Glorious Gospel; Glorious God
A Sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Originally preached Sept. 17, 1967
Scripture
1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered …
Sermon Description
If ever there was a time to go back to the first principles of Christianity, it is now. While there are still parts of the Christian faith that pervade Western culture to this day, it can hardly be doubted that the majority of people are not familiar with the basic message of the faith. Paul likewise did not take it for granted that the church at Corinth needed to be reminded of the foundational principles. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones challenges the contemporary church’s preoccupation with the world instead of these first principles. In his sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Dr. Lloyd-Jones lays out the basic content of the gospel. He asks fundamental questions which need to be asked regularly, especially in a biblically illiterate culture: what is Christianity all about and what is the content of the church’s message? Lloyd-Jones follows the biblical text closely, bringing out the central aspects of the gospel: God’s holiness and wrath, sin, Christ’s substitutionary death, resurrection, salvation, and forgiveness.
Sermon Breakdown
- The message of Christianity is the gospel, which is good news from God to men.
- The gospel is something that Paul received, not something he came up with. It is from God, not man.
- The gospel is about the person of Jesus Christ, specifically his death, burial, and resurrection.
- These facts about Christ were prophesied in the Old Testament according to the scriptures. His death was part of God's eternal plan.
- We are all lost in sin and under God's wrath, unable to save ourselves. We need deliverance.
- Christ died for our sins, bearing the punishment we deserve. His resurrection proves he is the Son of God and that his sacrifice was accepted.
- Faith in Christ's work is the only way to be saved, forgiven, and reconciled to God. We must receive and stand upon this message.
- The gospel addresses our greatest need and provides the only solution to our deepest problem as sinful humanity.
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.