Books that have Impacted My Christian Walk (Part 2 - When You Pass Through the Fire)

The Christian walk is neither random nor rosy; unless you consider that roses have thorns.  Like roses, the Christian walk is sometimes sweet and sometimes marked with sorrows.  In his farewell discourse recorded in the Gospel of John, Jesus reminded his disciples that their lot in this world would be no different than his own when he said, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).  Along with this warning and word of comfort, Jesus commanded his disciples "Be on your guard!" (Mark 13:9, 23, 33).  I am thankful for a handful of books that speak clearly and aptly to my need for comfort and encouragement during the low and trying times of life.

What Watson summarizes in seventeen pages concerning the compassion of Christ for the weak and the distressed disciples (see previous post regarding The Godly Man's Picture, Richard Sibbes drew out in brilliant detail in his The Bruised Reed some 36 years earlier. This is the second book that I would like to recommend to you. This book represents a particular aspect of discipleship, mainly the low points, the slough of despond, or even the passing through the fires. Watson and Sibbes are surely among the easiest to read of the Puritans. Others would understandably include Matthew Henry and John Bunyan. 

Sibbes differed from many of his Puritan friends in that he never departed from the Church of England. Rather, he fought for the same reforms from within. For an excellent biography of Richard Sibbes, I recommend Mark Dever's Richard Sibbes (Mercer University Press, 2000). A great source to learn more about the lives and major writings of the Puritans is Joel Beeke and Randall Peterson's Meet the Puritans (Reformation Heritage Books, 2007).  It is a treasure-trove of information.

Of Sibbes, C. H. Spurgeon wrote: "Sibbes never wastes the student’s time, he scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands." One seventeenth century author praised Sibbes with the words: "Heaven was in him, before he was in heaven."

The reading of this book supplied Richard Baxter with “a livelier apprehension of the mystery of redemption.” Baxter goes on to indicate that the reading of the book was instrumental in his conversion to faith in Jesus Christ.

D. Martyn-Lloyd Jones wrote,

I shall never cease to be grateful to one of them [the Puritans] called Richard Sibbes who was balm to my soul at a period in my life when I was overworked and badly overtired, and therefore subject in an unusual manner to the onslaughts of the devil…. I found at that time that Richard Sibbes, who was known in London in the early seventeenth century as “The Heavenly Doctor Sibbes” was an unfailing remedy. His books The Bruised Reed and The Soul’s Conflict quietened, soothed, comforted, encouraged and healed me.

The Bruised Reed is a treatise based upon Isa. 42:1-3 and Matt. 12:18-20 which states that these words are fulfilled in Christ. Permit me to offer a few highlights:

What It Is To Be Bruised 

The bruised reed is a man that for the most part is in some misery, as those were that came to Christ for help, and by misery he is brought to see sin as the cause of it…. 

He is sensible of sin and misery, even unto bruising; and, seeing no help in himself, is carried with restless desire to have supply from another, with some hope, which a little raises him out of himself to Christ, though he dare not claim any present interest in mercy. This spark of hope being opposed by doubtings and fears rising from corruption makes him as smoking flax; so that both these together, a bruised reed and smoking flax, make up the state of a poor distressed man. 

He has no means of supply from himself or the creature, and therefore mourns, and, upon some hope of mercy from the promise and examples of those that have obtained mercy, is stirred up to hunger and thirst after it. 

A portion that spoke to me in particular (and still challenges me) is chapter 5, The Spirit of Mercy Should Move Us, which addresses preachers and fellow Christians within the Church. Sibbes writes:

Preachers need to take heed therefore how they deal with young believers. Let them be careful not to pitch matters too high, making things necessary evidences of grace which agree not to the experience of many a good Christian, and laying salvation and damnation upon things that are not fit to bear so great a weight. In this way men are needlessly cast down and may not soon be raised up again by themselves or others. The ambassadors of so gentle a Saviour should not be overbearing, setting up themselves in the hearts of people where Christ alone should sit as in his own Temple. (26) 

This is applicable to all…but directed to spiritual leaders. 

And likewise those are failing that, by overmuch austerity, drive back troubled souls from having comfort by them, for, as a result of this, many smother their temptations, and burn inwardly, because they have none into whose bosom they may vent their grief and ease their souls. 

We must neither bind where God looses, nor loose where God binds, neither open where God shuts, nor shut where God opens. (28) 

Particularly to private Christians, Sibbes calls us to note that “we are debtors to the weak in many things.” 

1. Let us be watchful in the use of our liberty, and labour to be inoffensive in our behaviour, that our example compel them not. 
2. Let men take heed of taking up Satan’s office, in misrepresenting the good actions of others, as he did Job’s case…, or slandering their persons, judging of them according to the wickedness that is in their own hearts. 
3. Some will unchurch and unbrother in a passion. But ill humours do not alter true relations; though the child in a fit should disclaim the mother, yet the mother will not disclaim the child. … Where most holiness is, there is most moderation, where it may be without prejudice to God and the good of others. … The Holy Ghost is content to dwell in smoky, offensive souls. Oh, that that Spirit would breathe into our spirits the same merciful disposition!

The church of Christ is a common hospital, wherein all are in some measure sick of some spiritual disease of other, so all have occasion to exercise the spirit of wisdom and meekness. (34) 

Let us take to ourselves the condition of him with whom we deal. We are, or have been, or may be in that condition ourselves. Let us make the case our own, and also consider in what near relation a Christian stands to us, even as a brother, a fellow-member, heir of the same salvation. And therefore let us take upon ourselves a tender care of them in every way; and especially in cherishing the peace of their consciences. (34) 

Supplemental Reading 
Finally, permit me to suggest a few other titles that are similarly helpful along the lines of comfort and help for the week and lowly.  First, a recently published book that should be read by every pastor is Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb.  Please see my review posted here.  Second, another book along similar lines as the first but from a victims perspective is No Place to Cry by Dorris VanStone.  I found a reference to this book one Saturday morning, found it available to be purchased and read via my Kindle, purchased it and read it before the day was finished.  I rarely read books in one sitting but this one captivated my attention, broke my heart, and then displayed God's compassionate grace in a breathtaking way. Praise God, we have such a gentle Savior! Finally, a book that was introduced to me years ago that, no doubt, was influenced by writings of Richard Sibbes (see Lloyd-Jones's comment above) is Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.  This, too, is gospel-filled help for Christians who find themselves "in the doldrums" or, at the least, lacking Christian joy.

Related:
Read the introductory post to this series: Thoughts on Christian Reading
Part 1 - Discipleship
Part 3 - Learning to Pray

Books that have Impacted My Christian Walk (Part 2 - When You Pass Through the Fire)

Dever Interviewed on Richard Sibbes

Doug Smith emailed me a link to an interview Timmy Brister conducted with Mark Dever on the subject of Richard Sibbes. Mark Dever's Richard Sibbes: Puritanism and Calvinism in Late Elizabethan and Early Stuart England (Mercer UP, 2000), is a published version of his doctoral dissertation completed at Cambridge University.

I read Sibbes’ The Bruised Reed last May with a few friends and was thoroughly blessed. I sought out biographical information and found Dever’s book and carefully read through it, too.
One of the things that came immediately to mind was the fact that Dever kept remarking on Sibbes’ interest in the “marks of a true church.” I couldn’t help but think of Dever’s many books on the same subject.

For months now, I’ve been wanting to hear Dever talk about what he took away from his study of Sibbes, and how it has affected his passion for healthy churches. This interview was fantastic. Especially helpful was Dever’s clarification of the differences between the Anglican church in Sibbes’ day and contemporary denominations. The questions posed to him about denominational apostasy and moderation are questions I’ve been pondering since I read the book. Dever’s remarks on this subject helped to clarify some things for me. This was great. I'm extremely grateful to Timmy Brister for conducting this interview. You can listen to it here.

Some Fine Posts by Timmy Brister on Richard Sibbes:
Who is Richard Sibbes
Richard Sibbes on the Web
What Others Have Said About Richard Sibbes
Interview With Mark Dever on Richard Sibbes
Mining the Works of Richard Sibbes

Reference my previous post:
Thinking About Dever, Sibbes and Healthy Churches

Dever Interviewed on Richard Sibbes

Thinking About Dever, Sibbes and Healthy Churches

I just finished Mark Dever's first book entitled Richard Sibbes: Puritanism and Calvinism in Late Elizabethan and Early Stuart England (Mercer UP: 2000). I'm a slow reader and had a number of other books and projects to handle so it took me a while to finally finish this. It isn't an easy read, but it was well worth it. Dever proves himself to be a very careful scholar. His meticulously detailed account of the various aspects of Sibbes's life, works, theology and practice will be an invaluable help to all future students of Sibbes.

This work is a history, not only of the life of Richard Sibbes, but also of the late Elizabethan and early Stuart eras. As a work of history I was interested to see if I could determine any of Dever's perspective and prejudices. I came to this book with a sincere interest in learning about Richard Sibbes, but reading this volume served as my first introduction to the writings of Mark Dever.

Mark Dever is the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and the Executive Director of 9Marks Ministries. He has made his mark upon contemporary evangelicalism and a good bit of fundamentalism (at least what some are calling "the emerging middle"of fundamentalism) with his books Nine Marks of a Healthy Church [WTS] and The Deliberate Church [WTS]. I've not read either of these books yet, but have skimmed through some of the Nine Marks literature, and an abridged edition of Nine Marks of a Healthy Church.

Knowing the little that I did about Dever as I took up reading Richard Sibbes, I found a few interesting connections between Sibbes's philosophy of ministry and what I had heard about and read of Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Now that I've finished this book, I'm skimming back through it trying to put things together in my mind as I prepare to write my book review. Here are some of things I've found:

1. Sibbes was a conformist
1. "Sibbes was a hesitater, and a questioner, but not a dissenter." (p. 47)
2. "To suggest that Sibbes was a nonconformist, not to mention a crypto-separatist, is unwarranted by the alleged Cambridge deprivations; it is also unwarranted by his associations." (p. 70)
3. "...Sibbes's associations do not suggest religious radicalism." (p. 70)
4. "...Sibbes was apparently a conformist, as were his closest friends." (p. 70)
5. "If any time after 1616 could have driven him to open conformity, and even separation, it would have been the last two years of his life, yet even they did not." (p. 93)
6. "Yet Sibbes remained a reforming conformist to the end...." (p. 94)
7. "To discover what Sibbes thought to be the essence of the church theologically--godly preaching, right administration of the sacraments, some discipline--is to discover what Sibbes thought to be essential to the church practically (and by implication, those things, too, that were non-essential). Divisions caused in the church for reasons other than these essential matters Sibbes relegated to divisions for merely 'private aims.' Even if the divider was right on the particular, he was wrong to cause division about anything that was not 'necessary.' ... Furthermore, the cause of much unnecessary division, Sibbes said, was a lack of faith in God's future provision based on his promises, a childish kind of peevishness that, 'when they have not what they would have, like children, they throw all away.' Such childishness, combined with ignorance of true Christian liberty led to unnecessary scruples. ... Therefore, 'in some cases peace...is of more consequence than the open discovery of some things we take to be true; ...open show of difference is never good but when it is necessary.'" (pp. 204-206)
8. "To Sibbes, any conscientiousness that led to separation was over-scrupulousness and the consciences of such were to be educated." (p. 209)
   
2. Sibbes was a pacific moderate
1. Pacific is not a word that I use or have heard very often, so I took note of it and found that Dever carries this description of Sibbes, along with that of moderate, throughout the book. Since pacific was not logged in the subject index I've taken pains to run down every mention of this modifier (pp. 6, 72, 82, 88, 109, 216) [unpacific, 109].
   
2. "By the end of his life, he recognized more clearly than ever that 'all Christians in this life have both a different light and a different sight.'" (p. 86)
3. "Sibbes did, of course, favor moderation: 'Where most holiness is, there is most moderation, where it may be without prejudice of piety to God and the good of others.'" (p. 87)
   
4. "...moderation was important in Sibbes's response to those who would separate from the Church of England." (p. 88)
3. Sibbes was concerned about identifying the marks of a true church
1. "Sibbes's proof of the Church of England as a true church of Christ is that it has all the necessary marks of a true Church--'sound preaching of the Gospell, right dispensation of the Sacraments, Prayer religiously performed, evill persons justly punisht (though not in that measure that some criminals and malefactors deserve)'--and the production of 'many spirituall children to the Lord.'" (pp. 89-90; cf. 88, 204-205)
4. Of these marks of a true church Sibbes identifies the most important as that of Gospel preaching
1. "'preaching is that whereby God dispenseth salvation and grace ordinarily...'." (pp. 80-81)
2. "Thus Sibbes, through his preaching especially, and through other careful measures, sought to advance the concerns of the godly." (p. 82)
3. "Godly preaching, as the means of the Spirit's activity, rather than historical organizational continuity was the heart of Sibbes's vision of the church." (pp. 92-93)
4. "Sibbes taught that the primary means Christ used to prepare his elect's hearts for salvation was 'by the ministry of the gospel.'" (p. 129)
5. "Preaching was the 'chariot that carries Christ up and down the world. Christ does not profit but as he is preached.' Thus 'it is a gift of all gifts, the ordinance of preaching. God esteems it so, Christ esteems it so, and so should we esteem it.'" (p. 129)
6. "Preaching was preeminently the means to grow such loving affections, especially affectionate preaching. According to Sibbes, this was the preaching in which 'Christ [was] truly laid open to the hearts of people...the knowledge and preaching of Christ in his state and offices.' 'Indeed, "preaching" is the ordinance of God, sanctified for the begetting of faith, for the opening of the understanding, for the drawing of the will and affections to Christ.... Therefore, as we esteem faith and all the good we have by it, let us be stirred up highly to prize and esteem of this ordinance of God." (pp. 155-156)
   

As I've considered these points, I've wondered, not only, how Dever's presuppositions have influenced his analysis, but also, how Sibbes philosophy of ministry has influenced Dever. I'm not finished with my analysis, but for the time being I will offer you an artistic impression of the influence of these two men upon each other...

You may also be interested in this:
This morning Adrian Warnock posted notes from a talk given by Dever at the recent Theology for All

Adrian is also offering a recorded interview with Dever here. Conference in London. In this lecture Dever argues that preaching must hold the preeminent position in our worship services.

Thinking About Dever, Sibbes and Healthy Churches

Book Reading Club at SharperIron.org

In the Books forum at SharperIron.org we have been discussing a book that we are reading as a Book Club. For the month of May we are reading Richard Sibbes' The Bruised Reed (find at CBD, Westminster Bookstore, or Amazon). If you haven't been reading along with us or reading the comments, please take a look here. I have enjoyed and have been edified by this discussion group more than any other in a LONG time. If you already have a copy of this book and would like to jump in, PLEASE DO. We'd be glad for your thoughts on the subject.

JUNE – John Owen (1616-1683) and John Bunyan (1628-1688)
If you would like to join in on the reading schedule for June we will be reading something from John Owen and/or something from John Bunyan. The two books that have been mentioned already are as follows:

• The Death of Death in the Death of Christ By John Owen / Banner Of Truth (WTS Bookstore)
  
• Treatise on the Fear of God By John Bunyan / Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1999 (online; the Works of Bunyan)

I hope that you will join us. Please let us know if you will.

Book Reading Club at SharperIron.org