Tag: Sermons

The Judgment of Rejecting the Gospel

In my most recent sermon on Matthew 10:5ff, I came to the verse in which Jesus says the following:

15 Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

This is part of the instructions that Jesus is giving the 12 disciples before He sends them out to preach to the House of Israel. He has already indicated that they will encounter two types of people in their mission work: those who are worthy, and those who are unworthy.

The worthy will open their doors to the disciples, invite them in, and listen to their preaching about the Kingdom of Heaven.  The message will be a blessing to them.

But the other group will refuse to listen to the message. For those in cities and households who refuse to listen, the disciples are not to stay with them. They are to leave, and to shake the dust off their shoes as they leave. This indicates that their wickedness is so pervasive, that it even infects the dust around them. Therefore, the disciples are to make sure and not spread that dust elsewhere.

It is after Jesus tell them this, that He gives the warning quoted above. The sin of rejecting the gospel is far worse than the sin committed in Sodom and Gomorrah.

This is not to say the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is to be taken lightly. Sodom and Gomorrah stand as an open testimony to the world about the wickedness that was committed there. The men of those cities were at the height of depravity and abominations. You can’t get much worse.

But, according to Jesus, there is something that is worse than the heinous sins committed in Sodom and Gomorrah: it is the rejection of the gospel, of the Kingdom of Heaven, and of the King Himself. This sin is far worse than that of S&G, and will receive much greater judgment than those who actually died in those fires of brimstone.

Why is this?

To be given the message of the gospel, of Christ, of the risen Savior, is the greatest act of God’s mercy and grace a person can receive. In the gospel, we are seeing the richest aspect of God’s love, grace, and kindness toward humanity that exists. There is no greater demonstration of God’s love than this.

Therefore, to reject the greatest act of love in history, is to basically say to God: your gift is worthless and I want nothing to do with it. This sin is far worse than that of S&G. While the sin of S&G was against God’s image, and a personal assault upon His nature and character, the sin of rejecting the gospel is against God’s mercy and His Son. This makes it far worse than what those in S&G did. They were acting in ignorance of His grace and mercy. This does not excuse them, but it is worth noting.

The people who hear the gospel are being given a true blessing in hearing of God’s mercy and His Son. Therefore, the responsibility to believe is far greater. The rejection of the greater gift, ends in greater judgment.

You can hear the rest of the sermon HERE.

 

“Take Courage, Son.”

The following is an excerpt from the Sermon: “Take Courage, Son,” in which Jesus heals the paralytic after declaring the man’s sins forgiven. 

Forgiven Sins

“Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

The second monumental statement is one the paralytic did not expect… But it is what the paralytic needed the most: his sins were forgiven.

Do you see that? We want the miracles, the relief from suffering, the healings. Yet, what we need most is the forgiveness that Jesus gives us. We need the atonement. We need the cleansing.

And so often, we forget this truth. We need the forgiveness Jesus brings, more than temporal success. We need forgiveness more that temporal peace.

While the temporal healings, peace, and provisions, are helpful to us in the here and now, the forgiveness found in Christ is the eternal blessing that we need the most.

You can listen to the full sermon here.

Whoever Looks at a Woman — Gospel of Matthew Sermon #28

The sin of adultery is so great, that Jesus’ remedy for it, is to pluck one’s own eye out instead of falling into it. Now, we know He is using hyperbole, but this shows just how wicked adultery actually is. It is a sin against one’s own body, against the body of another, against the spouse who is being robbed, but more importantly, against a Holy God, in who’s image is being violated.

Here is the full sermon.

You Have Heard It Said — Gospel of Matthew Sermon 27

Old Covenant Reading (read first):  Genesis 4:1-12

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon – You Have Heard It Said

Jesus says:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’”

He finally begins to preach upon the Moral Law itself. This is the section of the Law that most people are vaguely familiar with (Yes, contradictory terms).

As Jesus teaches on the Moral Law, please notice what He doesn’t do. He doesn’t turn this into a morality lecture. He is indeed speaking on the Moral Law, but not in such a way that we come away with the reductionistic trope of “be good, do be angry.”

There are far more complexities to honoring this law than we like to think about. What Jesus says here, requires much more that a simple statement of moralism. He is requiring us to use wisdom in our lives, in order to keep the commandments.

Peter Leithart writes about this portion of Christ’s sermon:

“These instructions are not just membership qualifications. They are redemptive commandments, and Jesus is laying out the specifics of the redemptive righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.”

 

Three Sermons on Head Coverings and More…

Women wearing head coverings in worship has become controversial here in the past few years. There are those who are steadfastly against it, declaring that it was merely cultural in Paul’s day, and now no longer necessary for women today.

For example, since I started putting this post together, Doug Wilson has come out with 21 Theses on Head Coverings For Women. You can read his position for yourself. But I would like to draw you attention to one of his points. Wilson asks:

Thesis #6: At Corinth, the men were covering themselves and the women were not. This leads us to wonder why.

Sixth, the men in Corinth were for some reason covering themselves in worship, because Paul tells them not to, and the women were uncovering themselves, because Paul makes a point of saying that if they pray during the meeting, or if they bring a prophecy, they must do so covered. What might those reasons be?

Apart from Doug’s added question, this is exactly what we believe the text to be saying. Men are not to pray covered. Women are not to pray uncovered. Wilson grants this point in this statement, and also shows that the issue is not cultural, because it is dealing with worship.

Those who oppose head coverings love to offer all kinds of cultural and Old Covenant references to show how coverings were viewed, and used, but miss the main point: Paul is telling the church in Corinth, and all the churches, what the cultural setting should be in the church, and he is rooting that cultural setting in creation.

Paul bases his arguments on creation, the hierarchy of Christ, the husband, and the woman, and for the purpose of the angels. In other words, it doesn’t matter what the Jews use to do, or what the Jews were doing. It doesn’t matter what the Romans used to do, or what they were doing. In fact, it doesn’t matter what the church has been doing today, but what we should be doing. Paul sets the culture for us, by rooting his arguments in the created order, and we are to submit to his instructions, as do all the churches (1 Corinthians 11:16).

We also believe, as Bnonn Tennant so beautifully shows, that only God’s glory is to be seen in worship, therefore, women are to cover their hair. Bnonn writes:

The way in which we worship matters. To have another glory on display—a glory that simply by merit of being present is competing with (H)is, suggesting itself as worthy of appearing alongside (H)im—is embodied blasphemy. And glory that is present alongside (Him) suggests also that we may worship the creature, rather than the creator, who is blessed forever! Amen—and is thus implied idolatry.

You can read the full article here. You can also listen to Bnonn and Smokey (Bnonn’s wife) answer questions to objections here. Most of the objections they address, will deal with the statements in Wilson’s article, and others as well.

Just by looking at what the text actually says, like I do in my sermons below, and what Bnonn and Smokey do, we answer most of the objections people have.

I am sharing the three sermons I have preached on the subject of head coverings from 1 Corinthians 11. I did this back in April and May of 2023 at Waco Reformed Church. Most of our congregation has since adopted the practice. However, even those who do not accept the practice, are welcome to worship with us.

You can also read other articles here and here.

 

First sermon: Head Coverings and Hierarchy

This first sermon not only deals with the hierarchy of those in the body of Christ, but also the culture in which Paul was working. It does answer the question: are head coverings a result of culture?

 

Second Sermon: Head Coverings and Prophecy

 

Third Sermon: Head Coverings and Glory

At Waco Reformed Church, we believe that it is right and proper for women to wear head coverings in worship. However, we accept that there are many men and women who are not convinced from Scripture to do so. Therefore we allow for those who are not convinced to act upon their conscience, as long as they don’t teach otherwise in our congregation.

The Salt of the Earth — The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 25

The Salt of the Earth

Now, I do want you to see the allusion. It isn’t a strong one, but I think it’s there. In bringing the new heavens and the new earth, Jesus shows us how this will happen: through His people being salt of the earth, and lights unto the world. The salt brings about the new earth. The light brings about the new heavens.

Jesus starts with the new earth.

“You are the salt of the earth…”

 

For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven — The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 24

Preparation for Worship: Psalm 73:25-26

Call to worship: Hebrews 12:18-24 (Keep it, same as last week).

Reading of the Law: Proverbs 10:30-32 (Dichotomy continues: righteous and wicked)

AOPG: Isaiah 1:18; Hebrews 12:24

Old Covenant Reading (read first):  Ezekiel 47:1-5

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 5:1-10

(This is the inspired and holy word of God.)

Sermon – For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

Introduction –

Our text reads: “He sat on a mountain…” I’ve tried to show that more is going on than meets the eye. If we remain in an elementary understanding of Scripture, we will never see the true richness of what Jesus is doing. This is why I spent much of last Sunday’s sermon showing the significance of Jesus sitting on a mountain, teaching the people of God.

This means something. It shows us the greater spiritual reality of what takes place when we gather for worship, on the mountain, with the people of God, sitting at the feet of our Savior.

He is the Temple of God. We are the building blocks of that Temple. When we gather, true worship takes place. When we gather, He feeds us, and gives us drink.

The Apostle John also hits upon this theme as well, but not directly.

John gives us another picture of this reality.

Revelation 21:2-6

2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Part of the already/not yet reality)

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Including us) And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”

As Jesus sits on the mountain to teach, He is laying the foundations for this new city, this Tabernacle. He is setting up the fountain of the water of life, which we know from Ezekiel that it becomes a flowing river.

When Jesus started preaching, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” the trickling of the river of life began. It then continued to grow into a stream. As Jesus teaches on the side of the mountain, that stream becomes a river flowing to all the people who hear. As His ministry continued, and He ascended into heaven, then the river flowed to the point that no one could cross it. It was too deep, too wide.

In other words, as we sit here this morning, the waters of life are a river that …(we) could not cross… for the waters of life flow around the world… the waters of life seek to sustain those who are citizens of the kingdom.

And it is the citizens of the kingdom that Jesus is speaking to.

Jesus Went About — The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 22

Preparation for Worship: Luke 4:36

Call to worship: Isaiah 61:1-3

Reading of the Law: Proverbs 10:26 (Note to me: we have been called by our LORD to work… where we find ourselves being lazy, we need to repent).

AOPG: Romans 4:7-8

Old Covenant Reading (read first): Isaiah 61

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 4:23-25

(This is the inspired and holy word of God.)

Sermon – Jesus Went About

Introduction –

It’s not often that you can read a book of fiction and find true biblical insight. That is what happened when I was reading the Lord of the Rings to Heidi recently. I had finished reading about the Ride of Rohirrim, and in the chapter called The Houses of Healing, I had the “aha moment.”

The old wife, Ioreth, was tending to the wounded Faramir, afraid for his life. She then said, “Would that there were kings in Gondor as there were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in the old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of the healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known.”

It was at that moment, that I realized where it was that Tolkien came upon this idea, of the king being a healer.

He got the idea from the gospels, that show that our King truly is a healer.

And, this is what we should expect to find when it comes to the Messiah. Remember what was promised about the Messiah in the Garden of Eden: And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

We are also told:

Isaiah 53:5

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

Jesus has come to reverse the curse. He is not only coming to defeat Satan, but also the work of Satan. Jesus is our sacrifice. He is the One who redeems us. He is the One who heals us.

All this is necessary for us to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are beneficiaries to all of these things in Christ and without the regeneration that is necessary, we cannot be citizens of His Kingdom.

In this, we begin to see that Christ’s Kingdom is a different kind of Kingdom, with a different kind of King. The world offers us messiahs that can only lead by applying different levels of coercion.

But not Christ. He leads us by regenerating our hearts so that we believe. He leads us by working faith in us to believe. He leads us by bringing freedom from sin. He leads us and works in us by giving us the Spirit of God Himself. He leads by dealing with all that plague us. He leads us by dealing with His and our enemies. He is a different kind of King. He is a healing King.

Walking By the Sea — The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 21

Preparation for Worship: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

Call to worship: Psalm 135:1-7

Reading of the Law: Proverbs 10:23-25

AOPG: Psalm 34:17-22

Old Covenant Reading (read first):  Jeremiah 16:14-21

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 4:11-17

(This is the inspired and holy word of God.)

Sermon – Walking By the Sea

Introduction –

Shortly after Jesus begins His public ministry, preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” He is walking about and comes across a couple of fishermen.

The two men, were not the wise of the world. The world would consider them foolish, and weak, and base. Why? Because they were fishermen. They were not powerful. They didn’t have a lot of knowledge. You would not find these four men in the halls of Herod, making great speeches for this cause or that.

They got up every day, went down to the sea, and fished for a living. On the Sabbath day, they went to the synagogue for worship. They were married, had families, … they were quite normal.

Yet, as Jesus is walking, He approaches them and gives them the irresistible call to follow Him.

And in calling these men, Jesus then begins to fulfill the prophecy made by John the Baptist before Jesus was baptized. What did he say about Jesus?

“His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Notice how John informs His audience. He makes it clear that Jesus is the One who will be doing the work of the Kingdom. He will have a winnowing fan in His hand. For us, that may not mean much. But the winnowing fan was used to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Here, John is using it as an illustration showing that Jesus will separate His righteous ones from the wicked of the world. Jesus will divide His followers out from the chaff. Jesus will bring those who belong to Him, into His barn. Jesus will take the chaff and burn it up in the unquenchable fire.

 

 

He Departed Galilee — The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 20

Waco Reformed Church

Sermon Text: Matthew 4:11-17

Old Covenant Text: Isaiah 9:1-7

This sermon focuses on Jesus leaving His home and going to Galilee fulfilling the prophecy spoken of in Isaiah 9.

Preached February 2, 2025.

 

Led By the Spirit: The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 17

Sermon – Led by the Spirit 

Introduction – 

One of the hardest lessons we all have to learn as Christians, is that there are times in our lives where we are tested by God. In other words, He removes things from us, or keep things from us, or allows Satan to offer things to us, to see what is in our hearts. This often falls under the category of “affliction.”

Thomas Boston wrote:

“Affliction does not rise out of the dust or come to men by chance; but it is the LORD that sends it, and we should own and reverence His hand in it.”

What Boston is telling us is that God is truly sovereign over all things, therefore when we fall into affliction, we know that it is by God’s hand. The question for is should never be: has God brought affliction, trials, or testing in our lives? He has and does.

The question for us is: how shall we respond to it?

God has used affliction in the lives of His people throughout human history. He does so to test them. He does so to refine them. He does so in order for them to see the wickedness in their hearts that still remains.

If we are wise, we will embrace that affliction from His hand and trust Him throughout the process.

This all started in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Adam was given everything in the Garden; he had all the food he needed. He had the most beautiful woman in the world. He was completely blessed. There was nothing that he did not have, save one thing: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Father told Adam, that this tree was off limits. He could look at the tree, but Adam could not eat of the tree.

Now please note this: The Father wasn’t being unloving to Adam at all. He had blessed Adam with everything. Adam was not in want of anything. This is important to understand. In a lot of the affliction we see in God’s people, they are in true want of something when He tests them.

Yet, here, Adam was not in want of anything… except the knowledge of evil. That was the only thing he did not have. He wasn’t hungry. He had plenty of water to drink. He had all the love and affection a wife could bring. He had it all… except the knowledge of evil.

For Adam knew both goodness in theory and experientially. All that the Father had done with him, and for him, was God’s goodness on display.

We know the story. Adam quickly fell into sin by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

By eating that tree, Adam knew true evil for the first time. In fact, he didn’t just know evil as some idea, he knew evil experientially. He had known nothing but goodness before he ate of the tree, but now, evil was a reality in his heart. He had become… evil in his rebellion. Adam became the adopted son of the father of that evil. In listening to the serpent, he worshipped the serpent, and became like his new father the devil.

The relationship between Adam and God was broken. Just the fact that Adam tried to hide, and then blame his own sin on the woman that God gave to him, should show us just how far Adam had fallen.

We see only two things from that point forward in regards to God’s provision for Adam. The first is that God makes tunics for Adam, sacrificing sheep in order offer atonement and point to the coming of the Seed of the Woman.

Secondly, Adam is driven from the Garden, and into the wilderness. This was to protect Adam from eating of the tree of life, and thereby living forever in his fallen state.

All of this affliction came from that one event. While God tested Adam, he was not afflicted. Yet, the afflictions that follow are now because of the entrance of sin into the world.

The Father had allowed Adam to be tempted by the devil, and Adam failed miserably.

The Voice of One Crying in the Desert: Gospel of Matthew Sermon No. 13

We have come to the portion of Matthew’s gospel where we are introduced to John the Baptist. If you recall from last week, we saw that he was the last Old Covenant prophet, whom God raised up in the wilderness, in order to prepare the people of God for their coming King.

John’s ministry was marked, not only by baptism, but by preaching the Kingdom, which required the need for repentance. Repentance, as we saw, is an outward action that comes about from an inward reality. In other words, the Spirit moves in us to help see that we need to turn away from our sinful lives, and turn toward Christ.

This repentance may be visible in our lives, as it was for the soldiers, who were to no longer to intimidate or accuse falsely; tax collectors, who were to collect no more than was fair, and everyday people, who were to give when they could to those in need. We also saw the outward evidence of repentance in Matthew’s own life. Jesus came to him and said, “Follow me,” which Matthew immediately did.

Listen to the full sermon below…

The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand: The Gospel of Matthew Sermon 12

Introduction – 

One of the modern themes that is being drawn out in Reformed circles over the past 25 years or so, is the idea that much of the New Testament, especially the gospels and Revelation, are actually legal documents written as lawsuits against Israel. I agree. This is a helpful way of looking at the texts.

Peter Leithart writes:

In every one of the gospels, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is John’s ministry. John is the forerunner, the first witness in God’s final prosecution of His lawsuit against Israel” (Leithart, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 1, p. 80).

I believe this is one way to think of the gospels. The gospels are lawsuits against those who should have accepted the One born King of the Jews, but rejected Him instead. God will raise up witness after witness, give sign after sign, and proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind… yet the leadership will absolutely reject the Messiah.

Even with this understanding, we must not lose sight that the gospels serve a greater purpose that an indictment against the leadership. They serve as affirmation to those who didn’t reject the Messiah who was born King of the Jews. Matthew is giving those believers in the first century an account of Christ, showing how it is, that He is the long-expected Messiah.

Already, Matthew has shown that Jesus is the Messiah through a detailed genealogy, that Jesus was both tied to Abraham and King David. Matthew also took us through the birth narratives, showing us the worldly forces opposed to His coming, and opening our eyes to how God used a faithful man, Joseph, to help deliver THE Deliverer from the hands of Satan.

In our text before us this morning, we are seeing one of the first major witnesses of Christ: John the Baptist. Matthew will show us that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of prophecy, showing that God does indeed save His people.

Herod Was Deceived: The Gospel of Matthew Sermon No. 10

I don’t think there is any more vivid picture of just how wicked the world was, when Jesus was born, than in the few verses we just read. These verses are not verses we readily jump to when we think of the nativity scenes. We gravitate to the shepherds coming and seeing the new born. We delight in thoughts of the angels singing above the manger. We rejoice at seeing the wise men fall at His feet and worshiping Him.

But we don’t like to think of these verses before us, for they remind us just how wicked the world was, in which Jesus was born.

Jacob Begat Judah: Gospel of Matthew Sermon No. 3

Drawing from the prophecy of Judah in Genesis 49:8-12, we see that Judah gives us a true picture of Christ’s sacrificial love, in the earlier chapters of Genesis. He truly acts in a kingly fashion, willing to lay his life down for the love of his father, and the safety of Benjamin.

For more information on Waco Reformed Church, go to our website here, or our Facebook page here, along with our Youtube channel here. Waco Reformed Church is a candidate church of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC).