Join Us

Exposition ministry and influence

Matthew Henry was the author of several publications, some of which were widely circulated in the years after his death.  Two prominent titles were:  A Communicant’s Companion - a treatise on the right frame of heart in which to receive the Lord’s Supper (1704); and Directions for Daily Communion with God (1712).   But the work for which he is best known is undoubtedly, The Exposition of the Old and New Testaments  or  Complete Commentary, which he began in November 1704 when he was forty two years old.  

“He began to collect together the vast amount of notes and writings which he had made on the Bible during his ministry.  He had learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew as a child, and he also had a good knowledge of French, so that his reading had covered a wide field over many years.  To this was added a keen spirit of inquiry, a profound knowledge and an ability to convey doctrinal matters in a simple yet clear form.  From this emerged his ‘Commentary’ as he gradually completed the books of the Old and New Testament over the following ten years”  (truthful words. org).

Long celebrated as the best of English commentaries, this devotional work contains rich stores of truth “which hold the attention by their quaint freshness and aptness” (wholesome words.org).  Henry lived to complete it only as far as the Book of Acts but, after his death, thirteen non-conformist ministers finished it partly based on notes taken by his hearers.

Here are some sample notes from his commentary:

‘God’s grace can save souls without preaching, but our preaching cannot save them without God’s grace, and that grace must be sought by prayer’ (on Ezekiel 37:1-14).
‘Ministers may be serving Christ, and promoting the great ends of their ministry, by writing good letters, as well as by preaching good sermons’ (on Acts 18:7-11).
‘It is easier to build temples than to be temples to God’ (on II Chronicles 24:1-14).
‘The pleasures of sense are puddle-water; spiritual delights are rock water, so pure, so clear, so refreshing — rivers of pleasure’ (on Exodus 17:1-7).
‘The beauty of holiness is that which the grave, that consumes all other beauty, cannot touch, or do any damage to’ (on Psalm 49:6-14).

Henry’s celebrated commentary had a deep impact on the ministry of George Whitefield (1714-1770).  Born the year Henry died, Whitefield read the commentary through four times.  A recent study by an American scholar, David Crump, reveals that Henry’s “in depth, practical, Calvinistic and biblical exposition” formed the backdrop for many of Whitefield’s sermons.

Another minister who found the devotional work indispensable was Charles Spurgeon who highly commended it.   He said: “Every minister ought to read it entirely and carefully through once at least.”

“Whitefield’s friend, hymn-writer Charles Wesley (1707-1788), was so moved by Henry’s comments on Leviticus 8:35 that he based one of his most famous hymns on them.  Henry had written: ‘we have every one of us a charge to keep, an eternal God to glorify, an immortal soul to provide for, needful duty to be done, our generation to serve; and it must be our daily duty to keep this charge, for it is the charge of the Lord our Master, who will shortly call us to an account about it.’  Gripped by this comment, Wesley sat down to write A charge to keep I have in which he used many of Henry’s actual phrases” (wholesomewords.org).

Calvinistic Baptist preacher and educator John Ryland Sr (1723-1792) summed up the influence that Henry’s Exposition made in the decades following its publication:  “It is impossible for a person of piety and taste to read the Exposition of Mr. Henry without wishing to be shut out from all the world to read it through without one moment’s interruption.”

Faithful unto death

Henry often returned to Chester to minister to his former flock.  In June 1714, while on the way to Nantwich, he fell from his horse, but denied that he had sustained any injury.  Despite the mishap, he took the pulpit at Nantwich.  It was noted that “he was not his usual lively self.”  After giving a short sermon, he complained of drowsiness, and asked his friends to pray for him, “for now I cannot pray for myself.”  But he was soon seized with apoplexy (stroke), and the following morning, June 22, he went to glory. 

How wonderful if we could be blessed with a token portion of the vast knowledge, zeal and fruitful labour of this man of God!   May we desire to emulate his faithful example.

- Pastor