Cited in sermons
Douglas Kelly
3 sermons · All people cited
2LCF Chapter 4 - Of Creation
The 2nd London Confession of Faith Chapter 4 sets forth the biblical doctrine of creation: that the triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — freely called all things into being ex nihilo in the space of six literal days for the manifestation of His glory. The study examines the Trinitarian authorship of creation, the doctrine of appropriations, the nature of man as a dichotomous image-bearer possessing knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and the probationary command given to Adam as positive law. A sustained application presses the church to hold the doctrine of six-day creation and the historical integrity of Genesis 1–3, recognizing that capitulation on creation undermines Christian ethics across every domain — marriage, sexuality, human dignity, and ecclesial order.
The Ministry of Apollos
Acts 18:24–28 introduces Apollos of Alexandria as a case study in what faithful gospel ministry requires. Six marks characterize this man — eloquence grounded in scriptural mastery, accurate instruction in the way of the Lord, fervency of spirit governed by knowledge, precise teaching, bold proclamation, and humble openness to correction — and these same marks should shape the church's prayers for and training of men for public ministry. Luke's phrase 'believed through grace' discloses the ordo salutis: saving faith is itself the gift of God's sovereign grace to dead sinners. The sermon closes by pressing both the need for trained, bold preachers and the equally urgent need for obedient hearers, applying the gospel of justification by faith alone to any who have not yet come to Christ.
Women, the Word, and the Ministry
First Timothy 2:11–15 sets out Paul's prohibition against women teaching or exercising authority over men in the gathered church, grounding the rule not in first-century Ephesian culture but in the creation order of Genesis 2 and the fall of Genesis 3. The sermon works through three movements: Paul's exhortation that women receive the Word in submission, his double prohibition against women teaching men or holding authority over them, and his appeal to Adam's prior formation and Eve's deception as the theological rationale. Complementarian church governance is shown to be neither novel nor culturally conditioned but the normative, historically consistent pattern binding on every local church in every age. The closing treatment of verse 15 presents both the 'preservation in domestic faithfulness' reading and the 'messianic childbearing' interpretation, with the preacher siding with the latter.