Scripture
1 Peter
25 sermons
The Blood of the Unblemished Lamb
The redemption of sinners cannot be purchased by any corruptible thing — not silver or gold, not the accumulated wealth of the cosmos, not the religious observances of the old covenant. Expounding 1 Peter 1:18–19, this sermon traces Peter's negation-then-assertion structure: material things and old covenant types alike are insufficient to ransom a soul bound under sin and divine wrath, but the precious blood of Christ as an unblemished and spotless Lamb accomplishes what nothing else can. The blood of Christ is precious because of the surpassing excellence of the person who shed it, the definite redemption it secures, the infinite cost it required of the Father, its unrepeatable once-for-all character, its endless efficacy, and its eternal appointment in the counsel of the triune God before the foundation of the world. Hearers are pressed toward the Lord's Supper with minds fixed on the logic of substitution: the Lamb's own unblemishedness is the very ground of his capacity to bear the blemishes of his people.
Christ's Precious Gem Collection
What does it mean that God's elect are described throughout Scripture as precious stones being gathered into a temple? This sermon traces the biblical-theological thread from the Garden of Eden through Solomon's temple, the Babylonian exile, Isaiah's restoration promises, and into Revelation 21, arguing that Christ — the greater Solomon and last Adam — is building his church by gathering his elect from among all the scattered nations. The identity of the precious gems is God's chosen people; their location is every tribe, tongue, and people; and the means of their gathering is the gospel of Christ, who has already bound the strong man and now commissions his people to mine for treasures in the darkness.