Oaths and Vows as Worship [2025.01.26 Sabbath School in Westminster Confession of Faith 21.5—Hopewell 101]

We continued studying through the Scriptural doctrine that our congregation confesses. This week, we continued Westminster Confession chapter 21—considering the next part of Article 5, and what makes oaths and vows a part of worship generally, and corporate worship, specifically.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

Delivered by a Guilt-Bearing Husband [2024.12.22 Evening Sermon in Numbers 30]

The authority and protection of fathers and husbands should properly display the benefits of adoption by the Father and union with Christ.

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

The Husband Who Delivers His Bride [Family Worship lesson in Numbers 30]

How much weight does God give to fatherhood and a husband’s authority in marriage? Numbers 30 looks forward to the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these sixteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s statutes about vows and oaths display the great weightiness of the authority of fathers and husbands.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

An Infallible Assurance of Faith [2024.05.26 Sabbath School in WCF 18.2—Hopewell 101]

"This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, and the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made"(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

Separated Unto God: the Nazirite Vow and the Christian Life [2024.03.24 Evening Sermon in Numbers 6:1–21]

Not only corporately, but each individually, saints are separated unto God as those who delight in Him, and in whom He delights, especially in/for worship.

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

Extraordinary Vows and Redemptions [Family Worship lesson in Leviticus 27]

If God has prescribed His public worship, how can a believer respond to special providence or moments of inflamed love and thankfulness? Leviticus 27 prepares us for the evening sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these thirty-four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers may vow unto God to devote themselves to His service, but they must take these vows very seriously. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

Speaking with God as Witness [Family Worship lesson in Matthew 5:33–37]

When must we be careful to be truthful and faithful to our word? Matthew 5:33–37 prepares us for the morning sermon on the Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that we must always be careful to be truthful and faithful to our word.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

Don't Be the Guarantee of Someone Else's Promises [Family Worship lesson in Proverbs 6:1–5]

Pastor teaches his family a selection from “the Proverb of the day.” In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us not to become (or stay!) the guarantor for someone else’s promises(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

Lessons in Revival from One of the Greatest that the Lord Worked [Family Worship lesson in 2Kings 11]

How did the Lord bring revival in Judah? 2Kings 11 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord brought revival in Judah through the daring and determination of a few, the designation of covenant, and the destruction of wickedness.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

Symptoms of a Heart that the LORD Is Preparing for His Holy Hill (2021.04.21 Prayer Meeting Lesson in Psalm 15)

The most important question facing each one of us is whether we will end up in Hell or the Hill of Yahweh's holiness. In those whom the Lord is bringing to the latter, He Who is their righteousness is doing a renovation work in their hearts. This Psalm gives eight symptoms by which we may recognize that work of heart-renovation.

Why Risk Taking Vows? (2020.08.20 Pastoral Letter and Hopewell Herald)

 Hopewell Herald – August 20, 2020

Dear Congregation,

Upon hearing how weighty a thing it is to make a solemn promise before God, such as a vow or an oath, we might be tempted to think, “Then, why would we want to do such a thing? Why take vows when being added to the church, or when professing our faith, or when the Lord adds children to us, or when we take office, or when we get married?” 

It’s a good question. What is to be gained? 

Well, for those with whom the Lord puts us into relationship, much is to be gained by a vow, if the vow is a means by which we perform our duties toward them more consistently and completely. In a society where vows mean little, this advantage is lost, and we make a mockery out of integrity and honesty.

And for the unbeliever, of course, there can be nothing ultimately gained. The short-term good that the Lord continually does him will always condemn him all the more in the end. With no atonement for his sin, even outward “uprightness” will testify that all his sin was against that much more undeserved mercy from God. How dreadful to be the man in the coffin that everyone called “a good man,” but to appear at the judgment without Christ!!

But, for the believer, there is much indeed to be gained.

First, we don’t make promises in these vows to anything that the Lord Jesus hasn’t already required of us. If He saves us, He has added us to the church. Refusing to profess Him is a sin (Matt 10:32–33; Rom 10:8–10). Inconsistent attendance, whether we have professed or not, is a sin. The church is keep a roll and to add to its number (cf. Ac 1:15; 2:41; 4:4) those whom the Lord providentially adds by bringing their men to faith. Resisting being added is a sin. If God adds a child to us, and we fail to put His sign upon that child; or, if we fail to bring him up in the Lord’s discipline and the Lord’s instruction, that is a sin (Exo 4:24–26; Deu 6:4–14; Eph 6:1­–4). What grooms and brides properly promise in a wedding would have been a sin for them not to fulfill; as Scripture says, marriage is a covenant from God (Prov 2:17; Matt 19:4–5).

So, taking vows that have been established by those who have faithfully applied the Word for generations is a help against the self-deception in which our flesh tries to convince us that our profession/membership is our own, or our marriage is our own, or our children are our own, etc. These all are defined by, and belong to, the Lord.

Second, when we live not under the law as a burden, but under grace which fuels devotion to God’s law out of love and thankfulness, having vows to take increases opportunity for expressing our love and thankfulness to the Lord Jesus! We love to reflect upon how we may please Him. we enjoy watching others whom He saves make these promises, and celebrate with them the anniversaries of His sustaining them by grace. When it is necessary for us to come alongside them, we set before them the goodness and glory of Who He is and What He has done, that His worthiness might be ever-renewed and increased in their sight and ours.

Third, when we see that these vows (which come in accordance with God’s good and wise Word) increase the guilt of each sin that is committed against them, the value of Christ’s sacrifice and righteousness both increase before our eyes. How great is what He has suffered in our place! How astonishing He is in His perfect righteousness—and how marvelous that this is the righteousness that is reckoned unto our account before God!

Fourth, in our battle against sin, we should marshal all the weapons and means that God has placed at our disposal. When we have a serious and important duty or relationship, against which we know that our flesh will resist, having avowed ourselves to that duty stirs up our resolve to be in league with the Spirit against the  flesh.

Taken along with these considerations—and we could identify more—there is much to be gained by the consideration that God Is Witness. That He sees all, and even unto the depths of our hearts, and far more than we can ever see. And that He is perfectly holy and infinitely powerful. For, the more that we see the depth and weightiness of taking a vow, the more each of these preceding benefits is increased unto us.

We have a God Who swears by Himself, and Who makes and keeps covenant, binding Himself to us by His Word, His Son, His blood (Heb 6–10; cf. Ac 20:26–28). And ultimately, it is His keeping of His promises in Christ (and Christ’s keeping of our own obligations!) that makes vow-taking and vow-making such a benefit to believers!

Looking forward to coming to Him together with you in that worship to which we have rightly vowed our attendance,

Pastor

God Is Witness: Taking Vows before the All-Seeing, Almighty God (2020.08.16 Morning Sermon in Genesis 31:36–55)

Taking a vow requires great humility (because God sees everything) and gospel hope (because God is almighty and holy and just). Thankfully, God vowed Himself to save in Christ, and He has kept His vow!