Trinity Presbyterian Church North Bay — Sermons & Sunday School

Sermon preached on Philippians 2:5-11 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/22/2019 in Novato, CA.







Sermon manuscript



Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.Philippians 2:5-1112/22/19



Taking the Form of a Servant



At Christmas time we remember and celebrate a grand and glorious mystery. It’s the mystery that God came to man in the person of Jesus. We call it the incarnation. God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, took on human flesh. When Jesus was born to Joseph and the Virgin Mary over two thousand years ago, he was amazingly both God and man. It was the unique event in all history – the union of a divine nature and a human nature in one person. We rightly confess that Jesus Christ is fully divine and fully human.



We find such confession in an historic ecumenical creed like Athanasian Creed. There we confess of Jesus that “He is God from the essence of the Father, begotten before time; and he is human from the essence of his mother, born in time; completely God, completely human, with a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as regards divinity, less than the Father as regards humanity. Although he is God and human, yet Christ is not two, but one. He is one, however, not by his divinity being turned into flesh, but by God’s taking humanity to himself. He is one, certainly not by the blending of his essence, but by the unity of his person.”



Well, while we find such a confession in historic creeds like that, the reason we believe it is because we find it taught in Holy Scripture. This passage is one such text that contributes to our understanding of this glorious and true mystery that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is God come to man as the God-man to save us.



Notice then first today how this passage teaches us about the divine nature of Jesus. This is in verse 6. There we read that Christ Jesus was in the form of God. In context we see that this is referring to before Jesus came to this earth in the human person of Jesus. Technically, we wouldn’t even refer to that state as with the name of Jesus, because he was given the human name Jesus when he became human. But here in verse 6 Paul refers to Jesus’ pre-incarnate state by saying that he was in the form of God. In case it doesn’t come out as strongly as it should to you in English, let me comment on this word “form” in the Greek. The word for “form” here refers to not only the outward appearance but to the underlying substance. It’s saying that he was God in being and essence. That’s how the pre-incarnate Jesus existed from all eternity before coming to earth – as God; as deity.



Notice how the other half of verse 6 complements this description. It says that this pre-incarnate Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. This language of “grasped” is a colorful expression. It’s the idea of prizing and treasuring something so much that you just cling on to it with all that you have. Here, this has in mind the incarnation. The pre-incarnate Jesus didn’t deem his equality with God something to be so valued that he wouldn’t forgo the inherent humbling involved by becoming man. In other words, if the pre-incarnate Jesus was going to take on humanity, there would inherently be a lowering of his status as it pertained to his humanity. But that wouldn’t stop Jesus from doing it.



But before we get to think about his becoming man, don’t miss the implication of this point in verse 6 with regards to his divinity. Jesus, before the incarnation, was both God and equal to God. That’s what we see in verse 6. We see one who was God and also who was equal with God.

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/22/2019 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our survey of the history recorded in the Bible, focusing on the period dealing with the period of the judges.

Sermon preached on 1 Kings 15:9-24 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/15/2019 in Novato, CA.







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Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.1 Kings 15:9-2412/15/19



Silver and Gold



We’ve seen much decline and downward spiral in the nation of Judah since the latter days of King Solomon. They had fallen from such glory and splendor under Solomon when Solomon’s heart turned and was not fully devoted to the LORD but instead introduced the worship of other gods in the nation. That turning aside from the first commandment continued in one degree or another with his son King Rehoboam and then his son after him, King Abijam. Yes, last week we did talk that there were some positives going on in Rehoboam and Abijam’s reign. They did make at least some reforms and repairs to the kingdom’s glory. But in general, there were serious issues with their reign. Rehoboam had some positive moments of faithfulness and humility before the LORD, but also had bad moments, like when it said he at one point abandoned the law of the LORD (2 Chronicles 12:1). Likewise, Abijam had some positive moments like when he passionately issued a call to Israel to return to the right worship of God through the Levitical priesthood and temple and to return to the God-established Davidic kingdom. Yet, at the same time it said that Abijam’s heart was not wholly true to the LORD God like his father David (15:3). That was surely a reference to his continued toleration and likely participation in various forms of idolatry in the land. And so, it should come to great relief to us and God’s people at that time when God raised up King Asa after the downward slide of Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijam. Verse 11, and Asa did what was right the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done. Verse 14, Asa was wholly true to the LORD all his days. After generations of decline in various ways, Asa was a much-needed blessing from the LORD.



Two main highlights of Asa’s reign are given to us in this passage. The first is mentioned in verses 12-15, that he implemented major religious reforms. Let’s walk through these. The first reform mentioned is in verse 12, that he removed the cult prostitutes from the land. We first learned of these cult prostitutes last chapter in verse 24 as something that was happening in Rehoboam’s reign. This was the practice of some form of sexual immorality being performed in connection with pagan worship practices. Some ritual sexual immorality had no place in the true worship of God. Asa rightly cracked down on that evil. The second reform is also mentioned in verse 12, that he removed all the idols that his fathers had made. There we are reminded that Asa’s fathers before him not only tolerated idolatry, not only engaged in idol worship, but actually had some of the idols made! We know for sure this applies at least to King Solomon per the testimony of 1 Kings 11. Well, King Asa removes all those idols that his fathers made, as well. Praise God!



The third religious reform that Asa did may have been the hardest from him a personal standpoint. It’s in verse 13. Asa removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because of her own idolatry. She had made an abominable image for the false goddess Asherah. Asherah among pagans was a sort of mother of gods and therefore was highly revered among pagans. Unfortunately, many of God’s people in Judah had began to worship that false goddess too. Surely a big reason for that is that here you have this queen mother leading the way in the worship of Asherah. The title of a queen mother typically referred to the widowed queen of a past king. In this case, she might have been Asa’s own mother,

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/15/2019 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our survey of the history recorded in the Bible, focusing on the period dealing with the period of the judges.

Sermon preached on 1 Kings 14:21-15:8 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/08/2019 in Novato, CA.







Sermon manuscript



Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.1 Kings 14:21-15:812/8/19



A Lamp in Jerusalem



Not all lights are created equal. On the one hand, we see how these two kings from David’s lineage, Rehoboam and Abijam, are lamps in Jerusalem. That’s the point of 15:4, that those kings in the dynasty and lineage of David were lamps in Jerusalem. We also see here how those two kings do not measure up to the kind of lamp that David had been. We’ll reflect on both of these two kings together today from this passage. We’ll have a chance to think of some of the ramifications of their failings as such lamps. And in that, we’ll have a chance to make application to ourselves as well.



I’d like to begin then by recognizing the sin of Judah here and the Lord’s jealousy because of it. There’s obviously a connection there with the failed leadership of these two kings. Now with regard to Rehoboam, interestingly the passage here doesn’t actually name Rehoboam specifically in the evil. Surely, he is implied in this passage as participating in the nation’s evil, but 14:22 attributes the evil specifically to the nation as a whole. It says there that “Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy.” The text continues to describe their evil idolatries and immoralities in that third person plural. This is what they collectively did. Now, I think this is important to note because so often in 1 and 2 Kings, when describing a king’s reign, it will most commonly tell us whether the king himself did either good or evil in the sight of the Lord. That’s typically told to us near the beginning of the description of that king’s reign, right after it tells us the opening details about when the king started reigning and for how long he reigned. In other words, verse 22 is that typical spot, but here it speaks in collective terms of the evil done in the sight of the Lord instead of specifically Rehoboam’s failure. Now, I don’t mean to give Rehoboam a pass here. Surely, he was part of the people of Judah involved in such sin. Surely, he could have exercised leadership to keep the nation from going in this evil way. In fact, the 2 Chronicles account of this does specifically mention Rehoboam along with all Israel being complicit in these sins.



What’s my point? Well, so often as we read these accounts, we can see that as the king goes, so the people go. When the king led the nation in righteousness, it often promoted righteousness in the people. And when the king led the people in wickedness, the opposite result was typical. But it would be a wrong conclusion to therefore assume that everything was just about the king. You couldn’t just blame the king for your sin. So then, this passage reminds us that despite king Rehoboam’s contribution to the sin of the nation, the people themselves were also responsible. If anything, this passage with Rehoboam highlights the nation’s sin more than Rehoboam.



Of course, in contrast then, you have the sin mentioned of King Abijam in verse 3. There, again in the typical place, we see a commentary of the king’s moral record. Notice it doesn’t say that “he did evil in the sight of the LORD.” Such is often said of various kings in this book. Rather, it said that his “heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God”. That’s the same way Solomon’s later in life sin was described in 1 Kings 11:4. The language seems to suggest that the serious failing of religious pluralism that Solomon began later in life continued to be practiced by King Abijam. Yet remember,

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/08/2019 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our survey of the history recorded in the Bible, focusing on the period dealing with the period of the judges.

Sermon preached on 1 Kings 14:1-20 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/01/2019 in Novato, CA.







Sermon manuscript



Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. 1 Kings 14:1-20 12/01/19



Why Do You Pretend?



In today’s message, we’ve got some pretending going on. Jeroboam has his wife try to pretend to be someone that she’s not. That act of pretense illustrates a problem people still have today in the church. We can try to pretend to be something that we are not. As we walk through this passage today we’ll have a chance to think about both the pretense in this passage and how it speaks to our temptations toward such today. Ultimately, we’ll be directed again to the grace of God that can be found only in Jesus Christ.



We begin then by observing Jeroboam’s dilemma and the pretense he employs to deal with it. The dilemma is the terribly sad situation of a dying son. His son Abijah falls sick (vs 1) and he is sick enough to bring such great concern to his parents. Abijah, by the way, has a godly name. The name means “My Father is Yah(weh)”. Maybe Jeroboam had named him that when he himself was more outwardly walking in obedience to God’s laws. Or maybe Jeroboam named him that as a showoff to others that he was so godly as to give his son such a godly name. We don’t know. But the boy did have a good name, a name that must have in some sense reflected a truth since God says in verse 13 that he had found something pleasing in the lad.



So, Jeroboam has a plan. He wants to know what will happen to Abijah. He remembers the prophet Ahijah. This was the prophet that had predicted to Jeroboam that he would become king. Jeroboam references that in verse 2. But we also know that this is the same prophet that also told Jeroboam at the same time that he needed to carefully follow God’s laws and commands if his house was to be established as an ongoing dynasty. Jeroboam had clearly not done that. So, surely this is why he feels the need for his wife to go in disguise to the prophet. Clearly, that shows Jeroboam recognizes his sin, at least in some degree. It also shows that Jeroboam recognized the ability of the prophet to offer help or guidance in their situation. And so, faced with those two convictions by Jeroboam, he instructs his wife to disguise herself and go see the prophet, bringing a gift to give to him.



Let us here note an alternative for Jeroboam. Instead of dressing up his wife in disguise and sending her to the prophet, Jeroboam could have gone himself undisguised. He could have gone to the prophet and acknowledged his sin. He could have lamented over his failure to keep the prophet’s earlier charge. He could have sought to repent and turn from his waywardness. He could have come with the dust of destroyed golden calves in hand ready to pour out in the presence of the prophet. He could have come before Ahijah and thus before God, undone, sorrowful for his sin, and seeking mercy and grace. Instead, he chose to pretend to not be the disobedient person that he was who had rejected the prophet’s counsel.



Let me point out what is at the heart of such pretense here by Jeroboam. Essentially it is a form of hypocrisy. While the Old Testament Hebrew doesn’t contain a word that really translates as hypocrisy, the New Testament Greek does. Interestingly, a literal translation of that Greek word for a hypocrite is a pretender, or possibly an actor. Think about it. Religious hypocrisy is pretending to be more religious than you really are. It’s an act to try to fool others into thinking you are something that you are not. Jeroboam having his wife pretend to be someone that she’s not is a very visual illustration ...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/01/2019 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our survey of the history recorded in the Bible, focusing on the period dealing with the conquest of the Promised Land.

Sermon preached on 1 Kings 13 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/24/2019 in Novato, CA.







Sermon manuscript



Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
1 Kings 13
11/24/19



By the Word of the LORD



God has blessed his people down through the generations by giving them his Word.
The word of the LORD has been active throughout the different chapters of redemptive history, with God calling a people unto himself. That word of the LORD has been their help and their hope; their guide and direction; their counsel and often their warning. But God not only gave his people his word. God also has given his people leaders to help them walk in the ways of the LORD. In the Old Testament we especially see the leaders of prophet, priest and king. These leaders were tasked even with the charge to rightly handle the word of the LORD. And yet while the word of the Lord is infallible, these human leaders have shown that they are not. We are reminded of this truth again in today’s passage, even as we pointed again back to the Word of the LORD.



Notice with me first here the failure of priests among the people. In this particular instance we are seeing the failure of priests specifically with regard to the northern kingdom of Israel. It’s what we noted first last week. Jeroboam had made those various changes to the religious worship of Israel. One of those changes was to establish a different priesthood from the Levitical priesthood that God had established. We said last week that God’s people are not at liberty to invent new ways to worship him. It was by the word of the LORD that God had set apart the Levites to serve in the tabernacle and then the temple. It was by the word of the LORD that God had specifically set apart the sons of Aaron of the tribe of Levi to serve as the priests. That means the people were not at liberty to invent a new priesthood when God had already established the authorized priesthood. But that’s exactly what Jeroboam did in his host of changes for their nations’ worship.



So then, we see the condemnation of their new priests in verse 2. This is part of the prophesied judgment against that unauthorized altar at Bethel. The man of God’s prophecy against the altar of Bethel includes that when the future Josiah is born, that he will sacrifice their illegitimate priests upon that altar. The passage ends again returning to this concern. Verse 33 again speaks against all these non-Levitical priests that Jeroboam made to lead worship throughout the nation. This is such a major issue because realize that in the religious life of Israel, its was the priests that were the most regular leaders and guides in religion. Yes, sometimes God would speak charismatically to the people through prophets. Yes, kings would play a role in seeing that the law of God was being followed and safeguarded in the land, particularly from a civil and judicial standpoint. But it was the priests who not only facilitated the regular worship of God among the people. They were also the primary regularly, ordinary teachers of God’s Word among the people. Yet, here they had illegitimate priests. It should go without saying that if you make someone a spiritual leader who doesn’t meet the Bible’s requirements that they aren’t going to be too concerned to teach God’s people about the Bible’s requirements for them.



Such disregard for God’s qualification for leadership was really the crux of the issue here. Look at verse 33. “Any who would,” Jeroboam would ordain to be a priest. “Any who would.” How egalitarian of Jeroboam. How inclusive of him. If you wanted to be a priest in Jeroboam’s day, all you had to do was volunteer and he’d make you...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/24/2019 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our survey of the history recorded in the Bible, focusing on the period dealing with the end of the wilderness wandering and preparing for the conquest of the Promised Land.