The Souls Porter to Cast Out Sin, Chapter 6 – Chapter 7
CHAP. VI. How far the filial feare of God may ſtand with the feare of Man.
THE filiall feare of God may ſtand,
1. With the feare of reverence, due unto men, as they are ſubordinate unto God, as they are the Deputies of God on earth. God allowes that the ſonne ſhould honour his father, and the ſervant his maſter; and on this very ground hee challenges feare and honor to himſelfe. If then (ſayth hee) I bee a Father, where is my honor; Mal. 1.6.If I be a Maſter, where is my feare. This feare of Man Saint Paul impoſeth on us all, Render to all their due, Rom. 13.7feare to whom feare, honour to whom honour belongs: and his reaſon is in the fore-going verſe. For they are Gods Miniſters. Hee cannot feare and reverence God, whom doth not feare and reverence thoſe that are Gods ſubſtitutes. And therfore Salomon knew what he did, when hee put theſe two duities together, My ſon, feare thou the Lord, Pro. 24.21.and the King. Feare the Lord firſt, and moſt; but yet feare the king too, who is Gods Vicegerent on earth. Theſe two are not like the Arke and Dagon; they will both ſtand under the roof of one heart. Who feared God more than David? and yet who feared King Saul more than hee? his heart ſmot him for cutting off but the skirt of K. Saul. his garment.1 Sam. 24.4.5. Let the Pope, whoſe religion is rebellion,Forme of prayer on Novem. 5. and whoſe faith is faction, perſwade his miſ-led fooles, and his ſworne ſlaves, that to feare God, and to kill Kings at his command, are two vertues of one houſe.Iam. 3.17. They whoſe religion is from above, pure and peaceable, know, that light and darkneſſe, heaven and hell; God and the divell may as well have fellowſhip together. The feare of God doth neither make voyd, nor weaken this feare of obſervance towardes man, but rather confirme and eſtabliſh it.
2. Wee may filially feare God, and yet feare man, with a feare of caution: that is, wee may feare the perſecution, and the ſocietie of evill men.
1. Wee may feare their perſecutions, our Saviour will juſtifie us in it. Behold (ſayth he) I ſend you forth as ſheepe in the midſt of wolves; Mat. 10.16.17.23.Be yee therefore wiſe as Serpents, and beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the Councels, & they wil ſcourge you in their Synagogues; But when they ſhall perſecute you in one Citie, flye into another. Moſes fled from Pharaoh, David from Saul, Eliah from Iezebel; Nay, our Saviour himſelfe from the Iewes,Luke 4.29.30. when they would have caſt him downe a hill. When Athanaſius was perſecuted by the Arrians, hee made this motion to his friends,Secedamus ad tempus nubecula eſt, quae citò evaneſcet. Let us ſtep aſide for a time, till this tempest bee overpaſt: it will not bee long afore this little cloud vaniſhes. And when his perſecutors upbraided him with his flight, he returned this anſwer to them,Si ſugere mihi turpe, vobis me perſequi turpius. If it be a ſhame for me to flie, it is a greater ſhame for you to perſecute me. Thus we may feare perſecution.
2. We may feare the ſocietie of bad men, both for the infection, and the danger of it,
1. We have juſt cauſe to feare the contagion of ill company.Grex totus magris, unius ſcabie cadit. Iuv. Cum inter homines fui, redeo inbumanior. Sen. When I have been among men, (ſayth Seneca) I returne from them more inhumane. Beware (ſayth Chriſt) of falſe prophets who come to you in ſheeps clothing, Mat. 17.15but within are ravening wolves: Like our ſneaking Maſſe-prieſts, that pretend a pitty towardes our ſoules,Haeretici ſub ſpecie corſulendi, agunt negotium ſeducendi. Greg. Mot. but their end is to make us ſeven-fold more the children of the Divell. Heretickes act ſeducers under the habits of Counſellors. And of ſuch Saint Paul forewarnes us, & gives us their Character, Traytors, heady, 2 Tim. 3.4.5.high-minded, having a forme of godlineſſe, but denying the power thereof: From ſuch turne away.
2. We have authority for fearing as the infection, ſo the danger of ill ſocietie, by no leſſe than a voyce from heaven, Come out from Babylon my people, Rev. 18.4.leſt you bee partakers of her ſins, and of her plagues. We read in Eccleſiaſticall hiſtory, that S. Iohn the Apoſtle being in a Bath at Epheſus, wherin Cerinthus, a grand Hereticke, was bathing himſelfe, he leaped out of the Bath, as if he had ſpied a ſerpent, and with theſe words in his mouth; I feare leſt the ground ſhould ſink under me, whereon ſuch a mortall enemy of the truth ſtands.
So then, the feare of God may ſtand with; Nay, what if I ſay, it cannot ſtand without this kinde of feare of men?
Beſides, I muſt adde, to prevent all miſtake, that Gods deareſt ſaints and ſervants may bee tempted, though not habitually, yet actually to feare Man more than God.
The feare of man moved Abraham to deny his wife Sarah, Gen. 20.2.ſo that ſhee might have beene expoſed to Abimelechs luſt. The feare of K ng Saul moved Samuel to refuſe to goe at Gods command,1 Sam. 16.1.2. to annoynt David King. Davids feare of King Achiſh, 1 Sam. 21.12.23.moved him, to the diſhonour both of religion and manhood, to faine himſelfe mad, to ſcrabble on the dores, and to let fall his ſpittle on his beard afore king Achiſh. Ionah the Prophet,Iona 1.2.3 his feare of the Ninivites moved him, when hee was ſent by God one way, to flye another.Iona 1.2.3. The feare of man moved Peter to deny Chriſt his maſter with an oath,Mat. 26.69. and a bitter execration.
And yet when the Saints thus feare men,
1. The Spirit of the feare of God hath reſidence in them. Thoſe that are in heaven are all ſpirit, and no fleſh: the wicked on earth are all fleſh, and no ſpirit. The ſaints on earth are partly fleſh, and partly ſpirit: new converts are more fleſh, leſſe ſpirit. Ancient ſtanders in the ſchoole of Grace, are more ſpirit, leſſe fleſh. In all the faithfull there is a combate betweene the fleſh and the ſpirit.Gal. 5.17. The fleſh and the ſpirit are contrary to each other, ſo that we cannot doe the things that we would. The ſpirit is willing, but the fleſh is weake. A Chriſtian betweene theſe two, is like a peece of iron between two load-ſtones, the one drawes one way, and the other the other way; like a horſe under an unskilfull rider, that ſpurres him on, and reines him in Sometimes the ſpirit hath the better of the fleſh; ſometimes the fleſh hath the upper hand of the ſpirit: ſometimes the carnall feare of man prevailes againſt the filiall feare of GOD. When the Saints are thus ſhaken and winnowed by the reliques of ſin in them, and by the temptation of Sathan, they are not hereby proved to bee chaffe, though it appeares that they are not without chaffe.
2. As this feare of men in good men, is not ſeparated from the true feare of God: ſo neither from the true love of God. When S. Peter denied Chriſt, he did not hate Chriſt,Non odio habendo Chriſtum, ſ…d ſcipſum nimis amando. only he loved himſelfe too much, ſaith Saint Bernard. It is one thing for a man to fall throgh the feare of the world, another thing to fall through the love of the world: for he that loves the world, hates God, if wee beleeve S. Iames: Iam. 4.4.But hee that ſometimes over-feares the world, may yet both dearly love, and ſincerely feare God.
3. When hee that feares God doth thus over-feare man; hee doth it not with the uninterrupted ſwing of his affection; but hee reſiſts this carnall feare, and heartily deſires that it were wholly expelled; and that the feare of God in him were perfect, and unmixed. Thy ſervants deſire to feare thy name, Nehem. 1.11.ſayth Nehemiah. The feare of man in them is a tyrant, that forces their ſubjection, not their King, to whom they freely yeeld their homage.
4. When the filiall fearers of God doe fall thus through the feare of men, they fall not upon premeditation, but ſuddenly, beeing ſurprized by temptation unawares. The Divell takes them at an unexpected advantage. The ſtorme comes afore they have leaſure to ſnatch their cloake about them. As a valiant man may ſtartle at the ſudden diſcharge of a peece of Ordnance behind his back; who otherwiſe having time to collect & ſummon his ſpirits, would not feare to ſtand at the mouth of a charged Canon in a good cauſe. Saint Peter was challenged by the damoſell ſuddenly, before hee could have reſpite to reach to his weapon of faith to draw it; whereas had hee had never ſo little time to have recollected himſelfe, his tongue wold never have ſo groſly tranſgreſſed its bounds.
5. Though a childe of God be thus for the preſent ſcared by man, yet let him alone a while, and hee will returne to his true temper, he will recover his guard againe, and his ſpirituall will conquer his carnall feare. As if you ſhake the Compaſſe, the Needle may bee turned from the North; but let the Compaſſe ſtand ſtill a while, and then the Needle will poynt full toward the Northſtarre. The moſt skilfull Pilote may in a ſtorme, be forced from his intended ſcope, and port, who when the windes are ſilenced, wil ſteere a right courſe again. Put oyle & water into a glaſſe together, & ſhake the glaſſe, the water it may bee, may get uppermoſt, but let the glaſſe ſtand a while, and the oyle will, like a triumphant liquor, recover the ſupereminence. Though Saint Peter in the time of temptation, did deny his maſter, yet preſently after, when hee came to himſelfe, hee wept bitterly for it: and after that hee confeſſed Chriſt ſtoutly a fore a Councell, who before denied him afore a Damoſell: and he ſealed his profeſſion with his blood. Ecebolius, who in Iulians time, revolted from the truth for the feare of man, did afterward caſt himſelfe downe in the ſight of all, and cried in the hearing of all, Kick me unſavory ſalt. Calcate me ſalem inſipidum.And Archbiſhop Cranmer, who for feare, had ſubſcribed to many popiſh Articles, after ſuffered for the truth; and hee firſt thruſt that hand into the flame, wherewith hee had ſubſcribed. Thus, as it was ſayd of Gad, A Troope ſhall overcome him, Gen. 49.19.but hee ſhall overcome at the laſt. So fleſhly feare may for a time overcome a feare of God, but he who filially feareth God, ſhall overcome at the laſt.
CHAP. VII. Whether the feare of judgement bee contrary to the filiall feare of God?
THis doubt wee reſolve negatively:
For firſt, it is but naturall to feare that that is contrary to nature. Though Grace bee above Nature, yet it is not contrary to Nature.
2. The beſt Saints have ſtood in awe o… Gods judgements, and their feare is recorded in holy Scripture to their praiſe.Pſal. 119.…20. My fleſ… ſayth David) trembleth for feare of thee, and I an afraid of thy judgements. When I heard (ſayth the Prophet) my belly trembled, Hab, 3.16.my lippes quivered, rottenneſſe entred into my benes.
3. There is much good included in the feare of Gods judgements:
For firſt, it ſoftens and melts the heart; the heart of the King of Iudah was tender, 2 Chton. 34.27.when he heard God his threatnings.
2. This feare humbles the ſoule, and layes a man low in his owne eyes.Pſal. 9. laſt. verſe. Put the heathen in feare, O Lord (ſayth David) that they may know themſelves to bee but men. Through the feare of the majeſty, and the judgements of God, (ſayth the Prophet) the loſty lookes of man ſhall bee humbled, Eſay 2.10.11.and the haughtineſſe of men ſhal be bowed down.
3. This feare preventeth the commiſſion of many a ſinne. Laban would have miſchieved Iacob, but hee durſt not.Gen. 31.29. Balaam wold have curſed the people of God,Numb. 22.33.34. if he had dared to have adventured: for the Angell of the Lord met him with a drawne ſword, and intercepted his purpoſe. Thus the feare of judgement is a ſoftner, a humbler, a preventer of ſinne. It ſoftens the heart, as fire diſſolves the ſolideſt, hardeſt metall. It humbles the heart, as thunder layes proſtrate the talleſt, ſtouteſt Cedars. It prevents much miſchiefe, and ſo it is like a hedge of thornes in a mans way,Hoſea 2.6. to keep him from breaking his bounds.
Therefore this feare is not evill in it ſelfe, but good, and neceſſary. For if rulers are to be feared, becauſe they are miniſters to execute vengeance upon evill doers;Rom. 13.4 then GOD is much more to bee feared for his vengeance, according to that of the Apoſtle, Serve God with feare: Heb. 12.28.29.for our God is a conſuming fire: Where the feare of God, even upon this ground is warranted.