Let a Man Examine Himself
A Sermon on John 2:23-25
Scripture
23Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name as they observed His signs which He was doing. 24But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because He knew all people, 25and because He did not …
23¶ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25And needed not that any …
Sermon Description
In his sermon on “Let a Man Examine Himself,” from John 2:23–25, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tackles the important topic of unbelief. How does unbelief come about, and how does Jesus respond? He offers an explanation to Christ’s actions. In the passage, Jesus performs miracles and many of the crowd believed in His name, but Christ did not give Himself to them, for He knew their hearts. Why did Christ reject them? Dr. Lloyd-Jones points to their unbelief. The people who gathered believed in His miracles, but they did not believe in His teaching. In many ways, they resembled Nicodemus. The Pharisee approached Jesus at night, wondering why He was able to perform such signs and miracles. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that Nicodemus wasn’t interested in Jesus’s teaching, and that is why he never understood. The proper approach to Christ is like that of the disciples. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says all should mimic the disciples’ desire to know God. They saw Christ’s miracles, but also wanted to know where He was staying so they could listen and understand. This is the kind of belief God is interested in, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says. These are the people who will understand God’s love, and His Son’s redemptive sacrifice on the cross.
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.