But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
— Matthew 12:15-21
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
— Psalm 51:17
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
— Isaiah 11:3-4
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
— Matthew 11:28
Grace is Little at First, by Richard Sibbes. The following contains Chapter Five of his work, “The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax.”
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.—MATT. 12:20
For the second branch, God will not quench the smoking flax, or wick, but will blow it up till it flameth. In smoking flax there is but a little light, and that weak, as being not able to flame, and this little mixed with smoke.
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.
Obs. 1. For the first, Grace is little at the first. There are several ages in Christians, some babes, some young men: grace is as ‘a grain of mustard seed,’ Matt. 17:20. Nothing so little as grace at first, and nothing more glorious afterward: things of greatest perfection are longest in coming to their growth. Man, the perfectest creature, comes to perfection by little and little; worthless things, as mushrooms and the like, like Jonah’s gourd, soon spring up, and soon vanish. A new creature is the most excellent frame in all the world, therefore it groweth up by degrees; we see in nature that a mighty oak riseth of an acorn. It is with a Christian as it was with Christ, who sprang out of the dead stock of Jesse, out of David’s family, Isa. 53:2, when it was at the lowest, but he grew up higher than the heavens. It is not with the trees of righteousness as it was with the trees of paradise, which were created all perfect at the first. The seeds of all the creatures in this goodly frame of the world were hid in the chaos, in that confused mass at the first, out of which God did command all creatures to arise; in the small seeds of plants lie hid both bulk and branches, bud and fruit. In a few principles lie hid all comfortable conclusions of holy truth. All these glorious fireworks of zeal and holiness in the saints had their beginning from a few sparks.
Let us not therefore be discouraged at the small beginnings of grace, but look on ourselves, as ‘elected to be blameless and without spot,’ Eph. 1:4. Let us only look on our imperfect beginning to enforce further strife to perfection, and to keep us in a low conceit. Otherwise, in case of discouragement, we must consider ourselves, as Christ doth, who looks on us as such as he intendeth to fit for himself. Christ valueth us by what we shall be, and by that we are elected unto. We call a little plant a tree, because it is growing up to be so. ‘Who is he that despiseth the day of little things?’ Zech. 4:10. Christ would not have us despise little things. The glorious angels disdain not attendance on little ones; little in their own eyes, and little in the eyes of the world.
Grace, though little in quantity, yet is much in vigour and worth.
It is Christ that raiseth the worth of little and mean places and persons. Bethlehem the least, Micah 5:2, Mat. 2:6, and yet not the least; the least in itself, not the least in respect Christ was born there. The second temple, Hag. 2:9, came short of the outward magnificence of the former; yet more glorious than the first, because Christ came into it. The Lord of the temple came into his own temple. The pupil of the eye is very little, yet seeth a great part of the heaven at once. A pearl, though little, yet is of much esteem: nothing in the world of so good use, as the least dram of grace.
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