D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Dec. 20, 1899 – Mar. 1, 1981)

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was born on this day, December 20, 1899 in Wales. Lloyd-Jones was the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London from 1938 – 1968. Tapped by G. Campbell Morgan to be his co-pastor and successor, Lloyd-Jones led Westminster Chapel through the rebuilding years after World War II and became a world-renown evangelical leader. Dr. Michael Haykin says that “Lloyd-Jones was one of the most formative figures of twentieth-century, English-speaking Evangelicalism – which is somewhat ironic since his maternal tongue was Welsh!” (Eusebeia: The Bulletin of The Andrew Fuller Centre for Reformed Evangelicalism, Issue 7, Spring 2007, p. 3).

Martyn Lloyd-Jones was born in Cardiff and raised in areas associated with the 18^th Century Revival under Calvinistic Methodist preachers like Daniel Rowland and Howell Harris. This influence would grip him in early adult years. Because of economic difficulties the Lloyd-Jones family moved to London, where young Martyn studied medicine at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. His diagnostic skills earned him the notice of his teacher Lord Horder, physician to the Queen, who invited Lloyd-Jones to be his assistant. It was his work as an M.D. that earned him the life-long affectionate title, “the Doctor.” During his years at St. Bart’s Lloyd-Jones had three life-changing experiences: he fell in love with Bethan Phillips, entrusted himself to Jesus Christ, and decided on the ministry rather than a prestigious career in medicine. While he continued to hold doctors in highest esteem, he concluded that his calling was to help people for eternity, not just temporarily.

In 1927 Lloyd-Jones, with his new bride Bethan, moved back to Wales to become the minister of the Bethlehem Forward Movement church in Aberavon, an industrial community also known as Sandfields. Lloyd-Jones wanted to work among people who weren’t accustomed to attending church. What happened under his ministry there was nothing short of revival. For about eleven years the Lord used this couple to do much good for these people. It was also during this time that the seeds of Lloyd-Jones’ expositional/theological preaching were planted with the discoveries of authors like Jonathan Edwards and B.B. Warfield.

Having closed doors to further ministry based in Wales, the Lord led Lloyd-Jones to London once again, this time as the co-pastor of a large, influential church. When Dr. Morgan died in 1945 Lloyd-Jones became the sole pastor until his retirement in 1968. At Westminster Chapel the Lord greatly expanded Lloyd-Jones’ ministry. After the war residents started flocking back to London, along with a growing number of new faces, students from all over the world. From the late ‘40s through the ‘60s Westminster Chapel practically became a training ground for students preparing for the ministry and other fields of Christian service. Well known preachers and authors from this period include Philip E. Hughes and J.I. Packer.

During his Westminster years Lloyd-Jones lived in several worlds at once. His work with students led to involvement with the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Students and the London Bible College. He chaired the annual Puritan and Westminster Conferences and helped to found The Evangelical Library. In 1957 he helped to found the Banner of Truth Trust, a publishing agency devoted to spreading the Reformed faith through print. Lloyd-Jones’ influence gave new life to many older, hard-to-obtain books, which the Banner reprinted, mainly Puritan books. Much of the popularity of the Puritans today can be traced to Lloyd-Jones’ fervor for these godly preachers.

After his retirement Lloyd-Jones devoted his remaining years to preaching at churches and conferences around the UK and North America. He also worked diligently to prepare his sermons for publication as books. His best known early books of sermons are Spiritual Depression and Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. He edited his Ephesians series and much of his Romans series before he died. Since his death in 1981 many more books bearing his name have been published, with new books appearing every year. Most of these books are transcriptions of his sermons. Some books are transcriptions of other addresses that he gave in different venues. Notable books of this nature are The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors and Knowing the Times. The first book contains his addresses delivered to the Puritan and Westminster Conferences in London. The second contains “Addresses Delivered on Various Occasions 1942 – 1977.” The distinguishing trait of his addresses in Knowing the Times is the prophetic note. Like a skilled physician Lloyd-Jones seemed to have his finger on the pulse of society and knew from Scripture and history where it was headed and what was needed.

One thing that strikes me about Lloyd-Jones’ ministry is his heart for God and for His people. He had a grand vision of the Sovereign God. I don’t remember where I read the quote, but Lloyd-Jones once defended a preacher who preached poorly by saying something like, “I can forgive a man much if he will give me a sense of God.” I get that sense when I read Lloyd-Jones, and I appreciate it greatly.

His heart for people is not a warm, fuzzy feeling that seeks to meet people’s “felt needs.” Lloyd-Jones showed his heart for God and people by accurately expounding God’s Word and applying it to people where they lived. If the Bible is God’s infallible revelation of Himself, it behooves preachers to take great pains to study it, learn it, and expound it. If people are the objects of God’s care, then it behooves preachers to apply God’s Word with fervency and discernment. Lloyd-Jones exemplified this. One of the last volumes to be published in his 8-volume Ephesians series is his exposition of Ephesians chapter 1. Surprised? This volume was preceded by his expositions of the filling with the Spirit and the Christian warfare. Lloyd-Jones explains:

I am ready to confess that in adopting this procedure I may well have been guilty of allowing my pastoral heart to govern my theological understanding, and especially my understanding of the Apostle Paul’s invariable method. My only defense is that in those other volumes I have repeatedly stressed that the teaching could only be understood in the light of the great doctrine which the Apostle lays down in this first chapter. (God’s Ultimate Purpose: An Exposition of Ephesians 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1978, p. 5)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones became the effective leader he was by first accepting God’s diagnosis of him and receiving the gospel prescription, then by accurately and powerfully searching out the disease of sin in others and telling them, “There is a balm in Gilead.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Dec. 20, 1899 – Mar. 1, 1981)