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Sermon #5273

A State of Warfare

A Sermon on Isaiah 40:1-2

Scripture

Isaiah 40:1-2 ESV NASB KJV
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. (ESV)

Sermon Description

The Christian life is altogether the work of God, not humanity. God’s word is from Him and to those waging warfare against Him. In this sermon on Isaiah 40:1–2 titled “A State of Warfare,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses sin, peace, and the mark of a true Christian that separates them from all others. Humanity is not what it was meant to be—iniquity is a perversion and wrongness that completely misses God’s mark. No one can buy or learn peace. The world searches for peace by their own means, but sin is a hard taskmaster. The greatest folly of humanity is thinking that they can bring real peace within themselves or outside of themselves, while forgetting God. This sermon is unlike many other messages—it is a message of comfort, not a call for anyone to save themselves but to receive a new life and be made into a new creature. The mark of God’s own people is a unique recognition and confession of their own sin. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones calls all to a standard of biblical ownership, so that they no longer shift the blame for personal sin to God, others, or circumstances.

Old Testament

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.