Other Sermons

The tool used by God in the sanctification of His people is the truth of His word. In John 17:17, Jesus prays that the Father will sanctify His people with the truth. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones unfolds this text, he asks and answers two important questions: “What does it mean to be sanctified?” and “What is the first truth or doctrine the Christian must consider and study to be sanctified?” In this sermon on John 17:17 titled “Godliness,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that sanctification is the process of becoming more like Christ. The believer is striving to live a holy life and growing in godliness. This godliness that reflects the holiness of God is not just a removal or avoidance of sin in the believer’s life. Godliness that truly demonstrates sanctification is a life that loves God with all of one’s being. If that is the case, then what is the first doctrine or truth to be considered? It is the doctrine of God. The Christian cannot assume the truth about God. The truth or doctrine about God is the starting place of sanctification. As he explains from Scripture, Dr. Lloyd-Jones demonstrates that this first truth is what ultimately leads to godliness.

What separates people from God and what keeps them from knowing Him on their own? The answer is found in understanding the sin that is within oneself. In this sermon on John 17:17 titled “The Doctrine of Sin,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that believers are sanctified in the truth, and sanctified from the ugliness of sin that keeps one in a wrong relationship to God. Sin is what separates people from God. It is not intellect or a cognitive problem. Disobedience to God places a person in a wrong relationship to Him because sin is centered on self and causes the pagan to be focused on themselves and not God. The sinner is not God-centered. How does he or she know this? The law is that which exposes one’s sin and the holiness of God. Therefore, the sinner must be converted from sin. They must receive a new nature and become a new person, a new creature in Christ. But conversion is only the beginning. Through ongoing sanctification, the believer is not cleansed from sin and made like Christ. The believer must consider if they have glossed over sin and crowded it out, or have dealt with their sin through repentance and belief and continue to deal with it in their sanctification.

Why do Christians gather for worship on Good Friday? Certain religious and pseudo-Christian religions gather for what might be called, “holy days.” Listen as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains how tradition, not facts or truth, often drive these empty and meaningless gatherings. But why does the church gather for worship on these special occasions? Dr. Lloyd-Jones opens John 19:31-37 to answer that very question. The Christian faith and motives for Christian worship are based on the certainty of facts. While other religions create what appear to be worship-filled gatherings, they are empty and void of fact. They are created in the minds of men. By contrast, the Christian faith is built on the foundation of fact. Furthermore, those facts are certain and peculiar in nature unfolding the fulfillment of prophecy from centuries gone by. What is the fact that drives worship on Good Friday? In this sermon, Lloyd-Jones teaches that the death of Christ and all of the peculiar facts of his death drive this worship. And, why does his death cause us to worship? Through his death, a literal broken heart, the Lamb of God provides forgiveness for our sin.

What is the grounding of the Christian faith? In this sermon on Acts 7:1-47, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on the great reality that the Christian faith is anchored in time and history. God sent His Son into the world at a specific time and place to die and rise for sinners so that they would be redeemed. After Jesus ascended, He sent His Holy Spirit to empower His disciples to spread the Kingdom of God to the ends of the earth. This supernatural power is what made the Church what it was in the time of the apostles, and the Holy Spirit continues to work in the Church today so that it can reach the world. The Church can be bold because it has a message that is grounded in history. The Holy Spirit continues to work in the Church so that the whole world can hear of what God has done in His Son. But, "what does Jesus dying upon the cross have to do with me?" someone may ask. The answer is simple: Jesus died and rose from the grave so that all who believe in Him might be saved and made children of God.

Why did the apostles in the early Church stand before Israelites and Greeks alike and proclaim the truth that God raised Jesus from the dead? In a day when many claim that Christianity is not about facts or historical events, this may seem strange. But in this sermon on Acts 2:11, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones proclaims that at the center of Christianity is the great works of God! The holy Scripture proclaims that God, the creator and sustainer of the whole world, has come down in the form of a servant. Jesus Christ is both God and man, and He has come to seek and save the lost. He has come to heal the sick and give sight to the blind. Jesus is the only hope for the world, for all who believe in His death and resurrection are saved and made right before God. Christianity is based on the facts of what God has done in history for His people. This sermon confronts us all with the truth that God has died for sinner so that they might have true life. There is no more important message for men and women in all ages.

At the center of Christianity stands the mystery of the cross. When Jesus foretold that He must die for the sins of His people, even His own disciples did not understand what He meant. It was not until the Holy Spirit enlightened their eyes that they truly believed! This is because no one expected Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to die upon the cross. In this sermon on Acts 2:22-23, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches on the great mystery of the cross, but also on the great blessing of the cross. For there is no salvation apart from the shedding of blood and Jesus dying in the place of sinners. Jesus' whole life led up to the moment that He was put to death by lawless men; the Bible says it was preordained by God! The cross was always God’s plan to save sinners. All men are sinners and in dire need of forgiveness from God. It is only through believing in Jesus, in His person and work, that any can be saved. This sermon calls each and every one of us to forsake our sins and look to Jesus. For there is salvation in no other name!

The Christian faith is one that is based on real historical facts. Just as the Old Testament tells of actual people, places, and events, the New Testament does as well. However, as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones demonstrates in this sermon on Acts 2:24 titled “Head of a New Humanity,” there are some who claim that the hallmark of true religion ignores historical events, and is built on one’s feelings and emotions. They claim that the historical existence of Jesus is not important because they feel in their hearts that He lived and rose from the dead. This may sound pious and spiritual, but is it biblical? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers this question with a resounding no. He says that the Bible teaches not only the historical events of the life of Jesus and His resurrection, but the New Testament authors, particularly Paul, view the physical, bodily resurrection as central and necessary to salvation. The Bible says that if Christ did not rise from the dead in a physical body then there is no salvation and there is no Christianity. The church must fight against all heresies that claim the physical resurrection is not important. The hope of all Christians is that one day they will be resurrected just as Christ was.

The message that the apostle Peter preached on the day of Pentecost was the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, the crucified Messiah. He did not try to preach what he thought his audience wanted to hear, but he proclaimed Christ Jesus as Savior who died for the sins of the world. In this sermon on Acts 2:32 titled “What is Christianity About?” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows how Peter, like the other apostles, preached the need of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus as the only way of salvation and reconciliation with God. The message was authenticated by the facts of the resurrection. The very same Jesus who rose from the dead commissioned the disciples to take the gospel to every corner of the earth. This is the message that all are faced with because to reject it is to reject God’s only Son and the only Savior of the world. To reject this message is to be damned forever under the wrath of God. This is why it is so necessary to believe and be saved from the great day of God’s wrath. It is this message that is the only hope for sinners, and that is why it is so important that the church take the gospel to all people.

Sinful people cannot save themselves but they will try. In this sermon on Acts 2:40–41 titled “This Untoward Generation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains how the world seeks to solve its problems by worldly means, turning to politicians and statesmen in times of need. But the Christian faith is a very different message than the world. It does not seek to reform the world by enacting legislation and electing politicians, but it brings a message of deliverance from sin and the promise of the new life in Christ. It says that the world’s problems are all symptomatic of its sin and alienation from God. The gospel says that no one can save themselves. It says that all are born in sin and have a corrupted nature. Because of the world’s sin, God has appointed a time in which He will judge the earth and all the inhabitants for the sin and rebellion against their Creator. This, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, is the greatest problem facing humankind. Although war and poverty are terrible things, they are only products of the greatest problem. This is why the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is so different from the world’s ways. It alone has the power to save people from their sins and unrighteousness; it alone can make them right with a God. It alone brings eternal life for all who believe.

The great need for every person living on earth is not for the world to be made a better place, but for their souls to be saved from eternal destruction. In this sermon on Acts 2:37–40 titled “What Shall We Do?” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says this is why the gospel is first and foremost a call to personal salvation and repentance. When the apostles and Jesus Christ preached, they did not do so before nations and governments, but before individual people. They spoke of the judgment that each person must endure in the final days because of their sins, and the only way to escape this judgment was repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. This is not to deny the importance of working to make the world a better place through charity and the like, but it does mean that the primary application of the gospel is to individual salvation. While some may claim that this concern with personal salvation is narrow-sighted and selfish, the Bible presents the greatest need for all is salvation. Salvation is purposefully a matter of individuals, not nations and countries. The church and Christians must be focused in their proclamation of the gospel so that it does not become another message of social reform, but it is the power of salvation to all who believe.

Are humans really born sinful? Is it truly something that contaminates everyone? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains in this sermon from Acts 3:6 entitled “Rise Up and Walk”, how all are sinners from birth and completely unable to do good in accordance with God’s Law. Their natures are fundamentally corrupt and disordered, and out of this nature comes their propensity to do evil and sin. The reason all humanity is like this can be explained in Genesis and the fall. When Adam fell into sin, he caused all of his descendants to do so as well. This explains humanity’s current plight and need for salvation. No one is able to save themselves from sin because their nature has been wholly disposed to sin and unrighteousness. Only the gospel can break the chains of sin and give freedom. This Gospel is by God’s grace alone, for sinners are spiritually dead and unable to do any good act pleasing to God. It is in humanity’s hopeless state that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings hope. It is this same gospel that was preached by the Apostles two thousand years ago, and it is the message that transformed the world – rise up and walk! This is the only hope for the world, for it alone can triumph over sin and evil to bring salvation to all who believe.

What happened on that day when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost? Listen as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones unfolds the teaching of Christ in this sermon from Acts 4:31 and the power of the Spirit that came upon the early church. This event, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, began the supernatural and Spirit-filled ministry of the early church led by the Apostles. This was the source of their success, not programs that catered to what fallen sinners wanted. This is a message that the church in modern times needs to hear, as it is not the entertainment value of the gospel that brings people to faith and repentance in the name of Jesus Christ. When the Holy Spirit works in the lives of fallen men and women, they become new creatures with new desires and inclinations. This is the source of the Christian’s strength in life, and it is the Holy Spirit that prompts them to pray and seek God. This is not the mere effort of people, but it is part of being a new person in Christ Jesus. Once the church understands this, they will see the futility of appealing to the appetites of fallen people. They will cease to accommodate the gospel to the standards of minds that do not know the light and have suppressed the knowledge of God. The church must imitate the examples of the Apostles who relied on the power of God and not on humanity.

How great is the gospel? To see the transforming and saving power of the Gospel, there is no better place to look than the early church. In this sermon on Acts 5:29–32, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones looks to the great deeds of the Apostles as they stand against persecution and boldly proclaim the gospel. After the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, Peter, John, and the other disciples have no fear in the face of persecution. They are beaten and imprisoned, but what do they do? They continue to preach Christ and Him crucified. This shows the great power of God, that He can work to change fearful fishermen into bold heralds of the kingdom of God. What does this message have to offer modern Christians and the church of today? The message of God’s faithfulness and the good news of salvation is a timeless message that the church always needs to hear. God has promised that He will give His Holy Spirit to the church, and He will empower believers to take the good news of salvation to the ends of the earth. This is so that all people might know that Jesus is the Savior of the world who has died for sinners so that all who believe are saved and made children of God.

What is the basis of faith? Many see faith as nothing more than a feeling or something that is chosen to believe against all reason. But in this sermon on Acts 5:32, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows that Christian faith is very different from these common misconceptions. The faith that is found in the New Testament, this true faith, is grounded in historical actions of God. It is grounded in the sending of His Son to die upon the cross, and in the sending of the Holy Spirit to empower believers to fulfill the mission of God. These are real events that have changed the course of history and the whole world! Jesus was a man who lived and died, but He was also God and what He has done is the foundation of all faith. His gospel is the only means of salvation and true peace with God. It is this witness of the Holy Spirit that works in time and history to spread the message of Christ through the church to the whole world. The gospel confronts with the vital question: do you believe in Jesus and that He has come and died so that all who believe might be saved?

How is the church built up? In this sermon on Acts 9:31 titled “The Edification of the Church,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that the church of Jesus Christ can only grow into godliness if the church looks to His word. By studying Scripture as individuals and as a corporate body, Christians are convicted of their sins and built up in the love of God. Part of being a Christian is becoming like Jesus through study and meditation of the Bible. Whether in times of peace or in times of intense persecution, Christians are given the responsibility of using their time to grow and mature. Dr. Lloyd-Jones exhorts Christians not to be lax in times of peace and prosperity, but to always seek to make use of what God has given them. He points to the early church as an example of what this looks like and as an example that the church of today can emulate. In all times and in all places, the church is called to faithfully obey God and seek to become more like Him. This is true in times of peace, as well as in times of hardship.

In this sermon on Acts 17:1–4 titled “It was necessary for the Christ to suffer,” from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, he preaches about Christ being the pivot point of history. More specifically, Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection are the turning point and only hope for humankind. The only way to be saved, Dr. Lloyd-Jones beckons, is through the sacrifice of God made flesh. The greatest offense in the history of humankind is the murder of Jesus Christ. Yet through this horrid event, the curtain was torn and humankind is given access to the Holy of Holies. Dr. Lloyd-Jones thoroughly repeats how Christ must have suffered. This means that the Messiah had to suffer and lose His life in order for anyone to receive life. It is only through faith that people have access to the blessings Jesus Christ has accomplished for humanity. Dr. Lloyd-Jones exhorts that there is no other way to be saved than through the Son of God. He begs his listeners to show their gratitude to Jesus Christ by giving their lives to Him in repentance and praise. The significance of the crucifixion is difficult to comprehend and will not be completely understood on the earthly side of heaven. Repent and put trust in Him and be saved from death.

How has God overcome death? All people know that eventually they will die, either from disease or some other way. Death is a universal human experience. God’s word teaches that death is not a part of the original creation, but exists only because of sin. In this sermon on Acts 17:1-4 titled “Death is Not the End,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on the great truth of God’s conquest over sin and death, and the life that all who trust in God will have. God has overcome sin and death by dying upon the cross to remove the power of sin and its curse, death. All who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ will be forgiven of all unrighteousness. In the last day, when every human who has ever lived will be resurrected, those who are in Christ will not suffer any judgement, but they will be made perfect by the grace of God. The sermon points all true believers to the great hope of the future life with Christ in the new heaven and the new earth. But to those that do not trust in Jesus now, this sermon calls them to repent of their sins and flee to Jesus, the friend of sinners. Christ is the only salvation from death and sin.

Many in the modern church are like the seven sons of Sceva who know of Christianity, but they are not truly regenerate. As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches in this sermon on the Sons of Sceva from Acts 19:13–16, they have yet to give up their worldly ways and believe in the truth of the gospel. Many associate themselves with the church for social or financial gain. They are self-deceived hypocrites who try to use Christianity for worldly gain and pleasures. Many of these people are simply humanists or socialists who use Christianity as a platform for their ideologies. This kind of association for gain has been prevalent whenever Christianity is viewed as socially expedient. But this has the terrible effect of creating false believers who have never truly believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ or repented of their sins. This is why there are so many Christians who resemble the world more than Christ. The answer to this is a call to true faith in the only gospel that can save. It is a call for all to turn from their sins and hypocrisy and be born again to a new life in Christ. The church must be clear that to be a Christian one must have been regenerated and given a new nature that comes from the work of the Holy Spirit.

What is the only hope for the world? What is the only light that can pierce the darkness of sin and evil? In this sermon on Acts 20:24, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives the one answer found in Holy Scripture: the gospel. There is no hope for this world apart from the electing grace of God in Jesus Christ. God sent His only Son into the world to die upon the cross in the place of sinners and the very enemies of God so that all who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus are saved. All who trust in Christ receive the grace of God. The Bible tells us that all salvation is wholly the result of God’s grace that He gives freely. There is nothing anyone can do to save themselves. God has given the ultimate gift of salvation to sinners who by nature hate God and all His ways. What grace! This sermon calls each and every man, woman, and child to repent of their sins and look to Jesus Christ as their only hope and comfort in this world. There is no other hope than Jesus Christ.

Many in modern times say that Christianity is the kind of belief that is undefinable and unexplainable: it is not about propositions, but feelings. In this sermon on Acts 24:14–16 titled “What Is a Christian?” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains why this is the wrong conception of Christianity. The apostle Paul says that at the center of Christianity is the resurrection of Christ. Because Christianity is a religion based in God’s revelation, it is God who defines what it means to be a Christian. God has told that to be a Christian is not merely a subjective feeling, but it is a belief in the truth of the gospel. It is a belief that Jesus has died upon the cross for sinners, and rose from the dead so that all who repent of their sins and believe in Christ are forgiven of all their sins. This sermon contains the message that everyone needs to hear; it is the message that all can have peace with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is the message that Christianity is about both subjective feelings and the objective news of what God has done. This gospel is truly good news for all sinners.