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Sermon #1145

Look Unto Jesus

A Sermon on John 3:30

Originally preached June 26, 1966

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Scripture

John 3:30 ESV KJV
He must increase, but I must decrease.” (ESV)

Sermon Description

In this sermon titled “Look Unto Jesus,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones discusses that one of the main traps for humanity is self-righteousness and self-absorption. He spends the majority of this sermon on John 3:30 presenting the glories of Christ in His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. He holds out these truths about Christ and His redemption for sinners as an antidote to self-sufficiency, self-absorption, and self-righteousness. Throughout this sermon, Dr. Lloyd-Jones discusses hard topics including the temptation of Jesus and why He had to be baptized by John. Moreover, Dr. Lloyd-Jones discusses the priesthood of Christ. Jesus was tempted and without sin so that He can sympathize with human weaknesses. The Christian facing suffering, persecution, and temptation will be encouraged that Jesus faced these as well. He is the perfect example to follow and the perfect sacrifice for failures. Take comfort that the Savior knows the Christian’s weaknesses and suffered and died in their place so that they would not have to face the wrath of God. Listen and hear of the glories of Christ and His salvific work. Hear how the Savior loves the sinner and look at Christ and see how His deity and humility go together to spell out salvation for His people.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. John the Baptist's statement "He must increase, but I must decrease" contains the most important principle of the Christian life.
  2. To enter the Christian life, one must have no confidence in oneself or in the flesh. You must become nothing; He is everything.
  3. Self is the greatest curse in our lives. Self-centeredness, self-righteousness, and self-concern can hide the Lord Himself.
  4. The principle of "He must increase, but I must decrease" governs the whole Christian life.
  5. One enters the Christian life by seeing the uselessness of good deeds and becoming nothing while He becomes everything.
  6. The devil plays on self. Self must decrease through practical measures like meditation on Scripture, prayer, and service of others.
  7. He must increase as we look to Him, consider the truth about Him, and meditate on His greatness, glory, and majesty.
  8. We can look at Him as He is essentially, in His greatness revealed through what He has done, in His self-abasement and humility, in His obedience and submission to the Father, in His suffering and death on the cross, in His resurrection and ascension, and in His offices as prophet, priest and king.
  9. His greatness is revealed in His essential being as the eternal Son of God.
  10. His greatness is revealed in His self-humbling to become man, live a life of suffering, and die on the cross.
  11. His baptism shows His identification with sinners and submission to the law.
  12. Though God cannot be tempted, Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.
  13. Jesus' agony in Gethsemane shows His obedience to the Father, even unto death.
  14. Jesus died alone, forsaken by all, to purge our sins. He rose triumphant, appeared to witnesses, and ascended to heaven.
  15. Because Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross, God has highly exalted Him. He reigns as prophet, priest and king.

The Book of John

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.