The Great Doxology
A Sermon on Romans 11:33-36
Scripture
33Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35Or who has first given to …
33O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35Or who hath first given to him, …
Sermon Description
In this sermon on Romans 11:33–36 titled “The Great Doxology,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shares his belief that this passage is the best doxology in Scripture. He warns not to take this passage out of context since Paul is praising God after expounding wondrous truths for much of the letter. One cannot fully appreciate Paul’s doxology without understanding the parts that make up the whole. Paul spoke about justification by faith, God’s mercy on the Jews as well as the Gentiles, and other magnificent truths. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that many have sought to explain this passage by claiming that Paul has stopped seeking to understand God’s truths and instead broken out into praise. While this is well-meaning, it does not capture the truth of the passage. Paul is worshipping God indeed, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says, but only during His learning of God’s wondrous doctrines. This is not a mindless doxology, but rather is a very mindful one. Along the same lines, it is not just the depth of the riches that Paul is referring to – it is the depth of the riches of God. How wonderfully kind of God to give eternal life to all those who would call upon His name.
The Book of Romans
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.