Explore Sermons By Dr. Lloyd-Jones
Book of Acts
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The Christian Phenomenon
Christianity is more than an academic lecture and more than a systematic teaching. It is as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones proclaims, a phenomenon. It is something that happens; a soul dead in sin becomes miraculously alive. There is life and change in the message of the Christian church, not just moral coaching. From the very beginning God has been accomplishing His plan for His creation: to reconcile humanity to Himself. Delve into this dynamic message as Dr. Lloyd-Jones preaches through Peter’s sermon from Acts 3:12-18, which follows the miraculous healing of the beggar at Gate Beautiful from Acts 3:6. Peter here urges the awe-struck crowd to look not to himself and John, nor to the phenomenon of the healing of the beggar, but to the living and active God of Abraham, Isaac and of Jacob from whom this miracle has come. We are reminded that the same God that spoke to Moses in the burning bush and healed the beggar at Gate Beautiful is the same God that speaks and acts still today. These miracles, these phenomena and the many other acts of God show that God is a personal, covenanting and merciful God who takes interest and action in the condition of His creation.
What Think Ye of Christ?
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Who is He? The answer to these questions are of utmost importance. Here in Acts 3:12-18 Dr. Lloyd-Jones looks at the two ways people view Christ. One can view Him as man views Him, believing that Christ was only a man; only a moral teacher. Or, one can view Him as God views Him: As God's lamb, the Son of God, fully God and fully man, the fulfillment of the words of the prophets, the resurrected Lord. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out the importance of understanding Christ in the context of the whole Bible. Christ is the fulfillment of the words of the prophets. Dr. Lloyd-Jones also stresses the importance of the resurrection of Christ. The cross was not the end of Christ. He came back to life and appeared to many. And after His ascension He left His people with the power of the Holy Spirit. Power that enabled Peter and John to heal the man at Beautiful Gate. Power that is meant to point back to the one who gave the power, the one who truly heals and works miracles; God. That is Peter and Dr. Lloyd-Jones point here in this passage: Look to the resurrected Christ in whose name there is power and salvation.
Ignorance
Why is it that so many are not interested in Christ? Ignorance. Here in Acts 3:17 Peter confronts the crowd with the truth of their dire condition. They are ignorant of Christ, and of His resurrection. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in the same way calls the world to see its ignorance today. He identifies what the world is ignorant of and also the three reasons why people then and now are ignorant. The world is ignorant of their need for Christ, who Christ is, and the coming judgment. The world is ignorant because of the blindness of their hearts and minds. The crowd then in Peter’s day rejected and hated Christ and refused to believe that He was the Messiah. The world today continues to reject Christ in this same way. In ignorance of who He is and what He has done. Peter calls the crowd in Acts 3:17 to repent and be converted, that their sins may be blotted out. Dr. Lloyd-Jones does the same by calling all to repent. He calls all to see that they don’t have to live in ignorance.
Return of Christ
Pie in the sky'; Christianity not a reform movement; why the world is the way it is; destruction of the devil; the restitution of all things.
The Breath of Life
The oppressed state of man; the locked windows of heaven; the breath of hope; the wind of the Spirit; the life of God.
Repentance
Principles of repentance in the Gospels; repentance defined; the impossibility of Christianity without repentance; the proof of repentance is conversion.