Northpointe PCA Sermons

By Northpointe Presbyterian ChurchReligion & Spirituality Christianity

Northpointe PCA Sermons episodes

April 20, 2025Easter Sunday
Scripture: Acts 17:22-34
Order of Service
Hymn — O Lamb of God (congregational)
Call to Worship — Philippians 2:5-11
Hymn — All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name
Prayer of Invocation
Confession of Faith — Colossians 1:15-20
Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 15:12-28
Hymn — Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Special Music — Before the Throne of God Above (choir)
Pastoral Prayer
Offering
Hymn — Worship Christ the Risen King
Sermon
Closing Prayer
Hymn — Low in the Grave He Lay (Up from the Grave He Arose)
Benediction — Revelation 1:4-5
Gloria Patri
Sermon Title: The Resurrection Reveals All
Scripture: Acts 17:22-34
I. The Resurrection Reveals One God
A. Paul addresses the Athenians at the Areopagus, the intellectual center of the Greco-Roman world, where philosophers gathered to discuss new spiritual ideas
Paul's description of the Athenians as "very religious" (Acts 17:22) carries a double meaning: pious (positive) or superstitious (negative)
The altar "to the unknown God" represents the ancient and ongoing human tendency to fashion deity according to personal preference
B. The appeal of an unknown God is that man can define and enjoy him on his own terms — idolatry in all forms is man's word dictating who God is, as opposed to God's word making him known
C. The resurrection of Christ confirms that all of God's word is true and that God can be known
Just as Jesus' healing of the paralytic in Matthew 9 confirmed his authority to forgive sins, Christ's resurrection confirms the truthfulness of all Scripture
Paul argues in Romans 3:21-26 that the death and resurrection of Christ brings a "but now" moment — all mankind is now accountable to the one true God
Galatians 4:4 — "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son"; the resurrection marks the age of maturity in God's redemptive plan
Before the resurrection, fallen man groped after God like a blindfolded child; the resurrection removes the blindfold and makes the one true God clearly known
II. The Resurrection Reveals One Man
A. Paul confronts Athenian ethnic pride by declaring that all humanity shares a common origin in one man — Adam (Acts 17:26)
Religion is not a matter of cultural conditioning or tribal tradition but of common human ancestry
Paul quotes the philosopher Epimenides — "In him we live and move and have our being" — and the Stoic poet Aratus — "For we are indeed his offspring" — applying pagan insights to the one true God
B. Idolatry is not only an offense to God but an offense to man — it is the loss of human dignity
Adam was given dominion over creation; to bow down and serve creation is to invert the created order
Psalm 2 — God laughs at mankind's foolishness in idol worship
C. The resurrection restores the dignity of man
The cross (Good Friday) represents the shame of fallen man; the empty tomb represents man's restoration and reconciliation to God
In Luke 3, Luke traces Jesus' genealogy back to Adam, whom he calls the son of God — Christ came for all humanity, not one culture
1 Corinthians 15 — Christ is the last Adam, a life-giving spirit; as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so we shall bear the image of the man of heaven
III. The Resurrection Reveals One Judge
A. Paul models the proper balance in evangelism: finding points of contact with unbelievers (following Francis Schaeffer's concept) without softening hard truths about God's judgment
Christians err either by speaking so much of judgment that they fail to truly engage the person before them, or by so overemphasizing common ground that they avoid speaking of repentance and judgment
Paul's point of contact is always aimed toward conversion — turning from idols to believe in Jesus Christ
B. The resurrection is the guarantee of Christ's return to judge the living and the dead (Acts 17:31)
An invented god would never include judgment of oneself — the appeal of the unknown God is precisely that he can be shaped to excuse the worshiper
The resurrection confirms not merely some of God's word but all of it — including judgment
C. God is merciful, gracious, and slow to anger, but his patience must not be presumed upon
As long as the tomb remains empty, Paul's charge stands: repent and believe
Christ has not yet returned — but the tomb is still empty, and the empty tomb guarantees he will come again
29 min
April 13, 2025April 13, 2025; Sunday Evening Worship
Scripture: Judges 14
Order of Service
Call to Worship — Psalm 105:1-7
Hymn — O Praise the Lord, His Deeds Make Known (Psalm 105C)
Prayer of Invocation
Heidelberg Catechism — Lord's Day 9, Question 26
Hymn — O God Beyond All Praising (#241)
Pastoral Prayer
Sermon
Hymn — God Moves in a Mysterious Way (#256)
Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14
Sermon Title: God's Secret Providence Working Through Weakness
Scripture: Judges 14
I. God's Purposes Revealed in the Small Things
A. The Spirit of the Lord rushes upon Samson to defeat the lion (Judges 14:6)
Samson's strength is not his own — it is the Lord's strength through his Spirit
The same language of the Spirit rushing is used of Saul and David as God works through them to carry out his purposes
B. The lion episode is a foreshadowing of greater acts to come
The lion points forward to the 30 Philistines slain at Ashkelon
The 30 slain Philistines point forward to the destruction of the lords of the Philistines in Judges 16
As Dale Ralph Davis notes, God uses smaller episodes of deliverance to show his adequacy so his people will trust him in more demanding circumstances
C. Application: The ordinary means of grace on the Lord's Day function as the Spirit's preparation for the battles of the week
Sunday worship is not passive — believers come as active participants to be strengthened by the Spirit
The Spirit rides on the word read and proclaimed, sung, prayed, and seen in the sacraments
The Lord's Day in the new covenant falls on the first day of the week, preparing saints for Monday through Saturday
II. God's Purposes Overcoming Weakness
A. Samson's Nazirite vows are broken in multiple ways
He feasts with the Philistines, almost certainly in the presence of wine
He eats honey from the carcass of the lion, violating the prohibition against contact with the dead
His greatest weakness is women — Philistine women, contradicting Deuteronomy 7 and Exodus 34
B. Samson is a living illustration of the warnings of Proverbs 5:7-14
The forbidden woman takes a man's honor, strength, and years
Samson ends blind and a laughingstock because he could not keep from the forbidden woman
Each believer must detect and mortify their own particular areas of weakness before those weaknesses become their ruin
C. Yet Samson appears in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11) — God does not merely work through weakness; he takes pleasure in working through weakness
Matthew 11:25 — God hides things from the wise and reveals them to little children
Romans 4:4-5 — faith in the one who justifies the ungodly is counted as righteousness
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 — God chose the foolish, the weak, and the despised so that no human being might boast before him
D. The real question of God's greatness is not whether he overcomes material obstacles, but whether he saves wretched sinners like Samson — and like us
III. God's Purposes Accomplished in Secret
A. The Hebrew word meaning to tell occurs 14 times in this chapter, making secrecy the governing theme
The Lord's secret — Judges 14:4
Samson's secret from his parents — Judges 14:6, 9
The secret of the riddle
The Philistines' secret of learning the answer through Samson's wife
B. God's decree and his hidden providence in carrying it out
God's decrees are set before the foundation of the world and cannot be changed
God uses mysterious, hidden, providential means — even sinful and self-serving ones — to carry out those decrees
All four secrets in the chapter are subordinate to and governed by the one secret of the Lord in verse 4
C. Comfort for parents of wayward children
Manoah died without seeing how God's providence was working through his wayward son
Samson's life is a comfort to any parent who weeps over a child walking contrary to their upbringing
Acts 2:39 — the promise is for you and for your children
Luke 19:9 — salvation came to Zacchaeus's household; the covenant promise extends to families
The proper response to wayward children is to cling to God's covenant promise and pray that he make good on that promise — God is often working in accord with his promise in ways that offend our eyes, but in his hidden providence he is faithful
30 min
April 13, 2025Salvation in Life and Death
Scripture: Jonah 2
Order of Service
Announcements
Call to Worship — Psalm 148
Hymn — Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
Prayer of Invocation
Corporate Confession of Sin
Assurance of Pardon — Psalm 28:6-7
Reception of New Members
Hymn — How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place
Pastoral Prayer
Offering
Prayer of Dedication
Hymn — O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
Scripture Reading — Jonah 1:17–2:10 and Matthew 12:38-42
Sermon
Closing Prayer
Hymn — Be Thou My Vision
Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26
Sermon Title: Salvation in Life and Death
Scripture: Jonah 2
I. Death to Sin and Alive Through Repentance
A. Jonah's rebellion in chapter 1 is depicted as a downward movement — away from the Lord's presence, descending to Joppa, to Tarshish, into the ship, into the sea, and finally into Sheol (Jonah 2:5-6)
B. Jonah's prayer itself is his repentance — a contrast to his silence before God in Jonah 1:6
In chapter 1, when the captain urges Jonah to cry out to God, Jonah remains silent
Psalm 32 warns that silence in sin causes the bones to waste away
Now Jonah lifts his voice upward — a movement toward God rather than away from him
C. Repentance must begin in the heart
Jonah hopes to see the holy temple (Jonah 2:4) because his heart already prays toward it (Jonah 2:7)
Prayer is the evidence of a repentant heart — there is no repentance without prayer
Donald Grey Barnhouse illustrated that moral reformation without Christ is not repentance
D. Repentance produces a changed life motivated by gratitude, not guilt or shame
Jonah 2:9 — "With the voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay"
Jonah, restored to God, is now ready to be obedient to his prophetic calling (fulfilled in chapter 3)
Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 2: we must know the greatness of our sin, the fullness of our deliverance, and how to thank God for it
II. Death to Sin and Alive Through Remembrance
A. Jonah despairs, feeling cast off by God — sensing he is past the point of repentance (Jonah 2:4a)
The darkness of his circumstances causes God to appear only as a judge
This is the "senses versus faith" predicament that believers often face
B. The turning point: Jonah remembers who God is (Jonah 2:4b, 2:7)
He remembers the Lord's self-proclamation to Moses — merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love
Almost every verse of Jonah's prayer echoes the Psalter; Matthew Henry notes the value of hiding God's word in memory for times of distress
Jesus in the wilderness had no Bible in hand but quoted memorized Scripture against Satan
C. Jonah 2:8 — "Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love"
The rich young ruler walked away from Christ sorrowfully — fully aware of who Jesus was, yet gripped by his idol
No idol — money, sex, fame, popularity — can provide steadfast love in dark days
Hebrews 11:1 — faith is the assurance of things hoped for; it says "it both can and will be" when sense and reason say otherwise
Only God and his Son can be an anchor for the soul in dark days
III. Death to Sin and Alive Through Resurrection
A. Jonah's prayer heaps up the starkest language of hopelessness found anywhere in Scripture
Psalm 88:6-7 is echoed — the only psalm that ends without a word of hope, closing in utter darkness
Jonah in the belly of the fish experiences spiritual restoration, followed by physical deliverance after three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17)
B. Jonah is a type of Christ (Matthew 12:38-42)
Luke 12:50 — Jesus speaks of his death as a baptism; he faces the floodwaters of God's wrath at the cross
Christ enters the belly of Sheol; the Father turns his face away — "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
He descends into hell (Apostles' Creed), then after three days bodily rises and ascends to the holy temple — the right hand of the Father
C. The resurrection of Christ secures the believer's standing in life and death
Romans 14:8-9 — whether we live or die, we are the Lord's; Christ died and rose to be Lord of both the dead and the living
Philippians 1 — to die is gain; it is far better to depart and be with Christ
Ephesians 2 — when we were dead in sins, God made us alive together with Christ; we are even now seated in heavenly places
We await the final resurrection when bodies come forth from the tomb and the steadfast love of the Lord remains forever in Christ Jesus, the greater Jonah
32 min
April 06, 2025Going Down
Scripture: Jonah 1
Order of Service
Preparation Song — Glorify Thy Name
Call to Worship — 1 Chronicles 29:10-13
Hymn — Glorify Thy Name
Prayer of Invocation
Confession of Sin — from Psalm 51
Assurance of Pardon — from Psalm 51:17
Confession of Faith — Heidelberg Catechism
Pastoral Prayer
Offering
Hymn — Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Scripture Reading — Jonah 1:1-17
Sermon
Communion Meditation and Institution of the Lord's Supper — Matthew 26:26-28
Hymn — Behold the Lamb (verses 1–2)
Prayer before Communion
Lord's Supper
Hymn — Behold the Lamb (verses 3–4)
Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14
Sermon Title: Going Down
Scripture: Jonah 1:1-17
I. The Movement of Sin: Fleeing the Presence of God
A. God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of the brutal Assyrian Empire, and call out against it
The phrase "the word of the Lord came to Jonah" appears over 100 times in the Hebrew Bible and almost always signals a prophetic calling
Jonah is identified as the same prophet mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, from Gath-hepher in the territory of Zebulun, a contemporary of Hosea and Amos
B. Jonah's rebellion is open-eyed and willful, not ignorant
Instead of going east to Nineveh, Jonah flees west to Tarshish — the farthest possible point in the known world
In Jonah 1:9 Jonah confesses, "I fear the Lord, the God of heaven" — this is sin committed in full knowledge of God
Like the prodigal son, Jonah knowingly abandons a Father he has experienced; like Balaam in Numbers 22–24, even wicked prophets cannot escape God's word
C. It is foolishness to flee from the omnipresent God
Psalm 139:7-10: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?"
Amos 3:8: "The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?"
Augustine's reflection: God is more inward than your own heart — there is no place to flee from him; wisdom is to flee unto him rather than away
II. The Movement of Sin: A Downward Descent
A. The literary structure of chapter 1 brilliantly uses the contrast of "arise" and "go down" to depict the trajectory of sin
God commands: Arise (Jonah 1:2)
Jonah went down to Joppa, went down into the ship (Jonah 1:3), had gone down into the inner part of the ship to sleep (Jonah 1:5)
The captain echoes God: Arise, call out to your God (Jonah 1:6)
The descent culminates in the belly of the great fish — a picture of Sheol and darkness
B. Sin always leads to a destination — the soul is always on a trajectory either upward in obedience or downward in rebellion
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress depicts the Christian life as a pilgrimage from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City
The question for every soul: are you heading upward in trust and obedience, or downward into the depths through rebellion?
C. Sin makes you slumber — Jonah sleeps through a violent storm
The captain's rebuke mirrors the disciples' experience with Jesus asleep in the storm
The Psalms call the soul to "wake up" — to gird up one's loins and move in obedience toward the Lord
D. Jonah's solution — "throw me into the sea" — is effectively suicide; sin against God is self-destruction
In the garden, Adam was warned: "If you eat of that tree, you will surely die" — yet he willingly chose death (Genesis 2–3)
Ezekiel 33:10-11: "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back… for why will you die?"
Application: secret, cherished sins cannot be hidden from the omnipresent God — the Lord calls sinners today to turn to Christ and live
III. The Movement of the Lord: Overcoming Sin
A. God uses all of creation providentially to pursue and restore his wayward people
Jonah 1:4: The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea
Jonah 1:17: The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah
Romans 8:19-21: Creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God — creation has a vested interest in our salvation
B. The pagan sailors are converted to the Lord — a major theme of Jonah is that God's saving hand reaches beyond Israel
Verse 5: Sailors fear the storm and cry to their gods
Verse 10: Sailors fear Yahweh who controls the storm
Verse 16: Sailors fear the Lord with holy, godly fear and offer sacrifices and vows — a true conversion
Two movements run simultaneously: Jonah moving away from God, the sailors moving toward God
C. Jonah thrown overboard is the sailors' salvation — he is a living sacrifice pointing to Christ
The great fish is Jonah's lifeboat — his ark — sparing him even as his sacrifice saves the sailors
In Matthew 12, Jesus treats Jonah's three days and three nights in the fish as historical and as a type of his own death and burial
Revelation 1:17-18: "Fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one. I died; behold, I am alive forevermore."
Christ is the true living sacrifice — he died and rose so that sinners might be hidden in his love and blood and restored through his resurrection life
D. Closing application: No matter how deep your sin feels, the sovereign Lord has appointed not merely a great fish but a great Son to hide you in his love and restore you
The Lord will pursue the sinner all the way down into the depths — even to the cross itself
The call is to become a living sacrifice: "Lord, your servant is listening" — to the one who died and is risen for you
31 min
April 06, 2025A Very Awesome Visitor
Scripture: Judges 13
Order of Service
Call to Worship — Psalm 50:1-6
Hymn — All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night (#158)
Prayer of Invocation
Confession of Faith — Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 8 (Questions 24–25)
Hymn of the Month — O God Beyond All Praising (#241)
Pastoral Prayer
Scripture Reading — Judges 13
Sermon
Hymn — Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me (#400)
Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26
Sermon Title: A Very Awesome Visitor
Scripture: Judges 13
I. We Strain to Hear Rightly the Word (vv. 2–7)
A. The barren wife of Manoah receives a word of promise from the angel of the Lord
She is told she will conceive and bear a son — Judges 13:3
The child will be a Nazirite from the womb and will begin to save Israel from the Philistines — Judges 13:5
Her barrenness echoes a recurring biblical theme: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth — all barren women through whom God works a greater purpose
B. The woman relays the word to her husband but omits the boy's destiny — Judges 13:6-7
She leaves out the proclamation that the son will begin to save Israel
Her longing for a child and her circumstances shaped what she heard and passed on
Her motherly heart may have added a detail about his death not given by the angel
C. Application: We are prone to selective hearing of the word
Our circumstances — joys, sorrows, felt needs — govern how we receive the word
We hear what we want to hear and miss the larger good news
2 Timothy 3:16-17 — Scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness; we must not receive only the parts we find comfortable
II. We Stress and Do Not Rest upon the Word (vv. 8–16)
A. Manoah, whose name means rest, is restless — he feels left behind and out of control
He prays for the visitor to return and give more details — Judges 13:8
God hears and answers his prayer — the angel returns, though again to the woman first — Judges 13:9
God delights to hear and answer his people: Matthew 7:7-11 — ask, seek, knock
B. Manoah presses for more details about the child's manner of life and mission — Judges 13:12
The angel's response simply reaffirms the original word given to the woman — Judges 13:13-14
Like Peter at the Transfiguration, Manoah misreads the situation and tries to detain the visitor
The visitor's reply redirects him: stop seeking control and offer worship to God — Judges 13:15-16
C. Application: We too seek more than what God has given in his word
We want specific guidance spelled out for every decision and circumstance
God's sufficient word calls us to obey what he has already revealed and to worship
The answer to our restlessness is rest and worship — glorify God and do what he has told you
III. We Struggle to See and Must Be Shown the Word (vv. 17–25)
A. The visitor's identity is gradually revealed as the pre-incarnate Son of God
His name is wonderful — beyond comprehension — Judges 13:18; cf. Psalm 139:6 and Isaiah 9:6
Manoah offers the sacrifice to the Lord — the one who calls for the offering receives it — Judges 13:19
The angel ascends in the flame of the altar — God repeatedly appears in fire throughout Scripture (the pillar of fire, the burning bush, the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego)
B. Manoah and his wife finally see rightly and fall on their faces in worship — Judges 13:20
Their job throughout was to attend closely — to listen and watch
When they do, the only fitting response is prostrate worship
Manoah declares: we have seen God — Judges 13:22
C. The salvation promised through Samson is a shadow of the greater salvation in Christ
Samson, born of a barren woman, filled with the Spirit, begins to save Israel — an incomplete portrait
Christ is also born of a woman, filled with the Spirit, and accomplishes full and final salvation
Israel's real enemy was not only the Philistines — our real enemy is bondage to sin and death
Christ, whose name is Wonderful, has freed us from that bondage — believe on him and rest in him
34 min
March 30, 2025Resurrection Love
Scripture: John 21:15-25
Order of Service
Call to Worship — Revelation 1:17-18
Hymn — Come, Christians, Join to Sing
Prayer of Invocation
Confession of Faith — Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A on the benefits of the resurrection
Scripture Reading — Joshua 14:1-15
Hymn — On Jordan's Stormy Banks
Pastoral Prayer
Offering
Prayer of Dedication
Hymn — My Jesus, I Love Thee
Sermon
Hymn — In Christ Alone
Benediction
Sermon Title: Resurrection Love
Scripture: John 21:15-25
I. Resurrection Love Is Sinners' Comfort
A. The context: Jesus restores Peter only after sharing a fellowship meal with him, demonstrating that hard words come wrapped in love
The charcoal fire of John 21 deliberately recalls the charcoal fire of John 18 where Peter denied Christ three times
Christ asks Peter "Do you love me?" three times, mirroring the three denials, grieving Peter in order to spur repentance
B. True repentance requires both grief over sin and apprehension of God's mercy
Westminster Shorter Catechism Q87: repentance unto life involves grief and hatred of sin, turning to God with full purpose of new obedience
The grief must be paired with the mercy shown in Christ's question — not condemnation alone, but an invitation
C. The searching eye of Christ both convicts and comforts
Peter's response — "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you" — invites Christ's omniscient gaze as assurance, not only as judgment
J.C. Ryle: wherever there is true grace, there will be a consciousness of love toward Christ
The diagnostic question for assurance: not "am I converted?" or "am I sanctified?" but simply, "Do you love Christ?"
II. Resurrection Love Is Service to the Church
A. The commission to feed Christ's flock flows directly from love for Christ
"Feed my lambs… tend my sheep… feed my sheep" — the flock belongs to Christ, not to Peter or any under-shepherd
Elders and ruling elders bear special responsibility, but care for the flock is the calling of every believer who loves Christ
B. Jesus addresses Peter as "Simon, son of John," echoing his initial call in John 1, signifying a fresh start and a return to humble dependence
The good confession — that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God — is the rock; Peter's ministry points sheep to that rock, not to himself
C. Martin Bucer's five categories of sheep provide a framework for caring for the flock
Lost sheep — must be sought
Straying sheep — must be restored
Injured sheep — must be bound and healed
Weak sheep — must be strengthened
Healthy and strong sheep — must be guarded and fed
Ezekiel 34:16: "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak…"
D. The test case of love for Christ is love for his people
Matthew 25: those who cared for the least of Christ's disciples cared for Christ himself
The high priest wore the names of the twelve tribes on his breastplate into the Holy of Holies — Christ our great High Priest bears his people on his heart; we are to reflect that care to one another
The bridegroom and the bride go together; love for Christ and love for his church cannot be separated
III. Resurrection Love Is Submission to a Call
A. The call to follow Christ is a call to die to self and, if necessary, to die for the gospel
John 21:18-19: "When you are old you will stretch out your hands…" — understood as a prophecy of Peter's crucifixion
John notes this was said "to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God" — both life and death are to display resurrection hope
B. The English Reformers (Ridley, Cranmer) advanced the gospel more through how they died than through all their writings
Richard Baxter in his final illness: "I groan, but I do not grumble" — a model of dying well in resurrection hope
C. Peter's question about John ("What about this man?") reveals a lingering tendency to compare himself with others
Jesus's rebuke: "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!"
John clarifies the misunderstood tradition: Jesus did not promise John would not die, only spoke conditionally
Ryle: we should not be over-anxious about the future of others, but trust God and focus on our own calling
Matthew Henry: Scripture predictions are given not to satisfy curiosity but to direct conscience
D. The call of Christ is personal and individual — your relationship with Christ is not determined by how he deals with others, but by how he deals with you
Comparison breeds spiritual blindness; we must fix our eyes on Christ alone and follow him
31 min
March 23, 2025March 23, 2025; Sunday Evening Worship
Scripture: Judges 11 :28-40
Order of Service
Hymn — Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (#224)
Call to Worship — 1 Timothy 1:15-17
Prayer of Invocation
Heidelberg Catechism — Lord's Day 7, Questions 20–23
Hymn — Precious Lamb (#353)
Pastoral Prayer
Scripture Reading — Judges 11:29–12:7
Sermon
Hymn — In Christ Alone (#265)
Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14
Sermon Title: A Salvation Marred by Sin
Scripture: Judges 11:29–12:7
I. The Lord Accomplishes Salvation for His People
A. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jephthah, equipping him for battle (Judges 11:29)
The same pattern seen earlier in Judges: the Spirit empowers a man to accomplish God's deliverance
Jephthah moves swiftly — he passed through, passed on, and crossed over to fight
B. The Lord gives Israel a stunning victory over the Ammonites (Judges 11:32–33)
Eighteen years of Ammonite oppression comes to an end in brief words
Three voices in the passage confirm the Lord saved Israel: the narrator (11:32), Jephthah's daughter (11:36), and Jephthah himself (12:3)
C. The Lord is the true King in Judges — providing, fighting, and saving even when unrecognized
The key interpretive phrase of Judges: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes"
Yet there is a King — the Lord God — always at work on behalf of his people
II. The Salvation Marred by a Sinful Vow (Judges 11:29–40)
A. Jephthah's vow was unnecessary and reflected a lack of trust in God (Judges 11:30–31)
Jephthah knew redemptive history well — his speech to the Ammonite king in Judges 11:23–24 shows his biblical knowledge
The form of the vow — "if you will do this, then I will do this" — is essentially an attempt to bribe or manipulate God
Despite knowing the Lord's faithfulness, Jephthah felt out of control and sought extra security through a deal with God
B. Application: We are prone to make the same bargains with God
"Lord, if you give me this job / heal this illness / grant this desire, then I will tithe more / pray more / witness more"
We treat the Lord as though he were altogether like us, as if he needed our piety to move him to act
C. The plain sense of Jephthah's vow is that he offered his daughter as a burnt sacrifice (Judges 11:39)
Some scholars argue he only devoted her to a life of celibate service, pointing to the emphasis on her virginity
However, the plain reading is that he offered a human being as a whole burnt offering
The Lord explicitly condemns human sacrifice — such a thing has not even entered his mind (Jeremiah)
Jephthah should have never made the vow in the first place; at minimum he should have repented of it
D. The Lord provided a gracious way out through the law of rash vows (Leviticus 5:4–6)
Numbers 30:2 — the Lord calls his people to keep their word
But Leviticus 5:4–6 provides atonement for rash vows — a lamb or goat for a sin offering
Jephthah had two months to repent but instead persisted in his hard-hearted, self-contrived piety
E. Sin compounds when we refuse to repent
Like Jephthah, we stack sin upon sin: a small lie grows, gossip continues, bitterness becomes hatred
We brush aside sin, keep up our show of piety, and persist in our own ways
III. The Salvation Marred by Sinful Vanity (Judges 12:1–7)
A. Ephraim's pride: a recurring pattern in Judges
Ephraim had done this before with Gideon — demanding to know why they were not called to fight
Here they come armed and threatening to burn Jephthah's house down over a perceived slight
B. Jephthah's response is saturated with self-importance (Judges 12:2–3)
Contrast with Gideon, who flattered and praised Ephraim to defuse their anger
Jephthah makes the conflict all about himself — the dispute is between him and the Ammonites, not Israel and the Ammonites
He references the Lord's deliverance but buries it in self-focused language: "I took my life in my own hand"
He has come to believe his own words secured the victory
C. Application: C.S. Lewis on humility — "Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less"
We understand Ephraim — we too grow offended when left out, overlooked, or not consulted
Pride and vanity cause us to see ourselves as central and the world as conspiring against us
D. The tragic result: 42,000 Ephraimites killed at the fords of the Jordan (Judges 12:6)
The Shibboleth/Sibboleth test exposed dialect differences between the tribes
The fracture of Israel is the direct result of sin — vanity leading to civil war and mass death
E. Jephthah himself dies, proving he was not enough (Judges 12:7)
Death is always the consequence of sin — established in the Garden
Jephthah, through whom the Lord worked great salvation, comes to think himself greater than he is and dies
IV. Looking Beyond Jephthah to the Better Judge and King
A. Jephthah's daughter and the Lord Jesus: a limited but instructive connection
Both die because of another's sin
But Jephthah's daughter dies because of her father's sin with no substitute taken — this is no Abraham and Isaac story
Christ dies because of our sin and for our sin — he is the substitute
B. Christ is the atoning sacrifice that Jephthah refused to accept in place of his daughter
He goes as the substitute for sinners — for those who fail to trust God, who grow fearful and forgetful, who think too highly of themselves
He was marred in order to accomplish the salvation that all earthly judges and kings only mar
C. Do not find rest for your soul in any earthly judge or king — find rest in the atoning death and resurrection of Christ
He rose from the dead so that we can truly say: no guilt in life, no fear in death
Hebrews 11 names Jephthah alongside David — even deeply flawed instruments of God point us forward to Christ
38 min
March 23, 2025A Resurrection Breakfast
Scripture: John 21:1-14
Order of Service
Call to Worship — Psalm 47
Hymn — O Clap Your Hands
Prayer of Invocation
Confession of Sin
Assurance of Pardon — Isaiah 53:4-6
Scripture Reading — Joshua 13:1-7
Hymn — Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty
Pastoral Prayer
Offering
Hymn — Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Sermon
Hymn — The Lord's My Shepherd
Benediction
Sermon Title: A Resurrection Breakfast
Scripture: John 21:1-14
I. The Warmth of the Fatherhood of God
A. Jesus addresses the disciples as "children" (paidia) — a term of endearment echoing his earlier use of the same language in John 13:33
Isaiah 9:6 names the Messiah "Everlasting Father"
In John 14, Jesus tells Philip that to see him is to see the Father
B. Jesus asks if they have caught any fish, though he already knows the answer — like a father eager to give a gift, he builds anticipation before the reveal
The disciples catch nothing all night; at Jesus's word they cast the net on the right side and cannot haul it in for the quantity of fish
It is the abundance of the catch — not merely the catch itself — that causes John to recognize the Lord
C. Abundance as a means of seeing Christ clearly
The temptation of asceticism (addressed by Paul in Colossians) suggests stripping away material goods leads to vision of Christ — but John sees Christ clearly in abundance
Nehemiah 8 illustrates this: understanding God's word brings weeping, but Nehemiah commands feasting — "the joy of the Lord is your strength"
The resurrection is the clarifying event that gives meaning to Christ's words and ministry; with that clarity comes a great breakfast
II. The Warmth of the Fellowship of God
A. For Jewish people, sharing a meal carried deep covenantal and religious significance — welcoming a person to eat was an act of covenant solidarity
1 Corinthians 5 — Paul forbids eating with one who claims brotherhood while living in unrepentant sin, showing that table fellowship implied spiritual union
Jesus distributing bread and fish enacts covenant union and communion with his disciples
B. The charcoal fire is laden with meaning
The Greek word for "charcoal fire" (anthrakia) appears only twice in the New Testament: here and in John 18:18, where Peter denies Christ
The place of Peter's betrayal and separation at Christ's death becomes the place of union and communion at his resurrection — unmerited grace on full display
C. Christ is always host, never guest
In Matthew 20:28 the Son of Man came to serve, not to be served
In John 13, Peter resisted Jesus washing his feet; Jesus replied that unless he washed Peter, Peter could have no share with him — Christ must serve
The only times Jesus appears as host of a meal: the Last Supper, this resurrection breakfast, and the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19)
We are always guests — like Mephibosheth, crippled and invited to the king's table; the proper posture is perpetual thanksgiving
Isaac Watts: How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place — "Lord, why was I a guest?"
III. The Warmth of the Fear of God
A. Peter jumps into the water and puts on his outer garment before swimming to Jesus — a seemingly illogical act
Parallels Luke 5, where a great catch of fish caused Peter to cry, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" — a reaction like Isaiah's in Isaiah 6
In Luke 5 the nets begin to break; here the net does not break — a further miracle, possibly carrying post-resurrection significance
B. The Greek word translated "stripped" (gymnos) literally means naked — throughout Scripture nakedness is associated with shame over sin before a holy God (cf. Adam and Eve)
Peter clothes himself out of reverence and awe before the holy resurrected King
C. Verse 12 — "None of the disciples dared ask him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord" — language of trepidation and Godly fear before the uncanny presence of the God-man
D. Fear and joy held together
Matthew 28:8 — the women left the tomb "with fear and great joy"; these are not opposites — the greatness of the joy is because of the fear
Isaiah 11:3 — the Messiah's delight will be in the fear of the Lord; Godly fear flows from union with Christ as one of his chief benefits
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: "Is he safe? … Of course he isn't safe. But he's good."
Christ is to be met with reverent awe and joyful trembling — holy, holy, holy, yet good
31 min
March 16, 2025Believe!
Scripture: John 20:19-31
Order of Service
Call to Worship — Daniel 4:34–35
Hymn — O Father, You Are Sovereign
Prayer of Invocation
Confession of Faith — Athanasian Creed
Scripture Reading — Joshua 11:1–23
Hymn — Come, Thou Almighty King
Pastoral Prayer
Offering
Hymn — Breathe on Me, Breath of God
Sermon
Hymn — For All the Saints
Benediction
Sermon Title: Believe — The Resurrection and the Life of Faith
Scripture: John 20:19–31
I. Believe That the Resurrected Christ Brings Peace with God
A. The world offers peace through surrender; Christ offers peace through victory over death
Jesus appears to the frightened disciples with locked doors and declares "Peace be with you" (John 20:19)
He immediately shows his nail-marked hands and pierced side — his credentials as Peacemaker
B. The resurrection is not a warm sentiment but a nail-marked reality that meets us in our fear
Eight days later the disciples are still locked away in fear; Christ meets them again with the same word of peace (John 20:26)
Christ's wounds prove he truly endured the wrath of God and conquered death — peace through conquest, not capitulation
II. Believe That the Resurrected Christ Brings Spiritual Life
A. Jesus commissions his disciples, passing the baton as Moses did to Joshua and Elijah to Elisha (John 20:21)
B. Christ breathes on the disciples and says "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22)
The Greek word for breath here appears only twice in the Old Testament: Genesis 2:7 (God breathing life into Adam) and Ezekiel 37:9 (breath coming into the dry bones)
Christ as Son of Man and Lord God breathes the Spirit, creating a new humanity and restoring the house of Israel
C. The authority to bind and loose — forgive or retain sins — is given to the apostles (John 20:23)
Parallels the binding and loosing language of Matthew 18
Marks the transition from old covenant to new: acceptance in the house of the Lord now determined by apostolic, not Sanhedrin, authority
D. As God's breath produces Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), Christ's breath produces his church — the mark of his Spirit
Believers are made Salt and Light not by their own merit but by the indwelling Spirit
True faith always involves the Holy Spirit; to believe in the resurrected Christ is to receive the Spirit and become citizens of the kingdom of God
III. Believe That the Resurrected Christ Is God in the Flesh
A. Thomas's doubt and Christ's response (John 20:26–28)
Eight days later (the next Sunday) Jesus again appears through locked doors — demonstrating his resurrection glory
Christ, fully omniscient, is aware of every word Thomas had spoken in his absence
He invites Thomas to touch his wounds: "Do not disbelieve, but believe"
B. Thomas's confession — "My Lord and my God" — is the climactic declaration the entire gospel builds toward (John 20:28)
Kyrios (Lord) echoes the divine name Yahweh in the Greek Old Testament; Theos (God) is the only time a disciple directly ascribes full divinity to Jesus in the Gospel of John
The gospel is bookended: "the Word was God" (John 1:1) now answered by "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28)
C. The historical defense of Christ's deity — Athanasius and the Arian controversy
From the Council of Nicaea (325) to the Council of Constantinople (381), the doctrine of the Trinity was under serious threat for 56 years
Athanasius was exiled five times by four emperors yet continued to defend the full divinity of Christ
The Athanasian Creed's warning — "anyone who desires to be saved should think thus about the Trinity" — is simply the plain teaching of the Gospel of John
D. The purpose statement of the gospel: these things are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30–31)
Faith, contra the AI definition, is not belief without proof — it is specific, evidence-grounded trust in Jesus Christ
Throughout the gospel John uses courtroom language: witness, testimony, eyewitness account (John 1:15, John 1:19, John 5, John 19:35)
The resurrection is the star witness — it makes clear that faith in Christ is faith in the God-man who conquered death, brings peace, pours out the Spirit, and gives eternal life
33 min
March 16, 2025March 16, 2025; Sunday Evening Worship
Scripture: Judges 11
Order of Service
Call to Worship — Ephesians 3:20-21
Hymn — Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven (#239)
Prayer of Invocation
Heidelberg Catechism — Lord's Day 6 (Questions 16–19)
Hymn — Shepherd of Tender Youth (#353)
Pastoral Prayer
Scripture Reading — Judges 10:17–11:28
Sermon
Closing Prayer
Hymn — He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought (#526)
Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26
Sermon Title: Jephthah the Fact Checker
Scripture: Judges 11:1-28
I. The Surprising Fact Checker
A. Jephthah's background: a mighty warrior, but son of a prostitute, driven out by his half-brothers and forced to live in Tob among "worthless fellows"
B. The Gileadites who shamed and expelled Jephthah now return in distress to ask him to fight the Ammonites — mirroring Israel's treatment of Yahweh throughout Judges
In Judges 10:14, the Lord tells Israel to go cry out to the gods they have chosen — the same pattern: God is ignored in prosperity and sought only in crisis
Matthew Henry: the case between the Gileadites and Jephthah is a resemblance of the general state between Israel and God
C. The correlation between treatment of God and treatment of His image bearers
How you keep the first four commandments (love of God) will be reflected in how you keep the latter six (love of neighbor)
James 3:9-12: blessing God and cursing men made in His likeness cannot coexist — a contradiction in terms
Jesus is the supreme example: his perfect love for the Father overflows into love for the Father's image bearers, all the way to the cross
A gauge of one's relationship with the Lord is one's relationship with the blood-bought children of God — "Do you love me, Peter? Feed my lambs"
II. The Historical Fact Checking
A. The Ammonite king's charge: Israel took his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok when coming up from Egypt; he demands it restored
B. Jephthah's response — setting the record straight through messengers
Israel requested peaceful passage through Edom and Moab; both refused; Israel went around rather than fighting
Sihon king of the Amorites attacked Israel; the Lord gave Sihon into Israel's hand and Israel took possession of the Amorites' land — not Ammonite land
The land in dispute never belonged to Ammon; it was taken from the Amorites and Moabites
Judges 11:25: even Balak king of Moab (cf. Numbers 22–24) never went to war against Israel despite fearing them — no precedent exists for Ammon's aggression after 300 years of silence
C. The significance of Israel as a historical people
Unlike neighboring nations whose identity rested on myth, Israel was rooted in history because Yahweh is the God of history and Providence
Jephthah, though surrounded by worthless men, remained a man of the book — his historical recounting draws directly from the Torah, especially Numbers
The Word of God unbURdens the conscience against false accusation; Satan (meaning accuser/slanderer) constantly seeks to slander God's people through his instruments
In an age of historical revisionism, the church must remain the people of the Book, getting its facts from the primary source of Scripture
III. The Judge of the Facts
A. Jephthah's confidence rests not in facts alone but in the God behind the facts
Judges 11:21: "The Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel"
Judges 11:23-24: the Lord dispossessed the Amorites; if Ammon has a land grievance, let them take it up with their own god Chemosh
Judges 11:27: "The Lord, the Judge, decide this day" — Jephthah appeals to the divine court
B. Facts without God behind them are ultimately powerless
The Ammonite king simply ignores Jephthah's entire argument (Judges 11:28) — the stronger party can dismiss facts in a godless universe
Atheistic post-Enlightenment philosophers (e.g., Nietzsche) who honestly faced the facts of a fallen world were often driven to despair — no Providence, no hope
Jesus was the greatest fact checker the world has known, yet was crucified as an innocent man; without God behind the facts, the Sanhedrin simply wins
C. The resurrection as the ultimate vindication — the decisive sign that the righteous Judge sees and acts
The resurrection is God's declaration that facts matter, innocence will be vindicated, and guilt will be condemned
The church today lives in the age of cross-bearing; our facts may not win the day in the short term
The age of the Cross will give way to the age of the Resurrection Harvest — all wrongs will be righted when Christ the Judge returns
Therefore the people of God are to be people of the Book, standing on the facts of Scripture in the sure hope of final vindication in Christ
33 min

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Weekly expository preaching from the Lord’s Day morning and evening worship services at Northpointe Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Meridian, Mississippi.

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