A Site for the Teaching Ministry of Nick Batzig
The signs and seals of the New Testament are rooted in the symbolism of the types and shadows of the Old Testament. Taken together, we come to see more clearly the Christ to whom the sacraments point. ...
Those who have the highest esteem for the word of God––affirming its inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility––can sometimes fail to recognize the power of the word when it is accompanied by the working of the Holy Spirit. Scripture is not merely a religious text to be defended, it is God’s living revelation that works in the lives of God’s people. The written word is the inspired revelation of the living Word, Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is accompanied by all of the divine power with which it is invested. This is true in God’s ad extra works of creation and redemption. The word of God’s power is manifest in His work of creation, and it is made known in the preaching of Christ crucified in the work of redemption....
Pastors need the saints’ prayers because they are ever the object of the flaming arrows of the evil one. In addition, the world is eager to run them over at any opportunity. As one of my seminary professors so illustratively put it, “Ministers have a bull’s eye on their back and footprints up their chest.” Sadly, this is even a reality for pastors within the context of the local church....
When we think of the many calls in Scripture for the people of God to be singing joyful praises to the Lord for His majesty, as well as for His redeeming mercies and providential care, we should long to do so thoughtfully. We should meditate on the words of the Psalms, making them our own. We should think carefully about the words of the hymns we sing, ensuring that we are singing them "with grace in our hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:16). We shoudl care far more about what we are singing in worship than how these songs are being performed. It is incumbent on us to think about how we are teaching and admonishing other believers with the word of Christ in our songs, and how we are singing those words from our hearts to the Lord. What a powerful means of imparting grace to one another through the ministry of singing the words of Christ together. ...
May we be strengthened to hold fast to the promises of God by trusting fully in the unchangeable God of promise. If He has promised, has bound Himself to that promise by covenant oath, and has fulfilled those promises in Christ, then we have every reason to believe that He will bring those promises to fruition throughout our lives and for eternity. ...
The entire life of David was a series of typological deaths and resurrections until he was delivered and exalted. The whole of Christ’s life was one of suffering followed by resurrection glory. Jesus is “the root and the descendant of David” (Rev. 22:16), the One “who has the key of David” (Rev. 3:7). Christ has been exalted to the right hand of God to rule on the throne of David (Luke 1:32). The crucified, risen, and exalted son of David rules forever over the kingdom of God in righteousness, truth, and grace as the new David....
If we treated the quest for unity in our marriage as being more important than the quest for truth, duplicity, deceit, and infidelity would run rapid and ultimately destroy any and all unity. It is unimaginable that any Christian would desire anything less than loving unity in truth with his or her spouse. How equally zealous ought we to be for loving unity in truth in the Church of God, the bride of Christ which He purchased with His own blood!...
Jesus' victory over the evil one surfaces at three periods of his Messianic ministry––at the beginning of his ministry when he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, at the point of Peter's confession of Christ's messianic identity at Caesarea Philippi, and at at the close of his ministry in the garden and on the cross. While we often meditate on how Christ overcame Satan by his obedience to his Father in the wilderness and in his ultimate victory over the evil one on the cross, it is possible that we have not given adequate attention to the fact that Jesus was conquering the devil with every conscious act of obedience to the will of his Father. ...
As we consider anew the divine activity in the lives of the wise men, we are met with the reality of God's sovereign grace to those who were once far off from God. We are reminded of the way in which God chooses and calls pagans to trust in His Son. We are warned that we can have a deep knowledge of the Scriptures yet no grace in our hearts. We are motivated to believe in Christ despite any visible miracles or outward displays of glory. We are taught to trust in Jesus even when others around us show deep disinterest. And we are encouraged to give of our time, possessions, and persons to the King of Kings and the advancement of His kingdom--especially when the work of His kingdom seems to be lacking in outward impressiveness....
A digital hireling is an individual who has set himself up online with self-promoting interest. Like the evil shepherds of Ezekiel’s day, the digital hireling feeds himself, doesn’t truly care about the sick, weak, or injured, doesn’t seek the lost and wandering, and deals harshly with the sheep. The digital hireling opportunistically sets up himself or herself up for self-aggrandizement and financial gain....
My dad wasn't just physically strong. Dad had the strongest intellect, will, emotions, wisdom, and intuition. I have been meditating on why it’s so hard for a son to lose a father. Chief among the reasons is the fact that I have lost the first and foremost influential spiritual leader in my life. Dad placed his greatest energy into being a strong spiritual leader for our...
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Debate in theological matters is necessary in a fallen world. God commands believers to "contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). We are to be zealous for the defense and propagation of the whole counsel of God for His own glory and the building up of His people. Ministers and local church members, in many Reformed churches, take vows to "stu...
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We all have expectations about how others should act––some of them are biblically justified and some are merely the product of our own sinful hearts. Even when our expectations of others find biblical support, we sometimes (probably more often than not) hold them with unrealistic rigor. Those who respond in anger or frustration, when their expectations have not been me...
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Scripture everywhere commends the grace of a humble heart and sets out the many benefits that flow from it (e.g., Psalm 18:27; 25:9; 147:6; 149:4; Proverbs 3:34; 11:2; 16:19; 29:23; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:52; 14:11; 18:14; 1 Peter 3:8; 5:5–6; James 4:6–7, 10). When we consider all that we are by nature and all that we have in Christ by grace, we find that we have every ...
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The Scriptures encourage us to give serious consideration to the inevitability of trials, the divinely appointed remedies of overcoming them, and the outcome of God’s blessing His church after the trials....
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The revelation of the glory of God, reflecting off the face of Moses, was an accompanying sign of the divine source of the message that God gave him on the mountain. The emanating glory from the face of the Lord Jesus Christ was not a reflected glory. Jesus is the very revelation of the glory of God in the flesh. The glory reflecting off the face of Moses served as a marke...
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We dare not come into the presence of God––as Cain did––self-righteously, half-heartedly, and with the least we can offer to Him. Rather, we are to come in brokenness over our sins, acknowledging that the Lord has provided a better sacrifice for us––namely, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)....
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Christ did not come to break a bruised reed. He did not come into this world to quench a smoldering wick (Is. 412:3; Matt. 12L20). Jesus came into this world to redeem a people who are weak, sinful, wayward, unrighteous, and lost. He came to bear us up in his own arms and bring us home to the Father (Luke 15). He is full of compassion and tender-kindness to those he came t...
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Whenever we are tempted to think that no one understands our sorrows, our fears, our needs, we should reflect on how the Son of God coming into the womb of the virgin Mary teaches us--that from the very beginning of the incarnation––God understands our frailties, weaknesses, and needs. Christmas means we can never say, "No one understands what I am going through." The ...
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For believers, meals together in this life (both in worship and in our homes) are preparing us for that day when we will spiritually feast together in the presence of God. The food we consume, the table around which we sit, and the companions with whom we gather have as their end the spiritual communion that we enjoy with one another and with the triune God. ...
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