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Sermon #5240

Limiting God

A Sermon on Psalm 78:41

Originally preached Dec. 31, 1961

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Scripture

Psalms 78:41 ESV KJV
They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. (ESV)

Sermon Description

Is the Christian experience one of rejoicing, love, hope, and assurance of faith? Is that life marked by delight in God’s commands and promises? While God has promised great joy and hope to believers, Christians often follow the way of the Israelites when they doubt, complain, and live in a constant state of uncertainty. In this sermon on Psalm 78:41 titled “Limiting God,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches that when the Christian follows this way, they limit God’s power, grace, and glory rather than showcasing His excellencies to the world. Complaining and heavy hearts declare to the world that the way of God is cumbersome and sorrowful. It says the commands of God are difficult and God is not concerned with the Christian’s joy. Follow along with Dr. Lloyd-Jones as he provides the “tests” of assurance, joy, delight, and peace to evaluate hearts in light of the life-giving promises of the Holy God. Listen and be reminded that God provides great joy that cannot be shaken to the believer who earnestly seeks the presence of the Triune God as their source of delight and life. Take comfort in knowing that an assurance of salvation is given as a means of joy and comfort for the believer and be challenged by Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s reminder that the believer who does not hold fast to these promises is limiting the Holy One of Israel.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The psalmist is reviewing the history of Israel and their relationship with God.
  2. The psalmist points out that Israel limited God in their unbelief and failure to receive His promises.
  3. Christians today should examine themselves to see if they are limiting God.
  4. The standard for judgment is found in God's Word and the history of the church.
  5. Assurance of salvation and knowing God intimately should be normal for Christians. If lacking, we limit God.
  6. Rejoicing and delighting in God and His commands should characterize Christians. If lacking, we limit God.
  7. Enjoying God's peace and resting in His sufficiency should be the experience of Christians. If lacking, we limit God.
  8. Causes of limiting God include: sin, self-satisfaction, ignorance of Scripture/history, unbelief, wrong beliefs, fear.
  9. We must realize the enormity of limiting God, the harm done, and our own folly. We must repent.
  10. We must open our mouths wide to receive from God. We must ask and expect great things from God.

Sermon Q&A

What Does It Mean to "Limit the Holy One of Israel" According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explores the meaning of "limiting the Holy One of Israel" from Psalm 78:41. This phrase represents a serious spiritual problem that affected Israel and can affect Christians today.

What does it mean to limit the Holy One of Israel?

According to Lloyd-Jones, limiting the Holy One of Israel means "standing between ourselves and the many blessings which God had offered and promised so freely." It occurs when Christians fail to experience or appropriate the full range of spiritual blessings God has made available to them through Christ.

In his words: "They provoked him in that way that in their unbelief and in their failure to receive its promises and to believe them and to act upon them, they stood between themselves and the many blessings which God had offered them and promised them so freely."

How do Christians limit God today?

Lloyd-Jones identifies several ways Christians can limit God:

  1. Lack of assurance - When Christians remain uncertain about their forgiveness and salvation, they limit God's intent for them to have "full assurance."

  2. Lack of joy - Christians are meant to "rejoice evermore" and even "rejoice in tribulations," yet many live miserably.

  3. Finding God's commands burdensome - When we view Christian living as restrictive rather than delightful, we limit God.

  4. Not experiencing God's peace - Christians should know "the peace of God which passeth all understanding."

  5. Not resting in Christ's all-sufficiency - Believers should experience Christ as their "all in all" in every circumstance.

What causes Christians to limit God?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies several causes:

  1. Sin and disobedience - "You will never know the blessings of this Christian life until you stop sinning and until you begin to obey God's commandments."

  2. Self-satisfaction and self-reliance - Feeling we have "arrived" or can manage without God's power.

  3. Ignorance - Not knowing what the Scriptures teach about what's possible in Christian experience.

  4. Unbelief - Not taking the Bible's promises at face value or explaining them away.

  5. Wrong beliefs - Such as thinking certain blessings are only for "special Christians" or fatalism about God's sovereignty.

  6. Fear - Being afraid of the cost of full surrender to God.

How can we stop limiting God?

Lloyd-Jones offers this guidance:

  1. Recognize the seriousness of limiting God - it harms His name and glory
  2. Repent of this sin
  3. Return to God and confess it all
  4. "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it" - begin to ask great things of God
  5. Take God's promises literally and fully

He concludes with this exhortation: "Don't give yourself any rest nor peace until you're enjoying full assurance of salvation, until you're rejoicing evermore, until you know God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in a personal manner, and until God's commandments are joyous to you and not grievous."

Old Testament

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.