From the MLJ Archive on Oneplace.com

Romans 11:25-27 — God’s sovereignty and humanity’s responsibility can be difficult to reconcile, especially when reading different passages in the Bible that seem to be contradictory. In this sermon on Romans 11:25–27 titled “The Mystery Revealed,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones leads through a phrase-by-phrase analysis of one such passage. The word blindness here, he says, is actually better translated as “hardened.” What does Paul mean by saying that Israel has been hardened? Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides reasons and evidence as to why this most likely refers to the majority of the Israelite nation as a whole, not every individual Israelite, since some of the Jews were indeed saved and thus were shown not to be hardened. As the rest of this passage states, this blindness was only temporary— God established it and God took it off at the fullness of the Gentiles. To better understand this oft-confused phrase, Dr. Lloyd-Jones presents the various views and why it makes sense that Paul is making another broad reference, this time indicating a majority of Gentiles. The passage ends by saying that “all Israel will be saved.” This meaning, too, has been hotly debated throughout church history. Dr. Lloyd-Jones demonstrates his reasoning as to why he believes it is not referencing all the elect Jews as a whole, nor the elect Jews and Gentiles combined, but a different group altogether. Listen as he methodically steps through this difficult passage to help the listener better understand its meaning and application for their lives.

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Romans 11:23-24 — In Romans 11:23–24, Paul continues his arguments to prove that the Lord is not done with the nation of Israel. In this sermon on Romans 11:23–24 titled “Regrafting of the Jews,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out the three previous arguments in the beginning of the chapter for review and explains two more arguments in these verses. The first is based on the power of God; He is able to do anything. This means that the Lord is able to regraft the Jews back into His fold. Paul is continuing his illustration of the branches and roots of a tree. The Lord may have chosen to cut off the nation of Israel, but that does not mean that He cannot once again restore them. The second argument is in light of what God has done to the Gentiles. Because the Lord chose to bring salvation to the Gentiles, this is proof that He can also restore the Jews once again. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that it was even harder to graft in the Gentiles, so how much more would the Lord be willing and able to once again regraft His chosen people. As a final reminder, the Christian should always be aware that they are part of the branches that are growing and fruitful, lest they also are cut off.

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Romans 11:18-22 — The history of Christianity has witnessed the decline of many churches. In this sermon on Romans 11:18-22, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones attributes such declines to the drift away from true Christianity's vital principle, justification by faith alone. Dr. Lloyd-Jones urges listeners to learn the lessons from history and guard themselves and their churches against falling back into a system of justification by works. Regarding the churches that hold firm to the principle of justification by faith alone, be prepared to be persecuted by those who don’t. This tendency has been borne out in church history as evidenced by the persecution inflicted on the true church by the Jews and the also the apostate church. Please note that in a rare departure from customary practice, the original editor of the MLJ Trust recordings decided to include the tail end of the last hymn prior to the commencement of the sermon. This was presumably in order to make sense of Dr Lloyd-Jones's opening admonition to his congregation as to the quality of their singing on that particular Friday evening at Westminster chapel!

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Romans 11:16-22 — Can Christians lose their salvation? There are few more contested and more important theological questions in Christianity. Many believers are plagued by doubts because they fear that they may fail to work out their own salvation and be eternally lost in hell. In this sermon on Romans 11:16–22 titled “Final Perseverance,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones offers solace to any fearful Christians. He says that the Bible never teaches that true believers can lose salvation. This is for the simple reason that it is God through His Son Jesus Christ who saves. Christians are not even saved by faith, first and foremost, but ultimately by Christ who grants them their faith. Jesus loves His people and He is both able and willing to guard them from ever falling away. What about those passages that speak of the need to persevere? The Holy Spirit uses many means to build up Christians in faith and joy and these passages that warn Christians not to fall away are one of these means that God uses to preserve those He loves. What about people who say they are Christians and stop believing? There are many who are self-deceived and think that they are saved, but their life shows that this is not a true work of God. The glorious truth of the gospel is that Jesus saves all those that He loves and He will lose no one.

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Romans 11:18-22 — In previous passages, Paul has explained that because of the Jews’ unbelief, the Gentiles were granted belief through Christ. In Romans 11:18–22, Paul now warns the Gentiles against any boasting because of their new standing and salvation. There is no place for pride in a Christian’s life and Paul warns that any such feelings would cause one to suffer. In this sermon on Romans 11:18–22 titled “God’s Goodness and Severity,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that the best corrective against pride is to know God, and the truth and character of God. The greatest lack would be a lack of the knowledge of God. This lack would show in one’s doctrine and view of sin, and would lead to a lack of fear of the Lord. In his closing, Dr. Lloyd-Jones also pauses to reflect on the goodness and severity of God in Romans 11:22. God is true in all of His characteristics and He is fully known in each of those character traits. One cannot say that God is good without acknowledging His severity. One cannot dwell only on the wrath of God without showing the love of God. The truest example of this is Christ on the cross. May the Christian never boast in themselves, but instead boast in Christ and all that He has done for them.

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