Topic
Ecclesiology
19 sermons · All topics
The Exhortation to Wage the Good Warfare
Paul's charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:18–20 is a summons to wage good warfare against false teaching — a warfare grounded in Timothy's apostolic authority, prophetic calling, and possession of faith and a good conscience. The sermon exposes the defection of Hymenaeus and Alexander as the concrete conflict that makes this warfare necessary, tracing their blasphemy to a rejection of both the objective content of the faith and a good conscience. The application presses the church to hold the line through faithful exposition, qualified eldership, and the exercise of church discipline, all in defence of the gospel that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
2LBC Chapter 25, Of Marriage
What does Scripture authorize regarding marriage, divorce, and remarriage? Working through Chapter 25 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession alongside Westminster Confession Chapter 24, paragraphs 5–6, this lesson establishes that marriage is a monogamous, heterosexual covenant ordained by God for companionship, procreation, and the lawful expression of sexuality. The confession's teaching is set against contemporary assaults on the definition of marriage, and extended exegesis of Deuteronomy 24, Matthew 5 and 19, and 1 Corinthians 7 demonstrates that Scripture authorizes divorce and subsequent remarriage for the innocent party in cases of porneia and willful desertion.
The Blood of the Unblemished Lamb
The redemption of sinners cannot be purchased by any corruptible thing — not silver or gold, not the accumulated wealth of the cosmos, not the religious observances of the old covenant. Expounding 1 Peter 1:18–19, this sermon traces Peter's negation-then-assertion structure: material things and old covenant types alike are insufficient to ransom a soul bound under sin and divine wrath, but the precious blood of Christ as an unblemished and spotless Lamb accomplishes what nothing else can. The blood of Christ is precious because of the surpassing excellence of the person who shed it, the definite redemption it secures, the infinite cost it required of the Father, its unrepeatable once-for-all character, its endless efficacy, and its eternal appointment in the counsel of the triune God before the foundation of the world. Hearers are pressed toward the Lord's Supper with minds fixed on the logic of substitution: the Lamb's own unblemishedness is the very ground of his capacity to bear the blemishes of his people.
Christ's Precious Gem Collection
What does it mean that God's elect are described throughout Scripture as precious stones being gathered into a temple? This sermon traces the biblical-theological thread from the Garden of Eden through Solomon's temple, the Babylonian exile, Isaiah's restoration promises, and into Revelation 21, arguing that Christ — the greater Solomon and last Adam — is building his church by gathering his elect from among all the scattered nations. The identity of the precious gems is God's chosen people; their location is every tribe, tongue, and people; and the means of their gathering is the gospel of Christ, who has already bound the strong man and now commissions his people to mine for treasures in the darkness.
2LBC Chapter 24 - Of the Civil Magistrate
What authority does civil government possess, and what are its limits? Working through 2nd London Baptist Confession Chapter 24, this study argues that God alone is the ultimate sovereign who ordains civil magistrates for two ends: his own glory and the public good of man, expressed concretely in the maintenance of justice and peace. The confession deliberately repudiates the Anabaptist rejection of Christian participation in civil office, affirming that believers may lawfully serve as magistrates, soldiers, and executioners of justice. Christians are called to submit to civil authority in all lawful things for conscience's sake and to pray persistently for governing authorities, so that the church may worship freely and fulfil her gospel mission without hindrance.
Deuteronomy 14:1-29. Laws of Death, Diet, and Tithing
Deuteronomy 14 regulates Israel's mourning practices, dietary laws, and tithing — each regulation grounded in the same theological foundation: Israel is a holy people, chosen by God as his special treasure, and every dimension of life must reflect that covenantal identity. The dietary laws in particular are not arbitrary hygiene codes but ceremonial law designed to separate the covenant community from surrounding pagan practice, laws now abrogated and fulfilled in Christ, the true Israel of God. The tithing legislation calls God's people to acknowledge that prosperity is divine beneficence, to fear the Lord in feasting as much as in prayer, and to provide materially for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. New covenant believers are not bound by these ceremonial structures, yet the underlying logic — that God governs every dimension of his people's lives and calls them to distinction, generosity, and gratitude — carries forward unchanged into the present age.
Testimony, confession, and baptism: Hans
A believer presents his public testimony before the congregation prior to baptism by immersion, tracing his journey from Eastern mysticism and Stoic philosophy to saving faith in Jesus Christ. His conversion crystallised through reading Scripture — beginning with Proverbs and ending with a sermon on Matthew 24:15 — when the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 became for him a vivid demonstration of divine justice and mercy held together. The 1689 London Baptist Confession's teaching on baptism frames the ordinance as a public pictorial representation of the believer's union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.
The Conversion of the Apostle Paul
Paul's gratitude in 1 Timothy 1:12–14 is inseparable from the account of his own conversion — from blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent man to apostle and chief exhibit of sovereign mercy. The passage establishes that Christ himself is the enabler of true gospel ministers, in deliberate contrast to the false teachers in Ephesus who were self-appointed desirers of the law. Paul's ignorance in unbelief before Damascus belongs to a different moral category than the willful, post-enlightenment sin of those who profess Christ and then turn against him. The text drives toward verse 15: the exceedingly abundant grace poured out on the chief of sinners is the pattern and ground of hope for every sinner who comes to Christ.
2LBC Chapter 24 - Of the Civil Magistrate
Chapter 24 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession addresses the divine origin, scope, and limits of civil government, the lawfulness of Christian participation in that government, and the Christian's duty of submission and prayer toward governing authorities. The confession roots civil magistracy in God's sovereign ordination, limits its authority to the maintenance of justice and peace, and explicitly rejects the Anabaptist position that Christians may not hold civil office or bear arms. Listeners are called to think carefully about voting, praying for rulers, and obeying governing authorities in all lawful commands — while refusing compliance whenever the state commands what God forbids.
The Goodness of God's Law
The goodness of God's law is not nullified by the false teachers who mishandle it, nor by those who reject it in the name of the gospel. Expounding 1 Timothy 1:8–11, this sermon establishes that the law is intrinsically good because it is a revelation of God's own nature, and then works through the three classical Reformed uses of the law — civil, pedagogical, and normative — showing that each harmonises with the gospel rather than opposing it. The civil use restrains external lawlessness, the pedagogical use drives the sinner to Christ by exposing sin and misery, and the normative use directs the blood-bought believer in the pattern of sanctification. The sermon closes with a direct exhortation: do not seek justification by the law, use it lawfully to show the unconverted their need for Christ, and in the life of faith delight in it as the Spirit-empowered norm of obedience to God.
The promise of blessing or curse
Deuteronomy 11 sets before Old Covenant Israel a stark choice: obedience leading to blessing in the land, or disobedience leading to curse and exile. The sermon traces three sections of the chapter — the works of God in Israel's history, the requirement of obedience, and the promise of blessing or curse — showing how the covenant of works that Israel repeatedly broke is fulfilled by Christ, the true Israel of God, who bore the covenant curse on the cross. The Apostle Paul's argument in Galatians 3 is brought to bear: all who trust in works of law are under the curse, but Christ has redeemed his people from that curse by becoming a curse for them, so that the blessing of Abraham comes upon the Gentiles through faith alone.
2LCF Chap. 22 Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day
The regulative principle of worship — that God alone prescribes acceptable worship through his revealed Word — is the governing claim of 2LCF Chapter 22, paragraphs 1 and 2. The confession grounds this in natural theology: the light of nature declares that God exists and deserves worship, but general revelation cannot instruct the creature in how that worship is to be conducted. Scripture alone, from Deuteronomy 12 through 1 Timothy 3 and Hebrews 12, maintains that God's people are neither to add to nor take away from what he has commanded in public worship. The sermon calls hearers to reject the normative principle of worship and instead color strictly within the lines God has drawn, worshiping with reverence and godly fear rather than with entertainment, felt-need satisfaction, or cultural innovation.
The Apostle's Charge to Timothy
Paul's charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:3–7 exposes a crisis in the Ephesian church: false teachers devoted to fables and endless genealogies were generating disputes rather than the godly edification that flows from sound doctrine. The sermon traces two movements in the passage — the apostolic charge to silence the heterodox and the anatomy of the false teachers' departure from the law — demonstrating that gospel ministry is driven by love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. The application presses churches to hold elders to the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, to refuse a pulpit to the unqualified, and to guard the congregation against any teaching that diverts attention from the truth as it is in Jesus.
The Central Demand of the Covenant
Deuteronomy 10 confronts Israel — and every subsequent reader — with the central demand of the covenant: to fear God, love Him, walk in all His ways, and serve Him with undivided heart and soul. The first eleven verses narrate the renewal of the Sinaitic covenant after the golden calf catastrophe of Exodus 32, demonstrating that Israel's continuation rested entirely on divine long-suffering and the intercession of Moses, not on any righteousness of their own. Verses 12–22 then press the covenantal demand that runs from Genesis 18 through Micah 6:8 and into Matthew 23, showing that the people always knew what God required but consistently failed to live accordingly. The passage finally anticipates what only the new covenant can accomplish: the circumcision of the heart wrought by the Spirit through the gospel of the true Israel, Jesus Christ, apart from any merit in the creature.
The Introduction to First Timothy
Paul's apostolic authority and his commission 'by the commandment of God our Savior' stand at the center of 1 Timothy 1:1–2, establishing both the legitimacy of Paul's office and the delegated authority of Timothy in Ephesus. This introductory sermon traces Paul's missionary journeys, his post-imprisonment ministry, and his relationship with Timothy to locate the Pastoral Epistles within the apostle's life and the history of the early church. The epistle's overarching purpose — directing ministers and churches in conduct, refuting false teaching, and declaring sound doctrine — is shown to be as binding on congregations today as it was on the church at Ephesus. The sermon closes with a call to unbelievers to receive the Christ whom God, the Savior, sent into the world to save sinners.
Church Reports
Pastoral reports from seven Reformed Baptist churches and church plants across western Canada and one international context form the substance of this Lord's Day gathering. Congregations in Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario — ranging from newly constituted works to established churches of over a hundred attendees — report on membership growth, expository preaching programs, confessional development, and the ordinary means of grace sustaining church life. A detailed report from a pastor in Guadalajara, Mexico describes a three-pillar theological education ministry (seminary, publishing house, and bookstore) aimed at raising up the next generation of confessionally Reformed pastors and theologians for Latin America. The gathering is framed by Psalm 133, prayer, and a closing doxology, expressing the covenantal vision of churches dwelling together in associational unity for the glory of God.
Ask FGBC #65: Are Reformed Baptists Really Just Anabaptists?
The question of whether Reformed Baptists share roots with the Anabaptists is answered historically and from primary sources: the Particular Baptists arose from English Reformation Congregationalism, not from Anabaptist streams. Scholars such as Matthew Bingham and Jim Renahan have demonstrated from extant 17th-century writings that no traceable literary connection exists between the two movements. The discussion clarifies that surface similarities—believers' membership, rejection of Roman Catholic ecclesiology—do not constitute a common origin, and that the Anabaptists themselves were not a monolithic group. Listeners are encouraged to engage careful historical scholarship rather than repeating unchallenged secondary or tertiary claims.
The Exhortation to Perseverance and Unity
Philippians 4:1–3 presents two interconnected apostolic exhortations: the call to stand fast in the Lord and the call to pursue unity among the saints. The sermon examines the apostle's affection for the Philippians as his joy and crown, the meaning and manner of steadfast perseverance, and the concrete dispute between Euodia and Syntyche as a vehicle for a thorough exposition of biblical conflict resolution from Proverbs 18, Matthew 5, and Matthew 18. The practical burden is that both perseverance and unity demand disciplined, long-haul commitment — fastening one's grip on Christ, the doctrines of the gospel, and the one-another obligations of church life.
Livestream - Baptism: Shirley Crow, Jennie Krul, John Krul, +1 other
The two baptisms of Christ in Matthew 3 and Matthew 20 provide the theological ground for Christian baptism. In Matthew 3, Christ undergoes water baptism to 'fulfill all righteousness' — inaugurating his public ministry of active obedience in the place of sinners. In Matthew 20, he speaks of a baptism yet to come: being overwhelmed by the cup of divine wrath at Calvary, the passive obedience by which he ransoms his people. Baptism is therefore not a declaration of the believer's achievement but a public identification with the doing, dying, and rising of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom alone sinners are justified before a holy God.