I Must Decrease
A Sermon on John 3:30
Scripture
30He must increase, but I must decrease.
30He must increase, but I must decrease.
Sermon Description
What does it mean for one to decrease and Christ to increase? In this sermon titled “I Must Decrease,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches from John 3:30 to encourage his listeners to pursue decreasing self-focus. He gives a few determiners of whether a person is pursuing this “decreasing”. First, he asks if the person must sense their need before the Lord will give them what they need. Second, a Christian's habits will continue to be less self-consumed the more they pursue Christ. Third, a Christian pursues loving God and others before loving self. Dr. Lloyd-Jones compares the gifts to a fluttering stream and love to a strong, deep river coursing through the plain. One is more exciting indeed, but the other more powerful. He also encourages meditation and Bible reading each morning. Christians ought not only to read the Scriptures, but to meditate on what they mean. This entails seeking to know God’s character and holiness. He also prescribes increasing Christ and decreasing self by reading the biographies of saints of old. Not only will the reader be astounded by how much the saints accomplished, they will also be edified by the awareness of their sin and their dependence on 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.