Cited in sermons
John Knox
25 sermons · All people cited
The Judicial Decision to Murder Jesus
The Sanhedrin's formal decree to execute Jesus, recorded in John 11:47–57, is the most extreme miscarriage of justice in human history — a body constituted to administer God's law plotting the murder of the only innocent man who ever lived. The sermon expounds the irony that Caiaphas, driven entirely by political self-preservation, nevertheless prophesied accurately: one man would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but to gather the scattered children of God from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. John's theological commentary on the high priest's words (vv. 51–52) unpacks the doctrinal heart of penal substitutionary atonement — the just for the unjust, the holy and harmless for the thoroughly defiled. The passage calls believers to stand in awe that Christ willingly walked into this kangaroo court, refused self-defense, and bore the wrath of godless men so that sinners might be freed from the wrath of God.
The Healing of a Blind Man, Part 2
John 9:13–34 records the formal interrogation of a man born blind by the Pharisees following his healing by Jesus. The passage exposes the willful unbelief of Israel's religious leadership — men who suppress plain evidence, commit perjury, and wield coercion against a helpless witness — while simultaneously tracing the healed man's growing confession of Christ, from 'he is a prophet' to 'if this man were not from God, he could do nothing.' The sermon argues that opposition to the Son of God is always opposition to the Father who sent him, and that the courage to confess Christ in the face of exclusion and shame is the mark of genuine discipleship.
The Arrest of Peter and John
Acts 4:1–12 presents the arrest of Peter and John by the Sanhedrin and Peter's Spirit-filled defense before the council, in which he declares Jesus of Nazareth — crucified and risen — as the sole name under heaven by which men must be saved. The sermon traces two movements: the sovereign advance of God's word despite the imprisonment of its preachers (the number of believers growing to five thousand), and the christological and soteriological content of Peter's address, which grounds salvation exclusively in Christ's active obedience, atoning death, and resurrection. The stone rejected by the builders has become the chief cornerstone, and those who refuse him will ultimately be crushed by him. The sermon applies these realities to the perpetual persecution of the church, the exclusivity of the gospel, and the urgent call to believe on Christ alone for salvation.
The Testimony of John the Baptist, Part 3
John 1:30–34 records the Baptist's testimony concerning the dignity of Christ's person — his preeminence as the eternal Word who was before John, his anointing with the Spirit without measure for the work of mediation, and his identity as the natural, essential, and eternal Son of God. The sermon traces the Old Testament prophetic background of the Spirit's descent (Isaiah 11, 42, and 61), the active and passive obedience of Christ as the ground of the believer's acceptance before God, and the Baptist's final declaration that this Jesus is the Son of God. From this foundation the preacher draws an urgent gospel application: the same Lamb who takes away sin will visit unbelief with wrath, and the only fitting response is faith in him now.
The Testimony of John the Baptist, Part 1
John 1:19–28 records the official interrogation of John the Baptist by a delegation sent from Jerusalem to establish his identity and authority. The Baptist's threefold denial — he is not the Christ, not Elijah bodily returned, not the prophet of Deuteronomy 18 — is matched by his positive confession as the voice of Isaiah 40, the forerunner who prepares the way of Yahweh and thereby implicitly confesses the deity of Jesus. The sermon traces the Baptist's testimony through Luke 1's prophecy of Zacharias, the Transfiguration account in Matthew 17, and the prologue of John 1, showing that the Baptist preached not only repentance but the remission of sins through the coming Messiah — that is, justification by faith alone. The governing application is that Christ's people exist to proclaim His preeminence, following the Baptist's model of humble, courageous, light-and-heat ministry that makes nothing of self and everything of Jesus.
The Lord's Assessment of John the Baptist - Matthew 11:2-15
Matthew 11:2-15 presents Christ's own assessment of John the Baptist, and this exposition works through two movements: the question John sends from prison concerning the Messiah's identity, and the Lord's threefold commendation of John as no mere reed, no court prophet, but the greatest born of women and the anti-typical Elijah. The sermon argues that John's struggle was not with who Jesus was but with the implications of the messianic reign — why the herald of judgment should languish in prison while the Messiah's full justice remained deferred — a tension the church in every age must learn to hold without abandoning confidence in God's sovereign timetable. Listeners are called to pray for and expect ministers who combine the light of sound exegesis with the heat of genuine conviction, men who, like John, neither fear nor flatter any flesh.
The Trial before Pilate, Part 2
Matthew 27:15–23 records Pilate's attempt to grant amnesty to Jesus through the Passover prisoner-release custom, a device that exposes the cowardice of the Roman governor, the envious malice of the Jewish religious leaders, and the terrifying moral bankruptcy of mob rule. The passage is expounded under five heads — the custom of amnesty, the leaders' motivation of envy, the warning of Pilate's wife, the demand of the multitudes, and Pilate's cross-examination — each of which illuminates the comprehensive reach of human depravity. The substitution of Barabbas for Jesus is treated as emblematic of definite atonement: the just going to the cross in the place of the unjust, securing both the forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith alone. Hearers are urged not to be carried along by ungodly leaders, to flee to Christ without delay, and to eat the Lord's Supper as a memorial of the blood atonement and active obedience of the Second Person of the Trinity wrought entirely on behalf of his people.
David's Rise and Saul's Resentment
1 Samuel 18 traces the beginning of David's rise to prominence and Saul's corresponding descent into envious rage. The chapter presents a sustained contrast between Jonathan's covenant faithfulness — his willing deferral to David as the Lord's anointed — and Saul's increasingly vicious antagonism, from murderous spear-throwing to cynical manipulation of marriage negotiations. The sermon draws out the theological spine of the narrative: the presence of Yahweh with David is both the cause of his success and the source of Saul's terror, a pattern that points forward to the New Covenant reality that those united to Christ by faith enjoy the peace, protection, and communion of God. Listeners are called to watch against both external and internal threats to the kingdom, and to pursue the God-fearing faithfulness modelled in David rather than the self-securing apostasy of Saul.
The Messiah, The Baptist, And The Kingdom
Matthew 11:2–15 presents three interlocking questions: who is Jesus the Messiah, who is John the Baptist, and what is the nature of the kingdom of heaven? The sermon works through John's imprisoned inquiry — not as rank unbelief but as a struggle with the shape of the messianic agenda — and Christ's answer, which grounds assurance in fulfilled Old Testament prophecy rather than in political deliverance. John is then assessed by Christ himself as more than a prophet, the very subject of Malachi's covenant-messenger prophecy, a man of unflinching courage who stands as a model for preachers and all believers. The enigmatic kingdom-violence saying of verse 12 is read as a positive-negative pairing: the kingdom forcefully advances through proclamation and regeneration, but violent men persist in opposing and plundering it until Christ's enemies are made his footstool.
Waging the Good War
First Timothy 1:18–20 charges Timothy to wage the good warfare of the Christian faith, grounded in faith and a good conscience. This exposition identifies two weapons of the faithful minister—trust in the living God and a conscience calibrated by sound doctrine—set against the backdrop of false teachers who have shipwrecked the faith by rejecting the gospel of free and sovereign grace. The sermon then turns to the solemn consequence of neglecting that warfare, tracing the excommunication of Hymenaeus and Alexander as a case study in church discipline executed for the purity of the church and the potential restoration of the offender. Hearers are pressed to examine whether they possess genuine discernment regarding the gospel and genuine sensitivity toward sin, waging the warfare not to earn salvation but in response to the grace already secured in Christ.
The Council at Jerusalem, Part 2
The Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 confronts the Judaizing error that Gentile salvation requires circumcision and law-keeping in addition to faith in Christ. Drawing on Peter's testimony in Acts 15:6–12 and its grounding in the Cornelius episode of Acts 10, the sermon argues that God himself made no distinction between Jew and Gentile, purifying hearts by faith alone — making any human addition to the gospel a direct testing of God. Faith is shown to be the empty hand that receives Christ's righteousness, not a virtue that earns it, and the church is called to guard the law-free gospel against every cultural or ecclesiastical supplement that would corrupt it.
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.
Psalm 33
Psalm 33 calls the people of God to praise the Lord for His sovereignty in creation and in history, grounding that praise in the character of a covenant-keeping God whose word is unfailingly right and whose purposes stand forever. The sermon moves through the psalm's three movements: the call to skillful, joyful worship; the manifold reasons for praise drawn from God's power over creation, His overruling of human counsel, and His providential care over His elect; and the psalmist's concluding resolution to wait on God alone as help and shield. Listeners are pressed to ask whether their worship reflects genuine delight in the sovereign God of Psalm 33 and whether their trust rests in Him rather than in any human means or strength.
The Bible and Capital Punishment
Capital punishment is not a relic of Old Testament severity but a universal, creation-order ordinance grounded in the image of God and confirmed in the New Testament — and therefore not in tension with a pro-life ethic but demanded by it. Expositing Genesis 9:6 and Romans 13:1-4, this sermon argues that God commissioned the civil magistrate to wield the sword as His appointed agent of retributive justice precisely because human life bears divine dignity. Common objections — from the Sixth Commandment's 'thou shalt not kill,' to Christ's handling of the woman caught in adultery, to the fear that execution forecloses repentance — are examined and answered on biblical grounds. Hearers are called to embrace the full counsel of God's Word on civil ethics, to resist the moralizing of secular humanism, and to see in God's hatred of bloodshed the very reason every sinner needs the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
The Rejection of the True Prophet of God
When Ahab of Israel gathered four hundred prophets to sanction his campaign at Ramoth-Gilead, he had already resolved what he wanted to hear — and hated the one man who would tell him the truth. This exposition of 1 Kings 22:1–28 traces the confrontation between King Ahab and the prophet Micaiah, examining how the rejection of the true prophet is ultimately the rejection of the Word of God itself. Drawing on the parallel Paul draws in 2 Timothy 4:1–4, the sermon calls hearers to guard their hearts against the perennial temptation to accumulate teachers who scratch itching ears, and to receive the whole counsel of God — rebuke and exhortation included — as the mercy of a wise and sovereign Father.
The Imprisonment and Release of the Apostles
Acts 5:17–26 records the arrest, miraculous release, and re-arrest of the apostles at the hands of a Sanhedrin dominated by Sadducees — the very men who denied the existence of angels. The angel who opens the prison doors and the apostles who immediately return to temple preaching together demonstrate that no earthly authority can silence the gospel of Jesus Christ. This passage is treated as a paradigm for the church's experience throughout history: faithful proclamation will always draw persecution, yet Christ is building His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The sermon calls hearers to remember the globally persecuted church, to pursue the boldness of the apostles, and to believe the words of this life — the gospel of forgiveness and imputed righteousness in Christ.
The Deliberation of the Council
Acts 4:13–22 records the Sanhedrin's deliberation over Peter and John following the healing of a lame man and the apostolic proclamation of Christ's resurrection. The council faces an insoluble dilemma: the miracle is undeniable and publicly known, yet to leave the apostles unchallenged is to permit the gospel to spread unchecked. This sermon traces two broad movements — the deliberation of the council (vv. 13–17) and the attempt to silence the apostles (vv. 18–22) — and draws out the benefits of being with Jesus as seen in the apostles' boldness and wisdom, alongside the liabilities that attend any attempt to suppress the word of God. The application presses believers to pray for men of gospel courage and to resist every pressure, civil or ecclesiastical, to silence the name of Christ.
Introduction to the Book of Acts
The book of Acts is not merely a record of human achievement but theological history — the continuing acts of the risen and ascended Christ, who builds his church by the Spirit through apostolic agency. This introductory sermon on Acts 1:1–3 examines the authorship, date, purpose, and major themes of Acts, defending the apostolicity of Luke as a non-apostle who nonetheless wrote under apostolic oversight and companionship with Paul. The sermon anchors the entire book in three great themes: the glory of the triune God, the normative practice of the early church, and the unstoppable spread of the gospel — all driven by the necessity of the Christian gospel for sinners under a holy God.
2 Kings 1:1-18
2 Kings 1 records the idolatry, judgment, and death of Ahaziah, king of Israel — a man who, when facing death, turned not to Yahweh but to Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron. The chapter exposes the nature of idolatry as a practical confession that the living God is incompetent to meet one's needs, and it establishes the certainty of God's word against any king or army that would silence it. God's protection of Elijah through consuming fire is neither divine caprice nor Old Testament barbarism, but the settled, holy justice of a God who will brook no rival and whose jealousy for his own glory is inseparable from his mercy toward sinners. The passage calls hearers to examine what their instinctive cry in trial reveals about the true object of their allegiance.
Free Grace Baptist Church - July 2, 2017 AM
This expository sermon on Matthew 26:40–46 examines the sluggishness of the disciples in Gethsemane against the backdrop of Christ's resolute, prayerful obedience to the Father. The disciples' repeated failure to watch and pray — despite explicit warning and their own loud protestations of loyalty — exposes the persistent pride and creaturely weakness of even regenerate believers. Christ's threefold prayer, his endurance of the cup of divine wrath by imputation, and his gracious invitation to the sleeping disciples ('let us be going') together constitute the ground for the sermon's central exhortation: the ordained means of victory over temptation and spiritual lethargy is watchfulness and prayer, practiced in both private devotion and the corporate worship of God.
2 Samuel 12:1-14
Nathan's confrontation of David in 2 Samuel 12:1–14 exposes the anatomy of sin, judgment, and grace in the covenant dealings of God with His king. The parable of the ewe lamb springs the trap of conscience, the indictment rehearses the goodness God had lavished on David before his fall, and the consequences announced — a sword that would not depart from his house — demonstrate that divine forgiveness does not abolish temporal chastisement. The two-word confession 'I have sinned against the Lord' and Nathan's immediate assurance 'the Lord also has put away your sin' together illustrate that atonement is the exclusive work of Christ, not the product of the sinner's anguish or penance.
2LCF Chapter 22 - Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, Part 1
What gives any human being the right to determine how God is to be worshipped? This study of 2LCF Chapter 22, Paragraphs 1–2 argues that the light of nature establishes the creational obligation to worship God, while Scripture alone establishes the acceptable manner of that worship — the regulative principle. The exclusive object of that worship is the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which the confession defends against both the Roman Catholic invocation of saints and the broader normative principle that permits what God has not commanded. Worshippers are called to receive God's own prescribed order of worship rather than supplementing it with the imaginations and devices of men.
The Corporate Conduct of the Believer
Colossians 3:12–17 calls the church not merely to private piety but to a corporate conduct befitting those who are elect, holy, and beloved in Christ. This sermon works through the character of the new man — tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, and above all love — before turning to the three governing realities of the gathered church: the peace of Christ, the word of Christ, and the name of Christ. The peace that rules in the assembly flows from the prior vertical peace established in justification; the word of Christ must saturate the heart both in public preaching and private study; and every word and deed is to be done in concert with the nature and character of the Lord Jesus. The cumulative application is that sovereign grace is not the enemy of ethical seriousness but its very foundation and motive.
Samson's Victory at Jawbone Height
Judges 15 narrates Samson's campaign against the Philistines — the burning of their grain fields, his arrest by three thousand men of his own tribe of Judah, and his Spirit-empowered slaughter of a thousand Philistines with a fresh jawbone at Lehi. The sermon works through the chapter under four considerations: the wickedness of the oppressing enemy, the cowardice of the covenant people (who acquiesce to bondage and hand their own deliverer over to his enemies), the faithfulness of the nation's deliverer, and the graciousness of Israel's God who sustains and vindicates his servant even when his people never cry out for rescue. Samson is presented not as a bumbling brute governed by passions but as a man of faith, filled with the Spirit, whose deliverance-unto-death typifies the greater Champion who would be handed over by his own nation to a foreign power and accomplish a far greater victory.
The Call and Preparation of Gideon
Judges 6:1–32 opens the Gideon narrative by tracing the familiar cycle of the book: Israel's covenant-breaking sin, the oppression it earns under Midian, a desperate cry for relief, and the sovereign grace by which God initiates deliverance despite the people's unrepentance. The sermon argues that Israel's real problem is not Midianite raids but idolatry — the altar to Baal standing in Gideon's own family — and that God's commission of a weak, fearful, doubting man from the smallest clan of Manasseh showcases the power and mercy of the divine Deliverer, not the virtue of the instrument. Gideon functions typologically: his insufficiency, his trembling before the living God, and his task of destroying the Baals before any military deliverance can proceed all point forward to the true Deliverer, Christ, who breaks the back of sin and sets his people free.