"David Crosley was a traveling evangelist and pastor whose life seems oddly reflective of the Biblical character, Samson in several ways. First, Crosley was reputed to be one of the largest men in the county of Lancashire, England, weighing for many years, it was thought, about 300 pounds. Second, his life though full of godly accomplishments was stained by serious sin. And third, his best-known sermon was a comparison of Samson with Christ." Informed Scholarship Pastoral Heart Helping the church to prepare men to undertake the full range of pastoral responsibilities in serving Christ and His kingdom.

Samuel Kilpin had a special love for and ministry to poor children and through them to their parents. Not every man’s pastoral ministry looks exactly the same of course. And Samuel’s attention to the physical and spiritual plight of Exeter’s children is noteworthy. He performed the usual ministerial responsibilities to his congregation, but added to it a specific focus on destitute children. I’ll explore the relationship of Samuel and children under three headings. First, his own upbringing. His life as a child under exemplary Christian parents may help explain, in part, his own desire that others have a similar blessing. Second, his short experience with his own 4 children. And third, his ministry to children.

Last time we learned a bit about how the widows of Particular Baptist pastors were cared for in western England in the early 1800s by examining a letter in regards to Elizabeth Kilpin. Her husband was Samuel Kilpin. And we will see that his ministry had some special emphases. But before we look at those, let me give you a short biography of him with my attempts at accurate dating. There are several birth and death dates for Samuel. Some of this relates to the fact that as a dissenter, his information was not added to the books until later. For example, his pastor, Joshua Symonds, registered his birth on Sept 3, 1887, when Samuel was 13. Mistakes in memory and in writing easily occurred. Confessional, Affordable, Theological Education CBTS is a Confessional Reformed Baptist Seminary Providing Affordable Online Theological Education to Help the Church in its Calling to Train Faithful Men for the Gospel Ministry.

"In 1807 the Particular Baptist churches in Bristol and the west of England formed what they called “The Baptist Western Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of Ministers of that Denomination”. In the later 18th century and all through the 19th, social welfare in England was typically administered by groups of people bonded by a common interest. It was the age of benevolent societies. And the Baptists participated in this. Most of you will have heard of the Baptist Missionary Society formed in 1792 by William Carey, Andrew Fuller, and others to bring the gospel to the nations. Well, the Western Baptist Widows Society was similarly formed for the purpose of financially supporting the widows and children of Baptist ministers who had served in western England." Confessional, Affordable, Theological Education CBTS is a Confessional Reformed Baptist Seminary Providing Affordable Online Theological Education to Help the Church in its Calling to Train Faithful Men for the Gospel Ministry.

"One of the few original letters I possess from our Particular Baptist forebears is from Robert Hall Jr. to John Ryland. Robert was the youngest son of Robert Hall Sr whose life we explored recently. Robert Jr. was blessed with unusual gifts and was one of the greatest preachers of the first half of the 1800s. Like his father, Robert was a Particular Baptist, but with peculiar views on a number of subjects." Confessional, Affordable, Theological Education CBTS is a Confessional Reformed Baptist Seminary Providing Affordable Online Theological Education to Help the Church in its Calling to Train Faithful Men for the Gospel Ministry.

Samuel Medley lived at the peak of the Age of Letters. In the 1700s, the art of letter-writing was an essential part of being an educated man. And so, of course, Medley wrote and received correspondence. As we have mentioned in the past, some of his compositions are in rhymed or poetic form. Others, especially those more formal, are of course in prose. Confessional, Affordable, Theological Education CBTS is a Confessional Reformed Baptist Seminary Providing Affordable Online Theological Education to Help the Church in its Calling to Train Faithful Men for the Gospel Ministry.

"There is another hymn of Samuel Medley’s that I want to introduce to you. It has a personal connection for my wife and me and so I want to share it with you. It was originally entitled, “The Wisdom and Goodness of God”. It is one of my wife’s favorite hymns and one she wrote a paper on for Dr. Michael Haykin in her classes at CBTS. I’ll be using some of the fruit of her research in this episode." Confessional, Affordable, Theological Education CBTS is a Confessional Reformed Baptist Seminary Providing Affordable Online Theological Education to Help the Church in its Calling to Train Faithful Men for the Gospel Ministry.

Samuel Medley’s hymns were first published during his lifetime. I have a modern reprint of the “second edition, enlarged” from 1789, that contains 77 hymns, their titles and Scripture texts. Some of Medley’s hymns were used by John Rippon in his famous hymnal of about the same time. Then, after his death in 1799, a much larger collection was gathered and printed in London in 1800. It contained 232 hymns. Confessional, Affordable, Theological Education CBTS is a Confessional Reformed Baptist Seminary Providing Affordable Online Theological Education to Help the Church in its Calling to Train Faithful Men for the Gospel Ministry.

"In his sermons, Samuel Medley directly addressed the unconverted. He is sometimes presented as a High Calvinist and perhaps he was of a sort, although I don’t think we have enough sermon material to make that judgment. Being limited to only two specimen sermons is inadequate. But what is clear from those two is that he did not ignore those outside of Christ. In his association sermon preached at North Wales in 1779, he deliberately speaks to the lost several times. Listen in as he calls to them while extolling what he called God’s “sparing goodness”, that is, his long-suffering toward sinners." Confessional, Affordable, Theological Education CBTS is a Confessional Reformed Baptist Seminary Providing Affordable Online Theological Education to Help the Church in its Calling to Train Faithful Men for the Gospel Ministry.

Our episode today tells the story of Samuel Medley, a man whose story in several respects parallels that of John Newton, the famous author of Amazing Grace. These men lived at the same time and spent their early adult years at sea. Both were saved in dramatic circumstances, and both became pastors and hymn writers. And much less importantly, the drawings and paintings of them made during their lifetimes show them wearing the same style of wig!