What Were the Main Purposes of Jesus' Miracles According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermon on John 5:6-9, Jesus' miracles served two primary purposes:

1. To attest to His divine identity - "Primarily, the business of these miracles which were worked by the Lord Jesus Christ was to attest his person. He didn't do them merely because of his kindness and his compassion and his heart of love. His first and his primary object was to give a sign as to who he was."

2. To illustrate His spiritual work - "Miracles subserve a second object, and that is to illustrate his spiritual work... Our Lord worked these miracles in order that people might see that what he was doing there, obviously and openly in a physical sense, he could also do and had come to do in a much greater sense, in a spiritual sense."

How Does Lloyd-Jones Describe the Connection Between Sin and Physical Illness?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes a direct connection between sin and physical illness, stating:

1. All physical diseases originated from sin - "There would have never been any disease in the world at all were it not that sin came in. It is the ultimate cause of all our troubles."

2. Some specific illnesses are direct results of specific sins - "You notice that our Lord suggested to this man that all his troubles were due to his sin. He said to him, 'Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest the worst thing happened to thee.'"

3. Sin creates a world of suffering and selfishness - "All the ills and the troubles and the problems and perplexities and heartaches of this world of ours are all the result of sin, every one of them."

What Are the Three Conditions of Mankind Without Christ According to This Sermon?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies three key conditions of mankind without Christ, as illustrated by the paralyzed man at the pool:

1. Misery - "Sin always leads to misery... Paralyzed and impotent, suffering remorse and shame, pain... But on top of it, all this bitterness coming in as he sees that every man's out for himself."

2. Helplessness - "The utter helplessness of this man is surely obvious... We are weak, we are helpless, we can't live up to our own standards. We can't keep our own resolves and resolutions, we can't keep the Ten Commandments."

3. Hopelessness - "Complete hopelessness... I suppose there is nothing more sad and affecting in the condition of mankind this evening than the manifestation of this self-same sense of hopelessness."

How Is Christ's Method of Salvation Different from the World's Methods?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, Christ's method of salvation differs from the world's methods in several important ways:

1. It doesn't rely on human assistance - "This gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has nothing to do with human learning or philosophy or understanding. It doesn't use them at all."

2. It depends entirely on Christ's power - "Everything that you and I need and the whole world needs at this moment is in Jesus Christ himself. It's all in him and it's nowhere else."

3. It works immediately - "He didn't prescribe a cause of treatment for him. He didn't tell him 'Now you do this and do it regularly, and soon you'll begin to feel better.' No, that's men, that's medicine. That's psychology... Immediately the man was made whole."

4. It doesn't favor the privileged - "Nobody has an advantage here. Money doesn't help a man here. Learning doesn't... When you're looking into the face of the Son of God, you're both in the same level and he can deal with both in exactly the same way."

Why Does Lloyd-Jones Say We Must Feel Hopeless Before Becoming a Christian?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches that recognizing our spiritual hopelessness is essential to salvation because:

1. It reveals our true condition - "You know, you've got to feel this hopelessness before you'll ever be a Christian. As long as a man relies upon himself and his own powers, I have no gospel for him."

2. It leads us to stop relying on ourselves - "The gospel of Jesus Christ is for those who've become hopeless about themselves."

3. It prepares us to receive Christ's complete salvation - "Had you realized, my dear friend, that you can never save yourself?... Face yourself and face your own life. Analyze it... See the hopelessness, and then consider God's demands and God's law, and you'll realize that you'll never get there."