Welcome to a year of reading Richard Sibbes together! The reading plan for the entire year can be accessed here. I encourage you to stick with us, allow yourself time to read, and soak in the riches of this gifted and prolific Puritan preacher. You will be edified and encouraged.
If you have trouble with how Sibbes used words, check out the Lexicons of Early Modern English for definitions from the period.
Summary/Engagement
Have you ever considered whether you should die or continue to live, as Paul did in Philippians 1:23-24? Paul desired, as every Christian assured of their salvation desires, to depart and be with Christ. It wasn’t that he wanted to be in Heaven, but that he wanted to be with Christ himself. As our author noted, “Heaven is not heaven without Christ.”
Paul’s mind was so firmly fixed in heaven that to die would have almost been a reunification of mind and body. His desires were for Christ and not for things of this world. He worked hard to keep the world in its proper perspective. Things and comforts were not near to his heart as indeed he worked only as was needful to support his ministry.
He desired, as I hope you desire, to be with Jesus Christ himself and experience the perfection of God face to face. Here on earth, we read, “our peace is interrupted with desertion and trouble. Here the joys of the Holy Ghost are mingled with sorrow. Here the grace in a man is with combat of flesh and spirit, but in heaven there is pure peace, pure joy, pure grace.” Given such truth, why wouldn’t we all, when we come to Christ, desire to die as quickly as possible and depart to be with him?
Because, Paul also believed verse 24; “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”
Application / Further Discussion
What a picture of God’s good grace at work in the soul of men that we desire to stay and be of some good to others. Indeed, as we read, “Holy and gracious men, that are led by the Spirit of God, can deny themselves and their own best good for the church’s benefit.” If you are led by the Spirit of God you can best use your life in service to the Gospel and Christ’s church rather than the fulfillment of earthly desires. Indeed, “God reserves the best for the last.” The future glories of heaven are why we labor for Christ now. Not for our salvation, but for his glory.
Servants of God are his grace to others. Through our brothers and sisters in the Church we experience the beauty of communion. Our hopes and our sorrows are experienced together as we endeavor to serve God in this life. Through the godly witness of holy men the Holy Spirit uses them to sanctify us.
“Therefore if God convey so much good by other men that are good, let us make much of them, as public persons, as instruments of our good. Take away malice, and pride, and a poisonful spirit, and all their good is ours. What hinders that we have no good by them? Pride and an envious spirit, &c.”
He is not suggesting we make people celebrities. We are not to fall back in to the same error of the Corinthian church of dividing over a particular leader. However, we should honor and celebrate those public people that serve God well and thus benefit us. Our tendency is to be quite Corinthian and divide prominent pastors up in teams and root for them. No matter their failings or errors, once we’re on the team, we’re full in with foam finger and face paint.
We shouldn’t celebrate the man per se, but God’s grace at work within him. John Piper is a gifted preacher and author who has affected an entire generation of believers to treasure Christ above all. Yet, Piper is not his own team. He’s a bit part in the grand narrative of God’s sovereign work throughout all creation. We celebrate his usefulness to Christ and benefit to us, treasuring him as a brother and not merely a fringe benefit, while we serve Christ on this Earth. To continue the sports analogy, he’s a teammate, not the coach.
Conversely, we also put to death our pride and any negativity that would desire to destroy a godly servant. All goodness and truth come from God. We should celebrate and fan the flame of grace in this goodness and truth, keeping in mind that it is of God and not of whatever man it resides in. So then, celebrate those who serve Christ well, and honor them publicly.
Do you see yourself as mainly about you, or about what benefit you can have to others?
Is your desire to depart and be with Christ when He calls you, or are you not fully assured of your faith in him?
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Last week, we covered Sibbes’s sermon series, “The Glorious Feast of the Gospel”
Next week, we’ll read “Violence Victorious.” (What a title!)
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