Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 1 January 2023 Sunday, Dec 25 2022

AM Worship

Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3

Opening Hymn: 229 Holy God, We Praise Your Name

Confession of Sin      

O You whose chosen dwelling is the heart that longs for Your presence and humbly seeks Your love:  We come to You to acknowledge and confess that we have sinned in thought and word and deed;  We have not loved You with all our heart and soul, with all our mind and strength;   We have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves.  Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, or for the good we have left undone.  But You, O Lord, are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy;  there is forgiveness with You.  Restore to us the joy of Your salvation;  Bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills and rest to our souls.  Speak to each of us the word that we need, and let Your Word abide with us until it has wrought in us Your holy will.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Romans 10:10-13

Hymn of Preparation: 233 O Father, You Are Sovereign

Old Covenant Reading: Leviticus 19:1-12

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon: Faithful Tongues

Psalm of Response: 101A Of Steadfast Love and Justice, LORD

Confession of Faith: Apostles Creed (p. 851)

Doxology (Hymn 568)                      

Closing Psalm: 15B Who, O Lord, with Thee Abiding

PM Worship

110A The LORD Said to My Lord

288 We Come, O Christ, to You

286 Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder

OT: Psalm 110:1-7

NT: 1 John 5:6-12

Sermon: Saved by the Triune God

Adult Sunday School: Lord’s Day 8

Q. How are these articles divided?

A. Into three parts:
God the Father and our creation;
God the Son and our deliverance;
and God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.

Q. Since there is only one divine being,
why do you speak of three:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

A. Because that is how
God has revealed himself in his Word:
these three distinct persons
are one, true, eternal God.

Suggested Preparations

Monday (12/26)Read and discuss Matthew 5:33-37

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. (ESV)

Sinclair Ferguson writes:

Jesus forbids swearing by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and one’s own head. Why would anyone do that in the first place? People were swearing oaths by these things without using God’s name, and on that basis releasing themselves from fulfilling the promise they had given. ‘Of course,’ they would argue, ‘had I sworn by God’s name to keep my oath, I would have fulfilled it. But the fact that I swore by the earth indicates that my commitment was not an absolute one.’ Jesus says two things about this.

It is utter hypocrisy. Heaven is God’s throne, earth his footstool, Jerusalem his city, and he numbers the hairs of our heads and chooses their color. That being so, no promise can ever be made, no word ever spoken, without it being done in the presence of God.

It is deep seated dishonesty. What masquerades as theology is rank untruth. To swear things is to give the appearance of serious commitment. It is to suggest that one’s word is one’s bond, when all the time, behind the sign of integrity, one’s heart is full of duplicity. Jesus abhors such a lack of moral integrity and seriousness.

Read or sing Hymn 229 Holy God, We Praise Your Name

Tuesday (12/27) Read and discuss Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

            “Glory to God in the highest,

                        and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

            When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (ESV)

It is easy to sympathize with Mary and Joseph. Augustus snaps his fingers and calls for a census and although Mary is 8 months pregnant, she has to journey with her husband to his ancestral home – just so that Caesar can make sure that he is squeezing all the tax revenue out of Palestine that he can possibly get.

And yet, for those with eyes to see, the good news of that first Christmas is already beginning to shine through. Hundreds of years earlier, Micah had prophesied that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. But Mary lived in Nazareth. How in the world would Jesus end up being born in Bethlehem? Almighty God simply has Augustus call for a census at the right time – and the ancient prophecies are all fulfilled. Caesar foolishly imagined that he was in charge. But with the eyes of faith, we can see that Caesar was simply another pawn on the Almighty’s chess board – carrying out God’s will without the slightest clue that he was doing so. The first piece of good news we see in this morning’s passage is that, for all of his pomp and apparent power, Caesar isn’t in charge. Almighty God is in charge, and nothing can ever happen in your life apart from His sovereign care.

Phil Ryken puts it beautifully:

Although Caesar would never know it, he had unleashed a chain of events that would turn the whole world upside down, for among the millions who had to register was a man named Joseph, with his fiancée Mary. This one little family, seemingly swept up in the tide of earthly power, gave birth to a son who would rule the world. Mary’s song was starting to come true: “He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.” God was taking Caesar’s pawns and moving them to checkmate, so that the real Savior would stand alone as the King of Kings.

Read or sing Hymn 233 O Father, You Are Sovereign

Wednesday (12/28) Read and discuss Leviticus 19:1-12.

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.

“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. (ESV)

Verses 11 and 12 focus on integrity. Derek Tidball writes:

Resuming the reference to the Ten Commandments, the eighth and the ninth commandments are quoted to forbid any dishonest action or speech. Both these are reinforced by the summary statement, “Do deceive one another.” Further reinforcement comes in verse 12 which refers to the fourth commandment. Profaning God’s name – the name would refer to the whole of his being – by using it falsely in an oath is not a new issue, separate from what has just been said, but a continuation of the same theme. In any dispute, God’s name may well have been invoked as a means of covering up an act of deception. The citizens of Israel needed to be people of plain dealing and plain talking, marked, through and through, by integrity.

Sing or Read Psalm 101A Of Steadfast Love and Justice, LORD

Thursday (12/29)Read and discuss Psalm 110:1-7.

            The LORD says to my Lord:

                        “Sit at my right hand,

            until I make your enemies your footstool.”

            The LORD sends forth from Zion

                        your mighty scepter.

                        Rule in the midst of your enemies!

            Your people will offer themselves freely

                        on the day of your power,

                        in holy garments;

            from the womb of the morning,

                        the dew of your youth will be yours.

            The LORD has sworn

                        and will not change his mind,

            “You are a priest forever

                        after the order of Melchizedek.”

            The Lord is at your right hand;

                        he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.

            He will execute judgment among the nations,

                        filling them with corpses;

            he will shatter chiefs

                        over the wide earth.

            He will drink from the brook by the way;

                        therefore he will lift up his head. (ESV)

Allen P. Ross writes:

Passages like this offer hope and comfort to believers because no matter how evil or troubling the world might appear, the final outcome is certain. Those who believe in Jesus the Messiah, and who have been sanctified by His sacrificial blood, have nothing to fear. They will be with Him as He comes to rule on earth, for they will be like the dew that suddenly appears in the morning when the shadows flee away, and the “sun of righteousness” rises with healing in His wings (Mal. 3). Because of that hope, believers should (1) comfort and encourage one another, (2) purify themselves to be clothed in white linen, which are the righteous acts of the saints (Rev. 19), and (3) be about the work of the kingdom, obeying he king, serving the king, and extending His kingship to people in the world.

Friday (12/30) Read and discuss 1 John 5:6-12.

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (ESV)

David Jackman writes:

It is the function of the Spirit, then, to testify to the truth, as it is in Jesus. This was what the Lord Jesus himself has promised his disciples. ‘When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me; but you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning’ (Jn. 15:26-27). The apostles were the human channels through which the truth was related. The Spirit was their guarantor and enabler. And how does the Spirit testify today but through the channels he commissioned and used at the beginning, through the apostolic testimony. The New Testament? Again, this is a direct fulfilment of the promise of Jesus, recorded by John in his gospel. ‘When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.’ (Jn. 16:13)

So the Spirit bears witness through the Scriptures, God’s Word of truth, by which human minds are instructed and human wills are changed, as he brings Christ’s obedient followers increasingly into likeness to their Lord. The Spirit of God still takes the Word of God and produces children of God. Or, in the words of the Westminster Confession, ‘our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth [of the Bible] is from the work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.’ This explains how the lives of 3,000 people were transformed on the day of Pentecost. It was not that they had discovered new evidence concerning the resurrection or the deity of Christ. That objective evidence had been there ever since Easter morning. It was the activity of the Spirit ‘testifying’ to the truth and to the person of Christ that brought a multitude to faith, as they repented, found forgiveness, and were baptized (Acts 2:36-41). It is still the same today.

Read or sing Psalm 15B Who, O Lord, with Thee Abiding

Saturday (12/31)Read and discuss Matthew 5:33-37

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. (ESV)

James Montgomery Boice writes:

I believe that if we are to receive the full import of Christ’s teaching, we must realize that He was not speaking about the taking of oaths primarily. This is the sense in which certain religious bodies in our time have taken Christ’s teaching, and hence, they will not swear to the truth of their statements even in a court of law. Actually, Jesus as speaking not against oaths themselves but against the abuses of oaths and the corresponding abuse of the truth that went with them.

We see this most clearly when we look in the broadest way at the positive teaching about oaths throughout Scripture. For instance, as far back as in the book of Deuteronomy we hear Moses commanding the people, “Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave, and swear by His name” (Deut. 10:20). Jeremiah speaks on behalf of the LORD in commanding not only the nation of Israel but also the Gentile nations to swear by Jehovah: “It shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, the LORD liveth, as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD” (Jer. 12:16, 17). In the New Testament Paul frequently swears by the LORD crying, “As God is my witness” (Rom. 1:9; 2 Cor. 1:23; Phil. 1:8; 1 Thess. 2:5, 10).

It is even more remarkable to notice that at many places in the Bible God takes an oath also. This does not mean that God appeals, as men do, to a higher authority. But it does mean that God takes the most solemn steps to assure men of the truth of His statements.

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 6 November 2022 Sunday, Oct 30 2022

AM Worship
Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3
Opening Hymn: 243 “How Firm a Foundation”
Confession of Sin
O great and everlasting God, Who dwells in unapproachable light, Who searches and knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart; We confess that we have not loved You with all our heart, nor with all our soul, nor with all our mind, nor with all our strength; Nor our neighbors as ourselves. We have loved what we ought not to have loved; We have coveted what is not ours; We have not been content with Your provisions for us. We have complained in our hearts about our family, about our friends, about our health, about our occupations, about Your church, and about our trials. We have sought our security in those things which perish, rather than in You, the Everlasting God. Chasten, cleanse, and forgive us, through Jesus Christ, who is able for all time to save us who approach You through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for us. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Isaiah 1:18
Psalm of Preparation: Psalm 119E “Teach Me, O LORD, Your Way of Truth”
Old Covenant Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-9
New Covenant Reading: Matthew 5:17-20
Sermon: The Written Word and the Word Incarnate
Psalm of Response: Psalm 119M “O How I Love Your Holy Law”
Confession of Faith: Apostles Creed (p. 851)
Doxology (Hymn 568)
Closing Hymn: Hymn 175 “Your Law, O God, Is Our Delight”

PM Worship
Hymns: 275, 277, 276
OT: Isaiah 59:14-21
NT: Hebrews 7:20-28
Sermon: The Eternal Intercessor

Adult Sunday School: Heidelberg Catechism – Lord’s Day 6

Q. Why must the mediator be
a true and righteous man?
A. Because God’s justice requires
that human nature, which has sinned,
must pay for its sin;
but a sinner could never pay for others.

Q. Why must he also be true God?
A. So that,
by the power of his divinity,
he might bear in his humanity
the weight of God’s wrath,
and earn for us
and restore to us
righteousness and life.

Q. Then who is this mediator—
true God and at the same time
a true and righteous man?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
who was given to us
for our complete deliverance
and righteousness.

Q. How do you come to know this?
A. The holy gospel tells me.
God himself began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise;
later, he proclaimed it
by the holy patriarchs and prophets
and foreshadowed it
by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law;
and finally he fulfilled it
through his own beloved Son.
Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/31) Read and discuss Matthew 5:17-20.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

Why does obedience to God’s commandments constitute greatness in the company of Jesus’ disciples? Matthew 5:20 gives the explanation: “For I say to you that unless your righteousness abounds more greatly than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will certainly not enter into the reign of heaven.” The two important questions here pertain (1) to the meaning of “your righteousness” and (2) to the sense in which that righteousness of Jesus’ disciples must abound more greatly than that of the scribes and Pharisees.

The phrase “your righteousness” most likely refers to the disciples’ good deeds that flow from their relationship with Christ Himself. Now, it is true that “righteousness” occurs in the near context (5:6, 10) with a meaning of “God’s saving action in Jesus.” It is also true that whatever good works disciples perform are preceded and enabled by the prior gracious blessing of Jesus. Nevertheless, three factors militate against “righteousness” in 5:20 having the same “Gospel” meaning as it does in 5:6, 10. First, Jesus has been speaking about doing and teaching the commandments; this refers to the disciples’’ obedience and “good works” (5:16). Second, Jesus does not speak of “God’s righteousness” or merely “righteousness,” but of “your righteousness.” Consequently, the “righteousness” here is an attributed or product of the disciples; it is good fruit from a good tree (7:17). Third, later in the Sermon (6:1), Jesus says, “Pay attention not to do your righteousness before men in order that you may be visible to them.” The phrase “your righteousness” there clearly refers to the good works of Jesus’ disciples. So here in 5:20, “your righteousness” also refers to the good works of Jesus’ disciples.

[We will look at how Professor Gibbs answers the 2nd question on Saturday]

Read or sing 243 “How Firm a Foundation”

Tuesday (11/1) Read and discuss Matthew 5:13-16.

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

Michael Wilkins writes:

Jesus’ disciples are not only “the salt of the earth” but also “the light of the world.” The light metaphor continues the salt metaphor and takes it one step further to illustrate Jesus’ point. “Light” is an important theme in Scripture, normally emphasizing the removal of darkness in the unfolding of biblical history and theology. The literal contrast between physical light and darkness provokes a profound metaphorical contrast between metaphysical good and evil, God and evil forces, believers and unbelievers. Jesu slater declares that He is “the light of the world,” who has come as the light that enlightens all people, so that those believing in Him will no longer walk in darkness.

In the same way as Jesus’ life and message of salvation bring light to those in darkness, His disciples are a living demonstration of the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. The light of revelation from God that accompanies Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom is not just carried by His disciples; they are that light.

Read or sing Psalm 119E “Teach Me, O LORD, Your Way of Truth”

Wednesday (11/2) Read and discuss Deuteronomy 6:1-9.

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (ESV)

Sometimes it is helpful to ask what is most distinctive about a particular text of Scripture. Today’s passage tells us three things about Biblical religion that are sharply distinct from the religions Ancient Israel’s neighbors: Biblical religion is (1) Monotheistic; (2) Rational; and (3) Ethical. MONOTHEISM. Verse 5 and following teach the absolute uniqueness of God. They also insist that His children exhibit undivided loyalty to Him. In the Ancient world, one Pharaoh pushed a type of monotheism – but Biblical Judaism was the only truly monotheistic religion in the Ancient world. RATIONAL. Modern Westerners may assume that most religions have a strongly rational element to them – but many ancient (and modern) religions focused on ecstatic experiences. In fact, Temple prostitution was a common way for devotees of a god or goddess to try to gain intimacy with that god or goddess by engaging in sexual relations with the Temple prostitute as a sort of proxy for the “deity”. By contrast, notice the emphasis in this text on hearing, remembering, and teaching God’s words. Biblical religion is rational. ETHICAL. A second surprise for many westerners is to discover that most ancient religions were not particularly ethical. Pagan religions functioned largely on a quid-pro-quo basis. If you gave public honor to a god or goddess by building shrines or offering sacrifices than you could expect (hope?) that the honored god or goddess would look out for you, make your land fertile, etc. … It didn’t matter if you were unethical in your business dealings, cheated on your wife, and were a constant liar – all that mattered was that you offered the appropriate public honors to the god or goddess. In fact, if you look at the way the Greek and Roman gods supposedly lived, they are little more than gross immorality writ large. By contrast, the Living God is very concerned with how we live, and He has graciously given us His laws so we wouldn’t have to guess at what right living looks like.

Read or sing Psalm 119M “O How I Love Your Holy Law”

Thursday (11/3) Read and discuss Isaiah 59:14-21.

Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

The LORD saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will render repayment.
So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
for he will come like a rushing stream,
which the wind of the LORD drives.

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.

“And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.” (ESV)

R. Reed Lessing writes:

Up to this point in chapter 59, it appears as though the apostates are going to reign supreme. Everything seems to be dominated by ruthless power. But Yahweh is a dominant alternative power who defies conventional expectations. He will usher in a counter-reality tooted in his ancient exodus claims, for he is the only and holy God, the decisive force in the universe. All self-indulgent and autonomous hedonism comes under his all-seeing judgment.

When Jeremiah (14:1-15:4) prays for Israel, Yahweh refuses to listen because He had already decreed His judgment upon the stubbornly impenitent people. Because the people have so willfully refused to trust in Him, their judgment is inevitable. One might expect that Yahweh will take the same stance in relation to the prayer in Isaiah 59:1-15a. However, this is not the case. Thank God! Instead of pointing out that there is every reason for Him to ignore their prayer (59:1-8), He demonstrates concern. This move from Law to Gospel is equivalent to Paul’s indictment of humanity in Romans 3:1-20, followed by His grand Gospel statement “but now, apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been made manifest, [the righteousness] testified to by the Law and the Prophets” (Romans 3:21). The surprising Gospel turn means life and salvation for the world!

Friday (11/4) Read and discuss Hebrews 7:20-28.

And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest forever.’”

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. (ESV)

John Kleinig writes:

Since Jesus lives forever and has the power of an indestructible life, He has ‘the power to save” mortal people from death. The scope of that is not limited by human weakness and the stain of sin, nor is it hindered by the power of fear and the devil. Rather, He saves “completely.” He does not redeem them partially but entirely from all that robs them of life with God; He does not just rescue them for a short time on their journey on earth, but finally, at its end, for eternal life with God in heaven. He is not just the source of salvation, but is Himself the Savior of “those who come near to God through Him.” The language here is liturgical. The congregation approaches God by its involvement in [corporate worship]; there it approaches the throne of grace as it enters the heavenly sanctuary and stands with the angels in the heavenly city (Hebrews 12:22-24). Yet the congregation does not come near to God by itself, but only “through” Jesus, its High Priest, just as it presents its offerings to God “through Him.” It does so together with Jesus, for He now appears before God on their behalf. They therefore approach God together with and through Him as their mediator.

Read or sing Hymn 175 “Your Law, O God, Is Our Delight”

Saturday (11/5) Read and discuss Matthew 5:17-20.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (ESV)

On Monday we saw that the phrase “your righteousness” refers to the good deeds that Christians perform that flow from their relationship with Jesus Christ. But what does Jesus mean when He says, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”?

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

The most important thing to know about the scribes and the Pharisees is simply this: they are not Jesus’ disciples. As the narrative progresses, they appear as Jesus’ opponents, who reject His claim that the reign of God is present in His ministry. The scribes and Pharisees do possess a certain kind of “righteousness,” and they manifest it in their behavior. It is, however, a “righteousness” that is entirely cut off from Jesus and so is not “true” righteousness, not truly “good works” at all.

[Please note that] Jesus speaks to this issue in 6:1-4. There is a righteousness that hypocrites do in order to be visible to other people. This “righteousness” has no existence or validity in the presence of the heavenly Father.”

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 30 October 2022 Sunday, Oct 23 2022

30 October 2022
Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3
Opening Hymn: Hymn 227 “How Great Thou Art”
Confession of Sin
O great and everlasting God, Who dwells in unapproachable light, Who searches and knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart; We confess that we have not loved You with all our heart, nor with all our soul, nor with all our mind, nor with all our strength; Nor our neighbors as ourselves. We have loved what we ought not to have loved; We have coveted what is not ours; We have not been content with Your provisions for us. We have complained in our hearts about our family, about our friends, about our health, about our occupations, about Your church, and about our trials. We have sought our security in those things which perish, rather than in You, the Everlasting God. Chasten, cleanse, and forgive us, through Jesus Christ, who is able for all time to save us who approach You through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for us. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 130:7-8
Psalm of Preparation: Psalm 22B “All You That Fear Jehovah’s Name”
Old Covenant Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9
New Covenant Reading: Matthew 5:13-16
Sermon: Salt & Light
Psalm of Response: Psalm 15B “Who, O LORD, with Thee Abiding”
Confession of Faith: Apostles Creed (p. 851)
Doxology (Hymn 568)
Closing Hymn: Hymn 538 “Take My Life, and Let It Be”

PM Worship
Hymns: Psalm 8A, 277, 265
OT: Jeremiah 33:1-16
NT: Romans 8:1-4
Sermon: We Couldn’t, God did!

Adult Sunday School: Heidelberg Catechism – Lord’s Day 5

Q. According to God’s righteous judgment
we deserve punishment
both now and in eternity:
how then can we escape this punishment
and return to God’s favor?
A. God requires that his justice be satisfied.
Therefore the claims of this justice
must be paid in full,
either by ourselves or by another.

Q. Can we make this payment ourselves?
A. Certainly not.
Actually, we increase our debt every day.

Q. Can another creature—any at all—
pay this debt for us?
A. No.
To begin with,
God will not punish any other creature
for what a human is guilty of.
Furthermore,
no mere creature can bear the weight
of God’s eternal wrath against sin
and deliver others from it.

Q. What kind of mediator and deliverer
should we look for then?
A. One who is a true and righteous man,
yet more powerful than all creatures,
that is, one who is also true God.
Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/24) Read and discuss Matthew 5:13-16.

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

Grant Osborne writes:

The citizens of the kingdom must be salt and light, and their goal is to reach the world with the light of the gospel. … Hearing must lead to doing, and … good deeds are the heart of the discipleship. This is where Jesus surprised His disciples (and hearers) with His teaching. He never continued the status quo; He demanded that His followers go out and change the world. No passivity here; He demanded change, for God’s righteousness to enter the world in such a way that it would never be the same.

The coming of God’s kingdom is so much more than just being kind to others and performing good deeds. There is a demand to be different and to act differently, that is, to be right with God and to act the way God demands, by following Jesus in countercultural directions. Change is the name of the game, and it must occur at the ontological level (who we are) and at the functional level (how we live and act).

Read or sing Hymn 227 “How Great Thou Art”

Tuesday (10/25) Matthew 5:7-12.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (ESV)

Sinclair Ferguson writes:

The Beatitudes are not haphazard in their order. They begin and end with the assurance that the kingdom of heaven is ours through Jesus Christ. But giving reason for the order is not at all easy. If it were, the commentators would have offered fewer explanations of it!

The ultimate blessing is to be called a son of the living God. Does this seem to be an anticlimax after the promise that we shall see God? In fact, it is a wonderful climax, for there is no higher privilege we could ever experience than this – to see God as our Father. The blessing implies that in the kingdom of God we are restored to what we were meant to be – children of God. We see Him as children who love and trust their Father, and who know that He will supply all their needs.

Jesus develops this point at great length in the middle section of his challenging sermon. Being aware of this particular blessing will set us free, He says, from both hypocrisy and paralyzing anxiety about temporal concerns. Best of all, since sons inherit their father’s riches as well as their father’s characteristics, this beatitude summarizes all the beatitudes. It tells us that God speaks to us in these words:

My son, … you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. (Luke 15:31)

Blessed, indeed, is the man or woman who has heard God say that!

Read or sing Psalm 22B “All You That Fear Jehovah’s Name”

Wednesday (10/26) Read and discuss Isaiah 42:1-9.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.

Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the LORD; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.” (ESV)

Alec Motyer writes:

Everything that speaks of Jesus delights the heart. He identified Himself as the ‘Servant of the LORD’ whom Isaiah foretold. He is the perfect Servant of the LORD, the revelation of truth and light for the whole world, the answer to our hopelessness, darkness, and bondage. But because He is the perfect Servant, He is also the model Servant, the true pattern for all who, through Him, are the LORD’s servants today. Very well then – first, the LORD’s servants are the LORD’s delight. On the one hand, this is our ambition and target, but on the other hand it is the truth about us, for once we belong to Jesus we are the Father’s delight, ‘accepted in the Beloved’ (Eph. 1:6). Secondly, the servant is first and foremost the servant of the Word of God. Do remember that this is what ‘judgment’ [ESV = ‘justice”] means in [verses] 1, 3, and 4: the decision He has made, the things He has declared to be true (in brief, what He has revealed to His people what we possess as the Word of God). The servant’s task is to bring this Word of truth to those bereft of the truth, making sure that it is God’s Word in all its truth (42:3) that is being shared, not some merely human opinion, church tradition or personal whim and fancy. Thirdly, the servant of the LORD does not give up on the job, but perseveres till the truth is fully established. Like Paul said (2 Corinthians 4:1): because we have received mercy we have received ministry, and we must not ‘lose heart,’ that is, leave the work half done, abandon the task, go soft like a decaying apple. How true all this is of Jesus: the Father’s delight, in His fidelity to the Word of God, carrying the job through until He could shout ‘It is finished!’ Every servant covets to be made like the Son of God in everything.

Sing or Read Psalm 15B “Who, O LORD, with Thee Abiding”

Thursday (10/27) Read and discuss Jeremiah 33:1-16.

The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

“Thus says the LORD: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD:

“‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts,
for the LORD is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!’

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the LORD.

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks. In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ (ESV)

Bill Arnold and Brian Beyer write:

The LORD had just given Jeremiah a command he did not understand (32:7). Now, He promised to show the people marvelous things they [have not known] (3:2-3)! Judgment would come first, of course, but voices of joy and celebration would one day resound in the land again. Jeremiah reinforced his prophecy by repeating his earlier words. God would give His people a King – the Branch of David’s line. Furthermore, the LORD promised to bless the priesthood. Corrupt kings and priests were to blame for much of the nation’s depravity, but one day, these two offices would serve the LORD faithfully. The New Testament declares that Jesus Christ fulfills both aspects of Jeremiah’s prophecy.

Friday (10/28) Read and discuss Romans 8:1-4.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (ESV)

Michael Bird writes:

Paul’s climatic assertion is that for those in Christ there is “no condemnation.” The verdict of the final day has been declared and the verdict is “righteous” for those belonging to Christ. The verdict cannot be changed, and thus we face the judgement day with complete assurance that what lies ahead of us is not a life-or-death assessment of our deeds but the divine disclosure of acquittal.

The concept of assurance is close to the heart of the Protestant faith. Indeed, for the Reformers, a major part of their protest against medieval Catholicism was their claim that it was possible for persons to have a complete sense of assurance that the Father loved them, the Spirit was in them, and Christ truly died for them. They could really, truly, deep own, and fully know without any hesitation that they were saved. God’s love in Christ, stretching from eternity to eternity, had seized hold of them and would never let them go. Such assurance was the joy and comfort of those who believed in Jesus Christ. The ground of assurance is not in ourselves or even in our experiences, but in the gospel, in the grace offered us in Christ, and in the mercy of God. We can rest rather than be restless about our eternal state. We can have assurance rather than carry anxiety about the future. We can be at peace rather than worry ourselves to pieces about how it will turn out for us before our Judge and Maker. We can take our final breath knowing that all will be well [emphasis added].

Read or sing Hymn 538 “Take My Life, and Let It Be”

Saturday (10/29) Read and discuss Matthew 5:13-16.

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

Sinclair Ferguson writes:

When salt loses its saltiness, it is worthless. Jesus says that I should be thrown out and become part of the pathway. Instead of influencing men’s taste, it is trodden under their feet. The same is true for those of us who profess to be Christians. Cease to be different and we cease to be Christians.

How slow we often are to learn this lesson. At times we fall into the trap of being blackmailed by a world that says, ‘Unless I find your life attractive on my own terms, I will not respond to the message of the gospel.’ But if we yield at that point, we become prisoners to perpetual blackmail.

I have sometimes heard Christians witness to people in these terms: ‘You mustn’t think being a Christian takes away your fun. I am enjoy doing the same things you do. Being a Christian isn’t a series of don’ts!’ Much of this may be true, but why should the church be so concerned to tell the world that it is not really very different from the world? The church then becomes both powerless and pointless.

Jesus emphasizes that our ability to preserve the world in order that it may see Christ depends on our being different. That does not mean the Christian will always be saying, ‘Look at me. I’m different.’ No, instead he ‘lets’ his light shine before men; he does not need to switch it on and off to draw attention to the fact that he is unashamedly different.

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 23 October 2022 Sunday, Oct 16 2022

AM WORSHIP
Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-3
Opening Psalm: Psalm 8A “O LORD, Our Lord, in All the Earth”
Confession of Sin
Most holy and merciful Father; We acknowledge and confess before You; Our sinful nature prone to evil and slothful in good; And all our shortcomings and offenses. You alone know how often we have sinned; In wandering from Your ways; In wasting Your gifts; In forgetting Your love. But You, O Lord, have pity upon us; Who are ashamed and sorry for all wherein we have displeased You. Teach us to hate our errors; Cleanse us from our secret faults; And forgive our sins for the sake of Your dear Son. And O most holy and loving Father; Help us we beseech You; To live in Your light and walk in Your ways; According to the commandments of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Romans 4:20-25
Hymn of Preparation: Hymn 275 “Arise, My Soul, Arise”
Old Covenant Reading: Psalm 24:1-10
New Covenant Reading: Matthew 5:7-12
Sermon: Christ Blesses the Christlike
Psalm of Response: Psalm 24A “The Earth and Its Riches”
Confession of Faith: Q/A 1 Heidelberg Catechism (p. 872)
Doxology (Hymn 568)
Closing Hymn: Hymn 533 “Have Thine Own Way, Lord!”

PM Worship
Hymns: Psalm 100B, Psalm 23A, 238
OT: Exodus 34:1-8
NT: Hebrews 8:1-13
Sermon: Our Merciful God

Adult Sunday School: Heidelberg Catechism – Lord’s Day 4

Q. But doesn’t God do man an injustice
by requiring in his law
what man is unable to do?
A. No, God created man with the ability to keep the law.
Man, however, at the instigation of the devil,
in willful disobedience,
robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts.

Q. Will God permit
such disobedience and rebellion
to go unpunished?
A. Certainly not.
He is terribly angry
with the sin we are born with
as well as our actual sins.
God will punish them by a just judgment
both now and in eternity,
having declared:
“Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey
all the things written in the book of the law.”

Q. But isn’t God also merciful?
A. God is certainly merciful,
but he is also just.
His justice demands
that sin, committed against his supreme majesty,
be punished with the supreme penalty—
eternal punishment of body and soul.

Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/17) Read and discuss Matthew 5:7-12.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

There is a noticeable shift in the Beatitudes in 5:7. Jesus’ words are still Good News. Jesus still pronounces present blessing. Moreover, the future eschatological gifts of God are still the reason for present blessedness, as affirmed explicitly in 5:10, where Jesus repeats the promise of 5:3, “because the reign of heaven is theirs,” and also in 5:12, where Jesus promises, “Your reward is great in heaven.” I argued above that in 5:3-6, the disciples of Jesus were described in terms of their inability, rather than their accomplishments, and clearly the last two Beatitudes (5:10-12) promise blessing for disciples who passively suffer.

In 5:7, however, Jesus says, “The merciful are blessed, because they will be shown mercy.” Is this not in effect an exhortation: “Be merciful, so that you may be shown mercy”? I would argue that that is not the force of 5:7. Rather, the adjective “merciful” (as with the other adjectival subjects in the first four Beatitudes) describes Jesus disciples – all of them. It bespeaks the transforming power of discipleship and of Jesus’ call to faith. Jesus Himself is mercy incarnate, perfect mercy. One simply cannot become His disciple without also beginning to exhibit mercy in a new way.

Read or sing Psalm 8A “O LORD, Our Lord, in All the Earth”

Tuesday (10/18) Read and discuss Matthew 5:1-6.

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (ESV)

Grant Osborne writes:

The first four beatitudes deal primarily with total reliance on God. Each provides an aspect of that sense of dependence. We begin with those who are humble before God, who have realized their absolute need to put their trust wholly in Him. They seek their treasure in heaven, not on earth, and have placed all earthly concerns secondary to following Him. Then there are those who “mourn” under both oppression and guilt for sin and who thereby turn to God for help and forgiveness. They grieve under both physical (mainly poverty) and spiritual (mainly sin) needs but turn to God rather than their own resources.

Too few Christians sincerely grieve for sin; we have become hardened not just to the sin around us but even more sadly to the sin within us. The “meek” are the ones who turn the other cheek and go the extra mile for the sake of others, who are so attuned to God that they do not react aggressively when hurt by others. Those who crave “righteousness” again seek justice when wronged (note how this fits into the “meek” who turn to God for justice rather than seek it for themselves) but also want to live rightly before God. As Keener says, “these humble people are also those who yearn for God above all else (cf. Zeph 2:3).” This is exemplified in the three sections on almsgiving, prayer, and fasting in 6:1-18; they must be done entirely to please God, not to look pious to others.

Read or sing Hymn 275 “Arise, My Soul, Arise”

Wednesday (10/19) Read and discuss Psalm 24:1-10.

The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah (ESV)

Today’s passage is a liturgical psalm that celebrates the victory procession of the LORD into the Temple sanctuary. Allen Ross notes:

From the detailed analysis of the psalm we can suggest a reconstruction of the occasion and setting of the piece. The internal evidence suggests that the Israelites had just returned from a victorious battle with the Canaanites. They were proceeding to the sanctuary to give praise to the LORD for the great and mighty victory in battle, carrying with them the glorious ark of the covenant, the symbol of the LORD’s presence with them. As they approached the gates they were met by the Levitical gatekeepers. It was the worshiper’s part to ask who could enter the sanctuary of the LORD; and it was the gatekeepers’ part to answer with the standards set down in the Law – perfect righteousness. The worshipers in this case did not claim to be qualified to enter; rather, they responded that they were simply seeking the LORD’s favor – a response that indicates that they wanted to meet the LORD’s requirements but had to bring sacrifices to do that. The psalm concludes with the procession of the people into the sanctuary with shouts of acclamation for the LORD’s greatness expressed in the form of an encouraging refrain.

Two additional comments are in order:

Whether or not Ross is entirely right in capturing the original setting of the Psalm, the Psalms are composed in such a way that they were intended to be used down through the centuries by believers. It is not only legitimate, but an intended function of this Psalm, that subsequent generations of believers would use it to celebrate the God who is victorious over His and our enemies; to celebrate the LORD’s majesty; and to confess that only those with clean hands and a pure heart are fit to come into his presence.
It is fair to read verses 3-5 Christologically, realizing that the only man fully qualified “to ascend the hill of the LORD” is the man Christ Jesus. On the other hand, verse six is clearly intended to apply to believers and is not restricted to Jesus.

Sing or Read Psalm 24A “The Earth and Its Riches”

Thursday (10/20) Read and discuss Hebrews 8:1-13.

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

For he finds fault with them when he says:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (ESV)

Do you ever let your imagination run and put yourself back into dramatic historical situations? It might be a great battle, a turning point in political history, or something as simple as a football game. Think about that for a moment and then answer this question: Which side to you put yourself on? Unless you are very unusual – you put yourself on the winning side. Perhaps you imagine yourself to be the quarterback who heroically leads your team to a last-minute victory or perhaps you are simply loyally and nobly supporting the right side in some great cause – but nobody uses their imagination to go back in time to be on the side of evil as you get crushed by the righteous. That’s just not how we want to see ourselves. In pointing out the deficiencies in the Mosaic Covenant the author of Hebrews is asking his original audience: Why is it again that you want to turn from the New Covenant to go back to that? Yes, the Mosaic Covenant revealed God’s goodness and is filled with grace – but don’t you remember that because of our sin it was largely fourteen centuries of failure? Don’t you remember that the LORD even drove us out of the Promised Land into exile because of the hardness of our hearts? Why would you want to go back to that? Then, the author of Hebrews lays out the reasons for being far more hopeful about the future now that the New Covenant had come. In order to drive home this point, Hebrews quotes at length from Jeremiah 31. Although it is very unlikely that anyone reading this mediation feels tempted to return to the Mosaic Covenant, each of us is being tempted to turn from that which though unseen is eternal to that which can be seen which is passing away. Let us not forgot how great the privilege of belong to Christ in His New Covenant Church is:

We have a better PRIEST
Who serves in a better SANCTUARY
Who offered a better SACRIFICE
Who inaugurated a better COVENANT
Which is built on better PROMISES

Indeed, as Jesus Himself made clear: It is even better for us to be here this morning than it would have been for us to be with Christ physically on the other side of the cross and empty tomb. With grateful hearts let us give thanks – not only with our lips but with our lives.

Friday (10/21) Read and discuss Exodus 34:1-8.

The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. (ESV)

Doug Stuart writes:

God’s instruction to Moses to prepare two new stone tablets and his promise to write the Ten Words/Commandments on these new tablets just as he had on the former ones conveys a most welcome message: God had decided to forgive the Israelites and accept them once again as his covenant people, and he would renew his covenant with them, through which all sorts of blessings would once again be theirs. Like an employer saying to a previously dismissed employee, “Welcome back to the company. Let me show you to your work station” or a judge saying to a person whose punishment has been completed, “You’re free to go and resume your former life,” God said to Moses and through him to Israel, in effect: “Bring some new tablets. Let’s put the covenant back in force.”

Read or sing Hymn 533 “Have Thine Own Way, Lord!”

Saturday (10/22) Read and discuss Matthew 5:7-12.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

The second group of Beatitudes (5:7-12) still describes the disciples of Jesus: the merciful, the pure in heart, and so forth. These blessings testify that Jesus’ call to discipleship begins to transform those who are called. When Jesus joins men, women, and children to Himself, that union begins to manifest the life of Christ Himself in the lives of His disciples. That was true for Jesus’ original disciples there on the mountain in Galilee. It is also true for the disciples of Jesus today, who are baptized into union with Christ and who comprise His church, which hears and receives the Beatitudes in faith. Indeed, the Beatitudes contain within themselves the kerygmatic power to make a hearer or reader into a disciple of Jesus and a member of His church. To hear and believe that one is poor in spirit, spiritually bankrupt, and then to hear Jesus pronounce blessing and the promise of the reign of heaven can make one into a believer in Jesus. Hearing and believing the Beatitudes can also sustain that faith. When life is hard and the power of evil is too great, Jesus’ words comfort us: “The poor in spirit are blessed, because the reign of heaven is theirs!”

At this point, and only at this point, a person is ready to hear the teaching of Jesus in the body proper of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ teaching will continue to have the character of divine, authoritative revelation. He reveals truth about the disciples’ calling, about the true meaning of God’s OT Torah, about life under the Father’s care, and so on. Aspects of this truth concern God’s will for man’s obedience. The Sermon contains Law, the commandments of God as Jesus declares them. Sooner or later, that Law, when taken seriously by men and women trying to obey it, will rise up to condemn Jesus’ disciples as guilty, as sinful – as poor in spirit. At those times, Jesus’ disciples are invited to remember that the Sermon has a doorway, a doorway that in the first-place swings open on this hinge: “The poor in spirit are blessed, because the reign of heaven is theirs!” (5:3). In this way, perhaps many times in a single day, Jesus’ disciples will receive and enter and accept His authoritative revelation. In the first place (literally!), however, His authoritative revelation is His word of promise, of present blessing and final salvation to all His disciples.

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 16 October 2022 Monday, Oct 10 2022

AM WORSHIP
Call to Worship: Psalm 100:1-5
Opening Hymn: Hymn 224 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
Confession of Sin
Most merciful God, Who are of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and hast promised forgiveness to all those who confess and forsake their sins; We come before You with a humble sense of our own unworthiness, acknowledging our manifold transgressions of Your righteous laws. But, O gracious Father, Who desires not the death of a sinner, look upon us, we beseech You, in mercy, and forgive us all our transgressions. Make us deeply sensible of the great evil of them; And work in us a hearty contrition; That we may obtain forgiveness at Your hands, Who are ever ready to receive humble and penitent sinners; for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, our only Savior and Redeemer. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: John 14:1-3
Psalm of Preparation: Psalm 42B “As Pants the Deer for Flowing Streams”
Old Covenant Reading: Psalm 37:1-11
New Covenant Reading: Matthew 5:1-6
Sermon: Blessed Words of the Incarnate Lawgiver
Hymn of Response: Hymn 501 “LORD, Speak to Me, That I May Speak”
Confession of Faith: Ten Commandments
Doxology (Hymn 568)
Diaconal Offering
Closing Psalm: Psalm 15B “Who, O LORD, with Thee Abiding”

PM Worship
Hymns: 236, Psalm 3, 158
OT: Psalm 3:1-8
NT: John 16:23-33
Sermon: Deliverance to the LORD Belongs

Adult Sunday School: Fellowship Lunch – No Sunday School today

Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/10) Read and discuss Matthew 5:1-6.

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (ESV)

Sinclair Ferguson writes:

The Sermon on the Mount teaches us about the lifestyle of the kingdom of God. That kingdom will be consummated only when Christ returns and transforms the kingdom of this world into His own kingdom, publicly putting everything under His authority. But the Sermon on the Mount is not about there and then; it is about here and now. It is not asking us whether we will live a Christlike life in heaven. It is calling us to lead that life on earth, as Jesus Himself did to perfection. It is not a sermon about an ideal life in an ideal world, but about the kingdom life in a fallen world.

Read or sing Hymn 224 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”

Tuesday (10/11) Read and discuss Matthew 4:23-25.

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (ESV)

Michael J. Wilkins writes:

Once Jesus calls the four brothers to join Him in fishing for human souls, He embarks on the first of at least three extensive ministry tours in Galilee, an area with a population of around three hundred thousand people in two hundred or more villages and towns. Matthew gives an insightful summary of the activities on that tour: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” That summary is largely duplicated in 9:35, forming a literary device often called an “inclusion,” a sort of bookends that emphasize the material in the chapters between them. In chapters 5-7 Jesus is presented as the Messiah in word in the incomparable Sermon on the Mount, and in chapters 8-9 Jesus is presented as the Messiah at work in the collection of miracle stories. Presenting Jesus in this way, Matthew’s readers will know clearly the nature of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus has inaugurated.

Read or sing Psalm 42B “As Pants the Deer for Flowing Streams”

Wednesday (10/12) Read and discuss Psalm 37:1-11.

Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace. (ESV)

Timothy E. Saleska writes:

Each pearl along the way from the beginning to the end of the psalm represents an attempt to convince the faithful that the road they are walking – from the beginning to the end – is the right one and that to stray from it is to lose everything.

The righteous need constant guidance because in this life they suffer from the perennial problem that always bedevils believers, whom the psalmist also labels, “the righteous,” “those who hope in Yahweh,” “the humble,” “the needy,” “those upright in conduct,” “the blameless,” “those blessed by Yahweh,” and “His faithful ones.”

The problem is the clashing of desires in their heart. The righteous person certainly believes that Yahweh is His Creator and Redeemer. He loves God and desires to follow His will and trust His promises because He believes that the ways of Yahweh lead to eternal life. Yet there is a part of him that keeps looking in another direction for satisfaction. In agreement with St. Paul, Luther labels this inner conflict as the flesh verses the spirit: “The flesh habitually looks only at the things that are present and is influenced and impressed only by them; but it regards as worthless the things that are not present, those which the Word teaches, because it does not see them.” The old Adam, the sinful nature that baptized believers still retain throughout this earthly life, always desires to live by sight. In other words, he narrows his search for meaning and happiness to the things of this world, and his prevailing passion is to live for the moment. …

Therefore, a battle rages in believers’ hearts. Moment by moment throughout life, the righteous stand at a crossroads, where a part of them desires to follow Yahweh, but another part desires to forsake His path. The only thing keeping the righteous on track is the Word of God [in the power of the Holy Spirit], which sustains and nurtures them along the way.

Sing or Read Hymn 501 “LORD, Speak to Me, That I May Speak”

Thursday (10/13) Read and discuss John 16:23-33.

In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (ESV)

Since we live, by grace, in this New Covenant administration of the Covenant of Grace – it is critical for us to understand this promise. What does it mean for us to pray in Jesus name? Obviously, this is not some sort of magic formula whereby we can just name it and claim it to satisfy our whims: If you are praying to win the lottery and attaching “in Jesus’ name” to the end of your prayer – not only are you going to be sadly disappointed you need to repent of taking the Lord’s name in vain. That is not what it means to pray “in Jesus’ name” … But what exactly does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name? The good news is that this isn’t a complicated concept. Every Christian who is ten years old can understand what it means to pray in Jesus’ name – and some of you who are younger than that will be able to grasp this as well. William Hendricksen puts it like this:

We [make our requests to God] on the basis of Christ’s merits and in harmony with His … revelation.

That means there are only two things to know in order to understand what it means to pray in Jesus’ name:

1. First, we make our requests to God on the basis of Christ’s merits. We don’t bargain with the LORD or come to the Father as though we are worthy of Him doing anything for us. We make requests to the Father on the basis of Jesus being worthy that the Father would do these things for Him.
2. Second, that means we can only truly pray in Jesus’ name when we are praying in accordance with Christ’s revealed will. After all, if the Father is going to answer our prayers for Christ’s sake the prayer must be for something that Jesus wants.

So, that’s it. We pray in Jesus’ name when “We [make our requests to God] on the basis of Christ’s merits and in harmony with His … revelation.” And whenever we do that, Jesus is saying the Father will grant those requests.

Friday (10/14) Read and discuss Psalm 3:1-8.

O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
many are saying of my soul,
“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.

Arise, O LORD!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.

Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people! Selah (ESV)

James Montgomery Boice writes:

When a believer gazes too long at his enemies, the force arrayed against him seems to grow in size until it appears to be overwhelming. But when he turns his thoughts to God, God is seen in his true, great stature, and the enemies shrink to manageable proportions.

This principle was illustrated by the difference between the ten and the two spies when they were first sent into Canaan at the time of the Jewish conquest. Ten of the spies were overwhelmed with the strength and stature of the Canaanites, especially the descendants of Anak, where were giants. They said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. … All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there … We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. The other two spies, Caleb and Joshua, said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

What was the difference? Had they seen different things? No. The land was the same. Both groups had seen the giants. But the ten looked only at the giants and forgot about God, with the result that they seemed in their own eyes to shrink to the size of grasshoppers. The two kept their eyes on God, and for them it was the giants who appeared small.

Read or sing Psalm 15B “Who, O LORD, with Thee Abiding”

Saturday (10/15) Read and discuss Matthew 5:1-6.

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (ESV)

John Stott writes:

To be ‘poor in spirit’ is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, indeed our spiritual bankruptcy, before God. For we are sinners, under the holy wrath of God, and deserving nothing but the judgment of God. We have nothing to offer, nothing to plead, nothing with which to buy the favor of heaven.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to thee for dress;
Helpless, look to thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

This is the language of the poor in spirit. We do not belong anywhere except alongside the publican in Jesus’ parable, crying out with downcast eyes, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ As Calvin wrote: ‘He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit.’

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 9 October 2022 Sunday, Oct 2 2022

AM WORSHIP
Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-3
Opening Hymn: Hymn 222 “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
Confession of Sin
Almighty God, Who are rich in mercy to all those who call upon You; Hear us as we humbly come to You confessing our sins; And imploring Your mercy and forgiveness. We have broken Your holy laws by our deeds and by our words; And by the sinful affections of our hearts. We confess before You our disobedience and ingratitude, our pride and willfulness; And all our failures and shortcomings toward You and toward fellow men. Have mercy upon us, Most merciful Father; And of Your great goodness grant that we may hereafter serve and please You in newness of life; Through the merit and mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Galatians 2:20
Psalm of Preparation: Psalm 118A [Stanzas 5-8] “O Thank the LORD for All His Goodness”
Old Covenant Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10
New Covenant Reading: Matthew 4:23-25
Sermon: Signs of the Messiah
Hymn of Response: Hymn 288 “We Come, O Christ, to You”
Confession of Faith: Nicene Creed (p. 852)
Doxology (Hymn 568)
Closing Hymn: Hymn 281 “Rejoice, the LORD is King”

PM Worship
Hymns: 216, 474, 466
OT: Genesis 2:15-25
NT: Romans 5:12-17
Sermon: The Two Adams

Adult Sunday School: Lord’s Day 3
Q. Did God create man so wicked and perverse?
A. No.
God created man good1 and in his own image,
that is, in true righteousness and holiness,
so that he might
truly know God his creator,
love him with all his heart,
and live with God in eternal happiness,
for his praise and glory.
Q. Then where does man’s corrupt nature come from?
A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents,
Adam and Eve, in Paradise.
This fall has so poisoned our nature
that we are all conceived and born in sin.
Q. But are we so corrupt
that we are totally unable to do any good
and inclined toward all evil?
A. Yes,
unless we are born again
by the Spirit of God.

Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/3) Read and discuss Matthew 4:23-25.

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (ESV)

Grant Osborne writes:

The list of illnesses moves from the broad to the narrow in v. 24, and its purpose is to show that the Son of God has authority over every kind of illness, including demon-possession. This will become even greater when Matthew adds nature miracles in chapter 8 and raising the dead in chapter 9. He wants his readers to understand the absolute authority Jesus has over everything in this world. This is summed up in Dan 7:13-14 to show that Jesus is the Son of Man from this prophecy and that he has universal dominion over everything.

Read or sing Hymn 222 “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”

Tuesday (10/4) Read and discuss Matthew 4:17-22.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

The most prominent feature of these verses is the overwhelming authority of the call of Jesus. In 4:18, Matthew recounts the normal, everyday activity of Simon Peter and Andrew. In 4:19, Jesus speaks, “Come on after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men.” In 4:20, they immediately leave their nets and follow him. The pattern of Jesus’ powerful call is repeated with James and his brother John; again, they immediately respond (4:21-22). … To try to make the fishermen’s sudden response to Jesus more humanly reasonable or understandable runs the risk of lessening Matthew’s point. No one becomes Jesus’ disciple by his own initiative. Jesus calls, and only then can and do people respond. Many have underscored this point by contrasting Jesus’ call with what was apparently the normal procedure for a first century rabbi, who gained disciples when they sought him out. Jesus breaks this pattern, and in that sense he is operating with the freedom of God, who calls human beings to trust and serve him.

Read or sing Psalm 118A “O Thank the LORD for All His Goodness”

Wednesday (10/5) Read and discuss Isaiah 35:1-10.

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD,
the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (ESV)

In order to rightly understand this passage, we have to remember Isaiah’s original call to be a prophet. Isaiah was given an extraordinary vision of God’s glory. Isaiah responded by volunteering to be God’s messenger to proclaim the holiness of God to Israel. The LORD then commissioned Isaiah with these surprising words:

And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

Because of their rebellion, God chose not to bring revival to Israel in Isaiah’s day. His preaching would bear no immediate fruit. Yet, chapter thirty-five holds out the promise of a coming day when God will bring great blessings upon His people. In verses 1-2 He promises to change their environment. In verses 3-4, He says that we should comfort and encourage one another to live faithfully in the present in light of the future deliverance. The really remarkable part comes in verse 5 where God promises He will reverse the hardheartedness of the people revealed in Isaiah’s original call. The opening of the eyes of the blind and unstopping the ears of the deaf in chapter 35 is a direct reversal of the condition of the people in Isaiah 6:9-10. This casts a great deal of light upon the miracles of Jesus. When He opens the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, He is not merely doing remarkable miracles. Jesus is doing signs that point to the fact that He is the Messiah and beginning the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies. The end of Christ’s work is found in verses 7-10 where all things are made new in holiness and security for God’s people.

Sing or Read Hymn 288 “We Come, O Christ, to You”

Thursday (10/6) Read and discuss Genesis 2:15-25.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (ESV)

Twice in today’s passage the woman is spoken of as “a helper fit for him.” What exactly does that mean? It might be helpful if we first ruled out what “helper” doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that the wife is inferior to her husband (after all the term helper in the OT is most frequently applied to the LORD!) nor does it mean that the wife is to wait on her husband hand and foot. Instead, if we ask what Adam needed help with the answer becomes obvious: Adam needed help in keeping God’s commandments. After-all, Adam couldn’t be fruitful and multiply all by himself. Furthermore, the woman was to tend the garden (perhaps even “guard” the garden) and to reflect God’s image into the world along with the man. Yet, against a radical type of egalitarianism, the fact that men and women are of equal value and dignity before God does not mean that they are entirely interchangeable. Instead of a boring uniformity, the LORD created male and female to complement one another. As Paul will point out in this week’s sermon text, we honor God’s design by acknowledging the distinct roles given to men and women:

For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman.

The great Old Testament commentator, Bruce Waltke, brings out a beautiful aspect of verse 23 for us that is worthy of sustained contemplation:

Here we read Adam’s only recorded words before the Fall. With poetry, he celebrates the bond and equality of man and woman. In naming her “woman” he also names himself “man”. The narrator names him by his relation to the ground, but Adam names himself in relation to his wife. A man and a woman are never more like God than on their wedding day when they commit themselves unconditionally to one another.

Friday (10/7) Read and discuss Romans 5:12-17.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Why does every human being – including at times infants in their mother’s womb – die? Why does death reign on earth? Let’s go back to verse 12 and look at Paul’s logic again. Verse 12:
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned …

If “all sinned” doesn’t refer to the individual sins of every person who ever lived, what can it refer to? The short answer is, that when Adam sinned the guilt of his sin was imputed to all of his posterity. That is, Adam was not simply the first man he was the representative man. When the LORD constituted humanity, He created us in such a way that we would be connected to one another – so that one person can act legally on another person’s behalf. We are actually quite familiar with this reality. This coming Tuesday is election day in the United States. It is a day on which we will be electing individuals to represent us in civil government. Whether you vote for particular Congressmen or not, those elected to serve as our representatives have the legal right to make decisions that will impact our lives – perhaps for years to come. They have the authority to write the tax law and to borrow money to pay for things above and beyond the revenues that come in through taxes. Do you know who owes the debt that they vote to borrow? We do. All of us do – even though none of us personally made the decisions which resulted in the U.S. government borrowing more than twenty trillion dollars. Or to use a more dramatic example, when the Japanese Emperor ordered his Navy to attack Pearl Harbor – the resultant war wasn’t between the Japanese Emperor and the President of the United States, nor was it between Japanese and American navies. Japan had declared war on the United States and the two nations were at war. This is because the Emperor in Japan, and the President and Congress in the United States, legally represent their respective countries so that they had the authority to make legal decisions that dramatically impacted the citizens of both countries. Paul is saying that the LORD did something like this with Adam. The LORD constituted humanity so that Adam was our legal representative. When Adam was put on probation, he was put on probation for the entire human race. If he had remained faithful to God, Adam and all of his posterity would have been confirmed in that righteousness. But because Adam rebelled against God, not simply as an individual but as our representative, Adam and every human being born through a human father became guilty in Adam and therefore all of us were conceived under the reign of sin and death. Now some of you might be saying to yourself: “That’s not fair! How can I be held responsible for the decisions of a representative that I didn’t choose – who acted long before I was born.” If you are thinking like that, you had better be careful. Actually, you had better repent.

[For] who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will the creature say to its Creator “Why have you made me like this?”

And, if you cut off the possibility representative whom you didn’t choose acting on your behalf before you were born – don’t you see that you have cut off the only way in which you can be saved? Before we insist on being treated entirely on the basis of your own actions, let’s remember that “he who stands alone stands condemned.”

Read or sing Hymn 281 “Rejoice, the LORD is King”

Saturday (10/8) Read and discuss Matthew 4:23-25.

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

The church today must avoid extremes in order to interpret faithfully Jesus’ healing miracles and exorcisms. One extreme element in modern Christianity sees demonic forces as directly responsible for every physical and mental health ailment. But Jesus cast demons only out of some of the sick people whom He healed. Another extreme is represented by faith healers who promise God’s physical healing now for all who will simply believe hard enough. They have neither read the Scriptures carefully nor understood their eschatological, “already but not yet” message. Yet another extreme is the naturalistic, “scientific” view that every ailment has a purely medical explanation and hence a potential medical cure, with no room for either demonic activity or supernatural healing. We must not live, preach, and pray as if the kinds of maladies and miracles in our text only happened back then – as if the demonic powers can have no real effect on our lives today, and as if the reign of God could not break in today with miracle and sign and power and healing. All claimed experiences, whether of demonic influence or of miraculous healing, must be subject to scriptural scrutiny, and nothing can violate the great truths of biblical theology. Yet when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” who knows how the risen and reigning Christ may answer, even as the promised final healing and fulfillment of the Day of the reign of God continue to tarry?

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 2 October 2022 Sunday, Sep 25 2022

AM Worship

Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3
Opening Hymn: 219 “O Worship the King”
Confession of Sin
O great and everlasting God, Who dwells in unapproachable light, Who searches and knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart; We confess that we have not loved You with all our heart, nor with all our soul, nor with all our mind, nor with all our strength; Nor our neighbors as ourselves. We have loved what we ought not to have loved; We have coveted what is not ours; We have not been content with Your provisions for us. We have complained in our hearts about our family, about our friends, about our health, about our occupations, about Your church, and about our trials. We have sought our security in those things which perish, rather than in You, the Everlasting God. Chasten, cleanse, and forgive us, through Jesus Christ, who is able for all time to save us who approach You through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for us. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Hymn of Preparation: Hymn 536 “Jesus Calls Us”
Old Covenant Reading: 1 Kings 19:9-21
New Covenant Reading: Matthew 4:17-22
Sermon: Following Jesus
Hymn of Response: Hymn 544 “Lead On, O King Eternal”
Confession of Faith: Apostles Creed (p. 851)
Doxology (Hymn 568)
Closing Psalm: Psalm 1A “That Man is Blest”

PM Worship
Hymns: 230, 175 (stanzas 1-4), 435
OT: Exodus 20:1-17
NT: Romans 7:7-13
Sermon: The Knowledge of Sin

Adult Sunday School: Lord’s Day 2
Q. How do you come to know your misery?
A. The law of God tells me.
Q. What does God’s law require of us?
A. Christ teaches us this in summary in
“You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.”
This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

Q. Can you live up to all this perfectly?
A. No.
I am inclined by nature
to hate God and my neighbor.
Suggested Preparations

Monday (9/26) Read and discuss Matthew 4:17-22.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (ESV)

R.T. France writes:

Hitherto Jesus, while briefly involved with John [the Baptist] and others by the Jordan, has been presented as operating alone. But it is significant that His first recorded action is to gather a group of followers who will commit themselves to a total change of lifestyle which involves them in joining Jesus as His essential support group for the whole period of His public ministry. From this point on we shall not read stories about Jesus alone, but stories about Jesus and His disciples. Wherever He goes, they will go; their presence with Jesus, even if not explicitly mentioned, is assumed. While the Twelve will not be formally listed until 10:1-4, the stories from here on will assume a wider group of disciples than just these first four. They will be the primary audience for His teaching (5:1-2) and witnesses of His works of power, but they are also called to be His active helpers in the task of “fishing for people,” as we shall discover in ch. 10. The first time Jesus will be left alone after this point will be when eventually the disciples desert him in the garden of Gethsemane. Until then, Matthew’s story is not only that of the Messiah, but also of the messianic community which is being formed around Him. The placing of this incident right at the beginning makes clear that that was Jesus’ intention.

Read or sing Hymn 219 “O Worship the King”

Tuesday (9/27) Read and discuss Matthew 4:12-16.

Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.” (ESV)

Michael J. Wilkins writes:

The geographical region into which Jesus goes to initiate His ministry was Galilee of the Gentiles, which Matthew says is metaphorically a land of darkness, a land under the shadow of death. But the sun doesn’t shine any less brightly in Galilee than in Jerusalem or Bethlehem. The disease rate in Galilee is no higher than Judea or even Samaria. Rather, “darkness” in both the Old and New Testaments is an evocative word. If light symbolizes God, darkness connotes everything that is anti-God: the wicked, judgment, and death.

But few in Galilee can see the darkness or the shadow of death. The Galilee region to this day is the one of the most beautiful areas in all of Palestine. The magnificent lake, flowing rivers, rolling hillsides, and luscious agriculture all are found in Galilee. The mansions and theater at Sepphoris and the places and stadium at Tiberias indicate that Galilee was not a cultural backwater. Nonetheless, the darkness of this world is real, even though most do not notice it. It is a region under the influence of Gentiles, with their gods, their lifestyles, their worldview.

Although darkness is opaque to humankind, it is transparent to God, and long ago He promised to send light. With the arrival of Jesus, a great light now shines in the darkness. Those responding to the light were ushered into the sphere of life in which darkness and even the shadow of death are dispelled. Other New Testament authors emphasize this theme, declaring that Jesus is life-giving light in whom is life, and those who follow him “will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Believers are “sons of light.” Light possesses powers essential to true life, so to be in the light” comes to mean simply “to live.” This indicates life eternal, but also life temporal on earth. The one who comes into the light of Jesus Messiah is brought into the life that is characterized by light.”

Read or sing Hymn 536 “Jesus Calls Us”

Wednesday (9/28) Read and discuss 1 Kings 19:9-21.

There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. (ESV)

Elisha came from a very affluent family, and he was being called to leave it all behind in order to embrace the ministry of being a prophet of Yahweh. When we consider how much Elijah had suffered, before him, we realize that this great privilege also came at a great personal price. Walter Maier writes:

Elisha did not shrink back from or protest the life-changing call from Yahweh, but accepted it in the humility and obedience of faith. He did this with “unequivocal” and “absolute commitment.” His being united with the LORD in faith engendered in him the willingness, and gave him the power, to give up circumstances o wealth and an agrarian environment and enter into, apparently, a much different way of living. In addition, this showed his respect for Elijah as the authorized messenger of Yahweh.

Elisha’s request to give a parting kiss to his father and mother provided a clue as to his immediate leaning with regard to the call. His action in 19:21 supplied decisive proof that he had firmly decided to follow Elijah. Slaughtering the oxen and using their equipment to make a fire can be seen not only as necessary for the preparation of the feast but also as symbolical of Elisha’s making a break with his previous ways of life. As well, he gave the people choice food to celebrate the call he had received and his acceptance of that call. What a privilege and honor to become the attendant and successor of Elijah! The feast marked this milestone even in his life and also served as a way of saying farewell to his parents, relatives, friends, and acquaintances. When the feast came to an end (and after he had kissed his parents good-bye, one assumes), Elisha, it may be suggested, set out willingly and joyfully “and went after Elijah and attended him.” As Elijah’s aide, Elisha will receive training and get experience for taking on the role of prophet when Elijah’s time on earth comes to an end, so that he can carry on the work of his mentor and bring to fulfillment the plans of Yahweh. The gladness and enthusiasm with which Elisha accepted the call and, it may be assumed, his dedication to his new role must have resulted in strong encouragement for Elijah in his post-Horeb ministry.

Sing or Read Hymn 544 “Lead On, O King Eternal”

Thursday (9/29) Read and discuss Exodus 20:1-17.

And God spoke all these words, saying,

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (ESV)

Duane Garrett writes:

The key theological points of the Decalogue are obviously the commands themselves. In addition, the commands essentially have three demands: loyalty to YHWH, moral integrity, and responsibility to the covenant community. The first two of these are obvious to any reader; the third has been overlooked. Devotion to God and avoidance of pagan practices is the first element that ensures the survival of the community, and it should be obvious that no society can long endure if essential moral rules are widely and pervasively ignored. But also, as described above, the specificity of many of the commands indicates that the survival of the nation, and not a mere catalogue of moral principles, is in view here. Thus, adultery and perjury, rather than other forms of evil involving sexual behavior or dishonesty, are singled out for prohibition. Even the prohibition of coveting, as pointed out above, has the purpose of preventing disharmony in society through jealousy and class warfare. The command to honor parents, moreover, creates an environment in which authority is respected and society can function. Thus, although honor for God and proper moral behavior are the goals of the commands, the purpose of the commands for the life of the community has greater explanatory power, enabling us to understand why certain things are prohibited.

Friday (9/30) Read and discuss Romans 7:7-13.

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive, and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. (ESV)

A major aspect of the Torah, that provides the context in which we read things like “do this and live” or “do this and be blessed” is the ceremonial law. The Jew who took the law seriously would have found him or herself ceremonially unclean on a disturbingly regular basis. For example, a woman having her period would be unclean. Having a sore or scab on your body that let out blood or pus would make you unclean. A discharge of semen would make you ceremonially unclean; and … Someone spitting on you would make you ceremonially unclean, and so on. While hopefully that last one wouldn’t happen very often, the rules about ceremonial uncleanness would have made everyone in Israel ceremonially unclean many times during their lives. A person would have to be spiritually blind – but, of course that is the point – a person would have to be spiritually blind to imagine that a Law which repeatedly marked them out as spiritually unclean was a way to demonstrate that they were in fact remarkably righteous. But that is how blinding sin can be. I mentioned spit, a moment ago, for a reason. Spit, like blood and pus come from inside a person. One of the powerful things to see from the ceremonial law is that whenever something that was supposed to be inside of you came out – that would make a person unclean. This is one way the LORD was calling out the lie that a person might “make mistakes” but have a good heart. The ceremonial law is shouting: “On the inside you are all unclean!” What makes this particularly powerful is that there is one exception. Jesus uses his saliva to open the eyes of a blind man. Unlike us, Jesus is perfectly pure inside and out. Indeed, while under the Old Covenant – our bleeding would make us unclean. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. No wonder Paul says in verse 12:

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Read or sing Psalm 1A “That Man is Blest”

Saturday (10/1) Read and discuss Matthew 4:17-22.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (ESV)

Tom Wright comments:

If you go to Galilee, today, they will show you a boat that might have belonged to Andrew and Peter, or perhaps the Zebedee family.

In one of the most remarkable archaeological finds anywhere in the Holy Land (which is full of them), a boat was found sticking out of the mud one summer when the level of the Sea of Galilee dropped dramatically in a period of dry weather. With great care it was lifted clear of the sea bottom, cleansed, and preserved. Now, in a special exhibit, millions of visitors can see the sort of boat Jesus’ first followers used for fishing. It has been carbon-dated to exactly the period of Jesus’ life.

The boat is a vivid reminder of the day-to-day existence of His followers – and of what it cost them to give it all up and follow Jesus. They were, in today’s language, small businessmen, working as families not for huge profits but to make enough to live on and have a little over. Fish were plentiful and there were good markets. In a cosmopolitan area, with soldiers, wayfarers, pilgrims and peddlers coming and going, as well as the local population, people would always want what they were selling. But it was hard work, and sometimes dangerous. Their lives were modestly secure, but hardly luxurious.

So, why did they give it all up to follow a wandering preacher? … The answer can only be in Jesus Himself, and in the astonishing magnetism of His presence and personality.

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 25 September 2022 Sunday, Sep 18 2022

25 September 2022
Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-3
Opening Hymn: 281 “Rejoice, the LORD is King”
Confession of Sin
Most holy and merciful Father; We acknowledge and confess before You; Our sinful nature prone to evil and slothful in good; And all our shortcomings and offenses. You alone know how often we have sinned; In wandering from Your ways; In wasting Your gifts; In forgetting Your love. But You, O Lord, have pity upon us; Who are ashamed and sorry for all wherein we have displeased You. Teach us to hate our errors; Cleanse us from our secret faults; And forgive our sins for the sake of Your dear Son. And O most holy and loving Father; Help us we beseech You; To live in Your light and walk in Your ways; According to the commandments of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
Hymn of Preparation: Hymn 269 “The People That in Darkness Sat”
Old Covenant Reading: Isaiah 9:1-7
New Covenant Reading: Matthew 4:12-16
Sermon: Post Tenebras Lux
Hymn of Response: 330 “Who is This, So Weak and Helpless”
Confession of Faith: Q/A 1 Heidelberg Catechism (p. 872)
Doxology (Hymn 568)
Closing Hymn: 286 “Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder”

PM Worship
Hymns: 172, 474, 479
OT: Isaiah 33:17-22
NT: Luke 18:1-8
Sermon: The Faith of Persistent Prayer

Adult Sunday School: Congregational Meeting – No Sunday School This Week

Suggested Preparations

Monday (9/19) Read and discuss Matthew 4:12-16.

Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.” (ESV)

Grant Osborne writes:

There are many possible explanations for Jesus’ move to the north: the opposition of the religious leaders in Judea, the greater openness of the people in Galilee, even the desire to go back home. But the main issue was God’s will. Jesus went where His sense of divine necessity took Him. When the Baptist was arrested, Jesus knew that His time of preparation was over, and God was designating that the new time of kingdom proclamation had arrived.

The move to “Galilee of the Gentiles” also prepares for the ultimate plan of God for the message to reach not only Israel but also the nations. The Gentiles had always been part of His plan. So the message of repentance was the natural reaction to the coming of the kingdom age. Christ had His disciples minister only to the Jewish people (10:5,6) but prepared them for the Gentile mission by Himself ministering to Gentiles (8:5-13, 28-34; 15:21-28, 29-31) and announced that mission in two stages, prophesying that “many will come from the east and the west” to feast at the messianic banquet with Abraham (8:11) and then commanding the universal mission in 28:19.

Read or sing Hymn 281 “Rejoice, the LORD is King.”

Tuesday (9/20) Read and discuss Matthew 4:1-11.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (ESV)

Tom Wright comments:

The biblical texts Jesus used as His key weapons help us to see how this remarkable story fits into Matthew’s gospel at this point. They are all taken from the story of Israel in the wilderness. Jesus had come through the waters of baptism, like Israel crossing the Red Sea. He now had to face, in forty days and nights the equivalent of Israel’s forty years in the desert. But, where Israel failed again and again, Jesus succeeded. Here at last is a true Israelite, Matthew is saying. He has come to do what God always wanted Israel to do – to brin light to the world.

Behind that again is the even deeper story of Adam and Eve in the garden. A single command; a single temptation; a single, devastating result. Jesus kept His eyes on His Father, and so launched the mission to undo the age-old effects of human rebellion. He would meet the tempter again in various guises: protesting to Him, through His closest associate, that He should change His mind about going to the cross; mocking Him through the priests and bystanders, as He hung on the cross (27:39-43, again with the words ‘if you are God’s Son’). This is no accident. When Jesus refused to go the way of the tempter He was embracing the way of the cross.

Read or sing Hymn 269 “The People That in Darkness Sat”

Wednesday (9/21) Read and discuss Isaiah 9:1-7.

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (ESV)

Who is Jesus? This passage is one of the Old Testament prophesies that also points forward to the doctrine of the Trinity. While we are blessed with a far fuller picture of the Triune God in the New Covenant, this prophesy should have caused faithful Jews to ask questions for which only the doctrine of the Trinity is the answer. We are told in verse 6 that “unto us a Son is given” and we are also told that He will be called “mighty God”. While the first expression distinguishes the Messiah from God the Father, the second expression identifies Him as God. This distinction of persons and unity of being within God are the essence of the doctrine of the Trinity. Yet, we also read something that can be puzzling to us today. Since Jesus was eternally the Son of God – how can Isaiah call Him the Everlasting Father? It is helpful for us to realize that fatherhood has three primary defining characteristics: (1) headship, (2) generation, and (3) care. Let us consider the first of these characteristics of fatherhood – headship. When an earthly father makes decisions, those choices impact his entire family. If one man works hard and is faithful to God while another is an adulterous, drunken, gambler – their respective families will enjoy blessings or cursings based on the actions of the family’s covenant head. Our culture tends to treat such consequences as accidental or even unfair – but they are the way God designed humanity. Unlike angels, we live in a network of relationships where we represent each other and make decisions on each other’s behalf. This is revealed even in our language. The biblical term for man/mankind is Adam. As the first man, Adam represented all mankind so when he rebelled against God – we all fell into sin and depravity with him. Western culture over the past 40 years has begun to rebel against this representative principle. For example, it is becoming increasingly common for women to not take their husband’s names (in some countries the governments have actually put impediments up that hinder a woman from taking her husband’s name at the time of marriage). A far better choice would be to tell women, “If you don’t like the idea of this man representing you – don’t marry him!” Nevertheless, being sinners we all like to shift the blame away from ourselves – as though we would have perfectly fulfilled all righteousness if we had been in Adam’s place. But before you start to protest about how unfair representative headship is, remember that this principle of representation (sometimes called “federal theology”) is the only basis for your salvation (See Romans 5:12-21)! As your federal head, on the cross God treated Jesus as though he had lived your life so that through all eternity He could treat you as though you had lived His life. It is not surprising then that Christ would be described as the head of the Church (Eph 5:23; Col 1:18).

Sing or Read Hymn 330 “Who is This, So Weak and Helpless”

Thursday (9/22) Read and discuss Isaiah 33:17-22.

Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
they will see a land that stretches afar.
Your heart will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute?
Where is he who counted the towers?”
You will see no more the insolent people,
the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
But there the LORD in majesty will be for us
a place of broad rivers and streams,
where no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;
the LORD is our king; he will save us. (ESV)

Bryan E. Beyer writes:

Isaiah described features of God’s great day of restoration. The people would behold the king’s splendor and enjoy a spacious land. They would no longer face their arrogant enemies who had oppressed them and made their lives difficult. Rather, they would see Jerusalem as a beacon of peace, an immovable city of festivals and celebration.

Finally, God’s great day of restoration would feature spiritual blessing. More important than anything else, the LORD would stand as their mighty one, their judge, their lawgiver, their king, their savior. They would experience the true meaning of salvation, and in that day, they would understand the true meaning of life. God in His love and grace had forgiven them and established them as His everlasting people.

Friday (9/23) Read and discuss Luke 18:1-8.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (ESV)

David Garland writes:

The parable confirms the Pauline injunctions to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to persevere in prayer (Rom 12:12; Eph 6:18), and to devote yourselves to prayer (Col 4:2). But it may be easily misinterpreted to mean that God eventually wears down and responds to persistence. The message is not that it pays to pester God because God eventually will respond, or that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Instead, the point is that God, who demands justice and is sympathetic to the plight of His people, will bring final vindication. Believers may boldly plead with God in prayer, “Your reign come,” and know that they are not dealing with an apathetic, wicked crook who metes out favorable decisions to the highest bidder. They pray to a loving, caring God who has promised deliverance and has the power to accomplish it. The difference is that Christians are not like the widow and God is not like the judge. Believers do not approach God as if they were poor bag ladies. They are identified as “the elect” and already have a relationship with God. Will God not vindicate His elect?

The widow in the parable has no other connections, no other options. The judge is her only hope. As the widow determinedly casts her future hopes in the hands of this judge, so Christians must place all of their hope in God as they only hope they have.

Read or sing Hymn 286 “Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder”

Saturday (9/24) Read and discuss Matthew 4:12-16.
Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.” (ESV)

Michael Wilkins writes:

Returning to Galilee, Jesus goes first to His hometown of Nazareth, where apparently His mother and brothers were still living. Matthew says only that “leaving Nazareth,” Jesus goes to Capernaum, but Luke fills in some of the details of His time in His former hometown. Jesus attends the synagogue, and as a returning successful preacher, reads from Scripture. However, He offends the townspeople’s ethnic sensitivities when He reveals that His ministry will include Gentiles, so they attempt to kill Him (see Luke 4:16-31).

Animosities between Jews and Gentiles ran high. Non-Jewish populations surrounded the tribes of Israel in the north on three sides, so the region was described as “Galilee of the Gentiles.” Although Jesus went first to the Jews, to fulfill God’s promise to the nation, He goes on to display an increasing openness to Gentiles. That openness reflects the intention of the original Abrahamic covenant to include Gentiles and is the foundation of the later apostolic mission to the Gentiles. But many Jews, including those in His former hometown, could not overcome their antipathy toward Gentiles.

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 18 September 2022 Sunday, Sep 11 2022

18 September 2022

Call to Worship: Psalm 100:1-5

Opening Hymn: 288 “We Come, O Christ, to You”

Confession of Sin      

Most merciful God, Who are of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and hast promised forgiveness to all those who confess and forsake their sins;  We come before You with a humble sense of our own unworthiness, acknowledging our manifold transgressions of Your righteous laws.  But, O gracious Father, Who desires not the death of a sinner, look upon us, we beseech You, in mercy, and forgive us all our transgressions.  Make us deeply sensible of the great evil of them;  And work in us a hearty contrition;  That we may obtain forgiveness at Your hands, Who are ever ready to receive humble and penitent sinners; for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, our only Savior and Redeemer.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hebrews 10:19-22

Psalm of Preparation: Psalm 91B “Who with God Most High Finds Shelter”

Old Covenant Reading: Deuteronomy 6:10-19

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon: The Faith and Faithfulness of Jesus Christ

Hymn of Response: Hymn 325 “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”

Confession of Faith: Ten Commandments

Doxology (Hymn 568)

Diaconal Offering                  

Closing Hymn: Hymn 283 “Fairest Lord Jesus”

PM Worship

Hymns:  170, Psalm 51C, 198

OT: Ezra 9:1-15

NT: Luke 18:9-14

Sermon: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Adult Sunday School: Congregational Meeting – No Sunday School This Week

Suggested Preparations

Monday (9/12)Read and discuss Matthew 4:1-11.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

            “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

                        but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

            Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

            “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

            and

            “‘On their hands they will bear you up,

                        lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

            Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

            “‘You shall worship the Lord your God

                        and him only shall you serve.’”

            Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

The first temptation consists primarily in Satan’s attempt to get Jesus to use His own power to serve Himself in time of need. The slanderer grants Jesus’ identity as “the Son of God,” but he seeks to lead Jesus into being the wrong kind of Son. He acknowledges that Jesus has the power to turn stones into bread. The later narratives of the miraculous feedings of the five thousand and the four thousand show Jesus doing something very much like what Satan tempts him to do here, except that there Jesus will perform the miracle for the benefit of others. Jesus possesses divine power, but how will He use that power?

The LORD had tried in vain to teach Israel: “He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you the manna … so that he would make you know that man does not live on bread alone, but man lives on every word that comes out from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut 8:3). Jesus knows well what Israel had failed to learn; unlike Israel, Jesus lives according to the divine Word. Jesus’ life and relationship to God the Father come from what God provides, and especially from what God speaks: “by every word that comes out through [the] mouth of God.”

Specifically, Jesus knows that God has already spoken and that from his mouth have come the words “This one is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (3:17). Jesus’ time of temptation in the wilderness is God’s will; it is the Spirit’s leading. Jesus will not use His power to murmur or reject God’s will and purpose, as Israel did in the wilderness. The people in their wilderness wanderings did not realize that “as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you” (Deut 8:5), nor did they respond to His discipline as an obedient son should. Jesus, however, overcomes the slanderer, knowing the Father’s Word that declared him to be God’s Son, and living by every divine word, even and especially in His experience of being tempted in the wilderness. Jesus came in humility to His Baptism, and He willingly suffers the time of hunger and temptation, obeying His Father. He lives perfectly and completely by the Father’s Word and will.

Read or sing Hymn 288 “We Come, O Christ, to You”

Tuesday (9/6) Read and discuss Matthew 3:13-17.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

Jesus’ reply to John can be fleshed out as follows: Jesus has come to be baptized by John, to submit to the baptism that sinful Israel is undergoing. John objects, because he knows that Jesus is the One who will be Mighty Savior and Judge of all on the Last Day. But Jesus explains that in the present time (“now”), this shockingly unexpected action is comprehensively fitting (“all righteousness”) as the way for John and Jesus together to perform the saving deeds of God, now that the reign of heaven has broken into history in Jesus. For Jesus to submit to John’s baptism is fitting.

Why? Because it shows perfectly how this Jesus “will save His people from their sins” (1:21). It shows how the reign of heaven will come now, in an unexpected way. With John’s participation, Jesus will perform “all righteousness,” that is, He will enact God’s saving deeds for the people by (literally) standing with sinners, taking the place of sinners, receiving from John the baptism that sinners receive. Ultimately, all of Jesus’ ministry will come to its head as the Scriptures are fulfilled in the arrest that leads to His trial and condemnation and crucifixion. There, the sinless one will offer up His own life as the ransom payment in the place of many. That’s why it is “fitting” for Jesus to come and stand in the Jordan and be baptized, to stand (literally) in the place of the many. Later Jesus will perform the judgement, the separation, the baptism with Holy Spirit and fire of which John spoke (3:11), but not “at this time” (3:15). Jesus’ willing baptism in the Jordan is a sign that points forward. It is a cruciform harbinger, pointing forward to the hidden and unexpected, shockingly weak and vulnerable [at least by outward appearances] in-breaking reign of God, to the paradoxical enthronement of the King of the Jews on the cross.

Read or sing Psalm 91B “Who with God Most High Finds Shelter”

Wednesday (9/7) Read and discuss Deuteronomy 6:10-19.

And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised. (ESV)

Adolph Harstad writes:

Israel can love Yahweh only because He loved Israel first. Yahweh is the special name for the God of free and faithful grace. Evidence of His love is deliverance of His people from Egypt, just as He had promised: “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Those words of Deuteronomy 5:6 are Yahweh’s introduction to the Ten Words [also called the Ten Commandments], which motivate Israel to obey the Words. Further evidence of His love is His act of cutting a covenant with Israel after he had redeemed her, a covenant ratified by “the blood of the covenant” (Ex 24:8). Since it is not possible for Israel to repay Yahweh for the covenant that He has already freely given, all she can do is respond by loving Him and by rejecting false gods (Ex 20:3; Deut 5:7). Still more proof of His love appears in the verbal expressions of His love for Israel.

Israel cannot and does not perfectly love. That truth is assumed within the covenant itself by its sacrifices for various sins, including the twice-daily offering and annual Day of Atonement. There is forgiveness from Yahweh for all the shortcomings of His people. Nevertheless, perfect love for Yahweh is the command and what Israel is to strive for in her life of sanctification. As the one who perfectly loved Israel, Yahweh deserves, desires, and commands no less than perfect love. Love for Him is the work of God Himself within hearts, as both the OT and NT attest. He works love in His people through His Gospel, which tells of His own love for them. “We love because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). Love is also the will of God, as Deut 6:5 testifies and as the summary of both Tables of the Ten Words attest.

Believers confess the deficiency of even their most sincere love for God and neighbor. For the perfect fulfillment of the Shema, we must look to the perfect love of Jesus and God crediting Jesus’ perfect love to sinners by “the great exchange” (2 Cor 5:18-21).

Sing or Read Hymn 325 “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”

Thursday (9/8)Read and discuss Ezra 9:1-15.

After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God, saying:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.

“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this,  shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.” (ESV)

Derek Thomas writes:

Many different responses to Scripture are appropriate: joy, wonder, and seriousness, to name but three. Even laughter is appropriate. … But there are times when we should tremble at God’s Word. Scripture contains law as well as promise, threat as well as divine approval. The first use of the law is the so-called pedagogic use of law, to teach us the greatness of our sin and misery and to drive us to the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. …

That is what happened to the Israelites in Jerusalem under the teaching of Ezra. They were convicted of their sin – their own personal sin and the sin of the community as a whole. They saw themselves as a community who had offended God in their deeds and now wished to find forgiveness. The strength and emotional fervor of their response may surprise us, even offend us, but that says more about us than about them. They were earnest and sincere in their response.

Friday (9/9) Read and discuss Luke 18:9-14.

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (ESV)

Richard Phillips writes:

This parable exposes the great problem of human pride. But digging deeper, it uncovers the root from which pride grows, namely, self-righteousness. Here is the dominant theme of this parable, Luke explaining that it was spoken to “some who were confident of their own righteousness.” If pride is the poison that kills the soul, here is the cup from which it is drunk, self-righteousness.

The Pharisee’s pride is revealed in the manner of his prayer, and his self-righteousness comes through in the matter or content of his prayer. He stands before God, recounting his own merits and attainments. First, he gloats about his morality, thanking God that he is better than “other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers” and ultimately the tax collector, the very sight of whom is an offense to his eyes. Noticeably absent is any confession of his own sin or request for forgiveness – which is why he receives none from the Lord.

We should observe the method behind this madness. The Pharisee is self-righteous because his standard of comparison is other people, and especially those who stand out in depravity. He does that at which we all are so adept, finding those whose sins are obvious to us – if not to themselves – and then gloating over our apparent superiority.

But the standard of righteousness to which the Bible directs us is not that of other people but that of God.

Read or sing Hymn 283 “Fairest Lord Jesus”

Saturday (9/10)Read and discuss Matthew 4:1-11.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

            “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

                        but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

            Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

            “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

            and

            “‘On their hands they will bear you up,

                        lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

            Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

            “‘You shall worship the Lord your God

                        and him only shall you serve.’”

            Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

The last temptation differs from the first two in a remarkable way. In the first, Satan assumed that Jesus has power, and asked how He would use it. In the second, the slanderer acknowledged that God promised to exercise power on behalf of Jesus, but he asked Jesus to doubt that promise or misuse that power. In this final and climatic temptation, Satan presumes that the Son will worship and serve someone, so he seeks to turn Jesus aside from wholehearted worship and service of God His Father. Jesus, however, will not turn aside. His life and ministry will be a perfect act of worship and service to God.

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 11 September 2022 Sunday, Sep 4 2022

AM Worship
Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-3
Opening Hymn: Hymn 156. “Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies”
Confession of Sin
Almighty God, Who are rich in mercy to all those who call upon You; Hear us as we humbly come to You confessing our sins; And imploring Your mercy and forgiveness. We have broken Your holy laws by our deeds and by our words; And by the sinful affections of our hearts. We confess before You our disobedience and ingratitude, our pride and willfulness; And all our failures and shortcomings toward You and toward fellow men. Have mercy upon us, Most merciful Father; And of Your great goodness grant that we may hereafter serve and please You in newness of life; Through the merit and mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Isaiah 55:7-9
Psalm of Preparation: Psalm 2A “Why Do Heathen Nations Rage?”
Old Covenant Reading: Isaiah 42:1-4
New Covenant Reading: Matthew 3:13-17
Sermon: Fulfilling All Righteousness
Hymn of Response: Hymn 261 “O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High!”
Confession of Faith: Nicene Creed (p. 852)
Doxology (Hymn 568)
Closing Hymn: Hymn 252 “This is My Father’s World”

PM Worship
Hymns: 145D, 187, 243
OT: Exodus 19:1-6
NT: Titus 2:11-15
Sermon: I belong to God

Adult Sunday School: Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 1 & 2
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own,
but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has delivered me from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven;
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
also assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.

Q. How many things must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
A. Three:
first, how great my sin and misery are;
second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery;
third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.
Suggested Preparations

Monday (9/5) Read and discuss Matthew 3:13-17.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (ESV)

Grant Osborne writes:

John the Baptist’s humility reflects the necessary realization of the great heroes of the faith throughout biblical history. Moses, Gideon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Peter all felt their inadequacy and unworthiness to serve the Lord. The fact is that we are unworthy of Christ and inadequate to do His work, but Paul answers that. He freely admitted that “in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing,” but he adds, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

We all must come face to face with our sinfulness so that we will rest entirely on Christ. Then our inadequacies will be a means by which Christ’s power will be all the more evident, for in Him we will accomplish more than we ever could in our own strength and abilities. Our insufficiencies should force us to turn to Christ and His Spirit for the power to accomplish things for God.

Read or sing Hymn 156. “Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies”

Tuesday (9/6) Read and discuss Matthew 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”

Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (ESV)

Michael J. Wilkins writes:

John the Baptist has one central message, in which he urgently calls the people to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is the same message Jesus announces and the Twelve preach on their missionary tour through Israel. John’s call to repentance sounds similar to the prophets of the Old Testament, calling the people into a right relationship with God that must affect every aspect of their lives. Indicating “to change one’s mind,” repentance in the Old Testament always called for a change in a person’s attitude toward God, which would then impact one’s actions and overall direction in life. External signs of repentance regularly included confession of sin, prayers of remorse, and abandonment of sin.

But as similar as John’s message is to the Old Testament prophets, there is a distinctly new sound to it. He calls the people to repent because “the kingdom of heaven is near.” The kingdom has come near in the soon-arriving Messiah. John is the one foretold by Isaiah who would be privileged to prepare the way for the Lord’s arrival and His kingdom: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.”

John wasn’t just another religious zealot drumming up support for a new following. As a road must be cleared of obstacles before an approaching king, John is calling for the people to clear the obstacles out of their lives that might hinder their reception of the Lord. He calls for the people to get themselves read – to prepare their heart and life – for the arrival of the Coming One with the kingdom of heaven.

Read or sing Psalm 2A “Why Do Heathen Nations Rage?”

Wednesday (9/7) Read and discuss Isaiah 42:1-4.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law. (ESV)

Alec Motyer writes:

Everything that speaks of Jesus delights the heart. He identified Himself as the ‘Servant of the LORD’ whom Isaiah foretold. He is the perfect Servant of the LORD, the revelation of truth and light for the whole world, the answer to our hopelessness, darkness, and bondage. But because He is the perfect Servant, He is also the model Servant, the true pattern for all who, through Him, are the LORD’s servants today. Very well then – first, the LORD’s servants are the LORD’s delight. On the one hand, this is our ambition and target, but on the other hand it is the truth about us, for once we belong to Jesus we are the Father’s delight, ‘accepted in the Beloved’ (Eph. 1:6). Secondly, the servant is first and foremost the servant of the Word of God. Do remember that this is what ‘judgment’ [ESV = ‘justice”] means in [verses] 1, 3, and 4: the decision He has made, the things He has declared to be true (in brief, what He has revealed to His people what we possess as the Word of God). The servant’s task is to bring this Word of truth to those bereft of the truth, making sure that it is God’s Word in all its truth (42:3) that is being shared, not some merely human opinion, church tradition or personal whim and fancy. Thirdly, the servant of the LORD does not give up on the job, but perseveres till the truth is fully established. Like Paul said (2 Corinthians 4:1): because we have received mercy we have received ministry, and we must not ‘lose heart,’ that is, leave the work half done, abandon the task, go soft like a decaying apple. How true all this is of Jesus: the Father’s delight, in His fidelity to the Word of God, carrying the job through until He could shout ‘It is finished!’ Every servant covets to be made like the Son of God in everything.

Sing or Read Hymn 261 “O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High!”

Thursday (9/8) Read and discuss Exodus 19:1-6.

On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (ESV)

It is striking that this entire chapter is given over to preparing to hear from the LORD. This shows both the seriousness with which we are to treat the Living God and also the seriousness with which we are to treat His Law. In order to grasp the Law it is necessary for us to remember that God had called Israel to be a Kingdom of Priests. They had the extraordinary vocation of being instruments for the reconciliation of the world to its Creator. Israel failed in this vocation but the LORD has given the very same calling to His Church. It is therefore vital that we understand what this vocation entails: Doug Stuart explains:
Israel’s assignment from God involved intermediation. They were not to be a people unto themselves, enjoying their special relationship with God and paying no attention to the rest of the world. Rather, they were to represent him to the rest of the world and attempt to bring the rest of the world to him. In other words, the challenge to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” represented the responsibility inherent in the original promise to Abraham in Gen 12:2-3: “You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you … and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Priests stand between God and humans to help bring the humans closer to God and to help dispense God’s truth, justice, favor, discipline, and holiness to humans. Israel was called to such a function. How? The answer is not spelled out in the present context, but it surely was to take place in four ways: (1) Israel would be an example to the people of other nations, who would see its holy beliefs and actions and be impressed enough to want to personally know the same God the Israelites knew. (2) Israel would proclaim the truth of God and invite people from other nations to accept him in faith as shown by confession of belief in him and acceptance of his covenant, as Jethro had already done. (3) Israel would intercede for the rest of the world by offering acceptable offerings to God and thus ameliorate the general distance between God and humankind. (4) Israel would keep the promises of God, preserving his word already spoken and recording his word as it was revealed to them so that once the fullness of time had come, anyone in the whole world could promptly benefit from that great body of divinely revealed truth, that is, the Scriptures.

Friday (9/9) Read and discuss Titus 2:11-15.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. (ESV)

Robert Yarborough writes:

Christ’s cleansing and claiming work has a distinct effect on those changed by it: they are “eager to do what is good.” … Paul conceives of them, not as optional activities or even virtuous ideals for believers, but as the inevitable outworking of Jesus’ signature saving actin in the light of His resurrection, which in conquering death gives life to mortal beings. The notion of a salvation through faith that generates zeal for good works is ubiquitous in Scripture and left its mark in the [Apostolic Fathers].

Paul envisions not a dogged acceptance of religious commandments but a real zeal. “A people … eager to do what is good” could be rendered literally “a zealot people when it comes to good works.” While religious fervor can be misguided and dangerous, its absence is no less ominous. Paul praised it among fellow Jews (Rom 10:2a), and Jesus expressed disgust for its lack: He will spew the lukewarm Laodiceans out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). A hostile social environment like Crete can tempt the church to lie low, nurse its grievances, and turn inward. Paul calls for renewed attention to Jesus’s death as a reminder that, in God’s economy, the grain of wheat that dies yields and abundant harvest.

Read or sing Hymn 252 “This is My Father’s World”

Saturday (9/10) Read and discuss Matthew 3:13-17.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (ESV)

Michael J. Wilkins writes:

The public baptism [of Jesus] provides concrete salvation-historical continuity between John’s and Jesus’ ministries. As Jesus identifies Himself with John in baptism, this represents an endorsement of John’s ministry and message and links Jesus’ cause to John’s. Moreover, as Jesus. Goes into the waters of baptism, He identifies with His people in their need; that is, He identifies with the sinful humanity He has come to save, and especially at this point in time, with the believing remnant of Israel who come to be baptized. Leon Morris paints a graphic picture:

“Jesus might well have been up there in front standing with John and calling on sinners to repent. Instead He was down there with the sinners, affirming His solidarity with them, making Himself one with them in the process of the salvation that He would in due course accomplish.”

Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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