“When men can find no comfort and yet set themselves to teach and encourage weaker Christians, by way of reflection they receive frequently great comfort themselves. So does God reward the conscientious performance of this duty of mutual discourse; that those things we did not so fully understand before, by discourse we come to know and relish far better. This should teach us to be in love with holy conference, for besides the good we do to others we are much profited ourselves. “

Good point Tony.

However, Sibbes is relating that ones actual righteousness is not that of Christ’s but it Christ’s righteousness that is credited to us. Thus, while the Holy Sprit works in us to change us, fanning the smoking flax, we are not automatically righteous so we will struggle and it is that struggle that God uses to His glory. It is in this struggle in the midst of community that one deals with the “secure sinner” or “weak Christian” and it is a correct understand of God’s work in the lives of His people that helps this endeavor.

To discern the difference does take community in the sense that if we simply look for a particular sign we will probably propagate people that show that sign externally regardless of their position with God. But if we truly spend time and know those around us the position they have with God becomes readily apparent and thus how we react to them will be more apparent.

I am not sure if this really answered your initial question but in the midst of thinking about it I began to wonder how ones view of ones righteousness would affect how we see ourselves relating to God.

It is good to see the interaction on the reading. I truly love to read the Puritans but have to admit that many times I do not get the full depth of their thought on a first reading and the comments made help me to get a better handle on the writings.

I thought about Edwards or Owen as well, but I figured because Southern offers classes on Edwards and Calvin, that might not be as “new” to many of your readers. Please don’t think I am trying to step on your toes here. These are just my thoughts and unless I share them, I cannot possibly be of any help to others.

Anyway, I proposed biographies because I figured many have not been blessed to read of the lives of some of the greatest, lesser known saints. Regardless, I just like the challenge of reading the dead guys!

1. “We must not judge of ourselves always according to present feeling, for in temptations we shall see nothing but smoke of distrustful thoughts. Fire may be raked up in the ashes, though not seen. Life in the winter is hid in the root” (35).

Point: Don’t judge yourself by your present feelings!

2. “We must beware of false reasoning, such as: because our fire does not blaze out as others, therefore we have no fire at all. By false conclusions we may come to sin against the commandment of bearing false witness against ourselves” (35).

Point: Don’t judge yourself by others!

3. “We must neither trust to false evidence, nor deny true; for so we should dishonour the work of God’s Spirit in us, and lose the help of that evidence which would cherish our love to Christ, and arm us against Satan’s discouragements” (35-36).

Point: Recognize that God is at work in you by His Spirit, so don’t be discouraged!

4. “We see how our Saviour Christ bore with Thomas in his doubting (John 20:27), and with the two disciples that went to Emmaus, who wavered as to whether he came to redeem Israel or not (Luke 24:21). He quenched not that little light in Peter, which was smothered; Peter denied him, but he denied not Peter (Luke 22:61). ‘If thou wilt, thou canst,’ said one poor man in the Gospel (Matt. 8:2). ‘If thou canst do anything,’ said another (Mark 9:22). Both were smoking flax. Neither of them were quenched. If Christ has stood upon his own greatness, he would have rejected him that came with his ‘if’. But Christ answers his ‘if’ with a gracious and absolute grant, ‘I will, be thou clean’” (20-21).

Point: If Christ does not quench such smoking flax, neither should we!

5a. “Mercy to others should move us to deny ourselves in our liberties oftentimes, in case of offending weak ones” (23).

5b. “Let us be watchful in the use of our liberty, and labor to be inoffensive in our behaviour, that our example compel them not. There is commanding force in an example, as there was in Peter (Gal. 2). Looseness of life is cruelty to ourselves and to the souls of others. Though we cannot keep those who will perish from perishing, yet if we do that which is apt of itself to destroy the souls of others their ruin is imputable to us” (31-32).

Point: If we are ministers of mercy, then we should careful with the use of our Christian liberty!

6. “In the censures of the church, it is more suitable to the spirit of Christ to incline to milder part, and not to kill a fly on the forehead with a mallet, nor shut men out of heaven for a trifle” (30).

Point: Don’t abuse authority or seek to bring rebuke or correction over trivial matters!

There are numerous others I came across in Sibbes’ treatment of weak Christians, but I thought I’d contribute these to the discussion. Got any more to add?

Regarding the Puritan Papers, I am going to post excerpts and summaries when they topics are relevant to the book we are reading. They are great supplementary material. As far as the blogging medium goes, it can be difficult, and I recognize that. Please don’t feel discouraged bro. If I have any questions or am confused, I will do my best to ask for clarification or a further explanation on something said or asked. While I will try my best to keep the conversation from confusion or misunderstanding, I am fully aware of the rough medium on which we discuss and want to give due latitude in giving folks the benefit of the doubt. I sincerely look forward to your helpful and edifying thoughts.

Terry,

As far as 2009 Reading Challenge, I am thinking about Jonathan Edwards, but I am open to other ideas.

DPH,

It is my pleasure. I am taking the discussions slow as I hope to bring out some points which we can discuss and specifically apply to our lives and ministries. Your encouragement means a lot, so thanks again!

Mike,

Your list line reminds me of a quote I read from Dever’s book on Sibbes’ view of assurance. While I hope to blog on this more soon, Sibbes’ appreciated the Reformed tripartite understanding of assurance, namely, the internal witness of the Spirit, sanctification, and good works. However, he said that there will be times where you will come where you cannot see marks of sanctification in your life. He said to go back to what you know about the gospel, the covenant of grace God has made with you. In other words, go back to justification – “the finished work of Jesus Christ.” In his words, it was “Go back to the blood of Jesus, go back to the blood of Jesus.” Ultimately, it is our faith in Christ our justification who speaks for us when we cannot speak for ourselves. For smoking flax who tend to see more smoke than flax, it is important to remember that truth!

Thanks for the clarification and encouragement. I agree that the terms can be confusing, especially if the context is not provided! As far as the bruising before and after conversion, I attempted to bring that out a little in the first discussion which you can find linked at the top of the post.

Terry,

Getting those in the Louisville area together would be fun, but I am not sure how that would work out. If you have any ideas, feel free to pass them along. I am, however, out of town for the week as I am spending a little time with the fam before the semester starts (hence, the slow and belated replies!).

As far as the questions my experience has been that the preaching of the gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone is the only way to tell. What I mean by that is that whenever we preach the gospel and then observe its fruits usually we can tell whether we are dealing with a “weak Christian” or a “secure-sinner”. If the dear brother or sister is broken and contrite for their sin and barely even knowing whether God will forgive them it is quite likely that they will go home justified. On the other hand if they are confident and secure and unbroken for their sin it is quite likely that they are secure but wrong in their assurance. It is the difference between the Tax Collector and Pharisee at the temple. How can you tell the difference? Sometime you cannot. But mostly it is by seeing the fruits of Isaiah 66:2. (Trembling at the Word, humble, contrite).

As far as the second question is concerned I am very much growing in this area. Even through this book the Lord has been teaching me about being more gentle in dealing with the sheep he has given to my charge. One area that I have changed is in my preaching. Rather than preaching the Old Testament and New Testament as if it is Law I have begun preaching everything in light of the Cross. (I know many seasoned veterans are saying ‘duh’). A quote by Bryan Chapell really struck me. “Whether people depart alone or in the Savior’s hand will mark the difference between futility and faith, legalism and true obedience, dogoodism and real godliness”.

I have been laboring for the past few months to make certain that within every text of Scripture I attempt to show how it points to man’s fallness and Christ’s redemption. Even Paul’s NT exhortations. Because we all screw up on these as well. So, rather than preaching these exhortations like a list that we must acquire. I preach these exhortations as something that is ours through the imputed righteousness of Christ. Yet something that we should still strive and labor to attain, not as a grounds of our justification but because of it. This I believe has helped many smoking flax to rest not on their sanctification but upon the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Thank you so much for your commentary and discussion questions to consider. I am a few chapters away from finishing “The Bruised Reed” and have been blessed beyond words. Even though I don’t understand all that Sibbes wrote, I can now go back and review some of the areas that you and other bloggers who posted comments referred to. Hearing what others have to say helps me understand things better and adds to my overall comprehension of the book and its intent.

Keep up the great work and once again, I thank you for being willing to include us “puritan novices” in your 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge.