Banner of Truth Trust, 2017, 279pp
The author wrote this book out
of the conviction that lessons of abiding importance may be learned from godly
and able preachers and pastors across the ages. It will be of interest to men
aspiring to pastoral ministry, or who are just setting out in that work. Here
they will find role models to follow whose example will both challenge and
encourage them. More seasoned pastors will also find help here. If we are not
careful it is easy to drift into going through the motions of ministry, rather
than our work being the overflow of deep communion with God. These pages will
provide a necessary corrective. Those not called to preach or pastor will none
the less find their souls stirred by Murray’s accounts of seven exceptional Ministers
of the Gospel.
Attention is given to seven
men: John Elias, Andrew A. Bonar, Archie Brown, Kenneth A MacRae, Martyn
Lloyd-Jones, W. J. Grier and John MacArthur. Murray does not so much give us
potted biographies of these varied characters, as attempt to show what made
them tick. These are very different men, called to serve the Lord at different times
and in different situations. Some had more academic training than others. All
were wonderfully used by the Lord to accomplish great things for him.
While certainly not like peas in a pod,
these ‘Magnificent Seven’ Ministers had a number of things in common that helps
account for their usefulness. They were all strongly Calvinistic in their
doctrinal emphasis, some at times when the Reformed faith seemed to be going
out of fashion. They maintained their stand for the sovereign grace of God because
they were convinced that the great truths commonly labelled ‘Calvinism’ were in
fact nothing less than biblical Christianity.
The importance of prayer and
communion with God in ministry is highlighted in the chapter on Andrew A.
Bonar. The thoughtful reader will be humbled, challenged and made to yearn for
a deeper walk with God through Bonar’s example. A missing note in some
Evangelical circles today is the need for the empowering presence of the Spirit
in preaching. The preachers described here were men of the Word, yet they also
longed and prayed for the Spirit’s work upon their preaching and in the lives
of their hearers. He alone is able to give the Word preached its
life-transforming effectiveness.
All were evangelistic preachers, in that they intentionally addressed their messages to the unconverted, aiming at their salvation. In addition, Murray shows that these gifted preachers worked hard to make their content-rich sermons as clear, logical and easy to follow as possible. Helpful instances are given as to how they did just that, especially in the chapters on Lloyd-Jones and MacRae.
Martin Luther once wrote, “It
is not by reading, writing, or speculation that one becomes a theologian. Nay,
rather, it is living, dying, and being damned that makes one a theologian.” The
same may be said of pastors and Murray describes how the Lord made these men tender
hearted shepherds of the flock by bringing suffering and trials into their
lives, This is especially brought out in the chapter on C. H. Spurgeon’s friend
and contemporary, Archie Brown.
Some chapters are stronger than others. Elias, Bonar, Brown and Lloyd-Jones are highlights. I'd barely heard of MacRae, but enjoyed Murray's pen portrait of the Isle of Lewis pastor. I found the one on W.J Grier a little hard going. The MacArthur chapter was good on preaching and Scripture.
The book as a whole is a standing reminder of one vital fact, “what a preacher is as a Christian is of greater consequence than his natural gifts. In the words of M’Cheyne: ‘It is not great talents that God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.’” The great burden of this work is a call to return to the apostolic pattern of gospel ministry, 'we will give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word' (Acts 6:4). In that order.
* Reviewed for Evangelical Times.
