John Thomas Lewis - "The Great Warrior"
(Editor's note: This article is a reproduction of the talk given by Brother Moore at the time of Brother Lewis funeral. Brother Moore was, and for some years had been, preaching at the Ensley congregation where Brother Lewis regularly attended until he became bedfast.)
Truly "a prince and a great man is fallen this day in Israel."
"The pains of death are passed, Labor and sorrows cease;
And life's long warfare closed at last, His soul is found in peace.
Soldier of Christ, well done! Praise be thy new employ!
And while eternal ages run, Rest in thy Savior's joy."
-Montgomery
"Servant of God, well done!
Thy glorious warfare's past, The battle's fought, the race is won.
And thou art crowned at last."
--Anon
"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints;...."
I have used this lengthy reading for two reasons: (1) it is typical of the kind of "text" that Brother Lewis often read at the beginning of a sermon, although he could quote it verbatim, never apologizing for such a lengthy reading of God's Holy Word for to him this was the best part of his preaching; and, (2) I have never known any man whose life is more beautifully typified by this reading than was his. I have known, loved and greatly admired Brother Lewis for over twenty five years and, due to the fact that I was invited to succeed him as evangelist of the church in Ensley where he preached for over thirty five years, had the opportunity to know him quite intimately for the past five years. Every time I read this passage of Scripture I can see Brother Lewis standing stern and solemn in the pulpit, leaning slightly forward; the thumb of his left hand hooked in his left front pocket and his fingers hanging loosely by his side; the seriousness of the occasion registered on his face: a dying man talking to dying men and women, knowing that this might be his last opportunity to teach them the truth and this might be their last opportunity to hear it; "Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel." Yet, I hear the enemy stir without the camp; and IMMEDIATELY, as quick as a flash, I see the glitter of the "Sword of the Spirit" as he draws it from the "scabbard," ready to do battle for the God of Israel against every "uncircumcised Philistine" on earth, with complete and unwavering confidence that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob and the God of John T. Lewis would give him the victory "through the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!" I suppose this is why I have always thought of Brother Lewis as "the Great Warrior."
Brother Lewis was truly "of the old school." He firmly believed that when and where error was taught was the time and place to wade into it. After we moved to Ensley, it was my pleasure to take Brother Lewis to the Lecture Program of Florida College, the last one he was able to attend. In one of the evening lectures, a speaker taught something which Brother Lewis thought was rank error. Although the large auditorium was filled to capacity, as soon as the speaker finished with his address, Brother Lewis hit the floor and said, "Brother Cope, I have some questions for that young man." A few years ago Brother Lewis and several other brethren went over into Mississippi to hear a Liberal preacher lecture on his favorite hobby. During the course of the lesson he called Brother Lewis' name and said, "He has split churches all over this country." Brother Lewis didn't wait until service was over to challenge the speaker; he arose immediately and said, "Brother, I challenge you to name one church that John T. Lewis has ever split over anything." The challenge was so embarrassing to the speaker and his followers, because they couldn't name even one church he had split, that even unto this day they are circulating bitter falsehoods on "the Great Warrior."
For the past ten or twelve years, Brother Lewis mentioned to me a number of times that he planned to retire when he reached eighty five, and then he would add, "I would like for you to take my place." I was flattered beyond expression. Very often I received such questions as, "How does it feel to be filling Brother Lewis' shoes?" "How does it feel to be preaching with Brother Lewis in the audience?" Of course, I never allowed myself to think that I was filling Brother Lewis' shoes, nor that I or anyone else could fill his shoes. If all that I had known about Brother Lewis was what I had heard, I would not have gone to Ensley to begin with. But, knowing him as I did, I knew he would be pulling for me with all his might, contributing all that he could to the progress of the Cause and giving me his fullest cooperation. My desires and expectations along this line were more than fully realized. Our relationship could not have been more delightful! When Brother Lewis and I would go some place, invariably someone would ask, "Brother Lewis, are you still worshipping at Ensley?" He would reply, "Certainly." And then with a twinkle in his eyes he would nod toward me and jokingly say, "This is my pastor."
Somehow or other, I never thought of Brother Lewis as having weaknesses and infirmities that are common to all men; I never really thought of him as one who suffered pain, sorrowed and needed comforting. I suppose that is one reason it hurt so much when, on Lord's day evening, April 3, 1966, a short time after he had celebrated his 90th birthday, the doctor came to Brother Lewis' sick bed from the hospital room where his beloved "Miss Della" had been critically ill for several days, laid his hand on Brother Lewis' shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, Brother Lewis; Sister Lewis just died." Brother Lewis wept openly, unashamedly and uncontrollably for several minutes. After a while he said, "I'm ready to go." In the days to follow, he often repeated those words. He had largely lost his desire to live "because all I have in the world is gone." He had a desire "to depart and be with Christ," and "Mammy," and "Sweetheart."
Right after moving to Ensley, Brother Lewis said to me one day, "Let's go to Tennessee tomorrow." I had heard of those famous trips to "the old home place" from a large number of people and had always wanted to take one. Such a trip always called for getting up early in the morning, eating ham and eggs in Cullman, eating a really big dinner with Brother and Sister Frank Lewis and returning home in the afternoon. As we were returning, we were riding along in silence and suddenly, as we topped one of those hills, there burst upon my sight such an extraordinary view as I had never seen before: the setting sun was a glowing red and it seemed that I could see those beautiful rolling multi-colored Tennessee hills for a hundred miles. Before I knew it, I was singing aloud, "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be." I called Brother Lewis' attention to the view, in an effort to get him to give me some of his thoughts about heaven. He just sat there in silence, as though he were ignoring me. Then after a while he said, "I've never thought too much about it; I've spent all my time trying to get there."
I have heard Brother Lewis preach many funeral sermons. The "eulogy" part usually consisted of a very few brief remarks concerning his acquaintance with the deceased and their relationship at the time of death. He often expressed to me what a "waste of time" it was to "eulogize" the dead; especially, when there were so many people present who were lost. I have never heard him fail to quote The Great Commission, "according to Matthew," in the course of his sermon. How I was tempted to talk of the life of this great man, as I stood over his mortal remains that Lord's day afternoon, February 19, 1967! However, he had remarked a number of times in the final months that he wanted his funeral to be "just like `Sweetheart's'." in every essential detail, which it was, consisting of the reading, without comment, a large selection, of passages from the Bible which we believed to be most appropriate.
The last message that I received from Brother Lewis was so typical also of his very nature. His niece, Sister Judy Simpson, was sitting with Him in the hospital on Thursday before his death on Friday, writing me a report of his condition, which she often did during those last weeks, and she asked him if he had a message for me. He replied, "Tell him I am just fighting it out...and that I hope to see him when I get home."
Brother Lewis has gone; I am just fighting it out; and, I hope to see him when I get "home."