The Bruised Reed: and the Smoking Flax

Publisher Marketing: The Bruised Reed is the masterful exposition of Matthew 12:20 by the famous theologian Richard Sibbes, known in his time, as "the Heavenly Doctor Sibbes" and of whom the renowned C. H. Spurgeon wrote "He scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands." It was Sibbes' desire to expound upon the grace of God in the work of redemption and though he was eminently qualified to produce a text of a dogmatic nature expounding upon the cross of Christ, he chose rather to create a work of application respecting sanctification and assurance and to do so with a tender pastoral tone. In doing this, Sibbes explains what the reed refers to and what it means to be "a bruised" reed. He unpacks the metaphor of bruising to describe the process in which God humbles sinners by giving them a view of sin as he sees it. God often must wound before he can heal, and yet the goal of his bruising is always to lead us to a deeper love for Christ. Few literary works persist past the decade in which they were written, and even fewer persist past their century, however, The Bruised Reed lives on. The fact that readers today are still cut to the heart by the profound truths of which Sibbes writes, even in a time in which our society is barreling beyond postmodernism, is a testament to the quality of its author and of the timelessness of the material. "What a support to our faith is this, that God the Father, the party offended by our sins, is so well pleased with the work of redemption! And what a comfort is this, that, seeing God's love rests on Christ, as well pleased in him, we may gather that he is as well pleased with us, if we be in Christ!" --from The Bruised Reed Speaking of this classic exposition, Richard Baxter wrote, "It opened more the love of God to me, and gave me a livelier apprehension of the mystery of redemption, and how much I was beholden to Jesus Christ." Contributor Bio:  Sibbes, Richard Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) was an Anglican theologian. He is known as a Biblical exegete, and as a representative, with William Perkins and John Preston, of what has been called "main-line" Puritanism because he ever remained in the Church of England and worshiped according to the Book of Common Prayer. Contributor Bio:  Rotolo, Michael Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 - March 22, 1758) was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theo- logian, and one of America's greatest intellectuals. Edwards's theological work is very broad in scope, but he is often associated with his defense of Reformed Theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage. Recent studies have emphasized how thoroughly Edwards grounded his life's work on conceptions of beauty, harmony, and ethical fittingness, and how central The Enlightenment was to his mindset. Edwards played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first fires of revival in 1733-1735 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards's sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, is considered a classic of early American literature, which he delivered during another wave of revival in 1741, following George Whitefield's tour of the Thirteen Colonies. Edwards is widely known for his many books: The End For Which God Created the World; The Life of David Brainerd, which served to inspire thousands of missionaries throughout the nineteenth century; and Religious Affections, which many Reformed Evangelicals read even today. Edwards died from a smallpox inoculation shortly after beginning the presidency at the College of New Jersey (later to be named Princeton University), and was the grandfather of Aaron Burr.