Topic
Ecclesiology
1,163 sermons · All topics
The Preaching of Peter on Pentecost
Acts 2:37–42 records the first gospel sermon of the apostolic church and the conversion of three thousand souls on the day of Pentecost. This exposition works through Peter's proclamation — centering the gospel in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ — and his call to repentance and baptism, showing that sin must be named plainly before the Savior can be received gladly. The sermon draws on John Bunyan's 'The Jerusalem Sinner Saved' to press the point that Christ's mercy is offered most conspicuously to the vilest of sinners, and closes with a direct call to believe, repent, and be baptized.
Free Grace Baptist Church - December 24, 2017 PM
Hebrews 10:24–25 sets before Christians a third and final exhortation completing the threefold pattern of corporate Christian duty: a thoughtful diligence in communion with one another that stirs up love and good works. Against the background of Hebrew Christians tempted to abandon gathered worship for the obsolete ceremonies of temple religion, the text demands mutual, outward-directed consideration of fellow believers — not a mere proximity of individuals, but a genuine fellowship that provokes charity and joyful obedience. The sermon draws on John Owen's commentary and Philippians 2:1–4 to show that this corporate ethic requires the active mortification of selfish ambition and the deliberate cultivation of lowliness of mind toward one another.
A Thoughtful Diligence in Fellowship
Hebrews 10:24–25 contains the third of three apostolic exhortations grounded in Christ's blood and high-priestly office: a thoughtful diligence in corporate fellowship that stirs one another to love and good works. The sermon traces the call to mutual consideration — looking away from self and toward brothers and sisters in Christ — and grounds its motivation in the incarnate humility of the Son of God, who made himself of no reputation to serve sinners. Forsaking the assembly is not a private failure but a breach of the covenantal reciprocity that belongs to those who rest on so great a salvation.
Do Not Love the World
First John 2:15–17 commands believers to refuse love for the world — meaning not the created order but the entire moral system of sinful desire arrayed against God. The sermon works through three headings: the command (v. 15), the character of the world (v. 16), and the end of the world (v. 17). Because the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are passing away while the one who does the will of God abides forever, believers are called to resist sin not to earn standing before God but as the fruit of a new heart already forgiven and already victorious in Christ.
The Three-Fold Exhortation
Hebrews 10:19–25 sets forth a two-fold foundation and a three-fold exhortation for corporate Christian life. The foundation is Christ's blood-purchased boldness of access into the holiest and His abiding high-priestly intercession — both of which make the old-covenant sacrificial system not merely obsolete but inferior in kind, not degree. From that foundation the apostle issues three commands: draw near with a true heart in full assurance, hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, and (deferred to a subsequent sermon) consider one another to stir up love and good works. The sermon presses hearers to root their weekly confidence not in the quality of their obedience but in the dignity of Christ's person and the virtue of His once-for-all sacrifice.
Free Grace Baptist Church - December 3, 2017 PM
What does the Lord's Supper actually commemorate, and what is the full weight of that remembrance? Expounding 1 Peter 1:18–20 in the context of a communion service, this sermon examines three dimensions of Christ's death: the incomparable value of his precious blood over against all corruptible earthly things, the eternal divine purpose that foreordained this sacrifice before the foundation of the world, and the certain historical reality of the Son of God manifested in the flesh for his people. The congregation is exhorted to treasure Christ above every passing earthly thing and to gather faithfully at the Lord's Table as an act of joyful, commanded obedience to the ascended Christ who said, 'Do this in remembrance of me.'
The Conduct of a Faithful Minister
What does faithful gospel ministry look like in practice? Expounding 1 Timothy 4:12–16 at an ordination service, this sermon works through four apostolic charges Paul lays on Timothy: the minister must be an example to the flock in word, conduct, love, faith, and purity; he must give sustained public attention to Scripture reading, exhortation, and doctrine; he must meditate on these things and give himself entirely to personal growth in godliness; and he must persevere in both personal holiness and sound doctrine, because the stakes of gospel ministry extend to the eternal welfare of those who hear. The sermon closes with a direct charge to the ordinand and to the congregation forming a new church plant, and with an evangelistic appeal grounding the seriousness of the gospel ministry in God's concern to save sinners through it.
Free Grace Baptist Church - November 19, 2017 PM
This expository sermon on 2 Kings 5 traces the threefold structure of Naaman's healing: the providence of God working through a nameless Israelite servant girl, the conversion of a Gentile enemy of Israel, and the judgment upon the covetous Gehazi. The sovereign Lord is shown to govern Syrian politics, military affairs, and the destinies of servant girls alike, so that his free grace — which cannot be bribed, manipulated, or earned — reaches even those outside the covenant community. The congregation is called to see in Naaman's conversion a pattern of genuine New Covenant salvation: humility under the gospel, confession of the one true God, gratitude expressed in worship, and a sensitive conscience regarding ongoing sin.
Free Grace Baptist Church - November 19, 2017 AM
Preached at the ordination of a new elder, this exposition of 1 Timothy 4:12–16 sets forth four charges Paul lays upon Timothy as a faithful minister of the gospel: the minister's example in life and conduct, his public ministry of reading, exhortation, and doctrine, his personal growth through devoted meditation on apostolic truth, and his perseverance in both personal holiness and sound doctrine. The sermon insists that ministers are made by God and vetted by the church, not self-appointed, and that the gravity of the office lies in this: faithful gospel ministry is the ordained means by which God saves sinners and sanctifies his people. The congregation is charged to receive the gift of an ordained minister with joy, to prize the public means of grace, and to reject heresy with earnestness alongside their pastor.
The Conduct of a Faithful Minister
1 Timothy 4:12–16 addresses Timothy — and by extension every faithful minister of the gospel — with direct commands concerning conduct, doctrine, and perseverance in office. Preached in the context of an ordination ceremony, this exposition draws out what Paul requires of a man set apart to lead Christ's church: that he be an example in life, devoted to the public ministry of the Word, and watchful over both his own soul and the doctrine he teaches. The passage is a charge not only to the newly ordained but to the whole congregation to receive and support faithful gospel ministry.
The Crucifixion of Jesus, Part 5
Matthew 27:51–56 records a cluster of supernatural signs accompanying the death of Christ — the rending of the temple veil, the earthquake, the splitting of rocks, and the resurrection of saints — each of which publicly attests the efficacy of Christ's atoning work. The torn veil simultaneously signals the judgment of God upon apostate Israel and the opening of access to the Father through Christ's blood, marking the covenantal transition from the old order of sacrifice to the new covenant inaugurated at Calvary. The centurion's confession, 'Truly this was the Son of God,' demonstrates that the cross reaches sinners from every tribe and tongue, while the faithful women at a distance stand as witnesses to Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. The sermon calls every hearer to receive the torn veil as God's own invitation to draw near through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Free Grace Baptist Church - October 29, 2017 PM
John's call to love one another in 1 John 2:7–11 is neither a novel ethical program nor a mark of spiritual achievement — it is an ancient commandment that has taken on new shape in the light of Christ's own love, death, and resurrection. The sermon works through three movements: the nature of the commandment to love, the terrifying spiritual blindness of the one who hates his brother, and the assurance given to the one who loves. God's own electing, sacrificial love — not human moral effort — is the spring and motive of all genuine love for the brethren, and that love in turn becomes an evidence and assurance of saving faith.
Free Grace Baptist Church - October 22, 2017 PM
First John 2:3–6 confronts a perennial problem: people who claim to know Christ while living in blatant disregard of his law. The sermon works through two tests John gives for genuine knowledge of God — keeping Christ's commandments as an evidence of salvation (not its ground), and walking as Christ walked as a fruit of union with him. Obedience is not the condition for knowing God but the necessary mark and assurance of it, grounded not in human effort but in the imputed righteousness of Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.
2 Kings 12
The reign of Joash in 2 Kings 12 presents an ironic arc: a king who labours to repair the temple of the Lord ultimately strips it bare to bribe a foreign invader. This study traces the regnal formula of verses 1–3 as testimony to the faithfulness of the Davidic covenant promise of 2 Samuel 7, the mechanics and moral lessons of the temple-repair programme in verses 4–16, and the swift depletion of what was restored when Hazael threatens Jerusalem in verses 17–21. The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 24 fills out Joash's apostasy after the death of Jehoiada, underscoring that external restraint cannot produce saving faith, and that every failing king in David's line points forward to the one descendant who does not disappoint.
Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day (2LCF22)
The Sabbath commandment is a moral, positive, and perpetual law binding all men in all ages — not a distinctively Jewish institution abolished with the Mosaic economy, but a creation ordinance blessed and sanctified by God from the beginning and carried forward into the New Covenant era. Working through 2LCF chapter 22, paragraphs 7 and 8, this session traces a biblical theology of the Sabbath from Genesis 2 through Isaiah and Jeremiah, establishing both the moral principle (one day in seven) and its positive element (the particular day). The shift from Saturday to Sunday is grounded in creation and redemption as the twin rationales for the commandment, anticipating the resurrection of Christ as the basis for Lord's Day worship. Hearers are called to receive the Sabbath not as a burden but as a gift given by God for the good of His creatures.
The Qualifications for Elders
What qualities must a man possess before a church installs him as an elder? Expounding 1 Timothy 3:1–7, this sermon works through six categories of qualification: the man's desire for the office, his personal holiness, his domestic faithfulness, his spiritual maturity, his testimony among outsiders, and his aptness to teach. The three New Testament terms — elder, overseer, and pastor — are shown to be synonymous, describing one office whose governing instrument is the preached Word. The congregation is pressed to apply these qualifications rigorously, to test aspiring men through faithful churchmanship, and to resist the twin errors of setting the bar so low that unfit men enter and so high that no man can qualify.
Of the Sabbath (2LFC22)
The Regulative Principle of Worship, grounded in the Second Commandment and confessed in Chapter 22 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, holds that God alone determines the acceptable way in which He is to be worshipped — nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else than what He has commanded in Scripture. Working through paragraphs 1 and 2 of the confession, this session distinguishes the first commandment (who is to be worshipped) from the second (how God is to be worshipped), showing from Romans 1, Deuteronomy 12, 1 Timothy 3, Hebrews 12, and the narrative of Saul that innovation in worship — however well-intentioned — constitutes a form of idolatry. The practical application is that the elements of corporate worship must be drawn from Scripture alone: prayer, the reading and preaching of the Word, singing, and the sacraments — with no addition, subtraction, or substitution from the imaginations and devices of men.
Free Grace Baptist Church - October 1, 2017 PM
This Lord's Supper service exposition of 2 Samuel 6 traces three movements in the account of David bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem: the desire for God's presence, the reminder of God's holiness in the death of Uzzah, and the celebration of God's goodness in David's exuberant worship. The Uzzah incident grounds an extended defense of the regulative principle of worship — God demands precise, commanded obedience, not well-intentioned innovation — while David's dancing in a linen ephod demonstrates that such precision does not exclude but rather secures gladness and joy. Each movement is drawn into parallel with the Lord's Supper: believers come seeking the presence of Christ, they are reminded that his body was broken and blood shed because God is holy and just, and they receive the Supper as a means of covenant renewal and joyful commemoration of the once-for-all sacrifice.
The Trial before Pontius Pilate, Part 3
Matthew 27:24–26 records Pontius Pilate's attempt to wash his hands of Christ's blood, the crowd's acceptance of blood-guilt upon themselves and their children, and the formal sentencing of Jesus to scourging and crucifixion. This sermon exposes Pilate's self-absolution as rank hypocrisy — he declares innocence while simultaneously ordering the execution — and traces the crowd's fearful cry ('His blood be on us and on our children') as an omen fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The passage is set within the larger framework of substitutionary atonement: Christ, the only truly innocent man, willingly bore the penalty owed to guilty sinners, satisfying divine justice on behalf of His people. Hearers are called to see their own culpability in the cross and to repent and be converted, trusting in the sufficiency of Christ's shed blood for the remission of sins.
The Celebratory Worship of God
2 Samuel 6 records Israel's transfer of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem — an act of celebratory worship that collapsed into tragedy and then triumph. This exposition traces the text through Uzzah's death, David's fear and delay, and the final joyful procession, drawing out the non-negotiable principle that God must be worshipped on his own terms, not according to human innovation. The sermon closes by drawing explicit parallels between the ark narrative and the Lord's Supper as a similarly appointed, similarly joy-filled, and similarly solemn act of covenant worship.
Free Grace Baptist Church - September 24, 2017 PM
First John 1:5–10 presents three interlocking claims about fellowship with God: the nature of God as absolute moral purity (light), the deceptive professions of those who walk in darkness while claiming communion with God, and the path of true fellowship grounded in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. The sermon engages the Gnostic false teachers who denied sin's reality and the law's relevance, and sets their errors against the revealed gospel — that total depravity rightly understood drives sinners to Christ, the light of the world. True assurance of salvation rests not on sinless perfection but on ongoing confession, the atoning work of Christ, and the Spirit's inward fruit, so those who struggle with assurance are directed to the cross while those who live in blatant antinomian rebellion are warned that false doctrine produces false assurance.
Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience (2LFC21)
Christian liberty is grounded not primarily in political or personal freedoms but in the perfect saving work of Christ, who has purchased freedom from the guilt, power, and punishment of sin for all his elect. This study works through 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith chapter 21, paragraphs 1–3, tracing the biblical foundations of liberty of conscience against both Roman Catholic ecclesiastical imposition and antinomian abuse of grace. The New Testament enlarges the freedom already held by Old Testament believers by releasing them from the ceremonial law's yoke, granting bolder access to the throne of grace, and communicating the Spirit more fully. True Christian liberty issues not in licentiousness but in cheerful, childlike obedience to God, freed from slavish fear and self-imposed religious scrupulosity alike.
Free Grace Baptist Church - September 17, 2017 PM
How do we know the gospel is true? First John 1:1–4 opens with John's answer: the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ is grounded in direct sensory experience — hearing, seeing, and handling the Word of life. This sermon works through the introduction to First John under three headings: the messenger, his message, and the benefits of that message. The exposition confronts early docetism (the denial that Christ came in the flesh), insists that eternal life is found only in the incarnate, crucified, and risen Son of God, and calls hearers to hold fast to the apostolic gospel as the only ground of true fellowship with the Father and the Son and of lasting joy.
Of the Gospel and the Extent of the Grace Thereof (2LCF20)
The gospel is necessary, revealed only through special revelation, and made effectual solely by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit — natural law and general revelation are wholly insufficient for salvation. This session expounds 2LCF Chapter 20, tracing why John Owen and the Congregationalists added this chapter to address both the rise of salvation-through-natural-law teaching and the false charge that Reformed and Baptist churches were anti-missional. The sermon argues that the gospel advances to the ends of the earth through preaching, according to God's sovereign will, as the Spirit regenerates the elect who are dead in trespasses and sins. The practical burden is confidence and perseverance in gospel proclamation, grounded not in human ability or ecclesial authority but in the sovereignty of God.
Of the Law of God (2LCF19)
God's moral law — first written on Adam's heart in the covenant of works, codified in the Ten Commandments at Sinai, and distinguished from the temporary ceremonial and judicial laws of Moses — remains perpetually binding on all humanity because it perfectly expresses the unchangeable holy character of its divine Author. This study works through chapter 19 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, examining the original revelation of the law, its survival after the fall, the threefold distinction of moral, ceremonial, and judicial law, and the abiding obligation of the Decalogue across all covenants. The threefold use of the moral law is treated in sequence: its civil use in restraining sin, its pedagogical use in exposing sin and driving the conscience to Christ, and its normative use in directing the regenerate life of the believer. Believers are called to embrace the moral law not as a covenant of works but in gratitude, enabled by the Spirit through the ordinary means of grace, standing in Christ's righteousness alone before the holy lawgiver.
United in Worship
Joshua 22:10–34 presents a near-civil-war among the tribes of Israel triggered by the erection of a large altar east of the Jordan, and this exposition works through the text under three headings: the western tribes' perception of apostasy, their perception of disunity, and the concluding perception of God's presence among his people. The sermon grounds the western tribes' alarm in Deuteronomy 12 and 13, showing that their concern for a rival place of worship was a sound application of the regulative principle of worship, and traces the typological significance of Phinehas as a figure pointing to Christ's atoning zeal. The eastern tribes' explanation — that the altar was a witness-monument, not a sacrificial site, built so that future generations would not be excluded from the covenant community — is set against the church's call to maintain unity in worship through lowliness, longsuffering, and mutual confrontation after the pattern of Matthew 5 and 18. The sermon concludes that the object uniting the people of God in every age is not themselves but the Lord, to whom worship is due as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer in Christ.
Free Grace Baptist Church - August 13, 2017 AM
Matthew 26:57–75 records both the illegal trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin and Peter's threefold denial in the high priest's courtyard. This expository sermon works through the anatomy of Peter's fall — from evasive mumbling to flat denial under oath and self-curse — and traces how the crowing rooster, Christ's look of sorrow and pity, and the remembered word of Jesus together broke Peter and began his recovery. Two governing lessons emerge: the fragility of even the most eminent disciples apart from sovereign grace, and the magnitude of Christ's mercy that restores the most wretched confessor-turned-denier to useful service.
2 Kings 2:1-25
2 Kings 2 presents the translation of Elijah and the public authentication of Elisha as his prophetic successor. The chapter divides into two broad movements: Elijah's assumption into heaven by whirlwind (vv. 1–12) and Elisha's manifestation as the new man of God through miracle-working (vv. 13–25). The parallels to Moses and Joshua, the divided Jordan, the healing of Jericho's water, and the covenant curse executed through two bears all establish that Elisha stands in an unbroken line of authorized prophetic ministry — and that God's Word, not any individual instrument, is the true power sustaining His kingdom. The controlling application is that when God removes an Elijah, a Calvin, or a Spurgeon, His Word and His kingdom march on, calling His people to fix their confidence on the strength of God's arm rather than the charisma of His servants.
The Rejection of the True Prophet of God
1 Kings 22:1–28 presents a confrontation between Ahab, king of Israel, and Micaiah, the lone true prophet of Yahweh, whose faithful message Ahab despises precisely because it refuses to flatter him. The sermon traces Ahab's long pattern of rejecting God's word, his assembly of 400 pliable false prophets, and the fearless integrity of Micaiah, who declares he is in bondage to whatever Yahweh speaks regardless of the cost. Micaiah's heavenly throne-room vision is interpreted anthropomorphically — not as God counselling with creatures, but as a gracious revelation of Ahab's spiritual situation before the battle. The passage calls hearers to prize the unvarnished truth of God's Word over any message tailored to felt needs, and to pray for and support faithful preachers who will not compromise under pressure.
The Hearing before the Sanhedrin, Part 1
Matthew 26:57–61 places Jesus before the Sanhedrin in what the preacher demonstrates was not an impartial criminal trial but a predetermined hearing whose guilty verdict had been settled before any witnesses were called. The sermon maps the political and ecclesiastical machinery of the Sanhedrin — its composition, its lack of authority to execute, its violations of due process, and its need to construct a charge sufficient to deliver Jesus to Pilate — and addresses the charge that the gospel accounts of these events are colored by anti-Semitism. Against that background, the contrast between the faithful witness of Christ and the fearful, distanced discipleship of Peter issues a direct call to close, unashamed allegiance to the Savior, and an invitation to unbelievers to come to the One who restores even those who deny him.