Reformed & Expository Preaching

Devoted to the Apostolic Gospel (Acts 2:37-47)

Introduction There is a question that lurks underneath in the book of Acts. What happens when Christ is gone? Does he still work on His people, or are we abandoned in this world by a frustrated redeemer? Luke’s Gospel lays out the ministry of Christ on this earth. Acts lays out the ministry of Christ after his ascension into heaven. The Spirit has been given to the church, but how do we know that the Spirit really ties us to Christ and works out our redemption in Christ? I. Their Reaction The crowd's anguish is not performance. These are people who, not long ago, stood in Pilate's courtroom and chanted to crucify Christ. Peter does not let them appeal to peer pressure. They cannot defend themselves by saying they were victims of mob mentality. He addresses them as a group and individually: you all did this. Peter understands this kind of guilt personally. He is the man who looked at Christ when he denied Christ the third time. Peter also knows the awkward breakfast where Christ asks Peter three times if Peter loves him. Peter is not rebuked, but commissioned to care for Christ’s people. And that is precisely why Peter is the right man to preach this sermon. The crowd is cut to the heart. This is a stabbing pain. This leads them to ask the question: What shall we do? This is a vulnerable question. On one side, it reflects genuine contrition where they want to make this right. On the other hand, it carries a dangerous temptation: the hope that maybe they can balance the ledger themselves. The reality is, there is no way for them to undo their sin in their own strength. II. Peter's Solution Peter does not cite Deuteronomy 19 to condemn them. This is a real option. Moses prescribed that false witnesses receive the very punishment they sought for another. These people falsely accused Christ and handed him over to death. They bore false testimony against Christ. Peter could have called for a mass crucifixion. This would be the legal way to make it right. They wanted Christ to die on a cross, and so they could die on the cross. Instead: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Repentance here is not simply a change of opinion. It is a reorientation of the whole self. It is adjusting convictions to align with the Lord’s purpose. And notice the scope of the promise Peter gives them: "The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off." Peter is making a deliberate echo of Genesis 17:7, of the covenant God made with Abraham and his household. The community is set apart by the Spirit, and we would expect the Spirit to be present in the covenant community. The church is a covenant people, structured like a family, with children included in its promises. This is how it has always been since the Lord gave his first promise in Genesis 3:15. Baptism does not save, but it is the designation of a community set apart in Christ. Baptism is the sign of the people who have passed through the sea or the flood. It is the sign that the Spirit dwells in the midst of God’s covenant community. III. The Church Continuing: Luke tells us that three thousand are added to the fellowship of believers. This is amazing that this one sermon leads to such a commitment. We learn how this community functions: they devote themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. The word devoted implies a continual commitment to the Apostles’ teaching. They are going to learn more and more about the implications of the Gospel. They hear the Gospel, but they do not definitively know the Gospel. The Gospel is not a one-and-done message. We might be able to say it, but living it out is the Christian struggle. They also devote themselves to the fellowship of believers. The church family is not just casual fellowship. The community is members like two people in a business venture (Luke 5:10). This means bearing one another's burdens, contributing when others have a need, and a true commitment to one another. One is not on the outside looking in. The breaking of bread is communion of the saints. This would include the sacrament of communion, but also the sharing in the fellowship with one another. They share the common commitment to the devotion to the apostles’ teaching. The fellowship also continues to pray for one another. This is how the community bears with each other. The community is committed to seeing their fellow sojourner arrive complete in the goal of heaven. Conclusion Peter preaches a sermon that cuts these people to the heart. Peter is a hypocrite who denied Christ three times. However, the Lord still uses him. It is not because Peter is so eloquent, but because the Spirit works through the gospel. The Spirit comes to dwell within his people. We know that Christ has not left us, and he continues to work on us. We raise our families in the Lord. We sit under apostolic preaching that we will never exhaust. We bear one another's burdens. We pray. And we know that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church because the Lord who adds to his church is the Lord who has already overcome. Let us be a people devoted to the apostolic teaching.

Built Together in the Rejected Cornerstone (I Peter 2:4-1-; LD 12)

Introduction Was the cross a plan B? We might dismiss this question, but it is an important question. On the surface, the ministry of Jesus looks like a series of setbacks. The reality is that Christ is rejected by the religious establishment that He has come to establish. Christ is not only rejected, but handed over to Rome in a Kangaroo court. He is then sentenced to death by the demands of his own people. And yet it is this same Peter, the author of this letter, who tells us that we should see Christ’s mission as a success despite this major setback. This is shocking because this same Peter once told Christ that he did not have to go to the cross. In fact, Christ rebukes him and associates Peter’s words with Satanic temptation (Matthew 16:23). So, why would Peter see the cross as a mission success rather than a failure? God's Intention: The Rejected Stone Peter introduces Christ in verse 4 with a striking image as a living stone. Calling Christ a living stone is a strange assertion. We know that stones are many things. They're useful, durable, and some are even valuable. You can build with them, polish them, and set them in a wall. But we don't look at a stone and expect life from it. We would never see stone as a living thing. Peter identifies Christ as the living stone. A living stone is a stone that not only possesses life, but also gives life. Peter is telling us that Christ is the stone that keeps the new temple square. Christ is also the stone that gives the temple life. Peter appeals to Isaiah 28 to establish his claim. In the context of Isaiah 28, Isaiah reminds us that Israel has made a covenant with Egypt, trusting a foreign superpower to protect them from Assyria. Isaiah rebukes it as a covenant with death. He says it is a covenant with Sheol. The people have looked at the geopolitical realities around them and decided to trust what they can see rather than the Lord’s protection. The Lord gives the assurance, “I am laying in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone.” The cornerstone is the stone that establishes the angle of an entire building. The Lord is not only going to build a new temple, but he will keep the building square. The Lord is not only a shield and defender for his people, but he also continually nourishes his people as a new temple (Isaiah 28:16). Peter adds to this with Psalm 118 and Isaiah 8. Peter applies Psalm 118 to Christ as the stone that the builders rejected, and Isaiah 8:14 tells us that this same stone is the rock of offense, a stumbling stone. Isaiah 8 is telling us that those who will not trust in the Lord’s stone will see the stone as a stumbling stone rather than a life-giving stone. Peter shows from these three texts one argument: the rejection of Christ by men was not an accident, but the means that the Lord intended to use to build his building. As we are in Christ by the Spirit and faith, we are part of this building. Christ's Submission: The Anointed One Our catechism in Lord’s Day 12 presses us on what it means to call Jesus Christ, the anointed one. Christ is from Christos in Greek, Messiah in Hebrew. It means he was set apart and empowered by the Holy Spirit for a specific mission. But the catechism is also clear that this anointing was not simply ceremonial. At his baptism, the Spirit descended on him literally, actually equipping him to fulfill his mission. Christ will live up to the words at Baptism and the Transfiguration that the Father is well pleased with His Son. And what does an anointing require? Submission. Every anointing in Scripture is simultaneously an empowering and a binding to submit to the Father’s will. Christ is submitting to the Father’s will. We know that as a prophet is anointed by God, the prophet does not deliver his own words. He delivers the word of God. A priest anoints the temple ministers according to what God has prescribed. A king anointed to rule rules for God's glory and the people's good. Christ, as our prophet, fulfills this: he reveals what was hidden. What the prophets spoke in shadow, what was veiled in Isaiah and the Psalms, is now made plain in Christ. Christ shows the clear intention of the Lord’s prophetic word. The mystery has been revealed because the prophet has spoken, and the incarnate Word, Christ, has confirmed the prophet’s word. He submitted to the Father’s will. Our Anointing: Living Stones in a Living Temple Calvin puts it plainly: as long as Christ remains outside of us, he is of no benefit to us. This is why Christ has to be the cornerstone and the living stone. He holds the building together, and he gives the building life by uniting the stones to him. Verse 5 assures us that we are that building. Christ’s people are part of the new and living temple united to the cornerstone. The cornerstone that was rejected, suffered, and raised to life. Now, that cornerstone gives life to the whole temple, making us the Lord’s spiritual house. This is what Peter is teaching in verses 4-8. Peter says that we are living sacrifices. Does this mean that we are living sacrifices called to finish Christ’s work? Well, Peter is not calling our attention to sacrifices that take away sin. The sacrifice that Peter alludes to would be thanksgiving offerings. These are sacrifices that people would give if, say, for instance, a child recovered from severe illness, whose harvest exceeded all expectations, whose life turned out better than expected, and the examples continue. The sacrifice of someone who looks at what they have and says simply: I don't know how this happened, but thank you, Lord. Peter is calling us to see that our lives are that offering. We are not finishing Christ’s work, but we are the garnish to the work. Our sacrifice is not the substance of the offering, but a display of thankfulness and joy that we are set free in Christ. Then, in verses 9 and 10, Peter reaches back to Exodus 19. At Sinai, the Lord told Israel in Exodus 19:5-6: if you obey, you will be a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. It was conditional and future. There is a radical change in Christ. Peter picks up that same language and transforms it: “You are a chosen race. You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation.” What Moses announced as a future possibility has become a present reality for those built on the cornerstone. Now, we have become what God’s people were promised to be. And notice the final word: once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Peter is assuring us that the people who were distant from the Lord’s promise are now recipients of the promise. We have received mercy. This is not by our merit, but the Lord’s mercy. This is why we live as thanksgiving offerings or out of gratitude as we walk in the Spirit by faith. Conclusion Peter begins this entire section asking whether the cross was a failure, and he ends it with those who were no people at all becoming the building blocks of God's new temple. This is all done by the Lord’s mercy. So the Christian life is not a heavy list of obligations designed to earn what Christ has not yet finished. It is the life of someone who has been placed in the building, aligned to the cornerstone, and is now living out of the sheer gratitude of that reality. It is a story that does not end in death, but in life. Christ is the living stone, giving life to the stones in the living temple. As we take hold of Christ by faith and walk in the Spirit, we are the temple people. Let us live out who we are: living stones, built on the living stone, in the temple that God is raising to his own glory.

Christ Alone (Heb 7:25; LD 11)

Introduction Wouldn't it be something if Christ kept an earthly office. It would be great if we could knock on the door, make an appointment, and bring him our questions face to face. We instinctively want something tangible. And yet the Christian faith calls us to do something that seems unwise: put all our eggs in one basket and trust in a savior that we cannot see. We are called to trust in Christ alone. No backup plan, no supplemental mediator, but only Christ. So how do we know that this basket is safe and wise? Christ Has the Power to Save His name tells us everything. He is called Jesus. His name literally means “Yahweh saves” His name tells us that that we need to be rescued, and that God himself provides it. Hebrews 7 builds on this by contrasting Christ's priesthood with the old covenant priests. Those priests died. Their ministries expired. Their successors were not always faithful. Christ, however, holds his priesthood permanently. Christ is in the order of Melchizedek. He has no recorded beginning or end of days. We read about him once in Genesis. There is no genealogy to communicate his beginning. There is no record of his death. The implication is that he lives forever. Levi, in Abraham’s loins, paid the oath to Melchizedek when Abraham paid the tithe. This means Melchizedek is superior to the other priests in every way because the priests in Levi’s line honored the superior priest by paying the tithe on the spoils. The point of this is that Christ's priestly ministry is in the line of Melchizedek. This means that Christ saves us because he lives up to his name, Yahweh Saves. He has the power to save because he is in a priestly line that has no beginning and no end. He is truly an eternal priest. Christ Saves Us Completely Hebrews uses the language of "To the uttermost." This means that nothing can hinder Christ from finishing what he has begun. Satan, who once stood before God to challenge Job, could not undo God's purposes then, and cannot undo Christ's saving work now. We take comfort in that Christ represents us in the most holy place. He resides there by his own merits, he has offered himself without first cleansing himself, and he represents us in the most holy place. Christ is not fragile like the priests of old. We must remember that Christ is our perfect priest without any human frailty. Yes, he is God and man joined together in person. He took on the flesh to offer himself. He completed his work. The result is that Christ saves to the uttermost. His work never expires, and he never needs a successor. He alone is sufficient to represent us. Christ Intercedes for Us Personally Not only does Christ save completely, but he prays for us continuously. He does not simply give us a boost of grace and step back. He does not merely secure us and then retreat into heaven. But He lives to intercede for his people by name, in the Most Holy Place. Christ’s mission is to see to it personally that each one arrives at the fullness of glory. Christ is the priest who cleanses. We do not get our lives together before we draw near to him. The invitation of Hebrews is to come as we are with our failures and imperfections. We lay our sins, burdens, and struggles before our priest. He has cleansed us, and represents us in the most holy place. This is not a model, like the temple, but the full glory of heaven. As he reigns in glory, He continues to prod us and purify us sanctifying us to be the people He desires. We know that He sympathizes with our weakness, intercedes on our behalf, and upholds us to the end. Conclusion Christ alone is not a gamble. He is the only basket that truly holds. He offered himself once, without needing a cleansing ritual or an animal substitute. He was raised, he ascended, and he now resides in the glory of heaven. He is not passive not passively, but actively interceding, saving, and sustaining. When we gather for worship, we are not merely going through a human routine. We are being called into the presence of the living God, joining with the heavenly assembly, drawing near to the priest who never quits and never fails. Rest in him. Bring him your burdens. He is able to save you. He saves you completely, personally, and to the uttermost.

Tasting the Day of the Lord (Acts 2:1-13)

Introduction Christ promised his disciples power from on high. This power? The Holy Spirit would come upon them and empower them to carry the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. But how do we know this promise is real? How do we know that Christ is truly with us until the end of the age? How do we know that Christ is my Christ? The answer begins at Pentecost, where heaven broke open upon a small, crowded city, and history was radically changed. What are these tongues? The city is packed. People from all over the world fill the streets. Then, all of a sudden, wind and fire descend on the gathered disciples. One might think this is just a storm. However, one quickly realizes that this is God's visible presence. This is what we call a theophany: a visible manifestation of God himself. The rushing wind echoes Ezekiel's breath of God giving life. The fire recalls every terrifying moment in Scripture when people either encounter God or are consumed by him. We think of Mount Sinai and the burning bush. We think of fire falling on Sodom and Gomorrah, or the judgment that came upon those who offered false worship. This kind of fire has a way of reducing things, and people, to ash. Which makes the next detail stunning: the disciples were not consumed. The fullness of God's glory fell upon them, and they were not reduced to a pile of ashes. The tongues of fire did not destroy them, but equipped them to bring the gospel to the nations. This is the great declaration of Pentecost: the people of Christ have passed through the first phase of the day of the Lord. The fire of judgment fell, and they are still standing. Those who bow the knee to Christ pass through fiery judgment, and emerge as heralds. Why the International People? Pentecost is the Feast of Weeks, one of the great pilgrim feasts of Israel. Jerusalem would have been packed with Jewish pilgrims from across the known world making this an international gathering. When the Spirit fell, these Galilean fishermen began proclaiming the gospel in the native languages of their listeners, Galilean accent and all. The crowd was dumbstruck. This was no language course. This was God reversing Babel. Remember the scene at Babel? The earthlings tried to capture God, to harness his power for their own glory. God responded by scattering humanity and confusing their language. Now, at Pentecost, he calls the nations back together. God does this by his own gracious condescension. The gospel is not the property of one nation or one nationality. It goes to all nations, in every tongue, because the God of Israel is the God of the whole earth. Why the double reaction? The crowd split. Some were amazed and perplexed. They could not explain what they saw, but they knew it was the Lord's doing. Others were dismissive, accusing those speaking in tongues of having had too much to drink. We are invited to ask ourselves: what is your reaction? Is this the Lord's divine blessing at work? Or does it seem like a strange, drunken spectacle? There are two reactions to one event. This pattern runs through the whole book of Acts and through all of Christian history. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent will always be at war until the final day of the Lord. But even now, we already taste the spiritual blessings of Pentecost, as Paul says the first fruits of the final victory harvest, and we wait for the full physical blessings when Christ returns to fulfill Zechariah 14. Conclusion Pentecost is the bridge between heaven and earth. It is the moment God accomplished in Christ what humanity attempted at Babel and failed. Man will not capture God, but God captures man. The glory of God does not stay locked away in the highest heaven. By the Spirit, God's glory dwells within his people. Our God is sanctifying us, uniting us to our Savior, and sending his people out with a gospel that reaches to the ends of the earth. Let us see the beauty of that. Let us draw near to the Christ who has drawn near to us.

Is Providence a Problem? (2) (Job 1:1-2:10)

Introduction We like to think we have life figured out. Follow the right steps, make the right moves, and God will bless you. I am doing well, so I am dialed. I have life figured out. Struggle and suffer, and you must have done something wrong. The problem is that the book of Job refuses to let us off that easily. Job is blameless, upright, and God-fearing. Clearly, he is dialed, but everything is taken from him. His story forces us to ask: What does it actually mean to trust in the providence of God when life gets complicated? God Definitively Rules The catechism reminds us that God upholds heaven and earth. This means that God upholds the tallest tree to the smallest blade of grass. God is in charge during times of rain and seasons of drought. There is not one thing that falls outside his hand. This means that even Satan operates within God’s confines. God does not set out to destroy Job. Satan requests to sift Job, and God sets the boundaries. Job thinks that God does not see his good deeds as the book unfolds. But in reality, God is not distant or indifferent because he sees that Job is blameless and upright. God governs every detail of his creation. God allows Satan to sift Job because the Lord knows his servant. God Rules Over Poverty and Prosperity Satan is doing more than just trying to destroy Job. Satan claims that God blessed Job, so Job serves God. This battle is not just about providence, but a cosmic war. Satan does not believe that God can uphold his saints. Job loses everything: his children, his livestock, and even his health, from Satan’s challenge. Satan's gamble is that Job's faith was only ever a convenient transaction. Satan believes Job will curse God, exposing God as a fraud. Job is pushed by his wife to curse God. His response destroys Satan’s accusation. Job says to his wife, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2: [https://www.esv.org/Job+2/]10) Job shows that the new Adam will not heed the voice of Eve. Job knows that in all things God is sovereign. We are called to the same posture of dependence. God Calls us to Wait on Him Job began the story blameless and upright. Job shows that he will wait upon the Lord. Satan claimed that Job only loved God because God made his life easy. Satan knows he cannot defeat God. However, Satan is confident he can rip a saint from God’s hand. Satan’s wager never pays off. Job never curses God, even as Job ends with his own wrestling match with God. Here is the remarkable thing the book of Job shows us: God did not merely restrain Satan's attack, but he used it to sanctify Job. Job submits to the Lord’s will when he says, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you" (Job 42:5 [https://www.esv.org/Job+42/]). The very trial Satan intended to use to destroy Job's faith became the means by which Job came to know God more deeply. Job does not concede answers, but he truly met God. We learn that the Lord does not seek to destroy us, but to nurture us. He can do this through trials and blessings. Conclusion Providence is not a problem to be solved. It is a reality to be trusted because we have a faithful Father who rules over all things. Life is genuinely complex. We see that the righteous suffer. We see that the wicked sometimes prosper. We have to come to grips with the fact that our neat formulas break down. God is not the problem. But the God who rules over leaf and blade, over rain and drought, over poverty and prosperity, is the same God who knows you better than you know yourself. He is not holding you at arm's length while the storms come. He is sanctifying and upholding you in the midst of them. So let us wait upon the Lord. This is not because we understand all his ways, but because we know He is our Faithful Father.