The Works of Richard Sibbes, vol. 1

by Richard Sibbes; Alexander Balloch Grosart

Publishers:

James Nichol; J. Nisbet & Co.; W. Robertson

, 1862

Overview

Richard Sibbes wrote extensively on the relationship between suffering and sin and on the suffering of Christ. Volume one of this collection contains numerous works on these topics, including The Bruised Reed—the work for which Sibbes is best known. He also writes about the place of saints and the nature of those whom God loves and has called. Sibbes is well-positioned to speak of suffering and of those in the church’s history who have suffered, given his history of writing from within a shifting and often dangerous political climate. Volume one also includes a lengthy biography of Richard Sibbes, written by Alexander Balloch Grosart.

In the Logos edition, The Works of Richard Sibbes is completely searchable and more accessible than ever. Key theological terms link to dictionaries and encyclopedias, and Scripture references are linked to your Greek New Testament or your favorite English translations. The Works of Richard Sibbes will benefit pastors, theologians, laypeople, and anyone interested in Reformed theology in general and Puritan thought in particular.

Key Features

• Memoir of Richard Sibbes written by Rev. Alexander Balloch Grosart
• Preface by the editor

Contents

Top Highlights

“The ground of this mixture is, that we carry about us a double principle, grace and nature. The end of it is especially to preserve us from those two dangerous rocks which our natures are prone to dash upon, security and pride; and to force us to pitch our rest on justification, not sanctification, which, besides imperfection, hath some soil.” (Page 50)

“We must not judge of ourselves always according to present feeling; for in temptations we shall see nothing but smoke of distrustful thoughts. Fire may be raked up in the ashes, though not seen; life in the winter is hid in the root.” (Page 58)

“It adds strength to faith to consider, that all expressions of love issue from nature in Christ, which is constant. God knows that, as we are prone to sin, so, when conscience is thoroughly awaked, we are as prone to despair for sin; and therefore he would have us know, that he setteth himself in the covenant of grace to triumph in Christ over the greatest evils and enemies we fear, and that his thoughts are not as our thoughts are, Isa. 5:8; that he is God, and not man, Hos. 11:9; that there are heights, and depths, and breadths of mercy in him above all the depths of our sin and misery, Eph. 3:18; that we should never be in such a forlorn condition, wherein there should be ground of despair, considering our sins be the sins of men, his mercy the mercy of an infinite God.” (Page 39)

“The observations hence are, first, That in God’s children, especially in their first conversion, there is but a little measure of grace, and that little mixed with much corruption, which, as smoke, is offensive. Secondly, That Christ will not quench this smoking flax.” (Page 49)

Praise for the Print Edition

Sibbes never wastes . . . time. He scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands.

—C. H. Spurgeon

I shall never cease to be grateful to Richard Sibbes, who was balm to my soul at a period in my life when I was overworked and badly overtired, and therefore subject in an unusual manner to the onslaughts of the devil. I found at that time that Richard Sibbes . . . was an unfailing remedy. His books The Bruised Reed and The Soul’s Conflict quieted, soothed, comforted, encouraged, and healed me.

—Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The most brilliant and popular of all the utterances of the Puritan church.

—William Haller

A ‘soul of goodness’ informs every fiber and filament of his thinking . . . there is not a page without food for the spiritually hungry.

—Rev. Alexander Balloch Grosart

Product Details

• Title: The Works of Richard Sibbes, vol. 1
• Author: Richard Sibbes
• Editor: Alexander Balloch Grosart
• Publisher: James Nichol
• Publication Date: 1862
• Pages: 425

About Richard Sibbes

Richard Sibbes (1577–1635) entered St. John’s College at Cambridge in 1595 and was ordained in the Church of England in 1607. He received his BD in 1610. Sibbes lectured at Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge beginning in 1611 and, in 1617, became a preacher at Gray’s Inn—then London’s most famous pulpit. He returned to Catherine Hall in 1626 and to Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge in 1623, though he never gave up his preaching at Gray’s Inn. Influence of Sibbes’ thought shows in the writings of John Cotton, Hugh Peters, Thomas Goodwin, John Preston, and countless others.

Among Sibbes’ last words: “I commend and bequeath my soul into the hands of my gracious Savior, who hath redeemed it with his most precious blood, and appears now in heaven to receive it.”