A Site for the Teaching Ministry of Nick Batzig
As a means of grace, baptism becomes effectual in the lives of the elect by the sovereign regeneration of the Holy Spirit. This may occur in the life of an individual “whether of age or infants.” However, that regeneration is wrought in the lives of the elect by the free and unmerited work of the Spirit of God on the hearts of the elect. If an individual was baptized as an infant in the name of the triune God, but he or she did not come to saving faith and repentance until an adult, it would be right to say that their “baptism became effectual upon their repentance”––not because of repentance and faith, but because of the gracious work of the Spirit of God applying the work of Christ crucified and risen to their souls....
It should sadden us to learn that the church of our day has neglected one of the greatest treasures God has given her to worship Him--namely, the Psalter. The living God has breathed out an entire book of truth for us to sing back to Him whenever we gather together in corporate worship. Perhaps such a neglect has occurred on account of antiquated translations, difficult accompanying tunes or simply because of a lack of familiarity with the Old Testament people, places, events and symbols. Regardless, the church is certainly no better for having passed over the numerous inspired songs in the Psalter....
Certain practices have become so familiar among Christians that believers can be in danger of thoughtlessly performing them. We are all prone to simply going through the motions in our Christian lives. For instance, how often have we prayed the Lord’s Prayer without reflecting on the petitions that we are presenting to God? How often have we recited the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed without giving due consideration to the truths that we are confessing? We can easily go through the liturgical motions in a worship service without focusing on what we are doing before God. Similarly, it is altogether possible for believers to close their prayer with the words “in Jesus’ name” or “in Christ’s name” or “for Christ’s sake” as a sort of mindless mantra....
As we continue on in our journey to the celestial city, we are called to constantly hear the warnings of God's word so as to help us on our way. These warnings, as severe as they are in fact, are meant to be gracious tools in the hand of the Savior to help us persevere in the faith. ...
In all our deliberations, we must remember that church courts can and will err in this fallen world. There is no perfect justice in this life. Ultimately, there is only one Lawgiver and Judge (James 4:12), who will perfectly execute justice in the divine tribunal on the last day (Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:17–19). At present, however, the ecclesiastical court is the only court that God has established to render judgments on spiritual matters for the spiritual advantage of the church....
Many professing believers content themselves with a mere cursory knowledge of Scripture, while filling their minds, hearts, and conversations with a knowledge of politics, literature, sports, entertainment, exercise, travel, and food. They are content to know little of Scripture while giving a deep dive into these other areas of interest. This is no phenomenon unique to our day and age....
Depression is one of the dreadful shared human experiences of life in this fallen world. So many things work on each one of us, from within and from without, that we all have times and seasons when we feel ourselves drowning under the weight of the anxieties, pressures, and trials. This ultimately results in a depression of mind and heart. A distinction must be made here between what may be called sinful depression and sinless depression. Sinful depression is usually fueled by responding to circumstances with a anxious heart that is the product of unbelief in the promises of God. Sinless depression is, more properly, the experience of the soul of a believer over the sense of the loss of God's favor or blessed presence (e.g. Psalm 42-43). The Scriptures hold out examples of each form of depression. The first is that which was experiences by Elijah in his response to Jezebel's threats. The second was the soul agony experienced by our Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he looked into the cup of God's wrath that he would drink on the cross. . .The sinless soul agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is the solution to our sinful spiritual depression. Jesus' depression had a redeeming value for our souls....
There might not be a passage of Scripture more under-appreciated for its rich theological, ecclesiological, and eschatological focus as that which we find in Hebrews 3:1-6. The writer was wishing to highlight the betterness of Christ to everyone in the Old Testament economy to keep the eyes of those to whom he was writing on Christ. The danger was for them to turn back to the weak and beggarly elements of Judaism, with its focus on external ceremonies and preparatory types. All of these things having passed away, the author firsts compares and contrasts Moses and Christ. Since Moses was the typical redeemer of the Old Covenant, it would make sense for the writing to highlight the relationshipIt is arguable that there might not be a Scriptpure more underappreciated for its rich theological, ecclesiological, and eschatological focus as that which we find in Hebrews 3:1-6. The writer was wishing to highlight the betterness of Christ to everyone in the Old Testament economy to keep the eyes of those to whom he was writing on Christ. The danger was for them to turn back to the weak and beggarly elements of Judaism, with its focus on external ceremonies and preparatory types. All of these things having passed away, the author firsts compares and contrasts Moses and Christ. Since Moses was the typical redeemer of the Old Covenant, it would make sense for the writing to highlight the relationship between the type (i.e., Moses) and the antitype (i.e., Christ). There is a world of theological riches that open to us when we carefully consider this passage. between the type (i.e., Moses) and the antitype (i.e., Christ). There is a world of theological riches that open to us when we carefully consider this text. ...
It takes a great deal of wisdom to approach criticism with biblical maturity. It involves being able to recognize when pride is rising up in our hearts. It discerns between the mixture of truth and error in any given criticism. It keeps in mind the multitude of circumstantial factors involved with any criticism–from the inevitability of criticism to the eternal hope of the believers' vindication before God. While we may have an aversion to criticism, we should rather welcome it as a maturation tool in the hand of our God. May the Lord graciously give us the wisdom we need to receive criticism with maturity. ...
When I sit back and read the deluge of thoughts and opinions online about what the church ought to be doing, I sense a noticeable lack of focus on the Gospel. In the many twitter rants that recur on a daily basis, there is a discernible deficiency with regard to Scripture and the Gospel. ...
In 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...
Keep ReadingThe Feast of Tabernacles was that final feast of the year for Israel--six months after they Passover--in which they were to commemorate Israel's dwelling in tents in the wilderness after their redemption from Egypt. They were to remember God's faithfulness in providing for them during the days of their pilgrimage in the desert. Every year until Christ's death, Israel was t...
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