The Great Gillespie

The Great Gillespie

What one does during life matters more than how long one lives.

BORN IN Scotland on January 21, 1613, George Gillespie attended the University of St. Andrews. He first came to prominence in 1637 when he anonymously published A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies, Obtruded Upon the Church of Scotland, in which he criticized the Episcopalian innovations imposed by King Charles I on the Church of Scotland, which was Presbyterian. In 1643, only one year after becoming the pastor of Greyfairs Church in Edinburgh, Gillespie was the youngest of the four Scottish ministers chosen to attend the Westminster Assembly, considered by many the greatest assembly of theologians of all time, called by the Puritan English Parliament to advise and guide it in promoting the Reformation.

In his day he was often referred to as the “Great Mr. Gillespie.” He was the most able defender of Presbyterian Church government at the assembly, and he provided the material for many legends—some true and some exaggerated. Nevertheless, the legends illustrate the godly character of the meetings and Gillespie’s role in them. One such story begins with the assembly wrestling with the question “What is God?” George Gillespie was asked to pray for guidance for the assembly. His prayer, “O God, thou who art a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in thy being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth . . .” provided the Westminster Catechism’s answer.

Another story tells of Gillespie’s skill as an orator and thinker. During a debate on whether the church or the state had the authority to excommunicate, Samuel Rutherford, Gillespie’s older colleague, called upon Gillespie to respond, saying: “Rise, George, rise up, man, and defend the right of the Lord Jesus Christ to govern by His own laws.” Gillespie began by summarizing the speech of his opponent, and then piece by piece he broke down his opponent’s arguments. So convincing was his reasoning and oration that Gillespie’s opponent exclaimed, “That young man, by this single speech has swept away the learning and labor of ten years of my life.”

Perhaps the most reliable tale is the story of Gillespie’s notebook. While listening to an opponent and preparing to respond, Gillespie appeared to be taking very detailed notes. After Gillespie presented his persuasive response, men sitting beside him found nothing about the speech in the notebook. Instead, they found in Latin such notes as: “Lord, send light,” “Lord, give assistance,” and “Lord, defend thine own cause.”

Upon his return home from London, Gillespie was elected to serve in the High Church of Edinburgh in 1647 and was selected as moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh in the summer of 1648.

Shortly thereafter Gillespie became gravely ill with tuberculosis at the age of thirty-six. During his last days he received a letter from his old friend and colleague Samuel Rutherford, who wrote to him from St. Andrews: “Be not heavy: the life of faith is now called for; doing was never reckoned in your account; though Christ in and by you hath done more than by twenty, yea, an hundred gray-haired and godly pastors. Believing now is your last. Look to that word, Galatians 2:20.”

In 1661, twelve years after Gillespie’s death, King Charles I forced the Episcopal government of the Church of England upon the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. To dramatize this event, Parliament removed Gillespie’s tombstone from his grave and had it publicly broken to pieces.

His tombstone is no more, but the documents of the Westminster Assembly live on as a memorial to George Gillespie and the others who drafted them.

Reflection

When a gifted person dies at a young age, the world often laments, “If only he could have lived longer.” None of us knows the number of days God will give us, yet we know that those days will be enough to do what he has planned for us. How are you using the time that God has granted to you?

So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.

Ephesians 5:15-17