John Berridge - lump of quaintness

"What a lump of quaintness that man was," Charles Spurgeon said, but "what a power he was to stir the souls of men and lead them to the Saviour’s feet.” I wish everyone knew about John Berridge (1716-1793). He was known as “the old devil” by the clergymen around the district because of jealousy and because he was a whirlwind of passion for the gospel. Berridge was the Anglican vicar of Everton, a tiny village about 9 miles east of Bedfordshire, England.

His story is especially interesting to me because it describes my own journey of discovering grace. He began his ministry wholeheartedly preaching “sanctification” for salvation, but there came a point after six years when he realized it was bad news that he was delivering every Sunday. It was moralism and self-improvement, plain-and-simple. Reflecting later on his ministry, he noted that after preaching sanctification as vigorously as he could for those years, he never brought one soul to Christ by his continual fussing. “Do more” and “try harder” sermons left him in despair and blaming his congregation for not catching on. When he began to proclaim what Christ has done for unworthy sinners, he saw in them the transforming power of the Holy Spirit!

The people at Everton didn't like this message at first, and neighboring clergy barred him from preaching in their churches, leaving him to preach outdoors and in barns. On May 14, 1759 he preached his first outdoor sermon: “Cease From Thine Own Works.” 

When people see that real Christianity is not about moral improvement, but about a God who especially loves the lost, the least, and the lonely, transformation happens to God’s glory! When we see that the good news is what God has done for us in his Son, not what we can and should do for him, then our hearts warm to the truth of God’s one-way-love.

Berridge directed that on his tombstone be inscribed the stages of his religious development:

“I was born in Sin Feb. 1716;

Remained in my fallen State till 1730;

Lived proudly on Faith & Works for Salvation till 1754;

Admitted to Everton Vicarage 1755;

Fled to JESUS alone for Refuge 1756;

Fell asleep in Christ June 22, 1793.”