Is Christ’s command in Matthew 5:38-42 to forsake retaliation normative for Christians in all spheres of life? If so, then what does one do with the New Testament affirmation of the God-ordained legitimacy of civil government that bears the sword? How, then, does a Christian know when to turn theContinue Reading
In Matthew 5:33-48, Jesus – as the one greater than Moses – contrasts his spiritual kingdom with the earthly geopolitical kingdom of Israel in the Promised Land, governed by the laws of the Mosaic (Old) covenant. What is most striking about Christ’s words here is that he overturns God’s commandsContinue Reading
The following is an extract from this sermon audio on Deut. 28:15-29:1 where Moses continues to set before Israel the curses of the Sinai covenant for disobedience: Vv20-68 then forms an extended description of these six curses that will befall Israel if they do not dedicate themselves in holiness toContinue Reading
The audio of the following sermon can be found here. The blessings of the covenant (Deut 28:1-14) This life is not heaven on earth, is it? There are plenty of experiences of pain and suffering. Most things take hard work. However, two things that do come easy are expecting blessingContinue Reading
The following is the concluding excerpt from this sermon on Deut 27: Brothers and sisters, can you imagine being these poor Israelites on the plains of Moab. That pebble in sandal they picked up at the Exodus must have felt like a deadly scorpion by now. What must Israel doContinue Reading
In Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus calls his disciples to forsake lust for purity as the way of the kingdom of heaven. ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adulteryContinue Reading
The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day believed that they had kept the 6th commandment by not committing the gross external act of murder. In keeping with the penetrating and disorienting nature of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount so far, in Matthew 5: 21-26 Jesus proclaims that anger in theContinue Reading
On Sunday morning, we looked at the Deuteronomy 26 as the ceremonial laws found there to help shed further light on the radical words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, especially in Matthew 5:17 – “Do not think I came to abolish the law and the prophets; IContinue Reading
Can we benefit from these words of Rev. Robert Godfrey from over a decade ago written in the North American context? I think so… The Westminster Directory of Publick Worship has a significant section on the preaching of the Word. It begins by stressing the spiritual importance of preaching andContinue Reading
Reformed Church Southern Suburbs 2025