Theological term
Covenant Mediator
33 sermons · All terms
2LCF Chapter 32 - Of the Last Judgment
The biblical doctrine of the Last Judgment—its nature, purpose, and practical relevance—is examined through 1689 LBCF Chapter 32. God has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through Jesus Christ as covenant mediator, to manifest both His mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect and His justice in the eternal damnation of the reprobate. Romans 9 grounds the theocentric purpose of judgment in God's sovereign disposition of mercy and wrath, while 2 Thessalonians 1 supplies the apostolic warrant for the believer's rejoicing in divine justice. The session concludes with an overview of the major millennial positions and their hermeneutical foundations, urging the church to let eschatology produce holiness, consolation, and gospel urgency rather than pride or speculation.
The Gospel Committed to the Apostle Paul
1 Timothy 1:15–17 contains one of five 'faithful sayings' in the Pastoral Epistles, and Paul deploys it here to contrast the life-giving gospel with the idle speculations of the false teachers troubling the church at Ephesus. The sermon works through three elements: the faithful saying as a standard confession received and guarded by the church; the glorious content of that saying — the incarnation of the Son and his effectual, definite work to save sinners; and the merciful application illustrated in Paul himself, who as the chief of sinners functions as a pattern of Christ's longsuffering for all who will believe. The doxology of verse 17 demonstrates that rightly understood soteriology issues in worship, and believers are called to keep this faithful saying at the centre of their hearts and to press it upon the unconverted.
The Reign of the Son of the Most High
Psalm 2 sets the fallen world's rebellion against God and His Anointed within a framework of divine sovereignty, showing that the rage of nations and rulers against Yahweh and His Christ is both futile and answerable. The psalm unfolds in four movements: the insurrection of mankind against God, the installation of the Son as King on Zion, the revelation of the eternal decree establishing the Son's universal inheritance, and the exhortation to kiss the Son in saving faith. Christ is identified as the eternal, only-begotten Son of the Father whose resurrection vindicates His divine Sonship, and whose worldwide reign is not yet complete but is advancing through the gospel mission entrusted to the church. The psalm closes with both a warning to the impenitent and a promise of blessedness to all who trust in Him.
The Commendation of His Spirit
Psalm 31 is a prophetic psalm of Christ, providing the scriptural background to the seventh saying of the Savior from the cross: 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit' (Luke 23:46). The psalm moves through five sections — petition for deliverance, description of suffering, condemnation of enemies, admiration of the Father, and exhortation to the people — each finding its fullest meaning in the crucified and triumphant Messiah. The sermon draws out three contextual observations from the cross: the sovereign control exercised by the Son in laying down his life willingly, the contrast between the hand of God receiving Christ's spirit and the hand of men seeking to destroy him, and the restoration of communion between the Son and the Father after the cry of dereliction. God's people are called to the same trust and courage that marked the Savior — committing their times and their souls to a faithful Creator in the midst of trial, persecution, and adversity.
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.
The Trial Before Pilate, Part 3
John 18:39–40 records Pilate's offer to release Jesus under the Passover custom, and the crowd's choice of Barabbas instead — a transaction that serves as an emblem of substitutionary atonement: the just taking the place of the unjust, the holy bearing what the unholy deserves. Drawing on Matthew 27:15–26 to amplify the scene, the sermon traces the envy of the religious leaders, the warning of Pilate's wife, the manipulation of the multitudes, Pilate's cowardly self-absolution, and the crowd's terrible cry of blood-guilt. The central application is that the believer stands before God not on the ground of personal righteousness but solely on account of Christ's vicarious obedience and death — the glorious exchange in which our sin is laid on him and his righteousness is credited to us.
The Arrest of Jesus
John 18:1–12 presents the arrest of Jesus not as a defeat but as a sovereign, voluntary act of the divine-human Mediator. The passage is expounded under three headings: the betrayal of Jesus by Judas and his coalition of enemies, the glory of Jesus manifested in his command of the situation and his 'I am' declaration that felled the arresting party to the ground, and the arrest proper in which Jesus rebukes Peter's sword and embraces the cup of the Father's wrath. The sermon closes by tracing three layers of antitypical significance — the greater-David typology of 2 Samuel 15, the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, and the garden of Eden in Genesis 1–3 — to show that the arrest of Christ is the hinge on which God's eternal purpose to save his people from their sins turns.
The Resurrection and Justification
Romans 4:25 binds the death and resurrection of Christ together as twin pillars of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Christ was delivered up because of the offenses of his people — bearing the substitutionary curse that divine justice demanded — and was raised because of their justification, the resurrection serving as the Father's public testimony that satisfaction had been rendered and righteousness secured. The sermon works through four reasons why Paul links the resurrection to justification: the resurrection declared Christ to be the Son of God with power, testified that his sacrifice was accepted, confirmed that satisfaction was rendered, and marked the completion of redemption and the inauguration of Christ's present session. Believers are called to rest their entire confidence for standing before God on this finished work, and the unconverted are urged to confess and believe in the risen Lord Jesus.
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.
Bible Study - Numbers 12:1-16
Numbers 12 records the rebellion of Miriam and Aaron against Moses, ostensibly over his Cushite wife but in reality a challenge to his God-given authority as Israel's unique covenant mediator. The passage establishes a hierarchy of prophetic revelation — vision and dream to the prophets, but face-to-face speech to Moses — which God himself defends by immediately judging Miriam with leprosy. Moses' humility and intercessory prayer on behalf of his accusers point forward typologically to the greater Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone bears the full weight of God's people and speaks face-to-face with the Father.
The Complaint of the People
Numbers 11 records the complaint of Israel in the wilderness — a sin that provokes divine judgment, exposes the limits of Moses as covenant mediator, and points forward to the burden-bearing Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. The chapter is not a collection of independent narratives but a unified account of complaint (vv. 1–15), the appointment of seventy elders (vv. 16–30), and the execution of God's judgment (vv. 31–35). Israel's craving for meat is not mere hunger but a rejection of Yahweh as their God — an idolatrous longing for Egypt that God answers with poetic justice. The passage calls the new-covenant people of God to replace grumbling with gratitude, recognizing that God is to be valued for his own sake, not merely for what he provides.
Restrictions on Levitical Priesthood
Leviticus 21–22 sets out restrictions governing the Levitical priesthood: whom priests may mourn, whom they may marry, what physical conditions disqualify them from service, who may eat from their food, and what animals are acceptable for sacrifice. The underlying logic in every category is the same — the holy God who dwells among his people demands a priesthood, a sacrifice, and a manner of worship that reflect his holiness and are not corrupted by defilement or defect. These chapters point typologically beyond themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone fulfils what the Levitical order only approximated: the perfect high priest who is holy, harmless, and undefiled, and the perfect sacrifice offered once for all. The superiority of the new covenant is seen precisely here — the exclusions of the old order (eunuchs, the maimed, the lame) give way to the great invitation of Christ to the broken and outcast to come to the wedding feast.
Introduction to the Book of Exodus
The book of Exodus, whose Hebrew title derives from its opening words ('these are the names'), sets forth the foundational redemptive act of the Old Testament — God's deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage in fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant promise of Genesis 15. This session surveys the book's structure, authorship, and theological themes, including the threefold division of the law (moral, judicial, and ceremonial), the typological relationship between Moses and Christ, and the Baptist confessional distinction that identifies the Mosaic covenant as a covenant of works rather than an administration of the covenant of grace. The study closes by tracing how Exodus functions as a foundational template for redemptive history across both Testaments, climaxing in the antitypical work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the true Passover lamb and covenant mediator.
The Baptisms of Jesus Christ
What is the theological basis for believers' baptism? This sermon argues that Christians are baptized because of the two baptisms of Jesus Christ: his water baptism in Matthew 3, which inaugurated his life of active obedience by fulfilling all righteousness on behalf of his people, and his metaphorical baptism of suffering in Matthew 20, which points to his passive obedience in drinking the cup of divine wrath on the cross. Sinners possess no righteousness of their own sufficient to stand before a holy God; they are clothed entirely in Christ's alien righteousness, imputed to them through faith. The practical exhortation to those who have believed is to follow Christ in believer's baptism as an act of public obedience, not as a means of salvation but as its public confession.
Free Grace Baptist Church - October 2, 2019 Bible Study
Genesis 28 records God's sovereign confirmation of the Abrahamic covenant blessing to Jacob at Bethel — a man fleeing for his life after his own deception, yet met by Yahweh in a dream of angels ascending and descending a ladder between heaven and earth. The passage is expounded under three movements: Jacob's relocation to Padanaram, Esau's futile attempt to secure parental blessing through marriage, and Jacob's vow at Bethel. The dream is interpreted on two complementary levels — as a declaration of divine providence over Jacob's solitary journey, and as a messianic anticipation of Christ as the one mediator between heaven and earth, the interpretation Christ himself provides in John 1:51. The chapter marks a turning point in Jacob's life, from grasping deceiver to worshipping covenant-keeper, and sets a paradigm for all Israel of worship, tithing, and trust in Yahweh's faithfulness.
Genesis 19:12-29
Genesis 19:12–29 recounts the deliverance of Lot from Sodom and the destruction of the cities of the plain, and this study expounds both events as windows into the character of God and the weakness of the righteous. Lot's spiritual sluggishness — his lingering, his misplaced requests, and his compromised family — traces back to the wrong choice recorded in Genesis 13, illustrating how an unscriptural settlement among the worldly dims spiritual discernment over time. Yet the text twice identifies God's mercy, not Lot's righteousness, as the ground of his deliverance, and verse 29 explicitly connects that deliverance to God's covenant with Abraham. The practical call is to think biblically about residence, vocation, and marriage, and to rest in the imputed righteousness of Christ while pursuing practical godliness.
The Apostles' Defense before the Council
Acts 5:27–32 records the apostles' second arraignment before the Sanhedrin and their bold proclamation of the gospel under direct threat of punishment. Peter's reply — 'we ought to obey God rather than men' — establishes a permanent principle for the church: when civil or religious authority commands disobedience to God, the Christian is bound to God alone. The sermon expounds Peter's gospel proclamation in verses 30–32, treating the incarnation, crucifixion, exaltation, and gift of repentance as a coherent apostolic witness, and closes with exhortations to prepare for persecution, persevere in bold proclamation, and believe the message of forgiveness through Christ.
2LCF Chapter 30 - Of the Lord's Supper
The Lord's Supper is a divinely instituted ordinance of the new covenant, commanded by Christ and belonging to the gathered church until His return. Walking through 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith chapter 30, this study examines the purpose, nature, celebration, elements, and recipients of the Supper — contrasting the Reformed understanding with the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. The Supper is neither a sacrifice of atonement nor a reward for obedience, but a means of grace through which God confirms and nourishes the faith of believers, binds them to Christ and to one another, and stirs them toward renewed obedience and praise.
The Crucifixion of Jesus, Part 3
Matthew 27:45–46 records the darkest three hours of history and the lone saying of Christ that Matthew preserves from the cross: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' This sermon works through the cry of dereliction with careful attention to what the text does and does not teach, ruling out any ontological division within the Trinity, any dissolution of the hypostatic union, and any notion that all three persons suffered at Calvary. The forsakenness Christ voiced was real — a qualified withdrawal of the Father's consolatory smile and favour, not an abandonment of love — because Christ stood as the covenant surety of his people, bearing the punishment of loss that sinners deserve. The gospel comfort that follows is decisive: because Christ cried 'Why have you forsaken me?' those united to him by faith will never have to.
The Passover with the Disciples
Matthew 26:17–25 presents Jesus as the sovereign master of the Passover, not a hapless victim of events spiraling beyond his control. Working through the preparation for Passover and the announcement of betrayal, this exposition shows how Christ's active obedience to the law, his precise foreknowledge, and his willing submission to the Father's eternal decree together constitute the ground of redemption for his people. The contrast between Judas, whose hardened heart renders him a reprobate despite extraordinary privilege, and the eleven, whose sorrowful self-examination models the disposition of genuine faith, drives home two applications: trust in Christ alone, by grace through faith, for justification; and cultivate a healthy self-suspicion rather than a confident presumption of one's own standing before God.
2 Samuel 9
David's covenant faithfulness to Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9 illuminates two doctrines: the binding nature of covenant obligation and the typological relationship between David and his greater Son, Jesus Christ. The Hebrew word hesed — covenant love that exceeds the bare requirements of duty — governs David's intention and execution of kindness toward a lame, vulnerable enemy of the throne, and serves as a shadow of the gospel wherein Christ protects, provides for, and grants position to those who are insignificant, unworthy, and hostile. The sermon calls hearers to faithful covenant-keeping in marriage, parenting, and every solemn promise, and to marvel that believers, like Mephibosheth, eat continually at the king's table by grace alone.
The Covenantal Context of the Incarnation
The Incarnation of the Son of God was not an afterthought but the execution of an eternal, intra-Trinitarian covenant — the covenant of redemption — in which the Father gave the Son a definite number of elect people, and the Son willingly undertook to be their covenant surety and mediator. Drawing on Hebrews 10:5–10, John's Gospel, Isaiah 53, Romans 5, and Ephesians 1, this study presents three lines of biblical evidence: the relationship between the Father and the Son, the covenantal language applied to that relationship, and the pre-temporal foundation of the Son's redemptive work. The practical force is doxological and pastoral: believers are eternally secure because their salvation rests not on their own resolve but on a covenant sworn before creation, in which Christ bore a covenant of works on their behalf, obeying perfectly so that his righteousness might be imputed to them by faith alone.
The Transfiguration of the Son
The transfiguration of Christ in Matthew 17:1–8 is a controlled revelation of the divine glory that belongs to the eternal Son, displayed before Peter, James, and John on the holy mountain. The Father's voice from the Shekinah cloud — echoing Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1–4, and repeating his declaration at Christ's baptism — publicly confirms that Jesus is the beloved Messiah who must suffer, die, and rise, vindicating the Christology the disciples had confessed in Matthew 16. Moses and Elijah appear as the law and the prophets bearing witness to the one who fulfills and supersedes them both, while their conversation with Christ about his coming death underscores that the cross and the crown are inseparable. Believers are called to behold the glory of the transfigured Son, to hear him above all other voices, and to press on through suffering in confidence that cross always precedes crown.
The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
John 18:1–11 records the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, yet John's Gospel frames the scene not primarily as a display of suffering but as a revelation of divine glory. The great I AM steps forward to meet his captors, causes a detachment of soldiers to fall to the ground by the mere utterance of his name, and willingly drinks the cup of God's wrath — not as a victim, but as the covenant mediator and surety who executes the eternal decree of the Father. The sermon calls hearers to resist a narcissistic reading of the passion narratives and instead to bow in worship before the obedient Son of God, whose vicarious, substitutionary death is the sole ground of the sinner's justification.
The Priestly Office of Christ
Hebrews 2:16–18 introduces the high priestly office of Christ, which the author of Hebrews will develop through chapters 5 to 10. This exposition works through three interlocking truths: Christ's role as covenant mediator — taking on the seed of Abraham rather than the nature of angels — establishes the ground of His representation; His incarnational identification with His brethren qualifies Him to serve as a merciful and faithful High Priest; and His function of propitiation reveals that He exhausted the wrath of God on behalf of a particular people given to Him by the Father, making definite atonement the only coherent conclusion. Believers are called to cry out to their interceding High Priest in every temptation, since He who withstood the full weight of temptation without sin is able to aid those who are tempted.
Deuteronomy 27
Deuteronomy 27 marks the transition from the stipulation section of Israel's covenantal constitution to the sanctions section, where blessings and curses are attached to covenant faithfulness or breach. This exposition works through the future covenant renewal ceremony at Mounts Ebal and Gerizim (vv. 1–10) and the twelve maledictory curses pronounced upon covenant-breakers (vv. 11–26), showing that the curses addressed both external conduct and the secret intentions of the heart. The self-maledictory 'amen' sworn by Israel on Ebal anticipates the curse Christ bore as covenant head and mediator, whose personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience fulfills what no Israelite could render. The law's function, then, is to expose human sinfulness and drive the covenant people outside themselves to the Redeemer.
Not By Israel's Righteousness
Deuteronomy 9:1–10:11 delivers a threefold warning against self-righteousness: Israel is not receiving the promised land because of her own merit, but because of the wickedness of Canaan, the covenant faithfulness of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God's sovereign mercy displayed repeatedly in the face of Israel's rebellion. The historical review — from the golden calf at Horeb to Taberah, Massah, Kibroth Hattaavah, and Kadesh Barnea — demonstrates that Israel had no claim to righteousness whatsoever, and that her survival depended entirely on the mediatorial intercession of Moses, who points forward to Christ. The sermon drives this pattern into the conscience of the hearer: no one enters into the blessing of God on the ground of personal righteousness, wisdom, free will, or any self-generated merit, but solely through God's grace, covenant faithfulness, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
The Redemptive Focus of the Incarnation
Hebrews 2:14–18 sets forth four redemptive purposes that drove the Son of God to take on flesh and blood: the destruction of Satan's tyranny, the liberation of his people from the fear of death, the assumption of the covenant mediator's role as seed of Abraham, and the execution of the high-priestly office through propitiation and intercession. The incarnation was not incidental but was decreed from eternity in the covenant of redemption, with the Father giving a people to the Son who then assumed their nature as surety of the new covenant. Christ's atoning work — bearing the Father's wrath as the substitute of sinners — is the nerve center of the argument, and the passage calls believers to draw near to a high priest who has suffered and is therefore able to aid every tempted soul.
Jesus and Thomas
Thomas's refusal to believe the apostolic testimony of the resurrection was not mere intellectual doubt but willful obstinacy — a demand that God meet his conditions before he would submit. This sermon works through John 20:24–31 under four headings: the character of Thomas, the grace of Christ, Thomas's lofty confession, and the Lord's final beatitude. The central challenge is that sinners who insist on their own terms for believing are placing themselves in the judge's seat over God, and the only fitting response is to bow with Thomas and confess, 'My Lord and my God.'