Charity and Its Fruits
sin against him. That which men are afraid of they will shun. If a man professes that he is afraid and has a dread of a poisonous serpent, for example, but at the same time is seen to take no care to shun him, but is very bold to keep near to him, who will believe his profession? Fearing God and observing to do all his commandments, are joined together as necessarily arising the one from the other, as in Deu. 28:58 — "If thou will not observe to do all the words of this law, that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God." And Joseph gives as a reason of his righteous and merciful conduct towards his brethren, that he feared God, as may be seen in Gen. 42:18 . And in Pro. 8:13 , it is said, that "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil." Job gives it as a reason why he avoided sin, that "destruction from God was a terror to him" (Job 31:23 ). And God himself, when he speaks of Job as "eschewing evil," mentions his fear of God as the ground and reason of it (Job 1:8 ). And in any person whatever, just so far as the fear of God reigns, just so far will it lead its possessor to avoid sin and to aim to be holy. Again,
6. The spirit of thankfulness and praise tends to holy practice. — Sincere thankfulness to God leads us to render again according to the benefits received. This we look upon as a sure evidence of true gratitude or thankfulness toward our fellowmen. If anyone does his neighbor any remarkable kindness, and he is really thankful for it, he will be ready, when an occasion offers, to do him a good in return. And though we cannot requite God's kindness to us by doing anything that shall be profitable to him, yet a spirit of thankfulness will dispose us to do what we can, which is well-pleasing or acceptable to him, or which may tend to his declarative glory. If one man should take pity on another who was in some great distress, or in danger of some terrible death, and, moved by this pity, should greatly lay himself out for his defense and deliverance, and should undergo great hardships and sufferings in order to it, and by these means should actually deliver him; and if the latter should express great thankfulness toward his deliverer, and yet in his actions and course of conduct should oppose and dishonor and cast contempt