Sermons of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

In this sermon on Romans 14:1–6 titled “Sabbath and Special Days,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones offers that Paul is not addressing the importance of observation of the Sabbath since that has been established in Scripture for all time. He provides Scriptural support for this and offers up a question that has been discussed in Christian circles often since the early church: what day of the week is supposed to be set aside for the Sabbath – Saturday or Sunday? He references Biblical evidence for the day of the week that Christians used to meet on, as well as historical evidences from writings that are outside of Scripture. How do Christians today make the right choice about the day to meet? To answer this, Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds that the early church would not have changed the day of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday arbitrarily— he argues that they must have received a revelation that it was good to change it. However, he also states that it is not an issue over which Christians should divide. He addresses extreme Sabbatarianism, a view that is very literal about how the Sabbath day should be observed, and provides helpful points to consider when thinking through it. In echoing Paul, he concluded that Christians are to be fully persuaded in their own mind from Scripture about which decision is correct.

The Lord alone has the authority to make final judgments on people. In this sermon from Romans 14:1–4 titled “Saved for Eternity,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds the listener of this important truth and how they can follow this while still exercising discernment regarding the people they are around and the activities in which they participate. When the Christian makes ultimate judgments about people, they are usurping the authority of the Lord and putting themselves in His place. This is a very dangerous place. What are they to do about the activities of the world that in and of themselves are not wrong? Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides helpful guidelines to consider as one works through this. He proposes that it all comes back to the theme of Christian liberty and that on issues not clearly portrayed in Scripture as sinful, it is a matter of conscience between each person and God. Paul says that one is not to judge or be jealous of those who are using their Christian liberty because ultimately, the Lord is powerful and strong enough to help them stand up. Dr. Lloyd-Jones ties this into the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, providing supporting examples from Scripture. Listen as he instructs on being discerning about things one should avoid and the effects that freedom in Christ has on such choices.

What really is legalism? In this sermon on Romans 14:1–4 titled “God Has Received Him,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tackles this important subject by asking what it is, how it can be fought, and the consequences that it carries within the church. Legalism is what happens when people take principles in Scripture, interpret them wrongly, and make them absolute rules that everyone is required to follow. Legalists tend to make indifferent things central. Mainly it means that issues not core to Christianity are elevated to make-or-break issues that are used as standards for measuring the depth of someone’s relationship with Christ. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds, what matters is that people have been received by God— it is not up to others to determine this. People frequently set up their own standards for determining if people are Christians, but from where do they derive their authority? Dr. Lloyd-Jones also addresses if Paul was contradicting his stance against legalism when he said that he acts certain ways around certain people. Ultimately, this was to keep them from stumbling and as Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds, Paul did not see these issues as central doctrines of Christianity. He closes with a charge— Christians are not to reject someone whom God has received, and ultimately, only God can make the call on whether or not this is the case. They are to trust Him with this and simply be obedient.

It is common for the Christian to have a disagreement with someone else about what they think the Bible teaches to be wrong or right on an issue that is not particularly clear. This is the topic at hand for this sermon on Romans 14:1–4 titled “Food and Drink” and Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones guides the listener through how to interact with this issue that is becoming more prominent in the church today. There are things in Scripture about which there is not a clear command. In this passage, it had to do with food sacrificed to idols. Because idols are not real, the food sacrificed to them means nothing. However, Paul encourages believers to watch out for their brothers and sisters in Christ and to avoid doing things that would make it easier to stumble because of the way they were raised. The immature Christian, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, is characterized by making secondary issues primary ones. Yet, as he points out, one should not sit back and judge other Christians— it is the weak Christian who is most likely to do this. Why do they have this tendency? He says that it is due to the spirit of fear and he explains his reasoning behind this. He encourages avoiding falling into legalism and determining if or not people are Christians based off of their judgments— ultimately, that is up to the Lord and it allows living in a way that pleases the Lord and leaving the consequences up to Him.

Within the family of God are those who are strong in their understanding of the Christian faith and those who are weak in their understanding of the faith. The church is made up of some who are more mature and some who are less mature. This diversity within the body of Christ can lead to problems as matters of opinion arise. While the world might say getting one’s way or winning the argument is the most important goal during a disagreement, the apostle Paul offers a different vision for the church, particularly for the strong in faith. In this sermon on Romans 14:1–4 titled “Weak in Faith (2),” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones instructs how to engage the weak in faith over indifferent, albeit important, matters to the Christian life. The weak in faith are part of the family of God, reminds Dr. Lloyd-Jones, and need to be instructed in their thinking. The way the strong instruct them makes a considerable difference and they must distinguish between a Christian discussion and an uncontrolled argument. A Christian discussion must demonstrate self-controlled dialogue which shows love and patience towards a brother or sister in Christ. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones challenges the contemporary church in family disputes.