God's Sheep - As safe as safe can be

The Calvinistic Baptist John Kent died in 1843. His final words, it is said, were “I am accepted”. He was confident of an abundance entrance into heaven. Years before he had written these words

What from Christ that soul can sever,

Bound by everlasting bands?

Once in him, in him for ever;

Thus the eternal covenant stands.

None shall pluck thee

From the Strength of Israel's hands.

 

Eternal security or the perseverance of the saints is a precious Reformation teaching. The Westminster Confession 17:1 expresses it like this

They, whom God has accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved. The idea is not that true believers never struggle or stumble but rather that, by God's grace, they will remain true to the end.

William Secker's Nonsuch professor puts it succinctly, “Though Christians be not kept altogether from falling, yet they are kept from falling altogether.”

 

John 10:28-30

One of many New Testament texts cited to support the doctrine is John 10:28-30. Jesus says of his sheep

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and my Father are one.

Eternal life is a gift Christ gives to his people. Once he gives it, he will not take it back. Such people never perish. No-one will ever snatch them out of Christ's hand. Moreover, the Father, who has given them to Christ and is greater than all has them in his hand too and will not let them be snatched away. Father and Son are united on this and there can be no conflict. There are a number of things in these verses then proving that God's sheep are as safe as can be.

 

The promise

Firstly, Jesus says that he gives his sheep eternal life and they shall never perish. It is a simple statement, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. All true believers have eternal life because Christ has given it to them. Notice, I give. Eternal life is not earned. It is a free gift from the Saviour. John 6:27 is similar, Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. Ephesians 2 reminds us that we are saved by faith but even faith is by grace. Salvation is all of grace.

Because they are given eternal life it must be the case that believers never perish. Jesus is emphatic – there is no possible way they can perish. Hell will not be their lot.

To whom does Christ give life? Who will never perish? Those who listen to his voice and follow him. Only they have eternal life and never perish. To listen to Christ's voice is to obey. Such people get to know what Christ says and not only believe it but act on it and become Christ's followers. Their great aim in life is to please Christ.

Such people, Jesus makes clear, positively have eternal life and, negatively, never perish. Back in verse 10 he says that he came that they may have life, and have it to the full. Eternal life is life to the full, unending life, the life spoken of in John 3:16 and 6:40. Believers have eternal life now (what John 17:3 calls to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent) and will be raised up at the end to live with God forever.

By nature, sheep tend to stray and easily fall into danger. But if a shepherd looks after them, all will be well. Earthly shepherds may lose sheep, of course, but Jesus loses none. Why? Apart from anything else, he has promised - I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

 

The hand of Jesus

The promise alone should be enough but some need reassurance. Here it is. Jesus says of his sheep no one will snatch them out of my hand. It is really a third statement saying the same thing – the sheep have eternal life; they shall not perish; no one will snatch them from Christ's hand.

At the beginning of Chapter 10, Jesus speaks of thieves and robbers, such as the Pharisees, who come to steal the sheep. They climb in somehow attempting to procure the sheep. They will not be successful. They are bound to fail.

When the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it, the sheep remain safe. Jesus is no hired hand who runs away when wolves come. No, Christ laid down his life for his sheep and will not abandon them when trouble comes. No-one can snatch a person from Christ's hand if they are his.

Here is an unbreakable three cord strand then – the believer has an incorruptible eternal life within so cannot perish. Even attempts to remove him from the Saviour's hand all fail. No one will remove, steal, carry off, drag away or snatch them out of my hand. It is partly a quiet appeal to deity. Jesus is God and so is able to hold many and loses none. Children like to play at trying to open their father's hand. While they are young they can never win, unless dad lets them. We can be sure that if we are in Christ's hand, he will never let us go. Isaac Watts put the idea in verse

 

Firm as the earth thy gospel stands,

My Lord, my hope, my trust;

If I am found in Jesus’ hands,

My soul can ne’er be lost.

His honour is engaged to save

The weakest of his sheep;

All that His heav’nly

Father gave His hands securely keep.

Nor death nor hell shall e’er remove

His favourites from his breast;

In the dear bosom of his love

They must for ever rest.

 

The hand of the Father

Surely no more can be said. Jesus promises eternal life, no perishing, none snatched from his hand. That is surely enough. But then people say silly things like “Ah, but what if I wriggle out of his hand myself?” So Jesus goes a step further. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. The greater than all could apply to the sheep rather than the Father, expressing the Father's high esteem for them but it is most likely to refer to the Father.

Christ has hold of them but as he and the Father are one it must be the case that the Father has them too. In eternity, the Father chose the elect. He chose them in Christ and gave them into his safe keeping. Therefore, it is right to say that all true believers are not only in the Son's hands but the Father's too. Jesus tells us that he and the Father are one, of course, so it inevitably follows but it adds one more layer of certainty for believers.

There is an expression “belt and braces”. Most people keep trousers up with a belt. From time to time the alternative method of braces (or suspenders if you are an American) becomes popular. One of my grandfathers always wore braces. If you have braces you do not need a belt and if you have a belt you do not need braces. But here we have belt and braces! Or think of an acrobat on a high trapeze. The acrobat is wearing a safety harness so as he tumbles through the air he cannot fall. But what if the harness fails? Look, there below is a safety net too!

Jesus himself assures believers of eternal life, of not perishing and adds that no one will snatch them out of my hand. Then he goes a step further and says no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. Under the Saviour's hand is the Father's too. Believers are as safe as safe can be. The Father is greater than all so absolutely no-one can remove them.

Writing to John Wesley in a long letter penned at the end of 1740, George Whitefield wrote of election that “this doctrine is my daily support;”. He went on to add

I should utterly sink under a dread of my impending trials, were I not firmly persuaded that God has chosen me in Christ from before the foundation of the world, and that now, being effectually called, he will suffer none to pluck me out of his Almighty hand.

All Christians ought to face their trials with a similar thought.

This article first appeared in the June 2016 Banner of Truth Magazine

Dr Lloyd-Jones The fight of faith

The second volume of the Doctor’s biography takes us from 1939 and the beginnings of his ministry at Westminster Chapel to his death in 1981.

Preaching

The final sermon of his Westminster ministry was given on March 1, in 1968. It was his 372nd Friday night exposition from the Book of Romans, which he began October 7, 1955. Before that he had been doing a series on biblical doctrine. Systematic exposition of Scripture was almost unknown in England in this period but it became a feature of his ministry and was taken up by many, many others. His first sortie seems to have been a series on 2 Peter in 1946 and 1947 and on Philippians shortly after. One on 1 John, began in the Autumn of 1948. In 1950 he began a series on The Sermon on the Mount and in 1954 that on Ephesians. By no means all of his sermons were expositions of books. He would take sometimes just a chapter (eg Psalm 73, John 17). In 1959, he marked the anniversary of the 1859 Revival with a series on Revival. Other themes dealt with were Baptism with the Spirit (1964-65) and a series entitled Spiritual Depression on assurance, preached in 1954.

The Doctor preached with three different emphases. On Friday nights the approach was more doctrinal, a Bible study. On Sunday mornings he endeavoured to help believers in their Christian living. On Sunday nights he was invariably evangelistic. In all the meetings the aim was to make everything simple with everything focussed on the 40 or 50 minute sermon exposition of Scripture. The trends in evangelicalism were all away from this ‘old fashioned’ approach but Dr Lloyd-Jones was used of God to bring people back to it.
 

Wider ministry

The early years at Westminster were war years and partly still alongside Campbell Morgan, who did not retire until 1943. Once that period was over Lloyd-Jones was able to blossom not just in his own pulpit but also in wider ministry. There was his continuing influence, especially in IVF (now UCCF), IFES and China Inland Mission (now OMF) circles; his close involvement and influence in the growing Evangelical Movement of Wales (he was a regular speaker at their Bala ministers’ conference) and various gatherings to mark significant events such as the 350th anniversary of the AV (1961) and the 300th anniversary of the Great Ejection (1962). Projects such as London Bible College and the Banner of Truth Trust (founded 1957) relied, at least initially, on his support. Declining to be first Principal of the college it was he who suggested the Strict Baptist Ernest Kevan and so secured a happy start for that institution. By 1958, however, college and preacher were heading in different directions. The magazine and publishing house began through Iain Murray, who became the Doctor’s assistant in 1956 and a wealthy member of the Chapel, Jack Cullum.

 

Important agencies

Other projects relied even more so on his energy and vision. The roots of The Evangelical Library lie in the conversion in 1903 of another Strict Baptist, Geoffrey Williams. Through his pastor, J K Popham, he discovered the riches of our Puritan heritage and began an evangelical library 12 miles south of London in Beddington. It was when he was introduced to Lloyd-Jones that the library was finally removed to central London to become the ‘Living force’ that it was to be and continues to be to this day. Its influence on the rediscovery of Calvinistic doctrine in this century is very great indeed. Then there was the Westminster Fellowship for ministers. This seems to have started as early as 1941 on a very small scale and meeting quarterly but grew and grew, meeting for longer and more regularly. While the Doctor remained in the chair it was chiefly an opportunity to discuss issues rather than to hear addresses. The Puritan Conference which later became the Westminster Conference was commenced in 1950 under the leadership of the Doctor and Jim Packer. It was originally a part of the IVF’s Tyndale Fellowship and was another tool used by God to draw people back to the Calvinistic and Puritan teaching that had been neglected for so long. In 1977 he gave the inaugural address of the London Theological Seminary which was founded very much on the lines of his own ideas concerning training for the ministry.

 

Conflict

Inevitably, as Lloyd-Jones and his views became more and more widely known, not everyone was enthusiastic and his life was marked by many struggles not only with those who were not evangelical but also with many who, though evangelical, were not convinced of his view of the way forward. The two major points of departure for most were the inter-related matters of rejecting Billy Graham’s decisionistic evangelism and the Doctor’s call to evangelicals to leave the ecumenical movement and unite together. Both are dealt with extensively in Volume 2 of the biography.

The first of these was a rather private. As far back as 1954 the Doctor had strong reservations about the Billy Graham Organisation. In 1963 he and Graham met. The latter was eager for the Doctor to chair the planned Congress on World Evangelism which eventually met in Berlin in 1966. Lloyd-Jones was far from unwilling to work with an Arminian but he was totally unconvinced by Graham’s evangelistic methods and strongly opposed to his ecumenism. The increasing unwillingness of evangelicals to clearly differentiate themselves from liberals in the mixed denominations led, eventually to a very public call from Lloyd-Jones to leave the denominations at a famous Evangelical Alliance rally in 1966, chaired by an unconvinced John Stott. It is from this time that we see the increase in churches leaving the mixed denominations and the rise of FIEC and the British Evangelical Council. Things were never quite the same after that. Today, some hanker for those days of co-operation with Anglican evangelicals and others in the compromised denominations and various rapprochements have been attempted. However, the case for separatism is perhaps stronger than ever and many lessons painfully learned over many years by Lloyd-Jones need to be re-learned by succeeding generations. It is important to note that Lloyd-Jones break with a man like Jim Packer did not come in 1966 with Packer’s decision to remain in the Anglican church but in 1970 when he refused to oppose non-evangelicals within his denomination.

Final years

Packer himself spoke of Lloyd-Jones as ‘the greatest man I have ever known’. The more you discover about this unique servant of God, the more you will see why he could say that. Above and beyond anything that can be said about his gifts or his success he was, quite simply, a man of God. He was not perfect. Iain Murray draws attention to his occasional abuse of his gifts of eloquence and incisive argument. On the other hand he draws attention to his humility. ‘Anything suggestive of self importance or dignity’ he says ‘was alien to his whole spirit.’ He also makes use of a quotation to say he was ‘A terrible judge in regard to ideas, he was full of charity in regard to persons ….’

The final years, from about 1975, were quiet ones. The Doctor preached his last sermon in June 1980 and after some weakness died in his sleep at home on March 1, 1981. Five days later he was buried in Newcastle Emlyn, West Wales. On April 6 there was a memorial service in Westminster Chapel.

 

This summery article first appeared in an edition of Grace Magazine called Dr Who?

Dr Lloyd-Jones The first forty years

Iain Murray is the author of the definitive two volume biography of Dr Lloyd-Jones. Volume 1 covers the period from his birth to his coming to be minister of Westminster Chapel.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was born in Cardiff, December 20, 1899, the second of three boys. In 1906, the family moved nearer its roots in rural Cardiganshire, to Llangeitho, scene of the labours of Daniel Rowland, the eighteenth century’s greatest preacher. In that relatively remote Welsh speaking community, he grew up, a bright boy, though not particularly studious until his teenage years.

It was in many ways idyllic but in January, 1910, the family home burned down. Increasing financial difficulty necessitated moving to a very different scene - London. Without losing the advantages of a Welsh speaking culture, which thrived in London at the time, other vibrant worlds opened to the teenager. Immersed in the religious and cultural life of Charing Cross Calvinistic Methodist Chapel he also enjoyed following political debates at the House of Commons.

 

A startling discovery

In 1916 he began his medical career at Bart’s. Qualifying in a remarkable three years he went to work for leading physician, Lord Thomas Horder. By 1923 he was chief clinical assistant and began research into endocarditis. The world appeared to be at his feet and many no doubt envied this talented young man. However, it was at this period that he made a startling and discomfiting discovery – he was not a Christian! It is hard today to grasp how, in the 1920s, there could be so much religion, especially among the Welsh, still affected by the 1904 Revival, yet so little evangelical Christianity. But modernism had ravaged the churches and seeing the hollowness of Liberal religion some ran from it, while others continued with a form of religion, denying its power. Others, like Lloyd-Jones, came under deep conviction and, by God’s grace, were converted. The Doctor’s conversion came over a period of time and was attended with strong conviction that he should abandon his glittering medical career and become a minister.

He preached his first sermon in 1925, at a Mission Hall for down and outs in Poplar, East London. Calvinistic Methodism was the leading Welsh sect. As the name implies, its roots are in the eighteenth century revival associated with names such as Whitefield, Hywel Harris, William Williams. Having grown up in the denomination and having great sympathy with its evangelical doctrines Lloyd-Jones proceeded to seek to minister in it. He went for interview at their Aberystwyth Theological College but was not drawn there. He was accepted as a ministerial candidate, however, and preached his first sermon for them in Newport. That church was keen to have him but he was drawn rather to a tougher situation further west: Bethlehem, Sandfields, in Aberavon, a Forward Movement church.

This whole period was one of great turmoil as Lloyd-Jones struggled with this decision but an increasing sense of the emptiness of this world and a growing compassion for people in their sins compelled him to preach. God was gracious and helped him in various ways. He had already begun to discover his Calvinistic Methodist heritage. Powicke’s biography of Baxter, republished 1926, led to a discovery of the riches of Puritanism. There were times too when he felt an overwhelming sense of God’s love filling his soul.

Then there was Bethan Phillips, a chapel friend since his arrival in London and a fellow doctor. She became Mrs Lloyd-Jones at the beginning of 1927. What a boon companion she was to be. They were later blessed with two daughters, Elizabeth and Ann.

 

Sandfields

Aberavon was a working class area. The church, founded as a sort of mission hall, had 146 members but the lack of clear ministry meant many were unconverted. Social activity and politics dominated the thoughts of most. There were to be radical changes in the earlier years as Lloyd-Jones sought to steer the church back on to firm ground. The drama society was closed along with all activities not directly related to God’s Word and prayer. As he opened up individual texts, Christians blossomed again and many, within the church and from outside, were converted. By 1927 there were 165 members; by 1928 – 196; by 1929 – 248. In 1930, 88 were added. Seventy of these were directly ‘From the world’. Such growth was remarkable and Murray’s chapter on it is headed ‘Revival’, a word Lloyd-Jones was reluctant to use. Some of the individuals converted at this time are described in Mrs Lloyd-Jones’s Memories of Sandfields.

From the beginning there was great interest in Lloyd-Jones. His undoubted clinical skills and extraordinary career change guaranteed that. His remarkable success now brought him further attention and he was often asked to preach at weekday and weeknight meetings, which still went on around the country. In 1932 he made his first trip across the Atlantic to preach in Toronto. In 1935, 7,000 heard him on Acts 2:38 in a marquee in Llangeitho and he preached to a packed Albert Hall on behalf of the Bible Testimony Fellowship. On this occasion G Campbell Morgan, minister of the Congregational Church at Westminster Chapel, heard him and invited him to preach.

Eventually Morgan invited him to assist in the work and in 1938 he resigned his Aberavon pastorate and returned to London. His position at Westminster was not formalised for a year owing to the expectation that his own denomination would call him as principal of one of their theological colleges, Aberystwyth or Bala. When this did not materialise, Lloyd-Jones accepted it was God’s will for him to minister at Westminster Chapel – which he did for the next 29 years.

 

Westminster

Even while still in Wales ministers were coming to him for advice and guidance. Students were also very much helped by a man who had both the intellect and the fervour they so needed. In 1930 he was elected President of Inter-Varsity Fellowship (now UCCF). His wisdom and conservatism gave IVF and IFES a backbone and vigour that they benefit from to this day. It is his ministry in Westminster that stands out for then he became a great leader and then he preached the sermons later published and still being published today. However, it is in the first 40 years that the foundation was laid. His acute and well trained mind (watchword – ‘Back to first principles’) was a great asset to God’s people in what were very dark and difficult days, when evangelicalism had been decimated by wave after wave of modernism. He found great help too in neglected authors such as Denney, Forsyth, Jonathan Edwards and Warfield, who died in 1921. He discovered Warfield’s works in Toronto. Lloyd-Jones’ clear theological convictions enabled him to successfully resist subtle foes such as ‘Moral rearmament’ and the ‘Neo-orthodoxy’ of Barth and Brunner. By God’s grace he was able to forge a truly Calvinistic, Bible expounding yet experiential, expression of evangelicalism to which we are all indebted to this day.

This summary article originally appeared in an edition of Grace Magazine called Dr Who?

Weakness - The way to perfection

Scripture often celebrates Israel’s victory over Midian. Before the battle, God tells Gideon he has too many men. So that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, changes are needed. Judges 7:2 highlights important principles.

Universal tendency

God speaks and acts as he does because of our tendency to boast. For unbelievers, pride is their necklace. Boastfulness is typical of these last days. How readily we boast. A sure sign of worldliness is boasting of what we have and do (Psalm 73, 2 Timothy 3, James 3, 1 John 2). It is somehow instinctive with us. Gresham Machen describes tourists boasting of conquering summits when they have simply followed guides equally able to get sacks of corn to the top! Children brag about themselves. Adults blow their own trumpets. Even octogenarians crow about how young they look.

Do you tell stories lionising yourself? We are subtle sometimes but the propensity is continual. Denying it is only another brag - ‘others boast, I don’t’! Are you aware of this proclivity?

God hates boasting

Judges 7 proves that God hates boasting. Recall his response when Nebuchadnezzar bragged that he had built Babylon by his mighty power and for the glory of his majesty. That arrogant man was soon eating grass like a cow! 1 Peter 5:5 urges us to clothe ourselves with humility ... because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. God esteems the humble and contrite in spirit and pronounces the meek blessed. He warns the wise not to boast of their wisdom, the strong of their strength, the rich of their wealth. Rather, if he must boast, let him boast that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight. (Isaiah 66:2; Matthew 5:5; Jeremiah 9:23, 24).

Undeniably, God hates all boastfulness and pride. Reject it and humble yourself. Ephesians 5:17 says find out what pleases the Lord. God abhors boasting and demands all the glory for himself. The only glory we can know is reflected glory. He must have the praise. To covet it for ourselves brings wrath. Certain famous primadonnas want everything to revolve around them, taking credit for everything. How mean-spirited and arrogant. God takes the credit because it is due. He is responsible for everything. Do you see that? Then honour him.

Avoid boasting

Clearly, we must do all we can to avoid self-promotion. Jesus says, when giving to the needy, not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give but avoid drawing attention to yourself. Similarly, avoid praying standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. … go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen …. Pray, even in public, as if it is just the Lord and you. And when fasting avoid looking sombre as the hypocrites do. They disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. … rather put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men ... but only to your Father, who is unseen …. (Matthew 6:3, 5, 6, 16-18). Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

We have a bent for boasting but God loathes it. Do all you can to eliminate it. Self-flagellation and prolonged fasts will only to tempt us to boast. Deliverance comes from doing what God requires.

God’s work

One of the wonderful truths of the Bible is that God himself helps us avoid boasting. The very way he saves us shows this. It is not a matter of intelligence or beauty, nationality or family nor how good we are in men’s eyes. Rather, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast (Ephesians 2:8, 9). As we look from ourselves to Christ, he saves. Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Corinthians 4:7). Are you cleverer, better looking, abler than others? If you fail to see it is God’s gift, you are a boaster.

Prayer is something else God uses to teach humility. How incongruous to brag about answered prayer. All the glory is God’s. Think of Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Whatever it was, this Messenger of Satan was highly unpleasant. Paul wanted it gone but instead God enabled Paul to cope. Suffering can help us. It can promote maturity in Christ if we are teachable.

*

God whittles down Gideon’s army in stages. First, he removes the fearful, as Deuteronomy 20 demands. Over two thirds depart. The rule was to counteract low morale but it must have been hard to see 22,000 depart! Nevertheless, God was determined to prevent boasting. Cut backs were essential.

What is it about numbers? Numbers spell prestige and power. There is safety in numbers. We sometimes think they are the key to everything. Smaller churches envy larger ones; low numbers dishearten us. However, God sometimes wants a decrease. He has his chosen few. Many are on the broad road, few on the narrow road to heaven. We must give up worldly thinking and see that (as E F Schumacher put it in another context) ‘small is beautiful’ or, to use another slogan, ‘less is more’. If God is to use us, we must ‘think small’.

Even then there were still too many. Gideon must take them down to the water for further sifting. Perhaps you learned in Sunday School that God chose the final 300 for their superiority but it does not say that. Rather, if God said this one shall go with you, he went. And if he said this one shall not ... he stayed. The division, however we understand it, is arbitrary. And, so it seems, is the kingdom. God appears to bless a preacher, a church, an individual. We seek explanations. Sometimes we think we know why. Often we are baffled. It seems capricious, nonsensical. Eloquent preachers with small churches, ordinary preachers with large ones; the godly forgotten, the worldly acclaimed. The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Accept the way it is and recognise how God thus subverts boasting and glorifies himself, doing as he chooses. We must learn humility.

Success through weakness

Gideon’s experience shows how mysterious success is. We dare not excuse laziness or neglect but we must learn to give God glory. We must somehow learn with Paul not to boast about ourselves except, as it were, of our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12). To know what Gideon and Paul knew, we must ponder God’s words, my power is made perfect in weakness. We must gladly boast of our weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on us. For his sake, delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties convinced that when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

This article first appeared in Grace Magazine.

Samuel Medley 1738-1799

This year (1998) sees the two hundredth anniversary of the Baptist preacher and hymn writer Samuel Medley. He was born on June 23, 1738, at Cheshunt in Hertfordshire and was from a respectable and well off Christian family but rebelled against this background. His father was tutor to the Duke of Montague and later ran his own school in Cheshunt. Samuel himself was taught by his grandfather, William Tonge, an Enfield teacher and a deacon at Andrew Gifford’s church in Holborn. At the age of 14 was apprenticed to an oilman in the City of London. This work was not to Samuel’s liking.

In 1755 war broke out between England and France and a law was quickly passed allowing apprentices to complete their indentures in the Royal Navy. To Medley this seemed like the perfect answer to his unhappy situation. He could now be like his two older brothers whom he had often envied. He too now determined on a glorious naval career.

And so at the age of 17 we find him aboard the 74 gun Royal Navy ship The Buckingham. The ship’s captain had also been a pupil of Medley’s grandfather and as Medley was full of enthusiasm he did what he could to further his career. Soon the captain and officers transferred to a similar ship called The Intrepid and Medley was made Captain’s mate. The Intrepid was active in the Mediterranean for the next few years. During this time Medley gladly had many opportunities to improve his education but also, sadly, to go on in the way of sin that he had grown increasingly accustomed to. Despite his Christian upbringing he soon forgot it. With scarce a thought for serious matters he continually sought out the pleasures of sin.

 

Conversion

Things continued in this vain until he reached the age of 21. In that year (1759) an important sea battle was fought on the Portuguese Coast near Port Lagos. It was Medley’s job to sit on board and write down details of the action between the English and French fleets. It was a bloody battle. It is said that there was so much blood spilt that the French used barrels of flour on the decks to save people from slipping over. As the battle progressed a cannon ball shattered the mizzen-mast close to where Medley was. Shortly after that he saw a wounded soldier being carried by one of his shipmates. A cannon ball hit both and they fell into the hold below.

Then suddenly the mate cried out to him that he had been wounded. Medley had not realised it until his attention was called to the fact. A large part of his leg had been shot away and he was in a serious condition. He had to be helped to walk to the surgeon. He had lost a great deal of blood. The British were victorious in the battle but Medley was unwillingly confined to his bed. Fired by this victory his ambition ran high but the leg did not heal properly and he became quite depressed about the situation.

After some time the ship’s surgeon had to inform him that there was gangrene and that his leg would have to be amputated. This was something of a shock to the wild young man but remembering his grandfather and father’s example he thought he had best pray. He had been leading a very profligate life but perhaps it was not too late. He remembered that he had seen a Bible in his chest and sent a servant to get it.

All that night he read the Word and prayed that the Lord would save his leg. Most unexpectedly, by the next morning leg was found to be healing. Quite a change came about in Medley but before he had recovered he began to fall into old habits. He eventually returned home to stay with his grandfather who would often read to him from the Scriptures and encourage him to seek the Lord. One evening he read a sermon by Isaac Watts on Isaiah 42:6, 7. It was this that God used to finally bring him to salvation.

 

Ministry

Medley then left the navy and opened a school in Covent Garden and later Soho. Feeling a call to the ministry, he began to study under Dr Andrew Gifford, pastor of the Eagle Street Church, Holborn, London, where Medley had become a member. In 1767, he became pastor at a Particular Baptist church in Watford. In 1772, he began his main ministry at the Particular Baptist church in Byrom Street, Liverpool. He was pastor there for the next 27 years. He had a very happy and effective ministry especially among the many seafarers with whom he came into contact. The year after his arrival the building had to be extended and in 1789 a new and enlarged chapel was erected.

In his latter years Medley’s health declined and on his annual trip to preach in London in Autumn 1798 he became quite unwell. He eventually died in Liverpool on July 17, 1799. In his last illness he wrote for himself an epitaph in Latin which has been translated,

 

An unworthy preacher of the gospel,

formerly pastor of this church of Christ,

by nature and practice a miserable sinner,

but redeemed by grace and the blood of the Saviour,

 has here laid down his body,

waiting for the bright and morning star.

Come then Lord Jesus.

 

Hymns

Medley is best remembered today as a hymn writer. Nine of his hymns are found in Grace Hymns. Among his best known are I know that my redeemer lives, Awake, my soul, in joyful lays (also both found in Christian Hymns) and O could I speak the matchless worth. He often included a refrain in his hymns or something similar. In Awake, my soul the verses end His lovingkindness, O how free! then great! then strong! then good! and finally His lovingkindness changes not. God shall alone the refuge be includes the lines Too wise to be mistaken, he, Too good be unkind or something similar in each verse. Hear gracious God a sinner’s cry! has the one line refrain O God, be merciful to me! I know that my redeemer lives repeats the key phrase He lives several times. His hymns first appeared in pamphlet form but from 1785 began to appear in bound volumes (Hymns, Bristol and Bradford). Later in life a collection of over 200 hymns of varying quality appeared. O could I speak the matchless worth includes the distinctive lines, not printed in all hymn books,

O could I speak the matchless worth,

O could I sound the glories forth,

Which in my Saviour shine!

I’d soar, and touch the heavenly strings

And vie with Gabriel while he sings In notes almost divine.

What a worthy sentiment for all true believers!

This article first appeared in Grace Magazine

What about giving to charity?

If you are a Christian you will want to give to charity. For the most part, you will want to give directly to the work of the Lord, both for the spiritual advance of the kingdom and in support of more practical needs. As a general rule, the more personal our giving the better it is. There are times, however, when we may wish to give less personally to charities of a more secular sort. Such giving is, on the face of it, a fine thing. However, there are a number of pitfalls to avoid.

 

1. Make sure you are giving to a genuine charity

There are plenty of examples of people trying to make a fast buck or even a fast thousand bucks by questionable means. Ask for some sort of identification where necessary and ask to see official literature from the charity. Read the small print too. An undercover reporter revealed recently how one organisation was regularly sending out collectors ostensibly to raise money for charity. However, although the laminated card each collector carries boldly lists eight charities that the company claims to support and says that ‘Nightingale continually aim to donate to a wide variety of national charities’, the small print at the very bottom reveals that ‘Nightingale is not a charity and does not represent any charity organisation’. In fact very little money goes to charity.

There are well over 180,000 registered charities in the UK and each of these has an official number. Ask for an address and do some digging if you are suspicious. Charitiesdirect.com is a good place to start. Evasive answers to questions are a bad sign as is an aggressive approach. Do not feel under pressure. Most charities need your money just as much tomorrow as they do today. A helpful website says ‘Watch for any appeal for contributions which resembles a bill, invoice or statement of account due. Any such appeal must bear a clear and noticeable disclaimer stating that it is an appeal and that you are under no obligation to pay unless you accept the offer.’ We especially ought to be careful over appeals following a national or overseas disaster. One final tip is to look closely at the charity name - some unscrupulous outfits will choose a name extremely close to that of a well-known charity, and some careless readers will be conned.

 

2. Discover what proportion of your money will go to meeting the real need

In many High Streets we currently see young people seeking donors for various large charities. It is little appreciated that they are working not for the charities but for hired agencies. The fees they charge can be as much as 90% of all that you give in the first year of donations after signing on the dotted line. No wonder the practice has been referred to as ‘chugging’ (charity mugging).

Several charities are guilty of unnecessarily channelling exorbitant amounts into administration and other overheads. This can be a failing in ‘Christian’ charities as much as in any other sort. Even in respectable charities like Oxfam or Shelter only around half the money from voluntary income will actually go to direct charity work (52p in the pound in the case of Oxfam and 49p in the pound in the case of Shelter - that was the case in 2004. Both now claim 80p in the pound). Last year (2003) the NSPCC was slammed for using £20m of its annual £75m income on public education and campaigning rather than direct services. This compares unfavourably with an organisation like TEAR Fund where only 10% of voluntary income goes on such things.

The American organisation Charity Navigator discovered in 2002 that some 14% of organisations surveyed devoted less than 70% of their budgets to their programmes and services and 6% devoted less than 60%.

In a notorious case that eventually reached court Breast Cancer Relief was found to be spending 90% of its income on fundraising, selling competition tickets and operating nationwide street collections. Less than 10% of its multi-million pound income was spent on charitable work.

 

3. Make sure you know what you are giving to

The sight of the ‘Moonies’ asking for money for ‘charity’ on our streets is a much less familiar sight today but it is amazing what still goes on. I was shopping before Christmas when a young girl with a lovely smile and a plastic bucket was happily receiving money from shoppers. When I asked what she was collecting for it was revealed that she was from the local ‘prosperity gospel’ church and was raising funds for a church building for a nearby congregation! Most contributors were unaware of this – and did not seem to care anyway. It is important that we are always clear exactly where the money we give is going.

 

4. Make sure this is a charity you really wish to support

I remember a few years ago attending a local school function and being asked to give in support of the NSPCC. Most present thought it quite appropriate to donate to an organisation with a name for preventing cruelty to children. However, the specific request on this occasion was to help fund their campaign to ban all corporal punishment of children, something that no Bible reading evangelical would surely want to do.

In our house there is usually some excitement when Children in need or Red Nose Day comes around and our boys are keen to take part. No doubt most money raised goes to worthy causes. In recent years, however, the question of whether any money is used to pay for abortions has been raised. It has been denied by the organisers but it is impossible to know exactly how all the money is spent. It may be of interest to know that in this instance it is quite acceptable to specify that money given to the Red Nose charity is for, say, the relief of poverty. Certainly we must be vigilant as to how money we give is going to be spent. (We should add that no Christian causes can benefit from such charities as they do not accept the gay rights clauses). 

In the case of UNICEF and other charities there seems to be evidence that they are at times involved in promoting abortion and similar practices in the name of eradicating child poverty. Whenever we find references to ‘family planning’ in literature we need to enquire more closely as to just what is meant.

More broadly, some have raised serious doubts over whether the cancer research charities are really worth supporting in their present form. This present writer is not competent to comment but one can see the issue.

 

5. Try to give in an efficient way

In most cases it is wise to avoid giving cash. If you are giving a relatively small amount, consider how much it will cost the charity to process what you are giving. For example, if you send a pound and expect the gift to be acknowledged your gift will have very little impact indeed. The government helpfully provides ways of efficient giving that will increase the amount that a charity receives, where the donor is a taxpayer. Some have scruples about this but it is surely wise to make use of such opportunities.

Corporate Self-examination

 

In 1932 Picasso painted ‘Girl before a mirror’ in a style typical of him. It is clear that this woman is not looking into an ordinary mirror but one that reveals things about her not obvious on the surface. When we look at ourselves in a mirror we get some idea of what we look like outwardly. Without a mirror it is both possible and necessary for us to look at ourselves and make a similar assessment of how we look inwardly. This is done by means of self-examination. Socrates famously said that an unexamined life is not worth living. Some are forever checking their stocks and shares; others are the same with their lottery numbers. If we are wise we will often be checking on our souls. Hebrews 3:12, 13 is a call to corporate self-examination.

 

Personal responsibility

The writer calls the Hebrews brothers. He assumes they are what they say they are. However, anyone who claims to be a Christian has a duty to make sure he is. He cannot assume it. See to it, brothers. A wife asks ‘Shall I lock the doors and put the cat out before bed?’. Her husband says ‘No, I’ll see to it’. He will do all that is necessary. So Christians are urged to ‘do all that is necessary’ to make sure their hearts are not sinful, faithless, turning from God. Not all that glisters is gold and not all who claim to be Christians are. Remember Jesus’s warning that many will say Lord, Lord on Judgement Day. It is the responsibility of every professing Christian to realise this and take steps to examine himself.

 

The need to examine our hearts

It is not ‘See to it that none of you has a sinful life style or thought life.’ I am sure the writer would be happy to say such things but what he actually talks about is the heart. By the heart is meant the whole person. He is urging examination of the whole of ones life. How important. A superficial examination will do no good. We need to dig deep. We shrink from this painful duty but it must be done. It takes time and effort and if we rush through life at break neck speed it will be squeezed out. Most of us find time to brush our teeth. Why? We do not want rotten teeth. There is time for self-examination.

What to look for

In particular, he says See to it that none of you has - a sinful, unbelieving heart – the root sin. With it goes a heart that turns away from the living God. It is possible to be a ‘believer’ and yet have a sinful, unbelieving heart. A person may profess to be a Christian but conduct his life on principles of sin and unbelief or disbelief. This sort of unbelief, says Owen, is ‘the greatest provocation of God that a creature can make himself guilty of’. That a pagan in some far flung dark corner should not believe is unsurprising but that people should hear the preaching of the gospel, profess to believe it and then still go on in sinful, unbelief - what wickedness that is. Yet it happens. Many think a lack of faith no great sin but here it is labelled as sinful, evil. It is. Imagine a husband with no trust in his wife, a child with no confidence in its parents, a community with none in the banks.

This is why it is possible for a ‘believer’ to turn from the living God. Unbelievers turn aside to idols, of course, and worship things that are not, but the professing believer can fall into such ways too. No true believer can finally fall away, but it is possible for an apparent believer to turn from God, even though he has so many privileges and opportunities. Think of Judas. That is what happened in the desert when the Children of Israel turned from the living God to idols. How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?

 

Corporate responsibility

Interestingly, he speaks of helping one another. But encourage one another daily, he says. We tend to think of self-examination as a rather solitary task but it has a corporate dimension too. We need to help each other in this. We need to exhort or encourage one another so that we are not self-deceived. This is part of what church is all about. Obviously, those who are preachers have a duty to preach on such subjects and to make clear that self-deception is possible. But it is not only preachers. We all have a duty to each other – to encourage faith and godliness and to discourage hypocrisy and unbelief. Are we taking this responsibility seriously?

 

Urgent

The writer says this is a daily thing not just for Sundays. Further, he says that we are to do this as long as it is called Today. This takes us back to Psalm 95, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. For the Christian there are really only two days – Judgement Day and Today, the day of God’s grace. We are alive today by God’s grace. If today we will hold back from hardening our hearts and put our trust in the Lord, we can be certain all will be well. As for tomorrow, we cannot be sure whether that will be a day of grace or of judgement. So there is an urgency about this work of encouragement. Now is the day of salvation; today is the day of grace. It is our duty to do all we can to support the faith of those who profess to be our brothers and sisters. We are a team, a body, an interconnected whole.

 

Self-deception

Why the emphasis on mutual support? Surely, all we need is faith in Christ and all will be well. To speak like that is to forget sin’s nature. We need such encouragement so that none are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (trickery). Sin is thoroughly deceitful. It presents itself as something it is not, promising much but giving little and constantly mutating so that we scarcely recognise it for what it is at times. Like the devil, transforming himself into an angel of light, sin pretends to be sweetness and light when within are maggots and worms. A man promises the world to a pure woman. He will be true and do her no harm. They make vows in church. But before long he has a mistress and physically harms his wife. What deceivers are about! So it is with sin. How easy to be deceived by it and think we are Christians when we are not or think we have no reason to be concerned about our spiritual state when we have every reason. Sin told the Hebrews they needed a more ancient religion. Today it says there are many ways to heaven; no-one can be holy in the present climate; good intentions are enough, etc. If you leave it, bread left will go hard – so will our hearts if we neglect them. See to it that no-one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.