Interview footage of Martyn Lloyd Jones – and FREE sermons!

The cover of the MLJ memorial edition of The Banner of Truth magazine, May 1981

What has continually struck me about Martyn Lloyd-Jones, since first discovering him in the 80s, is the note of authority in his preaching. Not fundamentalism. Not arrogance. Not self-promoting bravado. Not self-centred supernatural experience. Authority – and particularly the authority of the Biblical text itself.

He spoke with such conviction in his generation, that, even allowing for some areas of disagreement, his message still strikes a clear note, and pierces the conscience today!

I find his preaching encouraging and uplifting, and inclusive:

‘It seems to me that the great trouble in the church today is that she’s not reaching the working classes. The majority of the members of our church were working class men.’ D Martyn Lloyd-Jones on his ministry years in Aberavon, Wales (from one of the interviews on this video).

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was loved by rich and poor, and acknowledged as making a significant contribution to the spiritual life of Great Britain.

The Queen greeting Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones

So the message this month is not really a message, but some video footage which traces his early ministry and introduction to London, interspersed with some television footage (you can spot a young Joan Bakewell in the mix too!)

Enjoy! Click on the photo below

Martyn Lloyd-Jones' television interview

or paste this into your browser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TolCoC_44AQ
Free Sermons!
The Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recording Trust has just announced that it is making its complete MLJ library available online free of charge (free registration).
Click either of the links below for your store:
http://www.mlj.org.uk/shop

http://www.mlj-usa.com/audiolibrary

There is a wealth of material there so don’t waste time!
Read Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ comments on Evangelist Howell Harris here

© 2012 Lex Loizides / Church History Blog

Audio Message of the Month Terry Virgo

The Qualities of a Christian Leader – Terry Virgo

Terry Virgo

Terry Virgo is one of the great Bible teachers of our generation. His influence has gone far beyond the local church he pioneered in Brighton, England.

His ministry has resulted in literally hundreds of churches being planted and cared for in many nations.

Arguably the British successor to Martyn Lloyd-Jones as a passionate and authoritative expository preacher, Terry has championed the life of God in the local church in the context of global mission.

This powerful and touching message was preached in 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa on the occasion of the appointment of three new elders in Jubilee Community Church.

Enjoy!

Click here for the link

For the work of Newfrontiers, the family of churches led by Terry’s team, click here

To read about how 18th century church leader Jonathan Edwards would have been helped by having an Eldership Team click here

© 2011 Church History Blog / Lex Loizides

The Holy Spirit and Authority in Preaching (MLJ on Harris part 4)

Howell Harris

We’ve been spending some time looking at the conversion experience of the Welsh Evangelist Howell Harris.

Harris, through his tireless evangelistic work is credited with being the founder of Welsh Calvinistic Methodism. He also, through his example, helped launch George Whitefield and the Wesley brothers’ ministry of preaching in the fields.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (also a Welshman) spoke about him at the Puritan Conference in London in 1973 and emphasised not only Harris’ conversion but also the fact that he received ‘a baptism of power’ in the Holy Spirit. Lloyd-Jones believed this was the key to his evangelistic success.

Indeed, thousands came to Christ. The power of the Spirit in Harris’ life affected not only his willingness to speak but also his effectiveness in speaking. He talked about ‘the authority’ of God coming upon him and moving the hearers.  He would wait for the ‘authority’ to come and then speak with greater freedom and power.

Lloyd-Jones last sermon

Lloyd-Jones also was deeply concerned for this subjective but vital aspect in his own preaching. The preached word was to come with authority.

I have friends who were at Barcombe Baptist Chapel, in East Sussex and heard Lloyd-Jones deliver his very last sermon. One told me how the Doctor started slowly and seemed to get going with some difficulty. But then, wondrously, it was as though a sudden power came upon him, that energised him and electrified the congregation. Suddenly all were awake and alert: God was speaking with authority through a man. Lloyd-Jones felt that in Harris’ case (where he would sense ‘the authority’ and then speak spontaneously without any notes or preparation and with powerful effect) it was close to the gift of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 12.

A first-hand gospel

For Harris, as well as Lloyd-Jones, this was a deeply prized token of God’s presence and favour both for him and his hearers. It had the effect of making the gospel ‘first-hand’, fresh, and immediately powerful.

Harris, describes this immediacy. He was more concerned with preaching an experienced Christ and the Spirit enabled him to do so: ‘That which I experienced, proved, and felt and saw and heard of the Word of Life, that also I proclaim.’ (quoted by MLJ in Lloyd-Jones, The Puritans and their Successors, Banner of Truth Edition p.296)

A bold man dies much loved by the people he served

Wales mourned when Harris died. A truly great and much loved hero had gone to glory. 20,000 people were present! The Countess of Huntingdon attended and wrote of the emotion that was too strong to suppress:

‘But amidst the sorrow and tears of the audience that thronged the building an interruption took place. The officiating clergyman, being unable to proceed on account of his emotion, handed the Prayer Book to another – that does not often happen – but the second clergyman also lost self-control and passed the book to a third, when he again by reason of the same cause was unable to go on; and thus in silence were the remains of the great man laid to rest in the chancel in the Parish Church at Talgarth, and in the same grave in which his wife had been buried a few years before’. (quoted by MLJ, ibid, p.301)

What about us?

Oh my dear friend, are you a Christian? Then go to God and be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you need to find a church near you try here as one option.

Have you been baptised in the Spirit? Why did you think it was just for you? There are multitudes all around you who do not know Christ. Are you going to leave them as you travel on your way to heaven? Are you not going to be stirred by God to get up and do something for Him that will help people find their way to Christ?

How long O Lord, before you pour out your Spirit once more upon your people and turn our nations to you?

To read part one of Lloyd-Jones on Howell Harris click here

To read the next post in this series click here

You can purchase ‘The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors’ here

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Power of the Spirit and Mission

(Lloyd-Jones on Howell Harris part 3)

In his lecture on Howell Harris, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the great evangelical Bible teacher, argued that an experience of the Holy Spirit’s power was the key to Harris’ effectiveness in the 18^th century ‘Great Awakening’.

It was this ‘baptism of fire’ that spurred Harris on to reach others with the gospel of Christ.

Here, he continues to argue his point effectively, whilst applying it to the reader with stinging relevance!

The Baptism of the Spirit as the Stimulus to Effective Evangelism

‘This is what created within [Howell Harris] a compassion for the lost. This is what urged him to go out and to tell the people about their condition and do something about them. His concern for the lost and the perishing was the consuming passion of his soul.

I would make this comment at this point. Is not that always the crucial test which we must apply to those who claim to have received the baptism of the Spirit?

The crucial test is the concern for souls, compassion for the lost. That was the great characteristic of our Lord. He saw the people as ‘sheep without a shepherd’. He ‘had compassion upon them’; and the man who is filled with the Spirit in this way is like his Lord.

His outstanding characteristic is his compassion for the lost; his concern for them was the test of ‘the baptism of the Spirit’.’

The power of the Spirit leads to mission not self-indulgence

Lloyd-Jones continues, ‘It does not lead to an inward looking, self-indulgent, church movement that turns in on itself and spends its time reciting and even boasting at times of experiences. It always leads to this concern for others…

The baptism of or with the Spirit shows itself primarily by giving its recipients a great evangelistic concern.’ (Lloyd-Jones, The Puritans and their Successors, Banner of Truth Edition p.292-3)

Oh that we could placard that statement over every church that claims an experience of the Holy Spirit!

To read Part One of Lloyd-Jones on Howell Harris click here

To read the Part Four click here

You can purchase ‘The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors’ here

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Holy Spirit, Howell Harris and Martyn Lloyd-Jones (MLJ on Harris part 2)

Martyn Lloyd Jones, 'The Puritans and Their Successors' (1st edition)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones believed that Howell Harris was one of the most extraordinary preachers in the history of the church. He deeply admired the evangelistic passion that characterised Harris’ life. Here, we continue to listen to the ‘Doctor’ as he was affectionately called, as he outlines what he considers to be the source of that passion. (Page numbers refer to Lloyd-Jones, The Puritans and their Successors, Banner of Truth Edition)

On Harris’ Baptism in the Spirit

Describing Harris’ experience some three weeks after his conversion, which we have already considered, Lloyd-Jones calls it ‘that crucial experience’.

‘To me, this is the key to the understanding of Howell Harris, as it is the key to the understanding of Revival.’ (p.290)

He goes on, ‘as I have always understood this man’s story, and as I still understand it more and more, you cannot explain him or understand him, or what happened through him, except in the light of this crucial experience of June 18th…What was it? To me, there is only one expression to use. It was the expression used by these men themselves and by their successors. It was a baptism ‘of fire’ or a ‘baptism of power’.’

The Doctor continues, ‘What I would emphasize particularly is that Harris was already converted, had already received forgiveness of sins, and he knew that he had it, and had been dancing in joy. But it was now just over three weeks later that he received this crucial experience which turned him into a flaming Evangelist.’ (p.290)

On Harris’ continuing experience of the Spirit as an example to us

Having recounted that Harris essentially celebrated this experience each year, he also emphasises how Harris was not content to merely rest in that one experience of the Spirit’s power but went on to seek more of Him.

‘This to him was the turning point, the crucial event that made him an Evangelist. It is essential to an understanding of Revival. We can further demonstrate this by showing that he had several repetitions of this experience…he also had similar experiences.’

Lloyd-Jones writes, ‘Another extract from his diary says, ‘In private society till two in the morning like a drunken man. Could say nothing but glory, glory for a long time.’ (p.292)

‘May 1749, ‘The Lord came, overpowering me with love like a mighty torrent that I could not withstand or reason against or doubt.’ (p.292)

‘Even in his ‘dying testimony’ as it is called, he says ‘that we are not to speak of what we have had from the Lord, but what we now have afresh from Him.’ This was of great concern to him. This great vital experience could be repeated…’ (p.293)

Has Lloyd-Jones become over-excited? Has the Doctor embraced some terrible Charismatic or Pentecostal doctrine? Or is he fully aware of the argument he is making and its implications. He explains emphatically:

‘There is always this distinction between receiving forgiveness of sins and receiving the Holy Ghost.’ (p. 292)

So, back in 1973 when he delivered the lecture from which I have quoted, Lloyd-Jones knew exactly what he was saying and why he was saying it.

He wanted us to learn from Harris that we might encounter the power of God as Harris did, in order that we might influence our generation as Harris did.

To read part one of Lloyd-Jones on Howell Harris click here

To read the next post in this series click here

You can purchase ‘The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors’ here

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The 18th Century Awakening in Europe and America

The 18th Century Awakening in Europe and America

Early 18th C map of England and Wales

Introduction
To understand the global expansion of the Christian Faith across the world in the 19th and 20th centuries it is necessary to focus on the remarkable events of the 18th century in the relatively smaller area of Europe and America.

In Germany, America and Britain, against an unpromising backdrop of unbelief, there were a series of spiritual ‘explosions’ which occurred almost continuously through the 18th century.

When it seemed as though Christianity was finally outdated and running out of steam, a mighty breakthrough of spiritual life occurred which became almost irresistible.

The result of these numerous ‘revivals’ affected not only the life of the Church but also society as a whole.

Rooted strongly in the theology of the Reformation (16th Century) and the Puritans (17th Century) these young evangelists and church planters proclaimed a Bible-based message with a new passion.

Their experiences of God’s love and their encounters of the power of the Holy Spirit brought them criticism from the religious minority, and a skeptical press, but it gave them an irresistible magnetism amongst ordinary people.  Unprecedented numbers attended their meetings.

Soon a formidable army of preachers and leaders had been raised up who overcame both apathy and violent persecution and brought multitudes into the Kingdom, formed thousands of new churches and set the scene for an even greater thrust of the gospel into all the world.

Come! Let us return to an era where spiritual giants walked the land and the great sheaves of the Lord’s Harvest were carried home by rejoicing believers.

We will first enjoy the early sparks of the Awakening and then consider the mighty reforming fire that followed. If you have never read the history of the Christian Church in the 18th Century then you will surely be thrilled by what you are about to read. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones recommended the 18th Century to any who were feeling discouraged and asking the question, ‘Can God truly break through, in our situation?’

To read about the Moravians click here

To read about the Wesley brothers click here

To read about George Whitefield click here

To read about Howell Harris click here

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Puritans – A Passion for Truth

A Passion for Truth
Generally speaking, Puritanism can be described as an attempt to practically and pastorally apply the Biblical truths re-discovered by the Reformers to all areas of life.

In a sense, Puritanism was an inevitable result of the Reformation.  Having re-established the Bible as the guide for faith and practice rather than the rituals and superstitions of medieval priesthood, the Puritans wanted to restore the church along Biblical lines. A recurring phrase in puritan literature when any dispute is raised is ‘To the law and to the testimony!’ from Isaiah 8:20.

The rediscovery the great truths of Justification by Faith alone in Christ alone, and the new reality of the Priesthood of all Believers had radical implications for how the church should look. Many felt that they themselves had ‘turned from idols to serve the true and living God.’ (1 Thess 1:9).

This resulted in a desire to rid themselves of corruption in both church and society generally, as well as a specifically individualistic approach to holiness, pastoral care and evangelism.

These influences inevitably had an impact on the established church in England. And, just as importantly, in terms of later global impact, this passion produced thriving independent churches as the Puritan pastors pressed for more conformity to the New Testament and less emphasis on tradition.

Martyn Lloyd Jones put it like this:
[Puritanism]..’is a concern about the nature of the church.  It is a desire for full and complete reformation. It is something that started with objection to ceremonies and vestments but developed into a full doctrine of the church…The Puritan could no longer be satisfied with a partially reformed church but desired a fully Reformed church.’ (D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, The Puritans, Banner of Truth p.256)

A Passion for Godliness
Today, as we read the Puritan writings, it seems remarkable that such a movement was so popular. Their painstaking attention to detail is astonishing, especially in connection with personal inward holiness. They genuinely sought to live to the glory of God in all things. The Pastor became a physician of souls.

But even with the dangers of introspection and legalism, the Puritan leaders’ warmth of spirit and fervency in their pursuit of the presence of God in every area of life continued to prove that this was indeed a powerful movement of the Holy Spirit.

Next time we’ll have a brief look at Puritanism and revival and how the Holy Spirit began to enable some to bring the gospel with power to their generation.

© 2009 Lex Loizides