The Voice of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
by Pastor Geoff Thomas
The Absence of Preaching Videos
There is not a single video of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaching. Not one. Americans ask me what was it like to sit in the congregation and watch as well as hear the Doctor preaching in the flesh. There are videos of his walking in the garden with his family, being interviewed by Joan Bakewell and giving a talk on George Whitefield, but nothing of his preaching. But there are hundreds of his recorded sermons on the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recording Trust with his magnificent distinctive voice.
A Voice Like No Other
Mariano DiGangi, Andrew Davies, Gerard Hemmings, Eric Alexander, Sinclair Ferguson, and Thom Smith are some of the men who impressed me in possessing rich, powerful and flawless vocal instruments. Lloyd-Jones's voice was imperfect, occasionally a rasp! He did not have a 'good' voice like those men, not serene, not beautifully tamed. Indeed, he spoke against the aesthetics of the perfectly balanced register, the artificial put-on Welsh hwyl, or the style of the BBC newsreader's impersonal reading, the flawless, soullessly beautiful tone that could be analysed and examined.
However, his unique voice with its London-Welsh accent, was both young and old, experienced, tender, deep and a cry; it was perfection itself, beseeching the listener to hear heaven itself speaking to him. It has a thousand colours in portraying Christian joy, guilt, sorrow, reverence, godly fear, excitement and wonder.
He would be the one preacher I could always hear and understand, the emotions pervading his voice matched the words he was saying, declaring, defending, reasoning, pleading, beseeching, offering and praying, the one man who consistently would carry you along with him into the presence of God in his preaching, but especially as he made intercession. That was Dr. Lloyd-Jones.
Identifying with the Man in the Pew
Without any histrionics or fakery he easily identified with the man in the pew. He too was the sinner over-awed at the privilege of speaking to the God who made the Universe, the humility of a mere creature speaking to the Almighty, the Ancient of Days, before whom the angels covered their eyes as they sighed "Holy! Holy! Holy!", the meek who inherit the earth. Yet he interceded with a sweetly trusting familiarity as speaking to his very best friend. Such reality! Such credibility! Identifying with the worst of us and manifesting the joy and grace of someone adopted into God's children and made a new creation.
To whom else will I turn to, listening to his sermons, to be drawn to God so powerfully, emotionally alive, commanding my attention, respect and encouragement to live for God, to know the truth, to pray myself and not to faint. In his eighties a little daughter of mine understood what he had said that night. She had been enriched by the reality of all she saw and heard on that unforgettable night, the whole experience of a congregation elevated and given joy. It was his last sermon preached in Wales.
Unfazed by Expectation
Was he ever terrified when confronted with another crowded congregation (that often overflowed the seating with one being delighted to find somewhere to sit down even on the pulpit steps or on chairs in the aisles)? Would that unnerve him and cause him to feel unworthy of such evident anticipation as they gazed at him? Would he crack under the pressure of that huge expectancy, and outdo himself by some minor theatrical activity so as not to disappoint the throng who were awaiting wonders?
Not for a moment! Lloyd-Jones' God-centredness and thanksgiving that the Lord had called him to be a preacher of the confessional, historical, biblical Christian message far outweighed any unworthy carnal fears of failing to satisfy an audience of God-worshipping believers. They had not come to be entertained, nor were they worshipping man, but longed for the gospel to come to them as they had received it in earlier times, not in word only but in power and the Holy Spirit and with much assurance. Little other rejoicing can compare to that.