Tag: Word

Quotes to Note 44: John Calvin on the Theme of 1 Peter

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

One of my favorite books in the Bible is 1 Peter. Earlier this year I was privileged to fill the pulpit at our church and the text of my sermon was 1 Peter 1:3-12 (you can download that sermon for free here). In studying for that message I came across a gem from John Calvin in his commentary on 1 Peter. I share the quotation here for your benefit.

The design of Peter in this Epistle is to exhort the faithful to a denial of the world and a contempt of it, so that being freed from carnal affections and all earthly hindrances, they might with their whole soul aspire after the celestial kingdom of Christ, that being elevated by hope, supported by patience, and fortified by courage and perseverance, they might overcome all kinds of temptations, and pursue this course and practice throughout life.

Hence at the very beginning he proclaims in express words the grace of God made known to us in Christ; and at the same time he adds, that it is received by faith and possessed by hope, so that the godly might raise up their minds and hearts above the world. Hence he exhorts them to holiness, lest they should render void the price by which they were redeemed, and lest they should suffer the incorruptible seed of the Word, by which they had been regenerated into eternal life, to be destroyed or to die. And as he had said, that they had been born again by God’s Word he makes mention of their spiritual infancy. Moreover, that their faith might not vacillate or stagger, because they saw that Christ was despised and rejected almost by the whole world, he reminds them that this was only the fulfilment of what had been written of him, that he would be the stone of stumbling. But he further teaches them that he would be a firm foundation to those who believe in him. Hence he again refers to the great honour to which God had raised them, that they might be animated by the contemplation of their former state, and by the perception of their present benefits, to devote themselves to a godly life.

~ Calvin’s Commentaries, vol. 22 [Baker], Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles, p. 21-22

Calvin captures the heart of Peter’s theme in 1 Peter. He goes on to walk through the epistle in broad sweeping strokes. Reading this stirs my soul and reminds me that the “classics” really are classic, and Calvin’s genius really should be appreciated (and made use of for my own spiritual growth).

Calvin’s Commentaries are available for purchase at Amazon, or you can access them online for free here.

Credo Magazine Issue #1: “The Living Word”

~ Bob Hayton

Credo Magazine just released it’s inaugural issue. The magazine is completely digital, and absolutely free. It promises to be a trusted, helpful resource for students of God’s Word.

About Credo Magazine:
Credo magazine is self-consciously Evangelical, Reformational, and Baptistic: Evangelical since it aims at being supremely Gospel-centered, exalting in the substitutionary death and historical resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; Reformational as the gospel it promotes is defined by the solas of the Reformation; and while Credo magazine welcomes contributors from diverse ecclesial backgrounds, it seeks to especially celebrate those doctrines that mark the Baptist tradition.

Credo is a free, full-color, digital magazine that is published bi-monthly and includes:

“¢ Articles by some of the best pastors and scholars today on the most vital and pertinent issues in Christianity.
“¢ Columns engaging pastoral issues in the church and monumental figures in church history.
“¢ Interviews with important pastors and scholars on both their ministries and their new books.
“¢ Reviews of some of the most recent books in Christian theology and literature.

The first issue focuses on Scripture and can be viewed below.

The Parable of the Hearers

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

I had the privilege to fill in for our pastor this morning and deliver the Sunday morning message. It’s available now for free download or to listen online.

Place: Beacon of Hope Church, St. Paul
Date: Feb. 27, 2011
Title: The Parable of the Hearers
Text: Luke 8:4-21
Theme: Our duty to hear the Word well

Listen online or download (right click and save it to your computer)

For more on the concept of letting the Gospel do its work in you, check out this series of posts: The Gospel’s Work in Believers.

Quotes to Note 4: The Bible is Truth

~ fundyreformed ~ 12 Comments

I subscribe to Table Talk, a monthly devotional published by R.C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries. Each month the magazine focuses on a theme, and this month that theme is “The Canonicity of Scripture”.

In the openeing column, Burk Parsons, the editor, captures the gist of the issue. The Bible is the Word of God, and canonization was simply the church receiving God’s Word as His Word. Canonization was not a process whereby the Church invented Holy Scriptures. Here’s how Buck said it:

The Bible is not a cleverly contrived collection of fanciful tales of mythical gods and prophets, sorcerers and goblins, hobbits and elves. It is not a Judeo-Christian anthology of sixty-six ancient books that were deemed politically and ecclesiastically correct by influential Christians of the early church who coveted worldly acceptance and prestige. On the contrary, the Bible is the book of the Lord God Almighty. It is the authoritative, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, and, as Jesus taught us in His prayer to the Father: His “Word is truth.” It doesn’t merely contain truth or speak about truth; it is truth “” it defines truth (John 17:17). We must, therefore, regard it as such.

Go on and read Buck’s entire article. Some of the other columns are also available online here.

We Believe (#11): Living God’s Word by Meditation and Prayer

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

Part 11 in a series of Sunday posts celebrating the glorious Truth we believe as Christians. The readings are quoted from the Elder Affirmation of Faith, of my church, Bethlehem Baptist (Pastor John Piper). I’m doing this because every few weeks our congregational reading is an excerpt from this document, and every time we all read aloud the truths we confess, my soul rejoices. I pray these posts will aid you in worshiping our Lord on His day.

Living God’s Word by Meditation and Prayer

We believe that faith is awakened and sustained by God’s Spirit through His Word and prayer. The good fight of faith is fought mainly by meditating on the Scriptures and praying that God would apply them to our souls.

We believe that the promises of God recorded in the Scriptures are suited to save us from the deception of sin by displaying for us, and holding out to us, superior pleasures in the protection, provision, and presence of God. Therefore, reading, understanding, pondering, memorizing, and savoring the promises of all that God will be for us in Jesus are primary means of the Holy Spirit to break the power of sin’s deceitful promises in our lives. Therefore it is needful that we give ourselves to such meditation day and night.

We believe that God has ordained to bless and use His people for His glory through the means of prayer, offered in Jesus’ name by faith. All prayer should seek ultimately that God’s name be hallowed, and that His kingdom come, and that His will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. God’s sovereignty over all things is not a hindrance to prayer, but a reason for hope that our prayers will succeed.

We believe that prayer is the indispensable handmaid of meditation, as we cry out to God for the inclination to turn from the world to the Word, and for the spiritual ability to see the glory of God in His testimonies, and for a soul-satisfying sight of the love of God, and for strength in the inner man to do the will of God. By prayer God sanctifies His people, sends gospel laborers into the world, and causes the Word of God to spread and triumph over Satan and unbelief.

*Taken from the Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith, paragraphs 11.1 – 11.4. You are free to download the entire affirmation [pdf] complete with Scriptural proofs for the above statements.