f The Wittenberg Door: October 2012

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Commenting on Christendom, culture, history, and other oddities of life from an historic Protestant perspective.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Love Bade Me Welcome

Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lack’d anything.

A guest, I answer’d, worthy to be here:
Love said, you shall be he.
I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply.
Who made the eyes but I?

Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat;
So I did sit and eat.

George Herbert (1593 – 1633)

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posted by The Catechizer and The Deacon | 12:12 PM | 0 comments

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Notable Quote: Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon (1834 – 1892) on evangelism:

If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.

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posted by The Catechizer and The Deacon | 5:30 AM | 0 comments

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Notable Quote: John Brown of Wamphray

John Brown of Wamphray (1610-1679) on finding our life in Christ:

Live up then to the gospel, and so be sure of it, and be safe in it. I mean, let Christ live in thee as they all, and cast all thy are and cumber on him; draw all they necessities out of him; and undertake all they duties in him; be strong in him, and in the power of his might; let him be they counselor, condutor, leader, teacer, captain, commander, light life, strength, and all so shall thou stand and have ause to glory, even in thine infirmities, for thou shalt find the power of Christ resting upon thee, and thou shalt have cause to say, therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reporaches, in necessities, in persecution, in distresses for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Christ: the Way, the Truth, and the Life

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posted by The Catechizer and The Deacon | 6:23 AM | 0 comments

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Notable Quote: R.L. Dabney

R.L. Dabney (1820 – 1898) on sanctification . . .

Sanctification, in the gospel sense, means then, not only cleansing from guilt, though it presupposes this, nor only consecration, though it includes this, nor only reformation of morals and life, though it produces this; but, essentially, the moral purification of the soul . . . Sanctification only matures what regeneration began. The latter sprouted the seed of grace, the former continues its growth, until there appears first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.

R.L. Dabney, Systematic Theology

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posted by The Catechizer and The Deacon | 8:24 AM | 0 comments

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Notable Quote: C.G. Kirkby

C.G. Kirkby on the sacraments . . .

Only two sacraments are known and administered by the Church in the New Testament era – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are both equally signs and seals and intended to be attached to the Word. The word “sacrament” comes from the Latin term SACRAMENTUM and is equivalent to the Greek term MYSTERION which in the New Testament denotes the divine plan of salvation hidden in past ages but now brought to light in the preaching of the Word (Rom. 16:25, 26). They are called “mysteries” or “sacraments” because they have enabled men to participate in the mysterious union of God and man through the atoning death and resurrection of Christ.

It was Augustine who first gave the general definition of a sacrament, which later became traditional, as “an outward and temporal sign of an inward and enduring grace.” Accordingly to the catechism of the Book of Common Prayer, a sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” The Reformers insisted that the sacraments were given to the Word of God. This predominant purpose of a sacrament is for a sign and a seal. It is to declare to us what God has done for us and to us and within us..

Signs and Seals of the Covenant

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posted by The Catechizer and The Deacon | 5:30 AM | 0 comments