Theological term
Definite Atonement
530 sermons · All terms
Pentecostal Preaching, Part 1
Peter's Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:22–36 is examined as a model of apostolic proclamation (kerygma): the announcement that the age of fulfillment has arrived, the rehearsal of Christ's death and resurrection, the citation of Old Testament Scripture, and the call to repentance. The sermon traces three elements of Peter's central message — the bringer, the intent, and the theological content — demonstrating that the gospel is not the invitation to believe but the historical fact that Christ died for sins and rose again according to the Scriptures. The second half explores Peter's appeal to Psalm 16 as scriptural anticipation of Christ's resurrection, showing that the Old Testament has a Christological trajectory the prophets themselves understood. Hearers are exhorted either to flee to the risen and exalted Christ for salvation or, for believers, to rest daily in the intercession of the living Savior.
Christ Our Passover
Paul's declaration in 1 Corinthians 5:7b — 'Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us' — grounds the Apostle's call to holiness in the atoning work of Christ. This exposition traces the Passover typology of Exodus 12 through six correspondences between the Old Testament type and the anti-typical Lamb: the sacrificial lamb, its unblemished character, its slaughter, the blood's application, its particular scope, and its vicarious nature. Christ's death satisfies divine wrath against the sins of his people and simultaneously breaks sin's dominion, calling believers to pursue holiness as those truly unleavened before God.
The Lord's Prayer, Part 3
What does it mean to pray 'Your kingdom come'? This Bible study on Matthew 6:10 works through the second petition of the Lord's Prayer, distinguishing the universal providential kingdom, the present kingdom of grace, and the coming kingdom of glory, drawing on the Westminster Larger Catechism's answer to question 191. The session applies this petition at three levels — the individual believer, the local church, and the civil order — pressing the congregation toward a kingdom mindset that is expressed in doctrine, churchmanship, evangelistic prayer, and loyalty to the reign of Christ.
The Ministry in Gentile Territory
Matthew 15:29–39 records Jesus healing and feeding great multitudes in Gentile territory, and this expository sermon argues that these twin miracles are not accidental repetitions of Matthew 14 but a deliberate theological demonstration: the covenant promises given to Abraham—that all nations would be blessed in him—are being fulfilled in Christ's ministry beyond Israel's borders. The Gentiles who cast their sick at Jesus' feet and glorified the God of Israel embody the faith the religious leaders of Israel refused. The sermon applies this to the unconverted by pressing the urgency of spiritual need over physical need, and to believers by calling them to renewed wonder at Christ's sovereignty, compassion, and sufficient provision.
The Ministry of the King-Priest
Hebrews 5:5–10 presents Jesus Christ as the divinely appointed King-Priest whose ministry, obedience, and accomplished redemption surpass every dimension of the Levitical priesthood. The sermon traces four elements of Christ's priestly office: his appointment by the Father (Psalms 2 and 110), his ministry of intercession and suffering in Gethsemane, his learned obedience through suffering, and his authorship of an eternal — therefore unlosable — salvation. Because this great High Priest now intercedes at the right hand of the Father, believers are called to hold fast their confession and come boldly to the throne of grace.
The Baptisms of Jesus
Christian baptism is grounded not merely in ecclesiastical command or apostolic precedent, but in the two baptisms of Christ himself: his water baptism in Matthew 3, where he publicly undertook to 'fulfill all righteousness' through perfect active obedience to the law, and the baptism of divine wrath he endured at Calvary — the cup of God's fury poured out upon him as the substitute for his people. Justification rests on both the doing and the dying of the Redeemer: his active obedience provides the righteousness sinners lack, and his passive obedience absorbs the condemnation they deserve. Those who go into the baptismal waters go not on the basis of their own achievement but because Christ was overwhelmed in their place, and they are called from that point forward to follow the Lamb wherever he goes — into service, suffering, and fidelity to his Word.
The Nature of the Gospel
Galatians 1:1–5 is not merely a greeting but a compressed summary of gospel truth that Paul will defend throughout the entire epistle against the Judaizing error of faith plus works. Working through five observations drawn from verse 4, this exposition establishes that Christ's death was voluntary, substitutionary, liberating, decreed by the Father, and designed to terminate in the glory of God alone. The sermon argues that sovereign grace — not human decision, will, or merit — is the only ground of salvation, and that right understanding of this gospel inevitably produces doxology rather than self-congratulation.
The Healing of the Sick at Gennesaret
Matthew 14:34–36 records the healing of the sick at Gennesaret, a summary passage that Matthew uses to display the sovereign power and compassionate mercy of the Son of God. The passage demonstrates a progression from lesser to greater: Christ's mastery over food, storms, and physical illness points to His supreme authority to forgive sin and heal the spiritually dead. The fitting response to recognising who Jesus is — as modelled by the men of Gennesaret — is to come to Him in faith, to bring others to Him, and to rest in the justifying righteousness that is imputed to the sinner through faith alone in Christ alone.
The Comprehensiveness of Salvation
Jude 1–2 presents a compressed theology of salvation — the called, sanctified, and preserved — that serves as the launching pad for a full-orbed defense of the perseverance of the saints. Drawing on the golden chain of Romans 8:29–30, the new covenant promises of Jeremiah 31 and 32, the priestly intercession of Hebrews 7, and the doxology of 1 Peter 1:3–5, the sermon argues that perseverance is grounded not in the believer's own holiness but in the inviolable, triune work of God from election to glorification. The doctrine is presented under four heads — the perfect plan, promise, performance, and power of God — and applied as the only sure ground of soul comfort, soul-stirring doxology, and gospel-worthy conduct.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
The feeding of the five thousand in Matthew 14:13–21 is not merely a record of physical provision but a visible parable designed to compel a verdict about the identity of Jesus Christ. His compassion toward an interrupting crowd, his sovereign command over the multitudes, and his multiplication of five barley loaves and two fish to satisfy more than five thousand people together demonstrate that he is the greater Moses and the greater Elisha — the Son of God in whom all sufficiency resides. The bread-of-life discourse of John 6 shows that those who received loaves and fish without receiving the Savior had missed the point entirely, and the sermon closes with Peter's confession as the model response: 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'
The Significance of the Resurrection
Romans 4:25 presents what Charles Hodge called 'a comprehensive statement of the Gospel': Christ was delivered up because of our offenses and raised because of our justification. This sermon expounds the two parallel clauses of that verse, arguing that the death of Christ was a particular, substitutionary, propitiatory sacrifice for the definite sins of God's elect, and that the resurrection is the Father's public attestation that the atonement was fully accepted and justification secured. The practical implication is that justified sinners — not improved moralists — have peace with God and an unshakeable hope grounded not in exemplary preaching but in the historical, redemptive work of Christ.
The Parables of the Dragnet and Scribe
Matthew 13:47–53 closes the kingdom parables with two final teachings: the dragnet and the scribe. The dragnet parable presses the certainty of coming judgment — at the end of the age, angels will separate the wicked from the just and cast the wicked into the furnace of fire — a reality Jesus repeats deliberately so that no hearer can ignore it. The parable of the scribe then turns to those entrusted with the mysteries of the kingdom: disciples who have understood these truths bear a corresponding responsibility to function as faithful householders, bringing out of the treasure things new and old. The sermon calls every hearer either to flee to Christ as the only refuge from the wrath to come, or, if already a believer, to take seriously the stewardship of gospel knowledge.
The Parables on the Value of the Kingdom
Matthew 13:44–46 presents two parables in which men sell everything they possess to acquire a hidden treasure and a pearl of great price — both illustrating the supreme value of the kingdom of heaven. The sermon argues that coming to Christ is never a loss: the sinner who forsakes all gains everything, and joy rather than grief ought to mark that transaction. Drawing on Moses in Hebrews 11, Paul in Philippians, and the attributes of the triune God from the 1689 confession, the sermon calls both the unconverted to seek Christ urgently and the believer to rest in the surpassing worth of what they already possess.
Hebrews 1
Hebrews 1:3 declares that Christ 'by himself purged our sins' before sitting down at the right hand of the Majesty on high — a compressed statement of the entire work of redemption. This Bible study exposition unpacks that purging under four aspects: it was a thorough cleansing of sin, an expiatory sacrifice removing legal guilt, a propitiatory sacrifice satisfying divine wrath, and a substitutionary act in which Christ bore the curse in the place of his people. The finality of the work is sealed by Christ's session at the Father's right hand — a posture no Levitical priest could assume because their work was never complete — and by his own word from the cross, 'It is finished.'
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.
The Unpardonable Sin
Matthew 12:31–32 contains Christ's solemn warning about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit — the one sin that will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come. This exposition sets the saying in its Matthean context: the Pharisees, having witnessed the Spirit-empowered works of the Davidic Son, willfully and self-consciously attributed those works to Beelzebub. Drawing on parallel passages in Mark 3, Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10, and 1 John, the sermon distinguishes this sin from sins of ignorance and ordinary moral failure, showing that the unpardonable sin is not a moment's rashness but a settled, knowing rejection of the gospel accompanied by an irreversible hardening of heart. The sermon closes with a dual application: believers are urged to use the means of grace and guard against spiritual stagnation, while unbelievers are warned that persistent rejection only hardens the heart, and are called to flee to Christ while there is still time.
Who is Jesus?
Hebrews 1:1–3 presents Jesus Christ as the final and supreme revelation of God — prophet, priest, and king — whose identity is not negotiable. This sermon exposes the bankruptcy of reductive or sentimental views of Christ and argues that the message and the messenger are inseparable: to accept Jesus is to accept his exclusive claims. The exposition works through Christ's appointment as heir of all things, his role as creator and sustainer of the universe, his purging of sin as the perfect high priest, and his present session at the Father's right hand as the ground of the believer's confidence.
The Emancipating King
John 8:31–36 confronts two realities simultaneously: the totality of human bondage to sin and the sufficiency of Christ as the sole emancipating King. The sermon expounds five headings — the evidence of true discipleship, its blessing, the false assessment of unbelief, the divine assessment of unbelief, and the divine sovereignty in conquering unbelief — demonstrating that abiding in Christ's word is the evidence, not the cause, of regenerate discipleship. The liberation Christ brings is not social or political but forensic and spiritual: freedom from sin's guilt, power, and condemnation, purchased on Calvary and applied by sovereign grace alone. Hearers are called to know the truth, rejoice in it as the only lasting joy, and rest in the emancipating King rather than in any self-assessed freedom of will.
The Birth of Jesus Christ
Luke 2:1–14 presents the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ not as pious legend but as historically anchored, geopolitically situated, and theologically loaded narrative. This Bible study works through five aspects of Christ's incarnation — its timing in the fullness of the times (Galatians 4:4), its place in fulfillment of Micah 5:2 and the Davidic covenant, its purpose in the salvation of sinners, the proper angelic-and-human response of praise to God alone, and the manner of Christ's humiliation: born, born in a low condition, born under the law, subjected to the miseries of this life, and destined for the wrath of God and the cursed death of the cross. The Spurgeon quotation that closes the study drives home the Calvinistic logic of the angels' song: 'Glory to God in the highest' belongs to a salvation that puts God first, last, and without end — leaving no crown for the creature.
Specific Directions for Corporate Prayer
What does it mean for men to lead in corporate prayer, and what moral conditions must accompany that leadership? Expounding 1 Timothy 2:8, this sermon establishes that Paul's expressed 'desire' carries apostolic authority binding upon all churches, that the word for 'men' (Greek andros) specifies males as those who are to lead in public worship, and that this complementarian order is grounded not in Ephesian circumstance but in the creation order of Genesis. The manner of that prayer — lifting holy hands, free from wrath and disputing — demands horizontal reconciliation before vertical supplication, so that unresolved sin and unreconciled relationships do not hinder the church's prayer to God.
The Gracious Declaration of the Gospel
Matthew 11:27–28 sets forth the mediatorial office of Christ and the gracious declaration of the gospel as the second and third grounds upon which sinners come to know God. Christ possesses all authority delivered by the Father, holds exclusive knowledge of the Father, and sovereignly wills to reveal Him — condemning universalism, pluralism, and every works-based religion. The free invitation 'Come to me' presupposes sovereign election and effectual grace, addresses those burdened by sin and Pharisaic religion alike, and promises rest that is grounded in Christ's mediation alone, not in human virtue or effort.
The Son of Man Lifted Up
John 12:27–36 presents Jesus in soul trouble as the hour of his crucifixion approaches — not merely fearing physical death, but facing the full weight of the Father's wrath against sin. The sermon expounds four redemptive results of Christ being 'lifted up': the judgment of the world, the casting out of Satan, the effectual drawing of all peoples without distinction to himself, and the glory of God the Father. Preached as a meditation preceding the Lord's Supper, the exposition calls the congregation to prize what they proclaim at the table — not a martyr's moral example, but a cosmic transaction in which the Son exhausted divine wrath on behalf of his people.
The Lord's Assessment of the Baptist
Matthew 11:7–15 records Christ's own assessment of John the Baptist, delivered to the multitudes immediately after answering John's question from prison. The sermon examines what Jesus' threefold rhetorical questioning — was John a reed shaken by the wind, a man in soft garments, or merely a prophet? — reveals about John's uncompromising character, his singular role in redemptive history as the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1, and the nature of the kingdom of heaven that he heralded. Central to the passage is the relationship between the Old and New Covenants: John stands as the greatest born of women and yet the least in the new covenant era exceeds him, not in moral stature but in covenantal privilege on this side of the cross. The sermon closes with an urgent exhortation drawn from verse 15 — he who has ears to hear, let him hear — calling sinners to repent and believe on Christ alone.
The Messenger of the Covenant
Malachi 2:17–3:5 confronts Israel's practical atheism — the posture of those who affirm God doctrinally yet live and speak as though He neither sees nor judges. The prophecy announces a forerunner and a messenger of the covenant who will come to His temple, but whose coming will not be what the self-righteous expect: He comes as refiner's fire and launderer's soap, purging sin and executing judgment. The sermon draws out three applications: guard against practical atheism in the Christian life, recognise that the two tables of the law stand or fall together, and heed the warning of Amos 5 that desiring the day of the Lord without being in Christ is to court inescapable judgment.
The Day of Atonement
Leviticus 16, the legislation governing Israel's annual Day of Atonement, expounds four doctrines that find their fulfilment in the Lord Jesus Christ: the holiness of God who cannot be approached on human terms, the pervasive power of sin that contaminates even the high priest and the sanctuary itself, the absolute necessity of blood for the remission of sins, and the blessing of atonement — forgiveness, cleansing, and the removal of iniquity — that the two-goat ritual visibly enacted. The sermon presses these typological lessons into an indictment of contemporary preaching that has exchanged the blood atonement of Christ for therapeutic and social-reform substitutes, and closes by transitioning the congregation to the Lord's Supper as a new-covenant anamnesis of grace rather than guilt.
A Filthy Priest and the Grace of God
Zechariah 3 sets before the reader a courtroom scene in which Joshua the high priest — clothed in garments the Hebrew describes with language reserved for human feces and vomit — stands before the Lord with Satan at his right hand, ready to accuse. The vision is an unsparing portrait of what every sinner looks like before a holy God, and the response is entirely God's: He silences the accuser, strips the filthy garments, and clothes Joshua in an alien righteousness he did nothing to earn. The sermon expounds this fourth night vision under three headings — the cleansing of Joshua, the charge given to Joshua, and the promise concerning the Branch — demonstrating that the imputation of Christ's righteousness is not a Reformation novelty but a reality enacted in visible, typological form five centuries before Calvary. The application drives toward assurance grounded not in the believer's obedience but in sovereign election and justifying grace, while calling the unconverted to believe on the Branch who came to do what God purposed for Him.
Christ Our Peace
Ephesians 2:11–22 sets the Gentiles' former condition — Christless, hopeless, and without God — against their present status as full members of the one new covenant community purchased by Christ's blood. The sermon argues that Christ himself is peace, that he makes peace by abolishing the ceremonial law and reconciling Jew and Gentile to God through the cross, and that he preaches peace through the proclamation of the gospel. Gentile believers are now fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, being built together as a dwelling place of the Spirit, and this corporate solidarity must be prized alongside the individual salvation it encompasses.
The Trinity and the Death of Christ
The death of Christ on the cross is not the work of the Son alone but of the entire Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — each acting distinctly yet inseparably in the one work of redemption. Drawing from 1 Peter 1:2 as a launching text, the sermon traces each person's role: the Father in purpose, promise, and punishment; the Son in penal obedience, perfection, and protection; the Spirit in publication, persuasion, and purification. The definite, efficacious nature of Christ's atonement is insisted upon throughout — Christ did not die to make salvation possible but to actually and perfectly save his elect. Observed in the context of the Lord's Supper, the sermon calls believers to reflect on the Triune God as the sole and sufficient author of salvation from beginning to end.
The Finished Work of Christ
John 19:30 records the sixth and final word of the Lord Jesus from the cross before he gave up his spirit: 'It is finished' — the Greek tetelestai, a perfect passive verb stamped on commercial receipts to signify a debt paid in full with present and abiding effect. The sermon examines this declaration under three headings: the fulfillment of all redemptive prophecy, the glory of the Son in his obedience to the Father, his redemption of his people, and his defeat of the devil, and finally the manifold comfort the declaration brings to the church — propitiation exhausting the wrath of God, triumph over death, the forgiveness of sins, the imputation of a perfect righteousness, and peace with God. The sermon is preached in the context of the Lord's Supper, calling believers to receive the ordinance in full consciousness of a finished, unrepeatable, entirely sufficient work of Christ, and calling the unconverted to look to that Savior in simple faith.
The Glory of Christ
Psalm 45 is a royal wedding song that the New Testament explicitly applies to the Lord Jesus Christ, and this expository meditation works through its portrait of the glory of the Savior under three headings: His person as the God-Man, His attributes, and His saving works. The sermon traces how the psalmist's overflowing heart moves from the beauty and eloquence of Christ, through His might, blessedness, glory, majesty, and righteousness, to His work as warrior King riding in truth and righteousness for His church. The church is called to respond to so glorious a Savior with wholehearted worship, abandonment of competing loyalties, and the endurance of faith — looking unto Jesus as the author and finisher of faith, not unto one's own performance.