Religion our true interest, or, Practical notes upon the third chapter of Malachi the…Religion our true interest, or, Practical notes upon the third chapter of Malachy the…

¹Is it a duty to Fear God, what strangers then are they to Religion, who are void of this Holy Fear? The Godly fear and sin not, the wicked sin and fear not. They are like the Leviathan, who is made without Fear, Job 41.33. Want of the fear of God is the innate Cause of all Wickedness, Rom. 3.14. Whose mouth is full of Cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood. Whence was this? vers. 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes: Abraham surmised the men of Gerar would stick at no Sin; why so? Gen. 20.11. I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place. The Judge in the Gospel is called an unjust Judge, Luke 18.6. And no wonder, for vers. 2. he feared not God. There must needs be an excess of Sin where there wants the Fear of God to restrain it. The water must needs Overflow where there are no banks to keep it out. We live in a Godless age; durst men Sin at that rate as they do, if the fear of God were regent in their hearts? durst they swear, be unclean, use False weights, bear false witness, hate purity, deride Gods signs in the Heaven, ⟨p. 23⟩Forge Plots, Persecute Christs body, if they had the fear of God before their eyes? these men proclaim to the World that they are Atheists; they believe not the Immortality of the Soul. They are worse than brutish, a Beast fears the fire, these fear not Hell Fire. They are worse than Devils, for they believe and tremble, Jam. 2.19.

¹Is it a duty to Fear God, what strangers then are they to Religion, who are void of this Holy Fear? The Godly fear and sin not, the wicked sin and fear not. They are like the Leviathan, who is made without Fear, Iob 41.33. Want of the fear of God is the innate Cause of all Wickedness,