Richard Sibbes, frequently called "the heavenly Sibbes," Sibbes was admired both for his preaching and his godly life. Izaac Walton, author of the Compleat Angler and contemporary of Sibbes, wrote of him: Of this blest man, let this just praise be given, Heaven was in him, before he was in heaven. Spurgeon wrote "Sibbes never wastes the student's time. He scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands." More recently, Martyn Lloyd-Jones stated "I shall never cease to be grateful to Richard Sibbes who was balm to my soul. Indeed, Sibbes' works have offered enlightenment and comfort to Christians over the last four centuries. This collection contains some of his best known writings-"The Bruised Reed," "The Soul's Conflict," and "Christ is Best." The complete contents are: Memoir of Richard Sibbes, Description of Christ, The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax, The Sword of the Wicked, The Soul's Conflict with Itself and Victory over Itself by Faith, The Saint's Safety in Evil Times, Christ is Best; Or St. Paul's Strait, Christ's Suffering for Man's Sin, The Church's Visitation, The Ungodly's Misery, The Difficulty of Salvation, The Saint's Hiding-Place in the Evil Day.
Richard Sibbes was an English 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.
He attended St John's College, Cambridge from 1595. He was lecturer at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, from 1610 or 1611 to 1615 or 1616. It is erroneously held by 18th and 19th century scholars that Sibbes was deprived of his various academic posts on account of his Puritanism. In fact he was never deprived of any of his posts, due to his ingenuity of the system.
He was then preacher at Gray's Inn, London, from 1617, returning to Cambridge as Master of Catherine Hall in 1626, without giving up the London position.
He was the author of several devotional works expressing intense religious feeling -- The Saint's Cordial (1629), The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax (1631, exegesis of Isaiah 42:3), The Soules Conflict (1635), etc.
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