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


 { PT.  2 } - They abhor everything like zeal in Christianity. They dislike everyone who turns the world upside down, who departs from old traditional ways, and who will not let the devil alone. Such people, no doubt, would tell us that the ministry of Whitefield only produced temporary excitement, that his preaching was commonplace rant, and that his character had nothing about it to be especially admired. I suppose that eighteen hundred years ago they would have said much the same about the apostle Paul. The question What good did Whitefield do? is one that I answer without the least hesitation. I believe that the direct good that he did to immortal souls was enormous. I will go further and say that I believe it is incalculable. Credible witnesses in England, Scotland, and America have placed on record their conviction that he was the means of converting thousands of people. Many, wherever he preached, were not merely pleased, excited, and fascinated, but were absolutely turned from sin and made thorough servants of God. I do not forget that numbering the people may often be an objectionable practice ( 2  SAMUEL  24:10 ). God alone can read hearts and discern the wheat from the tares ( MATTHEW  13:30 ).  Many, no doubt, in days of religious excitement, are written down as converted who are not converted at all. 

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