Unbelief and Modern Man
A Sermon on Luke 4:22
Originally preached March 18, 1956
Scripture
22And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
Sermon Description
Why do men and women today reject Jesus? In this message on Luke 4:22 titled “Unbelief and Modern Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that modern people reject the gospel for the same reason that the Jewish people of Jesus’s day rejected Him: Jesus is not who they want Him to be. Jesus is not a mere moral teacher dedicated to giving them a better life. He is the Son of God that has come into to the world to take away its sin and destroy evil. In their prejudice, people reject the idea that they could need a Savior because humankind naturally hates the idea that they are vile sinners in need of divine grace. Humanity uses so-called reason as an excuse to reject the gospel. This sermon tells the bad news that humanity is in sin, in denial of their situation, are lost, and on a path to eternal destruction. But more importantly, it tells that Jesus died for sinners. Jesus alone can overcome this hatred and prejudice and make fallen sinners children of God. This sermon contains the only message of true and lasting hope: the message of the gospel.
Sermon Breakdown
- People reject Jesus because they can't understand how he can be both the Son of God and the Son of Man.
- Life would be impossible if we didn't accept things we don't fully understand. We don't fully understand many things in life like the sun, the universe, electricity, etc. but we accept them.
- Understanding is not required for salvation. If it was, then only intelligent people could be saved and mission work would be pointless. Salvation comes through belief, not understanding.
- The things of God like the Trinity, the incarnation, miracles, etc. are beyond human understanding. We can't fully understand God with our limited, sinful minds.
- People reject Jesus because he doesn't do what they think he should do. They want him to overthrow the Romans, perform miracles when and where they want, solve all the world's problems, etc. But Jesus follows the will of the Father.
- The role of the church is not to solve political and social problems but to preach the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.
- People reject Jesus because they think they have a right to make demands of him and are offended by grace. We have no rights before God. We must come to him as helpless sinners in need of mercy.
Sermons on Unbelief
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.