Cited in sermons
J. A. Alexander
38 sermons · All people cited
The Baptism of Saul of Tarsus
The baptism of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9:17–25 demonstrates the proper order of Christian baptism: conversion precedes the ordinance, which then publicly marks the believer as a disciple of Christ. The passage is treated as a direct answer to Stephen's dying prayer in Acts 7:60, with Saul's transformation from chief persecutor to chief preacher serving as a vivid display of sovereign, redeeming grace. The sermon draws out three observations from Saul's early ministry — the immediacy, the effects, and the hostility of his preaching — and closes with the baptism of three new believers, each of whom gives a brief testimony of their own conversion.
The Ministry in Lystra
Acts 14:8–18 presents Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, where the healing of a man crippled from birth provokes the surrounding pagans to identify the apostles as Zeus and Hermes come in human form. Paul's corrective address to the Lystrans teaches the non-divinity of creatures and, by implication, the sharp ontological distinction between the living God and all that he has made. The study moves from the healing account into a substantial exposition of divine impassibility and simplicity, grounding those doctrines in the phrase 'of like passions' and tracing them through the confession, Scripture, and the Reformed theological tradition.
The Refuge for God's People
Psalm 46 sets the doctrine of God's sovereign presence as the only sufficient ground for courage in affliction. The psalm's threefold refrain — 'The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge' — anchors the people of God against both natural catastrophe and the rage of hostile nations. Drawing on Job, the upper room discourse, Acts 14, and the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, this exposition argues that suffering is the normative texture of the Christian life, not an anomaly to be explained away. The command of verse 10 — 'Be still and know that I am God' — is not passive fatalism but a call to steady, covenant confidence in the God whose justice, power, and faithfulness guarantee the final exaltation of Christ among the nations.
The Royal Wedding
Psalm 45 presents a royal wedding between the divine King and his bride, the church, composed centuries before the incarnation as a song of love pointing directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. The sermon moves through four sections: the psalmist's overflowing intention, the perfections and divine-human person of the King, the instruction to the bride concerning faith and repentance, and the declaration of the King's eternal glory. Christ is shown to be fairer than all the sons of men, advancing his kingdom through truth, humility, and righteousness rather than deception, while his priestly office — not only his kingly conquest — is pressed upon the hearer as the only ground of hope for sinners. The bride is clothed not in her own righteousness but in the imputed righteousness of Christ, received by faith alone, to be brought with gladness into the King's palace.
The Righteous Reign of the Son of God
Psalm 2 presents the righteous reign of the Son of God against the backdrop of universal human rebellion. The nations rage, the kings conspire, and the political class unites in mutiny against Yahweh and His anointed — yet God laughs from the heavens, installs His Son on Zion, and promises Him the nations as His inheritance. The decree announced in verses 7–9 is rooted in the covenant of redemption: the Father gives a great multitude to the Son, who accomplishes their salvation through substitutionary obedience, death, and resurrection, and is then exalted to universal messianic kingship. The psalm closes with an evangelistic summons: be wise, serve the Lord with fear, and kiss the Son — for blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
The Apostle in Pisidian Antioch
Paul's sermon in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:38–43) proclaims two inseparable blessings at the heart of the apostolic gospel: the forgiveness of sins and justification by faith alone in Christ alone. The law of Moses exposes the sinner's total inability to meet God's demand for perfect righteousness, while Christ's life of obedience, substitutionary death, and resurrection supply both the pardon and the imputed righteousness the guilty sinner needs. The sermon concludes with a warning drawn from Habakkuk 1:5 against despising this gospel, and with the Gentiles' eager reception of the word as a pattern for which the church ought to pray in every generation.
The Refuge for God's People
Psalm 46 sets the people of God in the midst of cosmic and political chaos and calls them to find their sole refuge in the Lord of hosts. This exposition works through four movements in the psalm — the assurance of God's presence, the demonstration of his power over creation and the nations, the invitation to rehearse his past works in redemptive history, and the command to be still and know that he is God. The sermon argues that Reformed Christians who rightly confess God's sovereignty in salvation must equally rest in that sovereignty under tyranny, pandemic, and war. The chief application is that the church must know God — his perfections, his names, his covenant fidelity — because it is the knowledge of God, not practical principles, that steadies the soul and fuels missionary confidence in the darkest of times.
The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer
Acts 16:16–34 presents the arrest and imprisonment of Paul and Silas as the God-ordained means by which a Roman jailer was brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ. The sermon traces two movements: the exorcism of a python spirit that provoked false charges and a severe beating, and the subsequent earthquake and gospel conversation that issued in the jailer's conversion and household baptism. Paul and Silas's midnight prayers and hymns amid unjust suffering demonstrate that Christ is worth all suffering, while the jailer's question — 'What must I do to be saved?' — receives the apostolic answer: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The sermon closes with three baptisms that embody the same gospel the Philippian jailer heard, illustrating that believers' baptism by immersion is the fitting public sign of union with Christ in His death and resurrection.
The Appointment of the Seven
Acts 6:1–7 records the Jerusalem church's response to a logistical crisis that threatened to pull the apostles away from prayer and the ministry of the Word. The passage establishes the diaconate in seed form: men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, appointed to serve the practical needs of the congregation so that those charged with preaching and teaching may be undistracted. Expounding 1 Timothy 3:8–13 alongside the Acts text, this sermon examines the qualifications, function, and appointment of deacons, and the connection between a biblically ordered church — with both elders and deacons — and the advance of the gospel.
The Enthronement of the Priest-King
Psalm 110, the most frequently cited Old Testament passage in the New Testament, presents the Messiah as the divinely enthroned Priest-King whose universal dominion is secured by the oath of God. This exposition traces three movements in the psalm: the enthronement and government of Christ the King (vv. 1–3), his eternal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek (v. 4), and the triumphant conquest of his enemies (vv. 5–7). The sermon draws on Peter's argument in Acts 2, Paul's application in 1 Corinthians 15 and Ephesians 1, and the author of Hebrews to show that Christ's present session at the right hand of the Father is not passive but active — he reigns, subdues, and intercedes. Christians living in tumultuous times are urged to resist despair by fixing their confidence in the sovereign rule of the enthroned Priest-King rather than in the shifting circumstances of earthly politics.
The Royal Wedding
Psalm 45 presents a royal wedding between the divine-human Messiah and his church, and the sons of Korah compose it as a song of love that the New Testament apostles and the entirety of the Old Testament prophetic witness sustain. The sermon works through the psalm's four sections — the psalmist's intention, the perfections and person of King Messiah, the instruction to the bride, and the closing declaration — demonstrating that a divine Messiah was not a novelty invented by John or Paul but was anticipated in the Hebrew Scriptures. Christ is celebrated as fairer than the sons of men, committed to truth and righteousness, triumphant over his enemies, fully God and fully man in the hypostatic union, and the one who clothes his bride in imputed righteousness received through faith alone. The appropriate response of the church is repentance, exclusive allegiance, worship, and gladness before her great King.
The Practice of the Church
Acts 2:41–47 describes the first-century church's response to apostolic preaching and, when read in light of the whole New Testament, is prescriptive for churches today. The sermon traces two main movements: the power of the gospel that produces faith, repentance, and baptism, and the fourfold practice of the church — steadfast continuation in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. Cessationism is applied to the signs and wonders of the apostolic era, while the ongoing marks of the church are drawn from the Belgic Confession's articles on the true church and the obligations of her members. The practical burden is that believers must resist both the reduction of church life to entertainment and the temptation to substitute online participation for embodied, corporate worship.
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.
Psalm 46
Psalm 46 presents God as the impenetrable refuge and omnipotent strength of His people in the midst of natural catastrophe, national upheaval, and personal affliction. The study works through four heads: the assurance of God's presence (vv. 1, 7, 11), the demonstration of God's power (vv. 2–6), the invitation to behold God's works (vv. 8–9), and the command to rest in God's sovereignty (v. 10). Covenant theology is not merely a theoretical construct but the very ground of the believer's comfort — the God of Jacob is a covenant-keeping God whose purposes cannot be frustrated by any earthly power. The congregation is called to the practical discipline of theology proper: to know God deeply so that the soul is stabilized, not paralyzed, in times of trouble.
The First Missionary Journey, Part 11
Acts 14:19–28 records the conclusion of Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey: Paul is stoned at Lystra, left for dead, rises and continues preaching, and the two apostles retrace their steps to strengthen the newly formed churches, appoint elders, and finally report to the sending church in Antioch of Syria. This exposition draws out three interlocking realities the journey illustrates — the inevitability of tribulation for God's people, the centrality of gospel proclamation and discipleship to the church's mission, and the sovereign power of God who confounds his enemies, sustains his servants, and saves sinners through the foolishness of preaching. The sermon presses listeners to measure their own commitment to Christ and his cause against the tenacity of those who opposed it, and to receive the appointment of faithful teaching elders as God's appointed means for the church's perseverance.
The First Missionary Journey, Part 5
Paul's sermon in Pisidian Antioch moves from historical exposition to urgent exhortation: forgiveness of sins comes not through moral effort, law-keeping, or any human merit, but through this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and is received by faith alone. Drawing on Psalms 25, 32, 51, 130, Isaiah 43 and 45, Micah 7, and the recurring apostolic pattern in Acts, the sermon traces how the forgiveness of sins is the central remedy for mankind's fundamental problem of transgression against a holy God. Faith itself is a divine gift, grounded in a God who delights in mercy, and the proper response to the gospel is to look to Christ alone — accepting, receiving, and resting upon Him for justification, sanctification, and eternal life.
The Enthronement of the Messiah
Psalm 110 presents the enthroned Messiah as divine King, eternal Priest, and triumphant Conqueror — a vision the early church clung to precisely because they suffered under Rome and unbelieving Israel. This exposition traces the three offices of the Mediator through seven verses, showing that Christ's present session at the right hand of the Father is not a passive waiting but an active subjugation of all enemies. The sermon rebukes a domesticated, sentimental Christology and calls believers to confident, volunteer service under the sovereign who must reign until every enemy is made his footstool.
The Conversion of Cornelius, Part 3
Peter's sermon to the household of Cornelius in Acts 10:34–43 marks a watershed moment in redemptive history: the formal, Spirit-ordained inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant of grace, without circumcision or submission to the ceremonial law. The sermon examines the providential convergence of Peter and Cornelius, the content of apostolic gospel preaching — the peace, person, work, and prophetic witness to Christ — and the doctrinal significance of justification by faith alone apart from ethnic or ceremonial identity. The central application is urgent: because Christ is ordained as judge of the living and the dead, sinners of every tribe and nation must believe now and receive remission of sins through His name alone.
Free Grace Baptist Church - September 22, 2019 AM
Acts 10:9–16 presents Peter's vision of the great sheet as more than a curiosity about dietary law — it is a decisive turning point in redemptive history, signaling the formal inclusion of the Gentiles in the covenant promises of God. The sermon works through three particulars of the vision: its occasion (Peter's noon prayer on the housetop), the vision proper (the sheet with clean and unclean animals), and God's explanation ('What God has cleansed you must not call common'), tracing the contrast with Ezekiel 4 to show that where Ezekiel's unclean diet symbolized Israel's defilement among the Gentiles, Peter's vision announces the Gentiles' purification alongside Israel. The exposition addresses the threefold division of the law — moral, ceremonial, and judicial — demonstrating that the food laws were ceremonial and always purposed by God to be abrogated by Christ's fulfillment, with implications for how new covenant Christians navigate Christian liberty, avoid judgmentalism toward one another, and proclaim a gospel that comes to helpless sinners without additions or conditions.
The First Post-Conversion Visit to Jerusalem by Paul
Paul's first post-conversion visit to Jerusalem (Acts 9:26–31) exposes three realities: the suspicious reception Saul faced from the Jerusalem disciples, the bold gospel ministry he conducted among the Hellenists despite two attempts on his life, and Luke's summary statement on the condition and growth of the churches in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. The sermon argues that faithful churches grow not through gimmick or manipulation but through walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit — conditions that produce peace, edification, and genuine multiplication. Along the way, the preacher presses the congregation to pray for bold preaching, to value the supporting roles of 'Ananias and Barnabas figures' in the church, and to pursue the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace as an active, worked-for reality.
The Baptism of Saul of Tarsus
Acts 9:17–25 records the baptism and initial preaching of Saul of Tarsus following his encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus road. Ananias addresses the former persecutor as 'brother Saul,' and Saul is immediately baptized — a pattern the sermon presses as normative: conversion precedes and grounds baptism, which is the public confession of a forgiven sinner, not a converting ordinance. The sermon then traces the character of Saul's early preaching: immediate, Christocentric, apologetic, and persuasive — proving from the Old Testament that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God — while showing that the same mission statement of Acts 9:15–16 (preach and suffer) begins its fulfilment within hours of his conversion. Hearers are urged to confess Christ openly, to submit to baptism without delay, and to recover a persuasive, Scripture-grounded proclamation of the gospel rather than the entertainment-driven substitute that fills contemporary pulpits.
The Profession of Simon Magus
Acts 8:9–13 presents a direct clash between the gospel of Jesus Christ and the sorcery of Simon Magus, who had captivated the whole population of Samaria with his claim to divine greatness. The sermon expounds two movements in the text: the comprehensive grip of false doctrine under Simon, and the liberating power of divine grace through Philip's proclamation of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Salvation comes exclusively through faith in Christ — not through a mixture of truth and magic, not through works — and believers' baptism publicly identifies the convert with the triune God while repudiating every former allegiance. The passage is set forth as a demonstration that Christ, enthroned at the right hand of the Father, must reign until all his enemies are made his footstool, which is ground for courage, prayer, and faithful gospel proclamation in every generation.
Stephen's Defense, Part 9
Acts 7:51–53 records the climactic conclusion of Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin, in which he reverses the charge of blasphemy against Moses and the temple by indicting the council itself for idolatry. Each epithet Stephen employs — 'stiff-necked,' 'uncircumcised in heart and ears,' and 'always resisting the Holy Spirit' — is drawn from the Old Testament vocabulary of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and the Psalms, showing that the council stands in unbroken solidarity with the idolatrous generations before them. The pinnacle of their guilt is the betrayal and murder of the Just One, the Messiah foretold by the prophets, whose coming was the very purpose of the law and the temple they claimed to defend. The sermon calls hearers to recognize that the law of Moses and the temple of God both point inexorably to Christ, and that to reject him is to break the law one professes to uphold.
Stephen's Defense, Part 6
Acts 7:37–43 records Stephen's appeal to the wilderness generation as the climax of his defense before the Sanhedrin, demonstrating that Israel's persistent idolatry — not Stephen's teaching — represents the true rejection of Moses and of God. Stephen cites Deuteronomy 18:15 to show that Moses himself predicted the coming of Christ, the prophet like Moses, so that the council's rejection of Jesus is simultaneously a rejection of Moses and of the living God who sent him. The sermon traces Israel's descent from refusing Moses' word, to fashioning the golden calf, to God judicially giving them over to worship the host of heaven, drawing a direct line from Exodus 32 through Amos 5 to the very council Stephen addresses. The practical summons is double: flee idolatry in all its forms, whether tangible or inward, and flee to the God who, even in righteous judgment, remains ready to pardon.
Stephen's Defense, Part 5
Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:30–36 draws on the call and rejection of Moses to demonstrate that the very history Israel appeals to condemns their rejection of Jesus. The sermon expounds six attributes of God revealed in the burning bush — God as revelatory, covenantal, holy, compassionate, delivering, and the self-existent I Am — showing that Moses received a theophany of the pre-incarnate Christ in Gentile territory, dismantling the council's temple-centered objections. Moses functions as a deliberate type of Christ: called by God, rejected by the people, and authenticated by signs and wonders. The sermon closes by applying the typology directly: as Moses was sent to deliver Israel from earthly bondage, Christ is sent to deliver sinners from the bondage of sin, and the call to come to him is extended to all who are weary and heavy laden.
The Appointment of the Seven
Acts 6:1–7 presents the early Jerusalem church navigating a threat not of persecution or corruption but of distraction — the risk of the apostles being pulled from prayer and the ministry of the Word to adjudicate a dispute over the daily distribution to widows. The passage reveals two offices in the church, each with distinct responsibilities: those called to preach and pray, and those appointed to serve. The sermon traces the problem, the apostles' proposal of qualified men to oversee the practical need, and the resulting provision — a gospel that spreads and even inveterate priestly enemies who are overcome by efficacious grace.
The Decision of the Council
Acts 5:33–42 records the Sanhedrin's decision to beat the apostles and command them to cease preaching in the name of Jesus — and the apostles' rejoicing response. This exposition works through three movements: the council's murderous fury at Peter's gospel proclamation, the qualified wisdom of Gamaliel's historical and theological arguments for restraint, and the apostles' departure rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name. The sermon calls the congregation to a readiness for persecution that mirrors the apostles', grounded not in stoic resolve but in the altogether loveliness of Christ who is chief among ten thousand.
The Apostles' Defense before the Council
Acts 5:27–32 records the apostles' second arraignment before the Sanhedrin and their bold proclamation of the gospel under direct threat of punishment. Peter's reply — 'we ought to obey God rather than men' — establishes a permanent principle for the church: when civil or religious authority commands disobedience to God, the Christian is bound to God alone. The sermon expounds Peter's gospel proclamation in verses 30–32, treating the incarnation, crucifixion, exaltation, and gift of repentance as a coherent apostolic witness, and closes with exhortations to prepare for persecution, persevere in bold proclamation, and believe the message of forgiveness through 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.
The Arrest of Peter and John
The arrest of Peter and John in Acts 4:1–4 is not a setback to the mission of Christ but an instrument of its advance. The religious leaders of Israel — Sadducees especially — are provoked by the apostolic proclamation of resurrection in Jesus, yet even as the preachers are jailed, the Word of God prevails and the number of believers swells to five thousand. The sermon draws out from this episode the sovereignty of Christ over his church, the doctrine of justification by faith alone secured by Christ's active and passive obedience, and the pattern of suffering through which the gospel spreads. The hearer is called to present faithfulness as the only credible preparation for future persecution, and to trust that what is preached in chains cannot itself be chained.