The Life And Legacy Of Watts Wilkinson

Gospel Magazine 1840:

Some Account Of The Rev. W. Watts Wilkinson, B. A., Afternoon Lecturer Of St. Mary Aldermary, Cheapside, And Tuesday Morning Lecturer Of St. Bartholomew, By The Royal Exchange, London.

The portrait with which we present our readers this month is that of that venerable servant of God and minister of the Gospel, the Rev. W. W. Wilkinson, B.A., Afternoon Lecturer of St. Mary Aldermary. Bow Lane, Cheapside, and Tuesday Morning Lecturer of St. Bartholomew’s by the Royal Exchange. We cannot give a particular or minute account of the youth or early incidents of the life of this man of God, inasmuch as, notwithstanding he is one of the most popular preachers in London, yet he has lived all his life in the strictest privacy, from his youth dwelling in the bosom of a happy family in the midst of children, and not seeking for any enjoyment in the mixed company of the world, or hunting after preferment or applause from the great ones of the earth, although his ministry has been attended by some of the most illustrious of our Christian nobility. He has pursued his public ministry at one, or both, of the above-mentioned churches in London for upwards of half a century; during which period he has been enabled to maintain the most correct line of Christian conduct and conversation, neither mixing himself up with, nor approving of, any of the novelties that have of late years shewn themselves; but, on the contrary, he has continued to teach and preach the doctrines of the cross in opposition to the Pelagianism which so fearfully abounds in our day. It is said of him, that from a conscientious attachment to the Church of England, he entered himself a student of Worcester College, in the University of Oxford, and, having graduated, he was ordained deacon and priest, fully prepared to promulgate the doctrines which he had deliberately subscribed, as contained in the Articles, Homilies, and Formularies of our Apostolical Church. His Tuesday morning lecture, preached at St. Bartholomew’s, by the Bank of England, near to the now-destroyed Royal Exchange, which, although it be delivered in the very heart of this great city, and in the midst of the noisy and laborious hours of business, is, nevertheless, regularly attended by a very considerable congregation, the aisles as well as the pews being literally full, and that by Christians from all parts of the metropolis and its suburbs. Mr. Wilkinson preaches entirely without notes, or, as commonly denominated, extempore; but he has no excentricities, either in his doctrine or his manner of preaching; yet the former is always scriptural, and the latter plain and simple, but never mean or low; always practical yet strictly doctrinal; ever animated, but without affecting novelty or the art of secular eloquence; and of that striking and impressive character which, with his venerable and patriarchal appearance, always claim attention. We cannot learn that he has ever embarked in the ocean of literature by any publication of his own sending forth, yet have many of his pulpit discourses been printed in those weekly magazines, called “The Pulpit;” some quotations from which will conclude this brief notice, as specimens of his style. We cannot exactly state his precise age, but we believe him to be about eighty-four or eighty-five years old his next birth-day. The quotations we purpose to give are the following; the first was preached July 28, 1835, and the second March, 1829.

The Sovereignty Of Christ

“The blessed and only Potentate: the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.”—1 Timothy 6:15

“You who are doubting, consider the representation given of this blessed Being by the apostle in his epistle to the Romans; he says, ‘the same Lord over all, is rich unto all;’ the connexion evidently implies, ‘rich in mercy.’ Is not this an encouraging word to those who know and feel that if they be the subjects of Christ, they are but rebellious subjects, and unprofitable servants? But he is Lord overall, ‘King of kings, Lord of lords, the blessed and only Potentate,’ rich in mercy. If you look from the creation of the world down to the present time, you will see clear proof that his mercy has been in all his dealings with the children of men. But then, observe particularly how the apostle goes on—he points out those to whom in an especial manner, he is rich in mercy. The same Lord over all, is rich unto all that call upon him. To call upon him in this sense implies a conviction that he is able to succour his people, and that they put their trust in him; for this is connected with that kind of faith which is styled ‘the faith of God’s elect,’ and which is said to be of ‘the operation of the Spirit of God’ to the salvation of the soul, and which consists in trusting and relying simply and entirely, to the exclusion of everything else, upon Christ’s finished work. At times you may be almost ashamed and afraid to go to him, but you may call upon him, and you shall find him rich in mercy. If you are enabled thus, and under such circumstances, to call upon him, you will manifest that faith which, is to the saving of the soul. Under the deepest conviction of your unworthiness, ingratitude, and rebellion, that you can possibly have (and the Lord shows you this, in mercy, in order to endear himself to you), you may go to him as the publican went; you may go to him as the leper went; you may go to him with the determination of Jacob, ‘I will not let thee go except thou bless me;’—and he will give you the very desire of your heart.

“Let us thank him for his mercy. If you are inclined thus to go to him, it is a demonstration that he has loved you with an everlasting love; and, therefore, he has mercifully wrought upon your hearts to call upon himself. If he had had no prior love to you, if he had not made a covenant with you, if he had not called you, and justified, and redeemed you, he never would have poured out his Holy Spirit on your hearts to convince you of sin, and to shew you his excellency. If you know anything of Scripture, your hearts will be lifted up towards Him, you will raise your Ebenexer, and acknowledge that he has begun and carried on the work to this moment; that his hands laid the foundation, and will raise up the top-stone. The foundation was laid amidst the shoutings of heaven ; there was not an angel in heaven that did not exalt the grace of God when the foundation was laid, and we know that the top-stone shall be laid with shoutings of grace, grace unto it. Oh, that you and I may be found among that number! ”

The Valley Of Decision

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”—Joel 3:14

“‘Multitudes,’ indeed! hundreds upon hundreds, thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions, myriads upon myriads, yea, the whole family of Adam must appear in one company before Him who bled on Calvary! And yet each individual will appear by himself wholly and alone. O that each of us thought of this aright!

“‘In the valley of decision.’ Then the Judge will decide, and pass a righteous sentence. In this world, the characters of men are so mixed that it is very difficult to say who belongs to Christ, and who belong to the Prince of Darkness. But the Judge will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:’ he will ‘set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left:’ and in that day we shall discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that feareth God, and him that feareth him not.’

“This ‘decision’ will be final. It will admit of no appeal. The sentence which this Judge shall pass will remain in force, and that to all eternity.

“It will be attended with much solemnity. The whole creation will be affected by it. ‘The sun and the moon,’ says the context, ‘shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.’ ‘The heavens,’ says the Apostle, ‘shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.’

“‘In that day,’ continues the prophet, ‘the Lord will be the hope of his people.’ What an awful day will it be to the ungodly, for all that died un­ acquainted with the Saviour, for all that despised the great salvation! The sound of the awful trumpet which announces his approach will reach them; and though they may call on the rocks to hide them from his presence, they must appear before Him. They will be constrained to fix their eyes upon Him while they will find his eye constantly fixed upon them. ‘Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.’ It will be in vain for them to wish to turn away their eyes; they will be constrained to fix them on the Judge, and they will find, moreover, that he is the same Jesus who appeared upon earth; and to them he will wear a fearful frown, and they will perceive indignation kindling in his eye. ‘The Lord also,’ says the prophet, ‘shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake.’ The Lamb of God is in one place represented as the lion of the tribe of Judah and he shall roar against the wicked, while He is surrounded by his saints and those who trusted in Him, and shall pronounce that awful sentence,—‘Take them, and bind them hand and foot, and cast them into outer darkness and they shall not be able to escape or resist. And such will be the state and condition of every finally impenitent sinner; there will be no difference. All, by nature, are under the curse; and unless we are brought to know him, and trust in him as our Savionr, we are under the curse of the law.

“And I say, what a sweet thought it is, that in that day, when the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall arise to judgment, that He will be ‘the hope of his people.’ And who are his people? Those who were chosen by the eternal Father, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and purified by the Spirit. We may know them by the fruits of the Spirit manifested in their lives. These fruits are to be seen in all who are spiritually his—his true Israel, his praying people. And when the day arrives in which the Lord determines to bring them to a knowledge of himself, he pours out on them a spirit of prayer,—not only a spirit of illumination, but a spirit of prayer, inducing and assisting them to implore his blessing. These are his people. And now, let each ask, Am I among this praying people? If so, you belong to the covenant; and you were given to Jesus Christ to be justified, to be sanctified, to be saved by him.

“Believers, rejoice in the prospect of that solemn day! You are one with him in the bonds of a solemn, interminable, and everlasting covenant, and therefore you are secure. You are often looking forward, perhaps, to that day, and thinking how delightful it will be, when the trumpet will sound, and when ‘his angels shall gather his elect from the four quarters of the world,’—how delightful, you think, will it then be to enter into his joy! But bring that day nearer to you! all this will come to you at death. The holy angels may, in a month, or a week, or a day, be commissioned to bear your spirits into his presence. O, bring that day near to you! Will it be delightful to you to meet the Lord in the air in that day? But the meeting may take place before; for, ‘absent from the body,’ you will be ‘present with the Lord.’ You will be present with him; having him continually before your eyes, enjoying his smile, living continually on his goodness, sitting at his heavenly banquet, the Saviour at its head, your friends around, and tears wiped away from every eye.

“‘The day of the Lord is near’. Then the day of your removal is at hand;—the day when you shall appear to the praise and glory of the Redeemer; the day when he shall come ‘to be admired in his saints, and glorified in all them that believe.’ What greater glory and honour can be put on Christ, than to commit precious and immortal souls to his care for ever and ever? O, learn to ‘praise him for all that is past, and to trust him for all that is to come!’ Sometimes you have been ready to say, ‘Who shall roll us away this great stone?’ but when you came you found it was already removed; you have anticipated trouble, but when you came you found it mitigated or removed. O, what cause is this for praise! Look back thus on the days that are past, and take encouragement for the future. He has promised you a kingdom and a throne; he has set his heart upon raising you to glory. He has already put his hand to the work, and you may rest assured that he will complete it.

“Let your minds dwell much on these solemnities. Realize these views of death, and judgment, and eternity. This will tend to wean you from the world, to excite you to all that is good, to induce you to trust in Christ, to make you seek a nearer union to him. It will tend to make you more holy, and more grateful; for what have you that you have not received? All is from him, who ‘will have mercy on whom he will have mercy.’

“And while you hold fast the doctrines of grace, remember that they teach you ‘to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of the great God, Jesus Christ;’ when he shall present his people in one glorious body, and say—‘Behold, here am I, and the children thou hast given me! All thou hast given me I have kept, and not one of them is lost!’”