GET A LITTLE ENTHUSIASM FOR JESUS!

Kokavkrystallos · May 26, 2024

From Billy Sunday's sermon Broken Down Altars
I LOVE this kind of preaching, and am a bit that way myself. I'm not so much into theatrics as jumping up on the pulpit, standing on chairs, or running up and down the aisle. My pastors done some of that, and some other pastors I know. Word wise I can be like this if the anointing comes and it flows. It can be in either written word or spoken.

"Broken down altars

The preacher who is afraid to be like Elijah in this respect will be as weak in his ministry as Samson with his hair cut: he will have no power. I tell you, whenever God calls a man to preach, He expects him to do it as naturally as he sneezes or snores. His individuality is to him what the steel frame is to a skyscraper. And when he surrenders it, he becomes like other people. Down go his ministerial methods; his candlestick is taken away, and God casts him into the dust of His displeasure. Lots of us are afraid that we do something sensational. I have no more patience with such a man than I have with a horse that will shy at a wheelbarrow, or a woman who will go into hysterics over the sight of a mouse.

Everything that Elijah did was sensational; that is why he aroused the country. If shutting off the water supply, shutting up the heavens for three years so there was not a drop of rain or dew to fall on the earth, wasn't sensational, trot out something that was. It raised the biggest stir that that whiskey-soaked, licentious, idolatrous, corrupt, godless, blasphemous country had ever seen or had ever recorded; and it made Ahab and Jezebel mad enough, I think, to spit fire.

If you wish to see a dead church awakened, do something out of the ordinary. There's plenty of Bible authority for not pushing a thing aside just because it seems sensational. When Noah built the ark and loaded it with strange cargo, that was a sensation. When Jonah walked down the streets of Nineveh covered with seaweed crying, "Repent! Repent!"-that was sensational. Jesus Christ created a sensation when He went into the synagogue at the beginning of His ministry and taught, not as the scribes, but as one who had authority.

GET A LITTLE ENTHUSIASM FOR JESUS! The preacher who can't preach as one who has authority has no call from God to open his mouth! Matthew 23 is sensational preaching in words that cut like a razor. John the Baptist was sensational in what he said as well as in what he did, and in the clothes that he wore; and because he was not like one of the bunch, all Jerusalem and Judaea came out to hear God's lion-hearted preacher hurl anathemas of the Lord into the ranks of sin-high, low, rich and poor!

"Why don't people go to church?" is a question always asked. My guess is that it is because it is too much like going to a cemetery or a funeral parlor. Put more life in it and you won't have so many complaints. Many a time the prayer meeting is dead because a corpse is leading it. When Ahab saw Elijah, he put on a long, prayer-meeting face and with a sort of sanctimonious whine said to him, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?""

Elijah Urged Immediate Decision

He addressed himself to the conscience of the people. That is my aim when I preach. He urged immediate decision according to their honest conviction. You do the same! If everyone would act according to his or her conviction, there wouldn't be a sinner left on God's earth. He said," if the Lord be God, follow him"-appealing to their conscience and reason. Now he gave the people to understand that God would manifest himself in a God-like way. In these days we are prone to belittle the work of the Holy Spirit. We depend too little on God and too much on the kitchen, or the choir loft, or something or somebody. Miraculous work of grace must be expected and prayed for God is still the wonder-working God and He always will be. The salvation of a sinner is as much a miracle as the raising of the dead.

AlexB23 · May 26, 2024

Kokavkrystallos said:
GET A LITTLE ENTHUSIASM FOR JESUS! The preacher who can't preach as one who has authority has no call from God to open his mouth! Matthew 23 is sensational preaching in words that cut like a razor. John the Baptist was sensational in what he said as well as in what he did, and in the clothes that he wore; and because he was not like one of the bunch, all Jerusalem and Judaea came out to hear God's lion-hearted preacher hurl anathemas of the Lord into the ranks of sin-high, low, rich and poor!

Yeah, Jesus had a lot of fire in His sermons. We need more lion-hearted preachers in 2024, real badly. So many preachers soften up scripture, and are lukewarm.

Check this one out from Matthew 23:23, by the Man himself, Jesus:

Matthew 23:23 (NIV): "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

Kokavkrystallos · May 27, 2024

AlexB23 said:
Yeah, Jesus had a lot of fire in His sermons. We need more lion-hearted preachers in 2024, real badly. So many preachers soften up scripture, and are lukewarm.

Check this one out from Matthew 23:23, by the Man himself, Jesus:

Matthew 23:23 (NIV): "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

So true. I've seen some, but their churches tend to be small. Sometimes mine has less than 40 on a Sunday morn. A big service is 65. Preachers like Billy Sunday, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, etc, preached to thousands at a time, and a few hundred in their churches. keep in mind also the population of their cities was much smaller than today.

There is actually old video and recording of Billy Sunday,
I like what it says around 1:50. It says "when Billy Sunday faced a congregation he didn't orate, speak, or preach, he EXPLODED!"
The first video is pretty clear, later on it's hard to hear what he's saying, I mean exploding, Note the crowds aren't just a few people.

AlexB23 · May 27, 2024

Kokavkrystallos said:
So true. I've seen some, but their churches tend to be small. Sometimes mine has less than 40 on a Sunday morn. A big service is 65. Preachers like Billy Sunday, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, etc, preached to thousands at a time, and a few hundred in their churches. keep in mind also the population of their cities was much smaller than today.

There is actually old video and recording of Billy Sunday,
I like what it says around 1:50. It says "when Billy Sunday faced a congregation he didn't orate, speak, or preach, he EXPLODED!"
The first video is pretty clear, later on it's hard to hear what he's saying, I mean exploding, Note the crowds aren't just a few people.

We need preachers on fire (well, not literally), cos then we will have to get the fire department.

We need more folks like Billy Sunday. We need repentance, and most importantly, Jesus Christ.

Kokavkrystallos · May 27, 2024

AlexB23 said:
We need preachers on fire (well, not literally), cos then we will have to get the fire department.

We need more folks like Billy Sunday. We need repentance, and most importantly, Jesus Christ.

LoL. Actually that was tried by Nebuchadnezzar and failed. He could not set the 3 Hebrew youth on fire cuz they were on fire for God and could not be consumed by mans fire in Daniel 3!

I've seen someone do this first one!

The beginning of that sermon on Broken Down Altars is this:

""He repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down." (1 Kings 18:30)

There is something more than history in the chapter from which my text is taken, just as there is always more in a picture than is seen at first glance.

The state of affairs at this time the chapter opens was as bad as is possible for the human mind to conceive. The country was in an awful condition because of idolatry,

adultery and all other sins associated with a nation that had forgotten God and was given, unbridled, to all lust and evil desires.

That talk had in it no "as it were," "in a degree," "perhaps," or "in a measure" or "so to speak".

He didn’t qualify it by any adjectives; every word had a ring like chilled steel as it cut like a Damascus blade into the putrefying abscesses of his day. Ahab and Jezebel were on the throne. A more vicious, iniquitous, rotten man or vile woman neverdisgraced the earth than these two. Wickedness had the right of way throughout the kingdom; Ahab and Jezebel set the pace and others followed. There were no depths of iniquity, adultery, licentiousness and vileness to which Ahab and Jezebel did not sink. Baal was worshiped; true religion was on the sidetrack, and hell had the main line.

It is true that there were a few faithful, like Obadiah and Naboth, who had not bowed to Baal, but they were in a sad minority. Many had been compelled to hide in caves and dens. If it was a woman who dared say she believed in and worshiped Jehovah, she was an outcast and her children were murdered; if it was a man, he was subjected to infamies that no tongue would attempt to describe. So rampant had idolatry, adultery, and kindred evils had become that in order to try to stem the deadly tide, God sent the prophet Elijah to shut off the water supply and bring on the famine.

As we read the Bible we will notice that always in a dark time God sends a prophet to arouse, stir and call the people back to the true God.

(Here's the ending)

Oh, hear me! God has plenty of the same kind of fire up in Heaven to pour down on us! And He will give it to us and to our country just as freely as He poured it down on the altar on Mount Carmel.

When the fire fell, how soon there was purity on the mountain! Oh, let God’s blessing fall and there will not be a house of ill-fame; there will not be a drunkard; a thief, a panderer, a prostitute, there will not be a stick-up nor a gunman to do the job. There will not be one blasphemer left on God’s dirt. Everything that stands in the way of the Lord will be consumed.

The idolatrous prophets-all of them-had to die before dark. What happened then will always happen when God has a chance to reveal Himself. The prophets of Baal must die. When God appears on the scene, other things must go. It won’t do to parole these prophets of Baal on their good behavior. They had to do what they did on Mount Carmel-put them to the sword. They had to be slain.

You will have to slay uncleanliness; you will have to slay lasciviousness; you will have to slay adultery; you will have to slay enmity; you will have to slay strive; you will have to slay jealousy; you will have to slay wrath; you will have to slay divisions; you will have to slay heresies; you will have to slay these infamous lies that men are preaching from their pulpits that lead people away from God. You will have to slay envy; you will have to slay drunkenness; you will have to slay lying; you will have to slay stealing; you will have to slay reviling. Before the fire from God comes, the prophets of Baal must die, sir!

Do you want God’s blessing? Do you want it on you home? In your church? On your city? On America?

Then slay utterly! Repair the altar of the Lord that is broken down!"

(PS: He's not advocating going out and murdering the false prophets and purveyors of sin, but to kill the sin with the fire of God, so that technically those who commit those vile sins "die" to the flesh, by being crucified with Christ, and their old man, their old self that commits abominable sin is dead, it has to die, and the new man is risen alive in Christ! I'd like to see the owners of liquor stores repent and then destroy their own store, or destroy all the bottles and turn the store into a food bank or church or something.)

Full sermon:

Broken Down Altars by Billy Sunday

Faith Bible Baptist Church's Online Articles, Books, Booklets, Poems, Sermons

www.fbbc.com

AlexB23 · May 27, 2024

Kokavkrystallos said:
LoL. Actually that was tried by Nebuchadnezzar and failed. He could not set the 3 Hebrew youth on fire cuz they were on fire for God and could not be consumed by mans fire in Daniel 3!

I've seen someone do this first one!

View attachment 348729
View attachment 348730

The beginning of that sermon on Broken Down Altars is this:

""He repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down." (1 Kings 18:30)

There is something more than history in the chapter from which my text is taken, just as there is always more in a picture than is seen at first glance.

The state of affairs at this time the chapter opens was as bad as is possible for the human mind to conceive. The country was in an awful condition because of idolatry,

adultery and all other sins associated with a nation that had forgotten God and was given, unbridled, to all lust and evil desires.

That talk had in it no "as it were," "in a degree," "perhaps," or "in a measure" or "so to speak".

He didn’t qualify it by any adjectives; every word had a ring like chilled steel as it cut like a Damascus blade into the putrefying abscesses of his day. Ahab and Jezebel were on the throne. A more vicious, iniquitous, rotten man or vile woman neverdisgraced the earth than these two. Wickedness had the right of way throughout the kingdom; Ahab and Jezebel set the pace and others followed. There were no depths of iniquity, adultery, licentiousness and vileness to which Ahab and Jezebel did not sink. Baal was worshiped; true religion was on the sidetrack, and hell had the main line.

It is true that there were a few faithful, like Obadiah and Naboth, who had not bowed to Baal, but they were in a sad minority. Many had been compelled to hide in caves and dens. If it was a woman who dared say she believed in and worshiped Jehovah, she was an outcast and her children were murdered; if it was a man, he was subjected to infamies that no tongue would attempt to describe. So rampant had idolatry, adultery, and kindred evils had become that in order to try to stem the deadly tide, God sent the prophet Elijah to shut off the water supply and bring on the famine.

As we read the Bible we will notice that always in a dark time God sends a prophet to arouse, stir and call the people back to the true God.

(Here's the ending)

Oh, hear me! God has plenty of the same kind of fire up in Heaven to pour down on us! And He will give it to us and to our country just as freely as He poured it down on the altar on Mount Carmel.

When the fire fell, how soon there was purity on the mountain! Oh, let God’s blessing fall and there will not be a house of ill-fame; there will not be a drunkard; a thief, a panderer, a prostitute, there will not be a stick-up nor a gunman to do the job. There will not be one blasphemer left on God’s dirt. Everything that stands in the way of the Lord will be consumed.

The idolatrous prophets-all of them-had to die before dark. What happened then will always happen when God has a chance to reveal Himself. The prophets of Baal must die. When God appears on the scene, other things must go. It won’t do to parole these prophets of Baal on their good behavior. They had to do what they did on Mount Carmel-put them to the sword. They had to be slain.

You will have to slay uncleanliness; you will have to slay lasciviousness; you will have to slay adultery; you will have to slay enmity; you will have to slay strive; you will have to slay jealousy; you will have to slay wrath; you will have to slay divisions; you will have to slay heresies; you will have to slay these infamous lies that men are preaching from their pulpits that lead people away from God. You will have to slay envy; you will have to slay drunkenness; you will have to slay lying; you will have to slay stealing; you will have to slay reviling. Before the fire from God comes, the prophets of Baal must die, sir!

Do you want God’s blessing? Do you want it on you home? In your church? On your city? On America?

Then slay utterly! Repair the altar of the Lord that is broken down!"

(PS: He's not advocating going out and murdering the false prophets and purveyors of sin, but to kill the sin with the fire of God, so that technically those who commit those vile sins "die" to the flesh, by being crucified with Christ, and their old man, their old self that commits abominable sin is dead, it has to die, and the new man is risen alive in Christ! I'd like to see the owners of liquor stores repent and then destroy their own store, or destroy all the bottles and turn the store into a food bank or church or something.)

Full sermon:

Broken Down Altars by Billy Sunday

Faith Bible Baptist Church's Online Articles, Books, Booklets, Poems, Sermons

www.fbbc.com

So, what do you think about the Revival movement? How do we fix the broken altar?

Kokavkrystallos · May 27, 2024

AlexB23 said:
So, what do you think about the Revival movement? How do we fix the broken altar?

A lot of the revival movement isn't the real fire because people are trying to do it on their own. It's more spontaneous, and is accomplished by much prayer, and seeking God, like hours of it, and true surrender of all, like the song, "I surrender all, all to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all."

It's not something you try to do but something God does. Unfortunately I think the days of national revival for USA is past and I've posted some on that back in January. But there can certainly be local revivals. All it takes is one spark to set a forest on fire. But God must choose and raise up that spark, then cast it into the driest tinder to assure the fire takes hold and spreads rapidly, as well as thoroughly, burning up all sin and refuse.

AlexB23 · May 27, 2024

Kokavkrystallos said:
A lot of the revival movement isn't the real fire because people are trying to do it on their own. It's more spontaneous, and is accomplished by much prayer, and seeking God, like hours of it, and true surrender of all, like the song, "I surrender all, all to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all."

It's not something you try to do but something God does. Unfortunately I think the days of national revival for USA is past and I've posted some on that back in January. But there can certainly be local revivals. All it takes is one spark to set a forest on fire. But God must choose and raise up that spark, then cast it into the driest tinder to assure the fire takes hold and spreads rapidly, as well as thoroughly, burning up all sin and refuse.

So, some of the Revival movements are false? That is pretty bad. We need a genuine revival.

Kokavkrystallos · May 27, 2024

AlexB23 said:
So, some of the Revival movements are false? That is pretty bad. We need a genuine revival.

Yes, one such "movement" was the Asbury revival in early 2023. This made national news, for a few weeks, then fizzled.

"In February 2023, Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky experienced a Christian revival that began when students remained in Hughes Auditorium after a chapel service. The revival, which lasted 16 days, culminated in a service for Gen Z students on February 23, 2023, which was also National Collegiate Day of Prayer. During the final service, people prayed for revival to come to the world"

"In March 2023, Inside Higher Ed reported that students at Union College in Kentucky attempted to start their own revival service but encountered disagreements."

"So a year later, what happened to the Asbury revival? Has God used the revival to change churches?

This week I called churches near Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky asking if they’ve experienced significant additions to their church membership or major changes in the lives of their church members because of the “revival.”

Every representative of the churches I spoke to said: “no.”

Nearly all of the people I spoke to said individuals from their churches visited Asbury Chapel during the revival, but they said they couldn’t highlight any lasting outcomes. One representative of a Slavic church said the Russia-Ukraine war has had a more noticeable impact on its members than the “revival.”"

What Happened To The Asbury Revival?

It’s been a year since the beginning of the Asbury “revival” in Wilmore, Kentucky. Last year, from February 8th to February 24th, up to 70,000 people visited Asbury University’s chapel to experience what they called an “outpouring,” an “awakening,” or a “revival.” For two weeks many of the tens...

slowtowrite.com

This article has some interesting points to make. You need to scroll halfway down to "Revive us again" unless you want to read about Woodstock.
This is interesting, and I remember hearing that pro LGBTQ people were up on the pulpit, "“Did you know people of color, women and queer students have been leading worship all eight days?”

Now it's totally fine if "people of color, and women" are leading worship, but "queer" should not be in any leadership role, unless they have repented and turned from their sin.

I was not there so cannot offer any personal testimony. I'm sure many were sincere, and hoping for revival, and in fact some were saved. But it didn't take root. It was like a seed by the wayside, or on Stony ground that either was snatched up right away, or received the Word with joy but later in time of temptation and persecution fell away because there was no root.

AlexB23 · May 27, 2024

Kokavkrystallos said:
Yes, one such "movement" was the Asbury revival in early 2023. This made national news, for a few weeks, then fizzled.

"In February 2023, Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky experienced a Christian revival that began when students remained in Hughes Auditorium after a chapel service. The revival, which lasted 16 days, culminated in a service for Gen Z students on February 23, 2023, which was also National Collegiate Day of Prayer. During the final service, people prayed for revival to come to the world"

"In March 2023, Inside Higher Ed reported that students at Union College in Kentucky attempted to start their own revival service but encountered disagreements."

"So a year later, what happened to the Asbury revival? Has God used the revival to change churches?

This week I called churches near Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky asking if they’ve experienced significant additions to their church membership or major changes in the lives of their church members because of the “revival.”

Every representative of the churches I spoke to said: “no.”

Nearly all of the people I spoke to said individuals from their churches visited Asbury Chapel during the revival, but they said they couldn’t highlight any lasting outcomes. One representative of a Slavic church said the Russia-Ukraine war has had a more noticeable impact on its members than the “revival.”"

What Happened To The Asbury Revival?

It’s been a year since the beginning of the Asbury “revival” in Wilmore, Kentucky. Last year, from February 8th to February 24th, up to 70,000 people visited Asbury University’s chapel to experience what they called an “outpouring,” an “awakening,” or a “revival.” For two weeks many of the tens...

slowtowrite.com

This article has some interesting points to make. You need to scroll halfway down to "Revive us again" unless you want to read about Woodstock.
This is interesting, and I remember hearing that pro LGBTQ people were up on the pulpit, "“Did you know people of color, women and queer students have been leading worship all eight days?”

Now it's totally fine if "people of color, and women" are leading worship, but "queer" should not be in any leadership role, unless they have repented and turned from their sin.

I was not there so cannot offer any personal testimony. I'm sure many were sincere, and hoping for revival, and in fact some were saved. But it didn't take root. It was like a seed by the wayside, or on Stony ground that either was snatched up right away, or received the Word with joy but later in time of temptation and persecution fell away because there was no root.

I remember this, it was huge in 2023. We both agree that it is okay to be brown or a woman on the pulpit, and both agree that LGBT must repent and turn away from sin before entering leadership.

It is sad how this movement died out so quickly.

Kokavkrystallos · May 27, 2024

AlexB23 said:
I remember this, it was huge in 2023. We both agree that it is okay to be brown or a woman on the pulpit, and both agree that LGBT must repent and turn away from sin before entering leadership.

It is sad how this movement died out so quickly.

I've got a hard copy of Horatius Bonar's True Revivals and the Men God Uses, where he writes about George Whitefield & Jonathan Edwards, (Note the bold italics in the part about Edwards - for many months this went on, and it also spilled over into public life so that it seems no area of the community was without the influence of the awakening.

"George Whitefield
We add a few quotations from George Whitefield’s (1714-1770) Journals. The reader will see how they bear upon the preceding statement regarding the Christian ministry.

On Thursday he preached the public lecture at the Old South. He had chosen another text, but it was much impressed on his heart that he should preach from our Lord’s conference with Nicodemus (Joh 3). A great number of ministers were present, and when he came to the word, “Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things,” he says,

“The Lord enabled me to open my mouth boldly against unconverted ministers; to caution tutors to take care of their pupils; and also to advise ministers particularly to examine the experience of candidates for ordination. For I am verily persuaded the generality of preachers talk of an unknown and unfelt Christ, and the reason why congregations have been so dead is because they have had dead men preaching to them. O that the Lord may quicken and revive them, for His own name’s sake! For how can dead men beget living children? It is true, indeed, God may convert men by the devil, if He pleases, and so He may by unconverted ministers; but I believe He seldom makes use of either of them for this purpose. No, the Lord will choose vessels made meet by the operation of the blessed Spirit for His sacred use. Unspeakable freedom God gave me while treating on this head. In the afternoon, I preached on the common to about fifteen thousand people, and collected upwards of £200 for the Orphan House. Just as I had finished my sermon, a note was put up to me, wherein I was desired to pray for a person just entered upon the ministry, but under apprehension that he was unconverted. God enabled me to pray for him with my whole heart, and I hope that note will teach many others not to run before they can give an account of their conversion. If they do, they offer God strange fire (Lev 10:1-2).”

He preached on Monday at Westfield and Springfield, and on Tuesday at Suffield, to large audiences and with his usual power. A little below Springfield, when crossing a bridge, he was thrown from his horse, and “stunned for a while,” but was soon able to remount and proceed. At or near Suffield he met with a minister, “who said it was not absolutely necessary for a gospel minister to be converted,” meaning doubtless that though conversion was necessary for his salvation, it was not indispensable to his ministerial character and usefulness. This interview gave Whitefield a subject, “I insisted much in my discourse upon the change of the new birth, and also the necessity of a minister’s being converted before he could preach Christ aright. The word came with great power, and a great impression was made upon the people in all parts of the assembly. Many ministers were present. I did not spare them. Most of them thanked me for my plain dealing. But one was offended, and so would more of his stamp if I were to continue long in New England. For unconverted ministers are the bane of the Christian Church.”

His ride to Stanford was dark and rainy. That night he was visited with a great inward trial, so that he was pained to the heart. He was somewhat dejected before he went out of his lodgings the next morning, and somewhat distressed for a text after he got into the pulpit.
“But at length the Lord directed me to one, but I looked for no power or success, being very low by my last night’s trial. Notwithstanding, before I had preached half-an-hour, the blessed Spirit began to move on the hearers’ hearts in a very awful manner. Young, and especially many old people, were surprisingly affected, so that I thought they would have cried out. At dinner, the Spirit of the Lord came upon me again, and enabled me to speak with such vigour against sending unconverted persons into the ministry, that two ministers, with tears in their eyes, publicly confessed that they had laid their hands on young men without so much as asking them whether they were born again of God or not. After dinner, finding my heart much enlarged, I prayed, and with such power, that most in the room were put under concern. And one old minister was so deeply convicted that, calling Mr. Noble and me out, with great difficulty (because of his weeping), he desired our prayers; for, said he, ‘I have been a scholar and have preached the doctrines of grace for a long time, but I believe I have never felt the power of them in my own soul.’ O that all unconverted ministers were brought to make the same confession.”

Such were the instruments. Such were the mighty things accomplished by them in the strength of the Spirit of the Lord. In the different awakenings, there were doubtless many things which proclaimed the frailty and imperfection of the agency through which the Holy Spirit wrought His mighty signs and wonders. There were things to remind man that the treasure was in earthen vessels. These revivals were not without their blemishes. There might be errors; there might be imprudencies; there might be excitement; there might be physical emotion. But still, notwithstanding all that may be spoken against them, the hand of God was manifestly there, awakening, deepening, extending, carrying forward the mighty movement by which the walls and bulwarks of the prince of darkness were, in many of his strongholds, shaken to their deepest base. “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those who published it” (Psa 68:11), as well as of those who received and obeyed it.

Nothing was to be seen but a faithful minister of Christ, surrounded by a small band of praying ones, leading on the array against the prince of darkness! There was no pomp, no display, no artifice, no carnal attraction. Yet the ranks of darkness gave way before them, and multitudes owned the power of the simple yet resistless words that fell from their earnest lips! How could the world but wonder at such vast results, so disproportioned to the apparent cause? How could they but feel, if they did not confess, that all this was the doing of the Lord?

c. Jonathan Edwards

As an illustration of how remarkably the work was of God and not of man, we quote without comment the following passages from A Narrative of Surprising Conversions by Jonathan Edwards.

It is observable how, at this remarkable day, a spirit of deep concern would seize upon persons. Some were in the house, and some walking in the highway; some in the woods, and some in the field; some in conversation, and some in retirement; some children, some adults, and some elderly persons, would sometimes of a sudden be brought under the strongest impressions, from a sense of the great realities of the other world and eternal things. But such things, as far as I can learn, were usually, if not [always], impressed upon men while they were in some way exercising their minds upon the Word of God or spiritual objects. And for the most part, it has been under the public preaching of the Word that these lasting impressions have been fastened upon them.

A great and earnest concern about the great things of religion and the eternal world, became universal in all parts of the town, and among persons of all degrees and all ages. The noise among the dry bones waxed louder and louder (Eze 37:4ff). All other talk but about spiritual and eternal things, was soon thrown-by…The minds of people were wonderfully taken off from the world; it was treated among us as a thing of very little consequence. They seemed to follow their worldly business more as a part of their duty, than from any disposition they had to it…

The only thing in their view was to get the kingdom of heaven, and everyone appeared to be pressing into it. The engagedness of their hearts in this great concern could not be hid, it appeared in their very countenances. It was then a dreadful thing amongst us to lie out of Christ, in danger every day of dropping into hell; and what persons’ minds were intent upon was to escape for their lives, and fly from the wrath to come (Luk 3:7). All would eagerly lay hold of opportunities for their souls, and were wont very often to meet together in private houses for religious purposes; and such meetings, when appointed, were greatly thronged.

There was scarcely a single person in the town, old or young, left unconcerned about the great things of the eternal world. Those who were wont to be the vainest and loosest, and those who had been most disposed to think and speak slightly of vital and experimental religion, were now generally subject to great awakenings. And the work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner and increased more and more. Souls did, as it were, come by flocks to Jesus Christ. From day to day, for many months together, might be seen evident instances of sinners brought out of darkness into marvelous light.

Our public assemblies were then beautiful; the congregation was alive in God’s service, every one earnest, intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister as they came from his mouth. The assembly in general was, from time to time, in tears while the Word was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbours…Those amongst us that had formerly been converted were greatly enlivened and renewed with fresh and extraordinary incomes of the Spirit of God, though some much more than others, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Many who had before laboured under difficulties about their own state, had now their doubts removed by more satisfying experience and more clear discoveries of God’s love.

AlexB23 · May 27, 2024

Kokavkrystallos said:
I've got a hard copy of Horatius Bonar's True Revivals and the Men God Uses, where he writes about George Whitefield & Jonathan Edwards, (Note the bold italics in the part about Edwards - for many months this went on, and it also spilled over into public life so that it seems no area of the community was without the influence of the awakening.

"George Whitefield
We add a few quotations from George Whitefield’s (1714-1770) Journals. The reader will see how they bear upon the preceding statement regarding the Christian ministry.

On Thursday he preached the public lecture at the Old South. He had chosen another text, but it was much impressed on his heart that he should preach from our Lord’s conference with Nicodemus (Joh 3). A great number of ministers were present, and when he came to the word, “Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things,” he says,

“The Lord enabled me to open my mouth boldly against unconverted ministers; to caution tutors to take care of their pupils; and also to advise ministers particularly to examine the experience of candidates for ordination. For I am verily persuaded the generality of preachers talk of an unknown and unfelt Christ, and the reason why congregations have been so dead is because they have had dead men preaching to them. O that the Lord may quicken and revive them, for His own name’s sake! For how can dead men beget living children? It is true, indeed, God may convert men by the devil, if He pleases, and so He may by unconverted ministers; but I believe He seldom makes use of either of them for this purpose. No, the Lord will choose vessels made meet by the operation of the blessed Spirit for His sacred use. Unspeakable freedom God gave me while treating on this head. In the afternoon, I preached on the common to about fifteen thousand people, and collected upwards of £200 for the Orphan House. Just as I had finished my sermon, a note was put up to me, wherein I was desired to pray for a person just entered upon the ministry, but under apprehension that he was unconverted. God enabled me to pray for him with my whole heart, and I hope that note will teach many others not to run before they can give an account of their conversion. If they do, they offer God strange fire (Lev 10:1-2).”

He preached on Monday at Westfield and Springfield, and on Tuesday at Suffield, to large audiences and with his usual power. A little below Springfield, when crossing a bridge, he was thrown from his horse, and “stunned for a while,” but was soon able to remount and proceed. At or near Suffield he met with a minister, “who said it was not absolutely necessary for a gospel minister to be converted,” meaning doubtless that though conversion was necessary for his salvation, it was not indispensable to his ministerial character and usefulness. This interview gave Whitefield a subject, “I insisted much in my discourse upon the change of the new birth, and also the necessity of a minister’s being converted before he could preach Christ aright. The word came with great power, and a great impression was made upon the people in all parts of the assembly. Many ministers were present. I did not spare them. Most of them thanked me for my plain dealing. But one was offended, and so would more of his stamp if I were to continue long in New England. For unconverted ministers are the bane of the Christian Church.”

His ride to Stanford was dark and rainy. That night he was visited with a great inward trial, so that he was pained to the heart. He was somewhat dejected before he went out of his lodgings the next morning, and somewhat distressed for a text after he got into the pulpit.
“But at length the Lord directed me to one, but I looked for no power or success, being very low by my last night’s trial. Notwithstanding, before I had preached half-an-hour, the blessed Spirit began to move on the hearers’ hearts in a very awful manner. Young, and especially many old people, were surprisingly affected, so that I thought they would have cried out. At dinner, the Spirit of the Lord came upon me again, and enabled me to speak with such vigour against sending unconverted persons into the ministry, that two ministers, with tears in their eyes, publicly confessed that they had laid their hands on young men without so much as asking them whether they were born again of God or not. After dinner, finding my heart much enlarged, I prayed, and with such power, that most in the room were put under concern. And one old minister was so deeply convicted that, calling Mr. Noble and me out, with great difficulty (because of his weeping), he desired our prayers; for, said he, ‘I have been a scholar and have preached the doctrines of grace for a long time, but I believe I have never felt the power of them in my own soul.’ O that all unconverted ministers were brought to make the same confession.”

Such were the instruments. Such were the mighty things accomplished by them in the strength of the Spirit of the Lord. In the different awakenings, there were doubtless many things which proclaimed the frailty and imperfection of the agency through which the Holy Spirit wrought His mighty signs and wonders. There were things to remind man that the treasure was in earthen vessels. These revivals were not without their blemishes. There might be errors; there might be imprudencies; there might be excitement; there might be physical emotion. But still, notwithstanding all that may be spoken against them, the hand of God was manifestly there, awakening, deepening, extending, carrying forward the mighty movement by which the walls and bulwarks of the prince of darkness were, in many of his strongholds, shaken to their deepest base. “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those who published it” (Psa 68:11), as well as of those who received and obeyed it.

Nothing was to be seen but a faithful minister of Christ, surrounded by a small band of praying ones, leading on the array against the prince of darkness! There was no pomp, no display, no artifice, no carnal attraction. Yet the ranks of darkness gave way before them, and multitudes owned the power of the simple yet resistless words that fell from their earnest lips! How could the world but wonder at such vast results, so disproportioned to the apparent cause? How could they but feel, if they did not confess, that all this was the doing of the Lord?

c. Jonathan Edwards
As an illustration of how remarkably the work was of God and not of man, we quote without comment the following passages from A Narrative of Surprising Conversions by Jonathan Edwards.

It is observable how, at this remarkable day, a spirit of deep concern would seize upon persons. Some were in the house, and some walking in the highway; some in the woods, and some in the field; some in conversation, and some in retirement; some children, some adults, and some elderly persons, would sometimes of a sudden be brought under the strongest impressions, from a sense of the great realities of the other world and eternal things. But such things, as far as I can learn, were usually, if not [always], impressed upon men while they were in some way exercising their minds upon the Word of God or spiritual objects. And for the most part, it has been under the public preaching of the Word that these lasting impressions have been fastened upon them.

A great and earnest concern about the great things of religion and the eternal world, became universal in all parts of the town, and among persons of all degrees and all ages. The noise among the dry bones waxed louder and louder (Eze 37:4ff). All other talk but about spiritual and eternal things, was soon thrown-by…The minds of people were wonderfully taken off from the world; it was treated among us as a thing of very little consequence. They seemed to follow their worldly business more as a part of their duty, than from any disposition they had to it…

The only thing in their view was to get the kingdom of heaven, and everyone appeared to be pressing into it. The engagedness of their hearts in this great concern could not be hid, it appeared in their very countenances. It was then a dreadful thing amongst us to lie out of Christ, in danger every day of dropping into hell; and what persons’ minds were intent upon was to escape for their lives, and fly from the wrath to come (Luk 3:7). All would eagerly lay hold of opportunities for their souls, and were wont very often to meet together in private houses for religious purposes; and such meetings, when appointed, were greatly thronged.

There was scarcely a single person in the town, old or young, left unconcerned about the great things of the eternal world. Those who were wont to be the vainest and loosest, and those who had been most disposed to think and speak slightly of vital and experimental religion, were now generally subject to great awakenings. And the work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner and increased more and more. Souls did, as it were, come by flocks to Jesus Christ. From day to day, for many months together, might be seen evident instances of sinners brought out of darkness into marvelous light.

Our public assemblies were then beautiful; the congregation was alive in God’s service, every one earnest, intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister as they came from his mouth. The assembly in general was, from time to time, in tears while the Word was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbours…Those amongst us that had formerly been converted were greatly enlivened and renewed with fresh and extraordinary incomes of the Spirit of God, though some much more than others, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Many who had before laboured under difficulties about their own state, had now their doubts removed by more satisfying experience and more clear discoveries of God’s love.

Seems that there was a revival during the 1700s.

Kokavkrystallos · May 27, 2024

AlexB23 said:
Seems that there was a revival during the 1700s.

Yup, 1735 to around 1743 ish. The two preachers featured in my last post were the major ones God used, but there was also John Wesley. They say that first Great Awakening was from 1730 - 1755, but the blazing hot years were the ones I mentioned. Strange as it seems there was also a revival in Great Britain at the same time. There was also revival in the late 1700s, but the early one is more well known, probably because of who God used.
I know one of the preachers prophesied that Britain would have a war as a judgment and would fall. Sure enough, 30 years or so after that was preached, the Revolutionary war erupted where America and Britain battled. Then again, in the Bible there is the great Battle of Mount Zemaraim, where Israel and Judah fought, and they are both children of Abraham & Isaac!

But some say the Great Awakening prepared the Colonies for the Revolution.

However, John Wesley was not supportive of war, and here is some history on that:

""War is a horrid reproach to the Christian name - yea, to the name of man, to
all reason and humanity," said Wesley. And when war broke out, he added, God
was forgotten. "So long as this monster stalks uncontrolled, where is reason,
virtue, humanity? They are utterly excluded," he said.

In 1758, the Seven Years' War being then at full tide - with France and
Austria fighting England and Prussia - the Wesley brothers, John and Charles,
published their "Hymns of Intercession for all Mankind." The following lines
reflect their viewpoint of armed conflict: "Our earth we now lament to see,/
With floods of wickedness o'erflowed./ Where men, like fiends, each other
tear,/ In all the hellish rage of war."

Later, when trouble with the American colonies escalated, Wesley wrote to
Thomas Rankin and some of his other preachers in America, imploring them to
use their influence for peace. In 1776, when the revolutionary war was at its
height, Wesley wrote his "Seasonable Address to the More Serious Part of the
Inhabitants of Great Britain Respecting the Unhappy Contest Between Us and
Our American Brethren." That treatise portrays vividly Wesley's utter
abhorrence of war.

Picturing the armies rushing against each other in conflict, he asked: "But
what are they going to do? To shoot each other through the head or heart, to
stab and butcher each other? ... Why so? What harm have they done to each
other? Why, none at all. Most of them are entire strangers to each other. But
a matter is in dispute relative to the mode of taxation. So these countrymen,
children of the same parents, are to murder each other with all possible
haste - to prove who is right. What an argument is this! What a method of
proof! What an amazing way of deciding controversies!"

Then, suggesting impartial arbitration instead of bloodshed, he inquires:
"Are there no wise men among us? None that are able to judge between
brethren? But brother goeth to war against brother, and that in the very
sight of the heathen. Surely this is a sore evil among us? How is wisdom
perished from the wise! What a flood of folly and madness has broke in upon
us!"

wfn.org | At the Roots of Methodism: Wesley abhorred 'curse' of war

NOTE: This is a regular feature on Methodist history prepared especially for distribution by United Methodist News Service. An artists rendering of John Wesley is available at http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html. A UMNS Feature By John Singleton* Methodisms witness for peace and social...

archive.wfn.org

AlexB23 · May 27, 2024

Kokavkrystallos said:
Yup, 1735 to around 1743 ish. The two preachers featured in my last post were the major ones God used, but there was also John Wesley. They say that first Great Awakening was from 1730 - 1755, but the blazing hot years were the ones I mentioned. Strange as it seems there was also a revival in Great Britain at the same time. There was also revival in the late 1700s, but the early one is more well known, probably because of who God used.
I know one of the preachers prophesied that Britain would have a war as a judgment and would fall. Sure enough, 30 years or so after that was preached, the Revolutionary war erupted where America and Britain battled. Then again, in the Bible there is the great Battle of Mount Zemaraim, where Israel and Judah fought, and they are both children of Abraham & Isaac!

But some say the Great Awakening prepared the Colonies for the Revolution.

However, John Wesley was not supportive of war, and here is some history on that:

""War is a horrid reproach to the Christian name - yea, to the name of man, to
all reason and humanity," said Wesley. And when war broke out, he added, God
was forgotten. "So long as this monster stalks uncontrolled, where is reason,
virtue, humanity? They are utterly excluded," he said.

In 1758, the Seven Years' War being then at full tide - with France and
Austria fighting England and Prussia - the Wesley brothers, John and Charles,
published their "Hymns of Intercession for all Mankind." The following lines
reflect their viewpoint of armed conflict: "Our earth we now lament to see,/
With floods of wickedness o'erflowed./ Where men, like fiends, each other
tear,/ In all the hellish rage of war."

Later, when trouble with the American colonies escalated, Wesley wrote to
Thomas Rankin and some of his other preachers in America, imploring them to
use their influence for peace. In 1776, when the revolutionary war was at its
height, Wesley wrote his "Seasonable Address to the More Serious Part of the
Inhabitants of Great Britain Respecting the Unhappy Contest Between Us and
Our American Brethren." That treatise portrays vividly Wesley's utter
abhorrence of war.

Picturing the armies rushing against each other in conflict, he asked: "But
what are they going to do? To shoot each other through the head or heart, to
stab and butcher each other? ... Why so? What harm have they done to each
other? Why, none at all. Most of them are entire strangers to each other. But
a matter is in dispute relative to the mode of taxation. So these countrymen,
children of the same parents, are to murder each other with all possible
haste - to prove who is right. What an argument is this! What a method of
proof! What an amazing way of deciding controversies!"

Then, suggesting impartial arbitration instead of bloodshed, he inquires:
"Are there no wise men among us? None that are able to judge between
brethren? But brother goeth to war against brother, and that in the very
sight of the heathen. Surely this is a sore evil among us? How is wisdom
perished from the wise! What a flood of folly and madness has broke in upon
us!"

wfn.org | At the Roots of Methodism: Wesley abhorred 'curse' of war

NOTE: This is a regular feature on Methodist history prepared especially for distribution by United Methodist News Service. An artists rendering of John Wesley is available at http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html. A UMNS Feature By John Singleton* Methodisms witness for peace and social...

archive.wfn.org

It is good that Wesley was a peacemaker. I try to be a peacemaker myself.

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