God Has Many Keys [or: The Lord Opened Her Heart] (Sibbes)

I've always loved the story in Acts about Lydia coming to faith in Christ when Paul was telling her about Jesus by the side of a river near Philippi.  Here's how Luke summarized it: "A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her …

Losing God’s Love? (Sibbes)

 There are times in the Christian life when, for various reasons, we don't feel God's love.  Sometimes the Christian doesn't feel loved by God because of certain sins committed, because of a brutal affliction that weighs heavy, or because of something else.  Andrew Peterson put it this way in his song "Just As I Am": …

The Art of Faith; or A Holy Defiance (Sibbes)

 Psalm 27:1 says this: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?" (NASB).  Richard Sibbes preached an outstanding sermon on this text around 1630.  Sibbes noted that in the first part of this Psalm, David explained his comfort, his …

The Answerable Comfort of God (Sibbes)

 In Christ, we know our heavenly Father as the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3).  The Heidelberg Catechism puts it so well: our only comfort is that we are not our own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.  There is abundant comfort in Christian …

Justified Today, Damned Tomorrow? Never! (Sibbes)

 We are weak.  Our faith is often feeble and barely flickering.  We have doubts; despair sometimes is a dark cloud in the Christian life.  "Prone to wander" is an understatement at times!  I appreciate how Richard Sibbes discussed this hard reality in the Christian life.  He met it with the gospel, with the comforting truths …