Christ the Hope of Glory
A Sermon on John 1:10-12
Scripture
10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even …
Sermon Description
Does the world care about Christ? It never will if the joy and peace of Christ isn’t seen and alive in the church today. This lack of obvious joy, claims Dr. Lloyd-Jones, flows from a failure to reflect on the gospel. Listen as this sermon on John 1:10–12 unfolds the three central components to the Christian faith: knowing, believing, and receiving. These truths illustrate that this is God’s world and that though there is darkness in the world, God sent His son to save His people from that darkness. When Jesus is received and the power of His sacrifice for sin is believed, salvation occurs. Any Christian lacking in joy will rekindle their passion by considering these things, and dwell on the fact they are completely forgiven in Christ. Feelings are dictated by thoughts and knowledge and, therefore, an accurate understanding and belief in these truths will lend oneself to experience and demonstrate great and genuine joy.
Sermon Breakdown
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The sermon begins by introducing three words used to describe a Christian's relationship to Jesus: know, receive, and believe on. These words represent a progression in one's relationship with Jesus.
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To know Jesus means to recognize and acknowledge him. Many people fail to truly know Jesus, only seeing him as a great teacher or historical figure. Knowing Jesus means recognizing him as the Son of God and being filled with wonder at the incarnation.
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To receive Jesus means to welcome him. It is more experiential than just knowing him. Receiving Jesus means welcoming all of his teachings and implications, not just the parts we like. Many reject Jesus when they hear his actual teachings. Receiving Jesus means welcoming him completely.
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To believe on Jesus means to trust in him and his power. Believing in Jesus means trusting that he came to save us from our sins and condemnation under the law. It means renouncing ourselves and trusting completely in Jesus's death and resurrection.
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These three terms represent a progression, but we must start at the beginning. We must not take our relationship with Jesus for granted or assume we truly know, receive, and believe in him. We must examine ourselves to make sure we have the foundation right.
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Jesus has always divided people into two groups: those who know, receive, and believe in him and those who do not. There is nothing more important than making sure we are in the right group.
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We must not start with feelings or examining our lives for fruit. We must start with Jesus himself. We must make sure we know, receive, and believe in him before moving on to anything else.
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If we are lacking joy or assurance, it likely means we have not started at the beginning. We have not made sure we truly know, receive, and believe in Jesus. We must go back to the foundation.
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The sermon concludes with a hymn reflecting the themes of knowing, receiving, and believing in Jesus.
The Book of John
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.