The Foolishness of God ...
A Sermon on Ezekiel 17:24
Originally preached Sept. 26, 1953
Scripture
24And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.
Sermon Description
Christians can be like children who provide instructions to adults without true knowledge. Like the child, Christians do this by thinking about how God should do things. In this sermon on Ezekiel 17:24 titled “The Foolishness of God…,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones walks through the Bible to see that God’s ways are not humanity’s ways, so much so that they think God’s ways are foolish. Jesus’s own life was renounced as foolishness in His day, and continues to be rejected by humankind because it is seen as silliness. At the end of this message, listeners will ask themselves these questions: “what will happen to you after you die? Can you save yourself? What is the purpose of this life?” All of these questions demand an answer, and Dr. Lloyd-Jones points in the only direction where it can be found: in the will of God.
Sermon Breakdown
- The passage from Ezekiel 17:24 emphasizes that salvation is God's work, not man's. God has brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree.
- Many people misunderstand Christianity and think it is man's effort to reach God. But the Bible shows that Christianity is the story of God seeking lost men.
- The Christian message is that God has acted in Christ to save men. We are called to believe and receive this message.
- God's way of saving men is unexpected and surprising. It overturns human thinking.
- The Jews rejected Jesus because He did not match their expectations of the Messiah. His birth, life, ministry, and death were not what people expected.
- Jesus spent His early life as a carpenter, not as a king or religious leader as expected. His ministry was also surprising, focusing on outcasts and sinners, not the religious elite.
- Jesus' death on the cross seemed like failure but was God's way of conquering sin and death. This is foolishness to human thinking but the wisdom of God.
- God brings down those who are self-satisfied and proud but exalts the humble and needy. He makes the "dry tree flourish" by giving new life.
- Christianity is not about human effort but receiving God's free gift in Christ. We can never earn forgiveness and new life but must receive it by faith.
- The Gospel message is the opposite of human thinking. It is God's way of salvation, not man's way of reaching God.
- We must glory only in Christ and what He has done, not in ourselves. This is the essence of Christianity.
Sermon Q&A
What Is the Unique Message of Christianity According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
What is the primary characteristic of Christianity that Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes in his sermon?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the primary characteristic of Christianity is that it is God's action entirely, not man's. He emphasizes that "the whole business of Christianity, the whole message of the Bible" is not about "an exhortation to us to do something and to arrive at God," but rather it is about what God has done for us. He states clearly: "The Bible is the record of the activity of God," and Christianity comes to us "as a message, an announcement, a proclamation of what God has done."
How does Ezekiel 17:24 illustrate God's way of salvation according to the sermon?
Ezekiel 17:24 illustrates God's way of salvation by showing how God completely reverses the natural order: "I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish." Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that this verse demonstrates how God's salvation is the complete opposite of human expectations - He brings down what is naturally high and lifts up what is naturally low, showing that salvation is entirely His work, not man's achievement.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the common misunderstanding people have about Christianity?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies that most people misunderstand Christianity by thinking of it as just one religion among many, or as something that primarily requires human effort to reach God. He states: "The whole tragedy of the position is that men and women speak and think and argue and debate as if Paul had never written at all. They will not realize at the very beginning that here they come into a realm which is altogether different." People fail to grasp that Christianity is unique and unlike anything "that man has ever thought or imagined."
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe Jesus' life as an illustration of God's surprising way of salvation?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes Jesus' life as a complete reversal of human expectations. Instead of coming as a royal figure in a palace, Jesus was born in a stable. Rather than being educated in prestigious schools, he worked as a carpenter until age 30. Instead of associating with the religious elite, he was "a friend of publicans and sinners." Most surprisingly, rather than saving through power or philosophy, he saved through weakness and death on a cross. Lloyd-Jones states: "It's the utter, absolute reversal of everything man has ever thought or imagined or conceived."
What test does Dr. Lloyd-Jones provide for determining if someone is truly a Christian?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides this test: "Do you realize at this moment that you owe everything to the grace of God?" He explains that a true Christian gives all glory to God and takes none for themselves. Quoting Paul, he says, "Him that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." He adds, "If you, just as a natural man, have taken up Christianity, if you've espoused some kind of Christian philosophy, well, I'm sorry, but as I understand this statement, you are just not a Christian." The true test is whether one glories entirely in Jesus Christ and what He has done.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones contrast God's approach to the "high tree" versus the "low tree"?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that God brings down those who are "high" - the self-satisfied, the complacent, those who think they're living good lives and have nothing to fear. He humbles human knowledge, morality, and self-reliance. Conversely, God exalts those who are "low" - those "conscious of failure and smallness and need and ignorance and destitution." He states: "While it has nothing to say to those who are high and self-satisfied, but that they shall be brought down, to those who are conscious of failure and smallness and need and ignorance and destitution, it has everything to say and everything to offer."
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say about human attempts to earn forgiveness?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphatically states that humans cannot earn forgiveness no matter how hard they try: "You don't earn forgiveness. You never can if you tried, from now until you're dead. To earn forgiveness, you never would." Instead, forgiveness is "the free gift of God. He gives it for nothing. Because Christ has suffered for your sins." He describes this as "the complete opposite of everything human, everything natural" and calls it "God's way of salvation."
According to the sermon, why did the Jews reject Jesus as their Messiah?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the Jews rejected Jesus because He was "so essentially and absolutely different from anything they'd ever thought of or imagined or expected." They wanted a Messiah who would set up a political kingdom, overthrow Roman rule, and bring social, political, and economic reforms. Instead, Jesus came in humility, preached to the poor, associated with sinners, and ultimately saved through weakness and death rather than through power and military might.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the relationship between Christianity and human knowledge?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes human knowledge as inadequate and limited, stating that "the Lord Jesus Christ humbles and brings down the knowledge of men." He challenges human wisdom with fundamental questions about life, death, and God that it cannot answer: "He doesn't know himself. He doesn't know how to live. He doesn't know how to die. He knows nothing of life beyond death and the grave. He doesn't know God." In contrast, Christ offers true knowledge and understanding that human wisdom cannot attain, thereby "ridicul[ing] the wise" and "bring[ing] down their learning and their knowledge."
What is the main offer of the gospel according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones' conclusion?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones' conclusion, the main offer of the gospel is "the free gift of God's grace in Jesus Christ." He emphasizes that God offers free pardon and forgiveness, not because we earn it, but "because Christ has suffered for your sins." He also offers divine life that we cannot create within ourselves. This offer is available immediately to all who "see your need and believe his message." It is especially directed toward "the ignorant, the needy, the helpless, the vile and the poor" whom God elevates while confounding "the wise and the prudent."
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.