When John Rogers (c.1570–1636) first went up to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, as a student in February 1588, he proved to be a complete wastrel.
His way was being paid by his uncle, a well-known Puritan preacher by the name of Richard Rogers (1551–1618), but John sold all of his books so as to spend the proceeds on various sinful pastimes. Not surprisingly, John was asked to leave Emmanuel College, a hotbed of Puritan theology and piety.
However, Richard Rogers’ wife Barbara (died c.1598), convinced her husband to intervene with college authorities and give his nephew another opportunity. So, the younger Rogers went up again to Cambridge, only to prove the profligate once more, again selling his books and squandering the money obtained on his vices. His uncle was about to wash his hands of him at that point but, yielding once again to the entreaties of Barbara, John was sent up to Cambridge yet a third time. This time things proved to be quite different, as a long-suffering God saved the young man, and Richard later confessed: ‘I will never despair of a man for John Rogers’ sake’.
At Dedham
Most of Rogers’ pastoral ministry after graduation was spent at what was then a Puritan stronghold in the parish of Dedham, Essex. He came to St Mary the Virgin in Dedham in 1605 and served there as a lecturer until his death 31 years later. A good number of Puritan leaders who had conscientious objections about aspects of the liturgy of the Church of England served as lecturers, since this enabled them to preach, usually on a Sunday afternoon, outside of the framework of the typical Anglican service. Rogers was said to be an extraordinary preacher, both a ‘Boanerges, a Son of Thunder’ (see Mark 3:17) – hence his nickname, Roaring John Rogers – and ‘a Barnabas, a Son of Consolation’ (see Acts 4:36), through whose preaching many were led in submission to Christ.
Remarkable outpouring of the Spirit
The great Puritan theologian Thomas Goodwin (1600–1680) was present on one occasion when, during the course of a sermon, Rogers took the part of God, angry with His people for not prizing the Scriptures and not reading them. He threatened to take away the Bible from such an ungrateful people. Rogers then impersonated the people, falling to his knees in the pulpit, and pleading with God not to give them a famine of hearing the word of God: ‘Lord, whatsoever thou dost to us, take not thy Bible from us; kill our children, burn our houses, destroy our goods, only spare us thy Bible, take not away thy Bible’.
Goodwin recalled that the impact of the sermon was electrifying, as many of the people in the church were smitten in their consciences and reduced to copious weeping in repentance. Goodwin himself, not yet converted, was brought under deep conviction of sin. When he came out of the church he was so overwhelmed with tears that he stood for 15 minutes or so, leaning on the neck of his horse before he had the strength to mount. The Puritans prayed and laboured long for a national awakening, and though these prayers and labours did not see an answer in their lifetime – such an awakening was to come in the 18th century – here we clearly see an anticipation, an antepast, of the remarkable scenes of revival in the next century. Here is great encouragement not to give up praying if we do not see immediate fruit. Praying breath is never lost.
Love for the lost
Among Rogers’ few publications was A Treatise of Love, which had begun life as a series of sermons on 1 John 3:3. It is often said that the Puritans had little vision for evangelism beyond their own world, but a quick perusal of this work soon raises questions about the truth of this ‘fact’. One of the marks of true love for God, Rogers asserts, is that it longs that others love God as well and so seeks ‘to draw as many to God’ as it can.
In fact, Christian love has a global reach, for it ‘reacheth to all, near and far, strangers, enemies, within and without the pale of the Church, Turks [that is, Muslims] and pagans, we must pray for them, & do them any good if they come in our way’. Indeed, Rogers explicitly argues that ‘we must pray for the poor pagans, that God would send His light and truth among them, that they in time may be brought into the bosom of the Church, and the sheepfold of Christ Jesus’.
God also answered these prayers – but again in His time when, in the late 18th century, we see the advent of the modern missionary movement.
