For Me to Live is Christ (2)
A Sermon on John 1:16
Scripture
16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Sermon Description
In this sermon on John 1:16 titled “ For Me to Live is Christ (2),” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones encourages Christians that death is not to be feared. It is, however, reasonable for the unbeliever to fear death as their soul is not secure within Christ. The fear of death has dominated humanity for all of history. Christians, however, have been given eternal hope. One of the wonderful delights of Christ and the fullness of His grace is eternal life. In Christ, the Christian no longer has to fear death as death will simply bring them to their home with God. However, Christians tend to neglect a proper understanding of death. Too many Christians, Dr. Lloyd-Jones exhorts, are too focused on this temporary life. To address this issue, he calls the hearer’s attention to John 1:14, which literally translates to mean God "tabernacled" among His people. Christians at large have neglected to understand that the hope must be based in Christ and the life He gives. A true understanding of death, Dr. Lloyd-Jones preaches, should give the Christian certainty over it. The Christian can have joy since their hope is secure in Christ’s fullness imparted to them.
Sermon Breakdown
- The words to focus on are John 1:16 and Philippians 1:21.
- John 1:16 says that out of Jesus' fullness we have all received grace upon grace. This means that Jesus provides everything we need, including facing death.
- Philippians 1:21 says that for Paul, to live is Christ and to die is gain. This shows Paul's view that death means being with Jesus, which is far better.
- Only faith in Christ can truly conquer the fear of death. No other religion or philosophy provides an answer about death.
- The sting of death is sin, but Jesus removed the sting of death by dying for our sins (1 Cor 15:55-57). His resurrection proves he satisfied God's demands.
- We should view our earthly life as a "tent" - temporary and transient (2 Cor 5:1-5). We should long for our eternal home in heaven.
- Life in this world is difficult and causes us to groan. We see the effects of sin and walk by faith, not by sight. We are absent from the Lord (2 Cor 5:6-7).
- For Christians, death means dismantling our earthly tent and being with Christ (Phil 1:23). It means seeing Jesus face to face (1 Cor 13:12).
- Death means leaving behind the effects of sin - no more sorrow, pain, or tears (Rev 21:4). We will have perfect knowledge of God (1 Cor 13:12).
- We should examine ourselves to see if we view death as gain like Paul and other saints (Phil 3:14). Do we long to be with Christ (Phil 1:23)?
- Receiving from Jesus' fullness means facing death with confidence, seeing it as gaining Christ (Phil 1:21). This has been the experience of saints through history.
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.