When a Young RC Sproul Heard MLJ Preach…

In the spring of 1969, shortly after his retirement from pastoral ministry, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones delivered his seminal series on Preaching & Preachers to the students and faculty at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Many notable future pastors attended these sermons, including a young R.C. Sproul. The following sermon constitutes the first of eighteen messages in the series.

Listen: “Primacy of Preaching”

Dr Lloyd-Jones’s retirement from ministry allowed him the opportunity to take up more of the many offers he received to preach around the country, indeed the world. As alluded to in the opening remarks of the sermon, Westminster had tried previously to get Dr. Lloyd-Jones to the United States, however his weekly pastoral commitments – including preparing three sermons a week – had prevented him from accepting.

Reflecting on this event decades later, R. C. Sproul made the following remarks:

"Over 40 years ago I was at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia to hear British preacher Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones deliver his landmark series of lectures on preaching. He was a titan of Christian ministry then and it thrills me to see his influence accelerating today for the benefit of the church around the world."

Greg Jones
President, MLJ Trust