The Christian Awaits Quietly His Call

November 19, 2024 by Christopher Esget in Theology

Accepting one’s callings in life is among the most difficult things for a Christian. A man desires a better situation, a pastor desires a different congregation, the idealist longs to live in a different time and place. The term ἐπιθυμία (epithumia, “desire”) and its cognates is sometimes used positively in the New Testament, but more often is associated with the corrupted human heart that drives a man to sin. Passages such as Romans 7 and James 1 particularly note the pattern that desire gives birth to sin, and sin to death. The desire for a satisfying life is—because of the inverted heart—actually a longing for death….

Jubilate 2023

May 13, 2023 by Christopher Esget in Sermons

The world hates Christians. “They speak against you as evildoers.” It’s tempting to want to argue with them. People don’t get argued into the faith. Arguing just pulls us down into the passions we are called to avoid. God’s Word today tells us not to respond to evil with evil, but to respond only with good deeds….

Cantate 2022

May 23, 2022 by Christopher Esget in Sermons

When we are angry, we are putting ourselves in the place of God the judge. The sin of anger puts our souls in danger. Jesus and John the Baptist would both say, “Repent.” James says, ‘Put away these sins, and receive with meekness, i.e., humility, the saving Word of absolution.” …

Invocabit (Lent I) 2019

March 11, 2019 by Christopher Esget in Sermons

What we see in the account of Jesus’ temptation is the One Man who does not succumb to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He is the One Man who does the will of the Father. And He does it under the harshest conditions. Jesus redoes, relives, recapitulates the whole history of Israel, and passes every test they failed.

And this means that He has endured every suffering that you know, and has resisted and overcome every temptation you experience. How does He overcome temptation? By means of the Word. Jesus is confident that the Father will be faithful to Him, that He will not go back on His Word, that He will not break His promise.