Gospel – Kelston Community Church

Romans (14 Volume Set)

If a preacher faithfully preached the entire book of Romans once a week, every single week, how long would it take for him to finish preaching? If you’re Martyn Lloyd-Jones, it’ll take you 13 years. This man of God – one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century, one whom I consider a 20th century Christian Puritan – faithfully preached every single Wednesday, for 13 years on the book of Romans.

These 14 books are based on all his preaching on Romans, but has been adapted and personally edited by Lloyd-Jones to suit reading. When I bought the full set of 14 books, I wasn’t sure if I would ever finish reading the set. But when I got started and felt the depth of the gospel of God Himself through Lloyd-Jones’ blessed preaching, I really couldn’t stop.

Here’s the thing about Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ preaching. He is utterly faithful in his exposition. He plumbs the depths and riches of every verse in Romans to its uttermost depth, but he remains faithful and will not “fill in the blanks” in areas where Scripture has intentionally left blank. The depth of his preaching unearths things you never thought about in Scripture, while the faithfulness of his preaching makes it trustworthy. If you have listened to the recordings of his sermons (I highly recommend you do on https://www.mljtrust.org/), when you read these books, you would feel as if he’s still preaching “live” to you.

Here are some quotes from the books:

“The devil cannot prevent any of us from becoming Christians, but he often does succeed in making us miserable Christians.”
– Romans: Exposition of Chapter 1

“Are you a Christian? This is how you discover the answer. Have you ceased altogether to look at yourself or to yourself, in every possible way? And are you looking only and entirely and utterly to the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, and what He has done on your behalf?”
– Romans: Exposition of Chapter 3:20 – 4:25

“We must not only assert the truth; we must attack the evil and the false; we must ‘prove’ our truth and demonstrate it; and that can only be done by means of a negative. State the truth, consider the objections, answer them, and so you establish the truth yet more firmly. This is the method of the Apostle himself.”
– Romans: Exposition of Chapter 8:17-39

These are powerful books and the Holy Spirit still works through Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ exposition of Romans. These 14 books will help you realise who God really is, who you really are, and how God really relates to His people whom He has chosen and saved. Read them and weep, rejoice, love, anticipate and rest.

Reviewed by Jin Wan

The Gospel Made Clear to Children

Sometimes, even as Christians, we underestimate children’s ability to comprehend the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet wasn’t it our Lord Jesus himself who said, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”? Some may interpret this to mean our gospel needs to be dumbed down into meaninglessness, but of course, we know that’s a lie. After all the gospel is the full content of God’s good news of salvation for mankind. Enter Jennifer Adams’ “The Gospel Made Clear to Children”.

What’s the purpose of this book? In Adams’ own words, she “wrote this book to explain God’s love to children as it is manifested in the gospel of Christ. It is written for parents to read aloud to younger children (elementary) and for older children (youth) to work through independently” What I find utterly amazing about this book is that, it is full of biblical doctrine fully backed by Scripture, yet it is explained in an utterly plain and simple manner so that both children and adults understand the rich content of the gospel of God!

The beauty of this book is that it doesn’t water down the gospel just because it is meant for kids. This means it lays out the whole gospel – from the easiest to read bits to the most difficult to accept bits. Adams’ lays it out as it is, and in doing so, glorifies God and teaches kids what it really means to be loved by God and living for God as a result. Here’s an excerpt:

“Jesus said that many who are first will be last, and the last, first. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. The greatest will be a servant, and whoever wishes to be first must be a slave, just as Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Does this teaching sound too hard? It is hard, but the price of not following Jesus is one we cannot afford. Jesus said that we are to do whatever we must to avoid sin. Jesus said not to fear man who can kill the body, but to fear God who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”

“The Gospel made Clear to Children”, Jennifer Adams

If you’re an adult, don’t scoff at this book as a mere children’s book. It’s not. As an adult myself, I found myself learning some new and some deep things about the gospel of God. It’s truly refreshing to have a book like this. Leave a legacy and teach your children to love God with all their heart and soul and mind and might. Awesome book.

Review by: Jin Wan