Preaching and Preachers by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

• Eph 4.23: Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind

  Ephesians 4:23 "and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds," (ESV) SERMON DESCRIPTION What is the nature of the new life of the Christian? In this sermon on renewing your mind from Ephesians 4:23 titled “Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says the renewal of the mind by the power of the Holy Spirit transforms one’s most central faculty. This is what the apostle Paul calls the renewal in the spirit of the mind. This transformation is not simply a repair of minds, but it is a Spirit-empowered supernatural recreation of what the fall and sin has corrupted and distorted. This does not mean that fallen people are not as smart as Christians or that only Christians can know truth. But this transformation allows the new self to see the fingers of God in all life. It is a new orientation towards the same world that both Christians and non-Christians live in. This does not mean that when the minds of sinful people are renewed, they immediately become more intelligent, but this spiritual renewal allows them to see the gross nature of sin and the glorious love of God. The Spirit transforms people from the inside to the outside. This new self lives in accordance with godliness having been renewed by the power of the gospel. SERMON BREAKDOWN The apostle Paul is calling Christians to an intelligent change, not just outward conformity. Becoming a Christian is not just changing your actions or habits, but changing the spirit of your mind. Christianity is not just adopting a new set of opinions, but thinking in a new way with a renewed spirit. The Christian life is not mechanical or unthinking. Christians should understand why they think and act the way they do. Regeneration renews the spirit of the mind, though the mind itself remains the same. The Christian has the same abilities and faculties as before. The fall corrupted the spirit of man's mind, though the mind itself remains uncorrupted. Man can still think and reason, but in a twisted way. The world is in chaos because people cannot think straight, not because they cannot think at all. Their minds work, but the spirit behind their thinking is disordered. God looks at the spirit behind our thoughts and actions, not just the thoughts and actions themselves. Christianity is about a change in our fundamental disposition, not just a change in outward behavior. We must be constantly renewed in the spirit of our minds, not just once. Our thinking must be repeatedly re-oriented around God. The Christian life is a process of learning to think in a new, godly way. New Christians start with basic truths but must develop full Christian thinking. It is possible to appear spiritually renewed without actually being so. Some adopt Christian language and actions without a renewed spirit. The spirit of the mind is the inner power that governs and directs the mind. It is this spirit that must be renewed, not just the mind itself.

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• Eph 4.22-24: When Not to Pray; but to Act

  Ephesians 4:22-24 "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." (ESV) SERMON DESCRIPTION It’s a fact of the Christian life that Christians will always fight sin and temptation. In this sermon on Ephesians 4:22–24 titled “When Not to Pray But to Act,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones highlights this spiritual battle as Christians put off the old self and all its ways. Christ commands fleeing sin and the devil and to pursue a life that is consistent with being children of God, benefactors of Christ and His work. This putting off of the old self and pursuit of Christ is not something that Christians do passively but are commanded to do actively. Simply praying about sanctification, but never acting in pursuit of holiness is not enough and does not take account of the many commands that God’s word gives. Nor do they see that Christians are able to flee temptation and sin. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones continues, all Christians are called and able to obey God, growing in sanctification. For in the power of the Spirit all Christians are to fight against the old self. They are to wage war against all ungodliness and worldliness that still dwells in them. This is done by consistently seeking to put off the flesh and put on the spirit of righteousness. God who has called His people to salvation also calls them to pursue holiness and sanctification. SERMON BREAKDOWN Putting off the old man is not something to be prayed about. It is something we must do. Putting off the old man is not an experience that happens to us. It is something we must actively do. We have the power as Christians to put off the old man. God never commands us to do something without giving us the ability to do it. We must remind ourselves of who we are in Christ. We are new creations, the old has gone, the new has come. We must remind ourselves of the corrupt nature of the old man. We must recognize the inconsistency of claiming to be Christian but continuing to live like the old man. Our lives should match our profession of faith. We must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Do not entertain sin or make provision for the flesh. If we are doubtful about something, it is best to avoid it. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. We must make no provision for the flesh. Do not put yourself in compromising situations or around people/things that tempt you. We must mortify the deeds of the flesh. Starve sin by not feeding it or exercising it. We must keep our body under subjection like a boxer. Actively fight against sin and temptation.

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• Eph 4.22-24: Corruption; Lusts; Deceits

  Ephesians 4:22-24 That, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (NASB) SERMON DESCRIPTION There are many who say that people are born good, or at least indifferent to evil. They believe people come into the world innocent and able to freely do good. However, as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones argues in this sermon on Ephesians 4:22–24 titled “Corruption, Lusts, Deceits,” according to God’s word, this is incorrect. The Bible presents people as born guilty and wholly corrupted by sin and all its deceit. Humanity is born into a world that is under the rule of the evil one who is the great deceiver and father of lies. They are born into this miserable state and unable to do anything to save themselves. This life of the unbeliever is one given up to sin, but the life of the redeemed is another story. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains, those who have been saved out of this world by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit and adopted into God’s family are declared righteous before His eyes. The indwelling power of the Holy Spirit gives all believers the ability to resist the deceit of sin and the devil. Yet it is because of Christ’s work on the cross in humanity’s place that they are declared righteous. This is the great division between people—there are those that know God and trust in his Son, and there are those that are outside the family of God and under the dominion of sin. SERMON BREAKDOWN The old man is corrupt and decaying, advancing rapidly in the direction of corruption. The old man is becoming more and more polluted and disintegrating. The old man is tending towards destruction. The old man inherits a corrupted nature. We are born in sin and shaped in iniquity. The old man gets worse and worse without God. The world and individuals decay without God. The influences imploring and urging the old man to destruction are lusts. Lust means a strong or mastering desire. Lust has come to mean an evil desire. The lusts that are within us are corrupting and destroying us. The lusts of deceit manipulate the old man and drive him to destruction. Deceit is the real controlling power manipulating the lusts which manipulate the old man. The devil, the ultimate power, is deceitful. His whole nature is deceit. The devil's agents are deceitful. They promise liberty but are servants of corruption. Judas is the epitome of deceitfulness. Sin always involves betrayal. Sin is deceitful. It hardens people through its deceitfulness. Sin takes occasion by the commandment to deceive. It makes the law, which is good, stimulate sin.

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• Eph 4.22-24: Putting off and Putting on!

  Ephesians 4:22-24 That, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (NASB) SERMON DESCRIPTION By the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, sinful men and women are made into new creatures. They are justified before God and made truly righteous. In this sermon on holiness and sanctification from Ephesians 4:22–24, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that the old self has been crucified with Christ and now lives according to the Spirit of God that dwells in them. However, there is a sense in which the old self is still with Christians. This old self, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out, refers to the sinful principle in the body called the flesh. This is why, though they are saved, regenerated, and justified, Christians continually struggle with sin. This struggle is something that will go on throughout the entirety of the Christian life as they battle sin and the flesh. But all believers can rest assured knowing that Christ Jesus will return and bring to completion what He has begun in His people. This should encourage all Christians struggling with sin to put off the old self and flee to Christ Jesus knowing that He cares for and loves them. Christians ought to flee all legalistic moralism, run to Christ, and pursue true holiness as they seek to glorify Him in all they do. SERMON BREAKDOWN The apostle Paul reminds the Ephesians of what they learned in Christ - to put off the old self and put on the new self. Putting off the old self and putting on the new self must always be done together. They are two parts of the same action. Putting off the old self and putting on the new self are once and for all actions. But renewing your mind is a continuous process. The "old self" refers to our unregenerate nature - what we are by birth and as descendants of Adam. It is corrupted and sinful. We must put off the old self because it is corrupt and deceitful. The old self belongs to our former way of life before knowing Christ. Putting off the old self means renouncing and forsaking it. It is like taking off old clothes. Even though the old self was crucified with Christ, we still need to put it off in our experience by renouncing old habits and ways of living. We must put off the old self because of what we have become in Christ - new creations. We must live out this new identity. The old self is the same in all of us - it is what we inherit from Adam due to the Fall. The new self is what we become in Christ through faith. We must reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. We must not let sin reign in our bodies. We must yield our members to righteousness and holiness, just as we once yielded them to sin. We must realize the truth of who we are in Christ - no longer in Adam, but new creations in Christ. Our old self has been crucified with Christ. We do not need to crucify it ourselves. We only need to put it off in our experience. Realizing our old self is dead in Christ and we are new creations is strengthening for faith and living the Christian life.

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• Eph 4.20-21: Hearing and Learning Christ

  Ephesians 4:20-21 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus (ESV) SERMON DESCRIPTION Those who try to separate the call of the gospel from the call to be holy make a great error. In this sermon on Ephesians 4:20–21 titled “Hearing and Learning Christ,” Dr Lloyd-Jones argues that the Bible presents the life of faith as a pursuit of holiness and righteousness that comes out of the new person through the Holy Spirit. Christians ought not separate belief in the gospel from living out the call of God in their lives to be imitators of Christ and to obey all that He commands. Preachers who misunderstand the connection between holiness and belief in the gospel often confuse listeners that they seek to evangelize by presenting the Christian life as compartmentalized. However, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out, even the pursuit of holiness in the life of the Christian is ultimately a result of what God has done in and through His Son Jesus Christ. Christians can easily fall into legalism when they disconnect the sovereign act of salvation from everyday Christian life. Christians must avoid dualisms knowing that Christ made them a new people by His death and resurrection. Therefore they respond in love and obedience, not as a way to gain favor with God, but because Christ has already done so for them. SERMON BREAKDOWN The apostle Paul is addressing Christians in Ephesus who were once pagans. He wants them to understand that they cannot continue living as pagans now that they have learned Christ. Christianity is not just an emotional experience. It involves learning and understanding. The Ephesians have learned Christ through hearing and being taught the truth about him. The Ephesians cannot continue living as pagans because everything about Christ leads to holiness. There cannot be a division between believing in Christ and living a holy life. The truth in Jesus is the truth about God, Jesus, and the gospel. It reveals God as the holy Father, Jesus as the holy Son, and the gospel as leading to holiness. Hearing Christ means understanding and believing the message about him, not just listening to it. It means the message has gripped you and become the most important thing. Being taught in Christ means you are united to him and are learning from the inside, not as an outsider. The teaching imparts life, not just knowledge. To hear Christ and be taught in him means understanding that God sent Jesus to live, die, and rise again to deliver us from sin and make us holy. We are now part of Christ and destined for heaven. If you have truly learned Christ in this way, you cannot continue living as a pagan. Everything about him makes that impossible.

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