Theological term
Edification
7 sermons · All terms
The Apostle's Charge to Timothy
Paul's charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:3–7 commands the silencing of false teachers in Ephesus who taught other doctrine, devoted themselves to fables and endless genealogies, and generated disputes rather than godly edification. The charge is not motivated by power or animosity but by love flowing from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith — the fruit of regeneration. The false teachers compounded their error by combining ignorance of the law with arrogant confidence in their own assertions, a combination the apostle deems disqualifying. Churches today must hold the same line: qualifying teachers rigorously, refusing platforms to the heterodox, and measuring all teaching against the truth as it is in Jesus.
CTF 2025: Why This Conference?
This recorded conversation introduces a Reformed Baptist theological conference structured around a chapter-by-chapter study of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. The speakers explain that the conference was conceived to promote edification among pastors and laypeople alike by gathering around the central doctrines summarized in the confession. The format draws on the pattern of a long-running Southern California Reformed Baptist conference that worked through confession chapters progressively over successive years. The vision is explicitly confessional: to equip God's people to know what Scripture teaches and to receive faithfully the theological heritage passed down through the Reformed Baptist tradition.
CTF 2025 - Why another conference?
This preview conversation introduces a confessional Reformed Baptist conference designed to walk through the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith one chapter per year, gathering pastors, elders, and laypeople around the doctrines most surely believed among Reformed Christians. The 2025 conference focuses on Chapter 2 of the confession, a chapter with significant overlap with the Westminster Confession, the Savoy Declaration, and the Belgic Confession. The stated purpose is the edification of the saints through theological instruction, fellowship, and fidelity to the received biblical and confessional heritage.
CTF 2025 - How Did the 2024 Conference Go?
A brief post-conference reflection on the April 2024 Reformed Baptist conference on Chapter 1 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. Attendees and a Free Reformed pastor both expressed that the exposition of the confession aligned closely with sound catechetical teaching, underscoring the doctrinal solidarity that exists across confessional traditions. The gathering is described as an occasion for edification, fellowship, and the opening of Scripture in a spirit of unity rather than controversy.
The Conduct of the New Man, Part 2
Ephesians 4:29–32 calls believers to put off corrupt speech and bitter dispositions and to put on edifying words and a forgiving heart — not as conditions for salvation, but as conduct that flows necessarily from it. The sermon exposits the structure of Paul's exhortations: a prohibition, a positive exhortation, and a motivation in each subsection. Corrupt speech grieves the Holy Spirit, who has sealed believers for the day of redemption; and bitterness, wrath, clamor, and evil speaking are symptoms of the old man that must be mortified. The sermon closes with the ground of all Christian forgiveness: God in Christ has already forgiven us, and that forgiveness is the cause, not the goal, of our forgiveness toward others.
The Gifts Given by the Ascended Christ, Part 2
Ephesians 4:11–13 presents Christ's ascension gifts to the church — apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers — not as a support structure for general congregational ministry, but as the primary agents of three coordinate purposes: perfecting the saints, engaging in the work of ministry, and edifying the body of Christ. The sermon argues at length for a reading of verse 12 that sees all three prepositional phrases as dependent on the gifted men of verse 11, contesting the newer 'every-member ministry' interpretation found in modern translations and commentaries. The church's corporate maturity and doctrinal stability depend on qualified, diligent, Word-centered ministers whom Christ in his wisdom and kindness has given as gifts, and the congregation bears a corresponding responsibility to receive and honor that ministry.
The First Post-Conversion Visit to Jerusalem by Paul
Paul's first post-conversion visit to Jerusalem (Acts 9:26–31) exposes three realities: the suspicious reception Saul faced from the Jerusalem disciples, the bold gospel ministry he conducted among the Hellenists despite two attempts on his life, and Luke's summary statement on the condition and growth of the churches in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. The sermon argues that faithful churches grow not through gimmick or manipulation but through walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit — conditions that produce peace, edification, and genuine multiplication. Along the way, the preacher presses the congregation to pray for bold preaching, to value the supporting roles of 'Ananias and Barnabas figures' in the church, and to pursue the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace as an active, worked-for reality.