Advertise on podcast: Jeremy Walker on SermonAudio

A military parade is a display of human confidence in human might and human means. In Psalm 20, God's people reject confidence in man and instead declare their confidence in God alone. There are two outcomes to these two possible grounds of trust: either we bow and fall when we trust in man, or we rise and stand when the name of the Lord is our hope. The obvious response is to cry to the Lord for salvation, to make the favour of God in Christ not only the first cry but the often-renewed cry of the needy heart.

Barnabas and Saul are sent out by the Holy Spirit and by the church. As we follow them on this first missionary campaign, we simply observe where they went, what they did, who and what they found, what they said, and what the Lord God accomplished. Here is a tale of gospel opportunity and spiritual opposition, of the triumph of the good news of Jesus Christ.

His teaching concluded, our Lord is anticipating his sufferings. It is worth noting the spirit in which he spoke, marked by conviction, concentration, calmness, compassion, and courage. He sets before us the sacrifice which he anticipated, he himself being the Passover Lamb who would be crucified in the place of his people. This is the Saviour in whom we trust, the only Redeemer of God's elect. He establishes the standard for us to follow, the Shepherd of his beloved sheep.

Who or what do you want to be? Too often, our eyes and our hearts are fixed on those who seem to be great in this world, but they are far from God. In response we hear wisdom speak. WIsdom gives a warning: do not let your heart envy sinners. Wisdom urges a contrast: we are instead to be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day. Wisdom offers a promise: surely there is a hereafter and your hope will not be cut off. We need to lift our eyes and our hearts above this world and beyond the sinners who seem to have all this world offers, to the promised hereafter and the glorious hope which Christ provides.

If Acts has two streams (the ministries of Peter and of Paul) then it also has three waves, as Christ's gospel spreads from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria, to the end of the earth. Here we are in Antioch, as the church separates Barnabas and Saul to the work of gospel preaching beyond the Mediterranean. We look at the men involved, the ministry they had, the motion of the Holy Spirit, and then the mission on which they were sent.

Though the last days can be fearfully dark, they are wonderfully bright because in them God is speaking to us by his Son. The opening verses of the letter to the Hebrews provide us with one of the most splendid testimonies to the glory of the Messiah, the Jesus of whom the writer speaks with such delight and reverence. He is the heir of all things, the agent of creation, the revealer of God, the upholder of all, the purger of sin, the ruler on high, and the name over all. Do we trust and adore this Jesus, our Christ, as he set before us in the Scripture?

We do not contemplate the wonder of salvation as we ought. We do not count mercy the marvel that it really is. Paul drives it home: once we were far off, ignorant, twisted, condemned, alienated, hopeless. Now we are brought near, brought into a covenant, a family, a home, a church, a kingdom, a hope. How was this secured? By nothing less than the blood of Jesus Christ. It is in him as our Saviour and Mediator that we enter into all the privileges and promises.

What is a Christian? A follower of Jesus Christ. Luke's record of the calling of Levi boils that down to its basic essence. Christ's call to Levi, a look of love that gives rise to words of grace, is gracious, personal, simple, absolute, and powerful. Levi's response comes in three elements—a break with the past (he left all), a life in the present (he rose up), and a path for the future (he followed Christ). We still hear Christ in the gospel, and we may still turn to him in faith, and become Christians who follow their Saviour wherever he leads.

The Bible has always revealed the same Saviour accomplishing the same salvation. The Old Testament prophets saw him, but not always clearly, and eagerly anticipated him. The apostles and prophets of the New Testament also delighted in Christ both promised and manifested. Peter speaks of this salvation long-explored and long-promised, and now revealed and realised in the sufferings of Christ, and the glories which follow. Do we seek out and search out Christ as eagerly as those who have gone before us? Do we dwell upon him in our thoughts and our words? Do we understand who and what we have in this Redeemer and his redemption?

The teaching explores the historical origins and theological identity of confessional Baptists, tracing their lineage from the European Reformation through the British Puritan movement to the formation of distinct Baptist congregations in the 17th century. It highlights the development of the First London Confession of 1644 and the Second London Confession of 1677-89 as efforts to clarify Baptist beliefs, distinguish them from radical Anabaptists, and establish unity with Presbyterian and Congregational peers amidst severe persecution. The speaker emphasizes that understanding this history provides clarity on core doctrines like particular redemption and believer's baptism, while also addressing the political and social contexts that shaped these early church documents. By examining the motivations behind these confessions, the transcript argues for a robust, biblically anchored identity that avoids modern confusion and sectarianism. Ultimately, the message calls believers to appreciate their spiritual heritage as a foundation for current faith and future unity within the reformed Baptist tradition.

What is the greatest gift anyone has ever given you? What is the kindest and most generous thing anyone has ever done on your behalf? The Lord Jesus sanctified himself for the sake of his people, that they also might be sanctified by the truth. Here the Lord Jesus sets himself apart personally, demonstrating his absolute devotion and entire consecration to the work to which his Father had called him. He does it particularly, acting on behalf of his people, representing and serving them in his commitment to bringing them to glory. He does it purposefully, desiring that the gospel truth of his accomplished work might be employed to convert his people to him and conform his people to him, that they might be holy and without blame before him in love. What love he has shown! What a motive for holiness! What a terror to turn away from Christ!

Adoption may be one of the overlooked blessings of salvation taken as a whole, but the apostles do not neglect it. Paul speaks of this heavenly blessing in Ephesians 1:5, telling us that God has "predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." This teaches us something about the nature, the source, the communication, and the purpose of this gospel privilege.

This world does not satisfy our bodies. It certainly cannot satisfy our souls. In Psalm 81 the Lord offers to satisfy the souls of those who are seeking some needful thing, revealing his goodness, his grief, and his grace. Taking his offered mercies as gospel emblems, here is God offering out of himself both substance and sweetness, and so delighting the hungry soul forever.