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To Be Like Him

John 3:8

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.

You Must Be Born Again

John 3:1-8

What is so dangerous about the religious life? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones takes up this question in this sermon titled “You Must Be Born Again” from John 3:1-8. He says that often times people who claim to be religious are trying to live as Christians without actually being saved. They try to be sanctified without being justified. This is a hopeless way to live because it treats Christianity as a graceless religion that is attained by works alone. This is similar to the error of intellectualism, which says that Christianity is about simply knowing and assenting to certain truths. Both of those views lose sight of what it means to be justified freely in the grace of God as the foundation of the Christian life. Both views replace the grace of God with works of humanity. Instead, you must be born again. The Christian must ask themselves if they believe the Christian life is merely intellectual and works based or if they trust the justifying grace of God that alone has the power to save and make fallen sinners new. This message of justification is the only hope that this world has and is central to the gospel of Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Dying to Self

John 3:30

All are in in need of the forgiveness and redemption of God yet so many go through their life alienated from God and His Son. They live as fallen human beings devoid of the joy of the Lord. Working with John 3:30 in this sermon titled “Dying to Self,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that those who have trusted in the gospel of God are forgiven of all sins and made inheritors with Christ. One of the signs of transformation is seeking to exult Christ and diminishing the self. It is as John the Baptist says, “I must decrease but He must increase.” Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains how there are signs to tell if one is truly turning away from themselves and looking to glorify Christ. They will seek their own glory less and think of themselves less. They will think of others as worthier than themselves. God uses the law to show the Christian their sin and their need for Christ. This law convicts of sin and causes the Christian to look not to themselves, but to Christ and His grace. In the law they see that only Christ can make them whole and that they are not worthy in themselves.

Salvation is of the Jews

John 4:13-14

Salvation is an important and frequently discussed topic among Christians. It is also big part of the Bible and of what Jesus has done. Listen to this sermon on John 4:13–14 titled “Salvation Is of the Jews” where Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones talks about salvation in light of Jesus’s encounter with the woman at the well. He begins by stating that submission is essential for salvation. However, in order to submit to Him, one must know who He is. Dr. Lloyd-Jones then touches on the exclusiveness of the Christian message of salvation. Jesus is the only way to the Father and salvation comes through Him alone. Because of this, the gospel is not human-made and cannot be attained through humanity, but is solely dependent on Christ and the wonderful works He has done. All of these truths point to the uniqueness of the Christian faith and salvation. This exclusivity is seen even in the Old Testament that rings with the promises of what the coming Messiah would do to save humanity. Christians can rest in the uniqueness of salvation coming from what Jesus has done for His people, rather than what they have done.

The Christian Life

John 4:27-30

Listen to this sermon on John 4:27–30 titled “The Christian Life” as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones examines the transformation of the Christian and takes a look at the story of the woman at the well. Learn of the instinct that humanity has for safety and how the Christian gospel responds to that instinct. Christianity is not just an addition to life. The Christian life ought to look essentially different. Christianity is not just a duty that one must force themselves to do as if it were an extra burden. The Christian should ask what kind of impression they give regarding Christianity. It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself that determines, controls, and dominates the Christian life in every respect. Looks at the lives of saints who were described as a “Christ-intoxicated” and a “bond-slaves for Christ.” Christians belong to Christ and have an entirely new way of thinking. The lust of the flesh, eyes, and world are not characteristic and dominating of the Christian. Learn that it is when eyes are set on things above and are no longer moved by the things that are constantly shifting and happening around them. Christianity provides a unique stability. The Christian is no longer conformed to this world, but transformed into a new creation.

Man and Dogma

Matthew 22:34-40

What is the relationship between teaching and good deeds in the Bible? In this sermon on Matthew 22:34–40 titled “Man and Dogma,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones responds to those that say they do not want dogma, but only what is practical and what helps them love their neighbor. He shows the fallacy of this question because Biblical dogma, or teaching, is related to love of neighbor and good deeds. It is only once the sinful nature of humanity, the redemptive work of Christ, and the need for repentance is understood that anyone can understand why they must love their neighbor. Moralistic legalism exists when the teachings of Scripture are done away with in order to focus on morality. This creates a false Christianity that is devoid of the gospel and therefore devoid of any hope. The church must preach the whole counsel of God. This includes both the need for salvation from sins and the need to live in holiness and righteousness towards one’s neighbors. Love of neighbor and love of God are connected and make one whole. Christians must see that the teachings of Scripture are what compel them to love and serve others just as Christ did.

A Picture of the Church

Luke 24:25-27

What do two hopeless disciples have to teach the church of today? In this sermon on Luke 24:25–27 titled “A Picture of the Church,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches how the disciples who met the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus were hopeless because they did not understand what the Messiah had come to do. They believed that when Jesus died, they thought that he had failed. The modern day church often trusts in the wrong things and misunderstands what Christianity is all about. The church becomes hypocritical, and this hypocrisy drives away those on the outside. What is the answer to this problem? The example of John Wesley has much to teach. He was evangelizing the lost while he was still cold and dead on the inside as an unregenerate man. Could the church be the same way? They are in sin and unbelief, trying to share the gospel. The answer to this is to come to Jesus Christ who saves and gives all a new heart and mind to love and serve Him. The answer to the sad state of the church and to the soul of everyone is to believe in Jesus who saves completely.

The Christian Message

Philippians 3:21

In this passage from Philippians, Paul reminds the congregation that their citizenship is within heaven and that they no longer belong to this world. In this sermon on Philippians 3:21 titled “The Christian Message,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones declares that this message is just as important for Christians today as it was for Christians back then. When a person is saved, that individual does not undergo merely a slight change. That person is a new creation, bought by the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. Being a Christian is more than adding church or Bible reading to one’s life. After a person is saved, he or she enters the kingdom of God. They no longer need to be concerned with the things of this world, as so many people are. Money, power, and property only matter in this life. While these things may provide security within their time, Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds that they do not provide the eternal safety like the gospel. Only the good news can save and satisfy. However, unlike the citizenship of the world, entering the kingdom of God is free. Dr. Lloyd-Jones invites those who have yet to trust in God to do so, for Christ will not refuse anyone.

A Small Life

Psalms 118:5

What does it mean to have a broad perspective on life? Many criticize Christianity for being closed-minded and leading to a narrow life, but in this sermon on Psalm 118:5 titled “A Small Life,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows that Scripture has a different view of the Christian life. Rather than being narrow and closed-minded, the Christian is the one who truly understands the world and who has true and lasting joy because they know God. The Christian trusts in Jesus Christ for the salvation from sin. The Christian has received joy and lives in this joy because God has given a great gift of grace. The narrow life is the life that has no hope after death and no joy in life’s Creator. This sermon is a call to obey the gospel of God by believing in Jesus Christ and to find true and lasting peace as a child of God. Anyone who has not renounced the old life of sin, come to Christ and forsaken themselves to come to God is on the path to destruction apart from God and His goodness. There is no salvation and true peace part from faith in Jesus Christ.

Belief in God

1 Peter 1:20-21

What does it mean to believe in God? There is perhaps no question that is more important to answer in this life. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones seeks to do just this in this sermon on belief from 1 Peter 1:20-21. He says that there is a kind of knowledge that is impersonal and vague: it is the knowledge of God that even the demons know. For they know He exists and who He is, but they do not believe in Him in a saving way. The belief of Christians is quite different from this because Christians believe that God both exists and is worthy of praise and worship. They believe that God revealed Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the Jesus that died, rose from the grave, and now rules in heaven from where He will come to judge the living and the dead. They know Jesus as Lord and Savior who loves them and has died for them to make them inheritors in the life to come. To know God is to believe in His Son and to believe in His Gospel. All must ask themselves: do you believe in Jesus Christ and do you know God? There is no more important question.

Questioning God

John 4:13-14

The world asks many questions, but why do they never come to true answers? Why does humanity always seek true wisdom and knowledge but not find it? The answer is found in the world’s rejection of Jesus Christ as the true wisdom of God. In this sermon on John 4:13–14 titled “Questioning God,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tells that all true wisdom has been given in Christ, but the world in its sinfulness does not know Him. For God’s wisdom is not the wisdom of the world; it stands in opposition to all sinful thinking. This wisdom of God is not accessible to sinful people because they are blinded by their own pride and have fooled themselves into believing that they can know truth without God’s revelation. The only way out of this dilemma is for sinful people to be transformed by His grace and made new and given the gift of salvation. This question confronts all in the revelation of God’s gospel: “do you know the truth of God or are you blinded by your sin and pride?” All either believe that Jesus is the true wisdom of God or they believe in the vain and passing wisdom of this world.

The Living God

Acts 4:23-24

What is one of the primary marks of a Christian? According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in this sermon on Acts 423-24, one of the surest signs of a true Christian is that true Christians pray to God. These are not prayers to some distant deity or to some abstract philosophical ground of truth, but it is prayer to the one true God who rules the whole universe in power and might. This is the true God as revealed in the Bible and in Jesus Christ his Son. This is the God of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, and he is the God of the church and the Apostles. He is active in history to save and redeem his people. He is the God who sent His only begotten Son to die on a cross in order to make a great kingdom that cannot be shaken. And it is this God who offers redemption and salvation to all who will repent and believe in His Son, and all those that do will be made anew in the new heavens and the new earth. This great gospel should not be rejected, but all must believe in God’s only begotten Son who has died on the cross so that sinners would have life eternal.

A New Creation

Acts 2:37-42

Christianity is not a costume. It is not something that is added on top of a life of sin, or in place of previous practices. Christians are not people with refined manners and cleaner conversations. As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains in this sermon on Acts 2:37–42, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” All who repent of their sin and believe in Jesus are born again into the family of God. More than a new set of rules, it is a new identity; an entirely new person with a longing for holiness and an increasing hatred for sin. This is life transformation, but it comes at a cost. Christians are often forcibly removed from prior social circles and seen as judgmental and traditionalistic. The gospel opposes humanity’s natural desire, which is to pursue self above all else. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides a correct diagnosis of humanity’s self-perceived free thinking that is either in subjection to the devil or to God. There is no middle ground. What a person does reveals where their faith and hope truly rest. The choice is clear: either serve God and know the joy to true transformation, or serve self and reap the disaster of eternal punishment.

Father; Son and Holy Spirit

Acts 4:31

Christianity is a historical faith. While the world is full of other religions and “spiritual experiences,” Christianity is set apart by the objectivity of events brought about by the Triune God. These events—the history of Israel; the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus; the day of Pentecost; the global spread of the gospel—are objective events that point creation back to God. In this sermon titled “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones takes the listener back to the early church in this sermon on Acts 4:31 and shows that Christianity is not taken up on one’s own accord or power; rather, it takes the Christian up. The apostles were not well-educated or eloquent men and yet God used these ordinary men to spread the good news and Christianity flourished. Acts emphasizes that this is the work of the Trinitarian God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is the basis of the apostles’ hope and confession and the foundation of great hope. Subjective experiences don’t rule one’s faith, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones. The objective reality of the Christian’s history, as well as the ongoing work of revival, reminds them that their living God actively cares for this world.

A State of Unbelief

Luke 4:22

What does the rejection of Jesus by His own people teach about humanity? In this sermon on Luke 4:22 titled “A State of Unbelief,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states that while one might be tempted to overlook the story of Jesus’s fellow Jews rejecting Him as ancient history, there is more than meets the eye. He says that the Jewish people’s rejection of Jesus is not borne out of rational arguments or reason, but it is a result of unbelief. They stumbled over Jesus’s message because sin had such a grip on their hearts that they were not able to understand the message of God’s grace. Pride and sin blind all from seeing the truth of the gospel until God in His grace breaks into their world. Sin is a state, not only an action. All are in this state of sin until God opens their eyes so that they can believe. At the heart of this story is the message that humanity is in sin and that God is a Savior. It is ultimately a message of hope for all who believe because it is the only means of being forgiven and made new in God. This sermon calls all to believe in Jesus

The Resurrection; its Relevance Today

Acts 17:18

The fact of the resurrection stands at the center of Christianity. The empty tomb is the sign of God’s promise to raise Christ from the dead as a testament to His victory over sin. Yet sceptics scorn the idea of the physical and bodily resurrection. In this sermon on the resurrection from Acts 17:18, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows that there is nothing new in their criticisms against the resurrection, for in the days of the apostles there were those who scorned and scoffed at the resurrection. But there is no excuse for rejecting the resurrection because all the evidence is clear: Christ rose from the dead. But it is sin that corrupts and blinds, so humankind is unable and unwilling to believe in Jesus. Humanity’s fundamental problem is that they are sinful. All humanity’s great wisdom and learning is subject to its sinful nature. The only answer to humanity’s problem is the grace of God in salvation. God has appointed His Son as the only way anyone can be saved. The only escape from the judgement of God is through faith in the gospel. This is the most important message that the world can hear. It is the message that Jesus has died and rose from the dead for the salvation of sinners.

A Kingdom Which Cannot Be Removed

Hebrews 12:28-29

In this sermon on Hebrews 12:28–29 titled “A Kingdom Which Cannot Be Removed,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains the importance of heeding the call to repentance by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, should not be refused. While the misconceptions and vain philosophies of this age will soon fade, Jesus’s gospel and kingdom is eternal and unshakeable throughout all ages. More importantly, all people will pass, along with this world, and they will have to give account to every thought and deed. The judgement of God will be inescapable, but those who believe in God’s way of salvation through God’s Son will join Him in His everlasting kingdom. Since Jesus sits on the throne and rules His Kingdom forever, Christians will be in His kingdom forever. Christians will be considered as heirs and firstborns in His family. In contrast, those who refuse He who speaks, and instead trusts in their own abilities, will be judged eternally. They will be cast away with the worldly kingdoms and its ruler, the devil. All should consider which kingdom they would like to be in for eternity.

Divine Knowledge

Luke 4:18-19

The glorious truth of the message of Christ is that people can know God and come into a relationship with Him. God has not created humanity and left them to themselves, but has revealed Himself. This revelation does not come through human reason, for Paul tells that the message of the gospel came to those that were not considered wise by the world. God has revealed Himself through Christ in grace. In this sermon on Luke 4:18–19 titled “Divine Knowledge,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on this truth that God can be known not because of human wisdom, but because God is gracious. It is because God so loved this sinful and evil world that He has sent His Son so that all who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus might be saved. This is not merely theoretical knowledge, but it is a knowledge of God and what He has done. How is one to respond to this revelation? The answer of this sermon from Scripture is that they must believe God. They must believe that Jesus Christ is God’s son who has come to die and take away the sin of the world.

Hear Ye Him

Hebrews 8:5

In this sermon on Hebrews 8:5 titled “Hear Ye Him,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones proclaims the great commission that was given to Moses, and ultimately to all preachers of the gospel. Where did Moses’s authority and message come from? Look at how God commissioned Moses with a detailed plan; He has done the same for all His people. The quest for truth cannot start with modern humanity; Christianity must have a different starting point. All are invited to come back to the revelation of God Himself. Moses has no authority apart from God, and neither does anyone else. Take a closer look at God’s pattern and plan for humanity. God alone can tell people about themselves, life, and death. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones walks through the Sermon on the Mount and then brings the listener to the mount of Calvary to hear its message. This is a message of the holiness and love of God. Sin will be punished, and Christ did not offer the blood of bulls and goats, but He offered His own blood. Salvation is through the shed blood of God’s only Son.

The Congregation

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.