Christ; the Only Hope
A Sermon on John 7:7
Originally preached April 26, 1959
Scripture
7The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
Sermon Description
Unbelief in the gospel is the great tragedy. Christians believe that the rejection of the Son of God has eternal consequences and as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches in this sermon on John 7:7 titled “Christ, the Only Hope,” there is no more serious and sober subject in all of Scripture than the world’s unbelief. Some give intellectual arguments as the reason for their rejection of Christianity or claim not to have strong enough information about God to accept the gospel message. What is the true nature of unbelief? What about those closest to Jesus in His earthly ministry — did they receive Him when seeing with their own eyes His power, authority, and miracles? The Gospel of John has much to say about the world and its unbelief. Dr. Lloyd-Jones leads His listeners through the puzzling reality that the Son of God came to His own and His own did not receive Him. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains the great divide of the world and asks the listener for their reaction to Jesus Christ, the only hope for the world.
Sermon Breakdown
- All men by nature belong to the world. The world refers to humanity organized apart from God.
- The world hates Christ. This hatred is not merely intellectual disagreement but moral antagonism.
- The world hates Christ because he exposes its evil and sin. He shows the world its hypocrisy, evil works, evil hearts, and the sinfulness even of its best works.
- Christ's life, teaching, works, and especially his death on the cross testify against the world.
- The world hates Christ because he shows that it is lost and cannot save itself. Only Christ's death can save.
- Do you hate Christ and his gospel? If so, you are under God's wrath. If you die in that condition, you will go to hell.
- Though you have hated him, if you see your sin and need, turn to Christ. He will receive you, pardon you, and give you a new nature.
- The world cannot hate the Christless because they belong to it. The world hates Christ's people.
- Persecution shows you belong to Christ, not the world.
- Christ died even for his enemies. Come to him, and he will receive you.
Sermon Q&A
Why Does the World Hate Jesus According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the core reason for unbelief?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, unbelief is fundamentally due to ignorance - not merely intellectual ignorance, but moral ignorance. People are ignorant both about who Jesus truly is and about themselves. As he states: "Unbelief is always due to one thing, and that is ignorance." He emphasizes that unbelievers are "completely ignorant of him as to who he is, as to his purpose in coming into this world" and equally "wrong about themselves, about their own position."
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones mean by "the world" in his sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that "the world" in biblical terms doesn't refer to the physical universe but has a spiritual meaning. He defines it as "humanity as humanity is organized apart from God. It is mankind in all its varied activities outside God and without the influence of God and without recognizing God." Drawing from 1 John, he describes the world as characterized by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life" - living without God in our thoughts or calculations.
Why does the world hate Jesus according to the sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that the world hates Jesus "because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil." Jesus exposes humanity's sinfulness and this creates antagonism. As Lloyd-Jones states: "It is because he exposes the world that the world hates him." Jesus reveals our hypocrisy, shows the evil in our hearts, and demonstrates that even our best works are tainted by sin. Most fundamentally, Jesus makes us "see ourselves as we really are, face to face with God," and this revelation that we cannot save ourselves is what people find unforgivable.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones distinguish between intellectual and moral opposition to Christ?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones insists that opposition to Christ is not primarily intellectual but moral. He uses the example of Saul of Tarsus (later the Apostle Paul), who hated Christ despite his brilliant intellect. After his conversion, Paul retained all his intellectual abilities but his heart had changed. Lloyd-Jones concludes: "Your trouble, my dear friend, is not in your mind, it's in your heart. It's you. It's you yourself that are wrong." He quotes John 3:19: "This is the condemnation that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil."
What are the two main groups of humanity according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes a fundamental division in humanity: "The whole of humanity tonight is divided into two groups, those who are not Christians, those who are Christians." He emphasizes that all other distinctions (political, social, intellectual) are "meaningless" and "quite irrelevant" compared to this basic division. Everyone is either "in the world or else in Christ," and no one is born a Christian - we all start "in the world" with "a bias towards evil, a bias against God."
How can someone move from being "of the world" to being "in Christ" according to the sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones concludes his sermon by explaining that despite our natural hatred of Christ, He died for His enemies. The path to salvation involves recognizing our sinful nature, turning to Christ, and confessing our sin. He quotes Jesus: "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." When we turn to Christ, He gives us "a new nature that loves the light and hates the darkness, instead of loving the darkness and hating the light." Lloyd-Jones promises that Christ will "make a new man of you, a new woman... You will be born again and receive of his own divine life."
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.