One of the most important spiritual vital signs is whether you have a low-grade fever of fear. Do you wince easily? Is your mind tangled up with nightmares of all the scenarios of things going wrong? Have you been fretting over all the bad things in the headlines, and letting your emotional state be dictated by oil prices in Saudi Arabia? This sort of fear is rightly described in Scripture as having torment.

Fear will sap your strength and will. It will rob your joy. Your voice will quaver in timidity instead of being raised in praise. Letting fear wander the hallways of your life unchecked will make it certain that you only do the safest of things. You won’t stand up against evil. You won’t venture out of your comfort zone. You’ll be confined to the small chamber of safety, as defined by all your fears.

But where God’s Spirit dwells, there His love dwells too. This love, we are told, casts out our fears. If you know that God has manifested His love to You through Christ, and your sins are forgiven and abundant and everlasting life is your birthright you can walk fearless.

Whereas fear confines you, God’s love is deep and wide and long. This is why the attribute which defined the early church was that of boldness. It is how Acts describes the early Christians, and it is what Paul asks the church to pray that he would have, even in his imprisonment. Now, this boldness doesn’t mean being a loud-mouth. Rather, this boldness is the straightforward declaration of the Gospel, and the fruit of a life assured of this Gospel. The security of knowing that God’s love is upon you and dwells in you, wherever you go makes you fearless regardless of any persecution, famine, distress, or peril you might encounter.

God’s people throughout history have been marked by their fearlessness. They have rebuked kings, faced down armies singlehandedly, put the enemy to flight, and preached righteousness to a stiff-necked people. They have done this because they feared not man, while reverently fearing God Almighty. When we get this backward it cripples our witness, confines our lives, and kills our joy. May God forgive us for trembling before the threats and worries of this world, instead of standing steadfast and certain in His love. And may He grant unto us a true evangelical boldness to live and declare His truth in this dark age we live.

Ben Zornes – February 25, 2024

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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”

The righteousness that the Lord speaks of here can seem a bit ambiguous. The word righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) is used at times to refer to personal righteousness: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. But this word can also be translated as “justice,” which requires more of a social focus. 

What the Lord has in mind here can be nothing short of righteousness in all its forms and in every sphere of human existence. The Lord wants sinful men to receive his imputed righteousness in justification and that they might then, in turn, live righteous and fruitful lives. And when groups of these men get together to form churches, cities, and states, the inevitable result is a righteous and just society built upon the law of God. When such societies exist, they promote the true religion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which in turn causes more sinners to believe in the Lord Jesus and receive his imputed righteousness. And on and on the cycle goes, world without end. 

But if that is the case, if the Lord blesses a hunger and thirst for righteousness in all its forms, it ought to raise the stakes for us and humble us. 

It raises the stakes for us by keeping us ever aware of two ditches. This sort of thinking keeps us from getting comfortable in a pietistic bubble of individual and emotional religion that has no concern for love of neighbor in the cultural or political space. Christ will have just cultures. Christ will have just politics. 

At the same time, this keeps us from falling down the ditch of the social Gospel that cares little for personal adherence to the law of God, and that seeks to redefine “justice” according to the latest trending fads in the media. 

And it ought to humble us. Christ uses the analogy of hunger and thirst. It’s as if he says, “Blessed are those who are empty, who have no righteousness in themselves.” Their emptiness reminds them of their great need and desire for that which only the Lord can provide. The promise is that such persons will be filled, not that they will fill themselves. We bring our emptiness, and the Lord fills us to the brim. We bring our hunger, and he satisfies us. James reminds us that we cannot anxiously grasp after righteousness. Anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Righteousness is a good gift from his hand if only we as individuals, as a church, and as a people would recognize our great need for it, desire it with utter desperation, and cling to the promise here. Should we do that, we shall be filled.

Zach Wilke – February 25, 2024

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Be angry and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your anger.

Ephesians 4:25

Anger is like a hot coal, straight from the fire. Your hands have not been made tough enough to hold it and not get burned. And so, you are commanded to let it go. You may not hold onto it even for a night. 

There are plenty of things in a sinful world that should make you angry. The world is broken, full of sin, pain and sorrow. People hurt other people, they hurt us. Wives disrespect husbands, husbands are unkind to their wives. Dad’s abandon their kids.  

In the Scripture we often see God’s righteous anger burn hot against the ungodly.

This anger is the right response when a perfectly Holy God meets wicked men. 

And we too should be angered by sin. But here is the key point. You are not God and you are not perfectly holy. Anger held in your hands will quickly turn to bitterness, wrath, clamor, evil speaking, and malice toward others. 

So, what must you do? Two things: First – do not sin in your anger. And second – let go of your anger today. Psalm 4, which Paul is quoting here says “Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your hear on your bed, and be still”. When you are angered is the time you must use utmost self-control. This is not a time to debate with your wife, or discipline the kids, or send an email. No stop right where you are and be still. Sit on you bed and be quiet. 

Secondly, you must let it go. If someone has sinned against you, you must forgive them. If someone has sinned against someone else, then give that wrong to God. Trust Him that all things will be put right. If you refuse to do this, then you are ultimately directing your anger back at God. You are saying in your heart that God cannot make this good, that God’s plan is not right, and that you deserve to be angry at Him. This is the heart of all bitterness, and it is like dry rot in the foundation of your house. It must be pulled out all the way, every sliver of it, or else the house will fall.

Zach Browning – February 25, 2024

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