J.C. Ryle on Christ and Creation

"Christ is all" (Col. 3:11).

"There came a time when this earth was created in its present order.  Sun, moon and stars, sea, land, and all their inhabitants were called into being, and made out of chaos and confusion.  And, last of all, man was formed out of the dust of the ground.

"And where was Christ then?

"Hear what the Scripture says: 'All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made' (John 1:3).  'By Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in the earth' (Col. 1:16).  'And You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands' (Heb. 1:10).  'When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a compass upon the face of he depth; when He established the clouds above; when He strengthened the foundations of the deep; when He gave the sea His decree, that the waters should not pass His commandment; when He appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him' (Prov. 8:27-30).  Can we wonder that the Lord Jesus, in His preaching, should continually draw lessons from the book of nature?  When He spoke of the sheep, the fish, the ravens, the corn, the lilies, the fig tree, the vine, He spoke of things which He Himself had made" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle)

J.C. Ryle on Christ Before Creation

"Christ is all" (Col. 3:11)

"There was a time when this earth had no being.  Solid as the mountains look, boundless as the sea appears, high as the stars in heaven look, they once did not exist.  And man, with all the high thoughts he now has of himself, was a creature unknown.

"And where was Christ then?

"Even then Christ was 'with God' and 'was God' and was 'equal with God' (John 1:1; Phil. 2:6).  Even then He was the beloved Son of the Father.  'You loved me,' He says, 'before the foundation of the world.'  'I had glory with You before the world began.'  'I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was' (John 17:5, 24; Prov. 8:23).  Even then He was the Savior if 'foreordained before the foundation of the world' (1 Pet. 1:20), and believers were 'chosen in Him' (Eph. 1:4)" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

Life in Christ is Hard

Dave Ramsey once said, “If we want to be thin we should do what thin people do.”  In other words, if we really want to be healthy there is a price to pay, sacrifices that must be done.  Many of us who desire to be more healthy would love to wake up tomorrow morning having been completely transformed overnight, with no effort or sacrifice on our own part.  But that is not reality.  Transformation takes effort, time, and sacrifice, but many are not willing to pay the price.

After teaching the crowd what they must believe and give up to follow him, Jesus witnesses a mass exodus.  The cost of being his disciple was too great to many, so they left.  Why did Jesus not stop them from leaving?  What about the price was so high?  What is the difficulty in following Jesus?  What encouragement is there in is teachings for the true disciple of Christ?

Join us this week at ElmCreek Community Church as we study what John 6:60-71 teaches us about the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ and why that cost is too great for so many.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Pastor Mark

John Calvin on the Holy Spirit and Scripture

"It is easy to understand that we must give diligent heed both to the reading and hearing of Scripture, if we would obtain any benefit from the Spirit of God (just as Peter praises those who attentively study the doctrine of the prophets [2 Pet 1:19], though it might have been thought to be superseded after the gospel light arose), and, on the contrary, that any spirit which passes by the wisdom of God's word, and suggests any other doctrine, is deservedly suspected of vanity and falsehood.  Since Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, what authority can the Spirit have with us if he be not ascertained by an infallible mark?  And assuredly he is pointed out to us by the Lord with sufficient clearness; but these miserable men err as if bent on their own destruction, while they seek the Spirit from themselves rather than from him.  But they say that it is insulting to subject the Spirit, to whom all things are to be subject, to the Scripture; as if it were disgraceful to the Holy Spirit to maintain a perfect resemblance throughout, and be in all respects without variation consistent with himself.  True, if he were subjected to a human, an angelical, or to any foreign standard, it might be thought that he was rendered subordinate, or, if you will, brought into bondage, but so long as he is compared with himself, and considered in himself, how can it be said that he is thereby injured?  I admit that he is brought to a test, but the very test by which it has pleased him that his majesty should be confirmed.  It ought to be enough for us when once we hear his voice; but lest Satan should insinuate himself under his name, he wishes us to recognize him by the image which he has stamped on the Scriptures. The author of the Scriptures cannot vary, and change his likeness.  Such as he there appeared at first, such he will perpetually remain.  There is nothing [humiliating] to him in this, unless we are to think it would be honorable to for him to degenerate, and revolt against himself" (Institutes of Christian Religion, John Calvin).

J.C. Ryle on the Effects of Evangelism

"Do you want to understand what the times require of all Christians in reference to the souls of others?  Listen, and I will tell you.  You live in times of great liberty and abounding opportunities of doing good.  Never were there so many open doors of usefulness, so many fields white to the harvest.  Mind that you use those open doors, and try to reap those fields.  Try to do a little good before you die.  Strive to be useful.  Determine that by God's help you will leave the world a better world in the day of your burial than it was in the day you were born.  Remember the souls of relatives, friends and companions; remember that God often works by weak instruments, and try with holy ingenuity to lead them to Christ.  The time is short, the sand is running out of the glass of this old world; then redeem the time, and endeavor not to go to heaven alone.  No doubt you cannot command success.  It is not certain that your efforts to do good will always do good to others but it is quite certain that they will always do good to yourself.  Exercise, exercise, is one grand secret of health, both for body and soul. 'He that waters shall be watered himself' (Prov. 11:25).  It is a deep and golden saying of our Master's, but seldom understood in its full meaning, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive' (Acts 20:35)" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

John Calvin on a False View of Scripture

"Those who, rejecting Scripture, imagine that they have some peculiar way of penetrating to God, are to be deemed not so much under the influence of error as madness.  For certain giddy men have lately appeared, who, while they make a great display of the superiority of the Spirit, reject all reading of the Scriptures themselves, and deride the simplicity of those who only delight in what they call the dead and deadly letter.  But I wish they would tell me what spirit it is whose inspiration raises them to such a sublime height that they dare despise the doctrine of Scripture as mean and childish.  If they answer that it is the Spirit of Christ, their confidence is exceedingly ridiculous; since they will, I presume, admit that the apostles and other believers in the primitive church were not illuminated by any other Spirit.  None of these thereby learned to despise the word of God, but everyone was imbued with greater reverence for it, as their writings most clearly testify.  And, indeed, it had been so foretold by the mouth of Isaiah.  For when he says, 'My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever,' he does not tie down the ancient church to external doctrine, as he were a mere teacher elements; he rather shows that, under the reign of Christ, the true and full felicity of the new church will consist in their being ruled not less by the word than by the Spirit of God.  Hence we infer that these miscreants are guilty of fearful sacrilege in tearing asunder what the prophet joins in indissoluble union.  Add to this, that Paul, though carried up even to the third heaven, ceased not to profit by the doctrine of the Law and the Prophets, while, in like manner, he exhorts Timothy, a teacher of singular excellence, to give attention to reading (1 Tim 4:13).  And the eulogium which he pronounces on Scripture well deserves to be remembered, i.e., that 'it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect' (2 Tim 3:16).  What an infatuation of the devil therefore, to fancy that Scripture, which conducts the sons of God to the final goal, is of transient and temporary use?  Again, I should like those people to tell me whether they have imbibed any other spirit than that which Christ promises to his disciples.  Though their madness is extreme, it will scarcely carry them the length of making this their boast.  But what kind of Spirit did our Savior promise to send?  One who should not speak of himself (John 16:13), but suggest and instill the truths which he himself had delivered through the word.  Hence the office of the Spirit promised to us, is not to form new and unheard-of revelations, or to win a new form of doctrine, by which we may be led away from the received doctrine of the gospel, but to seal on our minds the very doctrine which the gospel recommends" (Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin).

J.C. Ryle on the Narrow Way

"Do you want to understand what the times require of you in reference to your own soul?  Listen, and I will tell you.  You live in times of peculiar spiritual danger.  Never perhaps were there more traps and pitfalls in the way to heaven; never certainly were those traps so skillfully baited, and those pitfalls so ingeniously made.  Mind what you are about.  Look well to your goings.  Ponder the paths of your feet.  Take heed lest you come to eternal grief, and ruin your own soul.  Beware of practical infidelity under the specious name of free thought.  Beware of a helpless state of indecision about doctrinal truth under the plausible idea of not being party-spirited, and under the baneful influence of so-called liberality and charity.  Beware of frittering away life in wishing and meaning and hoping for the day of decision, until the door is shut, and you are given over to a dead conscience, and die without hope.  Awake to a sense of your danger.  Arise and give diligence to make your calling and election sure, whatever else you leave uncertain.  The kingdom of God is very near.  Christ the almighty Savior, Christ the sinner's Friend, Christ and eternal life, are ready for you if you will only come to Christ.  Arise and cast away excuses; this very day Christ calls you.  Wait not for company if you cannot have it; wait for nobody.  The times, I repeat, are desperately dangerous.  If only few are in the narrow way of life, resolve that by God's help you at any rate will be among the few" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

John Calvin on the Holy Spirit and the Credibility of Scripture

"With what confidence it becomes us to subscribe to a doctrine attested and confirmed by the blood of so many saints?  They, when once they had embraced it, hesitated not boldly and [courageously], and even with great [eagerness], to meet death in its defense.  Being transmitted to us with such an earnest, who of us shall not receive it with firm and unshaken conviction?  It is therefore no small proof of the authority of Scripture, that it was sealed with the blood of so many witnesses, especially when it is considered that in bearing testimony to the faith, they met death not with fanatical enthusiasm (as erring spirits are sometimes wont to do), but with a firm and constant, yet sober godly zeal.  There are other reasons, neither few nor feeble, by which the dignity and majesty of the Scriptures may be not only proved to the pious, but also completely vindicated against the [complaints] of slanderers.  These, however, cannot themselves produce a firm faith in Scripture until our heavenly Father manifest his presence in it, and thereby secure implicit reverence for it.  Then only, therefore, does Scripture suffice to give a saving knowledge of God when its certainty is founded on the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit.  Still the human testimonies which go to confirm it will not be without effect, if they are used in subordination to that chief and highest proof, as secondary helps to our weakness.  But it is foolish to attempt to prove to infidels that the Scripture is the word of God.  This it cannot be known to be, except by faith.  Justly, therefore, does Augustine remind us, that every man who would have any understanding in such high matters must previously possess piety and mental peace" (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion).

J.C. Ryle on Private Communion with Christ

"Let us cultivate the habit of keeping up more private meditation and communion with Christ.  Let us resolutely make time for getting alone occasionally, for talking with our own souls like David, for pouring out our hearts to our great High Priest, Advocate, and Confessor at the right hand of God.  We want more auricular confession - but not to man.  The confessional we want is not in a box in the vestry, but the throne of grace.  I see some professing Christians always running about after spiritual food, always in public, and always out of breath and in a hurry, and never allowing themselves leisure to sit down quietly to digest, and take stock of their spiritual condition.  I am never surprised if such Christians have a dwarfish, stunted religion and do not grow and if, like Pharaoh's lean kin, they look no better for their public religious feasting, but rather worse.  Spiritual prosperity depends immensely on our private religion, and private religion cannot flourish unless we determine that by God's help we will make time, whatever trouble it may cost us, for thought, for prayer, for the Bible, and for private communion with Christ.  Alas!  That saying of our Master is sadly overlooked: 'Enter into your closet and shut the door' (Matt. 6:6)" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

Dining on the Bread of Life

“In the 1930s the most famous living author was William Somerset Maugham.  He was an accomplished novelist, a great playwright, and a short story writer.

“In 1965 Maugham was ninety-one years old and fabulously wealthy.  Royalties were continuing to pour in from all over the world despite the fact that he had not written a word in years. . . He was experiencing incredible success.  But how did Maugham respond to his success?  What had it brought to his life?”

An article written by Maugham’s nephew after he visited his uncle before his death gives some insight.

“I looked round the drawing room at the immensely valuable furniture and pictures and objects that Willie’s success had enabled him to acquire. . . Willie had 11 servants . . . He dined on silver plates . . . But it no longer meant anything to him.  The following afternoon, I found Willie reclining on a sofa, peering through his spectacles at a Bible which had very large print.  He looked horribly wizened, and his face was grim. ‘I’ve been reading the Bible you gave me . . . and I’ve come across the quotation: “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?”  I must tell you, my dear Robin, that the text used to hang opposite my bed when I was a child . . . Of course, it’s all a lot of bunk.  But the thought is quite interesting all the same.’  That evening, in the drawing room after dinner, Willie flung himself down onto the sofa.  ‘Oh, Robin, I’m so tired . . .’  He gave a gulp and buried his head in his hands.  ‘I’ve been a failure the whole way through my life,’ he said.  ‘I’ve made mistake after mistake.  I’ve made a hash of everything.’  I tried to comfort him  ‘You’re the most famous writer alive.  Surely that means something?’  ‘I wish I’d never written a single word,’ he answered.  ‘It’s brought me nothing but misery. . . .Everyone who’s got to know me well has ended up by hating me. . . . My whole life has been a failure. . . . And now it’s too late to change.  It’s too late. . . .’  Willie looked up, and his grip tightened on my hands.  He was staring towards the floor.  His face was contorted with fear, and he was trembling violently.  Willie’s face was ashen as he stared in horror ahead of him.  Suddenly, he began to shriek.  ‘Go away!’ he cried.  ‘I’m not ready. . . .  I’m not dead yet. . . . I’m not dead yet, I tell you. . . .’  His high-pitched, terror-struck voice seemed to echo from wall to wall.  I looked around, but the room was empty as before.  ‘There’s no one there, Willie.’  Willie began to gasp hysterically” (R. Kent Hughes).

Join us this week at ElmCreek Community Church as we look at what John 6:22-59 tells us about Jesus being the Bread of life and the joy of having eternal life through Him alone. 

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Pastor Mark

John Calvin on Church History Proofs of the Credibility of Scripture

"For the best of reasons, the consent of the church is not without its weight.  For it is not to be accounted of no consequence, that, from the first publication of Scripture, so many ages have uniformly concurred in yielding obedience to it, and that, notwithstanding the many extraordinary attempts which Satan and the whole world have made to oppress and overthrow it, or completely face it from the memory of men, it has flourished like the palm tree and continued invincible.  Though in old times there was scarcely a sophist or orator of any note who did not exert his powers against it, their efforts proved unavailing.  The powers of the earth armed themselves for its destruction, but all their attempts vanished into smoke.  When thus powerfully assailed on every side, how could it have resisted if it had trusted only to human aid?  No, its divine origin is more completely established by the fact, that when all human wishes were against it, it advanced by its own energy.  And that it was not a single city or a single nation that concurred in receiving and embracing it.  Its authority was recognized as far and as wide as the world extends - various nations who had nothing else in common entering for this purpose into a holy league.  Moreover, while we ought to attach the greatest weight to the agreement of minds so diversified, and in all other things so much at variance with each other - an agreement which a divine providence alone could have produced - it adds no small weight to the whole when we attend to the piety of those who those agree; not of all of them indeed, but of those in whom as lights God was pleased that his church should shine" (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion).

J.C. Ryle on Private Reading of Scripture

"Let us read our Bibles in private more, and with more pains and diligence.  Ignorance of Scripture is the root of all error, and makes a man helpless in the hand of the devil.  There is less private Bible reading, I suspect, than there was fifty years ago.  I never can believe that so many English men and women would have been 'tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine,' some falling into skepticism, some rushing into the wildest and narrowest fanaticism, and some going over to Rome, if there had not grown up a habit of lazy, superficial, careless, [hasty] reading of God's Word.  'You do err not knowing the Scriptures' (Matt. 22:29).  The Bible in the pulpit must never supersede the Bible at home" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

John Calvin on New Testament Proofs of the Credibility of Scripture

"When we proceed to the New Testament, how solid are the pillars by which its truth is supported!  Three evangelists give a narrative in a mean and humble style.  The proud often eye this simplicity with disdain, because they attend not to the principal head of doctrine; for from these they might easily infer that these evangelists treat of heavenly mysteries beyond the capacity of man.  Those who have the least particle of candor must be ashamed of their [fussiness] when they read the first chapter of Luke.  Even our Savior's discourses, of which a summary is given by these three evangelists, ought to prevent everyone from treating their writings with contempt.  John, again, fulminating in majesty, strikes down more powerfully than any thunderbolt the petulance of those who refuse to submit to the obedience of faith.  Let all those acute sensors, whose highest pleasure it is to banish a reverential regard of Scripture from their own and other men's hearts, come forward; let them read the Gospel of John, and, willing or unwilling, they will find a thousand sentences which will at least arouse them from their sloth; no, which will burn into their consciences as with a hot iron, and check their derision.  The same thing may be said of Peter and Paul, whose writings, though the greater part read them blindfold, exhibit a heavenly majesty, which in a manner binds and rivets every reader.  But one circumstance, sufficient of itself to exalt their doctrine above the world, is, that Matthew, who was formerly fixed down to his money-table, Peter and John who were employed with their little boats, being all rude and illiterate, had never learned in any human school that which they delivered to others.  Paul, moreover, who had not only been an avowed but a cruel and bloody foe, being changed into a new man, shows, by the sudden and unhoped-for change, that a heavenly power had compelled him to preach the doctrine which once he destroyed.  Let those dogs deny that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, or, if not, let them refuse credit to the history, still the very circumstances proclaim that the Holy Spirit must have been the teacher of those who, formerly contemptible among the people, all of a sudden began to discourse so magnificently of heavenly mysteries" (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion).

J.C. Ryle on Private Prayer

"Let us pray more heartily in private, and throw our whole souls more into our prayers.  There are live prayers and there are dead prayers; prayers that cost us nothing, and prayers which often cost us strong crying and tears.  What are yours?  When great professors backslide in public, and the church is surprised and shocked, the truth is that they had long ago backslidden on their knees.  They had neglected the throne of grace" (J.C. Ryle, Holiness).

Children in the Storms of Life

In 1789 Rev. John Newton, the author of the famous hymn Amazing Grace, played a major role in the difficult effort to abolish slavery in the British Empire.  But in the midst of that effort a much more difficult circumstance occurred when Polly, his wife of forty years, became very ill.  For nearly eighteen months her condition slowly worsened and each day became an agonizing wait for her death.  On December 15, 1790, Polly Newton died after a long, painful, and strenuous battle. 

The same day Polly passed away, John Newton was visiting the sick in his church and preparing for the sermon he would give the following Sunday.  He even gave the eulogy at Polly’s funeral, something that was looked down upon by the people of that time.  Many saw John’s actions as uncaring and unloving, but it was far from the truth.

John Newton struggled through an eighteen-month storm, slowly watching the life of his wife ebb away.  That storm could have easily turned him away from God, but instead his faith increased and his love and reliance upon God strengthened.  So much so that he was able to move forward in life quickly, knowing he would see her again and that the Father would be his constant strength and rescuer in times of need.

Join us this week at ElmCreek Community Church as we look at John 6:16-21.  In this passage Jesus walks on the water in the midst of a storm, while his disciples struggle through the wind and waves to get their boat to shore.  May we be prayerfully prepared to discover how the Father takes care of his children in the midst of the storms of life, even when those children are sinking under the waves.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Pastor Mark

J.C. Ryle on Public and Private Religion

At the time J.C. Ryle wrote these words there had been an increase in the number of public services and those attending.  Though he was excited by the multiplication of what he called "public religion" he gave a word of caution:

"While we are thankful for the increase of public religion, we must never forget that, unless it is accompanied by private religion, it is of no real solid value, and may even produce most mischievous effects.  Incessant running after sensational preachers, incessant attendance at hot crowded meetings, [prolonged] to late hours, incessant craving after fresh excitement and highly spiced pulpit novelties - all this kind of thing is calculated to produce a very unhealthy style of Christianity and, in many cases I am afraid, the end is utter ruin of soul.  For, unhappily, those who make public religion everything are often led away by mere temporary emotions, after some grand display of ecclesiastical oratory, into professing far more than they really feel.  After this, they can only be kept up to the mark, which they imagine they have reached, by a constant succession of religious excitements.  By and by, as with opium-eaters and dram-drinkers, there comes a time when their dose loses its power, and a feeling of exhaustion and discontent begins to creep over their minds.  Too often, I fear, the conclusion of the whole matter is a relapse into utter deadness and unbelief, and a complete return to the world.  And all results from having nothing but a public religion!  Oh, that people would remember that it was not the wind, or the fire, or the earthquake, which showed Elijah the presence of God, but 'the still small voice' (1 Kings 19:12).

"Now I desire to lift up a warning voice on this subject.  I want to see no decrease of public religion, remember; but I do want to promote an increase of that religion which is private - private between each man and his God.  The root of a plant or tree makes no show above ground.  If you dig down to it and examine it, it is a poor, dirty, coarse-looking thing and not nearly so beautiful to the eye as the fruit or leaf or flower.  But that despised root, nevertheless, is the true source of all the life, health, vigor and fertility which your eyes see, and without it the plant or tree would soon die.  Now private religion is the root of all vital Christianity.  Without it we may make a brave show in the meeting or on the platform, and sing loud, and shed many tears, and have a name to live and the praise of man.  But without it we have no wedding garment, and are 'dead before God.'  I tell my readers plainly that the times require of us all more attention to our private religion" (J.C. Ryle, Holiness).

Christ's Power and Sufficiency

It is when we have nothing that we find that Christ is enough.

This week we are in John 6:1-15 where Jesus feeds five thousand men, not including women and children.  This large crowd is hungry, so Jesus provides.  They have little to nothing to eat, so Jesus gives in abundance.  But this miracle is far greater than the provision of food.  It is a revelation of Jesus as the Christ and his sufficiency for those who believe in Him.

Join us this Sunday at ElmCreek Community Church as we seek the truth of God’s Word and will for our lives as His disciples.  May we be open to what Scripture has to teach us and open to the work of the Spirit as we study His Word.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Pastor Mark