Peter Chen
Revelation 7:13-14, Rapture unto Paradise

Rapture is the next biblical prophecy to be fulfilled and it is the anticipation of the church given in Scripture. But what exactly is the rapture and when will it take place? What is the overall eschatological timeline in Revelation and where does rapture fit in? Moreover, what is the significance of an imminent return of Christ? How should we respond to those who hold to a different view on the timing of the rapture? These are the questions we consider in this study of Revelation.

Peter Chen
Psalm 127:1-5, Without the LORD, Frustration! ...

Without the LORD, it is all frustration. Be on His side and live under His favor. May the Lord this year teach us to trust in Him and to pray. May we learn to depend on Him knowing that this is His world. Where we have failed to trust in the Lord and we lived independent of Him, may we repent today and seek the blood of Christ to cover our sinful skepticism toward the LORD. May we find in Christ renewal and healing to still every murmur in our heart and instead to trust in our heavenly Father and learn to sleep in the stern of the boat amid the storms of life with peace that transcends understanding that guards our heart and mind.

Peter Chen
Psalm 127:1, Without the LORD, Frustration!

This familiar psalm reminds us that the ultimate worker and provider in all our endeavors is the LORD. While the natural principle of cause and effect is indeed taught in Scripture, this psalm shows us that that principle must always be accompanied by the understanding that the LORD is the crucial provider in all our affairs. Whether it's our homes or the house of God, our greatest need is the LORD’s provision. In this unique psalm of Solomon, the Holy Spirit teaches us that human strength and ingenuity alone do not guarantee success. It is the LORD and His provision that ensure true success. May we learn to pray, depend on the LORD, and carry out His work with hearts that wait on Him.

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.

Matthew 7:1-6, Confront Wisely

Leading others to Christ inevitably means confronting their sin and their need of the Savior. But there are many pitfalls in bringing correction to another sinner. The Lord gives us the wisdom to navigate this difficult task of exposing the darkness of this dying world. He teaches us the principles of reciprocation, double standards, and discernment. May the Lord enable us to be better instruments in His skillful hands to save souls and lead the converted to greater faithfulness and usefulness to Him.

Matthew 6:24-34, Do Not Worry

What hinders us from serving the Lord as we should? Jesus pins down the common cause of this compromise: worry. What enables disciples of Christ to serve God heartily and seek His kingdom and righteousness first is our heavenly Father’s infinite love and care for us, His own spiritual sons. Thus, Jesus encourages us to look at nature, know we are not pagans, and see tomorrow as God’s business, not ours, so that our hearts would be unshackled from the worries of the world and be free to serve our heavenly Father as we should.

Matthew 6:19-21, A Heart After Heaven

We are to live the Christian life with heaven in our hearts. We are to leverage all that the Lord has entrusted to us for eternity. We are to do so because our hearts follow our treasures. The Lord in this passage wises us up to the detriment and foolishness of storing up treasures on earth. He also prescribes for us the regimen for a healthy heart that invests toward eternity. May our hearts brim over with the joy and the wonder of heaven and our glorious God (the centerpiece of heaven), and may we, thus, earnestly use all He’s given us to bear much fruit for His name’s sake.

Matthew 6:1-18, True Spirituality

At the core of the Christian faith is a reconciled relationship with God. This means that for all who have truly received Jesus as Savior and Lord, there is a living relationship with God as their heavenly Father. Jesus addresses the hypocrisy of His day that revealed the tragic absence of this crucial core of Christian spirituality which the Jews of His day lacked. May the Holy Spirit keep us from the same hypocrisy and instead enable us to be a church of the children of God who know to connect with our heavenly Father in a true spiritual relationship with Him through Christ.

Matthew 5:33-37, Principles for Christian Integrity (Part 2)

Jesus sees Christian integrity as simple and plain. Let your statement be yes yes or no no. The reason why people find this simple approach to honest challenging and unrealistic is that they have lost sight of why we exist and for what purpose God provided redemption for His people. Moreover, Jesus also reveals to us the deep spiritual issue that exists in the matter of dishonesty. He speaks the truth to us so that we would be absolutely sure that we are fighting on the right side of the spiritual warfare and that we are indeed advancing the cause of the Lord, the God of truth, not the cause of Satan, the father of lies. May the Lord evermore grow us in Christian integrity as we learn from Him and His book what it means to be honest men and women of God.

Matthew 5:33-37, Principles for Christian Integrity

The LORD is the God of truth. In a world full of lies, we find the oasis of truth in our triune God who is Himself the truth. As His people, then, it is our privilege and duty to be truthful in all our ways, both in what we say and. how we keep our word. Our Good Shepherd guides us in this path of righteousness toward a lifestyle of honesty. In this part one of our study, we consider two of the four principles for Christian integrity: 1) give up the devices of deception, and 2) wake up to the presence of the Lord. May the Holy Spirit teach us and encourage us to live each day coram deo, in the presence of God.

Matthew 5:29-30, Battle Strategy For Sanctification (Part 2)

Jesus knows what sort of excuses we might make about dealing with the stumbling blocks in our lives. He silences us from saying “it’s too hard” and “it’s not worth it.” The Lord knows us and imparts to us the wisdom to properly and practically deal with the avenues of temptation and sin into our lives. May the Lord evermore grant to us the wisdom to believe His word and repent from sin as He calls us to. In addition to the need to accept the cost of sanctification, we also look at the other side of sanctification, to send the reinforcements of the word of God and the fellowship of God’s people.

Matthew 5:29-30, Battle Strategy For Sanctification (Part 1)

The Lord Jesus Christ who loves His people out of His great concern for their well-being gives a stern warning in this passage. Sin is perilous and we are to deal aggressively with the stumbling blocks in our lives. May the Holy Spirit Himself sanctify us as we seek to be holy as He is holy and strive to continue on in our fight against sin and unholiness.