Sermons on Penal Substitution:

Rejecting The Son...receiving The Sacrifice On Good Friday

Contributed by Scott Jensen on Apr 3, 2015

Jesus sacrificed himself as a voluntary substitution for our sins. This Good Friday message uses the parable from Matthew 21 as a demonstration of the world around us.

Jeffrey Ebert shared this story about an incident in his childhood. He wrote: When I was five years old, before factory-installed seat belts and automobile air bags, my family was driving home at night on a two-lane country road. I was sitting on my mother’s lap when another car, driven by ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 21:38-39

Denomination: Lutheran

Walk With Your Substitue Series

Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Apr 13, 2003

Like Barabbas we are worhty of God’s death sentence; but we, the rebels, are released, and Jesus is suffers our hell on the cross in our place as our Substitute.

Walk with our Substitute Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God through which the Holy Spirit touches our hearts is record in Mark 15: Now, at every festival Pilate used to free a prisoner whom the people asked for. There was a man by the name of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 15:6-15

Denomination: Lutheran

Christ-Our Passover Lamb

Contributed by Evie Megginson on May 3, 2004

CHRIST-OUR PASSOVER LAMB IS A SUBSTITUTE SACRIFICE,A SINLESS SACRIFICE,A SLAIN SACRIFICE,A SPRNIKLED SACRIFICE,A SACRED SACRIFICE, AND A SUFFICIENT SACRIFICE.

CHRIST-OUR PASSOVER LAMB EXODUS 12:1-13, I CORINTHIANS 5:7 After spending 30 years in Burma, Missionary Judson returned to America. In his first address, he didn’t talk about the graves of his wife and 4 children in Burma. He didn’t talk about his imprisonment while he was there. He didn’t talk ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 12:1-13, 1 Corinthians 5:7

Denomination: Baptist

One Dark Blot

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 24, 2009

Many of us are given to obsessive behavior. Healing comes when we name it for what it is and accept a healthy substitute. A relationship with Christ will erase destructive obsessive behavior.

Success in life is about one-half drive and one-half perspective. To get anywhere, to accomplish anything, you have to mix both drive and perspective. You have to blend both drive and push, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the ability to back off and look at your drivenness. Most of the ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-30

Denomination: Baptist

Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice Series

Contributed by Rev. Samuel Arimoro on Jul 5, 2025

Obedience is the foundation of spiritual authority and divine favour. God does not accept substitutes for obedience—sacrifice, talent, position, or charisma cannot replace a heart yielded to Him.

OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE By Rev. Samuel Arimoro Main Text: 1 Samuel 15:1-23 Supporting Texts: Deuteronomy 28:1-2, Proverbs 21:3, John 14:15, Isaiah 1:19-20, Hebrews 10:5-9 INTRODUCTION: God places a high premium on obedience. In His kingdom, obedience is not optional—it is the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:1-23

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Don't Settle For Facts, Discover The Truth - Mark 4:35-40; Numbers 26-14:1

Contributed by Tunde Alli on Feb 16, 2012

Most Christians have substituted God's truth for facts. They believe facts rather than the truth of the word of God. Facts never set anyone free, truth does.

John 8:32 'Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free'. In the first story (Mark 4:35-40), Jesus was sleeping while his disciples were worried about a raging storm; the second (Numbers 13:26-14:1) reveals the nation of Israel (save Joshua and Caleb) weeping upon discovering the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:35-40

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Antichrist Series

Contributed by Mark A. Barber on Aug 12, 2013

The Antichrist does not appear as a man in a red suit and a pitchfork. Antichrist does not mean "against Christ" but rather "substitute christ". The false apes the real and tries to replace it.

The Antichrist 1 John 2:18-21 Introduction Last week, we talked about our affections. The source of our being is not to be grounded in this world, but in God. All the things of this world are perishing, and if our hopes and desires were built on them, then our hopes would be perishing as well. ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:18-21

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Declare If You Know Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 24, 2002

The Palm Sunday crowds, like Job’s friends, shouted their slogans too glibly, communicating only popularity and prejudice, substituting religiosity and mere activity for knowing Jesus personally.

Declare if you know. Declare. Interesting word, “Declare”. It suggests that when we communicate, there are a variety of levels at which we can speak. There are different intensities we can use when we want to say something. Some folks merely suggest. They offer timid little ideas ...read more

Scripture: Job 38:1-27

Denomination: Baptist

Choose This Day Series

Contributed by Robert Leroe on Mar 13, 2016

We cannot be neutral. When God calls us, He demands strict and exclusive loyalty. We're to renounce all God-substitutes. We have a choice to make.

Knowing he is near the end of his life, Joshua assembles the elders to give one last charge to Israel. It is a solemn moment, and the climax of the book. Joshua's last words are rooted in history, and in the wondrous works of God the children of Israel witnessed themselves. Joshua reminds his ...read more

Denomination: Congregational

The Silence Of The Lamb Series

Contributed by Jeremy Mcquoid on May 7, 2019

Jesus was 1) A Willing Sacrifice, 2) A Substitionary Sacrifice, 3) An Innocent Sacrifice

• I don’t know if you recognize this face on the screen. This is Friedrich Nietszche. He was a German philosopher who is most famous for his claim that ‘God is dead.’ He has become a hero figure in atheist circles. ? Nietszche’s philosophy was all about human power. He said that the main ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:7-9, Romans 3:21-26, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, James 1:1-11

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Real Belief In The Real Jesus Series

Contributed by Richard Tow on Dec 8, 2003

Faith in Christ is the key to eternal life. But the Jesus we put our faith in must be the Christ revealed in scripture not some substitute Jesus we have fabricated in our own minds.

Real Belief in the Real Jesus John 1:1-3 and 20:30-31 2-9-03 John 1:1-5 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and ...read more

Scripture: John 20:30-31, John 1:1-3

Denomination: Charismatic

The Object Of My Affection Series

Contributed by Dan Jackson on Jul 9, 2005

We substitute many things for the worship of the one true God. Idols never satisfy, but we still craft with our hands things that we hope will satisfy the longing of our hearts.

“THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION” (Exodus 20:4-6) You hear a word like the second commandment, and think “C’mon preacher, this is twentieth century America. We don’t have totem poles and fetishes here. Be relevant.” Did you see the comedy film, Cool Runnings? It’s about the first Jamaican bobsled team ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:4-6

Ishmael And Isaac: From Mistake To Mission

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 20, 2009

We live with dreams deferred, and act hastily, out of impatience. Either we then go into denial or we try to make do with a substitute. But Christ makes all dreams ever new.

The playwright Lorraine Hansberry asks it: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun?" A dream deferred. A dream deferred is something you’ve put heart and soul into, for a long time, but it’s delayed. It hasn’t come. It’s incomplete. What happens to a dream ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

I Can't Get No Satisfaction Series

Contributed by Perry Greene on Aug 11, 2016

This sermon begins the series in which we want to encounter and honor God in our lives and church. The only real satisfaction we have in life is God. Everything else is a poor substitute.

1. If She Doesn't Hurry... When J. K. Rowling was having trouble finishing her fifth Harry Potter book, her fans grew impatient. One was quoted as saying, "If she doesn't hurry, we're going to move on to caring about something else." That reflects our age. Our attention spans are short, and we want ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:11

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Have The Obedience Of A 12-Year-Old ! Series

Contributed by Peter Schmidt on Jan 8, 2004

We study the only biblical story about Jesus as a youth. He is already going about his work as our obedient substitute. Mirror Christ by being obedient to the Lord and his representatives.

The First Sunday after Christmas Luke 2:41-52 During the first decade of life, children tend to view their parents as the greatest people in the world. This is the time of life when kids argue among each other, “My dad is stronger than your dad! My mom is prettier than your mom! My parents are ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:41-52

Denomination: Lutheran