his Brethren of his juft Dealing with them than this, Gen. 42. 18. This do, for I fear God: and on the other fide, Abraham could have no greater cause of fufpicion of ill and unjuft dealing from the People with whom he converfed, than this, that they wanted the Fear of God, Gen. 20. 11. Because I thought the Fear of God was not in this place, &c. The fenfe of the Greatnefs, and Majefty, and Power, and Juftice, and all-feeing Prefence and Command of Almighty God, lays a greater Obligation and Engagement upon a Heart fearing God, to deal juftly and honeftly, than all the Terrors of Death it felf can do.

And if any one fay, How came it to pass that the Heathen that knew not, and therefore feared not the true God, were yet great Áfferters, Maintainers, and Practicers of all civil Juftice and Righteousness between Man and Man? I fay, though they knew not the true God, they knew there was a God, whom (though ignorantly) they feared: And this imperfect and broken Fear of God was the true Caufe of that Juftice and Righteousness that was fincerely, and not for oftentation, practised among them; and though they miftook the true God, yet in this they were not mistaken, that there was a God; and this Truth had that great prevalence upon them, to do jultly: And if that imperfect Fear of God in them did fo much prevail as to make them fo juft, how much more must the true Knowledge and the Fear of the true God prevail to advance Righteoufnefs and Juftice in them that have that Fear of God in their Hearts?

3. It is a great part of Wisdom that concerns a Person in the exercise of the Duties of his Relations; and indeed it is a great part of Juftice and Righteousness. Now the Fear of Almighty God hath thefe two great Advantages therein: 1. The Will of God inftructs exactly all Relations in their Duties of thofe reciprocal Relations; and this Will of God is revealed in his Word, which contains excellent Precepts of all kinds fuitable to every feveral Relation. 2. The Fear of God fets thefe Directions close upon the Heart, and is a fevere and conftant Obligation to obferve them. And fo this Fear of God doth effectually fit,

habituate, guide, and oblige a Man to the Duties of his feveral Relations: It makes a good Magiftrate, a good Subject, a good Husband, a good Wife, a good Father, a good Child, a good Mafter, a good Servant; in all those several kinds of Goodness that are peculiar and proper to the feveral Relations wherein a Man stands.

4. Sincerity, Uprightness, Integrity, and Honesty, are certainly true and real Wifdom. Let any Man obferve it where he will, an Hypocrite, or Diffembler, or doublehearted Man, though he may fhuffle it out for a while, yet at the long run he is discovered and disappointed, and betrays very much Folly at the latter end; when a plain, fincere, honeft Man holds it out to the very laft; fo that the Proverb is moft true, that Honefty is the best Policy. Now the great Privilege of the Fear of God is, that it makes the Heart fincere and upright, and that will certainly make the Words and Actions fo: for he is under the fenfe of the inspection and animadverfion of that God that fearches the Heart; and therefore he dares not lye, nor diffemble, nor flatter, nor prevaricate; because he knows the pure, all-feeing righteous God, that loves Truth and Integrity, and hates lying and diffimulation, beholds, and fees, and obferves him, and knows his Thoughts, Words, and Actions. It is true, that Vain-glory, and Oftentation, and Reputation, and Designs and Ends, may many times render the outward Actions fpecious and fair, when the Heart runs quite another way, and accordingly would frame the Actions, if those Ends and Designs, and Vainglory and Oftentation, were not in the way; but the Fear of God begins with the Heart, and purifies and rectifies it; and from the Heart thus rectified grows a Conformity in the Life, the Words, and Actions.

5. The great Occafion and Reafon of the folly of Mankind are, 1. The unrulinefs and want of Government of the fenfual Appetite or Lufts: Hence grows Intemperance and excess in Eating and Drinking, unlawful and exorbitant Lufts; and these exhauft the Estate, wafte and confume the Health, embase and impoverish the Mind, deftroy the Reputation, and render Men unfit for Industry and Bu

finefs.

finefs. 2. The exorbitancy, and unruliness, and irregularity of the Paffions; as, exceffive love of things that are either not lovely, or not deferving fo much love; excess of Anger, which oftentimes degenerates into Malice and Revenge; excefs of Joy, in light, trivial, inconfiderable matters; excefs of Fear, where either no cause of fear, or not cause of so much fear is: And these exorbitances of Paffions betray the fuccours of Reason, break out into very foolish, vain, imprudent Actions, and fill the World with much of that folly and diforder that is every where obfervable. 3. Those diseases and diftempers of the Mind, as Pride, Vain glory, ambition of Honour, and Place, and Power, Infolency, Arrogancy, Envy, Covetoufnefs, and the like; thefe, I fay, are fo many Sickneffes and Cankers, and rotten Ulcers in the Mind; and as they, like the Furies. that were let loofe out of Pandora's Box, do raise most of thofe Storms and Tempefts that are abroad in the World, fo they disease and diforder, and befet the Mind wherein they are, and make their Lives a Torment to themselves; and put them upon very foolish, vain, and frantick Actions and Deportments, and render Men perfect Fools, Madmen, and without Understanding; and their folly is fo much the greater and the more incurable, that, like fome kind of frantick Men, they think very goodly of themfelves, think themfelves paffing-wife Men, and applaud themselves; though it is moft apparent to any indifferent By-ftander, that there are not a fort of vainer foolish Perfons under Heaven. Now as we are truly told that the first degree and ftep of Wisdom is to put off Folly,

Sapientia prima eft,

Stultitia caruiffe

so it is the method of the Fear of God, the beginning of all true Wisdom, to disburthen a Man of thefe Originals and Foundations of Folly. It gives a Law to the Sensitive Appetite, brings it in Subjection, keeps it within the limits and bounds of Realon, and of those Inftructions and Directions that the wife God hath prefcribed: It keeps it under difcipline and rule: it directs the Paffions to their proper Objects, and keeps them within their due Mea

fures,

fures, and within the due lines and limits of Moderation, and as becomes a Man that lives in the fight and obfervation of the God of Glory, Majefty, and Holiness: It cures those diseases and diftempers of the Mind by the prefence of this great Prefervative and Cathartick, the Fear of God. If Pride or Vainglory begin to bud in the Soul, he confiders that the God he fears refifts the Proud: This Fear puts a Man in remembrance of the glorious Majefty of the moft glorious God; and what is a poor Worm, that he fhould be proud or vain-glorious in the prefence and fight of that mighty God? If Ambition or Covetousness begin to appear, this Fear of God prefently remembers a Man that the mighty God hath prohibited them; that he hath prefented unto us things of greater moment for our defires than worldly Wealth, or Honour; that we are all of his houfhold, and muft content our felves with that portion he allots us, without preffing beyond the measure of fobriety or dependance upon, or fubmiffion to him: If Revenge ftirs in our hearts, this Fear of God checks it, tells a man that he ufurps God's Prerogative, who hath referved Vengeance to himself as part of his own Sovereignty: If that vermin Envy begins to live and crawl in our Hearts, this Fear of God crufheth it by remembring us that the mighty God prohibits it, that he is the Soveraign Lord and Difpenfer of all things; if he hath given me little I ought to be contented; if he hath given another more, yet why fhould my Eye be evil becaufe his Eye is good? Thus the Fear of the Lord walks thorough the Soul, and pulls up thofe weeds and roots of bitterness and Folly that infect, difquiet, diforder and befool it.

6. Another great caufe of Folly in the World is Inadvertence, Inconfiderateness, Precipitancy, and over-haftiness in speeches or actions. If Men had but the patience many times to paufe but fo long in actions and fpeeches of moment as might ferve to repeat but the Creed or Lord's Prayer, many follies in the World would be avoided that do very much mischief, both to the Parties themselves and others: And therefore inadvertence and precipitancy

in things of great moment, and that require much deliberation,muft needs be a very great Folly,because the confequence of miscarriage in them is of greater moment. Now the Fear of the Lord of Heaven and Earth, being actually prefent upon the Soul, and exerting it felf, is the greatest motive and obligation in the World to confideration and attention touching things to be done or faid. When a man is to do any thing, or speak in the prefence of a great earthly Prince, the very awe and fear of that Prince will give any man very much confideration touching what he faith or doth, especially to fee that it be conformable to thofe Laws and Edicts that this Prince hath made. Now the great God of Heaven and Earth hath, in his Holy Word, given us Laws and Rules touching our words and actions; and what we are to say or do, is to be faid or done in no less a prefence than the presence of the ever-glorious God, who ftrictly eyes and obferves every Man in the World, with the very fame advertence, as if there were nothing else for him to obferve: And certainly there cannot be imagined a greater engagement to advertence, and attention, and confideration than this: And therefore if the action or speech be of any moment, a man that fears God will confider, 1. Is this lawful to be done or not? if it be not, how fhall I do this great evil and fin againft God? 2. But if it be lawful, yet is it fit? is it convenient? is it feasonable? if not, then I will not do it, for it becomes not that Prefence before whom I live. 3. Again, if the thing be lawful and fit, yet I will confider how it is to be done, what are the moft fuitable circumftances to the honour and good pleasure of that great God before whom I ftand. And this advertence and confideration doth not only qualifie my actions and words with wifdom and pr dence, in contemplation of the Duty I owe to God, but it gives an excellent opportunity very many times by giving paufe and deliberation in reference to my duty to God,to discover many humane ingredients of Wisdom and Prudence requifite to the choice of actions and words, and the manner of doing them: So that befides the grearer advantage of confideration and advertence in relation to Almighty God, it doth fuperadd this advantage alfo C

for