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CHAPTER 1 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 10 }

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  { PT.  10 } - In all their preaching, they were eminently men of one Book. They were content to affix their faith to that Book and to stand or fall by it. This was one great characteristic of their preaching. They honored, loved, and reverenced the Bible.                                    THE REFORMERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CONSTANTLY TAUGHT THE TOTAL CORRUPTION OF HUMAN NATURE. - They knew nothing that Christ is in everyone possesses something good within that they only have to stir up and use in order to be saved. They never flattered men and women in this way. They told them plainly that they were dead and must be made alive again, that they were guilty, lost, helpless, hopeless, and in imminent danger of eternal ruin. As strange and paradoxical as it might seem to some, their first step toward making people good was to show them that they were utterly bad. Their main argument in persuading people to do something for their souls was to convince them that they could do nothing

[ CHAPTER 1 ] ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) { PT. 9 }

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{ PT.  9 } - The strongholds of the eighteenth century's sins would never have been cast down by mere sincere teaching. The trumpets that blew down the walls of Jericho were trumpets that gave a certain sound. The English evangelists of the eighteenth century were not men of uncertain beliefs. What was it that they proclaimed? A little information on this point might be useful.                                              THE SPIRITUAL REFORMERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CONSTANTLY TAUGHT THE SUFFICIENCY AND SUPREMACY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. - The Bible, whole and complete, was their only standard of faith and practice. They accepted all its statements without question or dispute. They knew nothing of any part of Scripture being uninspired. They never believed that man has any verifying ability within him by which Scripture statements can be weighed, rejected, or received. They never hesitated to declare that there can be no error in the Word of God, and that when we cannot understand o

( CHAPTER 1 ) - [ CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ] - { PT. 8 }

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{ PT.  8 } - They spoke like men who had received a message from God to the people, and they knew that they had to deliver it and had to have your attention while they delivered it. They threw heart and soul and feeling into their sermons, and their hearers went home convinced that the preacher was sincere and desired the eternal well-being of the people. They believed that they had to speak from the heart if they wanted to speak to the heart. They knew that there had to be unmistakable faith and conviction within the pulpit if there was to be faith and conviction among the pews. All this had become almost obsolete a hundred years ago. Can we be surprised that it took people by storm and produced an immense effect? What was the substance and subject matter of the preaching that produced such a wonderful impact a hundred years ago? I will not insult my reader's common sense by only saying that it was simple, earnest, fervent, real, congenial, brave, lifelike, and so forth, but I wan

( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18 CENTURY ) - { PT. 7 }

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  { PT.  7 } - To attain this, they used illustrations and anecdotes in abundance, and like their divine Master, they borrowed lessons from every object in nature. They carried out the proverb of Augustine: A wooden key is not as beautiful as a golden one, but if it can open the door when the golden one cannot, it is far more useful. These men revived the style of sermons in which Martin Luther and Hugh Latimer used to be so eminently successful. They saw the truth of what the great German reformer meant when he said, No one can be a good preacher to the people who is not willing to preach in a manner that seems childish and common to some. This was all new again a hundred years ago.                                                                                  THEY PREACHED FERVENTLY AND DIRECTLY. They cast aside that dull, cold, heavy, lifeless mode of delivery that had long made sermons a very proverb for dullness. They proclaimed the words of faith with faith and the story of lif

( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 6 }

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  { PT.  6 } - THEY PREACHED EVERYWHERE. - If the pulpit of a parish church was open to them, they gladly preached from it. If it could not be obtained, they were just as ready to preach in a barn. No place was unsuitable for them. In the field or by the roadside, on the village green or in a marketplace, in lanes or in alleys, in cellars or in lofts, on a stand or on a table, on a bench or on a step--wherever hearers could be gathered, the spiritual reformers of the eighteenth century were ready to speak to them about their souls. They were instant in season and out of season ( 2  TIMOTHY  4:2 ) in doing the fisherman's work, and they compassed sea and land in carrying forward their Father's business. This was all something new. Can we be surprised that it produced a great impact?                                          THEY PREACHED SIMPLY. They rightly concluded that the very first requirement for a sermon is that it should be understood. They saw clearly that thousands of

CHAPTER 2 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 5 }

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  { PT.  5 } - It was neither more nor less than the old apostolic weapon of preaching. The sword that Paul wielded with such mighty results when he assaulted the strongholds of heathenism eighteen hundred years ago was the same sword by which they won their victories. To say, as some have done, that they neglected education and schools, is totally incorrect. Wherever they gathered congregations, they cared for the children. To say, as others have done, that they neglected the sacraments, is simply false. Those who make that assertion only expose their entire ignorance of the religious history of England a hundred years ago. It would be easy to name men among the leading reformers of the eighteenth century whose communicants could be counted by the hundreds, and who honored the Lord's Supper more than forty-nine out of fifty clergymen of their day. Beyond a doubt, though, preaching was their favorite weapon. They wisely went back to first principles and took up apostolic plans. The

CHAPTER 2 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 4 }

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  { PT.  4 } - The ignorant mob persecuted them. But the movement of these few evangelists went on and made itself felt in every part of the land. People were moved and awakened to think about religion. Many were shamed out of their sins. Many were restrained and frightened at their own ungodliness. Many were gathered together and compelled to profess a settled and heartfelt trust in Jesus Christ. Many were converted. Many who at first disliked the movement secretly desired to be part of it. The little sapling became a strong tree. The little creek became a deep, broad stream. The little spark became a steadily burning flame. A candle was lit, and we are still now enjoying the benefit. The feeling of all classes in the land gradually took on a completely different attitude about true religion and morality. All this, under God, was accomplished by a few unsupported, unpaid adventurers! When God takes a work in hand, nothing can stop it! When God is for us, none can be against us ( ROMAN

CHAPTER 2 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 3 }

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{ PT.  2 } - They did His work in the old apostolic way--by becoming the evangelists of their day. They taught one set of truths. They taught them in the same way--with fire, reality, and determination, as men fully convinced of what they taught. They taught them in the same spirit--always loving, compassionate, and like Paul, even weeping--but always bold, unflinching, and without fearing the face of man. They taught them with the same plan--always acting on the offensive, not waiting for sinners to come to them, but going after and seeking sinners. They did not sit idle until sinners offered to repent, but they assaulted the high places of ungodliness like men storming a breach, giving sinners no rest as long as they stuck to their sins. The movement of these courageous evangelists shook England from one end to the other. At first, people in high places tended to despise them. The educated people mocked at them as fanatics. The clever people made jokes and invented irreverent names f

CHAPTER 2 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 2 }

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  { PT.  2 } - Neither did the change come from the Church of England as a body. The leaders of that venerable group were utterly unequal to the times. Left to herself, the Church of England would probably have died of dignity and sunk her anchors. The change did not come from the Dissenters either. Content with their barely won triumphs, that worthy body of men seemed to rest upon their oars. In the full enjoyment of their rights of conscience, they forgot the great vital forefathers--and their own duties and responsibilities. Who, then, were the reformers of the eighteenth century? To who are we indebted, under God, for the change that took place? The men who were used by God to bring about deliverance for us a hundred years ago were a few individuals, most of them clergymen of the Established Church, whose hearts God touched about the same time in various parts of the country. They were not wealthy or highly connected. They did not have money to buy followers, and they did not have

CHAPTER 2 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 1 }

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CHAPTER  2 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - HOW CHRISTIANITY WAS REVIVED IN ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY - No well-informed person would ever attempt to deny the fact that a great change for the better has come over England in this nineteenth century. You might as well attempt to deny that there was a Protestant Reformation in the days of Luther. There had been a vast change for the better. Both in religion and morality, the country has gone through a complete revolution. People neither think, nor talk, nor act as they did in 1750. It is a great fact that the children of this world cannot deny, no matter how they might try to explain it. They might as well try to persuade us that high water and low water at London Bridge are one and the same thing. However, by what means was this great change brought about? To whom are we indebted for the immense improvement in religion and morality that undoubtedly has come over the land? Whom did God use to bring about the

{ CHAPTER 1 } - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - [ PT. 15 ]

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  CHAPTER  1  -  ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY )  -  { PT.  15 } - I do not say this boastfully. I know we have many things to regret, but I do say that we could be worse. I do say that we were much worse a hundred years ago. The general standard of religion and morality is undoubtedly far higher now. Nevertheless, in 1868, we are awake. We see and feel evils to which people were indifferent a hundred years ago. We struggle to be free from these evils. We want to change. This is a vast improvement. With all our many faults, we are not sound asleep. On every side there is stir, activity, moment, and progress--and not stagnation. As bad as we are, we confess our wrong. As weak as we are, we acknowledge our failings. As feeble as our efforts are, we strive to improve. As little as we do for Christ, we do try to do something. Let us thank God for this! Things could be worse. Comparing our own days with the middle of the eighteenth century, we have reason to thank God and take cou

CHAPTER 1 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 14 )

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  CHAPTER  1  -  ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY )  -  { PT.  14 } - The sum it all up and bring this part of my subject to a conclusion, I ask my readers to remember that the good works with which everyone is now familiar, did not exist a hundred years ago. William Wilberforce had not yet attacked the slave trade. John Howard had not yet reformed prisons. Robert Raikes had not yet established Sunday schools. We had no Bible societies, no free schoolds for the poor children, no city missions, no pastoral aid societies, and no missions to the heathen. The Spirit of slumber was over the land. From a religious and moral point of view, England was sound asleep. As I conclude this chapter, I cannot help remarking that we should be more thankful for the times in which we live. I fear we are far too inclined to look at the evils we see around us and to forget how much worse things were a hundred years ago. I boldly admit that I have no faith in those good old times of which some delig

CHAPTER 1 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS IN THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 13 }

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  CHAPTER  1  -  ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS IN THE 18TH CENTURY )  -  { PT.  13 } - What was the popular literature a hundred years ago? I pass over the fact that Boling-broke, Gibbon, and Hume the historian were all deeply dyed with skepticism. I speak of the light reading that was then popular. Turn to the pages of Fielding, Smollett, Swift, and Sterne and you have the answer. The cleverness of these writers is undeniable, but the indecency of many of their writings is so glaring and blatant that few people today would want to allow their works to be seen in their coffee tables. My picture, I fear, is a very dark and gloomy one. I wish it were in my power to throw a little more light into it, but facts are stubborn things, especially facts about literature of a hundred years ago is to be found in the moral writings of Joseph Addison, Samuel Johnson, and Richard Steele, but the effects of such literature on the general public, it may be feared, was incredibly small. In fact, I believe that J

CHAPTER 1 ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { 12 }

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  CHAPTER  1  -  ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY )  -  { PT.  12 } - Nearly all our rural schools have been built since 1800. So extreme was the ignorance that a Methodist preacher in Somersetshire was charged before the magistrates with swearing because in preaching he quoted the text, He who believes not, shall be damned! To top it all off, the vice-chancellor of Oxford actually expelled six students from the university because they held Methodist like beliefs and began to pray, read, and expound Scripture in private houses. Some people said that for an Oxford student to spontaneously swear would not get the student in trouble, but to spontaneously pray was an offense that would not be tolerated! What were the morals like a hundred years ago? It is probably enough to say that dueling, adultery, fornication, gambling, swearing, Sabbath-breaking, and drunkenness were hardly regarded as wrong at all! They were the fashionable practices of people in the highest ranks of society,

CHAPTER 1 - ( CHRISTIANS LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 11 }

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  CHAPTER  1  -  ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY )  -  { PT.  11 } - They hunted, they farmed, they swore, they drank, and they gambled. They seemed determined to know everything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When they met together, it was generally to toast Church and king and to build one another up in worldly-mindedness, preconceived opinions, ignorance, and formality. When they returned to their own communties, it was to do as little as possible and to preach as seldom as possible. When they did preach, their sermons were so unspeakably and indescribably bad that it is comforting to know they were generally preached to empty pews! What kind of theological literature was left to us from a hundred years ago? It was the poorest and weakest in the English language. This is the age to which we owe such divinity as that of the sermons of Tillotson and Blair. Inquire at any old bookseller's shop, and you will find there is no theology as unsaleable as the sermons publ

CHAPTER 1 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { 10 }

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  CHAPTER  1  -  ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY )  -  { PT.  10 } - What were the Anglican bishops like in those days? Some of them were undoubtedly men of powerful intellect and learning and of unblameable lives. But the best of them, like Thomas Secker, Joseph Butler, Edmund Gibson, Robert Lowth, and George Horne, seemed unable to do more than deplore the existence of evils that they saw but did not know how to remedy. Others, like George Lavington and William Warburton, brought fierce charges of enthusiasm and fanaticism and appeared afraid of England becoming too religious! The majority of the Anglican bishops, to say the truth, were mere men of the world. They were unfit for their positions. The prevailing tone of the Episcopal body can be estimated by the fact that Archbishop Frederick Cornwallis gave balls and parties at Lambeth Palace until the king himself interfered by letter and requested him to stop. Let me also add that when the occupants of the Episcopal bench we

CHAPTER 1 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) { PT. 9 }

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  CHAPTER  1  -  ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY )  -  { PT.  9 } - Dr. Isaac Watts declared that in his day there was a general decay of living Christianity in the hearts and lives of people, and it was a general matter of sorrowful observation among all who lay the cause of God to heart. Dr. John Guyse, another very admirable Nonconformist, said: The religion of nature makes up the favored topic of our age, and the religion of Jesus is valued only for the sake of that, and only as far as it carries on the light of nature and is a bare improvement of that kind of light. All that is distinctively Christian, or that is specific to Christ, everything concerning Him that does not have its apparent foundation in natural light or that goes beyond its principles is dismissed, banished, and despised. Testimony like this could easily be multiplied tenfold, but I will spare you. Enough probably has been shown to prove that when I speak of the moral and religious condition of England at

CHAPTER 1 - ( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY ) - { PT. 8 }

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  CHAPTER  1  -  ( CHRISTIAN LEADER OF THE 18TH CENTURY )  -  { PT.  8 } - My difficulty is not so much to find witnesses as to select them. This was the period about which Archbishop Secker said, in one of his exhortations: In this we cannot be mistaken, that an open and professed disregard of Christianity is become, through a variety of unhappy causes, the distinguishing character of the age. Such are the corruption and contempt of principle in the higher part of the world, and the excess, lack of moderation, and boldness of committing crimes in the lower part that must, if the torrent of impiety does not stop, become absolutely fatal. Christianity is ridiculed and criticized with very little restraint, and the teaches of it without any at all. This was the period when Bishop Joseph Butler, in his preface to the Analogy of Religion, used the following remarkable words. It has com to be taken for granted that Christianity is no longer a subject to inquiry, but that it is now at last c