May 29

Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, because of fear in the night. — Song of S. iii. 8.

jj pg John uses a rare word when he says, “Fear hath torment.’’’* “Turment” does not convey the whole idea of the word. It means sufferinijj, but suiTeririg for a purpose; suOering which is correction; suffering which is disciplinary; suffering which is intended to lead to something beyond itself. Fear, the apprehension of personal evil, has the same function in the moral world as pain has in the ph)sical. It is a symptom of disease, and is intended to bid us look for the remedy and the Ph3sician What is an alarm-bell for but to rouse the sleepers, and to hurry them to the refuge? And so this wholesome, manly dread of the certain issue of discord with God is meant to do for us what the angels did for Lot; lay a mercifully violent hand on the shoulder of the sleeper, and shake him into aroused wakefulness, and hasten him out of Sodom before the fire bursts through the ground, and was met by the fire from above. The intention of fear is to lead to that which shall annihilate it and take away its cause.

There is nothing more ridiculous, nothing more likely to betray a man, than the indulgence in an idle fear which does nothing to prevent its own fulfilment. Horses in a burning stable are so paral;,sed by dread that they cannot stir, and get burnt to death. And for a man to be afraid — as every man ought to be who is conscious of unforgiven sin — for a man to be afraid, and there an end, is absolute insanity. I fear; then what do I do? Nothing! And that is true about hosts of us.

What ought I to do? Let the dread direct me to its source, my own sinfulness. Let the discovery of my own sinfulness direct me to its remedy, the rigiitcousness and the Cross of Jesus Christ. He, and He alone, can deal with the disturbing element in my relation to God. Pie can “deliver me from my enemies, for they are too strong for nie.” It is Christ and His work, Christ and His sacrifice, Christ and His indwelling Spirit, that will comfort and overconie sin and all its cons;equences in any man and every man; taking away its ixnialty, lightening the heart of the burden of its guilt, delivering from its love and dominion — oil three of which things are the barbs of the arrows with which fear riddles heart and conscience. So my fear should proclaim to me the merciful “Name that is above every name,” and drive me as well as draw me to Christ, the Conqueror of sin and the Antagonist of all dread. I am not preaching the religion of Fear; but I think we shall scarcely understand the religion of Love unless we recognise that dread is a legitimate part of an unforgiven man’s attitude towards God. lily fear should be to me like the misshapen guide that may lead me to the fortress where I shall be safe, Oh! do not tamper with the wholesome sense of dread Do not let it lie, generally sleeping, and now and then awaking in your hearts, and bringing about nothing. Sailors that crash on with all s:dls set — slunsails and all — whilst the barometer is rapidly falling, and the bo iing clouds are on the horizon, and the line of the approaching gale is ruilling the sea )onder, have themselves to blame if they founder, L(;ok to the falling barometer, and make ready for the coming storm, and remember that the mission of Fear is to lead you to the Christ who will take it away.