The Foolishness of Man
A Sermon on Ezekiel 36:31-32
Originally preached June 24, 1956
Scripture
31Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: …
Sermon Description
God provides emancipation and deliverance from the captivity of sin, but the devil is also trying to provide a “solution.” The Bible is careful to tell and teach how to discern what is true. If this world was the only one, it really wouldn’t matter what one seeks for happiness, but all will have eternal life somewhere. In this sermon on Ezekiel 36:31–32 titled “The Foolishness of Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones dives into the many parts of God’s one way of salvation. Peace, plenty, and joy are all characteristic of this salvation. However, what about self-loathing over sin? Christianity doesn’t start or end with people like the cults do, but rather it brings people to see God and thereby loathe themselves. There is a fountain of evil within all. One does not disdain evil naturally. They crave sin and find entertainment in it; sin is not a result of external circumstances. The world sees Christianity as a kind of “narrowness.” Don't reject the love of God. This is the greatest issue of all.
Sermon Breakdown
- The passage under consideration is Ezekiel 36:31-32 which speaks of remembering one's evil ways, loathing oneself and being ashamed and confounded.
- The sermon examines the Gospel in its various steps and stages. The Gospel brings peace and plenty but also requires self-loathing.
- Self-loathing comes from seeing God. Examples are Job, David, Isaiah, Peter and the Prodigal Son. Seeing God reveals our folly, depravity and ingratitude.
- We should loathe ourselves for our folly in putting our thoughts above God's, worshipping idols and rejecting the Gospel.
- We should loathe ourselves for our depravity which makes us enjoy sin and hate God's law and holiness. There is a fountain of evil within us.
- We should loathe ourselves for our ingratitude in spurning God's love shown in creation, providence and especially the cross. This is the worst thing we can do.
- An example is given of a 77-year-old man who loathed himself for blaspheming Christ 30 years before. When we see God, we loathe ourselves.
- We must ask God to show us himself, sin and the cross so we loathe ourselves. There is no peace without self-loathing.
Sermon Q&A
Questions and Answers from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Sermon on Ezekiel 36:31-32
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the significance of self-loathing in true Christianity?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, self-loathing is an essential part of true Christianity. He states that it is "of the very essence of the gospel" and "a most important text." He emphasizes that if we don't know something about this self-loathing, we should examine the foundations of our position. He identifies it as a certain proof that we have been born again and received a new heart when we know what it is to loathe ourselves. Unlike false teachings and cults which encourage self-confidence and self-expression, true Christianity leads us to see our sinfulness and hate it.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones differentiate between God's way of salvation and false gospels?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that God's way of salvation is a whole consisting of many parts, and all parts must be present for it to be genuine. The order of these parts is also vital. False gospels and cults only focus on giving relief and benefits but don't address truth. They tell people to believe in themselves and trust themselves, offering happiness without repentance. In contrast, God's way brings us face to face with God, which leads to self-loathing. False teachings hate the concept of self-loathing and even denounce the Bible for teaching it, whereas the Bible inculcates this self-loathing as an essential part of salvation.
What three main reasons does Dr. Lloyd-Jones give for why we should loathe ourselves?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones gives three main reasons for self-loathing: 1. Our folly - the unutterable foolishness of putting our own thoughts and ideas before God's, worshipping idols instead of the living God, and defying the eternal God despite being mere creatures. 2. Our depravity - the evil nature within us that makes us enjoy and crave sinful things, hate God's law, and resist holiness. 3. Our base ingratitude - the way we have spurned God's love, especially in rejecting Christ and His sacrifice on the cross, despite all God has done for us.
What biblical examples does Dr. Lloyd-Jones provide of people who came to loathe themselves?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides several biblical examples of people who came to loathe themselves after encountering God: - Job, who said "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." - David in Psalm 51, who loathed himself because he had sinned against God - The writer of Psalm 73, who said "I was as a beast before thee" after seeing God - Isaiah, who cried "I'm a man of unclean lips" after his vision of God - Peter, who said "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" after witnessing Christ's miracle - The prodigal son, who declared himself "no more worthy to be thy son" - Paul, who called himself "a wretched man" and "before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious"
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe our depravity as a reason for self-loathing?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes our depravity as not just the evil things we've done but the evil nature within us that made us want to do those things and enjoy them. He says, "The terrible thing is this, that there's anything in us at all that ever wanted to do so and that enjoyed doing so." He points out that if we were pure, sinful things would be ugly and hateful to us, but because we are vile, they appeal to us. This depravity makes us antagonists of God, makes us hate His law and biblical teaching about holiness. We complain that Christianity is too narrow because we hate holiness. He states that we're all "rotten, vile and full of sin," but only those enlightened by the Spirit of God come to see it.
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.