Introduction
John Hazelton[1] (1822-1888) was a high-calvinist and strict-communion Baptist pastor[2], whose 35 year ministry with the church meeting at Chadwell Street, London, resulted in a congregation that became one of the leading Strict Baptist (SB) churches during the first fifty years of the 20th century. Like most SB’s, Hazelton stood aloof from the ministry of Charles Spurgeon. In many respects, Spurgeon may be regarded as the father of the Reformed Baptist movement—he espoused many of the features that identify this new breed of brethren. Although many Reformed Baptists trace their lineage to the SB’s, this is an illegitimate link. As the sermons of Hazelton will illustrate, the SB’s were unsympathetic to the heretical teachings of Andrew Fuller. Indeed, the SB’s stood with the doctrines espoused by Spurgeon’s predecessor, the renown scholar and beloved pastor, John Gill. This is plainly demonstrated by the ‘Articles of Faith’ subscribed to by many SB churches—they generally adopted/adapted Gill’s Carter Lane Declaration 1757.
On a personal note, I am the pastor of a SB congregation whose constituting service on the 4th April 1866 was led in part by John Hazelton. Mr. David Crumpton, the first pastor of the church, forged a ministerial alliance with Hazelton, which eventually led to the organisation of the Metropolitan Association of Strict Baptist Churches, now known as the Association of Grace Baptist Churches, South East. Sadly, the churches now belonging to this Association no longer subscribe to a high-calvinist position, neither do all the churches observe a strict table. To my knowledge, the church I pastor is the only congregation within the Association which reflects the central teachings held forth by the SB’s. It was therefore a great honour, when Peter Meney of Egglesburn Baptist Church, Co. Durham, presented to me a nicely bound copy of John Gill’s Body of Divinity, signed by John Hazelton.
In service of the Lord,
Jared Smith
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[1] Special thanks to Matthew Hyde, who gave me a copy of W. J. Style’s, “John Hazelton: A Memoir”. It is from this volume the photo of Hazelton has been acquired.
[2] John Hazelton was the father of another Strict Baptist pastor, John E. Hazelton.
John Hazelton (1822-1888) was a Strict and Particular Baptist preacher. He served for thirty-six years as the Pastor for Chadwell Street Chapel, Clerkenwell. His sermons were printed monthly and gathered into a five volume set. William Styles wrote of him:
"When fairly underway there was a dignity in his carriage, a grandeur in his steady flow of appropriate language, and a majesty in his thoughts that commanded close attention. At times his heart caught fire and he rose to flights of eloquence of no common order. We never knew him embarrassed for want of a thought, or at a loss for the very word he required. In a sermon delivered at the settlement of a minister he said: 'Preach a four-square Gospel, in which election, redemption and regeneration are co-extensive. Preach salvation by mercy, by merit, and by might; by love, by blood, by power. The Father's love, the moving cause; the Saviour's blood, the meritorious cause; and the Spirit's power, the efficient cause—to the praise of the glory of free and sovereign grace.' His ministry was heartily received by all who loved distinctive truth. The writer remembers the late Mr. John Gadsby once speaking of it to him in affectionate terms. Part of the inscription on the memorial tablet in the chapel contains all that is necessary to sum up this reference: ‘Called by sovereign grace in early life, and qualified by the Holy Spirit for the work of the Christian ministry, he was enabled to proclaim the truth as it is in Jesus, in all its fulness and sufficiency. Bold in the advocacy of those doctrines which the Holy Spirit had revealed to him, it was his delight to set forth the love of a Triune Jehovah in the salvation of His Church; the Cross of Christ and His righteousness were to him a glorious reality, and "Jesus only " was ever the theme of his ministry.'"
John E. Hazelton Sermons
John E. Hazelton's "Hold-Fast" (Complete)
John E. Hazelton's Declaration Of Faith (Complete)
