Longing for the World of Well-Used Mouths [Family Worship lesson in Psalm 120]

What does slander do? Psalm 120 looks forward to opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that slander hurts brethren and provokes God’s wrath. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2024.10.22 Hopewell @Home ▫ Psalm 120

Read Psalm 120

Questions from the Scripture text: What is this Psalm called (superscript)? What had been the psalmist’s condition (Psalm 120:1)? What did he do? To Whom? And what did YHWH do? From what is the psalmist now asking deliverance (Psalm 120:2)? What has he concluded/discovered that liars deserve (Psalm 120:3-4)? Where has this distress come upon him (which is a further part of the distress, Psalm 120:5-6a)? What are the people there like (Psalm 120:6b, Psalm 120:7b)? As opposed to whom (verse 7a)? 

What does slander do? Psalm 120 looks forward to opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that slander hurts brethren and provokes God’s wrath.  

This is the first of the songs of ascent, which Israel would sing as they approached Jerusalem for feast. It starts far away, but ends in the worship of the congregation of God’s people at the temple (Psalm 133–134). 

Past performance is indicative of future results, Psalm 120:1. Why is to YHWH that the psalmist now resorts? Among other things, it is because YHWH has heard his prayers before. We should learn to be strengthened to make present prayer by the Lord’s answering of past prayer. And, knowing that we shall need encouragement in prayer in the future, let us pray much in the present, so that the Lord’s answers may strengthen us unto that future praying.

The present crisis: the false tongue, Psalm 120:2-4. The psalmist is now, again, asking for deliverance. This time, it is from some distress brought about by someone’s slandering him. For emphasis, he describes this three different ways (“lying lips,” “deceitful tongue,” “false tongue,”). What harm we can do to others with our words! Death (“mighty sharp arrows”) and hell (“coals of the broom tree,” cf. Revelation 21:8) are what all liars have to look forward to (Psalm 120:4).

What slander does, Psalm 120:5-7. Without knowing more about the context, it is difficult to determine whether the psalmist was actually at some intersection of Japhethites (Psalm 120:5a, cf. Genesis 10:2) and Ishmaelites (Psalm 120:5b, cf. Genesis 25:13). Either such foreigners are displaying the fruit of their unbelief, or this is a way for him to talk about Israelites whose conduct has made the godly as a stranger even among the covenant people. For, they are not reciprocating his love of peace and peacemaking (cf. Matthew 5:9), but rather they indulge enmity (Psalm 120:6-7). But the psalmist continues to be for peace (Psalm 120:7a), which he is enabled to be by leaving vengeance to God by prayer. Let us not act as enemies to God or brother, but guard our lips and hearts for peace.

About/with whom do you need to guard your tongue more? Toward whom do you need grace to incline you to peace?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You and praise You Who hear prayer. Deliver us from every trouble! Grant that our lips would be used in Your worship to praise you, and then in other circumstances to do good to the brethren. We thank You that we may leave all vengeance to You by prayer, so that we can seek peace with our lips. Now be praised by these same lips we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP120 “I Cried in Trouble to the Lord” or TPH464 “The Beatitudes”

Don't Treat God as Common [Westminster Shorter Catechism 55—Theology Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Westminster Shorter Catechism question 55—especially explaining how we must neither abuse nor treat as common any of God’s communication to us of Himself.

Q55. What is forbidden in the third commandment? The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh Himself known. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

Petitions Great and Small [Children's Catechism 116—Theology Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Children’s Catechism question 116—especially explaining how going from immense petitions about God to tiny petitions about ourselves teaches us that we are to pray to God about everything, big and small.

Q116. What is the fourth petition? That men on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

Listening Your Way into the Right Path [2024.10.16 Midweek Sermon in Proverbs 4:10–27]

Give your heart to the Lord and His Word, and enjoy true and everlasting life.

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

What's the Harm in a Little Romance? [Family Worship lesson in Proverbs 5:1–6]

What’s the harm in a little romance? Proverbs 5:1–6 looks forward to the sermon in the midweek prayer meeting. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that uncovenanted romance is a path to death. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2024.10.21 Hopewell @Home ▫ Proverbs 5:1–6

Read Proverbs 5:1–6

Questions from the Scripture text: What does the father tell his son to do in Proverbs 5:1? In order for him to do what (Proverbs 5:2)? In case of what eventuality (Proverbs 5:3-6)? What does an immoral woman sound like (Proverbs 5:3)? But how deadly is she (Proverbs 5:4)? Where does her path end (Proverbs 5:5)? But what might a believing son yet do (Proverbs 5:6a)? Why is this such folly (verse 6b–c)? 

What’s the harm in a little romance? Proverbs 5:1–6 looks forward to the sermon in the midweek prayer meeting. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that uncovenanted romance is a path to death.  

A repeated call for diligent attention, Proverbs 5:1-2. Again, the idealized father addresses the reader as his child and doubly urges his attention (Proverbs 5:1) to wisdom and understanding.  This is because that teaching is the mechanism by which discretion and knowledge may be obtained by the soul and the lips (Proverbs 5:2).

It begins with conversation, Proverbs 5:2-3. Notice that the path of the strange woman (i.e., a woman that is not his wife, not so much “immoral” as in NKJ) begins at her lips. She does not sound deadly at first. In fact, she sounds sweet (drip honey, Proverbs 5:3a) and comforting (smoother than oil, verse 3b). She probably thinks herself sweet and comforting, as well. The believing son to whom this is addressed needs discretion in his heart (Proverbs 5:2a) so that his own mouth may keep knowledge (verse 2b). In other words, if he is guarding his own lips from overfamiliarity or from romantic speech, he will be preserved from falling with her into the apparent sweetness and comfort of an uncovenanted romance. Such romance feels sweet and comforting, which is why a young man must have the humility not to trust his own wisdom. He desperately needs the meekness to learn biblical wisdom from his father.

But it ends in death and hell, Proverbs 5:4-6. The end of romance with a woman who is not one’s wife is not just death (poison, two-edged sword, Proverbs 5:4) but even Sheol itself (Proverbs 5:5b). This hearkens back to one of the two paths of Proverbs 4:14–19. Once again, there is a path that ends in destruction (Proverbs 5:5), and it is vitally important that the man not even enter it. This particular path to destruction, however, has the added danger of looking so good at its beginning. So humility and meekness to listen to the godly is essential to the young man. Proverbs 5:6b–c tells us that he cannot understand where this romance would lead; he would be a fool to consider it, and he needs to admit that Scripture, here, tells the truth about himself.

What do you need in order to listen to Scriptural wisdom? About whom (hint: in the mirror) does it tell you important truths? And whom else? And what sorts of situations? How might you (or your children) need to rethink romance? Why is guarding our conversations such an important part of this?

Sample prayer:  Lord, please help us to think biblically about marriage and romance. Grant that Your wisdom would guard our lips. And, in every area of life where we are overconfident, grant that Your Spirit would convince us of the truth about ourselves from Your Word, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed he Man” or TPH173 “Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast

2024.10.20 Lord's Day Livestreams (live at 10:10a, 11a, 3p)

Click below for the:

October 20 Lord's Day Worship Booklet

Matthew 12:22–32 sermon outline

song selections & Numbers 25 sermon outline

We urge you to assemble physically, if possible, with a true congregation of Christ's church. For those of our own congregation who may be providentially hindered, we are grateful to be able to provide this service.

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Mortal, Eternal Danger [Family Worship lesson in Matthew 12:22–32]

What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Matthew 12:22–32 looks forward to the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eleven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the rejection of His testimony to Who Christ is. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2024.10.19 Hopewell @Home ▫ Matthew 12:22–32

Read Matthew 12:22–32

Questions from the Scripture text: What was afflicting the one brought to Jesus in Matthew 12:22? What two effects did the demon have upon him? What did Jesus do to the man? And what was the man thus able to do? Who were amazed (Matthew 12:23)? What did they ask? Who heard it (Matthew 12:24)? What did they say? Where did they apparently say these things (Matthew 12:25)? But Who knew even heir thoughts? To whom does He speak? What does He point out about kingdoms in general (and the devil’s specifically, Matthew 12:25-26)? What additional argument does Jesus make in Matthew 12:27? What does Jesus say that this fact (their sons) would do to the Pharisees? By Whom did Jesus imply that He casts our demons (Matthew 12:28)? What does He say this shows? What does Jesus imply the King/kingdom (He!) is doing in Matthew 12:29? What does He say that He is doing first? What is the status of someone who is not plundering and gathering with Christ (Matthew 12:30)? What is this person doing, then, instead of gathering? What does Jesus warn these Pharisees’ thoughts, status, and actions might be blaspheming (Matthew 12:31)? Why is this so perilous? In what ages may this suffer dreadful consequences (Matthew 12:32)?

What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Matthew 12:22–32 looks forward to the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eleven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the rejection of His testimony to Who Christ is.  

The question that you must answer, Matthew 12:22-23. The Holy Spirit was testifying of Christ, by the works that Christ was doing. Matthew 12:22 gives us an exemplary moment, but we must remember this was not an isolated incident (Matthew 12:15). The greatness and volume of Christ’s work demanded an answer: Who is this? More specifically, “Could this be the Son of David?” (Matthew 12:23). That is: could this be the King, the anointed, the Christ? The Savior of the world?

Now, two-thousand years of His saving people, the near-ubiquity of the church, and more… it all challenges us with the same question. Who is this? The answer is that He is not only the Son of David, but the Son of God (cf. Romans 1:3–4). 

The side that you must take, Matthew 12:24-30. Jesus’s withdrawal from the Pharisees (Matthew 12:15a, Matthew 12:16) has not been entirely effective. Not only are there Pharisees who hear the multitude’s question (Matthew 12:24a), but we can see that they are present because Jesus proceeds to address them (Matthew 12:25). They are so hard-hearted against Him that they feel a need to come up with a “how” answer to Jesus’s works (Matthew 12:24b) that will allow the to continue their mortal opposition (cf. Matthew 12:14) to Him. What they come up with is that the reason He is stronger than demons is because He is in league with (or may even be) the master-demon. 

Jesus’s response takes up the rest of this passage, along with the next one that we will take. He is casting out demons by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28a), which means that the kingdom of God has come upon them (verse 28b). Their “sons” in Matthew 12:27 may well be a reference not to disciples of the Pharisees but to His own disciples (cf. Matthew 10:1). He and they can’t all be the master-demon! But note what He says at the end of the verse: “they shall be your judges.” 

The fact of the matter is that Jesus is binding Satan in order to plunder Satan’s house and gather (Matthew 12:26, Matthew 12:29) a harvest of that plunder (cf. Matthew 9:37–38). And what He says in Matthew 12:30 is that there are no neutral parties. Either you are with Him, or you are against Him. Those who are not with Christ, and laboring with Him, don’t just belong to the devil; they are laboring for his kingdom, whether they know it or not! How dreadful that there are Christians who are not laboring with and for Christ, who seem as if they are abstaining from the battle; this passage tells us that the reality is grievous indeed. And it is even more dreadful that there are those who attempt all sorts of other explanations for Christ’s work these 2000 years or in our own day, and even those who resist Him as the Holy Spirit declares Him to us by His Word and work.

The forgiveness that you must have, Matthew 12:31-32. O how loaded each of us are with our sins and blasphemies (Matthew 12:31)! Looking at Matthew 12:31-32 in their relationship to Matthew 12:30, we can see that the blasphemy against the essence of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to not be with Christ. We desperately need the forgiveness that Jesus offers. But the only way to this forgiveness is to heed the Spirit’s witness to Who Christ is. How dangerous it is to resist Christ! We know not when we shall come to such a point of hardening that we will have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and no longer have possibility of coming to faith by His gracious work. We need forgiveness both in this age (or else the consequences of our sin will take us from calamity to calamity in this world) and the age to come (or else, we shall enter the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels).  If we are worried that we have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, then there is yet hope, for we are worried. Let us take that worry and repent, with broken heart, that we have ever resisted the Spirit’s testimony to Christ! 

Whom do you believe and know Jesus to be? How do your responses to Him in your life show this knowledge? What evidence is there in your life that you are with Jesus? What evidence is there that you are laboring with Him? How has the Holy Spirit pointed you to forgiveness? Do you have it?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for granting us the ministry of Your Spirit to point us to Your Son so that we will not only submit to Him but trust in Him. Grant unto us to do so, and thus also to labor with Him, by His Spirit working in us and through us, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP2 “Why Do Gentile Nations Rage?” or TPH282 “I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art”