Travel with Martyn Lloyd- Jones by Philip H. Eveson, DayOne, ISBN 1 903087 58 9, price £9.99, pp 128.

 

This new book is both a travel guide and potted biography of Dr David Martyn Lloyd Jones, illustrated by the many people and places associated with him. Dr Lloyd Jones (1899-1981) was a distinguished Welsh evangelist, pastor and theologian. Philip Eveson’s account is very informative. It reveals many interesting facts on Martyn’s upbringing and the way (in God’s providence) he was led to faith in Christ. He became an Assistant to Sir Thomas Horder (a top physician). As a gifted medical Doctor (who studied at Bart’s) he felt the call to preach the gospel. Martyn Lloyd-Jones saw man’s spiritual need was greater than any physical illness. He realised human nature was the same in high society to that of the man in the street. That’s why he changed direction and gave up his promising career, to serve the Lord Jesus in preaching the gospel to sin sick souls, at first in Wales and then central London.

 

The book sections illustrate the main events in the lifespan of Dr Lloyd-Jones, concluding with a timeline –of significant dates in Lloyd-Jones’ life. The book concentrates on the amazing 30-year ministry that took place at Westminster Chapel as this modern day Puritan expounded the Christian message in an authoritative and persuasive manner. The Chapel became an Evangelical epicentre. Men and women were not only converted there but also trained to serve - at home and on the mission field - by the systematic ministry and challenging messages. Lloyd-Jones’ ministry was like a jigsaw puzzle: each sermon fitted into the overall ‘circle of truth’ and led the listener into deeper appreciation of biblical truth and experience. Despite the criticism that the Chapel was a ‘preaching centre’ and not a ‘local church’ with a regular congregation of over 1,500 – it was more than that! Many who stayed all day on Sunday got to know each other very well and it created a lasting family fellowship – with friendship and ties that continue to this day.

 

I can only add my own testimony to just how much of a heart of a Pastor that Dr Lloyd Jones had. He was affectionately known as ‘the Doctor’. Once, when I was sitting in the Church Parlour as a young teenager, Doctor passed through on his way to the evening Prayer Meeting. He noticed me, and said: “Who was sitting at the receipt of custom?” By the time he returned I had found out that it was Matthew (Matthew 9:9) and told him this. At this point he reached into his pocket and pulled out a half crown (two shillings and sixpence) and pressed it into my hand. Clearly I was now (like Matthew) also sitting in the receipt of custom! This reflected Doctor’s ability to notice, his generous warm personality and ability to encourage the young in the things of God.

 

This book brings out the amazing way Dr Lloyd-Jones was able to serve the Lord and how his ministry had not only a local, but global effect. He went to the USA (e.g. Westminster Seminary) Canada, Sweden, and many other places to preach. The main ‘impact’ literature-wise was from the Westminster Record that was a full report of Lloyd Jones’ weekly sermons (now largely published in book form). This Record was in demand all over the world (as the tape ministry only began at a much later date when cassette technology had developed). Dr Lloyd Jones maintained a vital interest in student ministry and his lectures were often made into small books like ‘Authority’, which met the needs of the hour. He encouraged the Inter Varsity Fellowship, Christian Medical Fellowship and many other evangelistic causes. He started the Puritan Conference (later called the Westminster Conference), which stimulated a revival of wider interest in the teaching of the Puritans and Reformers. He ably chaired his own fraternal (started in 1941) and the Westminster Conferences.

 

He preached with conviction and his prayers were full of heartfelt applied theology. As an Observer reporter once noted, ‘He locates texts like a computer’. In prayer he would quote Scripture after Scripture and so impart the moving biblical truths in a memorable way. Sometimes he would say, ‘You think I’m getting excited, I am’. He was greatly stirred by the truths he was preaching. What was his preaching style? Doctor followed an expository preaching method, explaining his arguments like a barrister (his brother, in fact was a High Court Judge).  Yet he explained the Bible simply – principle after principle – in his somewhat gruff voice, but which was capable of oratory or Welsh ‘hwyl,’ full of feeling and fire. Soon, as you listened to his Welsh voice, you were lifted up into the Heavenly realm desiring to be with the Lord Jesus. He gave the ‘negatives’ and ‘positives’ of what the text meant – which sounds clinical, but it was never boring! His ministry was Christ-centred.

 

It isn’t a British tradition for men to shed tears in public. We must keep a stiff upper lip as the saying goes. However, being present at the announcement in 1968 of Dr Lloyd Jones’ retirement from Westminster Chapel one Friday night, was a real shock to me. I had decided to stay in London to study, so I could benefit from his ministry. His ministry provided a training that was spiritually helpful, intellectually stimulating and practically relevant.  On the journey home on that South London train, I could not suppress the tears that rolled down my face. As a teenager, I still recognised it was the end of an era. For some months, as a youngster, I had joined the end of the after service queue to seek his counsel in the vestry, as he took off his Geneva gown. The Doctor would answer my questions, and seek to encourage me in the Christian faith. He confessed on one occasion in 1968 how tired he was feeling and this was, no doubt, a reflection of his declining health.

 

Dr Eveson has done an excellent job in recapturing some of the brilliance of this great Welsh Calvinistic preacher. His full impact can never be fully appreciated till we reach glory! He never kept detailed records of converts and causes resulting from God’s blessing on his ministry. Yet many people and causes owe either their conversion or commencement to Dr Lloyd Jones’ ministry. It is very apposite that the Principal of LTS (London Theological Seminary) should produce this book, as the seminary was largely the vision of Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - who until his death in 1981 was chairman of the Board. The LTS exists equip men for the work of the ministry in both pioneering and settled situations. This excellent travel guide will be a great blessing to many and highlight again the greatest British preacher of the twentieth century.

Edgar C. Powell, The Grapevine