Theological term
Depravity of Man
3 sermons · All terms
The Ministry in Iconium, Part 2
Acts 14:1–7 records the apostolic ministry in Iconium: bold gospel preaching met by coordinated Jewish opposition, a divided city, a violent plot, and a strategic withdrawal to Lystra and Derbe. This exposition traces the pattern of persistent opposition to the gospel across Acts and the Old Testament, establishing that persecution is not an aberration but the ordinary condition of faithful gospel ministry. The sermon draws four conclusions: the inevitability of persecution for godly living, the perseverance required of gospel ministers, the wisdom to know when to stay and when to flee, and the indispensability of the Holy Spirit for any effectual proclamation of the Word.
Judges 19
Judges 19 confronts the reader with the full horror of moral degeneracy in Israel during the period before the judges, deliberately mirroring the account of Sodom in Genesis 19 to indict an entire covenant people. The chapter traces a personal marital rupture between a Levite and his concubine through social disintegration in Gibeah — where hospitality has collapsed and women are treated as expendable — to the gang rape and murder of the concubine by the sons of Belial. The sermon presses two lessons: the root of lawlessness is always the absence of a governing king and the rejection of God's covenant law, and covenant membership offers no immunity from the depths of human depravity — the Levite himself is as culpable as the perverts of Gibeah.
The Gospel in the Graveyard
Mark 5:1–20 presents a man utterly beyond human remedy — demon-possessed, dwelling among tombs, breaking every chain — as a vivid picture of the sinner in his natural condition before grace. The sermon works through four movements: the sovereign, condescending Christ who seeks out individuals; the absolute bondage that characterises fallen humanity; the peace with God that Christ alone effects through the blood of His cross; and the commission to proclaim His excellencies wherever one is planted. The application presses both believer and unbeliever to see themselves in the demoniac, to glory in the depth of the pit from which they were drawn, and to tell others of the compassionate Christ who saves to the uttermost.