The Silent Holocron

Timmy Brister has just informed us of a schedule change to the 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge (see sidebar for more info). Here’s the skinny:

Many of you (I am told around 300) have purchased the P&P special from RHB which includes all twelve Puritan Paperbacks in a set. Well, not quite all twelve. As you know, Thomas Brooks’ book, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, has been sold out and back-ordered for a couple of months. While I have been informed that they are close to filling those orders in the near future, it appears that the books will not be available in time for the beginning of April which is the month dedicated to reading Brooks. Therefore, I have decided to make a schedule change.

Please help me get the word out on this. There are so many people from so many corners of the internet that I cannot possibly connect with everyone. So if you can, please help me get this announcement out. I am looking forward to digging into Burroughs next month with you as we learn about great gain of godliness with contentment.

I hope that, if you have not already, you will take up the Puritan Reading Challenge! Click the button in the sidebar for details!

This month’s Puritan author is Thomas Watson (c. 1620-1686). The bio and book synopsis provided here is compiled from Meet the Puritans by Joel Beeke and Randall Peterson.

Thomas Watson was a student at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, earning a BA degree in 1639 and an MA in 1642. In 1646, Watson went to St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, London and served as lecturer for ten years and rector for six years. In 1647, he married Abigail Beadle, daughter of Essex minister John Beadle. They had at least seven children, four of which died young.

During the English Civil War, Watson expressed strong Presbyterian views. He was one of the Presbyterian ministers who went to Oliver Cromwell to protest the execution of Charles I. He was imprisoned along with several others in 1651 for his role in a plot to restore the monarchy. He was released after petitioning for mercy and reinstated to his Walbrook pastorate in 1652.

Watson was one of the many Puritan ministers ejected from his pastorate with the passage of the Act of Uniformity in 1662. He continued to preach privately whenver he had the opportunity. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, he prepared a large room for public worship, inviting anyone who wished to attend. With the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672, Watson obtained a license for Crosby Hall and preached there for three years before being joined by Stephen Charnock. After Charnock’s death in 1680, Watson continued until his health failed, at which he retired to Barnston in Esssex, where he died suddenly in 1686 while praying privately.

Watson’s depth of doctrine, clarity of expression, warmth of spirituality, love of application, and gift of illustration enhanced his reputation as a preacher and writer. His books are still widely read today.

Synopsis of The Godly Man’s Picture
This month’s Puritan Paperback is The Godly Man’s Picture. You can order it by clicking on the link in the title.

This work is subtitled Drawn with a Scripture Pencil, or, Some Characteristics of a Man who is Going to Heaven. After explaining the nature of godliness, Watson describes twenty-four marks of a godly man, including “moved by faith,” “fired with love,” “prizes Christ,” “loves the Word,” “is humble,” “is patient,” and “loves the saints.” The concluding chapters offer helps to godliness, advice on how to persevere in godliness, counsel, and comfort for the godly, and teaching on the mystical union between Christ and His people.

This wraps up our third biography of 2008. I am now off to work. I pray you will take up the Puritan Reading Challenge 2008! Click on the button in the sidebar to see how to begin!

The Puritan we will be reading this month is John Flavel (1628-1691). Due to circumstances obviously beyond my control, instead of providing my own brief bio, I would like to link my readers to Timmy Brister’s excellent introduction to Flavel. You can read the bio here.

Excerpts from the bio:

In 1656, Flavel accepted a call to be minister in the thriving seaport of Dartmouth. He earned a smaller income there, but his work was more profitable; many were converted. One of his parishioners wrote of Flavel, “I could say much, though not enough of the excellency of his preaching; of his seasonable, suitable, and spiritual matter; of his plain expositions of Scripture; his talking method, his genuine and natural deductions, his convincing arguments, his clear and powerful demonstrations, his heart-searching applications, and his comfortable supports to those that were afflicted in conscience. In short, that person must have a very soft head, or a very hard heart, or both, that could sit under his ministry unaffected” (Erasmus Middleton, Evangelical Biography, 4:50-51).

Flavel’s power as a preacher came out of his depth of spiritual experience. He spent many hours in meditation and self-examination. As Middleton writes, “He [Flavel] attained to a well-grounded assurance, the ravishing comforts of which were many times shed abroad in his soul; this made him a powerful and successful preacher, as one who spoke from his own heart to those of others. He preached what he felt, and what he had handled, what he had seen and tasted of the word of life and they felt it also” (ibid., p. 58).

While meditating on heaven on one occasion, Flavel was so overcome with heavenly joy that he lost sight of this world. Stopping his horse by a spring, he viewed death as the most amiable face he had ever seen, except that of Christ’s, who made it so. When he finally arrived at an inn, the innkeeper said to him, “Sir, what is the matter with you? You look like a dead man.” “Friend,” Flavel replied, “I was never better in my life.” Years later, Flavel said that he understood more of heaven from that experience than from all the books he had ever read and all the sermons he had ever heard on the subject.

This Month’s Book

This month we will be reading The Mystery of Providence by Flavel. Again, we turn to Timmy’s Flavel bio to give us some basic information:

First published in 1678 as Divine Conduct or the Mystery of Providence Opened, this frequently reprinted book is based on Psalm 57:2, “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.” It explains the following doctrine: “It is the duty of the saints, especially in times of straits, to reflect upon the performances of Providence for them in all the states and through all the stages of their lives” (p. 20).

This excellent book on providence opens avenues of spiritual knowledge and experience that few believers have probed. It is invaluable for understanding God’s purposes for our lives. Flavel teaches us how to find delight in discerning how God works all things in the world for His glory and our good.

Again, you can access Timmy’s excellent bio on Flavel here.

I pray you will take up and read as we begin the second month of the 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge. I’ve already made plans for how I’m going to tackle this month’s book. You can see just how here!

Join the 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge today by clicking the button in the sidebar!

This is how I plan on spending February:

Join the 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge by clicking this link or the button in the sidebar!

Today at long last we will take a look at Richard Sibbes’ work, The Bruised Reed.

Review
The Bruised Reed seems to be primarily a work of pastoral care. The book is based off of Isaiah 42:1-3 — “¹Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. ²He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. ³A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (KJV, emphasis mine)” This passage is applied to the work of Christ, and Sibbes believes it involves two things: first, the calling of Christ to his office; and second, the manner in which he carries it out.

Christ, who is called “God’s servant,” is a chosen and choice servant. His service, Sibbes says, was to do and suffer all by the Father’s will. For this reason God counts the work of our salvation by Christ to be his greatest treasure, for it shows God’s love to us. Because of this, Christ is the only safe place towards which we can look when temptation comes. Our natural inclination is to turn inward, focusing on our troubles, but Christ alone has the special power of comforting the soul, for God’s authority and love are in him. Our comfort as believers is wholly based on being “in Christ,” therefore our faith must be built on the Savior and nothing else. Remember, Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6a).” He seeks bruised reeds and smoking flaxes, the sick rather than the healthy.

What is a “bruised reed?” A bruised reed, Sibbes states, is a person in some misery. Misery brings this person to see sin as the cause of it, and he sees no help in himself. Therefore he seeks relief elsewhere, and he mourns and hopes for mercy. Sibbes says this bruising is necessary before we can be saved, for it allows the Spirit to make way for himself, brings low all proud thoughts, and brings us to understand what we are by nature — that is, that we are sinners. Bruising also makes us set a high price on Christ. This allows the gospel to truly be the gospel, which makes us more thankful, more fruitful, and more firmly sets us in God’s ways. Bruising further reminds us that we are reeds, not oaks; that is, we are small and weak, not large and mighty. We live by the mercy of God alone. As such, Sibbes contends we must not be too hard on ourselves or others when we experience bruising, for by this bruising we are being conformed to Christ, who was “bruised for us (Isaiah 53:5).”

What is a “smoking flax?” From reading the book, I believe Sibbes considers a smoking flax to be a new Christian. He states, “In smoking flax there is but a little light, and that weak, as being unable to flame, and that little mixed with smoke. The observations from this are that, in God’s children, especially in their first conversion, there is but a little measure of grace, and that little mixed with much corruption, which, as smoke, is offensive; but that Christ will not quench this smoking flax (p. 16).”

So it seems pretty obvious that new believers are those whom have “but a little light, and that weak, as being unable to flame, and that little mixed with smoke.” They are like firestarters for a campfire — they are only able to take a spark at the moment. If they were put to a flame, they would be immediately consumed. If they were smothered or drenched, they would immediately be put out. New Christians are delicate things that must be treated with the utmost care, just as a firestarter.
Read more…

As I continued reading through The Bruised Reed yesterday, I found a statement in chapter 10 that perfectly summarizes the purpose of Richard Sibbes’ book:

The comfort intended in this text is for those that would fain (<– means “gladly”) do better, but find their corruptions clog them; that are in such a mist, that often they cannot tell what to think of themselves; that fain would believe, and yet often fear that they do not believe; and that think that it cannot be that God should be so good to such sinful wretches as they are, and yet they do not permit these fears and doubts in themselves.

When I read this, I was immediately reminded of the title of a rather popular book written by Rabbi Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Not only does Sibbes’ book answer this question, but it also answers its reverse, asked by many a Christian who struggles with sin: “Why is God good to me, a sinner?”

I have a suggestion. Instead of buying Rabbi Kushner’s book, I beg each of you to put The Bruised Reed in the hands of all your friends and family members who are struggling with sin, personal crises, crises of faith, and any other struggle you could think of. This book will do them more good than Rabbi Kushner’s book ever could.

In the meantime, go over to Timmy Brister’s and take part in the discussion on The Bruised Reed in this post.

I plan to finish the book this weekend, take notes during the upcoming week, and post my review by the weekend. Stay tuned!

Now that power has been restored to the Deaf Jedi Temple, let me quickly point you to a Puritan Challenge 2008 update.

Timmy Brister has given us a major update on this year’s Puritan Challenge. If you have decided to join the challenge, Timmy requests that you add your name to what is now the “official” list of those participating by clicking on the button below (or in the sidebar) and leaving a comment with your first and last name.

By joining you will be “on the list” so Timmy can be aware of those who are involved and/or posting on this challenge, possibly (he didn’t say) be included in a compilation at some point, and be eligible for this month’s gift in the Puritan Challenge’s monthly giveaway (see details on the above linked post).

Also included in Timmy’s update are his intentions for posting regarding the challenge and a heads-up on some great discounts that are being offered for those participating in the challenge. Again, go sign up for the challenge on this post over at Timmy’s blog and take advantage of the discounts to get your Puritan Paperbacks, if you haven’t already! Otherwise you can order them from most of the places in my Books page. In fact, if you order them from here, do it from the Monergism Books button in the sidebar and support my reading habit — I get store credit for every click on the button!

A few days ago, I wrote that I plan to give a brief bio at the beginning of each month on the Puritan we are reading, and hopefully a short synopsis (which I currently plan to find from an outside source) of the month’s book. After I finish each book, I will post a review here in which I will (1) review the book, (2) give my personal reflections, (3) explore ministry application, and (4) give recommendations for readers from the content (a sort of brief devotional).

It’s my hope that this challenge will also spur readers of this blog to take up the Puritan Challenge as well and begin reading books that actually are good for the Christian’s health! Don’t wait — sign up for the Puritan Challenge 2008 today!

The Puritan we will be reading this month is Richard Sibbes (1577-1635). Much of the following material is taken from Meet the Puritans by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson, and The Genius of Puritanism by Peter Lewis.

Richard Sibbes was one of the most influential Puritans of his time, after William Perkins (1558-1602). He seems to have escaped the persecution by the English government that characterized the lives of many of his fellow Puritan ministers. Sibbes was known as “the heavenly Doctor” due to his godly preaching and heavenly manner of life, and his preaching and writing was extremely popular; especially the volume we will be reading this month, The Bruised Reed, and its companion, The Soul’s Conflict.

Sibbes was born at Tostock, Suffolk, which Beeke and Pederson call “the Puritan country of old England.” He was baptized as a child. He was a bibliophile; that is, he was a lover of books from an early age. His father, a wheelwright (a person who builds or repairs wheels) and a Christian himself, tried to break his son of his bookish ways by attempting to interest him in the wheelwright’s trade, but Sibbes refused, uninterested. At the age of 18 he was admitted to St. John’s College in Cambridge, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1599, a fellowship in 1601, and a Master of Arts in 1602. In 1603 Sibbes was converted through the preaching of Paul Baynes (c. 1573-1617), whom he called his “father in the gospel.” Baynes succeeded William Perkins at the Church of St. Andrews in Cambridge.

It seems Sibbes began to experience the blessings of God almost immediately following his conversion. He was ordained to the ministry in the Church of England in 1608 and the following year was chosen as one of the college preachers. In 1610 he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree and from 1611 to 1616 served as lecturer at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge. His preaching brought revival to a Cambridge which had fallen into “spiritual indifference” after the death of Perkins in 1602; and his speaking became so popular a gallery had to be built to accomodate visitors in the church. During this time, he became a major factor in the conversions of such noted Puritans as John Cotton and Hugh Peters, and was a large influence on Thomas Goodwin and John Preston, other notable Puritans.

In 1617 Sibbes went to London as a lecturer for Gray’s Inn, the largest of the four great Inns of Court (which remain to this day one of the most important centers in England for the study and practice of law). In 1626 he became master of St. Catharine’s College at Cambridge and received his Doctor of Divinity during this time. It is while here that he became known as “the heavenly Doctor.” In 1633 King Charles I offered Sibbes the charge of Holy Trinity, Cambridge. He continued to serve as preacher at Gray’s Inn, master of St. Catharine’s Hall, and vicat of Holy Trinity until his death in 1635.

Interestingly, Sibbes never married. He did, however, establish a large network of friendships that included godly ministers, noted lawyers and parliamentary leaders of the early Stuart era. He is quoted as saying, “Godly friends are walking sermons.” As a result, he wrote at least 13 introductions to the writings of his Puritan colleagues.

A Quote from Richard Sibbes

“To preach is to woo….The main scope of all [preaching] is, to allure us to the entertainment of Christ’s mild, safe, wise, victorious government.”

Synopsis of The Bruised Reed
This month’s Puritan Paperback is The Bruised Reed, authored obviously by Richard Sibbes. What follows is a brief synopsis from Meet the Puritans.

This treatise on the dejected sinner is one of the best works of its kind. In sixteen chapters, Sibbes expounds Isaiah 42:3, “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.” Richard Baxter said that God used the reading of this treatise to effect his own conversion. Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote, “I shall never cease to be grateful to 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….The Bruised Reed quieted, soothed, comforted, encouraged and healed me.”

Where to Buy The Bruised Reed
You can get this book from any of the links in my Books page. If you live in Louisville, you can run down to the Southern Seminary campus bookstore or, if you want it at a discount, the Christian Book Nook near the University of Louisville. If you’d like to order directly from the publisher, you may be able to take advantage of a great sale they are having at the Banner of Truth website. Just click on “Book Catalogue” to see the specials. Currently you can get 5 Puritan Paperbacks of your choice for $35. Take that opportunity to get yourself 5 months’ worth of reading in one fell swoop! See the reading schedule in the sidebar to determine which titles to purchase.

Well, that wraps up our first Puritan biography of 2008. I am now off to take a brief nap before reading another chapter of The Bruised Reed and then going to work. I pray you will take up the Puritan Challenge 2008!