A Difcour(e of ihe Fear of God. 943 mat ion ";;;-;,it will bri;;g-Death-;;;;;;; painf~ more f[1c;dy; fo ,it is~hofe,...,::;::::::: Errours concerning the Nature of God, which are accompanied with fuch a Feat Chap. '5·, of his Juftice, as if there were no Referves of Mercy for relenting and reforming~ Sinners; Thefe beget an Hell upon Earth, bring a Soul into the very Suburbs of Hell, into the Confines of Eternal Darknefs; and therefore labour aga in!I-thi s Fear. I do not fpeak againft the Fear ofGod's Juftice all this while, I would onely rcEtifie that Fear, not abolifh it; let us fo fear God's Juftice as to hate Sin, and yet ilill fo as to love his Mercy and Goodnefs. The Sum is this, the Fear of God fhould have for its Circumference the Reverence ofGod and all his Attributes, for itS Cen ter it flJOuld have Godlinefs and praEtical Holinefs; the Limit of our Fear fhould be an awful regard of God's Excellencies and PerfeEtion, and the end of our Fear fl10uld be a conftant Obedience eo lt1m; then our Fear is Angelica! when it ~s kept within us llo.uhds~ So much for the firft Branch, that Slavifh Fear which is terminated upon God's Juftice, •. Stcondly, There is a Servile Fear which refpeEts the Power of Man, when ihe Soul is fa pofieft with the Fears of the Power of the Creature, that lt draws back to Deftru8:ion, that it dares not own its Faith in the F.ace of a Tyran~ : And to fuch Perfoos, that they may correEt their Fear, I !hall prefeht three Confidcratioos: 1. Confider, As the Throne endures no Rivals, fo that Fear which is a Homage and Tribute which we fJJould pay only to the Sovereign Creator of the World, fl1ould not be given to the Creature. He that dod1 immoderately fear the Creature, dethrones God and deifi es Man. It is no lefs than Sacrilege to alienate the Affellion~ from God; and it is no lefs than Idolatry, to place our Ailel:tions inotd inately upon the Creature, !fa. 8. 12, q. Nutherftar Je their Fear, nor be afraid; jimt1ijie tEe Lord of Hojh himfe!f, and let him be your Fear, tt!Jd In him be .Jour dre.:td. As the Beains of the Sun difCouragc the Fire, :md will not fi1ffer it to burn; fo will the Fear of God f\vallow up all our Fear of the Creature; the greater Fear will devour the lefs. 2. Secondly, Confider, This immoderate Fear of the Creature is the Root of Apoftacy. ~uch a Man will rather fave his Life than his Soul, fuch a Perfon carries his Faith about him at the Mercy of every one that threaten.> ro kill him : For this is a Maxim, hethatisaCoward willbeanApoftate. That Mandothnot foa rGod, that dares not die for him; that Man that hath not got above tho Love of Life, and above the Fear of Dear~,. will never be a Martyr, he will never hold out for God ; therefore fuch a Perfon 1S m the very next degree to an A poftate. 3· Thirdly, Confider the Unreafo.nablenefs of this Fear. To fear the Sentence of aManwhen God i<ourJudge; to fear thePowerofMau, when God is our De~ fence; to fear Death, which is but ~he Entrance into an Eternal Life; what is this; but as little Children, to ~l!ar rh~ V1zzard m~re than the Man that wears it? Auflin fpeak~ excellently concern.mg this T~mper, fatth he, Thefe Perfons Timent .carc~;em, non tsment Gehennam; tzment cruetatum tempera/em, non pcentU ig1zis .tterm; tzment modicum mori, non .eternum mori; that is, They fear the Prifon, but they fear not Hell; they fear temporal Torments, but they fear not the Flames of unquencL1able Fire; they fear the fir!T, but not the fecond Death ; and is not this an unreafonable ~!:~ ?2I:~1~rcB~t ~h: ~~~~Ju~~ r:n;v:~b~~ie~i~~11.~~r~:o~7na~~:,~ a~~o~~~~~~e;;,rr~:sJ Whoremo~gers, ~tnd Sorcerers, and Idolaters, and ~tf~ Ly~rs, jhJtll have their p~trt in t/Jt Lake, 1vhtch burneth with Fire ~tnd BrimffoRt, whtch ts the fecond death. Her~ the. fearful are placed in the Front of thofe which !hall be caft into the Lake, which burns with Fire and Brimftone for ever. This is the fecond fort ofSiavifh Fear; which I would deprefs. 3· Thirdly, Another fort of Slavifh Fear which 010uld be eradicated, is this, That fear which fame l'er!ons take up from the ApprehenGon ofinfuperable difficulties that attend a Religious State; like the Ifraelites that would not venture upon the Paradife of Canaan, becaufe it was defended by Gyants. So there are many l'erfons among ns, that if you could look into their Hearts you would find this Principle; they confider the Weaknefs of their Natures, the Slipperinefs of their Places, and the Inftability of their Wills; the Rage of their Af!eClions, and the Frequency of Temptations, and from thence they thus argue, I fhall never be able to conquer all thefe ; theretore lince I !hall not be able to attain the Prize, I will venture no Charges ; and finc'e I cannot finifh "t Religious Courfe, I will not begin it; and thus they waft and metl Dddddd away
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