Revival Sermon: Dead Orthodoxy
A Sermon on the Danger of Dead Orthodoxy
Scripture
17¶ And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and …
Sermon Description
The church has an important duty to fulfill before she can truly benefit the kingdom of God. She must deal with the hindrances that keep away the truths of the gospel. In this sermon on Genesis 26:17–18 titled “Revival Sermon: Dead Orthodoxy,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones presents these dangerous obstacles and asks the listener to consider the lack of balance within the church. It is necessary to consider dead orthodoxy along with defective orthodoxy. He is convinced that out of all dangers threatening revival, this is the greatest danger confronting the church and any individual with an evangelical outlook. In the midst of dead orthodoxy, people are driven to contentment and to practice religion merely for safety and security. Is the Christian just content because they have the right beliefs? Do they come to God’s house just to listen to a sermon? Dr. Lloyd-Jones references 1 Thessalonians 5:19 which tells the Christian not to quench the Holy Spirit. He explains the different ways one can avoid this: recognizing a fear of enthusiasm, confusion, false excitement, emotionalism, and pseudo-intellectualism. He clarifies the difference between emotionalism and emotion. Christians may be so afraid of the false that they quench the true emotion: “We’ve forgotten how to weep my friends,” with joy and with sadness.
Sermon Breakdown
- The church today is in a similar position as Isaac when he searched for water in the wells dug by Abraham but found them stopped up by the Philistines. There are hindrances and obstacles to revival that must be cleared away.
- The first hindrance is error and apostasy, or a lack of orthodoxy. There can be no revival without belief in certain central doctrines of redemption and salvation.
- The second hindrance is defective orthodoxy, or an unbalanced orthodoxy. An orthodoxy that lacks balance and conformity to the Scriptural pattern can be useless.
- The third hindrance is dead orthodoxy, which is characterized by:
- Contentment and smugness: Satisfaction with correct beliefs without life or power. Main concern is defending one's position.
- Being at ease in Zion: Wanting only enough religion to feel safe, with no interest in God himself.
- Dislike of being searched or disturbed: Wanting smooth, uplifting messages that do not convict of sin.
- Nothing vital in religion or worship: No expectation of meeting with or experiencing God. Mere formality.
- A second characteristic of dead orthodoxy is a dislike of enthusiasm, which quenches the Spirit. Charges of "enthusiasm" have always been leveled against revival. We must hold to "let all things be done decently and in order" but also "do not quench the Spirit."
- "Let all things be done decently and in order" condemns:
- Confusion: All speaking or prophesying at once. God is not the author of confusion.
- Excitement or false joy: Animal excitement or emotion not based on truth.
- Emotionalism: Emotions out of control or deliberately worked up. Direct appeals to emotion are false. Emotion should flow from the mind's apprehension of truth.
- "Do not quench the Spirit" means we can go to the opposite extreme of suppressing the Spirit's work in our reaction against excess. We fear:
- Confusion, so we have overly rigid control, formality, and programs that leave no room for the Spirit.
- False joy, so we have no joy or emotion at all. We need to have truth and avoid falsehood, not suppress both.
- Emotionalism, so we have banished emotion and passion altogether. We need emotion in balance, not sentimentality. Lack of emotion is a hindrance to revival.
- We pride ourselves on intellect and respectability, thinking that is why we lack revival, unlike our "primitive" forebears. But men like Paul and Luther showed great intellect and passion. We need to recover a balance of mind and heart.
Sermon Q&A
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Dead Orthodoxy and Revival
What is dead orthodoxy according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, dead orthodoxy is when people believe the truth and are doctrinally correct, but lack spiritual vitality. He describes it as a "smug contentment" where believers are "satisfied with themselves" simply because they hold correct beliefs as opposed to liberals or modernists. Their faith is technically correct but lacks life and power. Lloyd-Jones says this is "perhaps the greatest danger confronting many of us at the present time" and "the greatest danger confronting the individual who is evangelical in his outlook."
Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones use the analogy of Isaac digging wells in Genesis 26?
Lloyd-Jones uses the story of Isaac digging again the wells of Abraham (which the Philistines had stopped up) as a perfect picture of the present state of the Christian church. He explains that just as Isaac had to clear out the rubbish from the wells to access water, the church must identify and remove hindrances to revival. The stopped-up wells represent how spiritual vitality has been blocked in the church. Lloyd-Jones states: "We don't just pray that water may spring up through all this rubbish. It is our business to clear it out." This analogy illustrates the need for both prayer and action in seeking revival.
What are the main characteristics of dead orthodoxy that hinder revival?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the main characteristics of dead orthodoxy that hinder revival include:
- A "smug contentment" with correct doctrine while lacking spiritual vitality
- A primarily defensive posture focused on apologetics rather than positive spiritual growth
- Being "at ease in Zion" - wanting just enough religion to feel safe but no more
- A preference for general, remote messages rather than personal, searching ones
- A dislike of being searched and disturbed by preaching
- Formality in worship with no expectation that God might visit His people
- A dislike of enthusiasm and a fear of emotion in worship
- An overemphasis on respectability and order that quenches the Spirit
How does Lloyd-Jones contrast "let everything be done decently and in order" with "quench not the Spirit"?
Lloyd-Jones presents these two biblical principles as essential balancing truths. He explains that "let everything be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40) warns against confusion, false excitement, and emotionalism in worship. However, he argues that many churches have become so focused on orderliness that they've forgotten the equally important command to "quench not the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
He states: "We are very clear, are we not, upon that first one, let everything be done decently and in order. Why? We are experts on it. The trouble is that we are so clear about that, that we are guilty of quenching the spirit." He warns that excessive formality, programs, time constraints, and fear of emotion can effectively prevent the Holy Spirit from working freely in the church.
What is the difference between emotionalism and emotion in worship according to Lloyd-Jones?
Lloyd-Jones makes a crucial distinction between emotionalism and genuine emotion in worship:
Emotionalism is when "the emotions have run riot" and "are in control" - a state where emotions dictate the worship experience rather than response to truth. He condemns any "deliberate attempt to produce it" through techniques like repetitive singing or incantation. Lloyd-Jones states that "the mere playing on the emotions is never right" and "any direct assault upon the emotions is, of necessity, faults."
Genuine emotion, however, is "that God given quality" that naturally flows from understanding truth. He laments the absence of proper emotion in the church, asking: "When did you last hear of a person weeping because of his sinfulness? When did you last weep yourself because of your distance from God?" He argues that true emotion should be "approached through the understanding, through the mind, by truth" rather than manipulated or suppressed.
How does Lloyd-Jones say revival changes the patterns of church worship?
Lloyd-Jones observes that revival consistently transforms worship patterns in specific ways:
- Formality decreases: "Every time you get a revival, you find all that kind of thing stopping" - including processions, rituals, and formal liturgies
- Simplicity increases: "You come back to the simplicity of the New Testament"
- Congregational participation grows: "The moment you get a revival, the people want to sing themselves" rather than leaving it to choirs
- Time constraints dissolve: "When a revival comes... We shall be taken out of time. We'll forget time"
- Spontaneity emerges: There's a "freedom of the spirit and things happening and the people singing out of their hearts"
- Emotion returns: People may weep over sin or "weep for joy, weeping out of sheer joy in the sense of the glory of God"
Lloyd-Jones contrasts this with the highly programmed, timed services that have become common even in evangelical churches.
Revival Sermons
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.