But, on the contrary, see that thou and all the faithful in the land with thee, do sanctify me in your hearts, and make me your fear and your dread, i. e. rely upon me by faith in this day of trou- ble, and see that you give me the glory of my wisdom, povver, and faithfulness, by relying entirely upon those my attributes engaged for you in so many tried promises ; and do not betake yourselves to such sinful and vain shifts as those do that have no interest in me, nor experience of me. Tliis is the general scope and design of the text, wherein more particularly, you have,
1. An evil practice prohibited.
2. An effectual remedy prescribed,
3. A singular encouragement to apply that remedy.
1. An evil practice prohibited, " Fear not their fear, neither be *' afraid.'"* This is that sinful principle, which was but too apt to incline them to do as others did, to wit, to say, A confederacy. Sinful fears are apt to drive the best men into sinful compliances and indirect shifts to help themselves.
Their fear may be understood two ways ;
1. Siibjectivehj^ for the self-same fear wherewith the carnal and unbelieving Jews feared ; a fear that enslaved them in bondage of Vol. hi. Q
24j4 a PllACTICAL TREATISE OF FEAK.
spirit; a fear that is the fruit of sin, a sin in its own nature, the cause of much sin to them, and a just punishment of God upon them for their other sins.
2. EffectivcJij, Let not your fear produce in you such mischie- vous effects as their fear doth ; to make you forget God, magnify the creature, prefer your o\m wits and policies to the Almighty Power and never-failing Faithfulness of God : if you say, but how shall we help it ?
^. Why, in the next place, you have an effectual remedy prescri- bed; hut sanctify the Lord of' hosts himself andlet him he your fear and your dread. The fear of God will swallow up the fear of man, a reverential awe and dread of God will extinguish the slavish fear of the creature, as the sun-shine puts out fire, or as one fire fetches out another ; so will this fear fetch out that.
By sanct'ifyhig the Lord of hosts hhnsclfi^ meant a due ascription of the glorv of his sovereign power, wisdom, and faithfulness, not only in verbal and professed aclaio\v'ledgments thereof, but especi- ally in those internal acts of affiance, resignation, and entire depen- dence on him, which, as they are the choicest respects of the crea- ture towards its God, and give him the greatest glory, so they are certainly the most beneficial and comfortable acts we can perform for our own peace and safety in times of danger.
If a man do really look to God in a day of trouble and fear as to the Lord of hosts, i. e. one that governs all the creatures, and all their actions ; at whose beck and command all the armies of hea- ven and earth are, and then can rely upon the care and love of this God, as a child in danger of trouble reposes on, and commits him- self with greater confidence to the care and protection of his fa- ther : O what peace, what rest, must necessarily follow upon this ! Who would be afraid to pass through the midst of armed troops and regiments, whilst lie knows that the general of the army is his o\vn father ? The more power this filial fear of God obtains in our hearts, the less will you dread the power of the creature. When the Dictator ruled at Rome, then all other officers ceased ; and so, in a great measure, will all other fears, where the fear of God is dictator in the heart. This is the remedy.
3. And to enable us to apply this remedy in the worst and most difficult times, we have a singular encouragement proposed : if we will thus sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, by such an acknowledg- ment of, and cliild-like dependence on hira in times of danger, then he will be to us for a sanctuary, Asyli loco, i. e. he will surely pro- tect, defend, and provide for us in the worst times and cases * ; then
* Preestabit vos inaccessos, et inviolabUes ah his repibus. He will render you inac- cessible, and preserre you from being violated by tlietse kings.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE OF FEAR. 245
will the Lord " create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, ** and upon her assemblies, a cloud, and smoke by day, and the *' shining of a flaming fire by night : for upon all the glory shall ** be a defence, and there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the *' day-time, from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a " covert from the storm and from rain/"* Let the winds roar, tlie rain beat, the lightnings flash, you are in safety, and have a good roof over your heads. Hence these two points of doctrine offer themselves :
Doct. 1 . That the best men are too apt to he overcome with slavish fears^ in times of imminent distress and danger.
Doct. 2. That the fear of God is the most effectual means to ex- tingxiish the mrfulfear of men, and to sccitre us from danger.
These two points take in the substance and scope of the text ; but because I design to treat, in the following chapters, of the kinds, nature, uses, causes, effects, and remedies of fear, I shall not distinctly prosecute them, but proceed in this order, in the following chapters.
Wherein the hinds and nature of fear are opened, and particularly the distracting, slavish fears of creatures.
Sect. I. X HERE is a threefold fear found in man, viz. 1. Natural. 2. Sinful. 3. Religious fear.
1. Natural fear, of which all are partakers that partake of the common nature, not one excepted.
Naticralfear is the ti'ouble or perturbation of mind, from the ap- prehension of approaching evil, or impending danger.
The word ^gCog comes from a verb * that signifies flight ; this is not always sinful, but it is always the fruit and consequent of sin. Since sin entered into our nature, there is no shaking off* fear. No sooner had Adam transgressed but he feared and fled, hiding himself among the trees of the garden, Gen. iii. 8. When he had transgressed the covenant, he presently feared the execution of the curse : first he eats, then he hides ; and this afflictive passion is from him transmitted, and derived to all his children.
* (piZoiiaifunio^ perfect, med. 'rs^oQa, inde fo.Sog timor,fuga.
^•IG A PRACTICAL TREATISE OF FEAR.
To this natural fear it pleased our Lord Jesus Christ to subject himself in the days of his flesh ; he was afraid, yea, he was sore amazed, Mark xiv. 33. for though his human nature was absolutely free from sin, yet he came in the " likeness of sinful flesh," Rom. viii. 3.