February 20th, 2022
Sunday School:
Over the past few Sundays we have been looking at the doctrine of Covenant Theology. Most recently, we looked at the four major covenants of grace in the Old Testament – the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic covenants. This coming Sunday we will be examining the New Covenant. The promise of this covenant was made most plainly in Jeremiah 31:31-33, “’Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, (32) not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. (33) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’” This covenant promise is then fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in the shedding of his blood on the cross and resurrection from the dead. Jesus speaks of the New Covenant in the institution of the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:20). Likewise, the author of Hebrews points to Christ as the mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15).
Sunday Worship:
Last week’s examination of Proverbs 4 prompted us to consider the heritage of wisdom that we have received and that heritage that we are passing on to others. This coming Lord’s Day, we will take into consideration Solomon’s instructions to guard one’s heart from the forbidden woman. Sexual purity is one of the common themes of Proverbs and can often be read or preached shortsightedly. That is, we can look at chapter 5 and at 6:20-35 (and many others) and think, “This really only applies to young men who wrong desire an adulterous woman.” Yes, that is the immediate application, and we would do well do heed this diligently. But there is more. There is an underlying principle that stems from the first and tenth commandments, not just the seventh. We must also be mindful of Paul’s instructions in Philippians 4, to pursue godly contentment. The Wisdom in Proverbs 5 is for all ages, man and woman, married and single, widow and widower – everyone!