Theological term
Substitutionary Atonement
222 sermons · All terms
The Salvation of an Ethiopian Eunuch
Acts 8:26–40 records the sovereign calling, gospel instruction, and baptism of an Ethiopian eunuch — a Gentile and a eunuch, doubly excluded from full participation in Israel's assembly, yet brought to Christ through the preaching of Philip from Isaiah 53. The sermon exposits three movements in the narrative: the Spirit's sovereign direction of Philip to the eunuch, the necessity of the proclaimed gospel for salvation, and the eunuch's believing response expressed in baptism. The occasion of eight baptisms frames the exposition as a demonstration that God saves sinners of every kind through the hearing of the gospel — the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ — and that believer's baptism by immersion is the proper public confession of that saving faith.
Five Observations on Christ's Doctrine of Salvation (Part 1)
The doctrines of grace are not cold dogmatism but the very substance of the gospel, and Christ himself is their foremost teacher. Working from John 6:35–51 and ranging through the Gospel of John, this sermon opens a five-observation series on Christ's own doctrine of salvation, examining first the comprehensiveness of sin — total inability, bondage to the devil, and the love of darkness — and second, the unmitigated and unsolicited divine prerogative in salvation, by which God alone is the alpha and omega of the rescue of sinners. The third observation treats the precision and impeccability of Christ's crosswork: the Father's will that nothing given to the Son be lost, and the Son's answering cry of victory, 'It is finished,' as the ground of particular redemption. The unconverted are urged to see themselves as the Gadarene maniac — untamed, chained, and in need of the Christ who alone can bring a sinner to be clothed and in his right mind.
The Vision of One Like the Son of Man
Revelation 1:9–19 presents John's vision of the ascended and glorified Christ, identifying him as the Danielic Son of Man who has received dominion, glory, and an everlasting kingdom. The sermon works through three movements: the content of the vision itself (Christ's high priesthood, sovereign rule, all-seeing knowledge, inexorable judgment, conquering word, and restored pre-incarnate glory), John's prostrate response as the only fitting posture before such majesty, and the threefold comfort Christ speaks over the fallen apostle — his eternality, his resurrection victory, and his sovereign ownership of the keys of Hades and death. The exhortation is to wake and sleep with this exalted Christ consciously held before the heart, and to flee the passing pleasures of sin by bending the knee to the King of Kings.
A Real Savior for Real Sinners
Paul's description of the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 — fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, revilers — followed by the three-fold declaration 'you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified' — furnishes the text for five observations on the nature of the gospel. The sermon confronts self-deception about standing before God, refutes the claim that sin is genetic or environmentally determined, and sets out the biblical doctrines of regeneration, definitive sanctification, and justification by imputed righteousness as the only remedy for real sinners. The application is threefold: these truths ought to promote worship, drive evangelism, and sustain holiness in the lives of those who have been washed in Christ.
Possession, Position, and Privileges of Believers, Part 2
Philippians 3:10–11 presses the believer past justification into a lifelong, deepening knowledge of Christ — specifically the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. Paul's ordering of resurrection before suffering is deliberate: only the power that raised Christ from the dead equips believers to endure cross-bearing in a hostile world. The sermon closes by tracing Paul's single-minded, forward-pressing posture in verses 12–14 as the pattern of sanctification, calling every justified believer to pursue the knowledge of Christ with undying intensity regardless of circumstance.
The Attributes of Scripture
The attributes of Scripture — its extent, character, and usefulness — form the doctrinal foundation the Apostle Paul sets before Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16–17 as the antidote to the godlessness of the last days. The sermon argues that 'all Scripture' encompasses both Old and New Testaments, that the word 'God-breathed' (theopneustos) denotes divine inspiration rather than human religious sentiment, and that an inspired Bible is necessarily infallible and inerrant. Believers are therefore called to immerse themselves in the whole counsel of Scripture, to develop a consistent systematic theology, and to be ready to proclaim and defend the gospel without hesitation.
The Command to Walk in Christ
Colossians 2:6–7 presents what Paul considers the heart and substance of the entire epistle: a command to walk in Christ, grounded entirely in the prior reception of Christ by faith. This sermon works through three particulars of that command — the indicative basis (what God has already accomplished in salvation), the imperative itself (walking in Him), and the attendant circumstances (being rooted, built up, established in the faith, and abounding in thanksgiving). The believer's walk is not a self-generated moral effort but a response to sovereign grace, sustained by the same divine power that accomplished the initial rooting in Christ.
The Ascension of Jesus Christ
The ascension of Jesus Christ is not religious myth but historically verified fact with profound doctrinal and practical consequences for the believer and the church. Working through Acts 1:9–11, five observations are drawn: the ascension was visible, bodily, and glorious; it sets the pattern for Christ's bodily and glorious return; and it resulted in his enthronement at the right hand of the Father. The sermon applies this doctrine to personal holiness, corporate joy, evangelistic zeal, faithfulness to the next generation, and the call to sinners to look to the enthroned Christ in faith.
Redemption Through the Curse Bearer
Galatians 3:10–14 presents two mutually exclusive grounds on which a sinner might attempt to stand before God: the works of the law, which place every performer under a divine curse, or faith in Christ, who became that curse in the place of his people. This sermon expounds the universal and just nature of the curse fallen humanity labors under, the identity and substitutionary work of the Redeemer who bore it, and the nature of redemption as a purchased liberation from condemnation. The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is brought alongside Galatians 3 to press the willingness and joy of Christ in receiving sinners, calling every hearer to look to him in faith rather than to any measure of personal law-keeping.
Supping on Betrayal Night
Matthew 26:26–30 records the institution of the Lord's Supper within the Passover meal — a setting charged with typological significance, since Christ himself is the Passover Lamb who fulfils what the feast foreshadowed. The sermon defends a figurative interpretation of 'this is my body' against Roman Catholic transubstantiation, marshalling four arguments from Scripture, Christology, historical context, and common sense. The cup is shown to inaugurate the New Covenant announced in Jeremiah 31, fulfilling the blood-sprinkling of Exodus 24, so that every element of the ordinance proclaims the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Hearers are called to approach the Lord's Supper with sober joy, repentance, and a gaze fixed on the coming King whose blood alone purchases the remission of sins.
Abraham's Faith and God's Promise
Genesis 22 presents the supreme test of Abraham's faith: the commanded sacrifice of Isaac, the son of promise. The passage is expounded under three headings — the presentation of the test (vv. 1–2), the obedience of Abraham (vv. 3–10), and the approval of God (vv. 11–19) — with close attention to the three-day journey, Abraham's silent faith, and his confession that 'God will provide.' The sermon moves from the historical narrative to its Christological typology: Abraham foreshadows the Father, Isaac foreshadows the Son, and the substitutionary ram of verse 13 foreshadows the Lamb of God, so that Yahweh-Yireh finds its ultimate fulfilment at Calvary. Hearers are called to the same contrary-to-hope, unwavering trust in the promising God that marked Abraham's life.
The Foundation for Christian Baptism
Baptism is grounded not in the merit or decision of the one being baptized, but in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was himself 'baptized' — overwhelmed unto death — as a substitute for sinners. The sermon works through Mark 10:32–45 to show that Christ's language of drinking the cup and being baptized with his baptism refers to his substitutionary suffering at Calvary, not his water baptism by John. Baptism is therefore an act of obedience that publicly declares the believer's identification with the triune God and union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, while picturing — though not providing — the forgiveness of sins.