This year (1996) is the 200th anniversary of the death of Baptist hymn writer and preacher Joseph Swain. Swain was the author of a number of hymns, some of which are still sung today. They are mostly found in the collection Walworth Hymns published in 1792 and 1794. He also wrote a long religious poem called On Redemption as well as some Experimental Essays, in Prose and Verse and a Pocket Companion for the church under his care.
Grace Hymns contains four of his hymns. These are: On the wings of faith uprising (246), How willing was Jesus to die (250), How sweet, how heavenly is the sight (531) and Come ye souls by sin afflicted (383), which is also in Christian Hymns.
Though his life was so brief, he was clearly greatly used of God as an evangelist and a pastor. He stands as an example to us of a life given to serving the Lord.
Early Years
Joseph Swain was born in 1761 in Birmingham. He was left an orphan when both parents died while he was still very young. He began as an apprentice to a Birmingham engraver in his early teens and later came to live in London where he completed the apprenticeship under his older brother. In London, he soon fell in with a group of godless youths whose chief interests were dancing and attending the theatre. Joseph was a cheerful and amiable man by temperament and also a gifted poet so he soon became very popular. He wrote a number of songs and poems and plays that amused his friends.
Conviction and Conversion
Swain had no religious background yet, in the midst of all this, the Lord suddenly began to work in his soul and he came under conviction of sin. He afterwards wrote,
But thoughts of eternity oft would intrude,
And conscience on judgment would muse;
How must I of God with abhorrence be viewed,
While thus all his gifts I abuse!
Convinced that he was on his way to hell, he reluctantly decided to buy a Bible. For a further six months hell and his danger of going there were seldom far from his thoughts. He nevertheless continued to engage in the same worldly lifestyle that he had fallen into previously. There were attempts to turn over a new leaf and make a real change but these always came to an end in a short while. For example, he recalled one time on a Lord's Day, while he sat in his room reading a play, the Bible suddenly caught his eye. The thought came to his mind, 'That word will one day be a witness against you'. He felt compelled to open the book. The very first words his eyes fell on were these. If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; for it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched (Mark 9:43,44). The Lord's words cut him to the heart.
Although over the next few days he tried to shake off the sense of God's judgment that he was under, he found that he could not. After many months of conviction and many fruitless efforts to put things right in his own strength Swain finally came to trust in the Lord on April 2, 1786. He was 22. That evening, on the way to a place of entertainment with some friends, he suddenly 'felt my heart gradually melted into love of being; into love of my own being'. He felt that he wanted everyone to be happy. He tried to pray and felt help in a way he had never experienced in his life before. Suddenly, many passages of Scripture came to mind, reminding him that he was a sinner and that Jesus is the Saviour. He recalled,
'Yea, I saw and believed that he died for me, and that I should soon be with him in glory, at the right hand of God. And oh, how did my enraptured soul rejoice in this great salvation at this time! So great were the peace and satisfaction I enjoyed, that I thought I could bear to be confined in the darkest dungeon for ever, provided I might always feel what I then felt of the presence of God in my soul. And so much did I fear getting back into the world again, that I was ready to pray that I might never eat, drink or be employed about earthly things any more forever.'
In a short while he was cold again but now, he says, he felt in his heart 'an aching void, which 1 was persuaded all things else could never fill'. His taste for the old sins now gone, he began earnestly to warn his former companions in sin of their great danger. His delight in composing trivial songs was now transformed into the writing of hymns.
One day, someone heard him singing one of his compositions and invited him to come along to the Spa Fields Chapel. There a Mr Wills preached the first gospel sermon he ever heard. On being asked what he thought of the sermon he replied, 'I am sure what the preacher said is true, for he has described my feelings better than I can myself.' He immediately felt at one with God's people there. Shortly after this he went to hear an Arminian preacher. Following the sermon, he expressed his disappointment and disapproval. Although he was scarcely conversant with the deeper things of Christ he was immediately accused of being a Calvinist. As far as Swain was concerned he was simply a Christian. In the light of this the friend encouraged him to go to the Particular Baptist Church in Carter Lane to hear Dr Rippon. '1 think his preaching would suit you', he said. As expected, Swain found this ministry highly profitable. He was eventually baptised there and was received into membership. Both events took place on May 11, 1783.
Growing in Grace
He was often filled with zeal, joy and enthusiasm for the things of God. Some of his friends thought he was already ripening for glory. Once, after hearing a sermon by John Berridge, he declared to his wife, 'My dear, I do think I shall die with joy'. His wife did not like him expressing himself in quite this way and so he was more careful how he spoke in the future. Yet at times his face would reveal an intense and heavenly joy that could not be hidden.
The truth was, however, that he did not have very much longer to live on earth. His earnestness and desire for God can be gauged from diary entries at this time.
17th July 1783: 'Bitterness of soul inexpressible. Much relief from private prayer. The goodness and condescension of the heart of God are astonishing beyond measure; and can only be felt and not expressed by man .... Such deep di stress and such amazing liberty of soul in one day I never remember to have felt before. Wait on the Lord, O my soul; wait on the Lord, and forget not all his benefits. NOTE: That it is good, it is very profitable, though it be ever so bitter to have one's wounds probed to the quick'.
6th August: 'Remember, O my soul, this day: for it was a day much to be remembered indeed. In the morning, before breakfast, heavy and unsettled in prayer. After breakfast, being enabled to wrestle in prayer for deliverance, found the Lord with me of a truth .... Much solid pleasure and satisfaction in reflection and meditation on death and glory; and, I hope, strong desires to have my own will swallowed up entirely in the Lord's, and to be made happy only in the way of holiness'.
October: '... almost as full as an earthen vessel could hold. I scarce knew how to leave the throne of grace. It was my desire to commit soul, body, spirit with all that appertains thereunto, into the hands of my faithful God and father, for time and for eternity. My assurance of the eternal enjoyment of Jesus my Redeemer in heaven, with all the redeemed, was almost, I think, as clear as though I had seen the celestial gate stand open, and all the glorious spirits waiting to receive and welcome me home to my Father's house.'
November: '... these were indeed days of heaven upon earth. Glory and praise to the riches of my Lord's free grace, by which alone I am what I am'.
Thursday: 'I have need still to cry out "Wash me thoroughly from my sins and cleanse me from all mine iniquities" in his precious blood; for I am vile, and there is no uprightness in me!'
Ordination and Ministry
Early in 1784 Swain began to hold meetings in his own house for prayer and Christian fellowship. Both he and others who attended these benefitted greatly from them. He also belonged to a religious society that met in what was then Castle Street, Leicester Fields. Slowly but surely it became clear that Swain had pastoral and preaching gifts.
In June 1791, there was a special time of prayer in the church and this led to a call to the preaching ministry. In 1780 a building had been erected in East Lane, Walworth, chiefly through the kindness of a Mrs Hill. Regular meetings were held there but no church had been formed. On the evening of June 19, Swain preached at Walworth for the first time. Shortly after this he received a call to preach there regularly.
His labours were so blessed that on December 13 that same year a church was formed with 27 founding members. On February 8, 1792, he was unanimously appointed as pastor of the church. Dr Rippon and Messers Thomas, Upton and Giles (later of Eyethorne) took part. Blessing continued with many conversions. It soon became necessary to erect galleries in the meeting house. A further enlargement of the building was necessary a short while later and at the time of Swain's death they were in the throes of a third extension.
For several years he gave an 'evening lecture' on the Lord's Day at the Meeting House in Devonshire Square, where a large congregation would gather to hear him. He would also speak there on a Wednesday evening. These efforts were by way of evangelistic outreach. He often referred to the work as a 'nursery' for the church at Walworth. Thus he would regularly preach three times on the Lord's Day and twice in the week. He was also always ready to go and preach to smaller congregations in need. He was most zealous and hardworking in the gospel cause. Though often weak and unwell he pressed on, by the grace of God, and in just four years membership went from 27 to over 200. He would sometimes return home after preaching three times on the Lord's day and exclaim, 'Oh, this is sweet work! If my strength would hold out, I should like to preach a fourth time.'
'Oh what solemn work is the work of the ministry! Fresh discoveries of my own depravity and infirmities sometimes almost shake my hope to the root. Yet I must say if the work of Christ in his vineyard and the enjoyment of his salvation are not my chief concern I know not what is.'
He especially felt it was important to taste his subject first himself and to get his heart warmed with it before he delivered it to the people. Some further extracts from his diaries reveal his mind on this.
Saturday 27th June 1795: Repeatedly interrupted in the morning. Poorly and dull in the former part of the day. But the Lord has graciously granted me some degree of calm hope in him this evening. I feel that I need a revival of the work of grace to abide with me. O that the Lord may be pleased to grant it!' He refers to problems that had arisen in the life of the church and then adds, 'I have also been much exercised of late, for fear that I should get at a distance from God: and so be the means of half starving the flock. O what solemn work is the work of the ministry! Fresh discoveries of my own depravity and infirmities sometimes almost shake my hopes to the root. Yet I must say that if the work of Christ in his vineyard, and the enjoyment of his salvation, are not my chief concern, I know not what is.
The next day he speaks about something that had happened to him before in preaching. He found himself unable to get his evening subject as deeply impressed on his mind as he desired. He continues, 'But it constrained me to be earnest in prayer for the Lord's help', and so as he preached he found he had more than enough to dwell upon. He longed to learn three things afresh, 'Self denial, patience in ministerial labours and sweetness of temper.'
Saturday 18th July 1795: 'After much conflict as usual, I begin to entertain some hope of a good day tomorrow. Lord grant it, for Christ's sake.'
He was diligent not only in the pulpit but in pastoral work from house to house too. He was gifted in this area with the ability to exhort and comfort appropriately.
His last illness and death
Although he was often ill and gradually declining, his death came as a great shock to his friends. Suddenly, at the beginning of April 1796, it became clear that he had little time left here on earth. On his last but one Lord's Day on earth he was often in prayer for the church and particularly for some new members to be welcomed that day. He found great profit in two sermons by Isaac Watts which were read to him. In talking to friends, he expressed the hope that his illness would be a sanctified one.
On the Thursday before his death he expressed his sadness at not being able to read his Bible. Then he remembered that he knew some of it by heart. He repeated John 14 and Isaiah 55 and other parts. Then he said, 'Now I can give advice to afflicted persons, when I visit them, to do the same. If persons were to accustom themselves to commit the Word to memory, it would be a great advantage to them.' He was grieved to hear that one of his members had been missing at church because Swain was not preaching.
That evening he had a fit which sent him into a delirium for some time. On regaining his composure he said to his wife, 'Oh, my dear, I have been offering some petitions to God for you, which I am sure will be answered. I am sure they will be answered.' By the Saturday it was clear that he was dying and he had to accept it. He pleaded, 'Oh, my dear, don't grieve. The Lord can make you a happy widow. You were happy in the Lord before you knew me and he can make you happy when I am gone.' Then,
'Oh my dear Redeemer, am I coming to Thee so soon? Is my work done? It is just 14 years since I first knew Thee, Lord! If it were Thy will I should rejoice to labour a little longer with Thy dear people; yet not my will but Thine be done.'
He then took his wife's hand and prayed fervently for her and for their children and for the people at East Lane and at Devonshire Square. Later he said, 'I am not afraid to die. I have not the shadow of a doubt. I know that I shall receive my crown. Yet I should be glad to be engaged in my Lord's work a little longer, if it were his will.' He exhorted those present to prayer and to living near to God.
The next day, the Lord's Day, he was much in prayer. Then, on April 14 after a fourteen day illness, he finally quietly slipped away. He was only 36.
On April 22 the funeral took place at the large Surrey Chapel. Thousands were present. Abraham Booth preached at the graveside in Bunhill Fields. The following Lord's Day, Dr Rippon preached on The Mysterious Conduct of Divine Providence from John 13:7 at Walworth. That same day James Upton gave a sermon on The Sorrowful Separation of a Faithful Pastor from his Affectionate Flock from Acts 20:36-38. What a blow it must have been to the people. Yet how thankful they were for the way God had used this young man.
As with M'Cheyne, Martyn and Brainerd it was the Lord's will to call him home early. Like them, he too had been able to achieve much even in a short time. What a challenge to us to work unstintingly while it is day!
