[Terrible as the appearance and the voice of God were on that occasion, his appearance in the clay of judgment will be
infinitely more tremendous " Knowing therefore the
terrors of the Lord, we would persuade you" to turn unto him, ere it be too late. We wish however to produce in you, not a slavish, but a filial fear : that will only drive you from God; and therefore in relation to it we say with Moses, " Fear not ;" but this will make you happy in the service and enjoyment of God; and therefore we add, " Let his fear be ever before your faces, that ye sin not V]
1 ver. 20.
Exod. xxiii. 13. In all things that I have said unto you, be
circumspect.
IF we were about to prosecute a journey through an extensive forest, where the path was exceeding intricate, where we were in hourly danger of treading upon serpents and scorpions, and where there were declivities so steep and slippery that it was almost impossible but that we must fall down some tremen- dous precipice, we should feel it necessary to get the best information, and to use the utmost caution in all our way. Such is really our state : in our journey towards heaven we may easily mistake the road ; and, even when we are walking in it, we are encompassed with so many dangers, and obstructed by so many difficulties, that we need to exercise continual vigi- lance and circumspection. Hence, in tender love to us, our heavenly Guide puts us on our guard, and says, " In all things that I have said unto you, be circumspect."
In discoursing on these words we shall consider,
I. The injunction —
It is our duty and our happiness to have all our actions conformed to the mind and will of God : but, in order to this, we must attend diligently to the matter, the manner, and the end of them : —
1. The matter — [Notwithstanding we have the written word, which, when