Weekly Puritan III, Bruised Reed - Chapter 5

With all of the chatter about discernment on the blogosphere, this excerpt from Chapter 5 is important to note:

SOUND JUDGMENT

And here likewise there needs a caveat. Mercy does not rob us of our right judgment, so as to take stinking fire brands for smoking flax. None will claim mercy more of others than those who deserve due severity. This example does not countenance lukewarmness, nor too much indulgence to those that need quickening. Cold diseases must have hot remedies. It made for the just commendation of the church of Ephesus that it could not bear them which were evil (Rev. 2:2). We should so bear with others as to manifest also a dislike of evil. Our Saviour Christ would not forbear sharp reproof where he saw dangerous infirmities in his most beloved disciples. It brings under a curse to do the work of the Lord deceitfully (Jer. 48:10), even where it is a work of just severity, as when it is sheathing the sword in the bowels of the enemy. And those whom we suffer to be betrayed by their worst enemies, their sins, will have just cause to curse us one day.

It is hard to preserve just bounds of mercy and severity without a spirit above our own, by which we ought to desire to be led in all things. That wisdom which dwells with prudence (Prov. 8:12) will guide us in these particulars, without which virtue is not virtue, truth not truth. The rule and the case must be laid together; for if there be not a keen insight, seeming likeness in conditions will give rise to errors in our opinions of them. Those fiery, tempestuous and destructive spirits in popery that seek to promote their religion by cruelty show that they are strangers to that wisdom which is from above, which makes men gentle, peaceable and ready to show that mercy which they themselves have felt. It is a way of prevailing agreeable both to Christ and to man's nature to prevail by some forbearance and moderation.

And yet often we see a false spirit in those that call for moderation. Their doing so is but to carry their own projects with the greater strength; and if they prevail they will hardly show that moderation to others which they now call for from others. And there is a proud kind of moderation likewise, when men will take upon them to censure both parties, as if they were wiser than both, although, if the spirit be right, an onlooker may see more than those that are in conflict. (pages 29-30)

May I be "gentle, peaceable and ready to show that mercy which" I have experienced from the mind of Christ.

( I recomend Tim Challies' new book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, please follow the blog tour for more information.)

Weekly Puritan II, Bruised Reed - Chapter 4

Christ does not extinquish the smoking flax, and neither should we.

If we could sum this chapter up in a single phrase, it would be: Those who are mature must deal patiently with those who are weak.

Yet, Sibbes is careful to distinquish between those who are weak due to their immaturity in the faith and those who are weak due to hard hearted hypocricy. The former require patience and loving correction, the latter require the rod of correction. In all of this the goal is redemption and the edification of the church.

One paragraph bears repeating:

It would be a good contest amongst Christians, one to labour to give no offence, and the other to labour to take none. The best men are severe to themselves, tender over others. Yet people should not tire and wear out the patience of others: nor should the weaker so far demand moderation from others as to rely upon their indulgence and so to rest in their own infirmities, with danger to their own souls and scandal to the church. (page 23)

To the Ends of the Earth

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. - Jim Elliot, October 28, 1949

On this date, January 8, in 1956, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Nate Saint gave their lives to bring the Gospel to the Huaorani people of Ecudor. While we may question why their lives were cut short at the beginning of their ministry, we trust in God's providence in performing His glorious will.

What am I willing to endure or experience to share the Gospel with the lost?

Weekly Puritan, Bruised Reed - Chapter 3

The Smoking Flax

This chapter takes a bit of thought for the modern mind (and for post-moderns as well). In our day and age, when we want flame we strike a match, flick a switch, or turn a knob. In Sibbes' day, as during the entire Biblical period, things were a bit more complicated. To obtain a flame you might need to strike flint against steel, directing the sparks into some type of tinder, possibly a piece of flax. The tinder would begin to smolder, but was still unusable until you had gently fanned it into flame.

The fact that we don't see this process daily might keep us from seeing the significance of the "smoking flax" (KJV) or "smoldering" or "faintly burning wick" (ESV) in Matthew 12:20 and Isaiah 42:3. We may be smoky wicks of flax, putting off more smoke than useable flame at present, but He will bring about the fire.

In this chapter Sibbes give several Biblical examples of how the fire was kindled in the lives of God's precious children. At the same time he shows that traces of smoke remain, due to our deficiencies.

Christ has begun a work in us, and it might now appear to be but a wisp of smoke, and not a full blown flame. We can trust that He will gently fan that spark into a raging fire for His glory.

My prayer for the week? More flame, less smoke.

False Prophet

Why does anyone listen to Pat Robertson anymore? This Fox News link lists his 2008 predictions based on what he says God has told him about the year to come. Of course he was wrong (thankfully) about a major terrorist attack taking place in America in 2007, saying "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us".

OK folks, start praying that oil doesn't reach $150 per barrel, that violence be abated, and that your 401K will not suffer in 2009 or 2010. In fact, start praying now that gas will once again sell for 39 cents a gallon, that all violent men and terrorists will start to sing Kum-Ba-Yah, and that the Dow will shoot through 25,000.

What a crock. We see here nothing more than another false prophet. Not according to my standards, but according to God's:

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.' And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?'— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. - Deuteronomy 18:20-22, ESV