that it is the house of God and the gate of heaven? The Lord is there, and has appeared to him in His power, majesty, and glory. He fears Jehovah and worships Him. Whenever the Lord has shown Himself in His majesty and glory after this sort to His servants they have been bowed down before Him. It was so in the case of Job. He felt that he was vile in His sight (Job xl. 4). Isaiah cries out before Him when he sees the King, the Lord of hosts: "Woe is me, woe is me." Ezekiel falls before the throne of His majesty and has to be lifted up. Daniel has no strength in him. And John in Patmos is like one dead before the King of Glory.

But there is such a thing as a temporary fear, a fear which persons may have for a time and then it vanishes away. A person may be brought into this state of fear having lost his friends by death, or he may be alarmed by some great calamity which may come upon the land, or by hearing some terrible,-shall I say frightening, sermon. Fear may be produced after this sort. You know of a case; it was Felix, when St. Paul preached to him. He "reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Felix trembled." And he wanted St. Paul to go away, and he would call for him again at a more convenient season. What made Felix tremble before Paul? I am inclined to the opinion that Felix was condemned by the preaching of Paul. How long this trembling of Felix lasted we are not told. And whether he ever sent for the Apostle is certainly doubtful. There is no proof that his fear was more than temporary. It may have lasted for awhile, but it appears to have been nothing more than the fear of "the wicked who flee when no man pursueth."

Our text speaks of a very different fear from this. It is a fear and reverence connected with faith and obedience, and which shows itself in a man's life and walk. God says, speaking by His prophet Jeremiah, "I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me" (Jeremiah xxxii. 40). The two things go together. There is this holy fear put into the new heart or new spirit. And then "They shall not depart from Me." This is the evidential part. I do not think that God's children, when they have this fear put into them by the Holy Ghost, will ever wholly depart from Him. They will often have their dark and gloomy days; their storms and tempests, their doubts and fears, their pleasant and unpleasant feelings. I grant all this; but in their heart of hearts-in their very innermost soul-they still have the feeling of God's fear, and of trust in Him, Who alone can and will help them through all their difficulties, and supply all their needs. They cry, and cannot help it: "Whom have I in heaven but Thee; and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Well, "By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil (Proverbs xvi. 6). And by this fear of the Lord, persons show themselves to be spiritual worshippers. The word for fear means to serve, or to worship. So that whenever a person has this fear in him, he serves and worships God in spirit and in truth.

Let us look at the persons in whom this fear is.

God takes one here,

and another there, and puts His fear into them. He takes some out of all ranks. He is not particular as to class. He takes an Abraham, and He makes of him a great nation, and bears this testimony to him: "Now, I know that thou fearest Me" (Gen. xxii. 12). He takes one of the richest men in all the East-Job-and He gives this testimony concerning him: "That man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job i. 1). Jehovah pitches upon Nehemiah and grants him "the desire to fear His holy name (Neh. i. 2). Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's house, "feared the Lord greatly" (I Kings xviii. 3). And King David said: "Come ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord" (Psalm xxxiv. 11). Cornelius was a devout man and feared God with all his house (Acts x. 2). Surely, God has always had some of Cæsar's household who have feared and worshipped Him. There is neither let, nor hindrance to Him, in putting His fear into a man's heart; none whatever. This is very humbling, I dare say, to some persons, because in this life, they will make distinctions. This man is poor, and that man is rich and belongs to the middle class, and that to the upper class. These, after all, are but distinctions in society. But when we come before God, He does not respect different classes; but He has His own choice of persons out of each class. The Spirit of God singles them out, and puts His fear into their hearts, whenever He pleases, and wherever they are. He chooses them for Himself in time as the Father had done from eternity in Christ Jesus. God has some of all ages who fear Him. He takes both old and young as He sees best. I would never give a man up. I have met with some preachers who have been disappointed with results, and they have said to me that it is of no use preaching to such and such. Now what business have we to come to any such conclusion? What do we know about God's plans and purposes? His message of mercy comes at His own time, and in His own way. It may be on a sick bed, or even in a dying hour, in youth or in age. God can put His fear into a young Samuel's heart, or into a young Timothy's heart; or He can take up any other vessel of mercy like Jeremiah, or John the Baptist, and cause him to leap for joy, as soon as he nears the Saviour, though a babe unborn. The Lord works His own sovereign will in His own sovereign way. Well then, He takes some of both sexes also, men and women. But it is not because a man is a man that God looks upon him. Nor is it because a woman is a woman, and supposed to be the weaker vessel, that therefore she has the sympathy of God. Not so. But it is because He has

a favour unto them, and hence He puts His fear into them. So that in Christ Jesus "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free:" (Colossians iii. 11). "There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians iii. 28). All One! This is levelling! Then again you

must remember that God has had some in all times who have feared Him. If you were to trace the history of the church of God from the time of Abel down to the present, you would find that there has always been a God-fearing people. Think of Abel, Enoch,

priests, and kings, and Some in all nations have

Noah, Abraham, the patriarchs, prophets, then you must say, a "seed has served Him." feared the Lord. Peter, when preaching to Cornelius, in the 10th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, says: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respector of persons" (verse 34). Well, how did he perceive this? He perceived it thus: that God had taken the Gentile Cornelius, when he, Peter, had never expected anything of the sort. He thought, all the favours of God were for the Jews. But he became enlightened, and then he saw that in "every nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him." Then he understood that God had not chosen Cornelius because he was a Jew, nor rejected him because he was a Gentile. He saw that in the vessels of mercy, wherever they are, God puts His fear, and makes them to serve and worship Him. These are the ends of the earth which see the salvation of God (Isaiah lii. 10). "He says to the north, give up; and to the south, keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by My name; for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, yea I have made him " (Isaiah xliii. 6, 7). This is indeed that spiritual seed-that perpetual generation-to which a rich and precious promise is made: "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them " (Psalm xxxiv. 7). There is also another promise made to them in the 3rd of Malachi: "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His Name." God remembered these persons, not one of them was forgotten before Him. "And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels:" My hid treasures: "and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him" (verses 16 and 17). "They shall be Mine." He does not say: "they may be Mine." But, "they shall be Mine." "They shall be Mine," and Satan shall not be able to pluck them out of My hands. No! This is very strong and emphatic language. What comfort and encouragement there is unto you who are hiding under the shadow of His wings! "They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts." There is a triumphant victory for God's children. The victory is with them, but they do not always see it. "But unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts" (Malachi iv. 2, 3). Some, if not all, of God's children have their dark and trying times. But there is a word of encouragement even for them in the 50th chapter of Isaiah. Look at the 10th verse, and you will read of those that walk in darkness, and have no light. Can there be a much worse case than this? He walks, but he has no light, he cannot see a step before him. Well, what is the counsel given? "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath

no light? Let him trust in the Name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." This is what the Psalmist was doing in this Psalm. He was looking unto and staying upon the Lord. "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord" (verse 15). “I put my trust in Thee (verse 20). Now you see who the persons are, and the character of those described in our text.

We come now to examine our second point which is this: “the secret of the Lord." We shall have to ask you to look carefully into this subject: "the secret of the Lord." This word for secret comes from a root which means to found, to be hidden. This is one of its meanings; and it is applied to a foundation, or to anything that is hidden, or out of sight. This is a primary idea connected with the word. Now, think of what is hidden, or out of sight? Is it not the secret of God? Why! God's whole plan and purpose respecting the salvation of sinners was hidden in His own heart from everlasting. And it was also hidden in Christ. Hidden in Christ, and hidden in God. This is a great mystery. The salvation of all the elect was first hidden in God (Ephesians iii. 9), and then hidden in Christ (Colossians iii. 3), and afterwards in His blessed word, and finally, in the hearts of sinners by the wonderful working power of the Holy Ghost. This secret is hidden or shut up in the soul of the believer, out of sight of Satan and of an ungodly world. The world knows not the child of God, nor yet the secret life by which he lives. But a person who has the secret hidden in his soul, knows that it is there. He is a privileged one. Again, the word for secret also carries in it the idea, "to throw up," ""to consult together," "to ordain," or "decree :" hence, you have the consultation and deliberation of the glorious Trinity in unity respecting the salvation of a sinner: and this, too, from eternity. This word secret is translated "counsel in the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah, the 18th and 22nd verses: "The counsel of the Lord." Now the Lord's counsel must stand and He will do all His pleasure. God makes known to the church His manifold wisdom according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians iii. 10, 11). The secret purposes of God's grace and love to His people in Christ Jesus are marvellous in our eyes. Now, Solomon says that "His secret is with the righteous (Proverbs iii. 32). But then, who are the righteous? "There is none righteous, no not one" (Romans iii. 10). There are none righteous, save those whom God makes righteous, and those are accounted righteous only in the Lord their righteousness. Well, the secret of the Lord is confided to the righteous, and only to them. They have it in their hearts. God has hidden it there. We know that Job was in possession of this secret. In his 29th chapter, he says, in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th verses: "Oh! that I were as in months past, -many, I dare say, wish the same-"as in the days when God preserved me; when His candle shined upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness; as I was in the days of my youth when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle, and when the Almighty was yet with me." Job had experienced the secret of God upon his tabernacle. And what was it? Was it not when he realized the personal presence

and comfort of God in his own soul? He was comparing the past with the present when he wrote these words. He was saying: "it is not with me now as formerly. Things do not prosper with me as much as I could desire them. I wish for the purpose, the glorious and everlasting secret of my God, to be present comfort and peace, but it does not flow into my soul like a river. Would that it did?" Job could not have things his own way. He longed for the secret of comfort, favour, and blessing. But, he must also learn to taste the bitters which spring from the same fountain of love and mercy. If the Lord loves a person, He will chastise him. Does everybody know this secret? I do not think they do. Frequently persons talk about religion when they have not got the secret of religion. And I have very often noticed that the most vociferous talkers among those whom I have met with are generally those who know the least about the secret. This may be severe, but I wish to be truthful as well as charitable. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. The secret is known in the Lord's family and in no other. Let us see if I be right according to our Lord's word. Read the 15th chapter of St. John, the 14th and 15th verses. "Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth." Why are the servants not to know? And why are they to go outside? Well, the Master is about to speak to His friends, and to communicate to them some family secrets. These are private affairs and cannot be spoken in the presence of the servants. It would not do for everyone to hear. Our Lord then says: "Henceforth I call you not servants : for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth : but I have called you friends ;" and the reason which He assigns is this: "For all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you." Surely, this is the only begotten Son of God declaring and unfolding the Father's love to the family. He was manifesting the Father's name to those given Him out of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ came expressly into this world to reveal the secret of the Father's heart to His disciples. Hence, again, we read in connection with this subject, in the 11th chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, that "these things" were "hid from, and not "revealed" to, "the wise and prudent." But these secret things were revealed unto "babes," the poor, the weary, and the heavy laden. And why? Our Lord Himself answers with an "Even "Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight (verses 25 and 26). Many difficulties we meet with which we cannot answer in any other way, than by an "Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight." Why did God pass over the learned and clever and put His secret into the ignorant and foolish? Why? "Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight." "All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him" (verse 27). The secret is made known by revelation. It is said expressly in Amos (3rd chapter, verse 7) that "the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret unto His servants the prophets." If it be happiness, He reveals

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