Cited in sermons
Dennis Johnson
9 sermons · All people cited
The Third Missionary Journey, Part 3
Acts 19:21–41 records Paul's final days in Ephesus, culminating in a riot instigated by the silversmith Demetrius, whose financial interests were threatened by the gospel's advance against idolatry. The passage is examined under four headings: Paul's strategic plans for further ministry, the anger of the silversmiths rooted in profit dressed as piety and patriotism, the confused uproar in the theater, and the intervention of the city clerk whose cool legal reasoning protected the church. The exposition draws out the apologetic purpose of Luke's account — demonstrating that Roman civil authority found no legal fault with Christianity — and closes with an urgent call to forsake every idol and trust the righteousness of Christ alone.
The First Missionary Journey, Part 7
Acts 13:44–52 records the second Sabbath in Pisidian Antioch, where almost the whole city gathered to hear Paul and Barnabas, provoking the envy and blasphemy of unbelieving Jews. This sermon works through three movements: the opposition of the Jews, the bold response of Paul and Barnabas, and the spread of the word. The exposition holds together the responsibility of those who judge themselves unworthy of eternal life (v. 46) and the absolute sovereignty of God in election (v. 48), demonstrating that consistent Reformed theology requires both without collapsing either into hyper-Calvinism or Arminianism. The closing application presses hearers toward faithfulness now as the surest preparation for future persecution, and calls the unconverted to look to Christ without waiting for a private disclosure of their election.
The Persecution of the Church and the Power of God
Acts 12:1–24 presents the early church under coordinated assault from the civil state: Herod Agrippa I executes James, imprisons Peter, and accepts divine honors from a crowd — yet the chapter closes with Herod dead, Peter free, and the word of God multiplied. The sermon traces three movements in the passage: the persecution of the church, the miraculous deliverance of Peter, and the judicial destruction of Herod, arguing throughout that no civil power can ultimately frustrate the advance of Christ's kingdom. Listeners are called to persistent intercessory prayer for the persecuted church, confident that the same sovereign God who struck down Herod continues to reign over every enemy of his people.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch
Acts 8:26–40 records the Spirit-directed encounter between the evangelist Philip and an Ethiopian eunuch, a man doubly excluded from Israel's assembly by Deuteronomy 23:1 yet drawn by God's sovereign grace into the new-covenant community. The sermon traces three movements in the narrative — the providential meeting, the expository dialogue from Isaiah 53, and the eunuch's confession and baptism — arguing that the passage is not merely a quotation but a fulfillment of Isaiah 56, in which eunuchs and foreigners are brought near through the blood of Christ. Against any notion of baptism as a converting ordinance, the preacher grounds believers' baptism in the pattern of faith preceding baptism throughout Acts, Calvin's own concession that immersion was the ancient mode, and the 1689 LBCF's definition of baptism as an ordinance primarily for the party baptized. The sermon closes with an indiscriminate call to all sinners to relinquish their own righteousness and rest in the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
The Judgment of God in the Early Church
Acts 5:1–11 records the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, struck down by God for lying to the Holy Spirit. This sermon works through the passage under two headings: the deceitfulness of the couple (vv. 1–4) and the death they suffered by God's direct judgment (vv. 5–11). The preacher grounds the episode in a high doctrine of God — holy, just, and a consuming fire — and insists that the primary practical lesson is the fear of God, not merely ethical instruction about honesty. The sermon closes with the gospel: no one can stand before this holy Lord God except Christ alone, and all who are savingly united to Him by faith stand in Him.
Livestream - Baptism: Wim Kerkhoff
Acts 8:26–40 records the conversion and baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch, and this exposition sets that account against its Old Testament backdrop in Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 56 to show that what is happening is not merely one man's conversion but the fulfillment of covenant promises: the inclusion of those doubly excluded from the assembly of Israel. The sermon works through three movements — the divine appointment of the contact, the gospel communication beginning from Isaiah 53, and the conversion issuing in immediate baptism upon confession of faith. The central application is that God is characteristically and eagerly a saving God, that believers' baptism follows faith as its ordained external sign, and that no sinner — whether powerful or poor, crisis-converted or quietly brought to faith — is beyond the reach of sovereign grace.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch
Acts 8:26–40 records the Spirit-orchestrated conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch through Philip's proclamation of Christ from Isaiah 53. The passage is set within the fulfillment of Isaiah 56's promise that eunuchs and Gentiles would be brought near to God in the messianic age — a promise Luke deliberately highlights as the risen and exalted Christ builds his kingdom to the uttermost parts of the earth. The sermon expounds the substitutionary suffering of the servant of Yahweh as the content of Philip's evangelism, the great exchange of 2 Corinthians 5:21 as the ground of justification, and the proper order of faith then baptism as the pattern of apostolic practice. Hearers are pressed to ask whether they understand the gospel, to believe it without delay, and — if already believing — to submit to baptism as an act of obedience and a means of grace.
The Appointment of the Seven
Acts 6:1–7 presents the appointment of the first seven men set apart to serve the Jerusalem church, men whom later apostolic instruction in 1 Timothy 3:8–13 would identify as deacons in the formal sense. The sermon works through three movements: the temporal problem of neglected widows that threatened to consume the apostles' calling, the apostolic proposal demanding spiritually qualified men of good reputation full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and the divine provision confirmed by the spread of the Word. The governing argument is that the diaconate exists precisely to guard the church's primary ministries of prayer and gospel proclamation, freeing elders to devote themselves continually to those ends. The sermon concludes by directing both the newly installed deacons and any unconverted hearer to Christ, the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.
The Persecution of the Church and the Power of God
Acts 12 sets the persecution of the early church against the sovereign power of God: Herod executes James, imprisons Peter with an overwhelming guard, and receives divine worship — yet God delivers Peter through angelic intervention, strikes Herod dead for his idolatry, and the Word of God grows and multiplies. The chapter exposes both the reality of suffering for Christ's people and the futility of every human attempt to extinguish the gospel. Four movements structure the exposition: the persecution of the church, Peter's miraculous escape, the judgment of Herod Agrippa, and Luke's progress report on the unstoppable advance of God's Word. The sermon calls hearers to honest reckoning with suffering, earnest corporate prayer, and worship of the God who shares his glory with no one.