Monday, March 18, 2024

2024.03.18 Hopewell @Home ▫ Romans 12:1–8

Read Romans 12:1–8

Questions from the Scripture text: What does the apostle now do to his readers (Romans 12:1)? By what? What does he call them? What are they to present? As what? What sort of sacrifice? Acceptable to Whom? What would this sacrifice be? To what are they not to be conformed (Romans 12:2)? What should be done to them instead? How? In order to prove what three things about God’s will? Through what does the apostle now speak (Romans 12:3)? To whom? What is each one not to think? How is each one to think? According to what? What do each of us have (Romans 12:4)? What don’t these many members of our body have? What are we believers (Romans 12:5)? In Whom? Of what/whom else are we members? What do we have that differ (Romans 12:6)? According to what? What should one do if he is assigned to prophesy (verse 6)? If he is assigned to minister (Romans 12:7)? If he is assigned to teach? If he is assigned to exhort/preach (Romans 12:8)? If he is assigned to give? If he is assigned to lead? If he is assigned to show mercy?

How do we fit into God’s plan of redemption? Romans 12:1–8 prepares us for the sermon in the midweek prayer meeting. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God has given each one that He redeems special service in His church. 

Entrusting Ourselves to the Wisdom of the Perfectly Wise God. The “therefore” in Romans 12:1 ties us back to the doxology with which ch11 concluded. God has wisely determined how to justify and glorify His elect. And God has wisely assigned the role that each one will have in the history of how God applies that redemption. So, since God is so merciful, we are to give up our own will to Him and offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him.

God is the One Who has measured out to each of us our faith (Romans 12:3). Just as God’s “grace” to Paul was to make him an apostle who writes Scripture (verse 3a), so God’s “grace” given to each member is to give them for the sake of the church, Christ’s body (Romans 12:6a). God is the One Who has providentially assigned to each of us the function that we have in His body (Romans 12:6-8). So, we must not think that our function in the church is for ourselves, but instead remember that the gift is for the body (Romans 12:3b). For, we are not only members of Christ, but of one another. 

The worldly mind serves itself, but the new mind is determined to serve the church. This renewed mind looks at His will in things like what He’s doing with the Jews in chapter 11, and says, “that is good, and acceptable, and perfect”! This renewed mind looks at God’s will in what He’s doing in our own congregation, and in our part in it, and says, “that is good, and acceptable, and perfect”! The perfectly wise God has determined how to use each of us in His work in each of the rest of us. And we must trust Him with that. It is only reasonable to serve Him in this way; it is only logical to offer a life of worship to Him in this way.

Engaging Ourselves in Diligent Service of His Church. So, what are we supposed to do? Well, we are all supposed to serve (Romans 12:7a, NKJ translates “ministry”), give (Romans 12:8b), and show mercy (verse 8d). These are generally commanded to all Christians. So, when we come to do any of those things, we do not come as if it is optional, or as if it is our idea. We do those things as assignments from God and essential gifts from Him to His church. As such, we do it all with eagerness and zeal. The giving should be generous (“liberality”). The mercy should be cheerful. 

Then, there are others who had words from the Lord, but even these were to make sure only to prophesy that which was consistent with the faith (end of Romans 12:6; otherwise, he may be sure that he prophesies falsely). And there are those in whom God has done a gracious work that identifies them as teachers (Romans 12:7b), preachers (v8a, NKJ “exhorts”), and overseers (Romans 12:8c) in His church. These may be identified by the qualifications in Ephesians 4, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, James 3, 1 Peter 5, etc. Thus, we see that it is God Who determines what the qualifications are, God Who works those qualities by grace, and therefore God Who assigns elders by His Word and providence. They must receive this calling as a grace from God and a gift for the church and fulfill their office with diligence. So, too, every man who is married or has children, as God has put him in a position of teaching, exhorting, and leading in his home.

From God, and through God, and to God are all things. From God, and through God, and to God is your own life: your role in your home, your role in the church. To Him be the glory in everything that you do! This is what it looks like to be shaped by the new mind that He has given us. And we may rejoice that He will use our service to fulfill His perfect plan for His glory in the salvation and glory of His church!

What role do you have in your family? What role do you have in your church? Who gave you these roles? For whose good do they exist? For Whose glory? How are you able to do each part? In what manner ought you to do each part?

Sample prayer:  Our gracious God, all things are from You and through You and to You. To You is all the glory forever. We thank You that You have given to each of us our part in Your plan. Grant unto us to serve in our household, and in the body of Christ, with all zeal, diligence, and cheerfulness, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP24 “The Earth and the Riches” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”

Sunday, March 17, 2024

2024.03.17 Lord's Day Live Streams (live at 10:10a, 11a, 3p)

Click below for the:
March 17 Lord's Day Worship Booklet
Matthew 6:16–18 sermon outline
p.m. Song Selections & Numbers 5 sermon
We urge you to assemble physically, if possible, with a true congregation of Christ's church. For those of our own congregation who may be providentially hindered, we are grateful to be able to provide this service.

Each week we LIVESTREAM the Lord's Day (Sabbath School, Morning Public Worship, and p.m. Singing and Sermon) and Midweek Meeting (sermon and prayer). For notifications when Hopewell is streaming live, install the CHURCHONE APP on your [Apple], [Android], or [Kindle] device, and enter hopewellarp for your broadcaster

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Fasting That Delights God (and Delights in Him) [Family Worship lesson in Matthew 6:16–18]

What is Christian fasting? Matthew 6:16–18 prepares us for the morning sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christian fasting is a period of not eating in order to enjoy God as all of our delight and the One upon Whom we entirely depend.
(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2024.03.16 Hopewell @Home ▫ Matthew 6:16–18

Read Matthew 6:16–18

Questions from the Scripture text: To what religious exercise does Matthew 6:16 now refer? Whom are they not to be like? What do the hypocrites do when they fast? For what purpose? What do they already have? Who is to be a contrast to them (Matthew 6:17)? What are they to do instead? In order to prevent what (Matthew 6:18)? Who is their target audience instead? Where is He? Where does He see? How will He reward them?  

What is Christian fasting? Matthew 6:16–18 prepares us for the morning sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christian fasting is a period of not eating in order to enjoy God as all of our delight and the One upon Whom we entirely depend.

Christians fast. Jesus assumes His disciples will fast (Matthew 6:16), even as on another occasion, He says plainly that they will do so (cf. Luke 5:33). A life without fasting isn’t a Christian life any more than a life without prayer (cf. Matthew 6:5-14) or a life without works of mercy (cf. Matthew 6:1-4). What is fasting? At the most basic level, it is abstaining from food. But, obviously, Christian fasting is more than that. Indeed, as the Lord Jesus is now teaching, it is more and better than any other nutritional or religious fasting.

Christians enjoy fasting. It is the hypocrites who fast with a sad face (Matthew 6:16). They even make their faces look artificially sad so that everyone can see how sad they are! They are like their spiritual fathers, in Isaiah 58, who thought the more miserable they were, the happier God should be (cf. Isaiah 58:3–5). This was a great mistake. Time set apart to God should be a joy, not a pain, as the conclusion to that chapter taught about the Sabbath (cf. Isaiah 58:11–14). It is true that fasting is joined to humiliation and repentance and great pleading with God, throughout Scripture.  But, as the Lord Jesus has been teaching us in this sermon, the proper complement to mourning and humiliation about ourselves is rejoicing and exultation over the Lord (cf. Matthew 5:3–8). 

Christians enjoy fasting for God (and God in their fasting). One reason that you might not know that mature Christians are fasting is that they don’t tell you about it! The Lord even directs extra care with our morning routine so that others will not know that we are in a mourning routine (Matthew 6:17)! Like works of mercy and prayer, our fasting is to be kept between us and the Lord. Our Father sees the secret place in the heart (Matthew 6:18). Here, it is most clear that this “secret” place is not necessarily the closet (though we do have Him there, when we sneak away to be alone with Him, cf. Matthew 6:6). For the Christian, the secret place is a place that he can take with him wherever he goes. It is the communion—the shared life—between his soul and his heavenly Father.

So Christian fasting is not just enjoying God more than food or needing God more than food. It is that—and more. Christian fasting is a fitting conclusion to this section of the sermon on the mount, because its essence is to find God as our great reward. It is enjoying God more than all created things and needing God more than life itself. It finds Him to be marrow and fatness for the soul (cf. Psalm 63:3–5)!

What are you most susceptible to enjoying more than (or apart from) the Lord? What are you susceptible to depending upon instead of Him? When have you fasted? When you do fast, what is your plan for keeping it between you and the Lord? What is your plan for enjoying Him in it? 

Sample prayer:  O God, You are our God; early we will seek You. Our souls thirst for You; our flesh longs for You, as in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water. And with this longing, we have sought You in the holy place, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your covenant love is better than life, our lips shall praise You. Thus, we will bless You while we live; we will lift up our hands in Your Name. Our souls shall be satisfied with marrow and fatness, while our mouths praise You with joyful lips, through Jesus Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP63 “O God, You Are My God” or TPH63A “O God, You Are My God, Alone”

Friday, March 15, 2024

Conscientiously Maintaining God's Dwelling Place [Family Worship lesson in Numbers 5]

How do the instructions in this chapter fit together? Numbers 5 prepares us for the evening sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these thirty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that, as those among whom God dwells, Christians must conscientiously maintain their holiness, relationships, and hearts.
(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2024.03.15 Hopewell @Home ▫ Numbers 5

Read Numbers 5

Questions from the Scripture text: Who spoke to whom in Numbers 5:1? Whom was he to command (Numbers 5:2)? What were they to do to what three kinds of people (cf. Leviticus 11–15)? Which ones (Numbers 5:3)? In order that they would not do what to the camps? Because Who dwells there? How does Israel respond to this command (Numbers 5:4)? Who speaks to whom in Numbers 5:5? To whom is he supposed to speak (Numbers 5:6)? What might a person do? Against Whom? What does that make that person? What must the sinner say to God (Numbers 5:7)? What must he do to what persons? And Whom does he pay, if neither that person, nor their kinsman redeemer, is available to pay that restitution (Numbers 5:8)? Whose rights (to what particular property) do Numbers 5:9-10 protect? Who speaks to whom in Numbers 5:11? To whom is he to speak (Numbers 5:12)? About what situation? What do she and the adulterer do (Numbers 5:13)? But then what happens with the husband (Numbers 5:14)? When might he also be suspicious and jealous? To whom is he to bring her in either case (Numbers 5:15)? And what is he to bring for the priest on her behalf? What is not to be put upon this offering? Why? What is this drawing near (“offering,” NKJ) supposed to accomplish? To Whom does the priest then bring her near and set her (Numbers 5:16)? What is he to combine in what (Numbers 5:17)? Where does the priest stand her (Numbers 5:18)? What does he uncover? What does he put in her hands? And what does he have in his own hands? What does he say, when he makes her to swear (“puts her under oath) in Numbers 5:19-20? What curse does the priest warn against the woman in (Numbers 5:21-22)? And what does the woman swear (Numbers 5:22)? What does the priest do with the curses (Numbers 5:23)? Then what does he do with the ink? And what does he do with the water (Numbers 5:24)? Then what does the priest take (Numbers 5:25)? Where does he bring it? What does he take from it (Numbers 5:26)? And what does he do with that handful? What will the result be, with the woman, in which case (Numbers 5:27)? And what will the result be in the other case (Numbers 5:28)? What cases do Numbers 5:29-30 cover? What does Numbers 5:31a imply about a husband who feels jealous but doesn’t deal with it? What does verse 31b ensure about a wife who has been unfaithful?

How do the instructions in this chapter fit together? Numbers 5 prepares us for the evening sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these thirty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that, as those among whom God dwells, Christians must conscientiously maintain their holiness, relationships, and hearts. 

A Holy People, Numbers 5:1–4. One of the main features of the last several chapters has been the Levites’ functioning as a holy buffer between the tabernacle and the rest of the camp. But God’s dwelling among His people requires that the entire camp be holy: “that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell” (Numbers 5:3).

The uncleannesses referred to in Numbers 5:2 are representative of the whole of Leviticus 11–15. Those who were ritually defiled had to be put out of the camp. Both they and the ritually clean would be reminded that God looks upon the heart. The one who approaches the Lord must have a pure heart (cf. Psalm 15, Psalm 24:3–4). This they knew already from the atonements and offerings by which they had to come near. But it was driven home all the more by the enforcement of the cleanliness code. 

How happy the expelled person would be when they were clean again and were able to follow the regulations for reentry! It would be plain to them that this was a reentry into the camp where God Himself had made His glory to dwell. And it was a reminder that, even after we have been redeemed by God, we must be made perfectly holy if we are to enter His eternal rest (cf. Matthew 5:8, Hebrews 9:14). 

No Unresolved Sin Against One AnotherNumbers 5:5-10. Again, we have something that was covered in Leviticus 5–6, but in this context it is important for us to notice the reason for restitution. Sin against others is, first and foremost, “committing unfaithfulness against YHWH” (Numbers 5:6, cf. Psalm 51:4)! This was why they still had to make restitution even if they couldn’t pay back the one who was wronged, or even find a near relative to pay back. Part of maintaining holiness as those who are gathered to God for His worship is to keep short accounts and not allow sin against one another to go unresolved.

No Harboring JealousyNumbers 5:11-31. The third, and longest, section is one that we might easily misunderstand, if we don’t catch the implication in the first half of Numbers 5:31: “then the man shall be free from iniquity.” God was forbidding the man to live with a jealous heart. Instead, the husband was taught by this procedure to give up any jealous suspicions to God, and let Him deal with it. While the ceremonial law has passed, the principle remains. Those among whom God dwells, and who come to Him for worship, must not live with a jealous heart.

The dreadfulness of the ordeal would both serve to encourage a wife to make every effort not to give reason for jealousy, as well as encouraging the husband to come to the Lord to be released of the jealousy of in his spirit. In both of their cases, the prospective curse on childbearing was a reminder that their marriage wasn’t only for themselves. It was first and foremost for the Lord, for honoring Him both in their own generation, and in raising up godly seed unto Him (cf. Malachi 2:15).

But the primary point here is the jealousy of the heart. Those who are gathered unto God in His church, and who gather to Him to worship Him, must be careful of the inner life of the heart before Him!

What hope do you have that you will have that holiness that is necessary to see the Lord? What application are you making of that principle in living a holy life now, as someone who comes weekly to worship Him? Against whom have you committed unresolved sin? How are you going to resolve it ASAP, and before you come to worship? How are you exercising care over the inner life of your heart?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we are amazed that You have been pleased to tabernacle among us and to take us as Your temple. Grant that we would be holy, that we would conduct ourselves in a holy manner with one another, and that we would be careful of the inner life of our hearts. For, we ask it through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP15 “Within Your Tent Who Will Reside?” or TPH24B “The Earth and Its Riches”

Thursday, March 14, 2024

A “Truly Reformed” Life [2024.03.13 Midweek Sermon in Romans 11:33–36]


Being truly Reformed means overflowing with praise about and unto God with the lip and the life.

(click here to DOWNLOAD video/mp3/pdf files of this sermon)

Walking in Cleansing Fellowship with God [Family Worship lesson in 1John 1:5–2:2]

What difference does fellowship God make in our daily living? 1John 1:5–2:2 prepares us for the second serial reading in public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that when we have fellowship with God, we walk in His light as those being cleansed by Christ.
(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2024.03.14 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 John 1:5–2:2

Read 1 John 1:5–2:2

Questions from the Scripture text: To what does the apostle now shift in 1 John 1:5? How does his experience of the message match the experience of he living Word (cf. 1 John 1:1)? What is the message? What have some claimed (1 John 1:6)? While walking in what way? What does this prove about their claim? What are they not doing (“practicing,” NKJ)? What must we walk in, instead (1 John 1:7)? Of Whom does this make us an imitation? With whom does this give us fellowship? What happens to those who have this fellowship? What if we say that we don’t need this cleansing from sin—what are we doing to ourselves (1 John 1:8)? What isn’t in us? What must we do with our sins instead (1 John 1:9)? Upon what attribute of His must we depend? What two things does God do in that faithfulness? What if we say that we don’t even need the forgiveness—what are we making God out to be (1 John 1:10)? And what isn’t in us? What is the apostle’s goal in making these points (1 John 2:1)? What does he assure those who are trying not to sin but stumble—what do they have? With Whom? Who is this advocate? What is He in Himself? And what is He for us (1 John 2:2)? And what is His capacity for propitiation?

What difference does fellowship God make in our daily living? 1 John 1:5–2:2 prepares us for the second serial reading in public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that when we have fellowship with God, we walk in His light as those being cleansed by Christ.

Fellowship with God means walking in the light. In 1 John 1:1-4, the apostle commended his message in the strongest possible terms: it is the means by which we are brought into a shared life with the Triune God, through the Son, the Word, in Whom is eternal life. This message, this gospel, is how we are brought into the enjoyment of God Himself. 

So, in a real sense, God Himself is the gospel. Now, 1 John 1:5-7 tells us more about Him, and therefore more about what it means to have a shared life with Him. More about Him: He is light and in Him is no darkness at all. More about a shared life with Him: this fellowship with Him means walking in the light. 

From the word picture, we can understand what walking in the light means, externally. It means that the rule of our life is not from ourselves, which would be darkness, but from Him Who is light. That is to say that He is the rule of our life. He, through His Word, is the standard and the guide for what we do, what we desire, and what we delight in. 

But this idea of the shared life helps us understand another part of walking in the light. Christians have His life in us and His light in us. We have a new birth, a new nature. So, we walk in the light not only when we learn from the Bible what our desires should be, but when we find that as we read the Bible, His Spirit within us actually makes those things our desires.

If we are walking in darkness, however, we must not think that we have fellowship with God. v6 calls the one who thinks that it is ok for Christians to sin a liar who does not practice the truth. Christians must never take our sin lightly.

Fellowship with God means guaranteed cleansing from sin. Now, a Christian might well be alarmed when he learns that if we are not walking in the light, then we have no fellowship with God. For, every Christian in this life still has sin. So, the sentence in 1 John 1:7 doesn’t even finish without assuring us that there is cleansing from this remaining sin. 

The one who walks according to the rule of God’s light externally, and with a desire formed by God’s light internally, does so only by that shared life with Jesus Christ. And this Jesus Christ, though a Man, is also God the Son. If we have Him, then we have His blood, and that blood is the most effectual cleanser of what is unclean and consecrator of that which is common. His blood is cleansing believers from their sin, even now already in this life.

Now, in 1 John 1:8, we learn that there is something even worse than the “Christian” who says that it is ok for him to sin. Yes, the one who treats sin as if it is ok is a liar. But the one who says that he has no sin is worse than a liar. He is someone who calls God a liar (1 John 1:10)! 

But, praise God, the gospel is a great helper to us to confess our sin. For, if we have Jesus Christ His Son, the truthfulness and faithfulness of God is not against us but for us. Without Jesus Christ, God would be faithful and just to punish us fully for our sins and to leave us to ourselves forever in our unrighteousness. But if we have Jesus Christ, then God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (justification) and to cleanse us from all that remaining unrighteousness (sanctification).

So, the Christian is able to look at his sin with eyes wide open. He hates it, because it is darkness that is at war with God. But he feels free to admit it, because God is on his side and will surely win that war. This is why the apostle is writing to teach his readers about the gospel. They are like dear, little children to him (1 John 2:1), and he wants to arm them with the truths about God and Christ that will enable them not to sin. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin”!

How can the faithful and just God do this? How can He forgive and cleanse us? Because our advocate with the Father is Jesus Christ the Righteous! The Father so loved us that He gave His Son, Who knew no sin, to be sin in our place, so that we could be the righteousness of God in Him (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). The Father lovingly secured for us the greatest Advocate there can be! And He is our propitiation. He has endured in Himself the fullness of the wrath of God, so that God is entirely propitious (favorable) toward us! 

How rich is this propitiation? It will never be exhausted. He didn’t just propitiate for the disciples who believed. He propitiated for an entire world of believers—an entire cosmos, including not just every place, but every time! Don’t worry, dear believer, the justifying and cleansing blood of Jesus has not lost a bit of its power since the apostle first wrote this. Face your sin. Hate your sin. Rejoice in Jesus that God forgives you and shall surely finish cleansing you. And walk against that sin in and by the light of God!

What sins have you been shrinking from admitting that you commit, or perhaps neglecting to admit that you commit? Why are they a big deal? How can we see if we are treating them as no big deal? Why mustn’t you do that? What would it look like to treat them as a big deal? How can you be sure that you will be cleansed from them?

Sample prayer:  Lord, forgive us for how much darkness there is in our walking, even though we have fellowship with You and walk in the light. We are ashamed that we have often treated our sin as if it were a small thing, and are in danger of being liars about our profession of faith. And even worse, Lord, we have rationalized our sin so that we did not even call it sinful. So we have even been in danger of calling You a liar. We have been faithful, but You are faithful. We have been unrighteous, but You are just. Now by that blood of Jesus Christ, which has propitiated for all who believe in Him from the entire cosmos, forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

2024.03.13 Midweek Meeting Live Stream (live at 6:30p)

Click below for the:
March 13 Prayer Meeting Folder
Romans 11:33–36 sermon outline
We urge you to assemble physically, if possible, with a true congregation of Christ's church. For those of our own congregation who may be providentially hindered, we are grateful to be able to provide this service.

Each week we LIVESTREAM the Lord's Day (Sabbath School, Morning Public Worship, and p.m. Singing and Sermon) and Midweek Meeting (sermon and prayer). For notifications when Hopewell is streaming live, install the CHURCHONE APP on your [Apple], [Android], or [Kindle] device, and enter hopewellarp for your broadcaster