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Sermon #5285

A Depraved Nature

A Sermon on Jeremiah 2:7

Originally preached Oct. 23, 1960

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Scripture

Jeremiah 2:7 ESV KJV
And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. (ESV)

Sermon Description

Is Christianity a joyless religion based on strict law keeping? Sadly, many people think that the teachings of Jesus Christ are just this. But in this sermon on Jeremiah 2:7 titled “A Depraved Nature,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows that this is wholly opposed to what the Bible actually teaches. In the Scriptures is found a God in whom people are to take joy. The Christian life is a call to follow Jesus and to love one another; it is a call to find peace in the salvation of Christ. This life is not about keeping commandments first and foremost, but it is about trusting in Jesus. All the sins that the Bible forbids are the sins that alienate people from God and make them slaves. Freedom and joy have the same source: Jesus Christ. Scripture presents a beautiful picture of life in Christ that allows Christians to really enjoy the gifts of God in creation rather than abuse them for fleeting pleasure. The message of this sermon and the Bible is to follow Jesus and find joy in Him. People are not only saved by faith in Jesus, but they also find their rest in this life in Him.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. God addresses the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah.
  2. The people of Israel were in a desperate and hopeless condition. They were under threat of attack from the Chaldeans.
  3. God sends Jeremiah to confront the people about their condition and why they are in this position.
  4. The reason for their condition is that they have turned away from God. They have rebelled against him and turned to idol worship.
  5. God comes down to their level and reasons with them to show them why their unbelief is wrong at every point.
  6. The people of Israel had found nothing wrong with God to turn away from him. They had no charge against him.
  7. The people of Israel had rejected God's salvation by forgetting what he had done in delivering them from Egypt.
  8. God brought the people of Israel into a plentiful land but they defiled it and made it an abomination.
  9. The people of Israel failed to realize the benefits of the land God had brought them into. They despised the pleasant land.
  10. The people of Israel had a false view of the life God had called them to which caused them to despise it.
  11. People today reject Christianity and the Christian life because they have a false view of what it really is.
  12. People see the Christian life as something they have to produce themselves by their own effort and works. They see it as a dull, boring, and cramped life.
  13. The real truth about the Christian life is that you don't have to make yourself a Christian. It is a gift of God by grace through faith.
  14. God gives new life to those who become Christians. Christianity is not just about forgiveness but a whole new life and nature.
  15. The Christian life offers fellowship with God, adoption into his family, and being filled with the fullness of God.
  16. The Christian life offers a new mind, new heart, new will, new freedom, new power, and a life of purpose.
  17. The Christian life is a good, valuable, joyful, and plentiful life that continues on through all of life's trials and even into eternity.
  18. Those who reject the Christian life have a depraved taste and nature. They can only look forward to misery if they continue in that state.
  19. People need to ask God for a new heart, new nature, and new life which he offers as a free gift.

Old Testament

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.