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Sermon #1010

The Spirit; Leading and Love

A Sermon on John 1:12-13

Originally preached Feb. 24, 1963

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Scripture

John 1:12-13 ESV KJV
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (ESV)

Sermon Description

What does it mean to be led by the spirit? In this sermon on John 1: 12-13, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones emphasizes the important balance between the Spirit and the Scripture. He goes on to assess the Quakers beliefs and explains how although they may have started off as Christians, because they forgot Scripture and chose to purely be led by their “inner spirit”, they went astray and openly said that the Bible isn’t really necessary. They denied Christ and the teachings of Christ due to their inner spirit leading their beliefs and neglecting to correct their beliefs with Scripture. Dr. Lloyd-Jones states that the moment you separate the Spirit from the Word, you are creating disaster. In this sermon on the Spirit leading and love, he also states that you cannot separate doctrine and practice and assesses the differences in godly love, friendship love, physical love, and pure sinful lust. Homosexual and adulterous people arrive in their position because they are putting emphasis on inner light and inner spirit instead of having a balance. Dr. Lloyd-Jones tells us that love is the fulfillment of the law, so if love does not fulfill the law then it is lust. Overall, the Word of God comes from the Spirit and God gave us Scripture that we may be safeguarded against evil spirits and our own evil thoughts so we should balance the Spirit and Scripture.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The sermon begins by introducing John 1:12-13 which states that those who receive Jesus and believe in his name are given the power to become children of God.
  2. The sermon then states that these verses remind us that Jesus came into the world so that those who believe in him can become children of God through spiritual rebirth.
  3. The sermon emphasizes that the most important thing about Christians is that they are new creations, children of God who have been spiritually reborn.
  4. The sermon then states that it's important for Christians to be certain that they have been spiritually reborn and have become children of God.
  5. The sermon then begins applying "tests" to determine if someone has been spiritually reborn, beginning with examining one's relationship to Jesus, the Son of God. If you are a child of God, you belong to the same family as Jesus.
  6. The sermon then examines one's relationship to God the Father. If you are a child of God, you have a close relationship with God the Father.
  7. The sermon then begins examining one's relationship to the Holy Spirit. If you are a child of God, you have a relationship with all three Persons of the Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  8. The sermon states that the Holy Spirit gives Christians an awareness of His presence within them, which can even be felt during times of "desertion." The Holy Spirit also gives Christians spiritual discernment and the ability to detect false teaching.
  9. The sermon then focuses on how the Holy Spirit leads Christians, both in a general sense and in specific ways. Specifically, the Holy Spirit leads Christians to read and value Scripture, to pray, and to live moral and upright lives.
  10. The sermon warns against only emphasizing either the Spirit or the Word (the Bible). Both are needed. An overemphasis on the Spirit alone leads to doctrinal error and moral failure.
  11. The sermon uses the modern example of the Quakers to illustrate this point. Early Quakers overemphasized the "inner light" of the Spirit while downplaying the authority of Scripture. This led them into doctrinal error and moral failure.
  12. The sermon explains that while Quakers are moral people, they are not actually Christians because they deny core Christian doctrines like the deity of Christ, the atonement, and the new birth. They believe the "inner light" is in all people, so no atonement is needed.
  13. The sermon shows how over time, the Quakers' overemphasis on the Spirit and underemphasis on Scripture led to a denial of biblical morality. They now condone things like premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality, even though Scripture clearly condemns these things.
  14. The sermon argues that it is unsurprising that the Quakers have ended up in this position, given their flawed theological foundation. Their position is the inevitable result of dividing the Spirit from the Word.
  15. The sermon concludes by warning against making a dichotomy between the Spirit and the Word. Both are needed. Scripture was inspired by the Spirit, so we must test all spiritual leadings and experiences by Scripture. We must have the balance of Spirit and Word.

Sermon Q&A

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Holy Spirit's Leading in Christian Living

How does the Holy Spirit lead believers according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the Holy Spirit leads believers in several important ways:

  1. He gives us an awareness of His presence within us
  2. He provides an "unction and anointing" that helps us understand Scripture and detect false teaching
  3. He leads us to Scripture with a spiritual (not merely intellectual) interest
  4. He guides us in prayer, sometimes with "groanings which cannot be uttered"
  5. He enables "praying in the Spirit" where we are "taken hold of and taken out of ourselves"
  6. He leads us in our daily conduct, behavior, and moral living

Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that this last point about practical living is just as important as the more experiential aspects of the Spirit's work.

What danger does Dr. Lloyd-Jones warn about regarding spiritual experience?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns about the danger of separating the Holy Spirit from the Word of God. He states: "There is nothing which is more fatal than to separate the Spirit from the Word." Using the Quakers as an example, he shows how emphasizing inner light or spiritual experiences without checking them against Scripture eventually leads to doctrinal error and moral compromise.

He explains: "The moment you separate the spirit from the word, the teaching of his own word, you are courting disaster and you are certainly eventually going to land in trouble." This approach leads people to trust "your own feeling, your own understanding, your own enlightenment, more than you do the objective word of God."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the relationship between love and law in Christian ethics?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that love and law are not opposites but complementary. Using Romans 13:10, he shows that "love is the fulfilling of the law." He states:

"Don't put law and love as contrasts. You mustn't talk about love unless you are keeping the law. He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law... And yet these people come up and say, oh, you mustn't put chastity in the supreme position. Love must go there. Love and chastity are opposites... The answer is that love is the fulfilling of the law. And if what people call love today doesn't fulfill the law, it is not love. It is lust."

He distinguishes between three types of love: 1. Eros - physical, animal love 2. Phileo - friendship love 3. Agape - God's holy love, which is the highest form

True Christian love (agape) always respects God's moral commands and "worketh no ill to his neighbor."

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say is the importance of Scripture in the Christian life?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that Scripture is essential because:

  1. It is the authoritative revelation from God: "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
  2. It safeguards believers against error: "Why did God ever give us the scriptures? It was in order that we might be safeguarded against the wiles of the devil, that we might be safeguarded against our own beautiful thoughts."
  3. It is the source of doctrine: "You won't know your doctrine anywhere else. You can't work out your doctrine."
  4. It provides objective truth against which to test subjective experiences: "If you keep true to the word you can't follow cults... the word will pull you up."
  5. It maintains moral clarity: "If you keep true to the word, the word will pull you up. It'll condemn you."

He concludes: "Thank God for the balance of the scriptures, the spirit, it and the word, the spirit on the word, the spirit through the world, and let us keep our minds and hearts open to it as a whole, omitting nothing."

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.