Return of Christ
A Sermon on Acts 3:19-21
Originally preached May 30, 1965
Scripture
19¶ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21Whom the heaven must receive until the times …
Sermon Description
When Christ healed the lame man, it was an example of the power God has over all of creation. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones offers this powerful sermon on Acts 3:19–21 titled “Return of Christ,” showing God's ability to completely make all things new. The message of Christianity is not that it is a reform movement to fix all things gone wrong now, but that all are headed toward a final event to reconstitute the whole universe. Modern humanity views this as “pie in the sky” and want something to correct the world now. Accordingly, a popular view has arisen that Christianity is just a view of life, a book of principles — if people are persuaded to practice them, everything will be better. But this is not what Jesus taught. He never claimed to come into the world to reform it for progressive improvement. In fact, he said the opposite. The social gospel is a complete denial of biblical teaching and the witness of history. The world is a place of disorder because it is cursed and partly governed by the devil. This explains the world: not a lack of education, but a lack of knowledge of God. The real message of Christianity is that there is only one hope: the return of Christ to reconstitute all things.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Peter preached this sermon after healing a lame man at the temple gate.
- Peter tells the crowd not to focus on the miracle itself but on Jesus Christ.
- Peter preaches about God's plan of salvation through Jesus.
- Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. He is now seated at the right hand of God.
- Jesus will remain in heaven until the restoration of all things.
- The restoration of all things refers to God's plan to restore the universe to its original perfect state.
- The world is currently in a fallen, sinful state under the influence of Satan.
- Jesus will return to judge the world, destroy Satan and sin, and restore the universe.
- Those who believe in Jesus will be restored and live with him in the new heavens and new earth.
- We must repent and believe in Jesus to be part of this restoration.
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.