Faith Succeeds Where the Law of Works Fails [Family Worship lesson in Romans 3:27–31]

How is boasting actually eliminated from our lives? Romans 3:27–31 looks forward to the sermon in the midweek prayer meeting. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that whereas the law of works couldn’t eliminate boasting, the law of the Spirit of life actually expunges it.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.10.24 Hopewell @Home ▫ Romans 3:27–31

Read Romans 3:27–31

Questions from the Scripture text: What does Romans 3:27 ask about? What has happened to it? Which law hasn’t done this? Which law has? What do “we” do in Romans 3:28? By What is a man declared righteous? Apart from what? About Whom does Romans 3:29 now ask? Whose God is He? Whom does Romans 3:30 first say that God will justify? Out of what? Whom else does He justify? Through what? What does Romans 3:31 ask if we do? What is the answer? What do we do, through faith, to the law?

How is boasting actually eliminated from our lives? Romans 3:27–31 looks forward to the sermon in the midweek prayer meeting. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that whereas the law of works couldn’t eliminate boasting, the law of the Spirit of life actually expunges it.

We all know, intuitively, that boasting is wrong. Yet, the works of the law had not inhibited boasting but fostered it (cf. Romans 2:19–20). Now the Spirit shows us the superiority of the gospel: the law of faith has actually excluded boasting (Romans 3:27)! This is an example of the law having been weakened through flesh and unable to do something (cf. Romans 8:3), so that the good law was to us the law of sin and death (cf. Romans 8:2). But, through faith in Jesus, the law is unto us the law of the Spirit of life (cf. Romans 8:2).

The law sets before us that all glorying in self is excluded (cf. Romans 1:18–3:20). But that has not actually excluded boasting from our hearts or our behavior. It is when the gospel establishes glorying in Christ alone (cf. Romans 3:21–26, Romans 15:17) that glorying in self is actually eliminated.

For some members of the Roman church, this was one of the most needed applications of the gospel; they were in danger of being full of themselves (cf. Romans 1:8; Romans 14:2; Romans 15:1). The gospel blows up all our boasting. It says that our best deeds need atoning. The law of works tells me that I have nothing to boast about, but if I get there by following that instruction, I may think of myself as better at “not boasting” than the next guy. So, it hasn’t been excluded. 

But the law of faith says that I can’t cling to a single thing in myself, not a single thing that I do (Romans 3:28). I can never turn to clinging to anything but Christ. There’s no such thing as “better” faith than the next guy, because as soon as I begin to think that way, I’ve begun to cling to faith instead of clinging to Christ.

The gospel has come along and said that there is only one kind of salvation—that which comes from covenant with God (He is the only God and Savior of either Jews or Gentiles, Romans 3:29). The only salvation is that which comes through faith in Christ (faith apart from the deeds of the law is the only instrument of saving either circumcised or uncircumcised, Romans 3:30), that which produces the very keeping of God’s law that the law itself could not produce (Romans 3:31).

Has your boasting been eliminated? To the same point, what is your day-to-day experience of exulting in Christ? What do you think of your own works? But how rich to you is the glory of Christ? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for setting before us the sinfulness that remains in even our best works. But thank You all the more for setting before us Christ and His perfections of atonement and righteousness. Eliminate our boasting in self by establishing our boasting in Him we ask, in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH435 “Not What My Hands Have Done”

2022.10.22 Hopewell @Home ▫ Acts 15:1–22

Read Acts 15:1–22

Questions from the Scripture text: From where did men come down (Acts 15:1)? Whom did they teach? To whom did they attribute circumcision? What did they say could not be done without it? What did Paul and Barnabas have with them (Acts 15:2)? What did the church determine to do? Whom did they decide to send to whom? What route did the Antiochan delegates take (Acts 15:3)? What did they do along the way? What did this cause to whom? Where did they come in Acts 15:4? By whom were they received? What did they report? Who rose up in Acts 15:5? What two things did they insist was necessary? Who came together in Acts 15:6? To do what? What did they have much of (Acts 15:7)? Then who rose up? Of what event did he remind them (cf. chapter 10)? What does he point out that God knows? What had God done to Gentiles (Acts 15:8)? By giving them what? What didn’t God make (Acts 15:9)? But what did He do to their hearts? By what? What does Peter say they would be doing to God if they demanded circumcision (Acts 15:10)? What would they be doing to the disciples? Who couldn’t bear that yoke? To whom do the multitude now listen silently (Acts 15:12)? What were Paul and Barnabas declaring? What does James wait for Paul and Barnabas to do (Acts 15:13)? Whom does he address? For what does he ask? Whose speech does he reference in Acts 15:14? Whom has God visited? What has He taken out of them? for what? Now to what does he compare this testimony in Acts 15:15? What had Amos said that Yahweh would do to what (Acts 15:16, cf. Amos 9:11)? With what result for the rest of mankind (Acts 15:17a)? And what nations (verse 17b, cf. Amos 9:12)? Who would do this (verse 17c)? What is known to Whom since when (Acts 15:18)? What is James’s judgement that they shouldn’t do (Acts 15:19)? What three things does he say they should write to them instead (Acts 15:20)? What does he say Moses has had, where, and how long (Acts 15:21)? What is done where? How often? What three groups were pleased in Acts 15:22? To send whom with whom? Which two specifically? What type of men were they?

How does the church resolve issues that are unable to be settled in the local church? Acts 15:1–22 looks forward to the morning sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that elders of Christ’s church are to gather in broader assemblies to determine controversies of faith. 

The Lord’s ordaining of the synod. In the Spirit’s wisdom, He has juxtaposed the Scriptural underpinning of sessions and presbyteries (cf. Acts 14:23) with this passage that gives us a Scriptural underpinning for synods and councils (a.k.a. general assemblies). Whereas the former were for the ongoing, ordinary work of the church, this council is occasioned by a specific issue/problem. 

And it is a very great problem! By placing circumcision alongside the gospel  in necessity for salvation, these “certain ones” from Acts 15:1 come under the later-written anathema of Galatians 1:8–9. If you are living in an age of the church which has forgotten that there are things worth having “no small dissension and dispute,” let Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:2, and more generally this occasion of the first synod, remind us of it. There are doctrines worth defending. And one of the Lord’s primary ways of defending them is at councils composed of elders from across multiple presbyteries.

The delegates from Antioch include “Paul and Barnabas and certain others” (Acts 15:2). And it is specifically “to the apostles and elders” that they are going. This isn’t a church visit (although the whole church sends in Acts 15:3, and in Jerusalem the whole church concurs in Acts 15:22); it’s specifically a council of (apostles and) elders. It is instructive to see that the elders have the same seat (Acts 15:6) and same vote (Acts 15:22) as the apostles.

This brings up an important point. Elders are not only the shepherds of a congregation as a plurality and an established help and accountability to one another throughout a region (as established in Acts 14:23). They are officers of Christ among whose assemblies the mind of Christ more generally may be discovered in discussing and applying the Scriptures.

What are the elders in Jerusalem doing participating in a decision regarding Antioch? Are they apostles? No, it is Christ’s wisdom to establish broader assemblies of His elders for the instruction, help, and accountability of all.

The operation of the synod. Now, note that there is much disputing in Acts 15:7, as there had been in Acts 15:2. But, the portion of the debate that the Spirit preserves for us is theological interpretation of events (Acts 15:7-9, Acts 15:12, Acts 15:18), theological consideration of their own actions (Acts 15:10-11), and corroboration of the theology from specific Scriptures (Acts 15:13-18). It is from this that a specific solution is proposed (Acts 15:19-21) and adopted (Acts 15:22).

Theological interpretation of events (Acts 15:7-9, Acts 15:12). God is acknowledged as having chosen to use Peter (Acts 15:7a). God is acknowledged as the One Who uses the preacher’s mouth to give hearing and faith (verse 7b). God is the Knower of the heart and the Testifier to what He has put there (Acts 15:8). What God did to the heart (purifying, Acts 15:9) by the Spirit they had recognized by use of water in baptism (cf. Acts 10:44, Acts 10:47, Acts 11:15–16). And many more such miracles had God done as He saved Gentiles through the ministries of Paul and Barnabas as well (Acts 15:12).

Theological consideration of their own actions (Acts 15:10-11). Peter urges them not just to consider the issue as a question of what to do, but an active/living engagement with God. It would be testing God to demand circumcision (Acts 15:10), just as it would have been resisting God to withhold the water in Cornelius’s house (Acts 10:44–48, Acts 11:16–17). And it is trusting God for their own salvation that keeps them from resting upon circumcision, so also they must teach the Gentiles to trust God rather than circumcision (Acts 15:11).

Corroboration of the theology from specific Scripture (Acts 15:13-18). James now summarizes what Simon said, but even apostolic testimony in the council of apostles and elders stands only as affirmed by the Scriptures. So he quotes from Amos 9:11–12. When God saves a remnant from Israel (Acts 15:16, cf. Amos 9:11), He will give the same salvation to the nations and even call them by His own Name (Acts 15:17, cf. Amos 9:12). Note that the “nations” called by Yahweh’s Name (Acts 15:17, cf. Amos 9:12) are a remnant who are called out (Acts 15:14). 

So, what Peter has observed in Acts 15:11 is precisely what Amos had prophesied, because God uses His Scriptures to prepare the way for His coming works (Acts 15:18). 

The outcome of the synod. The question of circumcision is answered. They won’t test God or insist on something that would compete with either Christ for salvation or baptism as the outward testimony of the Spirit’s inward work. And they won’t trouble them with the yoke that even the Jews were unable to bear (Acts 15:19, cf. Acts 15:10).

What they do require are two ways in which their new hearts from Christ will stand out most against their culture (Acts 15:20a). Idol-temple worship and its fellowship feasts were the social center of their culture, but they were to refuse to participate rather than accommodate the idolatry. Sexual immorality was rampant in the Greek culture of the Gentile world, so they must abstain from it. 

And they draw covenantal requirements not from the Mosaic administration of the covenant of grace, but from the Noahic administration, from which all nations had come. This is what is behind the prohibition against meat that has been strangled or otherwise still has the blood in it (verse 20b, cf. Genesis 9:4). 

Believers from the Mosaic administration had a perpetual and consistent witness to the cultures around them (Acts 15:21). Christians’ witness in their culture should be at least as perpetual and consistent as the Mosaic witness has been. 

Finally, the apostles and elders approve this proposal (Acts 15:22), and the whole church submits to and carries it out. The gospel has been defended; God has been interacted with sincerely, and wisdom and love have been exercised toward the church. Hallelujah!

What should a Synod consider or decide? How should it go about doing so? Who should participate? What should the churches do? Who can bring the church into a condition in which these things are biblically done? Besides praying to Him, how can you encourage the church to operate this way?

Sample prayer:  Lord, grant unto our own synod that it would pursue and fulfill only those duties that You give to synods in Your Word. Grant unto the elders wisdom and grace from Your Spirit for all of their deliberations. Make them to be conscientious in engaging You, and to be directed entirely by Your Word, we ask in Jesus’s Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP197 “Christian Unity” or TPH404 “The Church’s One Foundation”

Christ Set Forth as God: God's Righteousness Triply Displayed [2022.10.19 Midweek Sermon in Romans 3:25–26]

In Christ's fully atoning work, God displayed the greatness of His righteousness, the very righteousness that is accounted to those who believe in Jesus.

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

2022.10.21 Hopewell @Home ▫ Exodus 25:1–9

Read Exodus 25:1–9

Questions from the Scripture text: Who spoke to whom in Exodus 25:1? To whom is he to speak (Exodus 25:2)? What are they to bring? In what manner? What three things in Exodus 25:3? What four things in Exodus 25:4? What three things in Exodus 25:5? What two things in Exodus 25:6? For what? What two things in Exodus 25:7? For what? What is all of this for constructing (Exodus 25:8)? Why? According to what shall they make it (Exodus 25:9)? 

What is the greatest need of those who have been brought into covenant with God? Exodus 25:1–9 looks forward to the p.m. sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these nine verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that when God comes near to us, it is according to His Word, according to His design, and according to His provision.

The Lord had commanded Moses to come up to Him on the mountain and receive Yahweh’s own written instructions to teach Israel (Exodus 24:12). Now, the first thing that He tells Moses (Exodus 25:1) is that He is to speak to the children of Israel (Exodus 25:2). One of the great themes of the tabernacle construction will be how all is to be done exactly as Yahweh says, to the minutest detail. 

These written instructions apparently included a diagram of how the tabernacle would correspond to a heavenly reality that already existed (Exodus 25:9, cf. Hebrews 9:23–24). The word for ‘pattern’ refers to a shape or model. And Hebrews 9:23–24 tells us that heaven itself and the heavenly things are the reality after which this pattern was modeled.

Not only the pattern, but also the provision for the tabernacle, are specified by God’s own writing. Both the means of provision and the material to be provided are specified.

The means is freewill offering. It would be a mistake to think that tithes, which later are collected regularly according to the law, are spiritually incompatible with freewill giving. Here, for the initial construction of the tabernacle, the contribution (“offering” in Exodus 25:2) is brought “willingly with his heart.” This heart-willingness was required for contribution. Such was the manner of God’s provision for the tabernacle. We say “God’s” provision, and not theirs, because a willing heart is something that only God can give.

The material provided includes particular precious metals (Exodus 25:3), fabrics (Exodus 25:4), skins and wood (Exodus 25:5), oil and spices (Exodus 25:6), and precious stones (Exodus 25:7). The Lord does not invite them to bring whatever they might like. They are to bring the contributions willingly, but He Himself specifies what they are to bring.

The word translated “dwell” in Exodus 25:8 isn’t one of the ordinary words for “stay” or “sojourn” but very specifically a word from the Hebrew root for “tent.” They are to make Yahweh a place of holiness (“sanctuary,” verse 8) for Him to tent among them. Similarly, “dwelt” in John 1:14 is from the Greek root for “tent.” This clues us into the original after which this tabernacle is patterned: Christ Himself.

Christ is our tabernacle, Who offered Himself willingly. He Who is God became flesh for us and consecrated Himself in order that we might be made holy unto God (cf. John 17:19). Whenever we bring the most costly things that the Lord asks of us, and do so with willingness, we partake of Christ’s character and glorify Him who did this perfectly.

It is no wonder, then, that all had to be exactly according to the pattern that God gave Moses. Man cannot devise or design that which would imitate the eternal Son and His redemptive work. And if he attempted to do so, it would have been tantamount to trying to be near to God’s presence without Christ.

What are some things that the Lord has specifically commanded/required of us for His worship? With what sort of heart do you tend to offer such things? What else is necessary for God’s work that you have an opportunity to contribute? Who has made the great contribution that brings you near God? How does this comfort and encourage you? How does it provoke and motivate you?

Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for offering Yourself willingly to be the Holy One in Whom God has dwelt among us. Make us to behold Your glory, both knowing that Your offering is counted as our righteousness, and responding by gladly giving all that we are for all that You ask of us, for we ask it in Your Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP73C “Yet Constantly, I Am with You” or TPH332 “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise”

An Important Doctrine: the Good Works of Graced Men by Which Christ Oversees His Church on Earth [Family Worship lesson in 1Timothy 3:1–2]

What should an overseer be? 1Timothy 3:1–2 looks forward to the second serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that overseers must be of such character and attributes as to be ready and equipped for a good work.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.10.20 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Timothy 3:1–2

Read 1 Timothy 3:1–2

Questions from the Scripture text: How does 1 Timothy 3:1 begin? What may a man desire? What type of work is this? What is the first qualification for this good work (1 Timothy 3:2)? What is the second? The third? Of what sort of mind? What behavior? What sixth characteristic? With what skill/aptitude?  

What should an overseer be? 1 Timothy 3:1–2 looks forward to the second serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that overseers must be of such character and attributes as to be ready and equipped for a good work.

The qualifications of an elder are an important point of doctrine. This isn’t just a “how-to” for having a nicely running church. 1 Timothy 3:1 begins by telling us that “this is a faithful saying.” This is part of that sound theology upon which Timothy must insist if the backsliding in Ephesus is going to be reversed. Because there is so much diversity (not a good thing!) in the organization/authority structure of congregations today, we might foolishly conclude that this is a matter of indifference or tolerance or lack of clarity in Scripture. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

The position of a bishop is one of beneficial activity. In that position, one is called to “a good work.” He must exert himself in laboring for the good of the flock. The overseer (“bishop”) is in a position of authority, but he is to focus upon the purpose and labor that belong to his position. This is why the qualifications are primarily character qualifications and not effectiveness qualifications. There are many ways that a household could be kept in check (cf. 1 Timothy 3:4). The qualified man will be doing so by being a man of certain qualities (1 Timothy 3:2) and by not being a man of certain defects (1 Timothy 3:3).  Thus, he will demonstrate these qualities in his home (1 Timothy 3:4-5), in the church (1 Timothy 3:6), and in the community (1 Timothy 3:7).

Blameless. Above reproach. Nothing in his manner or conduct gives accusers something to latch onto. Such a man might be unfairly slandered, and it would require investigation to clear him. Another man might have a good reputation, but it isn’t particularly well-deserved; those who are closer to him have legitimate concerns. The qualified man maintains his integrity.

A one-woman man. He is committed to monogamous marriage, and especially to his own, if he is married. He is faithful, honors marriage, and is committed to the purity of the marriage bed.

Temperate. This is a man who does not indulge his senses in his tastes and habits. He doesn’t live for pleasures of the body. He lives for the deeper, lasting, steady joy of the Lord. He is a serious (not the same as “somber”) person. Earnest not superficial, and steady not always coming with something new.

Sober-minded. The word means that he is controlled by wisdom. He learns and grows. He is a theologically principled man, not a pragmatist who changes with the situations, nor an impulsive man who changes with his feelings or inclinations.

Of good behavior. The inner goodness of the man is actually worked out in the things that he does.

Hospitable. Literally, a friend of strangers. The sort of person who helps according to his ability in a way that exposes his desire to be a help and refreshment to others.

Able to teach. This is someone who has been taught, who doesn’t just know truth but has mastered it in its connections and proportions and has skill in building others up in the same. There are some (cf. 1 Timothy 5:17) who are better at this than others, but all elders must have this. Teaching is the great part of shepherding, which is the good work that is a function of this office.

Not all are called to be elders, but growing by the grace of Christ and by knowing Christ ought to grow a Christian man in that direction. Indeed, the longer a man is a Christian, the more he ought to be filling out the profile that 1 Timothy 3:2 has begun to sketch. A man who is not has good reason to tremble at the condition of his soul.

What character qualities in this list do you most need to work on? Which ones seem to be most lacking in the churches and in their leadership? How are you praying/laboring to see this improve?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for giving us Christ to be our Chief Overseer and Shepherd. Forgive us for how much our own characters fall short of His. Grant unto us undershepherds that are qualified according to Your Word and good examples to the flock, for we ask it in Jesus’s Name, AMEN!

 Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH1B “How Blest the Man” 

God Alone Has True Power, Which He Exercises Especially by His Word [Family Worship lesson in 2Kings 5:1–14]

Where do life and power come from? 2Kings 5:1–14 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these fourteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that from God alone come life and power, which He gives especially by His Word.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2022.10.19 Hopewell @Home ▫ 2 Kings 5:1–14

Read 2 Kings 5:1–14

Questions from the Scripture text: About whom does 2 Kings 5:1 speak? What was his office? Over whom? For whom? What sort of man was he in the king’s eyes? Why? Who had used him? What also was he? Despite what condition? What had the Syrians done (2 Kings 5:2)? Whom had they brought back? From where? Before whose face was she? To whom does the girl speak (2 Kings 5:3)? What did she desire for whom? Why? Who goes to the king in 2 Kings 5:4? What does he say? What does the king command him to do in 2 Kings 5:5? What will the king do? What does Naaman take with him? What else does he bring (2 Kings 5:6)? What does the letter tell the king of Israel to do? Who reads the letter (2 Kings 5:7)? What does he do? What does he ask? What does he conclude the king of Syria is doing? Who hears what in 2 Kings 5:8? What does verse 8 call him? To whom does he send? What does he ask? What does he request? What will Naaman know, when he comes to him? What does Naaman take with him in 2 Kings 5:9? Where does he go? What does he do there? Who actually speaks to Naaman (2 Kings 5:10)? What does he tell him to do? Where? What two results does he promise? How does Naaman feel about this (2 Kings 5:11)? Whom had he expected to come out? How did he expect Elisha to speak to Whom? What else did he expect Elisha to do? What two things does he name in 2 Kings 5:12? To what does he compare them? What question does he ask? Then what does he do? In what frame of mind? Who come near in 2 Kings 5:13? What do they do? What do they call Naaman? What do they say he would have done if told? What do they suggest that he should do now? What does Naaman now do (2 Kings 5:14)? Where? According to what? With what result? To what extent? How does v14 summarize it?

Where do life and power come from? 2 Kings 5:1–14 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these fourteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that from God alone come life and power, which He gives especially by His Word.

Where are greatness and honor found? The Spirit introduces Naaman as being great and honorable in the eyes of his master because of the military victories over which he had presided. But the way the Spirit puts it implies that this esteem was misplaced. Naaman was just an instrument. It was Yahweh Who had given victory to Syria.

For all of Naaman’s (and Syria’s) “greatness,” it was the captured, enslaved young girl who knew where real greatness is found: the prophet, the living servant of the Word of God. When we come back to consider all of the “stuff” Naaman takes with him in 2 Kings 5:5, we’ll find that Yahweh Himself is a greater abundance (2 Kings 5:16).

Yahweh is also a greater power. Naaman is so offended in 2 Kings 5:11. There he was with all of his riches, and decked out in full military greatness in 2 Kings 5:9, standing at the door of Elisha’s house. And it’s just the servant that comes to the door?! And all he has is a message with instructions and a promise?! 

But that’s the point. If Elisha had come as expected, it would still have just been the servant that had come to the door. The prophet is nothing. His God is everything. And the message of his God in his mouth is everything. When Naaman finally follows the instructions (2 Kings 5:14, cf. 2 Kings 5:10), he receives the healing. And not just physical healing; “clean” is a ceremonial reference to acceptability with man and God. The answer to the rhetorical question in 2 Kings 5:12 is actually, “No, they are not better. No, you could not wash in them and be clean.”

But Naaman isn’t the saddest spiritual case in our passage. The king of Israel is letting the people of Israel get captured and enslaved, even though he knows that God could do something about it (2 Kings 5:7). But he doesn’t care to seek God, and it doesn’t even occur to him to send Naaman to the prophet. Even with theological truth about God in his head, the thought of actually engaging with God in reality just doesn’t cross his mind. All he can see is the supposed political/military shenanigans of his counterpart in Damascus. At the end of the passage Naaman knows “that there is a prophet in Israel,” but the king does not.

How many “Christians” live like this! At least the spiritually lifeless king knew that government can’t heal disease. Many church members actually think that’s a function of government. Even worse are the untold millions who say “Lord, Lord,” but they don’t live as subjects of a Master, looking to His every word. He just rarely occurs to them. There are many other things that they honor as great, with which their minds are occupied. And in the last day, they will hear, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” O, dear reader, may the Lord grant to you that you would know Christ as the Prophet in Israel!

What are you willing to spend time on? Money? Effort? What does this say about what you honor as great?

Sample prayer: Lord, forgive us for sharing the mindset of the king of Syria, the king of Israel, and Naaman before You converted him. Too often, other things occupy our thoughts and our attention, while You and Your Word are ideas detached from ordinary life. Forgive us! And make us to know Christ as our Prophet, from Whom we receive Your words of eternal life, which we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH273 “Break, Thou the Bread of Life”

Theology Simply Explained — WSC57 (2) — 4th Commandment Living: 6 Creation/Redemption Days Shaped by 1 Creator/Redeemer Day

Pastor walks his children through Westminster Shorter Catechism question 57—especially showing them how the proper mindset in the six days must be formed by the proper practice of the Lord’s Day. WSC57: Which is the fourth commandment? The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)