Desperate for Mediatorial Grace [Family Worship lesson in Job 9:27–10:22]

What is Job’s biggest concern? Job 9:27–10:22 prepares us for the opening part of public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Job’s biggest concern is that, while he had been hoping for mercy through a Mediator, it does not seem to him that he actually has this with God. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The devotional explores Job's desperate transition from addressing his friends to directly pleading with God, highlighting his fear that he is being judged by strict justice rather than grace. It emphasizes Job's longing for a Mediator who can bridge the gap between humanity and the holy and just God, contrasting this need with Bildad's insufficient advice to simply improve one's behavior. Pastor applies Job's anguish to the terror believers may feel when their assurance of salvation is shaken by suffering or doubt. Rather than offering false comfort, the text encourages genuine wrestling with God, pointing to Christ as the ultimate Mediator who lays His hand on both parties. The message concludes with a call to rely on sovereign grace and the finished work of Jesus rather than personal merit or outward appearances of piety.

2026.07.14 Hopewell @Home ▫ Job 9:27–10:22

Read Job 9:27–10:22

Questions from the Scripture text: What does Job feel pressured to do (Job 9:27)? But why does he need to know how things stand between him and God (Job 9:28)? If grace is not genuinely offered, what does he not want to waste his time and effort on (Job 9:29-31)? But what is his only hope for grace (Job 9:32-33)? What would this Mediator accomplish (Job 9:34-35a)? But what is Job concerned might be the case at the moment (Job 9:35b)? How does Job feel (Job 10:1)? To Whom does he now speak (Job 10:2)? What does he ask Him not to do (verse 2a)? What does he ask Him to do (verse 2b)? What does he ask Him about in Job 10:3? What does he acknowledge, by way of question, in Job 10:4? In Job 10:5? What has God been doing (Job 10:6) with His “eyes” (Job 10:4)? Whom does He know Job not to be like (Job 10:7a)? What does He know that Job could never measure up to (verse 7b)? Upon what basis does Job plead for mercy—Whose work is he (Job 10:8), in both creation (Job 10:9-11) and redemption (Job 10:12)? Who is unable to see what God is thinking/doing (Job 10:13)? What does Job admit in Job 10:14-15? What now seems to have been the case about his best moments (Job 10:16)? What is he worried is the actual state of things between him and God (Job 10:17)? But if it is so, then what would have been better (Job 10:18-19)? And if it is so, then what would be better now (Job 10:20), because what is about to happen (Job 10:21-22)? 

What is Job’s biggest concern? Job 9:27–10:22 prepares us for the opening part of public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Job’s biggest concern is that, while he had been hoping for mercy through a Mediator, it does not seem to him that he actually has this with God. 

Job’s friends have been telling him that sinners, such as he is, should not expect anything good from God. But that is a problem for Job, because his hope has not been that he is good enough to get blessing from God, but that God would be gracious and merciful to Him, through a Mediator. 

Now, he says that he can’t hold his peace with God (Job 9:27), because he needs to know that he can be forgiven (Job 9:28). If God is not going to deal according to forgiveness and mercy (Job 9:29a), then all of the repenting in the world (Job 9:29-30) will still end with Job in hell (Job 9:31). What Job needs is a Mediator as big as God (Job 9:32-33), Who can negotiate forgiveness for him (Job 9:34-35a). But it is precisely this Mediator that Job is now afraid that he does not have (Job 9:35b). Dear reader, this is true of you. If Jesus Christ, is not both God and Man; and, if He is not the Mediator, in Whom you trust, to obtain for you pardon for sin and peace with God; then, you cannot hope for anything other than hell, however hard you try to do right.

Even though Job is still in bitterness, he has no time to lose, but must speak with God (Job 10:1, cf. Job 7:11). He just must plead for mercy (Job 10:2), because he knows that the justice of God is not like the justice of men (Job 10:4-6). By God’s own grace, there is a difference between Job and unconverted men (Job 10:7a), but this difference isn’t enough to satisfy God’s justice (verse 7). If God is going to execute justice, apart from grace, then He will not end up doing Job any better than the ones from whom He has made Job different (Job 10:3). Dear reader, our only hope must be that God will deal with us according to mercy and grace!

Job is perplexed, because just as God is the one Who created his body (Job 10:8-11), so also God is the One Who has given life and covenant-love to his spirit (Job 10:12). Why, then, would God treat him the same as an unregenerate, wicked man (Job 10:14)? Job knows that his righteous character and conduct are not such that would earn anything from God (Job 10:15), but that he still deserves divine wrath (Job 10:16-17). 

And he cannot understand on what basis the Lord is dealing with him now (Job 10:13). But, apart from grace, it would have been better to be stillborn (Job 10:18-19), and without grace he can expect nothing but Hell itself (Job 10:21-22), so if he cannot have a relationship with God based upon grace, he pleads that he would have no interaction with God at all (Job 10:20). 

Eventually, Job would put his hand over his mouth for saying things like this (cf. Job 40:4, Job 42:6). Since we know that we cannot perceive God’s disposition toward us by our circumstances, we need to draw our conclusions from His Word. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust Him for His grace [as His Word says, in the way that it says]. In God’s mercy to us, we can look back to the cross of Jesus Christ; and, look up, by faith, to an enthroned and interceding Christ. We must not listen to those who say that the just and holy God would never listen to us. He has given to us Jesus Christ, the Mediator Who lays His hand upon us both. And, through Christ, we come to Him in our bitterness and hope in Him for mercy, grace, and forgiveness, as those who are the work of His hands twice over—in both creation and redemption.

What bitterness have you experienced that seems to say that there is no grace or mercy for you? Where can you look, to hope for grace and mercy, when you are in such bitterness? How do you know that there is such a Mediator, and there is such forgiveness? What use do you make of this in such situations?

Sample prayer:  Lord, You are not a man, as we are, that we would answer You or deal with You. But You have given us Your own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ as the Mediator between us, Who may lay His hand on us both. By Christ, You have taken the rod away from us. And by Christ, You have graciously worked in us, so that we are not what we were outside of Him. You have granted us life and favor, and Your care as preserved our spirit. So, gather us to Yourself now, in Christ, giving us a taste of that heaven we will have with You forever, in Him, in Whose Name we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP80 “Hear, O Hear, Us” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”

Only One Savior for All Times [Children's Catechism 61—Theology Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Children's Catechism question 61—especially explaining how Jesus is the only Savior that sinners could ever have.

Q61. How were pious persons saved before the coming of Christ? By believing in a Savior to come. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The lesson clarifies that pious individuals before Christ were saved by faith in a coming Savior, not by animal sacrifices which could not remove sin. It highlights Genesis 15:6 to show that Abraham's righteousness came through belief, establishing a continuity of salvation by faith across both testaments. Pastor explains the early biblical hope found in Genesis 3 and 4, where Adam and Eve anticipated a Descendant who would crush the serpent's head. This expectation underscores the necessity of an eternal Savior Whose atonement matches God's infinite glory. Ultimately, the message affirms that salvation has always been rooted in trusting in Jesus Christ alone as the promised Redeemer.

The Peril of Laziness [Family Worship lesson in Proverbs 26:13–16]

Why should we watch against laziness? Proverbs 26:13–16 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that laziness is a very deadly folly. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: This passage exposes the great danger of laziness. Pastor describes how the lazy person fabricates excuses, mimics activity without making real progress, and feels weary simply at the thought of work. A central theme is the delusion of self-wisdom, where the lazy individual considers himself superior to those who act justly. This hardened state of foolishness leaves little hope for deliverance. The message concludes with a call to seek God's mercy and cultivate genuine diligence in life.

2026.07.13 Hopewell @Home ▫ Proverbs 26:13–16

Read Proverbs 26:13–16

Questions from the Scripture text: Who is the subject of each of these four verses? What two things does he say in Proverbs 26:13? What is he like in Proverbs 26:14? In which specific situation? What does he do in Proverbs 26:15a? Why (verse 15b)? How wise is he, in his own eyes (Proverbs 26:16, cf. Proverbs 26:12)?

Why should we watch against laziness? Proverbs 26:13–16 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that laziness is a very deadly folly.

As Solomon has been preparing his son to be king, he has painted for him a cautionary portrait of the fool in Proverbs 26:1-12, where eleven of the verses specifically mentioned the fool. Now, he paints for him a cautionary portrait of a specific sort of fool: the sluggard. “Lazy man” appears in each verse of this text, marking it off as a unit. As the passage progresses, we can see the lazy man’s existence grinding to a halt—until he perishes.

What the lazy man says. The lazy man is an excuse-maker. He doesn’t admit to being lazy. He gives what seems like a good reason: I would die, if I left the house to go to work. Beware of excuses for why working doesn’t “work” for you.

What the lazy man does. The lazy man seems to move, but makes no progress. His movement is restricted by being attached to his comfort like a door is attached by its hinges. Many are they, who are not so much trying to accomplish work as trying to appear to have been working (cf. Ephesians 6:6). Now, the lazy man isn’t just stuck at home, but to his couch.

What the lazy man feels. The lazy man is wearied by everything, not just by those things upon which we actually spend ourselves. His hand doesn’t go to the bowl to retrieve something; it hides there. It was common to eat, reclined on a couch, so the paralysis of the lazy man is now complete, on his couch, with his hand frozen in the bowl. And he dies.

What the lazy man thinks. The lazy man isn’t laying there, frozen, dying, bemoaning his laziness. He is congratulating himself that he wasn’t so foolish as those seven men who could answer sensibly (Proverbs 26:16). If the man wise in his own eyes was the advanced state of the fool in Proverbs 26:12, then the lazy man in Proverbs 26:16 is the most hopeless sort of fool available. Truly, if you find yourself in the portrait of the sluggard, you ought to be crying out to God of converting mercy!

What excuses do you make for not working? When are you tempted to work as an eye-pleaser, rather than to accomplish things? When have you been wearied in mind and soul by things that were not actually wearying your body? When have you thought yourself clever not to put in so much effort as others?

Sample prayer: Lord, please keep us from being the lazy man—especially in the care of our souls. Thank You for giving Christ to be our righteousness and sacrifice. Please make us diligence by His life and wisdom, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

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

2026.07.12 Lord's Day Livestreams (live at 10:10a, 11:10a, and 3p)

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2026.07.10 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 2:8–10

Read Ephesians 2:8–10

Questions from the Scripture text: By what have we been saved (Ephesians 2:8)? Through what? And not of whom? Of whom is it a gift? If it is a gift of God, what is it not of (Ephesians 2:9)? What does this prevent anyone from doing? What are we, according to Ephesians 2:10? What has been done to us in Christ Jesus? For what were we created? From where did these good works come? For what purpose did God prepare these good works beforehand?

How is God’s glorious grace displayed in the redeemed? Ephesians 2:8–10 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s glorious grace is displayed in both our justification apart from works and our sanctification unto doing good works. 

In Ephesians 2:1-7, the apostle wrote about our utter deadness in sin, as the black velvet backdrop against which shine the diamonds of God’s rich mercy, great love, and exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness. Ephesians 2:6 took us back to Christ’s seat, from Ephesians 1:20–23—to the highest height of heaven, whereupon God has placed this dazzling trophy of His grace.

But that is not the only place where it is displayed. God displays the glory of His grace down in the nitty gritty of our lives on earth as well, both in our justification and in our sanctification.

In our justification, God is pleased to display His glory in what we do not do. We do not save ourselves; we are saved by grace. Grace supplies righteousness, because we have only guiltiness to offer. Grace absorbs wrath for us, because we have nothing worthful with which to atone. Grace supplies life for us, because we have only death in us. All of this is supplied in Christ, but we are unable even to produce from ourselves the faith that makes us Christ’s and Christ ours. So grace supplies the faith too; even that is not of ourselves.

In our sanctification, God is pleased to display the glory of what He has done through what we do. Having invalidated all boasting by saving us only through union with Christ, the Lord begins to turn that black velvet into a mirror in which the dazzling glory of Christ’s goodness is reflected. 

Those who began dead in sin actually begin to do good works! Not meritorious works, to be sure, but genuinely good. God beings demonstrating His workmanship (us, Ephesians 2:10) by the good works that we do. A Christian is a good-works-doing creature that did not previously exist, created in the same Christ through Whom the original creation was made. 

God is displaying His workmanship when believers submit and learn under their shepherd-teachers (Ephesians 4:7–12). God is displaying His workmanship when believers study doctrine to get it right instead of “celebrating diversity of thought” (Ephesians 4:13–14). God is displaying His workmanship when no church member is dispensable, but the God-assigned role of each is understood to be used by Christ in building up all the others (Ephesians 4:15–16). God is displaying His workmanship when believers refuse to be controlled by desires and feelings, but rather control them with truth (Ephesians 4:17–24). God is displaying His workmanship when believers do good to one another and take care not to offend one another, not to be quick to be offended, and to be quick to forgive offenses (Ephesians 4:17–5:2). God is displaying His workmanship when believers refuse to live in the fleshly or careless way of this dark world, but as the children of light whom they have been re-created to be (Ephesians 5:3–21). God is displaying His workmanship when believing wives submit to their husband (Ephesians 5:22–24). God is displaying His workmanship when husbands give themselves for their wives’ sanctification (Ephesians 5:25–33). God is displaying His workmanship when children honor and obey their parents in the Lord (Ephesians 6:1–3). God is displaying His workmanship when fathers take the lead in their children’s discipline and instruction as something that belongs to the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). God is displaying His workmanship when employers and employees serve Christ first and foremost in all workplace interactions (Ephesians 6:5-9). And that is why all of these works must be supernaturally sustained by God through spiritual means that e has appointed (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Where is this great glory of God displayed? In the most mundane, everyday lives of those who began as darkness but whom He has created anew as children of light. Good works are essential, even before our needing to be holy for admittance into glory, because God has given them such a central place in displaying His glory in our sanctification. God prepared them beforehand for this!

How do you emphasize your not doing anything for your right standing with God? How do you emphasize the transforming power of God’s sanctifying grace in the transformed character of what you do? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for glorifying Yourself by making us right with Yourself entirely by Your grace in what Christ has done outside of us. And, thank You for glorifying Yourself by making us to live holy lives in good works. Please make us to walk, by Your grace, in those good works that You prepared beforehand for us to do, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH433 “Amazing Grace!” 

2026.07.10 Hopewell @Home ▫ Zephaniah 3:14–20

Read Zephaniah 3:14–20

Questions from the Scripture text: What four things do v14 command? To be done with what? To be done by whom—called by what three names? Why—what has YHWH taken away (v15a)? Whom has He cast out (v15b)? Who is He (v15c)? Where is He? What will they see no more (v15d)? To what does v16a refer? What will happen on that day? To whom is it spoken? What are they not to do (v16b)? What are they called in v16c? What are they not to let happen? Who is where (v17a)? Whose is He? What will He do to them (v17b)? What will He do over them (v17c)? With what? What will He do them (v17d)? With what? What will He dover them (v17e)? With what? Whom will He gather—over what do they sorrow (v18a)? Whom are they among (v18b)? What is a burden to those who sorrow over the appointed assembly (v18c)? With what command does v19a begin? What will He do with whom in v19b? And what to whom in v19c? And what to whom in v19d? For what will He appoint the lame and driven out (v19e)? In what places (v19f)? To when do v20a, v20b refer (cf. v16, 19a)? What two things will He do to them? And what will He give them (v20c)? Among whom (v20d)? By doing what (v20e)? As assured by what (v20f)?

What will God’s remnant people do? Zephaniah 3:14–20 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s remnant people will rejoice over the God Who rejoices over them.  

The book began with the all-consuming blaze of God’s wrath, and chapter 3 began with woe, specifically on Jerusalem. What an amazing change has occurred, now, in v14. How can Jerusalem sing, and shout, and be glad, and rejoice? And with all her heart, at that?!

The answer, as we know from the whole of Scripture, is Christ. And we see that in some important ways.

Only Christ could atone. The rejoicing (v14) is in response to, among other things, the removal of her judgments (v15). The enemy would be brought as a judgment upon their sin against God, but when God had forgiven them, their enemy would be cast out.

Only Christ can be King. v15 says something amazing. YHWH is the King of Israel. The Davidic line is about to all but disappear in exile. But the Lord will preserve it, according to His promise (cf. 2Sam 7). More remarkably, the Son of David will also be the Son of God (cf. Rom 1:4), YHWH Himself.

Only Christ can be Priest. v15 goes on to say that YHWH is in her midst. In purifying her, He would remove from her midst those who rejoice in pride (v11), and leave in her midst a meek and humble people (v12). But now, it is YHWH Himself Who is in her midst. He humbled Himself to be found in shape as a man (cf. Php 2:6–8), so that He could be selected from among men as their Priest (cf. Heb 5:1–11). Christ Himself is the true Holy of Holies. It is by His priesthood that YHWH is in the midst of His people.

Only Christ is great enough to be the full object of the delight in v17. Here is a truly wonderful verse. YHWH, the Lord God of all, being mighty to save… out of joy, love, and delight. God, of course, is immovable. Nothing can affect Him; He affects everything. But there is, from within God, such divine love and delight as is the original after which the joy in v14 is commanded. She is to sing (v14), because YHWH rejoices over her with singing (v17). She is to be glad and rejoice (v14), because YHWH rejoices over her with gladness (v17). She is liberated for shouts of joy (v14), by the quiet from her enemies that His love has given her (v17). 

But the big question is: how can it be that a mere creature would be the object of the full joy, love, and delight of the infinite YHWH? Only because God the Son became a Man, so that we might be united to Him by faith. It is in Him that the Lord has loved and delighted in us before the world began (cf. Eph 1:3–14). 

It is in Christ that the Lord has covenanted to be gracious to His people. And this passage is dripping with covenant language. “daughter of Zion” and “Israel” are covenant names (v14). “YHWH your God” (v17) employs the possessive of the covenant bond; He is covenantally theirs, and they are covenantally His. 

What great glory there is in this passage! Jesus came, and Jesus spoke to us, so that His joy may dwell in us, and that we might have it to the full (cf. Jn 15:11). But, those who will rejoice with Christ’s joy currently grieve with Christ’s grief. Those who sorrow over the appointed assembly in v18 have had much cause for grief in the corruption of Israel’s worship assemblies, and will have more cause for grief in the interruption of those worship assemblies by the exile. This grief is turned into the greatest joy; His people, and their appointed worship assemblies, will be restored to purity and praise and fame (v19–20), not just in Israel but among all the peoples of the earth (v20). The Lord give you to be His by union with Christ, dear reader.

What has been done about the judgments that you deserve? What will happen with all of your enemies? Who is your King? How is He king? Who is your Priest? What does He do as Priest? What place does joy and singing have in your Christian life? What place does joy and singing have in your hope? What effect does it have upon you, when worship is corrupted or interrupted?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for rejoicing over us, to make us rejoice over You. Grant that trusting in Christ, and being united to Christ, we would be conformed to Christ and His joy, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song” or TPH448 “Union with Thee”

2026.07.09 Hopewell @Home ▫ Mark 7:1–23

Read Mark 7:1–23

Questions from the Scripture text: Who come to Jesus in Mark 7:1? Where did they come from? With what do they find fault (Mark 7:2)? In what manner did they wash their hands (Mark 7:3)? What else did they baptize (Mark 7:4)? What did they ask (Mark 7:5)? Does Jesus answer their question? Whom does Jesus say prophesied about them (Mark 7:6)? What did Isaiah say they did with their lips? What did Isaiah say about their hearts? What did Jesus say about their worship (Mark 7:7)? Where did their worship come from, that made it vain (verse 7, Mark 7:8, Mark 7:9)? What does Mark 7:10 say God commanded? What do Mark 7:11-12 say got in the way of obeying God’s command? What did Jesus say defiles a man (makes him unclean, Mark 7:15)? When He explains this to His disciples in Mark 7:20-23, what does He describe as the manner in which what comes out of us shows us to be unclean? What does Jesus say about all foods in Mark 7:19? With whom are people disagreeing, when they try to keep the Old Testament food laws?

What are the dangers in religious traditions? Mark 7:1–23 prepares us for the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that religious traditions that don’t come from Scripture make God’s own commandments small by comparison, and keep us from paying attention to the true realities involved in our drawing near to Him. 

The religious leaders are indignant that the disciples of Jesus don’t wash hands before eating (Mark 7:2). 

“These backwards Galileans!” they must have thought—don’t they know that up in Jerusalem we have a well-established tradition that all Bible-believing Jews have followed for hundreds of years (Mark 7:3-5)?!

Of course, the disciples are more interested in listening to whatever Jesus says—even if they don’t always understand it well. Jesus had to explain to them that with His coming, all foods are now declared clean (Mark 7:19). Jesus had to explain to them that the point of the food laws was to impress us with how easily we become unclean (Mark 7:20).

Jesus had to point out that our uncleanness is far worse than the food laws ever even pictured. Every sin that comes out of us does so precisely because our hearts are cesspools of filthiness (Mark 7:21-23). As a famous late preacher summarized, “We aren’t sinners because we sin; we sin because we’re sinners!”

Well, it’s one thing to struggle to grasp what Jesus is saying because we are dull-minded. The Pharisees and Scribes had a worse problem. Their struggle was because man-made religious ideas were so big to them that the commandments of God were small by comparison (Mark 7:6-9).

So Jesus puts them on notice: Isaiah 29:13 (cf. Colossians 2:22-23) was written about you! No worship or righteousness can ever be defined by the traditions of man. Only God can define what is true worship. Only God can define what is true righteousness.

Isaiah’s words are quite sharp. All worship that comes from the ideas of man instead of the command of God is “vain.” That means it is empty, invalid, and worthless. Following such practices shows that our “hearts are far from God.” 

Would you like for God to call your worship to Him worthless? Would you like for His assessment of you to be that your heart is far from Him? Then, simply take something that man made up, and treat it as if it is spiritually meaningful!

Worse, it will be a distraction from following what Jesus says to think and do. And we already have enough difficulty with that, don’t we?

What “Christian” ideas or practices were invented by men and not God? How can we squash the idea or feeling that such ideas or practices are spiritually meaningful? What religious traditions have you had to give up, in order to worship God only in the way that He has said? What religious traditions might you still need to let go of in your heart? How are you clinging to God Himself instead?

Sample prayer:  Lord, please forgive us, and help us, for there are so many ways in which we have treated the ideas and traditions of men as if they are spiritually meaningful. We are tempted to take spiritual comfort, or even spiritual pride, in things that are actually offensive to You. We have neglected how from out of our hearts proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile us. So, forgive us by Christ’s blood, we ask, and make us alive unto You for righteousness by His ressurection power, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP119M “O How I Love Your Law” or TPH101A “Of Steadfast Love and Justice, LORD”

2026.07.08 Midweek Meeting Livestream (live at 6:30p)

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