Christian Book Notes

Lloyd-Jones, Martyn.  The Kingdom of God.  Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2010.  224 pp.  $14.99.  Purchase at Westminster for $10.04.

Introduction

I have reviewed many books by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and have been blessed to interview his grandson, Jonathan, as well.

This particular book, The Kingdom of God, was from a set of sermons preached by the Doctor in 1963.

Summary

Compiled from twelve different sermons, the Doctor allows the Bible to speak on the topic of what the kingdom of God really is.  He expertly divides the Word of Truth to show us how Jesus proclaimed the coming and arrival of the kingdom as well as our first priority as believers is to seek the kingdom.

In most of his messages, he adds one detail to our understanding of God’s kingdom and drives that point home.  After reading the book, you will know that you cannot attain the kingdom though an outward show of faith but that it takes an inward regeneration by the Spirit.  You will know that the kingdom has come in power and will prevail through that power.  You will find that you must be born again to enter the kingdom.  You will also find that while the kingdom is so close, it remains far away and cannot be moved.

Review

It is hard to critique one of your personal heroes in the faith, and I confess, that I could really find nothing to critique Lloyd-Jones on in this book.  I did like that his grandson made mention of the Profumo scandal and how these sermons showed Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ graciousness in dealing with it at a time when everyone in his country wanted to see the man judged and hanged for his crime.

While there may be some doctrinal differences between you and Lloyd-Jones, you will find that his exegetical prowess will help to educate you in your understanding of what the Kingdom of God really is and what it looks like as found in the Bible.

Recommendation

As will all Martyn Lloyd-Jones books, I do recommend The Kingdom of God to everyone.  In reading this book, you may find that much of what you thought you knew about the kingdom is not biblical.  That will not be the case will all, though it is always great to sit at the feet of one of the greatest preachers of all time and learn about what the Bible says on a particular topic.

I recently interviewed Jonathan Catherwood, a grandson of Martyn Lloyd-Jones.  This email arrived in my inbox yesterday and I thought it was worth passing on.  Anytime you can get free MLJ sermons, you should.  God bless and please support their ministry if you are able.

To those who have been able to donate to our ministry, we thank you so much. For those who have not had an opportunity, but would like to help us continue funding this ministry, a link to our donations page is at the bottom left of this eMail (your VeriSign secured contribution will be processed by Groundspring, a member of Network for Good). As a reminder, the MLJ Trust is 501 (c) (3) charitable consisting of four Board members who volunteer their time, and no staff. You can learn more about us at www.mljtrust.org.

As always, we only want to be sending these eMails to friends of the ministry who want to receive them, and so if you would prefer not to receive them, simply click on the “unsubscribe” link below and you will be removed from this eMail list.

Thank you again for your interest in the Ministry of Martyn Lloyd-Jones!

Every blessing,

Jonathan
www.mljtrust.org
Donate Today

This week, I am excited to introduce Jonathan Catherwood to the readers here at Christian Book Notes. Jonathan is a direct descendant of Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Enjoy this interview. You can my reviews of Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s books here.

Christian Book Notes (CBN): Could you please share your testimony of how and when Jesus Christ became your Lord and Savior?

Jonathan Catherwood (JC): I became a Christian at the age of 15. Up until then I had rejected Christianity for all the usual reasons (“Why did God make the world if he knew we were going to sin? How could everyone not go to heaven if faith is by grace and not an act on our part?”), but I was always very troubled by the historical character of Jesus Christ. If Christ did not exist, or one was of many in a failed line of would-be Messiahs, then how did Christianity grow?

Christianity had nothing to recommend it for those who were looking for powerful, problem-solving gods. Christ did not overthrow the Romans–He was killed by them. The Jewish leadership did not embrace Him, they rejected Him. He preached a Gospel of love that included loving your enemies, which was anathema to those living under Roman domination. Why on earth would a small group of Christ’s followers face rejection by their community, their rulers and often their families, and undergo tremendous persecution, for a man that they had thought was the Messiah but had actually been killed and buried. It made no sense to me.

On a theological level, too, as we will always be trapped by our understanding of time and space, I came, I believe, to understand why Christ had come to earth. One cannot ever explain nuclear fusion to an ant (to paraphrase that great evangelist Becky Molenhouse), but one CAN become an ant and communicate at its level. I risk sounding anti-intellectual, but the fact that I cannot understand something does not mean that it isn’t true. Christ, through His teaching, His miracles, His sufferings, His death at Calvary and His resurrection, demonstrated that He was the suffering servant that Isaiah had prophesized was coming.

I just concluded that I was being arrogant like Job, who wanted to have a court trial where God would have to account for Himself, or wanting to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil rather than being satisfied with the Tree of Life. Sin never really changes.  It was sin that was keeping me from Christ not logic.  So I confessed my sin and asked God for His forgiveness, which, as we know, is endless, even for me.

CBN: For those who do not know, you are a grandson of Martyn Lloyd-Jones on your mother’s side. Though he went to be with the Lord in 1981, can you share a memory or two of your grandpa?

JC: My grandfather had two daughters, Elizabeth (my mother) and Ann. My mother and Ann each had three children, so my grandparents had 6 grandchildren in all.  One of the wonderful things about my childhood was that we all lived within walking distance of each other in the London suburb of Ealing, so I grew up around my grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and cousins.

Unfortunately my grandfather never liked having his picture taken, so all the photos of him tend to show him looking very serious or stern, and as a grandfather he was anything but that! Therefore, I am happy to share a few memories of him.  When my siblings and I were very young, and he was still preaching at Westminster Chapel in Central London, we would go and see him in his study afterwards, and he would always have hidden mini chocolates for us to find.  During school vacations, which we tended to spend with our family in the country, he would endlessly play word games or croquet or snooker with us.

Possibly his greatest gift to me as a grandfather, however (my siblings and cousins will have their own thoughts, of course), was his infinite patience with whatever tomfool idea had taken hold of my teenage mind. When, for instance, I was very taken with a Buddhist mystic at the age of 15, it would have been very easy for him to have either dismissed it out of hand or to remind me of the biblical warning that to whom much is given, much is expected. Instead, he took me seriously, read the books, asked me to explain to him what I found to be interesting in them, and only then provided a counter-argument. In other words, he knew that the best way to engage with a teenager was to make him feel that he was being taken seriously. I often think of that time in my life when I hear that lovely old phrase “In the essentials, unity, in the non-essentially, liberty, in all things, charity.” Let us just say that he drew heavily on the charity leg of that stool!

CBN: The Doctor, as he is called by many, preached for 30 years at Westminster Chapel in London. His ministry reaches much farther than those 30 years in London thanks to the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust. Could you explain how and when the Trust came about and what is the primary mission of the Trust?

JC:  The Martyn Lloyd-Jones Trust has been around for decades at this point, thanks to the great endeavor of men and women who have wanted his ministry to live on. From an early date Westminster Chapel recorded sermons, which means that one can listen in 2010 to a series he gave over many years on the book of Ephesians from over 50 years ago.

The Recordings Trust holds the copyright to those sermons, and over the years, as technology has improved, they have done an incredible job in preserving the message from those original tapes in digital form and cutting out the hiss and crackle of the original recordings. The Recordings Trust is a UK charity, and it uses the proceeds of the sale of the sermon series to fund an expansion of the ministry worldwide. Many people ask why the sermons cannot all be free, but those funds are vital to fund the costs of the worldwide promulgation of the sermons.

CBN: Why did the trust decide to set up two separate organizations (not sure if that is the right word) one for England and one for the United States?

JC:  One of the most effective vehicles in recent years for getting the word out on the MLJ Ministry has been the Oneplace.com website. Oneplace is based in the United States, and is a wonderful repository for sermons by countless numbers of evangelical Christian ministries. As there are many Christians in the US who have demonstrated an interest in my grandfather’s ministry, a small group of us thought it would be worth seeing if we could make the Unites States ministry self-funding so that Paul Mitchell and the Recordings Trust team in the UK could use their resources to promulgate the ministry in the rest of the world while we paid for Oneplace.

In God’s grace and providence we were able to form the MLJ Trust, a US charity.  Our purpose right now is to raise enough funds to pay for my grandfather’s ministry to be on Oneplace, and to alert all those who have shown an interest in the ministry as to when new sermons are available for free download. The numbers of those who registered for a download at the beginning was under 2,000, but now it has expanded to nearly 9,000! All four Board members (Lane Dennis of Crossway Publishing, Russ Rice, a Christian film maker, David Lovi, a wonderful young theological student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and myself) are keenly aware that there are many excellent ministries that deserve funding, so our prayer has always been that if it is God’s will for the MLJ Trust to be a vehicle in the promotion of the Gospel that we should see an increase in the number of souls who register to download a sermon. To date we think we see pretty clear evidence that the ministry still has an impact and so is worthy of support.

CBN: What is the lasting legacy your grandpa hoped to leave? Now almost thirty years after his death, do you think you can assess his legacy?

JC:  Other family members and the thousands who have read or listened to his sermons will have their own point of view, but I truly believe that his legacy as a preacher is twofold. First, to focus upon Christ and not laterally, that is, at others. It is my own characterization, but if his sermons tend to focus squarely on Christ and the wonder of resurrection, it is because if one can get men and women to focus on Christ then they are focusing on the light, which is something that we ALL need to do, and can never fail to benefit from.

Or to put it more colloquially, one rarely persuades another person that one is right by telling them that they are wrong. When we focus on Christ we ALL fall short, and ALL of us are in need of redemption through his Son.  I remember asking my Grandfather once why it would be “fair” for one person to go to Heaven and not another, and his answer was that it was a wonder how any of us could go to heaven. It disarms those who attack Christians for believing that they are better than others, and helps to reduce the latent Pharisee in all of us (“There is no-one righteous, no not one”).

Second, he almost never refers to current events, politics or family, which I think is the primary reason why his sermons can still be listened to today without any difficulty across the globe. In a recent sermon I listened to he asks the congregation if they are surprised that he hasn’t mentioned what had happened in the world that week (it was the Hungary uprising and its brutal repression in 1956). He explains that the reason he is not discussing it is because if he is discussing politics or current events he is not preaching the Gospel.  His belief was that by discussing anything but Scripture one is shifting focus to oneself, and not the Gospel.  It was his same perspective with discussing family matters.

CBN: How can we support the ML-J Recordings Trust today?

JC:  Either the MLJ Trust in the Unites States or the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust in the UK would be extremely grateful for any contribution from a brother or sister who feels called to do so. If you are a resident in the United States then you can make a tax-deductible gift (using Verisign) to the MLJ Trust through our website.  The website of the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust in England.  Please remember that it is a UK charity, and so does not qualify for tax deduction purposes for US residents.

Lloyd-Jones, Martyn.  The Gospel in Genesis: From Fig Leaves to Faith.  Wheaton:  Crossway Books, 2009.  160 pp.  $15.99.  Purchase at Westminster for $10.55.

Introduction

Many wonder how Jesus Christ is present in the Old Testament or how even one can preach the gospel of Jesus Christ from the Old Testament.  Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), with exegetical acuteness shows how.  The Doctor, as he was affectionately called, shows us today how this is so in The Gospel in Genesis: From Fig Leaves to Faith–a series of sermons being published in book format for the first time.

Summary

Preaching nine sermons on various passages from Genesis chapters three through twelve, the Doctor shows how indeed the gospel message of Jesus Christ is rooted in not only the Creation of the heavens and the universe but also the fall of man.  Of the nine sermons, six are from Genesis 3:1-24.  There is a sermon on the Flood, the Tower of Babel, and the calling of Abraham.

In every sermon, we find a New Testament usage either explicitly or implicitly. Dr. Jones expertly draws the gospel from the text being taught and shows how it is foundational to the whole of Scripture.  These messages are timeless and very applicable to the Christian today because they are deeply rooted in what we as Christians believe–that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).

Review/Recommendation

To review another man’s sermons–even in book form–is a difficult task.  To critique a sermon, unless there is heresy being taught, is beyond the scope of what I am seeking to accomplish at Christian Book Notes.  Are there some areas that I disagree with the Doctor?  Absolutely! But, those are secondary and tertiary issues at best.  I am not seeking to call a man out on those issues unless I have been asked to engage at that level.  Insofar as the Martyn Lloyd-Jones is concerned, I have not been asked to do so nor do I feel it necessary to do so.

His sermons are spot on regarding application to us today.  Much of what he says needs to be said from pulpits today and, as sad as it may be, will never be preached.  The Doctor talks of judgment and deliverance.  He talks of Christ and His exclusivity.  He talks of the gospel and the necessity of its proclamation.

For anyone seeking the gospel in the first twelve chapters of Genesis, I commend Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ The Gospel in Genesis to you.  For those looking for a good, quick read on how Christ came to die because of the sin of Adam, I, too, recommend this book to you.  If you have never read Lloyd-Jones, this would be an excellent place to start–it is a quick read and is as Christocentric as one can find.

Lloyd-Jones, Martyn.  Living Water: Studies in John 4.  Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2009.  730 pp.  $40.00.  Purchase at Westminster for $25.60!

Introduction

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) is well known by many in the Reformed circles of Christianity.  This is because of his love for the Puritans–he has been given credit as the man who single-handedly brought Banner of Truth into life.  Banner of Truth is most known for their Puritan Paperback Series.   My prayer is that he would be well known throughout all of Christendom.  He has much to offer today’s Christian.  You can download sermons for free at OnePlace.com.  I highly recommend you check out that website.

Summary

Living Water is a compilation of 56 sermons delivered by Dr. Lloyd-Jones on John 4:13-14.  The breadth of these sermons (imagine one year spent in studying two verses!) is beyond my ability to describe.  He begins with the possibility of the Christian life for all people and shows, through careful exposition how Christ impacted one woman in a private discussion and then explains how He should impact all of us in much the same way.

His sermon entitled Wrong Ideas of Worship and of God is worth the price of the book as he shows how Christ says we should worship God.  The five or so sermons at the end of the book greatly challenged me regarding my evangelism.  Again, these sermons are very pertinent to today’s church.

Along the way, ML-J details what conviction of sin really means, how one can be saved, why we ought to believe in the authority of the Bible as the Word of God, and even a sermon on the difference between Christianity and religion.  As I said above, this sermon series compiled into this book is amazing in detail and length.

Review/Recommendation

It is hard to review another pastor’s sermon unless he is espousing heresy.  Dr. Lloyd-Jones brings out many different nuances of these two verses.  He applies them to the Christian walk today and offers many defenses of the Christian faith along the way.  To read Living Water is to take a class in evangelism, systematic theology, and apologetics at the same time.

What is more, Ian Murray wrote in an article for Banner of Truth magazine that this is the last of ML-J’s sermons to be published.  All of his sermons have been exhausted in terms of formatting them for print publication.  While starting with Living Water may seem daunting (it is 730 pages!), I highly recommend that you pick up anything by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and be fed by arguably the greatest expositor and pastor of the 20th century.