I first heard of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones when my wife Tammy studied his Studies in the Sermon on the Mount in a Bible study group back in the early 1980’s. The book made a profound impact on her, particularly in her understanding of Reformed theology. My first Lloyd-Jones book The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors, was given to me by my pastor as a birthday gift nineteen years ago this month.
One of Lloyd-Jones’ most popular books is Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure, published in 1965 and comprised of sermons he delivered at Westminster Chapel in London. In 2011, Granted Ministries reprinted the hardback edition of the book and also included an audio disc of sermons Lloyd-Jones preached from his Spiritual Depression series. The book includes 21 sermons, 7 of which do not appear on the disc. The disc includes 24 sermons, ten of which are not included in the book. Since the recordings are very old, some are difficult to listen to. However, the effort is well worth it, as these sermons are pure gold.
Since I read my books almost exclusively on my Kindle device, I had waited for Spiritual Depression to be available in an e-book edition. However, prompted by watching the trailer of the new film about Lloyd-Jones Logic on Fire at the 2015 Ligonier Ministries National Conference, I decided to read the hardback edition of the book and also listen to the sermons this summer. And what a joy it has been!
You can read my review of the book here. I’ve so enjoyed my time while going to and from work over the past several weeks with “the Doctor”, listening to him preach these sermons (and also reading the printed versions). He begins almost every sermon by “Calling our attention to” the passage he was preaching on. What did I learn? That Scripture is sufficient for the whole of life, to be practically applied to every area of our lives.
As I’ve talked to people over the past weeks about Lloyd-Jones, I’ve found that most do not know anything about him. That’s understandable, as he died in 1981. I would highly recommend that you read Lloyd-Jones for yourself as well as check out his sermons, 1,600 of which are available free at the MLJ Recordings Trust site and podcast.
