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December 31 Lord's Day Worship Booklet

Morning Sermon in Matthew 5:13–16

p.m. Song Selections & Lev 22 Sermon Outline

The Law Always Taught “Faith Alone” [2023.12.27 Midweek Sermon in Romans 10:4–9]

The law always taught that righteousness was not by works but by dependence upon the sovereign God Who brought His salvation near to us, working His salvation in us by grace.

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

How Shall They Say the Amen [2023.12.30 Pastoral Letter and Hopewell Herald]

Hopewell Herald – December 30, 2023

Dear Congregation,

Last Lord’s Day, when missing some who usually help us with “[church] family worship” in the afternoon songs and singing, “The Amen” was a little thinner than expected. It occurred to me that there might have been several there who had not been present the last time we took a moment to explain why each one of us should be giving a resounding “Amen!” at the conclusion of various elements of worship.

Upon the occasion of the restoration of tabernacle worship (cf. 1Chr 16:1–3), David began the appointment of specific priests for musical service (cf. 1Chr 16:4–6). Also in his office as prophet, he wrote Psalm 105:1–15 (cf. 1Ch 16:7–22), Psalm 96 (cf. 1Chr 16:23–33), and Psalm 106 (cp. Ps 106:1, 47–48 and 1Chr 16:34–45).

But beyond this restoration of tabernacle worship, the Lord also used David to prepare for temple worship. Indeed, the great emphasis of the latter part of his reign was upon preparing not just for the building of the temple, but for temple worship (cf. 1Chr 22–29).

In my experience, we more tend to remember that David made provision for the building of the structure of the temple, but less tend to remember that his provision for its worship included instruments and assignments of Levitical families to be instrumentalists. Many do not even realize that the Spirit’s using him to pen so many of the Psalms was because he was the king who would be the primary provider (humanly speaking) of the temple worship. Although these Psalms do not appear in chronological/sequential order in the Psalter, we do know that Psalm 72 was the last.

Several things join the tabernacle-worship provision in 1Chr 16 and the temple-worship provision in the Psalms. But for our purposes, consider the endings:

 

1Chr 16:36 (emphasis added)

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel

From everlasting to everlasting!

And all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Psalm 72:18–20 (emphasis added)

Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,

Who only does wondrous things!

And blessed be His glorious name forever!

And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.

Amen and Amen.

The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

The people saying the “Amen” hearkens back to the covenantal, corporate expression in Deut 27:9–26. Public worship was a covenantal ceremony. It continued to be so in the second temple, whose worship also included the amen (cf. Neh 8:6). But how do we know that the amen continues now? The plainest evidence is in 1Cor 14.

During the apostolic period, prophecies and tongues were in part (cf. 1Cor 13:8–9). They didn’t have a completed Bible yet (cf. 1Cor 13:10). So, not only were believer’s sanctification and knowledge on earth incomplete (1Cor 13:11–13), but the Bible itself had not yet been completed (1Cor 13:8–10).

So, public worship during the time of the revelatory gifts could become chaotic, which was indecent and disorderly (cf. 1Cor 14:40). As the Spirit gave direction through the apostle for the orderliness of public worship, 1Cor 14 especially addressed the issue of tongues, insisting that worship be conducted in a known language. The great reason for this is that public worship is not individual but corporate. Worship had to be conducted in a known tongue because each worshiper was expected to say “The Amen” (the definite article appears in the original) at the conclusion of an element of worship (1Cor 14:16)—especially the elements of prayer and singing (vv13–15).

This is probably the background to 2Corinthians 1:20, where it literally says “and in Him the Amen to the glory of God through us” (note, again, the definite article is in the original). It is in Jesus Christ that God has demonstrated “the Yes” of all His promises, to which we are continually responding with “the Amen” (through Jesus Christ!) in our praise.

The Prophet greater than Moses has come, and His priesthood has obsoleted the Aaronic/Levitical priesthood. Great David’s greater Son has come, and He Himself has begun building a new temple, where He is the Chief Cornerstone and makes each and every one whom He redeems into a living stone and a priest (n.b. the priesthood of all believers) who offers up spiritual sacrifices in prayer and singing (cf. 1Pet 2:4–5), as his heart is an instrument upon which the Lord plays the accompanying melody of grace (cf. Eph 5:19, cp. Col 3:16).

Though much that was anticipatory, earthly, and outwardly from Moses’s tabernacle and David’s temple has been obsoleted, worship under Christ has continued to include the “Amen” from the heart of every worshiper.

These are the reasons why each and every one of us ought to give “The Amen” at the conclusion of each prayer and each song (another reason that we must sing God’s thoughts, not ours). It may even be appropriate at the conclusion of the sermon (a reason I try to remember to end with an “amen” in the preaching). Whenever we finish a song, whenever we finish a prayer, there ought to be a thunderclap of an “Amen” from the body. This is one of the reasons that we obey God’s command to sing in a known tongue!

And if you are to give that “amen,” it gives you one more reason to make sure that you are following along in your heart as we pray, and one more reason to make sure that you are taking to heart the text of whatever we sing.

So I hope that, having taken the time to write/read this, we will increasingly do this together. The amen is not an “element” of worship in the strict sense, but it is an essential aspect of several elements of worship.

Looking forward to God’s Yes in Jesus Christ, and our Amen in Jesus Christ, as we worship together through Him,

Pastor

Be What Christ Made You, Where Christ Put You [Family Worship lesson in Matthew 5:13–16]

How should we respond to persecution? Matthew 5:13–16 prepares us for the morning sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that when we are persecuted, we must resist the temptation to be less different or less visible, but shine as those made different by Christ in the place that He has assigned to us.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.30 Hopewell @Home ▫ Matthew 5:13–16

Read Matthew 5:13–16

Questions from the Scripture text: What does Matthew 5:13 call them? What might be the condition of the salt? What can’t be done with it? What is it good for? What two things does Matthew 5:14 call them? What can’t be done to this city? What isn’t done to the light (Matthew 5:15)? What is done to it? So that it does what? What are they commanded in Matthew 5:16? What should men see? Whom would they glorify for this? Where is this Father?

How should we respond to persecution? Matthew 5:13–16 prepares us for the morning sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that when we are persecuted, we must resist the temptation to be less different or less visible, but shine as those made different by Christ in the place that He has assigned to us.

You are salt, not dirt; embrace the difference Christ has made in you, Matthew 5:13. We might find that our blessedness at being persecuted (Matthew 5:10-12) is in some ways quite unpleasant. Even as we seek, by the Spirit, to obey the command to rejoice and be exceedingly glad (Matthew 5:12), our flesh might shrink from the persecution that is the occasion of this command. Can’t I just enjoy having God as my great reward without having to be reviled and persecuted and slandered? No, you cannot. 

If you’re not salty, you’re not salt. “loses its flavor” in Matthew 5:13 is actually a word that sounds like (and means something like) “moronic.” It’s fool’s salt. And, the verse says that fool’s salt is analogous to fool’s gold. It’s only useful for trampling. It’s not actually “Christ’s-kingdom-ly” salt but rather “Satan’s-kingdom-ly” earth/dirt. 

To be un-salty may be enticing because we would not be persecuted. But we would not be rewarded. We would not be blessed. And we would have neither the Father nor the Son as our reward, either now or in the future (cf. Matthew 7:12–27). To be unsalty is to have no cause for rejoicing or being exceedingly glad; it is cause for weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Matthew 7:23, Luke 13:27–28).

You are light; shine where you have been placed, Matthew 5:14-16. Also, let believers not shrink from where their Lord brings them to shine. If they are in Christ, they already are light, just as they already are salt. For these to whom Jesus was speaking, He has brought them up the literal hill. Perhaps they could already catch glimpses of sneering looks from others below.  

But He uses the analogy of the placement of a city (Matthew 5:14) or the placement of a lamp (Matthew 5:15) to remind them that it was He Who had positioned them. Cities don’t crawl down off of hills, nor do lamps off of stands. Let not believers, who find themselves sticking out as Christians where they are, shrink from either being Christians or being where they are.

Jesus arranges us where we are in His world so that just by being what we are, and being where we are, we will be seen by whom He wants us to be seen. As they persecute us for good works now, they bring glory to the Father Who has shown His heavenly character in us on earth. 

And there will come a day when they can no longer persecute, when their own knees bow and tongues confess, and when God’s justice and God’s people are vindicated (1 Peter 2:15, 1 Peter 2:19–20). When believers suffer for conformity to the Son and the family resemblance of their Father, let them not give in to shunning the circumstances but rather lean in to shining within those circumstances. (cf. Acts 4:29, Acts 4:31; Acts 5:40–42)

Where has the Lord placed you to shine? What does shining look like there? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for giving Yourself to us in Your Son. And thank You for the honor of being counted worthy to suffer for the Name. Grant unto us to rejoice and to keep shining, as those who already have You as our reward, in Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP73C “Yet Constantly, I Am with You” or TPH2B “Why Do Heathen Nations Rage” 

Statutes for Safely Drawing Near to Holiness in Our Substitute [Family Worship lesson in Leviticus 22]

What did the holiness code teach Israel? Leviticus 22 prepares us for the evening sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these thirty-three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the holiness code emphasized to Israel that the Lord had brought them not just out of Egypt but to Himself—that He had drawn near to them, and was giving to them to draw near to Him.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.29 Hopewell @Home ▫ Leviticus 22

Read Leviticus 22

Questions from the Scripture text: Who spoke to whom in Leviticus 22:1? To whom was he to speak (Leviticus 22:2)? From what were they to be separate? Why? In what condition could they come near (Leviticus 22:3)? Otherwise, what would be done to them? In what condition are the men described in Leviticus 22:4-5? How long will he be unclean (Leviticus 22:6)? What must he do, then? Then what may he do (Leviticus 22:7)? Why? What mustn’t he eat (Leviticus 22:8)? What does the keeping of these ordinances prevent (Leviticus 22:9)? What does YHWH do to them? Who may not eat of it, even if he is clean (Leviticus 22:10, Leviticus 22:12)? But who may (Leviticus 22:11, Leviticus 22:13)? What if someone does eat of it (Leviticus 22:14)? What is done to the offerings (Leviticus 22:15) or the priests (Leviticus 22:16) if these rules aren’t followed? Why? Who spoke to whom in Leviticus 22:17? To whom was he to speak (Leviticus 22:18)? And to whom else? Regarding what? What could be offered as a freewill offering (Leviticus 22:19)? What could not be? What other type of peace offering could be offered int his way (Leviticus 22:21)? What must never be offered (Leviticus 22:22, cf. Leviticus 21:18–20)? What exception could be made (Leviticus 22:23)? For only which type of offering? What else couldn’t be offered (Leviticus 22:24-25)? Who speaks to whom in Leviticus 22:26? What new regulation does Leviticus 22:27 add? And what can’t happen on the same day (Leviticus 22:28)? What previous regulation is tied to this (Leviticus 22:29-30, cf. Leviticus 7:11–18)? What summary does Leviticus 22:31 make of this? With what reason? What summary does Leviticus 22:32 make of the holiness code? With what reason? What had the Lord done to them (Leviticus 22:33)? In order to be Whom to them (cf. Exodus 20:2)?

What did the holiness code teach Israel? Leviticus 22 prepares us for the evening sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these thirty-three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the holiness code emphasized to Israel that the Lord had brought them not just out of Egypt but to Himself—that He had drawn near to them, and was giving to them to draw near to Him.

Holy priests must also be clean in order to come near, Leviticus 22:1–9. Leviticus 22:9 reminds us that everything since chapter 10 has been occasioned by Nadab and Abihu’s demise and the need that it exposed (cf. Leviticus 10:8–11). Even as God has made the way of coming near Him, He has not compromised or diminished His holiness at all. 

Leviticus 22:1-3 teach that even that which is holy must come near only in a state of ceremonial cleanness. All worshipers must follow the cleanliness code of chapters 11–15, of which Leviticus 22:4-8 are a sample and a summary. How much more must it be followed by those who have been consecrated for their special duties in bringing the people of God near Him! So Leviticus 22:3 uses the language of excommunication—but here with respect to “My presence”—to describe deposing the priests from office. The language “My presence” implies again that discipline in the church on earth reflects spiritual reality that precedes it in heaven. 

The priest who is not following the Lord’s rules isn’t actually leading people into the Lord’s presence. This indicates the dreadful harm that comes by the so-called service on earth of someone who is supposed to be a servant who leads worship, but who is not biblically qualified. He leads people on earth, but they come near to God only in appearance. They do not actually, spiritually enter His presence. 

The unclean, unqualified worship leader corrupts the worship, and God refuses to permit the assembly that he leads to draw near to His presence. Perhaps the believing worshiper is still drawing near to God and knowing Him in heart. But the worship of the congregation as a whole does not actually draw near to God, so that the worship is a corporate self-deception. Such worship ought to expect to receive harm rather than benefit and curse rather than blessing. To whatever extent God does not do this, He is not showing that the worship or the worship leader is somehow acceptable. He is only showing how abundant his patience and forgiveness and mercy are.

Persistence of holiness, Leviticus 22:10-16. God communicates the persistence of holiness in what He consecrates to himself by the rules concerning who may eat what. Once the food has been consecrated, it belongs to the worship, to the holiness of drawing near to the Lord. It must not be fed to common people. 

Within these verses, also, the Lord gives us the doctrine of the household as the fundamental unit of the congregation, as well as an understanding of covenantal headship, and the benefits of those who come underneath the head. Whoever was a member of the priest’s household (not just a visitor or dweller in the house), came into the privileges of being under the covenant headship of the priest.

This is not instructive with reference only to the benefits and membership that we get in the visible church through our head who is on earth. It is also instructive with reference to those perfect and everlasting benefits that we get in the invisible church through our Head who is in heaven. The covenant household here is a pattern of the glorious Covenant Household where Christ is Head over innumerable multitudes.

We can see that God continues to deal with the visible church in this way in the New Testament by such things as household baptisms, and His referring to children of believers as “saints,” and to households of believers as a “church in the house,” and even by His calling the child of only a believing mother “holy” with an equal holiness as if his father was also a believer (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:14).

Maintaining the distinction of the holy from the common, Leviticus 22:17-30. In Leviticus 21:17–23, we learned about defects that were not defects in value or even consecration (n.b. Leviticus 21:22), but defects in the ability to serve in the tasks and purposes of the office of tabernacle priest. Now, in Leviticus 22:21–22, we see the same characteristics forbidden in the substitute that is selected as an offering (a “brought-near” thing). The brought-near thing is a stand-in for the worshiper. No man may draw near to the Lord by a substitute brought-near-thing that itself bears the image of not being suitable for service. 

In Leviticus 22:23, an exception is made not only for the animal, but for specific parts of the animal that will remain on earth as the worshiper’s portion (cf. Leviticus 7:15). That which is the Lord's portion must still be perfect, but in just the one case, the leg may be long or short. Whatever the animal, it must die entirely by the slaughter (and application of blood) that identifies it with the worshiper who is coming near by it. It cannot die in any of the ways described in Leviticus 22:24. So, there must be a wholeness to the holiness both of the condition of what comes near and of the way by which it comes near.

Leviticus 22:26-30. Continue to relate to the substitute ascending to heaven as representative of the worshiper himself. Leviticus 22:27 is related to circumcision; the substitute represents someone who is bound to the Lord in covenant, and must be at least eight days of age. Leviticus 22:28 emphasizes the new purpose the consecrated animal has; its old life is gone, including its old connections to either mother or child. When Leviticus 22:29-30 repeat stipulations from Leviticus 7:11–15 in this context, it helps us understand the rule about leaving nothing till morning (or the third day, as the case may be). Heavenly food eaten in the holy presence cannot be kept for earthly leftovers.

Summing up, Leviticus 22:31-33. Leviticus 22:31 ties off the entire section going back to Leviticus 10:11. Leviticus 22:32 summarizes the section distinguishing “the holy from the unholy” (chapters 17–22). And Leviticus 22:33 goes all the way back to Exodus 20:2. The purpose of YHWH’s bringing them out of the land of Egypt was not so much to get them out of Egypt as it was to get the Egypt out of them. YHWH Who sanctifies them (Leviticus 22:32) saved them for the purpose of being their covenant God (Leviticus 22:33). Now, the Lord has both made a dwelling place among them and given them the way by which they could come near. He brings them near without compromising or relaxing His holiness even a little.

All of this emphasizes just how great is the gloriousness of Christ has tabernacle, Christ as priest, and Christ as substitute in Whom we are brought near. So the divine holiness of God and of Christ, as the One in whom we come near, also demands our consecration in our daily lives, to fit us for coming in the way that He has appointed us to do on earth. And the divine holiness of God and of Christ, as the One in Whom we come near, requires the perfecting of His sanctifying work in order for us finally to be actually admitted into glory in soul (at death) and in body (at the resurrection). 

We can even see here the necessity of the glorified body in the resurrection, for if we are coming near to God bodily in glory, then there must be no corruption whatsoever in us physically. For the corruptible cannot inherit the incorruptible (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:50). The incorruptible is not so much the new earth as it is God Himself, to Whom we will draw near in the new heavens and the new earth.

In Whom alone can you draw near to God? How should you live, if you will be coming near the Holy One in His public worship in six days or less? What are some sins that you are currently mortifying in order to live that way? What should you pursue, if your soul is to enter into God’s glorious presence upon death? How are you pursuing it? What sort of body will you have at the resurrection? What is the great(est?) reason for which it must be perfect and glorious?

Sample prayer:  Gracious God, we thank You for bringing us near Yourself in Jesus Christ. Grant that we would always live in such a way as to prepare for public worship on earth, as by grace we pursue the holiness without which we would not see the Lord. Make us to know You as our very own covenant God, and ourselves as Your very own covenant people, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP15 “Within Your Tent, Who Will Reside” or TPH165 “To Your Temple, I Repair”

Father's Word-Work in His Children [Family Worship lesson in James 1:19–27]

How do believers reflect the character of their Father of lights? James 1:19–27 prepares us for the second serial reading in public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these nine verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God works in believers by His implanted Word to make them humble, gentle, steady, pure, and fruitful.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.28 Hopewell @Home ▫ James 1:19–27

Read James 1:19–27

Questions from the Scripture text: What does James 1:19 call the reader? For which men does it give a command? What does it say about hearing? Speaking? Becoming angry? Whose wrath cannot do what (James 1:20)? What two things are believers to lay aside (James 1:21)? How much of each? What are they to receive? How is this Word conveyed to them? In what manner are they to receive it? What is it able to do? What two ways must they engage the Word (James 1:22)? What are they doing to themselves if they leave off the doing part? 

How do believers reflect the character of their Father of lights? James 1:19–27 prepares us for the second serial reading in public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these nine verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God works in believers by His implanted Word to make them humble, gentle, steady, pure, and fruitful.

The Father of lights and the beloved brethren that He brought forth. “Beloved brethren” ties James 1:19 back to James 1:16-18. The constancy and character of the Father of lights should shape the constancy and character of his children who are lights upon the Earth. So James 1:19-20 describes not only a heavenly-Father-like gentleness (as brought out in being “slow to become angry”) but a heavenly-Father-like steadiness (as brought out in being “quick to hear and slow to speak”). 

If our flesh gets heated, this will fail to produce “the righteousness of God”—neither in the sense of making us to be more like our Father of lights, nor in the sense of bringing about true justice in relationships or spheres upon the earth.

Where Father-like steadiness comes from. If this steadiness is going to be outward (in our interactions with men, James 1:19), then it first must exist inwardly (in the singlemindedness and purity of our own souls, and in our interactions with God, James 1:21). Filthiness, or impurity, introduces variation to the purpose and pleasures and principles of our life. It all must be laid aside as we pursue an inward consistency that comes from God. 

If we want the “overflow” (surplus) of our heart to become godly, it will come by God’s work in implanting the Word into us. As Jesus taught in the parable of the soils (cf. Matthew 13:1–23), this requires us to receive the Word meekly (humbly, soft-heartedly, as here), which includes/involves receiving the Word deeply and undistractedly.

How we know that we are meekly receiving the implanted Word. And since God has appointed His word as the means by which He produces consistency in the heart, it comes from a consistent meekness before His word. The second half of James 1:21 corresponds to what our Lord prayed for us in John 17:17. 

But while inward consistency and meekness before God's Word is primary and prerequisite, it must not be isolated from the outward conduct. If it is not being worked out from the heart in the life, then we can be sure that it our idea that the Word is being worked into our heart is a self-deception (James 1:22)!

Notice that in James 1:23-25, we are not to think that we will be blessed “by” what we do, but rather “in” what we do. The blessing comes by God and His word. The one who is merely a doer is not the blessed one. The blessed one is the one whose “doing” is a “continuing” in the law of liberty—proceeding to live according to that word that he has received from his Savior, his Liberator, Who uses the Word to work in him. 

We must receive the law as a personal interaction with the God Who has saved us, and is saving us, rather than as a sort of contract, by which we could somehow obligate God (!) through our works. When we receive the law as personally received law from the God who has saved us, and is saving us, then the law becomes, for us, not a law of bondage but a law of liberty, as James 1:25 calls it.

Real, useful religion. James 1:26-27 proceed to tell us about “pure and undefiled religion”—religion that is freed of the "all filthiness" from James 1:21.  True religion, in which the Father uses His Word to work us into His likeness, into Christ’s likeness. This includes not just keeping oneself unspotted from the world (James 1:27c), and noticing with special care, those whom God himself notices and visits with special care, namely orphans and widows (verse 27b), but especially godly use of the tongue (James 1:26). 

So James 1:19 began the section addressing the tongue, James 1:26 identifies tongue sin as a litmus test for the heart deception of the mere hearer from James 1:22, and the bulk of chapter 3 will be spent upon the tongue and its sinfulness as an indicator of the heart-fountain out of which the speech is overflowing. So also, here, an unbridled tongue is evidence that whatever religion we think we have is actually a useless delusion (James 1:26).

In what situations do you most need to work on slowness to speak and slowness to anger? What kind of encounter with the Word does God use to produce that? How are you going to approach listening to sermons, in light of this passage? What has been your strategy for turning what you hear in the preaching into a plan of action? How have you been going about evaluating whether you are keeping those vows to the Lord?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You for being a Father of constant light to us. Forgive us for how impure, mixed, and unsteady is our walk with You. Forgive us for how this unsteadiness presents itself in being easily angered and quick to speak. Forgive us for how often we have sat under Your Word not with humility and receptivity but with dullness and even resistance. Forgive us when we do not receive it as from You and for our liberty. Forgive us for when we have heard it, but then we act as if You and Your Word make no difference in our lives. Forgive us for forgetting orphans and widows. Forgive us for allowing ourselves to be defiled by the world. Truly, Lord, Your Word exposes our remaining sin. Forgive us and cleanse us, we ask, through Christ, AMEN!

 Suggested songs: ARP15 “Within Your Tent Who Will Reside?” or TPH461 “Blessed Are the Sons of God” 

2023.12.27 Midweek Meeting Live Stream (Live at 6:30p)

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December 27 Prayer Meeting Folder

Midweek Sermon in Romans 10:4–9

Living for Public Worship in a World of Sickness, Sorrow, and Death [Family Worship lesson in Isaiah 38]

What ought we learn from being sick and near death? Isaiah 38 prepares us for the first serial reading in public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these twenty-two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that life in this world of sorrow is a limited-time opportunity to praise God in circumstances that will never be available to us again. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.27 Hopewell @Home ▫ Isaiah 38

Read Isaiah 38

Questions from the Scripture text: What happened to Hezekiah in the days of Israel’s peace (Isaiah 38:1)? Who went to him? On Whose behalf did he speak? What did he tell the king to do? Why? To where did Hezekiah turn (Isaiah 38:2)? What did he do? What did he ask YHWH to do (Isaiah 38:3)? What did he ask Him to remember about his walking? About his heart? About his doing? What came to whom in Isaiah 38:4? To whom did God send him (Isaiah 38:5)? How did God identify Himself? What two things did He say that He had done? What did He say that He would do now? How many years would He add to the king’s days? What would God continue to do in that time (Isaiah 38:6)? What did He give Hezekiah to strengthen his faith in this (Isaiah 38:7)? What sort of sign (Isaiah 38:7-8)? What does Hezekiah do in response (Isaiah 38:9)? How had he felt about the timing of his death (Isaiah 38:10)? What did he desire to do in this world (Isaiah 38:11)? But Who was bringing him to his end (Isaiah 38:12-13)? So how did the king respond (Isaiah 38:14)? How does Isaiah 38:17d help us understand the attitude of Hezekiah’s prayer? How does he view his recovery (Isaiah 38:15)? How does he view the source of his renewed/ongoing life (Isaiah 38:16)? What was the purpose of the illness (Isaiah 38:17)? What is the purpose of his recovery (Isaiah 38:18-19)? Where is this psalm to be sung (Isaiah 38:20, cf. Habakkuk 3:19d)? What did Isaiah prescribe as the Lord’s means to heal the king (Isaiah 38:21)? What had the sign in Isaiah 38:7-9 told Hezekiah to do (Isaiah 38:22)?

What ought we learn from being sick and near death? Isaiah 38 prepares us for the first serial reading in public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these twenty-two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that life in this world of sorrow is a limited time opportunity to praise God in circumstances that will never be available to us again. 

Difficult, disciplining providence. Hezekiah was sick and near death (Isaiah 38:1), due to sin (Isaiah 38:17). Whether there was a recent/specific sin that instigated it, or whether it was just the “all my sins” of verse 17d, he was in a place where the Lord would bring him “great bitterness” (verse 17b) “for peace” (verse 17a). 

Turning attention to the Lord. When Ahab turned his face toward the wall in 1 Kings 21:4, it was to give undivided indulgence to his own feelings. But when Hezekiah does it here, in Isaiah 38:2, it is to give his undivided attention to YHWH Himself. There’s a huge difference between getting alone with yourself and getting alone with God. The believer’s distresses ought to provoke him to prayer and meditation.

Laying hold of grace. As Isaiah 38:17 makes clear, Isaiah 38:3 is not an appeal to merit. Whether here, Nehemiah 13, or many Psalms, the Scriptures often teach this sort of prayer. The instances in the Psalms help us, because we know that we sing and pray them in union with Christ. It is the logic of Romans 8:28. There, “for those who love God,” does not mean “those who have merited, by love, that things would work out for their good.” It means, “those who have been called according to God’s purpose, because that is the only explanation for their love.” 

And that’s the explanation for the characteristics in Isaiah 38:3, where Hezekiah walks in “truth” (emmet) and maintains his heart “loyal” (ḳessed). These are the words for faithfulness and covenant love that often function as a summary for God’s character. What Hezekiah is asking is that God, Who has begun a work of grace in Him, would treat him in accordance not with the king’s sinfulness but with God’s own character, and with the work of grace that He had begun in him.

Being laid hold of by grace. Isaiah 38:21 obviously coincides with the delivery of the message in Isaiah 38:4-6. And Isaiah 38:22 precedes Isaiah 38:7-8 (cf. 2 Kings 20:5–11). So, even by the selectivity of the narrative, Isaiah 38:4-8 emphasizes the grace of God. He hears the prayers (Isaiah 38:5). He sees the tears (even Hezekiah’s weeping was unto the face of YHWH!). Not only does He extend Hezekiah’s life, but the peace and safety of Jerusalem along with him (Isaiah 38:6). In addition to giving grace, the Lord gives assurance of that grace by the sign. 

The purpose of life in this world. In 2 Kings 20:5, Isaiah had delivered the message in a way that that reminded him of the purpose of life in this world: worship, and especially public worship—at “the house of YHWH” (cf. Isaiah 38:22). Being sick and near death had been difficult enough on account of the timing (in the prime of life, Isaiah 38:10), but it was the deprivation of seeing YHWH among men (Isaiah 38:11) that most troubled him. Such a discipline from the Lord’s hand (Isaiah 38:12-13) was cause for great mourning (Isaiah 38:14).

The Lord taught Hezekiah how to respond to the bitterness that comes in God’s good providence (Isaiah 38:15, Isaiah 38:17): to remember that we exist by the Lord’s goodness (Isaiah 38:16) in order to praise the Lord’s glory (Isaiah 38:18-19). This praise aims to be more than just individual. 

As Hezekiah waits the three days to go up to public worship in the house of YHWH, he pens this Psalm to be used in public worship (n.b. “we” and “stringed instruments” in Isaiah 38:20b and “the house of YHWH” in verse 20c). It is especially in this public worship that the praise of God is taught from one generation to the next (Isaiah 38:19c). Public worship, in an assembly of the redeemed, is the great privilege of this life. While we will worship in perfection forever and ever, the opportunity to worship in this land of sorrow and sickness and death is a limited time offer. 

What trouble are you going through? When and where do you get alone with the Lord and pour your heart out to Him? What evidence do you see in your life of His grace? How does acknowledging it as His grace thus far encourage you to hope for grace in the future? What evidence is there that praising Him in the public worship is the great reason for you still to be alive in this world?

Sample prayer:  Lord, just as with Hezekiah, our great need is for You to cast all our sins behind our back. Any walking in faithfulness, or any covenant love in our hearts, has come from Your grace. Forgive us for when we have acted as if any good that is in us has come from us. And forgive us for missing the opportunities that come in the bitterness of our souls—opportunities to walk carefully and turn back to You. Grant that, by Your Spirit, we would turn back to You in Christ, we ask through Him, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP51B “From My Sins, O Hide Your Face” or TPH130A “LORD, from the Depths”

Gaining Glorious Perspective by Praise [Family Worship lesson in Psalm 108:1–6]

How can believers cope with trouble and the feeling that God has cast them off? Psalm 108:1–6 prepares us for the opening portion of public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers cope with trouble by praising the God for Whom they were made, in anticipation of the praising assembly for which they were redeemed. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.26 Hopewell @Home ▫ Psalm 108:1–6

Read Psalm 108:1–6

Questions from the Scripture text: What does this Psalm title itself (superscript)? Whose Psalm is it? Whom does it first address (Psalm 108:1a)? What does it call Him? To what of the psalmist does it refer? What is the condition of his heart? What two things does he say that he will do (verse 1b)? With what? What does he awaken in Psalm 108:2a? What does he call upon to awaken (verse 2b)? Now what does he call God (Psalm 108:3a)? With whom does he offer this covenantal praise? How does verse 3b emphasize this last declaration? For what two attributes does this great assembly praise YHWH (Psalm 108:4)? How great is His covenant love (“mercy” in verse 4a)? How great is His faithfulness (“truth” in verse 4b)? What does Psalm 108:5a petition God to do? How highly? What, in particular, does the psalmist desire that God would exalt (verse 5b)? How highly? In order to do what for whom (Psalm 108:6a)? What does the beloved need (verse 6b)? What metaphor (anthropomorphism) does the psalmist use for requesting that God would do this personally and powerfully? In response to whom?

How can believers cope with trouble and the feeling that God has cast them off? Psalm 108:1–6 prepares us for the opening portion of public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers cope with trouble by praising the God for Whom they were made, in anticipation of the praising assembly for which they were redeemed. 

We’re not getting to Psalm 108:11-12 until next week, so we need to remember the situation of hardship (and perceived rejection by God) from which the Psalm is written. As the Spirit carries David along, He gives us a lesson in applying the refrain from Psalm 42:5, Psalm 42:11, Psalm 43:5. When our soul is cast down and disquieted, we must address it to find its hope in God. We must embrace the certainty that we, who were created and redeemed to glorify and enjoy Him, will surely “yet praise Him.” 

That is what the Psalmist is doing in these six verses: looking to the future in which the full redeemed assembly and all creation are praising Him (Psalm 108:1-3),  lifting our hearts to praise Him as He is in Himself (Psalm 108:4), and praising and praying for how His attributes are expressed in His dealings with His saints (Psalm 108:5-6).

Taking our place in congregation and creation, Psalm 108:1-3. Psalm 108:1b is interesting in light of Psalm 108:11-12. David (and the nation) has been brought low. But, he is remembering also that the Lord exalted him, lifting him from shepherding sheep in the countryside to throne of Israel. What do we have that we have not received? If it is little, then it is for the praise of God. If it is much, then how much more we ought to possess it with humility as we offer it to the praise of God! And so David is determined that all that he is would be offered unto God in praise. 

You should be determined to do so, too. Whatever He has done in you, whatever He has given to you, offer it to Him in a life of praise, and come to Him with all that you are whenever you are gathered in the assembly to praise. Maintain a steadfast heart to praise Him by taking your mindset from His Word rather than from your flesh (Psalm 108:1a).

Don’t settle for individual praise. David was highly invested in corporate worship. The great focus of his later years was gathering resources for the building of the temple (cf. 1 Chronicles 22–26, 1 Chronicles 28–29). Among those resources were the assignments of priestly families as musicians (1 Chronicles 25) so that the stringed instruments that we see in the Psalms (and metaphorically in places like revelation) emphasize not just singing to God generally, but the singing of the corporate assembly, specifically. It looked forward to a time where Christ Himself would be the temple (cf. John 2:21), together with His assembly (1 Peter 2:4–5). And, Christ Himself would be the great Musician, Who both sings through His people, and accompanies the singing, not by instrument-strings, but melodies that are played upon heart-strings (cf. Ephesians 5:19, cp. Colossians 3:16). 

 “Awake, lute and harp!” expresses a widening David’s of desire and intention, from private worship in Psalm 108:1b, to public (corporate) worship in Psalm 108:2a. Indeed, he is looking forward to that corporate worship that will include all of the peoples (Psalm 108:3a) and all of the nations (verse 3b). He is looking forward to the day that he will be a member of an innumerable multitude from all the nations—not just something like Revelation 4–5, but the final assembly. We will be there one day, dear believing reader. The whole assembly, not one elect soul missing, resurrected—the temple that has been constructed in Jesus, that whole every-believer priesthood, singing with grace-perfected hearts and glorious bodies!

Even now, we get to taste it a little bit every Lord’s Day. There, we are in an assembly of God’s people from several nations. There, we admonish one another with His Word in song, and enjoy the reality of His grace accompanying it in our hearts. There, we participate by faith with that Hebrews 12:22–24 assembly in glory. And, there, we anticipate the great worship assembly to come. David looks forward to the same in Psalm 108:3, and in Psalm 108:2b, where he remembers that praise is the purpose of the creation itself (cf. Psalm 19:1–6).

When things are hard, we can reason with our souls about how all of this ends (cf. Psalm 42–43). And to help us do so, we can lay hold of the means of grace that is prayer and call upon God’s Name with reference to that end!

Worshiping God’s glory in His character, Psalm 108:4. YHWH’s covenant love (verse 4a) and faithfulness (verse 4b) are a merism for the totality of His glorious character. “Abounding in goodness and truth” at the end of Exodus 34:6, which John coopts for describing Jesus as the full revelation of God to us (John 1:14, John 1:17–18), is actually these two attributes in Psalm 108:4. He directs the attention of his heart above the heavens and the clouds to God Himself, and God alone. What a help there is for a believer’s encouragement, a believer’s praising, a believer’s praying, in the contemplation of God Himself in Himself! 

You may know that old “turn your eyes upon Jesus” chorus; with an important modification, it is genuinely true in the life of a believer. Not so much that the things of earth “grow strangely dim,” but that the solution to a lack of perspective is to zoom out, out, out, out. Soon, we can see that the infinity of God Himself never gets smaller as we zoom out. Rather, we come to see all our circumstances in the context of Him Himself. His character becomes the great thing in all existence. 

How often we need this perspective! And what a blessing it is to come to Him, by faith, in praise, to gain it: to feast our hearts upon our God and His perfections. They are never in conflict. Not one of them every flickers or diminishes in the slightest. He never stops being fully Who He is, regardless of our circumstances. And it is in beholding Him in Himself that we are then prepared to consider Him in relation to our circumstances, and consider our circumstances in relation to Him.

Worshiping God’s glory in His work—especially His redeeming work, Psalm 108:5-6. In the final two verses of our portion for this week, the psalmist takes the perspective in Psalm 108:4, and zooms back in to his own situation. Psalm 108:5a corresponds to Psalm 108:4a in scope, but now the glory in Psalm 108:5b is above all the earth, and the request in Psalm 108:6 comes all the way down to the psalmist’s own circumstances and the psalmist’s own voice. 

The attributes of God feature prominently, even in Psalm 108:6. By referring to God’s people as “Your beloved,” he highlights that attribute of God, but now in connection with His people. We do not always feel that we are beloved—especially when it seems that God has “cast us off” (cf. Psalm 108:11a). This word itself would have been precious to David, as he had given this nickname to Solomon in response to the prophetic word concerning his son (cf. 2 Samuel 12:24–25).  He is laying hold of this attribute of God—in accord with God’s previous expression of it in his life. What joy there is for you, dear believer, when you can speak of yourself as “beloved” of God—not (at first) because you feel or perceive it, but because He is love, and He has declared it!

To love, he adds justice by speaking of “being delivered,” something that is connected in Scripture especially with the attribute of God’s justice. To justice, he adds power, asking to be saved by “Your right hand” (Psalm 108:6b)—an anthropomorphism emphasizing God’s power. Finally, he closes with the same attribute as in Psalm 108:4b: God’s faithfulness. “Hear me” (literally, “answer me”) depends upon God to honor, in His faithfulness, the covenant bond that He has made between His people and Himself  (cf. Psalm 65:1–2). 

In Psalm 108:5-6, David’s faith keeps its view fixed firmly upon God, but now with respect to His actions on earth. If our hearts are cast down and discouraged, let us remember the worshiping end for which the Lord has created and redeemed us, and let us praise Him for His glorious attributes in Himself, and let us praise Him for His expression of those attributes in the work by which He brings us to our end. He is worthy of this praise, and He uses the praise itself to gladden and strengthen our hearts. Won’t you praise Him? And won’t you look to His Spirit to bring that praise specifically into times of discouragement and times of trouble?

What discouraging trouble have you been enduring? How can you implement the Psalm 42–43 method of addressing your own soul in discouragement? How can you prepare your mind and heart for such an opportunity? How can you implement the Psalm 108:1–6 method of addressing God in trouble? How can you prepare your mind/heart for it?

Sample prayer:  O God, our heart is steadfast! We will sing and give praise with all that we are and all that we have. Your assembly gathers to praise You, even as all creation exists to praise You! We look forward to that final, great assembly with all the nations, where we will praise You,. Your covenant love and faithfulness are greater than all creations, and You glorify Yourself in saving Your beloved. Now come, help Your beloved, to worship You. Answer us, we ask, through Christ, AMEN! 

 Suggested songs: ARP108A “God, My Heart Is Steadfast” or TPH108 “My Heart Is Steadfast, God!”

Sanctity of Worship: Living in Readiness to Draw Near to Holiness [2023.12.24 Evening Sermon in Leviticus 21]

The Lord gives priests a role in His worship that requires a greater consecration of all of life

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

Rejoice and Be Exceedingly Glad! [2023.12.24 Morning Sermon in Matthew 5:10–12]

When believers are pursuing righteousness, through union with Christ, and reflection of the Father—and persecution comes to them for it—let them be exceedingly glad.

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

God's Battle Plan for the Mind 7: Important Meditation Occasions

The Lord, Who gave His Word, works our lives according to the counsel of His will. We ought to meditate upon His Word in relation to the major events in our lives—especially spiritual events, such as the sermons we sit under, other parts of the public worship, and the administration of the sacraments.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

The Law Taught Righteousness by Faith [Family Worship lesson in Romans 10:5–9]

Had God offered His people to earn life by works? Romans 10:5–9 prepares us for the sermon in the midweek prayer meeting. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God has always presented Himself as His people’s salvation, not upon a principle of works, but always upon a principle of faith in Him. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.25 Hopewell @Home ▫ Romans 10:5–9

Read Romans 10:5–9

Questions from the Scripture text: In whom did those who sought righteousness by works of the law (cf. Romans 9:32a) think they were trusting (Romans 10:5)? What sort of righteousness were they hoping for? How did they think they could get it? But what righteousness had they missed out on (Romans 10:6, cf. Romans 9:32b)? How does it speak (cf. Deuteronomy 32:12)—what are they not to say? To what does the apostle liken attempting to ascend into heaven? What else are they not to say (Romans 10:7)? To what does the apostle liken descending into the abyss? What does the righteousness of faith say (Romans 10:8)? To what does the apostle liken the Word being near (verse 8)? What does the Word of faith, which the apostle preaches, look like in their mouth (Romans 10:9)? What does it look like in their heart? What will surely happen, if it is in both of these places?

Had God offered His people to earn life by works? Romans 10:5–9 prepares us for the sermon in the midweek prayer meeting. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God has always presented Himself as His people’s salvation, not upon a principle of works, but always upon a principle of faith in Him. 

In Romans 9:31, the apostle had mentioned those Israelites who pursued a law of righteousness, but did not attain to it. His answer for why their pursuit failed was that they did not seek it by faith but by works of the law (Romans 9:32). If by the Spirit’s grace they would have pursued the law by faith before Christ came, then when He came and presented Himself as the LORD our righteousness, they would then have acknowledged Him as the LORD and hoped in Him from righteousness (by the same Spirit!). 

However, they were accustomed to reading Moses as saying that doing this merits life. They would quote Leviticus 18:5 as if it supported their pursuit, by works, of the law of righteousness. In God’s good providence to us, we are still working through Leviticus in the Lord’s Day evening preaching, and chapter 18 is fresh in our minds. We remember how the chapter as a whole is about how YHWH is the One Who makes a difference in His people, how He prefaces it by His saving them and binding them to Himself, just as He had prefaced the Ten Commandments with the same announcement of grace (cf. Exodus 20:1–2, Deuteronomy 5:6). 

So, in God’s providence, we have been well-prepared to come to Romans 10:5 and not read the apostle as if he is asserting that Leviticus 18:5 presented some republication of the covenant of works or even some “works principle” for the relationship between God and Israel. No, if they were going to walk in the manner that enjoyed life and laid hold of life, it was going to be by the grace of the same Lord Who had come near them already in His Word.

The apostle answers the wrong way of reading “those who do them shall live by them” is to refer them to Deuteronomy 30, where the Lord had also said, “I have set before you today life […] keep His commandments […] that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:15, Deuteronomy 30:16). It is the same principle in both passages! Not a works principle in one passage and a faith principle in the other. We have already seen that the obedience and life in Leviticus 18 did not operate on a works principle but a faith principle. Now, the apostle chooses a parallel passage in which the faith principle is even clearer.

In Romans 10:6-8, he quotes and explains Deuteronomy 30:12–14, which immediately precede the offering of life that parallels the Israelites’ quote from Leviticus 18:5. And the apostle’s explanation clearly mirrors Deuteronomy 30:11, which presents the commandment as being something accessible and near: not something difficult that they are to produce for God, but something that God brings so near as to put in their hearts Himself and to put in their mouth Himself; this is the key to doing it (Romans 10:8, cf. Deuteronomy 14).

The logic of faith that was already there in the law in Deuteronomy 30 is even plainer in the Lord Jesus. In Deuteronomy 30:12, the Lord points out that He has brought His Word from heaven to earth; they did not have to go retrieve it. Now, the apostle makes the same point in an even greater way in Romans 10:6. You can’t contribute to your own righteousness any more than you could contribute to bringing Christ down from heaven in the incarnation!

In Deuteronomy 30:13, the Lord points out that His Word is not far away so that they would have to brave the depths of the sea to go retrieve it. Now, the apostle makes the same point in an even greater way in Romans 10:7. You can’t contribute to your own righteousness any more than you could contribute to bringing Christ up from the grave in the resurrection!

The logic of Deuteronomy 30 holds in Romans 10. If the Lord has gone to the lengths that He has already, to put His word in their mouths and in their hearts, then surely He will complete their salvation (Romans 10:9). This is not a works-principle for the confessing and believing of Christ in the gospel any more than Deuteronomy 30 was a works-principle for obedience to the law. Rather, it is a demonstration by Who saved us (Jesus!) and how (Incarnation! Resurrection!) that the only way of being made right with God is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It is not at all by works, but by Christ, as God graciously makes us to confess Him with our mouths that He is YHWH in the flesh, and to believe in Him with our heart that He is the resurrected Redeemer.

Now, this does not mean that the confessing and believing aren’t important. They are very important. Indeed, they are required. But “necessary” does not mean “meritorious.” The confessing is a gift of grace; the believing is a gift of grace; the Christ to Whom this believing unites us is a gift of grace. And we can be absolutely sure that to every single one to whom God gives all of this by His grace, He will surely give the whole of His blessed salvation by that grace, in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you don’t believe in the incarnation of the LORD, or if you don’t believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, you can be just as sure that you are lost as the Christian can be sure that he is saved. For, it is God Who saves, and He does so in this incarnate and resurrected Christ, Whom the saved confess as incarnate and believe in as resurrected. 

But if you do believe, then that believing is not a work that you have done, but a work that God has done. The same Savior God Who gave Jesus from heaven and brought Jesus from the grave is the Savior God Who has given you to confess Him and to believe in Him. Hallelujah!

In what ways are you tempted to treat your confessing as needing to be good enough to earn salvation? In what ways are you tempted to treat your believing as needing to be good enough to earn salvation? Where do confessing and believing come from in the first place? What (Who!) is good enough to earn your salvation? From where can you get more of confessing Him and believing in Him, as you find that your own confessing and believing are too small?

Sample prayer:  We thank You, our God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—that You have saved us entirely by Your grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Without our contribution at all, You gave Him from heaven to become a Man for us. Without our contribution at all, You brought Him up in the resurrection on account of our salvation. And without our help at all, it is You Who have given us the faith by which we confess Him as LORD and believe His bodily resurrection. So, keep helping us by Your Spirit, we pray, until You Who started the work have brought it unto completion. Give us to work out our own salvation by Your working in us both to will and to work according to Your own good pleasure, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH517 “I Know Whom I Have Believed” 

The God Who Binds Himself to Creatures [Westminster Shorter Catechism 12—Theology Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Westminster Shorter Catechism question 12—especially explaining how the Creator has stooped down, in infinite generosity, to covenant with creatures.

Q12. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created? When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.24 Lord's Day Live Streams (live at 10:10a, 11a, 3p)

Click below for the:

December 24 Lord's Day Worship Booklet

Midweek Sermon in Matthew 5:10–16

Midweek Sermon in Leviticus 21

Enjoying Our Union with Christ Together [2023.12.23 Pastoral Letter and Hopewell Herald]

Hopewell Herald – December 23, 2023

Dear Congregation,

I am ignorant. I am guilty. I am weak and helpless.

These have been the answers to the younger children’s catechism questions the last three weeks. But, praise God, they have only secondarily been questions about ourselves. Primarily, they have been questions about Christ.

Christ is our Great Prophet. By His Spirit, He given us His full and faithful teaching in the Scriptures, through His apostles, prophets, and evangelists (Eph 4:11). And by His same Spirit, He attends the reading and especially the preaching of His Word as pastor-teachers of His own calling and gifting stabilize all His flock in the same doctrine (Eph 4:11–14), so that we may minister well to one another (Eph 4:15–16).

Christ is our Great High Priest. He has offered Himself up, once for all, a propitiation [full atonement] by which our guilt is removed (Rom 3:24–26), and by which we are consecrated for His worship (Heb 10:10, 14, 19–25).

Christ is our Great King. It is He Who subdued us, and brought us to submit to His own righteousness (Rom 10:3–4). He has liberated us from slavery to our own sinfulness (Rom 6:6–13) and from the condemnation of the law (Rom 6:14, 7:1). He now rules us so that we receive the law from Him as the royal law (Jam 2:9) and the law of liberty (Jam 1:25), which we follow from the heart by His Spirit (Rom 7:6). And it is He Who defends us from all evil that is within (Phil 1:6, 2:12–13) and without (2Tim 4:16–18).

A right view of ourselves is necessary, but not primary. A right view of Christ is both necessary and primary. And this knowledge must not remain theoretical but, experimentally, be tested, practiced, experienced.

Blessed be God! In public worship, He gives us to come to Him through Christ, and know and experience Him as our Redeemer—our Prophet, Priest, and King. God became a Man that He might give Himself for us, once for all. But God the Son also became a Man that He might give Himself to us, continually, forever. It is in this union with Him, as those who receive all of our life from Him, that we enjoy the blessedness of having Him as our Prophet, Priest, and King.

So, let us come to worship not only to think right things about ourselves and about Christ, but to know Him experimentally as God and Savior.

Looking forward to our enjoying our union with Christ together,

Pastor

Exceedingly Glad to Be Persecuted [Family Worship lesson in Matthew 5:10–16]

How should we respond to persecution? Matthew 5:10–16 prepares us for the morning sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that we should rejoice and keep shining, whenever we are persecuted for Christ.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.23 Hopewell @Home ▫ Matthew 5:10–16

Read Matthew 5:10–16

Questions from the Scripture text: What is the condition of those described in Matthew 5:10a? What is done to them? Why? What do they already possess (verse 10b)? Who are the blessed in Matthew 5:11, the described in Matthew 5:13-15, and the commanded in Matthew 5:12, Matthew 5:16? What three things will be done to them (Matthew 5:11)? Why? What two things are they commanded to do in Matthew 5:12? For what two reasons? What is the size of this reward? Where is this reward? Whom else did they persecute like this? What does Matthew 5:13 call them? What might be the condition of the salt? What can’t be done with it? What is it good for? What two things does Matthew 5:14 call them? What can’t be done to this city? What isn’t done to the light (Matthew 5:15)? What is done to it? So that it does what? What are they commanded in Matthew 5:16? What should men see? Whom would they glorify for this? Where is this Father?

How should we respond to persecution? Matthew 5:10–16 prepares us for the morning sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that we should rejoice and keep shining, whenever we are persecuted for Christ.

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 is the final beatitude, third-person declaration about who the blessed are. In this case, they are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. We must be careful not to appropriate this to ourselves through self-righteousness. It is possible to read a verse like this as vindicating us for others’ distaste for that which actually proceeds from our remaining sinfulness. No, when the Lord Jesus says “righteousness’ sake” here, He can only mean real righteousness. That which God calls righteousness, not self-perceived righteousness. 

But the blessedness named here is the same as in Matthew 5:1. How can those who are “poor in spirit” be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake”? Because of the only way that someone becomes either righteous in their standing before God or righteous in their character and conduct: union with Christ. Union with Him through faith by which we are counted righteous with His own righteousness. Union with Him in the ongoing shared life that we have in Him. Union with Him from which His Spirit reproduces His character in our character. Union with Him that thus transforms our conduct. 

But it is just because it comes from union with Him that “righteousness’ sake” in Matthew 5:10 is “My sake” in Matthew 5:11. Those who reject the true and living Christ will more and more reject a believer, as that believer is more and more conformed to Christ. So, let the believer seek Christlikeness from Christ Himself by His Spirit. But there will be much that He produces in us that the world will despise—especially the worldly in the church. Confidence before God. Liberty, zeal, and freedom of life. Actual obedience to God being worked out in the life. Love of God that is in contradistinction to the superstition and sentimentalism of manmade religion. Love of neighbor that is not according to the neighbor’s definition of love but God’s. For such things, we can expect not to be commended but denounced (reviled, Matthew 5:11). Not to be treated kindly, or even to be left alone, but actively harassed, hindered, and attacked (persecuted). Not to be spoken of truthfully but slandered as evil with no regard to actual facts.

Your reward in heaven. Notice the switch from “those” and “theirs” in Matthew 5:10 to “you” and “your” in Matthew 5:11-12. This is very personal. Jesus now speaks directly to those in front of Him about themselves. And by His Spirit, He addresses all believers who receive and read and hear this Word. They have the kingdom already, because they have the king (note the present tense in Matthew 5:2, Matthew 5:10). But our Redeemer now turns to us and tells us what we should expect to experience now, as those who have Him. Persecution of genuine believers comes not because of what we will have, but because of what we already have. We already belong to His kingdom. And competing kingdoms are not pleased with this.

“You” in the immediate, original context meant those on the mountain with Him. Separated from the world. Receiving instruction. Literally set on a hill at the time that they receive this word. This changes the speech from instruction (blessed are those) to benediction (blessed are you). Our Lord, our King, our kingdom, smiles His own blessing upon us now.

At the same time, He gives us instruction. At first the instruction is implicit in the phrase “falsely for My sake.” Don’t give them a legitimate reason to speak evil against you; see to it that these “all kinds of evil” that they say against you will be (a) false, and (b) for Jesus’s sake. 

Strive to do everything you do according to God’s Word. God defines what is righteous (Matthew 5:10) and what are good works (Matthew 5:16). We aren’t blessed when we live according to our flesh, using Jesus’s Name, and then are spoken against. So let us do that which God says is right. Let us do works that God says are good.

And strive to do everything for Jesus’s sake. If we are doing what is right, and we are doing it for Him, and people say all kinds of evil things falsely against us, then we are those upon whom Matthew 5:11 is pronouncing this benediction. Of course, doing all things for Jesus’s sake means that we aren’t seeking some other blessing than Jesus Himself. 

Whereas Matthew 5:11 is a benediction, Matthew 5:12 is a commandment: rejoice and be exceedingly glad. What a merciful commandment! This isn’t a stoic, “chin up.” This is much more intense. Rejoice! Be exceedingly glad! 

But a joy so great must have a great cause, and this one does. “Great is your reward in heaven.” Not “great will be you reward,” but present tense: it is already great. If you have the Son, you have the Father. And if you have God Himself, what loss is it for men to attack you? The prophets of old (Matthew 5:12b) refused to appease men, because they had God. God spoke to them; God called them; God sustained them; God made their words to stand. Now, the one who has the Lord Jesus, and who is being made like the Lord Jesus, possesses God as his reward just as those prophets did. When the believer (who has God) experiences the same attacks that those prophets endured (for the sake of having God), this is cause indeed for rejoicing and exceeding gladness!

Your Father in heaven. Still, we might shrink from that persecution. Can’t I just enjoy having God as my great reward without having to be reviled and persecuted and slandered? No, you cannot. If you’re not salty, you’re not salt. “loses its flavor” in Matthew 5:13 is actually a word that sounds like (and means something like) “moronic.” It’s fool’s salt. And, the verse says that it is analogous to fool’s gold. It’s only useful for trampling. It’s not actually “Christ’s-kingdom-ly” salt but “Satan’s-kingdom-ly” earth/dirt. To be un-salty may be enticing because we would not be persecuted. But we would not be rewarded. We would not be blessed. And we would have neither the Father nor the Son as our reward, either now or in the future (cf. Matthew 7:12–27).

Finally, let believers not shrink from where their Lord brings them to shine. If they are in Christ, they already are light, just as they already are salt. For these to whom Jesus was speaking, He has brought them up the literal hill. Perhaps they could already catch glimpses of sneering looks from others below.  But He uses the analogy of the placement of a city or the placement of a lamp to remind them that it was He Who had positioned them. Cities don’t crawl down off of hills, nor do lamps off of stands. Let not believers, who find themselves sticking out as Christians where they are, shrink from either being Christians or being where they are.

Jesus arranges us where we are in His world so that just by being what we are and where we are, we will be seen by whom He wants us to be seen. As they persecute us for good works now, they bring glory to the Father Who has shown His heavenly character in us on earth. And there will come a day when they can no longer persecute, when their own knees bow and tongues confess, and when God’s justice and God’s people are vindicated (1 Peter 2:15, 1 Peter 2:19–20). When believers suffer for conformity to the Son and the family resemblance of their Father, let them not give in to shunning the circumstances but rather lean in to shining within those circumstances. (cf. Acts 4:29, Acts 4:31; Acts 5:40–42).

By whom are you reviled? By whom are you persecuted? By whom are you slandered? How have you been focusing upon the joy of your reward in the midst of it? Where has the Lord placed you to shine? What does shining look like there? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for giving Yourself to us in Your Son. And thank You for the honor of being counted worthy to suffer for the Name. Grant unto us to rejoice and to keep shining, as those who already have You as our reward, in Christ, AMEN!

 Suggested songs: ARP73C “Yet Constantly, I Am with You” or TPH2B “Why Do Heathen Nations Rage”

Holy Priests, Prepared to Participate in Holy Worship [Family Worship lesson in Leviticus 21]

Why were there special rules for the consecrated lives of the priests? Leviticus 21 prepares us for the evening sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these twenty-four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that there were special rules for the consecrated lives of the priests in order to safeguard God’s holy worship.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2023.12.22 Hopewell @Home ▫ Leviticus 21

Read Leviticus 21

Questions from the Scripture text: To whom does YHWH speak in Leviticus 21:1 (cf. Leviticus 21:4, cf. Leviticus 10:4–6)? For whom is the message?  What mustn’t they do? For which relatives may they make an exception (Leviticus 21:2-3)? What else mustn’t they do (Leviticus 21:5, cf. Leviticus 19:27)? What must their mourning reflect instead (Leviticus 21:6)? Why, what special task do they have? What three types of women mustn’t they marry (Leviticus 21:7)? Why not (Leviticus 21:7-8)? What might a daughter of a priest do (Leviticus 21:9)? What does this do to her father? What must be done to her? Who has his own regulations (Leviticus 21:10)? What was done to his head and clothes? What mustn’t he do to them in mourning? For whom, even, may he not make an exception (Leviticus 21:11)? Where mustn’t he go (Leviticus 21:12, cf. Leviticus 10:7)? What type of woman, alone, may he marry, from what people alone (Leviticus 21:13-14)? What special consideration must the high priest have (Leviticus 21:15)? What new section introduction do we have in Leviticus 21:16? To what individual is this specifically addressed (Leviticus 21:17)? Who may not perform the holy-place ministry or altar ministry (cf. Leviticus 21:21)? What types of defects are excluded (Leviticus 21:18-20)? Yet, what may a man with a defect do (Leviticus 21:22)? From which types of bread? Why mustn’t he approach the veil or the altar (Leviticus 21:23)? How does Leviticus 21:24 conclude the two sections of the chapter?

Why were there special rules for the consecrated lives of the priests? Leviticus 21 prepares us for the evening sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these twenty-four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that there were special rules for the consecrated lives of the priests in order to safeguard God’s holy worship.

Increasing degrees of consecration. In “the holiness code,” the Lord has given His people instruction, so far, on the sanctity of blood (chapter 17), the sanctity of marriage (chapter 18), the sanctity of saints (chapter 19), and the sanctity of the church (chapter 20). There has been a subtle progression of increasing consecration, as the Scripture narrows nearer and nearer to the Lord. Now, in chapter 21, it narrows to the priesthood (Leviticus 21:1–9), the High Priest himself (Leviticus 21:10-15), and the holy place and the altar (Leviticus 21:16-23). 

The priesthood, Leviticus 21:1-9. We already saw in Leviticus 10:4–5 that with Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar already in the tabernacle court, they could not leave or defile themselves for the sake of Nadab and Abihu. Now, we see in Leviticus 21:1-4 that even when they are not “on duty,” they may only subject themselves to uncleanness in order to attend to the dead if the deceased is the nearest of relatives. They have a husband’s/master’s duty to the living (Leviticus 21:4), and the work of the tabernacle ministry is too important to interrupt to attend to the dead, unless someone else, related as nearly, isn’t available to do so.

There were other safeguards for the consecrated ministry of the tabernacle. Priests were to be especially careful to follow the rules concerning grieving that we saw in Leviticus 19:27 (Leviticus 21:5-6). They were not to grieve like unbelievers do (cf. Genesis 49:29–33; 1 Thessalonians 4:13); the marks of hopeless grief profane the Name of the Lord (Leviticus 21:6). The list in Leviticus 21:7 does not exclude widows (as Leviticus 21:14 does); for priests in general, the point here is that they were to marry women of good character (cf. 1 Timothy 3:4– 5, 1 Timothy 3:11). The priest who offers the bread of God (Leviticus 21:8) must be a man who presides over godly living in his own tent/home. By specifying the form of execution in Leviticus 21:9, the Lord ties this instance to chapter 20, where the Lord specified various methods of execution as an indication that it is He Who thus maintains the consecration of His church. In the case of Leviticus 21:9, the daughter of a priest must take into account how her behavior might defile God’s worship, for which God had set apart her father.

The High Priest himself, Leviticus 21:10-15. In the case of the High Priest, he must have regard for his office. His head had oil poured upon it (Leviticus 21:10), so he must not uncover his head in mourning. He has been dressed in the holy garments, so he must not tear his clothes in mourning. So, he mustn’t engage in even some appropriate expressions of grief, which do not include the disfiguring in Leviticus 21:5. Similarly, even for the death of one of his parents (Leviticus 21:11), he is not permitted to contract an uncleanness that would take him away from his high priestly labor (Leviticus 21:12). For him, even a widow will not do as a wife (Leviticus 21:13-14) not only on account of his current household, but because from him, the future high priests are to come (Leviticus 21:15).

The Holy Place and the altar, Leviticus 21:16-23. The prohibitions in Leviticus 21:16-20 are in no way an indication of the personal worth of the handicapped man. Not only does he continue to be fully in the image of God, but if he is a priest, he continues to have the right to eat not only of the grain offerings, but even of the showbread (Leviticus 21:22)! 

However, much of the tabernacle service itself required arduous labor that must be done in the proper manner. The defects described here either diminish the man’s ability to do so, endanger the ministry of direct defilement (in the case of scab or sore, Leviticus 21:20). The last condition in verse 20 disqualified anyone from the holy assembly (cf. Deuteronomy 23:1). But we must therefore conclude that it only applied to those who had ritually mutilated himself as was done in various ancient near-eastern pagan rituals; for, there are indeed eunuchs who keep God’s Sabbath’s within God’s house (cf. Isaiah 56:3–5). 

The main point can be discerned from “offer the bread of his God” (in Leviticus 21:16), “to offer the offerings made by fire” (in Leviticus 21:21), and “near the veil or approach altar” (Leviticus 21:23). The priests’ role, in how God has provided for His people to draw near to Him, is too vital to risk compromising in any avoidable way. 

The great High Priest and the priesthood of believers. The ongoing application of this is wondrous and widespread. It is wondrous because the Lord Jesus consecrated Himself as High Priest for our sakes (cf. John 17:9). He offered Himself (cf. Psalm 40:6–8; Hebrews 10:5–9), in perfect obedience and atoning death. And the application of this chapter is widespread because through Christ’s work as Great High Priest, He has consecrated all believers into their new priesthood (cf. Hebrews 10:10)—so much so that in the New Testament, every single believer enters the Holy of Holies through Him (cf. Hebrews 10:19–25)! So, let us put off all willful sin, and always live with a view toward being ready in mind, heart, and life to enter again beyond the veil, in His worship assembly, in less than six days from now.

Who is your Great High Priest? What did He have to be and do to be holy? What important offering did He make? Who leads the worship that was consecrated by His blood? How near do you come to God in that worship? When are you next scheduled to do so? How should you live between now and then? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You and praise You that You have given Your own Son to be our Great High Priest. We praise You for His perfect righteousness, purity, and ability to carry out the ministry that You assigned to Him. And we thank You that under His new and everlasting priesthood, You have made all Who are united to Him to be priests to You. Grant that we would always live in a way that is mindful of the fact that we must soon gather to You as a holy people, in Your holy Son, for Your holy worship. Help us, we pray, by Your Spirit, through Your Son, in Whose Name we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP15 “Within Your Tent, Who Will Reside” or TPH165 “To Your Temple, I Repair”