The Souls Porter to Cast Out Sin, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. Of thoſe ſignes that put a difference betweene the ſlaviſh, and the filiall feare of God.
THE ſlaviſh, and theſ on-like kindly feare of God, differ
1. In their ſeverall grounds and principles,
1. The ſlaviſh feare is awaked onelyonly by threatnings denounced by God againſt diſobedience. This moved King Abimelech to reſtore Sara to Abraham; God in a dreame ſignified to him, that if hee reſtored her not,Gen. 20.7 8. hee and all his ſhould dye for it. When Ionas had cryed,Ionas 3.4.5. Fourty dayes and Niniveh ſhould bee destroyed: then they were amazed, and faſted and prayed. On the otherſide, the filiall feare of God will be awaked by the meere commandment of God, though there were no commination annexed thereunto. This Salomon calles,Pro. 13.13 fearing the commandement; that is, fearing not to do what is commanded, meerely becauſe it is commanded; and fearing to doe what is forbidden, becauſe it is forbidden, though the commandment were not backed, nor ſeconded with any ſanction either of promiſe or threatning.
2. The ſlaviſh feare is ſtirred up onelyonly by judgements inflicted on mens ſelves, or on others. Thou O God, (ſayth Aſaph) didſt cauſe judgement to bee heard from heaven, Pſal. 76.8.then the earth feared: whereas filiall feare is excited by the mercy, and loving kindneſſe of God. There is mercy with thee that thou mayeſt bee feared. Pſal. 130.4.Hoſea 3.5They ſhall feare the Lord and his goodneſſe, ſayth the Prophet. God will not afflict (ſayth Iob) therefore doe men feare him. Iob. 37.23.24What men? Certainly not ſlaves, but loving and loyall ſonnes.
2. Slaviſh, and filiall feare differ in their objects. For,
1. The object of ſlaviſh feare is not ſinne, but puniſhment. As children feare a Cole onelyonly when it burnes; but otherwiſe be it never ſo blacke, they will delight to handle it. Thus Balaam did not feare to curſe Gods people, but hee feared the Angell that met him in the way with a drawne ſword.Numb. 22.31.32
But the object of filiall feare is ſin, though there were no plagues in ſtore here, nor no hell hereafter for the offender. A righteous man feares an oath, ſayth Salomon, Eccleſ. 9.2That is, he doth ſo much feare the curſe of the flying booke that ſhall enter into the houſe of the ſwearer, as he feares the oath it ſelfe. He feares more to ſweare, than that God ſhold ſweare in his wrath againſt him.Pſal. 95.11 Hee more feares to curſe then to be curſed. To hate than to be hated: to injure than to be injured. Hee feares more active, than paſſive evill. Like that woman in the Hieroglyphicke, that having a fire-brand in one hand, and a pot of water in the other, is preſented, wiſhing that with that fire-brand ſhee could dry up the waters of Paradiſe; and with that water quench the flames of hell, that ſhee might ſerve God, neither for hopes of heaven, nor for feare of hell.
2. If the object of ſlaviſh feare be ſinne; yet it is onelyonly ſinne of the groſſer ſize, of a ſcarlet dye.Mat. 23.24. As the Phariſees feared to ſwallow Camels, but gnats would downe well enough. And among Chriſtians, many feare the more horrid oathes; but the leſſer breake no ſquares with them. Many feare to kill a man, who feare not to ſpleen, hate, back-bite, or curſe him, which is murder in a degree, as our Saviour reckons it in his Sermon on the mount.Mat 5.21.22.
But on the other ſide, they that filially feafe God, feare thoſe ſinnes that ſeeme leaſt, as idle words, & vain thoghts. David feared the cutting of the lap of Sauls garment.1 Sam. 24.4.5. Iob. 31.1. Iob feared to look upon a mayd luſtfully. Saint Auſtin feared the ſtealing of a few apples. Iohn Hus feared leſt hee ſhould ſpend too much time at Cheſſe-play. The truely fearfull are jealous over themſelves in the uſe of indifferences, leſt in taſting of the hony of them, they ſhould like a flye, ſticke in the ſlime.
Let every man apply this triall to himſelfe.
3. Slaviſh and filiall feare differ in their conſequents, and effects. For,
1. Slaviſh feare dulles and deadens a mans heart, ſo that hee is fit for no good thing. It made Nabal his heart dye within him;1 Sam. 25.37. ſo that hee became as a ſtone. When God (ſayth David) rebuked, and ſpoiled the wicked, they fell into a feare, ſo that none of them found their hands, Pſal. 76.5.6.8.but they were caſt into a dead ſleepe. As when there was an earth-quake at Chriſt his riſing, and the Angels countenance was as lightning,Mat. 28.4. the keepers for feare ſhooke, and became as dead men.
But filiall feare makes ſuch as are indued with it lively, and active in their duty. Thus Noah being moved with feare, Heb. 11.7.did not ſit ſtill, but prepared an Arke. And indeed this is Gods command. What (ſayth Moſes) doth the Lord require, but to feare him, Deut. 10.12.& to walk in his wayes? Filiall feare makes not a man lame in his duty, but ſets him upon his legges.
2 If ſlaviſh feare move a man to doe any good, it will be but juſt ſo much as the fearer thinkes will ſerve him, and no more. He will give God but gold-weight; very hard meaſure. But filial feare will make a man to ſtrive after perfection, to preſſe hard forward to the mark of the high calling. And therefore Saint Pauls exhortations runs thus. Perfect holineſſe in the feare of God. 2 Cor. 7.1 I hil 2.12.Work out your ſalvation with feare and trembling. If you feare God, you wil not work by halves; but worke out your ſalvation. Not that merit or juſtification by workes, is admitted by us; the word feare and trembling excludes that. To feare, and to bee ſelfe-confident, are aſuſtaticall, they cannot ſtand together.
3. Slaviſh feare, and curbe ſin, it may make a damme againſt it; it may prune or lop it, but it doth not mortifie ſinne in the power and love of it. This feare is but like the quaking of a rotten quagmire. The wolfe may feare to come to the flocke, yet he loves the blood of ſheepe never a whit the leſſe. But he that filially feares God, doth not onelyonly avoyd, but alſo hate ſin. The feare of the Lord (ſayth Salomon) is to hate evill. Pro. 8.13. In imprevis formidai… ſupplicto franatur ſacultas, in probis ſanatur voluntar. Aug.In the worſt of men, through the feare of puniſhment, the faculties indeed may bee bridled: but in thoſe that filially feare God, the will is healed.
4. Slaviſh feare filles the heart with diſtraction, and diſtruſt. It made Lot fearfull that he ſhould be conſumed betweene Sodome and the mountaine,Gen. 19.19 though God had promiſed him his life if he haſtned. It made the people deny to go up to Canaan, becauſe of the multitude and ſtrength of the inhabitants,Numb. 13.2.31. though God had promiſed them conqueſt over the Canaanites, and the poſſeſſion of the land. It ſpurred Cain and Iudas to deſpaire.Non duxit ad dominum, ſed traxit ad la …ucum. Greg. It did not lead Iudas to the Lord, but it drew him to the halter. But the filiall feare of God is never without faith in God, as hath been afore proved.Pſal. 23.4. Though I walke (ſayth David) through the valley of the ſhadow of death, I will feare no evill, for thou art with me. Pſal. 64.9.10.And againe (ſayth he) they that feare God, will truſt in him. The kindly feare of God doth not diſ-joynt, but conſolidate, ſettle, and ballaſſe the heart amidſt all inward and outward ſtormes and tempeſts.
5. The ſlaviſh feare of God is uſually ioyned with hatred of God in ſome degree. It was the ſpeech of a tyrant:Oderint dum timeant: Let the people hate me, ſo they feare me. This feare wiſhes there were no God: or that he could not ſee, or not be able to puniſh ſinne. But the filiall feare of God is never diſ-joyned from the fervent unfained love of God. They that feare God, and they that love God,Pſal. 145.19, 20. are put into the ſame deſcription by the Pſalmiſt, and they are interreſſed in the ſame promiſes, that their prayers ſhall be heard, their deſires fulfilled: they ſhall be preſerved and ſaved.Deut. 10.12. And God in the Law requires feare and love united together. They that feare God, love God, becauſe they are beloved of God. For David calles the fearers of God, Gods beloved. And we love God,Pſal. 60.4.5. becauſe he loves us firſt, ſayth Saint Iohn.1 Ioh. 4.19.
6. Slaviſh feare drives men from God: we ſee it in our grand-father Adam, he confeſſes that beeing afrayd, Gen. 3.8.10.hee hid himſelfe among the trees of the garden.Eſay 2.19. They ſhall goe (ſayth the Prophet) into the holes of the rockes, and into the caves of the earth, for the feare of the Lord, and for the glory of his Majeſty, when he ariſes to ſhake terribly the earth. Apoc. 6.16They ſhall ſay, (ſayth Saint Iohn the Divine) to the mountaines, and rockes, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that ſitteth on the throne. This feare cares not how farre God and it bee aſunder. Like that f…are of the Egyptians,Pſal. 105 38. Egypt was glad of the Iſraelites departure: for they were afrayd of them. But the filiall feare of God unites the heart to God: it drives him who is poſſeſt of it, unto God. When David was in a great ſtreight, hee cries,2 Sam. 24.14. Let us fall into the hands of God And it is Gods promiſe,Ier. 32.40. I will put my feare into their hearts, and they ſhall never depart from me. The feare of a ſlave provokes him to runne from his maſter; the feare of a loving childe prompts him to apply himſelfe the cloſer to his father. In theſe ſixe effects, theſe two feares are differenced.
4. And laſtly, they differ in regard of time and duration. To wind them up together, Slaviſh feare dreads not GOD in proſperity, when all things ſmile, and ſucceed according to expectation & wiſh. Becauſe the wicked have no changes, Pſal. 55.19.ſayth the Pſalmiſt, therefore they feare not God.
He that filially feares God, feares him at all times; you may imagine it to be a miſery, a bondage, to be alwaies in feare: but the contrary is true of this feare. Happy is that man that feareth alwayes, Pro. 28.14(ſayth Salomon.) The righteous man feares not God by fits and ſtarts. Hee feares moſt when hee is moſt proſperous. He thinkes that the greateſt calmes are but fatall, and immediate fore-runners of the lowdeſt tempeſts. When the Churches had reſt and comfort in the holy Ghoſt,Acts 9.31. even then they walked in the feare of the Lord. They think with St. Bernard, Tum magis iraſcitur, cum non iraſcitur. Bern.when they are ſpared too long, that then God is moſt angry, when hee ſeemes leaſt angry. When they ſinne unpuniſhed, they cry with Saint Auſtin, N…le…re in ſ… erdiam Aug.Lord let mee have none of this merciemercy, leſt it prove but a reſervation of mee to greater miſery.
In a word, hee that feares God ſlaviſhly, feares little longer than the rod is on his backe. It was the guiſe of K. Pharaoh, 1 King. 21. three laſt re…ſes.and K. Ahab, when the pang was off, they ſtil hardened their hearts, and ran their old Bias.1 King. 12.18.19. We finde Ahab faſting and humbling himſelfe in one Chapter; and the next newes we heare of him in the next Chapter is, he is quarrelling with the Prophet for telling the truth. Nay, this feare turnes into a greater ſecurity, as the anvill is harder for beating; as hot water cooling, growes colder than ever it was afore.
But the filiall feare of God is a laſting feare; it endures for ever, ſaith David. Pſal. 19.9.the ſpirit of the feare of the Lord is not flitting,Eſay 11.2. it reſts on him, on whom it pitches. Let us all try our faces at this glaſſe, it is no flattering one, it will tell you truely, whether your feare bee of the right ſtampe, whether ſtampe, whether it will ſtand you in ſtead, or no.