20 December 1899 A.D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Born
Cardiff is a seaport and the
capital of Wales--a city graced with many historic buildings and overlooked by
a castle on a hill. A town of fewer than 2,000 people in 1801, its population
multiplied into the hundreds of thousands in the 19th century. Martyn
Lloyd-Jones contributed to that population boom when he was born in Cardiff on
this day, December 20, 1899.
Martyn's childhood had at least
one highlight: In January, 1910, his home caught on fire while he and his
brothers were sleeping. All of them could easily have lost their lives. The
family did lose almost everything they owned and their shaky
finances never recovered. As a result, Martyn set out with real determination
to succeed.
He entered a London medical
school, completing all his exams at such a young age that he had to wait for
his degree until his age caught up with his education. He became the chief
clinical assistant of a leading physician, Sir Thomas Horder. Horder described
Martyn as "the most acute thinker that I ever knew." Martyn faced the
prospect of a brilliant and financially rewarding career. But something
happened to change that.
Martyn had joined a Calvinist
Methodist church when he was fifteen-years-old. Around 1924, he began to
seriously consider his spiritual condition. "For many years I thought I
was a Christian when in fact I was not. It was only later that I came to see
that I had never been a Christian and became one." Reading the Bible for
himself and pondering its meaning, he eventually realized that "What I
needed was preaching that would convict me of sin and ... bring me to
repentance and tell me something about regeneration. But I never heard that.
The preaching we had was always based on the assumption that we were all Christians..."
Martyn asked Christ to become
master of his life. As soon as he had made that decision, he was overwhelmed
with a longing to return to Wales to share his new-found faith with the folks
back home.
He took a small church in
Aberavon, Wales. Local doctors snubbed him, thinking he was going to poach on
their patients. But Martyn wanted instead to win souls. He preached clear,
analytical messages. Working men and women came to know Christ. Notorious
alcoholics converted to Christ. Other churches invited him to speak.
A few years after Martyn came to
Aberavon, a local doctor asked for help with a difficult medical case. Martyn
diagnosed the problem at once and proved completely right. After that, demands
for his medical assistance increased to the point that they almost threatened
his pastoral work.
His name became increasingly
well-known. G. Campbell Morgan, another pastor with a powerful ministry,
invited him to come to Westminster Chapel. Martyn accepted the Westminster
invitation in 1938. Publication of his powerful sermons made him
internationally famous. He died in 1981.
Bibliography:
1. "Cardiff." Britannica. 1967.
2. "Cardiff, Wales Area -- December 1999."
http://www.electricrainbow.com/welshpages/
3. Catherwood, Sir Fred. "Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: His Life and
Ministry." http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/christian-living/
full.asp?ID=579.
4. "Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Need for Revival and Baptism with the
Holy Spirit." Bethlehem Conference for Pastors, January 30, 1991.
http://www.desiringGOD.org
5. Packer, J.I. "Martyn Lloyd-Jones." Chosen vessels : portraits of
ten outstanding Christian men. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Vine Books,
1985.
6. "Portraits. Martyn Lloyd-Jones." The Baptist Page. http://www.baptistpage.org/Nquite/
NQ_portraits/jones.html.
Last updated June,
2007.
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