During Jesus’s first miracle of turning water into wine, Mary tells the people there an important command which is still relevant today: “do whatever he tells you.” Listen as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks about this command in this sermon on John 2:1–11 and how Christians are to listen to this advice from Mary. He brings up the importance of the balance between God’s part and the Christian’s part of this command, which takes the form of His activities being lived out through His people. In order for this to be lived out in the Christian life, they must live in obedience to the commands of the Lord. They must listen for His still, small voice and pursue the things which draw them closer to Him. It is through this obedience to the Lord that they will experience Him working in their lives and be able to see firsthand His great promises, stepping into the new possibilities He brings. Through this sermon, Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages to realize the blessings which come through obeying God and to take the advice of Mary: to hear whatever the Lord says and to respond in wholehearted and unwavering obedience to Him.

Have Christians truly received the fullness of Christ? Do they understand God’s significant part in forming them into new creations? In this sermon on John 2:3–5 titled “A Sovereign Lord,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses these topics through the story of Jesus’s first miracle at the wedding feast. He begins by expressing the truth that God is the one who holds all the power. Christians are utterly dependent upon Him and His power to work in their lives. Dr. Lloyd-Jones expresses that it is when Christians behold Him that He changes them through the Holy Spirit and forms them into new creations. As the Christian beholds Him, He works a miracle in their lives and fills them with the unsearchable riches of Christ. Dr. Lloyd-Jones ends by explaining how this act of God is miraculous and sudden. It can happen in the blink of an eye. Not only that, but it is independent of reasoning. It cannot be reasoned in the minds of humans, but it is a miraculous work by God. It is through this work that others can see something different in the lives of Christians. May God’s work open the door for others to see Him and for His name to be glorified.

Who is Jesus? As seen in the Scriptures, Jesus is no mere man and is much more than can be imagined. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches from John 2:7–10 where the question of the identity of Jesus is at the forefront. Jesus has power to perform great signs and miracles and performs them to show the world His divine power over all of creation. Jesus not only has power over the physical world, but also the spiritual world. Jesus not only turns water to wine, but also changes dead sinners into living children of God. Jesus as the Son of God gives new life because He is the water of life. To be a Christian is to believe in Jesus for salvation; it is to trust Him wholly and completely. The person of Jesus forces all to ask the question: “am I trusting in Him?” Christians cannot have a neutral attitude toward Him. Jesus is divisive because He is the true and better Adam that has come to redeem sinners and set them free from all sin. The sermon calls all to believe and hope in Jesus Christ for their salvation.

Christians are promised the great celestial blessings of the Lord. Are they living in light of the promises of these blessings? Are they drinking from the rivers of the Lord’s grace and goodness? In this sermon from John 2:9–10 titled “Beauty from Ashes,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones talks about the blessings of the Lord and what they look like. He begins by focusing on the character of these blessings, which is that they are always good and pure. Dr. Lloyd-Jones then goes on to show what these blessings do for God’s children. The Christian often does not think about how these blessings show the desperate condition of need and dependence upon the Lord. These blessings do not come through anything Christians have done to deserve them, but as a free gift from the Lord. Their righteousness is but filthy rags but when they thirst after Him, in His grace and mercy, the Savior brings beauty from filthy rags and fills with His blessings of eternal life and His fullness. When the Christian receives these blessings, not only will they know, but those around them will see what only God can do in bringing beauty from the ashes.

Christians have been promised the kind of living water by which they will never thirst again. Are they living lives that reflect this? Listen as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks on the fullness of God and the abundance found in Him from John 2:9–11 in this sermon titled “The Riches of Christ.” First, he speaks about the abundance that is found in the Lord. He never runs out of grace, forgiveness, or mercy, but is ready to extend it freely to those who seek after and believe in Him. It is important to realize that it is His work in the Christian that fills to overflowing. He then goes on to speak about an important truth in the Christian life: experiencing the fullness of God is not a one-time thing, but is meant to increase as the Christian grows in their walk with the Lord. This truth is something Christians can rejoice in and find great hope. The more God’s fullness is received, the greater a desire will be to grow in that fullness. And as Christians grow in that fullness, it will overflow into their every action, causing them to live lives that reflect this beautiful abundance of their Lord.

Christians have the job to live among the world, but not of the world. In this sermon on the cleansing of the temple, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks from John 2:13–17 about what it looks like to live a life that stands apart from the world. He begins by stating that Christians must know that Jesus is the answer to everything. This means they must choose to listen to Him over anything else. Rather than twisting His words to fit into what they want them to mean, they need to clearly understand and live out the truths He gives through His holy word. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that that the most important thing in the Christian walk is their relationship with God. However, the greatest danger is to misuse that relationship. He relates this to the Israelites of the Old Testament, and reminds that God is the true judge and knows the heart. While He is the judge, He has also come to cleanse and restore. He has come to give hearts that love Him and desire to honor Him. He has come to restore and shine through His people so that all the world can see Him.

What is the condition of the Christian soul? If examined, are elements of unbelief, doubt, uncertainty, misappropriation or sin found there? In this sermon on John 2:13-17 titled “A Temple Meet for Himself,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones looks to Jesus’ cleansing of the temple to instruct the Christian on the importance of examining their souls. Upon becoming a Christian, they become a dwelling place of the Lord Jesus. It is of utmost importance, then, to examine the soul regularly. Has sin found an anchor in the heart because the Christian believes grace and forgiveness are readily available when they finally ask forgiveness? The Christian soul, the dwelling place of the Lord Jesus, should not be a place where selfishness and idolatry take root. The soul is to be examined and cleansed that it might be worthy for the Lord Jesus and to glorify him. May the Christian take heart and be encouraged to regularly examine the state of their souls and be found acceptable for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Throughout Jesus’s ministry on earth, people marveled at his many signs and miracles. Performing signs and miracles is something Jesus does often in the New Testament; however, there always seem to be people who were never satisfied with the signs of Jesus. In this sermon on John 2:18–22 titled “The Question of Signs,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks on this topic as he warns against the wrong way of asking Jesus for signs. He begins by pointing out how the people of Jesus’s time continually asked for signs but asked them for the wrong reasons. These people were asking for signs outside of a relationship with Jesus and were never satisfied with the signs they were given. They were more focused on seeing signs in the physical and visible sense rather than being transformed in the spiritual sense. Dr. Lloyd-Jones then challenges Christians to reflect upon their own lives today by asking themselves: “am I also guilty of asking for signs for the wrong reason? Am I not content with what the Lord has already given me?” Dr. Lloyd-Jones concludes by encouraging reflection upon these questions and taking hold of the signs God has already given, rather than to continuously ask for more.

Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. But who is Jesus? Some say Jesus was a great man and ethical teacher. Some say he was nothing more than a human teacher like many who came before him and would come after him. However, as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows us from Scripture and in this sermon titled “God With Us,” Jesus was no mere man, but He was the very Son of God. He was God in flesh come to dwell with humanity through the incarnation. In the Old Testament God was present with His people through the temple and the manifestation of His glory. But in Bethlehem God became present with His people by being born of a virgin. In this, God the Son (the second person of God) takes upon a true human nature and becomes subject to all the infirmities of the flesh. As God becomes present in Christ Jesus, it is a new presence and is better than the presence of the Old Covenant. The message of the incarnation goes far beyond the story of the birth of Jesus. He did not come into the world to merely be an example or to simply teach, but he came to die for sins. This is the great hope of the Christian faith: God became a man to die so that humanity may know Him.

What do Jesus’s miracles mean to the Christian? Did they bring the Christian to faith, or are they simply impressed by them? In this sermon on John 2:23–25 titled “The Temporary Believer,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones expresses the danger of believing in Christ solely based on spectacle. True believers come to Christ because of who He is, not merely for the miracles He performed. Many came to faith after seeing Christ’s miracles, but they did so in confession of sin because they realized their spiritual state in relation to God. Faith in the signs Christ performed did not lead people to salvation, but faith in the God who performed them did. Dr. Lloyd-Jones clarifies that God’s word, not wonders, leads people to faith. The distinction is important: wonders are phenomenal to behold, but God’s word articulates the truth of Christ to needful souls. This means that Christ’s teaching about His person and the good news was what brought people to Him, and miracles were further affirmation of His legitimacy. Dr. Lloyd-Jones also exhorts his listeners that they must believe “on” Jesus, not merely “in” Him. The difference, he explains, is that those who believe on Jesus are trusting Him with their souls; those who believe in Jesus merely trust Him to be a spectacle.

Has Christ committed himself to you? Do you have a relationship with Christ? In this sermon on John 2:23-25 titled “Christ committed to you,” Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers this question and explains what it means to have Christ committed to you and to have a relationship with Christ. He explains that salvation is not one sided, but it is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Additionally, we cannot decide to take salvation or any part of it whenever we like. Salvation depends on Christ and is not simply our decision. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that the vital thing in salvation is whether Christ will commit Himself to us. So how do we know that He has committed Himself to us? None but his loved ones know. If we examine our relationship with him, then we can tell if he has received us. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that if you are resting on some experience in the past that you think may have given you salvation, and you are constantly questioning your faith, then Christ has likely not received you. If you have spiritual understanding, are amazed at yourself, have rest and peace, a sense that you have been ‘dealt with’, and have a hunger and thirst for Christ, then he has committed Himself to you and you have a relationship with Christ.

What does it mean that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian’s salvation? The theme of Jesus as God’s appointed Savior is found throughout the Gospel of John. In this sermon from John 2:23–25 titled “Captain of Our Salvation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones expounds on this great doctrine and its significance for all. The biblical message of salvation is the proclamation that God has acted in Jesus Christ to redeem His people from sin and bondage. It is wholly a work of grace that cannot be improved on or added to; it cannot be made more perfect than it is. Jesus alone saves. Any desire to add to the work of Christ distorts the gospel and denies Jesus as the sole savior of the world. What does this message mean for humanity? First and foremost, it is a call to repent and believe in Jesus. Sinners should not go another day without trusting in the compassion and love of God. For those that already believe, they must seek to live in the power of Christ and reject all efforts of self-justification. Jesus is the captain of their salvation because He is the only one that can save from sin, death, and the judgment of God.

Who is Jesus and what has He come to do? This was the question that everyone was asking when Jesus was performing miracles and proclaiming the kingdom of God. Modern humanity is still asking this question. In this sermon on John 2:1–5 titled “Christianity and Its Message”, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones examines the question of who Jesus is and why it matters. Jesus said He came to do the will of the Father; He would not let other people define who He was or His mission. He tells this to the Jewish people, His disciples, and even His own mother. Jesus says He came to die and rise from the grave for sinners. He is not merely a political figure, but He is God in the flesh. The gospel is concerned with humanity’s ultimate reconciliation with the triune God, and not solely on ending war, temporal suffering, and pain. This sermon calls all to repent and believe in Jesus. It calls all to believe that Jesus has been sent from God and that He alone can redeem.

In his sermon on “Let a Man Examine Himself,” from John 2:23–25, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tackles the important topic of unbelief. How does unbelief come about, and how does Jesus respond? He offers an explanation to Christ’s actions. In the passage, Jesus performs miracles and many of the crowd believed in His name, but Christ did not give Himself to them, for He knew their hearts. Why did Christ reject them? Dr. Lloyd-Jones points to their unbelief. The people who gathered believed in His miracles, but they did not believe in His teaching. In many ways, they resembled Nicodemus. The Pharisee approached Jesus at night, wondering why He was able to perform such signs and miracles. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that Nicodemus wasn’t interested in Jesus’s teaching, and that is why he never understood. The proper approach to Christ is like that of the disciples. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says all should mimic the disciples’ desire to know God. They saw Christ’s miracles, but also wanted to know where He was staying so they could listen and understand. This is the kind of belief God is interested in, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says. These are the people who will understand God’s love, and His Son’s redemptive sacrifice on the cross.