Trinity Presbyterian Church North Bay — Sermons & Sunday School

Sermon preached on Luke 17:1-6 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 08/21/2022 in Novato, CA.

Sermon Manuscript

Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.

We have a question to ask as we approach these verses today. Are these verses just a collection of random sayings from Jesus? That is how they are often taken. Or are these verses more of the orderly accounting that Luke said at the start of this book that he would be giving us? I lean strongly toward the latter. This is important because if they are part of the orderly accounting that Luke has been giving us, then that tells us to read these statements together and in the broader context of where we are in Luke. When we take them that way, we see Jesus commending a gospel ministry of reconciliation and redemption that would upset the current status quo of religion among God’s people. But Jesus encourages them that by the grace and power of God this gospel ministry will prevail. Let us dig into the details now to see this.

We begin in this first point by looking at the first two verses. I’ll read them again. “And he said to his disciples, ‘Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.’” Notice the transition in the context. Here, he turns to speak to his disciples. Remember whom he had been speaking to. For the last two chapters he had been admonishing the Pharisees. It started in chapter 15 when the Pharisees with their scribes were grumbling against Jesus because of his ministry to sinners and tax collectors. In chapter 15 he gave them three parables to teach God’s heart to seek and save that which was lost – and he said this is the attitude the Pharisees should have had themselves as the religious leaders among the people. Then last chapter Jesus continued his admonition of them by confronting them on their love of money and how they disregarded God’s laws when it suited them. But now, in today’s passage, he turns from addressing the Pharisees to speak to his disciples.

That context right away helps us to understand what Jesus has in mind when he says in verse 1 that temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come. Let me note that the word “temptations to sin” here is better translated as “stumbling blocks”. Jesus is saying there will be stumbling blocks that come into people’s lives – things that cause them to sin or turn aside from the true and right way of godliness. Jesus says there will be such stumbling blocks that come. But he speaks woe against those people who would bring such stumbling blocks into the lives of others. Again, in context, whom does Jesus have in mind? Surely, we should read this in context and see that Jesus is warning his disciples against the Pharisees and their scribes. The Pharisees acted in the name of the true religion but they were actually perpetuating a false religion. Jesus speaks woe on them and their faulty ministry. He says woe to these stumblers of others. Jesus’ disciples must be on guard to not follow in their cursed footsteps. They need to instead learn the true religion with its gospel ministry that Jesus was discipling them in.

Notice how serious Jesus says this is. In verse 2, Jesus says it would be better if these stumblers of others would be drowned to death. That they’d be cast into the sea with a big stone around their neck! The stone would keep them from being able to swim to safety, so they would drown. Jesus’ point here is in light of the final judgment.

Sermon preached on Luke 16:19-31 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 08/14/2022 in Novato, CA.

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Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.

When I preached through Luke 15, I had the sense to preach through the whole thing at once. If I were to preach through this chapter 16 again, I might be also tempted to preach the whole chapter at all once. Just like how last chapter was one big message to the Pharisees and the scribes, so too this chapter is presenting one long critique against the Pharisees` and their shortsighted love of money while thinking themselves better students of God’s word than they really were.

So then, I want to begin today by helping us to see how this presumable parable of this rich man and this Lazarus is the culmination of one consistent theme throughout this chapter. The chapter began with a critique of money with the Parable of the Unrighteous Manager. Jesus warned us there of displacing God as our master with money and riches as our master. Instead, he said we should use this world’s so called “unrighteous wealth” to make friends for eternity, that they would receive you into eternal dwellings in the afterlife. That was verses 1-13. Then the chapter applied to that the Pharisees in verse 14 saying that they were lovers of money. That showed that Jesus told the Parable of the Unrighteous Manager against them to challenge the way they loved money over God. So then, this chapter ends with another chapter dealing with the love of money over God and over godliness. It helps us to think of the final end for someone who so loves money over God. In fact, the rich man in today’s parable had the very opportunity that was held out in the Parable of the Unrighteous Manager. The rich man could have used his earthly wealth to make a friend of this Lazarus and ultimately be welcomed by him in the afterlife into the same eternal dwelling that Lazarus had entered. Yet, in this parable, this rich man did not do that and thus we see how this worked out for him. This final parable is again told against the Pharisees and any like them who so loved money more than God.

So then, let us in the first point appreciate how the parable presents a turning and reversal of states between this rich man and Lazarus. As Jesus foretold on various occasions, there was coming a time where the first will be last and the last will be first. The wicked godless in this life who’ve enjoyed many worldly successes too often because of their wickedness will find in the afterlife that God will reverse their circumstances as they receive the torments of hell, cursed forever in an eternal fire (Mat 18:8), where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28) day and night (Rev 20:10). Yet, the poor godly in this life, who’ve too often because of their godliness experienced suffering and persecution will find in the afterlife that God will reverse their circumstances as they receive the blessings of everlasting paradise, comforted in the bosom of Abraham, and in the joy and peace of the presence of the Lord. In that description, I’m employing some of the rich versus poor stereotyping that we often find in the gospels, though we are reminded here that one’s state in the afterlife is not ultimately about whether you are rich or poor. In fact, the Parable of the Unrighteous Manager taught how people who had riches in this life could use them in good godly ways in preparation for a good place in the afterlife. Yet too often at that time, it was the rich who were godless and it was the poor who recognized their need for God in their life. That is what we find again even in this Parable of the Rich Man and Laz...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 08/14/2022 in Novato, CA, considering Article 32 of the Belgic Confession.

Sermon preached on Luke 16:14-18 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 08/07/2022 in Novato, CA.

Sermon Manuscript

Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.

We are reminded today that Jesus’ earthly ministry was to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. As a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I continue to preach to you the good news of the kingdom of God using these words from Luke 16:14-18. Here we find Jesus making both some connection and distinction between his gospel preaching and the Law and the Prophets. And Jesus does this while at the same time combatting the Pharisees who themselves struggled to properly relate the Law and the Prophets to the coming kingdom of God. And so, while these few verses might at first glance seems like just a collection of some unrelated teachings, I hope to show a common theme being developed through them all.

Let’s begin then in our first point by looking at verses 14-15. There we see Jesus admonishing the Pharisees. There we see the text tell us that the Pharisees were lovers of money. This is the transition from the previous passage where Jesus had just declared that you can’t serve both God and money. Jesus spoke of how we might use money in a utilitarian way in service to the kingdom, but we have to make sure we don’t let money become our master. We must not let it become an idol of the heart. At this teaching, verse 14 tells us, the Pharisees ridiculed him. In other words, they scoffed and sneered at him. They turned their nose up at him, so to speak. Verse 14 says they responded this way in light of what he was just teaching here. In other words, they did not agree with his preaching here about money. Jesus’ preaching got too close to home to them.

Now, the text doesn’t tell us the content of their ridicule. The subject of the ridicule was Jesus’ teaching on money and how you can’t serve both God and money. But we aren’t told what they said in response. To sneer and scoff implies that they had some sort of response. But given what we know about the Pharisees and how the Jews often applied the Law, here’s what they likely were thinking. They probably thought Jesus a fool here. They probably thought Jesus was showing how little he knew of the Law. That’s because it was common Jewish thinking that having lots of money generally meant you were really godly. Of course, there are Bible passages that you could point to if you wanted to make that argument. The old covenant held out blessings for obedience in Deuteronomy 25 that included material blessings. And were not many of the patriarchs wealthy? Doesn’t a book like Job connect godliness and riches? There are examples one could point to. Yet, a book like Job also teaches against a simplistic application of that principle – his life becomes a clear example of that. Sometimes the godly do suffer and sometimes the godly are poor. Think of the many the prophets who endured persecution and poverty because of their stand for godliness. The blessings of treasure beyond compare is ultimately what God’s people will enjoy when God’s kingdom comes in the full. But it is an overly simplistic reading of the Law to think that obedience guarantees riches in this life. And because it is an overly simplistic interpretation, it is an incorrect application.

Of course their problem is deeper than just bad hermeneutics (i.e. how they are interpreting the Bible). Their problem is they are lovers of money. Jesus said you couldn’t be a lover of money and a lover of God. So, they were putting love for money in front of God. So even if they were thinking you could obey God in order to get rich, it wasn’t in service to God,

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 08/07/2022 in Novato, CA, considering Article 31 of the Belgic Confession.

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 07/10/2022 in Novato, CA, considering Article 30 of the Belgic Confession.

Sermon preached on Luke 16:1-13 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 07/10/2022 in Novato, CA.

Sermon Manuscript

Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.

If last chapter brought us one of the most beloved parables in Scripture with the Parable of the Prodigal Son, todays passage brings us one of the parables most difficult for people to understand. It presents some challenge in that the applications made from it are a little less direct than many parables. But it especially presents some challenge because too often people wonder here if Jesus is commending the unrighteous behavior of this dishonest manager. But as Jesus says, whoever has ears to hear, let them hear. My job then today is to help you in hearing this parable by explaining it and applying it to you. In that, we’ll see that Jesus doesn’t in any way commend the unrighteousness of this master. Rather, it is a passage that calls us to wise and faithful stewardship in this present age, in light of the age to come.

Let me begin briefly by summarizing and explaining the parable while at the same time clarifying certain aspects where people have tended to misunderstand things. So then, we begin in verse 1 with a rich man who is also described here as the master. He had a manager who was supposed to be in charge of overseeing the master’s property. In other words, this manager was a steward. The manager is supposed to be exercising wise and faithful stewardship of his master’s property and financial affairs. That is what a steward is: you manage someone else’s property on their behalf. It is a position of great trust, because the master is entrusting the steward with his property in the hope that he will care for it like it is his own. Unfortunately for the master, it turns out this manager was not a good steward. In verse 1, we learn that the manager had been wasting the master’s possessions. The word for “wasting” there is the same word translated as “squandered” in last chapter, verse 13, to describe the prodigal son’s wasteful spending. The prodigal son threw away all of his share of his father’s wealth. Likewise, this manager was throwing away, so to speak, all of master’s wealth.

So then, before it was all gone, this the master learns of his manager’s poor stewardship and decides to make a change. In verse 2, the master calls in the manager and confronts him and basically tells him that he is being fired and to turn over his books. Apparently, the master allows the manager to have some time to get the books in order before turning them in to him. That is when the evil manager begins to scheme. In verse 3, we see he is concerned for his future because he doesn’t believe he is able to do manual labor, and has too much pride to beg. He will need to figure out some way to provide for himself until he finds new good employment. So, he has this idea in verse 4 that he will reach out to his master’s debtors and quickly work with them to fraudulently alter the books to reduce their debts to the master. The manager’s thinking is that all these debtors that he helps to reduce what they owe to the master will be grateful to him and be inclined to show him kindness later. If he helps them now, they will be willing to open up their homes to him and feed him in the future when he needs such help. Basically, the manager is trying to buy some good will from these debtors using his master’s money. Sadly, the manager goes out doing the same thing that got him fired: wasting his master’s money. To be clear, this is outright theft – he is stealing from the master.

We then see in verse 8 that the master commends the manager. This is one area where we need to clarify. The master doesn’t commend the manager for stealing from him.

Sermon preached on Luke 15 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 07/03/2022 in Novato, CA.

We’ve come today to a memorable and beloved passage that only Luke records for us. It is often divided up where pastors preach through each of these three parables separately. While there is a value in that, this chapter, with all three parables, is meant to come as a unit. These three parables make up the complete response of Jesus to the setting we find in verses 1-2. There we learn that many tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to learn from him. Jesus had been receiving them and eating with them and of course teaching them. In verse 2, we see that the scribes and Pharisees criticized Jesus for this. Here’s where they again show some knowledge without the nuance of having God’s wisdom and heart. For yes, we know there is a way that God’s people must separate themselves from sinners, especially if such sinners claim to hypocritically profess the true faith and religion. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 5:11 says to not even eat with such people. We don’t want to treat the wayward among God’s people as if they are not wayward by receiving them in a way that acts like nothing is wrong. And we certainly wouldn’t want to follow in the wayward’s wayward ways. Yet, Jesus shows here that there is a way to minister to wayward souls to call them to repent of their sins and return unto the Lord. Indeed, there is great joy to be had whenever any sinner repents. So then, this passage teaches God’s great grace towards repentant sinners even as he calls his people to have such a heart for the lost that they would be saved.

So then, as we work through this chapter, I will teach through three common elements that we can find in each of these parables. The first two parables are very closely parallel with each other. And the third, while more detailed, and with some complementary differences, also deals with the same general message found in the first two parables. So then, our first point will be to see what we learn about the tax collectors and sinners in these parables. Then, we’ll look at how these parables teach us about repentance. Lastly, we’ll see how these parables teach us how it is fitting to celebrate when the wayward repent.

Let us begin in our first point by talking about these tax collectors and sinners referenced in verse 1 that Jesus was ministering to. Let me begin by noting, that context would have us understand these as Jewish people who were living sinful lives. In other words, they weren’t pagan unclean Gentiles whom of course would not have lived according to God’s laws. These were people among God’s people of Israel who were living like this. The tax collectors, were notorious for stealing from the people by exacting more taxes than they were supposed to, and then pocketing the surplus. And the “sinners” were anyone else among Israel who lived in some public and gross sin for which they were unwilling to repent of. So then, the description of tax collectors and sinners was a common way to refer to people of bad reputation who weren’t even trying to follow God’s laws.

So then, these three parables each tell us a little something about such sinful and wayward people. In the first parable, they are compared to a lost sheep. I might be inclined to describe such a lost sheep as a sheep that wandered away, which would emphasis the sheep’s culpability in it. Then again, sheep are proverbially dumb and prone to wander. Such is true with the spiritually lost. Note in verse 7, that such sinners are then contrasted with the righteous. We should remember that no one is perfectly righteous, save Christ Jesus, so this is shorthand for the faithful people of God who have found imputed righteousness through faith.

Sunday School class at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 07/03/2022 in Novato, CA, on updates from the OPC Diaconal Summit and the OPC General Assembly.

Sermon preached on Luke 14:25-35 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/26/2022 in Novato, CA.

Discipleship is foundational to Christianity. Every Christian is a disciple of Christ. Today’s passage again shows Jesus calling people to be his disciple. I love how in Scripture there are various ways Jesus calls people to discipleship. Sometimes Jesus’ call into discipleship is very brief, “Follow me.” Other times Jesus’ call into discipleship might emphasize the good gifts we receive in him. Yet other times, Jesus’ call into discipleship might emphasize our response. In today’s passage, there is certainly a lot of that. We are called to count the cost of discipleship and examined ourselves to see that we are truly his disciples. Yet, there are also subtle pictures here of the grace and blessings that we receive as disciples of Christ.

So then, today we’ll consider this topic of disciples in three points. First, we’ll look at verses 25-27 and look at Jesus’ explicit call to discipleship and what he says here that involves. Second, we’ll look at verses 28-32 and see how Jesus illustrates that call to discipleship with two parables. Then third, we’ll look at verses 34-35 and consider this parable about salt losing its saltiness and see how that speaks to this topic as well.

Let us then begin in our first point with Jesus’ call to discipleship. This is certainly one of his more shocking calls to discipleship. It is exceedingly rare to hear anyone today share the gospel to unbelievers and describe things in such terms. Jesus’ call here to become his disciple is not put in words of how to have “Your Best Life Now”. No, it’s more like how to have the most difficult life now! Yet, as we consider Jesus’ different ways he calls people to discipleship, we realize they each teach us different aspects of what it means to follow Jesus. What he tells us here is very important to understand. Yes, becoming a disciple of Christ is the best thing you can do. And it will certainly mean the best life in eternity. And there is absolutely a certain sense that it will be for your best life now to follow Jesus. But Jesus reminds us here that there is also absolutely a sense in which following him will mean a really hard life here and now full of various sacrifices for Christ’ sake. That is what we must understand and appreciate and learn about today.

So, look at how Jesus calls us to discipleship in verse 26. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” So, Jesus basically says to be his disciple you need to hate your family and even yourself. This word for hate is the typical word for hate in the Greek, but I think we must understand things in context. Earlier, in Luke 10:27, Jesus said we are to love your neighbor as yourself. If you take today’s words in a woodenly literal and absolutely sense, that would you mean you should hate your neighbor as you hate yourself. Surely, such a line of interpretation would be faulty. Rather, a better way to understand this is to see that you cannot put others before Jesus, not even family, not even yourself. If Jesus is to be your Lord and you are to follow him, then you must love Jesus the most. More than your best friend. More than your family. More than even yourself. Jesus must be your first, your most, your best. To be Jesus’ disciple means you ought to follow him wholeheartedly without reservation and as your top priority. This is a reminder the literal meaning of a word is not always the exact way it gets used. Language also involves context, usage, and even sometimes hyperbole in different forms. A somewhat similar usage in Scripture is in Genesis 29:30 which says that Jacob loved...