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Sermon #1150

Spiritual Dullness

A Sermon on John 4:13-14

Scripture

John 4:13-14 ESV NASB KJV
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” …

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Sermon Description

The Samaritan woman that Jesus encounters in John 4:13–14 is a good example of someone who is unable to see things spiritually. Throughout this encounter, Jesus mentions spiritual things, such as the nature of salvation and redemption, but this woman understands Him only as speaking of worldly things. Unfortunately, as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains in this sermon titled “Spiritual Dullness,” this is the state of all people who live in sin and darkness. Those who do not have a renewed mind do not have the ability to understand gospel truths, for these are spiritually discerned by the aid of the Holy Spirit. Even Christians are often blind to spiritual truths. This can result from a lack of a proper understanding of God’s word or from sin in the life of believers. Many Christians try to rationalize their sins instead of confronting them and this can lead to spiritual blindness and a life of alienation from God and neighbor. This is why the church must proclaim the gospel that continually transforms and renews believers. Every day Christians are in need of God’s great grace again, and God is faithful to give His grace in Christ to believers. This should encourage all Christians to rely on God for all things and to faithfully and joyfully proclaim the great truth of the gospel of salvation by grace alone.

The Book of John

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.