The Ancient Paths, John Gill’s Four P’s of Masculinity
Written by Jonathan E. Swan |
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
John Gill’s biblical vision and example of marital masculinity stands as a needed corrective to the disorderly egalitarian, destructively passive, and disastrously macho versions of masculinity that our confused culture has put forth in recent decades.
A short time before his death, eighteenth-century London Baptist pastor John Gill (1697–1771) put the finishing touches on his monumental Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity. Near the end of this work—which comprised a summary of the doctrine he had taught over the course of his fifty-one year ministry to the same congregation—Gill turned his attention to practical theology, the study of theology that concerns itself with the proper worship of God.[1]
Drawing from Ephesians 5:33, Gill summed up the duties of husbands and wives to one another as love and reverence.[2] Husbands, he instructed, are called to love their wives while wives are called to revere (that is, respect) their husbands.
Gill then outlined how husbands should love their wives in four points, articulating characteristics of what complementarians have recognized as biblical masculinity. These four points can be summarized in four words: provide, protect, pastor, and please.
According to Gill, the husband has a particular responsibility to provide for his wife. The husband is to “nourish” and “cherish” his wife as his own body (Eph 5:29), which includes “food and raiment, and all the necessaries of life.” Those who do not, Gill noted, are worse than unbelievers (1 Tim. 5:8).[3]
The husband not only provides, but protects his wife “from all abuses and injuries” as she is the weaker vessel (1 Pet. 3:7). The husband’s responsibility may call him “to expose himself to danger, and even risk his life in her defense, and for her rescue” (1 Sam. 30:5, 18).[4]
Faithful husbandry also demands that each husband seeks the spiritual welfare of his wife. In other words, he should be the spiritual leader—the pastor—of the marriage. The Christian husband should be active in seeking the salvation of an unconverted wife, and the “spiritual peace, comfort, and edification” of a believing spouse. The Christian husband, according to Gill, should lead his wife as a fellow “heir with him of the grace of life” in all forms of spiritual devotion.[5]
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The Difference Between Education and Wisdom
A man filled with divine wisdom has within himself an entirely new standard whereby to judge of truth and to regulate his life! As the Psalmist expresses, “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me” (Psalm 119:98).
The fear of God is the essential part of true wisdom. As Solomon has said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding!” (Proverbs 9:10). Even though this Godly wisdom may be reputed as folly by the ungodly world and considered an indication of a disordered mind, it most assuredly enlarges the understanding and elevates its possessor above those without it. Yes, and above others also, who in natural capacity and scholarly achievements are far his superiors!
The fear of God, if I may say so, opens a new world to him in those who possess it! Consider two people, one lacking formal education and the other well-versed in arts and sciences.
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5 Ways to Encourage Your Children to Serve
Don’t underestimate your children by assuming they can’t serve others. They can and they should. Expect it. Model it. Don’t overestimate your children by assuming they’ll want to serve. They probably won’t unless their parents teach them how or their father convinces them it’s cool. Then you’ll have a hard time getting them to sit still.
We have eight children 14 years old and under.
Over the years, a number of people have remarked to me and my wife that our children are unusually interested in helping others.
If a lady is carrying a heavy bag, they often run to carry it for her. If a man is changing a tire, they walk over (unsolicited) to hand him the tools. If congregants need song sheets, they rush to assist. When the meal is over, they’re pretty good about clearing the table quickly and washing the dishes so the adults can talk.
“Show us the secret,” they say. The secret is really no secret at all. You can find the answers in the Bible. We believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. The Bible is all we need. This doesn’t mean that Scripture will teach us how to remove stitches or win at horse shoes or pass the chemistry exam. It’s not sufficient in that way. The Bible is sufficient for faith and practice. This means that the Bible teaches us, either directly or indirectly, everything we need to know about salvation and sanctification.
In other words, if you want to know how to draw blood, you go to nursing school. But if you want to know how to live a good life, you go to the Bible. This includes teaching your kids how to serve others.
Here are five tips:
1. Show Them Serving is Christian
Serving others is to Christianity what ivy is to the outfield wall at Wrigley Field. When you look at Christians, you’re really looking at servants. The word “servant” is found well over 250 times in the New Testament. Paul had a hard time introducing himself without calling himself a doulos. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus…” (Rm. 1:1).
This is totally foreign to our narcissistic world. Some years ago, Tim Tebow said that the girl of his dreams would have a “servant’s heart”. Though this is standard Christian parlance, much of the media lost their minds. The wife, servile? Yes, and not just the wife but the husband and all the kids too, all in an effort to serve just like Jesus. The Master said: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many (Mt. 20:28).
“Service” should be a major theme in your family. It should be to your home what ugly Christmas sweaters are to your uncle’s year end party. Everyone that enters your house should expect the kids will be on their toes to serve. This is only weird to goats. To sheep, it’s normal. Their Shepherd said so. “The greatest among you shall be your servant” (Mt. 23:11).
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That Isn’t a Toy!
Here is a sobering thought that ought to humble us: God will receive glory either through our soft hearts or our hard hearts. Again and again in the Exodus narrative, God reminds Israel and Egypt that he is sovereign over the events and even Pharaoh’s heart, and it is all for his glory. Before the climactic events where God leads Israel through the Red Sea and destroys the Pharaoh and his armies, God says, “And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen” (Ex. 14:17-18).
“That isn’t a toy!” parents warn a child playing with a knife or a hammer.
Pharaoh thought he could play a game with God and win. He lost.
Your heart is not a toy.
The story of God’s battle with Pharaoh in the book of Exodus is the story of the consequences of a hardened heart. It’s the story of someone who thought they could toy with God and with their heart. We cannot.
In the first five plagues, Pharaoh’s hardens his heart three times and his heart “is hardened” (it’s ambiguous who is doing the hardening) twice. Over the course of the final five plagues, Pharaoh actively hardens his heart once, his heart “is hardened” once, and three times God hardens his heart (see chart below). Pharaoh thinks he is in control of the his circumstances and his heart. He isn’t.
The consequences are disastrous. The result of his hardness of heart is the loss of his son’s life, his own life, and the devastation of his nation. The stakes over the hardness of our own hearts are (spiritually speaking) no less.
We might chalk up Pharaoh’s hardness of heart to his pagan worship. Pharaoh worships false gods, after all. But right beliefs do not prevent us from the dangers of a hardened heart. We can care about religious things but be calloused to God. Our religious convictions can even multiply the hardening of our hearts. When those at the synagogue were trying to catch Jesus healing on the Sabbath “so they might accuse him,” Jesus asked, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?”
Those listening couldn’t get past their religious convictions that the answer was no, even with a man with a withered hand right in front of them. They met Jesus’ question with silence. Jesus “looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart” (Mark 3:5).
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