Reformed & Expository Preaching

Mr. Aaron Chizmer opens the word of God for us on Sunday morning. He exhorts us to see the significance of Christ's servant mission. He does not just suffer by a people who reject him, but he is also exalted at the right hand of God.

The Apostle Paul has personally witnessed the resurrected Christ. He has been called into heaven to experience a vision on par with Isaiah. It is tempting for us to think that Paul does not have to wrestle with God's sovereignty and God's election. However, Paul confesses that he too has had a break through in his Christian walk where his theology moved from being a head knowledge to to a deeper conviction within the Apostle Paul.

We know that God's people will be pierced through the heart after they send the Lord's shepherd to death. We can see the future promise of this reality. However, what is the Lord going to do at the end of the day? The Lord says that he will scatter his sheep, he will cut off two thirds of the sheep. He will sanctify the last third of the sheep.

When we worry about tomorrow we doubt God's providence and his care for us. Christ could have easily ended his sermon with the assertion that life is more than food or clothing. Christ would then be telling us how sinful we are. Christ does not just tell us that we are sinful, but Christ gives us assurance of the Lord's personal care for us.

Luke tells us that Christ gives two proofs to assure us that our Heavenly Father does care. The pesky ravens receive the Lord's care. The Lord watches over the wild flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow. Christ's point is that if God cares about the little details of this creation then how much more his people. Therefore, we should not be anxious about tomorrow as we are in the father's care.

Zechariah set a scary stage in the previous context. The setting is the nations marching against Jerusalem. The nations were meeting for the battle at the mountain of the assembly. This is not assembly for worship, but assembly with the intent to destroy God's city. God's holy mount Zion is being reclaimed as the mountain of war. The Lord promises to secure his holy mountain and his holy city. The Lord is going to establish his "vision of peace" or what we know as Jerusalem. History is moving to the goal of the Lord's heavenly city where God dwells with his people forever. Zechariah continues to describe the "Day of the Lord" with the assurance that the Lord's Spirit will be poured out. His people will repent. Idolatry will be removed. His people will grieve that they have pierced the messiah. However, the Lord's people will dwell in peace in the Lord's heavenly city dwelling in the presence of God himself.

The Apostle Paul closes his second letter to the Corinthians with an incredible greeting from the Triune God. Paul is writing to a church that is on the verge of denying the Apostolic Gospel, but Paul still greets them in the blessings of redemption. Paul does not just say the names of the Godhead, but he gives the blessings of our redemption that are given to us by our God.

The prophets speak of the "Day of the Lord." This is the day when the Lord makes everything right. This is a wonderful day when the Lord establishes his justice, manifests his mercy, and sees to it that the world is fully in the true rest of the kingdom. Zechariah is concluding his prophecy with this vision of the lord making all things right. Our call is to bow our knee to Christ, submit to his reign, and see that as we seek first his kingdom our Lord will deliver us.

Fikret opens the word of God from Revelation 6:9-11. We learn that the christian life is a life of suffering. It is not just suffering for the sake of suffering, but suffering in a sin cursed world. Christ is present with us in the midst of the suffering. Christ will defend his people as we hear the saints throughout the ages crying out to Christ.

Ex. 17:1   All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”