by the judgments of God? These questions we are

to answer in the

Ild. Division of our discourse.

The limits of these exercises will not here permit me to enter into detail, or I might show you that disbelief of the declarations of God, false ideas of his character, unscriptural views of our own state and condition, a base inattention to the operations of Providence, frequently prevent the salutary effects which judgments are calculated to make on us. I will, however, call your attention only to two causes :

1. Judgments that light upon others are frequently rendered useless, because of our insensibility. We tranquilly behold the lightning flashing at a distance, and suppose that it will not blast us, as though we were of a different nature from those who are consumed by it; as though we had formed a peculiar league with Providence, and were perfectly sheltered from those calamities that have descended on so many of our fellow-creatures. Thus blinded, instead of regarding the woes of others as merciful monitions to ourselves, and being led by them to righteousness, we harden our hearts against instruction, and exclude reflection. If eighteen are crushed by the tower of Siloam, we view the event with little emotion if we are preserved, and heed not the warning -voice of Jesus, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Has not this been the case with us, my brethren? When we have seen the judgments of God descending upon other nations, have we corresponded with his design in these afflictions? Have we learned righteousness, and listened to him while he cried, "I have cut off the nations; their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed. Then I said,

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Surely thou wilt fear me; thou wilt receive instruction, that thy dwelling may not be cut off." (Zeph. iii. 6, 7.)

When you heard of a scene of festivity suddenly changed into a place of mourning and anguish, did you, young people, learn righteousness from this judgment, and resolve to engage in no occupations, in which you would be unwilling to be surprised by death; from which you would reluctantly pass to the judgment-bar? Or have you since with the same eagerness rushed forward in the giddy round of pleasure, and never remembered that death may come to interrupt your gayety; that the splendours of eternity may in a moment break upon your astonished eyes? 2. But if we can thus be insensible when judgments fall upon others, we feel when they descend upon ourselves. Even then, however, we do not always learn righteousness, because, instead of being humbled and led to think of our sins, we vent our grief only in vain regrets and useless lamentations. Instead of raising our eyes to that Supreme Providence whose decisions are always wise and just; instead of saying with holy Job, "Show me wherefore thou contendest with me," we with disquietude and murmuring look round to second causes; to the negligence or wickedness of men, to the irregularity of the seasons, to a thousand similar circumstances. Ah, sinner! the source of thy misery is in thyself: cease to declaim against others, or to murmur at thy lot. Remember that the Supreme Arbiter of all things can alone give efficacy to second causes; that the elements, seasons, winds, waves, flames, are only angels executing his will. Instead of contending with the Almighty, of being filled with bitterness, of being discontented with heaven, men, every thing except yourself, hum

ble yourself, and let that cry of penitence rise from a contrite heart," the Lord is righteous, but I have rebelled against him!" Thus shall the judgments of God teach you righteousness.

SERMON CII.

FEAR OF GOD.

1 PETER ii. 17.

Fear God.

FEW duties are more frequently or solemnly enjoined upon us in the word of God, than that which is commanded in the text. From the beginning to the end of the holy volume, its importance and necessity are every where inculcated. When the Lord descended in majesty upon Sinai, and gave his laws to the chosen people, he said, "O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me." (Deut. v. 29.) In the prophet Malachi, (i. 6.) he reproaches those who are destitute of this principle, by inquiring, "If I be a master, where is my fear?" In Jeremiah, when speaking of the privileges and blessings of that covenant of grace on which all our hopes are founded, one of his chief promises with regard to believers is, "I will put my fear in their hearts." (Jer. xxxii. 40.) When in the Revelation

we behold an angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach, we hear him cry with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give glory unto him." (Rev. xiv. 6.) Inspired men upon earth correspond with God and his angels; and in numberless passages teach us, that, except we have this sentiment, we are yet unacquainted with even the beginning of wisdom, have no interest in the love of God, and are not authorized to entertain any hopes of future felicity. To quote all the passages which speak this language, would be to transcribe a large portion of the Bible.

But if a proper fear of God is found only in the pious, there is, on the other hand, a species of fear to which no promises are made, which is the characteristic of those who are in the bondage of sin, which is the earnest of everlasting punishment; that fear which was felt by Cain, and by Judas, which caused fallen Adam to fly from God, which will convulse the souls of the perishing at the judgment-day, while they call upon the rocks and the mountains to fall on them, and cover them, and which, according to James, is felt by the devils themselves, who, groaning under present anguish, tremble at future pains.

Every one will perceive that these two species of fear are perfectly distinct. What a difference between the fear of an Adam making him unwilling to meet his maker, and that of an Abraham, when God gave him that precious testimony, "Now I know that thou fearest me;" between the fear of a hardened, though affrighted Cain, and that of an Isaac, of whom it was recorded that God was the fear; between the fear of a Pharaoh, impenitent, though trembling under the rod of the Almighty, and that of a Moses, filled with solemn reverence and awe,

and not daring to approach the burning bush from which Jehovah spake unto him; between the fear of the Philistines, who were penetrated with dismay by the plagues which God inflicted upon them when they had taken the ark, and that of the Levites when they, with sacred veneration of soul, carried back this august symbol of the divine presence, “serving the Lord with fear, and rejoicing with trembling;" between the fear of the fiend, who curses, blasphemes, and despairs, and that of the seraph, who humbly veils his face before the Eternal, not daring to look upon the splendours of his glory!

Since, then, the fear of God is to be found both in the holy and the wicked; since it is good or evil, according to the different motives which produce it, the different emotions which accompany it, and the different effects which result from it, we should carefully examine into its nature, and inquire whether the fear which we possess is of the nature which God requires.

And this is the object of the ensuing discourse. It is a point of so much consequence, so closely connected with our dearest interests, that I may surely expect your solemn attention.

There are two principal species of fear, as we may readily perceive by consulting our own emotions: the fear of apprehension, and the fear of respect. The first has for its foundation that evil which he who is feared can inflict; the second arises from the high idea we have of him for whom we entertain this sentiment. The first is exercised towards a being who, we suppose, has the will and the power to hurt us; the second is felt when, apprehending nothing from his anger, we entertain respect, esteem, and veneration for him.