“Christ will not leave us till He has made us like Himself, all glorious within and without, and presented us blameless before His Father (Jude 24). What a comfort this is in our conflicts with our unruly hearts, that it shall not always be thus!
Let us strive a little while, and we shall be happy forever. Let us think when we are troubled with our sins that Christ has this in charge from His Father, that He shall not ‘quench the smoking flax’ until He has subdued all.
This puts a shield into our hands to beat back ‘all the fiery darts of the wicked’ (Eph. 6:16). Satan will object, ‘You are a great sinner.’ We may answer, ‘Christ is a strong Saviour.’ But Satan will object, ‘You have no faith, no love.’ We reply: ‘Yes, a spark of faith and love.’
Satan says: ‘But Christ will not regard that.’ We answer: ‘Yes, He will not quench the smoking flax.’ Satan says: ‘But this is so little and weak that it will vanish and come to naught.’ We reply: “Nay, but Christ will cherish it, until He has brought judgment to victory.'”
–Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1630/1998), 123.
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