Theological term
Covenant Promises
8 sermons · All terms
The Conversion of Matthew
Matthew 9:9-13 presents the sovereign call of Christ to Matthew, a tax collector despised in first-century Jewish society as a collaborator with Gentile oppressors and a companion of sinners. The sermon traces three movements in the passage: the authoritative call that produced immediate discipleship, the feast Matthew threw to honor Christ and evangelize his former associates, and Christ's threefold response to the Pharisees' complaint — identifying himself as a physician to the sick, appealing to Hosea 6:6 against mere external religion, and declaring his mission to call sinners to repentance. The central application is that no sinner is too notorious to be received by Christ, and Matthew's immediate rising and following is held up as the pattern for genuine repentance and faith.
The Glory of God in the Valley of Elah
Standing in the Valley of Elah, the armies of Israel cower before Goliath for forty days — not merely from want of courage, but from failure to rest upon the covenant promises of God. Against this backdrop of faithless fear, David's response exposes what true faith looks like: a jealous zeal for the honor of Yahweh, grounded in historical retrospect upon God's past deliverances, expressed in bold confidence that the Lord of hosts will act. The narrative drives toward a climax in which Goliath falls on his face to the earth — mirroring the fall of his god Dagon before the ark — as a forced worship of the very God he defied, and the whole account points forward to Christ, the greater Shepherd-King who crushes the head of that ultimate enemy at the cross.
Genesis 46 - 47
Genesis 46–47 records Israel's third journey to Egypt — not to purchase grain but to relocate permanently — and expounds the providence of God working through famine, family reunion, and political administration to preserve the covenant people. The sermon traces three movements: God's visionary reassurance to Jacob at Beersheba, the family's reception by Joseph and Pharaoh, and Joseph's administration of the famine alongside the settlement of Israel in Goshen. Throughout, the seed promise and land promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are shown advancing even in exile, setting the stage for the exodus yet to come.
The Ministry of Philip in Samaria
Acts 8:5–8 records Philip's preaching ministry in Samaria — a region despised by Israel as racially and religiously impure — and presents it as the deliberate fulfillment of Christ's commission in Acts 1:8 to carry the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. The sermon traces the historical background of Samaritan alienation from Israel, the fourfold summary of Philip's ministry (his preaching, the response of the crowds, the authenticating miracles, and the resulting joy), and the theological significance of the Spirit's confirmation through Peter and John. Against contemporary debates over racial justice, the sermon argues that the cross of Christ — preached faithfully in his offices as prophet, priest, and king — is the only power that reconciles divided peoples and extends the kingdom of God across ethnic boundaries.
Genesis 14:1-16
Genesis 14:1–16 presents Abram's military deliverance of his nephew Lot as a showcase of divine providence operating through human means. Though God is not named until Melchizedek's blessing, his sovereign hand is visible in every detail: the abduction that draws Abram onto the world stage, the survival of the messenger, and the victory of 318 servants over a coalition that had crushed five kings. The sermon traces four qualities of Abram's response — immediacy, armament, strategy, and victory — and draws from them the lesson that the sovereignty of God is not a warrant for passivity but the very foundation for the faithful use of means. Lot's progressive entanglement with Sodom warns against decisions that privilege outward advantage over the soul's good, while Abram's refusal of the king of Sodom's goods illustrates dependence on God Most High rather than human patronage.
Genesis 12:10-20
Genesis 12:10–20 records the first major moral failure of Abram after receiving the Abrahamic covenant promises: fearing Pharaoh more than God, he deceives the Egyptians by presenting Sarai as his sister, thereby jeopardizing both the seed promise and his wife's honor. The passage exposes the weakness of the patriarch — the father of the faithful walking by pragmatism rather than faith — while demonstrating that the fulfillment of God's covenant promises rests on divine faithfulness, not human faithfulness. The account also foreshadows the later Exodus narrative, as famine, Egyptian affliction, divine plagues, and departure with wealth prefigure Israel's bondage and deliverance. The take-home message is neither license nor despair, but confidence: God's promises are yea and amen in Christ, irrespective of the feebleness of those to whom they are given.
Genesis 10:1-32
Genesis 10, the 'table of nations,' traces the seventy nations descending from Shem, Ham, and Japheth after the flood — but Moses is doing far more than recording ethnography. The genealogy is a deliberate theological narrowing: from all nations, to Shem's line, to Eber's son Peleg, and ultimately to Abraham, identifying the family through whom the promised seed of Genesis 3:15 would come. The chapter also grounds the later Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God, confirming Noah's prophecy that Japheth would dwell in the tents of Shem — a reality James cites at the Jerusalem Council from Amos 9.
Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God
Paul's charge in 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1 to 'perfect holiness in the fear of God' rests on three covenant promises: the nearness of God, the favor of God, and the fatherhood of God. Because God has already fulfilled these promises in Christ, the imperatives to cleanse from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and to press on toward complete sanctification follow as the fitting response of those already redeemed, not as conditions for receiving grace. The sermon traces the biblical-theological root of these promises from Exodus and Leviticus through Jeremiah and Ezekiel to their fulfillment in Christ, and applies the call to corporate ecclesial fidelity and to individual decisions — especially the prohibition of marriage to unbelievers — governed by the fear of God rather than emotion.