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Sermon #5399

He Opened Their Understanding

A Sermon on Luke 24:45-47

Originally preached Jan. 18, 1959

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Scripture

Luke 24:45-47 ESV KJV
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from …

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Sermon Description

The central message to the Christian faith has been a matter of confusion from its very inception. Think of the disciples becoming troubled over Jesus’s teaching about His death and the mocking of both Jews and Greeks as the early church preached about the death and resurrection of the Messiah. Consider further modern men and women redefining the Christian faith through denial of the necessity of atonement for sin and the bodily resurrection of Christ. Confusion about the gospel of Jesus Christ is pervasive throughout the history of the church. Why does every generation object to the gospel and can anyone have a true understanding of the cross? In this sermon on Luke 24:45–47 titled “He Opened Their Understanding,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tackles these questions and others in this message. Listen as he answers popular objections to human sin, the wrath of God, and the justice of God. Find encouragement as Dr. Lloyd-Jones calls believers to remain faithful to the gospel message which is rooted in the Old Testament Scriptures. Find out why the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said His death for sin was essential. If ever there was a time to make the primary matters of Christianity clear, it is today. Dr. Lloyd-Jones cuts through the confusion and gets to the heart of the gospel in this exposition of Scripture.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The sermon focuses on Luke 24:45-47 which details Jesus opening the disciples’ understanding of the Scriptures and explaining that the Christ would suffer, die and rise again according to the Scriptures.
  2. There is confusion today, as in Jesus’ time, about the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Many stumble over this central message.
  3. People expect and want something different from Jesus and Christianity. Some want political enlightenment or philosophy. Others want moral teaching. But Jesus’ death and resurrection is central.
  4. The message of the cross cuts across human ideas of salvation and man’s ability to save himself. Man thinks he can pull himself up and just needs instruction, but he needs forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
  5. The Scriptures, especially the Old Testament, point to Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. The disciples should have understood this.
  6. Jesus’ death was necessary and essential. He came into the world to die. It was prophesied and foretold.
  7. Man’s greatest need is forgiveness and remission of sins. Sins separate us from God, and we cannot remove them ourselves.
  8. God could not simply forgive sins freely. As a just, righteous and holy God, He must punish sin. The punishment of sin is death.
  9. Jesus died as a sacrifice, the Lamb of God, to bear our sins and be punished in our place. God poured out His wrath on Jesus, so He could forgive us.
  10. Jesus was not just passively resisting or conquering enemies. He was dying for our sins according to God’s will.
  11. We must preach repentance - acknowledging our sin and helplessness - and remission of sins in Jesus’ name. People must believe in Jesus’ atoning death.
  12. The Sermon on the Mount cannot be lived without the Holy Spirit. We must start with repentance and faith, not with the Sermon on the Mount.
  13. Have you repented, seen your need, and believed in Jesus as the One who died for your sins? That is Christianity.

Sermon Q&A

Understanding the Cross of Christ According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

What is the central message of Christianity according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the central message of Christianity is Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection. As he states in the sermon: "This is what we find. We find that even at the very beginning, there was confusion about this most essential matter in the christian message, the christian gospel. And what is this? Well, it is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, his death upon the cross followed by his resurrection, that he says, is the thing that is to be preached."

Why do people stumble at the message of the cross?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that people stumble at the cross for two main reasons:

  1. They expect something different from Jesus - they want political enlightenment, philosophy, or moral teaching rather than salvation through His death.

  2. The message contradicts our natural ideas of salvation: "It's a message that cuts across all our ideas of salvation and how it is to be obtained. You see, the natural man, by nature, always starts off with this supposition that he has to save himself, and secondly, that he is capable of saving himself."

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say is the primary need of humanity?

The primary need of humanity is not moral improvement or better teaching, but the remission (removal) of sins. As he states: "What is the need of mankind? Is it just the need for some teaching? Is it the need of just being made better? What is the need of the world tonight? What's the need of every one of us in this building? What's our first need? Is it a need to be reformed? Is it a need to be improved? Well, we can all be made better. We all need to be made better. We all need to be reformed. But what is our first need? Is it that? No, it is this. We need to be forgiven. We need to be reconciled to God."

Why did Christ have to die according to the sermon?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Christ had to die because of God's nature and character: "It is this, because God is who and what he is. He cannot deal with sin like that. God is just, God is righteous and God is holy. And as such he must be just and righteous in his every act and in his every dealing. And if God is to forgive sins, he must forgive sins in a just and in a righteous manner."

Christ's death was necessary to satisfy God's justice while allowing for our forgiveness - "it was God taking your sins and mine and putting them upon him and punishing them in him."

What are the two elements that should be preached according to Christ's commission?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, Christ commissioned the apostles to preach two key elements:

  1. Repentance - "What is repentance? It is a confession and admission of sin. It is an acknowledgement of failure. It is an acknowledgement of utter helplessness."

  2. Remission of sins in Christ's name - "And tell them that having repented they have but to believe in me. That I have come and I've died for their sins. To take them away, to move them between them and God."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones contrast true Christianity with the view that Jesus was merely a moral teacher?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones strongly contrasts true Christianity with the view that Jesus was merely a moral teacher. He states that anyone who starts with trying to follow Jesus' moral teachings (like the Sermon on the Mount) rather than recognizing their own sinfulness and need for salvation through Christ's atoning death "is a man who doesn't understand the first beginning of Christianity. He's an antichrist. He's a denier of the gospel."

He emphasizes that we cannot live the Sermon on the Mount without first being filled with the Holy Spirit, which only comes after our sin has been dealt with through Christ's sacrifice: "No man can live the sermon on the mount without being filled with the Holy Spirit. And he'll never be filled with the Holy Spirit until God fills him with his spirit. And God will not fill him with his spirit until the sin has been dealt with."

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.