ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> March 29<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2026  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scripture</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:6–8; Romans 8:15–17; Psalm 31:5; Isaiah 65:15–16; John 14:5–6; Hebrews 6:18; Matthew 17:1–8; Luke 2:13–14; 12:57</p> <p><sup>6</sup>.... It is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. <sup>7</sup>For there are three that bear witness: <sup>8</sup>the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 1 John 5:6–8</p> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>The Spirit of Truth</h4> <ul> <li>What does it mean that the Spirit of God bears witness?</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. The Spirit of God is the truth, and bears witness to nothing but the truth</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Psalm 31:5, Isaiah 65:15–16, John 14:5–6</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. The Johannine Comma (<em>Comma Johanneum</em>)</strong></h4> <ul> <li>1 John 5:7–8 (NKJV) "<sup>7</sup>For there are three that bear witness [in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. <sup>8</sup>And there are three that bear witness on earth]: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”</li> <li>Textual variants, textual criticism, King James Onlyism</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. Textual Support for the Johannine Comma</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Matthew 17:1-8</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V. Is the Johannine Comma authentic?</strong></h4> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> March 22<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2026  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/christ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christ</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:6; Matthew 16:16; 2 Peter 3:17–18; John 1:1–4, 14–15; 1 Timothy 1:15; Galatians 4:4–5; John 3:16; 1 John 4:14; John 19:32–37; Mark 1:9–11; 10:45; 1 Corinthians 2:8; 15:47; John 3:13; Leviticus 17:10–11, 14; Hebrews 9:17–28; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:7–10</p> <p>This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 1 John 5:6</p> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>The One who came…</h4> <ul> <li>"Familiarity breeds contempt"</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. Water and blood?</strong></h4> <h4><strong>III. What is the significance of Jesus coming by water <em>and</em> blood?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Gnosticism, Cerinthus, Docetists</li> <li>Athanasius, <em>On the Incarnation</em></li> <li>"cross and circulatory speech"</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. Not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The importance of blood</li> <li>Without blood, you cannot live</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V. Does <em>God</em> have blood?</strong></h4> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> March 15<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2026  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/union-with-christ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Union with Christ</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:5; John 17:3; 1 Timothy 5:25; John 14:28; Matthew 28:17; John 9:35–39; Matthew 16:13–17; John 5:17–24; 19:7; Hebrews 13:8–9; Titus 2:13; 1 John 1:3; 5:20</p> <p><sup>5</sup>Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:5</p> <ul> <li>"Faith” is not just a verb—it is also a noun.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>What does it mean to believe that Jesus is the Son of God?</h4> <ul> <li>The Apostle John emphasizes believing, receiving, knowing, confessing, seeing, abiding over 100 times in this letter.</li> <li>John 17:3</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. How is Jesus the Son of God?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Arianism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism</li> <li>Matthew 28:17, John 9:35-39</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. What saith the Scripture?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Matthew 16:13–17; John 5:17–24, 19:7</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. One of the primary subjects of John’s entire letter...</strong></h4> <ul> <li><strong><em>Icthus:</em></strong> "Ἰησοῦς Χρῑστός Θεοῦ Uἱός Σωτήρ", "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior"</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> March 8<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2026  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/doctrines-of-grace" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Doctrines of Grace</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:4–5; Jude 3; Hebrews 5:12; Romans 12:1; Psalm 9:10; Acts 20:27; Ephesians 2:8; 1 Peter 5:10; Jude 13; Genesis 49:4; Ephesians 4:14; Matthew 11:7; 2 Peter 2:1; Zechariah 4:6; John 18:33–37; Romans 8:37–39; 2 Corinthians 2:14–17; Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:11–12; Revelation 19:11–15; 1:15; Colossians 1:21–23; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 3:14–21</p> <p><sup>4</sup>For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the overcoming that has overcome the world—our faith. <sup>5</sup>Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4–5</p> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>What is this “faith” that overcomes the world?</h4> <ul> <li>Personal faith? Or <em>the</em> faith? Body of divinity?</li> <li>Thomas Watson: "The second proposition is, that the way for Christians to be settled—is to be well grounded. "If you continue grounded and settled" (Colossians 1:23). The Greek word for grounded is a metaphor which alludes to a building that has the foundation well laid. So Christians should be grounded in the essential points of true religion, and have their foundation well laid."</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. Overcoming by believing that Jesus is the Son of God.</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Verb tenses are important in the Bible, to maintain proper balance and distinction of the law and the gospel, to avoid confusing primary doctrines, such as distinguishing justification (one time act) and sanctification (progressive, ongoing).</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. How do we overcome the world?</strong></h4> <h4><strong>IV. Not by might…not by sight…</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Zechariah 4:6, John 18:33-37, 2 Corinthians 2:14-17, 2 Thessalonians 2:11–12, Revelation 19:11–15</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> March 1<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2026  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/typology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Typology</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:1–5; John 3:16; 1:9, 12–13; 1 John 4:4–6; Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9; 2:13; Exodus 12:50–51; Jude 5; Hebrews 3:14–19; Numbers 21:5–9; 1 Corinthians 10:9; John 3:14–15; Numbers 14:13–14; Isaiah 63:10–14; Romans 8:37–39</p> <p><sup>4</sup>For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the overcoming that has overcome the world—our faith. <sup>5</sup>Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4–5</p> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Why the word “everything” (<em>pan</em>, v. 4) instead of “everyone” (<em>pas</em>, v. 1)?</h4> <h4><strong>II. This is partly why we seek to baptize only true believers who "have been born of God..."</strong></h4> <ul> <li><strong><em>Westminster Larger Catechism </em>(MESV), Q. 165. What is baptism?  A.</strong> Baptism is a sacrament of the new testament, in which Christ has ordained the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to be a sign and seal of ingrafting into himself, <strong>of remission of sins by his blood, and regeneration by his Spirit; of adoption, and resurrection to everlasting life; and by which the parties baptized are solemnly admitted into the visible church, and enter into an open and professed engagement to be wholly and only the Lord’s.</strong></li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. What is this “world” that we believing conquerors overcome?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>First define key terms, otherwise you cannot make proper sense of the passage.</li> <li>Context is king.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. Born of God…the Father</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Need to account more carefully for what both the Old and New Testaments reveal about Christ.</li> <li><em>The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics</em>, Article III. WE AFFIRM that the Person and work of Jesus Christ are the central focus of the entire Bible. WE DENY that any method of interpretation which rejects or obscures the Christ-centeredness of Scripture is correct.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> February 22<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2026  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/law-gospel-distinction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Law & Gospel Distinction</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:3; 4:10, 19; Ephesians 2:1–16; James 1:17; 2 Timothy 2:15; Romans 7:11–8:2; James 4:1–7; Romans 1:16–17; Matthew 11:25–30; Galatians 5:6; 1 Peter 5:6–7</p> <p><sup>3</sup>For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3</p> <ul> <li>Intricate, harmonious connection between love, faith, and obedience—on love visibly manifested and applied</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>His commandments are not burdensome.</h4> <ul> <li>Why are God’s commandments not burdensome for believers? Because of God’s love.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. “Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come…”</strong></h4> <ul> <li>If the law of God is not burdensome, then why do we still struggle with burdens?</li> <li>Romans 7:12-8:2</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. The source of quarrels and conflicts among you.</strong></h4> <ul> <li>James 4:1-7</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. My burden is light.</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Matthew 11:25-30</li> <li>1 Peter 5:6-7</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> February 15, 2026  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/authority" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Authority</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>2 Kings 17:13–14; Nehemiah 8:1–8; Psalm 119:1; Matthew 23:1–3; Romans 3:2; Colossians 1:9–10; Psalm 19:7–8</span></p> <p><sup>13</sup>Yet Yahweh warned Israel and Judah by the hand of all His prophets <em>and</em> every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by the hand of My slaves the prophets.” <sup>14</sup>However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in Yahweh their God. 2 Kings 17:13–14</p> <ul> <li>The OT is full of the same synecdoches we saw in the NT that point to either a larger part of, or the whole of, the OT—the Law, the Prophets, the Law and the Prophets, etc.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>To Be, or Not to Be, God-Breathed? That Is the Church’s Question</h4> <h4><strong>II. </strong>The Jews, the Pharisees, and Josephus</h4> <h4><strong>III. </strong>The Roman Catholic Church-State</h4> <ul> <li>Pope Boniface VIII, <em>Unam Sanctam</em>: “…we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is <em>absolutely necessary</em> <em>for salvation</em> that <em>every</em> human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></li> <li>The early church was highly varied and diverse, not monolithic, and in many ways was unlike any of the major denominations we see today.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>The Roman Catholic Canon</h4> <ul> <li>The first time that the Roman Catholic Church defined her canon of the Bible dogmatically—was during the Council of Trent (1546): "But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, these same books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately despise the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema [eternally condemned].”</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V.  </strong>Eastern Orthodoxy: The <em>Other</em> “One True Church” & Her Bible(s)</h4> <ul> <li>Russian Orthodox Catechism of Philaret (1782-1867) of Moscow (1830), "Examined and Approved by the Most Holy Governing Synod [of the Russian Orthodox Church], and Published for the Use of Schools, and of all Orthodox Christians, by Order of His Imperial Majesty," affirms the Protestant canon instead, contradicting the earlier 1672 Synod of Jerusalem.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>VI. </strong>The Russian Orthodox Canon of Scripture</h4> <h4><strong>VII. </strong>The 1672 Council of Jerusalem</h4> <ul> <li>“The 1672 Synod of Jerusalem…rejected <em>any</em> further attempts at reformulation [and reformation] of Orthodox teachings and strengthened Orthodox beliefs against both the Protestant Reformation and Catholicism. The Synod produced...the Confession of Dositheus (Patriarch of Jerusalem), in which point by point it refuted Cyril [Lucaris’] eighteen points. In addition, it added four catechetical style questions that defended the restriction of reading and study of Scripture to the priests, def

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> February 8, 2026  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/authority" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Authority</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Romans 3:1–4, 9–20; John 9:34; Luke 6:39; Mark 7:13; 1 Timothy 3:15; Matthew 7:12, 29; John 8:12–19; Romans 8:16, 23–27, 34; John 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:2–13; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; Deuteronomy 18:9–14; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:2; 5:6–9; 1 Corinthians 4:6–12; Romans 11:16–24; Titus 1:9</span></p> <p><span lang="en-US">May it never be! Rather, let God be true and every man a liar, as it is written, “</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-variant: small-caps;">That</span> <span lang="en-US" style="font-variant: small-caps;">You may be justified in</span> <span lang="en-US" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Your words</span><span lang="en-US">, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-variant: small-caps;">And overcome when</span> <span lang="en-US" style="font-variant: small-caps;">You</span> <span lang="en-US" style="font-variant: small-caps;">are judged</span><span lang="en-US">.” Romans 3:4</span></p> <p><span lang="en" style="text-decoration: none;"><sup>17</sup></span><span lang="en-US">“Even in your law it has been written that the witness of two men is true. </span><span lang="en" style="text-decoration: none;"><sup>18</sup></span><span lang="en-US">“I am He who bears witness about Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.” John 8:17–18</span></p> <ul> <li>There is no such thing as an infallible human authority, for all men and women are corrupted, fallen sinners, and liars.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>What does <em>infallible</em> mean?</h4> <ul> <li>Not capable of erring (making errors)—at all</li> <li><em>God-Breathed Scripture</em>, Free Grace Broadcaster 239 (Chapel Library, 2017), <a href="https://www.chapellibrary.org/book/gbscfg/godbreathed-scripture">https://www.chapellibrary.org/book/gbscfg/godbreathed-scripture</a>.</li> <li>Some traditions dogmatically affirm that it is possible for some people to be infallible (the pope), or that some people lived on earth without ever committing any personal sin, even while still suffering the other effects of the fall (Eastern Orthodoxy).</li> <li>Romans 3:9-20</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>Of Fallible Men & Infallible Authorities</h4> <ul> <li>John 8:12-19</li> <li>We as believers and as the church of God already have, not one, not two, not three, but four infallible Authorities—God and His Word.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. B</strong>elief in infallible authorities is neither contrary to Scripture—it is Scriptural—nor is it anti-Protestant…</h4> <ul> <li>As long as <em>infallible authorities</em> are restricted to God and His Word alone.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>Parallel Problems: Fallible Mediators & Authorities</h4> <ul> <li>Those who impose so-called “infallible” churches, traditions, popes, councils, etc., undermine and replace the authority and power of God

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> February 1<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/law-gospel-distinction">Law & Gospel Distinction</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>Psalm 11:7; 1 John 1:9–2:2; Deuteronomy 32:3–4; 1 John 3:4; Romans 7:13; 1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Matthew 5:29–30; Romans 8:6–8; 1 John 3:8–10; Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29; Mark 10:18; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10–12; Galatians 2:21; John 1:29; Galatians 4:4–5; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22–24; Romans 5:19; 4:3–8; 2 Corinthians 5:20–21; Ephesians 4:20–24; Philippians 3:20–21</p> <p><span lang="en-US">For Yahweh is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face. Psalm 11:7</span></p> <ul> <li>Two of the most important subjects in the entire Bible: sin and righteousness</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>“…so that you may not sin.”</h4> <ul> <li>According to God, we are all sinners, born guilty under the Law of God.</li> <li>What is your life’s purpose? To not sin?</li> <li>Who are you a child of?</li> <li><em>The Belgic Confession</em>, Article 22: The Righteousness of Faith</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. The Gospel According to Righteousnesses</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Are <em>you</em> righteous?</li> <li>The Bible describes different kinds of righteousnesses with respect to God and man, which summarize the entire story of the Bible, the whole counsel of God, and reveals the true gospel to us:</li> </ul> <ol> <li>The Righteousness of God</li> <li>Original Righteousness</li> <li>Self-Righteousness</li> <li>The Righteousness of Jesus Christ</li> <li>The Imputed Righteousness of Believers</li> <li>The Renewed Righteousness of Believers</li> <li>The Culminated Righteousness of Believers</li> </ol> <p><strong><em>An Orthodox Catechism</em>, Question 60: How are <em>you</em> right with God? </strong>Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.(a) Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of never having kept any of them,(b) and even though I am still inclined toward all evil [in my flesh],(c) nevertheless, without my deserving it at all,(d) out of sheer grace,(e) God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ,(f) as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me.(g) <strong>All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart</strong>.(h)  (a) Rom. 3:21-28; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9; Phil 3:8-11  (b) Rom. 3:9-10  (c) Rom. 7:23  (d) Tit. 3:4-5  (e) Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8  (f) Rom. 4:3-5 (Gen. 15:6); 2 Cor. 5:17-19; 1 John 2:1-2  (g) Rom. 4:24-25; 2 Cor. 5:21  (h) John 3:18; Acts 16:30-31</p> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">ThornCrow

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> January 25, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/authority" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Authority</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Matthew 23:1–4; Luke 4:16–21; Exodus 18:13–26; Deuteronomy 1:11–18; Ezra 10:1–6, 10–12; Nehemiah 13:23–30; Matthew 7:29; John 8:14–15, 19; 1 John 2:23; John 9:39–41; Mark 7:13</span></p> <p><sup>2</sup>“The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; <sup>3</sup>therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say <em>things</em> and do not do <em>them</em>." Matthew 23:2–3</p> <ul> <li>Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees, who do not practice what they preach, insofar as what they preach/teach actually agrees with Moses and the prophets, the sacred Scriptures, the written Word of God.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>The <em>kathedra</em> of Moses</h4> <ul> <li>Moses’ seat is not some extrabiblical, “infallible” tradition or authority that is outside of or independent of what is written by God.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>What saith the Scriptures?</h4> <ul> <li>Exodus 18:13–26, Deuteronomy 1:11–18, Ezra 10:1–6, 10–12, Nehemiah 13:23–30</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>God <em>always</em> requires His leaders to be called and qualified, without hypocrisy.</h4> <ul> <li>Both <em>then</em>, in Israel (kings, scribes, priests, prophets, judges, etc.), and <em>now</em>, in the church (pastors, elders, teachers, etc.)</li> <li>Pharisees and Sadducees emerged, and seated themselves in the authoritative teaching chair of Moses (Matt. 23:2-3)—but, were they actually called and qualified by God to do so?</li> <li>The scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees were denounced by Christ as hypocritical, unbiblical usurpers and abusers of authority.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></h4> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave <br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations marked LSB are from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> January 18, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/church-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Church History</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Malachi 3:13–4:6; Acts 3:24; John 10:22–23; Luke 1:11–17; Matthew 11:7–15; John 10:27–29</span></p> <p><sup>4</sup>“Remember the law of Moses My servant, <em>even the</em> statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. <sup>5</sup>“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. <sup>6</sup>“And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to <em>their</em> children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction.” Malachi 4:4–6</p> <ul> <li>These words mark the end of the Old Testament, the last of the Old Testament prophets, and the beginning of the 400 years of silence.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>These are “The 400 Years of Prophetic Silence,” the Intertestamental Period</h4> <ul> <li>Although there was a glaring prophetic silence in Israel, there was also great political and spiritual change, and turbulence. No new Scripture was given at this time, though the entire Old Testament was eventually translated into what became the next universal language of the time—Greek.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>No prophet had come to Israel during that time, no God-breathed Scriptures had been written.</h4> <ul> <li>“So there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.” (1 Maccabees 9:27)</li> <li>John the Baptist</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>Now we have an historical, prophetic, biblical context to the apocryphal writings.</h4> <ul> <li> <p>The issues surrounding the apocrypha do focus on what they say and teach, but especially on how they are regarded and used by religious traditions and churches.</p> </li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>What are the apocryphal books? Do they evidence God’s breath?</h4> <ul> <li>None of the apocrypha claim to be inspired by God; on the contrary, some explicitly claim to be mere human writings, in part because they acknowledge that prophecy had ceased during that time.</li> <li>All of the apocryphal books were written during the 400 years of prophetic silence.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V.  </strong>The apocrypha contain various errors and contradictions</h4> <table> <thead> <tr> <td> <p><strong>Type</strong></p> </td> <td> <p><strong>Count</strong></p> </td> <td> <p><strong>Examples</strong></p> </td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p><strong>Chronological</strong></p> </td> <td> <p>6</p> </td> <td> <p>Tobit 14:15, Judith 1:1, Baruch 1:2, 1&2 Macc death of Antiochus</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p><strong>Geographical</strong></p> </td> <td> <p>2</p> </td> <td> <p>Tobit 1:4–5 (Upper Galilee), Judith 1:1 (Nineveh)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p><strong>Historical Figures</strong></p> </td> <td> <p>5</p> </td> <td&g

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> January 11, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scripture</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Luke 11:45–52; Matthew 23:29–36; Zechariah 1:1; 2 Chronicles 24:20–22; Luke 7:28; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 25:46; Ephesians 2:1–19</span></p> <p><sup>49</sup>“For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and <em>some</em> of them they will kill and <em>some</em> they will persecute, <sup>50</sup>so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, <sup>51</sup>from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house <em>of God</em>; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’" Luke 11:49–51</p> <ul> <li>Sometimes Jesus was confrontational</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Which Zechariah?</h4> <ul> <li>Zechariah 1:1, 2 Chronicles 24:20–22, <em>Protoevangelium of James</em></li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>Jesus does not include any martyrdoms from the Intertestamental Period</h4> <ul> <li>Nor John the Baptist</li> <li>“So there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.” (1 Macc. 9:27, after Malachi)</li> <li>Jewish Talmud (Sotah 9:48b): “As the Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta 13:3): From the time when Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi died, the Divine Spirit departed from the Jewish people, as these three were considered to be the last prophets.”</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. D</strong>iffering levels of authority within the canonical books of Scripture</h4> <ul> <li>Law of Moses is the foundation for everything that follows</li> <li>All Scripture is authoritative, but the New Testament is the final written Word of God, making it more authoritative, the final, God-breathed, written Word that divinely expands on, fulfills, continues and abrogates, and interprets the Old Testament.</li> <li>Augustine: “The new is in the old concealed (hidden); the old is in the new revealed.”</li> <li>Beware: Inverted hermeneutic of Annihilationism, Conditional Immortality (Kirk Cameron)</li> <li> <p><strong>Louis Gaussen</strong>: “The whole tenor of Scripture places the writers of the New Testament in the same rank with the prophets of the Old; and even when it establishes any difference between them, it is always in putting the last in date above the first, in so far as one of God's sayings is superior to the saying that preceded it (not…in divinity, not in dignity, but in authority).”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></p> </li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave <br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailt

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> January 4, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scripture</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Acts 3:17–26; Psalm 119:41–48; Luke 24:25–27; 2 Samuel 7:12–17; Hebrews 11:35–38; Romans 3:1–2; Jude 3; Romans 16:25–27</span></p> <p>“But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled." Acts 3:18</p> <ul> <li>The issues of the canon of Scripture and biblical authority are foundational differences between Protestantism and everything else.</li> <li>Basil Manly, Jr., <em>The Bible Doctrine of Inspiration</em>, ed. Timothy George and Denise George (Broadman and Holman, 1995).</li> <li>François Samuel Robert Louis Gaussen, <em>God-Breathed: The Divine Inspiration of the Bible</em>, ed. John W. Robbins, trans. David Scott, Trinity Paper 57 (The Trinity Foundation, 2001), <a href="https://www.trinitylectures.org/god-breathed-the-divine-inspiration-of-the-bible-p-88.html">https://www.trinitylectures.org/god-breathed-the-divine-inspiration-of-the-bible-p-88.html</a>.</li> <li>John D. Meade and Peter J. Gurry, <em>Scribes and Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible</em> (Crossway, 2022).</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>What is a biblical prophet? The office of a prophet?</h4> <ul> <li>“All the prophets,” including the New Testament prophets, are divine representatives, who speak for, and, beginning with Moses—write for—God, with supernatural aid, direction, and authority.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>“The prophets” and “all the prophets” of Scripture alone</h4> <ul> <li>Every genuine prophet spoke, and eventually wrote, directly or indirectly, of the coming Messiah and His kingdom, with divine authority.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>Does the New Testament also quote apocryphal books?</h4> <ul> <li>There is a difference between quoting something directly and alluding to something, and loosely resembling something as opposed to consciously alluding to it.</li> <li>Romans 3:2</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>We normally understand <em>Scripture</em> and <em>canon</em> to refer to the same books.</h4> <ul> <li>Some early church writers like Jerome, Athansius, Cyril, did not list apocrypha as part of the Old/New Testament canons, although they sometimes quoted them as (lower-tier) "Scripture."</li> <li>We have the same Old Testament that was entrusted to the Jews, which Jesus and His Apostles affirmed.</li> <li>The entire Old Testament speaks to, foretells, anticipates, looks forward to the coming Messiah who takes away all our sin.</li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave <br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:ThornC

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> December 28, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scripture</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Romans 3:1–2; Acts 7:37–39; Luke 24:25–27, 44–49; John 10:27–28; 1 Corinthians 14:21; John 1:45; Matthew 22:40; Romans 3:21–22; Acts 13:15; 10:43</span></p> <p><sup>1</sup>Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? <sup>2</sup>Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. Romans 3:1–2</p> <ul> <li>Opponents of Protestantism falsely claim that there is no evidence in the early church for the Protestant Old Testament canon.<br /> <ul> <li>This betrays history, church history, and the competing criteria that were used—especially in the early church—to recognize the books of the Old Testament.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>There were two primary competing criteria in the early church used to identify the Old Testament:</h4> <ul> <li> <p>1. Which books were part of the Hebrew canon that the <em>Jews</em> used, and which Christ and His Apostles affirmed? Rom. 3:1-2, Acts 7:37-39, etc.</p> </li> <li> <p>2. Which books did the (early) churches read in church and deemed edifying?<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a><strong> </strong>This is less precise.</p> </li> <li>The church does not define God’s Word—God’s Word defines the church.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>The Protestant Canon of the Old Testament</h4> <ul> <li>The overwhelming testimony of the Jews was that they held to an exclusive, 22/24 book canon of the Old Testament, matching the Protestant canon—apart from any "infallible" authority/council defining their canon—and Jesus and the Apostles quoted it to them repeatedly and demonstrated how He fulfilled it, refuted them with it, appealed to it as the highest authority, held them accountable to it, without ever debating which books were inspired.</li> <li>See <strong>“The Apocrypha Disproves Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy,” <a href="https://faithalone.net/topical-articles/articles/catholicism/apocrypha.html">https://faithalone.net/topical-articles/articles/catholicism/apocrypha.html</a>.</strong></li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>Hebrew Bible—Tanakh—has three sections: Torah (Law), Nevi’im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings)</h4> <ul> <li>Apocrypha are not included in the Hebrew Bible.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>The 22/24 Hebrew canon and threefold subdivision of the Old Testament is found in numerous ancient Jewish and Christian sources, and in the Old and New Testaments.</h4> <ul> <li><strong>Anglican John Cosin (1594-1672) lists over 76 Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox sources, authorities, councils which rejected/distinguished the Apocrypha, in <em>A Scholastical History of the Canon of the Holy Scripture</em></strong>, <a href="https://confessionalbibliology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/The_Works_Of_John_Cosin_Scholastical_his.pdf">https://confessionalbibliology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/The_Works_Of_John_Cosin_Scholastical_his.pdf<em>.</em></a></li> </ul> <h4><strong>V.  </strong>The New Testament uses synecdoches and shorthand phra

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> Dec 21, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-14" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/seasoned-with-grace">Seasoned with Grace</a></span><span class="sermon-topic"><strong>  Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/christ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christ</a> </span> <span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture:</strong> John 1:1–18; Luke 2:19–20; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15–16; 1 John 2:2; Isaiah 53:5–11; John 1:28–29, 35–37; Matthew 1:18–25; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 2:21–24; Leviticus 12:1–8</span></span></span><sup><br /></sup></p> <p>And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14</p> <ul> <li>Note: A part of the sermon was lost at around 50 minutes of the recording. We restored and merged the recordings that we did have.</li> <li>Jesus is our treasure, our marvel, our wonder, which we ponder in our hearts and bring praise, glory, and honor to Him by our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, offering our entire lives as a living sacrifice unto Him (Luke 2:19-20; Rom. 12).</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>The twfold meaning of Christmas: Two big picture, bookend truths</h4> <ul> <li>The Hypostatic Union of Christ and the Gospel</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>What is the Hypostatic Union?</h4> <ul> <li><strong>Truly God, truly Man:</strong> “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. Begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made (John 1). For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.” (Nicene Creed)</li> <li>Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man in one Person. The word “hypostatic” comes from the Greek <em>hupostasis</em> (ὑπόστασις), meaning “substance.” Both natures operate in harmony—without confusion, change, division, or separation.</li> <li>The Chalcedonian Definition</li> <li>God the Son is the subject and Person of the Incarnation, not the human nature of Christ: anhypostasis, enhypostasis.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>The Gospel of God’s Propitiation</h4> <ul> <li>Isaiah 53; 1 John 2:2; John 1:28-29, 35-37</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>That is the second truth about Christmas—why Jesus was born</h4> <ul> <li>The Virgin Birth: Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:21-24, Leviticus 12:1-8</li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave <br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a>&amp

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> December 14, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scripture</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>2 Peter 3:1–2, 14–18; Genesis 3:1; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; 1 Timothy 3:15; Matthew 15:3; 1:23–25; 12:47; John 10:27–28</span></p> <p><sup>1</sup>This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, <sup>2</sup>that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior <em>spoken</em> by your apostles,... <sup>14</sup>Therefore, beloved, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, <sup>15</sup>and consider the patience of our Lord <em>as</em> salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, <sup>16</sup>as also in all <em>his</em> letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as <em>they do</em> also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. <sup>17</sup>You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest you, having been carried away by the error of unprincipled men, fall from your own steadfastness, <sup>18</sup>but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him <em>be</em> the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 2 Peter 3:1–2, 14-18</p> <ul> <li>Both Peter’s audience <em>and</em> the unstable men understood that Paul’s letters were Scripture <em>beforehand</em>.</li> <li>The Church Canon has two canons: Old Testament canon and New Testament canon</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>We can be certain as to what the Divine Canon of Scripture is without requiring any other “infallible” authority…</h4> <ul> <li>…as long as we use the means and criteria and authorities that God gave us to identify and receive the books which He wrote down for His church</li> <li>Scripture alone in conjunction with Progressive Revelation</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>Another testament to the early church recognizing and proliferating the New Testament canon without any other top-down hierarchy or normative authority...</h4> <ul> <li>Which books did the early Christians copy the most? By <em>far</em>?</li> <li>“Persecution of the church began as early as Acts 4, when Herod executed James, the brother of John (Acts 12:2). By the time of Emperor Diocletian (AD 303–312), it was illegal even to own copies of the Bible.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>The canon of Scripture is one of the greatest testaments of how God uses His church in history to be the “pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).</h4> <ul> <li>The early church distinguished between authoritative apostolic tradition and all other church traditions, and she recognized the apostolic tradition that was written down to be the exclusive canon of the New Testament.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>Even if it were true that the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox church “gave” us the Bible, as they both claim, and therefore you must rely on them as your authority&hell

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> December 7, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/means-of-grace" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Means of Grace</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Matthew 4:1–11; Genesis 3:1–5; Acts 17:23–31; 1 Corinthians 14:33; Matthew 16:17; Revelation 2:4–5</span></p> <p><sup>1</sup>Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. <sup>2</sup>And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. <sup>3</sup>And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” <sup>4</sup>But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:1–4</p> <ul> <li>Our first principle is powerfully illustrated and practiced by our Lord and Master, when facing the enemy of all good, in the Wilderness Temptation of Christ.</li> <li><em>Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary</em> defines <em>destiny</em>: “a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency”</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>The devil tempts us both to <em>question</em> the final authority of God’s Word—“Hath God <em>really</em> said?”—<em>and</em> to <em>depend</em> on other authorities that contradict God.</h4> <ul> <li>He uses <em>religious</em> antichrists which the Apostles repeatedly warned against,<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> who claim to speak authoritatively for God, claim to be equal to or above Scripture.</li> <li><strong>Normative authority</strong> is authority that has the power to bind consciences, to direct us to what we ought to do, to command us.</li> <li><em>1689 Baptist Confession</em>, 1.10: “The supreme judge by which all religious controversies are to be settled, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and individual thinkers (private spirits) are to be examined, can be none other than the Holy Scriptures delivered by the Spirit. In the verdict of Scripture our faith is finally determined.”</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>We trust God alone, and the means <em>He</em> has revealed to us.</h4> <ul> <li> <p>Scripture and reason are not<em> two</em> first principles, but <em>one</em>: “God and logic are one and the same first principle, for John wrote that the [Logos] Logic was God.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[2]</a></p> </li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>How do you settle competing interpretations of Scripture?</h4> <ul> <li>God cannot contradict Himself, Scripture cannot contradict itself, they are logically consistent with all the propositions and doctrine of Scripture, “for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints” (1 Cor. 14:33).</li> <li>Confessing Protestants affirm other normative authorities for believers and the church (creeds, confessions, catechisms, elders, pastors, church discipline, church councils, etc.)—but Scripture is supreme over <em>all</em>.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>God’s instituted system of checks and balances</h4> <ul> <li

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> Nov 30, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scripture</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Isaiah 55:7–11; Romans 15:4–6; 1 Timothy 3:15; Luke 1:67–70; 2 Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 40:7–8; 1 Corinthians 4:6–7; Hebrews 1:1–2; Romans 3:2–4; Ephesians 2:19–22; Jude 3</span></p> <p><sup>7</sup>Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to Yahweh, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. <sup>8</sup>“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares Yahweh. <sup>9</sup>“For <em>as</em> the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. <sup>10</sup>“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, <sup>11</sup>So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what pleases Me, And without succeeding <em>in the matter</em> for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:7–11</p> <p><sup>4</sup>For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through the perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. <sup>5</sup>Now may the God of perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, <sup>6</sup>so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:4–6</p> <p><sup>15</sup>but in case I am delayed, <em>I write</em> so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15</p> <ul> <li>These passages tell a story of God’s providence and means of how he gave His Word to His people.</li> <li>Use the Jesus Test (Mark 7), the Berean Test, the Scripture Test, the “It is written” Test, the “Do not go beyond what is written” Test—no matter how divinely inspired or infallible a tradition may claim to be.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>How do we as Protestants know what Scripture is?</h4> <ul> <li>The word <em>canon</em> means something straight, or something to keep straight; and hence also a rule, or something ruled or measured, a standard.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>There are three canons of Scripture</h4> <ul> <li>The Divine Canon and the Church Canon—they must be distinguished.</li> <li>The Church Canon has two canons: Old Testament Canon and New Testament Canon, because God used different means and criteria to give each one to His people.</li> <li>God called, sanctioned, ordained prophets with authority, divine predictions, miracles, signs, and wonders in the Old Testament to confirm that the words were from God Himself, and similarly called, sanctioned, ordained apostles and prophets with authority, miracles, signs, and wonders to confirm the divine origins of the preaching, teaching, and writings of the Apostles and their prophetic associates.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. W</strong>e can have certainty as to what the Divine Canon of Scripture is, using the means and criteria that God gave us to identify and receive the book

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> Nov 23, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scripture</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 Corinthians 4:6–7; 2 Peter 1:19–21; Acts 4:19; 3 John 9–12; James 1:17–18; Matthew 7:24–27; Mark 7:6–13; 2 Peter 3:16; Psalm 119:89; Romans 15:4–6</span></p> <p><sup>6</sup>Now these things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to go beyond what is written, so that no one of you will become puffed up on behalf of one against the other. <sup>7</sup>For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 1 Corinthians 4:6–7</p> <p><sup>19</sup>And we have as more sure the prophetic word, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. <sup>20</sup>Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes by one’s own interpretation. <sup>21</sup>For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:19–21</p> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Scripture alone does <em>not</em> mean <em>sol<span style="text-decoration: underline;">o</span></em> <em>Scriptura</em> or <em>nuda Scriptura</em></h4> <ul> <li>Meaning Scripture and nothing else at all, no other church authorities at all, which ironically contradicts Scripture, but rather <em>sol<span style="text-decoration: underline;">a</span> Scriptura</em>, that Scripture is our only final, ultimate, infallible authority.</li> <li>Unbiblical rejection of any other spiritual authorities in the life of Christians and the church, including Biblical authorities ordained by God through human means within the church.</li> <li>So-called “Protestant” movements that caricature Scripture alone are plagued by pietism, emotionalism, shallowness, ignorance, lack of decency and order and qualified leadership.</li> <li>Sound very pious, but are types of spiritual/church anarchy, disorder, divisiveness, anti (human) authority.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>We believe, teach, confess, and maintain a careful, systematic balance of these bookend doctrines</h4> <ul> <li>Puritan principle: The Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety is the Word of God written, and to it nothing may be added nor from it may anything be taken away.</li> <li>Subject every and any truth claim (tradition) to the Berean Test, Scripture Test, “It is written” Test, “Do not go beyond what is written” Test, Jesus Test (Mark 7:9-13)—Does it nullify or contradict the Word of God, at any point?</li> <li>Whenever people become puffed up with conceit, to the point of placing other traditions or authorities above God and His Word, or equal to God’s Word, and abandon the sole ultimate authority of Scripture alone, and exchange the solid rock foundation of Christ’s own words, “these words of Mine,” for the imbalanced, contrary, unstable traditions of sand (Matt 7:24-29), it creates a domino effect leading to an <em>avalanche</em> of errors.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>The more <em>permanent</em> prophetic word</h4> <ul> <li>2 Peter 1:19-21</li> <li>Weymouth: “And in the written word of prophecy

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> Nov 16, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/it-is-written:-scripture-alone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It Is Written: Scripture Alone</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scripture</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Acts 17:10–13; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; Colossians 2:2–3; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; John 17:17; Psalm 119:160; Hebrews 8:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; Jude 3; Titus 1:1–3</span></p> <p><sup>10</sup>And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. <sup>11</sup>Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily <em>to see</em> whether these things were so. <sup>12</sup>Therefore many of them believed, along with not a few prominent Greek women and men.<sup> 13</sup>But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, shaking up and disturbing the crowds. Acts 17:10–13</p> <p><sup>15</sup>and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. <sup>16</sup>All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, <sup>17</sup>so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:15–17</p> <ul> <li>These are among the clearest passages which reveal to us the ultimate authority of Scripture alone, of what God breathed out and wrote down.</li> <li>The Bereans practiced the same Reformation principle that we do today as Protestants—Scripture alone—because they examined and submitted what they heard from others, even the oral preaching, teaching, tradition of the Apostles themselves, which became the New Testament writings, to the <em>written</em> words of God.</li> <li><strong>Sign the Reformation Day Statement & the Declaration:</strong><br /> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state.php</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state_declaration.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state_declaration.php</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong><em>Sola Scriptura</em>: The “It is written” principle</h4> <ul> <li>What is written by God Himself is the most authoritative word, this is the doctrine of <em>sola Scriptura</em>.</li> <li>"The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain and infallible rule for saving knowledge, faith, and obedience."</li> <li>Many who oppose the Protestant faith (including professing Protestants) distort what the doctrine of Scripture alone actually means</li> <li>Scripture is our first principle of <em>knowing</em>, our ultimate authority for all knowledge, because Scripture grounds and justifies <em>all</em> our knowledge, all truth, because in Christ, who is the full knowledge of God’s mystery, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:2-3).</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>The Bereans had examined the Scriptures that they already had.</h4> <ul> <li>Even though the New Testament was still being written at the time, even though it took time for the early c

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> Nov 9, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/remembering-the-reformation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Remembering the Reformation</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/scripture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scripture</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Acts 17:10–12; 1 Samuel 17:26, 40–45; Isaiah 8:19–20; 1 Timothy 2:5; Deuteronomy 18:10–12; Hebrews 5:12–14</span></p> <p><sup>10</sup>And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. <sup>11</sup>Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily <em>to see</em> whether these things were so. <sup>12</sup>Therefore many of them believed, along with not a few prominent Greek women and men. Acts 17:10–12</p> <ul> <li>This passage echoes the first principles of the Reformation, and is one of the many reasons why it is important for us to remember the Reformation.</li> <li>See <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/sermon/2025-10-28/reformation-evangelism-at-a-roman-catholic-church-on-28-oct-2025-romans-3:28" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reformation Evangelism at a Roman Catholic Church on 28 Oct 2025 | Romans 3:28</a></li> <li><strong>Sign the Reformation Day Statement & the Declaration:</strong><br /> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state.php</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state_declaration.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state_declaration.php</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>What was (and still is) the main conflict with Rome?</h4> <ul> <li>Luther knew how to ask the right questions, probing questions, questions that would get to the bottom of the issue.</li> <li>Like the young David, Luther was executing a lifetime of God’s preparation.</li> <li>With David on <em>God’s</em> side—Goliath did not stand a chance.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>The main issue, as Luther began to see and later saw more clearly, was that of a different giant.</h4> <ul> <li>His giant was, ultimately, the Goliath of Rome—the magisterium and the pope of Rome, the papacy and its claims of absolute spiritual authority.</li> <li>“The Pope is Goliath, clad in the armor of human traditions… We are David, with the sling of the Holy Scriptures.”</li> <li>With Luther on <em>God’s</em> side—Rome did not stand a chance.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>Luther did what many others fail to do—He discerned the main issue, the main conflict with Rome, and responded with Scripture and reason.</h4> <ul> <li>Isaiah 8:19-20</li> <li>God <em>alone</em> is the Mediator of truth and life—Christ <em>alone</em> (1 Tim. 2:5).</li> <li>Contacting the dead for guidance (including departed Christians) is foolish and idolatrous, unequivocally condemned by God (Dt. 18:10-12)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. </strong>We must trust God’s law and testimony—we need the ultimate authority of Scripture alone.</h4> <ul> <li>Many fail to see the main issues affecting the church in our own day.</li> </u

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-speaker"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> Nov 2, 2025  <strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/remembering-the-reformation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Remembering the Reformation</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/church-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Church History</a>  </span><span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture: </strong>Galatians 3:11; Matthew 4:17; 20:16; Ephesians 2:10</span></p> <p>Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident, for The righteous shall live by faith. Galatians 3:11</p> <ul> <li>See <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/halloween-vs-reformation-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Halloween vs Reformation Day</a> series</li> <li><strong>Sign the Reformation Day Statement & the Declaration:</strong><br /> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state.php</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state_declaration.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.trinityfoundation.org/state_declaration.php</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>It is vitally important for us, as individuals and families, and as a church, to remember the Reformation—what happened, why it is important, what were the main issues—not just once a year, but throughout the year, by studying church history, especially of the doctrinal conflicts that clarified what the Bible does and does not teach, including the primary issues of the gospel (<em>sola fide</em>) and what our ultimate authority is (<em>sola Scriptura</em>), which are summed up in the Five Solas of the Reformation.</li> <li>The main issues of the Protestant Reformation are the issues that summarize, define, and explain our faith, our core doctrines, and separate us from everyone else.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Of Fasts & Feast Days</h4> <ul> <li><em>2nd Helvetic Confession</em> (1562), CHAPTER XXIV: Of Holy Days, Fasts and the Choice of Foods: THE FESTIVALS OF CHRIST AND THE SAINTS.</li> <li>See <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/sermon/2025-10-28/reformation-evangelism-at-a-roman-catholic-church-on-28-oct-2025-romans-3:28" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reformation Evangelism at a Roman Catholic Church on 28 Oct 2025 | Romans 3:28</a></li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. </strong>Martin Luther’s 95 Insights</h4> <ul> <li>Forerunners of the Reformation: Czech theologian Jan Hus; Roman Catholic professor and priest John Wycliffe; Italian Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola</li> <li>Thesis 18. “Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either by reason or by Scripture, that souls in Purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is, unable to grow in love.”</li> <li>In order to be grounded in truth and sound doctrine, we need two basic things, all other means serve these two things: Scripture and clear reason, logical consistency.</li> <li>Thesis 62. "The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God."</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. </strong>One of the most important distinctions in the entire Bible: Law and Gospel distinction</h4> <ul> <li>“Christ did not command the preaching of indulgences but of the gospel!”</li> <li>Rome responded with a Counter-Reformation vengeance.</li> <li>We celebrate the Reformation's triumphs, and apply the many lessons that came out of it, but we must also be honest about the shortcomings and sins of the men t

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Day:</strong> Oct 28, 2025  <span class="sermon-speaker"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  </span></span><span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-18" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/evangelism">Evangelism</a></span>  <span class="sermon-topic"><strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/roman-catholicism">Roman Catholicism</a>  <span class="sermon-verse"><strong>Scripture:</strong> Romans 3:28; Acts 4:12; Matthew 23:8–12; Luke 1:46–47; Romans 1:16; Acts 17:11; Psalm 115:1–18; Hebrews 10:10–14; 1 Timothy 2:5; Romans 8:16–17, 26–27; Isaiah 53:4–11; John 14:6</span></span></p> <p><span id="en-ESV-23745" class="text Matt-18-20"><span class="woj">Open air, bilingual (English/Spanish), Reformation evangelism and gospel protesting at a local Roman Catholic church that was celebrating the feast day (festival) of Judas Thaddeus, the Apostle. </span></span></p> <p><span id="en-ESV-23745" class="text Matt-18-20"><span class="woj">Feast days are Roman Catholic festivals with idolatrous processions of canonized "saints," according to their tradition. Got a chance to preach the Biblical truths of the Reformation—that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, based on the ultimate authority of Scripture alone. We cannot earn our salvation or restore our justification by sacraments or good works, nor is Christ being re-sacrificed on the idolatrous altar of the Mass, because that is to deny that Christ died only once for all who believe in Him, by faith alone apart from any works or sacraments. Good gospel conversations with some of the people who had attended.</span></span><span class="text Matt-18-20"><span class="woj"><span id="en-ESV-29992" class="text Heb-3-13"><br /></span></span></span></p> <p><span class="text Matt-18-20"><span class="woj">Correction: I mistakenly referred to Mary's <em>Magnificat</em> where she refers to God as her Savior in Luke 1:53, but it is actually in Luke 1:47: "</span></span>And Mary said: 'My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior'" (Luke 1:46–47).</p> <p>Please visit <strong><a href="https://whateverycatholicshouldknow.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">What Every Catholic Should Know</a></strong> (<strong><a href="https://whateverycatholicshouldknow.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://whateverycatholicshouldknow.com</a></strong>), an excellent resource by former Roman Catholics, including former Roman Catholic priests like Richard Bennett, which compares the official, major teachings of the Roman Catholic church with what the Bible teaches.</p> <p><strong><em>The Belgic Confession</em>, Article 22: The Righteousness of Faith</strong></p> <p>We believe that for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith that embraces Jesus Christ, with all his merits, and makes him its own, and no longer looks for anything apart from him. For it must necessarily follow that either all that is required for our salvation is not in Christ or, <em>if all is in him, then he who has Christ by faith has his salvation entirely.</em><em> Therefore, to say that Christ is not enough but that something else is needed as well is a most enormous blasphemy against God—for it then would follow that Jesus Christ is only half a Savior</em>. And therefore we justly say with Paul that we are justified "by faith alone" or by faith "apart from works."</p> <p>However, we do not mean, properly speaking, that it is faith itself that justifies us—for faith is only the instrument by which we embrace Christ, our righteousness. But Jesus Christ is our ri

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> October 26<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/the-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Law</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:1–3; Philippians 2:13; 1 John 4:19; Hebrews 11:6; Romans 14:23; James 2:14–17; John 14:15, 21–23; 15:8–14, 17; Romans 13:8–10; Galatians 5:6; Jeremiah 31:33; 1 John 4:7; John 13:34; Romans 12:10, 16; Ephesians 4:2–3; Galatians 6:2; 1 Peter 1:22–25</p> <p><sup>2</sup>By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments. <sup>3</sup>For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:2–3</p> <ul> <li>The obedience of love</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>The <em>Assurance</em> of Our Faith</h4> <ul> <li>Love for God means that “we keep His commandments,” and “His commandments are not burdensome”—because, instead of condemning us, our love for His commandments and our growing obedience to them rather now <em>assure</em> us that we belong to God as His children, and love Him and His other children.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. God’s love is first in order—prior</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The <em>first</em> command from God that we must obey in order to begin to obey all the rest of His commandments, is to repent and believe the Gospel, to believe that “Jesus is the Christ.”</li> <li>Faith is our <em>first</em> response to what God fundamentally requires of us, because “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who draws near to God must [necessarily] believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Take heed to the faithful and true words of “Jesus the Christ”</strong></h4> <ul> <li>God <em>guarantees</em> this new life and new ways of obedience in our own lives as believers, “purposing us and endeavouring us constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience” (<em>Larger Catechism</em>, Q76).</li> <li><em>Both</em> Jesus and God our Father define true love (man's love) primarily and almost exclusively as obedience to His commandments.</li> <li>The distinction and harmony of God’s Law and Gospel: The Gospel, the very power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16), births faith in us by God’s Spirit, and faith in the Gospel consequently works through love (Galatians 5:6). The Law, now written on our heart (Jeremiah 31:33), is fulfilled in our love for God and for one another (Romans 13:10).</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. In addition to the Thou shalt <em>nots</em>, how do we love God & His people in a positive sense as well?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The “one anothers” of Scripture are how we function as God’s church, and fulfill the Law of God and of Christ, the Law of Love (1 John 4:7)</li> <li>One third of the one another commands instruct Christians to love one another.</li> <li>One third of the one another commands are about striving for and maintaining unity in the church, in love and in truth. <ul> <li>Gently, patiently tolerate (“bear with”) one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:2-3).</li> <li>This does <em>not</em> mean that we should tolerate each other’s <em>sins</em><a href="#_ftn1" n

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> October 19<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/doctrines-of-grace" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Doctrines of Grace</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:1–2; Isaiah 61:1–2; Matthew 22:14; John 1:12–13; Romans 8:28–30; 1 John 4:7–8, 16; John 3:21; 1 John 4:19</p> <p><sup>1</sup>Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the One who gives <em>new</em> birth loves also the one who has been born of Him. <sup>2</sup>By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments. 1 John 5:1–2</p> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>The <em>Source</em> of Our Faith</h4> <ul> <li>What does it mean to be “born of God”?</li> <li>See sermon “Know Your Enemy: The Flesh Examined | 2 Corinthians 5:16-18”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></li> <li>“Has been born of God” (γεγέννηται ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ) is in the perfect passive indicative—past tense, which point to a gospel indicative, <em>not</em> a law imperative (command), a completed action by God Himself—“born of God/Him.”</li> <li>The Word of God consistently teaches the same doctrines all throughout.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. The <em>Order</em> of Our Faith</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Faith is the result, not the cause, of regeneration.</li> <li><em>ordo salutis</em> (order of salvation): external call, internal/effectual call, regeneration, [adoption,] then repentance (change of mind) and faith (conversion), justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, glorification</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. The <em>Fruit</em> of Our Faith</strong></h4> <ul> <li><em>Both</em> faith <em>and</em> love are begotten of God—not only faith, but our love is also born of God and comes from God, who is love (1 John 4:8, 16).</li> <li>Note the universals: God saves every believer in the same basic way.</li> <li><strong>John 3:21</strong>: “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by [Greek <em>en</em>] God.”</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> October 12<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/faith" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Faith</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 5:1; John 14:1; 17:6–8; Romans 10:17; Mark 1:14–15; Romans 3:28; John 3:16; Matthew 16:15–17; Luke 4:16–21; Isaiah 61:1–3</p> <p>Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the One who gives <em>new</em> birth loves also the one who has been born of Him. 1 John 5:1</p> <ul> <li>Parallelism</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ…</h4> <ul> <li>The doctrine of faith, belief, ties into all of the most fundamental, primary doctrines of Scripture: God, man, salvation, God’s Word.</li> <li>All historic Reformed confessions and catechisms dedicate an entire section/chapter (sometimes more) on the subject of faith.</li> <li>All systematic theologies must dedicate a significant portion to the subject of faith, otherwise it would not be systematic.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. What does this mean—that Jesus is the Christ?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Christ means <em>anointed</em>, but for what purpose?</li> <li>See sermon: “<a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/sermon/2025-07-06/beloved-you-are-from-god-have-overcome-1-john-4:4">Beloved, You Are from God & Have Overcome | 1 John 4:4</a>”</li> <li>To rightly understand and accept Him as the divinely prophesied Messiah and Savior, according to the Scriptures</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Christ our Prophet, our Priest, our King</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Isaiah 61:1-3, the Christ is Prophet, Priest, King</li> <li>Matthew Henry: “As Isaiah was authorized and directed to proclaim liberty to the Jews in Babylon, so was Christ, God’s messenger, to publish a more joyful jubilee to a lost world.”</li> </ul> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: center;">We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.<br />For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permissio

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> October 5<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/love" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:18–21; Isaiah 45:6–7; 46:9–11; Ephesians 2:3; 1:4–6; James 2:10–17; Galatians 6:10; 1 John 4:9–12; Mark 12:29–31; 1 Corinthians 12:31–13:13; 1 John 3:16</p> <p><sup>20</sup>If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. <sup>21</sup>And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. 1 John 4:20–21</p> <ul> <li>Conclusion to “The Other Love Chapter”</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Loving and hating, without contradiction</h4> <h4><strong>II. Loving God and brother, without hypocrisy</strong></h4> <ul> <li>This passage gives us criteria for identifying hypocrisy, and helps us to love both God and brother in harmony: “If someone <em>says</em>…”</li> <li>Our vertical relationship with God necessarily affects all our horizontal relationships with our fellow man, especially with our brothers and sisters in the household of faith.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Who is harder to love? God? Or Christian brothers and sisters?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Is there an order of loves (<em>ordo amoris</em>)? A priority of loves?</li> <li>To love God—<em>also</em> means that we love our fellow man, our brother, our neighbor, our enemy</li> <li>God often teaches us the positive doctrine (love) by also identifying, exposing, and refuting the opposite, the error.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. I have been preaching primarily about God’s love and defining His love</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Our perfect love is fundamentally an attitude and a commitment which expresses itself in action and obedience to God’s Word and Will</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V.  Compare 1 John 4:11–12</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Richard Lenski: “<em>Agape</em> is defined as the love of intelligence, of <em>comprehension</em> and understanding. It always has that meaning in the New Testament, most completely so here where it speaks of God’s love. Combined with this is <em>purpose</em>, a purpose that corresponds to the comprehension of the object…. Saving <em>agape</em> thus accompanies <em>charis</em>, compassion, and <em>eleos</em>, benevolence.”</li> <li>The <em>entire</em> law of God can be summarily comprehended in a single word—love.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> September 28<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/love" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:14–19; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Hebrews 4:14–16; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5–11; Romans 11:22; Ephesians 2:3–9; 1:4–6; Romans 5:6–11; 2 Peter 3:16; 1 John 2:1–2; Titus 3:4–7; Romans 8:29–30</p> <h4><strong>I.  W</strong>e have more departed brothers who, being united to Christ, are now confident and without fear in the <em>next</em> world</h4> <ul> <li>Death of Voddie Baucham, please pray for his wife and large family, 9 kids, personal inspiration for us to live up to</li> <li><a href="https://www.voddiebaucham.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Llisten to his preaching, teaching, and read his books</a></li> <li>God has not abandoned us, nor His church. He will continue to raise up godly men for such a time as this, who may not be as famous, but nevertheless faithful, uncompromising brothers, and God’s people can still continue to be edified by the contributions of the faithful men that have recently departed</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  There is no fear in love…</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Fear as in “afraid of” or fear as in “awe, reverence, worship”? φόβος <em>phobos</em></li> <li>God reassures us by telling us not only that perfect love has no fear, but that “perfect love casts out fear”—<em>expels</em> fear</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. How then does perfect love cast out fear? What is this perfect love?</strong></h4> <ul> <li><em>Our</em> perfect love ultimately refers to—and points back to—God’s own perfect, redemptive love for us—the gospel</li> <li>God’s love gives us confidence to live without fear, to have the same mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) that the Song of Christ (Carmen Christi) reveals to us</li> <li>God is <em>always</em> good, always, without fail and without exception, both in His kindness and in His severity, holiness, justice, judgment (Rom. 11:22)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. <em>All</em> of this and more is why the God-breathed apostle continues to reveal to us in verse 19…</strong></h4> <ul> <li>We <em>ourselves</em> love God and our fellow man, because He <em>Himself</em> first loved us</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V. This is one of the most emphatic doctrines in all of Scripture—the gospel of what God’s love has <em>done</em> for us.</strong></h4> <ul> <li>One of the most obvious examples that “are so clearly set forth and explained in one place of Scripture or another” (2LBCF 1:7), of why we no longer have a fearful expectation of God’s judgment, of why we have a perfect love that casts out all fear, is because of God’s own perfect, omnipotent, sovereign, sufficient, sacrificial love for us, His Redemptive, Restorative, Regenerative, Reformative Love</li> <li>Do you see this? Do you believe this? Do you have this perfect, mature, fearless love, that does not fear God’s judgment, but instead looks forward to it? Eagerly anticipates it?</li> </ul> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: center;">What have I to dread, what have I to fear,<br />leaning on the everlasting arms?<br />I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,<br />leaning on

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> September 21<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/end-times">End Times</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>Ecclesiastes 3:7; Psalm 86:15; James 1:19–21; Matthew 20:16; Acts 20:27; Matthew 28:20; 5:13–16; Ephesians 5:11; 1 John 4:17–18; 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 John 3:1–3</p> <p><sup>17</sup>By this, love has been perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world. <sup>18</sup>There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 1 John 4:17–18</p> <ul> <li>Some Christians and pastors started complaining that if your pastor does not address Charlie Kirk’s assassination, you should leave the church</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>There is wisdom in <em>taking time</em>, to reflect and pray and mourn in silence, especially before making drastic public statements or decisions</h4> <ul> <li>We are called to a higher standard, to the upside-down kingdom, where the first will be last, and the last will be first (Matt. 20:16), where our weakness is perfected in God’s strength, to the theology of the cross, the cross-oriented life</li> <li>It <em>is</em> important for elders and pastors to address issues like these in a timely and responsible manner, but there are more biblical reasons for considering when to leave a church</li> <li>Many churches are reluctant to speak out on current and political issues, even the ones that affect Christians and the church</li> <li>That is one of the reasons why we are a free, unincorporated church, because the church needs to be a prophetic voice, like John the Baptist was, in the culture and in society, we are called to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  Confident in the Day of Judgment</strong></h4> <ul> <li>1 John 4:17 is a long chain of clauses, refers to the doctrines of Assurance, Sanctification, Glorification and our final state, Day of Judgment</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. By this, love has been perfected with us…</strong></h4> <ul> <li>By virtue of the sanctifying, mutually abiding, loving fellowship of God and His beloved, by which our minds are married to God’s mind, in a marriage of minds, so that we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16)—“By this,” God’s love has been perfected [τετελείωται <em>teteleiōtai</em>] with us [toward us] already</li> <li>1 John 3:1–3</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. Without fear of what?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>A good grasp of the law and gospel distinction corrects imbalanced zeal and legalistic imbalances, and strengthens our assurance and peace of mind</li> <li><strong><em>Baptist Larger Catechism</em>, Q.82: What shall believers receive at the Day of Judgment?</strong><br />A: At the Day of Judgment, believers will be caught up with Christ in the clouds1 and placed on His right hand, where they will be publicly acknowledged and acquitted.2 They will join Christ in the judgment of reprobate angels and men,3 and be received into heaven.4 There they will be completely and forever freed from all sin and misery,5 filled with unimaginable joy,6 and made perfectly holy and happy both in body and soul, in the vast company of each other and the holy angels.7 They will be particularly blessed in the visual presence and enjoyment of God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, forever.8 1. 1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 1

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> September 14<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/current-issues" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Current Issues</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/law-gospel-distinction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Law & Gospel Distinction</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>Ecclesiastes 3:1–8; Romans 11:22; 1 John 5:19; Psalm 12:8; 1 John 4:17; Psalm 86:15; Romans 4:6–8; Numbers 14:18; Romans 12:17–21; Isaiah 5:20–23; Romans 1:28–32; 8:28; Matthew 27:46; Luke 23:46; Philippians 2:8–9; Ephesians 5:15–17</p> <ul> <li>Charlie Kirk was murdered while doing what he did best, reaching out to the youth in college campuses <ul> <li>He could have been our future president, yet many were celebrating and mocking his murder on social media</li> </ul> </li> <li>Iryna Zarutska was viciously murdered on a train by a violent repeat offender</li> <li>A 16-year-old fired several rounds and almost killed two of his fellow students at Evergreen High School in Colorado, before fatally shooting himself</li> <li>All of these victims were very young—This is a time for weeping and mourning</li> </ul> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: center;">Our prayers go out to the friends and families of the victims: </p> <p style="text-align: center;">May God give them comfort and solace, and draw nigh to them with the light of His salvation</p> <p style="text-align: center;">May He bring healing, and restore justice, repentance, and revival to our land</p> <p style="text-align: center;">May He bring the wicked to justice</p> <p style="text-align: center;">And may He also convict them of their sin and grant them repentance</p> </blockquote> <h4><strong>I.   </strong>This is a sample of the evil being done all over this world, this wicked world that lies under the power of the evil one</h4> <ul> <li>Even as “the wicked strut about on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men” (Psalm 12:8 LSB)—God is still sovereign, God is still in control, and God’s will is still being done</li> <li>Part of the reason there is much evil in the world is because God is longsuffering, God suffers long, God is patient</li> <li>His divine patience is revealed in His enduring mercy and love for sinners, and in His delay in exacting judgment, in part to enable wretched sinners like us to repent and be saved.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  Behold both the kindness and severity of God: Our great God and merciful Savior is also a just Judge</strong></h4> <ul> <li>God alone has a monopoly on vengeance (Rom. 12:17-21)</li> <li>God gives many sobering, dire warnings to the wicked, not just to the ones who murder, but also to the ones who <em>celebrate</em> wickedness (Isa. 5:20-23)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Wickedness and violence is neither random nor senseless</strong></h4> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/sermon/2024-02-25/know-your-enemy:-the-devil-1-john-2:14-17" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Know Your Enemy: The Devil | 1 John 2:14-17</a></li> <li>God ultimately designed and decreed a good purpose for us in everything that happens, no matter how bad (Rom. 8:28)</li> <li>We should seek justice, God’s justice, not our own; God’s way, not our own; and by God’s means rather than our own <ul> <li>Matt Trewhella's <em>The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate</em></li> </ul> </li> <li>The Theology of the Cross (lowliness, suffering, humility) teaches us that Go

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> September 7<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/love" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:16–17; 1 Corinthians 8:4–6; John 4:24; 6:69; 1 Corinthians 13:6–8; 1 John 4:7–10; Ephesians 2:3; Luke 3:38; 1 John 3:1–3; 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 John 4:13; 3:24<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>16</sup>And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. <sup>17</sup>By this, love has been perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world. 1 John 4:16–17</p> <h4><strong>I.   </strong>“And we have come to know and have believed…”</h4> <ul> <li>Belief, or faith, requires knowledge, understanding</li> <li>Faith in turn seeks a deeper understanding: “Faith seeking understanding” (Anselm)</li> <li>Augustine: <em>Crede ut intelligas</em>, “Believe that you may understand”</li> <li>Faith requires content, an object, something to grasp, something to "hold on" to</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  What is “the love which God has in us”?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>God <em>is</em> love (v. 16), and God loves <em>us</em>, His chosen people, we who have come to know and have believed God are the objects of God’s amazing love</li> <li>The love which God has in us is a Redemptive, Restorative, Regenerative, Reformative Love</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. This passage is <em>highly</em> <em>emphatic</em> about God abiding in us and we in Him—in His love—united to Him in Christ</strong></h4> <ul> <li>This mutually abiding union of love corresponds both to God and to us, and it must be true in both cases (God and us) and in the same sense (univocal)</li> <li>Abiding in love does not mean to blindly obey God in fear, but to love and believe the truth, which is the foundation of our obedience, because true love “rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6)</li> <li>“This intimate fellowship consists of having the same ideas, of thinking alike, of being in extensive agreement. Hence, intimacy with God, too, consists in knowing what God thinks. That is to say, in knowing a good bit of theology.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]<strong></strong></a></li> <li><strong>A Marriage of Minds</strong></li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partners

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> August 31<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/faith" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Faith</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:15; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 John 4:2–3; Mark 3:11–12; Matthew 25:41; Luke 15:25–32<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>15</sup>Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 1 John 4:15</p> <ul> <li>There are familiar words, phrases, concepts that we have encountered before: <ul> <li>True believers, confession, assurance, mutual abiding/dwelling, God, love, God is love, glorification, eschatology ("day of judgment")</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Interpretive Principle:</strong> Whenever the word <em>God</em> is used, without any other qualification or reference to a specific Person of the Godhead, it usually refers to God the Father</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.   B</strong>elievers <em>know</em> that they belong to God and confess that reality</h4> <ul> <li>God’s love is final, immutable (never changes), never fails (1 Cor. 13:8)</li> <li>Confessing that Jesus is the Son of God means that you willingly believe, and accept, and receive everything He taught, even though we may not understand all of it perfectly, and are committed to “keep all that He has commanded you” (Matt. 28:20), without hypocrisy and without denying or rejecting the truth of God’s Word that you do understand.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  What confession is <em>not</em>…</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Important to both affirm and deny, compare and contrast, for clarity and understanding</li> <li>This is not a false, hypocritical confession, or a partial confession that willfully denies other primary doctrines (like cults do), but a true confession of faith in the true gospel</li> <li>Mark 3:11-12</li> <li>The Prodigal's older brother, Luke 15:25-32</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> August 24<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/love" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:12–14; 1:1–3; John 15:26–27; 1:14; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Matthew 16:15–17; Ephesians 4:1–7; Romans 9:11, 16, 18; Galatians 4:4–6; Titus 2:13–14<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>13</sup>By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. <sup>14</sup>We have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son <em>to be</em> the Savior of the world. 1 John 4:13-14</p> <h4><strong>I.   </strong><em>We</em> have <em>beheld</em> and <em>we</em> <em>bear witness</em>…</h4> <ul> <li>Who heard and saw, and beheld and touched with their hands “that which was from the beginning”?</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  “Beheld” means <em>more</em> than mere physical sensation</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Our physical eyes, however, do not impart to us spiritual understanding of and faith in the truth</li> <li>Do we walk by sight, or by faith? (2 Cor. 5:7)</li> <li>Matthew 16:15–17</li> <li>The apostles beheld and bore witness “that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world,” not merely because they physically saw and interacted with Christ on earth—did not Judas Iscariot do the same?—but because God chose them and gave them the gift of faith</li> <li>And <em>we</em> ourselves have received that <em>same</em> gift of that <em>same</em> faith from the <em>same</em> God, the <em>same</em> Spirit, the <em>same</em> Lord, the <em>same</em> Word, the <em>same</em> gospel (Eph. 4:1-7)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. To be the Savior of <em>the world</em>…</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Is the Son the Savior of unbelievers? Of reprobates? Of Esau, or Pharaoh? Who is the Son the savior of?</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV.  Is the doctrine of Particular Redemption a recent development?</strong></h4> <ul> <li><em>The Martyrdom of Polycarp </em>(155-160 A.D.): “…we [Christians] will never be able to abandon the Christ, who suffered for the salvation of the whole world of those who are saved, the blameless for the sinful, or to worship anyone else. For we worship this one, who is the Son of God.”</li> </ul> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: center;">And when I think - that God, His Son not sparing / Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in<br />That on a cross, my burden gladly bearing / He bled and died to take away my sin<br />Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee / How great Thou art, how great Thou art</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:ThornCrown

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> August 17<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/holy-spirit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Holy Spirit</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:12–13; Psalm 119:71; John 17:17; 1 Timothy 4:7; Romans 8:28–30; James 3:2; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18; Romans 8:3; Colossians 1:19; 2:9–10; Mark 10:45; Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 3:24; Romans 8:16–18<strong><br /></strong></p> <p>By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 1 John 4:13</p> <ul> <li>“Sanctification is a work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” (<em>1693 Baptist Catechism</em>, Q. 39)</li> <li>God uses some of our good works and our participation in His means of grace as well as our participation in affliction which we are called to endure with hope, as secondary means of our sanctification (1 Tim. 4:7)</li> <li>God’s love never fails us, and never gives up on us, His Spirit is always with us, abides in us, and remains in us</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.   </strong>The Holy Spirit is the primary Agent by which God’s Reformative Love is applied to us</h4> <ul> <li>Abraham Kuyper: “…bad habits of a certain character sometimes pass from father to child even where the early death of the former precludes propagation by education and example.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></li> <li>We are in the sanctifying process of being perfected by God’s Reformative love and through the Person and work of His Holy Spirit</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  God’s Son, Christ Jesus, was the only one who was <em>perfectly</em> full of the Spirit</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Christ relied on the Holy Spirit perfectly to accomplish His mission, “to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45)</li> <li>Abraham Kuyper: “…what Christ needed was the gifts of the Holy Ghost to enable His weakened [human] nature, in increasing measure, to be His instrument in the working out of His holy design; and…to transform His weakened nature not by regeneration, but by resurrection into a glorious nature, divested of the last trace of weakness and prepared to unfold its highest glory.”</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. If Christ on earth needed the Holy Spirit, how much more do we?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The Holy Spirit is frequently the most slandered Person of the Trinity, especially by religious people who call themselves Christians</li> <li>He is often abused to justify all manner of wild imbalances, blasphemies, and heresies</li> <li>Relying on the Holy Spirit primarily means to rely on His means of grace—Word, sacraments, prayer</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV.  One of the precious blessings that the Holy Spirit gives us is assurance</strong></h4> <ul> <li>To grow in your understanding of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, search the Scriptures carefully, systematically, apologetically</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li&gt

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> August 10<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/love" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:11–13; 1 Corinthians 1:30–31; 1 John 4:8–9; 3:2; Romans 8:16–18; 5:1–5; Hebrews 12:5–11; Ephesians 2:3–13; Romans 9:23; 2 Peter 1:3–4; Romans 8:28–30; John 17:17; Jeremiah 23:28–29; Matthew 28:19<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>11</sup>Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. <sup>12</sup>No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. <sup>13</sup>By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 1 John 4:11–13</p> <h4><strong>I.   The</strong> excellencies of God’s love correspond to the order of our salvation (<em>ordo salutis</em>)</h4> <ul> <li>The order of salvation is a result of, the consequence of, God’s love being poured out richly on all of us who have been chosen by God, to be loved by Him—it is all God’s gracious gift to us! Because God is love (1 John 4:8)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  <em>Reformative</em>: After regenerating us, God’s love <em>continues</em> to mold us, rebuke, chasten, discipline us, to conform us to the image of His Son</strong></h4> <h4><strong>III. The path of God’s Reformative love refines, sanctifies, prunes and perfects us</strong></h4> <ul> <li>God’s Reformative love sanctifies us and “is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12) through suffering—but not as those who are without God and without hope in the world (Eph. 2:12)</li> <li>God’s adoptive love for us as our heavenly Father disciplines and reforms us (Heb. 12:5-11)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV.  God’s Law & Gospel of Love</strong></h4> <ul> <li>A Redemptive, Restorative, justifying love, and a Regenerative and ongoing, Reformative, sanctifying love that disciplines us unto holiness, to make us more like His precious, unique Son, “so that we may share His holiness” (Heb. 12:10)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V.  God’s law and gospel both sanctify us in special ways, because they are both God’s holy Word</strong></h4> <ul> <li>God’s holy love transforms us by His holy law, His holy gospel, His Holy Spirit</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and&

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> August 3<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/love" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:11–12; John 19:30; 1 John 4:7–9; Titus 3:4–7; 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 1:18; 4:24; 14:9; 13:34–35; Exodus 33:18–20<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>11</sup>Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. <sup>12</sup>No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:11–12</p> <h4><strong>I.   </strong><em>Regenerative</em>: God’s love regenerates us, recreates us, causes us to adjust our course and walk in newness of life as renewed creations</h4> <ul> <li>God’s love gives us repentance and faith, new spiritual life, gives us a new moral nature, a new disposition, by realigning our deepest convictions, thoughts, words, and actions to His Word and will</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  No one has <em>seen</em> God at any time</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Even though “no one has beheld God at any time,” yet He also demonstrates His abiding love through us and perfects His love in us, because He chose us to be the objects of His love and affections, and His love is regenerative and sanctifies us with a holy love for others, especially for our precious brothers and sisters in Christ</li> <li>Although Moses spoke to God “face to face,” anthropomorphism (Exodus 33:18-20)</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> July 27<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/love" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:9–10; Romans 5:8–10; Ephesians 1:7–8; 1 John 2:1–2; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Isaiah 53:4–10; 1 John 3:1; 1 Peter 2:9–10; Revelation 1:5–6; 5:10; Romans 8:30<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>9</sup>By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. <sup>10</sup>In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son <em>to be</em> the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:7–10</p> <ul> <li>Great gospel memory passage</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.   </strong>This “Other Love Chapter” explains what love truly is, and what it looks like</h4> <ul> <li>What then is love? God’s love is gospel; our love is law (obedience)</li> <li>The Excellencies of God's love: <ul> <li>(a) Redemptive, Restorative (Justifying: Forensic [synthetic])</li> <li>(b) Regenerative, Reformative (Sanctifying: Renovative, Transformative [analytic])</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  Redemptive: God’s love forgives all our sins</strong></h4> <ul> <li>How is our Redemption accomplished? One “Word”—Christ</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. God’s gospel of love is a gospel of propitiation</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The atonement is central to Christianity; propitiation is the heart of the gospel</li> <li> <p>Propitiation is “the means of appeasing wrath and gaining the good will of an offended person; especially with respect to sacrifices for appeasing angered deities.”[1]<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"></a></p> </li> <li>You cannot be saved without a gospel of propitiation, you must believe the true gospel</li> <li>Against Eastern Orthodoxy</li> <li>1 Corinthians 15:3</li> <li>God, Man, Salvation, His Word<strong>—</strong>a failure to grasp these primary doctrines can lead to a false gospel</li> <li>Isaiah 53:4–10</li> <li>You cannot understand God’s love unless you understand God’s wrath</li> <li>You cannot have God’s love unless God’s wrath has been satisfied through His Son whom He sent, to be the propitiation for our sins.</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV.  Restorative: God’s love not only restores to us the benefits that we lost in the Fall, but surpasses them with more blessings and benefits</strong></h4> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright &am

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> July 20<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/love" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:7–10; Matthew 16:18; Esther 4:14; 1 John 4:2; Titus 1:16; Galatians 5:19–24; Acts 20:28; Romans 4:4–5; 1 Corinthians 13:4–8; 1 Kings 18:21<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>7</sup>Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. <sup>8</sup>The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. <sup>9</sup>By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. <sup>10</sup>In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son <em>to be</em> the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:7–10</p> <ul> <li>Christians should study influential men like John MacArthur, just as Christians should study church history, because it allows us to see the good and bad consequences of their theology and lives on a larger scale, with greater insight and clarity</li> <li>God will continue to use His means, His people, to call and raise faithful men up for such a time as this</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.   T</strong>ransition from 1 John 4:6 to verse 7</h4> <ul> <li>The Spirit of God works in them the fruit of the Spirit, in contrast to the works of the flesh, which are antichrist, and which believers now actively mortify in their own flesh</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  Love Is of God, for God Is Love</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The main subject of this passage, and much of this chapter is love, <em>agape</em> in all its various inflections and forms</li> <li>You may have heard of the famous “Love Chapter”—1 Corinthians 13</li> <li>1 John 4 is the "<em>Other</em> Love Chapter"—29 mentions of love versus 21 in 1 Corinthians 13</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. What love is not…</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Love is not an emotion, not a feeling, not fickle or unstable, something that changes constantly and goes back and forth, it does not give up at the first sign of hardship or trouble</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. The “<em>Other</em> Love Chapter” expounds what love truly is and what it looks like</strong></h4> <ul> <li>While there are strong law warnings in this passage about how we ought to love, there are even stronger gospel promises and encouragements about what God’s love has done for us and is working in us!</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> July 13<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/discernment">Discernment</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:2–6; John 15:19; Titus 1:10–16; 1 Corinthians 14:36–40<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>5</sup>They are from the world; therefore they speak <em>as</em> from the world, and the world hears them. <sup>6</sup>We are from God. The one who knows God hears us; the one who is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John 4:5–6</p> <ul> <li><strong>Main Idea:</strong> Those who belong to God and are from Him, who confess His Son and have the spirit of truth, have overcome those who are not from God, who do not belong to Him and reject Him, who are of the antichrist and of the world, and have the spirit of error</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong><em>They</em> are of the world. <em>We</em> are <em>not</em>.</h4> <ul> <li>There are worldly antichrists who are followers, and there are worldly antichrists who are active deceivers and influencers, whom the world loves to hear</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  We cannot simply take people at their word</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The most dangerous antichrists are the ones with the best disguise, pious sounding language and appearances <ul> <li>Especially when they claim to believe the same things…</li> <li>Especially when they claim that God talks to them…</li> </ul> </li> <li>They have neglected—and in many cases rejected—the means and ways that God gives to us whereby we can know Him truly and reject Antichrist, to know truth and reject error</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  What are His means and ways?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>God uses His Word, but He also calls men to teach us the Word so that we can understand it rightly, and grow in our discernment of good and evil, truth and error, to avoid pitfalls, extremes, imbalances, lies of Antichrist and deceptions of the devil</li> <li>The spirit of truth is the mindset that agrees with God’s word and with those whom He has called to teach it to us, like the apostles</li> <li>The spirit of error is the mindset that rejects God’s word and His teachers, and instead follows the world and its antichrist deceivers</li> </ul> <p><strong>Join us on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> July 6<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/assurance">Assurance</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:2–5; Romans 1:25; 1 John 5:19; John 12:31; Ephesians 2:2; Mark 3:28–30; James 4:4; 2 Corinthians 4:2–4; Romans 8:37; John 15:17–21; Matthew 16:15–19; John 8:32; Matthew 18:18; 28:18–20; Hebrews 2:14–17; 1 John 2:19–20<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong><sup>4</sup></strong>You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4</p> <ul> <li>Those who are not from God deny Him instead, and “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Rom. 1:25) — Either/Or</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Conquerors & Overcomers</h4> <ul> <li>1 John 4:4 2—Law or Gospel? <ul> <li>The apostle showers God’s people, “my little children,” with gospel indicatives</li> </ul> </li> <li>What does <em>the world</em> mean in this passage? <ul> <li>Unregenerate society as a whole, which is influenced by the spirit of the antichrist that “is already in the world” (1 John 4:3) and lies under the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19)</li> </ul> </li> <li>Who is “he who is in the world”? <ul> <li>Satan</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  Haven’t the Antichrist and the antichrists overcome the world?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>John 16:33</li> <li>2 Corinthians 4:2–4</li> <li>There is no cosmic, dualistic struggle between God and the devil, Christ and Antichrist</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Haven’t the Antichrist and the antichrists overcome the church?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Matthew 16:15–19</li> <li>What is the church? <em>taen ekklesian</em>, the called-out ones chosen by God</li> <li>Roman Catholic Church-State claims to the papacy, Peter as the 1st pope</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. Amazing promise: No one and no thing—not Death, not the Devil, not any other power, nor anything else can ever prevail against us—God’s church, nor separate us from His greater love (Romans 8)</strong></h4> <ul> <li>1689 LBCF 26.3: “The purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and error,1 [though] some have degenerated so much that they have ceased to be churches of Christ and have [instead] become 'synagogues of Satan'.2 Nevertheless, Christ has always had, and always will have to the end of time a kingdom in this world, made up of those who believe in him and profess his name.3” (1) 1Co 1:11; 5:1; 6:6; 11:17-19; 3Jo 1:9-10; Rev 2:1-3:22 (2) Rev 2:5, 1:20; 1Ti 3:14-15; Rev 18:2 (3) Mat 16:18; 24:14; 28:20; Mar 4:30-32; Psa 72:16-18; 102:28; Isa 9:6-7; Rev 12:17; 20:7-9</li> <li>The churches and people who fall away and become apostate do not belong to Christ, Christ did not “lose” them</li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> June 29<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/discernment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Discernment</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:1–4; Luke 11:23; 9:49–50; Acts 20:26–32; Hebrews 5:14; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; Matthew 15:13–14; Revelation 3:17; 1 John 2:22–23, 18; Matthew 7:15<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong><sup>2</sup></strong>By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, <strong><sup>3</sup></strong>and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the <em>spirit</em> of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 1 John 4:2–3</p> <ul> <li>To confess Christ is to deny Antichrist</li> <li>Law of Excluded Middle: Luke 11:23 and Luke 9:49–50</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>There are many false ways of relating to God, and “many false prophets have gone out into the world”</h4> <ul> <li>Acts 20:26–32</li> <li>Those who are in error are often completely unaware of their own biases and imbalances—self-deception</li> <li>They often assume that their errors/traditions are biblical, instead of carefully investigating them, instead of discerning all things, instead of testing every spirit</li> <li>Gresham Machen’s <em>Christianity & Liberalism</em>—Either/Or, Excluded Middle</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  Confession</strong></h4> <ul> <li>What does it mean to confess Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh?</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Repentance</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Repentance is a form of discernment, a rejection of lies and acceptance of truth</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. What is “the <em>spirit</em> of the Antichrist” (v. 3)?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Zeitgeist, spirit of the age, mindset that is of the Antichrist,<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"><strong>[1] </strong></a>allegiance</li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"></a></p> <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Gordon H. Clark, <em>First John: A Commentary</em>, Trinity Paper, No. 2, 2nd ed. (The Trinity Foun

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> June 22<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/discernment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Discernment</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:1–3; Acts 20:30; Hebrews 4:9–13; 5:9–14; John 7:24; 2 Peter 1:3–4; 1 John 2:18–25; Matthew 7:13–14<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong><sup>1</sup></strong>Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. <strong><sup>2</sup></strong>By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.... 1 John 4:1–2</p> <ul> <li>Discernment in a sense illustrates law and gospel: It is both a command (law), a daily necessity and duty that we all must practice constantly, as well as a good, gracious gift from God (gospel)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Discernment is definitional to the Christian—to be a Christian is to discern</h4> <ul> <li>Discernment is the mirror that allows us to see who we really are</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  How then do we grow in our discernment? In our ability to test every spirit?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Discernment and sound judgment are closely related in Scripture, go hand in hand, frequently overlap</li> <li>You cannot judge righteously unless you first discern properly</li> <li>Grasping God’s Word, understanding it, requires discernment</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Beware—A lack of active, consistent, constant, daily discernment points to and leads to a lack of understanding</strong></h4> <ul> <li>It leads to forgetting things that we previously learned, even to a lack of desire to understand, “dullness of hearing” (Heb 5:11)</li> <li>Discernment is cumulative</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. One of the main reasons we must have our “powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” is because the devil and his antichrist spirit are master counterfeiters‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬</strong></h4> <ul> <li>One of the necessary qualities of biblical discernment—in addition to knowledge of Scripture and of sound doctrine—is logic</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V.  There are many, many erroneous ways of relating to God, many false claims to the true God</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Matthew 7:13–14</li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a hre

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> June 15<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/discernment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Discernment</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 4:1; Acts 20:30; 1 Timothy 4:1–3; 1 Kings 3:7–13; 11:1–6; Matthew 7:9–11; 1 Corinthians 12:7–13; 2 Timothy 2:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22; James 1:5; Matthew 5:37<strong><br /></strong></p> <p>Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1</p> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>“…to see…”</h4> <h4><strong>II.  Who or what are these “spirits”? Πνεύματα</strong></h4> <h4><strong>III. Discernment Defined</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Discernment, in part, is to “know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us.” (1 John 3:24)</li> <li>Discernment is to “test the spirits to see whether they [too] are from God” (1 John 4:1)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. Does discernment really matter to God?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>King Solomon</li> <li>Wisdom is not “knowledge applied”</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V.  Discernment is a good gift from God</strong></h4> <ul> <li>1 Corinthians 12:7–13</li> <li>The gift of discernment is a blessing and benefit of our Union with Christ and His Spirit, the anointing of truth, whereby God equips us with His means to teach us the truth and distinguish it from error</li> </ul> <h4><strong>VI. Who then has the duty to discern, and how often must discernment be exercised?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>As “good soldiers of Christ” (2 Tim 2:3), we must know both our friends and our foes, allies and our enemies</li> </ul> <h4><strong>VII. Analogy of Scripture</strong></h4> <ul> <li>1 Thessalonians 5:21–22</li> <li>Discernment is a powerful weapon, and a lifestyle</li> </ul> <h4><strong>VIII. We discern good from evil, true teachers from false prophets, good churches from bad ones...</strong></h4> <ul> <li>“All congregations in the Christian Reformed Church in North America may allow women to serve in the office of minister, elder, deacon, or commissioned pastor.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></li> <li>“God’s Chisel,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqGIHpiqkjg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqGIHpiqkjg</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotati

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> June 8<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/union-with-christ">Union with Christ</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 3:23–4:1; Ephesians 2:18; 1 Corinthians 1:30–31; Ephesians 1:3–6; Romans 8:32; James 1:27; Proverbs 7:7; Ecclesiastes 8:5; Hosea 14:9; Philippians 1:9–11<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>24</sup>And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us. <sup>1</sup>Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 3:24–4:1</p> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Union with Christ</h4> <ul> <li>There is no tension between the renovative benefits of Christ and His forensic benefits, between objective and subjective benefits, or between the legal and the relational benefits</li> <li>Our Union with Christ also unites us to the entire Trinity</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  Summary of 1 John 3</strong></h4> <h4><strong>III. What is Discernment?</strong></h4> <ul> <li>1 John 4:1</li> <li>Discernment can mean different things in Scripture</li> <li> <p>“The term 'discern' in the Bible refers to the ability to perceive, distinguish, or judge something clearly and accurately. It involves a deep understanding and insight that goes beyond mere surface-level observation. Discernment is often associated with wisdom and spiritual insight, enabling individuals to differentiate between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, or good and evil…. Discernment is a recurring theme in the Scriptures, emphasizing the importance of spiritual insight and understanding. It is considered a gift from God, essential for making wise decisions and living a life that aligns with His will.”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a><strong><a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"></a></strong></p> </li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"></a></p> <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> ‘Topical Bible: Discern’ <https://biblehub.com/topical/d/discern.htm> [accessed 8 June 2025].</p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> June 1<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/union-with-christ">Union with Christ</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 3:22–24; Genesis 15:5; 1 Peter 1:13; Ephesians 1:3–6, 2:13–22; Romans 5:8–10, 8:32<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>24</sup>And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us. 1 John 3:24</p> <ul> <li>Our union with Christ, by faith in Him, being accepted as individuals through Him and in Him, and abiding in the anointing of His Spirit and of the truth, makes our good works pleasing in God’s sight—despite the reality that they may be “accompanied by many weaknesses and imperfections”—because “He looks upon them in his Son” (2LBCF 16.6).</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong>Union with Christ</h4> <ul> <li>We are united to Christ in a, not universal, as in all men, but a corporate sense, as in, all the people of God</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. The doctrine of Union with Christ can be complex, lots of facets, parts, pieces</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Big picture doctrine that encompasses many other doctrines, much like covenant theology</li> <li>The phrase “in Christ” in Scripture, in Him, through Him, with Him—Union</li> <li>“Union with Christ is not to be understood as a moment in the application of salvation to believers. Rather, it is…the way in which believers share in Christ in eternity [past] (by election), in past history [just history, includes OT saints] (by redemption), in the present (by effectual calling, justification, and sanctification), and in the future (glorification).”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Our Union with Christ was established “before the foundation of the world”</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Ephesians 1:3-6</li> <li><a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"></a>Elective or Decretal Union<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"></a> (Predestinarian)</li> <li><strong>“</strong>Biblical analogies include the union of a vine and its branches, the head and members of the body, a husband and wife within the bond of marriage, and the foundation and cornerstone of a building. Dabney noted that Scripture also compares the union of Christ and his people to the bond between the Father and the Son. Yet this analogy does not infer the deification of believers.”<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a></li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV.  We must get the biblical foundational priorities straight, properly ordered</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The legal and logical priority that grounds all of our benefits in our personal union with Christ is Christ Himself—His life and death, His active and passive obedience, and is what grounds our Union with Him, and is the foundation for everything we receive in Him</li> <li>Ephesians 2:13-22</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V.  Some claim that there is no priority between any of the salvific benefits that we receive in Christ</strong></h4> <ul> <li>Romans 5:8-10</li> </ul> <h4><strong>VI. The subjective (our experience) is based on the objective (God’s truth), not the other way around</strong></h4> <ul> <li>The best definition of Union with Christ fully embraces and encompasses everything that it means, all of its doctrines, because it’s really

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> May 25<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/faith">Faith</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 3:22–24; Mark 1:14; Matthew 3:8; Acts 26:20; John 6:29, 63; 5:46–47; Hebrews 11:8–10, 17–19; 1 Corinthians 2:16; John 8:51<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>23</sup>And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He gave a commandment to us. <sup>24</sup>And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us. 1 John 3:23–24</p> <ul> <li>Our prayers must be informed and guided by Scripture, just as our faith must be informed and guided by Scripture</li> <li>We are commanded to first and foremost understand and believe the truth (Mark 1:14)</li> <li>Faith always comes first, then good works follow, then we do works “in keeping” with this saving repentance and faith (Mt 3:8, Acts 26:20)</li> <li>Obedience does not follow faith, because believing is the first act of obedience, even though our belief is not our good work—it is the work of God (John 6:29)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>I.  </strong><strong>There is no difference between believing “in the name of His Son Jesus Christ,” or believing in Christ, or believing Christ, or believing the words of Christ</strong></h4> <h4><strong>II. Do not be misled when people say that true faith is not believing things about Christ, but believing Christ Himself<br /></strong></h4> <h4><strong>III. Take Abraham as a prime example of faith, true faith<br /></strong></h4> <h4><strong>IV. Union with Christ<br /></strong></h4> <ul> <li>1 John 3:24 teaches us a universal union with Christ, but also a particular union with Him—a personal one, through faith—by His Spirit, His anointing</li> <li>"The New Testament does indeed teach a mutual indwelling of Christ and the believer. There is a very real sense in which minds interpenetrate. In I Corinthians 2:16 Paul asserts that 'we have the mind of Christ.' Christ dwells in us and we in him by our thinking and believing his doctrines. As John says in his Gospel 8:51, 'He who maintains my doctrine shall not see death, ever.'”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="http://lsbible.org/">LSBible.org</a> and <a href="http://316publishing.com/">316publishing.com</a></p> <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Gordon H. Clark, <em>First John: A Comme

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> May 18<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/law-gospel-distinction">Law & Gospel Distinction</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 3:22–23; Matthew 23:23; Psalm 37:1–9; Romans 8:32; Mark 1:14–15; Matthew 3:8; Acts 26:20; Hebrews 11:6<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>22</sup>and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. <sup>23</sup>And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He gave a commandment to us. 1 John 3:22–23</p> <h4><strong>I.  I</strong><strong>f God gives us whatever we ask for according to 1 John 3:22, then why do we not always get what we ask for?<br /></strong></h4> <ul> <li>It is not pious to obey one command (e.g., prayer) at the expense/neglect of another (e.g., study)—it is immature and sinful to neglect the whole counsel of God, or to have lopsided/imbalanced priorities and applications</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II. What does Jesus say about balance?<br /></strong></h4> <ul> <li>He rebuked the false, imbalanced piety of the scribes and Pharisees, Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”</li> <li>Just as you cannot love aright without sound doctrine (the “weightier provision of the Law”—because we are commanded to first and foremost understand and believe the truth), so likewise, you cannot pray aright without the truth of sound doctrine</li> <li>Prayer is an outworking (orthopraxy) of our doctrine (orthodoxy)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. We must not pray for sinful things, nor with selfish/perverse motives</strong></h4> <ul> <li>James 4:1-12</li> <li>Prayer is relational, how we relate with God</li> </ul> <h4><strong>IV. To pray rightly, in a manner that pleases God, you need knowledge, faith, humility, persistence, patience.<br /></strong></h4> <ul> <li>We worship and bow before God in prayer, to petition Him for help, grace, mercy, forgiveness, strength, support, provision, deliverance, blessings, good things</li> <li>Psalm 37:1–9</li> <li>God has given us everything already through our heavenly inheritance and union with Christ (Romans 8:32)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>V. What does it mean to “keep His commandments”?<br /></strong></h4> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</li> </ul> <p><strong>Contact us at:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>web:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrownCovenant.Church</a><br /><strong>call/text:</strong> (915) 843-8088<br /><strong>email: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li> </ul> <p>Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. <a href="htt

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lord's Day:</strong> May 11<span class="sermon-listing-detail">, 2025  </span><span class="sermon-listing-detail"><strong>Preacher:</strong> <a class="speaker" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/preacher/p/19307/carlos-montijo" rel="p-19307">Carlos Montijo</a>  <span class="sermon-series"><strong>Series:</strong> <a id="series-10" class="series" href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/series/first-john">First John</a></span> <span class="sermon-topic"> <strong>Topic:</strong> <a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/sermons/topic/prayer">Prayer</a>  </span></span><strong>Scripture: </strong>1 John 3:21–22; Ephesians 3:20–21; Romans 8:26–27; Matthew 6:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18; Matthew 7:7–12; 1 John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 2:15; 2 Peter 1:2–3; Romans 8:32<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><sup>21</sup> Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; <sup>22</sup> and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. 1 John 3:21–22</p> <h4><strong>I.  This passage also distills for us the essence of prayer<br /></strong></h4> <ul> <li><em>Baptist Larger Catechism</em>, Q175: “Prayer is offering our desires to God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ with the help of His Spirit, praising Him, confessing our sins, and thankfully recognising His mercies.”</li> <li>God works in us to pray, stirs us to pray, and, in our weakness, guides our prayer and intercedes with and for us in our prayers</li> </ul> <h4><strong>II.  If God gives us whatever we ask for, according to 1 John 3:22, then why do we not always get what we ask for?<br /></strong></h4> <ul> <li>Prayer is relational, a reflection of how we relate with God—not the other way around</li> <li>God does not pray to us—we pray to Him—He takes our prayers into consideration and answers them according to His sovereign decree (will) “in the works of creation and providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of His own will,” which includes “His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing of all His creatures and all their actions to His own glory” (<em>Baptist Larger Catechism</em>, Q16, Q20).</li> <li>Prayer is a means of God’s grace, God answers our prayers and gives us what we ask for through various means, especially through God’s people and church, which administers the means of grace that God has given all of us, “particularly the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer” (BLC Q143)</li> <li>Our theology of prayer and our prayer life—how we prioritize prayer in light of our other duties, our prayer habits, how we pray, what we pray, not just how often or how long we pray—are a reflection of our relationship with God, and of own spiritual condition/maturity</li> <li>Just as you cannot love aright without sound doctrine, so likewise you cannot pray aright without the truth of sound doctrine</li> <li>Prayer is an outworking (orthopraxy) of our doctrine (orthodoxy)</li> </ul> <h4><strong>III. Our Lord Jesus instructs us on what a healthy prayer relationship looks like with our Heavenly Father, as well as some of the things we are called to do “that are pleasing in His sight”</strong></h4> <ul> <li>We must recognize our own reality through God’s eyes, how He sees us—that we are needy children who should regularly ask our loving Father for good and needful things</li> <li>God has given us everything already—“He who indeed did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)</li> </ul> <p><strong>We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.thorncrowncovenant.church/">ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church</a></strong><br />4712 Montana Ave<br />El Paso, Texas 79903</l