|
 Dr.
John Gill stands as one of the most important
and yet misunderstood of our Baptist forefathers. His spirituality
and intellect were only matched by the intensity with which
others loved him or reviled him. Tom Nettles says of Gill,
"He has doubtless been judged more harshly and even maliciously
than any man of comparable repute in Baptist history."1
How could one man demand such respect and at the same time
engender such hard feelings?
Before
that question can be answered we must consider Gill’s heritage
and life. Mr. Edward Gill, John’s father, first became a member
of a dissenting congregation in Kettering consisting then
of Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists. After a time
the Baptists of the congregation were led by William Wallace
to form a Particular Baptist church. It was into this strong
heritage of evangelical Christianity that John Gill was born
on November 23, 1697. Like most children of dissenters, John
was sent to the grammar school in the town. His adeptness
at learning soon set him apart from the other children. John
continued his education with merit until he was eleven, mastering
the Latin classics and learning Greek. At that time, due to
doctrinal and practical differences, the dissenting parents
of Gill's town withdrew their children from the local school.
Those who could afford it sent their children off to schools
elsewhere. Unfortunately, Gill's parents could not. In spite
of this hindrance, the young scholar continued to study everything
from logic to Hebrew.
His
love for Hebrew would follow Gill throughout his life. When
Mr. Gill settled in London in 1719, he became intimately acquainted
with Mr. John Skepp. He was a self-taught Hebrew scholar with
quite a large library of Hebrew books and Rabbinical writings.
When Skepp died a few years later, Gill purchased most of
his Hebrew and Rabbinical books. The young scholar recognized
before many others that the New Testament was written by men
who were Jews. He saw that in understanding the Hebrew mind
set one could better understand the gospels. Gill soon became
a Hebrew scholar without equal in his day. William Cathcart
said: "It is within bounds to say that no man in the eighteenth
century was so well versed in the literature and customs of
the ancient Jews as John Gill. He has sometimes been called
the Doctor John Lightfoot of the Baptists." 2
Around
the time he was 12, Gill heard a sermon from his pastor, William
Wallis, on the text, "And the Lord called unto Adam, and said
unto him, where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). Those words of God
searching for a sinners heart stayed with Gill and eventually
led to his conversion. It was not until seven years later
that young John made a public profession when he was almost
nineteen years of age.
His
first pastoral work was as an intern in the village of Higham
Ferrers. There he met and married Elizabeth Megus in 1718.
As was still quite common in their day, several of their children
died in infancy and another died at the age of thirteen. However,
God smiled on John and Elizabeth and blessed them with two
surviving children. Elizabeth would be his most trusted friend
and love for 46 years of marriage.
Not
long after marrying, the Gills went to their first place of
ministry. As a matter of fact, the Horsleydown church in London
would prove to be the only church in which John Gill ministered.
On March 22, 1720 following another great Baptist, Benjamin
Keech, Gill began his fruitful pastorate at Horesleydown.
His pastorate lasted 51 years, passing on a great legacy to
another Baptist who would follow him at the church a few years
later, Charles Spurgeon.
From
the beginning, Gill's preaching was both expositional and
practical. He set the standard for the modern day practice
of preaching through the Bible. At the age of 26 he began
a series on the Song of Solomon which lasted 122 sermons.
This would be his practice throughout his ministry. Like the
Puritans, Gill saw preaching as a surgery of the soul in which
the pastor was the physician and the church members were the
patients. There was no room in his preaching for fluff. Christian
living was serious business which required serious instruction.
We could learn much in our day from this. Pastors are not
preparing children to go to the playground but rather they
are outfitting soldiers of Christ to head off into war.
One
can not begin to understand a man like Gill without first
comparing the general attitude of the modern church and that
of men like Gill in his day. In our day it has become quite
fashionable to believe as little as possible. Phrases like
"we love Jesus in our church, not doctrine" are common. It
is now seen as judgmental to correct anyone for error. H.
Richard Niebuhr once described the modern gospel as consisting
of a "God without wrath bringing people without sin into a
kingdom without judgment through a Christ without a cross."
3 As David Wells
has so aptly entitled his book, in our day there is No
Place for Truth.
The
time of John Gill was a far different time. Search for knowledge
was just reaching its full height after the world had crawled
out of the Dark and Middle ages. everyone was writing and
Gill was no exception. Early in his pastorate he published
his first and perhaps his most important book. Between 1735
and 1738 The Cause of God and Truth appeared from Gill’s pen
and was a masterpiece in presenting the truth of God’s sovereignty
and man’s depravity. Augustus Toplady was so moved by this
work that he later called Gill the greatest defender of the
doctrines of grace since Augustine.
Many
more works followed in the years to come. In 1752, Gill published
his pamphlet on The Doctrine of the Saints' Final Perseverance,
in answer to one called Serious Thoughts upon the Perseverance
of the Saints; written by Mr. John Wesley. In 1769,
he published A Body of Doctrinal Divinity in
two volumes. This work contained the substance of what he
delivered from the pulpit to the people under his care through
the space of more than five years. There are but few, if any,
theological publications in the English language of more deserved
repute than these 1091 pages. Here is the Doctor's whole creed.
Here his very heart appears; while he states, maintains, and
defends, the Truth as it is in Jesus. Body of Divinity was
followed in 1770 by A Body of Practical Divinity which covered
such subjects as church membership, baptism, and the Lord's
Supper. An excerpt of this can be found at this site in On
the Nature of a Gospel Church.
There
is a price to pay for notoriety. One can not be published
as widely as was Gill and not escape criticism. As noted earlier,
Tom Nettles says of Gill, "He has doubtless been judged more
harshly and even maliciously than any man of comparable repute
in Baptist history." Many have called John Gill a hyper-Calvinist
who denied the need to preach the gospel to the lost. I will
not seek to answer that question in this forum. Read Tom Nettles
By His Grace and For His Glory, pages 73-107,
for a thorough and balanced discussion of this issue.
The
truth is that Gill foresaw the disastrous effects of Arminianism
and Unitarianism and sought to protect God's people from them.
Timothy George notes: "If Gill erred in overstressing God's
initiative in salvation, it was because he believed the foundational
fact was being undermined by the inroads of deism, rationalism,
and the misdirected message of Arminianism." 4 In spite of
any criticisms which may justly or unjustly be applied to
Dr. Gill, he was a staunch defender of the orthodox faith.
He wrote extensively against those who denied the Trinity
and rightly saw the growing influence and danger of Unitarianism.
The historian Carl L. Becker said that Gill lived in a time
when "God was on trial." 5 On
every side the Enlightenment was devaluing God and elevating
man. To read Gill without recognizing the dangers he saw facing
evangelical Christianity is a sad mistake and a disservice
to that great man of God.
In
the years after Dr. Gill’s death there arose a great controversy
between the followers of Gill and the followers of Andrew
Fuller. Neither man would have endorsed such. There is
no doubt that Fuller called Baptists to a more balanced presentation
of the doctrines of Grace. But Gill also foresaw the disastrous
slide of General (Arminian) Baptists into denials of the Trinity
and of gospel redemption. Did Gill fail to preach the gospel
to sinners as some have asserted? Why not from his own mouth
and heart:
"Souls
sensible to sin and danger, and who are crying out, What
shall we do to be saved? you are to observe, and point out
Christ the tree to live to them; and say, as some of the
cherubs did to one in such circumstances, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, Acts 16:31. Your
work is to lead men, under a sense of sin and guilt, to
the blood of Christ, shed for many for the remission of
sin, and this name you are to preach the forgiveness to
them."6
All
things considered it seems Timothy George is right when he
points out that much of the problem with Gill came from his
followers that carried his teachings to extremes which he
himself never advocated. Is this not the case in all generations.
Beza overstated Calvin as Finney overstated Wesley. Like Paul,
I believe Gill would have said, "some of you are of Gill,
some of Fuller, some of Christ." Better to learn from his
strengths than to pick apart his perceived weaknesses!
After
pastoring the same church for 51 years, John Gill left this
earth on October 14, 1771, just five years before the American
Revolution. He had ministered during a rich time of history.
His contemporaries were Wesley and Whitefield.
It is fitting that Gill’s remains were buried with such great
dissenters as John Owen and John Bunyan.
One member of Gill’s church wrote a hymn about Gill at his
death. The last verse says:
Zion
may mourn, for grief becomes her well.
To lose the man whose Heaven instructed pen
Taught knowledge clearly, while before him fell
Gigantic errors of deluded men.
To
say that Dr. Gill influenced evangelical Christians in general
and Baptists in particular is like saying the sun influences
the daytime. He was the first Baptist to write a complete
systematic theology and the first to write a verse-by-verse
commentary of the entire Bible. Gill wrote so much that he
was known as Dr. Voluminous. Tom Nettles writes. "His loss
was felt keenly by the whole denomination of Baptists, a group
still small and despised ... His outstanding scholarship,
zeal for truth and pious polemics had greatly encouraged Baptists
..." 7
Dr. Gill’s life and work stand as a warning to the modern
church. Ignore doctrine and truth and you will soon find yourself
an empty shell with no life inside. Gill needed the correction
of Fuller. There is no doubt that his followers so emphasized
God’s sovereignty that they forsook evangelism and missions.
Spurgeon rightly saw that as a travesty to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. At the same time, Gill’s powerful presentation of
the God with Whom we have to do is needed in every generation.
NOTE:
Footnotes to this article have been lost. We hope to restore
them soon.
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