Topic
Covenant Theology
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The Justifying Grace of God
Zechariah 3 presents a divine courtroom scene in which Joshua the high priest stands before the angel of the Lord clothed in filthy garments — the most vile expression of defilement in the Hebrew language — while Satan stands ready to accuse. God silences the accuser not on the basis of Joshua's merit but on the grounds of sovereign election and justifying grace, stripping away the filthy garments and clothing Joshua in rich robes. This double transaction — the removal of guilt and the imputation of righteousness — is the Old Testament portrait of justification by faith alone, anticipating the work of the Branch, the Lord Jesus Christ, who bears the sin of his people so that they might bear his righteousness. The sermon calls believers to combat accusation, whether from Satan or from their own hearts, not by appealing to their performance but by resting in the finished work of Christ and the electing grace of God.
Free Grace Baptist Church - December 20, 2015 PM
The Incarnation was not a divine afterthought but the execution of an eternal, intra-Trinitarian covenant — the Covenant of Redemption — in which the Father, Son, and Spirit purposed before the foundation of the world to save a definite number of elect sinners through the mediatorial work of Christ. Drawing on Hebrews 10:5–10, John's Gospel, Isaiah 53, Romans 5, and Ephesians 1, this study traces the biblical warrant for the Covenant of Redemption under three lines of evidence: the relationship between the Father and the Son, the covenantal language used of that relationship, and its pre-temporal foundation in eternity past. The practical import is that the believer's security, justification, and final glorification rest not on human decision but on that eternal transaction in which Christ voluntarily undertook, as a covenant of works on his own account, to obey perfectly and suffer in the place of the elect — earning by active and passive obedience the righteousness imputed to all who believe.
Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, Part 5 (2LCF 22.1-8)
The change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week rests not on explicit apostolic command but on authoritative precedent: Christ's resurrection, the post-resurrection gatherings He led, the apostolic practice recorded in Acts and the Epistles, and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. The Sabbath command remains morally binding in the new covenant, grounded theologically in Christ's rest from His re-creative labors (Hebrews 4:9) as the Creator's rest grounded the old covenant observance. Paragraph 8 of 2LCF Chapter 22 is then opened to address both preparation for the day — spiritual (repentance, the framing of the mind in prayer and Scripture) and practical (ordering common affairs beforehand) — and conduct on the day, distinguished between necessary cessations (vocational, commercial, recreational, and conversational) and wholesome operations (public and private worship, works of necessity and mercy).
Free Grace Baptist Church - December 20, 2015 AM
John 18:33–40 presents Christ before Pontius Pilate at the moment when the nature and origin of his kingdom become the central issue. The sermon argues that Christ's kingdom is neither derived from nor threatened by earthly political power, but advances exclusively through the truth he bears witness to, and that his subjects are those who hear and obey his voice. The Incarnation is treated not as a seasonal sentiment but as the entry of the eternal Son into the world for the specific purpose of mediating a kingdom that will never end. Hearers are pressed either to receive the truth as it is in Jesus by faith alone or to reckon honestly with what it means to remain under the wrath of God.
The Purpose of the Incarnation
Jesus' declaration before Pontius Pilate — 'For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world' (John 18:37) — frames the Incarnation not as a seasonal sentiment but as the entry of the eternal Son into his mediatorial kingship. The sermon expounds Christ's kingdom as non-terrestrial in origin yet universal in scope, advancing not by armed revolt but by the truth he himself embodies and proclaims. Pilate's cynical shrug — 'What is truth?' — is set as a mirror before the hearer: indifference to the truth of Christ is indifference to the only ground of liberation from the wrath of God. The sermon calls every listener to receive the King through faith in the gospel, and every Christian household to press children toward Christ through diligent engagement with Scripture.
The Covenantal Context of the Incarnation
The Incarnation of the Son of God was not an afterthought but the execution of an eternal, intra-Trinitarian covenant — the covenant of redemption — in which the Father gave the Son a definite number of elect people, and the Son willingly undertook to be their covenant surety and mediator. Drawing on Hebrews 10:5–10, John's Gospel, Isaiah 53, Romans 5, and Ephesians 1, this study presents three lines of biblical evidence: the relationship between the Father and the Son, the covenantal language applied to that relationship, and the pre-temporal foundation of the Son's redemptive work. The practical force is doxological and pastoral: believers are eternally secure because their salvation rests not on their own resolve but on a covenant sworn before creation, in which Christ bore a covenant of works on their behalf, obeying perfectly so that his righteousness might be imputed to them by faith alone.
2 Samuel 2:12-3:1
The civil war ignited by Abner's aggression against David's kingdom in 2 Samuel 2:12–3:1 exposes the anatomy of pride, hypocrisy, and discord among the covenant people of God. Working through three sections — the battle at Gibeon, the pursuit of Abner, and the truce between Joab and Abner — the study shows that Abner's rebellion against David was ultimately a rebellion against the living God who had decreed David's reign. The passage closes with a summary verdict: 'David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker' — a pattern the study applies typologically to Christ's kingdom and practically to the church's calling to preserve unity rather than sow discord.
Good Tidings of Great Joy
Luke 2:1–14 sets the birth of Jesus Christ within precise historical coordinates and a dense web of Old Testament prophecy, demonstrating that his coming was no accident of history but the fulfillment of promises stretching from Genesis 3:15 through Micah 5:2 and Isaiah 7:14. The sermon moves through three movements: the natal exposition of verses 1–7 (the period, the lineage of David, and the nativity itself), the angelic proclamation of verses 8–12 (the recipients, the herald, and the content of the gospel announcement), and the doxological exclamation of verses 13–14 (the heavenly choir and the meaning of 'peace on earth'). Christ is shown to be the true Savior over against the counterfeit claims of Roman imperial cult, truly divine, born of a virgin, in the house of bread, to those who are under the law, that he might redeem them. The sermon closes with a direct call to believe on Christ as the only source of true peace and to rejoice in him not merely at Christmas but throughout the year.
Free Grace Baptist Church - December 13, 2015 AM
Luke 2:1–14 presents the birth of Jesus Christ as a fulfillment of prophetic promise, not a sentimental story. This exposition works through three movements: the natal exposition (vv. 1–7), establishing historical veracity, Davidic lineage, and the theological weight of Bethlehem; the angelic proclamation (vv. 8–12), announcing a gospel of great joy to shepherds as a deliberate divine inversion of human expectation; and the doxological exclamation (vv. 13–14), in which the heavenly host sings glory to the triune God and peace to those for whom the Christ was born. The sermon presses the hearer to receive Christ as the only source of true peace — the one born in Bethlehem to bear the curse of God upon the cross and rise victorious for the salvation of guilty sinners.
2 Samuel 2:1-11
David's ascent to the throne in Hebron, narrated in 2 Samuel 2:1–11, unfolds as a tale of two kingdoms: one established under divine guidance and one inaugurated by human ambition. The passage exposes the sharp contrast between David's humble dependence on God's direction and Abner's self-serving rebellion against the declared will of Yahweh, a rebellion that constitutes open defiance of God himself, not merely of David. David as a type of Christ illuminates the characteristic marks of the kingdom of God — its apparently insignificant beginnings, its ethic of kindness, and the relentless opposition it faces in every age. Kingdom citizens today are called to constant dependence on Scripture, confident expectation in the kingdom's ultimate victory, and a conscious rejection of the self-ambition that characterises those who oppose God's rule.
Free Grace Baptist Church - December 6, 2015 PM
Galatians 4:4-7 sets forth the fullness of redemptive history in compact form: God the Father sends forth his eternally pre-existent Son, born of a woman and born under the law, to redeem those under the law and to secure for them adoption as sons, sealed by the Spirit of the Son. The sermon traces the covenantal framework Paul employs — the obsolescence of the Old Covenant giving way to the New — and argues that each person of the Trinity is distinctly and necessarily involved in the believer's salvation. Believers are called to marvel at divine initiative in redemption, to resist any addition to the finished work of Christ (as the Judaizers demanded circumcision), and to pursue a robust knowledge of the triune God as the very substance of eternal life.
Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, Part 4 (2LCF 22.1-8)
The Fourth Commandment's perpetual and universal obligation — rooted in both natural law and the Word of God — binds new covenant believers to Sabbath observance no less than it bound old covenant saints. This session of a consecutive study through the 1689 London Baptist Confession (chapter 22, paragraphs 7–8) examines the twofold testimony to Sabbath necessity (general and special revelation), the positive-moral character of the Fourth Commandment, and the pre-Sinaitic origins of the Sabbath in Genesis 2. The change of the day from the seventh to the first is introduced and will be treated in full in the following session. The governing spirit of Christian Sabbath observance is not legal fear but cheerful compliance, strengthened by the risen Christ and the sweetness of the gospel.
The Cursing of the Fig Tree
Matthew 21:18–22 presents the cursing of the fig tree as a deliberate prophetic act — not an outburst against vegetation but a symbolic judgment upon Israel's covenantal unfaithfulness. The barren fig tree, full of leaves but devoid of fruit, is an acted parable of Jerusalem and its temple: outwardly impressive with priesthood, sacrifice, and scripture, yet void of living faith and therefore marked for destruction in AD 70. The same passage turns to address believing prayer, where Christ stresses that faith without doubt is the indispensable posture before God, while warning against both the superstitious misreading that turns prayer into a wish-granting mechanism and the faithless doubt that empties prayer of power. The sermon closes by applying the fig-tree emblem to Israel, to the church as a corporate body, and to every individual hearer: leaves of religious profession without the fruit of genuine faith expose a soul to the same covenantal judgment Christ pronounced over first-century Jerusalem.
The Redeemer of God's Elect
Galatians 4:4–7 presents the person and work of the Redeemer in covenantal context: Christ's pre-existent eternal Sonship, incarnation, and role as mediator under the law provide the basis for redemption, adoption, and the indwelling of the Spirit. The sermon traces the obsolescence of the Mosaic covenant as designed and purposed by God, giving way to the full privileges of sons in the new covenant. The triune God is shown to be the sole initiator and executor of salvation — the Father sending the Son, the Son accomplishing redemption, and the Spirit sealing the adopted heirs. The sermon closes with a call to robust Trinitarian theology as inseparable from knowing and worshipping the God who saves.
Free Grace Baptist Church - November 29, 2015 PM
Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, yet the people of God are called not to despair but to persevere in the things they have learned — above all, the Holy Scriptures. Expounding 2 Timothy 3:13–15, this sermon contrasts the downward trajectory of false teachers with the upward call to Timothy: continued faithfulness grounded in the Word of God, which is able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament is shown to be thoroughly Christ-centred, pointing to one way of salvation in both testaments — by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Parents are charged to bring their children under the Scripture from childhood, and all believers are urged to persevere through faithful use of the means God has ordained.
The Cleansing of the Temple, Part 2
Matthew 21:14–17 presents two responses to Christ's messianic presence in the temple: the blind and the lame receive healing, and the religious leaders respond with indignant fury. The healing of the outcasts carries deliberate Davidic overtones, evoking 2 Samuel 5 and the messianic prophecies of Isaiah 35 and 61, so that Christ's identity as the greater Son of David is confirmed by deed as well as by word. The praise of nursing infants, drawn from Psalm 8, presses the question of Christ's deity — the religious leaders understood the implications and hardened rather than repented. The passage calls unbelievers to abandon the side of Christ's despisers and look to Him as the only ground of mercy, and reminds the church that the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king is the heart of the gospel it is commissioned to preach.
The Cleansing of the Temple, Part 1
Matthew 21:12–17 records Jesus entering the temple and driving out the buyers and sellers — an act that is neither impulsive nor isolated but stands as a prophetically scripted portent of divine judgment on apostate Israel. Drawing on Haggai 2, Zechariah 14, and Malachi 3, the sermon establishes that Christ's entrance into and cleansing of the temple fulfils the office of prophet-king-priest announced across the post-exilic writings, and that the glory of this latter temple infinitely exceeds Solomon's because Christ himself is the temple. Three ecclesiastical implications follow: the purity of divinely authorized worship is a primary concern of God; the church must pursue faithful obedience over popularity; and hypocrisy — living in sin while invoking the covenant — is precisely what the temple cleansing condemns.
Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, Part 2 (2LCF 22.1-8)
Prayer as a constituent element of Christian worship is examined through paragraphs three and four of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (2LCF 22.3–4). The confession distinguishes natural worship — known by the light of general revelation — from instituted or religious worship regulated by Scripture alone, and locates prayer within both: obligatory for all men by nature, yet acceptable to God only when offered in the name of the Son, by the aid of the Spirit, and according to His revealed will. Seven features of prayer in worship are traced: its constitutional place as a means of grace, its universal obligation, its general tenor of thanksgiving, its Trinitarian form, its attendant posture (understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance), its linguistic restriction to a known tongue against the Romanist Latin mass, and the lawful scope of its content — including the rejection of prayers for the dead and for those who have sinned the sin unto death.
Free Grace Baptist Church - November 22, 2015 AM
The cleansing of the temple in Matthew 21:12–13 is not an isolated act of righteous indignation but a deliberate messianic sign rooted in the prophetic expectation of Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Christ enters the temple as the covenant Messiah — prophet, king, and coming priest — fulfilling Old Testament prophecy that the Lord would suddenly come to his temple, purging its corruption and announcing the judgment soon to fall on apostate Israel in AD 70. The sermon draws three ecclesiastical applications: the purity of God's worship is the church's primary obligation, the church must pursue faithfulness over popularity, and both hypocrisy and the commercialization of religion are affronts to the living God. Those outside Christ are warned that the same authority by which he cleansed the temple will one day be exercised in final judgment.
Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, Part 1 (2LCF 22.1-8)
What gives any human being the right to determine how God is to be worshipped? This study of 2LCF Chapter 22, Paragraphs 1–2 argues that the light of nature establishes the creational obligation to worship God, while Scripture alone establishes the acceptable manner of that worship — the regulative principle. The exclusive object of that worship is the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which the confession defends against both the Roman Catholic invocation of saints and the broader normative principle that permits what God has not commanded. Worshippers are called to receive God's own prescribed order of worship rather than supplementing it with the imaginations and devices of men.
The Triumphal Entry
Matthew 21:1–11 records the triumphal entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem — a deliberate, public, acted parable in which Christ publicly declares himself the Messiah foretold by the prophets. The sermon examines the destination, preparation, and reception of the Messiah under three headings, showing how Christ fulfills the composite prophecy of Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9 in his lowliness, his justice, and his salvation. The crowd's cry of Hosanna draws on Psalm 118:25–26 and points beyond a Jewish Messiah to a universal King whose dominion extends to Jew and Gentile alike. Hearers are called to reckon with the one who fulfilled prophecy at his first advent and who will fulfill it again at his return in glory to judge the living and the dead.
An Enemy Worse than the Philistines
The silence of God toward King Saul in 1 Samuel 28 is a more terrifying reality than any Philistine army, and this sermon exposes why. Working through verses 3–25, the exposition traces Saul's apostasy from covenant member to enemy of Yahweh — a man who seeks a word from God through forbidden necromancy because God will no longer answer him through lawful means. The sermon draws a sharp contrast between Saul's utilitarian, self-serving religion and David's practice of strengthening himself in the Lord through the knowledge of God, the rehearsal of His promises, and the use of the means of grace. The congregation is exhorted to reckon honestly with remaining sin, to refuse the deceitfulness that masks spiritual defection, and to find in Christ's darkness on the cross the guarantee that no elect soul will ever be abandoned by God.
Free Grace Baptist Church - November 1, 2015 PM
Acts 7:44–8:4 presents the Christ of Stephen — the Christ that the proto-martyr sees, preaches, and dies gazing upon. Working through five headings drawn from Stephen's speech and vision, the sermon establishes that Christ is the scope of all Scripture, was foretold by the prophets, is perfect in his righteousness (in nature, conduct, and obedience), was betrayed and murdered by determined divine purpose, and is now risen and exalted as both helper and judge. The sermon is delivered as a Lord's Supper meditation, calling believers to a burning remembrance of Christ's substitutionary death and exaltation, and warning unbelievers that the same exalted Son of Man who is joy to his people is dread to all who reject him.
Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience (2LCF 21.1-3)
Christian liberty, as defined in 2LCF Chapter 21, is not primarily about what believers are permitted to do but about what Christ has accomplished for them — freedom from the guilt, power, and punishment of sin, as well as freedom from the ceremonial yoke of the Old Covenant. The chapter also guards the conscience from two opposing errors: the tyranny of ecclesiastical or civil impositions that bind the conscience beyond God's Word, and the antinomian perversion that treats liberty as license for sin. The sermon calls believers to live under God's Word alone as the Lord of the conscience, neither adding to it nor subtracting from it, walking in holiness and righteousness without fear.
The Healing of the Blind Men
Matthew 20:29–34 records the last detailed miracle of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel: the healing of two blind men outside Jericho. This expository sermon traces three movements in the passage — the setting, the earnest petition of the blind men, and the gracious response of the Son of David — arguing that the blind men's importunate faith, their address of Jesus as Lord and Son of David in fulfillment of the Davidic covenant and Isaianic prophecy, and Christ's immediate compassion together present the gospel in miniature. The sermon presses unbelievers to cry out to Christ with the persistence of these men and assures them that the same Jesus who stood still for two wretched beggars extends pity joined with power to all who come to Him in faith.
Of the Gospel, and of the Extent of the Grace Thereof (2LCF 20.1-4)
The necessity and exclusivity of special gospel revelation for salvation — not natural revelation — is the central concern of 2LCF Chapter 20. Against the errors of incipient deism (which denied the need for special revelation) and General Baptist soteriology (which allowed for salvation via the light of nature), the confession affirms that the gospel promise of Christ, inaugurated at Genesis 3:15, is the sole appointed means of calling the elect in every age. Divine sovereignty governs the dispensation of that gospel to nations and persons, and the effectual, insuperable work of the Holy Spirit upon the whole soul is necessary alongside the outward proclamation for any sinner to be converted.
The Ambitious Request for Position in the Kingdom
Matthew 20:20–23 records the request of Salome and the sons of Zebedee for privileged positions at Christ's right and left hand in the kingdom — a request that exposes the deep-seated pride and spiritual blindness endemic to even the most devoted disciples. The sermon works through two movements: the ambitious nature of the request (vv. 20–21) and the ominous response of Christ concerning the cup of God's wrath and the baptism of suffering that must precede any crown (vv. 22–23). The cross precedes the crown — not as a grudging concession but as the invariable pattern of Christian discipleship — and the seating in the kingdom belongs to the sovereign appointment of the Father alone, not to those who jockey for it by ambition or tenure.
1 Samuel 27
David's flight to Philistia in 1 Samuel 27 presents one of the most theologically ambiguous episodes in his life: the author records neither divine approval nor censure, and God is not mentioned once in the passage. The sermon examines the difficulty of interpreting David's strategy — either a shrewd military calculation or a lapse of faith overruled by providence — while surveying the crushing pressures David faced. Six practical lessons are drawn for believers, centering on the need to speak to oneself theologically, to recall God's proven faithfulness in difficulty, to seek wisdom before acting, and to resist presuming on providence as a license for careless living.
The Inclusion of the Gentiles in God's Covenant
Ephesians 2:11–22 addresses the radical transformation of Gentile believers, who were once 'aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,' into full participants in the covenant of grace. The sermon traces three movements in the text: the former plight of Gentile unbelievers (vv. 11–12), their present reception through the blood of Christ (vv. 13–17), and the purchased benefits now belonging to them as fellow citizens, members of God's household, and living stones in his temple (vv. 18–22). Christ is shown to be the one who is peace, who makes peace through the cross by abolishing the ceremonial law's enmity, and who preaches peace through the apostolic gospel. The exposition concludes with a call to prize corporate worship as the special dwelling place of God Most High, in which Jewish and Gentile believers together form one temple indwelt by the Spirit.
Free Grace Baptist Church - October 4, 2015 AM
Matthew 20:17–19 records the third and most specific formal announcement by Jesus of his coming death — naming the betrayal, the Sanhedrin, the Gentiles, the scourging, and the crucifixion — before closing with the triumph of the resurrection. The sermon argues that the necessity driving Christ to Jerusalem rests on three pillars: the eternal Covenant of Redemption between the Father and the Son, the prophetic fulfillment of all that the law and prophets had written, and the salvation of his people from their sins. Penal substitution and justification frame the cross-work: Christ bore the wrath due to sinners and was raised for their justification. The sermon closes with a threefold application to the church — receive the gospel, respond in worship, and imitate Christ's focus on his redemptive work — and a direct call to unbelievers to believe.