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Q. What is true faith?
A. True faith is not only a sure knowledge by which I hold as true all that God has revealed to us in Scripture; it is also a wholehearted trust, which the Holy Spirit creates in me by the gospel, that God has freely granted, not only to others but to me also, forgiveness of sins, eternal righteousness, and salvation. These are gifts of sheer grace, granted solely by Christ’s merit.
—Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 21
“Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, before anyone had done a stroke of work or acquired a jot of merit, he rose from the sepulchre, bringing new life to his disciples. What then began had nothing to do with last week's work or last week's sins; they all seemed centuries away. The old world for Christ's disciples had ended in calamity, had gone down into a gulf of darkness; the earth had crumbled under their feet, they had nothing to stand upon. But here was something as new as the creation of the world where no world was; new life straight from the hands of the only living God.”
—Austin Farrer
God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps on the sea, And rides upon the storm.
Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, The clouds you so much dread, Are big with mercy, and shall break, With blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour.
The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.
—Written by William Cowper d.1800; last hymn written before he descended into mental illness, from which he subsequently died.
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.”
— C.S. Lewis
“Never is tranquillity restored to our minds, or fear and trembling banished from them, except by knowing that Christ reigns amongst us.”
— John Calvin, Commentary on John
“The sisters were heartbroken when Lazarus died. They must have felt sure that they knew what their heart’s desires were, and they must also have felt sure that they had lost them forever. But what the story of Mary of Bethany shows is that a person can feel sure about these things and still be altogether mistaken.”
Eleonore Stump, Wandering in Darkness
“From beginning to end, the Holy Scriptures testify that the predicament of fallen humanity is so serious, so grave, so irremediable from within, that nothing short of divine intervention can rectify it.”
― Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ
“Jesus wept, and in his weeping, he joined himself forever to those who mourn. He stands now throughout all time, this weeping Jesus weeping, with his arms about the weeping ones: ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ He stands with the mourners, for his name is God-with-us. Jesus wept.”
- Ann Weems, Psalms of Lament
“For in [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
- Colossians 2:9
“He sanctified the body by being in it.”
- Athanasius, On the Incarnation
“That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”
—C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
Due to technical difficulties there is no audio recording of the sermon this week.