The New Life

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The Fear of the Lord.
object, is condemned. The fear that with childlike
confidence and love honors the Father, is commanded.i
It is the believing, not slavish, but filial,
fear of the Lord that is presented by the Scriptures as
a source of blessing and power. He that fears the
Lord will fear nothing else. The fear of the Lord
will be the beginning of all wisdom. The fear of the
Lord is the sure way to the enjoyment of God's
favor and protection.'^
There are some Christians who by their upbringing
are led into the fear of the Lord, even before they
come to faith. This is a very great blessing : parents
can give a child no greater blessing than to bring
him up in the fear of the Lord. When those who are
thus brought up are brought to faith, they have a
great advantage : they are, as it were, prepared to
walk in the joy of the Lord. When, on the contrary,
others that have not this preparation, come to
conversion, they have need of special teaching and
vigilance, in order to pray for and awaken this holy
fear.
The elements of which this fear is composed are
many and glorious. The principal are the following
There are holy reverence and awe before the glorious
majesty of God and before the All Holy. These
g^ard against the superficiality that forgets who God
is, and that takes no pains to honor Him as God.'
^Ps. xxxiii. i8, cxivii. ii ;
t^uke xii. 4, 7
' Ps. Ivi. 5, 12 ;
Prov. % 7, ix. lo, x. 27, xix. 33 ; Acts ix. 31 ; 3
Cor. vii. I.
3 Job xlii. 6 Ps. v. 8 Isa. vi. 2, 5 Hab. ii. 20 Zech. ii. 3.
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