The power of the Gospel

The piece before this was taken from a book entitled ‘On the Indian Trail in Paraguay and Brazil’. It was written by Rev Harry Whittington who went out to Paraguay in 1907 with a Scottish society called ‘The Inland-South America Missionary Union’, a forerunner of several other missions including the ‘New Testament Missionary Union’. His book remarkable in many ways; it is also understated and, at times, infuriating in that vital pieces of information are not supplied. All that can be forgiven as it was written in old age, probably in the early 1960’s after its writer had retired from the pastorate of Shettleston Free Church of Scotland, Glasgow. Whittington went on a highly dangerous trip to the ‘wild, dangerous, bloodthirsty tribe’ of the Cavegeas with two companions. Joao had been a hit-man and was responsible for three murders, his wife Elena, a witchdoctor, responsible for only one. She had fled from the Cavegeas to escape revenge, but after the extraordinary conversion of both of them she wanted to return to tell the gospel to her own people who she had left thirteen years before. Unable to read or write, she had translated in her head Frances Ridley Havergal’s hymn, ‘I gave my life for thee’ (presumably out of Portuguese) and she wished to sing it to them:

‘In the evening we held our first service among the Cageveas; there, tight up in the mountains, we endeavoured to sing the songs of Zion. Then Elena began to sing the hymn she had translated. Although the music resembled a witch-doctor’s wail more than the original tune, her people were keenly interested and listened most attentively. Then we tried to tell them in the simplest language the story of man’s fall, his rebellion against his Creator, and his separation from God through sin, and of God’s love for sinful men and women. It was a wonderful, yet humbling, experience to stand in the midst of those who had never heard the Gospel, to bring before them the reality of sin, of death, and a coming judgment, and of an eternity that will never end, then to tell of God’s marvellous love revealed in the gift of His Son to pay the price of man’s redemption by His death on the Cross, and point them to the Lamb of God whose blood alone can cleanse the guilty soul from every sin. When finished, one felt somewhat embarrassed (perhaps through lack of faith) to see all present, men and women, trooping forward to express their desire to follow the Lord. Fearing that they did not understand the message given and what it entailed, we attempted to point out some of the difficulties they would encounter in the path, and what following the Lord meant; then we asked Elena to explain to them in their own language that the Christian life was one of self-denial; but to no purpose. On they came until every one in the audience expressed his or her desire to follow Christ as their Saviour. Never before had I such an experience’

The same happened in every village they went to, and went fierce opposition broke out later ‘in spite of the adversary many were standing true, desiring to follow the Lord cost what it might.’

On the Indian trail

I have just recently read a most fascinating book about gospel work in Paraguay and the Matto Grosso region of Brazil. I would like to quote from it further on another occasion, but here is an extract that appalled me for more than one reason:

‘One of the saddest things we encountered among the Cageveas was the small number of children to be seen, in a community of fifteen or more families, the children of school age and under could be counted on one’s fingers. The greater number of little ones are killed either before or after birth. On enquiring the reason for such wholesale murder of little ones, we were told that owing to their custom of unfaithfulness (as a rule, two never live very long together) the mother, being deserted by the father and not wishing to be encumbered, breaks the little one’s neck at birth, if it is not successfully destroyed before birth. The tribe, as a consequence, is rapidly dying out.’

How wonderful is progress; now it can all be done in hospital!

Cum privilegio

Further to my little piece on the AV – authorized or appointed – I see that the first edition of the 1611 Bible had in its considerable list of preliminaries a woodcut of the coat of arms of James1 and underneath, Cum privilegio Regiae Maiestas. In current AV’s this is reduced to Cum privilegio beneath a different coat of arms, and means nothing to most of us. According to Gordon Campbell (Bible – The Story of the King James Version, Oxford University Press) the full Latin inscription means ‘By the authority of the king’. We might quibble slightly with that translation, but I think there is little doubt that this is its intent; in which case those scholars who say that the AV was never ‘authorized’ are mistaken. Personally, I find any reference to King James inappropriate; all he did was make provision for a new translation of the Bible to take place and he had no authority for doing that anyway. I find it strange that most Bibles have on their cover ‘The Holy Bible’, yet that is the one thing you never hear anyone call it. Why don’t ministers announce the reading thus: ‘Hear the words of the Holy Bible from…’?

Rhetoric over reality

Reading some Evangelical literature recently I was struck by the rhetoric being used – and this by good and wise Christian leaders. You would think that the gospel was really affecting the people in the towns and cities of our country. Yet, reading the secular newspapers I cannot help being struck by the way in which the standards and values that are the legacy of Christian influence in the past are more and more rejected and a rampant secularism embraced. How is it that we can be so exuberant in the face of the ignorance of Christian truth and basic morality that we see on every hand? Of course, it is true that the gospel is still the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, but it is not gospel victories we are seeing in our nation. There are some conversions, but it is the powers of darkness that are triumphing today. When are we going to face the situation seriously?

Ernest Kevan - sin and law

Near where I lived at one time there was an open common, through the middle of which there ran a busy main road. It was the custom of mothers to permit their little ones to play on the part of the common near their homes, but to forbid them to cross the busy road to the other section. The road was the boundary, and if a child crossed it in order to play in what seemed the more attractive part of the common, his action would be transgression – ‘trans’ (across) ‘gression’ (going). The drawing of the boundary line was not with the view to denying the child any pleasure; it was a boundary of loving wisdom. In the same way, the boundary of God’s holy law, that has been put like a vast circle around our lives, is a limit of love drawn by infinitely wise and tender goodness in God. This boundary – the law of God – is nevertheless authoritative, just as the word of a parent to a little child, and the transgression of this boundary is a breaking of God’s commandment.

Authorized or Appointed?

22011 sees the 400^th anniversary of what we know as the Authorized Version of the Bible. However, scholars seem to differ about the accuracy of that title. According to David Daniell it was only in 1842 that this appeared on its title page; previously it was always ‘Appointed to be read in churches’ – Anglican churches, of course. Oddly enough I have a Cambridge AV – whoops! – which sticks with ‘Appointed’, while one printed by Oxford adds ‘Authorized King James Version’, which gets in just about everything that could be. The translation itself was authorized by King James, but that is covered by ‘Translated… by his Majesty’s special command’.

If you look carefully you will see this actually says: ‘Translated out of the original tongues: and with former translations diligently compared and revised.’ In fact the KJV is essentially and intentionally a revision of the earlier Bishops’ Bible. Either by design or good fortune this was a master-stroke. The revision, which was certainly an improvement, lost the earlier name thus making it more acceptable to those who did not believe in episcopacy (though it still had the word ‘bishop’ in the translation).

It is a fact that the KJV was slightly archaic even when it appeared; it did not reflect ordinary English usage of the day. In addition, in those days ‘thou’ was not a term of respect or reverence, but of familiarity. It was equivalent to ‘tu’ in French and in Spanish. To pray ‘Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be THY name’ emphasized the familiarity with which a child would speak to a father. It is surprising, as well as irritating, that people today sometimes plead for the exact opposite of the sense which ‘thee’, ‘thou’ and ‘thy’ once had and which became redundant long ago.

LBC reunion!

Last weekend I was preaching at the Anniversary services of Broughton Evangelical Church. Great Broughton and Little Broughton lie more or less at the centre of the Maryport, Cockermouth and Workington triangle in north-west Cumbria. What is remarkable is that for all the services there were five old students from London Bible College present and six on the Saturday evening: Gordon Taylor, Brian Campbell, Elizabeth Campbell, John Fisher, myself and my wife Mary. Of these all but Elizabeth were at LBC in the late 50’s; she started her course in 1965 just after the death of Dr Kevan. It was a great pleasure to renew old acquaintances and also to be thankful for God’s preserving mercy over the years. I hope to be able to include a picture of five of us later. The small chapel was well-filled on the Saturday evening as friends came from other churches to give thanks and encouragement. I tried to emphasize the importance of the historicity of the Gospels for apologetics and, in particular, apologetic preaching, especially as this leads directly to Jesus Christ himself. In adopting this approach I was influenced by some words of Dr Kevan when was speaking to missionaries in India, in 1960: ‘We have to remember that our Christian faith is historically based. In my short journeys in India I had a number of conversations with educated Indian gentlemen, in the aeroplane and in the train, and one of the hardest things I found in these conversations was to get these men to admit the historical basis of our faith. They would say, “Everybody has his own ideas about religion”. My answer was to confront them with the facts, the historical facts of God incarnate in the Person of Jesus Christ, who lived and suffered under Pontius Pilate. I tried to show them that the saving work of Christ is a thing that can be placed geographically, and be pinpointed chronologically. They would then go off again on some philosophical discussion of religious abstractions.’

Idle thoughts

I notice that the Nimrod aircraft is being scrapped but there is no indication about what will replace it. Perhaps they will have to go back to the old Shackleton – there is still one flying in South Africa.

Lonely penguins

And while we are on items in the news I see that it has been decided that, after all, penguins are not ‘homosexual’. Apparently it is just that when there are no females around males can get lonely and hitch up for a while with each other, but this all changes when females appear on the scene. I feel tempted to apply this to male-only boarding schools, and perhaps, having spent 3 years at a boys’ prep school followed by 5 years at a mixed sex boarding house attached to a co-educational grammar school I am in a position to say something. I was not very reflective during those years but I know I felt the latter was more normal and conducive to living in a world of male and female. To shut up young men during puberty in an all-male environment, especially with dormitory accommodation, does not seem to me to be at all a wise or healthy idea.

Praying for the church of Jesus Christ

Here is my latest quotation from John Howe: 'If our hearts are grieved to hear of the sufferings of the Church of God in the world, but not of their sins; if we more sensibly regret at any time the persecutions and oppressions they undergo, than their spiritual distempers, their earthliness, pride, cold love to God, fervent animosities towards each other; it speaks an uninstructed, carnal mind. We take no right measure of the interests of religion or the Church's welfare, and do most probably mistake ourselves as much in our judging of our own; and measure theirs by our own mistaken model.' This seems to me to hit an important nail on the head. We rightly pray for persecuted Christians worldwide, but we seldom hear fervent prayers for the cleansing of the churches from carnality and error. Of course there is a danger here of considering the sins and weaknesses of other Christians and churches and overlooking our own, or even of praying with a sense of pride and superiority. But with true humility, aware of failings at home, we can, and surely should, be praying for the greater purity and holiness of the worldwide Church of God.

Science and the humanities

I was intrigued to come across these sentences in Don Carson’s latest book, The God who is There (sounds familiar doesn’t it!). ‘I have spoken at many universities, and one of the interesting things I discover is that if I attend nearby local churches and meet some of the faculty in the universities who belong to these local churches and who are committed believers, their numbers tend to be made up of more science and math professors and the like than arts, psychology, and English literature professors. It is simply not the case that anyone who is a scientist cannot be a Christian.’ I am sure that this is true. In my own experience there have been a few PhD’s in the churches I have pastored and, unless my memory is seriously wrong, they all had science degrees. My own brother was an English literature professor and though, on returning to the Christian faith after years as an agnostic, he stopped short of becoming an evangelical, I know that he found considerable opposition amongst many of his peers. But though Carson’s comment sounds optimistic, it actually reveals that studying arts, psychology and English literature presents more challenges for believers than most of us realise. I am not sure that many pastors are able to help and advise students in these subjects like this.

God's methods

IIt is a while since I included a quotation from the Puritan John Howe. Here he is exploring different aspects of knowing God:

To know his methods, and the course of his dispensations towards the world, his Church, and especially our own spirits: This is a great knowledge of God, to have the skill to trace his footsteps and observe, by comparing times with times, that such a course he more usually holds; and accordingly, with great probability, collect from what we have seen and observed, what we may expect; what order and succession there is of storms of wrath to clouds of sin; and again of peaceful lucid intervals, when such storms have inferred penitential tears; in what exigencies, and distresses, humble mourners may expect God’s visits and consolations; and from such experiences still to argue ourselves into fresh reviving hopes, when the state of things, whether public or private, outward or spiritual, seems forlorn.

Dr Ernest Kevan

Today I came to the end of writing a biography of Ernest Kevan, the first Principal of London Bible College. The first draft was completed not far off a year ago, but new information, a different approach and a rigorous (I hope) attention to clarity and style has meant that it was not finished earlier. Of course, I have had one or two other things to do over the past months as well. Whether what I have written will ever be seen in book form depends on whether it is published, but I would like to think it will be. It is now 45 years since Kevan died and he is unknown to many Christians today and only a name to many others. Most of us who were at LBC in his day thank God for him and his influence upon our lives. For many reasons he deserves to be better known than he is. Canon Frank Colquhoun wrote this about him: ‘He was beyond question one of the truly great Evangelicals of our day. Others will, I am sure, write more fully about him as scholar, teacher, administrator, and leader of men. For my part I like to recall that, with all his rich and varied gifts, he was at heart a very simple Christian believer, a humble man of God, and a most lovable and gracious friend.’

Not too pleasant...

On Tuesday I made my way to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary for a colonoscopy. For the uninitiated this involves an examination of the colon by the insertion through the anus of a narrow tube with a light at the end and the ability to excise and remove any polyps that are found. Though there are more congenial ways of spending an hour than lying like a fish on a slab watching your innards on a screen I am very grateful for the medical care I have received over the past 11 years. It was at the end of 1998 that my brother phoned me to say that he had rectal cancer. After many operations, much pain and great bravery he died four years ago. Just 2 or 3 months after his phone call I had some bleeding which I put down to piles but, with his example in mind, I went to the doctor to check things out. Now, 5 colonoscopies and several other procedures later, all is well, because though I seem to produce polyps regularly, some of which could turn cancerous in time, they are discovered and removed before they can become harmful. As bowel cancer comes in men’s top ten health threats it as well to be forewarned and to check out any possible symptoms. (I wondered about including a picture, but decided against it!)

Pope and faith

So the Pope has arrived in Britain and the Coalition government ‘do God’ and recognizes the importance of faith, though presumably Nick Clegg is an exception. Should we be sceptical or thankful? Perhaps a qualified thankfulness is called for. The Bible has no knowledge of Popes and there is much of the Pope’s teaching that no-one who believes the Bible can recognize as Christian truth. But he does stand out clearly against the militant secularism of our day and has clear views on the morality that befits human beings, and in this he contrasts with the mealy-mouthed clerics that we are more used to in this country. As far as faith is concerned the statements have not been very helpful. Everyone has faith; atheists believe that God does not exist. Faith in itself is nothing, it may make us feel better, but that can be a delusion. What counts is what, or rather, who we believe. To believe in fairies has no value; in fact it wouldn’t have even if they existed unless they have powers to help us in some way. The only true object of faith is Jesus Christ and mercifully those who truly believe in him are saved and brought to God in spite of being muddled on other points. Perhaps, just perhaps, the events of these days will mark a shift in the relentless secularism and hedonism of our country and perhaps, just perhaps, this will create an opportunity for the gospel. Let’s pray that it will.

Peace...

Yesterday afternoon we walked along the bank of the river Lune, (after all it was a Bank Holiday!). It was a beautiful day; bright sunshine with contrasting white clouds hovering over the hills. Ahead Ingleborough stood clear, but shaded; not the brooding presence it sometimes seems to be, rather the benign guardian at the head of the valley. A buzzard circled high above, and four swans moved leisurely upstream, dipping their heads under the water in unison. A crested grebe perched on a rock hidden just below the surface while another raced downstream to join it. Twice we saw a kingfisher skim across the water, just below the bank, out of sight of all except those walking quietly by the edge. Most of the people going up and down had dogs with them, or possibly it was the dogs that had people with them. We walked across grass and through woodland, returning the same way. In places the river was patterned and chattering as water ran over shallow rocky sections, in other places it appeared still and utterly calm. No wonder Isaiah speaks of ‘peace like a river’ (48:18; 66:12).

You set me thinking, Gary

Gary Benfold, on his blog, has bewailed the number of preachers going from Britain to the United States, mentioning Mark Johnston as the latest to do so. I commented that up here near Lancaster the cry usually is that preachers, or potential preachers, tend to go south. This is partly because young men go south (or southwest) to train, to LTS or WEST. They then preach in the south and get called to a church in the south. Gary has, I think, taken in good part my comment about him travelling south to Bournemouth. Of course we both know that we seek honestly to follow the guidance of the Lord in these matters.

Nevertheless, I think there are a number of problems. I know a church 30 to 40 miles from here, now happily settled with a South African pastor, that, during the inter-regnum, had several men preach from the south who ceased to show any interest as soon as they saw the town and the environs of the church building. I think there still is a need in the north. When we moved from Stoke-on-Trent to Dunstable I said at my induction: ‘From time to time it has been my privilege to minister in more northerly regions than North Staffordshire, and I almost feel a sense of guilt in coming so far south when the needs are so great in the north. I bow to the hand of the Lord in this, but trust I will remember to pray for the churches and brethren in the north of England.’

Gary was actually concerned about the situation in London, and I identify with that also. Our capital city, bursting with people from all over the world, is not well-served with evangelical Reformed churches. This is not to under-estimate the good work being done by some, but I think it must be a hard graft in many areas of London today. Sometimes I think that because of our Independency and fragmentation there is no overall strategy, though I would not want to deny that the Lord has a strategy. I sometimes think we focus too much on the soft targets: students and ‘nicer’ people in ‘nicer’ areas. I think there is also a problem about our understanding of the local church – but that must be for another occasion, as it requires me to do some more work on the biblical perspective. These are just almost random thoughts, but Gary has set me thinking on what I think is a rather important matter.

Education, education, education

Beginning to read Gresham Machen's 'Christianity and Liberalism' I was startled to read this paragraph, so I post it here:

A public-school system, if it means the providing of free education for those who desire it, is a noteworthy and beneficent achievement of modern times; but when once it becomes monopolistic it is the most perfect instrument of tyranny which has yet been devised. Freedom of thought in the middle ages was combated by the Inquisition, but the modern method is far more effective. Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state, force them then to attend schools where the higher aspirations of humanity are crushed out, and where the mind is filled with the materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist. Such a tyranny, supported as it is by a perverse technique used as the instrument in destroying human souls, is certainly far more dangerous than the crude tyrannies of the past, which despite their weapons of fire and sword permitted at least thought to be free.

A question of proportion

I have had to put my reading of John Howe's 'The Blessedness of the Righteous' on hold because of a family visit, but I had time to read some this morning. I have finished the exposition and doctrine (155 pages) and this is how John Howe begins the next section: 'And now is our greatest work yet behind; the improvement of so momentous a truth, to the affecting and transforming of hearts; that, if the Lord shall so far vouchsafe his assistance and blessing, they may taste the sweetness, feel the power, and bear the impress and image of it. This is the work both of the greatest necessity, difficulty, and excellency, and unto which all that hath been done hitherto is but subservient and introductive.' There follows another 211 pages. Makes you think, doesn't it?

A gap - but more a legacy

This is a photo of Dr Lloyd-Jones and Rev Murdo Gordon taken outside the front door of Newtown Evangelical Church, Parkstone, Dorset in the late 1950's. Murdo Gordon died in 1993; at the time I wrote an appreciation of what I knew of him, but this was never published. At the request of a grand-daughter I have been looking through old photos, and coming across this I decided I would include my appreciation as well as posting the picture. So here it is.

A tribute to the Rev Murdo Ross Gordon, 1924-1993

On January 4th 1993 the Rev Murdo Gordon was called from this life. For the past 33 years he had lived in South Africa, but before that he had two pastorates in England. Those whose memory goes back to the ’50’s may remember him at the Westminster Fellowship and the Puritan Conference.

He had been unwell for a number of years. In 1979 he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and gradually deteriorated in health over the period since then. The day before he died, the Lord’s Day, he was able to attend morning service in the chapel at the Bible Institute in Kalk Bay where he had been principal for 21 years. In the evening he became unwell, was taken into hospital and passed away early the next morning. His wife, in a letter sent to family and friends, wrote movingly, ‘Murdo could no longer preach as his voice had lost most of its strength. He could not walk or lift his left hand. He was very limited; he had discomfort but no pain. He never complained of his lot and still wanted to serve the Lord in any way he could. Each morning he was at his desk and could still just write letters, pay bills etc.; his Bible was always near and he often spent time quietly praying. His work here was finished; it was just a little step to heaven for him.’

Murdo Gordon was born on the Isle of Skye on December 19th, 1924. His father was a crofter, though he also sailed with the Merchant Navy and worked at salmon fishing; he was born in a croft reputed to date back to 1400, with walls six foot thick. ‘Gordon’ is not a typical Skye name but it appears that a Gordon was shipwrecked in Staffin Bay in the north-east of the island and the Gordons found in the Culnacnock region are descended from him. Gaelic was the language in the home. Murdo wrote of his childhood: ‘At home there was family worship morning and evening. A metrical Psalm would be read, sometimes sung, a chapter read, then father prayed quietly and we all joined in the Lord’s prayer. On Sunday evenings we read good solid books such as Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Baxter’s Saint’s Everlasting Rest, the biography of Lachlan MacKenzie of Lochcarron and sermons by Robert Murray M‘Cheyne and C. H. Spurgeon. We were well instructed in the things of God. At school, at Sunday School and at home we were taught that valuable, yet now neglected, Shorter Catechism. We also learned many of the Psalms and other passages. I read the Bible regularly especially its historical parts. The doctrinal passages did not appeal so much at this stage.’ His family belonged to the Church of Scotland, but it interesting to note that the Free Church minister in the area in his early childhood was Rev Kenneth MacRae.

Murdo Gordon went to school in Valtos with its single teacher; one retired during his time there so the whole of his school education was in the hands of two teachers. It is worth noting what he says about them: ‘Both these ladies set a good Christian example and taught from a thoroughly biblical basis. I well remember how impressed I was when Miss Mackenzie looked at her pupils and solemnly told us she feared many of us would not be in heaven but in hell. Miss Campbell was soundly converted while with us and there was a noticeable change in her life… The teaching may largely have been basic 3 R’s but it was thorough and left me at no serious disadvantage when I moved south and competed with people who had been to prestigious schools. I was equipped for life at this little village school.

The quality of education in the school must have been impressive, bearing in mind that later he became an engineering draughtsman and then principal of a Bible College. There is one rather humorous incident arising from his school. When he was 17 he applied for training under a wartime government scheme. Down in Surrey he was asked about his schooling, to which he replied that he had been to Valtos Public School, not realising the significance of ‘public school’ to English hearers. He was accepted for the six month course! While he was young he suffered from polio and as a result limped for the rest of his life.

Although he had a godly upbringing he was not converted when he left Skye. This came about while he was living in Hounslow. He had begun to attend services at Cranford Baptist Church where Pastor H. G. Goddard ministered. He began to realise his sinfulness and started to read his Bible again. One answer from the Shorter Catechism came to his mind, ‘God having out of his mere good pleasure from all eternity elected some to everlasting life…’ Was he one of God’s elect? This became the great question. ‘To most people I must have appeared to have been a person with no undue cares. Inwardly however, I was spiritually hungry, thirsty and miserable because I knew I was a lost hopeless sinner.’ The great change came about in July 1944 during a sermon at a Thursday evening meeting through the words of John 6:37, ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ A sense of joy and assurance was immediate.

That same evening he was on fire watch duty. ‘I was not going to say anything about what had happened, but my colleague and I started to discuss things and soon I told him. I lay down on a stretcher but could not sleep for joy. My misery was gone and I was “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Pet.1:8). By the morning the news had spread and person after person came to have a look at me. They wondered if I had a halo and was sprouting angelic wings. My joy seemed complete and was with me all the time. By coming to Christ I discovered to my surprise I was elect.’

From the very beginning of his Christian life he had a great desire to serve the Lord and to evangelise. With others he gave out tracts in the street, visited an American army camp, held open air meetings, visited the homes of Sunday School children and before long had begun to preach. In January 1946 he entered London Bible College where he graduated with a London BD in 1950. The long summer vacations were mainly spent with the Open Air Mission in evangelism, and Saturdays often found him preaching at Speakers’ Corner. There was no doubt about his total adherence to the doctrines of grace – soon after his conversion he found himself arguing for particular redemption in discussion – but they fuelled and directed rather than retarded his zeal for souls.

In 1950 he became pastor of Donnington Hall (now Donnington Evangelical Church), Willesden, and in 1955 moved to Newtown Evangelical Free Church, Parkstone, Dorset, where I was in membership. For the next five years he was my pastor, although they were years when most of my time was spent away from home, first in the RAF and then at London Bible College. His character and ministry left a deep impression on me and his influence was formative. Looking back it is astonishing to realise he was only 30 when he took up his second pastorate, there was a stability and maturity about him which belied his years and which I am sure must have made him so suitable as a College principal. People look back on his ministry as one primarily of preaching and teaching, but it was also fruitful in conversions. After one ordinary Sunday evening service four people made a profession of faith – though this was not known at the time. His pastoral work kept him from much direct evangelism but I remember going with him to gypsy encampments where he would preach, and he quite often took a group of young people with him to weeknight and Saturday evening services, often in small villages, where he would preach the gospel. I remember one particularly powerful sermon which simply had the word ‘Come’ as its text. Doubtless it derived its power from his own conversion experience.

His preaching was generally very biblical, orthodox but effective. Because of his limp there was a certain awkwardness about his pulpit presence, sometimes he almost seemed to lurch when he changed his position, but once he was into his sermon he would hold many of us spellbound. Two sermons in particular were memorable, though I only heard one of them. The first was on the ten virgins in Matthew 25 and at least in our family caused a lot of discussion. Certainly the idea of gospel hypocrites was not one that had ever been preached before to our church, and I think he must have felt that among Christians generally and perhaps in the church itself the work of the Lord was hindered by such people. He repeated the sermon at an FIEC meeting in the area. The second sermon – the one I did not hear – was on predestination, and again caused much discussion which I entered into when home from the RAF, expressing myself against the doctrine quite strongly. However, on returning to camp my readings over the next few days were from John 6 and it was quite impossible to avoid seeing that Murdo had simply been preaching the truth of God’s Word.

He was also very assiduous in visiting, riding a small motor-bike which he was given and, in the days before modern crash helmets, wearing a Biggles-type leather flying helmet. My uncle, who was church secretary, told me that he believed his visiting played a great part in the blessing on his ministry. In the prayer meetings he would mention people he had visited for prayer, but he had an unfortunate habit of saying about sick people, ‘I did not like the look of Mrs X when I visited her this afternoon,’ which caused repressed smiles on the part of less sanctified young people.

He had a great concern for ‘vital godliness’. Doctrinal convictions which did not issue in this were suspect as far as he was concerned; in a discussion at a Bible study he once gently corrected my enthusiasm for sound doctrine by emphasising the need for vital godliness. I remember him saying perhaps more than once that he found that those who believed the doctrines of grace were people who were reliable, people of authority, stability and integrity – he was talking mainly about ministers at the time. Certainly this was true of him. He was a man of God. He was a man, with his own individuality, foibles and sense of humour, but his character was formed by his trust in and heart knowledge of a great, holy and gracious God. I am thankful to have known him.

As she concluded her letter, his wife Margaret wrote, ‘Murdo has left a gap – but it is more a legacy.’ Those who knew him will want to use that legacy to spur them on.

I have just started reading Margaret Drabble’s biography of the Potteries writer Arnold Bennett. Its first sentence reads like this: ‘Arnold Bennett was born in a street called Hope Street. A street less hopeful it would be hard to imagine.’ This reminded me of a tract I read years ago entitled, I think, ‘The Street called Hope’. It was written by Arthur Dean – again I think that that was his name. He became an evangelist but he was converted through an open-air meeting in the very same street and the tract told his story. At the top of Hope Street, on the edge of the city centre of Stoke on Trent, on the corner with Newhall Street, stood a substantial church building, its pediment proclaiming Hope Congregational Church, though it actually faced on to Newhall Street. When we arrived in 1966 this was the home of Bethel Evangelical Free Church.
The history of the building was unusual and problematic. There used to be a large Congregational church building called The Tabernacle not too far away. In about 1810 one of its deacons was convicted of being drunk in charge of a horse in Market Square. This resulted in him being disciplined. There was, I believe, a bit more to the story than this, but the nub of the matter was that he had his supporters who eventually left The Tabernacle and in 1812 Hope Congregational Church was built (I think this must have been before the Band of Hope was established!).
In 1966 (the biography was published in 1974) the bottle kilns of Dudson’s Pottery stood at the bottom of the Hope Street, though I don’t think they were still in use. Up one of the side streets you found pre-fabs still occupied, left over from the 2nd World War. A variety of mainly little shops jostled each other and everything had an atmosphere of grime so characteristic of those days. Margaret’s Drabble’s words are not surprising, yet the street led up to a place where the hope of the gospel was made known and still is. Hope Congregational building has gone but in 1977 a new building was opened – but that’s another story. (See www.bethelhanley.com/ )

The past is a different country - they say things differently there

In the May-June Reformation Today there is an excerpt from Eric Wright's book on Missions which includes this: 'May God deliver preachers, missionaries and evangelists from the terrible thought that their wife and children are in the way of their ministry!' This brought to mind what Selderhuis in his excellent book on Calvin has to say about his - that is Calvin's - wife after her death: 'Calvin felt the need to add also that she never hindered him in his work'. Selderhuis comments: 'Still, although it is to be hoped that everyone might claim his or her partner was no hindrance, we might also wish that Calvin had simply dropped the remark.'

Perhaps. But we remember that Calvin lived at a time when Europe was dominated by Roman Catholicism whose priests were obligated to be celibate. Surely one reason which must obviously have been advanced in favour of celibacy over against the Reformers was that marriage hindered a priest from giving himself fully to the work of God. So Calvin after positive compliments to his wife, from his own experience denies the Roman contention: 'She never hindered me in my work!' Well, who knows? But the point is this; it is all too easy to judge the past in terms of our experience and understanding in the present.

Laughter - the best medicine

I was fascinated by a sentence that comes in a social history of Britain between the wars (Martin Pugh; ‘We Danced All Night’). It is about the early films of Charlie Chaplin: ‘During wartime miracles were freely attributed to his films by wounded soldiers who laughed so much at his screen antics that they got up and walked without using their crutches.’ I do not doubt that this was the case, though whether the soldiers continued without their crutches might be a moot point. However, this is so similar to the sort of thing that happened in healing services where, if not laughter, there was great emotion, that I think the explanation must be the same. But I’m not going to pursue the subject further.

World Cup

To celebrate the beginning of the World Cup I’m posting this photo which was sent to me only the other day. If you believe some of the hype you’d think that football can save the world and lead to everyone living happily together in peace – though some games give the very opposite impression. The photo marks winning the London Theological Colleges Athletic Union shield for the season 1958/9; the shield has been cut off in this picture with the knobbly knees of the players. I think I can remember all the names of the LBC team and I know that two in the picture went abroad as missionaries and five became pastors in this country; possibly two became school teachers, RE specialists, and one a social worker and I’ve no idea about the other two. Football can be interesting to watch and is much better when you can play, but what the world needs is the gospel.

South Craven Evangelical Church

Yesterday I was preaching at South Craven Evangelical Church in Yorkshire; I’ve been there several times before over the years and have always enjoyed my visits. Less than two years after their last pastor Stephen Emmott retired, they have called a new one, and Paul Gamston and his family were in the congregation in the morning. I was glad to meet him, having heard in more than one connection.

My sermons were both based on Romans 3:23: ‘all have sinned’ in the morning (glad I remembered the inverted commas) and ‘fall short of the glory of God’ in the evening. The latter phrase is a difficult one and I think the most likely meaning is to link this with man made in the image of God at the very beginning, and the fact that our first parents were ‘crowned with glory and honour’ (Psalm 8). But this led me on to consider other ways in which it can be said that ‘all… fall short of the glory of God’; all of them very relevant when considering people today. Not only do the unregenerate fall short of the glorious image which humanity bore before the fall. At the beginning Adam and Eve enjoyed full and rich communion with God, which must have involved seeing his glory, though perhaps a glory suited to unsinning humans. Now people do not think of God as glorious, nor do they imagine that to know him is to a rich and glorious experience.

The heavens, and all creation, declare the glory of God but modern man falls far short of seeing and appreciating that. The glorious Son of God came into the world to seek and save lost sinners, but he came into the world, and the world was made by him, but the world did not know him’; rather he was despised and rejected by men. And, tragically, the lost – if they remain lost – fall short of the final glory of God. Believers ‘rejoice in hope of the glory of God’, but unbelievers have no conception of what that means. It is a tragic picture – but there is a remedy to be received and preached.

Evangelical experience

I’ve recently been reading ‘Evangelical Experiences’ by Ian Randall on the spirituality of Evangelicalism in the inter-war years. This is fascinating, eye-opening and thought-provoking. But it’s not so much this book that I want to comment on. This book – and the series – adheres to David Bebbington’s four-dimensional model of evangelicalism – biblicist, crucicentric, conversionist and activist. It is some time since I read Bebbington’s book (and a book raising questions about his thesis that evangelicalism as we know it really emerged in the 1730’s has more recently been published) but I find myself wondering whether this model is really adequate. Or perhaps it is just that I want to highlight other features of what I believe is true about evangelicalism.

For example, I find it odd that this model has nothing to say about the Trinity. It may be that that is taken for granted as a part of the common Christian heritage, but it is surely a fact that evangelicals, whether you date them from 1730 or Wycliffe or whenever, have always asserted and defended the deity of Christ and the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit. It is also true that Socinians and liberals have tended to question these very points. Surely evangelicalism – to widen the point – is not just Biblicist (Jehovah’s Witnesses would claim the same, and with some reason), it has a biblical theology which is seen even in the somewhat attenuated statements of faith of the past nearly 200 years. It not only believes that theology, but also sees those who depart from it as departing from the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Evangelicals have a concept of heresy which surely distinguishes them from much liberal thinking.

But, on quite a different tack, evangelicals have always had a vivid sense of eternity. They preach heaven and hell (and isn’t preaching a distinguishing mark of evangelicalism also?), they affirm the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and they look at life in this world from the perspective of the life to come. It might be possible to make the case that some evangelicals have taken this too far, but the emphasis itself is often completely missing from the moralism that is found in non-evangelical churches. So much ‘Christianity’ that comes across in the media tends to be distinctly ‘this-worldly’ and frequently mimicking the secular liberal agenda.

This book inevitably concentrates on various movements in the period concerned. The one thing it says little about is the personal devotional life of believers and their families. I was surprised to find that the term ‘quiet time’ seems to have come from the Oxford Movement, and in any case I wish some short alternative might be found in its place. It is, however, surely one of the defining features of evangelical spirituality that it places a very high priority on the individual believer reading the Bible and praying regularly each day. New converts are taught this straight away and Bible reading notes are generally recommended. This is of quite a different order from prayers by rote or some of the devotional practices of other forms of Christianity. I remember, early on in my National Service in the RAF, someone – not a Chaplain, I think, but in a discussion amongst a group of Christians – dismissing the Cambridge CU with the scathing remark that they worshipped something called ‘the quiet time’.

It might be argued that this illustrates the individualism of much evangelicalism, but I don’t think this argument sticks. In actual fact it operates the other way. The unity of evangelical belief and of evangelicals themselves arises in large measure simply because they are all praying, Bible people. Behind Keswick, Holiness movements, Pentecostalism and so on lies the fact that all of them have much the same personal devotional life. It is this that also helps unite them in spite of their denominational differences. But this does raise a question: are today’s evangelicals as diligent and faithful in their personal worship and communion with the Triune God as was the case in the past? Is one of the sources of present evangelical weakness to be found here?

Spring

This spring the colours seem to have been brighter and bolder than ever. The laburnums and lilacs have been brilliant in its proper sense, and the hawthorn, or may, has been exceptional – at least here in these parts:

If you came this way in may time, you would find the hedges
White again, in May, with voluptuary sweetness.

The same is true of the different greens of the leaves, and the varying shades of the flowers, there is a special vividness and beauty not seen for several years at least. The reason seems to be the cold that we had earlier on; the sharp frosts holding back the growth until a more appropriate time; the hard winter giving way to a multi-coloured spring. There seems to be something of a spiritual application here.

Odds and ends

Just recently I have been too busy to write anything here, so here's a few odd bits. Just recently I read Revelation 15, which reminded me of this:

And I saw with the eye of faith,
like a sea of burning glass
that flashed and shimmered and shone with light,
the place where the victors pass;
they stand on that radiant shore,
those who overcame the beast
by their word and the blood of the Lamb,
and their praises never cease.

For they play on the harps of God
a tune never heard before,
the song of Moses who served the Lord,
who stood on the Red Sea shore:
and they sing the song of the Lamb,
and their praises fill the sky,
they rise and echo across the sea
to the throne of God on high.

‘Great and marvellous are your works,
O Lord, we bring you our praise,
God the Almighty, the King of saints,
faithful and just your ways!
Are there any who will not bow
in reverence at your throne
and bring their worship to your great name,
God who is holy alone?

All nations shall come and adore
from the east, west, south and north;
for now your judgments are clearly seen,
you have shown your fame and worth.’
And I longed to be with them there
by that bright celestial sea,
singing praise to the Father and Lamb
in glory eternally!

I am also reading Ian Randall's 'Evangelical Experiences', which studies developments in spiritualty during the inter war years. It is interesting to see divergences from basic orthodoxy in the denominations, and the way in which 'liberal evangelicalism' generally moved more and more towards out and out liberalism. Also in his study of whar he calls 'Separatist Spiritually' the movement towards an evangelically based form of unity - Poole-Connor and Lloyd-Jones, for example. This, to me, raises the question whether it is right to denominate those whose priority is unity as 'separatist'. Every group that has its own identity and ethos is 'separatist' for that very reason, it just depends where you draw the line of separation. 'Gospel unity' seems to me a very desirable thing.

The Longest Sentence?

Is this the longest sentence in the English language? It comes from John Howe’s ‘The Blessedness of the Righteous’, based on Ps.17:15: ‘As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.’

‘And what do we think of the ravishing aspects of his love, when it shall now be open-faced, and have laid aside its veil; when his amiable smiles shall be checkered with no intermingled frowns; the light of that pleasing countenance be obscured by no intervening cloud! when goodness, which is love issuing into benefaction, or doing good – grace, which adds freeness unto goodness – mercy, which is grace towards the miserable – shall conspire in their distinct and variegated appearances to set off each other, and enhance the pleasure of the admiring soul! when the wonted doubts shall cease, and the difficulty vanish, of reconciling once necessary fatherly severity with love! when the full sense shall be unfolded to the life of that description of the divine nature, “God is love”; and the soul be no longer put to read the love of God in his name, as Moses was when the sight of his face could not yet be obtained; shall not need to spell it by letters and syllables; but behold it in his very nature itself, and see how intimately essential it is to the Divine Being, - how glorious will this appearance of God be!’

At least it must be one of the best!

I’ve been noting recently the ever-increasing number of part-time schemes for training for pastoral work and preaching. I have no objection at all to such schemes in principle and know that some do excellent work. However I do believe there is a danger of overlooking and underplaying the value of a full-time college course. Here are seven points which I believe are important.

1. Call and commitment. To go to a college represents a commitment to serve God and a belief that one’s ‘career’ – if that is the right word – is his service. People who are serious about becoming teachers or doctors and many other professions make sure they get proper training and do not think they can get by with part-time courses.
2. Biblical languages. I learnt too late the great importance of gaining at least a working knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. These are much more easily attained in a college course.
3. Learning together. Most part-time courses have weeks when students come together to learn, discuss and ask questions. These are rightly valued; whole terms together are much more valuable.
4. Living together. There is much to be said for the discipline of living together; you learn much more about how other people tick and find you have to adapt and make allowances. I’m not even sure that single study/bedrooms are the best. Communal living knocks off many rough edges. It is even more beneficial if people of different backgrounds and nationalities are thrown together.
5. A college gives the opportunity for study within the context of corporate worship; it also gives more opportunity for personal devotions than a part-time course which means there is a full-time job in the background.
6. In a college you are likely to have at least some lecturers living on the premises or certainly spending their days on the campus. They serve as examples as well as teachers.
7. College involves the whole of life; it includes leisure activities and probably sports as well. These have to be integrated into a lifestyle directed towards the whole-time service of God in fellowship with other students. This is not always easy, but it is of great value and importance for future ministry.

The Blessedness of the Righteous

From John Howe's book with the above title, based on Psalm 17:15: 'As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.'

'For this satisfaction is the soul's rest in God; its perfect enjoyment of the most perfect good: the expletion of the whole capacity of its will; the total filling up of that vast enlarged appetite; the perfecting of all its desires in delight and joy.'

'What more can be wanting to cause all the darkness of atheism, carnality, and everything of sin, for ever to vanish out of the awakening soul, and an entire frame of holiness to succeed, but one such transforming sight of the face of God? One sight of his glorious majesty presently subdues, and works it to a full subjection; one sight of his purity makes it pure; one sight of his loveliness turns it into love: and such a sight always remaining, the impress remains always actually... fresh and lively.'

A poem for Easter

The Lord of life


He came, the Lord of life, from heaven sent,
the realm of light and immortality,
eternal incorruptibility,
Son of the living God – divine descent;
and as through Israel’s favoured land he went
he raised the dead, restored vitality,
offered new life for all eternity:
but only he knew what his coming meant.

That night he prayed, a mob came through the trees,
they took him to the place where he was tried
and soldiers led him to be crucified.
He hung upon the cross; with words like these
men mocked, ‘Come down, if God is on your side’:
he cried in triumph, ‘Finished’ – then he died!

Abraham Booth

This week I am giving a lecture on Dr Ernest Kevan. In his book 'London's Oldest Baptist Church' he refers to this incident in the life of Abraham Booth, one of his predecessors: ‘One of the members of his (i.e. Booth’s) Church waited on him, and mentioned to him what he supposed were his defects in preaching. “You do not touch upon such and such articles, of which I am very fond; and I really find that I cannot profit by your ministry as I wish.” The good man, instead of yielding to resentment, or going into angry disputation, only paused awhile, and then meekly said, “Ah, brother! so far am I from being astonished at your not profiting under my ministry, that I often feel amazed at God’s making me useful to anybody at all.'

The Retirement of Pastors

I’m not going to try and relate this to any biblical teaching, but just set out one or two thoughts on the subject. I suppose retirement as we know it is a relatively recent thing which has come about with the introduction of pensions. Old age pensions began in 1908, I think, but they were only minimal then. Presumably, at that time and earlier other members of the family, usually the children, would support their relatives in old age, and this would not be difficult in days when families generally lived in close proximity.
By retirement I mean retiring from full-time employment; it is obvious that very few can carry on full-time working until they die and this is bound to apply to pastors also. The age of retirement has been 65 (for men), but this is gradually going to have to rise in coming years. So far as pastors are concerned, I think there should be no assumption of a specific age, though in general I expect that pastors will retire at the pensionable age. Some will prefer not to do so and will be able to carry on, but I tend to think this should be a joint decision of church and pastor, with honesty on both sides.
It has become almost customary to say that pastors don’t ‘really’ retire, but I think that is a very unhelpful. No-one, least of all pastors, should retire from being Christian or from serving the Lord, but that is an entirely different thing. Retirement doesn’t mean total inactivity, but it does mean a real laying down of a ministry and a change of lifestyle. Personally, I don’t think retired pastors should be elders because eldership is spiritual oversight and responsibility and it is precisely this which pastors retire from; however few pastors are likely to stop preaching or engaging in other Christian activity.
I believe there are at least two dangers that need to be guarded against. On the one hand I know that some retired pastors have really had too much thrust upon them. Being willing to help, and feeling they oughtn’t to say; ‘No’, they actually become overburdened. I think this ought to be realised far more than it seems to be; the rhetoric of ‘pastors don’t retire’ and ‘how much retired people are able to do’ puts an ungodly pressure on those who have lived often for most of their lives with the considerable pressure of the ‘burden of the Lord’. They don’t need the pressure of well-meaning, but mistaken, Christian friends.
On the other hand, the opposite danger is for retired pastors, either in the church where they pastored, or some other church, to act as if they had not retired at all. They can try and interfere, or express their disapproval and criticise, sometimes heading a disaffected faction in the church. The fact is that retired pastors ought to give real support to the leadership and decisions of the church – unless of course it were to be a matter of real principle – they, of all people, know how valuable it is to feel that people are behind you and supporting you. We don’t have to agree with everything that others do, just as not everyone always agreed with the way we did things, but we can still remain loyal and true in the church and to the Lord.
One further point: retired pastors grow older, their health and abilities deteriorate and they have their own spiritual needs. Many will look back on only a small measure of blessing on their ministry and they can get very downhearted and self-condemnatory – this might be even more the case if they are in a new flourishing situation. They may feel they ought to be doing more, but find it is more and more difficult to do what they would like to do. They will get ill and miss services – and they too will need pastoral care; but I’m not sure that this is always realised as it could be.
That’s more than enough for the moment; I may have more to say on this subject on another occasion.