Legacy of Matthew Henry - He Laboured In The Word

June 22nd may just be another ordinary day to many of us. Ordinary in the sense that we may have few, if any at all, significant events associated with this date. Well, I don’t know about you, but I have no family relations that were born on this day, and none of my hundreds of “friends” on Facebook took a first breath of earth’s air on this day.

But to eager and keen enthusiasts of Christian history, this day reminds them of the death of a worthy servant of the Lord, Rev. Matthew Henry, preacher and scholar. At the age of fifty-one, Matthew Henry, a faithful servant of the Saviour ended his earthly labours on June 22, 1714, and was ushered into the glorious presence of the Lord.

I first came across the name of Matthew Henry thirty-one years ago in Luanshya. Privileged to be raised in a Christian home, my late father was an avid reader who invested a lot in good books. We had three bookshelves nestled against the walls of our modest living room. My father was an educationalist, and perfectly knew the value of books. But he was also an elder in our local church, and acquired many Christian books. These many books became my close companions, having learnt to read at a very tender age.

One of the books that attracted my attention was Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. I know that for many Christians, the name Matthew Henry is immediately associated with his Commentary on the Bible which has deservedly gained a reputation as the best and most widely used work of its kind. I was a very religious young boy, only eleven years old, when I began to read Matthew Henry. I had not yet been drawn by the loving arms of grace into union with my Saviour, Jesus Christ. From time to time, I pulled this commentary off the shelf, sat on a comfortable chair and scanned through this voluminous work. I read this volume for motives, far less honourable than I do now. Reading this book gave this proud, lost, eleven year old boy an air of importance when his reading skills became subject of discussion among peers and parents. My ego enjoyed feeding on this human approbation of my reading abilities, and Henry’s commentary, for its intimidating size won me that extra minute of attention from those that saw me with the book perched on my laps.

I also read the book for another reason, this one perhaps far nobler than the first one. There was a writing streak in me, yet undiscovered, that pulled me to Matthew Henry because of his literary brilliance. I loved his pithy, pointed sayings, and they were many in this book. I even memorized some of them, and from time to time, my prideful nature would burst forth at school, and I would unleash one or two of these statements to parade my above average knowledge of the Queen’s language. It didn’t matter whether the statements were used in the right context and at the right time or not. Who cared?

Well, now that the Lord was pleased to save me, and call me into His service as a pastor and teacher, my fondness for Henry has taken a radical change. What previously was read as food for my ego is now intensely feasted upon as food for my soul. I join countless pastors and Christians who have sat for long hours with, not only Matthew Henry’s better known monumental Commentary on the Whole Bible, but several other less known writings from the hand of this great man of God.

For twenty-five years, Henry devoted himself to proclaiming the gospel in Chester at every possible opportunity. In addition to two services on Sunday and two meetings during the week, he frequently preached in the neighbouring villages and to the prisoners in Chester Castle. His faithful exposition of the scriptures was richly blessed during these years as God opened a wider region for Henry's ministry. He was invited to hold monthly meetings at Wrexham and Beeston, and to preach in many towns including London, while at the same time the congregation attending his meeting house in Chester grew so large that a new building had to be erected in 1699.

It is perhaps significant to note that Henry maintained this intensive preaching and pastoral ministry through a period when his personal life was afflicted by tragedy. His first wife Katherine died in child-birth in 1689 after only two years of marriage, and although he remarried in 1690, he and his second wife, Mary, lost three children in infancy in the following seven years. Henry refused to blame God for these losses, for he accepted that, “the Lord is righteous, He takes and gives, and gives and takes again.” Nor did he allow his sorrows to hinder his work since he believed, “weeping must not prevent sowing,” and so he went on with perseverance and assurance.

Faithfully Served His Lord To His Dying Day

Towards the end of 1704, when Henry 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. The Lord had given him a great and 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.

In 1712, after twenty-five years in the ministry at Chester, Henry accepted a call to a dissenting Chapel at Hackney in London. He had never anticipated leaving Chester, but he trusted God’s purposes in leading him to London and faithfully obeyed. His preaching was blessed with much fruit and he made preparations to complete his “Commentary,” having reached Acts by 1714. Henry often returned to Chester to conduct services amongst his former congregation and in June 1714, while honouring a promise to preach at Chester and Nantwich, he was taken ill. As he rode back to London the next day, he fell from his horse at Tarporley and was taken to the house of a neighbouring minister where he died the following day.

The importance and value of Henry's “Commentary” was so evident to his fellow ministers that steps were soon taken to collect the notes he had prepared on the remaining books from Romans to Revelation, so that the whole of the Bible might be included in the final work. Henry's “Commentary” quickly became an indispensable work of reference for Christians.

He served his Master with great humility. Before his ordination, after so much soul-searching, he wrote: 

I think I can say with as much assurance, that my design is not to get myself a name amongst men, or to be talked of in the world as one that makes somewhat of a figure. No; that is a poor business. If I have but a good name with God I think I have enough, though among men I be reviled, and have my name trampled upon as mire in the streets. I prefer the good word of my Master far before the good word of my fellow-servants.


The greatness of his monumental Commentary is summed by the Calvinistic Baptist preacher and educator John Ryland Sr (1723-1792). Writing concerning the impact that Henry’s Exposition made in the decades following its publication, Ryland says:

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.

Henry himself well knew this delight in good Christian books. He stated in his diary on one occasion: ‘I am always best when alone. No place is like my own study: no company like good books; especially the book of God’. Little wonder, then, that he helped to shape the spirituality and Christian convictions of so many eighteenth and nineteenth century readers, and still does today. 

Charles Spurgeon required each of his sons to read Matthew Henry's full commentary through three times before he would allow them to marry; that's how much he valued Henry's insight into the Scriptures. Perhaps, not an unrealistic demand to make of the young men that may one day ask for my daughter's hand in marriage!

What A Glorious Heritage!

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, 

so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. (Psalm 102:18, ESV)

My late uncle, Linda Makelele - freedom fighter, politician, and journalist

On 8th September this year, we lost an uncle, Mr. Linda M. Makelele right  here in Lusaka. He was the immediate younger brother to my mother, a noted freedom fighter, and one of the founder members of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD). In his letter of condolences to the family, the then president of Zambia, Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Banda, among other things, wrote: 

I am heartbroken to learn of the death of Mr. Linda Makelele, a noted freedom fighter and political leader. I am deeply moved to see that the deceased has left us shortly before the 2011 elections, a democratic pillar that he fought so hard to achieve for his country. His exemplary record is a powerful lesson to upcoming generations about the meaning of selfless service. Without people like Mr. Makelele, the independence struggle and the development of our nation would have been far more difficult to realise. 

Former president, Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Banda

My uncle did not die with any earthly and material possessions to his name. But there was one item that was almost inseparable from him. It was always by his side whenever he travelled out of town. This item was a black briefcase. For many years, we wondered what was in that briefcase. From the way he treasured it, our conclusion was that it must contain something very valuable and precious to him. 

So when uncle died last month, and after all the legal formalities of appointing an administrator had been taken care of, we had, for the first time, an opportunity to discover the contents of the deceased's briefcase. No one knew the combination to the locks, so we had to break the case open in order to have access to its contents. And what we discovered was nothing anyone of us expected. There were documents going as far back as 1963, a few photographs, and a book in which he had pasted dated newspaper articles and pictures from the 1960s on. My uncle was a trained journalist, and these things must have meant a lot to him. 

Priceless discovery in my late uncle's briefcase 

Some of these pictures and newspaper cuttings have information concerning some close family members, and many others are about significant events in the life of our nation, Zambia. 

I don’t think uncle was doing this for himself. He must have wanted to preserve these documents so that they become some kind of a window through which we can look back and learn something about his life and the history of our country. And for sure, there is so much, which we previously did not know about him and some of our close family members. Now we are glad that the missing gaps have been filled in by this prized collection. And that is the beauty of recording and preserving history, it speaks to future generations. 

The text at the head of this post eloquently speaks of what uncle was determined to do through his personal archive. He wanted to have these things put on record for future generations, and it has been inspiring to read these historical accounts and see the many sacrifices made by so many people in the struggle for our independence. In his address to the nation on the eve of Zambia's 47th Independence anniversary, the current president, His Excellency Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata extolled the contributions of many Zambian heroes who fought for our independence:

The independence we celebrate today was attained at great cost. Our founding fathers and mothers spared nothing in freeing us from the yoke of colonialism. No pain was too hard for them to bear, no load too heavy to carry; no life was too precious to lose for the cause of freedom, prosperity and dignity for mother Zambia.

Current Zambian President, His Excellency, Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata 

I feel a a sense of pride to know that my family, in a small way, contributed to the struggle for the liberation of Zambia. What a glorious heritage! I thank God for my late uncle who preserved vital historical information for us his progeny to know that we stand on the shoulders of giants. If the information we now possess was in our hands much earlier than this, we would have forced uncle to write a book and narrate his, and many other members of our family's involvement in the struggle for our independence.  Except for a school in Northwestern province named after one of our departed heroes, many remain humbly unknown.

My late grandfather, mum's dad, Mr. Makelele - preacher, headman and freedom fighter, being honoured by the former president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda in October 1967. He died in September 1969, a few months before I was born. 

On the occasion of Zambia's 47th independence anniversary, I wish my country a prosperous and peaceful future. May the Almighty God bless the people of the republic of Zambia.

What Can Be More Precious Than Jewels?

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” (Proverbs 31:10)

From early childhood, many of us absorbed the idea that marriage is a natural and integral part of normal life. I remember the games we used to play as I was growing up in the mining town of Luanshya; games that conditioned our minds to the reality of marriage. As dusk set in, we gathered under the faint shadows of the moon, and the slim silhouette of the closely built houses, singing “Nsale, nsale chinkamba, mulesala bawama...” or “I want to see my Jane, my Jane, my Jane.” Today, our visually-enthusiastic generation watches the Disney cartoons and fairly-tale characters like Snow White and Prince Charming, Shrek and Fiona, and early on in childhood, they receive signals that society expects them to one day be numbered among the married.

So it was not unnatural for me, with slightly more than a year remaining before I graduated from Bible college, to begin to seriously pray that God would bring into my life a godly young lady who would answer to the challenge of being a pastor’s wife. I had no idea where she would come from, and when I would meet her. I met several ladies in the course of time, corresponded with some of them through postal letters (those were days when e-mails and cell phones were not even in my remotest imagination), but none of these struck any note in my heart.

In April, 1995, we broke off from college for one month holiday. I travelled to Lusaka on a short attachment as a “trainee pastor” in one of the local churches. I was then in my third year at the Theological College of Central Africa (TCCA) in Ndola. During the one month that I was to spend in Lusaka, my friend and former college mate at TCCA was going to get married, and she had invited me to this wedding. The day of the wedding came, and I woke up with a swollen right foot, and it gave me a great deal of pain and discomfort. When I was all dressed up, and tried to force my swollen foot into my shoe, a bolt of pain rain through my entire body as if I had stepped in a pot of boiling water. I was determined to go for the wedding, but how was I going to make it with such pain?

I took a pain killer, waited for a few minutes for its efficacy to be felt in my body, and attempted again the unenviable task of squeezing my foot into the shoe. The pain was less severe this time, thanks to the pain killer. I literally wobbled to the bus stop, and got on the bus to the wedding service, and later the reception. God’s providence directed my steps to this wedding, in spite of the pain, and caused my path to cross with that of a fine young lady who two years later was to become my wife. The puritan John Flavel said “The providence of God is like Hebrew words - it can be read only backwards.” And that is true. As I look back, it was through that seemingly ordinary choice to put my swollen foot into my shoe and limp to this wedding that God began to unravel his intricate plan for my marital life, and as they say, the rest is history, or to put it differently, living the reality of history in the present.

Now, you may wonder, what has prompted this line of thought? Well, the 9th of August this year, marks our 14th wedding anniversary. Shupe and I got married on this date in 1997 in Kitwe, and what a blessing she has been to me all these years. The Lord couldn’t have given me a better wife! And humanly speaking, I couldn’t have made a better choice. I know that writing this way about my wife might attract stern rebukes from her. She is not the kind of person who seeks glory or attention to herself, and might express some embarrassment at this public acknowledgement of her great qualities. However, I will gladly bear with her rebuke in that area.

One of the great paperbacks that I would recommend to husbands is a short book, The Christian Lover: The Sweetness of Love and Marriage in the Letters of Believers, by Michael Haykin (with assistance from his daughter Victoria).

Dr. Haykin has assembled together 32 personal letters from noted Christian leaders through history with the purpose of illustrating, celebrating, and encouraging the delightful and passionate love that a husband and wife can (and ought to) have toward one another. Reading this book will have a rewarding experience in your marriage. One of the letters in this book was written by the forty year old Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones to his wife Bethan after they had been married for twelve years. Dr. Lloyd-Jones wrote:

“Bethan dear, you are dearer to me than ever and I feel prouder of you than ever before…There is no one like you anywhere. The more I see of others the more obvious does this become…When I think of those days in London in 1925 and ’26, when I thought that no greater love was possible, I could laugh. But honestly during this last year I had come to believe that it was not possible for a man to love his wife more than I loved you. And yet I see there is no end to love, and that it is still true that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ I am quite certain that there is no lover, anywhere, writing to his girl who is quite as mad about her as I am.”

I have taken a cue from these godly men to unblushingly express myself in this way to and about the wife of my youth. The liveliness and cheerfulness that Shupe exudes; her gentle and kind spirit; her godliness, simplicity, humility and generous heart are just the kind of virtues any man would want in a wife, better still, a pastor’s wife. In her courage to gently but firmly straighten me, I have found a suitable helper without whom much good in me would not abide. And not on a few occasions have I thought to myself, "I don’t think I deserve her."

I thank God for this precious gift. Happy 14th Anniversary dear!!!

"...HE BEING DEAD YET SPEAKETH" (Hebrews 11:4)

May 27th marks the 445th year since the death of the Genevan Reformer, John Calvin. Calvin died on 27th May, 1564, at the age of 54. Almost four and half centuries since his death, calvin still speaks to us today. He has had a tremendous influence upon the world that has shaped the church and society in general.


A few weeks from now, on July 10th to be precise, Christians throughout the world, especially those of the Reformed persuasion will be commemorating the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birthday. Calvin is arguably one of the most profound religious thinkers and theologians in history. In the words of Stephen J. Lawson in his book, The Expository Genius of John Calvin, he writes: Calvin was "a world-class theologian, revered exegete, renowned teacher, an ecclesiastical statesman, an influential reformer - he was all of these and more."

Reformation Zambia, a Zambian Reformed Baptist Periodical is dedicating its second issue in this year to the legacy of John Calvin. Though it's been hundreds of years since his death, Calvin speaks to us today through his numerous writings.


Theodore Beza, who succeeded Calvin in Geneva writes the following tribute to Calvin in his book, The Life of John Calvin:

"Having been a spectator of his conduct for sixteen years, I have given a faithful account both of his life and of his death, and I can now declare, that in him all men may see a most beautiful example of Christian character, an example which it is easy to slander as it is difficult to imitate."

Calvin always closed his sermons with a prayer. I leave you with one such prayer which demonstrates his profound sense of reverence for the Word of God:

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou shinest on us by thy word, we may not be blind at midnight, nor willfully seek darkness, and thus lull our minds asleep: but may we be roused daily by thy words, and may we stir up ourselves more and more to fear thy name and thus present ourselves and all our pursuits, as a sacrifice to thee, that thou mayest peaceably rule, and perpetually dwell in us, until thou gatherest us to thy celestial habitation, where there is reserved for us eternal rest and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Pastor Choolwe Mwetwa - 20 Years of Selfless, Faithful Ministry

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green..." (Psalm 92:12-14)

As newlyweds, my wife and I started our marital life in the mining town of Chingola (see map above), about 425km north of Lusaka. I had just graduated from my ministerial training at the Theological College of Central Africa (TCCA), and my wife had just started work with the giant copper mining conglomerate, the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM). We both immediately joined the membership of Central Baptist Church (CBC), pastored by a dear brother and colleague, Choolwe Mwetwa. That was 12 years ago (1997 to be precise).


Pastor Mwetwa took up the pastorate of Central Baptist Church in November 1988 (Pictured here with his vivacious and charming wife Marilyn). In November, 2008, Pastor Mwetwa clocked 20 years of faithful ministry at CBC. His close friend and peer, Pastor Conrad Mbewe wrote an excellent tribute marking the 20th anniversary of his ministry (see Pastor Mbewe's blog posting at http://www.conradmbewe.com/2008/11/my-great-friend-pastor-choolwe-mwetwa.html

On Saturday, 31st January, 2009, Central Baptist Church hosted the 20th anniversary celebration service at Jesus Worship Centre. My family had the privilege of being part of this milestone in the life of our dear brother and the church. Several brethren from sister churches on the Copperbelt and Lusaka, as well as other Christians from the town of Chingola attended this colourful and joyous event (see picture of Pastor Mwetwa with the Reformed Baptist pastors who attended - from left to right: Isaac Makashinyi, Kabwe Kabwe, Ronald Kalifungwa, Choolwe Mwetwa, Ndonji Kayombo)

The celebration and service of thanksgiving was marked by testimonies from some of the members of Central Baptist Church; a visual photo-story of Pastor Mwetwa's ministry; singing by Janet Chisupa (Kabwata Baptist Church, Lusaka) and Mrs. Lumpuma C. Kayombo (Trinity Baptist Church, Kitwe); presentation of gifts, a cake and memorabilia to the Mwetwas. (see picture of Pastor and Mrs. Mwetwa receiving a gift from Mr. Ray Munsaka, elder of Central Baptist Church. And below, the Mwetwas cutting the cake).

God's Word was ably and faithfully preached by Pastor Ronald Kalifungwa of Lusaka Baptist Church. His text was John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Pastor Kalifungwa described Pastor Mwetwa as an exceptionally gifted man, much sought after by many pulpits within and beyond the borders of Zambia. He said that his greatness did not lie in any qualities inherent in him, but in the gifts that the One who had called him into ministry, has been pleased to bestow upon him.

If there is one word which best describes Pastor Mwetwa, it is the word "faithful."

For 20 years, Pastor Mwetwa has faithfully laboured in God's vineyard in the town of Chingola with selfless dedication and humility. I was privileged to serve as an elder alongside him and Dr. Duncan Mugala at Central Baptist Church for over three years (see picture taken on the day of my ordination in 1998).


I vividly recall his penetrating and depth of insight on any subject in our elders' meetings. It is his clarity of thought and theological acumen that made Pastor Mbewe write that "If God ever gave a John Owen to Zambia, he did so in the person of Choolwe." I cannot agree more with this observation. My time in Chingola was of tremendous benefit to me as I received practical experience on various intricate matters of church life and ministry. Besides serving together in the eldership, our houses were just a stone's throw away from each other. This meant that I was a regular visitor to the manse, spending long hours with him - drinking deeply from the well of his vast and wealth of knowledge and experience. It was a great honour to serve with him at CBC. The first church I pastored, Trinity Baptist Church in Kitwe was planted by CBC, and nurtured from its infancy by the fatherly oversight of Pastor Mwetwa and Dr. Mugala.

Someone has said that "great heroes seldom write their own stories." Pastor Mwetwa is one man who would never call attention to his great accomplishments in the 20 years of ministry at CBC, the reformed baptist movement in Zambia and the nation at large. His life has truly flourished among us, casting a bright glow on our ecclesiastical landscape. The words of the psalmist quoted at the beginning of this post aptly describe Pastor Mwetwa. "He has flourished like a palm tree...like a cedar of Lebanon."

The palm tree is one of the noblest and most beautiful of trees. It is remarkable for its straight and upright growth. It is known to rise to the height of more than 30 metres, and its leaves when it arrives at maturity are often 1.8 to 2.4m in length and broad in proportion. At the age of 30 years, the palm tree obtains its greatest vigour and continues in full strength and beauty approximately for another 70 years, living to be 100 years, 70 of them of abundant fruitfulness, producing every year about 140 to 185 kilograms of grapes. It has a very firm and deep root system.

On the other hand, the cedar of Lebanon grows to a very great size, rising to an enormous height and spreading its branches to a great extent. It continues to flourish for more than a thousand years. The point I am making here is that such has been the fruitfulness and vigour we have observed in Pastor Mwetwa. His life exudes the beauty of the Lord He serves. We are profoundly grateful to the Lord for giving us a man of such exceptional and outstanding qualities, which include his desire for excellence in all things and his quiet and gentle way of doing things. Pastor Mwetwa has faced many significant challenges with unusual grace and has been an example of confident trust in the Lord.

May the Lord bless the ministry of His choice servant, bless his family, and the family of God's people at Central Baptist Church, Chingola.