A Breathing After God (YWS Week 9)

Nick Horton 3 Comments

richardsibbessmallWelcome 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

Let us begin with the text Sibbes meditated on for this writing. “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4.

He breaks down the verse into David’s holy and focused desire for God above all things, to dwell in God’s house, the church, forever, and that he may behold the beauty of the Lord. David’s desire was fueled by the grace of God and channeled into seeking Him above all things. “The Spirit of God in the hearts of his children is effectual in stirring up holy desires.” (219) David certainly had, Sibbes noted, many other desires in his life. Yet, the holy desire of seeking God took preeminence over all other desires. All else in life was subordinated to this one holy ambition; God himself.

David desired to be where God was. Sibbes notes that, this side of Heaven, God’s glory is most manifested in the church. God is all places, but he manifests himself uniquely in the church. He observes; “What makes heaven to be heaven, but because God is there?” (228) David desired not just the tabernacle of his day, but the very presence of God which was manifested most regularly in the tabernacle. David didn’t seek an experience or a sermon, but the very presence of God. His desire was for nothing less than God himself! Sibbes notes that in our day God is most manifested in the right preaching of the word of God, and the right administration of the ordinances of the church; the two marks of true church.

I found it amusing in this message of the desire for God which was to be experienced through the right practice of the ordinances of the church, that one objection he answered was for those who would “read at home good books and sermons and not come to the ordinances.” Some 400 years ago Sibbes was dealing with those who would rather “do church at home,” as if that were possible. Yet, as our Puritan Preacher notes, God’s promises for Christian worship are congregational in nature, and not singular. He references Matt 18:20 often in his assertion that Christian worship is neither solitary nor private.

And what was David’s goal? To behold the beauty of the Lord, who is altogether lovely.

“Christ was never more lovely to his church than when he was most deformed for his church; … when he hung upon the cross.” (231)

Application / Further Discussion

It is here that we need to do some heart work. David desired God himself and thus sought to be in his house, the church. And what did he want to do there? “To behold the beauty of the Lord.” God’s beauty is made visible in many ways, but not more completely than in his son, Jesus Christ. Christ’s substitutionary atonement for us on the cross, though brutal and cruel in execution, is a beauty that makes all other things as filthy rags in comparison. In the cross the great justice, glory, mercy, and grace of God all meet and shine forth. In the cross the church finds its ground for existing; Jesus. What agonizing beauty!

The church then is where we gather to worship and hear the right preaching of his Holy word, and witness the right observance of the ordinances of baptism and communion. Do you find the church beautiful? Certainly there are sinners there and I do not include in this the many false or heretical churches. Yet, I do mean the one, holy, blood bought church of God made up of many local churches who hold his Word high. Is going to church a chore or a privilege?  Do you desire to be in the company of fellow saints? Do you desire God above all things and thus go where he may be found?

The church is beautiful and lovely because Christ bought it with his blood and sealed it with his Holy Spirit. We are now, if you are in Christ, joined together with a great cloud of witnesses to worship our Lord. We joyfully submit to his Word, sing his praises, and look forward to his coming again because his redemption is the very essence of beauty. What else is there, this side of heaven, that can compare to the glory of God manifested in his redeemed?

Oh to behold the King in his beauty! The splendor of Christ the righteous receiving worship from those whom he has purchased by his precious blood! What joy to listen to his Word preached! What delight to observe the Lord’s Supper and thus proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes! What else is there for us to do but to seek God and behold his beauty? We were made for this. Indeed, I ask with our brother Sibbes;

“What are our souls more for than to dwell in the meditation of the beauty of God?”

—

Last week, we covered seven and eight in Mark Dever’s biography of Richard Sibbes.

Next week, we’ll read Sibbes’s sermon series, “The Glorious Feast of the Gospel.”

Today in Blogworld 03.07.14

Mike Leake

What is Your Conscience?

Joe Carter answers.

A Complete Classical School Reading List: Grades 1-8

This is a great resource.

3 Tips for Responding to Criticism

On Tuesday I shared why I’m no longer following Mark Driscoll, and it had to do with criticism. I’m thankful that Challies, with a little help from Vaughan Roberts,  shows us these three tips for responding to criticism.

Maybe Christians Should Cut Matthew McConaughey Some Slack

I’m not hip to anything that McConaughey is doing, but I really thought Marty Duren has some great points here for how to think about every believer that might not be growing as we think they ought.

This is sad, but it also makes a solid point:

31 Days of Purity: Day Seven

Mike Leake

Day Seven: Flee Areas of Temptation

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22)

We are at war. Our enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil—are forever opposed to us. A constant battle rages inside us, outside us, and all around us. As men we’ve been created to be brave and bold, to stand firm and fearless in battle. All throughout the New Testament we are told to stand, to stand strong in this fight. And yet there is one area where we are commanded to flee: “Flee youthful passions.” We are to flee lust, to run fast and far from the desire and the opportunity to commit sexual sin. “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched” (Proverbs 6:27-28)? Of course not. Only a fool would even try.

Flee, my brother. Learn how and when to run and do not be ashamed to do so. Do not toy with sexual sin. Do not make light of sexual sin. Do not laugh or joke about the very sins Christ died for. Do not allow yourself even the smallest taste or the briefest glimpse of what God forbids. There is no shame in running, but you may well know the shame of falling.

Father, you tell me to flee sexual sin. You tell me that “sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints” (Ephesians 5:3). Yet too often I have toyed with sexual sin, I have determined to allow myself just a glance or just a taste. And then, somehow, I have acted surprised when that small taste led to a complete fall and outright gluttony. I have no one to blame but myself, because I chose to disregard your Word. Teach me my own weakness and display to me your great strength. When I am tempted, let me flee to you and take refuge in you, in your promises, in your strength.

—

Tim Challies

Jeremy Guthrie, Jonathan Sanchez, and Christian Growth

Mike Leake

On July 20th all of Kansas City cheered when struggling pitcher Jonathan Sanchez was traded to the Colorado Rockies for Jeremy Guthrie. It wasn’t just that Sanchez struggled it was that he struggled with a laissez-faire attitude. Royals fans wanted someone with passion. Jeremy Guthrie fit the bill.

Guthrie started his Royals career slowly, losing his first three games. But then he ripped off 18 straight games without recording a loss. During that streak Guthrie posted 10 wins and a stellar 2.21 ERA. The Royals were 16-2 in Guthrie starts. Sanchez continued is implosion making only 3 starts for the Rockies and posting a 9.53 ERA. The Royals had struck gold.

Guthrie remains in the good graces of KC fans and more importantly for his paycheck, the upper management of the Royals. Guthrie earned himself a 3 year 25 million dollar contract. And the Royals brass seems content to have Guthrie as a mainstay in their rotation. But should they?

Since the winning streak ended (May 14, 2013) Guthrie has posted a 10-12 record with a 4.54 ERA and giving up 23 home runs during that span. He’s still no Jonathan Sanchez but he’s also not a pitcher that ought to be making $11 million in 2014. His early success as a Royals compared to who he was replacing, has perhaps clouded the Royals vision of what they need in their starting rotation.

How this relates to the Christian life

As I think about Jeremy Guthrie, and dream of a better arm in the Royals rotation, I can’t help but compare this to something that I have seen in the lives of new believers, especially those that were converted out of obviously worldliness.

It is amazing what happens in the life of a new believer. Passions are full, grace is lively, and many find a new resolve to pursue godliness. I’ve witnessed men and women long addicted to certain vices quit them cold turkey. No need for a 12 step program, no need for counseling, they just come to know Jesus and their desires immediately change. Their early growth in Christ mirrors that of Jeremy Guthrie’s insane start for the Royals.

Then the streak ends. Passions start to grow a little colder, grace isn’t as lively, and resolve to pursue godliness begins to dwindle. But they aren’t alarmed by this stagnation. They look back upon who they once were and reason that they have no reason for alarm, at least they aren’t who they once were.

John Newton once said, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”

We ought not rest in the last part of that quote without the striving in the first part of the quote. Our enemy would have us content with only a little holiness, and only a little striving after Christ. If he cannot change the fact that we are a new creation, he’ll use that truth to lead to our stagnation. He’ll encourage us with our spiritual progress and convince us to encourage our present state with who we once were. But friends, our old self is not our standard. Christ is our standard and our aim.

Yeah Jeremy Guthrie isn’t Jonathan Sanchez. That’s wonderful. But let’s not pretend that Jonathan Sanchez is the mark for what we want in a starting pitcher and so long as you aren’t him you’ll lead your team to playing October baseball. In the same way let us not set our old selves as the standard—and so long as we don’t drift back to that mark we’ll be okay.