The Act of Rebellion
A Sermon on Ezekiel 36:16
Originally preached May 6, 1956
Scripture
16¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Sermon Description
Is humanity responsible for all the evil in the world? The Bible says that humanity was made in the image of God and they were made upright, but they sinned and become corrupt when they put their own wisdom above that of God. Ever since, all the children of Adam and Eve have been born in sin and corruption. In this sermon on Ezekiel 36:16 titled “The Act of Rebellion,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that this sinful nature lies at the heart of all false worship and rebellion. What is the cure for humanity’s sinful and depraved nature? Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that it is none other than the death of God’s own Son upon the cross of Calvary. Human depravity is so thorough that it must be removed by Jesus Christ dying for sinners so that they would be clean. No moral improvement, no amount of education, and no good deeds can ever atone for sin. Only Jesus can cleanse from all sin and make anyone holy before God. All must repent and believe upon the crucified Son of God in order to be freed from death and the power of Satan, and transferred into the kingdom of God. All self-righteousness and self-justification must be abandoned at the foot of the cross where Jesus bled and died so that sinners might have eternal life.
Sermon Breakdown
- Man's troubles are entirely due to his own fault.
- The most important and vital thing in man's life is his relationship to God.
- Man fails to remember and to realize certain fundamental facts.
- Man does not appreciate what God does for him and what God gives him.
- Man deliberately turns against God and chooses his own path.
- Man doesn't realize the utter enormity of such action. It's terrible character.
- Sin is something that defiles God's work.
- Sin is also insulting to God.
- Sin always gives God's enemies an opportunity of rejoicing against him.
- Sin is something that is utterly offensive in the sight of God.
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.