Welcome 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
“What is truth?” (Jn 18:38) Pilate asked Jesus. Our Lord had just finished telling the Roman governor that He had come to bear witness to the truth. He went further and said all who are of the truth listen’s to His voice. Pilate didn’t seem to have a category for truth the way Christ addressed it. I imagine, when I read that question, Pilate’s voice is either haunted or scornful dismissal. He is either haunted by the implications of Jesus’ words, or scornful of that which he does not believe to be important.
The whole basis of your trust in Christ and the Bible is one of truth. You don’t put your faith in a lie. At least, I hope you don’t. Pilate, in his political world, had no use for an absolute truth that did not bend to his desire and ambition. Jesus, just as much then as now, stands opposed to this world which does not honor God. Jesus came to “bear witness to the truth.” What truth is he talking about? Just hours before he laid it out, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (Jn 14:6)
In this reading Sibbes’ is digging in to 2 Corinthians 1:19-23. The Bible asserts that God is true. Because of this, Paul’s word has been true. Finally, all the promises of God find their yes and amen in Jesus Christ. It is because of this truth and the trustworthy promises of God that the saint is established in Christ and his deliverance is sure.
So what is a promise? Sibbes says “A promise is nothing but a manifestation of love; an intendment of bestowing some good, and removing some evil from us.” And on what ground can we trust a promise, but that we believe in something to be true? We believe in the word of promise because we believe in the promise Giver.
Application / Further Discussion
What is truth? Think about that question for a minute. Do you have a definition, or an intuitive understanding of it? “the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality,” Merriam-Webster says. Lets use that.
Do you believe the Word of God to be true? Do you believe Jesus Christ to be true? The promises of God rest on truth, and your desire to appropriate those promises for yourself in Christ rests on your belief in that truth. Put another way, you aren’t getting what you don’t believe in. In the church we talk often of those who profess Christ with their mouths but deny him with every action they take. Merely claiming the name of Christ, as though He were some magical incantation or formula, is not sufficient.
If you know Him, have repented of your sins, and believed in Jesus, then you know THE truth. Truth is not an abstract concept. All truth comes from God, who is Himself the truth. And as Dr. Sibbes rightly observes, “Divine truth is of an inflexible nature.” There is variation of shadow or change (James 1:17) in God. He does not change. This is part of His divine nature. If He did change, how terrifying that would be for a being of such power. One who knows all does not change. What would change Him?
So what! A local Pastor says this in every sermon. So what if God is truth, the source of all truth, and does not change. So what if God is to be trusted on the basis of His word and His person. The so what is, “The times vary, but not the faith of the times. The same fundamental truth is in all ages.” We follow the God who is the basis for our understanding of reality. We cannot know something to be true except the source of truth, God, has revealed it to us. Either by our construction in His image, having an intuitive knowledge of truth and error, right and wrong, or in the revelation we see in the natural world, or in the special revelation of His word. Whether you believe in Him does not alter the truth. Some people don’t believe planes hit buildings on 9/11. That doesn’t alter the fact that it happened.
Some people don’t believe there is a God, or that Jesus is God. That doesn’t alter His divinity. Nor should it alter your faith. “Opinion ought not to be the rule of things, but the nature of the thing itself.” God by His very nature, is truth. He is not subject to our judgment, our opinion, our whims, or our desires. We are subject to him.
Truth matters. Every time we concede a portion of the Bible is not true, or must be mistaken, we concede that God is wrong. It is His word, therefore it reflects Him. The world, your flesh, and the Devil would erode your belief in God. “Did God really say?” is not a new question. It’s as old as Eden. The consequences are the same for sin. There is but one deliverance, Jesus Christ. Stop playing with the truth, God is not your toy.
What’s that you say? Open-minded?
“Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.” – G.K. Chesteron
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Last week, we read A Spiritual Man’s Aim.
Next week, we read The Saint’s Comforts.
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