2026.08.29 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 3:14–19

Saturday, August 29, 2026 ▫ Read Ephesians 3:14–19

Questions from the Scripture text: What (v14, cf. 2:14–22) does the apostle now pick up from v1 as the reason for this prayer? What posture does he take for this prayer? What does He call God, Whom he addresses (v14b-15)? According to what does he pray that this request will be granted (v16)? With what does he pray that they will be strengthened? Through Whom does he pray that they will be strengthened? In what does he pray that they will be strengthened? What does he pray that the Spirit will do in their inner man (v17a)? In what will this root them and ground them (v17b)? What would this enable them to do, with whom (v18)? What is the thing that he prays that they will begin to know the measure (or, rather, immeasurability!) of (v19)? With what will such knowledge fill them?

For what should we pray? Ephesians 3:14–19 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that we should pray for God’s glorious intentions toward us in the gospel to be fulfilled.

Heaven has been reconciled to earth, with God making redeemed sinners the trophy in which He displays His grace even in glory to the angels (2:6–7; 3:10–11). Paul began to say “for this reason” in v1, and now he picks the train of thought back up in v14, having uncovered and displayed several more facets of this glorious, multicolored diamond of the wisdom and the grace of God.

It is the glory of this mystery that we can call God Father—not only are all of the ethnicities of believers being brought together into one family on earth, but in heaven they actually appear in glory—the same glory that was being accomplished even through Paul’s imprisonment (end of v13).

Of course, a part of the blessedness of our glorious adoption is access to the family estate, the riches of God’s glory. And it is in realizing that God is building this family that the apostle now bows his knees and requests access to the family treasure. The fatherhood of the Father. The strengthening of the Spirit. The indwelling of the Son.

It must be a great request indeed! And what is all of this being requested to do? To enable the Ephesians to comprehend (to take hold of) by experiential knowledge something that our brains can’t wrap around.

He has been reflecting upon the fact that the love of Christ goes widely through all the earth to all of its families, that the length of the love of Christ began before all things hidden in God Himself and continues for all eternity, that the love of Christ reaches down all the way to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and that the love of Christ takes us up onto even the highest throne of the highest heaven.

How could we come to take hold of such a thing? How could we come to take hold of something that will fill us, continually, abundantly, forever? Filled with all the fullness of God! (It would be blasphemy if the Holy Spirit had not been the One to say it.) What a glorious way to say continual, abundant, and forever fullness. It is not the fullness of that which is finite but the fullness of God.

No wonder, then, that the apostle makes this great Trinitarian prayer when coming with such a request. And, how much we need to consider the great necessity and glory of the church that such knowledge must come together “with all the saints.” Shall we not bow our own knees for this?

How do we grow in the love of Christ? Who must make those activities effective? Ask Him!

Sample prayer: Lord, grant us, according to the riches of Your glory, to be strengthened with might through Your Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. Root us and ground us in love, so that we may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the widtha nd length and epth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. Thus, fill us with all the fullness of God, in Christ, through Whom we ask it, AMEN! 

 Suggested songs: ARP119H “My Portion Is the Lord Himself” or TPH425 “How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place”

2026.08.28 Hopewell @Home ▫ Habakkuk 2:6–20

Friday, August 28, 2026 ▫ Read Habakkuk 2:6–20

Questions from the Scripture text: What two things will all the people from v5 take up against the proud man (v6)? What two things bring him under woe? Who will rise up to do what (v7)? What will Babylon have done, and what will be done to them by whom (v8)? Upon whom does v9 pronounce woe? What does he think the evil gain will do for him? But what does he do to himself and his house by thinking like this (v10)? What will testify against him (v11)? Upon whom does v12 pronounce woe? Under Whose providence do those who think that they advance themselves actually proceed (v13)? What will be the end of all their efforts (v14)? Upon whom does v15 pronounce woe? What will be the outcome of their glorying in sin (v16)? What earthly/temporal instances of wrath are pictures of this (v17)? What final folly is denounced in v18–19? Why is it so ridiculous to trust in it and listen to it? Who is completely different than this? What must all do before Him?

Why shouldn’t Habakkuk fret over the apparent success of the Babylonians? Habakkuk 2:6–20 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these fifteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that, despite whatever successes they may seem to have, the wicked are actually in a most unenviable condition.

From an earthly perspective, it is the peoples of the nations (v5) whom we ought to pity. But these people are the ones who will end up taking up a proverb against the proud man (Babylon) in the end (v6). Habakkuk need not fret over God’s plan to use the Chaldeans (cf. 1:5–11). They are in a most unenviable position, as the Lord’s justice stands against them.

Woe to him who takes things by force, v6–8. Though one man or nation may be more powerful than another, their power is borrowed power, and their time is borrowed time. When the bill comes due (v7), God will make the remnant of the people to plunder them (v8). All things belong, ultimately, not only to God but, under His sovereignty, to His remnant people. Don’t fret over the brute who takes things by force.

Woe to him who takes things by stealth, v9–11. This man covets “evil gain,” and he thinks to go undetected, but all creation is witness (v11). Indeed, God Himself is witness. God sees not only what is done to get the wealth, but the foolish and wicked hope that by accumulating wealth, one will put himself out of the reach of trouble (v9). One who leads according to the idea that money is a cure-all brings his family not into honor, but shame, and he sins against his own soul even more than he sins against others (v10). Don’t fret over the conspirator who takes things by schemes.

Woe to him who builds wickedly for the glory of his own name, v12–14. Babylon’s ancient beginning, Babel, is behind these three verses, and we know what came of them (cf. Gen 11:4–9). Men labor and weary themselves to establish and exalt their own name, but they will end up on the scrap heap of history, and can only accomplish the Lord’s ultimate purposes (v13). Those who operate out of such pride will be willing to commit sin to accomplish their goals (v12), but it is the Lord’s ultimate purpose that they serve: to fill the earth with the knowledge of His own glory (v14). Do not fret over the arrogant and proud who are willing to commit whatever sin they think will serve the exalting of their own name.

Woe to him who glories in sin, v15–17. Up to this point, sin was a means to an end, but here sin is its own end. He is glad to abuse whatever substance he can take, or give others, in order to silence the conscience and indulge in sin even more (v15). But the wrath of man (v17) is the smallest hint of the wrath that he will find against himself in the cup of YHWH’s right hand (v16, cf. 2Th 1:9–10). Do not envy the man who seems to take his fill of fleshly pleasure.

Woe to him who invents his own religion, v18–20. The Chaldeans’ brutality upon the nations was so lucrative that they made a religion out of worshiping it (cf. 1:15–17). But it is utter folly to trust in, or listen to, a “god” that you create (v18–19). Instead, you must trust in the uncreated Creator; and, you must keep silence before Him and listen to Him (v20). YHWH is completely other than the creature. We must humble ourselves before Him, trust in Him, and listen to Him. Do not be tempted to follow the ways of the Babylonians because they seem to have success for now. Even now, YHWH is in His holy temple; the God Who sits in the heavens laughs in scorn at the raging and plotting of the nations (cf. Ps 2:4).

So Habakkuk needs neither to fret over, nor to envy, the brute, the schemer, the worldly ambitious, the hedonistic, or the idolator. All of these are in a slippery place and shall fall all at once without remedy (cf. Ps 73:12–20). Do not fret over them; woe to them! Do not envy them; woe to them! Keep silence before YHWH in His holy temple. Trust in Him, listen to Him, and look forward, with confidence to the ultimate knowledge and praise of His glory!

Over what brute are you tempted to fret? Over what conspirators are you tempted to fret? What worldly ambitious/ successful person are you tempted to envy? Whom are you tempted to envy that take their fill of fleshly pleasure? What manmade religious practices are you tempted to think of as spiritual or instructive?

Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for reminding us that everything occurs under Your providence, and answers to Your justice. We long for the day when the wicked receive the cup of Your right hand against them, and the earth is filled with the knowledge of Your glory as the waters cover the sea. Make us to keep silence before You in Your holy temple, we ask through Christ, AMEN! 

Suggested songs: ARP2 “Why Do Gentile Nations Rage” or TPH73B “Yes, God Is Good to Israel”

2026.08.27 Hopewell @Home ▫ Mark 9:30–42

Read Mark 9:30–42

Questions from the Scripture text: Through where did they pass in Mark 9:30? Whom did Jesus want to know it? What three things that would happen to Him was Jesus teaching His disciples (Mark 9:31)? Did they understand (Mark 9:32)? Why didn’t they ask about it? Where did He come in Mark 9:33? What did He ask them in the house? Why did they keep silent (Mark 9:34)? Whom did Jesus call to Himself in Mark 9:35? What did HE tell them in that verse? Whom did Jesus set in their midst in Mark 9:36? What did He do with that child? When He had done this, what does He say in Mark 9:37? What does John say they had seen in Mark 9:38? What does John say that they had done? that they have But what does Jesus say not to do (Mark 9:39)? Why not—what couldn’t those who do actual miracles in Christ’s name do? What does their giving praise to Christ’s name, and God’s permitting them to do miracles in Christ’s name, show about them (Mark 9:40)? What is another way that all believers show a reward that they cannot lose (Mark 9:41)? But what if, instead of doing good to someone because he belongs to Christ, they cause one of Christ’s little ones to stumble (Mark 9:42)?

Who is the greatest? Mark 9:30–42 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christ is great, and we are all little ones be comparison—whose only greatness is Him Himself.

The Lord Jesus is patiently teaching His disciples that following a crucified Christ is all about glorifying that Christ through self-denying service to others.

Jesus was teaching them that it was all about His death and resurrection (Mark 9:31), while they were preoccupied with just how much it would be about them (Mark 9:33-34).

What a picture Jesus gave them—taking up a little child in His arms. When He talks about receiving one of the little children in His name, He is holding that child. Service to other Christians is for the sake of Him who treasures them and cares for them.

And this isn’t only true for those who have few years. The same principle applied to the disciples themselves (Mark 9:41). How great are they? No more than that little child. The greatness all belongs to Christ and His Name

That’s also the point about the miracles, isn’t it? If someone really did a miracle in Jesus’s name, it was only because Jesus had granted to him to be able to do it.

Today, there are sometimes very vocal “unity” people who might come to a passage like this and say, “See? We shouldn’t exclude anybody, and we should try to make everybody feel good about themselves like Jesus did for that child.”

How ironic it would be to abuse the passage this way, in light of Mark 9:31! Anyone who denies the truth about Jesus is definitely on the outside here, and in need of correction. And there is a whole lot of “not feeling good” that comes along with realizing how bad our sin is and what had to be done about it.

But we are also in danger of allowing a proper concern for precision to turn into personal hostility and even isolation. This can happen when we focus primarily upon another believer’s errors, or even worse, whether that believer is “with us.” The one to whom John referred was a believer, because their preaching was genuinely attended by the Spirit’s power.

Even when other believers are in error, or not with us, we must still value them as believers. So, how will we steer clear of the dangers in this passage? The answer is in the main theme of the passage: by keeping our focus upon the glory of Christ, treasuring and serving whomever He does!

Whom have you been treasuring and serving for the sake of Christ? Whom should you be?

Sample prayer: Lord, forgive us for how we have been obsessed about being the greatest, when You came not to be served but to serve, and to give Your life as a ransom for many. Truly, we have failed to have in us the mind that was in You. We have not preferred others to ourselves, or looked out for their interests as much as for our own. And, we have often disregarded whether we might be making little ones to stumble. Into what great danger this has put us! So, forgive us, we ask, for Jesus’s sake. And make us to be like unto Him, we ask in His Name, AMEN! 

Suggested songs: ARP22C “I’ll Praise You in the Gathering” or HB435 “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord”

2026.08.26 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Chronicles 18

Read 1 Chronicles 18

Questions from the Scripture text: How does 1 Chronicles 18:1 relate this to God’s promise and David’s prayer from chapter 17? Whom did David attack? What did he take? Whom else did he defeat (1 Chronicles 18:2)? What did they become? And bring? Whom else did David defeat (1 Chronicles 18:3)? What did he take and do (1 Chronicles 18:4)? Who came to help them, and what did David do to them (1 Chronicles 18:5)? What did the Syrians become and do (1 Chronicles 18:6)? How did all of this happen? What did David take for what purpose (1 Chronicles 18:7-8)? Who heard what (1 Chronicles 18:9)? Whom did he send, with what, and why (1 Chronicles 18:10)? What did David do with these (1 Chronicles 18:11)? Along with what? Who else did what (1 Chronicles 18:12-13)? What did David do, in what manner (1 Chronicles 18:14-17)?

What is the significance of David’s military, economic, and political successes? 1 Chronicles 18 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seventeen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that David’s military, economic, and political successes are the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises to him. 

YHWH preserves His king. 1 Chronicles 18:6, 1 Chronicles 18:13 give the theological significance of all of these victories. It is YHWH Who is preserving David wherever He went. He is keeping His promise from chapter 17, as He both preserves David and foreshadows the kingdom of David’s Son. 

One day, it will not just be Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, Ammonites, and Amalekites, but all nations will become Christ’s servants and bring Him tribute (1 Chronicles 18:2, 1 Chronicles 18:6). 

YHWH prepares His temple. In addition to giving David victories, the Lord is giving David the privilege of providing for the temple that Solomon will build. 

The gold shields from the servants of Hadadezer (1 Chronicles 18:7); the large amount of bronze from the cities of Hadadezer (1 Chronicles 18:8); the gold, silver, and bronze articles that Hadoram brought with him (1 Chronicles 18:10);  and the silver and gold that he brought from Edom, Moan, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek (1 Chronicles 18:11)—all of these were for the temple. Verse 11 specifies that David dedicated these to the Lord. And 1 Chronicles 18:8 mentions the specific temple furnishings of the Sea, and the pillars, as well as other articles of bronze.

YHWH establishes David’s throne, 1 Chronicles 18:14-17. These verses are not just a clerical record of David’s cabinet. The summary in 1 Chronicles 18:14 makes it clear that this is a testimony to the justness and excellence of the administration of his government. 

The Lord faithfully fulfills all His promises. He fulfilled them to David. He has supremely fulfilled them in Christ. And He will keep fulfilling them until all has been done. Not one of all His good Word has fallen to the ground. Not one ever will. And, if you are a believer, then you may rejoice to be part of Christ’s kingdom, one of His subjects, and part of the temple that He is building.

How has Christ subdued you and made you His subject? What does this mean for what you do, and how you do it? What part do you have in Christ’s building of His church? How does the certainty of His victory, success, wisdom, and justice strengthen and gladden you?

Sample prayer:  Lord, You gave David victory on every side, and You are giving Christ victory through the whole of this age. Thank You for subduing us as His servants and subjects. Forgive us for how we have lived as if we are autonomous. Make us to live in obedience and loyalty to Him. 

And thank You for making us to be that temple that Christ is building, as He builds His church. Forgive us for our groundless anxieties that the gates of hell might prevail against it. And, forgive us for our forgetfulness that Christ has consecrated us unto Your holy worship. We bless Your Name for the greatness and glory of King Jesus, and we thank You for forgiving us and cleansing us through Him, for which we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP96A “O Sing a New Song” or TPH100B “All People That on Earth Do Dwell”

Hope for the Helpless [Family Worship lesson in Job 13:20–14:22]

What hope can Job have in the midst of his pain in this world? Job 13:20–14:22 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the believer’s hope is in God Himself, Who makes us new, forgives our sins, and desires us as the work of His hands. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The devotional explores Job's desperate plea for God to reveal his sins and cease terrifying him, highlighting the brevity and misery of human life compared to the regenerative power found in Christ. Job's hope is the believer's assurance of fellowship with God through Jesus. Pastor emphasizes that while humans cannot cleanse themselves from sin, God offers forgiveness as the ultimate refuge. Believers are encouraged to maintain their hope in God's kindness and salvation regardless of earthly circumstances. The message concludes by urging his family to live and die with faith in Christ's covering of their iniquities.

2026.08.25 Hopewell @Home ▫ Job 13:20–14:22

Read Job 13:20–14:22

Questions from the Scripture text: What two things does Job ask God not to do to him (Job 13:20-21)? What does he want God to show him (Job 13:23)? How does he regard God’s perceived silence (Job 13:22, Job 13:24)? What effect does this have upon him (Job 13:25)? In what manner is he concerned that God might be dealing with him (Job 13:26-27)? What condition highlights man’s inability to change himself (Job 13:28–Job 14:4)? Who is sovereign over him, i.e., able to change him (Job 14:5)? Apart from grace, what would be best for man (Job 14:6)? How is a tree different than man (Job 14:7-10)? How is man more similar to a lake bed or river bed (Job 14:11-12)? Since Job has gospel hope for eternity (Job 14:16-17), what would he rather have from God than his recent experiences (Job 14:13-16a)? What happens with man’s hopes and initiatives in this world (Job 14:17-22)?

What hope can Job have in the midst of his pain in this world? Job 13:20–14:22 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the believer’s hope is in God Himself, Who makes us new, forgives our sins, and desires us as the work of His hands.

Job is determined to trust in the Lord (Job 14:15) to be his salvation (Job 14:16). What does that look like in such painful circumstances as he finds himself? We can learn much from his basic prayers.

Don’t leave me alone, Job 13:20–22. This may sound inconsistent. Several times, we have seen Job ask that if God is going to continue to deal with him as He appears to be, just to leave him alone. But Job has come to an important conclusion: even though he cannot see it now, God is the God of gospel grace in Whom he has trusted. So, he prays that God would not leave him alone (Job 13:21a), and that God would deal with him according to grace (verse 21b). If God is your only hope, then cry out to Him not to withdraw His hand from you, but to deal with you graciously as your Hope instead of your Terror.

Show me my sins, Job 13:23-24. This is a profound little section. Job believes that it is an act of enmity (Job 13:24) when God hides His face instead of showing us our iniquity, sin, and transgression (Job 13:23). Job has repented of what he knows of. His friends have insisted that he suffers because of unrepented sin. But if Job is to repent, he needs to know what his sin is. It would be enmity indeed if God gave him over to sin to such an extent that he didn’t even know what his sin was. It might feel easier to our conscience, and especially to our pride, to be ignorant of our sin or to take it lightly. But that is not grace. If you are looking to God for true grace, then ask Him to make you know your sins.

But don’t treat me according to those sins, Job 13:25-28. This has been Job’s fear throughout: what if the Lord is actually dealing with me according to my sins (Job 13:26)? He is sovereign over the whole of our life (Job 13:27). If He deals with us according to our sin, we shall be destroyed and incinerated instantly (Job 13:25, Job 13:28).

Make me a clean thing, Job 14:1–4. Man was not created to be “of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1-2). Job is engaging the Lord in light of his fallenness. Even if God shows him his sins (Job 13:23–24), Job can’t cleanse himself from himself (Job 14:4). He needs God to give him a new nature. If the only principle upon which the Lord deals with him is one of justice (Job 14:3), then Job is done for.

Get me safely to eternity, Job 14:5–22. In the balance of the chapter, Job notes that he doesn’t have any inherent life in himself, like even the stump of a tree does (Job 14:7-8). Rather, he is like a riverbed of a river that has long since dried up (Job 14:9-12). As Ecclesiastes also observes several times, a man’s accomplishments in this life do not have “staying power” (Job 14:18-21), however much he agonizes over his endeavors (Job 14:22).

So, if Job’s life is going to be one of misery and pain under the apparent wrath of God (Job 14:13b), it would be better for him to be hidden by God in his grave (verse 13a) until the time of his redemption comes. He would rather just wait for the resurrection (Job 14:14), in which he is confident that he will know the grace of God (Job 14:15). His ultimate hope is in God and His forgiveness (Job 14:16-17). Note that, while Job is asking God to spare him the balance of the miseries of this life, it does not even cross his mind to take his own life. As he hopes in God for eternal forgiveness and blessedness, he does not even consider committing such a sin as suicide.

Instead, here he is with eternal hope in God, asking for a word from God that he might have resolved his perplexity about the pain in his life. By the end of the book, he would know God better. And we, with the cross and the resurrection as finished events, know even more fully this grace of God and our eternal hope in Him! Let us live in that hope, sure that when our hard service is over, our change will come (Job 14:14), and that God Himself will bring us out of the season of misery (Job 14:13), that He might delight in us, whom He has transformed (Job 14:15) and whose sin He has forgiven (Job 14:16-17).

What miseries are you enduring? How do you know that God is not treating you according to your sin? What hope do you have for when your life in this world is done? What hope do you have even now, as the work of God’s hands?

Sample prayer: Lord, two things we desire from You: that You would not withdraw Your hand far from us, and that the dread of You would not make us afraid. Make us to know our sins, and make us to know Your forgiveness and cleansing of sin. Since a clean thing cannot be brought out of an unclean thing, grant that Your Spirit would make us to be clean things. Give us to worship You from the new life that is in us from Christ. Come, now, and call; and, we will answer You. Desire us as the work of Your hands, covering our iniquity, and giving us to live, and work, and worship by Your grace in Christ, through Whom we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP51B “From My Sins, O Hide Your Face” or TPH433 “Amazing Grace!”

2026.08.24 Hopewell @Home ▫ Proverbs 26:23–28

Read Proverbs 26:23–28

Questions from the Scripture text: What are the two components of the condition in Proverbs 26:23a? To what does verse 23b compare it? What does the one in Proverbs 26:24a do? With what does he disguise it? What might he do anyway (Proverbs 26:25a)? But what mustn’t the hearer do? Why (verse 25b)? With what does he cover his hatred (Proverbs 26:26a)? But what will happen, in what context (verse 26b)? What does the man in Proverbs 26:27a do? With what result? What does the man in verse 27b do? With what result? To what sort of tongue does Proverbs 26:28a refer? What does it do to whom? To what sort of mouth does verse 28b refer? What does it work?

What is the key to godly speech? Proverbs 26:23–28 looks forward to the opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that a grace-changed heart is the key to godly speech.

The wicked heart, Proverbs 26:23. Our words should be good food (cf. Job 6:6–7, Job 12:11), but out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (cf. Luke 6:45). When someone with a wicked heart tries to serve up good food, it is polluted by the dross on which it is served, like putting a nutritious meal on a filthy plate. If we wish to do others good with our mouths, we must seek God’s grace to cleanse our hearts, first.

The hateful heart, Proverbs 26:24-26. The fool doesn’t think about how God sees his heart, so he is not concerned about the hatefulness he finds within himself. He cares more about what others think, and disguises that hateful heart with gracious-sounding words (Proverbs 26:24-25). There is coming a day, in the great assembly of the judgment, when the heart will be laid bare (Proverbs 26:26). When we go to worship, if we realize that our hearts are already laid bare before God, we may be helped to think about what it would be like if the entire congregation knew our heart. They will! How we need God’s grace to change and cleanse our heart!

The scheming heart, Proverbs 26:27-28. This final section is both a warning and a comfort. If we find in our hearts that we are trying to lay traps for others, Proverbs 26:27 warns us that we are the ones whom we will end up harming, and Proverbs 26:28 alerts us to how such thinking is truly hateful to oneself. But if others are trying to set traps for us, these verses give us comfort from God, Who assures us of these outcomes. God give us grace to be honest about the schemes of our hearts.

To whom have you been trying to sound better than you are? In which area do you most need heart-help: wickedness, hatefulness, or scheming? How will you seek that help?

Sample prayer: Lord, please give us new hearts from Christ, by Your Spirit. And make the words of our mouths to overflow from the good with which You fill our hearts by Christ’s grace, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP15 “Within Your Tent, Who Will Reside” or TPH400 “Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me”

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2026.08.22 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 3:10–13

Read Ephesians 3:10–13

Questions from the Scripture text: What is being made known (Ephesians 3:10)? By whom? To whom? Where? According to what (Ephesians 3:11)? How was this purpose accomplished? What do we have in Christ (Ephesians 3:12)? Through what? What, therefore, does the apostle ask (Ephesians 3:13)? For whom is he suffering these troubles? So that they may have what?

How great is God's work in the church? Ephesians 3:10–13 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God's work in the church is so glorious that it is the object of even the angels' worship. 

Ephesians 2:6–7 told us that one of the reasons for seating us in the heavenly places was so that in the ages to come God would display (in us) the exceeding riches of His grace in Christ Jesus. 

Now the apostle marvels at his own ministry, which isn’t just announcing among the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8), but also making the church into a display unto the heavenly beings of the “multicolored” [literally translated] wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10). Sometimes, we hear people talk about what a “watching world” sees, and we rightly desire to be light. But the darkness hates the light. Believers who worry too much about their image before men would do well to meditate upon how we are also God’s display of His own wisdom before the angels!

Hidden in God from all eternity (Ephesians 3:9a), and the reason for creating all things (verse 9b), the existence of the gospel church displays that the purpose of God in Christ Jesus our Lord has now been accomplished (Ephesians 3:11)!

It can be difficult to persist in serving the Lord under the ordinary ministry of the elders (Ephesians 4:11–16), in the battle of sanctification (Ephesians 4:17–24), and the complexities of relationships in the congregation (Ephesians 4:25–32) and to the world (Ephesians 5:1–14), especially in the ins and outs of the daily slog in marriage (Ephesians 5:22–33), parenting (Ephesians 6:1–4), and work (Ephesians 6:5–9). 

So, the apostle sets before us the cosmic significance of our ordinary sanctification (both here in Ephesians 3:10 and later in Ephesians 6:10–20) to bring us back to Christ Himself, and the now-revealed mystery of God’s grace to us in Him. This—God’s plan from eternity to glorify Himself in Christ by being gracious to us—is what gives us not only boldness in life, but even confidence when we approach God Himself (Ephesians 3:12). It would do us good, in the midst of the daily grind, to reflect often upon the eternal plan that is being carried out in our serving God as beloved children.

This is why the apostle, rather than losing heart at his own trouble, has just rattled off 13 verses of amazement at the grace of God toward him in giving him this ministry. And this is why he doesn’t want them to be distracted by his troubles either. He knows their Christian affection for him, but what he wants them to see, in his imprisonment, not  the light and momentary affliction, but the eternal weight of glory that it is accomplishing (Ephesians 3:13, cf. Romans 8:18–23,  2 Corinthians 4:15–18).

May the Lord bless our daily worship in our homes and weekly worship in the assembly, such that we may live our lives in this world with eyes and hearts that feast upon this glory of God in Christ that is the purpose of all things!

In what situation do you find it most difficult to remember that God has planned this for His glory in Christ? How will you go about reminding yourself of this from passages like this one?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for making our lives to be displays of the multicolored wisdom of God. Please, accomplish Your purposes in us, and grant that we would remember that You are doing so. Thus, do not let us lose heart over our own troubles, or the troubles of any believer. Give us to live with boldness and confidence that we have in our access to You, and in the whole of our lives, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the Lord” or TPH425 “How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place”

2026.08.21 Hopewell @Home ▫ Habakkuk 2:2–5

Read Habakkuk 2:2–5

Questions from the Scripture text: Who is speaking in Habakkuk 2:2a? What does He tell him to do (verse 2b)? Upon what (verse 2c)? So that who may do what (verse 2d)? What about the vision necessitates this (Habakkuk 2:3a)? What will it do, when (verse 3b)? So, what must Habakkuk, do with it (verse 3c)? Why (verse 3d–e)? Whom is he to behold/consider (Habakkuk 2:4a)? What is he to observe/conclude about him (verse 4b)? Who lives in what other way (verse 4c)? What does the proud man do in Habakkuk 2:5a–b? What doesn’t he do (verse 5c)? What does he enlarge, to what extent (verse 5d–e)? What does he gather and heap up (verse 5f–g)? 

How do believers overcome doubt and self-indulgence? Habakkuk 2:2–5 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers overcome doubt and self-indulgence by faith in God’s Word.  

A Word for everyone in Scripture and preaching. YHWH gives Habakkuk a vision; so why must he write it down? Because what God is giving Habakkuk to experience isn’t just for himself. It’s for God’s people throughout the ages. The “runner” in Habakkuk 2:2 isn’t engaging athletics, or even fleeing. He’s a messenger. God wants His message to His people written down so that it will be read. So that it will be proclaimed exactly. Here are the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture and the doctrine of preaching. What Habakkuk writes is “a vision,” which is to say that it is given by God, rather than coming from Habakkuk. And what the preacher proclaims is what he “reads,” which is to say that he proclaims the written Word, rather than his own ideas.

A reliable Word to wait for. The Lord has told Habakkuk to look and watch (cf. Habakkuk 1:5), and Habakkuk is doing just that for the Word of God (cf. Habakkuk 2:1). YHWH has appointed a time for its fulfillment (Habakkuk 2:3a). Habakkuk does not know what that time is, but he knows that the fulfillment is certain (verse 3b), and its arrival will be not a moment later than the Lord has planned (verse 3c–e). As I once heard a preacher say, in my youth, “the Lord’s train may seem slow to us, but it is always right on time.”

Two ways to relate to the Word. Skepticism isn’t honest; it’s arrogant. The righteous man, in Habakkuk 2:4, lives by his faith. The way that he watches is by the Word of God. He is not discouraged, and does not doubt. Circumstances may be bewildering, but the Word of God is sure. Fulfillment may take time to come, but the Word of God is sure. And this is especially the Word of God about Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:37–38 identifies this Word as a Person! This righteous man, who lives by his faith, is set over-against “the proud” in Habakkuk 2:4. The alternative to faith is to be one whose soul is not upright within him. It is arrogance to allow our experience or our assessment to overrule, in our hearts, what God’s Word says. The outcome of this skepticism is self-indulgence (Habakkuk 2:5). Wine easily deceives him (verse 5a), because in his pride (verse 5b), he is subject to all of his impulses (verse 5c–e). Self-indulgence is a conqueror even more ruthless than the Chaldeans (verse 5f–g). Apart from believers, there are none whom it does not overcome.

The Lord has given us faith in His Word as both the mechanism by which we come to be counted as righteous, and the method by which we live. How shall it be for you, dear reader? Will you (arrogantly!) live as one who questions God’s Word, but never questions his own impulses and desires? Or, will you live by the confidence that God’s Word is His Word, and that it shall be perfectly fulfilled at exactly the right time?

What experiences threaten to discourage you? What impulses and desires threaten to overcome you? What prescription does this passage give against those? How are you implementing what it says?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for causing Your sure Word to be written down for us. And thank You for sending us messengers who proclaim not their words but Yours. Please grant that we would have faith to take You at Your Word. And make our preachers faithful to preach only Your Word. Thus, strengthen us and gladden us in Christ, Who is that Word, and the great proclamation of all Scripture. And, guard us from all pride and self-indulgence. Make us those just ones who live by faith, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP131 “My Heart Is Not Exalted, LORD” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”