Cited in sermons
Matthew Poole
287 sermons · All people cited
The Qualifications for Elders, Part 3
What qualifies a man to oversee the household of God? Expositing 1 Timothy 3:4–7, this sermon works through three remaining qualifications for elders: domestic faithfulness (vv. 4–5), maturity in the faith (v. 6), and a good testimony among unbelievers (v. 7). The lesser-to-greater argument of verse 5 — that a man who cannot govern his own home has no business governing the church of God — anchors the domestic section, while the warning against novice elders grounds the call to spiritual maturity in the sobering parallel of the devil's own fall through pride. The sermon closes by insisting that imperfect ministers are not a failure of God's plan but its instrument, so that all excellence of power is seen to be of God and not of men.
The Psalmist's Contemplation on the Revelation of God, Part 2
Psalm 19:7–11 presents four attributes of Scripture — perfect, sure, right, and pure — and traces the effects each produces in the souls of those the Spirit converts. The sermon argues that 'law' in this psalm comprehends the entirety of God's Word, including the gospel, and that the attributes ascribed to Scripture are inseparable from the perfections of its divine Author. Against a merely convicting or condemning view of the law, the preacher demonstrates that the same Word that exposes sin is the instrument through which the Holy Spirit effectually converts, enlightens, and rejoices the heart of the sinner. Hearers are pressed to receive the Word with joy rather than religious duty, and any who are yet dead in sin are called to cast themselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom a willing and rejoicing Savior stands ready to save.
The Psalmist's Contemplation on the Revelation of God, Part 1
Psalm 19:1–6 presents the doctrine of general revelation — God's self-disclosure through the created order — and David's prophetic anticipation of the gospel's universal proclamation. The sermon traces the content, constancy, and comprehensive scope of general revelation, grounding each observation in Paul's parallel argument in Romans 1:18–32. The expositor then argues, against Calvin's merely comparative reading, that Paul's citation of Psalm 19:4 in Romans 10:18 legitimizes a Christological interpretation of verses 4b–6, in which the sun typifies Christ the Son of Righteousness, the great Bridegroom of his church, whose gospel goes forth conquering to the ends of the earth. Hearers are called to receive the Son whose rays of saving grace cannot be stopped any more than the circuit of the sun.
The Exhortation to Wage the Good Warfare
The closing verses of 1 Timothy 1 resume Paul's charge to Timothy to wage the good warfare against false teaching in Ephesus. This exposition works through two movements: the charge itself (vv. 18–19a), grounded in Timothy's apostolic authority and prophetic calling, and the conflict that necessitates it (vv. 19b–20), illustrated in the defection and discipline of Hymenaeus and Alexander. The sermon argues that gospel ministry in every age requires holding the objective content of the Christian faith, maintaining a good conscience, and exercising church discipline against those who blaspheme by contradicting the truth of Christ.
The Conversion of the Apostle Paul
Paul's gratitude in 1 Timothy 1:12–14 is inseparable from the radicalism of his own conversion. Working through these three verses, this exposition traces the apostle's pre-conversion state — blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent man — as deliberately set up to magnify the sovereign mercy that overthrew him on the road to Damascus. The sermon gives careful attention to the nature of Paul's ignorance in unbelief, distinguishing it from the willful, light-rejecting sin of those who witnessed Christ's signs and wonders firsthand, and shows how effectual calling brought not only forgiveness but a hermeneutical key that unlocked the entire Old Testament. The governing application is that every believer, like Paul, stands before God not on the ground of moral reformation or law-keeping but solely on received mercy and exceedingly abundant grace — and that this reality is the wellspring of genuine Christian gratitude.
The Goodness of God's Law
The law of God is good — but only when used lawfully. Expounding 1 Timothy 1:8–11, this sermon defends the goodness of the moral law against both antinomian dismissal and legalistic distortion, situating Paul's argument within the classical Reformed framework of the law's three uses: civil, pedagogical, and normative. The false teachers in Ephesus had neither understood the law nor handled it properly, and Paul's corrective is not to demote the law but to demonstrate its proper function — restraining lawlessness in society, exposing the sinner's need for Christ, and directing the justified believer in the path of sanctification.
The Apostle's Charge to Timothy
Paul's charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:3–7 commands the silencing of false teachers in Ephesus who taught other doctrine, devoted themselves to fables and endless genealogies, and generated disputes rather than godly edification. The charge is not motivated by power or animosity but by love flowing from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith — the fruit of regeneration. The false teachers compounded their error by combining ignorance of the law with arrogant confidence in their own assertions, a combination the apostle deems disqualifying. Churches today must hold the same line: qualifying teachers rigorously, refusing platforms to the heterodox, and measuring all teaching against the truth as it is in Jesus.
The Psalmist's Cry in an Age of Deceit
Psalm 12 presses the question Psalm 11 leaves open: not what becomes of the wicked in the end, but how the people of God survive and remain faithful in the present evil age. The sermon traces two movements in the psalm — the destruction of foundations (vv. 1–4), marked by idle speech, flattery, and the proud autonomy of godless men, and the preservation of the righteous (vv. 5–8), grounded in God's arising to deliver the oppressed and in the utter purity of his Word. David's prayer is read through a Christological lens: the psalm is supremely the prayer of Christ in his earthly ministry, opposed at every step, yet sustained by the Father's Word and promise. The congregation is urged to respond to cultural and ecclesiastical decay not by retreat or despair but by theology, prayer, and dependent trust in the pure and preserving Word of God.
The Introduction to First Timothy
What does it mean for a letter written to one man in one city to carry the authority of God himself? This introductory sermon on 1 Timothy 1:1–2 traces the post-prison ministry of the Apostle Paul, establishes the historical occasion of the letter, and unpacks the significance of Paul's self-description as 'an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior.' The greeting's three blessings — grace, mercy, and peace — are shown to be not mere formalities but the divinely appointed means by which Timothy could wage war against the false teaching overtaking Ephesus. The sermon closes with an appeal to sinners: the entire infrastructure of apostolic authority, qualified elders, and sound doctrine exists so that God might effectually call the lost through the foolishness of preaching.
The Courage of the Righteous One
Psalm 11 presents the righteous man — supremely the Lord Jesus Christ — facing the temptation to abdicate his calling when wicked enemies ready their arrows and the foundations of moral order appear destroyed. The sermon expounds two movements: the temptation to flee (vv. 1–3) and the fortification found in contemplating God's sovereignty, omniscience, and justice (vv. 4–7). Because Christ steadfastly set his face toward Jerusalem and drank the cup of divine wrath to its dregs in the place of his people, believers have every reason to resist the same temptation to cowardice and unbelief, and to stand firm in the Lord.
The Power of the Peace of God
Philippians 4:6–7 contains both a prohibition and a promise: Paul commands believers to be anxious for nothing and promises that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard the heart and mind through Christ Jesus. The sermon examines the prohibition against carnal anxiety, the corrective of prayer offered with thanksgiving, and the promise of divine peace — arguing that prayer is not a formula for instant relief but the ordained means by which God's people cast their burdens on God and receive the peace that flows from justification and the indwelling Spirit. The congregation is called to pray with right motivation, godly manner, and kingdom-oriented priorities as modeled in Christ's own teaching on prayer.
The Ratification of the Old Covenant
Exodus 24:1–8 records the ratification of the Old Covenant at Sinai through blood sacrifice, a mediator, and the sworn fidelity of the people — all of which anticipate and are surpassed by the New Covenant inaugurated in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant is identified not as an administration of the covenant of grace but as a covenant of works, in which Israel's standing depended upon their own obedience: 'all that the Lord has commanded we will do.' The New Covenant contrasts sharply: Christ, the true Israel of God, fulfills every covenantal obligation in the place of his people, so that the ground of the believer's standing before God is not their performance but his finished work. The sermon closes with a practical call to live at the foot of Calvary rather than at the foot of Sinai, resisting the legal temptation to ground either justification or sanctification in personal obedience.
The Mission of the Son of God
John 1:29 presents the whole mission of the incarnate Son of God in a single declaration: 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.' This sermon expounds the Baptist's announcement as a statement loaded with Old Covenant freight — the sacrificial system, the Day of Atonement, and the Servant Songs of Isaiah — all converging on the one unblemished Lamb who bears sin to the cross and removes it through substitutionary atonement. The scope of 'the world' is shown to exclude universalism while affirming that Christ's atoning work reaches every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. The sermon closes with a theological account of believers' baptism as the external sign of the internal grace received through union with Christ in his death and resurrection.
The Exhortation to Perseverance and Unity
Philippians 4:1–3 sets before the church two inseparable obligations: standing fast in the Lord and pursuing unity among the saints. Working through the apostle's affection for the Philippians, his call to perseverance, and the concrete dispute between Euodia and Syntyche, this sermon shows that the absence of unity both destroys the church and renders perseverance a near-impossible task. The biblical remedy for conflict — private confrontation, appeal to witnesses, and involvement of the church — is traced from Proverbs 18 and Matthew 18:15–20, with a complementarian reading of 1 Timothy 2 clarifying the nature of Euodia and Syntyche's gospel labor. Hearers are called to fasten their grips on Christ, his doctrines, and one another for the long haul of the Christian life.
The Salvation and Blessing of God
Psalm 3 presents David's threefold movement through affliction, conviction, and petition — not as private biography, but as a typological window onto the Lord Jesus Christ and, in union with him, the whole church. David's flight from Absalom prefigures Christ surrounded by enemies, crucified, raised, and exalted; the same enemies who said 'there is no help for him in God' echo across the centuries to Golgotha. The psalm teaches that affliction does not dissolve confidence in God but sharpens it: the shield, the glory, and the lifter of the head are unchanging realities that produce sleep in the midst of crisis and courage before ten thousands of adversaries. The closing declaration — 'salvation belongs to the LORD, your blessing is upon your people' — is the direct answer to every accusation that God has abandoned his own, and it is the ground on which the church is called to pray, to sing, and to stand without fear.
The Citizenship of the Believer
The enemies of the cross of Christ are not merely mistaken but are heading toward eternal destruction — and the Apostle Paul warns of them with tears. Expounding Philippians 3:18–21, this sermon identifies the Judaizers as those enemies: their god is their belly, their glory is in their shame, and their minds are set on earthly things. Against that dark backdrop, the believer's citizenship in heaven is a present legal possession that demands an eager anticipation of Christ's return, a purifying of life in light of that coming, and a deliberate seeking out of godly examples to follow rather than the many who walk the broad road to destruction.
The Conversion of Paul, Part 3
Philippians 3:9 presents two and only two kinds of righteousness before God: an inherent righteousness that inheres in the sinner and is condemned, and an imputed righteousness that comes from God through faith in Christ and justifies. This sermon expounds Paul's own conversion as the decisive illustration that no religious resume — however impressive — can satisfy the law's demand for personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. Justification by faith alone confers twin blessings: the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of Christ's active and passive obedience; and far from licensing sin, a right understanding of that justification is the very foundation of biblical sanctification.
The Sixth Commandment, Part 3
The sixth commandment, 'You shall not murder' (Deuteronomy 5:17), prohibits unlawful killing with premeditation and malice, but the Bible distinguishes murder from lawful taking of life in capital punishment, self-defense, and just war. This study works through the Old Testament legal framework for self-defense, particularly Exodus 22:2–3, alongside several narrative examples, to establish that defensive homicide is not forbidden by Scripture. The teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:38–42 is examined carefully to show that the Sermon on the Mount addresses personal, interpersonal ethics — not a universal prohibition on self-defense — and that Jesus himself assumes people will protect themselves and others. The study concludes with a call to think with biblical clarity on these matters in an age of muddled Christian ethics.
The Conversion of Paul, Part 2
Philippians 3:8–9 presents the Apostle Paul's radical revaluation of all things in light of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. Working through verse 8, this sermon traces three movements: Paul's declaration that he counts all things loss, his motivation in the excellence of the knowledge of Christ, and his conviction that everything else — past religious pedigree, present suffering, future comfort — is rubbish compared to gaining Christ. The sermon argues that justification by faith alone is the sole ground of acceptance with God, the only defense against the devil's accusations, the only source of true peace, and the only sure foundation of assurance — grounding each application in Paul's own apostolic biography and in Romans 8 and Romans 5.
The Sixth Commandment, Part 2
The sixth commandment's prohibition of murder raises pressing questions about the lawfulness of capital punishment — questions this study addresses by examining common objections, both biblical and pragmatic. Working through passages in Genesis 9, Romans 12–13, Matthew 5, and John 8, the study argues that none of these texts undermines the death penalty; rather, each, rightly interpreted, confirms that the civil magistrate is God's ordained avenger, armed with the sword to execute retributive justice. The account of the woman caught in adultery is shown to uphold, not overturn, the law of Moses, since Jesus' appeal to qualified witnesses is itself a requirement of that law. Believers are called to embrace the whole counsel of God on civil justice, including its consistency with — not contradiction of — the free offer of the gospel.
The Signs and Wonders Following Jesus's Death
At the death of Jesus, Matthew records four signs: the tearing of the temple veil, an earthquake, split rocks, and the resurrection of Old Testament saints — phenomena unique or extended beyond what the other Synoptics report. This exposition works through Matthew 27:51–56, arguing that each sign carries distinct theological weight: the torn veil announces the abrogation of the old covenant by fulfillment and the opening of free access to God through Christ's flesh; the earthquake signals divine judgment and vindicates the Son; the resurrection of the saints demonstrates Christ's power over the grave, confirms the bodily resurrection hope, and shows the retrospective efficacy of his atoning work for old covenant believers. The sermon closes at the Lord's Supper table, where the confession of Gentile soldiers and faithful women together display that Christ's blood avails for every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
The Cry of Dereliction
What does Christ mean when he cries 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' from the cross? This sermon on Matthew 27:45–46 carefully distinguishes what the cry of dereliction does not mean — no ontological division within the Trinity, no dissolution of the hypostatic union, no suffering of all three persons — before arguing that it expresses Christ's true humanity as our surety bearing the punishment of loss: the withdrawal of the Father's smiling favor and consolatory presence as the Son satisfies divine justice for the sins of his people. The sermon draws extensively on Psalm 22 to show that the forsakenness is covenantal and substitutionary, not metaphysical, and closes with a call to believe on the crucified and risen Christ who cried this cry so that his people never will.
2LCF Chapter 22 - Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, Part 1
The abiding validity of the Fourth Commandment is defended through a biblical theology of the Sabbath that traces the institution from creation through the old covenant. The sermon argues that Sabbath rest is grounded not in the Mosaic economy alone but in the creation ordinance of Genesis 2 and the redemption of Exodus, making it binding upon all humanity — not Jews only — as Christ himself teaches in Mark 2:27. The positive and moral character of the commandment is distinguished from its ceremonial and positive elements, with the day change to the Lord's Day deferred to the following session. Hearers are called to receive the Sabbath as the gift it is declared to be in Isaiah 58, not as a Judaizing imposition.
The Trial Before Pilate, Part 2
Standing before Pontius Pilate, Jesus affirms His kingship while making clear that His kingdom does not originate from this world and poses no military threat to Rome — it advances solely through the proclamation of truth. The sermon works through John 18:33–40 under two heads: Pilate's examination of Jesus (vv. 33–38) and Pilate's cowardly compromise (vv. 39–40), drawing in the parallel account in Luke 23 to trace Jesus' transfer to Herod and back. Pilate's threefold declaration of innocence, Herod's contemptuous mockery, and the crowd's demand for Barabbas together underscore the great exchange: the just for the unjust, the holy Lamb standing in the place of guilty, vile, helpless sinners.
CTF 2025 - Session 7 - Pastoral Reflections on Classical Theism
The prologue of John's Gospel (1:1–18) discloses both the divine perfections and the eternal relations of the divine persons — the very realities that classical theism and the Second London Confession articulate in Chapter 2. This address draws that exegetical foundation into pastoral practice, arguing that a robust theology proper is not abstract speculation but the necessary ground for faithful ministerial function and focus. The preacher identifies six areas — the salvation of sinners, the catechesis of children, the perseverance of the saints, assurance of salvation, communion with God, worship, and the knowledge of God — each of which depends inextricably on a well-formed doctrine of God.
Live Stream - April 13, 2025
Philippians 2:9–11 sets forth the exaltation of Christ as the direct consequence and divine vindication of his humiliation. The sermon works through three considerations in the nature of that exaltation — the consequences of Christ's humiliation for the sinner (freedom from sin's penalty and power, from Satan's bondage, from the law's curse, and free access to God), the Father's approbation of the Son's finished work, and the manifestation of Christ's divine identity in the name given above every name. The significance of the exaltation presses toward a universal, unavoidable submission: every knee will bow and every tongue confess, whether in saving faith now or in compelled acknowledgment on the last day. The sermon closes by pressing sinners to confess Christ willingly in the present day and by reminding believers that the pattern of Christ's humiliation leading to exaltation both grounds their salvation in his active and passive obedience and shapes their life of humble, others-centered love in the church.
The Example of the Savior, Part 3
Philippians 2:8 presents the humility of Christ not as incidental biography but as the doctrinal and ethical foundation for the church's conduct. This sermon examines first the declaration of Christ's humility — that he humbled himself voluntarily, according to his human nature as covenant mediator, in active obedience to every demand of God's law from his mother's womb — and then its demonstration in the extent of that humiliation: even the death of the cross, a death cursed by the law and laden with shame. The active and passive obedience of Christ, taken together, are the sole ground of justification by faith alone, which is why the Lord's Supper is received not as a reward for good conduct but as a proclamation of what the Savior accomplished on behalf of his people.
The High Priestly Prayer, Part 8
John 17:21–23 records Christ's high priestly petition for the unity of all believers across every age — a unity patterned on the mutual indwelling of the Father and the Son. The sermon works through the petition ('that they all may be one'), the divine paradigm (the perichoretic union of the Father and Son as the exemplar for creaturely unity), and the missional purpose (a unified church publishes to the world the reality of the Incarnation and the love of the Father). Believers are called to pursue a common faith, a common orientation, and a common goal — the glory of God — knowing that their corporate life is itself a testimony to the mission of the sent Son.
The High Priestly Prayer, Part 4
What grounds the prayers Jesus offers for his people, and why does he explicitly exclude the world from his intercession? Working through John 17:9–11a, this sermon examines the focus and rationale of Christ's high priestly intercession: he prays specifically for the elect whom the Father gave him, not for the reprobate world, and he does so as the mediating priest who both sacrifices and intercedes on behalf of his own. The mutual possession declared in verse 10 — 'all mine are yours and yours are mine' — establishes the full equality of the Son with the Father, while 'I am glorified in them' frames the church as a trophy case of divine grace displayed before angels and nations. The sermon closes with an exhortation to treasure the blessedness of election: a Savior who intercedes, a triune God who is known, and a security that nothing can sever.
The Example of the Savior, Part 1
Philippians 2:5–6 presents both a profound Christological confession and a direct ethical demand: the church is to pursue unity and love by imitating the mind of Christ. This sermon expounds the divinity of the Son — his eternal existence in the form of God and his equality with the Father — as the theological foundation for Paul's call to selflessness and others-mindedness in the local church. Christ's equality with God was not seized by usurpation, as Adam and Lucifer attempted, but was his by eternal generation and consubstantiality with the Father. Because the superior condescended to serve the inferior, those who are inferior to one another have every reason to renounce selfish ambition and conceit.