Topic: Westminster Shorter Catechism Questions 53-56
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Adult Sunday School at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/23/2008 in Novato, CA.
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Is Jesus about blessings and grace or about curses and judgment? Well, the answer is “yes.” Jesus came talking about both. Many churches want to emphasize the blessings and grace of Jesus. That’s actually right. That’s the right emphasis. I’ll talk a little bit about that today. But in this passage, Jesus’ focus is primarily on curses and judgment. The emphasis in today’s passage is about judgment.
We see Jesus illustrate judgment in this incident with the fig tree. We see Jesus issue judgment as he cleanses the temple. And I think we even see him predict future judgment against the temple and Jerusalem in this passage. And so today we’ll be looking at Jesus talking about judgment. Of course we can’t help but think about Christ’s grace when we think of his judgment. But I want us to really reckon today with judgment. Jesus is holding out the threat of judgment to the Israelites. Let’s really understand and wrestle with that. And as we do that, we’ll see how the judgment applied to Israel is also an ongoing warning to us to remain steadfast in faith in God.
Passage: Mark 11:12-26
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/26/2008 in Novato, CA.
Click here for the manuscript.
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Jesus is my Lord and Savior! Amen? Is that true for you? To call Jesus your Lord and Savior is to use some very common titles for Jesus. Other than the title of Christ, I don’t know of any more common titles that we use to describe Jesus. He is rightly called our Lord and Savior. These titles describe who he is and what he has done for us. He is our Lord – the king of kings; the God-man who is the ruler of the heavens and the earth. And he is our savior – the one who saved us from eternal damnation through his life, death, and resurrection. Jesus is indeed the Lord and Savior, and I hope that you too affirm this.
These are essentially the same titles that are given to Jesus here in our passage as well. And yet back then, just like today, people can utter these words without really understanding them. Today, calling Jesus your Lord and Savior can become cliché. We can utter those words in vain because we don’t really understand them and their importance. It’s very appropriate to confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but he wants us to really understand and mean that confession. The same is true with this Palm Sunday passage. All sorts of people were there making these praises over Jesus. But did they really understand what they meant? Scripture shows that for the most part they did not.
And yet Jesus had a plan.
Passage: Mark 11:1-11
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/19/2008 in Novato, CA.
Click here for the manuscript.
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In the words of verse 1 from 1 Corinthians 15, I “declare to you the gospel;” this very gospel which has been preached from the apostles, recorded in the Scriptures, and handed down through the centuries. The gospel that was foretold in the Old Testament; the very gospel which declares that Christ died for our sins on the cross, was buried, and then raised from the dead on the third day! And yet as we look at this passage in 1 Corinthians 15, we are reminded that the fact of the resurrection has not always been well received, even in the church. Paul in this letter is confronting an issue in the Corinthian church. Evidently some in the church had been teaching that there is no resurrection of the dead. In other words, people who claimed to be Christians, were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead! And so Paul instantly responds by showing that such a view is not consistent with the Christian faith. Paul hypothetically considers what it would mean for Christians, if Christ had not been raised. His ultimate conclusion comes in verse 19. He concludes by saying that if Christ had not been raised, then we of all people, as Christians, would be most to be pitied.
Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:1-19
Author: Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Sermon originally preached during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 03/23/2008 in Novato, CA.
Other Scripture Readings: Psalm 16; Matthew 28:1-15; 1 Peter 1:3-9
Click here for the manuscript.
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