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The Vital Principle

March 3, 2026
00:00

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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Past Episodes

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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
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Middleburg, VA 20118