Nick Roark's Blog, page 119
February 28, 2019
“Solus Christus” by Michael Horton
“It is solus Christus that measures the gulf between Paul and every other system.”
–Michael Horton, Justification, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 2: 124.
February 27, 2019
“Grace does not exist on a spectrum” by Michael Horton
“The slightest nomism vitiates the gospel. For Paul, grace does not exist on a spectrum. Unlike a dimmer switch, it is binary: ‘grace would no longer be grace’ if works played any role as the ground or instrument of justification (Rom. 11:6).”
–Michael Horton, Justification, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 2: 124.
February 26, 2019
“Love should pervade the whole tone of our Ministry” by Charles Bridges
“Love is the grand distinctive mark of our office. The Christian Pastor, of all men in the world, should have an affectionate heart.
We set forth a most tender Father, a bleeding Savior, and a faithful Comforter. ‘Speaking the truth in love’ is in a few words the most complete description of our office.
Love should pervade the whole tone of our Ministry.”
–Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1830/2005), 333, 338.
February 25, 2019
“Let Christ be the diamond to shine in all your sermons” by Charles Bridges
“Preach Christ Jesus the Lord. Determine to know nothing among your people, but Christ crucified.
Let His name and grace, His spirit and love, triumph in the midst of all your sermons.
Let your great end be to glorify Him in the heart, to render Him amiable and precious in the eyes of His people, to lead them to Him, as a sanctuary to protect them, a propitiation to reconcile them, a treasure to enrich them, a physician to heal them, an advocate to present them and their services to God, as wisdom to counsel them, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save.
Let Christ be the diamond to shine in the bosom of all your sermons.”
–Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1830/2005), 258.
February 22, 2019
“The merciful One” by Martin Luther
“Christ came into the world so that He might take hold of us and so that we, by gazing upon Christ, might be drawn and carried directly to the Father.
As we have warned you before, there is no hope that any saving knowledge of God can come by speculating about the majesty of God; this can come only by taking hold of Christ, who, by the will of the Father, has given Himself into death for our sins.
When you have grasped this, then all wrath stops, and fear and trembling disappear; and God appears as nothing but the merciful One who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all (Rom. 8:32).”
–Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 26: Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4 (ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann; vol. 26; Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 26: 42.
February 21, 2019
“The best way to shorten winter” by G.K. Chesterton
“The best way to shorten winter is to prolong Christmas.”
–G.K. Chesterton, Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Vol. 11 (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989), 11: 376.
February 20, 2019
“It cannot be grasped or held enough or too much” by Martin Luther
“It should not bore you if we repeat here what we teach, preach, sing, and write at other times and places. For if we lose the doctrine of justification, we lose simply everything.
Hence the most necessary and important thing is that we teach and repeat this doctrine daily, as Moses says about his Law (Deut. 6:7). For it cannot be grasped or held enough or too much. In fact, though we may urge and inculcate it vigorously, no one grasps it perfectly or believes it with all his heart.
So frail is our flesh and so disobedient to the Spirit!”
–Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 26: Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4 (ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann; vol. 26; Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 26: 26.
February 19, 2019
“It’s His song, not mine, that I’m here to sing” by Elisabeth Elliot
“There are sometimes spaces in our lives that seem empty and silent. Things grind to a halt for one reason or another. Not long ago, the ‘music’ in my life seemed to stop because of a rejection, a loss, and what seemed to me at the time a monumental failure.
I was feeling rather desolate when I came across a paragraph written more than a hundred years ago by the artist John Ruskin:
There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. In our whole life-melody, the music is broken off here and there by ‘rests,’ and we foolishly think we have come to the end of time. God sends a time of forced leisure– sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts– and makes us a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the rest? See him beat time with unvarying count and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between. Not without design does God write the music of our lives. But be it ours to learn the time and not be dismayed at the ‘rests.’ They are not to be slurred over, nor to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. In the end we will see that in order to have a complete song, we must have the ‘rests’ in between the notes. If we look up, God Himself will beat time for us. With the eye on Him we shall strike the next note full and clear.
So the Lord brought to me precisely the word I needed at the moment: There was ‘the making of music’ in what seemed a hollow emptiness.
It’s His song, not mine, that I’m here to sing. It’s His will, not mine, that I’m here to do. Let me focus my vision unwaveringly on Him who alone knows the complete score, ‘and in the night His song shall be with me,’ (Psalm 42:8).”
–Elisabeth Elliot, Secure in the Everlasting Arms (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2002), 161-162.
February 18, 2019
“He is completely unlike us in every way” by Paul David Tripp
“Our hope is not found in understanding why God allowed suffering into our lives.
Our hope is not found in the belief that somehow we will tough our way through.
Our hope is not found in doctors, lawyers, pastors, family, or friends.
Our hope is not found in our resilience or ingenuity.
Our hope is not found in ideas or things.
Though we may look to all those for temporary help, ultimately our hope rests in the faithful and gracious presence of the Lord with us.
He is not weakened by what weakens us.
He is not confused by what confuses us.
He does not suffer from the mood swings that afflict us.
He is not afraid like we are.
He never makes a bad decision.
He never finds Himself out of control.
He never wants to take back His words.
He never regrets the way He’s behaved.
He never responds impulsively.
His choices are never driven by anxiety.
He never dreads the next day.
He never wants to give up.
He is never frustrated by an inability to make a difference.
He is with us, but the reason this is so wonderfully comforting is that He is completely unlike us in every way.
He is limitless in power, He has authority over everything, He is perfect in every way, He dwells with us, and He assures us that He’s not leaving.”
–Paul David Tripp, Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 147-148.
February 16, 2019
“Take hold of Him and cling to Him with all your heart” by Martin Luther
“If you want to be safe and out of danger to your conscience and your salvation, put a check on this speculative spirit.
Take hold of God as Scripture instructs you (1 Cor. 1:21, 24): “Since, in wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Therefore begin where Christ began—in the Virgin’s womb, in the manger, and at His mother’s breasts. For this purpose He came down, was born, lived among men, suffered, was crucified, and died, so that in every possible way He might present Himself to our sight. He wanted us to fix the gaze of our hearts upon Himself and thus to prevent us from clambering into heaven and speculating about the Divine Majesty.
Therefore whenever you consider the doctrine of justification and wonder how or where or in what condition to find a God who justifies or accepts sinners, then you must know that there is no other God than this Man Jesus Christ.
Take hold of Him; cling to Him with all your heart, and spurn all speculation about the Divine Majesty; for whoever investigates the majesty of God will be consumed by His glory. I know from experience what I am talking about.
But these fanatics, who deal with God apart from this Man, will not believe me. Christ Himself says: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).
Outside Christ, the Way, therefore, you will find no other way to the Father; you will find only wandering, not truth, but hypocrisy and lies, not life, but eternal death.
Take note, therefore, in the doctrine of justification or grace that when we all must struggle with the Law, sin, death, and the devil, we must look at no other God than this incarnate and human God.”
–Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 26: Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4 (ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann; vol. 26; Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 26: 29.
