Pride
A Sermon on Romans 11:18-22
Scripture
18Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be …
Sermon Description
Why is pride so dangerous? What about pride undermines the gospel and leads people into self-deception and deceit? In this sermon on Romans 11:18–22 titled “Pride,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on the need to learn God’s word so as to fight against pride. Pride undermines the gospel because it makes people focus on themselves and their own works, justifying themselves. According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the great sin of many of the Jewish people who wanted to return to the law was the sin of pride. They sought to find salvation in their own identity and works but this is wholly opposed to the message of Jesus. Jesus Christ tells that one must forsake any chance of saving themselves. He tells that no works can makes one right before God. Pride makes the person look at what they do for their worth; Jesus makes them look to Him to find worth. Paul warns the church of his day about the danger of falling away from the gospel and looking to works to justify oneself. This is still a temptation for many Christians and for this reason, believers must always flee from self-righteousness and look to Jesus Christ and what He has done as Jesus alone saves.
Sermon Breakdown
- Our troubles do not come to an end when we become Christians. We need constant teaching, instruction, warnings, and guidance.
- Our greatest danger is always pride in its various forms. Pride manifests itself positively through boasting in nationality, ancestry, inherent worth, works, gifts, understanding, etc.
- Pride manifests itself negatively through despising others due to their moral failures, lack of knowledge, lack of gifts, etc.
- Pride really means we are relying on justification by works rather than justification by faith alone.
- Salvation is always by grace through faith. There is no hereditary or inherent salvation.
- There is no inherent worth in any person or nation. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
- The Christian life starts by faith, continues by faith, and ends by faith. There is no other relationship with God except through faith.
- Man is responsible for his damnation but not for his salvation. Unbelief leads to damnation but faith is a gift from God.
- We must have humility, godly fear, and watchfulness. We can fall into the same errors as the Jews.
- Any pride or boasting contradicts the gospel and makes us like Pharisees rather than Christians.
The Book of Romans
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.