Hopewell Herald – July 17, 2020
Dear Congregation,
I received a question about spiritual
warfare this week (this person was “feeling resistance” during prayer) and
thought that there might be many of us who could use some clear biblical
thinking about the topic.
From Genesis 3 on, Scripture is teaching
us about God's sure victory over Satan and how it applies to and involves us.
So the LORD
God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than
all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go,
and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your
head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
Genesis
3:14–15
One of the main ways that God
distinguishes Himself from us in His deity is by how completely unchallenging
He finds spiritual warfare to be. So, in His famous interview with Job,
putting Job in his place, much of the Lord’s discourse (chs. 40–41) focus upon behemoth
and leviathan, which were real creatures but also emblematic of the power and
of the devil. They are so fearsome! Yet, the Lord rules over them all.
So also Scripture teaches us
that God bends even the wickedness and wicked actions of the devil to do
whatever is good for His people (Ps 74:14). The devil’s attacks upon
Job became the means by which already-godly Job grew dramatically in his
knowledge of the Lord. When Satan attacks Christ in the wilderness, his
temptations become the occasion by which Christ is qualified as our Mediator,
being tempted as we are in every way (except without sin). When Satan enters
Judas to attack Christ’s life, the ensuing crucifixion is the means by which
Christ is exhibited as a propitiation and redeems us by His blood. How great
and continual is Christ’s victory and Satan’s eating dust!
But the period of Satan being
permitted even to be used in this way quickly draws to a close. The
crushing of Satan is joined to the restoration of God's forgiven people in
Isaiah 27. This is the same idea as in Rom 16:19–20, where the Lord tells His
people to be wise about goodness, and simple about evil, since He Himself is
about to crush Satan under our feet.
We know that Satan attacks,
particularly by weakening the fellowship of the church. So, in 2Cor
2:11, if a church nurses bitterness instead of forgiving and showing affection,
it becomes susceptible to the devices of the devil. And, 1Tim 3:6–7, a young
believer who might become puffed up and bring shame upon the church, should not
be made an elder, even if he has the other characteristics. Because humility is
essential for both elders and church members (1Pet 5:1–7), lest a believer become
disconnected from the flock and become easy prey to the prowling lion (1Pet 5:8).
It’s not surprising, then, that the “classic” spiritual warfare passage comes at the end of the
letter to the Ephesians, in which we have already seen such a glorious theology
of the church these last few months.
Ephesians 6:10–20 and the warfare/armor
of God is actually one bookend to an extended spiritual warfare section, with
Eph 5:3–16 as the other bookend. This section describes the clash between the
unclean kingdom of darkness and the saints who are children of light.
But, what are the “books” between these
two bookends? Where, primarily, does the battle take
place for us? Public worship (5:17–21), marriage (5:22–33), childhood and
parenting (6:1–4), and the workplace (6:5–9).
When we study 6:10–20 to understand how
to use the weapons of our warfare, for battling well in these areas, we find
that it basically boils down to always always clinging to the gospel of Christ,
and always always praying.
On balance, the great part of our
warfare is to live in a godly manner in all the ordinary spheres of life, while
resting and rejoicing in Christ's finished work in our behalf in the past,
together with the certainty of His forthcoming final victory.
In these ways, we resist the devil and
he flees from us (James 4:6–7). In other ways, the Lord permits him to attack
us, when it is for our good (2Cor 12:7–9).
But it is especially by clinging to the
shed blood of Jesus as the heart of all our verbal and life testimony that we
overcome—ultimately winning, even if we are killed in the meantime (Rev 12:11,
cf. Rom 8:35–39).
And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and
they did not love their lives to the death.
Revelation
12:11
Looking forward to that part of the
battle that is our corporate worship,
Pastor
MEN’S BREAKFAST, tomorrow (Saturday) morning, 6:30 A.M. Boys and men
of all ages are encouraged to attend! The monthly service/skill
project begins this month. Tomorrow, after the breakfast we will
head over to Josiah’s house and help with some of his needs. We will be laying
flooring, which means taking out some cabinets. If you have drills and or
drivers and knee pads, please bring them.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Josiah or Charlie.
LORD'S DAY – July 19,
2020
9:50 a.m. Breakfast
Line Opens
10 a.m. Sabbath
School
This week, we’re beginning a series on
topics related to important issues that people around us are talking much about
right now, continuing this week to study what Holy Scripture teaches us
about “Racial Reconciliation.”
11 a.m. Public Worship
▫Children’s Catechism
for July 19
Q38. Can anyone go to heaven with this sinful nature? A. No; our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven.
Q38. Can anyone go to heaven with this sinful nature? A. No; our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven.
▫Shorter Catechism for July
19
Q46. What is required in the first commandment? A. The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
Q46. What is required in the first commandment? A. The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
Psalms and Hymns
TPH390 “Christ
Is Coming!”
ARP72A “God,
Give Your Judgments to the King”
Scripture Text for first portion of
worship service
Scripture Readings
Sermon Scripture text and topic
We will be hearing from Ephesians 4:1–7 about how the manner of church members’
interaction with each other should be a response to the church being God’s
astonishing display of His own glory.
1 p.m. Coffee
Fellowship and Catechism Class
1:15 p.m. Fellowship
Lunch & Open Mic Time
There will be plenty for everyone, but
as with breakfast, those who are uncomfortable eating from the line are
encouraged to bring their own food that they keep separate.
At open mic time, we’ll begin with
birthdays and anniversaries and recitations of the memory verse:
(Genesis 30:2) And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
(Genesis 30:2) And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
2:45 p.m Psalm/hymn
Sing
Carryover song requests from last week:
Carryover song requests from last week:
Blue: 46, 1, 99A, 127
Red: 253, 277, 476
(if you wish to make this week’s requests
in advance, please feel free to reply to this email, and let me know!)
Hopewell this Month
Hopewell’s
Presbytery Prayer Focus for July:
Riverside
ARP in Prattville, AL
July
Psalm of the Month
ARP72A God, Give Your Judgments
to the King
Upcoming Events
•July 18, Men’s Breakfast, 6:30 a.m.
•July 20, Monthly Session Meeting, 6 p.m.
•July 22, Prayer Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
•August 30, Sermon to “launch” class series on delighted consecration of
the Lord’s holy day
•September 13, Lord’s Day series begins in the Sabbath School
•October 2-4,
HARPC 200th Anniversary Celebration
Congregational Prayer Requests
(new/updates in bold)
▪ Pray with the Reformed sidewalk-counseling group @PP in
Nashville for their Tuesday and Thursday ministries. (ongoing) For
abortionist Kimberly Looney whose heart is so heard that she continues despite
having recently birthed her own child; (7/2) for obvious post-murder mom who
was sped away by a man; another who was sped away on a stretcher in an
ambulance; (7/9) for those who came, while PP was temporarily closed, only to
be ministered to by sidewalk counselors instead; (7/13) PRAISE for a young
mom, encountered 7/8, who has decided not to kill her child; (7/16) PRAISE for
young mom Nicole, whom they were able to steer to Hope Clinic instead for her
pregnancy test.
▪ Early Rain Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church,
Christians in Nigeria, and other persecuted churches like them; Pastor Wang Yi
in prison.
▪ Alan McClelland and his ministry at
Ft. Rucker
▪ Repentance of the Church and the
Nations for general rejection of the Kingship of Christ
▪ Comfort and provision for the LeeAnn Billings
family as they grieve
▪ Pray for the Jeffers family, whose granddaughter
Isabelle (14) and then her mother Norma both attempted suicide; there’s a long
way to go medically, financially, and especially spiritually for all involved;
please keep praying for them and for Sue’s ministry to them
▪ Pray for Rebecca Sterling, whose
condition seems to be deteriorating again, and who would like to not end up
back in the nursing home
▪ Pray with D&L L for her 85yo
mother and her heart issues
▪ Pray with P&D W for his mom who
fell, and for their return trip back out there to situate her more safely and
with proper care
▪ Pray with S&D B for Andrew to be
able to wean off the medicine well
▪ Pray with S&D B and D&D R for
Doug and Dianne’s oldest son Dave. He is not a believer, homeless and in
despair.
▪ Pray with KC for her acquaintance Linda who doesn’t seem to know the Lord, and just
lost 21 year old son; and, for her dear friends who need to live a life of
faith and devotion to the Lord; and for friend Patty, a believer, that she will
continue to do well after treatment for uterine cancer
▪ Pray with D&M G that her mother
would continue healing well and not smoking; for Sean; for Jeremiah and Julianna
▪ Pray with W&C G for her mother’s
health and caregivers; and for spiritual (and total) well-being of son Greg
▪ Pray with J&H H for his father’s cancer; for sweetness
in his parents’ remaining time together; for his youngest brother, and the same
brother’s son (with CP, and recovering from hip surgery) and daughter
▪ Pray with R&M J for Meredith, young daughter of M’s college
friend Ashely (and husband Brad), who’s taking medicine to shrink her brain
tumor; and for Meredeth and baby, due in January
▪ Pray with O&A L for her unbelieving mother w/heart
condition, and her family’s grieving over her brother
▪ PRAISE with CM for friend Michael Duval and his recovery from knee
surgery
▪ Pray with C&T P for the conversion of her brother Todd; and
for her dad and family in the loss of his wife Jolene
▪ Pray with AR for friend Caleb Figura w/mysterious but
debilitating gut illness
▪ Pray with D&K R for their family’s growth in godliness,
especially dying to self, godly speech, and Lord’s Day keeping; and for local pastor/constable
Darryl Thrasher, who has an aggressive, malignant brain tumor; PRAISE for
birth of baby Mercy to Micah and Rachel on July 6
▪ Pray with GR for friend Abby to come to faith in Christ
▪ Pray with JeR for believing friend Jeanette Cary’s CHF,
Fibromyalgia, & slow-healing wound
▪ Pray with J&M R for baby Bentley, and their family’s
adjustment and future with him
▪ Pray with J&S R for the situation with his work furlough; her
nephew, who needs life in Christ; and for her and her family in the loss of her
father, especially spiritual impact on her sisters and nephews; for his whole
family, and especially his mother, as they grieve the passing away of his
father; and sister Kathy, who just lost her husband; and for Celeste and her
ministry to her professing friend who has decided that homosexuality isn’t
wrong
▪ Pray with S&V Y for his parents and siblings as they deal
with his father’s declining health and his mother’s dementia; and for her niece
Carina and her husband Luke and their newborn daughter Callaway who was born
with an acidemia and is recovering from an extended period of high ammonia in
her blood
▪ Please pray with Riverside ARP in Prattville, AL, throughout the
month of July
▪ Please pray for the TN-AL Presbytery to be enabled to plant a
faithful church with the resources available and earmarked for that purpose
▪ Please pray for all ARP presbyteries,
churches, and agencies
▪ Please pray for our nation, state,
community and all the officials thereof
Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one
special part of religious worship, is by God required of all men: and, that it
may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his
Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility,
fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and, if vocal, in a known tongue. (WCF
21.3)
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