The Glorious Gospel
A Sermon on 1 Timothy 1:1
Originally preached Oct. 11, 1964
Scripture
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
Sermon Description
Who has the answers, God or humanity? In this sermon on 1 Timothy 1:1, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows the error of putting human thinking above the wisdom of God. He shows that all sin stems from Adam and Eve putting their reason above God when they ate of the forbidden fruit. Modern humanity is no different; they look to themselves to solve the problems of the world. This is hopeless because salvation comes not through humanity’s own deeds, but it is a free gift from God. This is how God has shown the wisdom of the world to be utter foolishness. He sent His only Son to die upon a cross in the place of the very people who murdered Him. Dr. Lloyd-Jones proclaims that it is Jesus who came to die and rise from the grave in order to break the bonds of sin, and to free all from sin’s dominion and condemnation. This sermon will encourage all who are trusting in their own wisdom to turn to Jesus as the only true source of happiness, peace, and true communion with God. The message of the glorious gospel is one that commands people to turn away from themselves and look to Christ as the only Savior sent from God.
Sermon Breakdown
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The sermon begins by introducing 1 Timothy 1:11 which describes the gospel as the “glorious gospel of the blessed God.”
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The sermon then asks why Paul describes the gospel this way. The first reason given is that the gospel starts with God, not man. All other teachings start with man and his needs, but the gospel starts with God.
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The second reason is that man’s troubles arise from failing to start with God. Man starts with himself instead of God, gets a false view of himself, and has no basis for moral behavior. This has led to man’s present troubles and predicament.
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Examples are given of how society has failed by removing God and not providing an alternative moral basis. This has led to delinquency, irrationality, and threatens society.
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The gospel works where nothing else does. Civilization has failed, but the gospel provides God’s wisdom, power, and love to save man.
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The gospel displays God’s wisdom in devising a plan of salvation, His power in conquering man’s enemies, and His love in sending Christ to die for sinners.
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The sermon concludes by saying there is nothing like the gospel which starts and ends with Christ crucified. We should glorify the eternal, immortal, invisible God.
Sermons on the Gospel
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.