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Sermon #1151

The Chief End of Man

A Sermon on John 4:13-14

Originally preached Oct. 30, 1966

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Scripture

John 4:13-14 ESV KJV
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” …

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Sermon Description

What is the chief end of man? While this question is often asked, few answer it as Jesus Christ does. Jesus Christ tells that each and every one was made to worship God in spirit and in truth. This is humanity’s purpose but the great tragedy is that many do not worship God rightly. Even in the church, many turn worship into nothing more than emotion or reduce it to a bare intellectual exercise. These stand in opposition to true worship that is concerned not only with the form of worship, but also with the heart in worship. Only those who can worship rightly are those who have been saved from sin and made inheritors of God’s kingdom. In this sermon on John 4:13-14 titled “The Chief End of Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that before the church can evangelize the world, it must first undergo a revival as it is only a church that worships God rightly that can be a light in the world for Christ. This sermon calls all to ask themselves if they know God and worship Him rightly as this is the chief end for which humanity was created.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman shows us the hindrances that stand between us and realizing what is offered in John 4:13-14.
  2. The blessing offered is new life as a well of water springing up into everlasting life. This is the fundamental message of John's gospel.
  3. The state of the church today can be explained by failing to realize this fullness of life offered in Christ.
  4. A revived church evangelizes effectively. God starts revival in his people, then the world comes to hear the message.
  5. Do we have this well of water springing up in us? If not, why not? We must consider the hindrances.
  6. Wrong ideas of worship and wrong ideas of God are two hindrances suggested in John 4:19-24.
  7. Nothing is more important than worship. It is the ultimate end of salvation - to bring us to God.
  8. This woman shows the inadequacy and wrongness of her ideas about worship and God. Jesus shows her, her ideas are valueless.
  9. Our worship is often thoughtless, ignorant, governed by habit, custom, tradition and prejudice like this woman.
  10. We must ask if we know what we're doing in worship. Do we know what worship is? Have we asked God to teach us like the disciples did?
  11. Much of our worship is hypocritical because of thoughtlessness, ignorance, and being governed by habit, custom and prejudice.
  12. The devil works to prevent our worship. We must watch for his devices.
  13. One device is thinking worship is confined to certain places, like "this mountain" or the temple. But Jesus says true worship is in spirit and truth, not confined to places.
  14. Another device is having our worship determined and controlled by places - acting differently in different buildings. But it should be the same, as it's the same God.
  15. Another device is only worshipping at particular times, like the Pharisees. But biblical worship isn't confined to set times. It should be continual.
  16. Another device is thinking worship is merely external like posture, forms, ceremonies or ritual. But true worship is in spirit and truth.
  17. Another device is thinking worship is purely intellectual - just hearing sermons. But worship should lead to and promote worship, not just be hearing sermons.
  18. Another device is a purely psychological notion of worship - thinking it's about feeling good through beautiful services or positive thinking. But worship is about God, not us.
  19. Another device is taking up religion but confusing it with worship. Some attend worship from fear, to gain merit, or as insurance. But true worship is of God.
  20. Wrong ideas of God also hinder us. Our ideas of God are often vague, pagan, of a force or power, the absolute, creator only, terrorizing, or presumptuous.
  21. We must ask what our thoughts of God are, especially in times of crisis. That reveals what we really think of God.
  22. The need is to know the living God. This is eternal life - to know the only true God and Jesus Christ. Do we know and worship him?

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.