D. M. Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is most often remembered as the preacher of Westminster Chapel, London. But his ministry began far from the metropolis, in the industrial setting of Aberavon, South Wales. It was during this time that the sermons in this book were preached, and they show that from the outset of his ministry, Dr. Lloyd-Jones was an evangelistic preacher.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones was filled with concern that no one should mistake, as he had done in his younger days, nominal Christianity for the real experience of salvation. The sermons reveal great insight into the plight of humanity, and a compassion for the unconverted. They are reproduced here as examples of what gospel preaching ought to be, and in the conviction that they will speak again to the hearts and consciences of new generations.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones spent the greater part of the turbulent twentieth century in preaching the Word of God. The convictions with which he began his ministry remained with him, and in all this time the message was the same. He preached on the words, ‘For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified’ at the commencement of his ministry in 1926, and again, from the same pulpit, in February 1977. So the sermon contained in this booklet is a historic statement. But it is more. It is a persuasive presentation of the unchanging gospel which has brought salvation to people all over the world throughout the two millennium now ended, and which remains just as vitally relevant as the new millennium begins to unfold.

The fourteen sermons contained in Saved By Grace Alone were preached in Westminster Chapel, London, on Sunday evenings between 15 April and 15 July 1956. They are a fine example of preaching evangelistically from a consecutive passage of the Old Testament.

Why did Christ die? What is the meaning of the cross? Most theories of the atonement are concerned only with its manward aspect but as Dr Lloyd-Jones demonstrates in this exposition of Romans 3.25-26 the cross was above everything else a vindication of the character of God. ‘This is an essential part of the glorious Gospel. One Calvary God was making a way of salvation so that you and I might be forgiven. But he had to do so in a way that you and I might be forgiven. But he had to do so in a way that will leave his character inviolate, that will leave his eternal consistency still absolute and unbroken. Once you begin to look at it like that, you see that this is the most tremendous, the most glorious, the most staggering thing in the universe and in the whole of history.’ This exposition is taken from the third volume of Dr Lloyd-Jones’ series on the Epistle of the Romans.

This material is extracted from ‘Knowing the Times‘, a selection of addresses by Dr. Lloyd-Jones during the years 1942-1977, also published by the Banner of Truth Trust.

There is a crisis of authority in society today. All inherited authority is suspect, being regarded as incompatible with man’s freedom, yet what has resulted is a disordered and dehumanized society.

In an age which has seen an almost total collapse of marriage and when, in many cases, marriages end in divorce with children being raised in ‘broken homes’, Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ words speak powerfully into our present situation. It is a situation which may be seen as giving Christians, and especially Christian marriages, a valuable opportunity to bear witness to biblical truth. The way in which Dr. Lloyd-Jones, like the Apostle Paul, deals with marriage relationship, is extremely important – to attempt to deal with Christian practice apart from Christian doctrine is to tread a dangerous path. As these chapters on Ephesians make clear, the only Christianity powerful enough to penetrate and change society is that which is derived from the work of the Spirit of God.

When the light of the gospel enters the soul it brings with it a supernatural power that radically transforms the whole of life. This change is perhaps nowhere more clearly seen than in the relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children. Our age has witnessed an almost total collapse of the family unit, and in many places the majority of children are now being raised in ‘broken homes’. Our society presents Christian parents and children with a unique opportunity of bearing witness of God’s love by just being different. Few things are more powerful than a Christian family in which the true relationship between parents and children is clearly seen. This may be one of the ways in which God will bring many to a knowledge of the truth.

Christian unity is the result of a shared faith in Christ and His gospel. This is what emerges from Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ consideration of John 17 and Ephesians 4 in the addresses to the Westminster Fellowship republished here. His presentation was given against the background of the ferment of discussion and debate engendered by the ecumenical movement of the time and demonstrated that unity is never something arrived at by ignoring or minimizing truth. The debates have moved on, but this lucid examination of the issues underlying Christian unity remains as relevant as when first presented in 1962. It points to timeless truths which should never be obscured.