Belief in God
A Sermon on 1 Peter 1:20-21
Originally preached Dec. 13, 1959
Scripture
20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Sermon Description
What does it mean to believe in God? There is perhaps no question that is more important to answer in this life. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones seeks to do just this in this sermon on belief from 1 Peter 1:20-21. He says that there is a kind of knowledge that is impersonal and vague: it is the knowledge of God that even the demons know. For they know He exists and who He is, but they do not believe in Him in a saving way. The belief of Christians is quite different from this because Christians believe that God both exists and is worthy of praise and worship. They believe that God revealed Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the Jesus that died, rose from the grave, and now rules in heaven from where He will come to judge the living and the dead. They know Jesus as Lord and Savior who loves them and has died for them to make them inheritors in the life to come. To know God is to believe in His Son and to believe in His Gospel. All must ask themselves: do you believe in Jesus Christ and do you know God? There is no more important question.
Sermon Breakdown
-
The sermon focuses on 1 Peter 1:20-21 which talks about Jesus being foreordained before the foundation of the world and manifest in the last times for those who believe in God.
-
The sermon has looked at this passage over 10 weeks to understand the gospel message and purpose.
-
The sermon asks if we know and believe in this salvation and are rejoicing in it. The angels desire to understand this salvation.
-
The sermon will look at tests from 1 Peter to see if we are Christians. The first test is if we believe in God, with faith and hope in God.
-
Believing in God is not a vague belief but an active committal to God where He governs our whole life.
-
Believing in God means our whole outlook is determined by God as our creator and judge. We live under His eye and obey His word.
-
Believing in God affects all of life from thinking to planning to living. We can't do certain worldly things.
-
There are only two ways of life: committed to God or not committed to God. We must choose.
-
Believing in God means risking everything on Him, with faith and hope in Him, not the world.
-
The second test is how do we come to believe in God. 1 Peter 1:21 says through Jesus who was raised and glorified.
-
The resurrection proves Jesus is the Son of God. God gave Him glory through the resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost.
-
The resurrection and glory show Jesus had to be the Son of God. He said He would rise and send the Spirit.
-
The resurrection shows Jesus died to save us. He came to die as the Lamb to take away sins. The resurrection shows His work was enough.
-
We see from this that God forgives us, adopts us, and loves us. Jesus was made lower than angels to die for us and is now crowned in glory.
-
God is preparing us for the glory Jesus has. We will be brought to glory. Jesus is preparing a place for us.
-
The resurrection shows we will rise. Death and the grave are conquered. Our faith and hope are in God alone.
-
We can reject the world's prizes to follow Jesus, with faith and hope in God, not the world.
-
We must ask if we believe in God, with faith and hope in Him, determining all we do. Make certain of this.
Sermon Q&A
What Does It Mean to Truly Believe in God According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
What does it mean to "believe in God" according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermon?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, believing in God goes far beyond mere intellectual acknowledgment of God's existence. It means a complete committal of yourself to God where "the whole of your life is based upon this fact." True belief in God means:
- Your entire outlook is determined by the fact of God and your relationship to Him
- You live with an awareness that God is looking upon you at all times
- God becomes the dominating factor in your entire existence
- You pay attention to what God has said and seek to obey Him
- You recognize God as your judge and that all life is moving toward final judgment
- Your thinking, planning, and ambitions are all governed by God
As Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains: "To believe in God means that the whole of your life is under God, determined, controlled by him. And nothing you think or do or say is apart from him."
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones distinguish between true belief in God and superficial belief?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes several important distinctions between true belief and superficial belief:
- True belief is not "some vague, indefinite, uncertain, nebulous acceptance of certain statements or propositions"
- It's not merely believing in God's existence (even "the devils believe that and tremble")
- It's not an academic or theoretical belief about God
- It's not just saying "I still believe in God" while living however you please
Instead, true belief involves active commitment: "This means an active approach to God. It includes the whole notion of a committal of oneself to God." Lloyd-Jones uses the analogy of saying "I believe in that man" about a politician or doctor - meaning you trust them and place your confidence in them, not merely acknowledge their existence.
How does someone come to truly believe in God according to the sermon?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, true belief in God comes through Jesus Christ. He emphasizes that we believe in God "by Him" - meaning Christ. The pathway to belief includes:
- Understanding the resurrection of Christ - "The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a tremendous proclamation... that he is the Son of God"
- Recognizing why Christ came to die - "He came to taste death, which means to suffer your death, to take your sins upon him"
- Seeing how God glorified Christ - "God raised him from the dead and gave him glory"
- Drawing personal applications - "I deduce this further, that God therefore freely forgives me because Christ has died for me"
- Placing your faith and hope in God - "That your faith and hope might be in God" is the purpose of Christ's resurrection and glorification
Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that the resurrection provides the evidence and assurance we need to commit ourselves to God: "It was that resurrection that finally convinced these disciples themselves that he was the Son of God."
What are the practical implications of truly believing in God?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones outlines several practical implications of truly believing in God:
- It revolutionizes your thinking - "There is nothing more revolutionary that happens to a man when he becomes a Christian than the way in which he finds himself thinking in a new dimension"
- It affects your planning and ambitions - "All his planning, all his thinking, all his ambitions are immediately governed and determined by God"
- It impacts your moral choices - There are "certain things you can't do any longer" when you realize God is watching
- It influences major life decisions - "If you're a Christian, you can't marry anybody you like"
- It changes your priorities - You become willing to "sacrifice the whole world rather than sacrifice my relationship to God"
- It redirects your hope - Your faith and hope are "not in this world and its glittering prizes"
As Lloyd-Jones summarizes: "The Christian is a man who can look at [the world] all at their gaudiest, at their best, at their most wonderful... and says, 'Jesus, I, my cross have taken all to leave and follow thee.'"
How does the resurrection of Christ help establish our faith according to the sermon?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the resurrection of Christ serves multiple crucial purposes in establishing our faith:
- It proves Christ's divine identity - "The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a tremendous proclamation... that he is the Son of God"
- It confirms the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice - "God in the resurrection is proclaiming that the work was enough"
- It demonstrates God's love - "He must have loved me or he wouldn't have done it"
- It guarantees our future resurrection - "Christ is risen, I shall rise... His resurrection is a guarantee of it"
- It gives us victory over sin, death and the grave - "The resurrection of Jesus Christ proclaims conquest over death and the grave and the devil and hell"
Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that without the resurrection, Christianity would not exist: "There would never have been a Christian church were it not for the resurrection. It is the best attested fact of history."
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the ultimate purpose of Christian belief?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the ultimate purpose of Christian belief is to bring us into a right relationship with God where our faith and hope are centered in Him alone. As he states:
"The end and the object of this Christian faith is, as the apostle tells us here quite plainly, to bring us to believe in God... 'that your faith and hope might be in God.'"
He emphasizes that Christianity isn't merely about making us feel better or providing comfort, but about restoring our relationship with God: "The object of this message, of this faith is to bring us to God, to bring us to a position in which we believe in God, and our faith and our hope are in God."
The ultimate result is that we become "strangers and pilgrims in this world," recognizing that "heaven is our home" and that we are "simply sojourners passing through on the way to the everlasting habitation."
Other Sermons
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.