Dr. Who?

Most people who have listened to my preaching for any length of time know that I often refer to the teaching and writing of Dr. David Martin Lloyd-Jones. Perhaps some (most?) have absolutely no clue who I am refering to, other than 'that guy that Pastor Bernie always talks about'. I must say that, in fact, Dr. Lloyd-Jones has probably had more influence on the way that I preach than any other person - living or dead. Of course, the good Doctor has been in the presence of the Lord since March of 1981. He actually told people to stop praying for his healing - he was ready to go home. In 1981 I was still in Jr High School and much more concerned about the onset of pubescent acne and girls than I was about anything great. Now I see Dr. Llloyd-Jones as something of a hero - and I hope that these few words may enlighten you as to why he is important to me - and perhaps this will be of value to those who take the time to read this (I know there are a couple of you).

Dr. David Martin Lloyd-Jones (let's call him MLJ for the sake of brevity from here on out?) led as interesting of a life that could be expected of a pastor. He actually began his career as a physician - and a successful one at that. However, this Doctor was soon to be absolutely gripped and thus intoxicated with the Gospel of the Cross. Soon thereafter he stepped aside from the medical world and entered into the vocation of proclamation. He had the blessing of being trained by the Spirit and the Word in the real World, versus the liberal leaning seminaries of his day.

MLJ's religious background will sound strange to American ears. He was a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist. In other words he embraced the best of both worlds - the solid theology of the Reformation and the evangelistic and missional passion of Methodist revivalism. Thus he began his ministry pastoring a small Calvinistic Methodist church in South wales. Later, his preaching was heard by the loudest Evangelical voice of England, in the day, Dr. G. Campbell Morgan of Westminster Chapel, London. MLJ spent the remainder of his ministry preaching there every Sunday morning, Sunday Evening and several times during the week (1939-1968). He continued to preach regularly at various functions until his final sermon in 1980.

There's a small bit about his life. Here are a few reasons this man is so important to me:

A Balanced Biblical Theology - The Doctor carried his "Calvinistic Methodist" roots all the way through his ministry. He was thoroughly 'reformed'. Yet - those who hold tenaciously to the five points of Calvinism with arrogant airs and dogmatic assertions will find MLJ to be a great joy -- and a great irritation. MLJ was a master of teaching the Bible straight up. He theologized his text. No issues there -- the difference being that his theolgy was drawn from the text, thus filtered through the text as opposed to filtering the text with a particular theology. Granted - he ran into trouble at times. I have even found certain points with which I reverently and humbly take issue. However, MLJ is gloriously difficult to catagorize. He's been accused of being everything from hyper-calvinist to Pentecostal. The beauty of it is the fact that he has agreement and issues with all of the above -- because the Bible has agreement and issues with all of the above. I have personally learned much about theology by simply reading and re-reading sermons by "The Doctor".

Anointed Expostory Preaching - I have to confess that I almost fell over when I read a quote by MLJ that said, "I wouldn't go across the Street to hear myself preach". Yet, thousands of people went more than across the street to hear him preach every week. There were no Gimmicks. There was no Pizzazz. He used no PowerPoint equivolent, and hardly used illustration. He preached for at least 45-50 minutes every time he spoke. By 2005 standards, no one should have even been present after the first 30 minutes. However, people were drawn to his preaching because of his contageous passion for the truth. Preaching the Gospel was not trivial, nor was it trivialized by this man. People were drawn by the truth itself and not by some Gimmicky reflection. It is said that MLJ's preaching was like flying - the sermon would begin slowly, picking up speed and moving rapidly down the runway, and ultimately conclude, while soaring into the heavens. His book entitled "Preachers and Preaching" continues to have great influence on my teaching ministry.

Living in the Sweep of Church History - MLJ was a cultural critic of the Modern Era, and was not afraid to call the common practices of the church and society into question. I believe this was so, because of his deep roots in church history, particularly reformation theology - and more specifically -- the Puritans. He was part of a yearly conference that explored the legacy of Puritan theology and practice. I have learned from this the incredible value of consciously standing on the shoulders of all who have gone before us. MLJ knew where he stood in light of that. Likewise, we stand here today because all this great 'cloud of witnesses'. In our burgeoning, superficial post-modern era, I think we do well to understand this truth and to sit at the feet of the women and men of God who have gone before us.

So there you have it. My apologies for this being a bit long -- but I wanted you know why this man and his legacy is so important to me. Like all fallen people, he is not without warts and inconsistancies. However, I think any man in ministry would do well to listen to him; for though he is dead, he yet speaks.

Here are a few more Web resources, if you're interested in reading further:

MLJ Recordings and Resources (You can even listen to his messages here. You should really listen for the way he says the Word "Wrath".)

Bio by John Piper

Books

Biography by Iain Murray