Christ the King Newton Sermons

“Because Jesus was the king who became a servant, we see a reversal of values in his kingdom administration (Luke 6:20–26). In Jesus' kingdom, the poor, sorrowful, and persecuted are above the rich, recognized, and satisfied. The first shall be last (Matt 19:30). Why would this be? This reversal is a way of imitating the pattern of Christ's salvation (Phil 2:1–11). Though Jesus was rich, he became poor. Though he was a king, he served. Though he was the greatest, he made himself the servant of all. He triumphed over sin not by taking up power but by serving sacrificially. He ‘won' through losing everything. This is a complete reversal of the world's way of thinking, which values power, recognition, wealth, and status. The gospel, then, creates a new kind of servant community, with people who live out an entirely alternate way of being human.”— Tim Keller Luke 6:17-26

“I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.”— Nicene Creed, 381 AD Luke 6:12-19

“Six days shall you labor The seventh is the Lord's In six He made the earth and all the heavens But He rested on the seventh God rested He said that it was finished In the seventh day, He blessed it God rested”— Andrew Peterson, “God Rested” Luke 6:1-11

“We must… give up any thought that we have any claims upon God… But Jesus Christ has great claims on God, and we should go to God in our prayers not on the ground of any goodness in ourselves, but on the ground of Jesus Christ's claims.”— R.A. Torrey Luke 5:27-39

“With that Gandalf stood before him, robed in white, his beard now gleaming, like pure snow in the twinkling of the leafy sunlight. ‘Well, Master Samwise, how do you feel?' he said. But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last he gasped: ‘Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What happened to the world?'‘A great shadow has departed,' said Gandalf, and then he laughed, and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known. But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed.”— J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Luke 5:17-26

“Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh. Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear. Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer. Spirit, help my unbelief.” —Isaac Wardell, “Lord, I Believe” Luke 5:12-16

“The experience of ‘being in error' so inevitably accompanies the perception of beauty that it begins to seem one of its abiding structural features. … Something beautiful fills the mind yet invites the search for something beyond itself…”—Elaine Scarry Luke 5:1-11

“He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free; His blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me.”—Charles Wesley, “O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing” Luke 4:31-44

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”—The Apostle Paul to the Christians in Ephesus Colossians 3:12-17

“Lord, while we see whole nations die, Our flesh and sense repine and cry, Must death for ever rage and reign? Or hast thou made mankind in vain? Where is thy promise to the just? Are not thy servants turned to dust? But faith forbids these mournful sighs, And sees the sleeping dust arise.”—Isaac Watts Luke 4:16-37

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”—Psalm 119:11 (NIV) Luke 4:1-15

“When He took the three disciples to the mountainside to pray His countenance was modified, His clothing was aflame Two men appeared, Moses and Elijah came They were at his side The prophecy, the legislation spoke of whenever he would die”— Sufjan Stevens, “The Transfiguration” Luke 3:21-28

“Repentance exhorts people to be fair with others and meet basic needs with fundamental aid. This is what God desires of those who know he is present and coming: a concern for him is expressed through concern for others.”—Darrell L. Bock, A Commentary on Luke Luke 3:1-22

“Crown Him with many crowns, The Lamb upon His throne;Hark! how the heav'nly anthem drowns All music but its own! Awake, my soul, and sing Of Him who died for thee,And hail Him as thy matchless King Through all eternity.”—“Crown Him with Many Crowns” Luke 2:41-52

“All human wisdom is contained in these two words — Wait and Hope.”—Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo Luke 2:22-40

“Christian humanism is not based on the presumption that our humanity is self-justifying. Rather Christians are humanists because God showed up in Mary's belly.”—Stanley Hauerwas Luke 2:1-21

“Memory is power. The person who says that history is bunk, or that the past is gone and all that matters is today, just doesn't know much about real life. In real life memory has tremendous power to inspire and guide.”—John Piper, Pastor & Author Luke 1:57-80

“Mary's submission is a very lovely thing. ‘Whatever God says, I accept.' Mary had learned to forget the world's commonest prayer — ‘Your will be changed' — and to pray the world's greatest prayer — ‘Your will be done.'”—William Barclay Luke 1:26-45

“What we think about God will determine what we think about everything else. To speak of ‘God' is to invoke the context for all understanding, that to which all life and thought are related: to the extent that we live and think at all, therefore, we do so in light of our understanding — whether explicit or implicit — of God. Theology, that is, is never merely ideation. It is always and inherently a total way of life.”— Kavin Rowe, World Upside Down Luke 1:5-25

“What I need first of all is not exhortation, but a gospel, not directions for saving myself but knowledge of how God has saved me. Have you any good news? That is the question that I ask of you. I know your exhortations will not help me. But if anything has been done to save me, will you not tell me the facts?”—J. Gresham Machen Luke 1:1-4

“We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt, and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.”—John Stott Galatians 4:1-7

The tree of life my soul hath seen,Laden with fruit and always green;The trees of nature fruitless be,Compared with Christ the Apple Tree.His beauty doth all things excel,By faith I know but ne'er can tellThe glory which I now can see,In Jesus Christ the Appletree.For happiness I long have sought,And pleasure dearly I have bought;I missed of all but now I see‘Tis found in Christ the Appletree.I'm weary with my former toil—Here I will sit and rest awhile,Under the shadow I will be,Of Jesus Christ the Appletree.This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,It keeps my dying faith alive;Which makes my soul in haste to beWith Jesus Christ the Appletree.—“Jesus Christ the Appletree” Revelation 21:1-6a, 22-27

“That feast will be, like most other marriage suppers, the fulfilment of long expectation. Our Lord has waited long for his perfected Church. He espoused himself to her before ever the earth was; but there was much to be done ere she was prepared for the marriage. The Bridegroom, too, had to leave his Father, and become one with his Bride by taking upon himself our humanity. For our sake, he did quit the thrones and royalties of heaven that he might be bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh; and here was he born, and here he lived, and here he died.”—Charles Spurgeon Revelation 19:1-10

“Maker of the sun, He is made under the sun. . . .In [the Father] He remains,From [His mother] He goes forth.Creator of heaven and earth,He was born on earth under heaven.Unspeakably wise, He is wisely speechless;filling the world, He lies in a manger;Ruler of the stars, He nurses at His mother's bosom.He is both great in the nature of God,and small in the form of a servant,but so that His greatness is not diminished by His smallness,nor His smallness overwhelmed by His greatness.” —Augustine of Hippo Revelation 7:9-17

“My name from the palms of His hands Eternity will not erase; Impressed on His heart it remains In marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure, As sure as the earnest is given More happy, but not more secure, The glorified spirits in heaven.”—Augustus Toplady, “A Debtor to Mercy Alone” Revelation 5

“To witness the perpetual marvel of the world's coming into being is to sense the presence of the Giver in the given, to realize that the source of time is eternity, that the secret of being is the eternal within time. … All week long we are called upon to sanctify life through employing things of space. On the Sabbath it is given us to share in the holiness that is in the heart of time. … Eternity utters a day.”—Abraham Heschel, The Sabbath Leviticus 25:1-13

“Holiness is thus not so much an abstract or a mystic idea, as a regulative principle in the everyday lives of men and women. ... Holiness is thus attained not by flight from the world, nor by monk-like renunciation of human relationships of family or station, but by the spirit in which we fulfill the obligations of life in its simplest and commonest details: in this way—by doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God—is everyday life transfigured.”— J. H. Hertz, Leviticus Leviticus 19:9-18

“Unfortunately, many modern Christians have been deeply formed within the surrounding culture, so that they have… come to see their relationships and marriages in purely individualistic terms. Their marriages are perceived as solely for their own benefit rather than existing also for the sake of the church and its witness in the world. It is no wonder, then, that Christian relationships are often not clearly distinguishable from those in the culture at large.”— Jonathan Grant, Divine Sex Leviticus 18:1-5

“You should tell the devil: ‘Just by telling me that I am a miserable, great sinner you are placing a sword and weapon into my hand with which I can decisively overcome you; yea, with your own weapon I can kill and floor you. For if you can tell me that I am a poor sinner, I on the other hand, can tell you that Christ died for sinners, and is their Intercessor . . . You remind me of the boundless, great faithfulness and benefaction of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . . . to Him I direct you. You may accuse and condemn Him. Let me rest in peace; for on His shoulders, not on mine, lie all my sins.'”— Martin Luther Leviticus 16:1-5

“For the Scriptures teach me that God established two seats for men, a judgment seat for those who are still secure and proud and will neither acknowledge nor confess their sin, and a mercy seat for those whose conscience is poor and needy, who feel and confess their sin, dread his judgment, and yearn for his grace. And this mercy seat is Christ himself . . . There shall I take my refuge when I have done or still do less than is meet and done much more of sin according to the law, both before and after my sanctification and justification. . . . Thereunder shall my heart and conscience creep and be safe.”— Martin Luther Leviticus 10:8–11

“The Scripture stories do not, like Homer's, court our favor, they do not flatter us that they may please us and enchant us — they seek to subject us, and if we refuse to be subjected we are rebels.”— Erich Auerbach“In the self-assured world of modernity people seek to make sense of the Scriptures, instead of hoping, with the aid of the Scriptures, to make some sense of themselves.”— Nicholas Lash Leviticus 9:22-10:3

“You should tell the devil: ‘Just by telling me that I am a miserable, great sinner you are placing a sword and weapon into my hand with which I can decisively overcome you; yea, with your own weapon I can kill and floor you. For if you can tell me that I am a poor sinner, I on the other hand, can tell you that Christ died for sinners, and is their Intercessor . . . You remind me of the boundless, great faithfulness and benefaction of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . . . to Him I direct you. You may accuse and condemn Him. Let me rest in peace; for on His shoulders, not on mine, lie all my sins.'”— Martin Luther Leviticus 6:24-7:10

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”— John the Baptist when he sees Jesus, John 1 Exodus 40:34 - Leviticus 1:9

“[Christians] dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified.”— Letter to Diognetus, 2nd Century 1 Peter 2:9-17

“Love has redeemed His sheep with blood; And love will bring them safe to God; Love calls them all from death to life; And love will finish all their strife.”—William Gadsby, “The Love of Christ is Rich and Free” 1 Peter 4:7-11

“For Peter, identity begins with such questions as, ‘Who is my God? Whom do I trust? What is my community?' The question ‘Whose am I?' Has more weight than ‘Who am I?”— Daniel M. Doriani 1 Peter 2:4-10

“A sermon without Christ! As well a loaf of bread without flour in it. How can it feed the soul?”— Charles Spurgeon 1 Peter 1:3-12

“Because this act was done by this one, there and then, acts of reconciliation are more than an attempt to create reality by establishing imagined communities which offer a different sort of social space from that of the world's routine violence. Human acts of reconciliation are in accordance with the structure of reality which God in Christ creates and to the existence of which the gospel testifies; and therefore they are acts which tend toward the true end of creation which God's reconciling act establishes once and for all in Christ's person and work.”— John Webster 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

“Paul's emphasis on unity-in-diversity is grounded in the nature of the one God, who is holy Trinity. … Paul sees all persons of the Trinity as involved fully in creation, redemption, and salvation. All gifts come ultimately from God the originating and loving Father, but God gives them through Jesus Christ as Mediator, and they are appropriated by the enabling work of the Holy Spirit.”— Anthony Thiselton 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

“... so much American Christianity today comes packaged as inspirational uplift—sunlit, backlit, or candlelit. Furthermore, we are so accustomed to seeing the cross functioning as decoration that we can scarcely imagine it as an object of shame and scandal unless it is burned on someone's lawn. It requires a considerable effort of the imagination to enter into the first century world of the Roman Empire so as to understand the degree of offensiveness attached to crucifixion as a method of execution. ... There were many thousands of crucifixions in Roman times, but only the crucifixion of Jesus is remembered as having any significance at all, let alone world-transforming significance.”— Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ Mark 8:22-33

“Q. 172. May one who doubts of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation, come to the Lord's supper?A. One who doubts of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, may have true interest in Christ, though he be not yet assured thereof; and in God's account has it, if he be duly affected with the apprehension of the want of it, and unfeignedly desires to be found in Christ, and to depart from iniquity: in which case (because promises are made, and this sacrament is appointed, for the relief even of weak and doubting Christians) he is to bewail his unbelief, and labor to have his doubts resolved; and, so doing, he may and ought to come to the Lord's supper, that he may be further strengthened.”— Westminster Larger Catechism 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

“The justice behind God's creation of male and female and his arrangement of the different roles he chose for them may not always be apparent to us. Why one and not the other? But should we expect our finitude to understand the infinite, omnipotent, wise, good, lovely, gracious justice of God? Perhaps some inkling resides in the dance of the sexes, by which we reveal truth about the inner life of the triune God. The rest is clothed in mystery, to which we yield, with full confidence that it is meant for our good.”— Kathy Keller 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1

“What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. ... Anything can be an idol, and everything has been an idol.”— Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods 1 Corinthians 10:1-22

“Rock of Ages, my great hope secure. Your promise holds just like an anchor to my soul. Bind your children with cords of love and grace. Rock of Ages, we give you praise.”— Sandra McCracken, “Rock of Ages (When the Day Seems Long)” 1 Corinthians 9:15-27

“Jesus, my Lord, my life, my light,Oh come with blissful ray.Break radiant through the shades of night;Won't you chase my fears away?”—Anne Steele, “Thou Lovely Source of True Delight” 1 Corinthians 9:1-14

“With all other teachers the world has ever known, the important thing is the teaching; but here is a case in which the Teacher is more important even than what he taught.”— D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 7:28-29

“In applying [the Sermon on the Mount] to ourselves, we need to consider that the Bible is a dangerous book to read, and that the Church is a dangerous society to join. For in reading the Bible, we hear the words of Christ, and in joining the church, we say, we believe in Christ. As a result, we belong to the company described by Jesus as both hearing his teaching and calling him Lord. Our membership therefore lays upon us the serious responsibility of ensuring that what we know and what we say is translated into what we do.”— John Stott Matthew 7:24-27

“You say, you find it hard to believe it [is] compatible with the divine purity to embrace or employ such a monster as yourself. [In thinking this, you] express not only a low opinion of yourself, which is right, but too low an opinion of the person, work, and promises of the Redeemer; which is certainly wrong. ... Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. He sometimes off ers to teach us humility; but though I wish to be humble, I desire not to learn in his school. His premises perhaps are true, that we are vile, wretched creatures—but he then draws abominable conclusions from them; and would teach us, that, therefore, we ought to question either the power, or the willingness, or the faithfulness of Christ.”— John Newton, “Letter XI, to the Rev. Mr S”“[I]t is as if an error slipped into an author's writing and the error became conscious of itself as an error. ... and now this error wants to mutiny against the author, out of hatred toward him, forbidding him to correct it and in maniacal defiance saying to him: No, I refuse to be erased; I will stand as a witness against you, a witness that you are a second-rate author.”— Søren Kierkegaard Matthew 7:15-23

“The way is unutterably hard, and at every moment we are in danger of straying from it. If we regard this way as one we follow in obedience to an external command, if we are afraid of ourselves all the time, it is indeed an impossible way. But if we behold Jesus Christ going on before step by step, we shall not go astray. ... For he is himself the way, the narrow way, and the strait gate. He, and he alone, is our journey's end. When we know that, we are able to proceed along the narrow way through the strait gate of the cross, and on to eternal life, and the very narrowness of the road will increase our certainty. The way which the Son of God trod on earth, and the way which we too must tread as citizens of two worlds on the razor edge between this world and the kingdom of heaven, could hardly be a broad way. The narrow way is bound to be right.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer Matthew 7:13-14

“The Golden Rule is a ‘call to creativity.' Far from being a wooden rule to look back and ‘do to others what others have done to you,' which would be counsel to reciprocate proportionally, it is counsel to look forward and to anticipate what others would like done and so be initiatory. And Jesus' command to act in this creative way applies not only to disciples' relations with other disciples, but with all human beings, as the use of the word ‘people' rather than ‘brothers' or even ‘neighbors' indicates.”— Bruner, Matthew, A Commentary Matthew 7:12