How Jesus Awakens the Church [2026.02.15 Evening Sermon in Song of Songs 5:2–8]

Jesus awakens the spiritually backslidden by His Word, grace, and ordinances.

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Truly, This is the Son of God! [2026.02.15 Morning Sermon in Matthew 27:45–54]

We must respond to Christ's once-for-all sacrifice with awe, acknowledgement, faith, holiness, and witness.

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Sacraments as Signs [2026.02.15 Sabbath School in WCF 27.1 — Hopewell 101]

Sacraments are signs and seals unto faith—without which faith, the sacrament does you no ultimate good.(click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

The Way Back from Backsliding [Family Worship lesson in Song of Songs 5:2–8]

What do the backslidden need? Song of Songs 5:2–8 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 the backslidden need Christ’s Word, Christ’s grace, Christ’s ordinances, and the prayers of Christ’s people. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The devotional from Song of Songs 5:2–8 illustrates the tension between the believer’s awakened heart and the lingering lethargy of the flesh. It emphasizes that while Christians possess a new nature that longs for Christ, spiritual complacency and self-justification can lead to a state of spiritual sleep, where even the voice of the Beloved is met with excuses—inconvenient or unpleasant—against deeper communion. Christ, in His grace, does not merely knock but actively reaches through the latch of the door, symbolizing His direct, transformative work in awakening the heart, even when the response is delayed or imperfect. The passage warns of the consequences of backsliding, including the loss of spiritual assurance, the painful discipline of faithful shepherds, and the temporary removal of spiritual evidence. Yet, it ultimately points to the hope of restoration through repentance, prayer, and the intercession of the church. The call is clear: believers must resist spiritual lethargy, embrace the means of grace despite inconvenience, and actively pray for revival, both personally and corporately, so that the church may once again be filled with the presence of Christ, Whose love is both the source and the goal of all spiritual life.

2026.02.17 Hopewell @Home ▫ Song of Songs 5:2–8

Read Song of Songs 5:2–8

Questions from the Scripture text: What is the contradictory condition of the bride (Song of Songs 5:2a)? What does she hear (verse 2b)? What is He doing (verse 2c)? What does He call her (verse 2d–e)? What does He ask her to do (verse 2d)? Why (verse 2f–g)? What is her first excuse (Song of Songs 5:3a–b)? What is her second excuse (verse 3c–d)? What does the Bridegroom do in Song of Songs 5:4a–b? How does her heart now respond (verse 4c)? What does she do in Song of Songs 5:5a? To do what? What does she get on her hands and fingers (verse 5b–c)? From where (verse 5d)? What does she finally do in Song of Songs 5:6a? What does she find (verse 6b)? What failed at the memory of His words (verse 6c)? What two things does she now do (verse 6d–e)? With what results? Who find her, where (Song of Songs 5:7a)? What do they do to her (verse 7b)? In what other role (verse 7c) do they do what to her (verse 7d)? Whom, then, does she address (Song of Songs 5:8a)? What does she hope they will do (verse 8b)? What does the bride ask them to tell Him (verse 8c)?

What do the backslidden need? Song of Songs 5:2–8 prepares us for the opening portion of public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the backslidden need Christ’s Word, Christ’s grace, Christ’s ordinances, and the prayers of Christ’s people. 

This passage treats a similar situation to Song of Songs 3:1–5, but much worse. She is experiencing the conflict of having a new nature (the awakened heart, Song of Songs 5:2a), but being spiritually sleepy and lazy (cf. Matthew 26:40–45; Romans 13:11–14). 

The Lord knocks and calls, as He often does by His Word, piling up affectionate addresses to her (Song of Songs 5:2d–e), and reminding her of what He is willing to endure to be with her (verse 2f–g). 

But she responds with those horrible excuses that come from wayward hearts: as if it is too much trouble and unpleasantness to avail ourselves of fellowship with Christ (Song of Songs 5:3)! 

Blessed be Christ’s grace, He responds more directly and insistently, beginning to open the door Himself (Song of Songs 5:4a–b), with the effect that her heart is now moved (verse 4c). 

But, though she finds unmistakable evidence of it being He Who has done so (Song of Songs 5:5), she does not immediately find Him (Song of Songs 5:6a–b, cf. Song of Songs 3:2). 

This time, when the watchmen find her, they strike her until she feels the sting of their ministry (Song of Songs 5:7a–b)—possibly in faithfulness, and possibly lacking some tenderness. In their role as keepers of the walls (verse 7c), they take her wedding veil (verse 7d)… something that happens either by loss of assurance or overt discipline. 

So, she avails herself not only of the public ordinances represented in “about the city” in verse 7, but of the prayers of the members of the church (Song of Songs 5:8). 

Those who are spiritually backslidden do well to ask those church members (v8a) who are finding to Christ (verse 8b) to pray for them (verse 8c). 

O, dear reader, the Lord give you to resist spiritual slumber, and to respond immediately to all of His knocking and calling. 

But, when you don’t, the Lord give you His grace that moves your heart to seek Him in both: His public ordinances, and the prayers of His people.

When has the Lord awakened you, and you let the moment pass? By what means are you correcting that?

Sample prayer:  Lord, come, we pray, and knock to us and call to us by Your Word. Give us to rise and open to You. Make us to persevere until we find You. Grant that We would look for You in Your ordinances, even if we are wounded in that pursuit, and give us to avail ourselves of one another’s prayers. Make our hands to drip with the myrrh of knowing that it is You Who pursues us, we ask in Your Name, AMEN!

ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH51C “God, Be Merciful to Me”

You Must Be Born of the Spirit [Children's Catechism 40—Theology Simply Explained]

Pastor walks his children through Children's Catechism question 40—especially explaining how only God the Spirit can give us a new heart.

Q40. Who can change a sinner's heart? The Holy Spirit alone. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The lesson centers on the divine sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in regenerating the human heart, emphasizing that spiritual rebirth—being 'born again'—is an impossible human endeavor but a miraculous work of God alone. Drawing from Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, it distinguishes between physical birth (flesh) and spiritual rebirth (Spirit), affirming that only the Holy Spirit can transform a dead, sinful heart into a living, spiritual one. The passage highlights God’s covenantal promise in Ezekiel 36, where He pledges to cleanse His people, give them a new heart of flesh, and indwell them with His Spirit, fulfilling His holy will for salvation. This spiritual renewal is visibly and sacramentally signified in Christian baptism.

The Wicked Man’s Grief-End [2026.02.11 Midweek Sermon in Proverbs 21:10–18]

The wicked's opposite wishes, works, and way brings him to the opposite end of the righteous—glorifying God by being destroyed by Him forever.

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Diagnosing Our End [Family Worship lesson in Proverbs 21:20–29]

How do the righteous and wicked come to different ends? Proverbs 21:20–29 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these ten verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the righteous and wicked come to different ends, because God sees and rewards the life of Christ in the righteous, and the death of sin in the wicked. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The devotional presents a profound contrast between the righteous and the wicked, rooted in the heart's condition and its implications for worship, character, and eternal destiny. Drawing from Proverbs 21:20–29, it emphasizes that the righteous, grounded in faith and the Spirit of Christ, inherit lasting treasure, victory, life, and enduring honor. In contrast, the wicked are defined by pride, laziness, deceit, and hardened hearts—traits that render even their religious acts abominations to God because they lack genuine faith or a transformed heart.

2026.02.16 Hopewell @Home ▫ Proverbs 21:20–29

Read Proverbs 21:20–29

Questions from the Scripture text: What is in the dwelling of the wise (Proverbs 21:20a–b)? What does the foolish man do with it (verse 20c)? What does the righteous man follow (Proverbs 21:21a)? What does he find (verse 21b)? What is the wise man able to do (Proverbs 21:22)? What is the man in Proverbs 21:23a guarding? With what effect/result (verse 23b)? What sort of man does Proverbs 21:24 describe? What else is he like (Proverbs 21:25-26)? With what result for him (Proverbs 21:25a)? Why (verse 25b)? How is the righteous opposite (Proverbs 21:26b)? What else is the man like (Proverbs 21:28a)? With what result for himself? And what result for the lies that he tells (verse 28b)? What else is the wicked man like (Proverbs 21:29a)? What does the righteous do instead (verse 29b)? What does God think of the wicked man’s worship (Proverbs 21:27)? 

How do the righteous and wicked come to different ends? Proverbs 21:20–29 looks forward to the midweek sermon. In these ten verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the righteous and wicked come to different ends, because God sees and rewards the life of Christ in the righteous, and the death of sin in the wicked.  

We come now to the fourth and final section of chapter 21, a climactic description of the righteous and the riches to which he comes, and the victory that he has, in Proverbs 21:20-23. Then, in Proverbs 21:24-29, we see the wicked in four different aspects of his fleshliness, centered around his greatest problem: he cannot draw near to God through sacrifice, because he is wicked in himself. If the life of Christ in you, then Proverbs 21:20-23 is what you look like: wise and prudent, not a person who wastes resources (Proverbs 21:20). Because you love the Lord and seek righteousness, you will possess the very things that the wicked desired but could not obtain: treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise.  Proverbs 21:21 describes what he finds, along the way of the correct path: life and righteousness, and even honor—not only from others, especially from the saints, but especially from God Himself. In addition to treasure and prosperity (Proverbs 21:20-21), the righteous also obtain victory (Proverbs 21:22-23). 

The wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted stronghold (Proverbs 21:22). The saints overcome, even by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and by loving not their life, even unto death. Yet they are kings and priests to their God. And even in this life, there are often providential examples of wisdom, of overcoming might and strength. This victory, of course, is also over the grave, over sin and death, and over hell. Whoever guards his mouth and tongue (Proverbs 21:23) does so only through union with Christ, justification in Christ, and sanctification by the life of Christ. No one can tame the tongue by human effort. Yet this is one of the great results of God’s grace in the believer: the guarding of the mouth and tongue. Thus, the believer keeps his soul from trouble—in this life and the next.

The wicked, however, is marked by pride (Proverbs 21:24), laziness (Proverbs 21:25), greed (Proverbs 21:26), lying (Proverbs 21:28), and hard-heartedness (Proverbs 21:29). His character demonstrates that he is not united to Christ, so his sacrifices are a lying abomination to God (Proverbs 21:27a), Who sees plainly the wicked intentions of the wicked’s heart (verse 27b). 

What fruit is there in your life of belonging to Christ by faith? How are you battling against the remnants of the marks of the wicked in your heart and life? What have you already enjoyed from God? What will you yet enjoy? 

Sample prayer:  Our gracious God and our Heavenly Father, we thank You for setting before us life and death so clearly in this chapter. Give us grace to live righteously. Give us grace to live in union with Christ, so that we may not only know that we are already righteous before You in Christ, but also, by Your continuing work in us, be assured that entrance into glory is being abundantly provided for us. In the Lord Jesus, so produce in us the fruit of Your Holy Spirit as He applies Christ and His life and character to us. We ask in Christ's Name. Amen.

Suggested songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH464 “The Beatitudes”

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