Sermons – Cherrydale Baptist Church: Recent Episodes
Cherrydale Baptist Church
Out of His compassion for crowds of people, Jesus multiplies His ministry through His disciples in order to reach more people. He equips those disciples, provides for their needs, and teaches them to be honest with unbelievers about God’s coming judgment.
In Matthew chapters 8-9 as Jesus demonstrates His authority with miracles, He models what it looks like to labor in His Kingdom harvest field. Then in Matthew 9:37-38 He calls his disciples to “ask the Lord of the harvest” to send out more laborers. This sets up chapter 10 where Jesus sends 12 of His disciples out into ministry on their own.
In this passage, we learn that Jesus combines His great authority–as God’s promised King–with compassionate responses to people in need, even when they interrupt Him. This combination–authority and compassion–invites us to come to Jesus with bold faith.
After demonstrating His authority to forgive sins by forgiving and healing one paralyzed man, Jesus shows that His grace is even more expansive than that. He invites many of the “worst” sinners to follow Him as his disciples, and He invites them into joyful anticipation that is fitting for those experiencing His grace.
Jesus moved toward the disciples and the women with concrete proof of His resurrection and then commissioned them to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins among all nations starting in Jerusalem.
Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost,” and who is more lost than the thief on the cross? In this passage, we see two contrasting responses to Jesus: one of misunderstanding and rejection, and one of understanding and acceptance.
Jesus displays his authority over all creation and over the whole spiritual realm. Sometimes, though, He uses His authority in perplexing ways. Even so, Jesus is always worth following.
Matthew’s been introducing us to King Jesus who has the authority to reverse the effects of sin in creation. How do we know Jesus will do that? Because He spoke with decisive authority. And He acts with decisive authority. That’s what we see as we move from the sermon on the mount to this string of 12 miracles throughout Matthew 8 and 9.
As Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount, He tells us how he wants us to respond to His words. We learn that Jesus speaks with one-of-a-kind authority and with eternal implications, but He speaks so we can be saved by faith in Him.
Jesus warns the Church about false prophets who will call us away from the narrow, difficult path that leads to life. Instead, we should follow wholehearted undershepherds leading the way toward everlasting life. All the while keeping our eyes on the Chief Shepherd.
Jesus says in the next part of the sermon on the mount that if sinful parents know how to give good gifts, how much more does your Heavenly Father. Jesus makes two claims about prayer in verses 7-11. God always answers the prayers of His children. God gives good gifts to His children.
Jesus wants us to relate to each other, not as self-righteous judges, but as gospel-humbled rescuers.
The citizens of God’s kingdom are also children of their heavenly Father. They are therefore invited and commanded away from anxious thinking and into a life that seeks God’s kingdom first and stores up treasure in heaven.
Jesus came ushering in the future kingdom of heaven now. Those who enter become citizens of Heaven.We are raised with Christ and are seated in the heavenly places where Christ is. But we still live in this present world.And this world is intensely physical. While the kingdom Jesus builds is still somewhat invisible. So, we live by faith.
Put your head down and run after the LORD who is in secret. He’s in the secret, hidden places. And He sees what happens there. So, when you pray in the car. Or in your chair early in the morning. Or in bed at 3am when you’re stressed or anxious. Or out in the woods. Or quietly in the middle of a meeting. Nobody else may know what’s transpiring there. But God, who lives in the secret places, and sees in secret, knows.
Paul alerts us to a clear and present danger this morning. Sin will rot and corrode Jesus’s Body, the Church. Sin is like mold growing behind a fresh coat of pain. It’s like a deadly rip current just under the water line. It’s like a serious cancer spreading invisibly in the body. Sin is a clear and present danger for the Church. But that’s not all Paul wants to say. There’s a solution to the clear and present danger of sin. The Body, walking together as God’s children, in the Father’s Love and Light. We can forsake the danger of sin together.
In all the obstacles and pain points of life in a sin-infested world, God has not left us without a redeemer. Rejoice, our redeemer has come. Rejoice, our redeemer will come again!
While everyone else in Israel did what was right in the own eyes, Boaz and Ruth obeyed the LORD. Their righteousness creates a refuge where their neighbors can taste the goodness of God. Life in a world polluted by sin and darkness is filled to the brim with struggles with suffering and sin. How do we respond to God and the world when the temptation is to do what’s right in our own eyes? Obey God’s way, behold God’s work.
In chapter 2, Ruth and Naomi begin to see God’s faithful, yet mysterious, plans working themselves out. We are urged to depend upon God’s sometimes mysterious but always faithful provision. This is an invitation to walk with God through difficulty. To depend upon Him. And to look for his provision.
Paul models what it looks like to approach God. He turns to the Sovereign Father on behalf of the Church in Ephesus. And here’s what we learn from him. Humble and sincere prayer connects us to God’s strength and love. Paul’s prayer teaches us what God is like and reveals how God hears and sends aid.
The Church is the keeper and herald of the gospel mystery. For most of the last two thousand years, the Church has done this keeping and heralding work under pressure. And, honestly, the pressure kept generations before us dependent on Christ and longing for Heaven. This passage proclaims the triumph of God in Christ over every power and principality.
Our committed love for one another proclaims the gospel’s unifying power. God gathers a diverse people through Christ. And that confounds the world. Why? Because our unity as His people proclaims the gospel’s power to reconcile what was once alienated.
Every generation of the church needs to be determined to pass the gospel faithfully to the next. The challenge for our generation will likely be: Can’t we accept gospel promises but abandon gospel ethics? Can’t we treasure the gospel’s promises without the embarrassment of the gospel’s commands? Well, for love of God and neighbor we can’t. Which I hope to show you in the next 30 minutes.
In this passage we find King David’s sentimental, anemic love for his rebellious son Absalom reaching a head. In these verses David’s understandable but flawed fatherly love is on full display before reaching its tragic conclusion. The king has been unwilling to pursue justice for his children, and while we struggle with balancing love and justice too, the gospel weds them perfectly. In the cursing of His own Son, God’s gracious love for sinners meets His perfect justice for sin.
At this point in the story, David flees from Jerusalem. David is the rightful king. But his son, Absalom, stole the hearts of the people. And now, David’s throne. To make matters worse, David knows that this all happens as a result of his own sin. Here’s David’s desperate prayer: “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” This dynamic sets up our passage as we watch the back and forth between Hushai and Ahithophel. Will God answer David’s prayer? Will God’s kingdom purposes fail? Or will they stand? That’s the question I urge you to engage this morning. Will God’s kingdom purposes fail? Here’s the truth we must nail to the mast of our hearts: despite appearances, God’s kingdom will not fail.
To say David is in a dark valley would be a significant understatement. He flees Jerusalem in a funeral procession of sorts. Surrounded by a group of faithful soldiers, advisors, and family. Yet, we see David reveal confidence in God’s sovereignty and power over all of it. David trusts God’s wise discipline and anticipates his abounding restoration. Can you?
Although Absalom’s betrayal of his father, King David, in this chapter does not contain an immediate resolution, it does point powerfully to Christ and His glorious gospel hope. The theme of the passage: In the face of betrayal, bear Christ’s reproach and seek His eternal city—a city marked by the loyal love of a good and gracious God and His betrayed Son.
The gripping question of 1 Samuel 13 is asked by Tamar: where can I carry my shame? Actually, the shame belongs to Amnon. Yet, Tamar endures the consequence of his sin. The answer to her question? We carry the shame of sin to the humiliated God, to the merciful God, and to the just God.
God has chosen and anointed King David and described him as man after His own heart. But the king has just committed two terrible transgressions—compelling adultery with Bathsheba and then the murder of her husband Uriah as an attempted cover-up. How will God respond to these horrific sins? How will He handle his tragic unfaithfulness? Will He simply wink at David’s iniquity? Will He cut the king off and move on to the next monarch? The answer is neither. What we find instead is that our just God puts away sin by His shocking mercy.
Jesus’s resurrection is a guarantee that the suffering we experience in this life, disasters in nature, disease and death in our bodies, and sinful disobedience in ourselves and others won’t have the final word. Our present and our future is tied up with Jesus’s victory.
The King has Died on behalf of his people. Jesus tasted the full measure of death so we merely experience a glancing blow. He tasted death for us so that we could close our eyes in death only to open them in God’s presence. Take heart, Jesus tasted death for us so that He could bring us safely home.
Throughout Israel’s history God promised a coming Messiah who would bring about the redemption of His people, Israel, and establish His priestly reign over an everlasting kingdom. God gave us many signs so that we would recognize Him; hundreds of prophecies would prepare the people of Israel—and everyone—to recognize and receive this king when He came. In Matthew 21:1-11, Jesus fulfills one of those prophecies. And in so doing, He announces without saying a word that He—the king, God’s king, Messiah—has finally come.
God makes sweeping promises to David in 2 Samuel 7. This is a really important chapter in the Bible. Not just for David and Israel, but for you and me. These promises are fulfilled in a small way in David’s lifetime, but they whisper to us of greater fulfillment. They assure God’s people that one day a son of David will deliver endless rest to God’s people from every enemy.
In 2 Samuel 6 we encounter the newly crowned king of a unified Israel, King David, working toward restoring Israel’s sacrificial system of worship to the people with joyful worship. But we also receive a reminder that our approach of God in all His holiness must not violate His Word. The theme of this passage serves as its central application: Worship our Holy God with reverent joy.
After many years of waiting God has provided Israel with a new king. But even this good king will sin against his people. Therefore, we need to behold the better king God provided. The one who will usher in and reign righteously over an eternal kingdom.
In the wake of King Saul’s death there’s a leadership vacuum in Israel and leadership vacuums often lead to power grabs. David, God’s anointed king-to-be, steps forward to rule over Judah. But Saul’s cousin Abner, driven by a passion for power and self-preservation, props up Saul’s only living son, Ish-bosheth, to lead a rebel faction. God’s people have a choice to look to God, to follow His man, and to receive His lovingkindness and extend it to others.
In this gripping passage we confront King Saul at the bottom of his death spiral—a decline that began all the way back in chapter 13. In the face of his mounting sin and the dreadful consequences that continue to pile Saul is totally desperate. He’s scrapping to save himself from humiliation and destruction, doing everything except the one thing that would actually work. When confronted with our own sin, it’s in Saul’s example of what NOT to do that we find the theme of this passage: True repentance from sin opens the door to full forgiveness from our merciful God.
In this fourth week of our Advent series we contemplate the tremendous blessing of life with Jesus as our king and the joy that we have to share Him with others. The life King Jesus offers makes us joyful messengers who pursue holiness together. In 1 John 1 we see John’s proclamation of Jesus’ incarnation—the truth that God came to earth in the flesh. We see why John chose to write this letter about the incarnation. And then we find the core message that Jesus, the Word of Life, proclaimed when He came.
Here’s the image for us to latch onto. Do our hearts long for a present shadow or future substance? Are we hungry for the present foretaste or the future fulness? The movie’s preview trailer or the film itself? The present shadow is fading, fleeting, momentary. The future substance is everlasting, sturdy, magnificent. Long for Jesus’s eternal kingdom where the Church will live with God forever!
David’s been anointed King. But, oh how his circumstances seem to run against the very stated promises and purposes of God. And it’s in the snowstorm of his circumstances that he experiences the deliverance of the LORD. Our main idea: Look to the LORD to deliver us from every enemy. Think about your trouble this morning. There are three ways He delivers.
What motivates us to go to people unreached with the gospel? What motivates us to risk relationships, cross borders, and learn languages? And what sustains our going? What sustains our hunger to see the gospel embraced by the nations? Not guilt. Not self-glory. The proper motivation for a church’s missionary efforts is worship. We’ve been humbled by our sin. We’ve been awed by God’s mercy. We’ve tasted the goodness of God. We’ve been welcomed into fellowship with God through the gospel. We worship Him boldly and freely. We know that He desires that same worship from every nation, language, and tribe. So, we go for worship.
David is officially on the run from an unhinged King Saul, and his problem is not the running but what he does while he’s on the run—things that demonstrate his fear of man and the control that he has given to Saul in the place of dependence on God. We begin to see cracks in David’s armor—that he isn’t the perfect hero that we long to emulate. But after the events of this passage, David penned two psalms, and it’s what he learns from his own struggles with the fear of man that provides the theme of our passage: In the face of fear, depend desperately on God, our Deliverer.
Here’s our main idea: Don’t let your heart fail, our Shepherd stands to defend us. David makes it clear that the LORD is the Shepherd who will deliver Goliath into his hand. And when He does, everyone will know that the battle belongs to the LORD. And, in David, we see an example of what it looks like to stare down and withstand an ominous threat. We borrow strength to face the threat, knowing the presence of the LORD will accomplish his purposes.
When Saul calls David, who unbeknownst to him has been anointed to replace him as king, to join his court, we begin to see the contrast between these two men, a contrast that only grows as their story unfolds. And this contrast helps us to see the theme of the passage: God’s Spirit empowers His people to fulfill His holy purposes.
Here’s Jonah’s problem: he wants God’s mercy for himself and God’s judgment for others. Jonah’s problem isn’t unique to him. Jonah 4 should confront us for wanting mercy for ourselves and judgment for others. Jonah 4 should urge us toward God’s compassionate heart for the faith and repentance of sinners…like us. Jonah 4 should teach us how to have our hearts beat in rhythm with God’s heart. Sober about our sin. Glad about God’s mercy! We can’t do that if we wander away from the cross. Shelter near the cross, where justice and mercy meet.
In our passage, we encounter a desperate, disobedient, prophet who is knocking on death’s door—despairing of life, distanced from God, and yet needing His merciful intervention. And what we find in this powerful passage—most of it a prayer offered by Jonah himself—is that no matter how deep our despair might be, the mercy of God is deeper still. No matter how significant our sin is, the grace of God is sufficient to cover it.
When things occur, or when things persist, or when things get worse…contentment is possible for Christians. We can’t force it. We can’t fake it. It’s produced as we satisfy ourselves in Jesus. In this passage we learn the secret of contentment and see the source of contentment.
If life were a race like Paul describes and our the finish line is eternity with Christ, then the biblical way to stay focused on that goal is to press upward together in biblical community with other believers.
God invites us to the great wedding feast, but we cannot come dressed in the filthy rags of self-confidence. To enjoy the everlasting feast, we must be clothed in the wedding clothes of Christ’s righteousness.
You only have one life to live. Your life may slowly come to a close in your 90s. Or it may come suddenly tomorrow. Remembering we only have one life to live supplies the urgency we need. That’s what this morning’s passage provides us with an opportunity to do.
Here are three ways to find joy from this passage: In God’s work and His pleasure, Shining God’s Light and Living the Long View.
Paul knows the Church is under pressure. Philippian endurance requires kingdom living. They must hold the line together as an outpost which displays the reality of the coming Kingdom. For Jesus will return. And the Church displays those future Kingdom realities in the world now.
How does an old briefcase serve to point us to our call to live worthy of the gospel? What are the three essential habits of those who walk worthy of the gospel? How can you find freedom from thinking too much of yourself or too little of yourself?
As he writes in chains, awaiting his verdict, Paul acknowledges that there are two choices before him—life and death. They aren’t really his choices, but he uses that word to address the fact that his own death is a very real and imminent possibility, and he has a preference. By his own example, Paul models for us what it looks like to find joyful confidence in our future deliverance, even in the face of death.
The gospel can advance under tremendous pressure. Under any amount pressure. God desires to save His people from every nation on earth and God will accomplish their salvation. There’s no pressure that will slow or stand against the power of the gospel in the world. This reality gives birth to a fearless and joyful church.
Christians are rescued from this world but left in world to make Jesus known. It costs us something to endure the rejection and resist the distractions of this world. The Second Coming motivates Christ-exalting devotion and righteousness. Remembering Jesus’s return is a motivation to live by faith. To be awakened and driven by what we can’t see. That’s what Paul prays for. Christ-exalting devotion. And Christ-exalting righteousness.
The Church is under tremendous pressure in our environment. The forces dividing culture are threatening to fracture the Church as well. How do we remain faithful? How do we represent Christ and advance the gospel in this environment? It is into this kind of moment that Paul drafts this letter to Philippian church. The human perspective might appear bleak. So, look with God’s perspective. Stand firm with joy remembering the powerful advance of the gospel. And so, this morning, I want us to step ten years backwards to remember what the gospel’s power accomplished in Philippi when Paul stepped onto the European Continent for the first time.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul calls the Church in Corinth to hold fast to the hope of the resurrection. Christ is risen! He is preparing a place for us. And He will return for us. When He does, we rise to live with Him forever! Jesus leads us in victory over sin and death! Therefore, be steadfast and immovable, abounding in the LORD’s work.
Ultimately if the dead do not rise, then living a life for Christ is meaningless. But – HE ROSE!!!! Christ’s resurrection is the first fruit or guarantee of our future resurrection from the dead and is, therefore, the foundation of the believer’s hope. Both our soul and body will be resurrected. As Paul wisely points out, if the dead will not rise bodily from the dead, then baptism as a physical act in the body makes no sense. Not only will our bodies be raised, but they will also be transformed. The resurrection of the dead, for believers, entails transformation into immortality and glorification, resembling the current state of Christ Jesus, the human being currently seated at the right hand of the Father. Church, because the resurrection of the dead will in fact take place, we should live ethical lives; we should strive, in the Spirit’s power, to live in obedience to Christ.
1 Corinthians 15 deals with the resurrection. In verses 12-28, Paul confronts the Corinthians about a logical inconsistency. Since you agree that Christ rose, how can some of you say that there’s no resurrection of the dead? If Jesus rose, it’s illogical and inconsistent for you to believe that you and I will not rise from the dead. And listen, IF Christ didn’t rise from the dead then at least five things are true.
God’s grace empowers us to boldly hold fast to the gospel. We won’t be faithful to Jesus if we follow Him in our own strength and wisdom. And we won’t be faithful to Him if we abandon—rather than hold fast to— the gospel. Instead, God’s grace is the fuel in the engine that transforms, empowers, and motivates our commitment to boldly hold fast to the gospel.
Israel stands at the bottom of Mt. Sinai. God prepares to speak His law to them. The mountain is filled with smoke and lighting bolts light up the sky. Thunder and trumpets fill the air like a terrifying, pounding, unrelenting artillery. All this power and magnitude reflect the glory, majesty, and holiness of God. When God finishes speaking, Israel’s heart fills with fear. They know they can’t measure up to God’s law. They feel the unsettling fear of relational separation. So why is God’s law good? Because it pushes us to the sweet air of God’s grace in the gospel!
In our passage, Yahweh, the one true God, summons the people of Israel to Mt. Sinai, “the mountain of God,” where He intends to give them His law and establish a covenant with them. He appears in such a dramatic fashion to highlight their limitations, His holiness, and the need for a suitable mediator. Moses is that mediator who points ahead to the ultimate mediator between God and humanity in Christ Jesus.
Exodus may have been written 1000s of years ago, but the message couldn’t be more timely. God redeemed us so that we represent Him to the world. That’s what we see in Exodus 19:1-8. Church Family, we’ve been redeemed to represent our Redeemer to the world. This text is a summons to the Church—to our church—to represent God’s heart, law, and purposes in the world. We’re not our own. We’ve been bought with a price. We belong to our Redeemer King. And we represent our Redeemer with gospel words and gospel actions.
God stands above every leader. That’s what we will see in three stories from Exodus 17 and 18. Bad leaders fail us regularly. Good leaders will fail us too. We need to look to God who stands above every leader to fulfill His purposes to summon His People from every nation to worship and delight in Him!
Church, we need to know how to make sense of suffering. Israel’s hardship comes in the wilderness between redemption from slavery in Egypt and the Promised Land. Our hardship comes in the wilderness between redemption from sin and death and our eternal home. In this in-between time of wilderness we experience life in a world broken by sin and scandalized by death. And these hardships, and these trials, can tempt us to grumble and complain. So we must ask: what’s God doing in the wilderness? He’s demonstrating that He’s the Rock sustaining us.
The narrative of this text reminds us that, through testing, we should never forget God’s faithfulness in our past, that circumstances should not determine our attitude amid trials, that God’s enduring and steadfast love demonstrated time-after-time should do so. It reminds us that The LORD beckons His people to trust and to demonstrate our trust by pursuing a life of obedience to His instruction, and that obedience, which can only be accomplished through the Spirit’s power, will be rewarded in the end. This text teaches us the importance of patience as we wait upon the LORD; and it shows us that God’s love is often demonstrated as He gives us what we need while not always what we want. The Israelite’s reluctance to understand God’s purpose for the Sabbath as a gift implicitly includes within it a warning to us: We must be watchful so that what was intended to be a blessing may not become an obstacle in our lives. And lastly, the text drives us to a crucially important point: “Remembering God’s deeds” should lead us to place efforts towards setting up constant reminders in our lives, for our families, and for the generations to come. These constant reminders will recall God’s faithful hand working for our good throughout the trajectory of our lives.
Mysterious trials aren’t a distraction or interruption from God’s purposes. The trials are part of His purposes. He sovereignly brings things—happy things and mysterious things—into our lives that teach us to depend on Him. The mysterious trials keep us tethered to God in a way that maximizes our joy. They teach us that He’s the only steadfast anchor in our lives. He’s the only reliable source of strength and defense. He’s the only trustworthy source of joy and hope. Knowing God is mountain peak of pleasure and joy! And He is giving us more of Himself in mysterious trials. This is what we will see in Exodus 15:22-27. Take refuge in God’s nearness in every mysterious trial.
The Israelites stand on the far side of the Red Sea. God has just delivered them through the water and destroyed their enemies. What do the Israelites do now that their fear is replaced with awe? They sing! They sing to LORD who has triumphed gloriously! Their song is an anthem proclaimed by every generation of the persecuted Church.
Our main idea this morning is to behold God’s glory in every fearful storm. I am not aiming to convince us from the text that we should enjoy and relish storms. I am trying to convince us from the text that we can behold God’s glory (His majesty, beauty, and weight) in them. The storms of our life are not wasted. They’re not out of control. They’re not meaningless. Rather, God is doing something. In fearful storms, God glorifies Himself and eternally satisfies us.
In this fourth week focusing on the tenth plague, God institutes for His people two more ways by which He intends for them to remember His strong hand of redemption. God asks us to remember—often in special, tangible ways—His strong and mighty acts throughout human history. It’s by His strong hand that He redeems His people. It’s by His strong hand that He sets apart His people. And He is the Lord who goes before His people.
At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of the livestock.
Our foundation—Christ Crucified—must hold. If we sideline the gospel for another foundation our kids will walk off the field disinterested and disillusioned. And if our kids walk off the field our grandchildren won’t play the game at all. That’s why our foundation must hold. The next generation must hear us proclaim the gospel and see us live it. Christ crucified is the foundation God has intended all along. That’s why we see it in germ form in Egypt. Everyone who depends on the Lamb’s blood will be shielded from judgment. That’s our foundation. This is the gospel the Apostles handed down to us.
In Exodus 11:1–10, God finally signals that the plagues that He has unleashed on Egypt for the past four chapters are finally coming to an end; only one plague remains and freedom is coming for Israel. We see God peeling back the curtain to the sovereign plan He’s had all along to free His people from bondage. Our sovereign God has a perfect plan to glorify Himself by saving His people from His judgment for sin.
Identity and purpose are themes that shape our daily media feeds and leave us confused and frustrated. Therefore, we desperately need the compelling and satisfying lesson Anna of Luke 2:36-38 models for us. Embracing Jesus’ identity and purpose transforms our identity and purpose. Dive into her story and be transformed.
Waiting is hard. In this passage, Luke 2:21–35, we encounter a man named Simeon who is waiting with his eyes turned toward God. Both what he is waiting for and how he waits informs our waiting here and now—even all these years later. And this is the encouragement that flows out of Simeon’s example: No matter what you might be waiting for, as you wait, find comfort and joy in Jesus Christ, the One who fulfills all the promises of God.
Is Jesus the conquering King or the humble, lowly child born in Bethlehem? Well, He’s both. The way Jesus comes into the world (i.e. the manger) reveals the purpose for which He comes. The manger demonstrates: He came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. He comes as a shepherd to lay His life down for the sheep. He comes as the Suffering Servant. But we can’t underestimate what the manger-born, suffering Servant will accomplish. His Kingdom is established in His suffering. It’s the humility of His birth, life, and death that Jesus secures His victory.
Death introduces weariness into God’s creation. We groan because of it. Even for Christians, for whom death has lost ultimate sting; death can be crippling, paralyzing, and deafening. Into our weariness steps a cause for rejoicing. That’s what Zechariah’s prophecy in Luke 2 establishes. The eternal Sunrise visited us from on high. God has raised up a powerful horn of salvation for us. He’s a light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
This exchange between Mary and Elizabeth leads Mary to sing what is often called the Magnicifat, the very first Christmas song. Mary pours our her heart in response to God’s truth and sings of God’s redemption promised through her yet-to-be-born son Jesus. She reminds us that Almighty God exalts the humble and shows mercy to those who fear Him so that we might exalt Him.
Christians understand creation’s brokenness, but also understand how confidently we may hope in Christ. Is the world broken? Horribly so. Is it beyond repair? Absolutely not. We aren’t destined to a broken future! Jesus enters creation in near obscurity. He lives a life filled with suffering. And He dies a humiliating death. But then, in a resounding thunderclap, Jesus breaks the back of sin, Satan, and death. His dead body breathes. Despite appearances, His death is sufficient and glorious. He’s defeated the root cause of our suffering and grief. And now He reigns victoriously. And all who love and serve Him are caught up in His victory. So, we don’t just live in mourning. We join Paul: sorrowful yet always rejoicing!
Our passage sits in middle of a narrative that began in Exodus 5. It recounts the story of God redeeming His people from slavery with a mighty hand and great acts of judgment. I want to persuade you this morning that God’s revelation about His love and judgment is good news. God’s great heart is on display in the acts of judgment against Egypt. Worship the KING for His steadfast love and faultless judgment.
The ten plagues give us a picture of what the God of the Bible is like. We see that there is no one like Him. He is the ultimate judge and He is the unique judge, the natural judge and the saving judge. Facing the reality He reveals and trusting in His grace in Christ leads us to life and delight in the one true God with none like Him!
Exodus 7 reveals God’s supremacy. God wants His people freed from slavery. Pharaoh refuses. Yet, we should not imagine this as a chess game where God attempts to outsmart Pharaoh. No, God’s deliverance from Egypt is a methodical dismantling of the most powerful man on the earth. There is no nation like Egypt. And there is no Egyptian like Pharaoh. And in God’s dismantling of Pharaoh King of Egypt, we learn that God reigns supreme over every kingdom and every king.
God promised and then God delayed. Israel’s heart broke. Surely you know the feeling. When God delays our hearts sometimes crumble with disappointment or harden with anger. We’ve prayed for Him to intervene. We’ve plead for His rescue. We’ve longed for His help. Yet He delays. How do we make sense of it?
God is drawing people to the gospel and developing believers with the gospel. Questions about how God reveals himself to people, what about those who have never heard of Christ, and how we can join God in his work are addressed.
Paul’s ambition – his driving, consuming passion – was to preach the gospel in people groups that hadn’t yet named, confessed, and worshiped Christ. This was his ambition because it is God’s ambition!
A link exists between the suffering we may go through as believers while pursuing obedience to the LORD and the goal of acquiring deeper intimacy and knowledge of Him. In brokenness, we become vulnerable and desperate, and it is at this point that we ought to seize the moment and seek His face. If we do, through the experience lived and in time, He will fashion and mold us to be conformed to the image of His Son. We should, therefore, conceive every suffering experience as an opportunity to see God’s glory. If you find yourself in the middle of the storm, cry out to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and pour out your heart in His presence coming to Him through Jesus’ mediation. In time, He will answer, and you will come to know Him more intimately.
In Exodus 4, God asks this question: Will you believe my Word? Egypt is the most powerful nation on earth. Will you believe that I can deliver, rescue, and redeem? Following Jesus requires us to give up our life. To deny our lives to follow Him wherever He calls. To throw all our hope into an eternity we cannot see yet. We’re saying no to sin and yes to righteousness. We’re investing our money into kingdom efforts. We’re spending our time discipling and evangelizing. We’re spending our Sundays worshipping and fellowshipping. We’re getting up early to read the Bible and pray. But can we trust Him? Is this a foundation we can stake our life on?
One of the most famous stories in the Bible, Moses’s encounter with God at the burning bush, is part of an unified story that leads to Jesus. In it we discover God’s story, Moses’s story and how both stories add power and purpose to our story.
Here’s what Exodus 2 calls us to: Anticipate God’s deliverance even when you can’t see it. When you can’t see behind the curtain, will you trust that God’s acting to rescue and deliver you back there? Will you trust Him when you only see hardship? When you can’t see why He’s doing this? Or how He’s using it?
Exodus 1 invites us to fearless faith in our faithful God no matter how fierce adversity may be. God’s people expect to find themselves in the bountiful land God promised to Abraham centuries before. Instead, they find themselves enslaved in a foreign land, oppressed, and afflicted by the Ancient Egyptians. But we confront a faithful God this morning in Exodus 1. A God who effortlessly keeps His promises. Circumstances may seem to run in conflict with this truth. Sometimes adversity is so fierce that we doubt Him. But through the adversity, God’s people flourish. He powerfully keeps His promises.
The weekly scattering of churches displays Jesus’s eternal Kingdom in the world. When we scatter, we display the goodness and love and power and glory of Jesus’s eternal kingdom. We may long to huddle, but scattering is non-negotiable if the Church wants to be faithful to Christ. We have the eternal hope the world needs to escape the devastating effects of the Fall!
The weekly gatherings of churches on earth anticipate the eternal gathering of the Church in Heaven. The weekly gatherings of local churches accomplish something. They are a glimpse at future glory. When we gather, we enjoy a foretaste (not a perfect one) of the eternal gathering coming. When we gather, we display (admittedly imperfectly) the eternal kingdom to non-Christians.
In this conclusion to 1 Peter, we find Peter’s final encouragements to suffering sojourners. Suffering sojourners trust in God’s providence, detect and reject Satan’s schemes, and encourage one another.
Here’s a general principle we must grapple with if we are to understand the tension between leaders and followers. Those in authority are tempted to abuse. Those under authority are tempted to rebel. Peter understands this dynamic. How can leaders and members of a local church live together in a way that displays the gospel? In a sojourning church, elders shepherd sacrificially, and members follow humbly.
Peter promises trials now (this life) but glory then (meaning eternity). Are you willing to wait? Peter simply repeats what he heard Jesus say. Jesus told us we’d need to take up a cross to follow Him. He promised His people a life on this earth filled with opposition, hardship, rejection, suffering, plus persecution. Peter sums it up here with the phrase: “fiery trials.” But that’s not all Jesus promised His people. He also promised them eternal, unending glory. A joyful and eternal future in God’s house with King Jesus reigning justly and righteously over all creation. Are you willing to wait for it? When fiery trials descend, with Jesus, are you willing to say not my will but your’s be done?
A pivotal word in the Bible and the world we live in is therefore. Behind every moral command, or therefore, in the Bible is God. We are made by and for God, therefore we are to love and obey Him. The world constantly tells us how to think and live yet often ignores the therefore behind the call to conform. In 1 Peter 4:7-11 Peter makes a sweeping revelation from God “the end of all things is near” and follows it with a therefore and 4 commands. We are called to live God’s revelation not human speculation. Learn to pay attention to the therefore!
As followers of Christ and sojourners, we are called to turn our eyes upon Jesus; for in doing so, we find ourselves aligned with His will, we maintain awareness of our identity in Him, and we are drawn to follow the destiny and purpose He has set out for us.
A righteous life—a life marked by obedience to God and faith in His Word, no matter how unpopular it might be—will always draw attention–of those who don’t like the reminder that what they are doing is wrong and of those who are drawn to someone who would sacrifice everything—even life itself—to love and serve a God they cannot see or touch. This was true in the first century, when the apostle Peter penned this letter we know as 1 Peter, and it’s true in ours. In today’s passage, 1 Peter 3:8–22, we find a glorious promise: God will bless righteous sojourners who trust in Christ and obey His Word.
Christian submission is beautiful and redemptive because it echoes Christ’s submission for our salvation. All Christians are called to lives of submission to Christ and to the authorities over us. Specifically, Peter calls on wives to follow their husbands, hoping in God. Trusting Him no matter what. And Peter calls husbands to honor their wives, hoping in God. Sacrificing and providing for them. Let’s view our marriages not as an end in themselves, but a vehicle through which we can herald Christ.
We have all sat under the authority of unjust leaders. You might be in a situation like that now. Sometimes there is a godly way to remove ourselves from that situation. But sometimes there is not. Our instinct when we run up against unjust suffering is to battle back. To return fire and ensure justice. But Peter calls sojourners to assume a posture that’s willing to suffer.
Peter exhorts the sojourning church to subject or rank themselves under the human authorities that God has appointed over them. However, this subjection is not ultimate and final. The church cannot obey civil authorities when they go against God’s Word or endanger innocent human life.
Like an embassy representing its country in a foreign nation, Christians are to seek to reflect Christ’s kingdom to the world around us. To do this well, we must remember that we are alien and strangers – this world is not our home. But we’re headed home, to an eternal city where righteousness dwells. As we sojourn, we are to abstain from the desires of the world and display the beauty of our eternal kingdom. As we do so, do not be surprised when the world rejects or slanders us as the “sojourning embassy”, but pray that God would draw others into His kingdom as they observe your life and one day glorify Him.
Peter calls the Sojourning church to action. We’ve been gathered by God out of the world for a purpose. We don’t fight. We don’t flee. We don’t falter. We’re faithful. Sojourning people make Him known! No matter the cost. Love demands risk. We who’ve experienced rescue—darkness to light—have a responsibility to those still in dark. We stand our ground and make the gracious acts of God known!
It is deeply profound that believers are eternally brothers and sisters in Christ. We are family forever. All believers must seek and continually develop this biblical community at church, in our homes, in our small groups and other places where Christ-family life occurs. Then we must invite others to experience community in Christ with us.
The world has always divided over Jesus. Peter presents Jesus as the eternal rock for all who trust Him and the stumbling block for all who reject Him. All who trust Him will not be put to shame of that decision on the last day because He will be their rock of refuge.
The Christians who received Peter’s letter experienced the same strangeness and pressure from the Roman Empire that we feel now. The church has always been a sojourning people. Peter delivers hope to the first century church that breathes hope into our church now.
In the first two weeks of our study in this letter, we encountered—in just 12 verses—glorious truths about God and His redemption from our sin. In this passage, Peter opens with a “therefore,” and begins to explain how these truths impact our daily lives and protect our hearts from hoping in things that will not last or save. In light of Jesus’ salvation, Peter gives three commands in this passage: set your hope, be holy, and conduct yourselves in fear.
God infuses his sojourners with living hope and persevering faith. Our text is a three part hymn of praise which sets the foundation for the primary themes and applications of 1 Peter. We will learn 1. What our living hope is and rejoice in it, 2. What persevering faith looks like and 3. How to see Jesus in all of Scripture – He is the source of our hope and faith.
God made Christians sojourners and gave us certain hope. Sojourners are travelers, not residents. Our home is now in Heaven, but God has left us here to make Him known. Our sojourning is not a surprise. And its not an accident. We are sojourners by His design and purposes and anchored by our certain, sure, and enduring hope.
What is the future of Church? In Revelation 7:9-10 we see that the Church will be gathered, at rest, and worshiping. When we are persuaded by the truth and reality of our future we will live differently. Those future truths will infuse hope and perspective in the middle of external and internal pressures around us.
We’ve reached John’s Epilogue. His tender final word. What we find in these precious verses is a God who reveals himself to us when we are broken and defeated sin. His pursuit sometimes brings pain as we look our sin in the face. But it’s pain He uses to restore us. And then, this merciful God sovereignly calls us to work that endures. He still longs to use us. Broken and all.
In John 20:24–31, Jesus pursues a skeptical disciple, Thomas, unto belief. And like a tender shepherd, He meets Thomas where he is. Jesus graciously works to alleviate his doubts so Thomas might believe that His teacher and friend is God in flesh, the risen Messiah. And because John tells us that this belief and the eternal life that it provides is the goal of his gospel, we’ll take a closer look at what it truly means to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
I wonder if you feel as weary of the darkness as I do? Darkness is a result of our sin. It shows up in disobedience, disease, disaster, and death. This is why Jesus came! To chase away darkness. “Behold, Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! He did this by dying in the place of His people and rising in triumph as our certain hope in life and in death.
In John 19, Jesus is alienated so we who believe can be reconciled as God promised. While Jesus suffers visible human execution, He also suffers the invisible wrath of God. He carries our sin. He faces God’s hot, full-throated wrath. He endures the torrential storm of God’s anger against sin. And we who believe are reconciled as a result. God’s presence is no longer dangerous to us. We’re ushered into presence of a Holy God dressed in the righteousness of Christ. And called his children.
The Apostle John recounts Jesus’s trial before Pilate, Roman Governor of Judea. Jesus looks powerless during this trial. It would seem that Jesus has come to the end of His road. But we can’t be fooled by appearances. Jesus makes it clear He’s both Heaven’s King who will reign forever and the Passover Lamb that will die in place of God’s people. Will you live by faith according to His Word or be consumed by the apparent victories of this world?
We live in a world that is regulated by power and influence. If we have it, there is a temptation to keep it all costs. And if we don’t have it, there is a temptation to gain it at all costs—or at least protect ourselves from becoming its victim. In this passage, we find two clear examples of this self-preservation. But we also find the solution to these ever-present temptations provided by Jesus.
The unity of the Church is vital if we’re going to faithfully steward and herald the gospel. When the Church is united, we display the epic story to the world. The story of eternal King who died to reconcile His People to Himself each other. Our unity points to Him.
The world always drifts from Christ’s Word. Therefore, the Church, committed to live by and proclaim His Word, is often opposed by the world. Unfortunately, in the face of such opposition, the Church often pursues unloving combat or unloving compromise. Jesus calls us to a third way in John 16:4-33. See the drifting crowd and exercise the courage to stand still. But where do we generate such courage? Not from inside ourselves. Jesus makes four promises to us. Promises that will provide the courage to stand still and invite the world to exalt Christ with us.
Are you discouraged over your own sin? Are you discouraged over the sins of the Church? In John 15 Jesus guarantees the gospel’s triumph. He says, “I’m the true Vine.” In other words, I will succeed where My People fail. I’ll empower them for the triumph of the gospel. I’ll produce a righteous people marked by obedience and love who will take the gospel to ends of the earth. What should be the response of His People? To abide in Him. Desperate in prayer. Dependent on the Word. Devoted to one another. Deliberate with our neighbors.
John tells us three times that Jesus was troubled in spirit, yet in John 14 Jesus twice tells his disciples, “Do not let your heart be troubled”. This is not a contradiction but a helpful insight on what a troubled heart is and what it is not. John 14 untangles this apparent contradiction and provides six promises from Jesus tailor-made for overcoming a troubled heart.
Jesus takes on a job most Jews felt bad leaving for servants. He dirties and defiles Himself to clean their feet. But of course, there’s a richer point. He acts out a parable. I will secure your freedom from sin. To do it, I’ll take on the form of servant. I’ll suffer as a servant. I’ll be defiled by your sin. So you’re cleansed. The lamb dies. The first-born lives. The servant is defiled. The people are cleansed. And as they stare in wonder at the humbled Messiah, Jesus calls the disciples to follow Him.
Jesus arrives as the King with a mission to die for all peoples. Will we respond with whole-hearted devotion, half-hearted devotion, or unbelief?