Man in a State of Famine
A Sermon on Ezekiel 36:29-30
Originally preached June 17, 1956
Scripture
29I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach …
Sermon Description
“I come to a place of final satisfaction.” In this sermon on Ezekiel 36:29–30 titled “Man in a State of Famine,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones rejoices in the fullness of the Christian life and hope of the gospel. Christianity doesn’t call God’s people to scorn the luxuries and pleasures of life. The “laws of nature” that one discovers are simply rules God has put in place. God’s dealings with humanity and the delivery of His people from sin demonstrate His plan. God always works upon a plan. God will do nothing with His people until their guilt has been dealt with: forgiveness is first in salvation. God’s way is through Christ alone, then continues on in sanctification by the Holy Spirit. Humanity’s real need is to know God and to know how to come to Him. The tragedy of today is that people don’t know the cause of trouble because they are ignorant of God. A life not looking at God invariably leads to famine. God is what people were made for. The most terrible thing to happen to a human is to be abandoned by God. Intellectual and moral activity declines without God. The godless life starves the mind and the heart. The Christian life alone leads to fulfillment.
Sermon Breakdown
- The prophet Ezekiel speaks of God saving his people from famine and increasing their harvests. This points to spiritual blessings, not just material ones.
- Life without God leads to spiritual famine. It starves the mind, morals, emotions, and purpose.
- The sinful life leads to famine because we were made for God, and without him we lack what we need most. God also withholds blessings from those who reject him.
- The modern world shows signs of spiritual famine like decreasing attention spans, crumbling morals, and emotional instability. People turn to temporary fixes like drugs, alcohol, and casual sex to cope.
- In contrast, the Christian life leads to blessing, satisfaction, and abundance. It nourishes the mind, morals, emotions, and purpose.
- The Bible provides intellectual satisfaction with its comprehensive worldview and insights into human nature.
- The gospel cleanses us from sin and helps our moral development. The Holy Spirit empowers us to overcome sin.
- The Christian life provides emotional satisfaction through joy, peace, and comfort in suffering. Our emotions are anchored in Christ.
- Christians can face any circumstance with contentment through prayer and faith in God's sovereignty.
- Christians have hope in death through faith in eternity with Christ.
- If you lack satisfaction and purpose, you likely don't know God. Come to Christ, confess your sins, and receive new life and his Spirit.
- God will abundantly satisfy all who come to him through Christ.
Sermon Q&A
What is the Spiritual Meaning of Famine and Abundance in Ezekiel 36:29-30?
According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermon on Ezekiel 36:29-30, the passage reveals profound spiritual truths about famine and abundance in relation to our relationship with God.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the main theme of Ezekiel 36?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies Ezekiel 36:16-36 as "one of those marvelous portrayals of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which are to be found scattered about so freely in the pages of the Old Testament." He emphasizes that this passage, while having an immediate message for ancient Israel and possibly implications for modern Israel, is primarily a foreshadowing of the gospel and its benefits.
What is the spiritual meaning of famine according to the sermon?
According to Lloyd-Jones, spiritual famine is the inevitable result of living apart from God. He states: "The sinful life, the godless life, the life that is independent of God and doesn't look to him, is a life that always and invariably leads to famine." This famine manifests in several ways:
- Intellectual famine - "When man turns away from God, his mind always begins to degenerate"
- Moral famine - "People haven't even a sense of morals... Their moral nature has been starved"
- Emotional famine - "The heart is starved... They don't know what love is"
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones contrast the world's view of Christianity with reality?
Lloyd-Jones points out that many people reject Christianity because they view it as: - "Narrow, cramped, confined" - "A small life, a miserable life, an uninteresting life" - "A life which calls you to give up things and gives you nothing in return"
However, he argues this is completely wrong: "The text tonight seems to suggest that it's the other life that is the life of famine, the life of need, the life of want, and that this is a life of riches and of blessing and of superabundance."
What does spiritual abundance look like according to the sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes the Christian life as one of "fullness, of blessing... of all sufficiency... of final satisfaction." This abundance manifests as:
- Intellectual satisfaction - "I know of nothing that is comparable to this Book"
- Moral transformation - "I will also save you from all your uncleannesses"
- Emotional fulfillment - "If you only knew something about the joy of salvation"
- Peace in all circumstances - "The peace of God that passeth all understanding shall keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus"
- Hope in death - "To me, says Paul, to live is Christ, and to die is gain"
How does one move from spiritual famine to spiritual abundance?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones concludes by explaining that spiritual abundance comes only through knowing God personally. For those experiencing spiritual famine, he offers this counsel:
"If you don't know the satisfaction, you start by simply going to God and confessing your sin. You ask him by his spirit to make you realize your sin as you've never done before. You ask him to give you the new nature and the new life. You ask him to give you his spirit in his fullness. And if you do so genuinely, he will answer you and you will begin to know this blessed life of God."
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.