Works (Vol 4) - Sibbes - VII - Yea and Amen commenced

Required reading
The Works Volume 4 by Richard Sibbes (Available from Amazon or free here) - Commence 'Yea and Amen' by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'Who hath anointed us, and sealed us.'

My summary
Today we commence a lengthy sermon on 2 Corinthians 1:19-23: '19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. 20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.'

Firstly Sibbes looks at the fact that 'Jesus Christ' whom Paul preached was not ' yea and nay' but 'yesterday and to-day, and the same for ever.'  Thus he observes that:
(i) the object of preaching now in the time of the gospel, is especially Jesus Christ;
(ii) divine truth is of an inflexible nature;
(iii) no man can dispense with God's law.

Secondly Sibbes teaches from, 'For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him are amen', that it hath pleased our good God, to establish a covenant of grace in Jesus Christ, and to make him a second Adam.

Thirdly from the words 'Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ' Sibbes observes:
(i) that the Christian needs not only converting but establishing grace;
(ii) that the life of a Christian is a perpetual dependent life.

Fourthly from the words 'who hath anointed us' Sibbes teaches us that our nature is enriched in Christ with all graces.

What grabbed me
Great statement concerning humility: 'Humiliation is a special radical grace. The foundation of religion is very low. Abasement of spirit is in all the parts of holiness. Every grace hath a mixture of humility, because they are all dependencies on God. Humility is an emptying grace, and acknowledged that in ourselves there is nothing. If God withhold his influence, I am gone ; if he withdraw his grace, I shall be like another man, as Samson was when his hair was cut off. Self-emptiness prepares for spiritual fulness. ' When I am weak,' saith blessed Paul, ' then I am strong ;' that is, when I feel and acknowledge my weakness, then my strength increases ; otherwise a man is not strong when he is weak ; but when he is sensible and groans under the burden of his infirmities, then he is inwardly strong. '

To be strong, requires an admission of weakness and dependence upon God.  Not an easy thing to do.

Next week's reading
Conclude 'Yea and Amen'.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.