No Hope For This World
A Sermon on 1 Peter 1:13
Originally preached Dec. 6, 1959
Scripture
13Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Sermon Description
How are Christians to view this world? In this sermon on 1 Peter 1:13 titled “No Hope For This World,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that the Bible shows that the world is passing and temporary. Christians are to seek not to transform this world, but to bring the gospel that alone can transform the hearts and minds of people. The Bible never promises that this world will be made inevitably better as many people believe, but it teaches that salvation comes to take people out of the world. True peace does not come when war ends, or poverty is removed, but when sinful people are reconciled with God and forgiven of their sins. For this reason, the church is to look not to politics to bring about transformation and renewal, but to the gospel. What then is the Christian’s duties in this world? Christians are to seek the kingdom of God by preaching the gospel to the whole world. They are to preach the gospel as the only means of true peace and salvation from sins and the final judgement of God. Christians must put their hope in God above, not this passing world with its sinful ways. The church is on a pilgrimage, looking towards the day when it will arrive fully and finally in the kingdom of God.
Sermon Breakdown
- The gospel does not promise to reform and improve this present world.
- The world is doomed and under God's judgment. Nothing can save it except Christ's return.
- The gospel's message is to rescue individuals out of the world, not reform the world itself.
- Christians are separated from the world and belong to the family of God, the brethren.
- To become a Christian, you must be born again and gain a new nature and new mindset.
- Christians are called to be sober-minded, obedient, and holy - unlike the world.
- This present world is passing away. Our lives are temporary.
- Death is inevitable, but Christians have hope beyond death in the grace to be revealed.
- Jesus will return, judge the world, and redeem creation. Christians will receive glorified bodies.
- In the new heavens and new earth, Christians will be with God and Christ for eternity.
- The only hope is to turn to Christ, be forgiven and born again, join the brethren, and await Christ's return.
Other Sermons
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.