But God was With Him
A Sermon on Acts 7:9-10
Originally preached Dec. 11, 1966
Scripture
9And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
Sermon Description
Is God in charge of every detail? He is sovereign over the universe, but what about on a moment-by-moment level? In the sermon “But God was With Him,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains from Genesis to Revelation how God is at work on every level. This is true in the case of Abraham and the patriarchs as described all throughout the Old Testament. God is not abstract and above history, but He is very present in the world. He is actively working to bring about His great plan for the world. What is His plan? It is nothing less than the salvation of all who believe though the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. God loves the world and He has acted through his Son to redeem it. Apart from His atoning work, there is no hope of salvation. Human effort cannot erase the guilt of sin or impress the holy God. The only hope for the world is not in human efforts or schemes, but in God who has acted in the world through his Son and the gospel. It is this gospel alone that is the power of God to save and redeem. It is by God’s actions that the world will be redeemed, not by human ingenuity and creativity. The church of today must proclaim this glorious truth of God and His plan and power to save through Christ Jesus.
Sermon Breakdown
- The message of the Christian faith is God breaking into human history. It is an interruption and intervention in the affairs of mankind.
- The message is all of God. Mankind cannot save itself. Salvation is entirely the result of God's activity.
- The message is all of grace. Salvation is in spite of us and what we are. It is God's free gift to us.
- God's ways are strange and surprising. They are not our ways. His methods are indirect and roundabout.
- There are often delays in God's plans that we do not understand. God works on his own timetable.
- The instruments God uses often seem weak and feeble. God uses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
- God's plans often seem to be failing and his enemies seem to triumph. But God is always ultimately in control.
- God's ways ultimately triumph. Though all seems lost, God raises up his people and causes his will to be done.
- We must know and believe that this message of God's salvation in Christ is the only way of salvation. We must rely on Christ alone.
- For this message to become real to us, God must break into our lives. We must know the power of God unto salvation in our lives.
The Book of Acts
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.