Topic
Apologetics
374 sermons · All topics
Idolatry and Its Effects, Part 1
Romans 1:18–32 presents the universal guilt of mankind not merely as a catalogue of vices but as the inevitable fruit of idolatry — the willful exchange of the glory of the incorruptible God for creaturely substitutes. The sermon traces four observations: the revelation of God's wrath against all ungodliness, the descent into idolatry, the unrighteous practices that flow from it, and the judicial giving-over of sinners by God himself. General revelation leaves every person without excuse, while only the special revelation of the gospel — the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith — supplies the redemption that natural knowledge cannot.
The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity — one God eternally subsisting in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — is defined, defended against historic and contemporary errors, and displayed across the whole of Scripture. The sermon works through three movements: first defining the doctrine precisely (one in essence, three in person), then defending it against polytheism, Arianism, and modalism, and finally displaying its pervasive witness throughout both Testaments. The doctrine is shown to be not a cold theological abstraction but the very foundation of salvation, worship, and the believer's communion with the triune God.
The Sin of Abortion
Abortion is not primarily a political question but a theological one, grounded in the biblical doctrine that every human being bears the image of God from the moment of conception. This exposition of Exodus 21:22–25 argues that the case law of Israel assigns the full protections of lex talionis to the pre-born child, treating even accidental abortion as a capital offense — which renders intentional abortion an act of murder. The sermon also addresses the abortifacient mechanisms of certain contraceptives as an extension of the same ethical concern, and closes by directing those who bear guilt over past abortions to the forgiveness available in Christ.
Christ our Confidence
Philippians 3:4–9 contains what the Apostle Paul presents as a death blow to works-righteousness: his own autobiography deployed as a hypothetical argument that demolishes confidence in the flesh. Paul demonstrates that if Jewish ethnicity, religious pedigree, and meticulous law-keeping could merit standing before God, he would be the undisputed champion — yet he counts every such credential as rubbish compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. The righteousness that justifies is not one's own; it comes from God through faith, grounded in the imputed obedience of Christ and received by union with him. Hearers are called to rest confidence solely in Christ, to let good works flow from the fount of an already-declared righteousness rather than from any attempt to earn divine favor, and to be zealous in guarding this truth against every form of works-righteousness.
Rejoice in Christ! A Gracious Command
Philippians 3:1–3 opens with what Paul calls a gracious command — 'rejoice in the Lord' — issued to a congregation facing false teachers who demanded physical circumcision as a condition of acceptance before God. The sermon works through three movements: the command to rejoice (v. 1), the apostolic warning against the Judaizers (v. 2), and the defining contrast between the false circumcision and the true (v. 3). The true circumcision is identified not by ethnic descent or ritual observance but by three marks: worshipping God in the Spirit, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and placing no confidence in the flesh — a threefold description that locates salvation solely in the sovereign, gracious work of the triune God from first to last.
The Battle Hymn of His Christocracy
Revelation 19:11–16 presents Christ not as the meek figure of popular sentimentality but as the sovereign warrior king who rides in righteousness to judge and conquer his enemies. This sermon traces four aspects of the vision: the grace and general theme of the opening, the five disclosed attributes of the champion (divine omniscience, conquering prowess, exclusive ownership of the messianic office, wholesome severity, and impeccable execution as the Word of God), the identity of his battle company as the saints clothed in Christ's righteousness, and the fourfold greatness of his conquest — the sword of his word, the rod of iron, the treading of the winepress, and the supreme title King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The application presses two questions: whether the church proclaims this full-orbed Christ or a diminished caricature, and whose side the hearer will stand on when that rider comes.
The Witness of the Kingdom
Matthew 5:13–16 identifies the disciples of Christ as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, pressing believers into active engagement with a fallen society rather than withdrawal from it. The Beatitudes (vv. 3–12) describe the distinctive character of those saved by grace alone through faith alone; vv. 13–16 describe how those same people function in a world of unbelief as seasoning and preserving agents who radiate the knowledge of Christ. The warning is pointed: salt that loses its savor is good for nothing, and light hidden under a basket defeats its own purpose. The ultimate goal of Christian witness is not social improvement or personal acclaim but the glorifying of the Father in heaven — a witness grounded in and empowered by the one Scripture calls the faithful witness, Jesus Christ himself.
The Ark of God Captured
Israel's defeat at the hands of the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4–5 exposes a perennial temptation: treating God as a mechanism to be manipulated rather than a sovereign to be obeyed. The elders of Israel asked the right question — 'Why has the Lord defeated us?' — but gave the wrong answer, fetching the Ark of the Covenant as a lucky charm rather than humbling themselves in repentance. God refused to be controlled, fulfilled His word of judgment against the corrupt priests Hophni and Phinehas, and then demonstrated His supremacy over the Philistine god Dagon without any help from Israel. The sermon closes with a call to approach God not by religious technique or formulaic bargaining, but through Christ alone, in humble obedience, trusting Him with outcomes.
A Centurion Came to Him
Matthew 8:5–13 presents a Roman centurion whose faith Jesus described as unparalleled in Israel, and this exposition draws out six marks of that saving faith: it seeks mercy, confesses unworthiness, rests on Christ's word alone, recognises his sovereign authority, finds hope outside superstition and ceremony, and is always rewarded by God. The sermon opens by distinguishing miracles that illustrate sovereign regeneration from those that illustrate the reception of sinners who come in faith, placing this healing firmly in the second category. A closing contrast with Mark 6:1–6 — where Jesus marvelled at the absence of faith in his own hometown — presses the application: privilege without faith forfeits blessing, while humble confidence in Christ's word is always honoured.
The Persecution of the Church and the Power of God
Acts 12 sets the persecution of the early church against the sovereign power of God: Herod executes James, imprisons Peter with an overwhelming guard, and receives divine worship — yet God delivers Peter through angelic intervention, strikes Herod dead for his idolatry, and the Word of God grows and multiplies. The chapter exposes both the reality of suffering for Christ's people and the futility of every human attempt to extinguish the gospel. Four movements structure the exposition: the persecution of the church, Peter's miraculous escape, the judgment of Herod Agrippa, and Luke's progress report on the unstoppable advance of God's Word. The sermon calls hearers to honest reckoning with suffering, earnest corporate prayer, and worship of the God who shares his glory with no one.
The Culmination of God's Plan for the World
Acts 17:30–31 presents the resurrection of Christ not merely as a past historical event but as the divine guarantee of a coming universal judgment. Paul's Areopagus sermon situates God's appointment of Jesus as judge within the framework of creation, providence, and exclusive worship, demonstrating that to deny the creator is to suppress the reality of the judge. The sermon traces five particulars of Paul's address — God as creator, ruler of nations, the only proper object of worship, the appointer of a day of judgment, and the ordainer of Christ as judge — and calls every hearer to flee to Christ alone, who is both savior and coming judge.
The Creepers, The Contenders, and The Keeper
The epistle of Jude addresses a crisis in the early church: ungodly men have crept in unnoticed, turning the grace of God into a license for lewdness and denying the Lord Jesus Christ. This exposition works through Jude's single chapter under three headings — the creeping ones (false teachers characterized by sixfold ungodliness and certain condemnation), the contending ones (the called, sanctified, and preserved who are charged to earnestly defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints), and the one who keeps them (Jesus Christ as keeper, master, eschatological judge, and sender of apostolic messengers). The sermon presses the cessationist and confessional conviction that the canon is closed and the faith delivered once for all, and closes with a call for both unbelievers to flee to Christ and believers to hold fast to gospel doctrine with theological love rather than cold dogmatism.
The Beauty of Christ
Psalm 45 is a royal love song that the New Testament, in Hebrews 1:8, applies directly to the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal God-man. The sermon works through four observations: the beauty of the Savior as stated by the psalmist, the beauty of his person as both fully human and fully divine, the beauty of his attributes or perfections, and the beauty of his works in advancing his kingdom. The closing application presses both believer and unbeliever: the same arrows of Christ's word that subdue sinners to saving faith will, for the impenitent, become the instrument of final judgment — the only question is whether one falls under him now in submission or later in condemnation.
A Biblical View of Abortion
Exodus 21:22–25 presents a case of accidental premature birth caused by fighting men, and the lex talionis applied to any resulting harm — including harm to the child — establishes that the pre-born bear full legal and moral standing under the law of God. This sermon argues that abortion is first and foremost a theological issue, an assault on the imago Dei, and that the church is without excuse in its silence or ambiguity on this question. Drawing on texts from Genesis through the New Testament, the preacher demonstrates that the pre-born are persons from conception, that the civil use of God's law restrains even unregenerate society, and that the church must respond with weeping, prayer, witness, and gospel proclamation.
The Necessity of Contending for the Faith
Jude 3 commands every believer — not merely theologians or specialists — to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. This sermon expounds the command itself, the reason Jude gives (the covert infiltration of ungodly apostates who pervert grace and deny Christ), and the threefold means of defense in verses 20–21: building oneself up in the holy faith through Scripture, praying in the Holy Spirit, and living in hopeful expectation of Christ's return. The sermon closes by urging that contention be conducted with Christian charity, humility, and freedom from pride, in keeping with the pattern of the apostles and the Lord Jesus himself.
The Apostle's Paternal Appeal to the Galatians
Galatians 4:12–20 presents the Apostle Paul's most personal and emotionally charged appeal in the letter — not a doctrinal argument but a pastoral one, grounded in shared history and genuine affection. The sermon expounds two movements in the passage: a reminder of the filial relationship Paul shared with the Galatians on his first visit among them, and a warning against the Judaizers whose zealous courtship of the Galatians serves not the glory of Christ but the aggrandisement of themselves. Throughout, the preacher presses the point that sound doctrine and warm pastoral affection are inseparable — contending for justification by faith alone must be done with the heart of a nursing mother and a grieving father, not merely the pen of a polemicist.
The Apostle's Fear for the Galatians
Paul's alarm over the Galatian churches' drift toward the Judaizers' doctrine serves as the occasion for examining three realities: the degradation of man's former state apart from God, the divine initiative that constitutes saving knowledge, and the spiritual equivalence of all false religion — whether pagan ritualism or Mosaic ceremony — as a return to bondage. The sermon works through Galatians 4:8–11, pressing the claim that any addition to Christ as the ground of justification — whether circumcision, holy days, or any human merit — renders the cross of no effect. The hearer is called to rest in Christ alone, to worship God for the sovereign grace by which he is known before he knows, and to pray for faithful ministers who will not soften the apostolic warning against gospel corruption.
Jesus and Thomas
Thomas's refusal to believe the apostolic testimony of the resurrection was not mere intellectual doubt but willful obstinacy — a demand that God meet his conditions before he would submit. This sermon works through John 20:24–31 under four headings: the character of Thomas, the grace of Christ, Thomas's lofty confession, and the Lord's final beatitude. The central challenge is that sinners who insist on their own terms for believing are placing themselves in the judge's seat over God, and the only fitting response is to bow with Thomas and confess, 'My Lord and my God.'
Remember the Prisoners
Hebrews 13:3 commands the continuous remembrance of imprisoned and mistreated believers — not a single annual observance, but an ongoing, active concern that moves toward prayer, tangible aid, and identification with those who suffer. The sermon expounds the duty to remember, the objects of that remembrance, and the theological basis in the unity of Christ's body, drawing on the suffering catalogue of Hebrews 11 to demonstrate that faith does not guarantee earthly triumph but does sustain believers through persecution. Ten practical applications ground the command in concrete acts: prayer for persecutors, imprecatory prayer for justice, financial giving, letter-writing, and the discipline of turning attention outward as a remedy for self-centeredness.
Paul at Athens
Paul's encounter with the philosophers of Athens in Acts 17:16–34 sets the pattern for faithful gospel witness in any pagan culture. The sermon works through Paul's provocation at Athenian idolatry, his proclamation of God as sovereign Creator and righteous Judge, and his call to universal repentance grounded in the resurrection of Christ. Idolatry — whether ancient image-worship or modern self-worship, money, or pleasure — is shown to be not an approximate form of true religion but a passionate flight from God. The congregation is urged to imitate Paul: to be outraged at idolatry, to proclaim Christ without apology, and to resist the indifferentism that treats the gospel as something to consider another day.
To God Be the Glory
Romans 11:33–36 closes Paul's extended treatment of divine sovereignty and the salvation of sinners in chapters 9–11 with a doxology that demands a response of awe and worship. The sermon moves through three movements in the text: an exclamation concerning God's omniscience and unsearchable judgments (v. 33), a confirmation from Isaiah and Job that God is self-sufficient and owes nothing to any creature (vv. 34–35), and an ascription of glory acknowledging God as the source, sustainer, and goal of all things (v. 36). The doctrines of sovereign election and particular redemption are not presented as intellectual trophies but as the only ground on which genuine doxology is possible — a theology that does not culminate in worship has not been properly understood.
Justification, Faith, and the Law
Galatians 2:15–16 drives Paul's sharpest declaration that justification is a forensic act — a legal declaration by God — received through faith alone in Christ alone, entirely apart from works of the law. This sermon expounds that doctrine in four observations: justification is a legal declaration, not by works of law, by faith as instrument not merit, and impossible by law for any flesh. The sermon then addresses the three classic uses of the law — civil, pedagogical, and normative — demonstrating that rejecting the law as a ground of justification does not entail antinomianism. The believer who has been justified by faith is directed back to God's law as a pattern and rule of life, the ground of genuine assurance being the doing, dying, and rising of Christ alone rather than personal obedience or inner experience.
Conflict in Antioch
Galatians 2:11–14 records the Apostle Paul's public confrontation of Peter at Antioch, where Peter's withdrawal from Gentile table fellowship — motivated by fear of Jewish persecution of the Jerusalem church — functionally communicated a faith-plus gospel to Gentile believers. The sermon expounds three elements of the passage: Paul's action toward Peter, the reason for that action, and the real issue at stake, namely the compromise of justification by faith alone. The central application is that no consideration — social harmony, fear of persecution, or the standing of the one in error — can justify softening the gospel of sovereign grace, and that every Christian, not only pastors, must be able to articulate and defend justification by faith alone.
The Jerusalem Leaders' Assessment of Paul
Galatians 2:6–10 records the Jerusalem leaders' formal assessment of the Apostle Paul — and their verdict vindicates his law-free gospel and silences the Judaizers who claimed Paul was second-rate. Working through four actions of James, Cephas, and John — they added nothing to his gospel, recognized his calling, extended the right hand of fellowship, and commended care for the poor — the sermon demonstrates that Paul's message of justification by faith alone was never in tension with the Jerusalem church. The sermon closes with two sustained applications: the cessation of the apostolic office and the ordinary, church-regulated path to gospel ministry today, and the insistence that genuine justification always produces practical love for the poor and obedience to God's law.
The Apostle of Christian Liberty
Galatians 2:1–10 presents Paul defending the divine origin of his apostolic gospel against Judaizers who demanded circumcision as a condition of justification. Working through three considerations — Paul's second post-conversion visit to Jerusalem, the case of Titus, and the unity of the apostolic witness — the sermon argues that any addition to the finished work of Christ destroys the gospel rather than completing it. The contrast between Timothy's voluntary circumcision for missional expediency and Paul's refusal to circumcise Titus illustrates the line between cultural accommodation and doctrinal compromise. Hearers are pressed to stand firm against every modern form of the Galatian heresy and to rest their justification on Christ's doing and dying alone, received by faith alone.
From Persecutor to Preacher, Part 2
Paul's early Christian career in Galatians 1:15–24 demonstrates that his apostolic commission and gospel were received directly from God, not derived from or validated by any human authority. His separation from the womb, effectual calling by grace, and the revelation of Christ in him establish divine sovereignty over his entire ministry — from persecutor to preacher. The sermon engages the 'new perspective on Paul,' arguing that the Reformation reading rightly identifies individual sin and grace as the heart of Paul's theology, not merely the corporate sociological question of Jew-Gentile relations. The hearer is pressed to trust in Christ alone, whose blood atones for great and invincible sins, and to see every human supplement to that atonement as an assault upon the cross itself.
The Implications of the Empty Tomb
Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15:12–19 exposes the logical consequences of denying the bodily resurrection of Christ: apostolic preaching collapses into myth, Christian faith becomes an empty sentiment fixed on no real object, the apostles are liars, sin remains unatoned, and believers are the most pitiable of all creatures. The sermon surveys ancient and modern attacks on the resurrection — the stolen-body theory, the swoon theory, Gnosticism, Sadducean theology, Hymenaeanism, and contemporary archaeological sensationalism — before working through Paul's five implications positively. The central application is that because Christ is truly risen, justification is secured, the apostolic witness is vindicated, and the Christian hope extends beyond this age into a bodily resurrection that far surpasses any 'best life now.'
Introduction to Galatians
Paul's letter to the Galatians stands as a polemic defence of justification by faith alone — a truth so foundational that its corruption, however subtle, constitutes the destruction of the gospel itself. This introductory exposition surveys the authorship, dating, and destination of the epistle, arguing for the South Galatian theory and an early date of AD 48–49, while tracing the theological threads that run through the letter: the integrity of the gospel, justification sola fide, the atoning work of Christ, and Paul's apostolic authority. The Judaizing error that provoked Paul's letter is shown to be perennially recurring — in Roman Catholic merit theology, in the New Perspective on Paul, in Federal Vision, and in the subtler forms of works-righteousness embedded in church culture. Hearers are called to rest their entire standing before God on the imputed righteousness of Christ received through faith alone, and to contend earnestly for that doctrine as Paul did.
The Sanctity of Life
The sanctity of human life is grounded not in sentiment but in the biblical doctrine that God created man in his own image — a dignity that persists after the fall and extends to every category of person, including the preborn. Exodus 21:22–25 is examined as a text that directly addresses the legal standing of the unborn: the lex talionis applied to a premature birth demonstrates that God's law protects prenatal life with the same weight it protects any other. The sermon then takes up the wickedness of murder across its biblical dimensions — divine prohibition, divine hatred, divine observation, and divine punishment, including eternal judgment — while insisting that the church's primary instrument against these evils is the preaching of the gospel and the doctrine of justification by faith alone, under which even those guilty of abortion may find forgiveness in Christ.
The Superiority of Christ Over the Angels
Hebrews 1:8–14 presents four lines of Old Testament evidence that the Son is categorically superior to the angels: His unique filial relationship to the Father, the angels' worship of Him, His unqualified deity as the creator and immutable eternal God, and His present sovereign reign at the Father's right hand. The study works through citations from Psalms 45, 102, and 110, demonstrating from Israel's own scriptures that Christ holds the offices of creator, sovereign administrator, and eternal king — offices no angel can claim. The doctrine of the Trinity is defended against both Jehovah's Witnesses and any who collapse the distinction of persons, and believers are called to anchor their confidence in Christ's present reign rather than fear the powers arrayed against the church.