Blinded by Sin
A Sermon on John 5:43
Scripture
43I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
Sermon Description
Sin blinds the unbeliever from believing in Jesus. In this sermon on John 5:43 titled “Blinded by Sin,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones continues his exposition of this chapter that is nestled in the context of divine healing and divine declarations made by Jesus. However, the Jews outright dismissed Jesus’s claims, refuse to receive Him as Lord and Savior, and ultimately begin plotting to kill Him. In their rejection, Jesus condemns them, saying they praise people for earthly glory and have no love of God. In this Scripture, Dr. Lloyd-Jones unfolds Jesus’s next condemning truth: they are blinded by sin. Jesus tells them that they will receive someone who arrogantly comes in their own name, but refuse to receive Him who comes in the name of the Father. The Jews, along with all unbelievers, are blinded by sin. Sin blinds the unbelieving, causing them to lose rationality and become a fool. Sin blinds. Unbelievers lose all sense of proper judgment because sin clouds judgment and restricts it to prejudice, subjectivity, and arrogance. Like the physically blind who cannot see their path, sin blinds unbelievers to any moral judgment. Dangerously, sin blinds one to receive Jesus, repenting of sin and trusting Him by faith to be forgiven and avoid the horrors of hell. How can one be saved from this blindness? In this sermon, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones examines the disease of sin and how one can be cured.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon text is from John 5:43 which says "I am come in my father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."
- Jesus is addressing the Jews who refused to believe in him despite the evidence and miracles.
- The Jews thought they knew God, could detect imposters and were men of understanding but failed to recognize the Son of God.
- Sin blinds and fools us, depriving us of wisdom and judgment. The Jews prided themselves on judgment but crucified the Son of God.
- The world has always honored men who come in their own name but refused those who come in God's name like Noah, Lot and the prophets.
- The Jews chose Barabbas, a robber, over Jesus. The world worshipped Caesar and false messiahs but rejected Jesus.
- The world believes the most fantastic claims but refuses the Son of God and his offer of salvation. They believe in politicians, quacks and charlatans but not Jesus.
- Sin also depraves us morally which is why our judgment is flawed. We believe what we want to hear. False prophets flatter us but true prophets tell us the truth about our sin which we don't want to hear.
- Men hate God by nature and love sin. They hate the light and truth because it exposes their sin but love darkness.
- The message of repentance, that we are helpless sinners who need to be born again and follow Christ in self-denial is hated by the world.
- Sin blinds us to the glory and love of Christ. The tragedy is men can't recognize or be moved by the Son of God.
- We must receive Christ as the Son of God and Savior, see him on the cross and fall at his feet or we remain blind due to sin. We must ask God for mercy, new life and understanding.
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.