‘Souls did, as it were, come like flocks to Jesus Christ!’ – Rumours of a great Move of God in New England

Jonathan Edwards

‘Show us Your strength, O God!’
There are several features of genuine revival that crop up again and again. If you’ve read a few accounts you will recognise them.

One is that they tend to spread! News comes across from somewhere else. ‘Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.’ Proverbs 25:25 (ESV)

When news of a powerful move of God is heard a longing is created in the hearts of those who hear and they cry to God. In fact, the news itself seems almost to be a promise of imminent blessing.

In one sense, that is the purpose of this blog – that we see what God has done in the past and cry to Him to move in similar power in our own day.

‘Summon your power, O God; show us your strength, O God, as you have done before.’ Psalm 68:28 (ESV)

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts, English hymn writer (‘When I survey the Wondrous Cross’ and many others), Independent Church Leader, Christian Statesman, serving God in the later years of his life, eagerly heard news of a sudden outbreak of conversions in New England.

News had come from a friend in Boston (America) and Watts, and many others, wanted to hear more.

33 year old Jonathan Edwards, Pastor and theologian, a judicious observer and willing participant in the religious revival, set about writing an orderly account of what had taken place two years before. Isaac Watts and John Guyse wrote an introduction for their British readers.

In it we hear the familiar sound of those who discover a true Awakening:

‘Never did we hear or read, since the first ages of Christianity, any event of this kind so surprising as the present Narrative hath set before us.’ (Preface, A Narrative of Surprising Conversions, in Jonathan Edwards on Revival, Banner of Truth, p.1)

They were not exaggerating. An appeal to the Book of Acts, particularly the Second Chapter is a standard appeal of those writing about revival.

‘There is a spot of Ground…’
‘There is a spot of ground, as we are here informed, wherein there are twelve or fourteen towns and villages, chiefly situate (sic) in New Hampshire…wherein it pleased God, two years ago, to display his free and sovereign mercy in the conversion of a great multitude of souls in a short space of time…’ (ibid. p.2)

Watts goes on to say, ‘We see how easy it is for him with one turn of his hand, with one word of his mouth, to awaken whole countries…and kindle divine life in their souls.’ (ibid. p.3)

Edwards’ account, snippets of which we shall enjoy together – and be deeply inspired by – describes the unfolding, increasing, almost all-encompassing power of the gospel in a town, then in surrounding towns, and soon in a whole region.

Isaac Watts on the state of England, just two years before the Awakening
But Watts was writing in ‘Old England’ and longing that God would do something there. Even as he writes his introduction, he longs for a similar awakening in Great Britain:

‘There has been a great and just complaint for many years among the ministers and churches of Old England…that the work of conversion goes on very slowly, that the Spirit of God in his saving influences is much withdrawn from the ministrations of his word, and there are few that receive the report of the gospel with any eminent success upon their hearts.’

In fact, he says, ‘our coldness in religion…and apostasy from the Christian faith…seem to have provoked the Spirit of Christ to absent himself from our nation.’ (ibid. p.2, 3)

Oh my dear Mr. Watts! Little did he know, writing as he was, in 1737, that in two short years the mightiest and most powerful outbreak of Christianity ever to touch the British Isles was to take place.

George Whitefield had already been converted (in 1735) and the Wesley brothers were soon to come to Christ the following year (1738). And 1739 was to be the beginning a whole new era for England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales – as well as bursting forth in America afresh.

What about us?
How far away are we from an unfathomable breakthrough? In our appropriate desire to patiently and wisely build great churches for God’s glory, have we forgotten that He can suddenly move? That He can suddenly act with great power, and accomplish more than we can imagine?

Don’t give up my friend, but seek God as you read these accounts of grace. You may be just two short years away from your nation’s greatest hour!

Note: I am using the terms ‘revival’ and ‘awakening’ interchangeably to mean a season in which God brings surprising numbers of non-believers to faith in Christ, and pours out His Spirit in such a manner that the non-Christian community is significantly affected, and churches increase significantly in size. I do not mean revival in the US sense of ‘a special series of fervent meetings aimed at either inspiring believers or presenting the gospel to non-believers’.

You can buy ‘Edwards on Revival’ here

You can read a review of Edwards on Revival here

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Kingdom of God and the Economy

A last brief thought on the Moravians (for the moment)
The presence of the Moravians brought both spiritual and economic blessing to the countries where they planted churches.  They seemed to be entrepreneurs as well as preachers!

They supplied the needs of the poor and developed businesses, providing employment.

Historian Ruth Tucker writes:

‘In Labrador, Moravian missionaries supported themselves through trade, with enough money left over to provide basic necessities for needy Eskimos.

They owned ships and trading posts, and through their example they interested Eskimos in [economic] pursuits.  The effect of their ministry was not only to bring the gospel to the people but also to significantly upgrade the economy.

In Surinam, on the north east coast of South America, the Moravians established a variety of businesses, including tailoring, watch-making, and baking.

As their economic influence grew, so did their spiritual influence, and a thriving Moravian church emerged in that country.’  (Ruth Tucker – From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, Zondervan, p. 69)

For a more critical assessment of the Moravian interaction with Inuit peoples of Labrador see http://www.heritage.nf.ca/aboriginal/inuit_impacts.html

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Holy Spirit and a Life Given freely for the Mission

Moravian Leader, Count Zinzendorf

Willingness in a Day of God’s Power
We have seen how radical the Moravian movement was in terms of their willingness to go to far off places and faithfully serve people with the gospel.

This came about, by their own admission, as a result of the move of the Holy Spirit amongst them in 1727. We shall see in later posts how this same dynamic operated in England and America, a move of God so powerful that it’s been called ‘The Great Awakening’.

Crossing Racial and Cultural Barriers
In this post we’ll look at how this impulse for mission enabled them to cross cultural and racial boundaries (albeit imperfectly) and how they reached out towards the slave communities of the West Indies (then under Danish rule).

Mark Noll, in the slow moving but fact-filled work, ‘The Rise of Evangelicalism’ takes up the story:

‘In the early 1730’s a black servant at the court of the King of Denmark, by the name of Anton, was brought to Herrnhut by Count Zinzendorf so that he could plea for volunteers willing to go to his native St. Thomas (Virgin Islands).

Anton hoped in particular that they could share the gospel message with his enslaved sister Anna.

David Nitschmann

In response, Johann Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann left Germany for St. Thomas, where the work they began in 1732 produced almost immediate results.’ (Mark Noll, The Rise of Evangelicalism, IVP, p.161-2)

Apostolic Passion
It was in preparation for this work that the servant-hearted Dober expressed his willingness to give all to reach the slaves with the gospel, even if it meant his own enslavement. The motivation of his heart was expressed with apostolic simplicity: ‘on the island there still are souls who cannot believe because they have not heard.’ (Christian History Magazine, Issue 1)

Johann Leonard Dober

The Moravian missionaries followed in the footsteps of the Anglicans, who had arrived earlier, but the local people preferred the Moravian message.

Noll writes, ‘Anglican Christianity remained resolutely hierarchical, made much of status and hereditary roles…[and] maintained sharp racial divisions.’

By contrast the Moravians seemed to be offering a far more inclusive style of church life. ‘They encouraged blacks to sing with whites, preached spiritual equality before God and welcomed the expression of religious emotion…’

‘So radical were the Moravians for their time that one of the early workers in St Thomas actually took a bride [of mixed race], a step that brought down the wrath of the island’s white planters…’ (ibid. p.162)

The Moravians also encouraged black preachers (or, ‘exhorters’) to emerge and serve in leadership positions in both small groups and congregations.

When they began planting churches in Jamaica (1754), Barbados (1765) and Antigua (1756) they were permitted to operate by the planters, but under close scrutiny. Noll adds, ‘ On Antigua there was special response, with over 11,000 gathered in Moravian churches by the end of the century.’ (ibid. p.162)

Did Moravian Missionaries really sell themselves into Slavery?
In my research on the Moravians I have yet to find an instance where Moravian missionaries voluntarily sold themselves into slavery, although this is often claimed.

Some assert that Dober and Nitschmann did this but produce no supporting evidence or sources to support the claim. As already noted, Dober expressed a willingness to become a slave if that were necessary, but I would be grateful to anyone who actually has primary or reliable secondary sources for the claim that any Moravian Missionary actually did so.

The Spirit and the Needs of the World
Nevertheless, once again we can see that a move of the Holy Spirit amongst Christians resulted in life long sacrifices for the sake of bringing the gospel to others. These Moravian community didn’t enthusiastically embark on a kind of self-centred quest purely for further experiences of the Spirit (although we must assume they enjoyed many such glorious times in the context of mission).

They certainly had their faults, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies, but were determined to bring the gospel to others.

They were filled with the power of the Spirit and set the course of their lives towards connecting with those outside the church, in order to bring them to Jesus Christ.

May God do the same with us in our day, for our generation.

© 2009 Lex Loizides

First the Holy Spirit Comes, then the Mission Grows

First the Spirit Comes, then the Mission Grows

We’ve been seeing how the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Moravian believers in the early 18th Century led them directly into evangelistic passion.

This passion not only resulted in fervent prayer, but also in actual plans to reach the nations of the world with the gospel message.

These Spirit-baptised believers did not merely revel in their enjoyment of the experience of God’s power but got to work, began to plan and sacrificially left home and country to proclaim the good news to others.

Organised for Mission
For every 60 Moravian believers, one was a missionary! That’s a staggering statistic compared to estimates for the rest of 18th Century Protestantism, which has been put at 1:5000 (See Ruth Tucker – From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, Zondervan, p.69).

In 1727 (two weeks after the outpouring) they began a 24 hour a day prayer meeting that lasted all through the Great Awakening and on for over a hundred years!

It was while Peter Boehler was on his way to America that he met John Wesley (in 1738) in the Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street, London and sparked the Evangelical Revival by gaining Wesley’s conversion!!

Zinzendorf even planted a church in Geneva (in 1741), having moved 50 people from Herrnhut as the core group.

A ‘Missional’ Church

In 1862 Bost wrote:

‘The church of the United Brethren may indeed be called a ‘missionary church’.  No other body of professing Christians can lay an equal claim to that appellation;

for the establishment of missions to the heathen is considered by them as part of the business of the church, as such, and one of the main designs of its existence, while every brother and sister stands prepared to go wherever the general voice shall determine, according to the opinion entertained of their qualifications and gifts.’  (A Bost – History of the Moravians, London, 1862, Religious Tract Society, p.400)

Jesus said we would ‘receive power when the Holy Spirit comes’ on us. But He didn’t stop at saying we were to enjoy God’s power. Something would happen. Something would change. And it is this: ‘you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8)

Are you seeking God for a similar outpouring of God’s ‘power’ on your life, and for similar results of His power?

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Missional Impact of an Outpouring of the Spirit

What results should we expect to see from a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

Count Zinzendorf, the Moravian leader, preaches the gospel

In Scripture we see a definite link between believers receiving the power of the Spirit and an increased boldness and desire to communicate the faith with others.

This is evident in many places. In Acts 1:8, just prior to His ascension, Jesus tells his followers, ‘you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ First the experience of God’s power, Second, an evangelistic community.

We see this again in Acts 4:30-31. Note what they prayed:

‘Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ (v.30)

And see the response of God to their prayer, and their subsequent behaviour:

‘After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.’ (v.31)

It is therefore, not surprising that we see this Scriptural pattern repeated in church history.

The Moravian community had experienced a ‘Pentecost’, ‘an overwhelming flood of divine grace’, as Zinzendorf had described it. Let’s see what happened next!

Their zeal for unreached peoples
As a result of the grace of God on this amazing group of believers they began sending out church planters long before William Carey (often called ‘the father of modern missions’) went to India in 1793.

Their first conference on world missions was held in 1728.  They were already involved in several countries because they had either been driven out of them or had fled into them for safety.  Nevertheless on January 4th 1728 (not even five months after their ‘Pentecost’) they began to intentionally plan to reach un-evangelised nations.

Moravian Historian Bost writes,
‘This first missionary meeting was celebrated by meditations on different portions of scripture, and fervent prayers; in the midst of which the church experienced a remarkable enjoyment of the presence of the Spirit.

The Brethren felt themselves urged to attempt something that might redound to the glory of the Lord; several distant countries were mentioned, and particularly Turkey, Northern Africa, Greenland and Lapland…They were thus inspired with great courage and disposed to hold themselves in readiness to engage in the sacred enterprise whenever the Lord should give the signal.’ (A Bost – History of the Moravians, London 1862, Religious Tract Society p.246)

The Moravians then went on to plant churches in the Virgin Islands (1732), Greenland (1733) – they saw a revival there in 1738 when hundreds of Eskimos were converted, North America (1734), Lapland and South America (1735), South Africa (1736), Jamaica (1754) and Labrador (1771).

Challenged yet? Inspired? Next time we’ll look a little a how they achieved this…

© 2009 Lex Loizides

An Overwhelming Flood of Grace – Unexpected Power in Germany

An Overwhelming Flood of Grace – The Moravians

Before the breakthrough of evangelism and mission which is commonly called The Great Awakening, there were already significant movements of revival. One of the significant influences on Whitefield and the Wesleys was that of the Moravian preachers and teachers.

Jan Huss, pre-Reformation leader and martyr

The roots of the Moravian (from the province of Moravia, modern Czech Republic) church go all the way back to pre-Reformation days to John Huss, the leader and martyr from Prague.

A Pilgrim Community
They were, like Huss before them, considered heretics at that time.  But even after the Reformation they had trouble on all sides. They didn’t fit comfortably with state church structures and became a kind of refugee community of faith, seemingly unable to settle peacefully even in Reformation countries.

They were persecuted and driven out of many places as they preached the gospel and built their homes.

Finally, after two hundred long years of wandering, in 1722 these religious refugees gathered at Herrnhut in Saxony (Germany) under the oversight of the godly and gracious Count Nicholas Zinzendorf.

Count Zinzendorf

Disunity
This group were made up from several church backgrounds although some were from The United Brethren (a kind of remnant of the ‘original’ Moravians). They sought to live together in peace after so much persecution. But there were sharp disagreements amongst them.  Zinzendorf had laboured to bring the various factions together for a Wednesday morning communion service on August 13 1727.

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
The squabbles came to an end when, after confessing their sins and seeking to be reconciled to each other, the Holy Spirit unexpectedly and suddenly fell on all of them.  This was a tangible experience of power they had not previously known.

Zinzendorf described this day as ‘our Pentecost’. Christian David, one of their greatest evangelists, said:

‘It is truly a miracle of God that out of so many kinds and sects as Catholics, Lutheran, Reformed, Seperatist, Gichtelian and the like, we could have been melted into one.’  (R.E. Davies – I will pour out My Spirit, Monarch, UK p.76)

Various descriptions of these ‘baptisms of the Spirit’ have been recorded:
Zinzendorf wrote, ‘We saw the hand of God and His wonders…
The Holy Ghost came upon us and in those days great signs and wonders took place in our midst.
From that time scarcely a day passed but that we beheld His Almighty workings amongst us.’

An Overwhelming Flood of Grace
‘A great hunger after the Word of God took possession of us so that we had to have three services every day: 5am, 7am and 9pm…an overwhelming flood of grace swept us all out into the great ocean of Divine Love.’  (ibid p.77)

God is able to overcome our limitations. The power of the Holy Spirit fell mightily on a disunited, grumbling and hounded people. And what began as a localised ‘Pentecost’, with manifestations of God’s power and presence in a small community, soon sparked a major church planting movement.

More next time…

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The 18th Century Awakening in Europe and America

The 18th Century Awakening in Europe and America

Early 18th C map of England and Wales

Introduction
To understand the global expansion of the Christian Faith across the world in the 19th and 20th centuries it is necessary to focus on the remarkable events of the 18th century in the relatively smaller area of Europe and America.

In Germany, America and Britain, against an unpromising backdrop of unbelief, there were a series of spiritual ‘explosions’ which occurred almost continuously through the 18th century.

When it seemed as though Christianity was finally outdated and running out of steam, a mighty breakthrough of spiritual life occurred which became practically irresistible.

The result of these numerous ‘revivals’ affected not only the life of the Church but also society as a whole.

Rooted strongly in the theology of the Reformation (16th Century) and the Puritans (17th Century) these young evangelists and church planters proclaimed a Bible-based message with a new passion.

Their experiences of God’s love and their encounters of the power of the Holy Spirit brought them criticism from the religious minority, and a skeptical press, but it gave them an irresistible magnetism amongst ordinary people.  Unprecedented numbers attended their meetings.

Soon a formidable army of preachers and leaders had been raised up who overcame both apathy and violent persecution and brought multitudes into the Kingdom, formed thousands of new churches and set the scene for an even greater thrust of the gospel into all the world.

Come! Let us return to an era where spiritual giants walked the land and the great sheaves of the Lord’s Harvest were carried home by rejoicing believers.

We will first enjoy the early sparks of the Awakening and then consider the mighty reforming fire that followed. If you have never read the history of the Christian Church in the 18th Century then you will surely be thrilled by what you are about to read. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones recommended the 18th Century to any who were feeling discouraged and asking the question, ‘Can God truly break through, in our situation?’

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Decline of Faith in England…PostPuritanism

Postpuritanism and the Decline of English Christianity

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was Britain’s foremost Puritan political leader and continues to be a controversial figure. Cromwell was primarily a soldier and politician.

He was certainly not without faults but was seeking to lead Britain into a period of moral advance and of Christian faith.

Cromwell‘s contribution to the evolution of democracy is significant.  He sought to curtail the whim or greed of the monarch, for the ultimate good of the people.  Having finally broken the absolute authority of the English Monarchy he was himself offered the crown by the English Parliament, which he refused.

Nevertheless, after his death with the Restoration of the Monarchy and the Act Of Uniformity in 1662 pre-Puritan and pre-Reformation influences returned. Cromwell’s body was dug up and posthumously executed! But the desire and the possibility of democracy had been established in puritan hearts – and was, indeed carried to the ‘New World’ by the Pilgrims.

Donald Drew, in a lecture entitled ‘England before and after John Wesley’ wrote the following:
‘Following the death of Cromwell and later that of his son Richard, Charles Stuart, the son of Charles I, returned from exile to become Charles II.

From the beginning of 1661, throughout his reign, punitive and vicious anti-puritan legislation reached the Statute Book…

These stabbed at the heart of Puritan legislation, religion, education and culture. Nearly one-fifth of all British clergy – those who opposed the Act of Uniformity – were expelled from the Church of England.

In their stead, cavalier place-seekers were installed. The overall result was the near extinction of biblical thinking and conduct amongst most clergy.

The strangulation of Puritanism and the suffocation by Deism had tragic consequences that expressed themselves during the first half of the eighteenth century.

A succession of archbishops and bishops lived luxuriously, neglected their duties, unashamedly solicited bishoprics and deaneries for themselves and their families. Parish clergy followed suit.’ (Quoted in Missionary Conspiracy, Letters to a Postmodern Hindu by Vishal Mangalwadi, Good Books, U.P. India p.260f)

It was at this time that many fled to the Netherlands and a brave company of believers set out for the ‘New World’ to form a country based on religious freedom, later to become the United States of America.

Those who didn’t flee could do little else than pray fervently for a mighty outpouring of the Spirit; indeed, for a Great Awakening to come.

And that’s when the story really picks up!

More next time…

For more on Cromwell visit http://www.olivercromwell.org

© 2009 Lex Loizides

Worry and Trust – Wisdom from the Past to Help you Today

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

The Bible encourages us not to worry. It’s a bit different from ‘Don’t worry – be happy’ because the source of our contentment is in the character and sovereignty of God. But still, we need to know the calming voice of God.

Philippians 4:6 says
‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’ (NIV)

Proverbs 12:25 says
‘Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.’ (ESV)

As we finish our brief look into Jeremiah Burroughs excellent work, ‘The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment’ I hope you will find ‘a good word’ which will lift you out of worry and into worship.

So let’s travel back three and a half centuries and see what the prevailing Christian counsel was for troubled souls then…

On Anxiety, or ‘Fretting’
‘When you are in a ship at sea which has all its sails spread with a full gale of wind, and is swiftly sailing, can you make it stand still by running up and down in the ship?

No more can you make the providence of God alter and change its course with your vexing and fretting; it will go on with power, do what you can.

Do but understand the power and efficacy of Providence [the planned and protective care of God] and it will be a mighty means helping you to learn this lesson of contentment.’ (p.112-113)

On Learning from Life’s Tough Experiences
‘I make no question but you find it so, that your worst voyages have proved your best.’ (p.214)

How a fretting disposition can lead us into further problems
‘Contentment delivers us from an abundance of temptations. Oh, the temptations that men of discontented spirits are subject to! The Devil loves to fish in troubled waters.’ (p.126)

On the Unreasonable Nature of Discontent
‘Has God converted you, and drawn you to his Son to cast your soul upon him for all your good, and yet you are discontented for the want of some little matter in a creature comfort?’ (p.142)

On not becoming Bitter with God when things don’t go well
‘Oh, my brethren…retain good thoughts of God, take heed of judging God to be a hard master, make good interpretations of his ways, and that is a special means to help you to contentment in all one’s course.’ (p.225)

On the Goodness of God in all of Life
‘A believer…is set apart to the end that God might manifest to all eternity what his infinite power is able to do to make a creature happy.’ (p.147)

God will look to you, and see you blessed if you are in the work God calls you to. (p.217)

On not becoming Materialistic
‘Be not inordinately taken up with the comforts of this world when you have them.’ (p.226)

Should the Believer be an Overcomer or a Worrier?
‘The spirit of a Christian should be a lion-like spirit; as Jesus Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (so he is called) so we should manifest something of the lion-like spirit of Jesus Christ.’ (p.148)

All quotations are taken from ‘The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment’, Banner of Truth edition, which you can purchase here

© 2009 Lex Loizides

Wealth, Comfort and the Gospel – A Puritan Perspective

Wisdom from Old Times – Prosperity and Adversity from a Puritan Perspective

How focused should we be on material success and wealth? How focused should we be on eternity? Should the fluctuation of our material comforts have a significant influence on our experience of peace, or should we be able to set our hearts on the future grace to be revealed at Christ’s coming?

These are questions addressed in one of the most beautifully named Puritan books, ‘The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment’.

Jeremiah Burroughs

This short work was first published in 1648 by Jeremiah Burroughs. Burroughs was yet another mighty Puritan teacher/preacher educated at Emmanuel College at Cambridge University, England. After graduating, Burroughs served in churches in East Anglia, England and then in Rotterdam, Holland.

Some of his insights and comments are challenging. I don’t like some of them! But maybe it’s the ones I don’t like that should instruct me the most!

If you are facing difficult times at the moment then it may be that you will find strength and help in some of the wisdom from the 17th Century.

On God as the Source of true Peace
‘The good of my life and comforts and my happiness and my glory and my riches are more in God than in myself.’ (p.54)

‘If the children of God have their little taken from them, they can make up all their wants in God himself.’ (p.65)

‘Every comfort you have is a forerunner of those eternal mercies you shall have with God in Heaven.’ (p.59)

‘If you will only have contentment when God’s ways suit with your own ends, you can have it only now and then, but a self-denying man denies his own ends, and only looks at the ends of God and therein he is contented…The lesson of self-denial is the first lesson that Jesus Christ teaches men who are seeking contentment.’ (p.90-91)

On the Unchanging Nature of Human Desire
‘The world is infinitely deceived in thinking that contentment lies in having more than we already have.’ (p.45-46)

‘So if we come to understanding in the school of Christ we will not cry, ‘Why have I not got such wealth as others have?’, but, ‘The Lord sees that I am not able to manage it and I see it myself by knowing my own heart.’’ (p.102)

On how Affliction may Help and Prosperity may Hurt
‘You do not find one godly man who came out of an affliction worse than when he went into it; though for a while he was shaken, yet at last he was better for an affliction.
But a great many godly men, you find, have been worse for their prosperity.’ (p.50)

On Trusting God in Troubled Times
‘We must not have hearts hurrying up and down in trouble, discontent and vexing, but still and quiet hearts, if we [want to] receive mercy from the Lord. If a child throws and kicks up and down for a thing, you [will] not give it him when he cries so…

Even though, perhaps, you intend him to have what he cries for, you will not give it him till he is quiet, and comes, and stands still before you, and is contented without it, and then you will give it him. And truly so does the Lord deal with us.’ (p.124)

‘God is doing you good if you could see it, and if he is pleased to sanctify your affliction to break that hard heart of yours, and humble that proud spirit of yours, it would be the greatest mercy that you ever had in all your life.’ (p.181-2)

‘By contentment we come to give God the worship that is due to him.’ (p.119)

On the Bible as a Source of Comfort
‘There is no condition that a godly man or woman can be in, but there is some promise or other in the Scripture to help him in that condition.’ (p.69)

God has provided for us in His word and in Himself. In all the various trials we face we need to exercise faith in Him, either to be content in our need or to see the necessary breakthrough come.  As Burroughs says, there’s no circumstance in life that we face but that some passage of Scripture can speak to us and help us through.

More next time…

All quotations are taken from ‘The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment’, Banner of Truth edition, which you can purchase here

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Puritans on Hell and How to Avoid it

The English Puritans have a reputation. Within our popular culture, it’s not a good one!

These ‘Old Calvinists’ didn’t really hold back, and when they felt the souls of men and women were in danger. They cried, and called, and declared and wept – to try and turn people from sin to Christ.

Here is Ralph Venning again, urging his readers to change their beliefs and lifestyle. This is as ‘pure puritan’ as it gets, and while some of the statements are strong, they represent the passion of the Puritan preachers of the 17th century accurately.

On the Weakness of Punishment over the Power of Sin
‘Even the flood, which washed away so many sinners, could not wash away sin; the same heart remains after the flood as before.’ (p.46)

On the Deceitfulness of Sin
‘[Sin] It is like the pleasure of the man who receives much money, but it is all counterfeit.’ (p.210)

On the Eternal Consequences of sin
‘Sin costs dear, but profits nothing. They make a bad purchase who buy their own damnation.’ (p.201)

On Hell
‘The torments themselves will be universal. It will not be merely one or two torments but all torments united. Hell is the place of torment itself (Luke 16.28). It is the centre of all punishments, sorrow and pain, wrath and vengeance, fire and darkness’ (p.84)

The Deceitfulness of Sin
‘Sin disappoints men; they have false joys but true miseries.’ (p.131)

On the Need to put our Trust in Jesus Christ
‘No matter how much you have, and how much you use it, [sin] will never satisfy, and therefore must vex you. No satisfaction, no profit! A man’s aim is satisfaction (Luke 12.19), but the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear with hearing (Ecclesiastes 1.8). Now if these things cannot satisfy the senses (Ecclesiastes 6.7), much less can they satisfy the souls of men.’ (p.203)

‘Sin cannot fill up the boundless and infinite desire which is in the heart of man, but disappoints it.’ (p.207)

On the Goodness of God in the Gospel
‘The goodness of God leads you to repentance; he might have driven you into it by terrors, but he gently leads you…God waits to be gracious, and is patient…
He might have called and knocked at your door once and then no more, but he has stood and knocked and begged, and [has] given you space and means (Revelation 2.21; Luke 16.31)…If, then, you do not repent, it is a greater affront to God than was your former sin.

On Finding Salvation at last!
‘Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out’ (Acts 3.19); they shall be as if they had not been…God looks upon men, and…if anyone repents, he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light (Job 33.27,28).
Indeed, God is not only merciful, but if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1.9). How this obliges us to repent!’ (p.218-219)

All quotes are taken from ‘The Plague of Plagues’ Banner of Truth edition, now published as ‘The Sinfulness of Sin’.

You can purchase ‘The Sinfulness of Sin’ here

© 2009 Lex Loizides

The Puritans and Sin

Ralph Venning

The Main Problem of the Human Condition
At a popular level the puritans would be regarded as moralistic and even nit-picky! But, as we’ve seen with other pioneers of the Christian Faith that’s simply a caricature.

The puritans had a passion for the Bible, a passion for the Church and a passion for seeing the gospel impact every area of life.

They also had a frank view of the primary problem confronting mankind: sin.  To a puritan who was committed to Biblical thinking this was a clear as day.

Man’s primary internal problem was sin, Man’s primary enemy was sin, and Man’s most significant hindrance in his relationship to God was sin.

The solution to this problem was not to be found in a strict morality but in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He died for sin, taking the weight of the just penalty of sin upon Himself, for our benefit. He did this so that, by repentance and faith, we might be forgiven and reconciled to God.

The hostility between God and Man would end, and sin could be defeated at last. Because He overcame both sin and death, we too might live a life pleasing to God.

The Plague of Plagues
It’s not surprising then to find amongst a bookshelf of puritan writings a volume entitled ‘The Plague of Plagues’ (1669), a startling assault against sin and its damaging effects on mankind.

Indeed, Ralph Venning, its author states that he was writing against sin because sin ‘is against man’s good and happiness.’

Venning, like Brooks, was educated at Cambridge University and pastored in London. He, like Brooks and others, was fired from his position in the Church of England, and became a minister of an Independent Church in London.

Here are some edifying examples of Venning’s clarity on the subtle dangers of sin. In urging his hearers to decide for Christ and holiness, he also restores clarity to the essential nature of mankind’s struggle against God’s goodness.

‘It cannot but be extremely useful to let men see what sin is: how prodigiously vile, how deadly mischievous and therefore how monstrously ugly and odious a thing sin is.’ (p.18)

‘It [sin] gives out false reports of God and goodness.’ (p.35)

‘Shall I not plead for God and your soul, and entreat you to be on God’s side, and to depart from the tents of wickedness? Poor soul! Can you find it in your heart to hug and embrace such a monster as this? Will you love that which hates God, and which God hates? God forbid!’ (p.36)

‘Oh, look to yourself, for sin, notwithstanding all its flattering pretences, is against you, and seeks nothing less than your ruin and damnation.’ (p.37)

‘Sin in the Christian is ‘a self civil war.’ (p.43)

‘Sin is the burden of every good man’s soul.’ (p.126)

All quotes are taken from Ralph Venning, The Plague of Plagues, now published as ‘The Sinfulness of Sin’.

You can purchase ‘The Sinfulness of Sin’ here

© 2009 Lex Loizides