2024.12.28 Hopewell @Home ▫ Matthew 13:44–53

Read Matthew 13:44–53

Questions from the Scripture text: How does Matthew 13:44 begin? What is it talking about? What is the kingdom of heaven like? Where is this treasure hidden? Who finds it? What does He do with it? With what affection does He go? What does He sell? To do what? How does Matthew 13:45 begin? What is it talking about? What is the kingdom of heaven like? What does this Merchant seek? What does He find in Matthew 13:46? What does He do? How does Matthew 13:47 begin? What is it about? What is the kingdom of heaven like? Where is the dragnet cast? What does it gather? What happens to it (Matthew 13:48)? Then where do they drag it? What do they do with the good fish? What do they do with the bad? When will it be like this (Matthew 13:49)? Who will come forth? To separate whom? What will they do with the wicked (Matthew 13:50)? What will be in the place into which they are cast? Who speaks to whom in Matthew 13:51? What does He ask them? How do they answer? About whom does He speak in Matthew 13:52? In what are these scribes instructed? Whom are they like? What does he bring out? What sorts of treasure? What does Matthew 13:53 say Jesus had finished? Then what did He do?

How much does Jesus love the visible church? Matthew 13:44–53 prepares us for the sermon in the morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these ten verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus has hidden His elect in the visible church, for which reason He love her so much that He gave all that He had for her.  

When Jesus had identified “whoever does the will of [His] Father in heaven [as His] brother and sister and mother” (cf. Matthew 12:50), He began, on the same day, to tell all these parables (cf. Matthew 13:1, Matthew 13:3). And the point of the parables has been that, although many among them are false (cf. Matthew 13:25-26), and although they are rather imperfect (cf. Matthew 13:29), and although they don’t seem like much (Matthew 13:32), and although not much seems to be happening (Matthew 13:33), Jesus is surely bringing them all to the place where they shine like the Sun (Matthew 13:43)—just as He does (cf. Revelation 1:16), and together with Him (cf. Romans 8:17, Romans 8:29, Romans 8:30)—in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43).

Our passage is a rapid-fire conclusion to these parables. “Again” and “again” and “again,” our Lord Jesus teaches us the preciousness to Him of the visible church on earth, even though the elect treasure within her is mixed with much that is undesirable. 

Notice that the Man in Matthew 13:44 rejoices over the treasure of the field so much that He is willing to sell all in order to buy the field. Just so, our Lord Jesus became a man and gave Himself up to the death of the cross (cf. Philippians 2:7–8); He gave up everything. And He obtained for Himself not just the elect from within the visible church, but the visible church itself. She is precious to Him, and so she should be precious to all who are His. We mustn’t think that we can love and devote ourselves only to the “real” Christians (as if we could even tell which those were). Our Lord has rejoiced over His church for our sakes; and, we should rejoice over her and give all for her—both for His sake and for the sake of the elect within her. 

Again, in Matthew 13:45, the Merchant seeks beautiful pearls. The creation is full of wonders. But the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:46), to Him, is His elect. Those whom He has loved from before the world began, and into the saving of whom He has invested His very self! 

Again, in Matthew 13:47-50, the focus shifts just a little to the workers. Christ likens the ministry of the apostles to pulling a dragnet through the world. But not every fish in the church will end up being a good one. Though the church is precious, and the good fish are prized, there are those in the church who remain wicked. They remain wicked in their standing before God, not having Christ’s righteousness counted for them or His sacrifice atoning for them. And they remain wicked in their character. These, though they were in Christ’s precious church in this age, are cast into the furnace of fire at the end of the age. It is no worse than they deserve, especially since these in particular were given the great privilege of being part of Christ’s precious church.

Finally, the Lord asks them if they had understood these things (Matthew 13:51). With no more comment from the Spirit, we are left to conclude that they did. And they alone can be considered the “scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven” (cf. Matthew 13:11). Now they may begin to understand what a glorious ministry He has called them to! They are like house-masters who bring out before their King His favorite treasure as tribute. Treasure new and treasure old may refer to the church from the nations of the world and the church from ethnic Israel. Or else, it may also be those who are newly His through the preaching of the gospel and initial faith, together with those who are being more and more displayed as His, as His Spirit uses the Word to polish them more and more for the enjoyment and honor of the King.

What a wonderful thing it is that God has given to us, to participate in His visible church. She is precious and bought with His blood, even though she is a mixed bag (a mixed net!) in this age, and even the believers are not yet what they will be. And we ought to be willing to devote our prayers and our labors, our tears and our joys, to her who is so precious to the King!

How does what you put into the church of which you are a member reflect her preciousness to Christ, and the price that He paid for her? What impact does it make upon you to know how the Lord treasures you? How are you responding to Him? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You for loving and treasuring and redeeming Your elect. And we thank You for loving and treasuring and purchasing the church with Your own blood. Give us to love You, and to love Your church, and to pour out our lives for her, even as You have done. So, carry us by Your Spirit to do so, we ask in Your Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the Lord” or TPH405 “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord”

Holy Wrath and Holy Mercy [Family Worship lesson in Numbers 31:1–24]

What is required against all sin? Numbers 31:1–24 looks forward to the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s vengeance is required against all sin.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2024.12.27 Hopewell @Home ▫ Numbers 31:1–24

Read Numbers 31:1–24

Questions from the Scripture text: Who spoke to whom (Numbers 31:1)? What did He tell him to take (Numbers 31:2)? Upon whom? For whom? Then what will happen? Who spoke to whom in Numbers 31:3? What did he tell them to do to themselves? In order to take what? For Whom? Upon whom? How many does he say to send from each tribe (Numbers 31:4)? What was the result (Numbers 31:5)? Who sent these 12,000 to war (Numbers 31:6)? With what else with them? What did they do (Numbers 31:7)? In exact accordance with what? Whom did they kill? Especially which five men (Numbers 31:8)? And especially which man? Whom did they take as captive (Numbers 31:9)? What did they take as spoil? What did they do to the cities (Numbers 31:10)? And to what else? What does Numbers 31:11 repeat? To whom do they bring what in Numbers 31:12? Where? Across from where? Who mee them, where (Numbers 31:13)? How does Moses respond with regard to whom (Numbers 31:14)? Why (Numbers 31:15)? What the women done (Numbers 31:16)? Who had counseled this? Against Whom? With what result? Whom does he say to execute (Numbers 31:17)? And whom to keep alive (Numbers 31:18)? Who else must do what, for how long (Numbers 31:19)? Why? What else must be purified (Numbers 31:20)? Who, then, speaks to whom in Numbers 31:21? Whose ordinance does he give them? To whom was it originally commanded? What items of the unclean must be cleansed in what ways (Numbers 31:22-24)? 

What is required against all sin? Numbers 31:1–24 looks forward to the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s vengeance is required against all sin.

When the Midianites had turned the Israelites against the Lord in harlotry and idolatry, the Lord had commanded them to attack and strike them (cf. Numbers 25:17–18). Now, it is the one loose end left in Moses’s life’s work (Numbers 31:2, cf. Numbers 27:13). God’s justice may come slowly, but it surely comes. The Lord does this both for His people’s sake (Numbers 31:2) and for His own holiness’s sake (Numbers 31:3). So shall it be with His judgment in the last day.

It is interesting that the number of men required is one thousand from each tribe (Numbers 31:4-5). First, this number seems small on the whole. But in a war of the Lord’s vengeance, it is not the size of the contingent that determines the outcome. Second, this number is a greater proportion of some tribes than of others. This has been a book of numbers, and the largest tribes were more than double the size of the smallest. This is a covenantal sharing of vengeance. The representation is not according to census, but identification as the people of God; no tribe will be more identified as such than the other.

The fact that this is a “holy war” is indicated by the accompaniment of the high priest and the tabernacle furnishings (Numbers 31:6). This is not a superstitious use, like that which will cause Israel to be chastened in 1 Samuel 4. In this case, it is a recognition that the Lord Himself has commanded this action—and that, although He has required their participation, it will be the Lord Himself that completes this action.

The people execute the soldiers (Numbers 31:7), the kings (Numbers 31:8), and even Balaam, whose counsel had led to this dreadful condition. But they stop short at the women (Numbers 31:9). It seems that the people do not understand the judicial nature of the military action that God has commanded. Or, worse, they don’t care. After all, it was desire for these women that had caused them to stumble in the first place. By lumping the women in with the spoil, the implication seems to be that they wished to be able to have the women for themselves to marry (or, worse, otherwise enjoy). So Moses is furious (Numbers 31:15), because the women were Balaam’s chief agents in turning Israel against the Lord, in order to obtain the reward from Balak (Numbers 31:16, cf. chapters 22–25). 

There is much ritual purification that must take place (Numbers 31:19-20), but repentance (moral purity) must proceed religious rites (ceremonial purity). They must first repent of the failure to carry out the Lord’s vengeance (Numbers 31:3). If we understand the punishment on the adulteresses who ensnared Israel by harlotry, but balk at the instruction concerning the male children (Numbers 31:17), that is because we are a generation that does not think covenantally. There must be no household in Israel that arises from the sin of Peor, and each male child among them presents just such a possibility. This is the repentance. The ritual purification is according to God’s law from chapter 19 and Leviticus 11.

The repentance and ritual purification are important for remembering that the offense that we take to such a passage is not due to modern sensibilities or genuine love. Rather, it is because we do not understand the greatness of the holiness of God. If we take His holiness and our sinfulness into account, the shock of the passage is not the execution of Midianite women and boys. Rather, the shock of the passage is that the sinful, Israelite men may be ritually purified instead of summarily executed. Of course, this is not something that has actual atoning effect. It is faith in the promised Christ—indeed, it is the promised Christ Himself—that accomplishes this miracle of God’s-holiness-defiling, and God’s-vengeance-deserving, sinners being granted repentance (cf. Acts 11:18) and holiness (cf. Revelation 5:9–10)!

When you have difficulty with the truth about God’s wrath, what must you remember about God? What must you remember about men, generally? How must you take this to heart, regarding your own desserts, personally? How must you take this to heart, regarding your own salvation? How should you respond to God? What should you pray for others and do for others?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You for Your mercy to us. For, we have deserved the full outpouring of Your hot wrath. But, You have expended that wrath upon Your Son for those whom You are saving. Forgive us from shrinking from this true doctrine of Your holiness and the wrath that it requires and expresses. Grant that we might not only affirm Your wrath, but that by doing so, we might rejoice all the more over Your redemption in Christ, through Whom we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP45B “Daughter, Incline Your Ear” or TPH128B “Blest the Man Who Fears Jehovah”

Harnessing Wisdom's Worth [2024.12.25 Midweek Sermon in Proverbs 8:1–11]

We all need wisdom and especially for men and boys to obtain it.

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

Jesus Himself Our Comfort in Suffering [Family Worship lesson in Revelation 2:8–10]

What comfort is there for suffering Christians? Revelation 2:8–11 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord’s fellowship with us and knowledge of us is the sweet, sustaining comfort for suffering Christians.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2024.12.26 Hopewell @Home ▫ Revelation 2:8–11

Read Revelation 2:8–11

Questions from the Scripture text: Whom does Revelation 2:8 address? How does Jesus identify Himself to them? What three things does He know about them (Revelation 2:9)? But what is their ultimate condition? What does He know about whom else? What do they call themselves? What does Jesus call them? What does He tell them not to do (Revelation 2:10)? What are they about to do? Who is about to do what to them? So that what may be done to them? For how long? What must they do? Until what happens? And who will give them what? Whom does Revelation 2:11 address? What is he to do? Who is speaking? To whom? About whom? By what will he not be hurt?

What comfort is there for suffering Christians? Revelation 2:8-11 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord’s fellowship with us and knowledge of us is the sweet, sustaining comfort for suffering Christians.

The Lord Himself has suffered. Smyrna was a hotbed of the cult of the emperor. Jews were exempt from having to worship him, so it was profoundly harmful when they disowned the Christians, and believers lost that protection. But the Lord Jesus knew what it was to be turned upon by the Jews and betrayed unto the Romans. He is not only the Living God (“the First and the Last,” Revelation 2:8). He is also a true man “who was dead and came to life.” This is important, because of the saints in Smyrna are about to die for the faith: “be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). He is both the God Who can give them this life and the Man Who has been there before.

The Lord knows their suffering. It is important that He also knows their works. Believers who suffer may wrongly conclude that they have brought their suffering upon themselves. It is possible that these faithful believers were being shamed as overzealous or foolhardy by those who saw offering a pinch of incense as a small, wise compromise. By coming and speaking pure comfort to them and noting that He know their works (Revelation 2:9), the Lord affirms that they have not brought their suffering upon themselves.

The Lord knows their true condition. Jesus says to them, “but you are rich.” This is their true condition in the Lord. Often, we ourselves do not know our true riches, our true blessedness, our true peace. We can be overwhelmed by visible, palpable circumstances. We forget our riches. We need to be told by Christ. When He Who tells us this is Himself more riches than all creatures taken together, it rings true. They were truly rich. If you are a believer, you are truly rich!

The Lord knows what the wicked are doing. Jesus’s denunciation of the Smyrnian Jews is scathing. By disavowing the Christians, they have rejected Christ. This is not just treachery against man but blasphemy against God. Like all churches that abandon the truth about Christ, they “are  synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 2:9)—making them the equivalent of some Jews whom Jesus encountered in His earthly ministry (cf. John 8:44). What  comfort to know that, even if the whole world sees nothing wrong in their behavior, the Lord Himself knows it and condemns it.

The Lord knows what the wicked will do. He tells them not to fear. But it’s not because there isn’t anything fearful in front of them. Indeed, it’s not just the Jews or the people of Smyrna who are against them; it is the devil himself (Revelation 2:10). Some of them will be imprisoned, but others will have to be faithful unto the death. But in either case, the devil’s purpose is secondary to Christ’s superintending purpose. Those who are imprisoned are being tested—having their genuineness proven and displayed. Those who die are receiving the crown of life. And “ten” being one of the numbers of completion, the implication is that this suffering is for a predetermined, set, limited time. We don’t know what the wicked will do. But the Lord knows. In fact, they will do whatever He has intended for good.

Live twice, so that you may die only once. Having told them all of these things, the Lord puts all of this into an eternal context for them. If they are born again, if they have “ears to hear” (Revelation 2:11), the new ears of the new life, then they will be those who overcome by virtue of the life of Christ in them. We must live twice; we must have this new life, because there is a second death coming in which those who have suffered the first death outside of Christ are cast into the lake of fire (cf. Revelation 20:14). It would be eternally, infinitely foolish of us to try to escape the harm of persecution in this life, or even of death, only to suffer the harm of the second death.

So Jesus, by His Spirit, through His ministers, speaks these things to the churches. He speaks these things to you. Dear suffering Christian, the Lord knows all about it, and He sends you this word of comfort. And if you are not currently suffering, note that Your Savior still sends you this word. Take it to heart, so that if the day should come in His good and wise providence, you will be prepared to suffer well: not fearing, being faithful until death, and overcoming by faith.

What have you suffered? What are you suffering? How have you coped with it in the past? How are you doing so now? What can you do to bring this passage to bear upon that suffering? How can you be praying for other Christians who are suffering?

Sample Prayer: Lord, thank You for reminding us that You Yourself have suffered and overcome. Forgive us, for we have sometimes been unwilling to suffer. And we have been forgetful of Your sympathy, fellowship, and compassion. So, we have been fearful, or we have wavered in our faithfulness. But You have come, in Your Word, and comforted us by Your intimate, personal knowledge of our circumstances. Forgive us our sin, and strengthen us in Yourself we pray, in Your Name, AMEN! 

 Suggested songs: ARP59A “Free Me, My God” or TPH509 “Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me?”

2024.12.25 Midweek Meeting Livestream (live at 6:30p)

Click below for the:

December 25 Prayer Meeting Folder

Proverbs 8:1–11 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.

IF you are unable to get the stream to work, or simply wish to save on data, you can listen in simply by calling 712.432.3410 and entering 70150 at the prompt.

Each week we livestream the Lord's Day (Sabbath School, Morning Public Worship, and p.m. Singing and Sermon) and Midweek Meeting (sermon and prayer). For notifications when Hopewell is streaming live, install the CHURCHONE APP on your [Apple], [Android], or [Kindle] device, and enter hopewellarp for your broadcaster.

Delivered by a Guilt-Bearing Husband [2024.12.22 Evening Sermon in Numbers 30]

The authority and protection of fathers and husbands should properly display the benefits of adoption by the Father and union with Christ.

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

Inappreciable, Invisible, Invincible Kingdom [2024.12.22 Morning Sermon in Matthew 13:31–43]

In this marvelously encouraging passage, the Lord Jesus holds Himself before us, in His love, His wisdom, and His power, which is surely bringing His people to the gloriously blessed end which He has determined for them.

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How to Pray the Right Way [2024.12.22 Sabbath School in Westminster Confession 21.3b—Hopewell 101]

We continue studying through the Scriptural doctrine that our congregation confesses. This week, we continued Westminster Confession chapter 21—considering the second half of Article 3, and the manner in which we must pray, since prayer is worship.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)