Lloyd-Jones, comments on his first sermon

In one of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones first major sermons entitled, "The Tragedy of Modern Wales” he was severely criticized for being overly harsh and untrue in his recommendation of the situation that had led in 20 years from a massive revival to utter licentiousness covering the small country in England. He was asked later to repeat the message at a conference for pastors and he followed up the criticisms by the following comments:

In prelude to this quote they accused him of being unfaithful to Wales due to the harsh nature of his criticism:
“It is because I love Wales passionately and devotedly, it is because I am proud of her glorious past and jealous for her future, that I talk about the tragedy of Modern Wales”

Could we not also all have the same jealous zeal for the purity of our own country found only the healing that only the gospel of penal substitutionary atonement of Christ can bring? Do we see this highly of the gospel that we see how lowly we are and the desperate need of repentance? How high is our view of God that we can accurately describe the horrors of men rejecting all that is most assuredly and highly majesctic, namely God in his holiness.

Following the complaint that he is ‘too negative’ he responds:

“It is a criticism which I can understand and with which I have a certain amount of sympathy. Indeed it appealed to me to this extent, that I hesitated and pondered over the question for some time before I decided or realized that it also was based on a fallacy. Now what is the fallacy? It is, that people who hold to the view no longer remember that conviction of sin is the essential prelude to salvation…It is not sufficient merely to tell a man that he is a sinner – you must prove it too him – give him examples and make him think, then there may be some hope for him.”

If you think that preachers are too harsh, hard, or rough, then you don’t understand the depth of sin (Isaiah 1:5,6) and its total corruption within your body (Matt 12:34). And second, you do not fully grasp the ministry of Gods word, which is that of sword which devastatingly pierces you and then radically brings out and exposes all that is within you. All your entrails come into full view before your eyes. The hidden and essential elements of your life become exposed and useless at the preaching of Gods word. He comes to cut down, destroy, create, rebuild, and lead home to glory (Hosea 6:1-3, 6; Hebrews 4:12,13).

And speaking then of the hope of the future he adds,

“But I regret so deeply that I have come here in the hope that I may kindle into flame a smoldering prejudice for truth in some young heart, and that as young people may we go onwards believing in our cause and fighting with resolution all the forces of sin and corruption that are arrayed against us, until we shall guaranteed that the Wales of the future will be worthy of the Wales of the past.”

Christians of America let us fight harder to kill sin, take greater risks of faith in light and sigh of the love of God, that we may be guaranteed a future in glory that will be worthy of the glory of the saints of the past.

Quotes taken from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "The First Forty Years" by Iain Murray, p.86-88.

"Many people come to listen to the gospel who have been brought up in a religious atmostphere, in religious homes, who have always gone to church and Sunday School, Never missed meetings; yet they may be unregenerate. They need the same salvation as the man who may have come to listen, who has never been inside a House of god before. He may have come out of some moral gutter; it does not matter. It is the same way, the same gospel for both, the both must come in the same way. Religiosity is of no value; morality does not count; nothing matters. We are all reduced to the same level because it is, "by faith", because it is, "by grace" '. D. Martyn LLoyd-Jones, speaking about the reality of his conversion close to the year of 1925. Quote taken from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "The First Forty Years" by Iain Murray, p.78.

i feel like i got saved today when i read this, when i contemplated Gods sovereign grace. this quote flys in the face of post-modern Christianity's worldly OCD unbiblical concern for the underprivileged. salvation is for all. thankfully, because if it was not, it would not of come to me. i am truly better than i deserve today.

"But I am commanded to stand content for it is God himself that performs the word of his own true messengers. His justice and order cannot be perverted" -John Knox

i was wholly encouraged to destroy my sin, and live for the building of the kingdom of God through the recalling of this blessed quote. how truly the echoes of the saints of old can revive the soul and bring into remembrance the deliverance from Egypt that we have been give. recall, meditate, hope, trust, go.

Gods Busy

a friend of mine who is a marine was trying to get me to understand his 'worldview' with this story. i hope it enlightens you.

If you don't know GOD, don't make stupid remarks!!!!!!!

A United States Marine was attending some college courses between
Assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and
Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist
And a member of the ACLU.

One day the professor shocked the class when he came in He looked to the
Ceiling and flatly stated, 'God, if you are real, then I want you to
Knock me off this platform; I'll give you exactly 15 minutes.' The
Lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am God, I'm
Still waiting.' It got down to the last couple of minutes when the
Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked
Him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The
Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students
Were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.

The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine
And asked, 'What the heck is the matter with you?' 'Why did you do that?'
The Marine calmly replied, 'God was too busy today protecting America's
Soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like
An idiot, So, He sent me.'

Revival

a lot of you have heard about the revival in Lakewood with that tattooed guy named Bentley.

what are we to make of these things? is it real? is it pentacost? John Piper gives an accurate explanation of what really goes on here. please read and consider.

help with killing sin

John Owen said, “He who pleads with God for the remission of sin also pleads with his own heart to detest it.”

i got this from the 'pulpit magazine' link is on my blog.

"...the creeds and confessions of the church offer us points of continuity with the church of the past. As I noted above, there is no need to reinvent Christianity every Sunday, and in an anti-historical, future-oriented age like ours, what more counter-cultural move can we as Christians make than to self-consciously identify with so many brothers and sisters who have gone before? Furthermore, while Protestants take justifiable pride in the fact that every believer has the right to read the Scriptures and has direct access to God in Christ, we should still acknowledge that Christianity is first and foremost a corporate religion. God’s means of working in history has been the church; the contributions of individual Christians have been great, but these all pale in comparison with God’s great work in and through the church as a whole. This holds good for theology as for any other area. The insights of individual teachers and theologians over the centuries have been profound, but nothing quite matches the corporate wisdom of the godly when gathered together in the great councils and assemblies in the history of the church." -Carl Trueman, TableTalk (August 2008)

yup...closer to being a straightjacket presbyterian...that hurts....but its....just so right on! ahhhhhh.