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The Fear of the Lord

Romans 3:18-20

Why does one sin? What drives them to chase after everything that dishonors God? The underlying answer is quoted from Psalm 36 in this Romans passage: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). In this sermon from Romans 3:18–20 titled “The Fear of the Lord,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains fear as reverential awe, a desire to worship God, an understanding that God is the judge of all the earth, and a fear of punishment. The unsaved do not fear the eternal punishment of the holy God. In this passage, Paul also points out that the very law in which the Jews boast has also condemned them. All guilty under sin. Paul has stressed this repeatedly in recent passages and Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that it is because every mouth needs to be stopped. Scripture shows the standard that all must live up to and that standard shows how humans are truly vile. That alone should silence all arguing and excuses. Dr. Lloyd-Jones asks the listener to examine the heart and mouth and ask if they are still doubting or arguing against the almighty God or has their mouth been stopped by His righteousness and grace? Thanks be to God who by His Son saves from sin.

Luther and the Protestant Reformation

In the words of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “the reformation changed the entire course of history.” In his sermon on Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, Dr. Lloyd-Jones explores the Reformation in its entirety. In this sermon on Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, he begins by looking into the time before the Reformation. Prior to Martin Luther, the world was controlled entirely by the Catholic Church. Everything from religion, to science, to warfare was under the iron fist of the Roman Catholic Church. That is until Martyn Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a Catholic Church and began the Reformation. Luther was at this time a Catholic monk and teacher. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones puts it, he did not originally want to break away from the Church of Rome. All he wanted to do was expose the unbiblical sale of indulgences. However, as Luther studied further in the psalms and epistles, he discovered that we are saved, not by works, but by faith. Luther challenged the doctrine of the Catholic church, saying they practiced things that did not correspond to the Bible, but the Church turned a blind eye. Ultimately, Luther left the Catholic Church for it was too power hungry and profitable to abandon its works based model of salvation. Luther, with only the power of God’s word itself, would then go on to lead the Reformation. Martin Luther’s effect on Christianity would be so great that even today we can see its consequences. However, Dr. Lloyd-Jones does not stop there. He also covers the non-historical importance of the Reformation. He asks the questions, “What is a Christian?” and “How does one become a Christian?” But most importantly, what can we learn from Luther’s one-man stand against the largest organization of his time? To this, Dr. Lloyd-Jones replies, “When everything else is gone, the city of God remaineth.” With God, we can do all things; so like Luther we should fear nothing when we are doing the work of the Lord.