2026.08.10 Hopewell @Home ▫ Proverbs 26:20–22

Read Proverbs 26:20–22

Questions from the Scripture text: Whom must we avoid? Proverbs 26:20–22 looks forward to the opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that we must avoid.  

Blessed are the peacemakers, for the shall be called the sons of God (cf. Matthew 5:9). Whether a king, as Solomon was preparing his son to be, or someone of the most lowly class, we ought to be careful about with whom we surround ourselves. For the king, this touches especially his court of officials. For you, it may be your inner circles of friends. In either case, as God hates the one who stirs up strife among the brethren (cf. Proverbs 6:19), we must watch especially against either being such an one, or surrounding ourselves with them. What person must we not be, and with whom must we not surround ourselves?

The gossip. The talebearer (Proverbs 26:20b), or whisperer, is always mentioning something about someone. Almost imperceptibly, conflict arises around him. Your life may be full of strife as with a fire, and then, if you have the wisdom to eliminate the gossip, you find that the strife dies out. 

The quarreler. The contentious man (Proverbs 26:21b) is that quarrelsome person who seems always to judge, always to correct, everything that everyone says. Nothing is said or done correctly enough for him, and every correction is important to make. Where there is not yet any strife, he is sure to kindle it. If we are to avoid being this one, we must learn to be slow to speak. And as we realize that someone else false into this category, we should limit our exposure to them as much as may be done righteously.

The listener to gossip. This is primarily a warning to ourselves about how much the whispered words of the talebearer really do affect us. “Tasty trifles” (Proverbs 26:22a) refers to something readily and eagerly swallowed down. And once swallowed down, those words take up residence in the “inner belly” (verse 22b). We must not think that we can “deal with” a gossip by simply letting them talk themselves out. If we hear it, it will affect us. And we must note also those who are willing to listen to gossip. For, their judgment is made less valuable to us by being necessarily skewed by the gossip they have heard. 

If someone begins to gossip, let us directly tell them that our Master does not permit us to listen to such speech. Or, if we lack the fortitude to do so, let us be quick to remove ourselves. And, let us also note those who continue to give that gossip a ready ear, so that we may be careful not to give so much heed their own opinions and judgments. 

Strife is opposed to the nature of God and the design of man. He dwells in perfect fellowship and adoration among the Godhead from all eternity. And we were created for fellowship with Him, and imaging His fellowship in the fellowship that we have with one another. It is no wonder that God hates the one who sows discord among the brethren. So, let us be careful that we would neither be, nor surround ourselves with, the gossip, the quarreler, or the listener to gossip.

In what situations are you tempted to gossip? With whom are you tempted to be quarrelsome? With which people might you need to spend less time? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, we praise You, Who dwell in perfect fellowship, within Yourself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And, we thank You for creating us for fellowship with You, and to image You in our fellowship with each other. Forgive us, for how we contribute to strife. By Your Spirit, give us wisdom, according to Your Word, to note those who sow discord, and to avoid them. And grant us grace that we might be those peacemakers who will be called the sons of God, we ask in the Name of the Son of God, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP197 “Christian Unity” or TPH400 “Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me” 

2026.08.09 Lord's Day Livestreams (live at 10:10a, 11:10a, and 3p)

To tune in for the Lord's Day streams, we recommend that you visit the livestream page.

2026.08.08 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 3:1–6

Read Ephesians 3:1–6

Questions from the Scripture text: Whose prisoner does the apostle call himself in Ephesians 3:1? For whom? How does the apostle describe his call to be apostle to the Gentiles (Ephesians 3:2)? What did God make known to the apostle (Ephesians 3:3)? How did God make it known to him? How does he expect the Ephesians to learn it (Ephesians 3:4)? When was the mystery of Christ not made known to whom (Ephesians 3:5a)? And by Whom has it now been made known to whom (verse 5)? Who would be heirs (Ephesians 3:6)? With whom and of what? Of what would they be partakers? Through What?

What is the mystery? Ephesians 3:1–6 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the mystery is God’s revelation that, since it is in Christ that we become heirs and partakers of the promise, this adoption and fulfillment are for people of all nations. 

This passage brings up (again, cf. Ephesians 1:9) the mystery of the gospel—not a spooky secret that we have to figure out, but rather a deep truth that we can only know by God’s revealing it to us. 

It is this glorious mystery is what is going to provoke the apostle first to prayer in Ephesians 3:14, and then to exhortation in Ephesians 4:1, ff. The apostle begins to say, “for this reason,” and he will pick up that line of thought again in Ephesians 3:14 with “I bow my knees…” And the apostle begins to say, “I, the prisoner of Christ Jesus,” which he will pick up again in Ephesians 4:1 with, “beseech you to walk.

 But before he gets to those things, he is going to reflect upon how marvelous it is that he even knows this mystery, can pray this prayer, and can make these exhortations. In these six verses, he presents to us himself as the writer of the mystery, all (and especially Gentile) believers as the receivers of the mystery, the Spirit as the revealer of the mystery, and Christ as the revealed One in the mystery.

Paul is the writer of the mystery. How glorious! At one point, his life-mission was to make into his prisoner anyone who honored Christ as Lord. Now, he is content to be made a prisoner for the sake of Christ (Ephesians 3:1), who is his Lord. At one point, he despised the Gentiles as worthless. Now, he preaches the gospel by which the Lord gathers them in as His treasured people. What glorious grace God has shown to Paul!

And the Gentiles are the receivers of the mystery. God is now telling them with full clarity what He had previously told only in darker shadows even to the Jews. Paul wrote briefly of it in Ephesians 1:9, but now he is opening up this wonderful truth that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, even the Gentiles are of the same body, and even the Gentiles are partakers of the promise. What God began to promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 has turned out to be a glorious blessing indeed upon all the nations!

Further, the apostle tells us of the Spirit, Who is the Revealer of this mystery that he is writing and the Gentiles receiving. It is God the Spirit Who has revealed the mystery to the apostle (Ephesians 3:3) and God the Spirit Who has revealed the mystery to the other apostles and prophets (Ephesians 3:5), and by implication God the Spirit Who is revealing the mystery through what Paul is writing (Ephesians 3:3). Paul knew that his letters, which were to be read in the churches just as the other Old Testament writings, were Spirit-inspired Scripture. What a glorious thing it is to have our copies of the written Word of God, the revelation of the mystery of God, by the very Spirit of God!

Finally, the apostle writes of Him who is revealed in the mystery. Many focus on the Gentiles as the “content” of the mystery. And it is a wonderful discovery that the Spirit here makes to us of just how abundant is the world-wide international spread of God’s redemption in the gospel age. But, the mystery itself is the mystery of Christ (Ephesians 3:4)—that the promise is partaken of in Christ through the gospel (v6). In this sense, the mystery is something new and glorious to the Jews, even as much as to the Gentiles. God Himself has become our Redeemer; God Himself is the cornerstone of His own temple, having become a Man in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And, it is by virtue of the fact that salvation comes through union with Christ that we become “fellow heirs, of the same body.” Salvation is through Christ, Who is God in the flesh, come to unite us to Himself, in Himself. Hallelujah!

No wonder that, before getting on to how this makes him pray, and how this calls for us to live, the apostle first spends a little time, urging us to remember and reflect upon the glorious mystery of the gospel!

Why is it amazing that your people (whomever they are) would be included in the church? Who is speaking to you when you read the Bible, or hear it truly preached? In Whom are you redeemed? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You and praise You for the mystery of Christ—that it would be God the Son Himself, Who is the new Adam, and that by being made His body, we become joint inheritors with Him. You worked powerfully to redeem us, and powerfully to reveal to us that redemption. Now, give us to understand in a way that strengthens, gladdens, and motivates us in Him, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP72B “Nomads Will Bow” or TPH87A “Zion, Founded on the Mountains”

2026.08.07 Hopewell @Home ▫ Habakkuk 1:12–2:1

Read Habakkuk 1:12–2:1

Questions from the Scripture text: Whom does Habakkuk now address (Habakkuk 1:12)? What does he ask (verse 12a)? What does he call Him (verse 12b)? What does he conclude about God’s people (verse 12c)? What does he conclude about the purpose of the Chaldeans (verse 12d–e)? What does he know about God’s character (Habakkuk 1:13a–b)? What difficulty does he have with God’s use of the Chaldeans (verse 13c–e)? What does he ask about men (Habakkuk 1:14)? What do the Chaldeans do that reduces the Judeans to that (Habakkuk 1:15)? But how will these Chaldeans respond to their success (Habakkuk 1:16)? What difficulty does Habakkuk express in his question (Habakkuk 1:17)? What will Habakkuk do, having asked that question (Habakkuk 2:1a–c)? What does he assume that he will need (verse 1d)?

What should perplexed Christians do? Habakkuk 1:12–2:1 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 perplexed Christians should cling to the Lord, sure of His character, and expecting to be corrected by Him.

Habakkuk has one significant advantage over Job. From the start, God is talking to him. But this advantage has not fully resolved his problem. He knows the character of God. He has heard the plan of God. He understands the explanation of God. But he is having difficulty putting all of these together. God is sovereign, faithful, wise, just, good, and holy. It is the last of these that now gives him difficulty.

God is sovereign. “Are You not from everlasting?” Habakkuk acknowledges the difference between his perspective and God’s perspective. It is not only that God knows, and can see, infinitely more than Habakkuk can. It is that, from all eternity, God has planned what He will do. He is sovereign.

God is also faithful. Notice how Habakkuk addresses Him. By the covenant Name, YHWH. By His covenant identity: “Holy One” is an abbreviation of “Holy One of Israel,” used of the Lord dozens of times in the Old Testament, especially in Isaiah. And Habakkuk especially addresses the Lord as his own: note how he uses the possessive “my” twice. God has affirmed that He has not abandoned His covenant with Israel, but rather is keeping it, and Habakkuk responds by holding onto God’s faithfulness to His covenant and to His people. When you are perplexed by what the Lord is doing in your life, or in the church, it is transformative to come to terms with the fact that He is the One Who is doing it (sovereign), and that it is in faithfulness to His people (you!) that He is doing it!

God is wise. “We shall not die.” God knows what He is doing. If He is the One Who is in control, and if He is acting in faithfulness to His people, faithfulness to His covenant, and faithfulness to His promises, then that means that the people of God cannot be eliminated. Surely, Habakkuk is still perplexed about some things, but one thing that he is sure about is that Israel will not die.

God is just. Habakkuk’s initial complaint was that the Lord was not doing anything about the violence in Judah (cf. Habakkuk 1:2–4). The Lord’s description of the Chaldeans has been terrifying, but it is justified. So now Habakkuk answers “O YHWH, You have appointed them for judgment.” He has learned something. He doesn’t completely understand how it all fits together, but he acknowledges that the Lord is righteous and just in whatever He does. It is part of our Christian growth to assimilate the fact that everything the Lord does, He does in faithfulness, wisdom, and justice.

God is good. He gives us the correction that we need. “O Rock, You have marked them for correction.” The noun in Habakkuk 1:12e is the root of the verb in Habakkuk 2:1d. When Judah needs rebuke/correction, the Lord gives it. When Habakkuk needs rebuke/correction, the Lord gives it. He is giving what is good for His people.

God is holy. In Habakkuk 1:13, we begin to see Habakkuk’s difficulty. How can the holy God, Whose “eyes” are too pure to tolerate evil, patiently endure for the even-more-wicked Chaldeans to be an instrument of correction upon Judah? How can He let His people be treated like fish (Habakkuk 1:14), by this ruthless nation (Habakkuk 1:15), who continuously empty and refill their net (Habakkuk 1:17), while worshiping the idol of their ruthlessness for the worldly goods that it obtains for them (Habakkuk 1:16)?

It is important to see that, as Habakkuk, wrestles with these things, He does not do so as one who is judging God or contending with God. He does so as one who just doesn’t get it—and who hopes to receive the correction that he needs. In fact, he is eager for God’s reply, eager for God’s correction. He stands watch for it (Habakkuk 2:1a). He positions himself to see it as soon as possible (verse 1b). He watches for what the Lord will say to him (verse 1c). He even anticipates modifying his own responses based upon the correction that he expects to receive (verse 1d). What a way to describe how we all ought to incline toward God’s Word, and even to submit to it in prospect, as we look forward to it!

Due to our creatureliness, and especially our ongoing sinfulness, there is much that will confound us in the providence of God. But we may cling to Him, sure of His character, and awaiting the correction of the Word.

What current situations in your life, or in Christ’s church, are perplexing you? What aspects of God’s character are you more sure of, than you are of anything that you think about these situations? In what actions and activities are you waiting upon God’s Word for correction? With what attitude are you waiting for that correction?

Sample prayer: Lord, we praise You for Your perfect sovereignty, faithfulness, wisdom, justice, goodness, and holiness. We confess that, when we cannot make sense of things, it is because we need correction. Please give to us the correction that we need. And please give us humility and zeal as we wait for it, we ask through Christ, AMEN! 

Suggested songs: ARP131 “My Heart Is Not Exalted, Lord” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”

2026.08.06 Hopewell @Home ▫ Mark 8:22–38

 Read Mark 8:22–38

Questions from the Scripture text: Where did Jesus come in Mark 8:22? What did they beg Jesus to do to the blind man? What did Jesus do by touching the man’s hand in Mark 8:23? Then what did Jesus do to the man’s eyes? When Jesus put His hands on the man again, what did He ask? How did the man answer (Mark 8:24)? What does Jesus do when He touches the man the third time (Mark 8:25)? Where does Jesus send the man in Mark 8:26? What does He tell him not to do? Where are Jesus and the disciples, when they have the conversation in Mark 8:27-33? What does Jesus ask them first (Mark 8:27)? What do they answer (Mark 8:28)? What does He ask them in Mark 8:29a? What does Peter answer (verse 29b)? What does He warn them in Mark 8:30? What does He begin to teach them in Mark 8:31? What does Jesus do to Him in Mark 8:32? What does Jesus call Peter in Mark 8:33? What explanation does Jesus give for that? Whom does He call to Himself for the rest of the lesson in Mark 8:34? What does He say someone who desires to follow Him must do? Whom does He say will lose his life in Mark 8:35? For what purpose does He say we should lose our life? What will we lose if we gain the whole world by being ashamed of Christ (Mark 8:36-37)? Of whom must we not be ashamed (Mark 8:38)? Of what must we not be ashamed? If are ashamed of Jesus and His words now, who will be ashamed of us and when?

What can believers expect in this life? Mark 8:22–38 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seventeen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers should expect crosses of their own, as they follow a crucified Christ. 

Christ works in His own sovereign way. He could have healed the blind man, immediately, with a word—or even simply by willing it. But He takes many steps to heal him. He touches him, as He leads him by the hand out of town (Mark 8:23). He spits on his eyes. He touches him again, putting His hands upon him, when he asks him if he saw anything. He touches him a third time (Mark 8:25), when He puts His hands on his eyes, turning them upward. It’s quite the process!

Similarly, He works in His own sovereign way in our lives. Those who follow Him must deny themselves and take up their crosses to do so (Mark 8:34). Each disciple will have his own particular cross. His life is not his own anymore; he must lose it to Christ, in order to gain it by Christ (Mark 8:35). In particular, believers must be prepared (and willing) to be scorned for Christ’s sake (Mark 8:38).

Christ’s sovereign way is a perfectly saving way. It is not only in our lives that Christ often operates opposite our expectations. He did this especially in His own life. He did not come to be famous, but to die and rise again for sinners. He forbade the blind man to tell about Him (Mark 8:26). And after Peter confesses Him to be Christ (Mark 8:29), He also warns the disciples not to tell anyone about Him (Mark 8:30). He does not build His kingdom by impressiveness of reputation. He came to suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and after three days, rise again (Mark 8:31). By opposing this (Mark 8:32), Peter goes from confessing Christ to being a mouthpiece for Satan (Mark 8:33). And we know that it was in following His own perfect plan that He atoned for our sin, and conquered Satan and death. 

Dear believing reader, whatever cross your Redeemer has assigned to you is the right and best one. He has already taken the atoning and redeeming one, and He carries you through only those crosses by which He applies that redemption. 

In what current situation in your life has the Lord’s wisdom puzzled you? What, ultimately, is He doing?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we praise You for Your perfect wisdom, and thank You for the glorious grace in which You gave Yourself to become a man, to suffer, to be scorned, and to die the accursed death of the cross for us. And we thank You for applying Your wisdom in how You sovereignly rule our lives. Please give us grace to be content under crosses—to trust You as You carry us through them. 

Suggested songs: ARP22A “My God, My God” or TPH131A “Not Haughty Is My Heart”

2026.08.02 Lord's Day Livestreams (live at 10:10a, 11:10a, and 3p)

To tune in for the Lord's Day streams, we recommend that you visit the livestream page.

2026.08.01 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 2:19–22

Read Ephesians 2:19–22

Questions from the Scripture text: What are they no longer (Ephesians 2:19)? What are they now with the saints? Of what are they now members? Upon what were they built (Ephesians 2:20)? Who is the chief cornerstone? What role does He have in the building (Ephesians 2:21)? Into what does the building grow, in Him? Who else is being built together in this building (Ephesians 2:22)? For what? For Whom? In Whom?

How is our peace with God and one another perfected? Ephesians 2:19–22 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that our peace with God and one another is perfected by our being built upon, and growing in, Christ, by His Word. 

This passage gives us three pictures of the nearness into which Christ has brought us toward each other and toward God. 

First, we are fellow citizens with the saints. We identify with one another like two people who are living in a foreign land and discover that they are from the same hometown. We are living in one place, but we come from another, and our identity is there—in “Saintville.” Whenever we meet a fellow city-zen from Saintville, we should find that they are “our people.” We should speak the same dialect, fondly remember the same landmarks, and serve the interests of and defend the honor of our city.

Second, we are members of the house of God. Before getting into Ephesians 2:20-21, this is a way of saying that we are “family.” We are stuck with one another, so we need to overlook offenses and be more tolerant of quirks. These are the people with whom we can be ourselves. But it also means that we are to bear the family resemblance and live by the house rules. God Himself is Head of the household, so it’s not really “up to us” to decide what a “family” (this family) should be.

Third, we are parts of a building. This can get uncomfortable for us, because in order for the stones to be fit into a building, and especially a great building like a temple, they must be very precisely tooled into line with the foundation. Christ, the corner stone, establishes shape and size and direction for the rest of the foundation. And the apostles and prophets (the latter, the preachers of the NT church, including but not limited to the former) are extensions from Christ who determine everything about what will be built upon them.

Being built is not particularly enjoyable for “living stones.” Parts that don’t fit must be knocked off, rough edges made smooth, two stones that don’t complement each other well both shaved off until they come into alignment. But the process by which we are “fitted together” (Ephesians 2:21) and “built together” is called “growing” in verse 21. These painful alterations to our character and interaction come not so much by decisive blows but by an organic process. Some of the sharpest “growing pains” in the Christian life come not only because of our own sin, which must be done away with in order to build properly upon the foundation, but also because of the way that we interact with other sinners, with whom we must be fitted together.

Finally, this increasing closeness to one another (same town, same family, fitted together) comes with an astonishing closeness to God. Of the two common NT words for temple, this one refers to the inner, holy place. God’s glory had come down and filled first the tabernacle, and then the temple, but now He Himself has taken up residence in His church—the holiest of all holies on earth. That’s a massive privilege! 

And it comes with a responsibility: the church is not ours to “have a vision for.” Not only is it to be built according to God’s exact specifications, but it is His Spirit who takes up residence there and directs all by His Word.

Into what amazing closeness our peace-making Savior has brought us with one another and with God!

In connection with whom do you need some of your rough edges worked out? How are you growing closer with your church? What is God’s plan for His church, and where can we learn more about it? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for making us fellow citizens with the saints and members of Your household. Grant that we would continue to be built upon Christ, by means of His Word. Reshape us, until we fit in with the rest of the building. Grow us, until we are perfected in holiness. Indwell us by Your Spirit, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP87 “The Lord’s Foundation” or TPH87A “Zion, Founded on the Mountains” 

2026.07.31 Hopewell @Home ▫ Habakkuk 1:1–11

 Read Habakkuk 1:1–11

Questions from the Scripture text: What is the prophecy called in Habakkuk 1:1? Who saw it? What was his office? What question does he ask in Habakkuk 1:2a? What has he been doing? Whom is he addressing? What is He not doing (verse 2b)? What, specifically, has Habakkuk cried (verse 2c)? What, specifically, does YHWH not seem to have done (verse 2d)? What six things does he say that YHWH has been making him to see (Habakkuk 1:3)? What conclusion has he drawn about the law (Habakkuk 1:4a)? And about justice (verse 4b)? Why—what do the wicked do (verse 4c)? With what effect (verse 4d)? With what double command does Habakkuk 1:5 begin? What will astound them? What cannot even enable them to believe? Whom is He about to raise up (Habakkuk 1:6)? What are they like, and what will they do (Habakkuk 1:6-11)?

How can believers respond, when providence is heavy? Habakkuk 1:1–11 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eleven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that, when dealing with heavy providence, we must remember God Himself.  

How long? Why? These are questions that believers who experience life in this world end up asking. There are many things that we encounter that seem inconsistent with what we know of God’s character and Word. What Job personally experienced, in an extreme instance of this, Habakkuk is experiencing 

This is why Habakkuk’s prophecy is called a “burden” (Habakkuk 1:1), literally “a weight.” In the midst of God’s plan of redemption, weighty experience casts us upon the Lord. The theme of Habakkuk, through the dialog with God in chapter one, the woes of chapter two, and the psalm of chapter three, is learning to persevere in trusting and enjoying God, even in the absence of all situational comfort and encouragement.

Habakkuk isn’t doubting God like many skeptics who ask these questions, nor is he doubting his own assurance. In his inability to reconcile what he experiences, with the surer knowledge of the character and word of God, Habakkuk cries out to God Himself. 

It is God Himself that he needs. It is God Himself that we need. The people of Judah have the Word of God, the law, but it is stunned/paralyzed (v4a). It is the same word as what happened to Jacob’s heart in Genesis 45:26. The people of Judah have God-given authorities, but the judgments are ineffective (Habakkuk 1:4b). 

One thing that life in this world certainly teaches us is that we must have God Himself acting, not merely the other good provisions that He gives us. Even with those things, the transition from Josiah to Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, find Judah filled with the three pairs of evils in Habakkuk 1:3: iniquity and toil, plundering and violence, and strife and contention. Habakkuk cries out in the singular, but the Lord answers in the plural (“Look,” in Habakkuk 1:5, is plural). 

Behold what God is doing (Habakkuk 1:5a–b). The Lord answers in the plural: look (y’all) and watch (y’all); be utterly astounded (y’all). God’s people should consider, with wonder and astonishment, what the Lord is already doing among the nations. In this case, the Lord has already punished the northern kingdom. In addition to what we know from Scripture, there is plenty food for praise and thanks in what the Lord has already done in history. 

Remember Whose work it is (Habakkuk 1:5c–d). Verse 5c–d literally says, “a working work in your days which you would not believe if told.” Providence is God’s work, not ours. God tells us that even if He were to tell us in advance how it all fits together, we wouldn’t believe it. One reason that we are discouraged is the fleshly desire to be on the throne ourselves, or to be able to see into God’s mind, and to give our own assessment of whether things are going well. The secret things belong to God, and the revealed things are for us and our children. Duty is ours; events are God’s.

Wait for what the Lord is yet to do (Habakkuk 1:6-11). God’s interest in His people, but His domain is everywhere. He will use the most powerful resources of the whole world to sanctify Judah. In comparatively few words, He gives twenty frightful descriptions of the Babylonians. What the Lord has yet to do may include much that is frightful (cf. 2 Timothy 3:1–9). But in all that He does, He does it for the gathering and perfecting of His church. World history is full of people and peoples like the Babylonians, and it will continue to be. But through it all, the Lord is building His church.

Know that the Lord is just. The Lord’s assessment of Babylon is that “he transgresses, he commits offense.” Though Babylon is used by the good God to do His good work, Babylon himself is evil and does evil things. God sees this; God assesses it; and, God will repay it. His sovereign employment of the wicked does not excuse them for their wickedness.

What circumstances in your life are too heavy for you? What, in the condition of the nation or the church, is too heavy for you? What has God done in history that astounds you with His wisdom, power, and goodness? How are you humbling yourself before the fact that He is sovereignly at work in the world? What can you know about what God will do next? What wicked people and actions trouble you? What is God doing through them? What will God do about them? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, how long will we cry out, and it does not seem as if You are doing anything? But we know that You are working, and that Your work is good. Give us to humble our understanding before You and persist in crying to You, trusting You, and even rejoicing in You. Thank You for reminding us that the secret things belong to You. We are so glad that they do, and we are content to entrust all unto You. Grant unto us to behold Your work with wonder and praise. We look forward to what You will do, and cry out for Your justice upon the wicked. Thank You for punishing our sin at the cross. Give us to receive all of Your providence as coming in the same love that gave us Christ, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP46 “God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”

2026.07.30 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 2:14–18

Read Ephesians 2:14–18

Questions from the Scripture text: What is the peace between the Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14)? What has Jesus done to them? What has He broken down? What did He do to the enmity (Ephesians 2:15)? How? What had sealed this enmity? What has Christ done to it? What has He created in Himself? To Whom has He reconciled them (Ephesians 2:16)? How? What did this put to death? What did He come and preach (Ephesians 2:17)? To whom? What do we both have (Ephesians 2:18)? Through Whom? By Whom? To Whom?

How do we have peace with one another? Ephesians 2:14–18 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christ Himself is how we have peace with one another. 

He has broken down the middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:14). The wall, in verse 14, refers to an actual wall that separated the court of the Gentiles from the consecrated part of the temple. A Gentile could be killed for going beyond it. The wall physically represented the law of commandments, in ordinances, that consecrated Israel unto God and separate from the nations. But Christ has come as the Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and where there is a new priesthood, there is a new ceremonial law (cf. Hebrews 7:11–12). Now, through the new way of drawing near to God that is in Jesus Christ Himself, one’s nationality does not make him an outsider or enemy. Jews and Gentiles may come equally near to God, in Christ.

He has created one new man (Ephesians 2:15). There is one race that descended from Adam (cf. Acts 17:26). But that race had been divided into two, between Jew and Gentile. Over against this, Christ is the last Adam, the Head of a new humanity who have their unity in Him, each as much as the other.

He has reconciled us to God (Ephesians 2:16). We needed peace, not only among ourselves, but especially with God. Jesus Christ has reconciled us—that wonderful exchange in which He gives us friendship and adoption in place of the enmity with God into which we had fallen by our sin in the first Adam. The only way for a Jew to be reconciled to God is in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross. The only way for a Gentile to be reconciled to God is in the body of Jesus Christ at the cross. We had made ourselves God’s enemies by our sin, and Jesus has killed that enmity for all who are in Him.

He applied that peace to our conscience (Ephesians 2:17). Jesus came to Ephesus and preached! This is truly a wonder, for He never physically visited Ephesus. But He is the One Whom we hear through the preachers whom He sends (cf. Romans 10:14–16). He is the One Who address us from heaven (cf. Hebrews 12:24–26). Just as He did to the Ephesians, so He does to you, dear reader—especially in the preaching of the Word. Jesus has not just won peace with God for all who trust in Him, He brings us to trust in Him through His proclaiming that peace to us. The gospel addresses Gentiles as much as Jews, proclaiming the same peace to both. It proclaims to you peace with God, in Christ, regardless of how far from Him you might be.

He brings us into fellowship with the triune God (Ephesians 2:18). Here is the greatest peace, the greatest unity that there can be: to have access to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. In Christ, we are brought into fellowship with the Triune God, and each of the Persons particularly (cf. John 17:20–23). There can be nothing so unifying as to come into this fellowship. 

When we fail to leave peacefully toward each other, we live in contradiction to some of the most important truths about Christ, and being in Him. Here is one of the greatest among the good works in which God has prepared believers to walk: to live at peace with one another.

With what believers do you have the most difficult time living at peace? How do you and they draw near to God? Of what humanity are you and they a part? How did you and they exchange enmity for adoption? How did you and they come to know peace with God? What fellowship do you and they enjoy with the triune God?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for making Christ Himself to be our peace, both with You and with one another. Grant that we would live in accordance with that peace, bringing glory and honor to Christ, through Whom we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP67 “O God, Give Us Your Blessing” or TPH2B “Why Do Heathen Nations Rage” 

Christ, the Lamb of God [Children's Catechism 63—Theology Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Children's Catechism question 63—especially explaining how all God-given sacrifices pointed sinners to believe in Christ.

Q63. What did these sacrifices represent? Christ, the Lamb of God, Who was to die for sinners. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The lesson explores the theological significance of Old Testament sacrifices as pointing to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It traces this theme from the first gospel promise in Genesis through Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac, highlighting his faith that God would provide a substitute. The message emphasizes that salvation has always been only through faith in Christ, whether prospective or retrospective, as illustrated by the Passover and affirmed in Revelation. By examining these passages, the teaching reinforces that Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of all God-given sacrifices. This understanding assures believers that redemption is found exclusively through faith in Jesus.