared ltis Goodnefs. ~: ~~i,F}~; J~~~i~~~!a0~~rize and evidence our Fear to be of the right kind. Firjl, This Fear of God qualifies our Joy. If you abftraa fear from Joy, Joy will become light and wanton; and if you abftraa Joy from Fear, Fear then will become llavifh. Honceitis faid, Pfolm 2. 11. Rej•J" wuhtremblmg. There is a fweet ~'d~f,\fe~~~i~~e ~[.:;i,~~a~e:·~;ul~~r;~~ t~cl~aisr:~uva~Z;t'i'~~~/n Tge~~~~; the Soul moft kindly rejoyce in God, when it is filled with an awful Admiration of his Goodnefs; for this Fear doth not contraEt the heart as Grief doth, but inlargcth the Heart in God's Praifes. Second!J, This Joy doth charaelerize our Fear, and evidence it to be of a right ftamp. So you fhall find 112 Pfol. 1 . B!effid u the mM that fe•mh the Lord, that de. lightrth grw!J in his Commandmenlf . CHAP.
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