http://www.trinityopcnovato.org Serving Novato, Marin County, California and the World Wide Web. This site provides information about the Christian ministry of Trinity Presbyterian Church, OPC. This site also broadcasts the latest sermons and Sunday schools from Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Novato, CA. Our sermons seek to exposit Scripture, preaching Christ and the cross, and understanding the impact and demand of the Word on our lives. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:54:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Copyright © by W. Reid Hankins and Trinity Presbyterian Church, 2011 info@trinityopcnovato.org (Rev. W. Reid Hankins) info@trinityopcnovato.org (Rev. W. Reid Hankins) Religion & Spirituality:Christianity 1440 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/tpc-vertical144.jpg http://www.trinityopcnovato.org 144 144 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?feed=podcast Sermons and Sunday Schools Serving Novato, Marin County, California and the World Wide Web. This feed broadcasts the latest sermons and Sunday schools from Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Novato, CA. Our sermons seek to exposit Scripture, preaching Christ and the cross, and understanding the impact and demand of the Word on our lives. Church, Novato, Marin, Hankins, Sermon, Christian, OPC, San Rafael Rev. W. Reid Hankins Rev. W. Reid Hankins info@trinityopcnovato.org no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/26/happy-you-people-saved-lord/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/26/happy-you-people-saved-lord/#comments Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:08:55 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1120 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/26/happy-you-people-saved-lord/feed/ 0 0:42:47 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 32:48-34:12 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/26/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Novato, Marin County, CA Deuteronomy 32:48-34:12 12/26/10 [...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 32:48-34:12 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/26/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Novato, Marin County, CA Deuteronomy 32:48-34:12 12/26/10 “Happy Are You… A People Saved by the LORD” Moses was an instrumental figure in the Bible. This passage calls us to consider the life and legacy, and even the death of Moses. Many commentators see this passage as a sort of “Last Will and Testament” of Moses. And so this morning we’ll get a chance to consider Moses’ life and legacy. In the process we’ll consider our own life and legacy. And even more so, we’ll see how this passage’s discussion of Moses draws us to find Christ. It draws us to see how our life and legacy is wrapped up in our relationship with Christ. You see, Israel’s life up to this point had been intimately connected with Moses. They were there, blessed, and on the verge of more blessings, because of Moses. Yes, it was God who ultimately blessed. And yet he gave Israel so many of those blessings through the agency of Moses. In Moses, and through his leadership, they found many blessings. Their connection with God through Moses, meant blessing. And yet this ministry of Moses looked forward to the greater blessings that would come through connection to God through Jesus Christ. And so, let’s dig into this passage and begin to consider the life and legacy of Moses. Despite the sin that marred his record, Moses still dies leaving a wonderful spiritual legacy. Yes, his sin is mentioned here, right at the end of his life. That’s chapter 32, verse 51. It’s why he won’t himself finish the job God had him start. He won’t lead the people into the Promised Land. He’ll only get to see it from afar. And yet even though that reminder of sin is right here, it’s not what chiefly characterizes the life of Moses. Yes, that sin marred his record, and yet as Moses dies here, he’s remembered for so much more. Just notice right away the subtle little labels used of Moses in this passage. Chapter 33, verse 1, calls him the “man of God.” Chapter 34, verse 5, calls him the “servant of the LORD.” These are the labels that characterize Moses on his deathbed. He had lived his life for the Lord. He had fought the good fight. He was about to finish the race, and take hold of that crown of eternal life, reserved in heaven for him. And so consider the legacy of Moses. Let’s briefly survey his life. You have the Exodus. God used him to lead the people out of Egypt. Read the book of Exodus to learn about that. Moses then received the law of God at Mount Sinai. This established what we call the Mosaic covenant. You see that referenced in chapter 33, verse 4, crediting that “Moses commanded a law” for them. I mean think about that. Our Bibles are divided up into two parts; old and new testaments. Those testaments are basically referring to the covenants. In the Old Testament, there are actually a number of covenants. And yet when we talk about the old covenant in the Old Testament, we’re talking about this one that Moses established. We’re talking about the Mosaic covenant with the law God gave at Sinai. That’s part of Moses’ legacy. Moses’ legacy also included leading the people through the wilderness wandering. You note in chapter 34, verse 7, that Moses was 120 years old when he died. Well, the last 40 of those years, he spent leading a stiff-necked people through the wilderness. He dealt with those wayward Israelites almost perfectly during those grueling wilderness years. He had led them safely through that time. God used Moses to care for the people both spiritually and physically. Now they had made it through that time in the wilderness, and they’d cross [...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/19/blessed-is-the-fruit-of-your-womb/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/19/blessed-is-the-fruit-of-your-womb/#comments Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:38:23 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=991 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/19/blessed-is-the-fruit-of-your-womb/feed/ 0 0:33:10 Sermon preached on Luke 1:26-45 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/19/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Luke 1:26-45 03/14/10 Blessed is the Fruit of Your Womb It’s tha[...] Sermon preached on Luke 1:26-45 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/19/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Luke 1:26-45 03/14/10 Blessed is the Fruit of Your Womb It’s that time of the year again. This week we celebrate Christmas and especially remember the birth of Jesus. It’s typical at this time to remember all the praise and worship of Jesus at his birth. We probably think first of the angels who sang, “Glory to God in the highest,” and the shepherds who quickly spread the word. We also are probably quick to think of the wise men who came and worshipped Jesus and presented him with presents. And yet even before all of that, and even before he was born, people were praising and acknowledging the life of Jesus. We see that here today. Here in this passage you have praise abounding for Jesus while his human body was just beginning to be knit in his mother’s womb. In this passage you see John the Baptist, himself in the womb, leaping in praise for the unborn Jesus. You have Elizabeth, John’s mother, confessing and proclaiming this unborn child as her Lord. The angel Gabriel here comes down before any of later angels who meet the shepherds in the field, and here he heralds the coming of Christ. He heralds the virgin birth, the incarnation, and the glory of the messianic ministry of Jesus. Mary, takes this all in, responding in faith submitting herself to obedience. Months before the larger world would celebrate the birth of Jesus, here we get a snapshot of four people already celebrating, John, Elizabeth, Gabriel, and Mary. Let’s spend a few moments thinking about the roles of various people we see here in this passage. Let’s think first about the role of John the Baptist and Elizabeth here in this passage. What role do they serve in this passage? Their role is a confirming role. A confirming role. Mary is essentially sent to go visit them, with the purpose that what the angel said would be confirmed to her. We too have this record to find confirmation about Jesus. Look at verse 39. After Mary met with the angel Gabriel, she pays a visit to her relative Elizabeth. This is the mother of John the Baptist, who is also on the way, though about 6 months farther along in her pregnancy than Mary. Verse 41 tells us what happened when Mary arrived. Mary shows up and the fetus who is John the Baptist leaps inside Elizabeth’s womb! Now, it’s quite normal for babies at that point to move around inside the mother’s womb. It’s quite normal for the mother’s to feel them. And yet this is more than just a big kick. The text tells us otherwise. Twice we’re told the reason here. First the narrator tells us the fact. Verse 41. As soon as Mary greeted Elizabeth, the baby John the Baptist leaped inside her. After that Elizabeth gives us her inspired interpretation of this leaping. Read verse 44. She tells Mary, “As soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.” I mention that this is an inspired interpretation by Elizabeth because verse 41 tells us that Holy Spirit entered Elizabeth upon Mary’s arrival. And what you have going on here with Elizabeth and John the Baptist is that they are essentially confirming the identity of Jesus. They are identifying the baby within the womb of Mary, as the Lord. That’s actually Elizabeth’s words in verse 43. She’s calls Mary the mother of her Lord. That means that she’s saying that that little unborn baby inside Mary is Elizabeth’s Lord. Baby Jesus was probably just a small little bundle at the time… maybe not even big enough to see, if you could peer insider her womb. Mary might not even have been showing at that time. And yet Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, gives her confession of faith. She confesses and[...] Christmas, Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/05/he-will-provide-atonement-for-his-people/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/05/he-will-provide-atonement-for-his-people/#comments Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:46:19 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=980 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/12/05/he-will-provide-atonement-for-his-people/feed/ 0 0:42:49 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 31:30-32:521 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/05/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 31:30-32:52 12/12/10 “He Will Provide At[...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 31:30-32:521 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/05/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 31:30-32:52 12/12/10 “He Will Provide Atonement For His People” Here we have the Song of Moses. It was introduced in chapter 31, which we studied last time. Today we’ve read the song itself and now have the opportunity to study it. Last time we saw how this song was meant to be a warning to Israel. It would warn them of the consequences of forsaking the one true God. It warned them of the consequences of breaking the covenant that they had with God. That’s certainly a dominant theme in this song. The song has a lesson to teach – turning from God has consequences. We call this a song, because chapter 31, verse 30, calls it that. To what degree they actually sung this or just recited it, is an open question. Probably some of both. But the song certainly is Hebrew poetry, which itself is a very broad category. In addition, this song has the marks of wisdom literature as well. It has some similarity to the Proverbs, which of course is also written poetically. You’ll notice this right in the opening verses. Verse 1, “Give ear… and hear the words of my mouth.” Verse 2, “Let my teaching drop as the rain.” These opening verses are typical of what you see in some of the other wisdom literature in Scripture, such as the opening chapters of Proverbs. There and her you see the author calling you to take careful heed to his teachings. And so this would have been a poetic song that was in the wisdom literature category. It has features of both the psalms and proverbs. Of course, there are psalms that clearly are proverbial in nature. Psalm 37, for example. This song is something like that. It’s poetic, it’d be memorable, particularly in the Hebrew, and it’d be instructive. As it said in chapter 31, this would be something to teach to the next generations. They should memorize this. They should sing and recite it to themselves all the time. They should contemplate and consider its message. A central part of that message is stated right at the start. Verse 4. “Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock.” It goes on to say that he is perfectly just, repeating this idea in typical Hebrew poetic fashion. The first real teaching of this song is that God’s glory is proclaimed and the people are called in turn to glorify him. And the description given here of God being their rock is introducing a theme used throughout this song. Who would be their rock? Would it be the one true God? Or would they try to set false gods as their rock? That’s the question dealt with throughout this song. And so right at the start, this song calls the people to set God as their God and to glorify him. In contrast, he is exalted as a just God. This means that they should not be surprised if he judges them when they rebel against him. This is what they should learn from this song. They need to hold fast to God and his covenant laws. That’s what Moses says in summary after the song as well, verses 46-47. They are to set their hearts on the words of this song and learn that lesson, that they may live. And so this song teaches and it warns. It points to God’s future justice when Israel would later turn from God to idols. When they did, they’d be punished severely. That’s what this song teaches. It’s a function of this just and righteous God. That’s what the people needed to remember and contemplate. And yet this song doesn’t only teach about that warning. It also points to the hope of God’s compassion that restores and forgives and atones for the sins of this people. It ends with a triumphant note. Not a triumph of Israel’s faithfulness. But a victory of Go[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/11/28/be-strong-and-of-good-courage/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/11/28/be-strong-and-of-good-courage/#comments Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:26:53 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=972 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/11/28/be-strong-and-of-good-courage/feed/ 0 0:36:28 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 31 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/28/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 31 11/28/10 “Be Strong and of Good Courage” [...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 31 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/28/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 31 11/28/10 “Be Strong and of Good Courage” Be strong and of good courage. That’s commanded three times in this passage; once to the people, and twice to Joshua as the new leader. When we think of our leaders, that’s part of what we want. We want them to be strong and courageous. We want them to inspire us to be strong and courageous. Finding this kind of leadership can be hard. Think of all our political elections. From one election to the next, the balance of power seems to constantly switch back and forth between the major parties. The masses keep looking for someone to provide good leadership. Now, people can disagree on who will provide that, or what is even good leadership. And yet even when we do find good leaders, we ourselves don’t always follow those leaders as well as we ought. In our passage for today, we read a lot about the leadership among God’s people. God appoints Joshua to succeed Moses, and Moses instructs the priests and the elders about their leadership. A lot of this leadership has to do with the succession of the covenant. As Moses is about to die, he’s preparing the next generation of leaders, and the next generation of Israelites to live out the covenant. He’s setting things up so the covenant will continue after he’s gone. The whole book of Deuteronomy has been recounting the covenant. We’ve seen all the major parts of a covenant as we’ve studied this book. Two final elements of a typical covenant back then are found in this chapter. One element is that a copy of the covenant document would be deposited in the people’s sanctuary. We see that in verse 26. The other element would be that witnesses would be invoked to hold the parties accountable to keep the covenant. Three such witnesses are recorded in this passage as well. The law, deposited in the Ark of the Covenant, was one of these witnesses, verse 26. The Song of Moses recorded in the next chapter, but discussed here, is a witness, verse 19. And heaven and earth, in other words, the creation, is called to witness in verse 28. These witnesses would exhort both the leaders and the people to be strong and courageous in living out the covenant in the generations to come. So today we’ll spend some time considering this call to be strong and courageous. We’ll think about it from both the vantage point of the leaders and the people. We’ll think about it in the context of them all being called to live out the covenant in the generations to come. We’ll then apply this all to our new covenant context. So let’s think then first what this strength and courage should look like in the old covenant. In other words, what exactly does this passage have in mind when it calls them to be strong and courageous here? Well, you notice the first two occurrences of this command are in verses 6 and 7. In verse 6, the people are told, “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them.” The context here is that God doesn’t want them to be afraid of the enemies they will be facing in the Promised Land. They are on the eve of an invasion to take hold of the Promised Land. The exhortation is pretty clear here. Be strong and courageous. Those are essentially two synonyms for an internal strength of conviction that God would give them the victory. That’s immediately followed by two synonyms about not being afraid, “Do not fear nor be afraid of them.” God likes to repeat important points. Four different verbs here to get at the same idea. There’s nothing to fear, so be brave, as you face the enemies in the Promised Land. Part of their strength and courage would come in the fact that God was[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/11/07/the-secret-things-belong-to-the-lord/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/11/07/the-secret-things-belong-to-the-lord/#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2010 04:33:43 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=958 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/11/07/the-secret-things-belong-to-the-lord/feed/ 0 0:35:43 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 29 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/07/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 29 11/07/10 “The Secret Things Belong to the LORD[...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 29 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 11/07/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 29 11/07/10 “The Secret Things Belong to the LORD” I’d like us primarily today to consider verse 29; that there are secret things that belong to the Lord, and there are revealed things that belong to us; for us and our children to live by. And yet before we dig into that verse, there’s another somewhat unrelated point that I’d like us to first briefly consider today. In this passage, we see God’s role for the children under the old covenant. I’d like to think first briefly about children under the old covenant as we see in this passage. Then we’ll get to think more fully through verse 29. So let’s begin by thinking about children under the old covenant. What we see in this chapter is how the children were to be included as members in this covenant. In fact, that’s how all adults here ended up in this situation in the first place. They were children born into this covenant. God had made a covenant with their parents 40 years before at Mount Sinai, also known as Mount Horeb. We see that referenced in verse 1. Now, this next generation had grown up, and they were about to enter the Promised Land. However, they find themselves now being called to renew the covenant which they had been living under all these many years. That’s what verse 13 gets at too. In verse 13, God reminds this next generation that he had entered into covenant with their fathers, just like he entered into covenant with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Each new generation born into the covenant community becomes members in it, and yet each are called to be renewed in that covenant themselves when they are old enough to really understand what it’s all about. And so again, we see in this chapter what’s been going on in the book of Deuteronomy. The people are in Moab, just about to cross over into the Promised Land. Here God has been taking them through a covenant renewal ceremony. Now, this next generation was being called to profess their faith and allegiance to God as their covenant Lord. By the way, I see something akin here to how we call our children when they are old enough, to make their own public profession of faith; they grow up in the church as a member in the covenant community, and when they are able, we call them to make a formal public profession of faith. That’s like them being formally renewed and confirmed in the covenant. But that’s certainly not the only way that this chapter shows that the children were part of this covenant here. There are several references in this chapter that the current children and the future children were a part of this covenant. Let’s look through these references. Verses 10-11 tells us who is to be a part of this covenant renewal ceremony. Notice it includes everyone, from the least to the greatest, including as it says in verse 11 the “little ones.” This word for little ones refers especially to the younger aged children. By extension, that’s why we have the little children in our worship services too. Not only is that the example we see in Scripture, but what goes on here involves them too. Look next at verses 14-15. It goes onto to say that God is not making this covenant just with them. Not just with all those mentioned in verse 13. Not just for the current adults and children. But verse 15 says it includes even those who are not there that day. This is referring to the future generations. All of Israel would be standing there that day, going through this covenant renewal ceremony. But this covenant renewal would be binding on the generations to come in Israel; i.e. the children born into the community. Verses 16-28 looks to the future. These verses see the possi[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/31/but-no-one-will-buy-you/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/31/but-no-one-will-buy-you/#comments Sun, 31 Oct 2010 21:07:29 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=936 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/31/but-no-one-will-buy-you/feed/ 0 0:43:36 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 28 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/31/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 28 10/31/10 “But No One Will Buy You” When I[...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 28 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/31/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 28 10/31/10 “But No One Will Buy You” When I first thought about preaching Deuteronomy, this is one of the passages I was looking forward to getting to. It’s a passage that is so helpful for us in understanding the Old Testament. It helps us to understand how many of the Jews stumbled over the law, trying to earn their way to heaven. It’s also a passage that’s often misunderstood today by those who’d fall into what’s known as the health and wealth gospel, or prosperity theology. We’ll think about these two wrong approaches to this passage today. We’ll instead see how this passage not only teaches us God’s heart for obedience and faithfulness to him, it also points us forward to the work of Christ and the blessings that we have through faith in him. Let’s begin today by thinking in general about the blessings and curses as presented here. Remember that Deuteronomy is a book about covenant renewal. The covenant was made 40 years before at Mount Sinai with the previous generation. That generation had died off, wandering in the wilderness. Now this next generation was about to enter into the Promised Land; a land that was supposed to be a land of blessing, with Israel living out God’s covenant. Just before this next generation of Israelites enters the land, he renews them in the covenant. At this point in the book of Deuteronomy, we’ve seen the typical elements of a covenant renewal ceremony: a historical prologue between the two parties: God and Israel; the stipulations of the covenant, namely the law; and now we have the sanctions of the covenant: blessing and curses held out. The people would be blessed as they kept the covenant. They’d be cursed, if they didn’t. Look at the nature of these blessings and curses. They are earthly, physical blessings, and earthly, physical curses. The blessings are given in verses 1-14. The curses are given in verses 15-68. Just surveying some of the blessings, you’ll see this earthly, physical, nature coming out. Verse 3, blessing in both the city and the country. Verse 4 and 5, describe both agricultural blessings and reproductive blessings. There are blessings here that guarantee their military victories against any nation that would rise up against them, such as verse 7 and 10. When you survey these blessings, you recognize that there’s a focus here especially on the land. Remember, they were coming into the Promised Land. These blessings, these prosperities, would come for them inside the Promised Land. Verse 11, for example, talks about the prosperity that comes from the land given to them, just as God had sworn to the forefathers. This is about every form of prosperity that could take place for them, in and through the Promised Land. Of course, these are blessings being promised by their covenant Lord; these are to be God given blessings. The curses listed here are of a similar nature. All the blessings that were promised are found reversed by the curse. And yet, the curse section is about six times longer than the blessing section, really emphasizing the dire warning here. That’s not actually too surprising however; many other similar sort of ancient covenant documents that archeologists have found, also have a much similar balance; many more curses spoken in contrast to the blessings. Here the curses are also tied up especially with the land. Not only would the people themselves physically be afflicted, but even the land would suffer famine and not produce; verse 23 for example. As we read, the curses were terrifying. Some brought to mind the same sorts of things the Egyptians faced in the Ten Plagues (verses 35 and 42, for example). But the height of th[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/24/write-on-them-all-the-words-of-the-law/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/24/write-on-them-all-the-words-of-the-law/#comments Sun, 24 Oct 2010 23:45:04 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=894 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/24/write-on-them-all-the-words-of-the-law/feed/ 0 0:38:00 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 27 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/24/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 27 10/24/10 “Write On Them All The Words Of The La[...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 27 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/24/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 27 10/24/10 “Write On Them All The Words Of The Law” Here in this passage for today we have a description of a future covenant renewal ceremony. This entire chapter describes essentially one event that would take place in the future, to renew the covenant God had made with Israel. Remember, God formed the Mosaic covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai. That was 40 years prior compared to this point in the book of Deuteronomy. Now the people were just about to enter the Promised Land. They were sitting on the plains of Moab, just east of the Jordan River, just about to cross into the Promised Land. Last week we saw how Moses had just finished retelling the law to them. We mentioned how that chapter ended describing a covenant renewal ceremony happening right then and there, with that next generation of Israelites, right as they are about to enter into the Promised Land. But the description of the covenant renewal ceremony here, is not that ceremony. This chapter describes a future one. This ceremony will take place with that same generation of Israelites, and it will happen soon, but not until they cross over that Jordan River and take hold of the Promised Land. This chapter describes the covenant renewal ceremony that God wants Israel to perform, once they get into the land. In fact, we have a record that the people did obey, and perform this ceremony; the record of that ceremony is in Joshua 8:30-35. And so here’s how I’d like to tackle this passage for today. It’d like to approach it in two ways. In the first half of our sermon today, I’d like to think about two principles of worship we find in this chapter. Last week we talked about the importance of God’s people having formal worship services. Well, this covenant renewal ceremony is a special kind of worship service, and there are two important principles we find here about worship. The first principle of worship is that God calls his people to worship. The second principle of worship is that worship should be dialogical; an interaction and conversation between God and his people. We’ll look at these two principles of worship in the first half of our sermon. The second half of our sermon today will be to consider how God’s people are being called here to write out the law of God. We’ll think about the significance that has here for Israel, and the application this has for us. Let’s begin then with considering these two principles of worship found in this chapter. The first principle of worship here, I mentioned, is that God calls his people to worship. As we look at this chapter, we see that it is God calling the people to this covenant renewal ceremony, which is an act of worship. It’s very clear here, that this is all to be done at God’s command. Right in verse 1, it seems in context that the commandments he’s referring to right here are the commands to hold this covenant renewal ceremony. This act of worship, will be done, because God commanded them to do it. Then notice that in three verses God tells them when this worship will happen: on the day that they cross over the Jordan River, into the Promised Land. Verses 2, 4, and 12, all have that same reference. It’s the time of this service. The time of the service is as soon as they get into the Promised Land, after crossing the Jordan. God not only tells them the time of this worship service, he also tells them the place. The focus of the location in verses 1-10 is specifically on Mount Ebal. In verses 11-26, we see that focus broadened a little; that part of this is to take place also on Mount Gerizim. What this seems to describe is that they’ll be at the valley between these two mountains; they’ll have the altar and sto[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/17/look-down-from-your-holy-habitation/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/17/look-down-from-your-holy-habitation/#comments Mon, 18 Oct 2010 05:07:28 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=880 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/17/look-down-from-your-holy-habitation/feed/ 0 0:40:20 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 26 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/17/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 26 10/17/10 “Look Down From Your Holy Habitation[...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 26 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/17/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 26 10/17/10 “Look Down From Your Holy Habitation” Many people today will tell you that they don’t like formal organized religion. They might tell you that they don’t go to church, but they do consider themselves spiritual. Now, some might say this to try to avoid religion altogether. They might not really have many religious or spiritual convictions at all. They might have some vague belief in a deity. They might try to live generally ethical. But at the end of the day, they decide for themselves what’s right and wrong. They don’t have much faith or practice at all. That’s a pretty common mindset here in Marin, from my experience. People don’t want formal religion, they don’t want to go to a formal worship service, but they want to hold on to some sense of belief in a higher power. On the other hand, you might have some true believing Christians that act in practice much like this. I’ve met many Christians in my life that know the gospel, but think going to church is optional at best. They think they can just worship God from home, individually, on their own. It’s the “just Jesus and I” mentality. Now, yes, you can and should have fellowship with Christ all week long, not just when at church. You should be spending time with Jesus in word and prayer all week long, not just at church. And yet it is this same Jesus that tells us to have formal worship services. It’s this same Jesus that tells us to worship him together with other believers in this thing we call church. Formal worship together is not a suggestion by God, it’s a command by God. Yes, none of us keep God’s commandments perfectly; but that doesn’t mean we should ignore them and presumptuously break them. In our passage for today, we see that God commands, not just suggests, his people be involved in certain cultic acts of worship. There are three different religious ceremonies described here; two are explicit commanded here, one is implicit. The two explicitly commanded are in verses 1-11, and verses 12-15. The first is a ceremony for the firstfruits offerings and the second is a ceremony for the third year tithing. The third ceremony is in verses 16-19; these verses imply that they people were in the middle of a covenant renewal ceremony right then and there. So we’ll discuss these three ceremonies today. As we do this, we’ll think a little bit about why formal acts of worship like this are important; under the old covenant, and even in the new. So let’s begin then by looking at the two ceremonies explicitly commanded by God in this chapter: the firstfruits offering and the third year tithe. Here God commands two formal ceremonies to be performed, once the people settle into the new Promised Land. That’s the context set in verse 1. In other words, these are acts that are specifically tied to them settling into the Land. They’re not going to perform these ceremonies until then. These two ceremonies are specifically in response to God bringing them into a good land of milk and honey as promised. These two specific ceremonies themselves reflect the bountiful provisions that come from this new land. So, these two ceremonies are expressing gratitude to God for bringing them into the Land. And they express that gratitude by giving back to him some of the bountiful fruit of the Land. Just think about these two ceremonies individually. The first one in verses 1-11 is the firstfruits offering. This would be done the first year in which they had settled into the Land. The basics of this ceremony is that you are giving back to God some of the first of what your land produces. When they first started to harvest their l[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/10/blot-out-the-remembrance/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/10/blot-out-the-remembrance/#comments Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:58:00 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=873 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/10/blot-out-the-remembrance/feed/ 0 0:35:38 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 25:17-19 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/10/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 10/10/10 “Blot Out the Remembrance[...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 25:17-19 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/10/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 10/10/10 “Blot Out the Remembrance” It’s a terrible thing to be an enemy to the almighty God. Many people today might not like that language at all. They might not like me to say that some people are enemies of God. But Scripture presents that many people are living as enemies to God. Many people live in a way that rejects God. Many live in a way that does not honor or revere God as the one true God. Many live in violation to God’s holy laws, even though he has written those laws on each of our hearts. As Jonathan Edwards said it is not a good thing to be a sinner in the “hands of an angry God.” Ultimately, it is a terrible thing to be God’s enemy. Of course, most of the time, in this age, God’s enemies receive quite a lot of benevolence from God. God, in his common grace, makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good. He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. God gives certain good things to all mankind, even those that are his enemies. But, that won’t always be the case. His kindness toward his enemies won’t last forever. There is coming a day of Final Judgment when this will end. For some, their final judgment from God has come even earlier than that. And so, today, we’ll spend some time thinking about the terrors of God’s judgment on his enemies. We’ll do that as we think about the judgment God is pronouncing here on the Amalekites. That will be the sobering part of our discussion today. But we’ll also spend some time today thinking about how we as Christians have been made friends of God. We’ll think about the way God offers to turn his enemies into his friends, through Jesus Christ. And so let’s dig into this passage then by noting God’s commands here regarding the nation of Amalek; the people known as the Amalekites. There are three basic commands given here to Israel regarding this people. Three commands: Remember, blot out, and don’t forget. First command in verse 17, Remember what the Amalekites did to you – we’ll discuss that history in a moment. Second command is in verse 19, blot out the remembrance of the Amalekites under heaven. Third command is also in verse 19: Don’t forget! Don’t forget any of this. Don’t forget to remember all their evil deeds against you. Don’t forget to blot them out. God’s essentially telling Israel to remember this when they finally get into the Promised Land, because they had unfinished business to complete with the Amalekites. There’s a bit of wordplay here that’s almost funny until you realize what’s being said. God’s basically telling them to remember to blot out the remembrance of Amalek. Remember to make sure that no one remembers Amalek. That might sounds like a fun little wordplay until you think how sobering these words are. God is calling Israel to wipe out the Amalekites completely. Let’s think about the commands to remember and to blot out a little further. Let’s think first about the command to remember. In verses 17-18, God calls Israel to remember their history. Here we have a brief history lesson by God with the point that this is history they must never forget. The history is about how the Amalekites had dealt treacherously with Israel. It might be noted, by the way, that the Amalekites were distant relatives of the Israelites. The patriarch of their nation was Amalek, and he was on a grandson of Esau, who was of course the brother of Israel. So the Amalekites at this point would have been distant cousins to the Israelites. But this passage records the treachery of these distant relatives. During the time of Israel’s exodus fr[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/03/a-perfect-and-just-measure/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/03/a-perfect-and-just-measure/#comments Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:49:45 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.novatoopcsermons.org/?p=889 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2010/10/03/a-perfect-and-just-measure/feed/ 0 0:31:51 Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 25:11-16 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/03/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 25:11-16 10/03/10 “A Perfect and Just Measur[...] Sermon preached on Deuteronomy 25:11-16 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/03/2010 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Deuteronomy 25:11-16 10/03/10 “A Perfect and Just Measure” I’d like to start off our message today with a food analogy. I like to sometimes go to those Mongolian BBQ places where they give you a bowl, and you have to walk through a bar of uncooked ingredients, you fill your bowl with your ingredients of choice, and then give it to them to cook. They have these places in a lot of the food courts in malls, for example. Well, when I go to a place like that, I’ve got a very systematic way to load my bowl to maximize what I can fit in the bowl. They only charge you one price no matter how much you can fit in your bowl, so I do whatever I can to get my money’s worth. The end result is some heaping pile of food just barely balanced in my bowl, as I give it to the cook. On the other hand, consider half gallon ice cream containers. Most major brands of ice cream no longer actually self half gallon containers anymore. They look like the old half gallon containers, but they are actually less than a half gallon of ice cream. I bring these two examples up to talk about human tendencies. When we are in control on the receiving end, we try to get as much as we possibly can for our money. That’s like my heaping Mongolian BBQ bowl. On the other hand, when we are selling something, the tendency is to get away giving out as little as possible for that amount of money. That’s like the shrinking half gallon containers. Now to be clear, there’s nothing technically wrong with either of my two examples. The Mongolian BBQ places allow you to fill you bowl up as high as you can. The ice cream containers are clearly marked with the exact ounces of ice cream that are inside them. But my point in mentioning these is to remind us of this human tendency. We tend to want as much as we can get, and give out as little as we have to. Humans can have a double standard on this. On the receiving end, we can demand the most, and on the giving end want to give out the least. This common attitude can be expressed in sinful ways; through fraud and deception in the world of commerce. We see some of those sinful expressions discussed in our passage today, in verses 13-16. These old covenant laws on weights and measures address this very thing. And so, we will spend some time today thinking about these civil laws given to Israel to address this human tendency. We’ll think a little about the moral application they hold for us today in our society. Ultimately, we’ll think about how they again point us to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So let’s begin by looking at these laws here on weights and measures. Let me start with an initial summary. In short, verses 13-16 are prohibiting them from having a double standard for weighing and measuring in commercial transactions. This is an aspect of truth and honesty. If you don’t do this, you are essentially a thief. You are stealing via fraud. Look at how this is stated in the negative in verses 13-14. Don’t have differing weights, both heavy and light. Don’t have differing measures, both large and small. The weights mentioned in verse 13 would have been used to calculate just that – weight. We calculate this in pounds. It’s like when you go to the grocery store and weight your apples to see how much you owe. They’d use stones of a standardized weight to determine this back then on a scale. You put the weight on one end of the scale, and the item for purchase on the other end. When they balanced, then the item weighed the amount claimed by that stone. That’s what’s referenced with the weights in verse 12. As for the measures mentioned in verse 13 – they were for dry measure; they measured t[...] Deuteronomy Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no