A book club to encourage reading of Reformed Christian Classics at around 10-20 pages a time.
April 9, 2010
Holiness - Ryle - XIV - Chapter 13
Required reading Holiness by J C Ryle (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Read Chapter 13, 'The church which Christ builds'. My summary In Chapter 13 Ryle draws out five lessons from Matthew 16:18 'Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'
(i) A building: 'My church'; (ii) A builder: Christ says, 'I will build my church'; (iii) A foundation: 'Upon this rock I will build my church'; (iv) Perils implied: 'The gates of hell'; (v) Security asserted: 'The gates of hell shall not prevail against it'.
What grabbed me I thought Ryle gave a good simple explanation of what is the true foundation of the church, in contrast to what the Roman Catholic church understands the foundation to be: 'What did the Lord Jesus Christ mean, when He spoke of this foundation? Did He mean the apostle Peter, to whom He was speaking? I think assuredly not. I can see no reason, if He meant Peter, why He did not say, "Upon you will I build My Church." If He had meant Peter, He would surely have said, "I will build My Church on you," as plainly as He said, "To you will I give the keys." No, it was not the person of the apostle Peter, but the good confession which the apostle had just made! It was not Peter, the erring, unstable man, but the mighty truth which the Father had revealed to Peter. It was the truth concerning Jesus Christ Himself which was the rock. It was Christ’s mediatorship, and Christ’s Messiahship. It was the blessed truth that Jesus was the promised Savior, the true Surety, the real Intercessor between God and man. This was the rock, and this the foundation, upon which the Church of Christ was to be built.'
Next week's reading Read Chapter 14, 'Visible churches warned'.
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
1 comment:
Margo
said...
I just LOVED this chapter! It was so encouraging. What I especially liked was that we’re all of the one church that is built on the Rock. And the foundation is very strong:
‘That foundation, once obtained, is very strong. It can bear the weight of the sins of all the world. It has borne the weight of all the sins of all the believers who have built on it. Sins of thought, sins of the imagination, sins of the heart, sins of the head, sins which everyone has seen, and sins which no man knows, sins against God, and sins against man, sins of all kinds and descriptions—that mighty rock can bear the weight of all these sins, and not give way. The mediatorial office of Christ is a remedy sufficient for all the sins of all the world.’
Also, God’s people are always kept safe in His care:
‘The true Church is Christ’s army. The Captain of our salvation loses none of His soldiers. His plans are never defeated. His supplies never fail. His muster–roll is the same at the end as it was at the beginning.’
1 comment:
I just LOVED this chapter! It was so encouraging. What I especially liked was that we’re all of the one church that is built on the Rock. And the foundation is very strong:
‘That foundation, once obtained, is very strong. It can bear the weight of the sins of all the world. It has borne the weight of all the sins of all the believers who have built on it. Sins of thought, sins of the imagination, sins of the heart, sins of the head, sins which everyone has seen, and sins which no man knows, sins against God, and sins against man, sins of all kinds and descriptions—that mighty rock can bear the weight of all these sins, and not give way. The mediatorial office of Christ is a remedy sufficient for all the sins of all the world.’
Also, God’s people are always kept safe in His care:
‘The true Church is Christ’s army. The Captain of our salvation loses none of His soldiers. His plans are never defeated. His supplies never fail. His muster–roll is the same at the end as it was at the beginning.’
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