The Lord gives His blessing to men while they are busy with their callings.

William Gouge, Building a Godly Home: A Holy Vision for Family Life, 22.

[L]et notice be taken of the particular callings where God has set us, and of the diverse duties of those callings, and let conscience be used in the practice of them. He is no good Christian that is careless in these matters. A bad husband, wife, parent, child, master, servant, magistrate, or minister is no good Christian.

William Gouge, Building a Godly Home: A Holy Vision for Family Life, 19.

In the recently published Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature, A. Louth (2004: 297) is fortunately aware of Gregory’s poetry; but in a 538-page volume devoted to early Christian literature one would expect something more than a single paragraph, general in content, discussing a corpus of 17,000 Christian verses. However, space was probably granted according to teach text’s significance: Louth says that ‘taking a variety of classical forms, and demonstrating considerable skill, they [Gregory’s poems] are difficult, and may not be our taste, but they impressed his contemporaries enough for a whole book of the Palatine Anthology (Book 8) to be devoted to his poems’. But Book 8 of the Palatine Anthology should be attributed to Gregory’s high esteem in Byzantium rather than to the impression his epigrams had on his contemporaries.

CHRISTOS SIMELIDIS, SELECTED POEMS OF GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: A CRITICAL EDITION WITH INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY, 21.

Gregory’s poems present particular interest as an attempt to create a distinctive Christian poetry within the tradition of classical literature. Gregory may not have been the first to write classicizing Christian verse, but his poetry is the earliest Greek verse of this kind that survives in any great quantity. Gregory often wants to engage his reader in exploring literary allusions. In fact the reader of Gregory’s verses can often fully understand his text only if he is aware of the classical texts to which Gregory alludes.

Christos Simelidis, Selected Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus: A Critical Edition with Introduction and Commentary, 9.

Martin Luther’s precise stance on predestination is not easy to ascertain. Primarily and practically, he sought to focus on the doctrine of predestination on the elect under the consoling umbrella of salvation in and through Christ. . . .

Luther stressed that everything flows from God’s eternal decree in accordance with His sovereign will . . . Luther traced all events back to God’s active omnipotence, and emphasized the initiative of God in salvation. . . .

The doctrine of predestination, according to Luther, was a motivation to rest in the promises of God’s Word, which are able to keep a sinner from plunging himself into the despairing abyss of reprobation. Since God does not lie, anyone who trusts His promises “will be saved and chosen.” In his doctrinal writings, correspondence, and even at his table, Luther constantly reiterated this pastoral use of predestination, always seeking to use it as a guarantee of forgiveness and a pleading ground; predestination is for, rather than against salvation. . . . The priority which Luther assigned to the consolatory aspect of predestination above and apart from its connection with the sovereignty of God and conversion itself, contains the incipient seeds of later Lutheranism’s outright rejection of the doctrine of double predestination. . . .

It is clear that Luther did, at least early in his career as is evident in the writing of De servo arbitrio, assert a doctrine of double predestination. His presentation of it was not in the theological sense as seen in Calvin, but in a pastoral sense. The whole doctrine of predestination (reprobation included) is intended to console the believer by purifying faith from all secret claims of merit and from self-security, so as to move him to rely on, and solely proclaim, the Pauline emphasis on the freedom of God’s grace in Chris Jesus (Romans 9-11). For Luther, who once confessed himself, “I am not only miserable, but misery itself,” nothing could be more consoling.

Joel R. Beeke, Debated Issues in Sovereign Predestination: Early Lutheran Predestination, Calvinian Reprobation, and Variations in Genevan Lapsarianism, 17, 19, 23, 24.

But “Bible-trained” instead of systematically trained preachers frequently preach error. They may mean ever so well and be ever so true to the gospel on certain points; nevertheless, they often preach error. There are many “orthodox” preachers today whos study of Scripture has been so limited to what it says about soteriology that they could not protect the fold of God against heresies on the person of Christ. Oftentimes they themselves even entertain definitely heretical notions on the person of Christ, though perfectly unaware of the fact.

Cornelius Van Til, An Introduction to Systematic Theology, 5.

A study of systematic theology will help us to keep and develop our spiritual balance. It enables us to avoid paying attention only to that which, by virtue of our temperament, appeals to us.

Cornelius Van Til, An Introduction to Systematic Theology, 5.

Christ conveys His own Spirit into His mystical body, the church, and into every member of it. This Spirit is much more operative and lively than the soul of man. Therefore, if the soul’s animating all the parts of the natural body makes them subject to the head, much more will the Spirit of Christ bring the members of His mystical body in subjection to Himself. “If the Spirit of him that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Rom. 8:11).

Therefore, let particular visible churches and particular people be tested to see whether they are indeed of this true catholic church or not. Those visible churches which refuse to be governed by Christ’s word, and are wholly governed by human traditions, which rise against Christ and play the adulteress by committing idolatry, are not of this catholic church which is subject to Christ. Neither infidels who defy Christ, heretics who deny Him, ignorant persons who know not His will, profane persons who despise Him, lovers of the world who lightly esteem Him, nor any that persecute or scorn Him in His members. By this we may see that many have a name that they are of the church, who indeed are not.

William Gouge, Building a Godly Home: A Holy Vision for Family Life, 47.

When we are assaulted by Satan, or any way set upon by any of his instruments, or are in any distress or need, let us lift up the eyes of our faith higher than we can the eyes of our body, and in heaven behold this our head [Christ the head of the church, Eph. 1:21-23], who is invisible, and we cannot but receive from thence much comfort and encouragement.

William Gouge, Building a Godly Home: A Holy Vision for Family Life, 38.

The Lord gives His blessing to men while they are busy with their callings. Jacob’s faithful service to his uncle Laban moved God to bless him (Gen. 31:42). Joseph’s faithfulness to his master Potiphar was done in remembrance of God, who advanced him to be ruler in Egypt (Gen. 39:2). Moses was keeping his father-in-law’s sheep when God appeared to him in the bush, and appointed him a prince over his people (Ex. 3:1-2). David was sent for from the field, where he was keeping his father’s sheep, when he was anointed to be king over Israel (1 Sam. 16:11). Elisha was plowing when he was anointed to be a prophet (1 Kings 19:19). The shepherds were watching their sheep when that good news was brought to them that the Savior of the world was born (Luke 2:8). Not to insist on any more particulars, the promise of God’s protection is restrained to our callings, for the charge which God has given to the angels, concerning man, is to keep him in all his ways (Ps. 91:11).

William Gouge, Building a Godly House: A Holy Vision for Family Life, 22.