Why Christians have Sinful Fear.

Puritan John Flavel goes on to discuss why Christians have sinful fear.  I will share four things we are ignorant of that make us afraid.

 We are ignorant of God -- his "Almighty Power, vigilant care, unspotted  faithfulness,and how they are all engaged, by covenant, for his people."

A second cause is ignorance of men; we "over-value" them.  We forget that they can only do to us what God allows and that "it is usual with God to cramp their hands, and clap on the bands of restraint upon them, when their hearts are fully set in them to do mischief."

Third, we are ignorant of ourselves and our relationship to God.  Assuredly, we are VERY DEAR to him, but we doubt it often.
In a time of bloody persecution Tertullian said to the Christians: "Art thou afraid of a man, O Christian! when devils are afraid of thee..."   And Flavel says "O that we could, without pride and vanity, but value ourselves duly, according to our Christian dignities and privileges, which, if ever it be necessary to count over and value, it is in such times of danger and fear, when the heart is so prone to dejection and sinking fears."

Fourth, we are ignorant of our dangers and troubles.  We fear that there will be no comfort in the danger and no escape from it.  I can't do better than quote Flavel on it: "There is a vast odds betwixt the outward appearance and face of trouble, and the inside of it; it is a lion to the eye at a distance, but open it, and there is honey in the belly.  Paul and Silas met that in a prison which made them to sing at mid-night, and so have many more since their day."

These truths put steel in the Christian and can carry us in the times we are filled with fear and tempted to turn back.  Maybe these choice truths will induce you to read the Puritans on your own.  I have never regretted doing so.  The Puritans trembled at God's Word.  Drinking from them is drinking very close to the source of the stream.

A Fabulous Read-a-loud

There are rules for chess and there are rules for interpreting the Bible.  In Michigan we knew a man   who said he had reached sinless perfection. He had some quote from I John to back him up (perhaps 2:1: "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.") but obviously he was absent when the rules for the game were explained.  


My favorite professor at Reformed Bible College said that Biblical Interpretation was one of the most important courses offered at the school.    The book Un' der stand'  A straightforward approach to interpreting the Bible by Walter A. Hendrichsen (Navpress) offers such a pithy, concise course in a mere 107 pages.   It has 24 rules for interpreting the Bible.  For example: Rule two: The Bible interprets itself; Scripture best explains Scripture. 


 If our friend in Michigan has learned that, he would have balanced his verse with an earlier one: 1:10: "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."   Similarly, the prosperity gospel's love for "Give and it shall be given unto you." needs to be tempered with a love for  "Through many tribulations shall you enter the kingdom."


 I want to read this book to our children this year.  I plan to read one rule a day aloud and discuss it.  Is there a more important  subject?

Fear as a Gift

Puritan John Flavel says that the fear of God is a supernatural gift.   Not all people have it.  Flavel goes on to describe three uses of the fear of God for our good:
1.  To excite us to our duty.  In Jeremiah, God says of Israel :I will put my fear into them "and they shall not depart from me."  To be kept by God is no small thing.
2.  To keep us from sin and the resulting grief and guilt.   Joseph was in prison but free of conscience.   The fear of God had given him feet to flee the sensual grasp of Potiphar's wife.
3.  To prompt us to "make timely provisions for future distresses, that...they may not come by way of surprise upon us."  When God closed the door of the ark, fear came but too late for the scorners.  

Do you see why I am addicted to the Puritans?  Next post I will summarize Flavel's causes of sinful fear.  If you find this helpful, leave a short comment telling me so.  May your fear -- for we all do and shall fear -- be the supernatural fear of God that he gifts his children.

Where did the grant money come from?

Our local sun current wrote the following:
"Many local taxpayers don't like the thought of using their hard-earned money to clean up other people's mess.
Thanks to a recent infusion of grant money, cleaning up potentially contaminated property sites in order to enhance their redevelopment potential, this won't be be the case."

Supernatural Fear

"To fear man is natural, but to fear God is wholly supernatural."

John Flavel

Prayer for my children and theirs....

"I ask, Father, for my children and theirs and theirs that they say with the psalmist,

'To the hills I lift mine eyes.

 Whence shall help for me arise?  

From the Lord will come my aid,

He the heavens and earth has made.'

If you made all by a word, you can do all your holy will.  

I pray against despair, that worldly wisdom, that sinful independence, that unbelief that keeps our eyes turned down.

And grant my children to say with the psalmist 'My soul is athirst for you' fully sensible that your presence is the prize.

In Jesus Name,

Amen"

Sinning 0ut of Fear

Puritan John Flavel says that some of the sinfulness of fear is its tempting men to sin.  There is something to search our hearts about -- what do I fear more than God?

 Reading the Global Prayer Digest (www.globalprayerdigest.org ) we discovered the Dong people of China.   About 600 years ago the founding fathers of the Zhanli village agreed to limit each family to one daughter and one son.   To accomplish this they used herbs, and that failing, infanticide. This was done because of FEAR -- fear that there would not be enough land if too many children were born.

The Dong people have no missionaries, no Bible and no Christian broadcasting.   Who will introduce them to the good shepherd who effortlessly broke five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand men?  Having a holy awe of God will chase out the fear of want.