Today I plan on finishing up posting on The Bruised Reed as well as post a book review. It is February and we must move on to Flavel's the Mystery of Providence.

Chapter 13 offers us the third conclusion concerning the final part of the text, and that is that "Christ's government will be victorious". This will prove to be a very important chapter in seasons of doubt. Particularly strong is the section where Sibbes asks, "Why is it thus with the church of God, and with many a gracious Christian? The victory seems to be with the enemy".

Quick Outline:

• Why Christ's Kingdom Must Prevail
• Why the Enemy Seems Victorious
• Consolation for Weak Christians
• Evidences of Christ's Rule in Us

Summary:

There are six reasons that Sibbes gives for why Christ's kingdom must prevail. First we see that it will prevail because "Christ has conquered all in his own person first, and he is 'over all, God blessed for ever'". And if Christ has set up his throne in our hearts we can be assured that He will conquer. Secondly, he will prevail because the enemies that we face are "accursed and damned". Even if they rise up it will only be to their eventual greater fall. Thirdly, "the Spirit of truth...abide forever". Because that which is spiritual is eternal we can be confident that the Spirit of truth within us will reign victorious. Fourthly, "the victory over corruption or temptation is a pledge of victory". The truth is that heaven is ours already, and whenever we are granted victory over these corruptions it is an evidence of that which is to come. Fifthly, Christ is a king and "bows the neck" of the inner man. Lastly, one of the purposes of "Christ's coming was to destroy the works of the devil, both for us and in us". We see this accomplished through the resurrection. We can be certain that Christ will accomplish this resurrection in us as well. He will accomplish His purpose. Therefore, given the above we can be certain that Christ will reign victorious.

But, some will object, it seems as if Satan is the victor. Why does it not appear to be so? Sibbes will now give us four reasons that even though it appears Satan is victorious, he is not, but Christ is. The first reason that this is so is because "God's children usually, in their troubles, overcome by suffering." Secondly, and this is very important to understand, "victory is by degrees". Thirdly, "God often works by contraries". What Sibbes means by that is that God often works in an opposite way than we would expect. As an example, "when he means to comfort, he will terrify us first...when he means to make us glorious, he will abase us first". And lastly, Christ's work "often goes backward so that it may go forward better". All of this is to show that even though it might appear that Satan is victorious, he is not. Even in our weakness we are accepted.

As always, Sibbes now offers consolation for those that are weak. The above is nice to know, but in the midst of great weaknesses and temptations, sometimes, we need more. We are continuously reminded in this book, that though a spark from heaven might be weak, it is still a spark from heaven and therefore glorious. And this is what leads to our victory: "Grace conquers us first, and we, by it, conquer all else..."

But how do I know that Christ's rule is in me? How do I know that my spark is indeed a spark from heaven? I know Christ will be victorious in all hearts he rules in, but how can I be certain that he rules in my heart? Sibbes will give eight reasons. 1) Being able from experience to justify all Christ's ways. 2) Reasons of religion are the strongest reasons 3) We are true to our ends and steadfast to our rule 4) The truth is more dear to us than our lives 5) We have a delight in the inner man of Christ's government 6) We have a well-ordered and uniform life 7) The heart willingly stoops to Christ. 8) We practice duties pleasing to Christ. In all of these victory is in different degrees. Sometimes we resist though we are foiled. Other times, grace gets the better, though with conflict. And in the greatest time, all corruption is perfectly subdued.

Discussion:

This is a very good chapter, especially if you like lists. It is especially helpful to know that while it may appear Satan is victorious (in our own hearts and in the Bride of Christ), he indeed is not; our Savior will reign victorious! That is very encouraging.

One part I found a little weak, and this could be chalked up to misunderstanding, is Sibbes' section on "evidence that Christ's rule is in us". I know that all of these are to be seen through the lens that Sibbes has provided us--that even if the least is apparent it is to be considered a spark. Yet, I cannot help but wonder if other evidences might have been better. Is there anything objective that we could put? All of these appear to be subjective. But what else do we have to go upon? Do you like Sibbes' list? Would you have added anything? Deleted anything?

Pearls and Diamonds:

"Heaven is ours already, only we strive till we have full possession." (p.92)

"Weakness, with acknowledgement of it, is the fittest seat and subject for God to perfect his strength in; for consciousness of our infirmities drives us out of ourselves to him in whom our strength lies." (p.96)

"Grace conquers us first, and we, by it, conquer all else; whether corruptions within us, or temptations from outside us." (p.97)

"...the truest trial of the power of grace is in particular cases which touch us most closely, for there our corruption makes the greatest head." (p.99)

Sibbes continues in discussing the government of Christ upon the throne of our hearts. In this chapter he expounds upon the second conclusion derived from this truth. The point in this section will be to show that the government of Christ "in his church and in his children is wise and well-ordered."

Quick Outline:

• Judgment and Wisdom
• The Need for Heavenly Light
• Where Christ's Government is Set Up
• How Christ Governs Us
• The Effects of this in Practice

Summary:

Sibbes begins by showing that spiritually regenerate men, because Christ has rule in their heart, will have a correct judgment upon spiritual matters. He does make a disclaimer that, "truth is truth, and error, error, and that which is unlawful is unlawful, whether men think so or not." A wise man, when Christ has the rule in his heart, will agree to these things. Therefore, we must "let truth have full scope without check or restraint, and let Satan and his instruments do their worst, they shall not prevail."

This then is the importance of receiving "heavenly light". If we have not been given the Spirit of truth then we will not be able to make correct judgments as we ought. Christ so works in our hearts and forms in us correct judgments that we often can be mistaken in thinking that "that good which is in [us] and issues from [us] is from [ourselves], and not from the powerful work of grace." Only through heavenly light being imparted will men have sound judgment.

Because of this we come to understand that "wherever true wisdom and judgment are, there Christ has set up his government, because where wisdom is it directs us, not only to understand, but to order our ways aright". What happens, then, is that Christ not only teaches that which we should do we are taught the very act of doing it. So that we are "not only taught that [we] should love, fear, and obey, but [we] are taught love itself, and fear and obedience themselves.

But how does Christ do this you ask? He does this by not only shining on us the light of understanding but by also doing a work upon our hearts to cause us to treasure that truth. If Christ does not do this might work by His Spirit then the truth "does us no good, but helps to condemn us." Unless Christ comes in and does this work we will not be wise and will have no true judgment, Christ must overcome Satan and take charge of our souls.

Discussion:

There is little that needs to be discussed from this chapter, it is all pretty straight-forward. One wonders how different our approach to sharing the gospel, preaching, writing, etc. would be if we really believed what is in this chapter. If we really believe that it takes a work of the Spirit to understand and treasure truth, then we would not be so surprised by the "ignorance" of the world. Why are we so surprised that some politicians argue for the killing of babies? Why are we so surprised that homosexuality is celebrated? Why are we so surprised that Christ is not treasured?

If we really get what Sibbes is saying here then we will preach the truth as it stands and not try to twist the truth so that men might accept it easier. The truth is they probably will accept it, because it is adulterated, tainted, and no longer the truth; that is what unregenerate men love to swallow--falsehood. Therefore, out of deep love we must be passionate about proclaiming the truth, all the while trusting in the sovereign mercy of God to soften men's hearts.

Pearls and Diamonds:

"Truth is truth, and error, error, and that which is unlawful is unlawful, whether men think so or not." (p.84)

"Let truth have full scope without check or restraint, and let Satan and his instruments do their worst, they shall not prevail..." (p.85)

"There is no natural proportion between an unsanctified heart and a sanctified judgment." (p.89)

"When the judgment of Christ is set up in our judgments, and thence, by the Spirit of Christ, brought into our hearts, then it is in its proper place and throne. Until then, truth does us no good, but helps to condemn us." (p.89)

"And Satan by corruption gets all the holds of the soul, till Christ, stronger than he, comes and drives him out, taking possession of all the powers and parts of soul and body to be weapons of righteousness, to serve him." (p.90)

Jonathan Leeman continues blogging through Willow Creek's REVEAL. Today he gives us Part 9.

Denny Burk responds to Rick Warren on The Colbert Report. So do I.

There is also a very good disussion on praise songs at Old Truth. There is some very good information on the history of praise songs. It would be interesting to contrast this with the history of hymns. I find it quite funny that sometimes our arguments over praise songs are the same as they were 250 years ago with hymns. Nonetheless, the point is really good that our music should be heady and hearty.

Steve Camp has a great article on the Sinfulness of Original Sin, along with a song [poem] in the post.

Mark Driscoll offers help to preachers setting a preaching schedule. (HT: Micah)

I think you are going to be seeing quite a bit of discussion coming out of Bethlehem in the coming days concerning interacting with Muslims. Piper offers answers to "How shall we love our Muslim neighbors". As always Christ is at the center.

Something that is pretty cool is the 9Marks report card. Very interesting stuff. Much can be learned in the first couple of pages as well. (HT: JT)

In other 9Marks news I can't help but wonder how Dever's statement, here,will fly in the SBC. Apparently Dever will continue cooperating with Acts29. His statement is excellent.

Dr. Mohler discusses an often ignored voice in the abortion debate, it is the voice they do not want to hear, the dad's.

I was wondering when someone was going to pick up on this. Two nights ago Rick Warren was the guest on The Colbert Report. I wanted to post quickly on this but felt it wise to wait until someone else "broke the story". This morning Denny Burk did just that. It is with much trepidation that I offer my critique. I do not want to be unfair to Rick Warren, and have my critique lost on the person or even worse turn into sinful slander. After watching this it broke my heart. I was infuriated, full of pain, and all sorts of emotions. I want to use such strong words as, "Rick Warren abandons the gospel", but I am not sure that is wise or totally accurate. Nonetheless I urge you to watch the clip. Here are my critiques:

There are a few minor critiques that taken by themselves probably would not have necessitate a post. These are not major issues, but still in my passion to be ever truthful I must mention them.

1. Warren's conclusion on God's purpose for Creation is typical modern evangelicalism. God created the world just for me and so he could love me. Now, God did create the world with a secondary purpose of creating us to display and give His love to us (not to mention other attributes). But the primary purpose (which Warren does not mention) is that God created the world and the galaxies and everything to display His splendor and His worth. When we put ourselves as the central purpose for Creation we open the door for neutering the gospel.
2. This is very minor and really a point of semantics, but I did not appreciate Warren's definition of fundamentalists as "someone that stops listening". It depends on what you mean by fundamentalist. Do you mean going back to the fundamentals and keeping essential these fundamentals? If so, then Warren is saying that the framers of the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed are people that stop listening. Carl Henry is a person that stops listening. The list could go on and on, so his definition is not helpful and can be harmful to the discussion.
3. Warren's doctrine of eternity is also suspect. I am not certain where he gets the idea that life is a practice ground so we are not a doofus in heaven.
4. His statement about his book being historical Christianity made simple is very debatable. Saying there is nothing in that book that historical Christianity has not taught for 2,000 years is actually a little off. Actually, as we will see in a moment, the problem so often is not that he says things that are unorthodox; it is that often he fails to say things that are orthodox.
5. Warren saying I have connections at the end about getting Jesus on the show. I understand that he was just joking, and I'm sure given the situation I may have made the same joke. Perhaps I was just so upset at this point that it caused me to boil over, but I found the way he said that highly arrogant.

There are also a few major errors in Warren's presentation. Most of which lie in what Warren failed to say. Bryan Chapell tells a story in his book Christ-Centered Preaching that has stuck with me. Many times in his seminary classes Chapell has played a tape of a preacher's morning meditations. They all nod in agreement. When Chapell says that this man is the leader of a local cult, his students are always astonished. They argue that he clothes his heresy. Then Chapell says, "The radio preacher has not hidden his heresy; he exposes it every time he speaks in what he fails to say. The real problem is that evangelical preachers inadvertently and so frequently present such similar messages that Christians fail to hear the difference between a message that purports to be biblical and one that actually is."(p.267-268, First Edition) What did Rick Warren fail to say?

1. Jesus. The only mention of Jesus came from the lips of Colbert when he asked, "If we ask Jesus to come into our life will he?" To which Warren responded, absolutely. That's good, and maybe this should be in the minor section. Because we do not always have to mention the name of Jesus (although it certainly would be a good practice). Where I have a problem with his lack of mentioning Jesus is in the next points
2. Twice it was as if Stephen Colbert (or perhaps the Holy Spirit) were begging Rick Warren to preach the gospel. When Colbert asked, "Am I living my purpose", or "what is the purpose of everyday" that was an invitation to preach the biblical gospel. Warren could have easily spoke of Creation (but again remember his purpose for Creation is not God revealing His glory, but us) then moved into our sinning against our Creator. (This would not have been as awkward as it seems because you could have easily used Colbert's "am I living my purpose" as a launching point). After briefly (it would have to be brief, yet pointed, given the format) discussing the aspect of sin you could preach the Cross. Fairly easy within about a minute. Yet what did Warren do? He did not even mention Jesus, sin, God's glory nothing. He told Stephen Colbert that as long as he is being a good doofus then he makes God smile. What?!? Where does he get the notion that God gets enjoyment out of watching you be you? Colbert being Colbert would be blaspheming God and trampling His glory. God does not enjoy that!

That is enough of a critique. Where does this philosophy come from and what can we do not to slip into it? I believe it is a rejection of the truth behind 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 as well as a rejection of the many places in Scripture that we see God's Word and His Gospel is His power unto salvation to those that believe. Warren has the underlying philosophy that we have to "make the gospel simple". There is a part of that which is true, but what often happens is that in "making the gospel simple" we neuter it of any value. In which case we end up preaching on things like purpose and fail to mention the name of Jesus nor be faithful to the biblically revealed Gospel. When men feel like they have to dress up the gospel to make it attractive interviews like this are all you are going to get.

Earlier I mentioned Denny Burk breaking the story. His belief is that Warren should not have even attended the show, so as not to cast his pearls before swine. That very well may be true, but Warren did not cast any pearls. This may be controversial but I am also not so sure that Colbert is swine. I am not sure I would go so far as to say Warren should not have appeared on the show. Maybe not. Maybe. What I do believe is that if were going to go on the show he should have not felt the need to clothe the gospel and preach it unadulterated. I've rambled enough, here is the video, tell me what you think:

I was very excited to see that C.J. Mahaney has entered the blogosphere. Tony Reinke from the Shepherd's Scrapbook will be assisting him in this endeavor. I have been very blessed by the ministry of Mahaney the past few months and look forward to many thought provoking, Christ-centered posts. It doesn't look like they have comments yet but I hope they allow them soon. That's one thing I wish DG's blog offered more of.

Noel Piper gives 7 steps to becoming a better writer.

Nathan Busenitz from Pulpit magazine shares with us a few quotes on ministry. I remember awhile back reading the one on there by John Owen that kicked me in the face. "A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more."

Trevin Wax has a very thought-provoking thank you to his parents for not letting him dull his mind with Nintendo.

Randy Alcorn continues his series on longing.

Chapter 11 begins a new section in Sibbes work. We now move from the bruised reed and the smoking flax to consider Christ's gracious government. This gracious government is where Christ will set up "absolute government in us which shall prevail over all corruptions." The chapter will serve us to make certain that we do not get the cart before the horse. Sibbes reminds us again that justification leads to sanctification and not the opposite.

Quick Outline:

• Christ's Judgement Established in Us
• Christ's Mildness and His Government
• Pardon Leads to Obedience
• Justification Leads to Sanctification

Summary:

What is meant by the text in Isaiah 42:3..."he will faithfully bring forth justice" (or in the KJV that Sibbes would have used, "he will bring forth judgment unto victory)? Sibbes believes that it is speaking of Christ's rule in the believers heart. As Christ is seated on the throne of our hearts (keep in mind this was written before the Spirit-Filled Life tracts), his judgments become our judgments. What is taking place is that the Spirit of God is changing our affections.

Sibbes then sets forth to show various conclusions from this text. The first will be dealt with in this chapter and the others later. That first conclusion is that, "Christ is mild in the way that we have seen so that he may then set up his government in those whom he is so gentle and tender over". The reason then for our pardon is to secure our obedience. This then is a fitting judgment as to whether or not we can claim the mercy of Christ; are we desiring to follow Christ in obedience? As Sibbes says, "None ever did truly desire mercy for pardon but desired mercy for healing."

The chapter closes with the truth that justification leads to sanctification. Even in this title we can discern two things. One, justification comes before sanctification. Therefore, sanctification can never be the grounds for justification. Two, justification will lead to sanctification. Therefore, justification will never be alone. Sibbes expounds upon this and cautions us to remember four things.

1. The first and chief ground of our comfort is that Christ as a priest offered himself as a sacrifice to his Father for us.
2. When we are overtaken with sin we must remember to come back to Christ for mercy
3. When we become cold in affection the best way to warm ourselves is at the fire of Jesus' love and mercy.
4. We are ruled by a spirit of love. His subjects are voluntaries.

As he closes Sibbes has a little doctrine to teach about the last (and actually preceding) points. Loving Jesus and freely following him and taking up his yoke is not something that natural man will do or can do. "Our disposition must be changed...they seek for heaven in hell that seek for spiritual love in an unchanged heart."

Discussion:

I really appreciate this chapter and Sibbes' desire to make certain that we not get the cart before the horse. I also am very thankful that Sibbes concluded with reminding us that unless our hearts are regenerate we will never love Christ. That is what will keep all of these things turn into legalistic duties to perform. It is only out of regenerate heart, and living that springs from that heart, that we will be able to love Christ as we ought.

I have not studied in depth Isaiah 42:1-3, but I do wonder if Sibbes' interpretation of this verse is accurate. Is this "rule" speaking of Jesus' government in our heart? What do you think?

Also, on page 80 when Sibbes says, "This also shows that those are misled that make Christ to be only righteousness to us and not sanctification, except by imputation, whereas it is a great part of our happiness to be under such a Lord...", who do you see as his "enemy" in this section? Who is the polemic against? Is it Catholicism? Or is it those that make grace cheap?

Pearls and Diamonds:

"...it is most necessary that the Spirit should alter the taste of the soul so that it might savour the things of the Spirit so deeply that all other things should be out of relish."

"None ever did truly desire mercy for pardon but desired mercy for healing."

"They seek heaven for hell that seek for spiritual love in an unchanged heart."

"This is a point that our generation cannot afford to ignore. Why is it that we constantly parade Christian athletes, media personalities, and pop singers? Why should we think that their opinions or their experiences of grace are of any more significance than those of any other believer? When we tell outsiders about people in our church, do we instantly think of the despised and the lowly who have become Christians, or do we love to impress people with the importance of the men and women who have become Christians?"

D.A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry, p.29

Amen! I fear that those of us in the "Reformed Camp" can gravitate towards the same thing. Some follow Piper, some follow Sproul, some follow Carson, some follow Christ...(By no means is this anything against Piper, Sproul, or Carson). We must be careful not to make "stars" out of our heroes of the faith. Remember that their light is borrowed. Let us magnify the grace of God in the life of a high school janitor as much as we do in the life of our first baseman. Let us boast in the Cross through the lives of the clean-up crew as much as the keynote speaker.

UPDATE: Also, I want to point out what I mean by the title. I am not saying that one cannot be a "star" and a Christian at the same time. What I am saying, and believe Carson is saying, is that at the point in which the "stardom" is the attracting power it fails to be Christian.