To the Praise of His Glory
A Sermon on Ephesians 1:14
Originally preached May 1, 1955
Scripture
14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Sermon Description
What should be the starting point of all a Christian’s thought? How ought their thinking about any particular doctrine be finally assessed? The answer is simple: the glory of God. In this sermon on Ephesians 1:14 titled “To the Praise of His Glory,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that the apostle Paul in Ephesians is primarily concerned with the praise of His glory. Many religious people miss this crucial point. Their thinking upon any particular religious topic – whether sin or salvation – begins first with themselves. Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns this is a grave mistake. Any Christian doctrine that begins with something other than the glory of God will negatively be affected. If one’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, how often do they ask God to forgive them for not glorifying Him? How often do they consider salvation as what only benefits or brings happiness to themselves and not as a right relationship to God? These are all hard questions which Dr. Lloyd-Jones provokes in this sermon on one of the highest thoughts human beings can ever contemplate.
Sermon Breakdown
- The glory of God must be the starting point of all our thought and the test of all our thinking.
- Our view of sin is inadequate if it does not recognize that the essence of sin is not giving God the glory due to His name.
- Our view of salvation is inadequate if it does not recognize that the supreme object of salvation is to glorify God.
- A true view of salvation ascribes the entirety of salvation to God. It recognizes salvation is something huge, not small or easy.
- We glorify God by seeing how His plan of salvation perfectly meets our every need.
- We glorify God by recognizing the certainty of salvation - that God will complete the work He began.
- We are meant to glorify God not just in our thinking but in everything we do and say. Our lives should point others to God.
- Our experiences as Christians should glorify God - we should have joy, assurance and delight in God.
- We glorify God by living lives that match and adorn the gospel. Our conduct should fit with the doctrine.
- Everything in the Christian life is meant to glorify God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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.