I was struck by JB's exhortation to put the fear of God in our worship. I was confused as he kept talking about it saying "not servile...but filial and reverential fear," but not defining it more than that. At the very end of this point, though, he defined it by it's opposite:
This fear and reverence is contrary to the slightness, vanity, the boldness and presumptuousness there is in the hearts of men and women when they are worshipping God. (p. 96)
As he discussed the need for "strength of intentions," that is focusing on worship, I said to my soul, "My soul, this seems very hard." And then his point on "strength of affections" seemed to make the other parts more light and gladsome to bear. Yet he did not prescribe how this strength of affection should be roused. The temptation is to inflame our hearts with a hip guitar riff or a plaintive organ drone and not with the truth of the God revealed in Scripture.
Leading questions like "Are you scared of death?" or "Do you want happiness?" or "Would you like to know the meaning of your life?" are all well intentioned, and any of them may be used by God's Spirit to convict someone and lead to their conversion. But such questions can also be answered by a simple no....I do not care if my hearers are scared of death, wanting happiness, or searching for meaning in life; I know that they will die and stand before God to give an account of their lives. Furthermore, I know that they will fail in their attempt to justify themselves, and I know that God will therefore rightly condemn them to an eternal hell. (p. 134)
No comments:
Post a Comment