John Bakewell – died

ON THIS DATE

John Bakewell died 3/18/1819 at Lewisham, Kent, England.  He was born in 1721, Brailsford, Derbyshire, England (parents unknown).   About 1739 he read the work of Thomas Boston (1676-1732) entitled Fourfold State (Innocence, Nature, Grace, Eternal).  This book was instrumental in Bakewell’s conversion to Christ & he became an fervent evangelist.

Neither the date of his wedding nor his wife’s name were found but he did marry & have a daughter because a son-n-law, Dr. James Egan, is known to have taken his place as director of Greenwich Royal Park Academy.  Bakewell’s circle of friends & acquaintances included Charles & John Wesley, Augustus Toplady, John Fletcher, Madan, & others.  In addition to a few hymns, he wrote at least one article (carried in the Wesleyan Magazine, July 1816) on “Brotherly Love.”  Bakewell penned:

Hail, Thou once despisèd Jesus! Hail,    Thou Galilean King!

Thou didst suffer to release us;    Thou didst free salvation bring.

Hail, Thou universal Savior,    who hast borne our sin and shame!

By Thy merits we find favor;    life is given through Thy name.

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From 1611 KJV Preface

 

To the most high and mightie Prince, James by the grace of God
King of Great Britaine, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith , &c.
The translators of The Bible,wish Grace, Mercie, and Peace, through Jesus Christ *our Lord.

Great and manifold were the blessings (most dread Soveraigne) which Almighty GOD, the Father of all Mercies, bestowed upon us the people of ENGLAND, when first he sent your Majesties Royall person to rule and raigne over us. For whereas it was the expectation of many, who wished not well unto our ZION, that upon the setting of that bright Occidentall Starre Queene ELIZABETH of most happy memory, some thicke and palpable cloudes of darkenesse would so have overshadowed this land, that men should have bene in doubt which way they were to walke, and that it should hardly be knowen, who was to direct the unsetled State: the appearance of your MAJESTIE, as of the Sunne in his strength, instantly dispelled those supposed and surmised mists, and gave unto all that were well affected, exceeding cause of comfort; especially when we beheld the government established in your HIGHNESSE, and your hopefull Seed, by an undoubted Title, and this also accompanied with Peace and tranquillitie, at home and abroad.

* Note – this is not some generic reference to some God or even god.  This names our precious Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen!

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A Maze

                             Life is a maze

 

That’s why grace has to be amazing!  – eab, 2/22/09

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Grace

The apostle Paul had a thorn,

(Acquired, or natively born?)

He asked God to remove it,

God didn’t even improve it,

Grace He poured from His “grace horn.” – eab,  2/7/09 

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Francis Scott Key – death, Jan. 11, 1843

Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee,
For the bliss Thy love bestows,
For the pardoning grace that saves me,
And the peace that from it flows:
Help, O God, my weak endeavor;
This dull soul to rapture raise:
Thou must light the flame, or never
Can my love be warmed to praise.

Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee,
Wretched wanderer, far astray;
Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee
From the paths of death away;
Praise, with love’s devoutest feeling,
Him Who saw thy guilt-born fear,
And the light of hope revealing,
Bade the blood-stained cross appear.

Praise thy Savior God that drew thee
To that cross, new life to give,
Held a blood sealed pardon to thee,
Bade thee look to Him and live.
Praise the grace whose threats alarmed thee,
Roused thee from thy fatal ease;
Praise the grace whose promise warmed thee,
Praise the grace that whispered peace.

Lord, this bosom’s ardent feeling
Vainly would my lips express.
Low before Thy footstool kneeling,
Deign Thy suppliant’s prayer to bless:
Let Thy grace, my soul’s chief treasure,
Love’s pure flame within me raise;
And, since words can never measure,
Let my life show forth Thy praise.

Key, of course, is far better known as the author of our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner.  He was a lawyer, as most know, but he also was a Christian who taught a Sunday School class and who helped to organize The Foriegn and Domestic Missionary Socitey in 1820.  He died in Baltimore.

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Heavenly Response

When God sees one leaning,

A little toward what’s right,

He sends a little more

Grace and gospel light.  – eab, 1/2/08

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Isaac Watts – death, Nov. 25, 1748

“Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?”  (stanzas 1,3,5)

 

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Refrain

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

 

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

 

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.       (Underlining -eab)

 

Isaac Watts died this day in England, his native land.  He is known for many worshipful hymns and, of course for, “Joy to the World.”  The average reader may be unaware that Watts also wrote, Logick (1725)  Knowledge of the Heavens and Earth (1726)  Philosophical Essays (1733)  The Improvements of the Mind (1741) all used for decades at Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and Yale!

 

Watts is said to have rhymed so much as a kid that his dad wanted it stopped to which Isaac replied “O father, do some pity take

                                                And I will no more verses make.”

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Blaise Pascal – converted to Christ, Nov 23, 1654

 

Men often take their imagination for their heart; and they believe they are converted as soon as they think of being converted.

           – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660) paragraph 275.

 

Grace is indeed needed to turn a man into a saint; and he who doubts it does not know what a saint or a man is.

           – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660), paragraph 508.

 

The feeble-minded are people who know the truth, but only affirm it so far as consistent with their own interest. But, apart from that, they renounce it.

           – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660), paragraph 583.

 

The Gospel only speaks of the virginity of the Virgin up to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. All with reference to Jesus Christ.

           – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660), paragraph 742.

 

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

           – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660), paragraph 895.

  

Blaise Pascal, who is credited with inventing the wristwatch, the bus route, the first workable calculating machine, turned to Jesus.  This French mathematician was converted today in history.

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Temple Talk

He went into the temple

Where you’d think one could look up.

But his attitude was humble,

He saw “dregs” in his cup.

 

He asked God for mercy;

He beat upon his chest,

Called himself a sinner

(Not better than the rest).

 

He cast his eyes downward,

They sought the lowly ground.

But God, who measures all things:

The simple, the profound,

 

Liked his honest spirit,

Heard his call and cry,

Knew he meant his temple-talk,

Knew it more than “humble pie,”

 

And justified his soul;

He went back to his own place,

With a calm in his heart,

And heaven’s smile upon his face.

 

Friend, the next time you go to meeting,

The next time you’re in church

Avoid petty piousness,

Avoid the highest perch.

 

Look at God, worship Him,

And see yourself contrasted,

As this man of old did. 

His grace has ever lasted.            – eab, 5/2000

 

Written while Associate Professor Bible at Hobe Sound Bible College, Florida

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