The London Men’s Convention took place at the Central Methodist Hall, Westminster.
There were two sittings – morning from 9.30 and evening from 3.30. Big crowds gathered on Saturday 2 June to hear John Piper and the queue to get in stretched right around the building.
Elijah at Carmel
In the morning 2,300 were there to consider ‘Men who Make A Difference’. It was a great day. Our American preacher from Minneapolis gave two fine expositions, with a mixture of care for the text and passion in the heart. First, we were taken to Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18, to witness the prophet Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal and where Israel learned that it is the Lord (not man) who turns people’s hearts and brings repentance and faith. This was Calvinism at its glorious best. And we were reminded, amid Britain’s spiritual desert, that the sovereign God loves to put himself at a disadvantage before he acts – 450 to 1 and Elijah soaking the sacrifice – so that all may know there is no explanation other than God himself. How encouraging this was for those from smaller churches.
John Bunyan
Rupert Standing, vicar of St Peter’s, Fulham, ably took listeners through an inspiring résumé of the life of the great Baptist, John Bunyan. The key to understanding Bunyan’s impact lay not just with his imaginative abilities in writing Pilgrim’s Progress, but in his resilience and resolve to work for Christ during his 12 years in prison. Quoting from many sources, but especially from Bunyan’s own testimony in Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, it was explained that Bunyan was the man he was because of true conversion, strident conflict with sin, and courage which came from his certainty in God’s sovereignty and his clarity about heaven and hell.
Just before lunch two friends interviewed each other. Jason Mariner, church planting in Brixton, and Jeremy Marshall, a banker now suffering from cancer, took the microphone and through their questions opened up their lives, hopes and fears to the fascinated audience. This was a very helpful part of the programme, rooting the faith into the very real challenges of the here and now.
Gethsemane
After lunch, John Piper finished off by taking us this time to Gethsemane, from Matthew 26. Here we saw two battles. The first was battle that the Lord Jesus won through prayer to submit himself to the cross according to the Father’s will. The second was the disciples’ battle to come alongside Jesus in prayer, and learn how to fight for the high stakes of seeing God’s kingdom move forward. They failed miserably, and yet the gracious Saviour still owned them. As Judas and the soldiers arrive, Jesus invites them: ‘Arise, let us go.’ It is Jesus himself who can make us people who make a difference.
