The Christian Message and the World
A Sermon on Matthew 24:6
Scripture
6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Sermon Description
Opponents of Christianity will say that the gospel is too narrow and that Christians must conform their worldview. How should Christians respond to this charge and the subsequent challenge? In this sermon on Matthew 24:6 titled “The Christian Message and the World,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches through these issues, showing the incompatibilities of the competing worldviews. The world tends to think of people together in groupings. Yet, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones duly notes, Jesus addressed the individual and not the whole. He preached the gospel to all but He was clear in stating that individuals must make decisions themselves about whether or not to accept His offer of forgiveness since they alone will be held responsible for their eternal state. Another area the world falls short in is that it puts care and worry of the body ahead of the soul. Scripture clearly emphasizes that it is useless to gain anything in this life if the soul is lost in the end. Christianity gives its followers hope because they know that this world is not the end due to the offer of salvation made available through Jesus’s death on the cross. The world tries to rob Him of His glory, but He has already won the war.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon is focused on Matthew 24:1-40 and Jesus' prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the end times.
- Jesus knew what was coming - his death on the cross and the destruction of the temple.
- The disciples were surprised at Jesus' prophecy of the temple's destruction. They pointed out the temple's apparent solidity and permanence.
- Jesus said that not one stone of the temple would be left upon another.
- The disciples asked Jesus for the signs of the destruction of the temple and of his second coming.
- Jesus' prophecy concerned two main matters: the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world.
- Many people today are concerned about the end of the world due to threats like nuclear war. But most people ignore Jesus' teachings on this topic.
- Most people think Jesus' teachings have failed or are irrelevant today. But this view is tragic and mistaken.
- The gospel does not promise to improve the world. It prophesies that the world will get worse before the end.
- The reason the world continues to experience problems like wars is because of the sin in people's hearts.
- According to Jesus, there is no hope for the world. The world is doomed and will be destroyed.
- Although the world is doomed, individuals can be saved through faith in Jesus. This is the message of the gospel.
- The criticism that focusing on individual salvation is narrow and selfish is mistaken. Individuals are accountable to God.
- Jesus always focused on and spoke to individuals, not nations or groups. His teachings were meant for individual believers.
- Those who focus on improving the world through political and social means put the world before the individual, which the Bible never does.
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.