The Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust have made available another free sermon on their website. It is the one recording that they have of MLJ preaching from the Book of Judges – a sermon titled ‘A Right View of Life’.

Click to listen to or download ‘A Right View of Life’

Also check out a previous guest post by Robin Lane from the D. M. Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust.

Following the popularity of the 9 Pensacola sermons that were published for free download in 2010, we have now made a different set available. It includes 8 sermons that Martyn Lloyd-Jones (MLJ) preached in 1963 at the Summer Bible Conference held by the Hawthorne Gospel Church in New Jersey, USA.

Several of them are similar to sermons in the Pensacola set, e.g. the ones titles ‘Assurance to Those Who are Slow to Believe‘, ‘How to Get the Gospel Across‘ and ‘Prayer‘. However, others in this set are completely different. There is a version of MLJ’s classic sermon ‘But God …‘, another titled ‘Christians: Living Epistles Written by Christ‘, and one that gives ‘Assurance Concerning the Word of God‘.

My favourite amongst them is the sermon titled ‘Assurance to the Uncertain and to the Discouraged‘. It is the fourth sermon in the set, and it seems to me that, having been given the theme of ‘assurance’, MLJ had built-up some significant momentum by this point in the week. There are several lengthy periods during the 61 minutes in which his preaching is fiery and the logic is razor-sharp. For example, in answer to Christians who claim that the only important thing is orthodoxy (to know what we believe) he said:-

“Orthodoxy is absolutely essential, but at the same time I hasten to say this: orthodoxy alone is not enough. You can be absolutely orthodox, but at the same time absolutely useless!”

The Hawthorne sermons can be downloaded from:   http://www.mlj.org.uk/pages/hawthorne

Thanks to Robin Lane at the D. M. Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust for this guest post.

Lloyd-Jones could have been saying this for the 21st Century not the 20th. There really is nothing new under the sun:

“All this modern preaching on the fact that God is love is an indication of the same attitude and spirit. We are told today that the old sermons that preached the law and talked about conviction of sin and called people to repentance were all wrong because they were legalistic . . .So it is said that we must return to the message of Jesus. We must get rid of all our theology, our argumentation and doctrine—it is all unnecessary. The business of preaching is to tell people that God is love. It does not matter what they are, or what they have been, or what they have done, or what they may do—God loves them. Nobody will ever be punished. There is no law; so there is no retribution and no hell . . .

Dignitaries in the church tell us that what we need is a “religionless Christianity.” One of them has written a book in which he says that if you really want to find God, do not go to places of worship. He says that he has found more of God in the brothels and beer parlors of Algeria than he has ever found in a church. Kindness, love for one another—that, we are told, is the message. This is all just a very clever, modern, sophisticated, philosophical way of saying, No repentance!

. . . If you know the message of the Bible at all, you will be in no difficulty about answering this question. Repentance is essential to salvation. There is no salvation without it . . . If you say you need a Savior, it must be because you realize that the life you have been living is wrong and sinful, that it deserves the judgment and punishment of God and of hell . . . the object of that death upon the cross was to reconcile us to God. It is a personal reconciliation. Christ’s death does not just put us right with a law—it puts us right with a person . . . to have this relationship, this communion and fellowship with God, we must be like Him. We see that we must be righteous, for there is no communion between light and darkness—that is impossible, and therefore we must be delivered from all that is wrong and evil. That is repentance . . .

The world needs to be reminded of judgment. This country [England) is becoming lawless—all countries are—and it is no use trying to solve the problem by passing acts of Parliament—you cannot do it . . .you need to change human nature. The trouble is in the human heart, on both sides of industry. Because people have no idea of the judgment of God, they ultimately have no sense of responsibility. Every man is out for himself, trying to get the best for himself . . . The world needs to know that it is rushing in the direction of final judgment. Only the prospect of judgment can sober it and bring it to its senses, and it is the business of the preaching of the Gospel to tell the world that, and not to say that God loves everybody and therefore everybody is going to heaven. Our Lord preached judgment, as we have seen; that is the sole explanation of why He died.”

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Victorious Christianity, 1st U.S. ed. (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2003), 66-74.

This amazing video by one of my great heroes on another is very rare, and will only be available online to watch for a few more days. So watch it now and tell all your friends about it!

In this rare interview footage you will get up close and personal with possibly the greatest expositional preacher the English speaking world has ever known.  This footage is newly released to mark the 30 year anniversary this week of his death.  Allow God to stir you as you watch. May God raise up many more preachers who driven along by the Holy Spirit faithfully expound God’s word:



The final post in a recent series I wrote for the Resurgence was titled Martyn Lloyd-Jones: 20 Lessons from His Life.  Here I thought I would simply select my top five from that list, visit the original post for some explanation and the other lessons:

1. Having a theological degree is not necessary for everyone who would be a minister.
2. We should actively pursue a knowledge of God by his Spirit, as well as reliable theology.
3. We should labor to build a community, not just a preaching center.
4. Denominations are not the most effective way of governing the church.
5. We must make the pursuit of Joy central.

In this, the second of a series on Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones first written for The Resurgence, we will explore some of the key elements of Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ doctrine that might be less frequent in the doctrine of others. He was thoroughly Reformed and, in his day, he seemed to stand almost alone for these values, and for the centrality of expository preaching.

The Doctor’s View on Grace

Lloyd-Jones emphasized the doctrine of grace, perhaps even more strongly than many preachers today. He argued that God loves Christians exactly the same way, irrespective of how we behave. Lloyd-Jones received some criticism for this, but proclaimed that unless your preaching leads some to think you are claiming one need not live a godly life as a Christian, you are not preaching the gospel.

He refused to believe, however, the Christian was redeemed to remain enslaved by sin. He argued strongly, contrary to many Reformed commentators, that the “man” of Romans 7 who knew only defeat in his battle against sin could not possibly be the mature Christian. This radical, grace-filled message of a freedom from law, but joyful submission to Christ captured the attention of a young Terry Virgo, and liberated him from bondage to legalism. Virgo has taken what has been essentially The Doctor’s message on grace, and used it as fuel for a movement that has grown to over 700 churches.

The Doctor’s View on the Holy Spirit

Lloyd-Jones was no dry theologian. Perhaps his other almost unique contribution was the way he combined a strong Reformed theology with a passionate commitment to experiencing the power of the Spirit. He defined preaching as “logic on fire”.  He believed strongly there is a filling of the Spirit available today that is distinct from conversion.

The Doctor also spoke of God guiding him to preach on certain subjects. He believed Gifts of the Holy Spirit were available today, though it is stretching it a little too far to claim he was a fully-fledged charismatic. He criticized the church of his day saying, “the greatest sin of the evangelical church is telling God what He could not do.”

READ MORE at  Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Doctor’s Distinctives | The Resurgence.

Next month it will be 30 years since The Doctor died. His influence continues to grow. The Resurgence asked if I would write a series of posts to offer an introduction to him, and to the lessons we could learn from his life. Here is the first:

From promising doctor to preacher, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (a.k.a. “The Doctor”) has a reputation that is still widely known in Evangelical circles. The Doctor was doctrinally in the same stable as Edwards, Spurgeon, the Puritans, and the Reformers. He was unafraid of controversy, and hundreds of young men were prompted by Lloyd-Jones to enter the ministry, both by his preaching and through personal conversations with him. Many claimed that reading his sermons had a greater impact on them than listening to any other preacher.
The Call to Ministry

Lloyd-Jones’ call to ministry was unusual, and made the newspapers of his day. He was a bright young medical doctor, working at one of London’s most respected hospitals with a very promising career ahead. He laid all aside to move to Wales, where he took up a role as a minister. After a few years, he moved back to London to be an assistant minister at Westminster Chapel, where he occupied the pulpit for 20 years.

The Doctor was, together with another great British Christian leader, John Stott, almost solely responsible for revitalizing a British Evangelical movement reeling after the ravages of Liberalism and two World Wars. His preaching was well known across the UK and United States and appealed to a remarkably broad spectrum of Christians. It is astonishing that almost 30 years since his death, books of his preaching are still being released and remain popular today.

The Physician Dissects

Any serious student of Romans, Ephesians, The Sermon on the Mount, and a host of other subjects interacts with his compelling and incisive expositions. Theology is well learnt through the prism of the pulpit, and few if any preachers have understood how to dissect a Bible verse like he has. One of his most memorable sermons was based on a single word of Scripture, the “but” of Ephesians 2:4.

Lloyd-Jones applied his skill as a physician to the work of preaching. He would analyze a text, often explaining first negatively what it could not mean, then positively what it did mean. He would diagnose the condition of the human soul and apply Scripture as the remedy. He never went to Bible college and even argued that examinations in theology were dangerous.

READ THE REST at The Resurgence Blog.

This is the second of Terry’s videos on his value of grace. You know how it goes by now, here is an extract to make you want to watch the whole thing:

“I recall that it was as though I saw a break in the cloud, and saw some blue sky. I suddenly felt that God loves me freely, but it wasn’t enough to establish me, and I quickly went back to are you praying long enough, are you meditating on the Bible long enough, and these so-called “means of grace” became duties you have to fulfill. Am I doing them enough to keep God happy? So they become burdensome rather than means of grace.

I felt God sometimes gave me a glimpse of something freer than that. . .It began to dawn on me. I met people who were enjoying grace . . . I was most helped by working my way through Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans, especially 5, 6, and 7. Especially 7, where we are not under law . . . Lots of believers don’t work at the epistles. But to me, the epistles are the heart of the explanation of the New Covenant . . .

The Confluence blog has shared the following Lloyd-Jones quote:

“It is clear that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is always something clear and unmistakable, something which can be recognized by the person to whom it happens and by others who look on at this person. This is obviously a most vital and important principle. Those, of course, who tend to identify the baptism of the Holy Spirit with regeneration, and say that all who become Christians receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit on conversion naturally minimize this, as they must do, of necessity. Regeneration is something unconscious, not experimental; and the great point is that it is a mysterious, miraculous act worked in the depths and the vitals of the soul, and no man can tell you the moment when he was regenerated. Everybody is agreed about that – that regeneration is non-experimental. You later begin to discover the fact that you have been made regenerate and give evidence of it.

“But now here we are dealing with something which is very different. The very essence of this is that it is conscious, that it is experimental, obvious, plain, and clear; not only to the recipient but also to those who are familiar with him…I think the bible makes it perfectly clear, it makes it quite beyond any doubt, that this is something essentially experimental, which involves a mystical experience, to use such a term.”

READ MORE at Dear Dr: What about the Holy Spirit? – Confluence | Newfrontiers USA Charismatic Reformed Blog | Confluence Blog.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I sit firmly in the tradition of Piper, Lloyd-Jones, Spurgeon, Edwards, and dare I say it Paul (!), who stresses the vital nature of the experiential side of Christianity. Now, as we begun yesterday, we are looking at the relationship between feelings and faith, initially by sharing some quotes from the very advocates of a pursuit of a real intimate relationship with God. Today Lloyd-Jones explains why we can’t trust the sweetest frame that God may grant us:

But feelings cannot be our ultimate authority because, as we all know, they are so changeable, and unreliable. They come and they go, and you never know what they may be. ‘I dare not trust the sweetest frame’, says a hymn-writer, because it may have gone by tomorrow. If I am to be governed by my feelings I shall find myself constantly changing—sometimes happy, sometimes miserable, sometimes feeling that all is well, sometimes that everything is going wrong, sometimes thrilled by reading the Bible, at other times having to force myself to get something out of it, feeling dry, arid, dull, stupid! Is not that your experience? If so, how can you rely on feelings as your authority?

Then remember, too, that feelings can be so easily counterfeited. If what is nice is of necessity good, if what gives me a pleasant, comfortable feeling must be right, then I have no answer whatsoever to the cults. I would just have to say: ‘Well, go to them. Anything that makes you feel better, anything that gives you a kind of release and relief is good; follow it. Anything that makes you a better man must be right, go after it.’ If we rely merely upon the pragmatic test of what makes me feel better we have no standard at all. I cannot criticize any teaching. It is so entirely subjective that I have no standard whatsoever.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Christian Soldier : An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10 to 20 (Edinburgh; Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1977), 202-03.

As promised yesterday, we today begin a series exploring the implications of one line from an old hymn “I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholy lean on Jesus name.” It is my assertion that the writer of the hymn must have known something of the sweet “frames of mind” that Jesus gives us. He would not have written as he did if he did not.

These sweet experiences of God are to be sought, and according to the following quote from the good Doctor, they are actually essential. Yet the paradox is that feelings are both fleeting and unreliable. This is the conundrum which we face. There are two solutions to it, that right at the outset I serve notice that I reject. The first is to ignore feelings altogether and turn our faith into a matter of intellectual assent and a cold, sterile academic pursuit. The second is to pursue the latest and best experience, and get on the charismatic treadmill of running after the most exciting, most dramatic outpourings we can possibly find. Both are wrong. There has to be a middle way!

We must all have discovered long since that feelings come and go; and the devil, of course, is well aware of that. So his special strategy at this point is to try to make us rely unduly upon our feelings and sensations and sensibilities. He persuades many people to base the whole of their Christian position upon them. They had some wonderful feelings on a certain occasion and they have based everything upon that experience . . . Then, for some reason or another, their feelings seem to desert them . . . and their whole position is shaken. The devil suggests to them that they are not Christians at all, that they have never been Christians. The one thing which had proved to them that they were Christians has gone, and so they are left with nothing.

The danger arises because feelings are a part, indeed a vital and essential part, of the true Christian experience. Let us be clear about that. If we have never felt anything in connection with our faith, then we do not have a true faith. You cannot really believe in this great salvation without feeling something. A man who has a real knowledge of the truth we have been describing is a man who is deeply moved by it. It must be so. You cannot truly realize the presence of God and remain unmoved.

But, unfortunately, the devil comes and tries to cause a division of the human personality . . . The Gospel having brought us to see that the affections, the emotions, must be involved and must be ‘moved’, he then deliberately exaggerates that element. He presses it, and would have us believe that this, and this alone, is the one thing that matters. And so he gets us to rely exclusively upon our feelings . . .

Now it is just here that the breastplate of righteousness is all-important; indeed at this point it is the only adequate protection. The saintly man who wrote in his hymn ‘I dare not trust the sweetest frame’, did so because he knew how fallible these ‘frames’ are, as they used to be called.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Christian Soldier : An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10 to 20 (Edinburgh; Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1977), 234-35

I listened to the first of nine new recordings that have been made freely available of the Doctor’s last visit to the USA.  He chose to begin by talking about prayer. It is striking how he describes prayer as a real challenge.  We must learn how to wrestle in prayer.  I am constantly being provoked by that challenge to fight in the private place.  Rather than be discouraged by failure, lets press into God and meet him in the place of prayer.

Terry was prompted by the release of several new recordings of the Doctor’s preaching to blog about two times he met with Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. It makes compelling reading.  He quoted the doctor as telling the young reformed charismatic,

“the greatest sin of the evangelical church is telling God what He could not do.”

Terry also spoke about a powerful moment when the Doctor had been preaching:

On another deeply memorable night at the Chapel, he started his sermon in Acts but was drawn into Romans 1 and concentrated on the three times where it is stated ‘God gave them up’. I haven’t heard such preaching before or since. I have never felt the sense of awe and fear of God as I felt during that amazing sermon.

As he concluded, we sang the inevitable closing hymn, but, having sung it, everyone sat in silence for long moments and no one rushed to leave the building. It was perhaps the most awesome moment I have ever known in church and an experience that was not simply personal to me but being felt across the whole hushed congregation.

via Terry Virgo’s Blog » Blog Archive » Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaching in Pensacola.

Too much Christianity today is devoid of the felt power of God. The following quote incisively speaks to our lack of dependence on God. Although it rightly focuses on preaching, the same could be said of blogging, or indeed everything we do. It is only as we are conscious of being carried along by a power outside of us that our limited successes will not cause us to become exhalted with our own puny self importance.

On one occasion I had tea with Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Ealing, London, and decided to ask him a question that concerned me. “Dr. Lloyd-Jones,” I said, “how can I tell whether I am preach-ing in the energy of the flesh or in the power of the Spirit?” “That is very easy,” Lloyd-Jones replied, as I shriveled. “If you are preaching in the energy of the flesh, you will feel exalted and lifted up. If you are preaching in the power of the Spirit, you will feel awe and humility.”

Edmund Clowney, Preaching Christ in All of Scripture (Wheaton: 2003)

I received the following email, and with the writer’s consent, thought it would be good to publish it here. Remember that the discussion I intended is not about what I personally believe on this issue, nor about what it is best for a Bible-loving believer to believe. Rather, it’s about whether arguing about evolution is a good thing to do when evangelizing, or even teaching new Christians:

Regarding your most recent blog post . . . I am afraid I have to disagree with you over a few points :-(

You say: “I am convinced that very very few unsaved people will be converted to Christianity by arguing them from being an evolutionist to being a creationist.”

I say: “I am aware of many people who have had the last barriers to their coming to Christ removed by being shown that Evolutionism (Macro) is not true and equally not scientific.”

If evolutionism (macro) is true then the Bible is not…period. To try and show that Christians can be evolutionists is misleading at best and deceptive at worst.

As you are aware there is no scientific support for macro evolution, absolutely none. There never has been and there never will be. So just what are these people trying to show is conducive to Christian belief; Believing in something that claims to be based on science, but in fact is based on the lies of the enemy?! How can that be of benefit to anyone let alone Christians?

In fact one might as well replace the word ‘Evolution’ with any other lie and as such the title “Darwin and the Christian – A Tour By Christian Evolutionists” could just as easily be replaced with “Buddha and the Christian – A Tour By Christian Buddhists.”

I have quickly viewed materials on the associated web site and I found the same sad claims which tell me I am related to apes – Genesis should be read with reference to other creation stories of the period so as to give a better understanding of the ‘story’ in Genesis etc, etc.

In the end it is simply another compromise attack on biblical Christianity and the truth of God’s Word.

I’ll leave you with a  quote from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

“We accept the biblical teaching with regard to creation and do not base our position upon theories of evolution, whichever particular theory people may choose to advocate…. Now someone may ask, “Why do you care about this? Is this essential to your doctrine of salvation?….”

If we say that we believe the Bible to be the Word of God, we must say that about the whole of the Bible, and when the Bible presents itself to us as history, we must accept it as history.

I would contend that the early chapters of Genesis, the first three chapters of Genesis, are given to us as history”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, What is an Evangelical? (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1993), 74-75.

Lloyd-Jones makes a great point in the quote below. The only thing I would add is that many people today think that simple preaching of doctrine will automatically lead to a transformed life. Lloyd-Jones is right when he says we must be taught to think. We need practical guidance to help us apply the wondrous truths of the gospel, or we will remain stunted and immature Christians. Where is the preaching that will help us live as Christians?

Nothing happens automatically in the Christian life. That is a very profound principle, for I believe that most of our troubles arise from the fact that we tend to assume that they do happen automatically. We persist in holding on to a semi-magical notion of regeneration which teaches that, because of what has happened to us, the rest of the story is, quite simply, ‘they all lived happily ever after’. But of course we know that that is not true . . .Obviously the antidote to that is to think, to have an understanding, to reason the thing out thoroughly. The world does not do that. The trouble with the world, ultimately, according to the teaching of the Bible, is that it does not think. If only people thought, most of their problems would be solved . . .

The fallacy of the humanist is, of course, that he believes that all you have to do therefore is to tell people to think. But as long as they are sinners they will not think. These elemental forces are so much stronger than the rational forces that ‘man in sin’ is always irrational.

When we become Christians we still need to enforce this self-same principle. Even the Christian does not think automatically; he has to be taught to think—hence these New Testament epistles. Why were they ever written? If a man who becomes a Christian automatically does the right thing, why did the Apostle ever have to write these epistles? Or if you can receive your sanctification as one act, one blessing, why were these epistles ever written? Here they are, full of reason, full of argument, full of demonstrations, full of analogies and comparisons. Why? In order to teach us how to think, in order to teach us how to work these things out, and how to gain understanding.

David Martyn. Lloyd-Jones, Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home & Work : An Exposition of Ephesians 5:18 to 6:9 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974, c1973), 209.

This quote from Doctor Martyn Lloyd-Jones is taken from his Ephesians series of sermons which I keep going back to. He challenges those who settle for a purely intellectual dimension to their Christian faith. Like so much of what he said it is if anything MORE relevant to us today than it was when he said it:

It is possible for a believer who . . . sincerely recognizes the Bible as his sole authority, and desires to submit himself wholeheartedly to its evident meaning—it is still possible for such a man to go astray by becoming purely theoretical in his attitude towards this precious knowledge. It can happen to all, but I emphasize again that it is the particular danger of those who have keen minds, and who desire to understand and to grow in knowledge. The devil knowing us as he does, always suits the particular form of temptation to our exact mentality. At this point I am not referring to people who do not read the Scriptures, or indeed little else, and who say, ‘I am interested in nothing but my experience’. The devil does not trouble such people in this way, but to those who truly long to grow and develop, he comes and says, ‘Of course, you are quite right; what you need, and what everyone else needs, is more and more of this knowledge’. But he presses the thought so far that in the end they get into a condition in which their whole relationship to truth is purely theoretical and academic. And this involves the terrible danger of becoming more concerned about, and more interested in, our intellectual knowledge of Christian truth than in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and if the devil with all his wiles can beguile us into this condition he is more than satisfied. In other words, it is the failure to realize that the ultimate end of all knowledge is to bring us to a knowledge of the Person Himself. We are not to stop at knowledge concerning Him, precious though that is, and vital.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a soft spot for this troubled African country. It was where my wife grew up for a start. Also, who cannot feel compassion for this nation which should be one of the wealthiest in Africa and yet faces abject poverty?

What amazes me is the way God seems to be working in this land. Good, doctrinally solid churches seem to be springing up all over the place! Not only are there 16 Zimbabwe churches directly in relationship with Newfrontiers, but there are at least two other networks led by godly men who we have good friendships with. God seems to be raising some spiritual giants in that land to carve out church plants in the midst of great adversity, and to help train a whole nation in a form of farming that will help them feed the multitudes still reeling from hyperinflation and the destruction of their currency among other adversities.

“Bones” or Mbonisi Malaba to give him his proper name, is one such man. He is the pastor of a thriving church in Bulawayo. There is no doubt that his talk at Brighton earlier in the year was one of the highlights of the whole conference for me. But I also had the chance to film the following interview with him. You will enjoy it, and be thrilled to realise that God is at work building his church in this part of Africa.

I want to share today from The Doctor on the problem of self. Our society tells us to feed our independence, our self-sufficiency and as a result our pride. The Doctor wisely points to a very different way:

How well the devil knows our human weakness! There is no method, therefore, that he more frequently uses . . . than just to play on this problem of self as it is present in every one of us. The ways in which he does so are almost endless. He works on self in order to encourage pride. He tries to make us proud of our gifts, our brains, our understanding, our knowledge . . .

Another form which this evil can take stems from the fact that various desires always tend to arise from self—the desire for importance, the desire for position . . . All this leads above everything else to a sprit of self-satisfaction . . .Furthermore this condition leads to selfishness and self-centredness. Self is always interested in itself. Everything revolves round this particular entity; and it becomes the centre of a constellation. That in turn leads to jealousy and envy . . .

To the extent that we are governed by self we are sensitive, and as such we can be easily hurt, easily depressed, and discouraged. Self is always watching for insults and slights. It is always hypersensitive. It is delicate, it is sensitized to everything; the slightest speck troubles it and alarms it. Self is totalitarian; it demands everything, and it is irritated and hurt if it does not get everything. As a consequence it becomes a most fruitful cause of quarrels and divisions and unhappiness . . .

If you have a great brain, it is no credit to you, you were born with it. If you have a wonderful singing voice, you have not produced it, it was given you. What are you boasting about? All that you have is not the result of your action and activity; it is something with which God has endowed you . . .

Paul always kept the grace of God in view; it kept him humble; it kept his spirit sweet; it kept him from the horrible sin of self and of pride and self-importance. Christians have nothing to boast of. We are what we are entirely as the result of the grace of God.

- David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Christian Warfare : An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10 to 13 (Edinburgh; Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 334.