Hearing and Perceiving
A Sermon on John 5:24-26
Scripture
24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 25Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when …
Sermon Description
In this sermon on John 5:24–26 titled “Hearing and Perceiving,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones proclaims that how one listens to the word of God determines their eternal destiny. In this passage of Scripture, John records Jesus’s promise that those who hear His word and believe have eternal life. As he expounds this text, Dr. Lloyd-Jones focuses on the word and even more on the necessity of how one listens to the word. One’s eternal destiny hinges on whether they truly listen to the truth of God’s word. They must not be a mere spectator who is impressed with the formality of worship and preaching and even the consideration of a philosophy or teaching. Rather, to truly receive and possess eternal life, one must listen with the intent to meditate and understand the significance and implications of the word. This type of listening not only sees the truth but perceives its implications for the soul. The question then becomes, “What must we see and perceive to gain this eternal life?” In his gospel-saturated message, Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches that all must hear the word that exposes their spiritual condition as dead in trespasses and sins that is under the condemnation of God, awaiting His judgment. However, the beauty of Jesus’s promise is that He was sent to pay the debt of sin, and that in hearing and believing in Him, they pass out of death and into life.
Sermon Breakdown
- Listening to the gospel is the most important thing we do in life. How we listen determines our eternal destiny.
- Hearing the word is not just listening to a sermon or enjoying a sermon. It means understanding, surrendering to, and being controlled by the word.
- We should listen carefully to Jesus' words because of who he is - the Son of God, and because God sent him to save us.
- The word tells us two things about ourselves: we are spiritually dead and under condemnation.
- Jesus came to save us from condemnation and give us new life.
- Those who believe in Jesus have their sins forgiven, are declared righteous, and given new life. They have no condemnation and eternal life.
- To have this salvation, we must hear Jesus' words and believe in the one who sent him. We can have it now by faith alone.
- If we cannot silence the accuser by pointing to Jesus' death for us, we have not truly heard the word. If we cannot say we stand righteous before God in Christ, we have not heard.
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.