Freedom and Liberty in Christ
A Sermon on Freedom in Christ from Isaiah 5:24
Originally preached March 15, 1964
Scripture
24Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of …
Sermon Description
In this sermon on freedom in Christ from Isaiah 5:24, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses a culture that is driven by temporary happiness and is opposed to any kind of law or call to obedience. He explains that humanity is addicted to experience, but cannot be satisfied. Moreover, he says that the world tries to remove all restraints, but cannot shake off their consciences. Happiness, satisfaction, and freedom cannot be found without discipline. Who is more free to buy a house: one who has constrained themselves to work and save, or one who spends their savings? Think of a good law like a good fence on a mountaintop. The fence gives the peace of mind to walk, run, and jump on the mountaintop without a worry of falling. However, the world thinks that laws and discipline are opposed to happiness and love. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that love for God and for neighbor actually fulfills the law of God.
Sermon Breakdown
- The prophet Isaiah pronounces judgment on Israel for rejecting God's law and despising His words.
- God never judges without reason. He warns and calls people to repentance first.
- The words in Isaiah 5:24 summarize why God's wrath is upon Israel. They rejected God's law and despised His words.
- This is still the root cause of the world's problems today. People reject God and justify it intellectually.
-
The sermon will examine why people reject God's law and words.
-
People misunderstand the law. They think it's against happiness, liberty and love. But God's law leads to true happiness, liberty and love.
- People have a wrong view of happiness, defining it as momentary experiences rather than considering the whole person and eternal consequences.
- People wrongly equate liberty with license rather than discipline. True liberty comes through obeying God's law.
- People wrongly think God's law is opposed to love. But love fulfills the law. The law guides us in truly loving God and others.
- People don't understand themselves. They think they are just bundles of sensations or finite beings in an infinite process. But we are made in God's image with eternal souls.
- Even primitive societies and humanists recognize the need for some law and order. But people still think they can decide what's right for themselves.
- People are sinful by nature. We need God's wisdom, guidance and power to overcome our selfishness and live rightly.
- People don't understand God. They think He is opposed to them, but He is holy, loving and all-powerful. We must know Him as our Creator and obey His law.
- People need to know the truth about God, themselves and life to find happiness, liberty and love. This comes through faith in Christ.
- Only by God's grace through Jesus Christ can we be freed from sin and delight in God's law. We must yield our wills to Him.
Old Testament
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.