Other Sermons

There is a great danger in assuming one is a Christian and discovering, in times of need, that they are not. Many people think they know what Christianity is, but do they? Learn the importance of examining oneself regularly, the danger of self-deception, and the marks of a true Christian from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in this sermon on 2 Corinthians 13:5. The problems of experience and of temptation must be examined as the Christian becomes increasingly aware of their own hopelessness and in seeing the contrast of revealing sin and of revealing Christ. The hope of regeneration is discussed as it enables the Christian to live triumphantly. Test any and every teaching by asking: “Does it really help to conquer life in this world?” Christianity is intellectual realism, not escapism, fatalism, stoicism, or wishful thinking. Can the saved person rejoice in the midst of suffering? Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages the listener to discover the most honest book in the world and how it shows how to face the facts just as they are. The gospel of Christ separates the Christian from this present, evil world. Christians are in the world, but no longer of it. The world is a vain show, that at its very best is only temporary. Find God’s grace that offers both peace with God and the peace of God!

If a Christian does not find the gospel thrilling, they find themselves in the same position as the Galatian church when the apostle Paul wrote to them. In this sermon on Galatians 1:8, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows that the gospel is most simply this: the Good News. The gospel is the most simple, most clear, and most thrilling message that has ever existed and we must be careful to speak of and think of the gospel in this way. Dr. Lloyd-Jones tells us that the whole trouble of the current generation, and every generation, for that matter, is that it does not concern themselves with learning the gospel well and being gripped by its thrilling message. God sent his own Son to die in our place and there is no other Good News. When this message is truly contemplated, the Christian will burst with praise and thanks.

In this sermon from Galatians 1:3–5 titled “This Vicious Principle,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches that the world in its very nature is cursed as a result of sin. All struggle to keep a clean mind and a clean heart on this earth because it is under the dominion of Satan. The world will show all it has to offer, but Christians must remember that this world is committed to death and destruction. Dr. Lloyd-Jones instructs fixing eyes on Christ and what is eternal as one sojourns through this world. He tells that Christians must fight against evil in this life because they belong to God and will never truly be home until they reach heaven.

Sin is often considered as a general problem, but rarely do people stop to consider its personal impact. In this sermon on man from Galatians 1:3–5 titled “Man: His Problem and the Answer,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones sets minds on an eternal track. People are first and foremost souls with eternal life before them, and anything physical in this life is merely temporary. Christians are created with eternal worth and dignity. Do Christians take time to consider themselves and who they are rather? What does God think of them? This ought to be the greatest concern as it is the only opinion that holds eternal value.

One day all will be face to face with God. In this sermon from Galatians 1:3–5 titled “God ‘Is’,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shares that to believe in God is not enough; one must truly know Him. He tells that to know God is to tremble in His presence, because once one knows God’s character, they understand the depth of their depravity. God has been revealed in Scripture and one can come to know Him because of the death of His Son. Dr. Lloyd-Jones urges knowing God because when one truly knows Him and repents, all of His wrath will turn to mercy and compassion; His terribleness will be seen as holiness. When one truly knows God, they are adopted into His family and are given a hope of everlasting bliss.

God has not abandoned the world and He has not abandoned His children. Rather, before sin ever entered the scene, God set in motion a plan to save His people from the evil of this world. God sent His Son to the cross and raised Him again that they might dwell in His presence. In this sermon on Galatians 1:3–5 titled “Man’s Need: Salvation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches the same truth that was proclaimed to the Galatians who had forgotten their great need for the gospel. Christians today are no different in that they also are apt to forget what God has done for them. When Christians forget the gospel, they forget how desperately they need this good news and to be delivered from evil. God is not passive when He looks on His children’s need; He loves them so much and has created a way for salvation. Consider His great grace, mercy, and compassion and praise Him.

When the world looks particularly bad, Christians can begin to worry and become fearful, but that is contrary to what God would have them do. In this sermon on Galatians 1:3–5 titled “Who Gave Himself for Our Sins,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds that the world is already doomed to death and destruction, but Christians do not need to die with it. God gave his Son to bear the entire weight of God’s curse of sin from His final wrath and destruction of the world. When one considers the poor condition of everything around them, they should not focus on how to change the world but how to change their hearts. God provides a perfect way to be saved from all that is around—He gave His beloved Son to die in their place. Trust in that Savior and whoever believes that the Son of God was made a curse for them is delivered from the curse.

In this sermon on Galatians 1:3–5 titled “Peace With God Through Christ,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones opens his sermon with an important and fundamental question: what is the gospel? As Paul writes in his letter, Dr. Lloyd-Jones answers as the apostle answers. The good news is that God intervened and rescued His people from the sin of this world. This gospel is precisely why the church is different from other human meetings. The church is far above organizing a political gathering, listening to music, or reading poetry, Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains. Those activities are between people and creation, but the church is based upon the gospel, and the gospel involves God and humanity. It is not a human construction. The good news, unlike the efforts of people, offers a solution as to why the world is so terrible. There is sin, and sin is embedded into the nature of every man and woman. On their own, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says, men and women cannot even redeem themselves. But God interceded, as Paul writes, and rescued His people from this state by Christ’s death on the cross. Now it is possible to have peace. The Christian knows that God is stronger than whatever evil humanity can dream up, and it is His Son who will one day bring them into His kingdom.

The apostle Paul teaches that the cross of Christ is at the center of the gospel and in this Scripture, he defends the gospel of God’s grace alone. In this sermon on Galatians 1:3–5 titled “The Results of the Cross,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains how all stand before God condemned for their sin and rebellion against a holy God. But God, in His grace, sent His Son into the world to die for sinners so that they might be forgiven and made His children. This salvation is an ultimate act of grace that is a result of God’s free love. There is nothing anyone can do to merit God’s favor or love. It is God who sends His Spirit to convict people of their sin and awaken them to their fallen condition. How does salvation change a person? The Bible is clear that not only does salvation make one right with God, but it gives them a new mind and new desires. It changes them by giving them a love for God and the people of God. It makes sinners into new people who now love and serve God. This sermon calls all to leave behind sin and come to Jesus who alone can save sinners and give them eternal life.

Humanity’s fundamental need is to know the truth about the world, themselves, and God. The gospel provides these truths and thankfully does not merely stop there—it is good news. Not a product of humanity, the gospel is a certain revelation of God’s eternal heart. God has made a way of salvation for the human predicament. In this sermon on Galatians 1:6–7 titled “No Other Gospel,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches how God can be one’s Father. “And can it be that I should gain an interest in my Savior’s blood?” This sermon shows Paul’s urgent concern for the people who had gone wrong on how to become possessors of this blessing. Learn about the truth that changed Luther and many mighty men of God, causing the Protestant Reformation. What is the doctrine of justification by faith? Preaching must explain this particular doctrine. How does one become a Christian? It is not by birth, nationality, circumcision, baptism, diet, or the law. The law is absolute—if one fails in one part, they have broken it entirely. God alone can make a person a Christian. Christ has taken away the sin and clothes His people with His righteousness.

What is the Gospel? Paul was forced to defend and expound the Gospel of grace alone in Galatians 1:6-9 because there were those that were preaching a different 'gospel.' Paul says that Christians are those that have been called by God out of the world of sin and evil into the new life of Christ. All those that are called by God will come to Him and they will persevere. While many will hear the Gospel, only those that God effectually calls will come to Him and be saved. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows how this doctrine has great practical significance. It shows us that salvation is a matter of grace, no one can come to God until he enlightens them and draws them to himself. This sermon forces us all to asks ourselves, am I trusting in Jesus? Am I resting in God’s grace alone? The Gospel that Paul defends is one of grace and peace. Only the Gospel of grace can transform us and bring us into a loving relationship with God.

Opening his sermon, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reads from Galatians 1:8. Within, the apostle ridicules the early church for believing another gospel, a gospel from man. But Paul makes himself clear: whoever teaches a different gospel from what Christ revealed, be it an angel or man, let that person be accursed. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that even today, false gospels are preached by men all over the contemporary world. The Bible is put on a shelf, and people forget its sound doctrine. The Christian message is adapted to fit man’s view of the world. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains the perilous problem with this practice. When man changes the Christian Gospel, or creates his own, he removes God from the picture. With God gone, man must rely on himself for his salvation and redemption. But, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says, the truth of the Bible has revealed that man will never be enough. It is not man who can save his soul but the blood of Jesus Christ. That is the true Gospel. The beauty of the Christian Gospel is that Christ comes to us in our sin, and He offers whoever believes upon Him unmeasurable grace and eternal life.

When we think of Christmas, we usually tend to associate it with Scripture passages from the books of Luke or Matthew, but are there other passages in the Bible that shed more light on what happened that day when Jesus Christ became a man born in Bethlehem? Preached just a few days before Christmas, this sermon by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones draws truths from Galatians 4:4-6 that are crucial to our understanding of the celebration of Christmas. First, all three members of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit— are involved in our salvation. Second, the focal point of all of this is the coming of Jesus into the world, the reason behind the celebration of Christmas. Paul says that Jesus was “sent forth”— a phrase that has caused many questions throughout the centuries among New Testament scholars, but Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides answers to help us understand what this means. Third, what does Paul’s statement of “the fullness of time” mean? Is it in an evolutionary sense that the present is better than the past? No! Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphatically demonstrates that it means God is in control of time and that God has predetermined all of the major events having to do with our salvation. How does this apply to us as we think of Christ’s coming? Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds us that ultimately, because of God’s sovereignty, our worst time is his best time, and we can rest in that.

Christians can sometimes feel as if they are trapped or in bondage. In this sermon on Galatians 4:4–9 titled “A Spirit of Adoption,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones helps the listener understand the reasons for this feeling and the truths that help correct it. What are some reasons that people have this feeling even though they have been freed from sin? Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that some of this can be attributed to poor teaching within the church. Additionally, some people know it intellectually but have not applied it. This all brings the believer back to understanding why Jesus came. First, to redeem those who are under the law since they cannot do this themselves. Second, so that they could be adopted as His children. Those who believe in Jesus have been adopted into His family and have received the inheritance that comes with being a child of God. How does this “spirit of adoption,” as Paul refers to it, manifest itself? First, Christians are delivered from this bondage and may still sometimes feel trapped by it. Second, they are known by God. And third, relationship with Him is personal, like a father to his child. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages perseverance in the walk with Jesus and throw off the chains of sin that often entangle.

The main thrust of the gospel is the cross. In this sermon on Galatians 5:11 and 6:14 titled “Glory in the Cross of Christ,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on the different reactions to this that people have and the consequences that come with each one. There are only two possible responses. Either people accept Christ and His sacrifice, or they see it as offensive. This offense is deeply divisive and angering, something that pushes people away from God when they let it take root in their hearts. Dr. Lloyd-Jones states that if one merely has pity after hearing the gospel message, then they have not heard the true story of the cross. It is either an offense, or glory is found in it. This leads to an interesting question—why does the gospel produce two opposite reactions? Why is it offensive? Ultimately, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, it is because it proclaims that all equally are sinners and that they cannot save themselves, a truth that is very humbling. This destroys pride because it means that the smartest and strongest people are all on equal footing before the Lord with those who are poor and uneducated, something that is difficult for many to accept. Yet, what a silly reason this is to keep someone from having eternal life through Christ. The gospel alone is to be one’s glory.

The world is full of so much suffering. Why are things the way they are? Why is evil present? In this sermon on Galatians 6:7–8 titled “Sowing and Reaping,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones provides answers to these difficult questions that have haunted people for millennia. Ultimately, all the bad seen in the world traces back to the Garden of Eden and people being deceived by Satan. What were they deceived about? First, people are deceived about themselves. They think they are powerful and smart enough to figure everything out without the help of God. Second, they are deceived about God. People not only doubt the existence of God, but also His ability to work in the world with the amount of evil that is present. Third, deception has occurred regarding life in this world. Satan has convinced humanity that there are no absolute moral standards and consequences, and that this life is the only one—thus, there is no need to worry about the consequences actions have, because all need to have as much fun as they can before they die. Because people are deceived in these areas, they sow according to the flesh. To combat this, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that all must believe and understand that God has created everything for a reason and that lives have consequences now and into eternity. This, he says, is how one understands evil in the world and the message that can undo it.

What is at the heart of the Christian faith? In this sermon on Galatians 6:14 titled “The Means of Salvation,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that it is the cross of Calvary where Jesus died for sinners. The gospel shows that the whole life of Jesus looked forward to the greatest act of love and compassion that the world will ever know when God’s only Son died in the place of wicked sinners. This death on the cross is what Christ came to do, and it is the culmination of His earthly life. Also, the apostle Paul shows that it is the cross that brings salvation and forgiveness of sins. It is not the works of human merit or the flesh that make people right with God, but it is God suffering in the place of sinners that brings salvation to all who believe. What does this mean for Christians today? This central gospel message is still the only way of salvation and restoration of God. Human fundamental needs never change; they are still rebels that must be made right with God. The blood of Christ is still the only way that anyone can be freed from sin and made an inheritor in the new life of salvation of Christ.

What is the central message of the gospel? In this sermon on Galatians 6:14 titled “The Offence of the Cross,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on the cross and its centrality to the good news of Jesus Christ. How one responds to the cross, he says, determines how they will spend eternity. Paul says that the cross is either an offense or something to glory in, and if either of these reactions are not caused, then the cross has not been preached accurately. Why is it offensive? Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides three reasons. First, it cuts across human pride and preconceived notions of one’s ability to be in control of their destiny. Second, the natural person wants to be saved by ideas and philosophies, and the cross is not that. Third, the cross appears to some to be immoral— the idea of an innocent man dying for those who have done wrong is scandalous to many. Yet, it is the crux of the cross. The cross levels the playing fields between all people—the wealthy, the poor, the academic, and the layperson. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that Christians are those who do not merely accept the fact of the cross, but rather glory in it because of what they see—the obedience, sacrifice, and love of Jesus. It is everything to the person who has seen it and this is why the cross is central to the gospel.

When people look at the world today, they see a world that is torn apart by much grief, suffering, and loss. And yet, they often fail to see the reason behind the pain that exists. In this sermon on the glory of the cross from Galatians 6:14 titled “The Glory of the Cross,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones works through understanding suffering and the characteristics of the world to help better comprehend the glory of the cross. He says that the world and what it stands for are the causes of all its tragedies. He defines the world as that which is apart from and/or without God. What are the characteristics of the world? The world is driven by an unquenchable lust and desire, such as for money, power, and sex. These have driven people to live for themselves, and this has led to the sin in the world. It can only be overcome through the cross. It does this by showing what the world really is and how empty its pursuits are. In His ministry on earth, Jesus made this a central part of His ministry, emphasizing things that were total opposites from the world. Everything that is opposed to God will suffer eternal destruction, and this is the glory of the cross—it is the only thing that satisfies, and it is the only salvation.

What is the thing around which your life revolves, around which you are the most proud of? For Christians, that answer should unequivocally be the cross of Jesus Christ. A Christian finds his joy – his glory – in the cross because it crucified the world to him. “The world,” and what it stands, for is responsible for all the heartache and tragedies around us. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches from Galatians 6:14 that one is either with the world or with God. He explains what it means to be “of the world” – a view or outlook on life that is viewed and lived apart from God. Man is at the center, and this life is controlled by desire. How does the cross crucify the world to believers? Primarily, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says, it shows us what the world really is. The world is perishing and will eventually be no more — as Scripture states elsewhere, “What profit is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul?” Once someone sees the pointlessness behind pursuing the world and the things of it, they are drawn to Christ and His Kingdom that will reign forever. By being crucified to the world, one gains a greater hope because one sees the reality of what will truly last! Dr. Lloyd-Jones urges that we revolve our lives around the cross of Christ.