Theological term
Unequally Yoked
4 sermons · All terms
Judah and Tamar
Genesis 38 interrupts the Joseph narrative to focus on Judah, the man through whom the Messianic line would descend — and the portrait is not flattering. Judah marries a Canaanite, fathers wicked sons, withholds Shelah from Tamar in violation of levirate obligation, and solicits what he believes to be a roadside harlot. Yet God, faithful to His covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, protects the seed through Tamar's act of faith and brings forth Perez, the ancestor of David and of the Lord Jesus Christ. The sermon calls hearers to marvel at a grace that saves wretched sinners — not because of their worthiness, but because God always does what He has promised to do.
2LCF Chapter 25 - Of Marriage
What does Scripture teach about the nature, purposes, and lawful boundaries of marriage? Working through 2LCF Chapter 25, paragraphs 1–4, this study defends the confessional definition of marriage as a monogamous, heterosexual, lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, instituted by God at creation before the fall. The three divine purposes of marriage — companionship, procreation, and conjugal relations — are grounded in Genesis 1–2, and the lawful parties are examined with particular attention to the duty of Christians to marry only in the Lord. The session closes with practical counsel on the dignity of marriage, the responsibility it entails, and the discriminating wisdom required of those who would pursue it.
Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God
Second Corinthians 7:1 commands believers to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God — but that command rests entirely on three preceding gospel promises: God's communion with his people, God's reception of returning sinners, and God's fatherhood over the adopted. The sermon argues that any attempt to pursue holiness apart from these gospel foundations ends in either legalism or despair. The fear of God is defined as reverence before his infinite worth and dignity, and it is within that reverent awareness — never in self-reliance — that the pursuit of holiness must be conducted, affecting both the outward conduct and the inward disposition of the whole person.
The Necessity of Fleeing from Sodom
Genesis 19:12–29 confronts the Christian with the necessity of decisive obedience when God calls His people to flee from wickedness. Through four observations — the deliverance of Lot, the demonstration of God's wrath, Abraham's meditation on the destruction, and the repetition of Sodom's sin in Judges 19 — the sermon exposes how worldly attachment deadens spiritual vitality and how lingering in sin has long-term consequences. Lot's compromised life, his wife's backward glance, and Israel's later repetition of Sodom's wickedness in Gibeah all warn the believer against being so enamored with the world that obedience to God is delayed. The governing application is that the choices of where to live, what profession to pursue, and whom to marry must be governed by Scripture rather than by emotion or comfort.