Theological term
Threefold Office of Christ
5 sermons · All terms
CTF 2026 - Session 4: Pastoral Sermon
Hebrews 2:10 declares that it was fitting for God — the source and goal of all things — to bring many sons to glory through the sufferings of Christ. This sermon traces the eternal decree of election to glory, showing that the predestined are appointed not only to grace but to the full unveiled sight of God in Christ. Drawing on Hebrews 1–2, 2 Corinthians 4, and Psalm 36, the preacher argues that regenerate eyes now see the glory of God refracted through creation, Scripture, and the means of grace, as a foretaste of the unmediated vision that awaits the saints. The exhortation is to resist stopping at the creature, tracing every creaturely beauty upward to God himself, and to hunger for the glory that outweighs all present suffering.
Revelation 1:4-6
Revelation 1:4–6 introduces the book of Revelation not with mystery or doom but with a carefully structured doxological greeting that grounds suffering believers in the triune God as the source of all grace and peace. The sermon works through the threefold office of Christ — prophet (faithful witness), priest (firstborn from the dead), and king (ruler over the kings of the earth) — demonstrating from Psalm 89, Acts 2, and Colossians 1 that Christ's royal reign is a present reality, not a future hope. The atonement is shown to be the irreducible distinction of Christianity: unlike every competing religion, the gospel is rooted in blood redemption, not moral example. Believers are called to resist anxiety and despair by fixing their gaze on the enthroned Lamb, whose sovereignty over all earthly powers has not diminished by one degree.
A Psalm of Comfort
Psalm 46 presents God as the impenetrable refuge and omnipotent strength of his covenant people — not by promising a trial-free life, but by declaring that the Divine Warrior and God of Jacob remains sovereign over every earthly catastrophe, political upheaval, and spiritual assault. The sermon traces four movements in the psalm: a statement of God's character to comfort, a contrast between earthly chaos and divine sovereignty to instruct, an invitation to behold God's works, and a command to be still and know that he is God. The practical summons is to resist paralysis and fear by cultivating theology proper — studying the character of God — because a revelation of God's character and glory is the best remedy for any trial.
Faith, Hope, and Love
Hebrews 10:19–25 brings the great doctrinal section on Christ's high priestly office to its application: two encouragements and three exhortations that together constitute the whole of the Christian life. The believer's boldness to enter the holiest and the possession of a perfect High Priest over the house of God are not abstract truths but the very engine of sanctification — the gospel must be grasped before the commands can be obeyed. The three exhortations — draw near with full assurance of faith, hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, and consider one another to stir up love and good works — are expounded as the expression of faith, hope, and love respectively, against the persistent errors of emotionalism, legalism, and perpetual self-condemnation.
The Need for Biblical Mindedness
Colossians 3:1–4 grounds every practical exhortation in the chapter — about marriage, work, and social relations — in a prior command: set your mind on things above. This sermon argues that Christianity is fundamentally a religion of knowledge, that the image of God in man is expressed chiefly through rational thought, and that biblical mindedness is the necessary foundation for worship, sanctification, and faithful witness. The command to seek heavenly things is rooted in three theological realities — the believer's past death with Christ, present hiddenness in Christ, and future appearing with Christ in glory — and is pursued not through legalism, mysticism, or asceticism, but through prayerful study of Scripture.