The connection between the fear of God and holiness is most intimate.
There are some who seek most earnestly for holiness, and yet never
exhibit it in a light that will attract the world or even believers,
because this element is wanting. It is the fear of the Lord that works
that meekness and gentleness, that deliverance from self-confidence and
self-consciousness, which form the true groundwork of a saintly
character. The passages of God's Word in which the two words are linked
together are well worthy of a careful study. 'Who is like unto Thee,
glorious in _holiness_, _fearful_ in praises?' 'In Thy _fear_ will I
worship towards Thy _holy_ temple.' 'O _fear_ the Lord, ye His _holy
ones_.' 'O worship the Lord, in the beauty of _holiness_; _fear_ before
Him, all the earth.' 'Let them praise Thy great and _terrible_ name;
_holy_ is He.' 'The _fear_ of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and
the knowledge of the _Holy One_ is understanding.' 'The Lord of hosts,
Him shall ye _sanctify_; let Him be your _fear_, and let Him be your
dread.' 'Perfecting _holiness_ in the _fear_ of the Lord.' 'Like as He
which _called you_ is holy, be ye yourselves also _holy_; and if ye
_call on Him_ as father, pass the time of your sojourning in _fear_.'
And so on through the whole of Scripture, from the Song of Moses on to
the Song of the Lamb: 'Who shall not _fear_ Thee, O Lord! and glorify
Thy name, for Thou only art _holy_.' If we yield ourselves to the
impression of such passages, we shall feel more deeply that the fear of
God, the tender fear of in any way offending Him, the fear especially of
entering into His holy presence with what is human and carnal, with
aught of our own wisdom and effort, is of the very essence of the
holiness we are to follow after. It is this fear of God will make us,
like Moses, fall down and hide our face in God's presence, and wait for
His own Holy Spirit to open in us the eyes, and breathe in us the
thoughts and the worship, with which we draw nigh to Him, the Holy One.
It is in this holy fear that that stillness of soul is wrought which
leads it to rest in God, and opens the way for what we saw in Paradise
to be the secret of holiness: God keeping His Sabbath, and sanctifying
the soul in which He rests.
Fifth Day.