Nick Roark's Blog, page 91
October 29, 2020
“The happiest man” by Thomas Brooks
“Know that it is not the knowing man, nor the talking man, nor the reading man, but the doing man, that at last will be found the happiest man.
“If you know these things, blessed and happy are you if you do them.” “Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father that is in heaven,” (John 13:17, Matt. 7:21).
Judas called Christ Lord, Lord, and yet betrayed Him, and is gone to his place.
Ah! how many Judases have we in these days, that kiss Christ, and yet betray Christ; that in their words profess Him, but in their works deny Him; that bow their knee to Him, and yet in their hearts despise Him; that call Him Jesus, and yet will not obey Him for their Lord.
Reader, If it be not strong upon thy heart to practise what thou readest, to what end dost thou read? To increase thy own condemnation?
If thy light and knowledge be not turned into practice, the more knowing man thou art, the more miserable man thou wilt be in the day of recompense; thy light and knowledge will more torment thee than all the devils in hell.
Thy knowledge will be that rod that will eternally lash thee, and that scorpion that will for ever bite thee, and that worm that will everlastingly gnaw thee; therefore read, and labour to know, that thou mayest do, or else thou art undone forever.
When Demosthenes was asked, what was the first part of an orator, what the second, what the third? he answered, Action; the same may I say.
If any should ask me, what is the first, the second, the third part of a Christian? I must answer, Action; as that man that reads that he may know, and that labours to know that he may do, will have two heavens—a heaven of joy, peace, and comfort on earth, and a heaven of glory and happiness after death.”
–Thomas Brooks, “A Word to the Reader,” Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, The Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 1, Ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1666/2001), 1: 8-9.
October 28, 2020
“The God who is Father, Son, and Spirit” by Scott Swain
“The God who is Father, Son, and Spirit has reached out through the Son and by the Spirit to embrace us as sons and daughters to the end that we may call God our Father in the Spirit of the Son.”
–Scott R. Swain, The Trinity: An Introduction (ed. Graham A. Cole and Oren R. Martin; Short Studies in Systematic Theology; Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 26.
October 27, 2020
“Christ is full of both” by Herman Bavinck
“Truth and grace go together because Christ is full of both (John 1:14).”
–Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God (trans. Henry Zylstra; Glenside, PA: Westminster Seminary Press, 1909/2019), 394.
October 26, 2020
“He is unchangeable in His grace” by Herman Bavinck
“He is who He is, the same yesterday, today, and forever. This meaning is further explained in Exodus 3:15: YHWH—the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—sends Moses, and that is His name forever.
God does not simply call Himself “the One who is” and offer no explanation of His aseity, but states expressly what and how He is.
Then how and what will He be? That is not something one can say in a word or describe in an additional phrase, but “He will be what He will be.”
That sums up everything. This addition is still general and indefinite, but for that reason also rich and full of deep meaning.
He will be what He was for the patriarchs, what He is now and will remain: He will be everything to and for His people.
It is not a new and strange God who comes to them by Moses, but the God of the fathers, the Unchangeable One, the Faithful One, the eternally Self-consistent One, who never leaves or forsakes His people but always again seeks out and saves His own.
He is unchangeable in His grace, in His love, in His assistance, who will be what He is because He is always Himself.”
–Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation, Vol. 2 (Ed. John Bolt, and Trans. John Vriend; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 2: 143.
October 24, 2020
“An incomprehensible plenitude of power” by A.W. Tozer
“God alone is almighty.
God possesses what no creature can: an incomprehensible plenitude of power, a potency that is absolute.”
—A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: HarperCollins, 1961/1978), 65.
October 23, 2020
“Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere” by Charles Spurgeon
“The Lord is never short of men to serve Him. Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere.
And out of the ranks of Satan’s army He can take the boldest champion of evil, arrest him by almighty grace, and lay upon him the charge to become a leader to the hosts of the living God.
Never despair, and never doubt, nor let even a desponding thought concerning Christ’s cause flit across your mind. They tell us that dark days are coming; that is quite true, but the Sun of Righteousness will never be eclipsed.
They tell us that the powers of evil will grow stronger and stronger. Suppose they do; the Almighty will never grow weak.
We will fall back upon the omnipotence and all-sufficiency of Jehovah; and then we shall know what it is not to feel any distrust or fear concerning the present or the future of the Church of the living God.”
–Charles H. Spurgeon, “Stephen and Saul,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (vol. 51; London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1905), 51: 393.
October 22, 2020
“Rough may be the road, but Omnipotence is our upholding” by Charles Spurgeon
“FEBRUARY 8
“I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
Fear of falling is healthy. To be reckless is not a sign of wisdom. There are times when we feel that we will collapse unless we have a very special support.
Here we have it. God’s right hand is a grand thing to lean upon. Mind you, it is not only His hand, though it keeps heaven and earth in their places, but His right hand.
It is His power united with skill; His power where it is most dexterous.
And this is not all, for it is written, “I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
That hand which He uses to maintain His holiness and to execute His royal sentences– this will be stretched out to hold up His trusting ones.
Fearful is our danger, but joyful is our security. The man whom God upholds, devils cannot throw down.
Weak may be our feet, but almighty is God’s right hand. Rough may be the road, but Omnipotence is our upholding.
We may boldly go forward. We will not fall. Let us lean continually where all things lean.
God will not withdraw His strength, for His righteousness is there as well. He will be faithful to His promise, and faithful to His Son, and therefore faithful to us.
How happy we ought to be!
Are you happy today?”
–Charles H. Spurgeon, The Promises of God: A New Edition of the Classic Devotional Based on the English Standard Version, Revised and Updated by Tim Chester (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), “February 8.” Originally published in The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith: Being Precious Promises Arranged for Daily Use with Brief Comments (New York: American Tract Society, 1893), 39.
October 21, 2020
“Your omnipotence is never far from us, even when we are far from You” by Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430)
“Your omnipotence is never far from us, even when we are far from You.”
–Augustine of Hippo, Confessions (trans. Henry Chadwick; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 400/1992), 25. (II.ii.3)
October 20, 2020
“Faith never rests so calmly and peacefully as when it lays its head on the pillow of God’s omnipotence” by J.C. Ryle
“Let us mark, in the third place, the mighty principle which the angel Gabriel lays down to silence all objections about the incarnation. ‘With God nothing shall be impossible.’
A hearty reception of this great principle is of immense importance to our own inward peace. Questions and doubts will often arise in men’s minds about many subjects in religion. They are the natural result of our fallen estate of soul.
Our faith at the best is very feeble. Our knowledge at its highest is clouded with much infirmity.
And among many antidotes to a doubting, anxious, questioning state of mind, few will be found more useful than that before us now,—a thorough conviction of the almighty power of God.
With Him who called the world into being and formed it out of nothing, everything is possible. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
There is no sin too black and bad to be pardoned. The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin.
There is no heart too hard and wicked to be changed. The heart of stone can be made a heart of flesh.
There is no work too hard for a believer to do. We may do all things through Christ strengthening us.
There is no trial too hard to be borne. The grace of God is sufficient for us.
There is no promise too great to be fulfilled. Christ’s words never pass away, and what He has promised He is able to perform.
There is no difficulty too great for a believer to overcome. When God is for us who shall be against us? The mountain shall become a plain.
Let principles like these be continually before our minds. The angel’s receipt is an invaluable remedy.
Faith never rests so calmly and peacefully as when it lays its head on the pillow of God’s omnipotence.”
–J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1858/2012), 1: 21-22. Ryle is commenting on Luke 1:34-38.
October 19, 2020
“He is a blessed and glorious God” by Herman Bavinck
“The Lord will perfect that which concerns His people, for His mercy endures forever (Ps. 138:8). The Lord is merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death (Ps. 48:14).
He is a blessed and glorious God (1 Tim. 6:15 and Eph. 1:17). And blessed is the people whose God is the Lord (Ps. 33:12).”
–Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God (trans. Henry Zylstra; Glenside, PA: Westminster Seminary Press, 1956/2019), 124-125.
