Come Unto Me
A Sermon on John 5:40
Originally preached May 11, 1958
Scripture
40And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
Sermon Description
What does it mean to “come to Jesus”? In this sermon on John 5:40 titled “Come Unto Me,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones now considers the command of Jesus, “come unto me.” This wonderful and compassionate command of Jesus comes in the context of the healing at Bethesda. Jesus has powerfully healed an invalid who has been in that condition for nearly four decades. This powerful healing gave Jesus the opportunity to declare His true identity as the Son of God, fully divine, fully equal with the Father. Having validated these claims by confronting the Jews with the testimony of multiple witnesses, Jesus now turns to the application of the entire scene. The Jewish people, as well as all sinners, are to come to him. The Son of God, the Sovereign Creator of all things who is equal with the Father, has come into the world to invite sinners to come to Him. At its core, the command is an invitation to believe in Jesus. In this message, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones confronts sinners with this powerful invitation to come, but he does more. As he offers this wonderful invitation, he defines what it truly means to come to Jesus and what it truly means to believe.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon text is John 5:40 which says "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."
- This verse comes at an important turning point in John 5 where Jesus begins applying what he has been teaching.
- Jesus is amazed that the Jews will not come to him despite all the evidence and witnesses testifying about him.
- Coming to Christ is a personal relationship, not just adopting his teachings or moral code. It requires a conscious decision and action.
- Coming to Christ requires leaving your old position and prejudices behind. The Jews needed to leave their traditions and antagonism toward Jesus.
- The decision to come to Christ is not just intellectual or mechanical. It involves being drawn by the Holy Spirit with an inner conviction of your need for Christ.
- Coming to Christ requires acknowledging your need for him, especially your need for forgiveness and salvation due to your sin. Only those who recognize their sickness come to the physician.
- Coming to Christ means believing that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to eternal life, not just a good teacher or moral example.
- Coming to Christ means submitting to his absolute authority and accepting all of his teachings in the Bible. You cannot pick and choose what to believe.
- Coming to Christ means accepting that his death on the cross is the only way your sins can be forgiven. He came to die to ransom us from our sins.
- Coming to Christ means receiving new spiritual life from him, being born again with an eternal relationship to God as your father.
- Coming to Christ means surrendering your whole life and will to him no matter the cost or consequences. You give up your rights to yourself.
- Coming to Christ means speaking to him in prayer, telling him you believe in him, need forgiveness, and want to give him your life.
- The Jews did not have the opportunity to see Jesus' death on the cross like we have, yet some still do not come to Christ. This is astounding and tragic.
- Jesus calls all to come to him, no matter how sinful they are, and promises not to cast them out. We must come just as we are, in faith, and find rest in him.
Sermon Q&A
Why Does Lloyd-Jones Say People Won't Come to Christ? Understanding Spiritual Resistance
What does it mean to "come to Christ" according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
According to Lloyd-Jones, coming to Christ involves much more than just deciding to live a better life or following Christian ethical teachings. It means entering into a personal relationship with Christ himself. It involves a conscious action or decision, not something one does unconsciously. It requires leaving one's current position of self-righteousness or prejudice to move toward Christ. Most importantly, it happens when one is drawn by God rather than making a merely mechanical decision, as Lloyd-Jones explains: "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him." This drawing involves the Holy Spirit's conviction work in a person's heart.
Why do people resist coming to Christ according to the sermon?
According to Lloyd-Jones, people resist coming to Christ primarily because they don't acknowledge their need for Him. He states: "The people who come to Christ, and who are glad to come, are those who are conscious that they're not righteous, but that they're rather sinners. They're conscious that they're not well, but that they're sick." Those who are self-righteous and satisfied with themselves, who "thank God, they're not as other people," don't feel any need for Christ. The sermon points out that it was these self-righteous people who hated Christ and ultimately "encompassed his death."
What is required to fully come to Christ according to Lloyd-Jones?
Lloyd-Jones teaches that coming to Christ requires: 1. Believing He is who He claims to be - the Son of God 2. Submitting utterly to His authority - "To come to Christ means that you regard his authority as final in all matters" 3. Accepting His entire teaching, including about His death on the cross 4. Believing in His resurrection and ascension 5. Yielding yourself entirely to Him - "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up the cross and follow me" 6. Speaking directly to Christ in prayer, telling Him of your sin and need
What is the significance of Jesus' statement "ye will not come to me" in John 5:40?
Lloyd-Jones sees this statement as revealing the tragic position of those who, despite all the evidence testifying to Jesus, refuse to come to Him. It shows that unbelief is a matter of the will, not insufficient evidence. Jesus had provided witnesses including John the Baptist, His miracles, God's testimony, and the Scriptures, yet people still refused Him. Lloyd-Jones suggests Jesus spoke these words "with pathos and with sadness," amazed that people could hear His claims, see His miracles, and still stand back. The statement reveals that the obstacle to salvation isn't Christ's unwillingness to receive sinners, but human unwillingness to come to Him.
What does Lloyd-Jones teach about the difference between accepting Christian doctrines and truly coming to Christ?
Lloyd-Jones makes a clear distinction between accepting doctrinal orthodoxy and having a personal relationship with Christ. He states: "Far there are those, you know, who sometimes, for me to be quite fair, seem to me to equate doctrinal orthodoxy with coming to Christ. And they're not the same thing. We must be orthodox. But you can be perfectly orthodox and still never come to Christ." He warns that it's possible to "put doctrines in the place of the person, even doctrines about the person" while stopping "at the doctrines, at the thoughts, at the arguments" rather than coming to Christ himself. True Christianity isn't merely embracing correct theology but knowing the person of Christ.
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.