A Site for the Teaching Ministry of Nick Batzig
It is the common lot of those God has called into gospel ministry to become discouraged on account of the challenges and trials that come from serving as a pastor. I can almost always sense when a brother is weighed down by the pressures, demands, and discouragements that come with serving as a pastor of a congregation, because I have known them throughout my own pastoral service. The apostle Paul intimated the challenges that pastors face in the church when he added to the external opposition he experienced from the unbelieving world the care that he had for the church. He wrote, "apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:28). So what are ministers to do when they feel overwhelmed by the discouragements of ministry?...
We are meant to know that Jesus had to remain silent when he was judged so that we might have our mouths shut before the just tribunal of God. Then, having heard the sentence exacted against the spotless lamb of God, believers might open their mouths in praise to God for all the ways that He has removed their transgressions and the righteous condemnation that stood against us for Christ's sake. The silence of condemnation belonged to Jesus that praise for justification might be ours. ...
Sadly, many professing believers approach the gifts of the Spirit by overvaluing the idea of the miraculous spiritual gifts (e.g., tongues, prophecy, healing) and undervalue the common spiritual gifts (e.g., salvation and sanctifying fruit). Holding faulty views of the miraculous spiritual gifts is usually due to a failure to grasp the redemptive-historical purpose of the gifts. When we come to understand the biblical teaching about the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit and the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, we will better value the greater and continuing gifts in the life of the church today....
When each of the Old Covenant signs (i.e., the rainbow, Sabbath, circumcision, and the Passover) are viewed in light of the fulfillment of all that they typified, we come to understand a great deal about the work of Christ...
As we enter a new year with new personal goals and desires, the Lord wants His people to commit to Christian living among the members of the body. We must resist the urge to look to practices and programs in the local church to live out the Christian life or do the work of ministry for us. Our God has given us the enormous privilege and responsibility of diligently living out, daily, our Christian lives in Christ. Let’s commit ourselves to the practice of seeking to live the organic Christian life in the context of the local church to which we belong. ...
The reason why Mary sang a song of humility is because she was focusing on what God was doing to provide the Savior she needed. Mary had been waiting on God to fulfill the promises that He had made throughout the Old Testament era. Mary doesn't speak of herself or her privileges because Mary was focused on her need for redemption. ...
We rightly wonder of the coming of the eternal Son of God into the world in true human form while wrongly neglecting to wonder at the accompanying role of the Spirit of God in the ministry of the Redeemer....
In many of life’s circumstances, we struggle to understand how we will come to attain the promises of God, forgetting that their fulfillment is entirely based on the person and work of Christ. Jesus has secured an everlasting joy, an inheritance of hope for His people through His death and resurrection. Though we do not now see all that he has for us, we wait for him with patience. We are to be a people who trust in and wait for Christ in faith....
While recent developments concerning the state of Israel have given us reason to revisit this subject--it would do us good to be settled in our minds about the fact that all who are united to Jesus by faith have been made children of Abraham and heirs of God (Gal. 3:29). Believers are the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem (Phil. 3:20). This is the only Jerusalem that ultimately matters. As John Newton put it, "Solid joys and lasting treasures, none but Zion's children know."...
As we move forward in our worship at New Covenant Presbyterian Church, I am planning on starting a sermon series on the Acts of the Apostles. This seems to be fitting with a new church. The book of Acts can be summarized as "the acts of Jesus Christ through His apostles by the Holy Spirit." It is filled with all the excitement and wonder of the dawning of the new age and t...
Keep ReadingIn a blog post entitled "My Biggest Sin," McKay Caston writes: You couldn’t help it, could you? This is gonna be juicy, right? Could be. Okay, let’s get to it. What is my biggest sin? Of course, most of us probably think of the Top 10 list in Exodus. “Thou Shall Not…†But we’ve all broken every one of those. No surprise there. So what...
Keep ReadingDavid Murray has an incredibly helpful post in which he gives 10 short points of instruction on what ministers should avoid in the introduction of a sermon. If you are anything like me, you find the introduction to be one of the most useful elements of the message. It will either draw your hearers in, or turn them off, from the outset. One of my professors at seminary like...
Keep ReadingWe recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. R. Scott Clark with regard to the life and theology of Casper Olevianus. One of the compilers of the Heidelberg Catechism, Olevianus made significant contributions to the covenant concept in Reformed theology. Reformation Heritage books has most recently published Lyle Bierma's translation of Olevianus' Exposition of the...
Keep ReadingChad VanDixhoorn's diligent labors on the Westminster Assembly Project will greatly benefit the church.  Vandixhoorn, together with John Bower, has agreed to publish several important documents/books from the Westminster Assembly with Reformation Heritage Books. The publications will include: Principal Documents of the Westminster Assembly. This series will produce t...
Keep ReadingSinclair Ferguson gave a powerful talk on 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 at the Ligonier Ministries' 2009 Ministry Leadership Conference. The title of the message was "Thy Word is Truth." Â When men do not want to hear the word of God the remedy is to preach the word of God. This was a richly instructive message. You can watch and listen to it here....
Keep ReadingHere is the video from the latest sermon preached at New Covenant Presbyterian Church. The text was John 7:28-53.
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." It is great for the believer to know that they serve a Christ who has no beginning and will have no end. Boasting in this Christ gives the believer certainty and surety that their Savior is supreme over all things. Christ was before all things. This is hard for the finite mind to understa...
Keep ReadingThe Aquilla Report has recently posted a brief description of the very serious issues going on in the Siouxlands Presbytery. You can read it here. Please pray that the Lord will intervene and give the men of that Presbytery wisdom and forthrightness to deal with those found guilty, at the committee level, of teaching doctrines contrary to the doctrinal standards of the PCA...
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