Cited in sermons
Matthew Henry
345 sermons · All people cited
The Seven Things God Hates
Proverbs 6:16–19 presents a numerical proverb identifying seven things Yahweh hates and calls an abomination. The sermon works through each item in two groupings — five abominable members (proud eyes, lying tongue, murdering hands, cunning heart, swift feet) and two abominable actions (false witness and sowing discord among brethren) — showing how these vices characterise the man of Belial described in verses 12–15 and how they correspond to sins God condemns throughout the canon. The exposition draws extensively from the wider book of Proverbs to show the cumulative weight of each vice, applies the prohibition against shedding innocent blood to abortion and euthanasia, and closes with a call to pursue the corresponding virtues — humility, truthfulness, the protection of life, a guarded heart, and the pursuit of peace — as evidence of a heart transformed by the gospel of Christ.
The Precious Blood of Christ
1 Peter 1:18–20 presents the redemption accomplished by Christ as grounded in the infinite value of his sinless sacrifice, the eternal decree of the triune God, and the certainty of its historical occurrence. This sermon expounds three dimensions of the 'precious blood of Christ': its surpassing worth measured against corruptible earthly things; its origin in the determined counsel of God before the foundation of the world; and its singular reality as a manifest historical event attested by eyewitnesses. The Lord's Supper, observed the same evening, provides the pastoral occasion for calling both believers to joyful reflection on the blood that cleanses from all iniquity and unbelievers to repentance and faith in the one Lamb without blemish and without spot.
The Exaltation of Christ
Peter's Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:33–36 reaches its climax in the exaltation of Christ to the right hand of the Father. This exposition works through three movements: the supreme dignity conferred on Christ at his ascension, the fulfillment of Psalm 110:1 as ancient prophecy now openly vindicated, and the unavoidable implication for guilty hearers that this Jesus whom they crucified is both Lord and Christ. The current session of Christ — his ongoing reign, intercession, gathering of the church, and conquest of every enemy — is pressed as the ground of the believer's confidence and the urgent call for the unconverted to repent and call upon the name of the Lord.
Genesis 2:18-25
Genesis 2:18–25 narrates the provision of a wife for Adam as the divinely ordained solution to man's aloneness — the one instance in the creation account where God declares something 'not good.' The text establishes marriage as a pre-civil, pre-fall institution: one man and one woman, joined in an indissoluble one-flesh union, with the woman made neither to dominate nor to be dominated, but to be a comparable helper. The exposition draws out four implications for marriage today: its inherent goodness, its precise biblical definition against contemporary redefinition, its three purposes (companionship, procreation, and the prevention of uncleanness), and the creational distinction between male and female that undergirds both the home and the church. Hearers are called to prize their marriages as a reflection of Christ and the church, to approach marriage with sobriety and biblical discernment, and to stand firm against every cultural assault on God's design.
The Purpose of the Proverbs
Proverbs 1:2–7 sets out both the purpose and the prerequisite of the entire book of Proverbs. The purpose is comprehensive — to impart wisdom, instruction, and just judgment to the simple, the young, the wise, and every condition of man — while the prerequisite is singular: the fear of the Lord, which is not a natural attainment but a gracious work of God in the soul. The fear of God is shown to be the epistemological foundation of all true knowledge, the animator of righteous conduct, and the preserver of the soul — available only through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one greater than Solomon in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
The Fulfilment of Joel's Prophecy
Acts 2:14–21 records Peter's explanation that the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the fulfilment, not a mere pre-fulfilment, of Joel 2:28–32. The sermon addresses three interlocking questions: what 'the last days' means (the entire Messianic age from Christ's first coming to his return, with a specific reference to the covenantal termination of Old Covenant Israel in AD 70), what the abundance of the Spirit's outpouring means for the New Covenant community (every believer, without distinction of gender, age, or class, receives the Spirit as seal and guarantee), and why the sign gifts of tongues and prophecy are no longer in force (the completed canon fulfils Daniel 9:24's sealing of vision and prophecy). The sermon closes with a direct call to sinners to do the one thing Joel and Peter both demand: call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
Free Grace Baptist Church - April 8, 2018 PM
The reception of God's written Word must move the covenant people to thoroughgoing, comprehensive reform—in worship, life, and the observance of the sacraments—regardless of whether such obedience will produce measurable results. Expounding 2 Kings 23, this sermon traces three movements in Josiah's reformation of Judah: a public covenant renewal ceremony, an extensive purge of idolatry from both the southern and northern territories, and the restoration of Passover. The driving lesson is that obedience to God's law is not grounded in pragmatic expectation of blessing but in the simple rightness of what God commands—a faithfulness the speaker calls 'obedience without incentives.'
The Reformation Under Josiah
Second Kings 23 records the sweeping reformation under King Josiah of Judah, in which the rediscovered book of the law became the instrument of comprehensive covenant renewal and the purging of idolatry from the land. This sermon traces the three decisive movements of that reformation: the public reading of Scripture, the solemn covenant renewal before the Lord, and the thorough removal of all false worship from Jerusalem, Judah, and even the northern territories. Though Josiah's obedience is unrivaled among Israel's kings, the passage closes with the sobering reality that no human reformation, however thorough, can avert the covenant wrath accumulated by persistent apostasy. The abiding lesson is that the word of God received must become the word of God obeyed — hearers must become doers.
The Liberality of God and the Believer's Security
Romans 8:31–39 confronts the believer with a single overwhelming argument: because the Father did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for all the elect, He will most certainly freely give them everything else they need. The sermon works through three movements — the declaration of God's liberality in the gift of His Son, the implication that every lesser need is thereby guaranteed, and the application to the believer's unassailable security against accusation, condemnation, and separation. Drawing on the language of propitiation, penal substitution, and the Ordo Salutis, the exposition insists that the believer's confidence rests not on personal virtue or perseverance but on the justifying grace of God and the interceding, unchanging love of Christ.
Free Grace Baptist Church - March 25, 2018 PM
Acts 4:23-31 records the early church's corporate prayer in the face of threats from the Jewish authorities, and this sermon expounds four dimensions of that prayer: its occasion, its character, its content, and God's answer to it. The congregation's prayer is marked by a deliberate unity of purpose — a one-accord rooted not in uniformity of voice but in a shared commitment to the faith of the gospel. The content of the prayer moves through invocation and recognition of God as sovereign Creator, rehearsal of his works in creation and revelation, and confidence in his decree and providence — culminating not in a petition for deliverance from danger but for boldness to continue proclaiming Christ in the midst of it. Christians are called to pattern their own prayers on this model: knowing their God, drawing confidence from that knowledge, and asking not for the removal of trials but for the strength and resolution to endure through them.
2 Kings 22:1-20
The discovery of the Book of the Law during Josiah's temple repairs exposes the deep covenantal unfaithfulness of Judah and provokes a model of humble repentance that stands as a rebuke to every generation. Huldah the prophetess confirms that divine judgment on the nation is certain and irreversible, yet God extends personal mercy to Josiah because his heart was tender before the Word. The sermon traces the proper response to Scripture — trembling reception, genuine internal contrition, and active reformation — against the background of Josiah's exemplary reign and the warnings of Deuteronomy 28. The hearer is called to receive the implanted Word with meekness, to confess sin honestly rather than conceal it, and to resist the slow drift toward apostasy by giving earnest heed to all that God has spoken.
2 Kings 21:1-26
Manasseh's 55-year reign over Judah represents the nadir of covenant unfaithfulness in the southern kingdom, exceeding even the wickedness of the Canaanites whom God had expelled from the land. This expository study of 2 Kings 21 traces Manasseh's systematic religious innovations — reinstituting the high places, introducing Baal and Asherah worship into the temple, practicing child sacrifice and witchcraft, and shedding innocent blood — alongside the divine prophecy of inevitable, terrifying, and just judgment against Jerusalem. The chapter also demonstrates that Judah was not merely victimized by a wicked king but was itself seducible, having provoked God continuously since the exodus. The passage calls covenant people to resist practical atheism, to cherish God's promised blessings rather than forfeit them for the passing pleasures of sin, and to reckon seriously with the connection between idolatry and the collapse of ethical life.
2 Kings 20:1-21
Second Kings 20 closes the account of Hezekiah's reign by exposing both the nobility and the inconsistency of one of Judah's best kings. The chapter is examined under three headings: the extension of Hezekiah's life through answered prayer, the folly of his alliance-seeking with Babylon, and the summary of his reign. The central lesson is that even a covenant-faithful king who trusts God in sickness can lapse into walking by sight in prosperity, and this inconsistency of consistency is the common condition of every believer who depends on the grace of Christ rather than on personal perfection.
2 Kings 19:1-37
Second Kings 19 narrates the Assyrian crisis under Sennacherib and Hezekiah's response — a pattern of seeking God through the prophet Isaiah, spreading the enemy's letter before the Lord, and praying with conspicuously theological concern for God's honor rather than merely for personal safety. The sermon moves through three sections: the prophet's word of encouragement, Hezekiah's model prayer, and the divine defeat of 185,000 Assyrian troops by the angel of the Lord. Hezekiah's David-like rationale — that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that the Lord alone is God — illustrates why theology matters in trial, and why the best pleas in prayer are those taken from God's honor.
The Denial of the Resurrection
Matthew 28:11–15 records not only the resurrection of Christ but the immediate counter-offensive mounted by the chief priests and elders to suppress the fact of the empty tomb. Against the backdrop of the Great Commission in verses 16–20, these verses expose a counter-mission: a bribed, fabricated narrative designed to replace the truth of the resurrection with the stolen-body theory. The sermon examines the soldiers' report to the chief priests, the wickedness and implausibility of the lie they were paid to spread, and the theological reasons — including divine judicial hardening — that such a falsehood gained traction in first-century Judea. The application presses every believer to be armed to defend the resurrection and to rest the whole of their justification on faith in the risen Christ alone.
The Empty Tomb and the Risen Lord
The empty tomb of Matthew 28:1–10 is not merely an absence but a proclamation: Christ was raised bodily from the dead by the Father, vindicating His atoning work and confirming every prophetic word He spoke. The sermon works through the discovery of the empty tomb by the women and the appearance of the risen Lord, attending carefully to the apologetic weight of the narrative details — the guards' terror, the invitation to examine the tomb, the folded graveclothes, and the physical feet of Jesus grasped in worship. The message closes with 1 Corinthians 15, pressing the stakes of the resurrection: without it, faith is futile and sin remains unatoned; because Christ is risen, justification, sanctification, and glorification are secured for all His brethren.
2 Kings 17:27-41
The closing verses of 2 Kings 17 expose three interrelated failures in Israel's religion: a purely pragmatic desire to use God for personal relief, a syncretic manufacture of worship that blends Yahweh with self-made idols, and a defiant rejection of the exclusive covenant demands God laid upon Israel at Sinai. The passage's ironic declaration that the resettled nations 'feared the Lord' is not a commendation but a literary device the author immediately demolishes — true fear of God is incompatible with idolatry. These ancient patterns are alive in contemporary church culture wherever God is treated as a problem-solver, wherever worship is shaped by consumer preference, and wherever the regulative principle of worship is abandoned for pragmatic or syncretic innovation.
The Burial of Jesus
Matthew 27:57–66 records the burial of Jesus Christ — a passage easily overlooked between the crucifixion and resurrection accounts, yet one that carries significant theological, apologetic, and pastoral weight. The burial confirms that Jesus truly died, marks the completion of his humiliation as the second Adam, and establishes the historical ground on which the resurrection stands as an undeniable public event. The section also presents a stark contrast between the courageous devotion of Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and the faithful women, and the cynical scheming of the chief priests and Pharisees — whose very precautions to prevent a 'fake' resurrection unwittingly served to make the genuine resurrection that much more incontrovertible. The tomb of Christ removes the fear of the grave for his people and grounds their certain hope in the resurrection of the dead.
2 Kings 17:1-23
The fall of the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria in 722 BC is not mere political history but theological history: the exile of the ten tribes was the direct judgment of God upon a nation that had spent over two centuries filling up the measure of its guilt through idolatry, covenant-breaking, and the rejection of every prophet sent to call them back. Working through 2 Kings 17:1–23, this study traces the instrument of God's judgment (Shalmaneser and Sargon of Assyria), the reasons for it (Israel's fear of false gods, imitation of the nations, rejection of the prophets, and repudiation of the Mosaic covenant), and its result (removal from God's sight — a loss not merely of land but of divine fellowship). The passage warns that those who follow worthlessness become worthless, while those who worship the living God are conformed to His image — and it calls every hearer to heed the warnings God has given before the same measure of guilt is filled.
The Sixth Commandment
The sixth commandment, 'You shall not murder' (Deuteronomy 5:17), rests upon the foundation of the imago Dei — the conviction that every human being, from the pre-born to the elderly, bears the image of the Creator, and that to assault an image-bearer is to assault God himself. The sermon distinguishes murder from lawful killing, arguing from Genesis 9, Exodus 22, and Romans 13 that capital punishment, self-defense, and just war are not violations of the commandment but are grounded in the same principle that makes murder heinous: the sanctity of human life. Modern applications — abortion, euthanasia, and the neglect of capital punishment — are examined in light of both Old and New Testament texts, and the sermon closes by directing those who have participated in these sins to the pardoning grace of Christ.
2 Kings 16
Second Kings 16 records the reign of Ahaz, one of the most wicked kings in Judah's history — a man whose idolatry, political pragmatism, and innovations in worship reveal a heart comprehensively far from God. The sermon works through three movements: Ahaz's child sacrifice and high-place worship (vv. 1–4), his submission to Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria rather than trusting Yahweh's covenant promises (vv. 5–9), and his importation of a Syrian altar and remodeling of the temple (vv. 10–20). The passage serves as a sustained warning against pragmatism over promise, worship innovation over the regulative principle, and the spineless complicity — exemplified by the priest Urijah — that advances evil as surely as outright wickedness does.
The Sacrifice Remembered
What does it mean to remember the death of Christ at the Lord's Supper? Examining 1 Peter 1:18–20, this sermon traces three dimensions of that remembrance: the incomparable value of Christ's precious blood over all corruptible earthly things, the eternal and love-driven divine purpose behind the atonement foreordained before the foundation of the world, and the singular historical reality of the incarnation and sacrifice. The congregation is called to prize Christ above every earthly attachment and to observe the Lord's Supper with the gravity and joy befitting so great a Savior.
The Healing of Naaman
The healing of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 is exposited as a portrait of sovereign, free, and humbling grace that reaches beyond Israel to a Gentile enemy — a Syrian military commander who is not only cleansed of leprosy but converted from idolatry to the living God. The sermon traces God's providential orchestration through a nameless captive servant girl, Elisha's deliberate absence from the healing, and Naaman's progression through fury, submission, confession, gratitude, and resolution — all paralleled with the offense and power of the New Covenant gospel. The contrast between the converted pagan Naaman and the perverted Israelite Gehazi underscores that Yahweh's grace is free and cannot be bought, bartered, or manipulated. Hearers are called to recognize in Naaman's conversion the marks of genuine saving faith: humble confession, gratitude, and a sensitive conscience toward the one true God.
Free Grace Baptist Church - November 19, 2017 PM
This expository sermon on 2 Kings 5 traces the threefold structure of Naaman's healing: the providence of God working through a nameless Israelite servant girl, the conversion of a Gentile enemy of Israel, and the judgment upon the covetous Gehazi. The sovereign Lord is shown to govern Syrian politics, military affairs, and the destinies of servant girls alike, so that his free grace — which cannot be bribed, manipulated, or earned — reaches even those outside the covenant community. The congregation is called to see in Naaman's conversion a pattern of genuine New Covenant salvation: humility under the gospel, confession of the one true God, gratitude expressed in worship, and a sensitive conscience regarding ongoing sin.
2 Kings 14
2 Kings 14 presents the reigns of Amaziah in Judah and Jeroboam II in Israel as twin case studies in the tension between partial obedience and persistent idolatry. Amaziah begins well — executing conspirators according to Deuteronomy 24:16 and heeding the man of God — yet his victory over Edom leads him to bow before Edom's gods, and 2 Chronicles 25 reveals that his subsequent military defeat by Israel was a direct act of divine judgment. Jeroboam II, though wicked like Jeroboam son of Nebat, presides over a Solomonic territorial expansion not because of geopolitical fortune but because God, in covenant faithfulness, saved Israel by his hand. The chapter as a whole foreshadows the Babylonian captivity and demonstrates that God's promises — to David and to Jehu alike — direct history even through judgment.
2 Kings 15
2 Kings 15 surveys five successive kings of the northern kingdom of Israel in the eighth century BC, four of whom seized power through assassination, as the nation spirals toward its destruction by Assyria in 722 BC. The chapter is framed by two relatively stable kings of Judah — Azariah (Uzziah) and Jotham — whose reigns contrast sharply with the chaos in the north, even as they share the sin of leaving the high places intact. The relentless refrain that each northern king 'did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat' is the biblical author's stated rationale for the divine judgment that falls in chapter 17. The study closes with application drawn from Amos 4: when God sends chastening, the right response is repentance and return to Him, not continued rebellion.
The Mercy of God in the Ministry of Elisha
Four miracles in 2 Kings 4 — multiplied oil, a resurrected son, purified stew, and bread multiplied for a hundred men — demonstrate that Yahweh's mercy extends not only to kings and nations but to nameless, destitute individuals in the most ordinary circumstances of life. The prophet Elisha functions typologically throughout: his inadequacy, importunate prayer, and restorative acts all point forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, the true miracle-worker who alone can save sinners from their sins. Where Elisha can relieve physical need and point Israel to God, only Christ forgives sin through his life, death, and resurrection. The sermon closes with a call to gratitude, trust in God's sovereign provision over everyday anxieties, and faith in Christ alone for salvation.
The Crucifixion of Jesus, Part 5
Matthew 27:51–56 records a cluster of supernatural signs accompanying the death of Christ — the rending of the temple veil, the earthquake, the splitting of rocks, and the resurrection of saints — each of which publicly attests the efficacy of Christ's atoning work. The torn veil simultaneously signals the judgment of God upon apostate Israel and the opening of access to the Father through Christ's blood, marking the covenantal transition from the old order of sacrifice to the new covenant inaugurated at Calvary. The centurion's confession, 'Truly this was the Son of God,' demonstrates that the cross reaches sinners from every tribe and tongue, while the faithful women at a distance stand as witnesses to Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. The sermon calls every hearer to receive the torn veil as God's own invitation to draw near through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Crucifixion of Jesus, Part 4
Matthew 27:47–50 records the final moments before Christ's death on the cross — the mockery of bystanders who misheard his cry of dereliction as a call for Elijah, the offering of sour wine, and his loud, voluntary yielding of his spirit. The sermon examines what the cry of dereliction does and does not teach: it does not indicate a division within the Trinity, a dissolution of the hypostatic union, or patripassianism, but it does express the qualified, temporary withholding of the Father's favour from the Son as he bore the punishment due to his people. Christ's loud cry at the moment of death demonstrates that he laid down his life sovereignly and willingly, not as a victim overcome by suffering but as a priest offering himself as substitute. The only fitting response to this substitutionary sacrifice is not moral self-improvement but worship, gratitude, and faith in the one who was forsaken so that his people would never be forsaken.
Redemption Accomplished
The sixth word from the cross — 'It is finished' (John 19:30) — is a single Greek verb carrying the full weight of accomplished redemption. This sermon works through the explanation and then the application of that cry, showing that Christ's tetelestai declares the fulfillment of messianic Scripture, the termination of Old Covenant types and shadows, the completion of the Father's redemptive plan, and the full accomplishment of redemption: active righteousness secured, divine wrath exhausted, the devil defeated, sin finished, every spiritual blessing purchased, and death itself marked for destruction. The application presses the church to rest her comfort and security not in her own performance but in the finished work of Christ alone, the only ground of justification by faith.