As I've mentioned previously, besides the reading of the Bible itself, a refreshing tonic to counteract our fleshly tendency toward spiritual malaise, slothfulness and lukewarmness is to read Christian biography along with the history of revivals. As I've been reading through Joseph Tracy's "The Great Awakening," I've found many encouragements to be persevering in prayer for revival, and I encourage you to seek out such resources for yourself. (A copy of Tracy's book can be found via google books here.)

There was a portion in the book I found particularly fitting as we come to the end of another year. That account, which I've included below, is from the ministry of the Rev. Nathanael Leonard (1699-1761), who ministered at First Church in Plymouth, Massachusetts from 1724-1757. It not only shows Leonard's zeal for faithful preaching but also his heart of prayer, two characteristics which ought to mark a true minister of Christ (Acts 6:4).

In today's post I'd like to focus on Rev. Leonard's discernment of the times and the corresponding burden of prayer he had for the Church to be reformed and revived. Leonard wrote that:

We were sensible of an awful degeneracy, and kept days of fasting and prayer, year after year, that God would pour out his Spirit upon us; especially on the rising generation.

I'm not sure exactly when Leonard began keeping those days of fasting and prayer, but it appears it was most likely for a period of several years. And, if those times of fasting and prayer had been started near the beginning of his ministry, then it would have been a period of about seventeen years before God began to pour out of His Spirit in reformation and revival on First Church in Plymouth.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, unless we are sensible of the "awful degeneracy," will we be able to persevere in keeping days of fasting and prayer, year after year, that God would pour out his Spirit upon us? Rev. Leonard reminded me of Nehemiah, for Nehemiah was also sensible of the great trouble and shame of God's people and God's city – and, as a result of that sensibility, he was led to weep and mourn and fast and pray (see Nehemiah 1).

There's a beautiful portion of Scripture in Isaiah 66:

10  “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her;
11  that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious abundance.”

Those who truly love the cause of Christ and His Church in the world should mourn over her at times like this here in the West –– when not only our culture but also much of the visible church is mired in an awful degeneracy, religion under a great decay and in a state of disrepair. Yes, it's true that the Church is always living under the grace and favor of God, but O! for the day we might witness the Lord descend in awakening power –– a day of great grace such as Rev. Leonard witnessed almost 300 years ago. Thanks be to God that we have the promise that our labor in Him is not in vain. Our heavenly Father does not despise the prayers of the destitute, and one day we will rejoice and be glad with her! We can be sure that one day our weeping will be turned to shouts of joy! ~ Psalm 126.

Let us pray that God's Holy Spirit might make us sensible and keep us sensible year after year like Nathanael Leonard; to strengthen us year after year to approach the throne of grace (remember that our Great High Priest ever lives to make intercession for us; should we not also be making prayer for Him and His Kingdom continually? ~ Psalm 72:15), so we might persevere in raising up prayer for the cause of Christ, no matter how long it takes (seventeen years – or even longer); that we might not be slothful in zeal, but rather fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer (~ Romans 12:11-12). May the God of all grace equip us and keep us faithful throughout the coming year to offer up prayer that God would pour out His Spirit upon us in the 21st century as He did in the 18th century, for the glory of His name to the ends of the earth! ~ Ephesians 3:20-21.

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The following excerpt is from Chapter XII. The Revival in New England in Joseph Tracy's "The Great Awakening:  A History of the Revival of Religion in the time of Edwards and Whitefield" (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 159-161. Originally published in 1842. Boldface mine. (HT:  google book found at: http://books.google.com/books?id=RxZkYTXHc5gC&output=text&source=gbs_navlinks_s)

"The landing of the Pilgrims!" Every son and daughter of a Puritan, every enlightened friend of Christianity and of the blessings that follow in its train, will ask with interest for the history of the revival here. It shall be given in the words of the Rev. Nathanael Leonard, pastor of the First Church, who wrote November 23, 1744.*

"It pleased God to cast my lot (who am the least of all saints) in the First Church and town in the country, above twenty years ago. Religion was then under a great decay; most people seemed to be taken up principally about the world and the lusts of this life; though there appeared some serious Christians among us that had the things of God at heart, who greatly bewailed the growth of impiety, profaneness, Sabbath breaking, gaming, tavern-haunting, intemperance, and other evils, which threatened to bear down all that is good and sacred before them. We were sensible of an awful degeneracy, and kept days of fasting and prayer, year after year, that God would pour out his Spirit upon us; especially on the rising generation. At these times we invited the ministers of the county to join with us, who readily gave their assistance. The authority of this town endeavoured to put a stop to the growing intemperance, by clearing the taverns at nine o'clock in the evening, and punishing loose and disorderly persons that frequented them. But all the methods used one way and the other, proved of little effect. Iniquity prevailed, and we were in danger of losing the very form of godliness.

"The Rev. Mr. Whitefield coming into the land, and the news we presently had of his preaching and conversation at Boston and elsewhere, roused us a little, and we sent to him to come and preach to us. We expected him in October, 1740, but were disappointed.

"In March following, the Rev. Mr. Tennent came hither and preached eight sermons to general acceptance, which, by the blessing of God, greatly awakened this people, and many have dated such religious impressions from that time, as we have reason to believe issued in a real conversion to God. After him, several ministers of the county and others visited us, and preached with us; and we often spent whole days in prayer, singing and preaching, and had frequently three exercises in them. I often preached three times on the Lord's day myself, and sometimes three or four times in the week besides; although before this, through bodily indisposition and heaviness of spirit, I was not able to carry on the usual stated exercises, and my people had for some years provided me an assistant.

"The subjects chiefly insisted on were these following, viz: The sin and apostasy of mankind in Adam; the blindness of the natural man in the things of God; the enmity of the carnal mind; the evil of sin; the desert of it, and the utter inability of the fallen creature to relieve itself; the sovereignty of God; his righteousness, holiness, truth, power, eternity; also his grace and mercy in Christ Jesus; the way of redemption by Christ; justification, through his imputed righteousness, received by faith; this faith the gift of God, and a living principle, that worketh by love; legal and evangelical repentance; the nature and necessity of regeneration; and that without holiness no man can see God. All persons were put upon examining themselves, warned against trusting in their own righteousness, and resting in the form of godliness, without the power, &c. These things, together with pathetical invitations to sinners, to come and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as offered in the Gospel, made a wonderful impression on the minds of all sorts of people at the first. And men, women and children were much awakened, and the out ward face of things began exceedingly to alter.

"In February, 1742, the Rev. Mr. Croswell came hither, and continued in the town about a fortnight, preaching sometimes in this, and sometimes in the other parish. At this time, I think I may say, as the apostle does to the Thessalonians: 'The Gospel came unto us, not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. And we received the word, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which wrought effectually in them that believed.' Hundreds of souls were at one time in the meetinghouse, Saturday, February 13th, crying out in the utmost concern, what they should do to be saved! and many others rejoicing in the Lord, in the sweet sense of his redeeming love and grace in Christ Jesus, as they declared. This day, and at some other times, conversions were so open and public, that we seemed to see souls, dead in trespasses and sins, revive and stand up monuments of divine grace. I do not mean that we had an intuition of their hearts, and knew infallibly the state of their souls, which is God's prerogative; but the appearance of conversion from one state to the other, and the alteration in the frame and temper of their minds, which they discovered in words and behaviour, was admirable. This day appeared to me in the time of it, and hath done so ever since, a day of great grace, for which my soul giveth thanks to God.

"After this, for some months together, you should scarcely see any body at the taverns, unless they were strangers, travellers, or some come there upon necessary business. The children forsook their plays in the streets, and persons of all denominations, except a few, gave themselves to reading the word of God, and other books of devotion, to meditation, prayer, conference, and other religious exercises, and refrained from their customary vices. And many that lived at a distance, being acquainted with this town in its former slate, coming hither, beheld us now with admiration, saying, Surely the fear of God is in this place."

* Christian History, Vol. II. page 313.

To commemorate the 440th anniversary of John Knox's death, November 24, 1572 ...

In "The Puritan Hope" (Banner of Truth Trust, 1971), Iain Murray writes:

    The commencement of the Reformation in England and Scotland was marked by a thirst for Scripture among the people. Tyndale's version of the New Testament circulated in both realms from 1526 onwards and soon a train of preachers appeared, at first small in number, whose ministry was attended by effects which had not been commonly seen for many long centuries. Of George Wishart, the Scottish reformer, martyred in 1546, we have this account of his open-air preaching: 'He came to a dyke in a moor edge, upon the south-west side of Mauchline, upon the which he ascended. The whole multitude stood and sat about him (God gave the day pleasing and hot). He continued in preaching more than three hours. In that sermon God wrought so wonderfully with him that one of the most wicked men that was in that country, named Laurence Rankin, laird of Shiel, was converted. The tears ran from his eyes in such abundance that all men wondered. His conversion was without hypocrisy, for his life and conversation witnessed it in all times to come.¹

    Scenes like this were soon to become common in the northern kingdom. In May, 1556, John Knox, running the gauntlet of the Catholic powers who still controlled the country, preached for ten consecutive days in Edinburgh. When he returned to Scotland again, in 1559, the spiritual revival became general. 'God did so multiply our number', Knox writes of the growth of the Protestant cause, 'that it appeared as if men had rained from the clouds.'² In a letter to an English friend written on June 23, 1559, he says: 'Now, forty days and more, hath my God used  my tongue in my native country, to the manifestation of His glory. Whatsoever now shall follow, as touching my own carcass, His holy name be praised. The thirst of the poor people, as well as of the nobility here, is wondrous great, which putteth me in comfort that Christ Jesus shall triumph for a space here, in the north and extreme parts of the earth."³

Reading about the history of the Church serves a reality check for us. It's far too easy each one of us to lapse into a lukewarm, lethargic complacency about the state of Christianity.

It's true that we're not to despise the day of small things (Zech. 4:10), and yet we should recognize that here in the west we currently are in the midst of such days, and we ought to be in earnest prayer that the Lord might be gracious to us and send to us such times of refreshing as were experienced during the Protestant Reformation. Until men rain once again from the clouds, may God's Holy Spirit strengthen us to be importunate in prayer, to plead day and night like the widow whom our Lord commended in Luke 18. That very commendation serves as Jesus' clear instruction and exhortation to each one of us that vigilance in prayer is a mark of genuine faith – that such prayer is not intended for a certain few, but for all the saints. May our Lord find us faithful in prayer for the reformation and reviving of His Church, for the praise and glory of His name among all the nations.

Luke 18:1  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5  yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?, Will he delay long over them? 8  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

¹ John Knox, "History of the Reformation in Scotland," edited by William Croft Dickinson, 1949, Vol. 1, 62.

² Quoted by Jasper Ridley, "John Knox," 1968.

³ Ibid., 327.

Photo credit: Work found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Knox_statue,_Haddington.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0

II Timothy 4:1  I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4  and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5  As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Isaiah 5
13  Therefore my people go into exile
for lack of knowledge;
their honored men go hungry,
and their multitude is parched with thirst...

20  Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!

LORD God, have mercy upon Your people. There is a great dearth of knowledge in Your Church today. There are many sheep who are hungry and thirsty, and the tragic thing is many of these souls do not even know they are hungry and thirsty because they've had little access to sound teaching. Forgive us, Lord, for all of us are too easily and too quickly led away by our own passions, and we too quickly discard the hard sayings of Scripture without examining them because they are spiritually discerned. We allow our sinful flesh and earthly minds to guide us rather than submitting ourselves to the supernatural leading of Your blessed Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth. Lord Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom, sanctify and cleanse Your bride with the washing of the water of Your Word. Holy Father, sanctify Your children in the truth; Your Word is truth. Both the shepherds and the flock end up calling evil good, and good evil; put darkness for light, and light for darkness; and put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Forgive us, Lord God, for Jesus' sake. We are sheep who are prone to wander, and we each would go our own way – far, far away from Your way – apart from Your persevering grace. Holy Spirit, You are the Spirit of truth. Humble us, O God, bring us to our senses, and lead us into all truth, that we might once again treat the Word of God with the reverence we ought – that we would not sit as judges over Your Word, but put ourselves under Your Word and let Your Word judge us. Merciful God, send Your Spirit to soften and circumcise our hearts, to open our ears and eyes, and to lead us into all truth. Sanctify our hearts and our ears so we would desire and pant for Your truth, goodness, light and sweetness to be preached once again in our congregations, and that we would test all things in light of Your Word and settle for nothing less than sound teaching.

LORD God, send us pastors and teachers who will not shrink back from their calling, but would be ready and faithful to preach Your Word without compromise in season and out of season. O, God, we are hungry and thirsty! We are in desperate need of Your truth, goodness, light and sweetness to flow forth from our pulpits! May Your grace equip our pastors and teachers so they might labor hard, and may Your love compel them to uphold and proclaim with authority the truths of Scripture to feed the flock of God faithfully, fearlessly and boldly, so Your sheep will not continue to go hungry and thirsty, but would be nourished with and grow by Your true Word as You intend, so we might glorify and enjoy and sup with You as we eat and drink of Your truth, goodness, light and sweetness! O! How can any single one of us thrive and flourish on falsehood, evil, darkness and bitterness! How can Your Church thrive and flourish on falsehood, evil, darkness and bitterness! How can the cause of Christ in the world thrive and flourish on falsehood, evil, darkness and bitterness! Unless we are eating and drinking of Your truth, goodness, light and sweetness, what truth, goodness, light and sweetness do we have to give out to a world which is lost and mired and enslaved in falsehood, evil, darkness and bitterness? Good Shepherd, send us pastors and teachers who are not seeking to please men, but who are seeking to please You. Send us pastors who desire to seek Your face and Your Kingdom and Your glory – and not to seek their own kingdoms or their own glory. Send us pastors and teachers who will not preach and teach to itching ears, but will keep their eyes on Jesus and persevere in sound teaching, no matter the cost to them. Almighty God, strengthen these men by Your Holy Spirit so they might be sober-minded, endure afflictions, fulfill their ministry, and be faithful proclaimers of Your evangel. Send us pastors and teachers who do not fear men, but fear You and tremble at Your Word and treasure and guard Your Gospel, knowing one day they will stand before You to give account for how they stewarded Your word and tended the flock which You purchased with Your precious blood.