Worship service 12/14/25.
Greetings and call to worship.
Greetings and good morning, saints and beloved brethren. Grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you through the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Called Lord because He is sovereign. Called Jesus because He is Savior. Called Christ because anointed. Our knowledge of the Holy Trinity is all and only through Him, and therefore we come to Him in worship on His holy day, to bow before Him and offer praise and thanksgiving for His great work of Salvation. Revelation 1:10 says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” Let us therefore above all on this day be spiritually minded, and offer our hearts and souls to Him the entirety of the day, not depriving Him of His due honour. A Puritan minister writes, “As the whole Sabbath is to be dedicated to God, so it must be kept holy. You have seen the manner of sanctifying the Lord’s-day by reading, meditation, prayer, hearing the word, and by singing of psalms to make melody to the Lord. Now, besides what I have said upon keeping this day holy, let me make a short comment or paraphrase on that Scripture. ‘If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable: and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.’ Isa 58: 13. Here is a description of rightly sanctifying a Sabbath. ‘If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath.’ This may be understood either literally or spiritually. Literally, that is, if thou withdrawest thy foot from taking long journeys on the Sabbath-day. So the Jewish doctors expound it. Or, spiritually, if thou turn away thy affections (the feet of thy soul) from inclining to any worldly business.”
Prayer unto the public reading of the Holy Scripture:
Our holy and righteous Father,
Eternal, immutable, and full of all glory, justice, and righteousness,
Merciful, compassionate, and faithful—The God who will by no means clear the guilty, yet showing mercy to thousands that love thee with the whole heart and keep thy commandments:
We come before thee solemnly and sincerely, as those whom thou hast redeemed and purchased by the precious blood of thy Son, called out of darkness and into the marvellous light of the gospel and the kingdom of Jesus Christ. According to thy word, we are bid and commanded to draw near to thee humbly, with a single heart and upright affections; and therefore we ask thee to grant it unto us, that it may be even so—Acknowledging that thou art incomprehensibly great, holy, and excellent, Glorious in power, fearful in praises, doing wonders. We are therefore careful to approach thy altar, knowing the severity of thy law, the holy requirements of the gospel, as well as our own vileness and unworthiness to draw so near unto thee.
We freely confess, O Lord, that apart from the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are justly denied entrance into thy glory, and must be cast from thy presence as an abominable thing. For we are guilty and polluted, unable of ourselves to repent or return, and altogether unfit to render thee any service that is not defiled by sin. Yet we believe that thou art our God, and the rewarder of them that diligently seek thy face. Therefore, we boldly cry unto thee for the free gift of thy grace: For pardoning mercy to cover our iniquities, And sanctifying mercy to make us meet for thy presence. Hear our prayers, deliver us from all trouble, cleanse us, we pray, by the blood of Christ. Assist us by the power of thy Spirit. Defend us from all evil, Strengthen our faith, subdue the lusts of the flesh that swell within us, And enable us to perform this holy service, Not in our own strength, But in the virtue which thou dost supply of thine own free goodness. And now, O Lord, as we come to the reading of thy holy word, we pray for a special blessing upon this portion of Scripture, that it may be effectual to build up thy holy church, which thou hast called thy special possession, and thy little flock. Open our hearts to receive it with meekness; Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and cause us by thy grace to worship thee by it; And may the same Spirit who spake unto the fathers, apostles and prophets, the reformers and Puritans, so guide our whole lives, That we may grow up in Him in all things, even He who is the Bridegroom and Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, our Prophet, Priest and King. All this we ask in his most worthy name,
Amen.
Devotional and doctrinal exposition on the Psalms:
Psalm 27 [10] (Verse 4): 1 David maketh this Psalm being delivered from great perils, as appeareth by the praises and thanksgiving annexed: 6 Wherein we may see the constant faith of David against the assaults of all his enemies. 7 And also the end wherefore he desireth to live and to be delivered, only to worship God in his Congregation.
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I request; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his Tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When thou saidst, seek ye my face; my heart answered unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
9 Hide not therefore thy face from me; nor cast thy servant away in displeasure: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 Though my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a right path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as speak cruelly.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
Exposition:
We have seen previously the direction of David’s desires—how his soul was drawn upward, set not on the things of the earth but fixed upon the things of heaven. And we know that such holy desires do not arise from nature, but from the grace of the Almighty. For all who are truly born from above are given new hearts, and with those new hearts do come holy longings—for indeed faith works by love, hope encourages purification, and sincere obedience flows from true delight.
It is not simply that we believe and must now add love and obedience, as if faith were a dry assent awaiting its wings. Rather, true faith is alive and has already taken flight. It is the root, and from it springs the whole tree of the Christian life—desire, devotion, discipline and every act of love and obedience. Every true believer is thus like David, seeking but one thing—“to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His temple.”
But let us not overlook what David seeks. Not heaven in the abstract. Not comfort or peace or reward. He seeks the Lord Himself. And not merely as he imagines him—but as He truly is. “The beauty of the Lord” is not a feeling or fancy. It is the unveiled glory of His holiness, the perfection of His justice, the majesty of His truth. And how is He known? Not by private imagination, but by His Word—rightly preached, rightly believed, rightly sought after, and rightly loved.
As the Lord, therefore, is known only through His word, and His word undoubtedly presents a doctrine consistent and entire, we cannot claim to desire His beauty if we do not also prize the truth by which He is made known.
He is not a God of confusion, but of holy order. He loves righteousness and hates wickedness. He cherishes the people given Him by the Father. He governs His Church by His holy law. He is known where His word is preached in purity. He is not revealed apart from the doctrine of grace, as expressed in the Reformed confessions. He has promised to return and destroy all who rebel against His doctrine and law, and to tread them down in His wrath. He demands purity of heart and purity of doctrine, and He abhors religious hypocrisy. Even among those who loudly profess His name and work mighty deeds in His name, He will say, “I never knew you,” if they be found without holiness.
These are the true features of our Lord—He who is altogether lovely, our Beloved and our Friend. This is the One we seek to behold and to enquire after in the temple. But those who follow a different Christ—a tolerant Christ, a pliable Christ, open to man’s opinions and permissive of sin—worship an idol of their own imagining. The beauty of the Lord is not seen in a lie, but in truth. To behold Him is to know Him aright, by sound doctrine and in holiness of heart.
To know Him truly is to love Him. To love Him is to follow hard after Him, and to serve Him with zeal and faithfulness all our days. Let this, therefore, be said of us, even in this crooked and perverse generation.
Matthew Henry,
“With what a gracious earnestness he prays for a constant communion with God in holy ordinances, Psalms 27:4. It greatly encouraged his confidence in God that he was conscious to himself of an entire affection to God and to his ordinances, and that he was in his element when in the way of his duty and in the way of increasing his acquaintance with him. If our hearts can witness for us that we delight in God above any creature, that may encourage us to depend upon him; for it is a sign we are of those whom he protects as his own.”
John Trapp,
“One thing have I desired of the Lord — One thing above the rest. Every one of God’s suppliants, have some special request that he mainly insisteth on; and King David’s was the liberty of God’s sanctuary, and enjoyment of his public ordinances.
To behold the beauty of the Lord — Heb. the delight, amenity, or pleasantness of Jehovah: those ceremonial services which were their gospel, and Christ in figure, Hebrews 8:5 , whom David desired to contemplate.
And to inquire in his temple — Heb. Early to inquire, that is, earnestly, what that good and holy and acceptable will of God is. Here it was that David used to seek satisfaction and resolution of his doubts and scruples when at any time he was gravelled, Psalms 73:16-17 .”
Matthew Poole,
“Though I am exercised with many troubles, there is but one thing that I am very solicitous for, or desirous of, and that is not victory and triumphs over all mine enemies, assured peace and settlement in my throne, the wealth, and pleasure, and glory of enlarging or ruling my empire: or if I have any desire to any of those things, it is chiefly that I may not be disturbed in or driven from the sanctuary and worship of God as I have been, but may have opportunity of constant attendance upon God; that there I may exercise and delight myself in the contemplation of thy amiable and glorious majesty, and of the infinite wisdom, holiness, justice, truth, grace, and mercy, and other perfections, which though hid in a great measure from the world, are clearly manifested in thy church and ordinances. To inquire; or, diligently to seek; either God’s face and favour; or his mind and will, and my own duty; or the Lord’s beauty, last mentioned, which is discovered more or less, as men are diligent or negligent in seeking or inquiring into it.
In his temple, i.e. in his tabernacle; which he here and elsewhere calls his temple, because it was the same thing for substance; and because his thoughts and affections did constantly and eagerly run out upon the temple; and since he was not permitted to build the thing, he would at least take occasion to solace himself with the name, and thereby to enter his protest of his earnest desire to build it, if God had seen it fit.”
Opening Prayer.
Our gracious and merciful Father in heaven,
Lord and sovereign of all creation,
thou hast ever been our shield and our exceeding great reward,
and we humble ourselves before thy majesty.
Thou art known by thy word, and by thy word alone;
therefore above all teach us wisdom and holiness in thy word,
that we thy people may be a wise and understanding people,
with thy law written upon our hearts
and thy praise continually upon our lips.
Let thy grace fall pleasantly upon us
and deliver us from all trouble.
Forgive our sins;
sanctify our steps;
be very kind and patient toward us
as we journey toward the celestial city,
even as thou hast ever been with thy people of old.
Deliver us from all evil,
and prepare thine enemies for the day of thy anger.
Increase thy church,
and establish us according to sound words and wholesome doctrine.
Bless us and sanctify us by thy Holy Spirit,
that we may ever and always be thine,
walking according to thy truth.
Grant us a heart to love thee fervently and devotedly
until the day we are taken up into heaven.
Grant us safety and blessing in this world of tumult and chaos,
and be a God unto us,
even as we are thy people.
This we pray in the name of thy Son,
Jesus Christ, our only Savior.
Amen.
Lesson 62. [1.2.36.] The Contents of Holy Scripture: The Prophets. Jeremiah.
Westminster Confession of Faith 1.2.
Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments,
Genesis—Isaiah, Jeremiah.
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.
Intro.
Jeremiah and our Confession of Faith.
1. The weeping prophet against a foolish nation that has no relish for spiritual mysteries. (since the WCF is hardly ever referenced as authority, even in Presbyterian churches.)
2. The authority of the Reformers to speak the word of the Lord.
Jer. 7:13 — “I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not.”
Jer. 25:4–7 — “The LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them… Yet ye have not hearkened.”
Jer. 23:28–29 — “He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully… Is not my word like a fire? saith the LORD.”
3. The breaking of the covenant and national rebellion against sound doctrine. Jer. 11:1-14
4. The heresies of the nation and turning from the God of the covenant. Jer. 23:9-40
5. England’s glory turned to shame and America as her cursed progeny. Jer. 2.
6. Israel rebuked for clinging to the name of the ordinances without the substance, so how much more the nations that don’t have the ordinances? Jer. 7
7. The rarity of true faith even among those who possess the ordinances. Jer. 5:1-5
Introduction to Jeremiah.
“Inasmuch as the Lord our God, in His rich and abundant mercy, hath been pleased from the beginning to send His servants the prophets for our instruction, admonition, and consolation (WCF 1.1; 7.5; 25.3), so their message and their very affections are ordered by God, in agreement with His own revealed word. For as Jeremiah is rightly called the weeping prophet, whose lamenting denunciations fill both his prophecy and the book of Lamentations, so we behold in him the proper frame of spirit in every true minister of the gospel—sorrow for sin, zeal for God’s honour, and compassionate grief over a rebellious people that have broken covenant with their Maker. ‘Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears’ (Jer. 9:1).
And shall the men of this nation claim reprieve because they have never been exposed to the true gospel in its purity? Shall ignorance be their shield in the day of visitation? Nay, but. ‘This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light’ (John 3:19). For though they now bow to the Roman harlot, to Pentecostal frenzy, or to Baptist free-will superstition, yet ‘the times of ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent’ (Acts 17:30). Their ignorance is inherited apostasy, not innocence.
For their fathers rejected the word of the Lord and walked after vanities, and carried their vain traditions into this new land, defiling a fruitful country with a false gospel. As Israel brought her idols into the good land and provoked the Holy One of Israel “And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.” (Jer. 2:7), so hath America done—England’s shame being passed down to her treacherous offspring. And if the root be corrupted, the branches cannot be clean. Therefore the word of the Lord is against her, and against her rulers, and against her false prophets, and against her people (Jer. 23:1–2; Jer. 23:30–32).
For covenant-breaking nations will be punished according to covenant curses (Lev. 26, Deut. 28; Jer. 11:7–11), and the peoples that reject the truth of God’s word are and will be ‘given over to strong delusion’ (2 Thess. 2:11). Thus the wrath of the Lord shall not be light upon them but heavy—so heavy that it shall crush and grind them to powder (Matt. 21:44), for ‘unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required’ (Luke 12:48). And the gospel they have despised shall rise up in judgment against them in the last day.”
THE STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH
Jeremiah is the longest prophetic book in the canon when measured by Hebrew word-count. Its structure is not strictly chronological; it is theological, covenantal, judicial. The Spirit has ordered the oracles according to themes of indictment, warning, judgment, and promised restoration.
The book divides naturally into the following sections:
I. Jeremiah 1 — The Call and Ordination of the Prophet
1. The divine claim upon the prophet:
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer. 1:5)
2. Jeremiah’s weakness and God’s sufficiency:
“Say not, I am a child… be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee.” (1:7–8)
3. The nature of the prophetic office:
“Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” (1:9)
He speaks not his own mind but the covenant lawsuit of God.
4. The prophet set over nations:
“To root out, and to pull down… to build, and to plant.” (1:10)
A judicial ministry: destructive to wickedness; restorative to the remnant.
II. Jeremiah 2–6 — The First Great Oracles of Indictment
1. Israel’s covenant infidelity declared:
“I remember thee… the kindness of thy youth… But my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters…” (2:2, 13)
2. A judicial record of idolatry, spiritual adultery, and national corruption:
“As a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me…” (3:20)
3. The call to repentance and the promise to the remnant:
“Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” (3:22)
4. The certainty of judgment:
“I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.” (4:6)
A theme repeated throughout the book: judgment raised by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
5. The moral inability of the nation:
“O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness… How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” (4:14)
“They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” (4:22)
III. Jeremiah 7–10 — The Temple Sermon and the Hypocrisy of Formal Religion
1. The false security of outward ordinances:
“Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD…” (7:4)
2. God rejects worship without righteousness:
“Will ye steal, murder… and come and stand before me… and say, We are delivered?” (7:9–10)
3. Shiloh as precedent of judgment:
“Go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh… and see what I did to it.” (7:12)
A warning to those who trust in names rather than substance.
4. The idols of the nations contrasted with the true God:
“Their idols are… the work of men’s hands… they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.” (10:5)
“But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king.” (10:10)
IV. Jeremiah 11–20 — The Broken Covenant, the Persecutions of Jeremiah, and the Fire of the Word
1. The covenant lawsuit:
“Hear ye the words of this covenant… Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant.” (11:2–3)
2. Judah’s conspiracy and rebellion:
“A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah.” (11:9)
3. Jeremiah’s personal sufferings:
Plots of his own town (Anathoth):
“We will destroy the tree with the fruit thereof.” (11:19)
4. The burning compulsion of the prophetic word:
“His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones… I could not stay.” (20:9)
5. Laments of Jeremiah:
Chapters 12, 15, 17, 18, 20 record his inward wrestling; a picture of the godly minister’s soul under persecution.
V. Jeremiah 21–29 — The Siege, the False Prophets, and Letters to the Captives
1. Judgment on Zedekiah:
“I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good.” (21:10)
2. The sword against the kings of Judah (chs. 22–23):
A sequence of condemnations: Shallum, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.
3. Condemnation of false prophets:
“I sent them not, yet they ran: I spake not unto them, yet they prophesied.” (23:21)
4. The promise of the righteous Branch:
“Behold, the days come… that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch… and this is his name… THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (23:5–6)
5. The letter to the exiles (ch. 29):
“Build ye houses… seek the peace of the city… after seventy years be accomplished… I will visit you.” (29:5–10)
VI. Jeremiah 30–33 — The Book of Consolation (Restoration and the New Covenant)
The theological heart of the book.
1. Restoration of Israel and Judah:
“I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds.” (30:17)
2. The everlasting covenant of peace:
“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” (31:3)
3. The new covenant foretold:
“I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts… for I will forgive their iniquity.” (31:33–34)
4. The perpetuity of God’s promise:
“If heaven above can be measured… then will I cast off all the seed of Israel.” (31:37)
5. The sure mercies of David:
“David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne…” (33:17)
A messianic assurance fulfilled in Christ.
VII. Jeremiah 34–39 — The Last Days of Judah and the Blindness of Zedekiah
1. Covenant-breaking exposed (ch. 34):
Israel frees their slaves and then forces them back.
“Ye were now turned… but ye turned and polluted my name.” (34:15–16)
2. Jeremiah’s arrest and persecution:
Smote, imprisoned, cast into a dungeon (37–38).
3. Zedekiah’s fear and unbelief:
“Obey, I beseech thee… so it shall be well unto thee.” (38:20)
He refuses, bringing ruin on himself and the city.
4. The fall of Jerusalem (39):
The city burned, the walls broken, Zedekiah blinded.
VIII. Jeremiah 40–45 — After the Fall: The Remnant’s Rebellion
1. Gedaliah appointed; rebels arise (chs. 40–41).
Murder, intrigue, fear of Babylon.
2. Jeremiah consulted, but the people refuse the word:
“Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey…” (42:6)
Yet they do the very opposite.
3. Flight to Egypt:
Against the explicit word of God.
4. Judgment on the fugitives:
“I will watch over them for evil, and not for good.” (44:27)
IX. Jeremiah 46–51 — Oracles Against the Nations
A series of judgments on:
- Egypt (46)
- Philistia (47)
- Moab (48)
- Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar (49)
- Babylon (50–51)
A reminder that JEHOVAH is not a tribal deity but Lord of all nations.
X. Jeremiah 52 — Historical Appendix
A narrative summary paralleling 2 Kings 24–25:
- The fall of Jerusalem
- The burning of the temple
- The exile to Babylon
- The preservation of David’s line in Jehoiachin’s elevation
A final whisper of hope that the messianic line endures even under Babylon’s chains.
Conclusion.
Closing Prayer.
Amen.
Fearless Puritan: 