The Quest of Man
A Sermon on John 1:16
Originally preached Dec. 1, 1963
Scripture
16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Sermon Description
What has been the greatest quest of humanity? The search for wisdom. In this sermon on John 1:16 titled “The Quest of Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes the search for wisdom over the centuries. Humanity has sought happiness, understanding of death, and knowledge of God; all of these are subjects of wisdom and the world seeks these things through various philosophies. This kind of worldly wisdom has only led to false religion. Dr. Lloyd-Jones elaborates on the failure of philosophy, and shows the listener that the world has come short of true knowledge of God for thousands of years. Yet, Christ has made God known. Though no one has seen God, Christ is the Son of God incarnate. Therefore, the Christian has access to knowledge of God and true wisdom. The believer knows God through His Word and Spirit because of the incarnated work of Christ. Humanity may, even now, know God. Jesus describes Himself as One who is greater than Solomon. The least in the Kingdom of Heaven has more wisdom on life and godliness than the greatest heathen philosopher, because true wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures. The believer should look no further than to the very written words of God in order to find wisdom.
Sermon Breakdown
- The quest of all civilization and humanity has been the pursuit of wisdom and understanding.
- Philosophy and human reasoning has failed to provide answers to life's deepest questions and meaning.
- The highest point of human wisdom was erecting an altar to the "unknown God" - recognizing there is a God but not knowing him.
- The knowledge of God is the only source of true wisdom, understanding and meaning.
- Humanity on its own cannot attain to the knowledge of God because of:
- The irrational and sinful nature of humanity
- The finite and limited nature of human reasoning
- The ineffable glory and holiness of God which humanity cannot comprehend
- The knowledge of God is only possible through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
- Jesus Christ alone has revealed, declared and made known the Father. He alone has seen and known the Father.
- Those who believe in Christ receive of his fullness - including wisdom, knowledge of God, adoption as children of God.
- The world still does not know God. But Christ knows the Father and has made him known to those who believe.
- We must receive of Christ's fullness - including wisdom, knowledge of God and adoption as children.
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.