V. 1.— Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. The fear of God is often put for the whole of religion. Proverbs 1:7. There are two kinds of fear; one is strongly inculcated on believers, and is necessarily produced by just views of the glorious majesty of God. “Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, let him be your dread.” Isaiah 8:13. It is opposed to hardening the heart. “ Happy is the man that feareth always: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.” Proverbs 28:14. The other is condemned and represented as a characteristic of the wicked. The slothful servant feared his master, because he viewed him as an austere man. Luke 19:21. The fearful are classed with the unbelieving. Revelation 21:8. David on one occasion, under the influence of fear, abandoned his purpose of bringing up the ark. 1 Chronicles 13:12. Here the Hebrews are enjoined to take warning from the example of their ancestors, and to beware lest, a promise of entering into rest being left on record, any of them should seem to come. short of it. Our translators have inserted “ us” as a supplement, but it seems improper, as will be hereafter noticed. The Apostle had directed the attention of the Hebrews to their forefathers, who were excluded from Canaan through unbelief, and now he proceeds to make a more particular application of this circumstance. Let us therefore fear. Fear is used both in a good and a bad sense in the Word of God. The Lord promises to put His fear into His people's hearts, that they may not depart from Him. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Believers inhabit a world in rebellion against God, their hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; they are surrounded with temptation, and they have no strength to resist their numerous foes. The smallest temptation is sufficient to overcome them, and their only security is confidence in God. In this confidence there are two essential ingredients— a sense of our own weakness, and of the power and goodness of God. If destitute of a sense of weakness, we trust in ourselves; and the Scripture tells us, "He who trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” If we trust in God, except as sinners saved by grace, we trust in a lie. In Christ alone God is revealed as just, and the justifier of those who believe. Mercy flows in no other channel than through the atonement of Christ. By this the law was magnified and made honorable. He appeared as the substitute of His people and bore their sins in His own body upon the tree. With His dying breath He proclaimed that the work of expiation was finished, and the Father re-echoed the declaration from the bounds of the everlasting hills by raising Him from the dead and placing in His hands the reins of universal dominion, and exalting Him at the right-hand of the throne of God a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel and the remission of sins. They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick; and, unless we feel our own weakness, we shall not depend on Christ. The Scriptures contain many precious promises and many solemn warnings. By the promises we are encouraged to hope in God, by the warnings we are cautioned against those dangers with which we are surrounded. Both ought to have an effect on our minds. The one exhibits Christ as a refuge from the storm— a hiding-place from the tempest; the other points out the dangers through which many have made shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience. Our comfort and safety depend upon the due admixture of hope and fear. We read of those who feasted themselves without fear; and it is written, blessed is he that feareth always. The principle of fear is implanted in our constitution, without it our natural life could not be preserved; we might from principle avoid what is dangerous, but dangers arise where there is no time for reflection, and we shrink from them instinctively. The same principle is applicable to the spiritual life. There is an instinctive fear implanted in the mind in the day of regeneration, which is as essential to our safety as the natural principle of fear is to the preservation of our life. In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence. A sense of His glory and majesty, His purity and holiness, with our liability to fall into sin, necessarily produce circumspection and watchfulness, and lead to that fear which, so far from being opposed to the life of faith, are essential to its preservation. It was well that the Israelites should be aware of the power of their enemies, but they lost sight of the power of God. He who had opened the sea for them to pass through, who had given them manna and water from the rock, who had guided them through the pathless wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, could easily have given them the victory; but they walked by sight, they looked at the Canaanites and refused to attack them. They had the promise of God pledged to their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their own triumph over the Egyptians at the Red Sea to assure them of victory; but all the proofs of His power in the wilderness were forgotten, and they only thought of the prowess of the Canaanites, and, by refusing to enter the land, they came short of the promised rest. God had said to Moses, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest;" but, notwithstanding, they came short of it, and never obtained that rest. On this the apostolic exhortation is founded; Canaan was a shadow of the better country, and Israel after the flesh, at least that generation, could not enter because they believed not God, nor trusted in His salvation. This is an example for those who are travelling to the better country, the heavenly Canaan, which teaches them that although a promise is left that the people of God should inherit it, still all are to see to it that they do not even seem to come short of the rest presented to their view. The word us is inserted in our version improperly; a promise is left that certain persons shall enter into rest, and this promise must he fulfilled, but it is not made in the Word of God to individuals any more than it was to that generation of the Israelites, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, who came out of Egypt. The Lord knoweth them that are his; they shall inherit the land, the elect shall obtain it; but we are exhorted to fear lest we should seem to come short of it, lest the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches should choke the word; lest believers, being led away by the error of the wicked, should fall from their own steadfastness. Blessed is the man who is so convinced of his proneness to depart from God that he is ever stirring up his soul and all that is within him to trust in God, knowing that safety is only to be found in Him. The exhortation is similar to that of using diligence to make our calling and election sure, and of using diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end, proving that we are of the truth, and assuring our hearts before him. The Apostle is far from giving encouragement to that fear which hath torment, which is cast out by perfect love. Here we see the analogy to which we have referred between the natural and spiritual life. In our social intercourse or relations, we may be so convinced of the love of a fellow-creature that we have the fullest confidence in him, while in the same proportion we are afraid of doing anything that should offend him, or prevent him from bestowing on us any kindness which we expected from him. In short, if the natural fear implanted in our constitution be excessive, it will render our life very uncomfortable; so if, from defective views of the truth and not knowing the things which are freely given to us of God, our apprehension of our future state be painful, we shall be kept in bondage, destitute of the joy of the Lord, which is our strength. The Apostle, who tells the Hebrews to fear lest a promise being left of entering into rest any of them should seem to come short of it, teaches the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always, and again He says, Rejoice.