Here is some food for thought from John Stott. It comes courtesy of The Cross of Christ.
*****
The kind of God that appeals to most people today would be easy-going in his tolerance of our offenses. He would be gentle, kind, accommodating. He would have no violent reactions. Unhappily, even in the church we seemed to have lost the vision of the majesty of God. There is much shallowness and levity among us. Prophets and psalmists would probably say of us, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” In public worship our habit is to slouch or squat; we do not kneel nowadays, let alone prostrate ourselves in humility before God. It is more characteristic of us to clap our hands with joy than to blush with shame or tears. We saunter up to God to claim his patronage and friendship; it does not occur to us that he might send us away. We need to hear again the Apostle Peter’s sobering words, “Since you call on a father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives. . in reverent fear.” (I Peter 1:17) In other words, if we dare to call our judge our Father, we must beware of presuming on him. It must even be said that our evangelical emphasis on the atonement is dangerous if we come to it too quickly. We learn to appreciate the access to God which Christ has won only after we have first cried, “Woe is me for I am lost.” In Dale’s words, “It is partly because sin does not provoke our own wrath that we do not believe that sin provokes the wrath of God.
Comments (12) »
1. Jason
October 3, 2009
2:01 PM
What a great post Tim. Not only do we not think about the fear of God enough, but many misunderstand the fear of god. It is not merely a reverance, though there is reverance. It is a trembling and shaking that comes from being in the presence of holiness.
2. Renee
October 3, 2009
2:07 PM
Thanks for sharing these wise words from John Stott.
The stark contrast between the popular Christ today and the Christ in scriptures is that the latter confronted religious hypocrisy and false teachings head on. He knew their origins too well. In John MacArthur’s words, “He made no effort to be winsome in His encounters with them [false teachers]. He did not invite them to dialogue or engage in a friendly exchange of ideas.”
3. Tom
October 3, 2009
8:51 PM
A great post and I totaly agree though I would take joy at the Gospel over the sheer indifference that has crept into a lot of mainline churches.
I would be a bit more cautious on the ‘false teachers’ quote from John MacArthur though. In the last few months I’ve seen John Stott and Billy Graham called false teachers. (JS because of annihalationism and BG because of a quote in an interview he did). I’ve also seen a hardening of some doctrinal lines (e.g. Calvinism vs. Arminianism, Young Earth Creationism vs ID and Theistic evolution) with one side calling the other side false teachers or heretics. I wouldn’t want us to get to the point where we can’t unite around the key beliefs (Trinity, Bible, atonement, etc) whilst still debating/disagreeing freely over secondary issues we disagree on.
4. donsands
October 3, 2009
9:30 PM
Excellent quote.
“It is more characteristic of us to clap our hands with joy than to blush with shame or tears.”
I was reminiscing of some of my sins in my youth before I met the Savior’s mercy, and I was overwhelmed with guilt. I felt horrible for what i did. I then spoke to our lord in prayer, and simply emptied my heart. I then realized these despicable sins against the lord and others are blotted out. They are forgiven, and removed. They are non-existent.
I then had a joy that overwhelmed me. This is the one joy that can not be pulled away from my heart. Jesus wants me to have this joy.
“You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. … you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you … Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full..”
5. Renee
October 4, 2009
12:09 AM
Tom,
The use of the term false teachers was mine, hence the use of brackets in MacArthur’s quote. MacArthur was specifically referring to the Pharisees. Either way, Jesus considered the Pharisees false teachers.
John Stott and Billy Graham can take consolation in the fact that they called Truth Incarnate a blasphemer and a demon-possessed. But I think the term false teacher aptly applies to anyone who would submit God’s Sovereignty to human will rather human will to God’s sovereignty.
6. Reg Schofield
October 4, 2009
1:11 PM
What Stott is getting at is a clear reductionism of God’s character to that of a friend,guide , a grand pa in the sky figure who winks at sin. The remedy is to recapture the holiness of God .At my home church we have been studying the Holiness Of God by R.C Sproul. As we understand God’s holiness and our absolute sinfulness , with that in mind , its hard to not approach the throne of God with a sense of dread and awe. It compels us to begin to hate the sin still lingering in us and a holy desire to put it to death .
When I mediate on the cross , it sometimes overwhelms me how much of a wretch I’m . But at the same time the sweet fragrance of grace overtakes me with a holy reverence to realize what Christ did for sinners like me.
But we have lost much of this reverence in out worship and that is sad . We have embraced the best life now line and all it entails in many circles. The remedy is the Cross preached clearly and soundly.
7. Yooper
October 4, 2009
9:45 PM
Tim,
Thanks for the post - too bad it is in the virtual world!
I have been reading throught the book, “The Joy of Fearing God” by Jerry Bridges. I agree that we have not begun to comprehend God’s love until we understand Christ’s atoning sacrifice. The truth that the unrepentant are storing up wrath for themselves on the day of God’s wrath (Romans 2:5), has softened my heart toward those who have mistreated me. And I feel a kindred spirit with the woman of Luke 7:36-50.
I had shared in a previous post that I have been reflecting upon the fear of the Lord and the majesty of God. What I did not share is that I didn’t realize how difficult of a concept this can be to communicate to fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, in an age of love and hype. God has been very patient (with me especially), can you imagine what it must have been like when Ananias and Sapphira were zapped dead (Acts 5)?!
If we are to have any fear in this life, it ought to be of God - and we can face anything. I believe that the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit go hand in hand (Acts 9:31). Anyhow, it works for me.
8. Renee
October 4, 2009
11:48 PM
“If we are to have any fear in this life, it ought to be of God - and we can face anything.”
Thanks Yooper. Great comment. We imagine fear of anything to be evil - but fear of an all powerful God who loves more powerfully is a healthy fear if ever there was one.
9. Paul
October 5, 2009
7:57 AM
“The kind of God that appeals to most people today would be easy-going in his tolerance of our offenses. He would be gentle, kind, accommodating. He would have no violent reactions. Unhappily, even in the church we seemed to have lost the vision of the majesty of God. There is much shallowness and levity among us.”
This goes both ways. We have shallowness and levity because we’ve lost vision of the majesty of God. The opposite is true, too. We’ve lost vision of the majesty of God because we have shallowness and levity.
The God of wrath and mercy should not just be read about but experienced. If some would gain enough hold of the majesty of God to display it to others with obedience to Christ and the power of God resting upon them, then others would be brought face to face with his majesty.
At least some of the restoration of the knowledge of God rests upon those of us who know that God is to be feared. Do we walk with God enough that people can see him?
10. J.P.H.
October 5, 2009
9:55 AM
There’s fear and then there’s fear. Are we to live in the fear of God? Yes. But then we also read in Romans
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
And from Zechariah’s prophecy in the first chapter of Luke
“that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
We are wretched sinners, true. But we also have a savior who has atoned for our sins, and a Father who now counts us as beloved sons and daughters. Is it any surprise that the chief response is “joy” rather than “fear”? I think that’s wholly appropriate.
11. J.P.H.
October 5, 2009
9:59 AM
Also 1 John 4:
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
12. Yooper
October 5, 2009
8:10 PM
I don’t think man has a very good grasp on what perfect love means.