A30211:649
A treatise of the fear of God showing what it is, and how distinguished…A treatise of the fear of God shewing what it is, and how distinguished…
A treatise of the fear of God showing what it is, and how distinguished from that what is not so : also whence it comes, who has it, what are the effects, and what the privileges of those that have it in their hearts / by John Bunyan.A treatise of the fear of God shewing what it is, and how distinguished from that what is not so : also whence it comes, who has it, what are the effects, and what the priviledges of those that have it in their hearts / by John Bunyan.
London: printed for N. Ponder, 1679
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
1. If thou wouldst grow in this grace of fear, Take heed of an hard heart, for that will hinder thy growth in this grace. Why hast thou hardened our hearts from thy fear? (Isa. 63.17.) was a bitter complaint of the Church heretofore; for it is not only the judgement, that in it self is dreadful, and sore to Gods people, but that which greatly hindereth the growth of this grace in the soul. An hard heart is but barren ground for any grace to grow in, specially for the grace of fear: there is but little of this fear, where the heart indeed is hard; neither will there ever be much therein.
Now if thou wouldst be kept from an hard heart.
1. Take heed of the beginnings of sin. Take heed I say, of that, though it should be never so small, A little leaven, leavens the whole lump: there is more in a little sin to harden, than in a great deal of grace to soften. Davids look upon Bathsheba, was, one would think, but a small matter: yet that beginning of sin, contracted such hardness of heart in him, that it carried him almost beyond all fear of God. It did carry him to commit lewdness with her, murder upon the body of Uriah, and to abundance ⟨p. 211⟩of wicked dissimulation; which are things I say that have direct tendency to quench, and destroy all fear of God in the soul.
1. Take heed of the beginings of sin. Take heed I say, of that, though it should be never so small, A little leaven, leavens the whole lump: there is more in a little sin to harden, than in a great deal of grace to soften. Davids look upon Bathsheba, was, one would think, but a small matter: yet that begining of sin, contracted such hardness of heart in him, that it carried him almost beyond all fear of God. It did carry him to commit lewdness with her, murder upon the body of Vriah, and to abundance