Peter Chen
Revelation 7:1-14 The Protection of God's People

Revelation 7 shows that the wrath of the Lamb will be poured out on those who dwell on the earth, not upon Jesus’ own beloved people. John is shown two groups that will stand despite the intense judgments to come and contrary to the unbelievers’ outcry (6:17): the 144K Israelites and the raptured Gentile church of God. This sermon is part one of two sermons on Revelation 7 on the important topic of the rapture and its implications.

Peter Chen
Micah 5:2-4 The Messianic Message of Micah

Micah prophesied of the Messiah that He is the LORD God and that He is the shepherd over His people. This is the true message of Christmas that woos us to worship Christ, to love, honor, and serve Him. May we ponder deeply the wonder of Christmas, that the LORD, the eternal God, came from heaven in human flesh, born in Bethlehem, born of a woman, in the person of Jesus, to seek and save that which was lost and to shepherd all His elect who repent and trust in Him, to guide them away from sin and in the pathway of sanctification all the way home to glory.

Peter Chen
Psalm 37 - God: Your only refuge!

Psalm 37 is a Psalm written by Israel’s greatest king, king David. It reveals only two possibilities for the end of a person’s life. The wicked will be cut off by God’s judgment. Although they prosper abundantly in the present, their end is certain. They are not satisfied with prosperity, so they seek to destroy the righteous. Yet, the righteous seek refuge in the LORD. A repeated refrain in the Psalm is, “do not fret.” The path for settling your soul is through seeking refuge in God. The Christian’s heart is encouraged through this revelation of God, who sustains the righteous. Moreover, the Psalm directs Christians to trust, with great hope, in the LORD. The result is that they can progress through life’s difficulties and into eternity because of the salvation of God. He truly delivers those who seek refuge in Him from evildoers.

Dan Lee
Revelation 4-6, The Reign of God

The revelation of the future is given from the perspective of heaven. God reigns as the supreme ruler and deity who is enthroned and worshipped in heaven. What is true in heaven becomes the reality on earth as the revelation of the future unfolds. This revelation commences with Jesus breaking open the seals and shows the backdrop against which the judgments of God will come: ordinary and natural suffering in the fallen world and the persecution of Christians and their holy prayer for justice. In response to their prayer, divine wrath is poured out upon the world (with the seventh seal [8:1] and the trumpet and bowl judgments that ensue). All of this affirms the resounding biblical call to be ready for Christ. He is indeed coming quickly. May we be dressed in readiness and keep our lamps lit.

Dan Lee
Revelation 2-3, Exhortations of our Loving Lord

Jesus knows the future, that judgment is coming. He, therefore, prepares His elect with strong exhortations to prepare for that day. He speaks strong admonishments out of His immense love for the churches. There is no greater proof of love than to warn your beloved of an impending danger. Divine judgment is coming and Jesus wants none to perish but for all to come to repentance. May we all have ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches!

John 14:4-11, Jesus Is God

Jesus possesses a perfect overlap with the Father in His divine nature. He is truly God. But this familiar and orthodox doctrine has ramifications. Jesus first points out the implications of this doctrine to show that the disciples actually had failed to believe the doctrine. There is an important lesson for us in this. If Jesus is God, then certainly, that doctrine must flesh itself out in our lives also. That belief should be evident in our perspective, lifestyle, worship, and obedience to the Lord. May the Holy Spirit, our Helper, give us the grace to embrace Jesus as Lord and God more fully and deeply as we should.

John 14:2-3, Comfort in Times of Trouble (Part 2)

Hope is what enables us to endure times of trouble. Jesus knows the needs of His troubled disciples and points them to the vivid hope of heaven. He portrays heaven as a home, a return, and a reunion. What will mark our reunion with our Lord is His return. This is the rapture explained further in 1 Thess. 4:17. The Lord Jesus Christ will indeed remove His church before unleashing His wrath upon the world for its wickedness and its persecution of His people. May our Lord find us busy about His work whenever He should come for us. Maranatha!

John 13:36-14:1, Comfort in Times of Trouble

Have your dreams ever been shattered? Or, have you ever felt that your situation was outside of your control? This is precisely what Jesus’ disciples faced in this scene in the Upper Room. Jesus’ impending departure from them (13:33) meant shattered dreams. But it was also a loss of control. SImon Peter tried to offer his own life to take control of the situation, but Jesus assures him that that could not be. This was troubling for them all. The shattered dreams and the loss of control weighed heavily upon their hearts. But Jesus is fully aware of their disappointments and sorrows. He, therefore, comforts them with the only assurance that we can hold onto in the midst of trouble: Trust in God. That God is sovereign, that He loves them, and that He is all-wise to orchestrate all things for their eternal good, this is the God-ordained comfort for His suffering people. Jesus also shows us that the object of our faith must be the only true God who has revealed Himself in His Son. We are to place our trust in the Jesus kind of God, the triune God, whose character and glory we see in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the secret to comfort in times of trouble. Trust in the only true God whom we know in Christ.

John 13:33-35, Love One Another

Jesus loves His disciples (13:1). As He sees His impending arrest, trials, and crucifixion, Jesus prepares His disciples for the period of separation they will experience. Jesus will head to the cross and thereafter ascend into heaven. With a telescoping viewpoint, Jesus reveals this twofold destination to which He was going. With this mind, Jesus also prepares His disciples with His prescription for what they are to occupy themselves with while they await His return (14:3). They are to love one another. This is truly a new commandment for the new covenant people in the new church age. This stunning new commandment of Jesus is what we are to fill our lives with. May the Holy Spirit teach us to hold fast to these marching orders of our Lord and make them our greatest aim in life as we await the Savior who is coming again for us.

John 13:31-32, The Glory of the Cross

At the outset of the Lord’s farewell discourse, He prepares His disciples with a proper perspective with which they were to view His impending crucifixion. They were to see it as Jesus saw it, the means of glorifying God in His grace and in His divine oneness with the Father. Jesus Himself did not cave under the pressure of the challenges that surrounded Him, but He instead maintained His resolve and mental clarity about what His cross was all about. May the Lord open our eyes to see our Savior for the man of steel that He is and learn to trust in this most dependable Savior and Shepherd all the more.

John 13:21-30, Sin, Satan, and the Sovereignty of God (Part 2)

John presents Judas’ betrayal of Jesus as a concurrence of sin, Satan, and the sovereignty of God. This provides for us a grid by which we ought to understand moral evil in our world both in history and in the present. Humans are truly capable of heinous evil, Satan is really at work to deceive and plunge men into sin and hell, and God rules over all (even sin and Satan) to produce a good that far outweighs all the evils we can possibly imagine. His sovereignty does not eliminate human responsibility, but it ensures that all will in the end work together for the good He has for His people. To Him be the glory!