Lloyd Jones Book Review

 BOOK REVIEW: 

Title of book: The Passionate preaching of Martyn Lloyd Jones

Author: Steven J. Lawson

Publisher: Reformation Trust

Publisher’s Address or address where book may be obtained: www.amazon.co.uk

Year of publication:2016

Number of Pages: 188

Hdbk or pbk: Hardback

Price: £11.33 (post free)

ISBN-10: 1567696384

This book is a delight to read and its lessons are a challenge to ponder. It concerns the great pulpit ministry of Martyn Lloyd Jones who regularly preached the word of God to audiences of over 2,000 people every week in the latter part of the 20^th century in London. Sometimes, when we see numbers like these, we are apt to wonder what it was that drew so many people in. Was it the praise band? Was there (thinking of a quote from Spurgeon) some form of amusement for the goats? Was the man on the stage given to humour and became, even inadvertently, the best free entertainment on a Sunday night in a city noted for its musicals and shows? Not at all. MLJ  had none of these things. He simply gave his whole self to the exposition of Scripture without any gimmicks. Those who came saw a man in a pulpit expounding and applying the text of Scripture for between 40 and 60 minutes. Nor did he feed the sub evangelical desire for fancy preaching on fancy texts and themes. For a different reason than that of the wicked and careless Galileo, MLJ cared for none of these things. He preached the great doctrinal themes with great depth and with great effect.

MLJ retired from the pastorate in 1968 and spent the remaining 13 years of his life in editing his sermons, including his great volumes on Romans and Ephesians. Drawing from these works, along with others, Steven Lawson brings us great gems on what true Biblical preaching really is. MLJ insisted on the necessity of the Spirit’s work, working through the preacher who was obliged to give himself to the deep study of the Bible.  MLJ was a preacher of Reformed theology and due space in given to those parts of his sermons where he expounded the Calvinistic Doctrines of Grace.

In the long history of great Protestant preachers, MLJ is relatively recent. His sermons may be found on SermonAudio and you can “hear” his distinct voice as you read the various quotes attributed to him in the book. This well produced book is part of the “Long Line of Godly Men” series which are mostly, though not exclusively, penned by Mr Lawson. It is well worth buying.

 

* CALVINIST INDEX
* PROTESTANT INDEX
* CH SPURGEON INDEX
* EVANGELISM INDEX
* HERE AND THERE INDEX
* YOUTUBE VIDEO INDEX
* 3 MINUTE AUDIOBOO INDEX

mlj

THE CALVINISM OF MARTYN LLOYD JONES 

CALVINISM AND GOD'S GLORY:
   
"The glory of God! This is the great thing that dominates all the thinking of the Calvinist." (William Williams and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodism)
 

CALVINISM AND EVANGELISM:
   
"Did you know that this was a fact, that every single person who was involved in the beginning of the great missionary enterprise in the 1790's was what was called a Calvinist? I dislike the use of these labels and extra-biblical terms, but that is a simple fact of history. There is a common notion abroad today that a man who holds these doctrines of grace is a man who does nothing and that he does not believe in evangelism. ... If a man knows God he will above all others have a zeal for the glory of God and the Name of God. He will want the whole world to come to God, he will be the most active preacher and evangelist of all." (Knowledge - False and True)

"Let us, I hope, once and for ever, put an end to that lie which says that Calvinism and an interest in evangelism are not compatible. (I do not like these labels but as they are used, I must use them. Here is the greatest evangelist England has ever produced [Whitefield] and he was a Calvinist. Charles Hadden Spurgeon, the greatest evangelist of the last century confesses that he had modelled himself  - as far as he had modelled himself on anybody - on George Whitefield. And he was a Calvinist." (John Calvin and George Whitefield)

"The greatest evangelists this world has ever known have been men who have believed in the sovereign, free election of God." (Romans - Saving Faith)

CALVINISM AND PREACHING:

"I am one of those who believes that Calvinism should always lead to great preaching; and when it does not, I query the genuineness of the Calvinism. You cannot have great preaching without a great theme; and they [Welsh Calvinistic Methodists] had a great theme." (William Williams and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodism)

DEAD CALVINISM?

   
"I regard the term 'dead Calvinism' as a contradiction in terms. I say that dead Calvinism is impossible, and that if your Calvinism appears to be dead it is not Calvinism, but a philosophy. It is a philosophy using Calvinistic terms, it is an intellectualism, and it is not real Calvinism." (William Williams and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodism)

CALVINISM AND REVIVAL:

"The true Calvinist is concerned about revival. Why? Because he is concerned about the glory of God." (William Williams and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodism)

"True Calvinism is bound to emphasise the element of revival, the 'giveness' of the activity of God, the visitations of God. It is only since the decline of Calvinism that revivals have become to less and less frequent. The more powerful Calvinism is the more likely you are to have a spiritual revival and re-awakening." (William Williams and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodism)

"Calvinism of necessity leads to an emphasis upon the action of the activity of God the Holy Spirit." (William Williams and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodism)

CALVINISM AND PRAYER:

"Nothing so promotes prayer as Calvinism. Calvinists who do not pray, I say, are not Calvinists. These things follow the one the other as the night follows the day." (William Williams and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodism)

NEW TESTAMENT CALVINISTS:

"In other words, I am arguing that the first Christians were the most typical Calvinistic Methodists of all! I am just describing them to you. Not only the great apostles - Paul and others - but the people, the ordinary people - joy and rejoicing, praising God and thanking Him from 'house to house' as they ate their bread together. Peter can say of them: "Whom not having seen, ye love; in whom, though ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice unspeakable and full of glory.' That is 1st century Christianity! It is also the very essence of Calvinistic Methodism." (William Williams and the Welsh Calvinistic Methodism)

THE END

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