© 2023 MLJ Trust
Once saved, always saved. But what happens when one doubts their salvation and how do they regain assurance? The greatest assurance of all is that the love of God has been spread into the hearts of His people. This act is done by the work of the Holy Spirit. In the sermon “The Holy Spirit and Assurance” from Romans 5:5, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that this is the first time the Holy Spirit is referenced in terms of salvation and he makes a few points concerning what this means. The Holy Spirit is given to all Christians without exception and He dwells in their bodies. Some might ask how this is a guarantee of salvation. Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds that any good work that Christ has begun will not go unfinished. The seal of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee that Christians are finally fit to enter the glory He has prepared for them. The second part of the sermon explains how someone would know that the Holy Spirit has been given to them.
Prayer is a beautiful gift that has been given to God’s people, but it is not a gift to be taken lightly. The Bible tells that when the Christian prays, they are to pray fervently in the Spirit. What then does it mean to pray in the Spirit? In this sermon on John 4:13–14 titled “Prayer and the Holy Spirit,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses this topic by showing from Scripture how Christians should pray. He begins by saying that in order to pray in the Spirit, the Christian must be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. When this is done, the Holy Spirit will give the words to pray and will lead in prayer. It is through the Spirit alone that the Christian is able to have access to God, because it is the Spirit who enlightens the mind and reveals God. Dr. Lloyd-Jones then shows that the result of praying in the Spirit is the realization of God’s presence. Prayer is a privilege to be in the presence of the holy God. It is this act of bowing down before the Lord in humility and following the leading of the Spirit that leads to true prayer.
How does the message of the gospel come to men and women? How do they move from hearing the words to believing them? In this sermon on Acts 4:29-33 titled “The Work of the Holy Spirit,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches about the wonderful work of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the preaching of the gospel. In his sermon, he focuses specifically on the work of the Holy Spirit as the one enabling and empowering the preachers who proclaim and the listeners who respond. This is a special work of the Spirit to accomplish this and it helps the believer understand why there are those who hear the gospel but are merely convicted as opposed to those who are convicted and convinced of the gospel. It is a peculiar function of the Holy Spirit to utilize the Word of truth to convince the listener of righteousness and judgment. Dr. Lloyd-Jones urges the believer to proclaim the gospel with great boldness to convict while also praying for the Spirit to convince the listener.
Can a Christian ever lose their salvation? What does it mean to be sealed by the Holy Spirit? This term of “being sealed” is used three times in Scripture. Throughout history, seals have been used to certify, authenticate, and demonstrate ownership over something. It also provides an element of security. How does this concept of a seal relate to the life of a Christian? Those who are followers of Jesus Christ have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, who acts as a certificate and authenticator that He lives in the Christian and submits to God’s purpose and plan. To be sealed by the Holy Spirit also means to have the security of belonging to Christ and an eternal inheritance. He has sealed His people, and thus they are secured as His possession. In this sermon titled “The Sealing and the Earnest,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that part of this security is the Spirit in advance of the promise to be given in full at a later time. What does this mean? This advance of the Holy Spirit is a pledge given by God that He will give the rest of the inheritance to His people when they go to live with Him. Though they can be sealed by the Holy Spirit, they can still grieve Him, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones duly notes. To avoid this, Christians must be willing to live lives in a way that gives full control to God and runs from sin.
What does it mean to “grieve the Holy Spirit?” In this sermon on grieving the Holy Spirit from Ephesians 4:30, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks of Paul’s statement that encompasses all the particulars that he had been talking about in the preceding verses. Importantly, it also serves to differentiate Christian ethics from any other ethical tradition. If a Christian’s morality is not rooted in this purpose and understanding of sinning against God, then it is not Christian at all. Paul’s point is this: any wrong living grieves the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is the seal of the Christian’s inheritance and indwells those who are saved. All sin runs counter to the character of God and grieves Him greatly. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that when one becomes a Christian, their relationship to God becomes one of love instead of one as a lawbreaker. Thus, when one sins, they must not be grieved because they have broken His law, but rather because they have sinned against His great love for them. Understanding this, it is easy to see why it is such a serious thing to sin and grieve the Holy Spirit. How can this be countered? Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that the Christian must constantly be aware of the Lord’s presence. As people are reverent around royalty, Christians must remember that God is constantly with them and act accordingly. This will drive them to a desire to honor and please Him with their lives.
Biblical authority lies at the center of evangelical identity. Without the authority of the Scriptures, the normative claims of the faith are severely undermined. While the authority of the Scriptures should be fought for, defended, and part of convictional orthodoxy, in this sermon on 1 Corinthians 2:4–5, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds believers it is possible to hold to the authority of the Scriptures and yet have a dead, lifeless orthodoxy. It is only when the authority of the Holy Spirit is affirmed and applied that we see the Christian faith lived with power. In this message, Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches in the hard truth that evangelical Christianity, in its concern over “enthusiastic” religion and emotionalism, responded negatively by down-playing the importance of the Holy Spirit’s power. Instead of searching for the God-given means of power for evangelism and cultural impact, the church sought it in education, social reform, advertising, and other dignified or respectable means. Dr. Lloyd-Jones questions if Christians are guilty of quenching the Spirit through such action. In this sermon, Dr. Lloyd-Jones also surveys the Scriptures, noting the authority of the Spirit in the believer’s conversion, assurance, Scriptural illumination, apologetic, and evangelism. Listen as he makes a compelling case to reassert the authority of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church.
Who is Jesus? Many say that Jesus was merely a good teacher. He was a teacher; the greatest teacher who has ever lived, but He is more. Christ did not merely come to teach, for teaching cannot conquer sin. Law cannot change a person. Jesus came to change lives. In this sermon on 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 titled “The Holy Spirit in Salvation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that Christians once were something else, but they have been transformed. The Christian is a new being, no longer under the power and sway of the devil. The wicked one cannot touch them. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that this is not achieved through Jesus’s gift of teaching, but it is achieved through Jesus’s gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit emancipates the new believer by giving them knowledge of and a taste for Christ. The believer has new affections and desires. Jesus, therefore, is seen in human weakness, failure, hopelessness, and despair. All must go to Him, just as they are, and find new life. Humanity needs more than His teaching; people need Him. Indeed, Jesus is more than a teacher. He is more than a law-giver. Jesus is the Savior who will never leave nor forsake His people.
What is the basis of faith? Many see faith as nothing more than a feeling or something that is chosen to believe against all reason. But in this sermon on Acts 5:32, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows that Christian faith is very different from these common misconceptions. The faith that is found in the New Testament, this true faith, is grounded in historical actions of God. It is grounded in the sending of His Son to die upon the cross, and in the sending of the Holy Spirit to empower believers to fulfill the mission of God. These are real events that have changed the course of history and the whole world! Jesus was a man who lived and died, but He was also God and what He has done is the foundation of all faith. His gospel is the only means of salvation and true peace with God. It is this witness of the Holy Spirit that works in time and history to spread the message of Christ through the church to the whole world. The gospel confronts with the vital question: do you believe in Jesus and that He has come and died so that all who believe might be saved?
Evangelicals rightly value truth. Sometimes, however, their reputation for truth is understood as the desire to merely be right. The former leads to freedom, assurance, and grace. The latter leads to a morbid cynicism. Among the problems in the church of Rome was the concern about whether they were right about eating and drinking. In this sermon on the Holy Spirit from Roman 14:17 titled “Peace in the Holy Spirit,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones suggests they were constantly worried about being right on an issue, which led to fearful, anxious, and censorious conditions. The church was a place that contradicted what the kingdom of God is about: peace. The church today is likewise preoccupied with the matter of being right. The result is constantly looking for some defect in one another – being “spiritual detectives” towards each other instead of the family of God. But where is peace in all this? Have Christians forgotten that the purpose of salvation itself is to have peace with God? This gospel of peace spreads, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, to having peace with ourselves and one another. The kingdom of God is about peace. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones points to the Prince of Peace in order that Christians may have peace.
What are spiritual gifts and how does a Christian determine their spiritual gift? In this sermon on spiritual gifts, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones takes the listener through this topic as he preaches on Scripture’s teachings regarding spiritual gifts. These are extraordinary powers that separate Christians from one another and enable them to serve effectively in different ways across the church. Spiritual gifts are not a blessing that some Christians receive— they are promised to all believers. One myth is that the ability of one’s gift is related to its possessor’s spiritual maturity. Dr. Lloyd-Jones takes great pains to dispel this myth and to show that not only do the gifts differ widely from each other, but that they are not determined by the level of one’s spirituality. Theologians for centuries have argued over which gifts were only for the early church, which gifts exist in the church across its existence, and even if any spiritual gifts are still in existence today. Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides a helpful commentary and discussion on these questions, showing the difference between natural gifts and supernatural gifts. What about the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit? Listen carefully as he unwraps this and more in this sermon on the Holy Spirit and His spiritual gifts to the church.
What is a revival? In this sermon on the Holy Spirit in Revival from Genesis 26:17–18, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers that a revival is a work of the Holy Spirit wherein He moves amongst God’s people and unbelievers. The Holy Spirit is the one who works in God’s people to equip them and gift them for the work of spreading the gospel and building up the church. It is the Holy Spirit who gives the church apostles, preachers, and prophets. It is also the Holy Spirit who moves in the world to convict fallen sinners of their wicked ways and of their need of repentance. But one of the church’s greatest dangers is to quench the work of the Holy Spirit by denying His work. Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that one of the biggest problems with the church today is false teaching about the nature of the Holy Spirit’s work and ministry amongst the people of God. If the church is to be faithful and equipped to serve God, Christians must return to a doctrine of the Holy Spirit that recognizes His working and power in the world. This sermon has a message for both believers and unbelievers in that it calls all to recognize the grace of God in giving His Spirit to the world.
How can something be one and yet many different things? This is the nature of the church where each member is different, but part of one body. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:20–22 titled “Built Together by the Holy Spirit,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones probes into how this can happen and who produces it. First, Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes a distinction between individuals and being individualistic. The former is, as he notes, a beautiful aspect of the church. Each stone is hewn differently—every Christian is different—but each stone does not pursue isolation. Each stone needs the others to be a temple. The differences in the church, according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, spotlights the nature of a living God. However, who is the one responsible for the unity in the diversity? As he observes from Ephesians, the builder of the temple is the Holy Spirit (vs 22). As Dr. Lloyd-Jones notes, the church is a miracle. The Holy Spirit must bring all to the conviction of their depravity and sin in order to shape and mold them into stones for the temple. Also, the Holy Spirit is the one who opens eyes to the truth of the gospel, gives understanding, produces the same fruit, and gives different gifts to members of the church. No one is able to do anything apart from Him.
According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s purpose for everything He does is the Christian’s sanctification. In this sermon titled “The Mighty Process of the Holy Spirit,” he outlines three dangers: Christians must not separate justification and sanctification; Christians cannot believe to both receive sanctification at the time of salvation and also at a point in the future; and Christians must be wary of preaching a false evangelism that stops at forgiveness and excludes holy living. The Christian should care about living a life that is pleasing to God because God is holy. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains the Christian’s responsibility in sanctification. While the Holy Spirit is at work within them, they must not resist His work. Paul wrote about this in Romans 8 and other passages, teaching that Christians must actively seek to eliminate sin from their lives. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains how Christians can come alongside the Holy Spirit in His work of making them more like Jesus Christ.
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.
In this sermon on Ephesians 6:10–13 titled “Quenching the Spirit (1),” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes the bold claim that the church’s quenching of the Holy Spirit hinders it more than anything else. What is quenching the Spirit? In a desire to avoid making Christianity reliant on subjective religious experiences, many Christians leave no room for the work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives. This is quenching the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells that the Holy Spirit is a person who indwells all who believe. The church of today ought to look at the early church found in Acts to see what it looks like to rely on the Holy Spirit for power and guidance. What are the practical applications of this message on Ephesians 6:10–13? Christians should seek to look to the Holy Spirit to empower their ministries and lives as they follow Jesus Christ. The church as a whole should look to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as He allows Christians to understand the gospel and God’s word. Christians must not overreact against those who abuse the Bible’s teaching on the Holy Spirit by suppressing what the Bible does teach about the Holy Spirit and His ministry in the church.
What is so important about the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Why does it matter for Christians whether it is a one-time event or not? In this sermon on John 1:16–33 titled “Spirit Baptism and Scripture,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones examines the difficult issue of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He says that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not experienced by all believers, and ought to be distinguished from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Examples of what it means to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be seen in the apostles after Pentecost –– they went from being frightened to bold ambassadors for the gospel of Jesus Christ. While not all Christians receive this baptism, all who believe in the gospel are saved and can know the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. Believing the gospel is of most importance. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that one can live and die without ever receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit and enter the kingdom of God. Yet if one does not believe in the gospel, they will not be saved.
Can Christians receive more power from the Holy Ghost for the work of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ? In this sermon on John 1:26-33, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He argues that the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is not the first giving of the Spirit, but rather a second anointing of power. He argues this by pointing out that Jesus says to “receive the Holy Spirit” when He reveals Himself to them in the upper room before Pentecost. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that this means that the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost was not the regeneration of the disciples or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; rather, it was a unique empowerment of the Spirit for the work of the kingdom. A Christian’s view of the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament directly informs what they pray for and how they approach Spirit-led revival. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that Christians who don’t understand Pentecost correctly will be unable to seek after, or accept, revival and awakening.
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian? Many Christians do not have a very high view of the third person of the Trinity. In this sermon on John 1:12–13, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on the role of the Holy Spirit in giving Christians assurance of their new life in Christ. It is the Holy Spirit that transforms the lifeless old man into a glorious new creation made for God. It is the Holy Spirit that opens believers’ eyes to see the truths of Scripture and its meaning for their lives. It is also the Holy Spirit that guides believers into the knowledge of the salvation of God. All Christians can and should have the knowledge that they are loved by God and called to be His children. This sermon tells the glorious truth that all who believe in Jesus can be saved and forgiven of all their sins, and they can know that they are forgiven by the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Who is the Holy Spirit? Why does he matter for the life of a Christian? In this sermon on John 1:16 titled “If Any Man Thirst,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones deeply looks into God’s Word to see how the Holy Spirit brings new life and changing power to the Christian life. The Holy Spirit was active throughout the lives of the Old Testament saints and without the work of the Holy Spirit, no one can be saved and brought to a true knowledge of God. Nevertheless, in the new covenant the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon those that believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This new power that the Holy Spirit grants is the source of the Christian life; it allows Christians to flee from sin and to grow in holiness. Moralistic teaching and practices cannot bring lasting change because true change is a supernatural act of God.
What makes Christians different from everybody else? The answer is found in the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who transforms believers and sets them apart from the world. This indwelling of the Holy Spirt ought to make believers more peaceful, joyful, and loving. This is seen in the early church as recorded in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirt comes upon the church at Pentecost and transforms them. They are given strength and boldness as the Holy Spirit grants them joy and peace in Christ. Sadly, many believers do not allow the Holy Spirit to work in them because they quench the work of the Spirit. In this sermon on John 4:13–14, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones warns against this quenching of the Spirit, but he also says that the Christian must not fall into excesses. They must look to God’s word to define who the Spirit is and how He works in the church and world. All Christians are commanded to live not in their own strength, but to rest wholly in the Spirit of Christ. It is in the work of the Spirit that Christians can experience joy, peace, and the love of God. All Christians should look to the Spirit of God who is given as the great comforter to all of God’s children.
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