40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
We need more preachers like MLJ, September 16, 2006
This review is from: Seeking the Face of God: Nine Reflections on the Psalms (Paperback)
This book, which is a collection of nine sermons from the Psalms, was originally published in England in 1991 and published in America for the first time last year. Although many of the illustrations in the book are circa 1950's, I found Lloyd-Jones' assessment of Christian religion to be just as relevant today. I have a clearer understanding of God as a result of reading this book.
A survey of the book's themes:
***Three common misconceptions about God***
1. God does not exist
The Bible counters this claim in Psalm 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, `There is no God.'" Humanity is dividing up into two great categories: fools and wise, with a person's placement being determined by whether they believe in God or not. Some learned, cultured, and knowledgeable people do not believe in God and some do. Likewise, some unintelligent, illiterate people from the streets do not believe in God and some do. Therefore, knowledge and intelligence cannot keep someone from being a fool if they have unbelief in their heart.
Sometimes people are tempted to think that not believing in God is something new and novel, but Lloyd-Jones states, "There is nothing new about not believing in God; it is the oldest thing in the world to deny Him."
A right response is to prove that we are wise by repenting of our unbelief.
2. God is like us
This mindset is true today as it was in biblical times. Psalm 50:21 says, "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself." This is a very serious matter because the people described here are not only outside of the church, but are also within the church. "There is nothing more awful and reprehensible than to talk about God and then to forget all about Him, and to live as if He were not there at all" (p. 42). In fact, it is the most terrible mistake that a human being can ever make because the consequence is self-deception
3. God's power is limited
Being a Christian is a high calling, yet many people limit God's work of raising them to the heights of their calling. This occurs when people do not receive God's promises, believe them, and act on them. Another way to put it is we limit God when we do not enjoy His blessings.
***Six benefits of knowing God***
Martin Lloyd-Jones dedicates six chapters to showing the benefits that the godly life provides. These benefits come from knowing God and the knowledge of God can only be found at the alter of Jesus Christ. "The only thing that brings us into the presence of God, says the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is `the blood of Jesus' (Heb. 10:9)" (p. 45). Reading Martin Lloyd-Jones is spiritually edifying because every chapter ultimately points the focus on Christ's work for us.
1. Being known by God
Religion is a question of knowing God and there is no way to know God except through Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christ is the only place that we can find safety for our soul, "He has died to save your soul and will keep it safe through out all eternity" (p.59). The ultimate secret of every godly Christian is that he has come at last to realize that the most priceless thing in life is his soul. "The soul within me goes on for all eternity. God has put it into me. It is what stamps men and women as being made in the image of God" (p. 54).
2. Seeing self clearly
The heart of an irreligious person is like an uncharted wilderness. But for the Christian, "Into the chaos and disorder and the trackless waste of a man's life comes the operation and activity of the blessed Holy Spirit of God... it is like a land being mapped out and planned when the Holy Spirit begins to do His blessed work" of leading us to repentance and regeneration (p.67). God creates a highway of holiness in our lives where we can walk upright by leveling the mountains of our pride through repentance and exalting our valleys of weakness through regeneration.
3. Experiencing God's lovingkindness
This was my favorite chapter because it helped unpack for me amazing truths found in Psalm 63. This is a Psalm that picks us up out of our circumstances to the place where God's lovingkindness is, which is better than life itself. And experiencing God's lovingkindness is a right that all Christians have!
4. Certainty of salvation
When we have the lovingkindness of God, then we are ready to face everything.
One quote from this chapter that struck me in particular was this:
"I am certain that the way whereby we can attract the masses who are outside the church and outside Christ to the faith is to show that God is with us... the greatest need today is Christian people who know and manifest the fact that they know the living God, to whom his "loving-kindness is better than life." (p. 121)
5. Having the Lord before you
Psalm 16:8 says, "I have set the Lord always before me." MLJ explains that "what David was really saying was that he was going to set himself in the presence of God" (p. 142).
6. Seeing God's face
Having started with the question of God's existence, the book ends with a call to know God personally. To gaze upon His beauty and be filled with His goodness.
Seeking the Face of God is the first book by Martyn Lloyd-Jones that I have completed and I enjoyed reading it. It is one that I would recommend and will probably reference again in the future.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prepare to be enlightened, May 13, 2011
This review is from: Seeking the Face of God: Nine Reflections on the Psalms (Paperback)
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones has been my favorite source for solid spiritual teaching for 30 years. He passed away in 1981, and his countless sermons have since over the years found their way into print by those who appreciate and understand his profound and practical revelation of Biblical principles. With Dr. Lloyd-Jones no longer with us, in hindsight we can see that he was a man true to the faith until the end. He never deviated from the Scriptures, never went off on some tangent. This man knew God, and if you are willing to be taught he will help you in that same journey as well. There is no higher calling for us.
For those unfamiliar with the many books of Lloyd-Jones, they are collections of his sermons with each chapter being a sermon that builds upon the former. I have multi-volume sets of his studies in Romans and Ephesians...all are tremendous works.
In "Seeking the Face of God" Lloyd-Jones uses excerpts from the Psalms to bring us to the understanding that genuine faith can and absolutely should carry with it a clear understanding of one's assurance of salvation as well as a prevailing sense of the steadfastness and joy that one should have in his or her faith in spite of circumstances. This is not a forced positive attitude; this is a sure knowing that transcends feelings. In this sense the book also offers a test of sorts for us to determine if we are in the faith. The thoughtful and penetrating way that Lloyd-Jones accomplishes this lets you know that God blessed this man's many years of preaching and allowed him great insight, and God gave him the ability to share that insight.
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