Cited in sermons
John Gill
1,025 sermons · All people cited
The Appearance of the Love of God
Titus 3:4–8 sets the merciful act of divine salvation against the backdrop of human depravity, and this exposition works through that contrast under three heads: the appearance of God's love in verse 4, the application of God's grace in verses 5–7, and the affirmation of God's word in verse 8. The passage is shown to teach that salvation originates entirely in God's kindness and mercy — not in works done before or after conversion — applied through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, and sealed by justification by grace through faith. The sermon closes by pressing the pastoral logic of verse 8: it is precisely the constant preaching of justification by grace, not moralistic exhortation, that empowers the life of good works among God's people.
The Second Missionary Journey, Part 7
Paul's sermon at the Areopagus (Acts 17:22–34) confronts Athenian idolatry by grounding the Christian worldview in the doctrines of creation, providence, and judgment. He establishes the Creator-creature distinction against both Epicurean deism and Stoic pantheism, exposes the guilt of all men through natural revelation and their own poets, and calls all men everywhere to repentance because God has appointed both a day of judgment and its judge — the resurrected Christ. The sermon closes by applying the abiding prohibition of idolatry from the Decalogue to contemporary life, pressing hearers toward faith in Christ as the only corrective to the idolatry that already invites God's temporal and eternal judgment.
The Second Missionary Journey, Part 6
Acts 17:16–21 presents the Apostle Paul in Athens, a city saturated with idolatry and celebrated for its philosophical culture. The sermon traces three movements in this brief passage: Paul's provocation of spirit at the sight of rampant idolatry, his deliberate response of preaching Christ in both the synagogue and the public marketplace, and his engagement with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who summon him to the Areopagus. Paul's example establishes that righteous anger at the transgression of the First and Second Commandments, mingled with grief and compassion, is a mark of God's people — and that the fitting response to such provocation is not silence but the proclamation of Jesus and the resurrection.
The Christian's Duty toward Non-Christians
Titus 3:1–3 sets out the Christian's duty toward both civil government and all people outside the church. The sermon traces the divine origin of civil government from Genesis 9 through Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, arguing from Francis Turretin's two-kingdom framework that Christ rules both the civil and spiritual spheres, and that the civil state therefore has no authority to command the church as church. Verse 3's catalogue of pre-conversion vices — foolishness, disobedience, malice, hatred — is read as a theological reason for patient, peaceable, and humble conduct toward non-Christians: believers were once exactly what they now struggle to bear in others, and those others may yet become objects of the same sovereign grace.
Genesis 49
Genesis 49 presents Jacob's deathbed blessings and prophetic declarations over each of the twelve tribes of Israel, reaching its theological apex in the Shiloh prophecy of verses 8–12, which identifies the tribe of Judah as the royal line from which Messiah will come. The scepter's promised continuity in Judah until 'Shiloh comes' is shown to anticipate not only David's dynasty but the obedience of all peoples — Jew and Gentile — to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Jacob's closing instructions concerning his burial in the cave of Machpelah reaffirm Israel's legal title to the promised land and underscore that Egypt is only a sojourn, not a destiny. The chapter closes with a call to confidence in God grounded in a lifetime of witnessed divine faithfulness, expressed in Jacob's peaceful death and his declaration, 'I have waited for your salvation, O Lord.'
The Manifestation of God's Grace
Titus 2:11–15 presents God's grace not merely as the ground of salvation but as the very teacher of holy living. This exposition traces four aspects of grace in the passage: its appearance in the incarnation and atoning work of Christ, its instruction toward denial of ungodliness and worldly lusts and pursuit of sober, righteous, and godly life, its demonstration in the deity of the returning Christ and the definite redemption he accomplished, and its proclamation through authoritative gospel ministry. The controlling hermeneutical key is the grammatical and theological priority of the indicative over the imperative: believers obey not in order to be saved but because they have been saved, and inverting that order collapses the gospel into moralism.
The Second Missionary Journey, Part 5
Acts 17:10–15 records the ministry and departure of Paul and Silas at Berea, where the Jewish hearers were commended as 'more noble-minded' than those in Thessalonica because they received the word with readiness and examined the Scriptures daily to verify Paul's proclamation of Jesus as the Christ. The sermon expounds three movements in the text — the perseverance of the missionaries, the tenacity of unbelieving opposition, and the noble-mindedness of the Bereans — and draws sustained application from Nehemiah 8 and the parable of the sower in Luke 8 on the right reception of God's word. The Berean example is pressed as a standing model for the church: Scripture is sufficient and self-evidencing, and the truth has nothing to hide and everything to gain by investigation. Hearers are exhorted to come to the word with expectancy, attentiveness, reverence, and responsiveness, since faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Genesis 48:1-22
Genesis 48 records Jacob's adoption of Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as tribal heads within Israel, and his deliberate bestowal of the greater blessing on the younger Ephraim — a pattern running throughout Genesis that the covenant blessings are dispensed not by birth order but by sovereign divine election. The chapter's vocabulary of "firstborn" is examined in light of Colossians 1:15, demonstrating that the term denotes preeminence rather than creaturely origin, directly refuting the Arian Christology of Jehovah's Witnesses. Jacob's deathbed testimony — praising God who fed him all his life and whose Angel redeemed him from all evil — is held up as a model for how the people of God should rehearse divine faithfulness at the close of life.
The Instruction of the Church, Part 2
Titus 2:6–10 addresses young men, Titus himself as minister, and bondservants, calling each group to a specific pattern of conduct grounded in the gospel. Young men are summoned to comprehensive self-control, while Titus is charged to exemplify good works and to teach with integrity, gravity, and incorruptible soundness — precisely so that opponents are silenced and put to shame. Bondservants are exhorted to willing obedience, pleasing service, honest fidelity, and freedom from back-talk or pilfering. The overarching motive uniting every group is that their conduct may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior — not earn salvation, which rests solely on the redemptive work of Christ received through faith alone.
The Instruction of the Church, Part 1
Titus 2:1–5 instructs specific people groups within the church to live in a manner consistent with sound doctrine — not as a means of salvation, but as the fruit of it. This exposition works through the virtues required of older men (sobriety, reverence, temperance, soundness in faith, love, and patience), the conduct and teaching role of older women, and the domestic calling of younger women. The complementarian ordering of church and home is grounded not in culture but in the creation and fall account of Genesis 1–3, with particular attention to 1 Timothy 2 as a cross-reference. The governing purpose of all these exhortations is stated in verse 10: that the conduct of God's people would adorn, rather than blaspheme, the doctrine of God our Savior.
The Second Missionary Journey, Part 2
Acts 16:6–15 traces the divine hand behind the second missionary journey's westward turn into Macedonia and the conversion of Lydia in Philippi. The Spirit's successive prohibitions of ministry in Asia and Bithynia are not judgments on those regions but demonstrations that God actively directs the missionary enterprise according to his sovereign purpose. The conversion of Lydia — a woman whose heart was dead in trespasses until God opened it to receive Paul's preaching — illustrates that the efficient cause of every conversion is divine grace, not human ingenuity, while the instrumentality of gospel proclamation and the responsibility of hearers to believe remain fully intact. The sermon calls the church to define missionary work precisely as the Spirit-sent, church-commissioned preaching of Christ crucified, rejecting both Arminian confidence in the sinner's free will and hyper-Calvinist reluctance to call sinners to faith.
The Refutation of Heretics
Titus 1:10–16 identifies the threat posed by false teachers within the churches of Crete, describes their character and conduct, and prescribes the elder's task of refuting them. The passage exposes these men as insubordinate, deceptive, motivated by greed, and — paradoxically — more deeply defiled by their very attempts at self-imposed purity. Purity belongs not to those who abstain from foods under defunct old-covenant categories, but to those cleansed by the blood of Christ; any effort to supplement Christ's merit by legal observance strips away that merit entirely. The sermon closes with a call to robust ecclesiology: biblically qualified elders are the God-ordained safeguard against heresy, and the gospel that went to Crete proves that Christ is a real Savior for real sinners.
The Appointment of Elders
Titus 1:5–9 gives the apostolic mandate for appointing elders in every city, a task Paul left Titus to complete on the young and unstructured island churches of Crete. The sermon works through two main divisions: the purpose of Titus's ministry as setting things in order (v. 5), and the qualifications for elders in terms of domestic faithfulness, personal faithfulness, and the gift of sound teaching (vv. 6–9). Elders are not essential to the existence of a church but are essential to its well-being, and their appointment must involve the common suffrage of the congregation under the direction of existing leadership. The sermon closes with a call to pray for a plurality of qualified elders, to enforce the qualifications without compromise, and to trust in a willing Savior who gathers a great multitude from every nation.
The Second Missionary Journey, Part 1
Acts 15:36–16:5 records the opening of Paul's second missionary journey — beginning with a sharp contention between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark, continuing through Paul's recruitment and circumcision of Timothy in Lystra, and concluding with a summary report of churches strengthened and growing daily. The sermon argues that God's sovereign providence overruled the division between two godly men to send out two missionary teams, and that Timothy's circumcision was a strategic pastoral act entirely consistent with Paul's settled rejection of Judaizing. Throughout, the exposition presses the congregation toward a recovery of faithful, word-centered ministry as the only legitimate means of church growth and stability.
The Council at Jerusalem, Part 4
Acts 15:22–35 records the Jerusalem Council's formal response to the Judaizing heresy: the drafting of a letter, the commissioning of Judas Barsabbas and Silas, and the delivery of that letter to the churches of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. The passage is expounded to show that the council's decree condemning the addition of circumcision and Mosaic ceremony to faith in Christ constitutes a decisive affirmation of justification by faith alone — not by infusing righteousness, but by pardoning sin and imputing Christ's active and passive obedience. The sermon draws out the unity achieved through doctrinal deliberation, the guidance of the Holy Spirit through ordinary means, and the courage of those who risk their lives for the name of Christ, closing with a call to look to Christ alone for salvation.
The Empty Tomb and the Risen Lord
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is not a cunningly devised fable but a historically attested and theologically necessary event that vindicates Christ's person and work. Expounding Matthew 28:1–10, this sermon examines the discovery of the empty tomb — the descent of the angel, the commission to the women, and the flight of the guards — and then the appearance of the risen Lord to the women, who held him by the feet and worshipped him. The hypostatic union underlies that act of worship: they touch his human feet while adoring the second person of the Trinity. Because Christ is risen, believers need not fear, have an advocate with the Father when they sin, and possess a hope that is grounded in historical reality and not mere sentiment.
The Resurrection and Justification
Romans 4:25 declares that Christ 'was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification' — a verse Charles Hodge called a comprehensive statement of the gospel and Matthew Poole called an abridgment of the whole. The sermon works through two inseparable redemptive realities: the substitutionary, particular atonement accomplished in Christ's death, and the five-fold testimony of the resurrection to the validity of that work. The central application is that a robust grasp of justification by faith alone — the imputation of Christ's righteousness received through faith — is the irreplaceable foundation for Christian stability, comfort, and peace with God.
The Governing Principle of Kingdom Life
Anxiety is not a private struggle but a theological failure — a contradiction of the sovereignty of God confessed in the pew but abandoned in the heart. Expounding Matthew 6:25–34, this sermon works through Christ's fourfold structure in the Sermon on the Mount: the command not to worry, the indictment of those who do, the contrast between Gentile anxiety and covenant-child confidence, and the governing principle that kingdom life is regulated by seeking first God's kingdom and righteousness. The sermon closes with eight dangerous fruits of worry and a call to trust that the God who is absolutely sovereign in salvation is equally sovereign over food, clothing, and every daily crisis.
Genesis 46 - 47
Genesis 46–47 records Israel's third journey to Egypt — not to purchase grain but to relocate permanently — and expounds the providence of God working through famine, family reunion, and political administration to preserve the covenant people. The sermon traces three movements: God's visionary reassurance to Jacob at Beersheba, the family's reception by Joseph and Pharaoh, and Joseph's administration of the famine alongside the settlement of Israel in Goshen. Throughout, the seed promise and land promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are shown advancing even in exile, setting the stage for the exodus yet to come.
The Institution of the Lord's Supper
Matthew 26:26–30 records the institution of the Lord's Supper by Christ on the night of Passover, and this sermon works through that text to establish the supper's setting, its elements, and its eschatological horizon. The bread and cup are not transformed in substance — transubstantiation is explicitly repudiated as repugnant to Scripture, reason, and the 1689 confession — but are consecrated from common use to signify Christ's broken body and shed blood. The blood of the new covenant is shed 'for many,' not all without exception, anchoring the supper in the doctrine of particular redemption and the forgiveness of sins as the chief covenantal benefit. Believers are exhorted to receive the supper not as a reward for good behavior but as a means of grace by which God strengthens, fortifies, and confirms the faith of His pilgrim people.
Genesis 44-45
Genesis 44–45 presents the arrest of Joseph's brothers, Judah's substitutionary intercession for Benjamin, and Joseph's dramatic self-disclosure — all framed by a fourfold emphasis on the providence of God. The separation between chapters 44 and 45 artificially interrupts what is one of the most theologically dense scenes in the entire Pentateuch: Judah, the man who once sold Joseph into slavery, now offers himself as a slave in Benjamin's place, functioning as a type of Christ. Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers flows directly from his theological grasp of divine sovereignty, demonstrating that a right understanding of providence is the engine of genuine forgiveness. The sermon closes with the typological significance of both Judah and Joseph as portraits of the Lord Jesus Christ embedded in the redemptive narrative of Scripture.
Free Grace Baptist Church - February 19, 2020 Bible Study
Genesis 42 records the first meeting between Joseph and his brothers in Egypt, a narrative dense with divine providence, unresolved guilt, and the hidden hand of God directing events toward an end no human agent could have devised. The brothers' anguished confession — 'we are truly guilty concerning our brother' — illustrates that length of time neither diminishes sin nor lightens the conscience, and that only the blood of Christ can do what twenty years of elapsed time cannot. The chapter is traced through three movements: the brothers sent to Egypt, their two audiences with Joseph, and their return to Canaan — each segment demonstrating that God overrules the choices of sinful men to accomplish his redemptive purposes for his covenant people.
The First Missionary Journey, Part 10
Acts 14:8–18 presents Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, where a miraculous healing of a congenitally lame man provokes the crowd to mistake the apostles for Zeus and Hermes. The sermon moves through three movements: the healing and its spiritual significance, the apostles' repudiation of pagan worship, and Paul's proclamation of the living God to a purely pagan audience. Particular attention is given to the doctrine of divine impassibility — the classical confession that God is without passions — as the necessary corollary of divine immutability, with pastoral argument that this doctrine secures rather than undermines the believer's confidence in God's unchanging love and justice. The sermon closes with an appeal to repent of all idolatry and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Savior for sinners.
Genesis 41
Genesis 41 narrates the providential exaltation of Joseph from prison to vice-regent of Egypt through his God-given interpretation of Pharaoh's two dreams. The chapter's three movements — the report of the dreams, their explanation, and their fulfillment — together demonstrate that the sovereignty of God is not a speculative doctrine but a force working through every human contingency toward the preservation of His church. The sermon draws out three concluding applications: the wisdom that comes from God alone surpasses all human learning; God's blessing outlasts and outweighs His servant's affliction; and divine sovereignty never collapses into passivity — Joseph's predestined knowledge of famine calls forth prudent human action, not hyper-Calvinist resignation.
The Darkness of Depression
Proverbs 15:13 declares that sorrow of heart breaks the spirit, and Scripture is neither silent nor superficial on the darkness of depression. This sermon surveys the presence of depression among the people of God across the canon — from Elijah under the broom tree, to David's lament in the Psalms, to the Man of Sorrows himself — establishing that the condition is real, that it afflicts genuine believers, and that in itself it is not sinful. Practical counsel drawn from both special and general revelation is offered: the physical ABCs of rest, diet, and exercise; the spiritual ABCs of prayer, Scripture, and corporate worship; and careful instruction for those seeking to help the suffering, closing with the reminder that the ground of hope is not gladness of feeling but the imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith alone.
The First Missionary Journey, Part 9
Acts 14:2–7 records the apostolic ministry in Iconium: Jewish opposition, the faithful perseverance of Paul and Barnabas, and the eventual division of the city. The sermon expounds these three movements in the text while devoting extended attention to a doctrinal excursus on the proper relationship between faith and repentance in gospel preaching — arguing that repentance is not a preparatory work the sinner performs before coming to Christ, but the inseparable companion of faith, both being gifts of God in the covenant of grace. The practical conclusion calls the church to faithful, courageous, wise, and Spirit-dependent proclamation regardless of mounting opposition.
The Anointing at Bethany
Sandwiched between the conspiracy of the religious leaders and the betrayal of Judas, the anointing at Bethany (Matthew 26:6–13) presents an act of extravagant devotion that Christ himself defends, interprets, and immortalizes. The sermon works through three movements: the act itself, the disciples' indignant complaint, and Christ's authoritative response, showing that what pragmatic men call a waste Christ calls a good work. Against the tendency toward either-or Christianity, the passage enforces both fervent worship of Christ and genuine care for the poor as inseparable obligations. The abiding lesson is that no expenditure of time, wealth, or devotion directed to the Lord of glory can ever constitute a waste, because he is chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely.
The First Missionary Journey, Part 8
Acts 14:1 records that Paul and Barnabas 'so spoke' in Iconium that a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believed — a phrase that raises the question of the relationship between divine sovereignty and the ordained means of gospel preaching. This sermon works through a biblical theology of preaching drawn from Romans 10:14–17, 1 Corinthians 1:21–25, and 2 Timothy 4:1–8, arguing that God has foreordained not only the elect unto glory but also the means of their calling, supremely the faithful public proclamation of Christ crucified. Against moralistic preaching, life-as-gospel sentimentality, and entertainment-driven church culture, the sermon insists that only the verbal declaration of Christ's atoning work can save souls. Hearers are exhorted to pray for the raising up of qualified preachers, to support gospel church-planting, and to attend to the preached Word with the seriousness that faith coming by hearing demands.
The Death Penalty
Genesis 9:6 grounds the biblical mandate for capital punishment in the image of God: to shed human blood unlawfully is to assault God himself, and the prescribed penalty reflects the weight of that offense. This sermon works through the Noahic covenant as a common-grace ordinance never abrogated, traces the continuity of capital punishment into the New Testament through Romans 13, and then systematically answers both biblical and pragmatic objections — including the mistranslation of Exodus 20:13, the pacifist reading of Matthew 5:38–42, and the woman caught in adultery in John 8. Believers are called to submit to the whole counsel of God on this issue, even where it cuts against cultural sentiment, because consistency with Scripture requires affirming what God has commanded for the governance of civil society.
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.