Theological term
Covenant Continuity
3 sermons · All terms
The 5th Commandment
Exodus 20:12, the fifth commandment to honor father and mother, stands as the first commandment of the second table of the law and governs the entire structure of human authority relations — in the family, the church, the workplace, and the civil commonwealth. The command's scope extends beyond parent-child dynamics to all lawful superior-inferior relationships, a point the Westminster Larger Catechism makes explicit. The sermon traces the commandment's explanation, scope, and sanctions through the Old Testament case laws, the prophets, and the New Testament vice lists, before treating the covenant promise of longevity as a general principle of divine providence rather than an unconditional guarantee. The application presses parents to discipline their children by word and rod, warns of the social consequences of failing to do so, and qualifies submission to authority where superiors command sin.
The Use of the Blood Money
Matthew 27:6–10 records the chief priests' disposal of the thirty pieces of silver used to betray Jesus — and Matthew's citation of this event as the fulfillment of prophecy attributed to Jeremiah. This sermon examines the rank hypocrisy of the religious leaders who scrupled over depositing blood money into the treasury while simultaneously orchestrating the judicial murder of an innocent man, exposing the self-condemning logic of ceremonial fastidiousness divorced from the weightier demands of the law. The sermon then defends the inerrancy of Matthew's composite citation of Zechariah 11 and Jeremiah 18–19, 32, showing how Matthew functions as a biblical theologian weaving together prophetic themes of rejection, judgment, exile, and restoration to demonstrate that the passion of Christ was the fulfillment of the entire prophetic witness. The application calls hearers to recognize their own guilt before a holy God and to flee to the imputed righteousness and atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Deuteronomy 29
Deuteronomy 29 records Moses' third and final address to Israel on the plains of Moab, structured as a covenant renewal ceremony before the people enter Canaan. The sermon traces three movements in the chapter: a historical review of God's redemptive acts (the Exodus, the wilderness, the defeat of Sihon and Og), the terms and central promise of the covenantal bond ('I will be their God and they shall be my people'), and a solemn warning against apostasy and idolatry, with its attendant curses culminating in exile. The sermon situates these three elements within the broader covenantal structure of Scripture, from the covenant with Adam through the new covenant announced in Deuteronomy 30, and concludes by pointing to Christ as the one who bore the covenant curses in the place of his people through penal substitutionary atonement.