Theological term
Intercession of Christ
11 sermons · All terms
The Gospel's Precious Liberty Part 2
Paul's warning in Galatians 5:2–6 is stark: to submit to circumcision as necessary for salvation is to forfeit Christ entirely and to incur an obligation to keep the whole law perfectly. This sermon expounds the twofold warning (estrangement from Christ; falling from grace understood not as loss of salvation but as abandonment of the gospel's scheme of grace), the perseverance of the saints confirmed by John 6, John 10, Romans 8, and Hebrews 7, and the exercise of Christian liberty in spirit-wrought confidence and a faith that works through love. True confidence rests not in the flesh or in any obedience of our own, but in the person, blood, sacrifice, and righteousness of Christ received by faith alone.
2LCF Chapter 17 - Of the Perseverance of the Saints
The perseverance of the saints — that those whom God has elected, called, justified, and sanctified will certainly be preserved unto final glorification — is examined through the three paragraphs of 2LCF Chapter 17. The doctrine rests not on the free will or native strength of the believer, but on the immutability of God's decree of election flowing from His free and unchangeable love, the perfect merit and ongoing intercession of Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, the principle of grace implanted within, and the inviolable nature of the covenant of grace. The certainty and infallibility of perseverance is therefore as secure as God Himself. Believers are exhorted not to neglect the means of grace — public worship, the preaching of the Word, the sacraments, prayer, and private and family devotion — for it is within those ordained means that God nourishes His people in faith, repentance, love, joy, and hope.
Ask FGBC #38: Faith vs Trust, Are They the Same?
Faith and trust are examined as near-synonymous terms in the Greek New Testament, with the threefold schema of assent, belief, and trust acknowledged but handled with care lest 'trust' become a works-oriented addition to saving faith. The sermon addresses whether doubt and fear disqualify a person from genuine saving faith, arguing from Matthew and Luke that believers in Scripture feared and doubted while possessing true faith. Perseverance is grounded not in the strength of a believer's grip on Christ but in the immutability of God's electing decree, the intercession of Christ, and the abiding of the Spirit, as articulated in 1689 LBCF 17.2. The practical counsel given is to strengthen weak faith through Scripture memory, doctrine, and the means of grace.
The Exceeding Greatness of God's Almighty Power
Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:19–23 that believers would know the exceeding greatness of God's almighty power raises the question of what that power actually is and what it has accomplished. This sermon works through three interlocking realities: the supremacy of God's omnipotence as a timeless, self-existent, and inexhaustible divine attribute; its decisive demonstration in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ; and the immensity of that exaltation, whereby Christ reigns as head over all creation and over his church. The practical weight falls on believers — the same power that raised Christ from the dead is the power that calls, regenerates, preserves, and will finally resurrect all who are united to him.
2LCF Chapter 17 - Of the Perseverance of the Saints, Part 1
The 1689 London Baptist Confession chapter 17 on the perseverance of the saints is examined through its first two paragraphs, grounding the doctrine in the preserving power of the triune God rather than in the free will of the believer. The Confession is shown to be both rigorously doctrinal and remarkably practical, acknowledging the storms, unbelief, and apparent withdrawal of God that saints genuinely experience while insisting that these cannot sever the elect from grace. The foundation of perseverance is traced through the immutability of the decree of election, the merit and intercession of Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, and the nature of the covenant of grace — directly opposing both Roman Catholic and Arminian accounts that make final salvation contingent on human cooperation. Believers are exhorted to feed their souls on the promises of the covenant of grace precisely because perseverance is secured by God's unchangeable love, not by their performance.
2LCF Chapter 17 - Of the Perseverance of the Saints
The perseverance of the saints is not grounded in the will or strength of the redeemed but in the immutable decree of election, the finished work and ongoing intercession of Jesus Christ, the oath of God, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, and the inviolable nature of the covenant of grace. Working through chapter 17 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession, this study traces the "golden chain of redemption" from predestination through glorification, demonstrating that every link is secured by the triune God rather than by human willing. The session also addresses the reality of backsliding — its causes in the world, the flesh, and the devil — while insisting that the means of grace (prayer, the Word, the ordinances, and the fellowship of the saints) are the appointed instruments by which God preserves His people. Christians are called to heed apostolic exhortations to diligence precisely because perseverance is God's work, not a license for antinomian presumption.
Free Grace Baptist Church - December 4, 2016 PM
The Trinity is fully active in the death of Christ — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each play distinct and glorious roles in the one work of redemption. Drawing from 1 Peter 1:1–2 and 1:10–21, this Lord's Supper meditation traces how the Father purposes and orders Christ's death, bruises the Son to secure salvation, and receives his human soul; how the Son bears the punishment due to sinners, actually and fully saves his people, and continues to intercede for them; and how the Spirit testifies beforehand to Christ's sufferings, supports Christ's human nature under those sufferings, and applies redemption's benefits to the elect. The threefold application calls believers to rejoice in Christ, gird up the loins of their minds as obedient children, and rest their faith and hope entirely in the triune God who saves to perfection.
The Ascension of Christ
The bodily, visible, local ascension of Christ into heaven forty days after his resurrection is not a peripheral doctrine but the hinge on which the entire exaltation of the Mediator turns. This sermon expounds Acts 1:9–11 in three movements: the historical reality of the ascension (real, visible, bodily, local, and glorious), its theological significance (fulfillment of Scripture, completion of Christ's priestly work, his enthronement at the Father's right hand, and the glory given to him as Mediator), and its practical benefits for the church (the gift of the Holy Spirit, the perpetual intercession of Christ, and the guaranteed second coming). Believers are called to draw courage from Christ's present reign, flee to the cross before the judgment that the ascension makes inevitable, and rest in the advocacy of the enthroned Savior who always lives to make intercession.
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.
Characteristics of the Superlative Christ
Hebrews 12:2-3 presents Christ not merely as the object of saving faith but as its supreme exemplar — the one whose disposition, steadfastness, reward, and remedying example together constitute the only sufficient antidote to weariness and discouragement of soul. The sermon expounds four characteristics of Christ drawn from these verses: His anticipatory joy in carrying out the Father's will, His resolute endurance of the cross, His exaltation to the right hand of God, and His power as the divine remedy against a flagging faith. Hearers are called to consider Christ — to engage the mind in sustained contemplation of His person and perfect work — as the first and only right destination when trials press the soul toward despair.
The Ascension of Jesus Christ
The ascension of Jesus Christ is not a theological footnote but the capstone event that confirms the completion of His atoning work and inaugurates His present reign at the right hand of the Father. Working through Acts 1:9–11, this sermon establishes six observations: the ascension followed Christ's finished atonement, was visible and bodily, was glorious in the Shekinah cloud, sets the pattern for a literal and visible second coming, and resulted in His enthronement as Messiah-King over all nations. The enthroned Christ is the ground of Christian perseverance, bold prayer, and the church's missionary commission — and He is the only refuge for sinners who will otherwise confess Him as Lord on the day of judgment.