Luke — Chapter 12

In his sermon on Luke 12:1–12 titled “Leaven of the Pharisees,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones visits the topic of hypocrisy and how it relates to Christians today. He asks, “What is the enemy to the Christian life?” and the answer is hypocrisy. It remains a terrible liability to the believer’s walk because, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones defines, it is a desire to be both Christian and non-Christian. Good hypocrites, like the Pharisees, take pleasure in defining themselves by their own self-satisfactory terms. This mindset is a direct reflection of the heart, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says, and the believer has a responsibility to look after his or her heart. Here, Dr. Lloyd-Jones breaks down the three archetypes for Christian hypocrites: the intellectual, the emotional, and the practical. Each has its own habits, but are similar in their desperate need for the Spirit. What is the opposite of hypocrisy? Dr. Lloyd-Jones states that it is the admission of weakness and acknowledging that a person cannot live both a Christian and non-Christian life. In turn, this admission creates a dependence on God that dispels this dishonest duality and replaces it with even more of His Spirit. In closing, he reminds to not let the fear of people drive Christians to hypocrisy, but rather to trust in the heavenly Father and His plan for the fullest life.

In his sermon on Luke 12:4–5 titled “The Fear of Death,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones orients his message around an essential and crucial topic: how the Christian is supposed to live in the world. He focuses on this Scripture where Christ warns His disciples to not fear death, but to fear He who can punish the soul. This fear of death, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says, is how most of the world chooses to live. It is this fear that causes people to tremble at war, weather, and decline. For the Christian, this fear might tempt a person to deny Christ as Peter did. However, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that this fear has no grounds. The evil of people can only do so much to the body, but they cannot touch the soul. God is the only one with that power. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that Jesus also acknowledges the pain in the world and the fact that there will always be tribulation. But this pain has no real power because it can do nothing to change a person’s eternal standing with God. In closing, he reminds the listener of the liberating hope that is found within Jesus and how it is through Him that fear is replaced with security—the promise of eternity with God.

Is Christianity based on nothing more than myths? In this sermon on Luke 12:54–57 titled “The Blindness of Modern Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones confronts this false claim, showing that the message of Christianity is based on the historical facts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. The Holy Scriptures attest to this as the inspired revelation of God the Creator Himself. God testified to His existence and attributes in the very creation of the world and providence. Despite all this, humanity rejects Christianity. They claim that it is intellectually shallow, lacks evidence, and that only those who sacrifice their mind can assent to it. However, Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches that those who reject Christianity do not do so because of intellectual objections, but because of the effects of sin. For while people may be capable of extraordinary feats of science, technology, art, and medicine, they are unable to comprehend spiritual truths unless God opens their hearts and minds to understand the gospel. They are not dumb but blinded by sin. They know that if they come to Christ, they must leave behind their sinful ways and give all to Christ. No one is capable of leaving behind a life of sin and rebellion unless God in His grace enlightens their hearts and minds so that they can see the truth of the gospel.

In this sermon on the parable of the rich fool from Luke 12:13-21, preached on a Sunday evening to the Seventh Reformed Church in Grand Rapids (Michigan), Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones exposes the danger and tragedy of self-deception. The parable arose from a man interrupting Jesus' teaching to ask him to intervene in a family inheritance dispute. Jesus, shocked by the request, warns the man and the crowd to "beware of covetousness". He then tells the parable of a rich man who treasured up possessions for himself but was not "rich toward God." The man's folly, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains, was rooted in self-deception regarding his own capacity as a thinker and planner. While successful in business, the rich man left God completely out of his thinking and planning. He failed to consider his soul, God's claim on his life, and the fleeting nature of earthly possessions. The sermon challenges hearers to examine themselves and ensure God is central in all of their reasoning and aspirations. <br /><br /> *Special note on Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s Preaching Method <br /><br /> During his ministry, it was Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s practice to preach sermons geared towards the edification of believers at the Sunday morning service and sermons geared towards the evangelism of unbelievers at the Sunday evening service. This sermon serves as a good example of a message geared towards unbelievers, whereas its counterpart from <a href="https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/other-sermons/hearts-aflame/">the morning service</a> an example geared towards believers. This method has been referred to half-jokingly by contemporaries as "Saints in the morning, Sinners at night!" However, it must be noted that this practice did not mean that within Dr Lloyd-Jones’s sermons edification and evangelism were mutually exclusive. There would be plenty within each sermon to feed and convict both believers and unbelievers alike.