Cited in sermons
W.G.T. Shedd
3 sermons · All people cited
The Use of the 2nd London Confession
A confession of faith is not a human addition to Scripture but a tool the church uses to define, defend, discriminate, discipline, and delimit its doctrine. Drawing on passages from the Pastoral Epistles, Jude, and Ephesians 4, this Sunday School address argues that the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 serves the local church in six concrete ways: it establishes doctrinal boundaries, equips members for apologetics, vets candidates for ministry, grounds church discipline, protects Christian liberty by identifying what lies outside its purview, and anchors the church in the catholicity of the Reformed tradition. The session closes with a call to reject autonomous biblicism in favour of confessional theology understood as the fruit of the Spirit's ongoing work in the teaching ministry of Christ's church.
Introduction to the 1677/1789 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith — formally composed in 1677 and adopted by particular Baptist churches in 1689 — stands in deliberate continuity with the Westminster Confession and the Savoy Declaration, adapting their language to reflect distinctively Baptist convictions while maintaining solidarity with the broader Reformed tradition. This introductory session traces the Confession's historical origins, its relationship to the First London Confession of 1644–46, and the legal and ecclesiastical context in which particular Baptists operated under the Act of Toleration. Six reasons are then advanced for why a 21st-century church should subscribe to a 17th-century confession: to define, defend, discriminate, discipline, distinguish matters of Christian liberty, and develop an appreciation for the history of the church. The session closes by urging that confessionalism, rightly understood, is not proud biblicism but the humble reception of gifts Christ has given to his church across the ages.
2LCF Chapter 23 - Of Lawful Oaths and Vows
Second London Confession of Faith chapter 23 treats the doctrine of lawful oaths and vows, distinguishing Reformed Baptist practice from the Anabaptist rejection of oath-taking and from Roman Catholic monastical vows. The sermon argues that swearing by God's name is itself an act of religious worship — acknowledging his omniscience, omnipresence, and vindictive justice — and that Scripture warrants oaths in matters of weight and moment while condemning their careless everyday use. Matthew 5:33–37 is shown to address the abuse of casual, trivial oath-making rather than solemn oaths before lawful authority, as confirmed by Christ's own oath before the Sanhedrin, God's oath to Abraham, and Paul's repeated appeals to God as witness. The sermon closes by exposing popish monastical vows of celibacy, poverty, and obedience as superstitious devices of men that contradict Scripture's positive assessment of marriage, honest labor, and just remuneration.