2022.01.18 Hopewell @Home ▫ Jeremiah 18:1–11

Read Jeremiah 18:1–11

Questions from the Scripture text: What came to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 18:1)? From Whom? Where must he go (Jeremiah 18:2)? What will happen there? Where did he go (Jeremiah 18:3)? What did he see there? What happened to what he was making (Jeremiah 18:4)? What did he do to it? According to what? Then what came to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 18:5)? Whom does this word address (Jeremiah 18:6)? Asking what? What does He say Israel is like? What might He speak concerning a nation (Jeremiah 18:7)? But what might that nation do (Jeremiah 18:8a)? And what will the Lord do, how quickly (verse 8b, cf. Jeremiah 18:7a)? What else might He speak concerning a nation (Jeremiah 18:9)? But what might that nation do (Jeremiah 18:10a)? And what will the Lord do and how quickly (verse 10b, Jeremiah 18:9a)? What does the Lord tell Jeremiah to do (Jeremiah 18:11)? What is he to tell Judah and Jerusalem the Lord is doing? What is he to call Israel to do? 

Next week’s Call to Worship, Prayer for Help, and first song all come from Jeremiah 18:1–11 so that we will see that we are singing God’s thoughts after Him with Have Thine Own Way, Lord!

Often, a preaching illustration is more vivid when the preacher has experienced it firsthand, and the Lord sends Jeremiah so that he will be seeing the illustration (Jeremiah 18:2a, Jeremiah 18:3-4) as the Lord’s words come to him (Jeremiah 18:2b, Jeremiah 18:4-11). Notice, by the way, that it is both the Lord’s word (singular, Jeremiah 18:5) and the Lord’s words (plural, Jeremiah 18:2). The Bible is not merely a channel of God’s speaking to us, but the words themselves are God’s own speech.

As Jeremiah stands there, watching the potter, the Lord teaches him several important lessons: God’s sovereignty, God’s activity, God’s planning, God’s interactivity, and our submission.

God’s sovereignty. He’s in control. He’s at the wheel (literally “double-stone,” end of Jeremiah 18:3). He can do as He wishes (Jeremiah 18:6, cf. Romans 9:19–21). He is not required to comply with us, but we must comply with Him.

God’s activity. God is not some absentee creator who got things started and is generally hands-off. He speaks concerning nations and kingdoms; it is He who determines when they will be yanked out of place, torn down, or destroyed (Jeremiah 18:7).

God’s planning̣. There is one nation in particular that God established—Israel, who are under His judgment in the book of Jeremiah—but all nations owe their origin and their existence to Him (Jeremiah 18:9). And they would do well to remember that in gratitude. The same is true of churches, families, and individuals.

God’s interactivity. Although there is a final judgment coming for people, God continuously interacts providentially with nations. He responds to repentance (Jeremiah 18:8)—what great news for nations under judgment, and would that our own would heed Him! He also responds to backsliding and wickedness (Jeremiah 18:10).

Our submission. In light of all of these things, Judah’s options were clear: submit to God or submit to God. Either submit to the destruction that the unstoppable and sovereign God had determined (Jeremiah 18:11b), or rather submit to God’s good law (verse 11c)  and enjoy the mercy of how He is pleased to respond to such repentance.

Whenever we are finding it difficult to submit to the Lord, let us remember that those who do not submit to His precepts will find that they still have to submit to His providential judgment. Let us not imagine that we have the option of ultimately successful resistance; rather, may He graciously give us to say, “Have Thine own way, Lord!”

How will you respond to the reality that the Lord is sovereignly, actively interacting with you?

Sample prayer:  Lord, You are the Potter, and we are the clay. You have the right to do with us as You please, so forgive us for how little we often think about or aim at pleasing You. Grant unto us to repent of our evil and rejoice over Your goodness, so that we may respond with thankful obedience and service, in Jesus’s Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP2 “Why Do Gentile Nations Rage” or TPH533 “Have Thine Own Way, Lord!”

How God Uses Our Persecutors (2022.01.16 Evening Sermon in Exodus 12:29–36)

God uses our persecutors to remind us of what we deserved, to give us ultimate victory, and to provide all things as our rightful inheritance.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this sermon)

What to Do While We Wait (2022.01.16 Morning Sermon in Acts 1:9–26)

While believers wait for Christ, they express their neediness and desire in prayer, live out their dependence by following His Word, and trust that He is ruling and overruling all things perfectly.

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

WCF 16.7.6, Unbelievers’ Sins Still Culpable (2022.01.16 Sabbath School lesson in Romans 9, Romans 2, Job 21, Psalm 14, Psalm 36, Matthew 23, Matthew 25)

Unbelievers' inability to do good works is no excuse for their neglecting to do good works, and every sin increases their guilt before God.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.01.17 Hopewell @Home ▫ Acts 1:9–26

Read Acts 1:9–26

Questions from the Scripture text: What had Jesus just done (Acts 1:9)? What were they doing? What happened to Him? What were the disciples doing in Acts 1:10? Who stood? Where? What were they wearing? What did the two men call them (Acts 1:11)? What did they ask? What did they say would happen? In what manner? Then where did the disciples go (Acts 1:12)? Where did they go when they got there (Acts 1:13)? Who? In what did they continue (Acts 1:14)? In what manner? Who else? Who stood up in those days, in the midst of whom (Acts 1:15)? How many were there altogether? What did Peter call them (Acts 1:16)? What did he say had to happen? Whom did he say spoke the Scripture? By whose mouth? Concerning whom? What had Judas become? Despite what recognition and privilege (Acts 1:17)? What had Judas purchased (Acts 1:18)? With what funds? And what else had he done? Who knew about this? What did they call the field? What was written where (Acts 1:20, cf. Psalm 69:25, Psalm 109:8)? From which men does Peter say to pick (Acts 1:21-22)? What would the selected man become (verse 22)? Whom did they propose (Acts 1:23)? What did they pray for (Acts 1:24-25)? What did they do in Acts 1:26? Upon whom did the lot fall? What was done, at that point, with Matthias? 

What do we do while we wait? That’s the big question for the apostles. Jesus has commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the Promise of the Father (Acts 1:4). And He’s just spoken these things when He disappears from their sight (Acts 1:9). So, the answer to the men’s (angels) question in Acts 1:11 could well be that the disciples were “waiting.” But the special knowledge of the angels about Jesus’s return, coupled with the way they had asked the question, implied that they ought to have been doing something else. So, they obey more completely in Acts 1:12 and return to Jerusalem. Which brings us to the question: what to do while they wait?

Pray. We know from Luke 24:52–53 that their return was with joy, and that they were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. But apparently their days ended the way this first one did: going to an upper room and praying. There are eleven names in Acts 1:13, and then the women and Mary and His brothers in Acts 1:14. It seems improbable that the full 120 from Acts 1:15 would fit in this upper room. Nevertheless, the praying of this group is presented to us as a main feature of the waiting.

Follow Scripture. At the end of Luke, the Lord Jesus had identified His atoning work and the spread of the gospel as two things that Scripture prophesied and had to be fulfilled (cf. Luke 24:44–47). Now Peter says that Judas’s betrayal was also a fulfillment of Scripture (Acts 1:16-17, cf. Psalm 41:9). He marshals Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8 (Acts 1:20) to reason that they should select a man who has as much as possible in common with the disciples to complete the number. 

Later, Jesus Himself completes the number by selecting the apostle Paul. And never again do we see the casting of lots after the Spirit comes—for Whom and for Whose wisdom they were to be waiting. And the ordination of a 12th apostle seems beyond His instruction to wait (cf. Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4). So, it’s quite possible that Peter was wrong in his application. But the text provides no such judgment. What it does leave us with is that Jesus said they were to be witnesses (cf. Luke 24:48, Acts 1:8b), and that they are trying to work out what that means from Scripture. So ought we.

Trust the Lord. Although they were to be waiting for the Holy Spirit—upon Whom they would directly depend for decision-making from Pentecost forward—the practice of casting lots did have biblical precedent (cf. Proverbs 16:33). With two men who satisfied the requirements of Acts 1:21-22, this action was not trusting luck, but trusting the Lord Who “knows the hearts of all” and Whom they presume to have chosen one of them (end of Acts 1:25). 

We too, are waiting. The difference is that we have the promise of the Spirit fulfilled with us. To help with our praying. To help with our studying and obeying Scripture. To help with our trusting. And we have the ordinances of Christ for His church: Word, sacrament, and prayer, under the leadership of elders in spiritual ministry and deacons in material ministry. And we have all of the commandments and principles of Scripture. But still, what we do as we wait for the return is basically the same as we see in this passage: Pray (and praise), follow Scripture, and trust in the Lord. 

What role has the Lord given you in your home? In the church? What basic directives undergird both? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You that You have indeed planned our lives for us, and chosen us for the roles to which You have appointed us. Thank You for giving us to praise You and pray to You as the chief action of our lives. Grant us to understand and follow Your Word, trusting in You. We thank You for Your Spirit’s ministry to us, and ask that He might continue applying Christ and His benefits to us, which we ask in Christ’s Name, AMEN! 

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH271 “Blessed Jesus, At Your Word”

2022.01.15 Hopewell @Home ▫ Acts 1:9–26

Read Acts 1:9–26

Questions from the Scripture text: What had Jesus just done (Acts 1:9)? What were they doing? What happened to Him? What were the disciples doing in Acts 1:10? Who stood? Where? What were they wearing? What did the two men call them (Acts 1:11)? What did they ask? What did they say would happen? In what manner? Then where did the disciples go (Acts 1:12)? Where did they go when they got there (Acts 1:13)? Who? In what did they continue (Acts 1:14)? In what manner? Who else? Who stood up in those days, in the midst of whom (Acts 1:15)? How many were there altogether? What did Peter call them (Acts 1:16)? What did he say had to happen? Whom did he say spoke the Scripture? By whose mouth? Concerning whom? What had Judas become? Despite what recognition and privilege (Acts 1:17)? What had Judas purchased (Acts 1:18)? With what funds? And what else had he done? Who knew about this (Acts 1:19)? What did they call the field? What was written where (Acts 1:20, cf. Psalm 69:25, Psalm 109:8)? From which men does Peter say to pick (Acts 1:21-22)? What would the selected man become (Acts 1:22)? Whom did they propose (Acts 1:23)? What did they pray for (Acts 1:24-25)? What did they do in Acts 1:26? Upon whom did the lot fall? What was done, at that point, with Matthias?

What do we do while we wait? That’s the big question for the apostles. Jesus has commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the Promise of the Father (Acts 1:4). And He’s just spoken these things when He disappears from their sight (Acts 1:9). So, the answer to the men’s (angels) question in Acts 1:11 could well be that the disciples were “waiting.” But the special knowledge of the angels about Jesus’s return, coupled with the way they had asked the question, implied that they ought to have been doing something else. So, they obey more completely in Acts 1:12 and return to Jerusalem. Which brings us to the question: what to do while they wait?

Pray. We know from Luke 24:52–53 that their return was with joy, and that they were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. But apparently their days ended the way this first one did: going to an upper room and praying. There are eleven names in Acts 1:13, and then the women and Mary and His brothers in Acts 1:14. It seems improbable that the full 120 from Acts 1:15 would fit in this upper room. Nevertheless, the praying of this group is presented to us as a main feature of the waiting.

Follow Scripture. At the end of Luke, the Lord Jesus had identified His atoning work and the spread of the gospel as two things that Scripture prophesied and had to be fulfilled (cf. Luke 24:44–47). Now Peter says that Judas’s betrayal was also a fulfillment of Scripture (Acts 1:16-17, cf. Psalm 41:9). He marshals Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8 (Acts 1:20) to reason that they should select a man who has as much as possible in common with the disciples to complete the number. 

Later, Jesus Himself completes the number by selecting the apostle Paul. And never again do we see the casting of lots after the Spirit comes—for Whom and for Whose wisdom they were to be waiting. And the ordination of a 12th apostle seems beyond His instruction to wait (cf. Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4). So, it’s quite possible that Peter was wrong in his application. But the text provides no such judgment. What it does leave us with is that Jesus said they were to be witnesses (cf. Luke 24:48, Acts 1:8b), and that they are trying to work out what that means from Scripture. So ought we.

Trust the Lord. Although they were to be waiting for the Holy Spirit—upon Whom they would directly depend for decision-making from Pentecost forward—the practice of casting lots did have biblical precedent (cf. Proverbs 16:33). With two men who satisfied the requirements of Acts 1:21-22, this action was not trusting luck, but trusting the Lord Who “knows the hearts of all” and Whom they presume to have chosen one of them (end of Acts 1:25). 

We too, are waiting. The difference is that we have the promise of the Spirit fulfilled with us. To help with our praying. To help with our studying and obeying Scripture. To help with our trusting. And we have the ordinances of Christ for His church: Word, sacrament, and prayer, under the leadership of elders in spiritual ministry and deacons in material ministry. And we have all of the commandments and principles of Scripture. But still, what we do as we wait for the return is basically the same as we see in this passage: Pray (and praise), follow Scripture, and trust in the Lord.

What role has the Lord given you in your home? In the church? What basic directives undergird both?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You that You have indeed planned our lives for us, and chosen us for the roles to which You have appointed us. Thank You for giving us to praise You and pray to You as the chief action of our lives. Grant us to understand and follow Your Word, trusting in You. We thank You for Your Spirit’s ministry to us, and ask that He might continue applying Christ and His benefits to us, which we ask in Christ’s Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH271 “Blessed Jesus, At Your Word”

2022.01.14 Hopewell @Home ▫ Exodus 12:29–36

Read Exodus 12:29–36

Questions from the Scripture text: What time is it in Exodus 12:29? What does Yahweh do? How does verse 29 describe the breadth and completeness of this? What does Pharaoh do (Exodus 12:30)? Who else? What do they produce? Why is the cry so great? To whom does Pharaoh call (Exodus 12:31)? What does he tell them to do? What does he tell them to take (Exodus 12:32)? Whom does he ask them to bless? Who urged whom to do what (Exodus 12:33)? Why? What did the Israelites have to do in response (Exodus 12:34)? And what had they previously done (Exodus 12:35)? What had Yahweh given the people (Exodus 12:36)? And what had the Egyptians done? With what end result? 

As the great cry arises in Egypt, the children of Israel come forth from blood-covered doors, keenly aware that they themselves deserve what has come upon the Egyptians. So, there is an amazing grace of mercy behind the amazing grace of power that is displayed here. In that power, the Lord uses Pharaoh and the Egyptians to send and supply the Israelites into the wilderness.

Still in darkness (cf. Exodus 10:39), Pharaoh insists that Moses, Aaron, all Israel, and even their flocks and herds go “as you have said” (Exodus 12:31-32). He isn’t trying to negotiate terms anymore. He’s just trying to get rid of them. The “bless me also” at the end of Exodus 12:32 ends Pharaoh’s interviews on a pathetic note, as the red-eyed, hoarse-throated potentate urges them to go at an hour in which he would be invariably in bed (Exodus 12:30a, Exodus 12:31a). 

He’s been reduced to pleader-to-leave-in-chief, just as the Lord promised (cf. Exodus 6:1). The rest of the Egyptians are following their king. They are urgent to speed the Israelites along because, as they say at the end of Exodus 12:33, “we are all dying.” There’s no time for the daily bread to rise; hence, the unleavened bread that the feast by that name commemorates.

The Egyptians are also the Israelites’ suppliers. Exodus 12:35-36 have already taken place but are mentioned here as a final resounding note of God’s goodness to His people. They who deserved the same death that has visited every Egyptian household (Exodus 12:30b) are leaving Egypt not merely having been spared but enriched beyond their wildest imaginations. Not only extra clothing, which they would surely need in the way, but even the silver and gold—the wealth of Egypt.

The main theme is pretty plain: the earth, and all that is in it, and all who dwell in it… it all belongs to the Lord, and He has devoted it all to the good of His people. He is able to entirely reverse the efforts of our staunchest enemies. And if it should ever serve our good and His glory, He will do just that—because of the grace in which He has wiped out our guilt, and the electing love in which it pleased Him to do so.

What difficult situation do you need reminding that the Lord could completely reverse? Why hasn’t He?

Sample prayer:  Lord, You are King over all kings, and there is no other god besides You. Truly, we deserved Your wrath, but You have loved us and atoned for us by the blood of the Lamb. Forgive us for when we forget that this grace of unfathomable mercy is joined to Your infinite power. How needlessly (and sinfully!) we fret and worry, when it is certain that You will suddenly and decisively overthrow the desires and efforts of all of our enemies. Grant unto us increased faith, so that we might adore Your glories in every circumstance, we ask through Jesus Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP23B “From My Sins, O Hide Your Face” or TPH231 “Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right”

Beholding God—a Remedy for Sin (2022.01.12 Prayer Meeting Sermon in Psalm 36)

God tells us about Himself so that we will perceive His goodness to us and love Him Who first loved us.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this sermon)

2022.01.13 Hopewell @Home ▫ Colossians 3:12–14

Read Colossians 3:12–14

Questions from the Scripture text: What does the apostle call them in Colossians 3:12? With what two characteristics? What five things are they to put on? What two things are they to do (Colossians 3:13a)? If what has happened? What is the pattern for this (verse 13b)? How does the command in Colossians 3:14 relate to the rest? What are they to put on most of all? How will it function among the others?

Election and predestination are unto something far greater than merely escaping wrath. They are unto Christ-likeness. Ephesians 1:4 says, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Romans 8:29 says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” And it is in our identity as “the elect of God, holy and beloved” (Colossians 3:12) that our passage begins to flesh out what it should look like to have “put on the new man”—Christ (Colossians 3:10-11) instead of Adam (Colossians 3:9). 

In other words, the believer’s big question about election ought not to be whether or not election is real (since God declares it) or if it is fair (since the perfectly righteous God has done it) but rather, “unto what have I been elected?” (since it is this after which we are to strive). 

Christ is our life (Colossians 3:4a), and we are to appear with Him in glory (verse 4b), so we are to grow into His likeness. As we love Him and love one another, we will pursue the perfection that is His character (Colossians 3:14). What then are we to put on if we are putting on Christ and His love? 

Tender mercies—compassions of the heart. Kindness—goodness to all, and especially to the Lord’s. Humility—taking for ourselves a low position and considering others above ourselves. Meekness—the gentleness that would rather suffer harm than inflict it. Longsuffering—like meekness but after the fact; patiently putting up with being wronged rather than giving into fury or trying to get payback.

All of these characteristics are especially needed in one particular situation: “if anyone has a complaint against another.” The characteristics of Christ in the Christian come to bear most when he is sinned against. Both as God and as our Mediator, Christ has been sinned against infinitely more than any of us could have been. And the great act of His redemption has been to bear the guilt Himself in order to forgive us. Being sinned against is one of the greatest opportunities for Christlikeness that a Christian can have. 

And when the opportunity comes, we must seize it by the two commanded actions in Colossians 3:13: forgive one another. We practice for the forgiving of wrongs by bearing with one another’s continual weaknesses and annoyances. And then when idiosyncrasy overflows into genuine offense, the exercise of Christ-like graces in bearing with one another will have strengthened those graces that we might readily forgive one another. So let us live out of love for God and love for others, that when the time comes we might by grace seize our opportunity and forgive.

What opportunity do you have to bear with others? What opportunity do you have to forgive? What are these really opportunities for you to put on and to do?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank and praise You Who have elected and loved us that we might well love You. Forgive us for missing our opportunities to display the qualities of Christ in us, and make us to put on His character so that we may imitate His conduct, which we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP24 “The Earth and the Riches” or TPH464 “The Beatitudes”

2022.01.12 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Kings 3:16–28

Read 1 Kings 3:16–28

Questions from the Scripture text: Who came to whom in 1 Kings 3:16? Where did they dwell (1 Kings 3:17a)? And what happened (verse 17b)? How long later does what happen (1 Kings 3:18a)? And what were the circumstances in verse 18b? What happened (1 Kings 3:19a)? How (verse 19b)? What did the other woman do about it (1 Kings 3:20)? What does the speaker find, when (1 Kings 3:21a)? What did a closer look reveal (1 Kings 3:21)? What does the other woman say in 1 Kings 3:22a? And the first woman in verse 22b? How does the king summarize the case in 1 Kings 3:23? For what does he ask in 1 Kings 3:24? What does he command in 1 Kings 3:25? Who speaks in 1 Kings 3:26a? Why? What does she request? Who else speaks? What does she request? What does the king say to do in 1 Kings 3:27? Why? Who heard of this (1 Kings 3:28)? What did they do? Why—what did they see was in him? For what?

When we read this passage, we are impressed with the mercy of the king to care about the case even though they were harlots (1 Kings 3:16a). We’re impressed with the cleverness of the king to detect which of the women is the true mother (1 Kings 3:25-27). We’re impressed with the justness that drove the inquiry and that restored the living child to the proper mother. 

But this compassion and wisdom and justness is not just great in quantity; it is incomparable in quality, for 1 Kings 3:28 tells us that the wisdom of Solomon was actually the wisdom of God that was in him!

The two big takeaways here are the faithfulness of God to have kept His Word to Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 3:12) and the great love and wisdom and justness of God that are reflected in a small way in Solomon’s. The kingdom is coming. But the story of the kingdom is our King! 

Just as His promise to Solomon of wisdom, God has made promises to conform us to the image of Christ. He who was faithful to the one will be faithful to the other. And just as we appreciate what we see of the King in the king, so also the good that we see in Christians is actually Christ’s. And we appreciate it more for that, not less—desiring that He would be seen in us and get the glory for it as well.

What of Christ have you seen in others? What do you hope that they see in you? What difference does it make to you that Christ is all of these good things perfectly?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we praise You for Your faithfulness to keep Your Word. And we confess that we have valued too little that honor and praise which You deserve for Your gracious work in believers. Neither has the desire for You to be glorified in our lives been the motivation it ought to have been to grow in Christ-likeness. For His sake, forgive us, and keep conforming us to His image by Your Spirit, which we ask in Christ’s own Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH400 “Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me”