REVIEW OF "THE KINGDOM OF GOD' BY MARTYN LLOYD-JONES
Reprints of Reformed Greats Continues:
Another Martyn Lloyd-Jones Sermon Collection Published
A Review of
Martyn Lloyd-Jones The Kingdom of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010)
$14.99 222 pp ISBN-13: 978-1-4335-1340-4 ISBN-10: 1-4335--1340-4
Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz
When I was a young christian back in the sixties, Dr. D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of most highly respected Christian leaders in the circle in which I traveled. I still remember how excited I was when I personally got to know a member of Lloyd-Jones' church who was in Philly to get his Th.M. at Westminster. (What great chats we had!) And the sixties was also the time when there was a great upsurge (which is still going on) in the reprinting of the works of the great Reformed men from days of yore. When I began pondering the book under review here, it suddenly hit me that since Lloyd-Jones is no longer with us, he is now numbered in the ranks of the Reformed greats from days of yore. Time has moved on so fast that I guess by now the sixties are being numbered in the days of yore! This book, then, must be so considered because it consists of sermons preached in 1963, almost a half century ago.
As the title indicates, all the sermons, which are arranged sequentially, deal with the subject of the Kingdom of God: how it was proclaimed, how it arrives, how one enters it and how one does not enter it, its central and ultra-serious nature, the relationship of Christ to the Kingdom, the warnings against ignoring the Kingdom and against self-deception in regard to one's membership in the Kingdom.
Almost everything here has been said before but it rarely has been said as well and as powerfully. One thing I do NOT recall seeing before was the exact reason why Jesus treated Nicodemus the way He did. Actually, just that discussion itself would be worth the price of the book!
The book not only has value for someone unknowledgeable about or confused about the nature of the Kingdom, it also has value for someone, such as myself, who been devoting a lot of time and effort to various subjects in the Biblical world-view and to philosophical matters such as those raised in the thought of Cornelius Van Til. It is possible to get so absorbed in such worthwhile subjects that elementary matters get forgotten and one's basic spiritual deficiencies and sins can get overlooked. Sometimes we need to go back and review such basic matters as the Cross and our personal relationship with God. This is the blessing which the book had for me.
It also needs to be said that the message of this book is urgently needed both in the church and outside of it. Surprising as it might seem, there is almost as much confusion about the nature of the Kingdom of God today than there ever was. In fact the misunderstanding today is, at least in Anerica and Europe, much worse than it was several hundred years ago. And today, even in Reformed circles, there is a huge amount of confusion about the most basic of doctrines such as justification, which has led to the outrageous notions being propogated by groups calling themselves by such names as the Federal Vision and the Emerging Church.
To any who are being introduced to Lloyd-Jones by this book and who are helped by it, I would suggest checking out his other writings. Some of these writings deal in more detail with matters covered in this one.
Another Martyn Lloyd-Jones Sermon Collection Published
A Review of
Martyn Lloyd-Jones The Kingdom of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010)
$14.99 222 pp ISBN-13: 978-1-4335-1340-4 ISBN-10: 1-4335--1340-4
Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz
When I was a young christian back in the sixties, Dr. D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of most highly respected Christian leaders in the circle in which I traveled. I still remember how excited I was when I personally got to know a member of Lloyd-Jones' church who was in Philly to get his Th.M. at Westminster. (What great chats we had!) And the sixties was also the time when there was a great upsurge (which is still going on) in the reprinting of the works of the great Reformed men from days of yore. When I began pondering the book under review here, it suddenly hit me that since Lloyd-Jones is no longer with us, he is now numbered in the ranks of the Reformed greats from days of yore. Time has moved on so fast that I guess by now the sixties are being numbered in the days of yore! This book, then, must be so considered because it consists of sermons preached in 1963, almost a half century ago.
As the title indicates, all the sermons, which are arranged sequentially, deal with the subject of the Kingdom of God: how it was proclaimed, how it arrives, how one enters it and how one does not enter it, its central and ultra-serious nature, the relationship of Christ to the Kingdom, the warnings against ignoring the Kingdom and against self-deception in regard to one's membership in the Kingdom.
Almost everything here has been said before but it rarely has been said as well and as powerfully. One thing I do NOT recall seeing before was the exact reason why Jesus treated Nicodemus the way He did. Actually, just that discussion itself would be worth the price of the book!
The book not only has value for someone unknowledgeable about or confused about the nature of the Kingdom, it also has value for someone, such as myself, who been devoting a lot of time and effort to various subjects in the Biblical world-view and to philosophical matters such as those raised in the thought of Cornelius Van Til. It is possible to get so absorbed in such worthwhile subjects that elementary matters get forgotten and one's basic spiritual deficiencies and sins can get overlooked. Sometimes we need to go back and review such basic matters as the Cross and our personal relationship with God. This is the blessing which the book had for me.
It also needs to be said that the message of this book is urgently needed both in the church and outside of it. Surprising as it might seem, there is almost as much confusion about the nature of the Kingdom of God today than there ever was. In fact the misunderstanding today is, at least in Anerica and Europe, much worse than it was several hundred years ago. And today, even in Reformed circles, there is a huge amount of confusion about the most basic of doctrines such as justification, which has led to the outrageous notions being propogated by groups calling themselves by such names as the Federal Vision and the Emerging Church.
To any who are being introduced to Lloyd-Jones by this book and who are helped by it, I would suggest checking out his other writings. Some of these writings deal in more detail with matters covered in this one.
posted by Forrest Schultz @ 3:30 PM
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