“Christian, the apex of the glory of God crescendos in His grace. And God’s very great grace is embodied, lived out, made exhibit in Christ Jesus and his cross…”
Hebrews 1:1-4
“We do not have an altar here, because we do not perform sacrifices. We have a table of remembrance…The significance of a seated high priest is amplified in subsequent chapters, especially in vv. 10:11–14, where Christ is contrasted with the Aaronic priests, who remained standing because their sacrificial service was never finished. By contrast, Christ made purification for sin through his once-for-all death on the cross. The forgiveness he has won is permanent. His seated position shows that his work is finished. Church, Christ is now seated at the right hand of God because his work is done.”
John 8:30-59
“He begins by saying that those who hold to his words are truly his disciples. Jesus, in response to this crowd expressing faith, lays down exactly what separates counterfeit faith from true faith: ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.’ In short, perseverance is the mark of true faith of the genuine disciple. A true believer abides in Christ’s word, his teaching, and that person, that true believer, seeks to understand it better and finds it more and more precious, and finds it more and more controlling in our lives. It leads us to want to obey Christ’s words.”
Hebrews Introduction
“We know that Hebrews was a sermon by an exceptionally talented church leader, who was saturated in the Old Testament Scriptures, trained in rhetoric, familiar with both Jewish and Greek philosophy, and whose grammar and vocabulary is considered, by most, to be among the finest in the NT. This was a master preacher, utilizing deep understanding of the Scriptures with great style, to pastorally address the urgent issues facing his community…Hebrews speaks directly to those who are tired of service, tired of resisting temptation, tired of being hurt by other Christians, tired of being viewed as strange by non-Christians. Hebrews is for such people because it shows that Jesus and the covenant he has instituted are infinitely better than anything else we can have or could hope to have.”
Divine Simplicity (Exodus 34:5-8)
“What we cannot do, however, is we cannot look at this list of attributes like a recipe card and think that God is made up of ‘one part mercy, one part grace, a pinch of slow to anger, and a cup steadfast love and faithfulness’. That would be a grave mistake. God is one. Indivisible. He is not made up of parts. A few weeks ago Marshall led the congregation in reciting the 1689 London Baptist Confession, specifically Article 2, which states: that God’s essence is ‘…without body, parts, or passions…’Theologians have coined this principle by describing it as the Simplicity of God. By simplicity they do not mean simplistic. He is not a simpleton. No, by simplicity they mean God is not composed of parts…
When it comes to us humans, attributes can compete against each other. As a parent, I struggle with the concept of when to be just and when to be merciful. One kid hurts another in a fight - to be merciful to the one who hurt the other is to do injustice to the other. So, in my ‘part-hood’, I struggle to make sense of what justice and mercy look like. But not-so in God. Everything God does is perfectly full, complete in love, justice, and truth. So much so, that we can confidently say ‘God is love’ (1 Jn 4:8, 16). Just as we can say God is justice, God is righteousness, God is gracious. Not merely God was gracious to me at this point in my life. No God IS gracious to you at every point, because He IS His attributes.”
Israel Needs a King: Saul's Final Chapter (1 Samuel 28 & 31)
“The big takeaway from our text is that ignoring Gods word is perilous. It didn’t matter that Saul was mostly obedient, religiously passionate, and outwardly pious. Relationship with God is obedience. If you ignore the word of God you will not continue to receive it. If you reject the Word of God, he will not continue to bless you with it. Ignoring the word of God will cause us to look for direction through other mediums.”
Israel Needs a King: David's Conclusion (1 Samuel 27, 29, and 30)
“The main themes of the 1 Samuel scroll are driven home in this final act which culminates in the death of Saul. David obeys God in the details. Genuine faith is in evidence when one believes the words of God, not only that he has spoken, but that what he has spoken leads to life, and to therefore obey him. As a result, every situation in David’s life—especially the difficult circumstances, of which there are many—every situation, is guided and controlled by God, working all things for his good. Saul, on the other hand, mostly obeys… but not when he has a better idea. Not when he thinks that doing things his way might lead to more blessing or a better outcome than what God has commanded.”
Israel Needs a Humble King (Pt 2 - 1 Samuel 25 & 26)
“This is the regular means of God’s grace: one of the greatest blessings possible is the church! The people of God! In recent chapters David was rescued by God through the faithfulness of Jonathan, and now through the faithfulness of Abigail. In both the first and last chapters of this section (1 Samuel 24 and 26) David has his strong moments. His men are like ‘Let’s kill Saul now!’ and David is like ‘No, no, no. That would not be right. Let’s leave it to God. Leave vengeance to God.’ In both these chapters, David boldly confronts Saul with Saul’s sin. Humbles himself. Makes himself nothing before Saul. David is like ‘I’m a flea. I’m like a dead dog. But Saul, you should not incur the wrath of God on yourself this way.’ But in the middle section, David has weakness, as we all do. In my life, church, God has shown me that he is not going to allow me to have the strength on my own. That doesn’t serve His glory…this is the regular means of God’s grace: to use the church — one another — to humbly and gently confront…”
Solus Christus (John 14:1-6)
“Friends, Christ Alone should be the easiest sola to speak on. Jesus is the only way. But the unbelieving world has to attack it, because of sin, it is the only option available to them. Sinners had to fight against God. And yet…however…notwithstanding…BUT: the greatest attack on the Christian church is never from the outside, but has always come from within. History bears this out, when the unbelieving world rages against the church, the church only gets stronger, but when the church stagnates, gets comfortable, ponders endless theories, looks for ways around tough verses, then false teachings and tiny little lies creep in and cause the unimaginable damage. Christ Alone should be the biggest no brainer to speak on. Christ Alone should be the shortest sermon in the series. Look! Jesus is the only way! There done. But church, Christ Alone is always, most under attack, from within the church.”
Israel Needs a Humble King (Pt 1 - 1 Samuel 24)
“As the one who feared the Lord, David did not choose the way of self-realization by getting rid of his enemy by himself. In other words, David didn’t allow himself to disobey God’s commands by interpreting this occasion as a God-given opportunity to commit murder. Rather than to take things into his own hand, David was patient and willing to entrust the matter to God’s good judgement…And so once again, David swallows his pride for the sake of peace…Let us consider how David, in this chapter, points to Christ Jesus, the greater Son of David…Because of Christ’s obedience, even allowing himself to stand before unjust tribunals and kangaroo courts, and bearing the sentence of death on a cross, and because his Spirit now dwells in each of those who likewise lay down their lives to follow him…You and I can now also glorify God by humbling ourselves, even before the proud.”