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my mind the Church Parlour at Westminster Chapel after Dr Lloyd-Jones had
finished preaching tended to resemble the pool at Bethesda (See John 5). I
suppose a more accurate analogy would be the waiting room of a doctor's surgery
Certainly numbers of people in spiritual distress of one sort or another would
sit in a queue around the walls, waiting for a deacon to usher the next person
in to see the Doctor. It would not be right to say that all those waiting had
problems and burdens to disclose. Some simply wanted to thank the Doctor for his
ministry and help, but these were a small minority. |
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A great sense of encouragement |
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 I went to see him several times while I was studying at London
Bible College. During my final year I went through a very difficult time which
included loss of assurance and spiritual depression. The Doctor, even though he
was a small man, could seem formidable in the pulpit, but I found him quite the
opposite in his vestry. On going in you were not invited to sit down - there
could be still 15 more waiting to speak to him. He had a cup of tea and a
Kit-Kat, but gave his undivided attention to what you were saying. The
first time I saw him I was trying to explain my experience when he interrupted
and said something like, `and you thought you couldn't possibly be a Christian'
- which was exactly what I had thought! This intervention, showing his complete
understanding of a case like mine, gave me a great sense of encouragement and
confidence in his advice.
Looking back, I found the Doctor very perceptive and sympathetic; incisive but
also gentle. He inspired confidence and his advice was also down to earth. He
suggested that I went to my GP and get some tranquillisers - Oblivon C I
think he said - as examinations were coming up. He also told me to enjoy my
holidays! Two other memories stand out. In the course of one interview with him
he said to me, `Seek for the sealing of the Spirit.' At that time there was
available a sermon entitled, Believing and Sealing by John McKenzie, who
had been co-editor of the Gospel Standard with J C Philpot from 1840 to
1849. I have the copy before me now with various underlinings and marginal
comments. With some fearfulness I told the Doctor that although I had read this
sermon I was not sure about an understanding of Ephesians 1:13 (in whom also
after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise) which
made the sealing subsequent to believing, perhaps even years later. He simply
told me to seek all that God had for me, which was what I hope I did. |
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Romans 8:13
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I also went to see him once after a Friday
night exposition of Romans 8:13. It was a most powerful sermon and I could see
how some of it was particularly relevant to me. As I went through the door into
his vestry he said to me, `I was preaching to you tonight!' To which I could
only reply, `I know you were.' It is worth quoting some of his climactic
conclusion because it is typical of his approach to certain problems: |
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`The Church is not a hospital primarily, it is a barracks, and in the eighth
chapter of Romans we are in the barracks once more, and Sergeant-major Paul is
speaking to us ... I hear him saying, "Attention! Realise who you are, man,
stand up. Why are you slouching in that manner on the heavenly parade ground? Do
you not realise you are `children of the heavenly King'? Why are you groaning
and moaning and apologising? Do you not know that the Spirit of God dwells in
you? ... Stand up! Attention! March! No more of this lethargy! No more of this
weakness! ... Realise what God has done to you ... and march with your heads
erect!"' (Page 131 The Sons of God) |
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