A Great and Complete Salvation
A Sermon on Ezekiel 36:28
Scripture
28And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Sermon Description
The greatest tragedy in the world is the neglect of the Christian message. This neglect causes so much unhappiness and distress. Everything God does is a perfect work and in His salvation nothing is left undone, but many people, even Christians, fail to recognize this greatness. They need a new attitude toward holiness: “Ye shall be my people.” In this sermon on Ezekiel 36:28 titled “A Great and Complete Salvation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones seeks to view this Scripture from God’s perspective. There is nothing more terrible than to be without God in the world; to do so is to belong to a realm that is dying and decaying—this is a tragic position, yet one the sinner delights in. Gain the assurance that God is a personal God, and that He will not let His people go. Salvation brings a certainty when the Christian goes to God in prayer. “In Christ, we are brought to an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones shares and encourages that this is reserved in heaven by God for His people. Not only are they a holy nation as His people, but He is their God. He laid Himself down that He might bring them to God. Dr. Lloyd-Jones leaves the listener with one question: “Can you say ‘He is my God’?”
Sermon Breakdown
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The passage being examined is Ezekiel 36:28 which states "And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God."
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This passage refers to the blessings of Christian salvation. It is a prophecy regarding the gospel and what God will do for his people.
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There is a neglect of the gospel in the world which leads to much unhappiness. People have false notions of what it means to be a Christian.
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The gospel is great, complete, and perfect. It is all of God - his work, love, grace, mercy, and compassion. Because it is God's work, it is perfect and complete.
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For salvation, we need to be cleansed of our filthiness and idols. We need a new heart, spirit, and attitude towards holiness. We need God's Spirit to cause us to obey his statutes.
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The order of salvation is the reverse of the order of the fall. We go from filthiness to holiness to dwelling with God. The fall went from dwelling with God to filthiness.
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God will gather his people from the nations and bring them into their own land. He will cleanse them, give them a new heart, put his Spirit in them, and cause them to walk in his statutes. Then they will be his people and he will be their God.
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Though God is the God of the whole world, his people have a special relationship with him. He knows them in a special way, as he knew Israel. Christians are God's special possession and private treasure.
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Being God's people means receiving his special attention, interest, and concern. It means God has a purpose for us and will complete the work he has started in us. Nothing can separate us from his love.
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Knowing God as "my God" means having his personal interest, confidence in prayer, assurance of his power and resources behind us, and eternal safety in his hands. This is the ultimate blessing of salvation.
Old Testament
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.