GOSPEL LIGHT IN LONDON

The God of the Bible and of Christianity is sovereign and faithful. We praise the Lord that the gospel did not begin and end with Israel. As promised by God, it went to the “uttermost part of the earth”—to Asia Minor, to Europe, to England, and then to all over the world.

In this 2nd Reformation Pilgrimage organised by the Far Eastern Bible College, 15-26 May 2015, 42 pilgrims travelled back in time to see God’s good hand upon Great Britain. We learned a great deal about Anglicanism, Method-ism, Puritanism, Presbyterianism, and how God used England, her language and her missionaries, to spread the Christian Faith to India and China, to Southeast Asia, even to tiny Singapore.

We arrived in England on a British Airways flight early Saturday morning. We started our pilgrimage with a time of scripture reading and prayer at Hyde Park. After which we proceeded to visit Hampton Court Palace and Westminster Abbey. These two places are significant to our Bible-Presbyterian heritage. Hampton Court Palace was where the King James Bible had its beginnings in 1604 and Westminster Abbey was where the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms took shape from 1643 to 1647.

 

On the Lord’s Day of May 17, we worshipped at New Life BPC, London. New Life London was founded in 1993 when the congregation of a United Reformed Church (URC) made up of Singaporean and Malaysian immigrants taking a separatist stand seceded to form New Life BPC. In 1996, with the help of a task force led by Dr S H Tow and support from New Life and Calvary BPCs in Singapore, the new church bought a century-old church building at 44 Salusbury Road. A magazine titled New Life Comes to London was published to commemorate the event. In that magazine, I wrote, “I thank the Lord for a Bible-Presbyterian witness in London. May the Lord grant you the grace to meet the crying need for spiritual nourishment in a Christendom that is fast losing its Biblical and Christian heritage. ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt 5:14, 16).” Thank God the gospel light is still shining in London.

 

I have never had the privilege of visiting New Life London before. So, it was a joy for me to step into the church for the first time to worship the Lord and to fellowship with the brethren there. For me, this was the highlight of the trip. I was asked to preach in the morning and afternoon services (11 am and 4 pm). I spoke on the providence of God in England—the first message was on the Bible (KJV) and the second on the Confession (Westminster). Having visited Hampton Court Palace and Westminster Abbey the previous day, the messages gave the theological context for what happened in those historical sites. Both messages can be heard from the church website at www.newlifebpc.org.uk.

We appreciate the kind hospitality of the London New Lifers (esp church leaders Jonathan Kim and John Poh). We enjoyed the fellowship over a sumptuous lunch entirely home-cooked. We brought copies of Theology for Every Christian (just reprinted) and FEBC’s theological journal—The Burning Bush—which were given out freely. May the Lord bless and keep the precious people at New Life London.

The pilgrims spent the Lord’s Day evening at the Metropolitan Tabernacle (Spurgeon’s) and heard Dr Peter Masters preach. Dr Masters preached the gospel and pleaded for people to choose life in Christ the Saviour who gives and gives, not death which takes and takes and gives nothing at all. After the service, Helen the personal secretary of Dr Masters chanced upon us at the bookshop and enquired about us. I did not expect this but she kindly arranged for me to see Dr Masters personally. We had a good 15-minute chat on doctrine and ministry in his office.

The visit to the British Museum, the Wesley Chapel and Museum, the Cowper and Newton Museum, the John Bunyan Museum, the William Carey Museum, the John Knox House and Museum, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Scottish cities of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh and their churches, and many other places were all very educational and enlightening, highly profitable and worthwhile.

During the trip, the following books were purchased for the library:

(1)  Dressed Neat and Plain: The Clothing of John Wesley and His Teaching on Dress by Edwina Ehrman.

(2)  Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament by John Wesley.

(3)  Heritage of Evidence in the British Museum by Peter Masters.

(4)  Men with a Vision: Stories of Leicester and County-based Missionaries, Bible Translators, Preachers, Social Reformers, Church Founders, Educationalists by Graham Lee.

(5)  Olney Hymns in Three Books: Facsimile of the First Edition by the Cowper and Newton Museum.

(6)  Pilgrim’s Progress Revisited: The Nonconformists of Banburyshire 1662-2012 by Martin Greenwood.

(7)  The History of the Reformation in Scotland by John Knox.

(8)  The Man Who Changed a Nation: The Life and Influence of John Knox 1514-1572 by Alisdair-MacLeod-Mair.

(9)  The Real Mary King’s Close: Making Edinburgh’s Hidden History Unmissable.

The Lord has been very good to us. We are grateful for journey mercies, and the spiritual lessons we have learned from Scripture and from history. Our God is sovereign and faithful, and this truth is ably captured in this famous Olney hymn by William Cowper (pronounced as ‘Cooper’),

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill;
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.
Judge not the LORD by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

To God be the glory great things He has done! Praise the Lord! JK