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What is the purpose of God’s law to a fallen and sinful humanity? It cannot be a means of salvation, for all are born sinners and spiritually dead. For this reason, no one is able to fulfill God’s law as righteousness requires. So, if the law is not to obtain righteousness then what is the purpose? In this sermon titled “The Law and Grace,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers this question by expounding John 1:17 and the great truth of the law as a means of revealing a sinner’s need for salvation by God’s grace alone. The law always looked forward to Jesus Christ who came to die to fulfill it. By His death the Christian has been healed and by His keeping the law, they have been made new. To try to obey the law as a means of salvation is to deny the gospel and reject God’s grace in Christ. This is why the church must always be clear that all are to seek righteousness not as a means of salvation, but because Christ has made them new creatures by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts and minds of all who believe. This gospel is the only way of redemption and restoration with God and humanity.
How are Christians to live life in the hope of greater things to come? Listen to “The Christian Life” as Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones explains this through the life of Nathaniel in John 1:48–51. After Nathaniel recognized Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus responded by saying that greater things would be revealed to him. At that moment, Nathaniel did not see the whole picture and did not understand everything about Jesus but he chose to believe. Many people today do not believe simply because they do not understand everything. Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages the listeners through this passage by employing them to not live in unbelief simply because of the things they do not understand now, but to take hold of the truths that are evident and displayed in the Word of God. The result of this, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones shows us in Nathaniel’s life, is that the Holy Spirit will reveal greater things in the Christian journey. So while a Christian may not understand it all now, may they live in hope knowing that the present time is only a glimpse into the greater things to be revealed.
In this sermon on Luke 2:44 titled “Are You a Christian?” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives listeners a sober reminder. Just as Joseph and Mary supposed Jesus was in the crowd when He wasn't, many people assume they are Christians when they are not. Joseph and Mary went on their travels without examining whether or not they had Jesus by their side. This, Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues, is what people do when they convince themselves of their salvation without examining themselves. Christianity is not attaining a high ethical standard for living, but rather an inward transformation by the Holy Spirit upon receiving Jesus Christ. Dr. Lloyd-Jones asks, “What do you have when everything else is taken?” If one does not think of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is likely that they do not have new life in Him. In times of turbulence and war, the Christian can be assured that Christ will walk with them. To meet Jesus, Dr. Lloyd-Jones adds, is to be humbled by Him. Listen in as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones encourages about the only true hope in the universe.
In this sermon on Romans 11:33–36 titled “The Only Hope,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones talks about something that no amount of words can adequately explain. God’s ways are so immense that they cannot be traced out. There is a great divide of Christianity; not in regard to particular details, but rather “our whole approach to the gospel.” Is the Christian called to proclamation or to dialogue? When one looks at the apostolic method and message, do the apostles start with modern humanity to make their declarations for the gospel? People must be born again of water and spirit to enter the kingdom of God. The natural person constantly misunderstands the whole of God’s way. God is absolute, infinite, and holy in every respect. The listener is encouraged to look of humanity’s limited nature in a way that may have never been considered. The gospel is hid to those who are lost and in their natural state; all humans are sinners and ignorant of who God truly is. Look upon the grace of God and stand in awe. His ways are far beyond finding out, but it is here that one gains assurance for salvation.
Can good works save? Will one receive salvation just for being a ‘good’ person? In the sermon titled “…To…Man that Worketh Good,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones walks through these questions in Romans 2:6–10, a passage often taken out of context. While works are the proof of salvation, they are not the source of it. Paul proves that people cannot be justified by works alone and no matter the efforts of all of humanity, no one is righteous or exempt from judgement. In this message, Dr. Lloyd-Jones states that the day of condemnation will bring judgement upon those who relied on their efforts to impress God; those that say they know the Lord but do not keep His commands are liars. If one is truly a believer, they have the Holy Spirit who will act in them and change them, and that change will be manifested with outward expression. Christians should always aim to bring glory to God, seek His honor, and yearn for eternal life with Him. This should cause Christians to be mindful that what comes out of their mouths also is represented in the works that they do.
Does a Christian ever stop sinning? Is sanctification an experience over a lifetime? In this sermon titled “Sanctification: God’s Work and Ours,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tackles these issues and more in this sermon on the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of a believer. Sanctification is the process by which Christians are changed to be more like Jesus Christ. This begins at the moment of salvation and though they are set apart from the world, Dr. Lloyd-Jones shows from Scripture that sanctification is not a one-time experience or event. The New Testament authors frequently implore readers to fight sin and to avoid unrighteousness. This unmistakably shows that though Christians are saved from their sin, they are not saved out of it, and that becoming like Christ is a process that takes time. What about experiences of radical and sudden transformation that some believers claim to have had? Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that such transformations have nothing to do with Christianity alone. While such experiences can promote and aid sanctification, they are not sanctification themselves because they also are experienced by many others who adhere to different worldviews.
In what way is the gospel connected with the Old Testament? Is the Old Testament relevant to New Testament believers? In this sermon titled “Promised by His Prophets” on Romans 1:2, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones highlights the role of Old Testament prophets as they proclaimed and prepared God’s people for the Messiah. The gospel is, therefore, only new in one sense. It is new as it is based on events which happened in the New Testament. However, the gospel plan is not new. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains the importance of studying the Old Testament and seeing God’s salvation proclaimed by the prophets. He highlights a number of Old Testament texts which announce the Messiah’s work; when He would come; that He would be a light to the gentiles; and would be despised, afflicted, and die vicariously for the sins of others. These prophets were not politicians but servants of God. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, they wrote and spoke inerrant Scripture. All Scripture is given by God and is profitable and these writings are for the listener’s benefit. Listen and see the depths of God’s redemptive plan as it unfolds in the Old Testament and comes to fruition in Christ.
What is one of the greatest dangers to the church? In this sermon on Ephesians 6:10–13 titled “God in the Flesh,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones warns about the devil’s attack upon the church by introducing false teaching about the person of Christ. The early church in the time of the apostles had to battle those who denied that Jesus truly came in the flesh. In later times, the church had to oppose those that said Jesus is just a creature sent by God, not the Creator God Himself. Heresy is dangerous because it is not merely an academic question of theology, but it affects the gospel proclamation of the church. When the church has lost sight of who Jesus is and what He has done, it loses itself and becomes fatally compromised. What does this mean for the Christian? This answer is simple: it matters because it is Jesus Christ who saves from sins and redeems people by His death. It is Jesus who saves through the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith. The importance of Jesus Christ is the reason that the church must always be clear and bold in its proclamation of God’s truth as found in His word.
The question of the age is that of true authority. In this sermon on Ephesians 6:14 titled “The Scripture of Truth,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains how people are desperate for any note of authority. But even the Christian church is confused about what is truth. Cults are successful because they speak with an authoritative voice. All the troubles of the church and the world today are due to a departure from the authority of the Bible. The Christian church has often not helped this by putting philosophy in the place of revelation. The Protestant and apostolic church’s position is that the Bible is the word of God, uniquely inspired and inerrant. The Protestant Reformers judged the Roman Church and its traditions by what they found in the Bible. No one can ever arrive on their own at a knowledge of God. They either submit completely to the authority of the Bible or have no authority at all. God’s revelation can be received and attained only as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit upon and in the believer. Dr. Lloyd-Jones asks: “how do we face the future, temptation, the devil, and the uncertainty of life?” It is by having “loins girt about with the truth” of the word of God, as revealed in the Bible.
Discover the benefits that come when one forfeits sins for the glory of God. Exceeding riches of God’s grace are found to be endless in Christ. In this sermon on Ezekiel 36:34–35 titled “The Unproductive Age, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses the sin that ruins humanity and defaces the image of God. Listen to the hope of the gospel in undoing these effects of sin. Sin wastes life; it is not just “negative,” it is devastating. Nothing in a person is left unaffected. Both in general and in particular, sin makes utterly useless that which was designed to be productive. This is an unproductive and barren age. History shows great productivity in ages of great faith. What is the condition of souls today? Look at sex, work, drinking, gambling, and beauty and see how happiness and pleasure become ends in themselves. Taken out of context and isolated from the glory of God, these become idols. Dr. Lloyd-Jones reveals the real and abhorrent nature of such sin. Sin always produces a crop of misery, shame, regret, and suffering. Nothing in sin enables the soul or increases anyone’s faculties. The Holy Spirit must break, smash, and convict.
Christians can often feel distant from God. What is their response when coldness towards spiritual matters creeps into their heart? Does their assurance waver? How can they have a steady anchor for their Christian life? Rather than wait for another experience, the prayer of the apostle Paul for Christians is that they may know the hope of their calling. This is not a general hopefulness, but hope in God. More specifically, hope in God’s calling of them. This will have a profound effect on the assurance says Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In this sermon on Ephesians 1:18 titled “The Hope of His Calling,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones expounds this great prayer of Paul and carefully navigates between the general call of God in the gospel for all and the effectual call of the Holy Spirit for believers. To find assurance, one must look to the covenant-keeping God and Scripture. The Christian must look to the God in whom there is no variation or change, to the Father who will keep His children by His grace until the very end. Dr. Lloyd-Jones challenges Christians to consider these wonderful truths of Scripture and pray this for themselves.
As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes in this sermon “The Witnesses,” the Christianity proclaimed in the book of Acts 5:29–32 by the apostles is a Christianity that is grounded in real events. There was a man from Galilee who taught that He was the Son of God and the long-awaited Messiah. He said that He would be crucified for the sins of the world, but that on the third day He would rise from the dead, the result of doing the Father's will. This is the Christianity that the apostles boldly proclaimed to the Jewish leaders following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Those who seek to defend the truth of the Christian religion by minimizing or even denying the historicity of its claim do so in complete opposition to the example that the apostles give in the book of Acts. They believed in a true historical Jesus Christ and His bodily resurrection and to deny these historical truths is to reject the Christianity of the apostles, and therefore the true Christianity. The church of today should find hope in a real savior who really lived and died so that sinners could be saved and become children of God. The real life and death of Jesus stand at the heart of the gospel.
Who is the promised Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament? In this sermon on Isaiah 40:11 titled “A Life in Christ,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows that it is Jesus Christ. He is the faithful Shepherd who loves His sheep and lays down His life for them so that they might have eternal life in Him. For by knowing Christ, all can be saved and brought to a true knowledge of God. This message of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus are the center of all of Scripture. The prophets and the law looked forward to His coming, and the New Testament is inaugurates the new covenant when the wages of sin were paid by the blood of Jesus Christ. Those who repent of their sins and believe in His name are His true sheep. They will hear His voice and seek after Him. They live as new creations who are continually being drawn closer to Christ Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit. Not only are Christians eternally saved, but they are also cared for constantly by their Creator. This is the great hope in life’s darkest and most trying times. Jesus Christ is the faithful Shepherd.
What does it mean to be like God? To answer this question, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones looks at what it does not mean. In this sermon from John 3:8 titled “To Be Like Him,” he says that religion is the greatest enemy of Christianity because it tells them that they can be like God by simply changing their external actions and that there is no need to have a new heart, mind, and spirit. But this false religious notion is wholly opposed to everything that Scripture teaches. To be like God is to live a new life that comes out of a true love for God and Jesus Christ. Those who are saved and born again have a true love for righteousness, and it is not burdensome. Christians must all ask these questions: “Are you living for yourself or for Christ? Are you living in light of the true righteousness of Jesus Christ, or is your life dominated by external changes in behavior?” This sermon calls all to forsake false religiosity and look to Christ for holiness. It calls the Christian to live as a creature that has totally been transformed in the gospel. This sermon is a vital message that every man, woman, and child needs to hear. It is the message of God’s grace and the gift of new life in Christ.
The indwelling of Christ in the hearts of believers that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 3:17 is not referring to Christians receiving Christ in their hearts at salvation. In this sermon on Ephesians 3:17 titled “Christ in the Heart,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says it is Christ manifested in the hearts of those who already believe. This kind of manifestation of Christ is fundamentally different from what happens in regeneration when the believer becomes united to Christ in faith and the Holy Spirit. This is a continual indwelling whereby Christ is always present throughout the life of the believer by comforting and guiding them. This is one of the most important truths of the Christian life, for in it is seen all the working and striving as a result of Christ who Himself is working in and through the believer to accomplish all these things. When the Christian understands who Christ is and what he has done for them, it is vain and fruitless to fight sin and temptation with one’s own strength and power. This comforting truth presented by Dr. Lloyd-Jones both humbles and encourages by showing just how weak people are on their own. It shows how great Christ is who indwells and empowers the Christian to live as He has called them.
At the center of Christianity stands the mystery of the cross. When Jesus foretold that He must die for the sins of His people, even His own disciples did not understand what He meant. It was not until the Holy Spirit enlightened their eyes that they truly believed! This is because no one expected Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to die upon the cross. In this sermon on Acts 2:22-23, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches on the great mystery of the cross, but also on the great blessing of the cross. For there is no salvation apart from the shedding of blood and Jesus dying in the place of sinners. Jesus' whole life led up to the moment that He was put to death by lawless men; the Bible says it was preordained by God! The cross was always God’s plan to save sinners. All men are sinners and in dire need of forgiveness from God. It is only through believing in Jesus, in His person and work, that any can be saved. This sermon calls each and every one of us to forsake our sins and look to Jesus. For there is salvation in no other name!
If an employee of a company decides that they are not going to consider the good of the company when making decisions, the employee is not going to last long. In humanity’s natural state, this selfish attitude will invade all of life. How can the church be different? In this sermon on Ephesians 2:20–22 titled “Parts of the Whole,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones examines the startling reality of unity and diversity in the church because of the work of the Holy Spirit. The church is composed of many different stones and Dr. Lloyd-Jones asserts that it is the job of each stone to think of itself in relation to the rest of the building. He argues that many people are not grounded enough in their identity as a member of the church and tend to be too subjective. Also, many become selfish and claim aspects of the church (such as ministries, churches, and denominations) as their own, rather than focusing on serving for the glory of Christ. Each stone has a specific part to play in the wall, not with meaningless activity, but serving in whatever way God calls them to serve. Also, Dr. Lloyd-Jones notes that a dangerous mistake is when people start “doing without being.”
How can one know God? In this sermon on 1 Corinthians 2:1–16 titled “Revealed by God,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains how this seemingly simple question has immense significance for one’s life. If God could not be known, how could anyone understand the gospel and be saved? Thankfully, God has revealed Himself to humanity. No one has to discover God through science or philosophy, but God made Himself known in Scripture and in Jesus Christ. In this sermon, Dr. Lloyd-Jones shows the great need for forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Science cannot give this knowledge because it only tells about this world. Christians then have nothing to fear from modern humanity and its claims of intellectual superiority, because true knowledge of God is a gift through His Word, not simply another truth to be discovered. The story of Nicodemus illustrates this well. The Lord Jesus says that it is the Spirit that shows God. It is a supernatural act of God that allows fallen sinners to come to a knowledge of a holy God. There is no more important truth than the gospel of salvation from sins.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones stood at a significant turning point in the history of homiletics. While modern preachers often assume a fluid style of preaching for the sake of modern listeners, Dr. Lloyd-Jones warned against the rising tendency for the congregation to dictate from the pulpit. What is the relationship between the pew and the pulpit? How are preachers to understand their method of preaching in light of their congregation? In this sermon titled “The Congregation” from the “Preaching and Preaching” series, Dr. Lloyd-Jones cautions that ministers must not be swept away by objections to traditional pulpit ministry. He outlines the new arguments that were being promoted as the most effective way to reach modern listeners with the gospel. Responding point-by-point to these new homiletical methods, Dr. Lloyd-Jones counters them from a theological point of view by seeking to understand the nature of humanity, the unity of the church, and the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching. Always seeking to find balance, however, Dr. Lloyd-Jones also examines 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 and highlights the importance of flexibility within the pulpit. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones helps preachers discern a balanced approach to preaching to a modern congregation.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul starts a new subsection in his letter to the Romans by claiming this promise. In this sermon on Romans 8:31 titled “God is for Us,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones unpacks this promise showing how Christians can truly rest in this absolute truth. There is not a matter of “if” or “but;” it is absolute certainty that the Lord is on the side of His children. By opening this new subsection, Paul is about to answer potential questions that may arise from his previous teaching. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones outlines several questions that Paul is going to answer before they cause dissention among the Romans. Paul brings this great doctrine in the scheme of ordinary, everyday lives. This one verse is once again proving Paul’s point that Christians have been saved and their salvation is secure in Jesus Christ. Because of that union with Christ, they have the Holy Spirit working in them and helping them toward future glory. This affirms that the Lord is in fact for the believer so there is no other power, circumstance, or person that could ever truly overcome them. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains this in great detail and tells Christians to rest assured in this great promise.
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