Righteous and Unrighteous Anger

Baxter:

Anger is the rising up of the heart in passionate displacency against an apprehended evil, which would cross or hinder us of some desired good. It is given us by God for good, to stir us up to a vigorous resistance of those things, which, within us or without us, do oppose his glory or our salvation, or our own or our neighbor's real good. 

Anger is good when it is thus used to its appointed end, in a right manner and measure; but it is sinful, 1. When it riseth up against God or any good, as if it were evil to us. . . . 2. When it disturbs reason, and hindereth our judging of things aright. 3. When it casteth us into any unseemly carriage, or causeth or disposeth to any sinful words or action: when it inclineth us to wrong another by word or deed, and to do as we would not be done by. 4. When it is mistaken, and without just cause. 5. When it is greater in measure than the cause alloweth. 6. When it unfitteth us for our duty to God or man. 7. When it tendeth to the abatement of love and brotherly kindness, and the hindering of any good which we should do for others: much more when it breedeth malice, and revenge, and contentions, and unpeaceableness in societies, oppression of inferiors, or dishonouring of superiors. 8. When it stayeth too long, and ceaseth not when its lawful work is done. 9. When it is selfish and carnal, stirred up upon the account of some carnal interest, and used but as a means to a selfish, carnal, sinful end: as to be angry with men only for crossing your pride, or profit, or sports, or any other fleshly will. In all these it is sinful.

—Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory (vol. 1 in The Practical Works of Richard Baxter; Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 200), 284.

The Scope of True Religion

"It may even come about that a man's most genuinely Christian actions fall entirely outside that part of his life which he calls religious" (C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, 25).

Pure and Real Religion

"Here indeed is pure and real religion: faith so joined with an earnest fear of God that this fear also embraces willing reverence, and carries with it such legitimate worship as is prescribed in the law. And we ought to note this fact even more diligently: all men have a vague general veneration for God, but very few really reverence him; and wherever there is great ostentation in ceremonies, sincerity of heart is rare indeed" (Calvin, Institutes, 1.2.2).

Solid Logic Amid Trials

One of the great needs during trials of various sorts that God sends us is to keep one's head and remain cool and calm. To put it another way, we need to remain poised in the Spirit. This needs to be done, of course, according to wisdom.

So I offer up a spiritual syllogism of sorts during our crises surrounding our condition face-to-face with COVID-19. This condition includes our country's response to the virus (which may actually be far more damaging to life than the virus itself).

Premise 1: Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.

Premise 2: A brother is born for adversity.

Conclusion: Brothers are born for this moment of man's trouble.

Solomon's School

"Over the gates of Plato's school, it was written: 'Let no one who is not a geometrician enter.' But very different is the inscription over these doors of Solomon [in the book of Proverbs]—Let the ignorant, simple, foolish, young enter" (Charles Bridges, Proverbs, 2).

The Blessing of YHWH in Jesus' Blood

The Songs of Ascents (120–134) are among my favorite portions of Scripture. And Psalm 128 is one of my favorites among these songs. These songs were likely sung while the Israelites were in Babylonian exile when they made their pilgrimage several times a year to Jerusalem for the great old covenant feasts.

Psalm 128 sings about what it means to be blessed. Psalm 128 promises blessing. It promises blessing to "the man who fears YHWH, the one who walks in his ways" (v. 1). Then that blessing is spelt out (v. 2): satisfaction in work ("you shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands") and peace everywhere ("it shall be well with you"). This sort of blessedness speaks directly to the curse—and is something of a reversal of it! Held out hundreds of years before the Christ came and bore the curse in his own body (Gal. 3:13).

The blessing flowing to the one who fears YHWH is further described in v. 3: a fruitful family, with fruitful wife and children ("your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table"). This blessing comes from Zion (v. 4), where God dwells, the city of the great King. And the psalmist prays and the people sing for this man who fears YHWH to have long life and see Jerusalem's prosperity and his grandchildren, and for peace to be upon all Israel (vv. 5–6).

This is the blessing of YHWH for those who fear his great and good name. And that fear to which these great promises come was purchased in the new covenant bought with Jesus' blood (Jer. 32:36–41; Lk. 22:20). So all praise to King Jesus, the true Israelite, the true Jew, the man who feared YHWH fully and faithfully!

Piety

Calvin:

I call "piety" that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of his benefits induces. For until men recognize that they owe everything to God, that they are nourished by his fatherly care, that he is the Author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond him—they will never yield him willing service. Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in him, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him.

—John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.2.1

The Breadth and Depth of the Fear of YHWH

The parallel descriptions in Ps. 33:18—“those who fear him,” and “those who hope in his steadfast love”—show something of the breadth and depth and width of the meaning of the fear of YHWH. It is not just trembling before YHWH, or trembling at his Word. It is that. There’s really no doubt about it. But the fear of YHWH is a more expansive concept as well, as many have noted.

In Ps. 33:18, hope is at the heart of the fear of YHWH, as the parallel expressions make clear. Other texts could be adduced to support other aspects of the fear of YHWH, such as trust and delight. Yet, while noting that the texture of this term is indeed important for rightly understanding the fear of YHWH, noting this richness ought never to come at the expense of the trembling element—which undoubtedly belongs to the essence of the fear of YHWH. As many passages amply attest.

Knowledgeable Ignorance

"Let us not be ashamed to submit our understanding to God's boundless wisdom so far as to yield before its many secrets. For, of those things which it is neither given nor lawful to know, ignorance is knowledge; the craving to know, a kind of madness."

—John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeil, transl. Ford Lewis Battles (Louisville: Westminster John Knox), 2:957.

How the Early Church Multiplied

Acts 9:31 states one of a handful of summary statements that Luke provides periodically throughout the book of Acts. And I just wish to point out a simple observation about the biblical balance of the work wrought by the Spirit of the risen Lord Jesus among those earliest of disciples.

Take a look at what we're told about how the church multiplied in Acts 9:31. It did not multiply merely "in the fear of the Lord." Nor did it multiply merely in "the comfort of the Holy Spirit." But "walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, [the church] multiplied."

And that is the biblical balance we must pray down and seek. If we say what we need is "the fear of the Lord," that's well and good. But if "the comfort of the Holy Spirit" is missing, something huge is missing for multiplication. If we say what we need is "the comfort of the Holy Spirit," well and good as well. But if "the fear of the Lord" is missing, something crucial is missing for multiplication of the church of God.

So it's a both/and, not an either/or thing. Biblical balance. Let's seek it.

Evidence of Degeneracy of the Christian Religion

Owen:

All the flagitious [villainous] sins that the world is filled withal are not a greater evidence of the degeneracy of the Christian religion than this is, that it is grown unusual, yea, a shame or scorn, for men to speak together of the things of God. It was not so when religion was in its primitive power and glory, nor is it so with them who really fear God and are sensible of their duty.

—John Owen, The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded (vol. 7 in The Works of John Owen; ed. William H. Gould; Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 1994), 292–294.

Riches and Honor Nothing to Him

Pius IV, hearing of Calvin's death, exlaimed:

"Ah, the strength of that proud heretic lay in this, that riches and honour were nothing to him."

—David McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer: The Life-blood of the Christian (London: Christian Focus, 2010), 106.

Misplaced vs. Well-placed Shame

Piper:

The biblical criterion for misplaced shame and for well-placed shame is radically God-centered. The biblical criterion for misplaced shame says, Don't feel shame for something that honors God, no matter how weak or foolish or wrong it makes you look in the eyes of other people. And don't take on to yourself the shamefulness of a truly shameful situation unless you are in some way truly woven into the evil. The biblical criterion for well-placed shame says, Do feel shame for having a hand in anything that dishonors God, no matter how strong or wise or right it makes you look in the eyes of others.

—John Piper, Future Grace: The Purifying Power of the Promises of God (Colorado Springs: Multonomah, 2012), 133.

Courage to Be Protestant

The argument that David Wells makes in his book—The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World—comes, as you might expect, in the first paragraph of chapter 1 on page 1. And it is this:

It takes no courage to sign up as a Protestant. After all, millions have done so throughout the West. They are not in any peril. To live by the truths of historic Protestantism, however, is an entirely different matter. That takes courage in today's context.

But he also adds what might not be expected in the second paragraph:

But it [the argument] needs to be made not only with postmodern culture in mind but also with contemporary evangelicalism in mind. The truths of historic Protestantism are sometimes no more welcome in evangelicalism than they are in the outside culture. 

To my great dismay, I have found this to be true in my experience of modern American evangelicalism. And it has astonished me that so-called Protestants have been so ready to dispense with Protestantism.

Wells speaks to the what and how and why of all of this as well as anyone. And so I heartily commend the close reading of absolutely anything and everything he has written on this topic and on culture generally.

But be prepared: you just might have to gain a good deal of courage to soldier on if you become persuaded that he is correct in his assessment. And I'm afraid that all too many, not least among evangelical leadership, are unwilling to count the cost and embrace that cross. For that cross puts you out of step not only with the general cultural milieu but also with your own contemporary evangelical context. And the suffering and loss that come, in a variety of ways, with being out of step with much of evangelicalism are not easy to embrace.

Small wonder, then, that Wells speaks of the need for courage. And he is not alone in saying that courage is the "the need of the hour."

The Sweet Fear of the Lord Born of Love

The fear of God is rare nowadays. Teaching on it is scarce. And the living of it out is even more scarce. And, even where it is taught and where some try to live it out, perhaps it's often misunderstood.

The fear of God, whatever many might say of it, really does include the fear of God, and not just some sort of reverance or respect. There's a knee-knocking component to a true fear of the Lord. And given that it is the beginning of wisdom, and given that apart from it we cannot suppose ourselves to be participating in the faith once for all delivered to the saints, it behooves us to cultivate the fear of the Lord in our lives.

In order to cultivate the fear of God, one could do much worse than Buynan's Treatise on the Fear of God, from which I recently posted some instruction about where the fear of the Lord comes from. Today I want to focus on an important aspect of the fear of the Lord, with the help of Bunyan again, which I think some who focus on the fear of the Lord miss, but which is utterly essential for the fear to be healthy and biblical. And it is how the goodness, kindness, and love of God produce and shape that fear. Consider two points Bunyan makes in his treatise.

First, Bunyan says that this fear is a "son-like fear of God" that " flows from the distinguishing love of God to his elect" (56). That is, it is a filial fear born as each person is born into the world—that is to say, by the will of another. We didn't choose to be born into the world, nor do we choose to be born again unto a fear of the Lord. It is born of everlasting love (Jer. 31:3). Flowing from God's distinguishing, selective love for his own, the fear of God is placed within his children as a provision of the new covenant (Jer. 32:38-40). And so the covenant context of this fear, then, is divine love. It flows from God's fatherly particular love for his children. That love, therefore, must flavor the fear of the Lord as we seek to cultivate it. It is a sweet and pleasant fear.

Second, though there are many inducements for generating the fear of the Lord, there is one most potent. Buynan says it well, and I heartily agree with him, both because of the Bible's witness and because of experience. Referencing Ps. 130:3-4, he says:

This godly fear flows from a sense of the love and kindness of God to the soul. . . . Indeed nothing can lay a stronger obligation upon the heart to fear God, than sense of, or hope in mercy (Jer. 33:8-9). This begetteth true tenderness of heart, true godly softness of spirit; this truly endeareth the affections to God; and in this true tenderness, softness, and endearedness of affection to God, lieth the very essence of this fear of the Lord . . . (58).

Amen, Bunyan. This fear is my portion. It is a sweet and lovely and pleasant fear. And to it I want to submit sweetly all my days.

Whence Cometh the Fear of God?

In his Treatise on the Fear of God, John Bunyan speaks of the grace of the fear of God in the fourth section of the book. In what follows, I'll provide his eleven headings from the section where he describes that from which this godly fear flows, along with some of the texts cited.

1. This fear, this grace of fear, this son-like fear of God, it flows from the distinguishing love of God to his elect (Jer. 32:38-40).
2. This fear flows from a new heart (Jer. 32:39; Ezek. 11:19; 36:26).
3. This fear of God flows from an impression, a sound impression, that the Word of God maketh on our souls; for without an impress of the Word, there is no fear of God (Deut. 6:1-2; 31:12).
4. This godly fear floweth from faith; for where the Word maketh a sound impression on the soul, by that impression is faith begotten, whence also this fear doth flow (Gal. 3:2; Heb. 11:7).
5. This godly fear also floweth from sound repentance for and from sin; godly sorrow worketh repentance, and godly repentance produceth this fear (2 Cor. 7:10-11).
6. This godly fear also flows from a sense of the love and kindness of God to the soul (Ps. 130:3-4).
7. This fear of God flows from a due consideration of the judgments of God that are to be executed in the world; yea, upon professors too (Ps. 119:120; 1 Chron. 13:12; Deut. 13:11; 17:13; 19:20; 21:21).
8. This godly fear also flows from a godly remembrance of our former distresses, when we were distressed with our first fears (Deut. 4:9-11).
9. This godly fear flows from our receiving of an answer of prayer, when we supplicated for mercy at the hand of God (1 Kgs. 8:37-40; Lk. 16:15).
10. This grace of fear also flows from a blessed conviction of the all-seeing eye of God (1 Kgs. 8:39-40).
11. This grace of fear also flows from a sense of the impartial judgment of God upon men according to their works (1 Pet. 1:17).

—John Bunyan, A Treatise on the Fear of God (The Apologetics Group), 56-61.

O YHWH, How Majestic Is Your Name in All the Earth!

Here's the congregational prayer at NCC from this past Ascension Sunday and Mother's Day, shaped by Psalm 8:

O YHWH, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, the name above every name, the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord, you have exalted your holy majesty above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of children and infants you have established strength—the praise of your people. Because of your adversaries, O Lord, you produce this praise. You establish, through powerless children no less, this strength, this praise, and you do so to silence the enemy and the avenger.

So we praise you, O great God, for mothers who love your praise, for mothers zealous to pass on “the heritage of those who fear your name.” We praise you, exalted Lord, for mothers who labored in the trenches faithfully for years without concern for the world’s smiles and honors. We praise you, Father of the fatherless, for putting into mothers’ hearts the gospel longing to adopt the powerless and helpless for your praise. We praise you, our kind Maker, for our earthly mothers, who gave us bodily life and tenderly cared for us; for our heavenly mother the church, who gave us new life, and sustains that new life, all for your high honor.

As we think of your gift of life, O Giver of life, we think of the loss of life in this broken and fallen world. We think of those who’ve lost a little one, and the barren womb. Send the comfort of your presence, O God of all comfort, God of all grace. We praise you for the desire in the hearts of these women to want children to raise for your praise. And we pray that you would “fulfill every desire for good.” With the fingers that fashioned the stars, touch the womb with new life, O Lord—we ask this for the sake of your name!

                        O YHWH, our Lord, how majestic 

                        is your name in all the earth.

When we consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you put in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.

In subjecting all things to man, male and female, made in your image, you left nothing, O Creator, you left nothing not subject to man. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we see Jesus, born of a woman, made a little lower than angels; we see him crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, by the grace of God tasting death for everyone. We see Jesus, raised from the dead, exalted to the right Hand, above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every name that is named. We see Jesus, all things under his feet, head over all things for us, the church, his body, reigning til we reign with him in a new heavens and new earth.

                        O YHWH, our Lord Jesus, how majestic 

                        is your name in all the earth.

So establish strength, almighty God, in the new humanity risen with Christ. In our weakness and the weakness of our children, establish strength, prepare praise. Help our mothers to press on in this greatest, highest calling of nurturing children for your praise. We pray, God Most High, for Christ-like mothers who humble themselves, stooping daily to take concern for the weak, lowly, despised things, offering up their bodies as sacrifices for your praise across the generations. Supply them with grace for this high and holy calling!

We, your children and your church—made for your praise!—we praise you, O Lord. We adore you! We adore your wisdom, we adore your power. What wisdom, what power, designed all this! Taking the weak, lowly, despised things of this world, to shame the strong, the high, the praised things of this world. Even taking children and their mothers and the cross to establish strength, the praise of your people—the praise of your great name! 

Blessed be that name above all names, the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, generation after generation, forever and ever.

O YHWH, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

Amen, and amen. 

The Cowardice of Concealing Convictions

Piper on cowardice in the pastorate:

We are surrounded in America by people like [the chief priests and elders in Matt. 21:23-27]. Instead of using their minds to come to strong convictions and let the chips fall where they will and suffer for what's true, they are repeatedly angling to get out of traps. Don't be like this, if for no other reason than because it is bad scholarship! If your mind, in studying the truth, leads you to a conviction that will get you into trouble, believe it! Speak it! There are so many pastors who conceal their convictions from their people because they are so afraid of conflict.

—John Piper & D. A. Carson, The Pastor as Scholar & the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 58.

Preacher: Be Bold and Calm

C. H. Spurgeon on a man's public conduct as a preacher called of God:

My brethren, if the Lord has indeed ordained you to the ministry, you have the best reasons for being bold and calm, for whom have you to fear? You have to deliver your Lord's errand as he enables you, and if this be done, you are responsible to no one but your heavenly Master, who is no harsh judge. You do not enter the pulpit to shine as an orator, or to gratify the predilections of you audience; you are the messenger of heaven and not the servant of men.

 —“The Faculty of Impromptu Speech,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 163.

One of the Most Urgent Needs Today

"One of the most urgently needed things today is a careful treatment of how the gospel, biblically and richly understood, ought to shape everything we do in the local church, all of our ethics, all of our priorities."

— D. A. Carson, "What is the Gospel?—Revisited, " in For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper (ed. Sam Storms and Justin Taylor; Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 165.