The essence of evangelism is to start by preaching the law; and it is because the law has not been preached that we have so much superficial evangelism.
from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Evangelism must start with the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the demands of the law, and the eternal consequences of evil.
from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Luther was held in darkness by the devil, though he was a monk. He was trying to save himself by works. He was fasting, sweating, and praying; and yet he was miserable and unhappy, and in bondage. Superstitious Roman Catholic teaching held him captive. But he was delivered by the word of Scripture—“the just shall live by faith.” From that moment he began to understand this Word as he had never understood it before, and the better he understood it the more he saw the errors taught by Rome. He saw the error of her practice, and so became more intent on the reformation of the church. He proceeded to do all in terms of exposition of the Scriptures. The great doctors in the Roman church stood against him. He sometimes had to stand alone and meet them in close combat, and invariably he took his stand upon the Scripture. He maintained that the church is not above the Scriptures. The standard by which you judge even the church, he said, is the Scripture. And though he was one man, at first standing alone, he was able to fight the papal system and twelve centuries of tradition. He did so by taking up “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
from The Christian Soldier, Martyn Lloyd–Jones
Our Lord attracted sinners because He was different. They drew near to Him because they felt that there was something different about Him.… And the world always expects us to be differrent. This idea that you are going to win people to the Christian faith by showing them that after all you are remarkably like them, is theologically and psychologically a profound blunder.
from Preaching and Preachers, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
What unworthy ideas and notions this world has of God! If you test your ideas of God by the teaching of the Scriptures you will see at a glance what I mean. We lack even a due sense of the greatness and the might and the majesty of God. Listen to men arguing about God, and notice how glibly they use the term … It is indeed almost alarming to observe the way in which we all tend to use the name of God. We obviously do not realize that we are talking about the ever blessed, eternal, and absolute, almighty God. There is a sense in which we should take our shoes off our feet whenever we use the name.
from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God.
from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell-bound. It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice, and you deny yourself, and take up the cross and go after Christ. Your nearest and dearest, and the whole world, may call you a fool, or say you have religious mania. You may have to suffer financially, but it makes no difference. That is repentance.
from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
