The Works of John Bunyan, vol 1 by John Bunyan (books to read to improve english .TXT) 📕

Sinner! what wilt thou do when thou comest into this snare; that is, into the guilt and terror that thy sins will snaffle[27] thee with, when they, like a cord, are fastened about thy soul? This snare will bring thee back again to the pit, which is hell, and then how wilt thou do to be rid of thy fear? The fear, pit, and the snare shall come upon thee, because thou fearest not God.

Sinner! art thou one of them that hast cast off fear? poor man, what wilt thou do when these three things beset thee? whither wilt thou fly for help? And where wilt thou leave thy glory? If thou fliest from the fear, there is the pit; if thou fliest from the pit, there is the snare.

[USE SECOND, an exhortation to fear God.]

SECOND USE. My next word shall be AN EXHORTATION TO FEAR GOD.

I mean an exhortation to saints—“O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him.” Not but that every saint doth fear God, but as the apostle saith in another case, “I beseech you, do it more and more.” The fear of the Lord, as I have showed you, is a grace of the new covenant, as other saving graces are, and so is capable of being stronger or weaker, as other graces are. Wherefore I beseech you, fear him more and more.

It is said of Obadiah, that he feared the Lord greatly: every saint fears the Lord, but every saint does not greatly fear him. O there are but few Obadiahs in the world, I mean among the saints on earth: see the whole relation of him (1 Kings 18). As Paul said of Timothy, “I have none like-minded,” so it may be said of some concerning the fear of the Lord; they have scarce a fellow. So it was with Job, “There is none like him in the earth, one that feareth God,” &c. (Job 1:8). There was even none in Job’s day that feared God like him, no, there was not one like him in all the earth, but doubtless there were more in the world that feared God; but this fearing of him greatly, that is the thing that saints should do, and that was the thing that Job did do, and in that he did outstrip his fellows. It is also said of Hananiah, that “he was a faithful man, and feared God above many” (Neh 7:2). He also had got, as to the exercise of, and growth in, this grace, the start of many of his brethren. He “feared God above many.” Now then, seeing this grace admits of degrees, and is in some stronger, and in some weaker, let us be all awakened as to other graces, so to this grace also.

That like as you abound in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I will labour to enforce this exhortation upon you by several motives.

First. Let God’s distinguishing love to you be a motive to you to fear him greatly. He hath put his fear in thy heart, and hath not given that blessing to thy neighbour; perhaps not to thy husband, thy wife, thy child, or thy parent. O what an obligation should this consideration lay upon thy heart greatly to fear the Lord!

Remember also, as I have showed in the first part of this book, that this fear of the Lord is his treasure, a choice jewel, given only to favourites, and to those that are greatly beloved. Great gifts naturally tend to oblige, and will do so, I trust, with thee, when thou shalt ingeniously consider it. It is a sign of a very bad nature when the contrary shows itself; could God have done more for thee than to have put his fear in thy heart? This is better than to have given thee a place even in heaven without it. Yea, had he given thee all faith, all knowledge, and the tongue of men and angels, and a place in heaven to boot, they had all been short of this gift, of the fear of God in thy heart. Therefore love it, nourish it, exercise it, use all means to cause it to increase and grow in thy heart, that it may appear it is set by at thy hand, poor sinner.

Second. Another motive to stir thee up to grow in this grace of the fear of God may be the privileges that it lays thee under. What or where wilt thou find in the Bible, so many privileges so affectionately entailed to any grace, as to this of the fear of God? God speaks of this grace, and of the privileges that belong unto it, as if, to speak with reverence, he knew not how to have done blessing of the man that hath it. It seems to me as if this grace of fear is the darling grace, the grace that God sets his heart upon at the highest rate. As it were, he embraces the hugs, and lays the man in his bosom, that hath, and grows strong in this grace of the fear of God. See again the many privileges in which the man is interested that hath this grace in his heart: and see also that there are but few of them, wherever mentioned, but have entailed to them the pronunciation of a blessing, or else that man is spoken of by way of admiration.

Third. Another motive may be this: The man that groweth in this grace of the fear of the Lord will escape those evils that others will fall into. Where this grace is, it keepeth the soul from final apostasy, “I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jer 32:40). But yet, if there be not an increase in this grace, much evil may attend, and be committed notwithstanding.

There is a child that is healthy, and hath its limbs, and can go, but it is careless; now the evil of carelessness doth disadvantage it very much; carelessness is the cause of stumblings, of falls, of knocks, and that it falls into the dirt, yea, that sometimes it is burned, or almost drowned. And thus it is, even with God’s people that fear him, because they add not to their fear a care of growing more in the fear of God, therefore they reap damage; whereas, were they more in his fear, it would keep them better, deliver them more, and preserve them from these snares of death.

Fourth. Another motive may be this: To grow in this grace of the fear of God, is the way to be kept always in a conscientious performance of Christian duties. An increase in this grace, I say, keeps every grace in exercise, and the keeping of our graces in their due exercise, produceth a conscientious performance of duties.

Thou hast a watch perhaps in thy pocket, but the hand will not as yet be kept in any good order, but does always give the lie as to the hour of the day; well, but what is the way to remedy this, but to look well to the spring, and the wheels within? for if they indeed go right, so will the hand do also. This is thy case in spiritual things; thou art a gracious man, and the fear of God is in thee, but yet for all that, one cannot well tell, by thy life, what time of day it is.[28] Thou givest no true and constant sign that thou art indeed a Christian; why, the reason is, thou dost not look well to this grace of the fear of God. Thou dost not grow and increase in that, but sufferest thy heart to grow careless, and hard, and so thy life remiss and worldly: Job’s growing great in the fear of God made him eschew evil (Job 1, 2:3).

Fifth. Another motive is: This is the way to be wise indeed. A wise man feareth and departeth from evil. It doth not say a wise man hath the grace of fear, but a wise man feareth, that is, putteth this grace into exercise. There is no greater sign of wisdom than to grow in this blessed grace. Is it not a sign of wisdom to depart from sins, which are the snares of death and hell? Is it not a sign of wisdom for a man yet more and more to endeavour to interest himself in the love and protection of God? Is it not a high point of wisdom for a man to be always doing of that which lays him under the conduct of angels? Surely this is wisdom. And if it be a blessing to have this fear, is it not wisdom to increase in it? Doubtless it is the highest point of wisdom, as I have showed before, therefore grow therein.

Sixth. Another motive may be this: It is seemly for saints to fear, and increase in this fear of God. He is thy Creator; is it not seemly for creatures to fear and reverence their Creator? He is thy King; is it not seemly for subjects to fear and reverence their King? He is thy Father; is it not seemly for children to reverence and fear their Father? yea, and to do it more and more?

Seventh. Another motive may be: It is honourable to grow in this grace of fear; “When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel” (Hosea 13:1). Truly, to fear, and to about in this fear, is a sign of a very princely spirit; and the reason is, when I greatly fear my God, I am above the fear of all others, nor can anything in this world, be it never so terrible and dreadful, move me at all to fear them. And hence it is that Christ counsels us to fear—“And I say unto you, my friends,” saith he, “be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.”

Aye, but this is a high pitch, how should we come by such princely spirits? well, I will forewarn you whom you shall fear, and by fearing of him, arrive to this pitch, “Fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him” (Luke 12:4,5). Indeed this true fear of God sets a man above all the world. And therefore it saith again, “Neither fear ye their fear,”—but “sanctify the Lord God” in your hearts, “and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isa 8:12,13).

Your great ranting, swaggering, roysters,[29] that are ignorant of the nature of the fear of God, count it a poor, sneaking, pitiful, cowardly spirit in men to fear and tremble before the Lord; but whoso looks back to jails and gibbets, to the sword and burning stake, shall see, that there, in them, has been the most mighty and invincible spirit that has been in the world!

Yea, see if God doth not count that the growth of his people in this grace of fear is that which makes them honourable, when he positively excludeth those from a dwelling-place in his house, that do not honour them that fear him (Psa 15:4). And he saith