er to convince us,
that "eye hath not seen, ear heard, or the heart of man conceived the
things which God hath prepared for those who love him."

But who will be made to possess these glorious things? They are
offered to all who hear the sound of the gospel; but conquering
believers will only attain them. Their contrast will be the portion
of others.

This life is a warfare, in which we are called to contend with our own
corruptions and with the powers of darkness--"He that overcometh
shall inherit all things:" But those who are overcome, _will have
their part in the lake of fire--which is the second death_.

To understand the grounds of this context is highly important.
Mistakes here may be fatal. To assist the inquirer, the characters of
conquerors and captives are drawn in the scriptures. The verse of
which the text is a part, mentions several general characters of the
latter kind, and determines their future portion--_The fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second
death_.

In the prosecution of our subject, only one of these general
characters will be considered--_the fearful_.

Who then are intended by _the fearful_? And what is the fear which
leads to destruction?

Fearful, is a term seldom used to describe sinners. It occurs, we
believe, in no other scripture. Every kind of fear is not sinful; much
less inconsistent with a state of grace. "The fear of Lord is the
beginning of wisdom"--it disposes the subject of it to mind the things
which belong to peace, and flee to the hope set before him in gospel.
The fear of God is often used to describe the good man, and given as a
leading trait in his character. It is noted in favor of Obadiah, the
servant of Ahab, that he "feared the Lord greatly."

To have no fear of God before one's eyes, is expressive of great
obduracy in sin; of the last grade of depravity. Yet in the text, the
fearful, are mentioned as the first rank of those who will have their
part in the burning lake! What then is this fear?

It may be of several kinds; particularly--that to which precludes
trust in God, and reliance on his grace in Christ--that which operates
to explain away the law of God--that which puts men upon duty in order
to atone for sin--and that which shrinks from the hardships of
religion.

I. The fear