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John Daniel Jones
John Daniel Jones (1865–1942) was a Welsh preacher, pastor, and author whose ministry within the Congregational Church earned him recognition as one of Britain’s most influential Nonconformist leaders of the early 20th century. Born in Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, to Joseph David Jones, a schoolmaster and lay preacher, he grew up steeped in Welsh Nonconformist culture, excelling academically at Bala Independent College and Owens College, Manchester, before training for ministry at Lancashire Independent College and earning an MA from the University of St Andrews. Ordained in 1889, he began his career at Newland Church in Lincoln, but his defining work came in 1898 when he succeeded Joseph Parker at Richmond Hill Congregational Church in Bournemouth, England, where he served for 39 years. Married to Annie Davies in 1892, with whom he had two daughters, he blended family life with a rigorous pastoral calling. Jones’s ministry at Bournemouth transformed Richmond Hill into a hub of evangelical vitality, drawing thousands with his eloquent, practical sermons—often likened to Charles Spurgeon’s in power—delivered without notes in a conversational style. Known as “J.D. Jones,” he chaired the Congregational Union of England and Wales in 1909–1910 and 1925–1926, advocating unity and missions, and served as president of the National Free Church Council in 1916–1917. A prolific author, his works like The Gospel According to St. Mark and The Model Prayer reflected his expository depth, while his leadership during World War I, including hospital visits and war relief efforts, showcased his pastoral heart. Retiring in 1937 due to health issues, he died in 1942, leaving a legacy as a “prince of preachers” whose Welsh fervor and English outreach bridged cultures and inspired generations.
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John Daniel Jones delves into the dual nature of Jesus as both gentle and formidable, emphasizing that true gentleness includes the capacity to be formidable in the face of evil. He challenges the notion that gentleness equates to weakness, highlighting how Jesus' meekness was not softness but a strength that could blaze into holy anger when faced with injustice. The sermon explores the concept of the 'wrath of the Lamb,' showcasing the paradoxical combination of patience and righteous anger in Jesus' character.
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The Gentle but Formidable Jesus
"Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust" (Luke 20:18). We think of Him as the "gentle Jesus"--"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild," as our child's hymn puts it. He spoke of Himself as being "meek and lowly in heart." He dealt tenderly with the sinful and the erring. He never broke a bruised reed or quenched a flickering wick. As we picture to ourselves this gracious, loving Person who went about doing good, "formidable" is about the last word in the world we should think of applying to Him. But is there any essential and irreconcilable antagonism between gentleness and formidableness? Is it quite impossible for these two qualities to exist in one and the same Person? If a person's gentleness never became formidableness, would that person be anything like a complete person? Would not gentleness that never became formidable in face of evil and wrong--would it not cease to be a virtue and become a rather contemptible vice? A man who does not become formidable, terrible even, to the wrong-doer can lay no claim to being a perfect man. Now our Lord was meek; but His meekness was not softness. And He was gentle; but His gentleness was not a foolish and easy good-nature. Jesus was formidable as well as gentle, terrible as well as meek. The Bible is never afraid of combining seeming opposites in its descriptions of Jesus. For example, it speaks of "the wrath of the Lamb." "Wrath" and "Lamb" don't somehow seem to fit each other. The Lamb is the symbol of patience, meekness, gentleness, and so has come to stand for Him who went as a Lamb to the slaughter, and, "as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." Wrath would seem to fit lion rather than Lamb. But the Bible talks of the "wrath of the Lamb"--the wrath of Him who bore with unmurmuring patience the rude insults and murderous cruelty of evil men. It declares that that gentle and infinitely patient Jesus can blaze out into holy anger, and the wrath is the more terrible just because it is the wrath of the Lamb.
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John Daniel Jones (1865–1942) was a Welsh preacher, pastor, and author whose ministry within the Congregational Church earned him recognition as one of Britain’s most influential Nonconformist leaders of the early 20th century. Born in Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, to Joseph David Jones, a schoolmaster and lay preacher, he grew up steeped in Welsh Nonconformist culture, excelling academically at Bala Independent College and Owens College, Manchester, before training for ministry at Lancashire Independent College and earning an MA from the University of St Andrews. Ordained in 1889, he began his career at Newland Church in Lincoln, but his defining work came in 1898 when he succeeded Joseph Parker at Richmond Hill Congregational Church in Bournemouth, England, where he served for 39 years. Married to Annie Davies in 1892, with whom he had two daughters, he blended family life with a rigorous pastoral calling. Jones’s ministry at Bournemouth transformed Richmond Hill into a hub of evangelical vitality, drawing thousands with his eloquent, practical sermons—often likened to Charles Spurgeon’s in power—delivered without notes in a conversational style. Known as “J.D. Jones,” he chaired the Congregational Union of England and Wales in 1909–1910 and 1925–1926, advocating unity and missions, and served as president of the National Free Church Council in 1916–1917. A prolific author, his works like The Gospel According to St. Mark and The Model Prayer reflected his expository depth, while his leadership during World War I, including hospital visits and war relief efforts, showcased his pastoral heart. Retiring in 1937 due to health issues, he died in 1942, leaving a legacy as a “prince of preachers” whose Welsh fervor and English outreach bridged cultures and inspired generations.