One of them must be put to death, they cannot live
together. Sin must down, for the fear of the Lord begetteth in the
soul a hatred against it, an abhorrence of it; therefore sin must
die, that is, as to the affections and lusts of it.
"Thy heart shall fear and be enlarged"--enlarged towards God,
enlarged to his ways, enlarged to his holy people, enlarged in love
after the salvation of others. Indeed, when this fear of God is
wanting, though the profession be never so famous, the heart is shut
up and straitened, and nothing is done in that princely free spirit,
which is called "the spirit of the fear of the Lord," but with
grudging, legally, or with desire of vain glory. Psa. 51:12; Isa.
11:2.
If a king will keep a town secure to himself, let him be sure to man
sufficiently the main fort thereof. If he have twenty thousand men
well armed, if they lie scattered here and there, the town may be
taken for all that; but if the main fort be well manned, then the
town is more secure. What if a man had all the parts, yea, all the
arts of men and angels, that will not keep the heart to God.
But when the heart, this principal fort, is possessed with the fear
of God, then he is safe, not else.
O they are a sweet couple, to wit, a Christian conversation coupled
with fear.
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