A Great and Complete Salvation
A Sermon on Ezekiel 36:28
Originally preached June 10, 1956
Scripture
28And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Sermon Description
The greatest tragedy in the world is the neglect of the Christian message. This neglect causes so much unhappiness and distress. Everything God does is a perfect work and in His salvation nothing is left undone, but many people, even Christians, fail to recognize this greatness. They need a new attitude toward holiness: “Ye shall be my people.” In this sermon on Ezekiel 36:28 titled “A Great and Complete Salvation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones seeks to view this Scripture from God’s perspective. There is nothing more terrible than to be without God in the world; to do so is to belong to a realm that is dying and decaying—this is a tragic position, yet one the sinner delights in. Gain the assurance that God is a personal God, and that He will not let His people go. Salvation brings a certainty when the Christian goes to God in prayer. “In Christ, we are brought to an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones shares and encourages that this is reserved in heaven by God for His people. Not only are they a holy nation as His people, but He is their God. He laid Himself down that He might bring them to God. Dr. Lloyd-Jones leaves the listener with one question: “Can you say ‘He is my God’?”
Sermon Breakdown
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The passage being examined is Ezekiel 36:28 which states "And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God."
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This passage refers to the blessings of Christian salvation. It is a prophecy regarding the gospel and what God will do for his people.
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There is a neglect of the gospel in the world which leads to much unhappiness. People have false notions of what it means to be a Christian.
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The gospel is great, complete, and perfect. It is all of God - his work, love, grace, mercy, and compassion. Because it is God's work, it is perfect and complete.
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For salvation, we need to be cleansed of our filthiness and idols. We need a new heart, spirit, and attitude towards holiness. We need God's Spirit to cause us to obey his statutes.
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The order of salvation is the reverse of the order of the fall. We go from filthiness to holiness to dwelling with God. The fall went from dwelling with God to filthiness.
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God will gather his people from the nations and bring them into their own land. He will cleanse them, give them a new heart, put his Spirit in them, and cause them to walk in his statutes. Then they will be his people and he will be their God.
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Though God is the God of the whole world, his people have a special relationship with him. He knows them in a special way, as he knew Israel. Christians are God's special possession and private treasure.
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Being God's people means receiving his special attention, interest, and concern. It means God has a purpose for us and will complete the work he has started in us. Nothing can separate us from his love.
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Knowing God as "my God" means having his personal interest, confidence in prayer, assurance of his power and resources behind us, and eternal safety in his hands. This is the ultimate blessing of salvation.
Sermon Q&A
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Sermon Questions on Ezekiel 36:28
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the ultimate purpose of Christian salvation according to Ezekiel 36:28?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the ultimate purpose of Christian salvation is to restore our relationship with God. He explains that the highest point of salvation is captured in the phrase "you shall be my people, and I will be your God." This is far beyond just receiving particular blessings or deliverance from specific sins. Lloyd-Jones states, "Do you know why the Lord Jesus Christ died? Well, the apostle Peter puts it like this in his first epistle, in the third chapter, in the 18th verse. Who gave? Who died for us that he might bring us to God? That's the object of it all." The sermon emphasizes that many Christians stop short of this ultimate blessing, focusing on individual gifts rather than the Giver Himself.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the order of God's salvation compared to the fall of man?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones fascinatingly points out that the order of salvation's steps is the exact reverse of what happened in the Fall. He explains, "What happened? Well, of all the terrible things that happened when men sinned and fell, the most terrible thing was the first thing... God had made men for himself... And there was men dwelling in a state of fellowship and communion with God... the first thing that went wrong was that men broke that fellowship." Everything else (uncleanness, spiritual blindness, opposition to God's laws) followed from that broken relationship. In salvation, God works in reverse order: first cleansing us (through the cross), then giving spiritual understanding, then making us holy, and finally restoring us to fellowship with Himself.
What does it mean to be "God's people" according to the sermon?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, being "God's people" means several important things. First, it means we become God's "peculiar possession" or "peculiar treasure" - separated from the world not because we're better but because we've recognized our sin and accepted His message. Second, we become "objects of his special attention, his special interest, his special concern." Lloyd-Jones quotes Jesus saying "the very hairs of our head are all numbered" to illustrate God's intimate care. Third, it means God has a purpose for us and will complete the work He has begun in us. Finally, it means nothing can separate us from God's love, as "he's put his hand on you, that he's taking you out of that mass of perdition and that he's fashioning you and forming you for himself."
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the difference between knowing about God and knowing God personally?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes a crucial distinction between general knowledge about God and personal knowledge of God. He explains that many people have a "general belief in God" or "general knowledge about God" by observing nature, history and providence - deducing "the existence of an eternal creator, a great mind behind the universe." But this isn't the knowledge spoken of in Ezekiel. The sermon explains: "What he means by this is that we've got a personal knowledge, an immediate knowledge, a direct knowledge that we no longer only know about God, but that we rarely get to know God." Lloyd-Jones references Jesus' words: "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." This personal knowledge allows believers to say "my God" rather than just acknowledging God's existence.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the greatest tragedy in the modern world?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies "the neglect of the Christian message" as the greatest tragedy in the modern world. Early in the sermon, he states: "The tragedy, the greatest tragedy in the world this evening is the neglect of the Christian message. And it is because of that I say that there is so much unhappiness and so much trouble in the world." He explains this neglect stems from false, inadequate conceptions of the gospel, with people assuming Christianity is merely about "living a good life" or "doing your best." Lloyd-Jones argues these misconceptions cause people to miss the true greatness, completeness, and fullness of the gospel. They fail to recognize it as God's supernatural work that offers not just specific blessings but restoration to full relationship with God Himself.
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.