Trinity Reformed Baptist Church

This sermon introduces covenant theology as a crucial framework for understanding the Bible as a unified redemptive narrative centered on Jesus Christ. Many believers neglect this foundational concept, leading to confusion about the relationship between the Old and New Covenants, the purpose of God's law, and the nature of salvation. Without a covenantal understanding, the Bible can appear as a collection of disconnected stories rather than a cohesive plan of God's redemptive work. Covenant theology reveals how God progressively unveils His plan of salvation through various covenants—with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—all finding their ultimate fulfillment in the new covenant in Jesus Christ. It emphasizes that salvation has always been by faith in Christ alone; Old Testament saints looked forward to His promise, while New Testament believers look back at its fulfillment. This perspective helps unify Scripture, showing how "the new is in the old concealed, and the old is in the new revealed," with the New Testament providing the normative lens for understanding the Old. A covenant is defined as a declaration of God's sovereign pleasure, initiated and owned by Him, bestowing benefits, fostering communion, and outlining the means to enjoy Him. God always deals with humanity through a representative or "federal head," from Adam to the ultimate representative, Jesus Christ. This concept is vital for understanding doctrines like original sin and justification by faith. The lecture contrasts this Reformed Baptist covenant theology with other interpretive frameworks, particularly dispensationalism, which often disconnects the testaments and misinterprets the church's

Are you living under the weight of performance, constantly trying to earn God's love? Many of us unknowingly linger at the foot of Mount Sinai, burdened by the law and fear. But what if there's a different mountain calling your name?In this powerful sermon on Hebrews 12:18-29, we uncover the profound contrast between the temporal, terrifying Mount Sinai and the eternal, glorious Mount Zion. Discover why the Old Covenant was never meant to bring us close to God, and how the New Covenant in Christ offers a present, spiritual reality of freedom, grace, and an unshakeable kingdom.Stop striving and start resting in the finished work of Christ. Learn how your Judge has become your Father, and why His smile is unchanging because of Jesus. This message will transform your understanding of God's love and your place in His eternal plan.

The sermon concludes with a call to recognize that God's grace is living and active right now, visible in the very fact that believers are gathered, understanding and trusting in the gospel. This should lead to honor, praise, and thanksgiving to God. Discover the profound meaning behind Paul's final words to the Corinthians: "My love be with you all in Christ Jesus." Despite a church riddled with factions and immorality, Paul's closing message is one of unwavering grace and love. Learn how God's unmerited favor enables Christ-centered love, fosters unity among believers, and guides both spiritual and earthly leadership. Unpack the powerful truth that grace isn't just for salvation, but for every aspect of our daily lives and church community.

The pastor concluded with four key observations for reflection and application. 1. Remember Our Love for God is Monotheistic. We worship one true and living God who purposed His saving grace for sinners. We must never forget how dead we were in our sins and how great His grace is to us. Forgetting this diminishes our perspective and love for Him. • Remember Our Love for God is Trinitarian. This one God works out His grace through three glorious persons: The Father planned our redemption, the Son accomplished it on the cross, and the Holy Spirit applies it to our hearts. Understanding the depth of this coordinated, loving work should cause us to love God more profoundly—not just with a base "liking," but with a deep, abiding love. • Remember Our Love for God is Prime. The effect of God's grace should produce both a rudimentary love (phileo) and a profound love (agape). Our love for God must be the primary, foundational reality that informs and impacts everything we do and say. When we fail, this primary love should turn us back to Christ again and again. • Remember Our Love for God is Consequential. The stakes are eternal. One who has no love for Christ is eternally accursed. This truth should produce two things in us: A holy fear and humility, recognizing we did nothing to deserve God's grace. A genuine concern and urgency to pray for and share the gospel with those who do not know Christ, because the gospel brings real hope and has the power to take dead sinners and make them alive. We must not lose heart in praying for and encouraging one another in the faith.

Key Points 1. The foundations (repentance, faith, washings, laying on of hands, resurrection, judgment) are already laid—build on them rather than restart. 2. Resurrection and eternal judgment are rooted in the Old Testament and fulfilled in Christ (see Daniel 12:2). 3. The old covenant rituals were typological shadows; treating them as ends in themselves is "dead works." 4. Some tasted spiritual realities without true saving faith; falling away exposes a lack of genuine belief. 5. Tangible, comforting practices can lure believers away from heart holiness and dependence on Christ. 6. Growth and perseverance are possible only "if God permits"—depend on Him daily.

Practical Applications for Today • Cultivate relationships with other faithful churches; pray for them and receive their encouragement. • Prioritize church order: recognize, appoint, and submit to qualified leadership (elders/deacons). • Reject isolationist tendencies; pursue covenantal commitment for accountability, discipline, and growth. • Celebrate God's work beyond your local setting; let it strengthen your resolve and joy.

• Application: o A proper view of eternal judgment is critical. It must be seen as just as real and eternal as the promise of eternal life. o The pastor warns against modern-day versions of "elementary" or incorrect teaching, such as annihilationism (the belief that the wicked are simply destroyed and cease to exist after judgment). o This view diminishes the gravity of God's justice and the eternal consequences of sin. To move toward maturity is to hold a proper, biblical view of both eternal life for the believer and eternal judgment for the unrepentant.

o The church must lead with alertness, firm faith, manly courage, and strength, always expressed in love. o Resist cultural pressures that erase distinctions; uphold biblical categories and virtues without apology. 1. Be on the alert: recognize real spiritual enemies and reject carelessness, indifference, and sloth. 2. Stand firm in the faith: anchor your stability in God's unchanging promises and Christ's commands. 3. Act like men: embrace courageous, mature, unflinching spiritual resolve—applicable to all believers. 4. Be strong: put spiritual strength into visible, obedient action against sin and for the gospel. 5. Do everything in love: practice truth-filled, restorative love that urges believers toward holiness.

• The Hebrew listeners were tempted to fall back on the Old Testament system as an end in itself. The pastor emphasized this is a misunderstanding of the Old Testament's purpose. • The Old Testament was never meant to be the final revelation; it was always pointing forward to the Messiah. As referenced in Hebrews 1:1-2, God spoke in many ways through the prophets, but has now spoken finally and fully in His Son. • The Apostles' Preaching: When the apostles like Peter and Paul preached, their primary text was the Old Testament. They showed how it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. On the road to Emmaus (Luke 24), Jesus Himself took the disciples through the Old Testament Scriptures to show how they all pointed to Him. • The Veiled Glory: The Old Testament was like a bride with a veil. The beauty and truth were always there, but veiled. In Christ, the veil is lifted, and we see the full glory of God's plan of redemption. • Application: To press on to maturity means we must not abandon the Old Testament, but read it through the lens of Christ's fulfillment. To do away with the Old Testament is to lose the full picture of God's redemptive glory. Conclusion and Prayer The pastor concluded by emphasizing the danger highlighted in Hebrews 6: some in the audience may not have truly believed in the first place. Their unwillingness to grow and mature in Christ was a sign that their hearts had not been changed. The ability and desire to "press on" is itself a gift of God's grace, as stated in Hebrews 6:3 ("And this we will do, if God permits.").

From these commendations, the pastor drew three concluding observations about the nature of the Christian life: 1. There is no such thing as Christian individualism. Not even the Apostle Paul was an island. We are part of a body and are meant to live and serve together. 2. There is no such thing as Christian isolationism. The idea that one can follow Christ better by isolating from other believers is unbiblical. We need each other for accountability, encouragement, and effective ministry. 3. There is no such thing as a Christian who only has ideals. Christian ideals must have "legs"; they must be worked out practically in our daily lives. Paul commends these individuals because the ideals of the gospel were being lived out through them.

Key Points 1. Spiritual infancy persists when believers remain on "milk" and do not train their senses by constant use of God's Word. 2. Maturity requires anchoring in the person and work of Christ, building upon foundational doctrines without abandoning them. 3. Discernment between good and evil is central and formed by consistent engagement with Scripture. 4. Works-based righteousness is evil; Christ's righteousness is comprehensive and sufficient. 5. Do not forsake the assembly—Lord's Day worship is good and necessary for God's people. 6. God's wisdom is revealed in the church; covenant worship is the ongoing context for growth and blessing.

What This Teaches Us About God • God opens and directs ministry doors: o He providentially orders timing, place, and opportunity for Kingdom work. o Effective service often coexists with opposition; God sustains His servants amid adversaries (1 Corinthians 16:9; Acts 19). • God's providence guides ministry over time: o Clarity often emerges progressively (1 Corinthians 4:19; James 4:13–15). • God cares for the whole Church: o His heart is for both established congregations and fledgling plants. o He works through faithful teaching, strengthening existing believers, and planting new churches (Acts 18:23; Acts 19:9–10; Acts 20:31). • God is sovereign, purposeful, and wise: o His eternal plan and purpose encompass all places and times, advancing the Gospel for His glory (Romans 8–11). • God works all things for the ultimate good of those who love Him: o Even delays, changes, or hardships serve the believer's eternal good (Romans 8–11).

Bible Study in the book of Hebrews: Pressing On to Maturity in Christ ________________________________________ Sermon Summary: Pressing On to Maturity Introduction & Prayer The sermon begins with a reading of Hebrews 5:12-6:3. Hebrews 5:12-6:3: "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits." The opening prayer asks God for strength for those who are sick and battling difficulties, acknowledging human dependence on God's providence. The prayer concludes with a request for the congregation to grow in maturity in the truth of God's Word and in their life in Christ. The Danger of Stagnation • Recap from last week: The pastor revisits the previous discussion on the "dullness" of the Hebrew listeners. They had become "muffled in their hearing." • This spiritual dullness led them to a point of stagnation. They should have been mature enough to teach others, but instead, they needed to be re-taught the basics. • Analogy of Stagnant Water: A stagnant body of water may have growth, but it's often unhealthy

As the church, we are the "holy nation" of God established by this New Covenant. We have not come to the terrifying Mount Sinai of the law, but to the welcoming Mount Zion, to Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant. We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Therefore, we can praise Him who loved us, freed us from our sins by His blood, and made us a kingdom. As citizens of this heavenly nation, we are called to live as light-bearers in the world, calling others to enter this glorious kingdom.

Brother Wright concludes with four points of application, encouraging the congregation to rejoice in these truths. 1. Rejoice, dear saint, God has saved you. Remember that your salvation is God's work, not yours. It is the joy of His salvation (Psalm 51:12). Suffering is the journey, not the end. 2. Rejoice, dear saint, God has loved you. God loves you not because of any quality in you, but because it is His nature and His good pleasure to love you. 3. Rejoice, dear saint, because God will keep you. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that will deliver you safely into God's presence. A future, complete salvation awaits where we will receive glorified bodies. 4. Rejoice, dear saint, your inheritance is sure. It is certain because Jesus is not dead; He is alive and reigning. He is our greatest reward. In conclusion, suffering is not our enemy. It is the forge God uses to make us more like Christ, and in that process, we discover the depth of His love for us.

Pastor Brandon's main emphasis was twofold: 1. Who Christ is as High Priest (especially in relation to the Old Testament priesthood). 2. Why the Hebrew Christians (and we) were not growing into maturity as we should. He framed the main question explicitly: Why have these Hebrew listeners not grown in maturity of faith in the one and only High Priest, Jesus Christ? From that, he developed a series of observations and applications.

The Kingdom of God is inaugurated by Christ, not formed or sustained by human institutions. Jesus is truly King now, yet he has chosen to reveal His present reign primarily through the church's Christ centered ministry, with full, visible, global consummation reserved for His second coming. Therefore, place your hope in Christ's Word and Spirit working through the church, pursue heart obedience, make disciples, and live with confident expectation that 'the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. ## Sermon Summary: The Kingdom Revealed Through the Church

This sermon explores the nature of the Kingdom of God, drawing primarily from the closing of Paul's letter to the Corinthians and the ministry of Jesus. The speaker emphasizes that the Kingdom of God is not based on ethnic origin, wealth, or social status. Instead, entrance into the kingdom is solely through faith in Jesus Christ. The kingdom is universal, welcoming people from all backgrounds, including Jews and Gentiles. It is not a kingdom that can be coerced or influenced by money or power, unlike worldly kingdoms. The lecture concludes by reiterating that the prerequisite for entering the kingdom is faith in Christ alone, and commendation within the kingdom is based on being a faithful follower of Christ, regardless of one's background.

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