“He requires no more than He gives” by Richard Sibbes

“A weak hand may receive a rich jewel. A few grapes will show that the plant is a vine, and not a thorn.

It is one thing to be deficient in grace, and another thing to lack grace altogether.

God knows we have nothing of ourselves, therefore in the covenant of grace He requires no more than He gives, but gives what He requires, and accepts what He gives.

What is the gospel itself but a merciful moderation, in which Christ’s obedience is esteemed ours, and our sins laid upon Him, wherein God, from being a judge, becomes our Father, pardoning our sins and accepting our obedience, though feeble and blemished!

We are now brought to heaven under the covenant of grace by a way of love and mercy.”

–Richard Sibbes, “The Bruised Reed,” The Works of Richard Sibbes, Volume 1 (ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart; Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1639/2001), 1: 58.

“Wonderful sweetness of pity and love” by Richard Sibbes

“God hath laid up all grace and comfort in Christ for us, and planted a wonderful sweetness of pity and love in His heart towards us.

As God His Father hath fitted Him with a body, (Heb. 10:5), so He hath fitted Him with a heart to be a merciful Redeemer.”

–Richard Sibbes, “The Bruised Reed,” The Works of Richard Sibbes, Volume 1 (ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart; Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1639/2001), 1: 38.

“The infinite goodness of God” by Richard Sibbes

“In all storms there is sea room enough in the infinite goodness of God for faith to be carried with full sail.”

–Richard Sibbes, “The Soul’s Conflict,” The Works of Richard Sibbes, Volume 1 (ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart; Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1639/2001), 1: 126.

“We are weak, but we are His” by Richard Sibbes

“We are weak, but we are His.”

–Richard Sibbes, “The Bruised Reed,” The Works of Richard Sibbes, Volume 1 (ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart; Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1639/2001), 1: 71.

“In Christ all perfections of mercy and love meet” by Richard Sibbes

“If the sweetness of all flowers were in one, how sweet must that flower be?

In Christ all perfections of mercy and love meet.

How great then must that mercy be that lodges in so gracious a heart?

Whatever tenderness is scattered in husband, father, brother, head, all is but a beam from Him, it is in Him in the most eminent manner.

We are weak, but we are His.”

–Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1630/2021), 69.

“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us” by Richard Sibbes

“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.”

–Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1630/2021), 13.

“He shall carry you safely home” by J.C. Ryle

“Let all the world know that the Lord Christ is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. As a father pitieth his children, so He pitieth them that fear Him.

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will He comfort His people. (James 5:11; Matt. 12:20; Ps. 103:13; Isa. 66:13.)

He cares for the lambs of His flock as well as for the old sheep.

He cares for the sick and feeble ones of His fold as well as for the strong. It is written that He will carry them in His bosom, rather than let one of them be lost. (Isaiah 40:11.)

He cares for the least member of His body, as well as for the greatest.

He cares for the babes of His family as well as the grown up men.

He cares for the tenderest little plants in His garden as well as for the cedar of Lebanon. All are in His book of life, and all are under His charge. All are given to Him in an everlasting covenant, and He has undertaken, in spite of all weaknesses, to bring every one safe home.

Only let a sinner lay hold on Christ by faith, and then, however feeble, Christ’s word is pledged to him, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’ He may correct him occasionally in love.

He may gently reprove him at times. But He will never, never give him up. The devil shall never pluck him from Christ’s hand.

Let all the world know that the Lord Jesus will not cast away His believing people because of short-comings and infirmities. The husband does not put away his wife because he finds failings in her.

The mother does not forsake her infant because it is weak, feeble, and ignorant. And the Lord Christ does not cast off poor sinners who have committed their souls into His hands because He sees in them blemishes and imperfections.

Oh! no! It is His glory to pass over the faults of His people, and heal their backslidings,—to make much of their weak graces, and to pardon their many faults.

Who is there now among the readers of this paper that feels desires after salvation, but is afraid to become decided, lest by-and-by he should fall away? Consider, I beseech you, the tenderness and patience of the Lord Jesus, and be afraid no more.

Fear not to take up the cross, and come out boldly from the world. That same Lord and Saviour who bore with the disciples is ready and willing to bear with you.

If you stumble, He will raise you.

If you err, He will gently bring you back.

If you faint, He will revive you.

He will not lead you out of Egypt, and then suffer you to perish in the wilderness. He will conduct you safe into the promised land.

Only commit yourself to His guidance, and then, my soul for yours, He shall carry you safely home. Only hear Christ’s voice, and follow Him, and you shall never perish.”

–J.C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots (London: William Hunt and Company, 1889), 299–300.

“He will not break the bruised reed” by J.C. Ryle

“Let all the world know that the Lord Christ is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. As a father pitieth his children, so He pitieth them that fear Him.

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will He comfort His people. (James 5:11; Matt. 12:20; Ps. 103:13; Isa. 66:13.)

He cares for the lambs of His flock as well as for the old sheep.

He cares for the sick and feeble ones of His fold as well as for the strong. It is written that He will carry them in His bosom, rather than let one of them be lost. (Isaiah 40:11.)

He cares for the least member of His body, as well as for the greatest.

He cares for the babes of His family as well as the grown up men.

He cares for the tenderest little plants in His garden as well as for the cedar of Lebanon. All are in His book of life, and all are under His charge. All are given to Him in an everlasting covenant, and He has undertaken, in spite of all weaknesses, to bring every one safe home.

Only let a sinner lay hold on Christ by faith, and then, however feeble, Christ’s word is pledged to him, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’ He may correct him occasionally in love.

He may gently reprove him at times. But He will never, never give him up. The devil shall never pluck him from Christ’s hand.

Let all the world know that the Lord Jesus will not cast away His believing people because of short-comings and infirmities. The husband does not put away his wife because he finds failings in her.

The mother does not forsake her infant because it is weak, feeble, and ignorant. And the Lord Christ does not cast off poor sinners who have committed their souls into His hands because He sees in them blemishes and imperfections.

Oh! no! It is His glory to pass over the faults of His people, and heal their backslidings,—to make much of their weak graces, and to pardon their many faults.

Who is there now among the readers of this paper that feels desires after salvation, but is afraid to become decided, lest by-and-by he should fall away? Consider, I beseech you, the tenderness and patience of the Lord Jesus, and be afraid no more.

Fear not to take up the cross, and come out boldly from the world. That same Lord and Saviour who bore with the disciples is ready and willing to bear with you.

If you stumble, He will raise you.

If you err, He will gently bring you back.

If you faint, He will revive you.

He will not lead you out of Egypt, and then suffer you to perish in the wilderness. He will conduct you safe into the promised land.

Only commit yourself to His guidance, and then, my soul for yours, He shall carry you safe home. Only hear Christ’s voice, and follow Him, and you shall never perish.”

–J.C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots (London: William Hunt and Company, 1889), 299–300.

“Be strong in the Lord” by Richard Sibbes

“The victory lies not with us, but with Christ, who has taken on Him both to conquer for us and to conquer in us. The victory lies neither in our own strength to get it, nor in our enemies’ strength to defeat it.

If it lay with us, we might justly fear. But Christ will maintain His own government in us and take our part against our corruptions. They are His enemies as well as ours. Let us therefore be ‘strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might’ (Eph. 6:10).

Let us not look so much at who our enemies are as at who our Judge and Captain is, nor at what they threaten, but at what He promises. We have more for us than against us. What coward would not fight when he is sure of victory? None is here overcome but he that will not fight.”

–Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1630/1998), 122.

“Christ is a strong Saviour” by Richard Sibbes

“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.