Be Up and Doing!
A Sermon on Ephesians 4:24
Originally preached May 18, 1958
Scripture
24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Sermon Description
Just how does a Christian shed the sins that characterize their past? In this sermon on Ephesians 4:24 titled “Be Up and Doing!” listen as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains how this is done by applying the truth of God’s word throughout every area of one’s life. This is one of the reasons why it is so important for Christians to take time to study Scripture and commune with God in prayer. This is to be done in a community of believers, the church, and individually. However, there are many who claim to be Christians and putting off the old self. But as Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns, for them it is nothing more than an external action and a façade. Often, they do it every Sunday so that they will look holy and pious, but it is spiritual hypocrisy and self-deception. For true sanctification and holiness is something that comes from the heart that has been transformed in the gospel, truly knowing Jesus Christ as their Savior. True Christians do not perform good works simply so that they would appear righteous, but they desire to seek God from a new heart that has been filled with love. This spiritual seeking is genuine and true.
Sermon Breakdown
- Putting on the new man is something we have to do ourselves. It is not something we pray for or wait to happen to us.
- Putting on the new man is not an experience we have. Experiences can motivate us to put on the new man but are not the same as putting on the new man.
- Putting on the new man is not something done for us. We have to do it ourselves using the power God gives us.
- Putting on the new man must be done completely and continuously in all areas of our lives. It cannot be done in compartments.
- The essence of putting on the new man is applying truth to ourselves. We must preach to ourselves and convince ourselves of the truth.
- We must use everything that feeds and builds up the new man like reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship.
- We have no choice in putting on the new man. We have been bought with a price and are not our own.
- We must remember the privilege and dignity of our position as new creations in Christ.
- We must remember the family we now belong to and represent as Christians.
- We must remember that others are watching us and judging Christianity based on our actions. We must represent Christ well.
- We must remember our destiny as Christians to be with Christ and become like Him. This motivates us to put on the new man.
- We must remember that Christ dwells in us through the Holy Spirit. This realization should transform how we live.
The Book of Ephesians
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.