YeR. 5,] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI, 57
the hurry of distractions, then God inwardly sjDeaks to us by our own hearts and by our own consciences, and sometimes we crave his help as well as his counsel. There is not a day passeth but there is some occasion oflered to confer with God for christians that mind their work and their souls. Carnal men feel no impulses to prayer ; they are not only strangers to God, but to their own souls. God and they are un- acquainted, and they and themselves are unacquainted; for if men did not converse'^ with themselves, and mind the state of their souls, they would find there are many doubts need to be assailed, many wants to be supplied, many corruptions to be weakened and morti- fied. But when they leave off conference with themselves, no won- der they are so careless of holding- conference and communion with God ; when they and themselves are brought together, they will not be quiet till they and God are brought together. David speaks of sevenfold addresses in one day : Ps. cxix. 164, ' Seven times a day do I praise thee.' Oh, what a spirit are they of that can pass whole days and whole weeks and never speak a word to God, never give God a visit ! Can these be said to walk with him ? Now all our communion and speaking with God does not lie in prayer only ; for look, as wants put us upon prayei-, so blessings upon praises. The vapours and showers do maintain a mutual commerce between the earth and the air ; the earth sends up vapours, and the air sends down showers ; so it is here — blessings and praises maintain a mutual communion between God and us ; God sends down the shower of blessing, and then we send up the vapour of praise, so that the soul lives in a holy sweet way of communion with him.
(3.) The fear of God. There must be a humble reverence if we keep God company. We are in the presence of the ' great king,' as the jirophet calls him, Mai. i. 14 ; it is his pleasure to hold famili- arity with us, but we must never forget our distance ; there must be a constant fear and a reverend respect to God. It is a profanation to think of him without reverence, as well as to speak of him without reverence. Our familiaiity with God must not be rude and careless, but such as becomes the distance that is between God and us : Micah vi. 8, * What doth the Lord require of thee, but to walk humbly with thy God?' When we converse with God, we must not forget ourselves ; we must remember the distance between infinite purity and a poor spotted creature. The angels and blessed spirits that enjoy the highest way of communion with God, they stand in dread of his presence. Fear is a grace in heaven as well as love ; the angels clap their wings and cover their faces, and cry, ' Holy, holy, holy,' &c., Isa. vi. 2, 3. Those immaculate spiiits are abashed at the glory of his holiness, and do not only praise, but fear him ; for fear is an essential respect that is due from the creature to the godhead. It is true, faith is a grace which suits with our present estate, therefore it vanisheth in heaven, where we have full enjoyment ; but fear is a necessary respect of the creature to the supreme majesty ; there is a reverent and aweful, but a delightful dread in the angels ; they have higher apprehensions of liis holiness than we have, therefore reverence him the more. AVe have but low thoughts of that which is his chiefest glory, his holiness, there- fore we do not reverence him as the angels do. Now if the angels are
^ Qu. ' Did converse ? ' — Ed.
58 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. XXII.
abashed at his presence, despicable dust and ashes have more cause to fear. Why ? because we have sin in us, and are not out of danger of punishment. But angels are out of danger of punisliments ; they do not fear God for his commutative justice, but only reverence him for his holiness ; but here we have sin in us, and can never have an absolute assurance of God's favour, therefore we have more cause to stand in dread. We may sadly reflect upon this, because we are guilty of such a negligent security, and we converse with God rather as an idol of our own fancy than a king of glory ; there is not a reve- rent respect upon the soul. Oh, consider, there is practical atheism in irreverence ! It is hard to say which is worse, to deny God, or not to fear him ; an atheist makes him nothing, and a careless person makes him an idol — Mcdo de me did nidlum esse Flutarchum, quani malum esse Plutarclmm ; and in the issue it is all one to deny his being and not to acknowledge his perfection, and to behave ourselves suitably. It is worse to behave ourselves to God as if he were a weak God, than absolutely to deny his being ; but, alas ! we never tremble but when he thunders, and when God shows himself terrible in some instance of judgment and vengeance. Alas ! it is much for us, in our prayers and supplications, to be aweful in our special addresses to God, and yet fear is a grace that is never out of season and exercise : Prov. xxviii. 14, ' Ha})py is the man that feareth always ;' not that perplexeth himself with scruples and terrors — that is a torment, not a blessedness — but that bears a constant reverent respect to God's presence. So again, Prov. xxiii. 17, ' Be thou in the fear of God all the day long.' In secret and in company, in the shop and in the closet thou art still in God's company, and still God is to be feared. But you will say, This is very hard, to keep the soul under an actual awe and trembling, and in the fear of God ; therefore there must at least be a habitual awe ; that is, a reverent and serious constitution of spirit, so that a man would not do anything that is unseemly in God's sight.