Professing Themselves Wise
A Sermon on Acts 7:20-29
Originally preached Feb. 19, 1967
Scripture
20In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: 21And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the …
Sermon Description
Sin impacts everyone. No one can escape the devastating reality of the fallen world. What began in the garden with Adam and Eve, continues to corrupt everyone today. This corruption and depravity applies to all of human faculties, especially the mind. As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes in this sermon titled “Professing Themselves Wise,” this accounts for the fundamentally wrong perceptions of God that fallen humans have. They are unable to understand God and His attributes. They are unable to receive His revelation that is clearly seen in nature and uniquely revealed in Scripture. But there is a unique danger when the church loses sight of the gospel it is to proclaim. Even the church can be drawn aside all too quickly from proclaiming the pure milk of the word and begin delivering only a message of moral conformity or comfort and ease. When the church does not understand the root of all unbelief in the corrupted mind and nature, it will fail to see the great the need for the gospel. The antidote, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones proclaims, is to diligently study the word and boldly preach the gospel. For this alone is the power that can restore and renew hearts and minds. This is the message that must be proclaimed.
Sermon Breakdown
- Stephen is addressing the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious leaders who put him on trial for preaching about Jesus.
- Stephen reviews the history of Israel to show how the Sanhedrin's rejection of Jesus was consistent with how their ancestors rejected God's messengers.
- Stephen talks about Moses, who was rejected by his own people when he first tried to deliver them from Egypt. The people did not understand that God sent Moses to save them.
- Sin darkens our understanding and makes us spiritually blind. We cannot perceive spiritual and divine things. The Sanhedrin could not see that Jesus was the Messiah.
- Sin also makes us blind to our own condition and need for salvation. The Israelites were too busy fighting each other to realize they were all slaves in Egypt. Likewise, the world today is divided while enslaved to sin.
- Sin blinds us to the identity of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Though Jesus did many miracles, the world did not recognize him.
- Sin makes us unable to understand how Jesus' death on the cross provides salvation. The cross seems foolish without spiritual understanding.
- Sin makes us unable to understand the consequences of rejecting the gospel. Rejecting Jesus leads to spiritual blindness, purposelessness, fear of death, and eternal judgment.
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.