Christ Reformed Baptist Church

Three simple words—"Your kingdom come"—open before us the breadth of God's redemptive purpose. In this petition, Christ teaches us to pray for the advance of the gospel, for the gracious rule of the King to be seen increasingly in His people, and for the day when every enemy is finally defeated and the kingdom is revealed in glory. But these words also turn inward. If Christ is truly our King, the...

The Lord's Prayer begins in a place that should arrest our attention. Before Christ teaches us to ask for bread, forgiveness, or deliverance, He teaches us how to come and what must come first. We come to God as "Our Father," but only because Christ has brought us near. And when we come, the first request on our lips is not about our comfort, our plans, or our needs. It is, "Hallowed be Your name....

What does it mean to pray as a child before a Father who already knows what we need? In Matthew 6:7–8, Jesus warns against empty, mechanical prayer that treats words as though they can force God to listen or act. Through the contrast with pagan prayer, the persistence of Christ in Gethsemane, and the Father's perfect knowledge, this message asks us to examine where our confidence in prayer really...

Prayer can look deeply spiritual and still be aimed at the wrong audience. In Matthew 6:5–6, Jesus presses beneath the posture, the place, and the words of prayer to expose the motive of the heart. Why do we pray? Whose approval matters to us? Are we content to be seen by the Father, or do we still crave the recognition of men? Christ's words are searching because they uncover not only past failur...

In Matthew 6:1–4, Jesus turns from the outward shape of righteousness to the motive beneath it. The question is no longer only whether we do what is right, but why we do it and whose approval we seek. Building on Matthew 5:20 and 5:48, Christ shows that kingdom righteousness must surpass external religion and reflect the holiness of our heavenly Father—even in the hidden intentions of the heart. A...

What does it mean to love someone who has wronged us? In Matthew 5:43–48, Jesus moves beyond the command to refuse retaliation and calls His people to something far deeper: active, biblical love for enemies. This sermon examines what that love is, what it is not, and why it cannot depend upon whether the other person deserves it or returns it. Christ directs us to the goodness of our Father, who g...

What does Christ require of us when we are insulted, wronged, inconvenienced, or treated unfairly? In Matthew 5:38–42, Jesus confronts our natural desire to retaliate and reveals a righteousness that reaches far deeper than outward restraint. The command to turn the other cheek, surrender personal rights, go the second mile, and give generously exposes how tightly we cling to our dignity, time, po...

Matthew 5:33–37 exposes the insufficiency of outward righteousness by showing that God requires truthfulness from the heart. Jesus does not correct the Law but false interpretations that allowed people to manipulate oaths while preserving an appearance of integrity. Because heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and our lives belong to God, every word is spoken before Him. Therefore, Christ commands His people...

In Matthew 5:31–32, Jesus continues exposing the shallow righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees by confronting the misuse of divorce. Deuteronomy 24 regulated divorce in a fallen society; it did not command or celebrate covenant-breaking. Christ takes us back to creation, where marriage is God's joining of one man and one woman in a one-flesh covenant ordinarily intended for life. Jesus reject...

In Matthew 5:27–30, Jesus exposes the inadequacy of outward morality by showing that the seventh commandment reaches beyond physical adultery into the heart. Deliberate, cultivated lust is adultery before God because the King judges not only actions but desires, intentions, and affections. Christ then commands radical repentance: anything that repeatedly becomes an avenue of temptation must be dec...

Jesus begins His first contrast by showing that the sixth commandment reaches far beyond the outward act of murder. God condemns not only violence, but also sinful anger, contempt, bitterness, and every desire that treats another person as worthless. Christ exposes the false righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, who measured obedience only by visible conduct, while ignoring the heart. He the...

The sermon addresses the believer's struggle with assurance of salvation by contrasting the repetitive, ineffective Old Testament sacrifices with Christ's single, finished atonement. Drawing primarily from Hebrews 10, it explains that Jesus' sacrifice permanently perfected believers, allowing Him to sit down in rest rather than stand in ongoing labor. The message emphasizes penal substitutionary a...

Jesus' words in Matthew 5:19–20 confront two dangerous errors: loosening God's commands and trusting in outward religion. Christ did not come to diminish the authority of Scripture, and His disciples have no right to weaken what God has spoken. Yet careful rule-keeping alone cannot open the kingdom of heaven. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees appeared impressive before men, but it rem...

Matthew 5:18 declares the absolute permanence and certainty of God's Word. Jesus teaches that heaven and earth will pass away before the smallest letter or stroke of Scripture can fail. The Law and the Prophets are not discarded but fulfilled in Christ, who obeyed every righteous demand, bore the law's curse for His people, and brought its types and promises to completion. This truth calls sinners...

In Matthew 5:17, Jesus corrects a dangerous misunderstanding about His mission. He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, as though God's former revelation were defective or His holiness could be lowered. Rather, Christ came to fulfill the Scriptures in His person, obedience, teaching, atoning death, and kingdom work. He fulfills the promises and prophecies, completes the ceremonial shad...

In Matthew 5:13–16, Christ moves from the character of kingdom citizens to their calling in the world. Those made poor in spirit, mournful over sin, meek, merciful, pure, and persecuted are not called to disappear into darkness or blend into corruption. They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Their usefulness rests not in personality, popularity, or worldly relevance, but in gra...

In Matthew 5:11–12, Jesus brings the Beatitudes to a deeply personal conclusion: "Blessed are you" when insult, persecution, and slander come because of Him. The kingdom citizen should not be surprised when faithfulness to Christ brings reproach from the world. Yet Christ does not merely command His people to endure; He commands them to rejoice. This joy is not rooted in pain itself, but in the ce...

In Matthew 5:9–10, Christ continues to describe the citizens of His kingdom, showing that they are both peacemakers and the persecuted. The peacemaker is not one who compromises truth for temporary quiet, but one who has been reconciled to God through Christ and now seeks true peace according to righteousness. Such a person bears the family likeness of the Father and shall be called a son of God....

In this sermon on Matthew 5:7–8, the focus falls upon two inseparable marks of Christ's kingdom people: mercy and purity of heart. Jesus teaches that those who have truly received mercy from God will begin to show mercy to others, while those whom God has truly cleansed will increasingly long for inward holiness rather than mere outward religion. The message presses beyond appearance and formality...

In Matthew 5:5–6, Jesus continues to describe the character of those who belong to His kingdom. The blessed are not the proud, aggressive, self-sufficient, or worldly satisfied, but the lowly and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Lowliness is not weakness; it is strength humbled under the rule of God. The meek do not need to grasp for control or defend their pride because their inheri...

In Matthew 5:1–4, Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by revealing the character of those who belong to His kingdom. The Beatitudes are not a pathway for sinners to earn salvation, but the marks of grace in those who have been brought under the reign of Christ. Unlike the world, which prizes strength, confidence, and self-sufficiency, Jesus declares the poor in spirit to be blessed. These are tho...

Matthew 4:12–25 shows the public ministry of Jesus beginning in power, mercy, and authority. After John the Baptist is imprisoned, Christ steps into Galilee, fulfilling Isaiah's promise that a great Light would dawn upon those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. The King comes preaching the same urgent message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He calls ordinary fishermen to...

In Matthew 4:1–11, the Lord Jesus Christ enters the wilderness and confronts the tempter head on. After His baptism and the Father's declaration that He is the beloved Son, Christ is led by the Spirit into conflict with Satan. Where Adam failed in the garden and Israel failed in the wilderness, Jesus stands firm in perfect obedience. Hungry, isolated, and assaulted by the devil, Christ answers eve...

The sermon centers on Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, revealing that true worship is not confined to geography but requires a heart transformed by divine truth and the Holy Spirit. While both Jewish and Samaritan worship were incomplete—lacking full revelation or proper heart posture—Jesus declares that genuine worshipers will honor God in spirit and truth, where heartfe...