Reformed & Expository Preaching

It may seem like that Romans 12 is teaching us that Christian life is taking hit after smack in the face without any reprieve. The thing to remember is that the Apostle Paul wants us to look at the big picture. We need to be assured that servanthood is not just meaningless suffering, but that our king does notice injustice. How can seeing the big picture encourage us in the midst of persecution and strife?

We need to remember that Christ's rebuke is not just an Israelite problem, but a human problem. Humans are broken, humans need grace, humans need the regenerative power of the Spirit. Christ is addressing a problem with people who do not think they need to be cleans from the inside out. In their mind they are moral enough. God wants us to obey his commandments and so why is Christ not complimenting people for taking his commandments seriously? Is Christ being picky? What is the Lord’s intention for his people?

The Lord is invisible, but he has not hidden himself. The Lord shows himself by His self revelation. The Lord leaves his signature in this creation, and the Lord gives us his word. While we as humans can never know God exhaustively we can still know God, and more importantly God knows us. So, if the Lord gives us his word how do we know that his word is certain? How do we know that the Lord can use the gifts of the man without contaminating his word?

It is challenging to live out the gospel in a world that is not sympathetic to the gospel message. It is easy to cry out for justice now, but honestly where would we be without grace? If we are redeemed by grace, called to be the Lord's servants, then how do we live before the world?

Matthew presents Jesus' mission with a goal to fulfill Israel’s history or to fulfill the role of humanity. The ultimate goal is to honor the Lord. Christ honors his father perfectly, but in order for Christ to fulfill his mission to save his people from their sins he has to go to the cross. The leaders of Israel deny Christ’s messianic claims because Christ does not fit their mold. Christ interacts with the leaders giving them complete and severe warnings about their spiritual destiny. What is their problem? Is this just an Israelite problem? What do these woes teach us about our potential spiritual pitfalls?

I marvel at how the Lord works through various men in history. Consider the sermon preached by Jonathon Edwards titled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Jonathon Edwards supposedly preached that sermon in a monotone fashion, but it sparks the great awakening. John Owen is not someone known for a lot of contemporary rhetoric or contemporary oratory winsomeness, but yet the Gospel went out in power. Many today would say Owen is complicated, technical, and maybe even boring. You think of Calvin being sickly, technical at times, and yet the Gospel goes out. The Lord still uses these men despite contemporary advancements in our human wisdom. What is the power behind this message? Is it the man or is it the message? What about this message is so powerful?

We have a human tendency where we would rather rejoice when we see people suffer and weep when we see people get ahead of us. We might say that this is not our struggle, but then why does Paul exhort us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice? The reason is because this is not natural, but something we do in the Spirit. How does this type of empathy become part of of who we are? How does this mindset cultivate a Christ like humility?

The Belgic confession starts with God being one God. Guido wants the Roman Catholics to see that the Reformed movement is fundamentally orthodox. Is this something that is just important for Guido De Bres or is this important for us today? Is this just a doctrine that is important for us, or is this important for the prophets and apostles?

Christ is no longer answering questions from the current leadership, and no he prosecutes his concerns regarding the current leadership. Is Christ teaching against religion claiming that we embrace Christ, but deny Christianity? Is Christ saying that religion is the problem? Is Christ identifying the problem as something else?