Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s sermon series on the book of Romans were preached to the congregation at Westminster Chapel in the heart of central London on Friday evenings between October 1955 to March 1968. These sermons …
Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s sermon series on the book of Romans were preached to the congregation at Westminster Chapel in the heart of central London on Friday evenings between October 1955 to March 1968. These sermons were preached from the beginning of October until the end of May each year, with breaks being taken for Christmas and Easter. Dr Lloyd-Jones began his ministry at Westminster Chapel in 1938, and his ministry there lasted for thirty years until his retirement in 1968. As such, his Romans sermon series came at the end of his preaching career. Spanning 366 sermons over twelve years, his series on the book of Romans is the longest expositional series Dr Lloyd-Jones ever did.
Dr Lloyd-Jones regarded the book of Romans as the ‘first in importance’ among the New Testament epistles. Indeed, it is likely that Dr Lloyd-Jones saw his exposition of the book of Romans as his most important work, as evidenced by the fact that he chose his Romans sermons as the first of his many sermons to be published following his retirement. His official biographer Iain Murray writes;
Many hundreds of unrevised manuscript copies of sermons thus existed by 1968, of which, for reasons already noted, comparatively few had appeared in print. He did not hesitate in choosing to put his Romans sermons first for publication in book form, to be followed by those on Ephesians.
Dr Lloyd-Jones’s Romans sermons include in depth exposition of passages such as Romans 5:1-5, Romans 8:28, , Romans 8:31-39, Romans 12, Romans 12:9-21, Romans 12:1-2. His hope for this Romans sermon series was that they will ‘not only help Christian people to understand more clearly the great doctrines of our Faith, but that they will also fill them with a joy "unspeakable and full of glory" and bring them into a condition in which they will be "Lost in wonder, love, and praise"’.
It is a great error to think that the Bible is just another ancient book. In this sermon on Romans 15:4 titled “The Message of the Bible,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shares about the unique nature of Scripture as the very word and revelation of God. God’s revealed will to His people is found in the pages of the Old and New Testaments. This should cause all to read Scripture as one divinely gifted message that has been given for the edification and building up of all believers. All must believe Scripture because it is the very word of God and carries the fullest authority possible. What does God reveal to His people in Scripture? The one overarching theme in Scripture is the salvation of God’s people by His Son, Jesus Christ. Scripture must be read as one whole work by one author with one message. This message is one of victory and salvation wherein Jesus Christ dies upon the cross for the salvation of all who believe and the redemption of the whole world. Jesus is making all things new by His death, resurrection, and rule. When one comes to Scripture, they should come to learn about God and what He has accomplished through His Son, Jesus Christ.