Lecture on Coggeshall at the Evangelical Library

I was able to give the second of this Spring's lunch time lectures at the Evangelical Library last Monday and it went well with a good number present. I threw in some pictures which helped. Having looked into Obadiah Sedgwick last year I discovered what a pot pourri of evangelical history swirls about Coggeshall and it seemed to me that it would be possible to produce a short spiritual history of the place of some interest. Not all my ideas come off but with references to a Marian martyr, Owen and Sedgwick, Spurgeon's grandfather and one or two others it went well. I wonder if there are other places that could bear similar treatments.

Poor taste humour

I did mean to show you what they have done in the parish church St Peter's in Coggeshall. When I got to the church the other day I looked around for evidence of Owen and Sedgwick's time at the church there seemed to be none but then I went into the extension on the side of the church and there were several portraits including the two above on a staircase. I can't quite show you properly but what they had done (as a sort of joke I guess) was to place the two Puritans between a crucifix and a statue of Mary. I see the humour but it's in poor taste really, especially when you think of the way nonconformists suffered from 1662 on.

Obadiah Sedgwick

 

Thomas Athow, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday evening in London you have heard Shai Lynne in ELT or Tim Keller in All Souls. or you coudl have heard me and others at the Strangers Rest Mission, East London. I spoke on  Puritan and Westminster Divine Obadiah Sedgwick at The Essex Conference. I was preceded by Norman Hopkins giving a presentation on the Huegenots and our host David Min on John Owen (Sedgwick's successor).  In the afternoon several had gone ona  walking tour. I started later then intended so had to be brief but that was probably for the best. The conference is new and probably needs better publicity and some streamlining. The whole thing is a three day event! I'll try adn out my paper online.

Day Off Week 43

On my day off this week I got into the car and travelled about an hour and a half east to the little town of Coggeshall in Essex. I am going to give a paper on Friday at the Essex Conference on Obadiah Sedgwick, one of the former incumbents there. It was good to see the parish church and the place itself. I discovered that next door to the church is an inn (the Woolpack) that was once a nonconformist church. I was also unaware of the martyrdom of Thomas Hawkes that took place in 1555. It was worth the visit, especially as the little library there put me on to a book I had missed. I also discovered another good connection. It beats me how a little place like that can have a proper little library while here in Childs Hill we struggle on with a voluntary arrangement where the Library is not open very much. I managed to fit in a spot of Leez Priory, open these days chiefly for private functions, where Sedgwick was sometimes entertained. En route I played some Focus albums from the box set I purchased a short while ago. Got through the first three albums. Back here I bought a new light fitting for the downstairs loo and started putting it in and watched some TV. Only the smallest bit of reading.

Eight Types of Providence

God's “most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions” (as the catechism call it) unfolds in various ways.

2 Kings 8:1-6 includes eight types. Categorisation helps us see providence is everywhere.

1. Extraordinary

Elisha knew a lot about this; we know little, if anything. God can make rivers part, corpses rise, loaves multiply, iron float. Some reject miracles as too extraordinary. Deny extraordinary providences and you will soon reject ordinary ones.

2. Coincidental

Coincidences are fascinating. Gehazi talks of Elisha raising the Shunemite's son, when who enters but the very people! It is not a miracle but it is remarkable timing. Gone seven years, they reappear that very moment! What is the probability?

Coincidences are common but striking. Years ago in a rather remote Indian village with another young man, we bumped into a fellow student of his. Neither had realised the other would be in India that summer!

In 1930s Detroit, Joseph Figlock was walking down the street when a baby fell from onto him from above and he broke its fall. Both survived. Amazing in itself, a year later, exactly the same thing happened again!

Do coincidences prove anything? No, but they make you think. Perhaps God grabs our attention with them to show us that every event is part of his providence.

3. Dark

Some providences are delightful, some dark – famine, war, earthquake.. Here, Elisha warns of a long famine, no doubt because of Israel's sin. We do not always know why troubles come and rarely how long they will last.

4. Strange

This godly woman lives among godless Philistines. Some situations we would not choose - living with unbelievers, living in a certain city, a certain country. We must think twice about such situations but sometimes the unusual is right. This woman had good reason to live there.

5. Judicial

Human justice is part of providence. “There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13). If treated unjustly we should usually not hesitate to seek redress. It is not failing to trust God but using the relief he supplies. It is right to help wronged believers.

6. Advisory

Without Elisha's warning, what might have happened to the woman? Several proverbs urge listening (12:15 ... a wise man listens to advice). This applies to sermons. Listen to the preacher.

7. Historical

What happened in the past affects us. This woman's past kindness led to Elisha's concern. Elisha's past miracles made the king determined to get her justice. Try to learn from history. Its influence is pervasive.

8. Favouring

The king helped the woman not just because she had a good case but because Elisha raised her son. That impressed itself on him so he made sure she got justice. Favouritism can be bad, the Bible warns against such. However, for reasons good and bad, we favour one over another. We must recognise the part it plays in life today, under God.

In 1658 Obadiah Sedgwick wrote of the need to depend on providence rather than worrying. He urged patience and contentment in general. In dark providences we must show acceptance. We must not be complacent but stir ourselves up to doing good. Always remember, God is in control.