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The Parable of the Rich Fool

March 23, 2025
Luke 12:13-21 — In this sermon on the parable of the rich fool from Luke 12:13-21, preached on a Sunday evening to the Seventh Reformed Church in Grand Rapids (Michigan), Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones exposes the danger and tragedy of self-deception. The parable arose from a man interrupting Jesus' teaching to ask him to intervene in a family inheritance dispute. Jesus, shocked by the request, warns the man and the crowd to "beware of covetousness". He then tells the parable of a rich man who treasured up possessions for himself but was not "rich toward God." The man's folly, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains, was rooted in self-deception regarding his own capacity as a thinker and planner. While successful in business, the rich man left God completely out of his thinking and planning. He failed to consider his soul, God's claim on his life, and the fleeting nature of earthly possessions. The sermon challenges hearers to examine themselves and ensure God is central in all of their reasoning and aspirations.

*Special note on Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s Preaching Method

During his ministry, it was Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s practice to preach sermons geared towards the edification of believers at the Sunday morning service and sermons geared towards the evangelism of unbelievers at the Sunday evening service. This sermon serves as a good example of a message geared towards unbelievers, whereas its counterpart from the morning service an example geared towards believers. This method has been referred to half-jokingly by contemporaries as "Saints in the morning, Sinners at night!" However, it must be noted that this practice did not mean that within Dr Lloyd-Jones’s sermons edification and evangelism were mutually exclusive. There would be plenty within each sermon to feed and convict both believers and unbelievers alike.
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About From the MLJ Archive

From the MLJ Archive is the Oneplace.com hosted ministry of the MLJ Trust. Our mission is to promulgate the audio ministry of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.


About Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) has been described as "a great pillar of the 20th century Evangelical Church". Born in Wales, and educated in London, he was a brilliant student who embarked upon a short, but successful, career as a medical doctor at the famous St Bartholemew's Hospital. However, the call of Gospel ministry was so strong that he left medicine in order to become minister of a mission hall in Port Talbot, South Wales. Eventually he was called to Westminster Chapel in London, where thousands flocked to hear his "full-blooded" Gospel preaching, described by one hearer as "logic on fire". With some 1600 of his sermons recorded and digitally restored, this has left a legacy which is now available for the blessing of another generation of Christians around the world — "Though being dead he still speaks".

Contact From the MLJ Archive with Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Mailing Address
PO Box 953
Middleburg, VA 20118