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. Sun, 13 May 2012 06:11:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 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/2012/05/06/glory-honor-peace/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/05/06/glory-honor-peace/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 06:09:05 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1695 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/05/06/glory-honor-peace/feed/ 0 0:36:52 Sermon preached on Romans 2:1-11 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 5/6/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Romans 2:1-11 5/6/12 “Glory, Honor, and Peace” The last pas[...] Sermon preached on Romans 2:1-11 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 5/6/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Romans 2:1-11 5/6/12 “Glory, Honor, and Peace” The last passage ended in chapter 1 with quite a list of man’s depravity. It especially highlighted the sin of homosexuality. It then went through a long list of sins humans tend to commit. But chapter 1 highlighted this depravity by more than just listing out sins. Paul in chapter 1 was talking about how God can hand people over to their sins, with the result that inwardly they become all the more enamored with sinful lusts, and don’t even think there is anything wrong with their wicked behaviors. He ended the chapter saying that such people not only glory in their own sinful behaviors, but approve of others who do the same. People handed over by God in such a way to their sin, surely have reached a very dark place in their spiritual estate. And yet Paul immediately turns to address a different group of people here. Commentators tend to see last chapter addressing more the wickedness of the Gentiles, and now this chapter switching to address the wickedness among the Jews. That’s possible. Surely by very 17, he begins to address the Jews by name. I think in general, it’s safe to understand that he probably has the Jews in mind at least in part at the start of chapter 2, but I wouldn’t press that point too much. Rather, he’s addressing the natural contrast between the wicked in chapter 1, with others. You see, someone could hear the description of chapter 1, and say, “that’s not me.” They could here that list of sins, and say, “Yes, that’s a sin. And no, I don’t approve of others who do this. In fact, I look down upon anyone who does do that.” Someone might find that they have not been handed over by God to this degree of depravity. And yet are such people safe from the revealed wrath of God? That was the whole point of last chapter’s description of this depravity. That such people were under the wrath of God. And so if someone finds themselves not so handed over to sin as those in chapter 1, are they okay? Are the free from God’s wrath? Will their relatively better perspective toward sin save them? No, is the simple answer. This is such a helpful chapter after last chapter. It challenges any who would react to that description of depravity and judge in comparison that they are so much better based on their record before God. It challenges any who have that false hope. The point Paul is continuing to make here, is that all men are guilty before God based on their own works. That’s why we all need justification by faith. We all need to be saved from the wrath of God by the work of Jesus Christ. That’s what we’ll see as we dig into this passage further. So, I’d like to begin then by thinking first of God’s righteous Judgment. Then we’ll contrast that with man’s condemning judgment. The simple observation is that God will judge all men, and his judgment is right. As we continue to work through the book of Romans, and see Paul developing the idea of how humans can be declared right before God, this is an important topic. We have to realize the justice of God. That God will rightly judge all mankind. The point Paul will come to by chapter 3 is that no man can be declared righteous before God on his own. Here he’s setting up for that conclusion by talking about God’s righteous judgment. So, let’s observe a few things then from this passage about the nature of this judgment. First notice that God’s judgment is according to truth, verse 2. That’s the difficulty in our court trials today. We want to get at the truth. That’s not always easy to do. That is no problem, however, for God who sees [...] Romans Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/05/06/biblical-perspective-widows-orphans-poor-strangers/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/05/06/biblical-perspective-widows-orphans-poor-strangers/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 06:05:07 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1693 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/05/06/biblical-perspective-widows-orphans-poor-strangers/feed/ 0 0:41:09 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 5/6/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that [...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 5/6/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that we are find ourselves in life, looking at the subject of widows, orphans, poor, and strangers. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/29/vile-passions-debased-mind/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/29/vile-passions-debased-mind/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:57:53 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1689 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/29/vile-passions-debased-mind/feed/ 0 0:38:37 Sermon preached on Romans 1:26-32 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/29/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Romans 1:26-32 4/29/12 Vile Passions and a Debased Mind We continue t[...] Sermon preached on Romans 1:26-32 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/29/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Romans 1:26-32 4/29/12 Vile Passions and a Debased Mind We continue today this passage that showcases the depravity of man. Remember where we are at in Romans. Paul is going to be getting into the good news of how man can be justified by faith in Christ as offered in gospel. He already introduced that notion in verses 16 and 17. He will be explaining that in great detail in the chapters to come. But in order for us to appreciate this justification, we have to appreciate first man’s state without it. Justification is being declared righteous. But Paul’s first point here is that the natural man cannot be declared righteous. Rather, God’s wrath stands against them, because they have violated God’s righteous decrees. And so that’s the context of where we are at so far in this letter. Paul’s continuing to setup the bad news of man’s depravity, so he can then talk of the solution offered in the good news of the gospel. Well in today’s passage, the discussion of man’s depravity focuses on how God hands people over to their sins. Last week we saw how all men know there is a God and that he ought to be worshipped. Last week we saw how natural man rejects that knowledge and instead worships idols. That results in God’s wrath against them. And one expression of that wrath is God’s giving up such people to their sin. In other words, part of God’s punishment against man is God abandoning the wicked to their sin; so that they fall even further in their depravity. That’s what this passage particularly gets into today. We’ll look at this idea of God giving people up to their sin in three points. We’ll think first of what this concept entails in general. Then, second, we’ll consider how this concept finds its expression in the example of homosexuality and then the longer list of sins given here. Third, we’ll think about how to go about doing ministry to depraved humans, largely using homosexuality as the example, given that it’s so highlighted here. Let’s begin then by considering the concept of God’s handing people over. The concept is found explicitly stated in verses 24, 26, and 28. Each of these verses uses the same Greek word to describe what God is doing. The word is about God abandoning the people, giving them over to something. As you look at what God’s abandoning the people to, you see that it’s to their depravity. Verse 24, God gives them up to uncleanness, which as the verse goes on to further describe, gets at the state of their heart – a heart full of evil lusts. Verse 26 basically says the same thing with different words. God gives them up to vile passions. Passions that seek satisfaction in the wrong places. Verse 28 is slightly different. There it says God gives them up to a debased mind. A mind that is affected in such a way as to love ungodliness and unrighteousness. And so all three of these things are all of the same kind of thing. They are getting at the state of our inner self. God hands our desires and our minds over to depravity. Our inner selves desire and think wickedly. What we want is wicked. What we think is wicked. Humans should desire the things of God. We should desire godliness. We should think God’s thoughts after him. We should have minds that see clearly the truth of God. But for the natural man, that becomes not the case. Humans since Adam all are born into a state of depravity, but in their sin fall into it even more. Why is this? Well, it’s very clear in each of these verses. There’s a reason attached to it. It’s the consequence of what we discussed last week. Because all people truly know God, but reject that God, the[...] Romans Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/29/biblical-perspective-civil-government-part-ii/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/29/biblical-perspective-civil-government-part-ii/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:56:39 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1687 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/29/biblical-perspective-civil-government-part-ii/feed/ 0 0:41:59 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/29/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that[...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/29/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that we are find ourselves in life, looking at the subject of civil government. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/22/ungodliness-unrighteousness/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/22/ungodliness-unrighteousness/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:58:01 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1682 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/22/ungodliness-unrighteousness/feed/ 0 0:39:44 Sermon preached on Romans 1:18-25 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/22/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Romans 1:18-25 4/22/12 “Against All Ungodliness and Unrighteous[...] Sermon preached on Romans 1:18-25 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/22/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Romans 1:18-25 4/22/12 “Against All Ungodliness and Unrighteousness” Back then and still today, there is a lot of wickedness going on. Today in our society, things seem especially to be going from bad to worse. And it’s passages like this that help us to make sense of it all. Of course, a passage like this humbles us. It humbles us before the almighty wrath of God. It humbles us because we know we deserve it. But for us who have found Christ, the wrath of God can also encourage us. It encourages us that our God is a just God, and will not let wickedness go unpunished. And so that encourages us, even while we are humbled knowing that save the grace we’ve found in Jesus that we have deserved this judgment ourselves. For this is what our passage is talking about today. That in the face of all the ungodliness and unrighteousness in the world today, that the wrath of God is revealed. That God has spoken from heaven – his wrath is against all of this ungodliness and unrighteousness. And so that we’ll be our consideration today: The revealed wrath of God, the reasons for it, and what this means for humanity. Let’s begin then in verse 18. There we see that the wrath of God is revealed. It’s revealed. Revealed from heaven. It’s at this point we must remind ourselves not to impute to God the way man so often sinfully expresses wrath. God does have wrath, but it is a righteous wrath. We know that from verse 18, because it tells us that his wrath is specifically directed against unrighteousness as well as ungodliness. Thinking about what his wrath is directed against is helpful, because it paints the righteous character of his wrath. It shows that his wrath is not the petty anger of a prideful human who had his feelings hurt. Nor is it the exaggerated anger of a quick-tempered man who responds harshly with violent outbursts. Man’s wrath regularly falls short of expressing righteous indignation. God’s wrath never falls short. And so we get a sense of that just by considering what his wrath is directed against in verse 18; that’s the ungodliness and unrighteousness. Let’s consider those two things for a moment. The reference to ungodliness here especially gets at man’s perversion of religion – he doesn’t acknowledge God properly. That man worships idols in one way or another, and that we don’t worship the one true God as we ought. This passage goes on to talk about such idolatry and perversion of worship. And then the reference to unrighteousness here especially gets at man’s perversions of morality: that immoral actions are committed, and that good deeds are lacking. The passage, especially the remainder of the chapter, gives examples of such immoralities. This is what God’s wrath is directed against. And so the wrath of God stands in opposition to all such wickedness. His wrath then is his holy revulsion against this wickedness. But it is a holy revulsion that is expressed. He doesn’t pretend like his wrath isn’t there. He doesn’t bottle it up only to become bitter. No, his holy revulsion is expressed. His righteous indignation is expressed in his wrath. A wrath that purposes to punish sin. A wrath that designs to bring judgment upon this wickedness. This is what it gets at when it talks about how God’s wrath is revealed from heaven. God has made known to man his holy revulsion toward sin. God has made known that judgment is upon such sin. His wrath is upon those, as it says here, are men who have by their unrighteousness suppressed the truth. We’ll talk more about that suppression in a moment. But the point to know is that God has made this judgment known. How has he r[...] Romans Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/22/biblical-perspective-civil-government/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/22/biblical-perspective-civil-government/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:53:16 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1680 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/22/biblical-perspective-civil-government/feed/ 0 0:41:22 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/22/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that[...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/22/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that we are find ourselves in life, looking at the subject of civil government. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/15/ashamed/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/15/ashamed/#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:59 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1677 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/15/ashamed/feed/ 0 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/15/biblical-perspective-family/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/15/biblical-perspective-family/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:58:19 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1675 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/15/biblical-perspective-family/feed/ 0 0:41:27 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/15/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that[...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/15/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that we are find ourselves in life, looking at the subject of family. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/08/slow-heart/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/08/slow-heart/#comments Sun, 08 Apr 2012 23:25:36 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1672 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/08/slow-heart/feed/ 0 0:39:54 Sermon preached on Luke 24 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/8/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Luke 24 4/8/12 “Slow of Heart to Believe” This is probably my fav[...] Sermon preached on Luke 24 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/8/2012 in Novato, CA. Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div. Luke 24 4/8/12 “Slow of Heart to Believe” This is probably my favorite Easter passage to read, specifically the part about the journey along the road to Emmaus. There are actually three main scenes here in this chapter. There’s the first one that highlights the women finding the empty tomb. There’s the second scene about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And then there’s the third scene about the larger gathering of the disciple, including the eleven. And yet even though there are these three distinct sections, they are all connected and interrelated. The first scene is recounted in the second scene, as the two on the road describe unknowingly to Jesus what the women found at the empty tomb. The second scene then spills over into the third when they race back to the eleven and tell them about seeing Jesus. And so all three of these scenes are interconnected, and they all dealing with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. And so as we’ll see, this is a chapter that is quite fitting to read as a whole. An idea that especially brings these three scenes together however, is what Jesus says in verse 25. He calls the two disciples there, “Slow of heart to believe.” Now yes, this is specifically directed to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And yet what we’ll see today is that this rebuke is so true for all three scenes. The women, the two disciples on the road, and the rest of the disciples, are all suffering from this. They all could be described in this way: slow of heart to believe. To believe in the resurrection. And to understand that Jesus as the Christ had to go through all this: his death but then his resurrection. And so we’ll think about this slowness to believe in these three groups of people today. What’s great is that though they are slow to believe, it does seem that they all eventually did come to believe the clear reality. Jesus had risen from the dead! Jesus was alive! Jesus was the Messiah. They had not hoped for naught. Their hope had not been misplaced! Jesus died, rose again, and as we see then ascended up into heaven. And he continues to live and reign ever more. And he is coming again. That’s why what we celebrate today is still relevant! Well, let’s dig into this passage. Notice with me first that we indeed see how they were all slow to believe. Let’s walk through the passage in order and observe this slowness to believe. Start with the women. They come in and see the empty tomb, and what’s their response? Verse 4, they were greatly perplexed. The angels tell them in verse 5, that they had been seeking the living among the dead. The angels tell them that they should have remembered that he said he would be crucified but rise again on the third day. Do you see the angels point? This is akin to Jesus’ rebuke to the two on the road to Emmaus. The women should not have been greatly perplexed! As soon as they got to the tomb and saw it empty it should have all clicked for them. That Jesus was risen! For that matter, the angels suggest that they didn’t need to come to the tomb at all. They should have knew he wouldn’t have been there; let alone coming with spices to embalm him! Do you see the slowness to believe that these women showed here? They should have remembered and believed Jesus’ earlier prediction about this. Then as the scene continues, the women come in verse 9 to the other disciples and tell them about all this. And see the response of the disciples? Verse 11, the women’s words seemed like idle tales, and they did not believe them. Again, slow of heart to believe. Yet, do note Peter’s commendable investigation here. He hears this report[...] Easter, Luke Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/08/biblical-perspective-marriage/ http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/08/biblical-perspective-marriage/#comments Sun, 08 Apr 2012 23:22:36 +0000 Pastor Reid Hankins http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/?p=1670 http://www.trinityopcnovato.org/2012/04/08/biblical-perspective-marriage/feed/ 0 0:43:25 Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/8/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that [...] Adult Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4/8/2012 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series to consider the Bible’s perspective on differing relationships, institutions, and authorities that we are find ourselves in life, looking at the subject of marriage. Rev. W. Reid Hankins no no