If you've been following this blog for any period of time, you know that in addition to the Bible itself, God has greatly used the reading of Church history to the nourishment of my soul. The Protestant Reformation was just one of a series of revivals our God has used throughout the history of His people to reform, renew, and revive His languishing Church.

My friends, we are in very great need of another such reformation. Today, as we commemorate Martin Luther's nailing the 95 Theses to the Wittenberg door in 1517, as we must be sobered as we look out upon evangelical Christianity and find very few professing Christians who have any real awareness of the need. The valley is full of bones, and the bones are very many and very dry. And yet, our God is the God whose Spirit blew in the midst of that valley and raised the dead to life, and our God is the God who came down in the 15th and 16th centuries and brought light after darkness! Post tenebras lux!

I recently came across a book by Gilbert Wardlaw (1798-1873). Wardlaw was a minister of the Gospel in Edinburgh in the 19th century. Since I am in constant prayer and on the constant look-out for encouragements to spur me on to persevere in prayer, I couldn't help but be drawn to the book:  "Testimony of Scripture to the Obligations and Efficacy of Prayer; More Especially of Prayer for the Gift of the Holy Spirit:  In Three Discourses."

After reading a short bit of the book, I actually jumped to a section at the end of the book entitled "Note, on Revivals of Religion." I hope to bring you a couple excerpts from that portion of the book, beginning with one today. My prayer is that God might use Wardlaw's words to encourage you to persevere in prayer and faithfully labor toward the revival we so desperately need.  James 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh...  10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy...16 ... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 17  Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. (KJV)

NOTE, ON REVIVALS OF RELIGION. Of those awakenings in religion, which have been generally called revivals, some have no other conception than of scenes of fanaticism and enthusiastic extravagance. Even among many really religious persons in this country [Scotland], a considerable degree of misconception and prejudice on this subject, there is reason to apprehend, prevails. It may be of use to suggest to the attention of such a few considerations, and details of facts, which may tend to show that the prejudice which exists is unfounded, and stands greatly in the way of the most substantial interests of true religion.

In the first place, general principles are decidedly in favour of the reality and advantage of revivals. A revival has been defined, "the work of the Holy Spirit carried on to a greater extent than usual, in the conversion of sinners and the edification of believers." In this there is surely no thing which ought to awaken prejudice in the minds of any who know what the work of the Spirit is. That this work should be more powerful and extensive in a religious community at one time than at another, we might expect from considering the course of religion in the minds of individuals, and what has been seen in the church in all ages. The life of a believer is one of continual backsliding, to a greater or less extent, and of continual recoveries from backsliding. The history of the church has, from the beginning, been one of the same kind. This is strikingly seen in the case of the children of Israel, in their successive apostasies from God, and their successive reformations; and it has been not less conspicuous in the New Testament church, since it was planted, to this day. The prophets laboured to produce revivals of religion; John the baptist preached for the same object; the day of Pentecost was a remarkable revival of religion; the epistles to the seven churches in Asia were designed to recal them to their first love; the successive witnesses for Christ in the dark ages of papal usurpation were the instruments of successive revivals; the protestant reformation consisted of a number of great revivals in different countries; the religious impulses since given to the church by remarkable individuals, and by several separating bodies of Christians, were occasions of religious revival. In short, there never has been seen in the church that steady and orderly progress of religion, to the idea of which many Christians are so partial. When most prejudiced against revivals, it is probable that we then stand most in need of them. In all times and circumstances, there has existed in the church — and the lessson which it teaches is a most affecting one — a constant tendency to relapse and decline; and true religion has been kept alive in our sinful world by a series of successive recoveries.

Nor is there any thing in the rapid spread of religious excitement from one to another on these occasions, which ought at all to excite our incredulity as to its genuineness. God has been, in all times, the hearer of prayer. When one Christian has been awakened from slumber, his prayers ascend to God for others around him, and he uses means for impressing divine truth upon their hearts; his prayers and endeavours are successful; praying souls are multiplied; and, in answer to prayer, the Spirit of God is shed forth abundantly both on the church and the world.

~ From Gilbert Wardlaw's "Testimony of Scripture to the Obligations and Efficacy of Prayer; More Especially of Prayer for the Gift of the Holy Spirit:  In Three Discourses" (Edinburgh: Waugh & Innes, 1829), 155-158. (HT for the text: https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=IicQAAAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PP9)

* * *

May our God who has awakened us from slumber, awaken others from slumber. May our God who never sleeps nor slumbers, keep us awake and alert and watching and laboring on the wall. May our God, who ever lives to intercede for us, finish the work He has begun in us, and in His time, shine His face once again upon His Church and revive us again, to the praise of His glorious grace. May the Lamb receive the reward of His sufferings, for He alone is worthy! (Psalm 121; Isaiah 62:6-7; Ephesians 6:17-18; Philippians 1:6.)

Earlier this year, as I read "John Elias: Life, Letters and Essays" by Edward Morgan (revised & republished by Banner of Truth, 1973), I found my heart resonated with the heart of the publishers, whose words were written 40 years ago this month:

Without doubt the following pages contain much information which has long been in accessible and practically unknown. If it not, however, a concern merely for the recovery of historical knowledge which is responsible for this reprint. Speaking once of how the Welsh fathers of the eighteenth century had prevailed with God in prayer, and been remarkable for their spiritual usefulness, Elias said, 'It is a consolation to us that the sword and arms they so skilfully used, are in our hands:  may the Lord enable us to handle them!' The supreme value of this volume we judge to be the way in which it reminds us what are the 'sword and arms' of the Church. May God use these pages to further a recovery of the light and power of the gospel at a time when contentment with small things has blighted us all!

The Publishers

June, 1973

As I read through the book, I discovered the words attributed to Elias were an incorrect citation on the part of the publishers –– though indeed it is true that Elias looked back to the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist fathers of the previous century. Those words were actually part of a letter some of Elias' brothers in Christ had written to him to express their appreciation to him, as they met at Montgomeryshire for an Association Meeting of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Connexion. At that time, in April 1841, Elias was at home under great physical affliction (it was just over a month before he would pass into the Glory everlasting). In their "letter of condolence" to Elias, these men requested Elias' prayers on their behalf as they desired to be equipped with God's power to skillfully use the "sword and arms" as did the fathers... (p. 179-180):

April 30, 1841...

Dear brother, we entreat your prayers for ourselves, that the God of Israel may abide with us. Our fathers prevailed with God in prayer, and were remarkable for spiritual gifts; we are no more grasshoppers in comparison to them. But it is a consolation to us that the sword and arms they so skillfully used, are in our hands:  may the Lord enable us to handle them.

John Elias (1774 -1841) and the other Welsh Calvinistic ministers looked back to the fathers (including William Williams (Pantycelyn), Daniel Rowland, Thomas Charles, Griffith Jones, etc.) because of their remarkable "spiritual usefulness." The 18th century fathers had "skillfully used" the "sword and arms," and these 19th century men men were diligently seeking the Lord for the power He alone could provide, knowing the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. They longed to walk in the ways of the fathers –– to be workers approved and unashamed, and to prove they had not received the grace of God in vain.

I suspect by "sword and arms" these men were referring to Aaron and Hur holding up Moses' arms during the battle against Amalek, while Joshua and his chosen men fought and defeated Amalek with the sword (Exodus 17:8-16). My friends, we are in need not only a return to Word of God but also a return to prayer to God –– not only a return to the sword but to the arms! We have been experiencing some resurgence of Reformed preaching for which I am thankful –– but my question is this:  where is the resurgence in importunate prayer... where are the raised arms?

"What influence the rod of Moses had upon the battle (11): When Moses held up his hand in prayer (so the Chaldee explains it) Israel prevailed, but, when he let down his hand from prayer, Amalek prevailed. To convince Israel that the hand of Moses (with whom they had just now been chiding) contributed more to their safety than their own hands, his rod than their sword, the success rises and falls as Moses lifts up or lets down his hands. It seems, the scale wavered for some time, before it turned on Israel's side. Even the best cause must expect disappointments as an alloy to its successes; though the battle be the Lord's, Amalek may prevail for a time. The reason was, Moses let down his hands. Note, The church's cause is, commonly, more or less successful according as the church's friends are more or less strong in faith and fervent in prayer."

~ Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Exodus 17

Many of you may be familiar with the following verses in Malachi 4 –– the concluding words of the Old Testament –– after which there was silence for 400 years...

5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.  6  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. (ESV)

5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (KJV)

In his message "Chief Cause for Decay in the Church" on Malachi 4:1-6, Iain Murray explains that though on first reading we might interpret these verses as a prophecy and a promise of "Gospel unity restored to families –– yet the Gospel often divides families." He went on to clarify that the Biblical meaning of the word "fathers" goes beyond that of the parents of the previous generation to "more remote ancestors" (see Romans 9:5). Murray explained that turning of hearts in this way:

The hearts which the fathers of the Old Testament possessed in the best and the brightest days of Israel, the hearts of the fathers, piety, would be found again in another generation. The piety and the devotion of the fathers –– this would be rekindled and it would reappear in the children. That is the meaning of the verse. He shall turn, he shall restore, He shall bring back the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.

So it is expounded in Luke 1:17 –– the Holy Spirit renders it: "He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just." That is to say, hearts which are by nature disobedient – for these hearts will be restored the wisdom, the piety, the grace which was in the fathers. This then was the promise of the verse.

In his commentary on Malachi (included in "The Prophets of the Restoration, or Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi: a New Translation with Notes"), Thomas V. Moore (1818-1871) expounds the passage similarly (see pp. 405-407, or pp. 176-178 in Banner of Truth's "A Commentary on Haggai and Malachi," reprinted 1960 & 1968):

The expression, "return the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to the fathers," has usually been explained to mean the restoration of domestic harmony among the people. But this is a very meagre sense of words that close up the utterances of God to his people for twelve generations. Want of domestic concord was not one of the sins charged upon the people, and its removal would hardly be the great work assigned to the Elijah messenger. The meaning is suggested in the words of the angel to Zacharias, in Luke 1:16, 17; where, instead of the clause, "the heart of the sons to the fathers," is put, "the disobedient to the wisdom of the just." This paraphrase indicates that the hearts of the devoted ancestors were to live again in the obedience of their repentant posterity, and that the backslidden sons were to be restored to the piety of their fathers. The piety of the fathers had been referred to repeatedly before, (see 1:2; 2:5, 6; 3:4,) and the promise is, that this piety should live again in the children, under the Elijah call to repentance; and it is threatened, that if this is not the result, the land shall be laid under the terrible herem. This was  a devotion to destruction, such as was done to the Canaanites by the judicial act of God. As these guilty nations were cut off because of their sins, so should the people who had taken their place on the soil of the land of promise, or those who in turn would take their place on the covenants of promise, if they imitated their sinful example. This was fulfilled five hundred years afterward, when the chosen people were finally rejected, and the awful blood was upon them and their children, according to their own imprecation. And to this hour, the soil that was wet with that blood lies under the terrible herem, and will so continue, until that Elijah call that shall bring back the heart of David, of Isaiah, and of Nathaniel to their exiled posterity, enabling them to see him whom they have pierced, and to cry, "My Lord and my God." And by the same principle of interpretation that we have applied to the previous verse, do we extend this warning to every age of the Church, and find in it the germ of the solemn admonition of Paul in discussing the same subject, (Rom. 11:20, 21,)  "Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee." (HT: http://archive.org/stream/prophetsofrestor00moor/prophetsofrestor00moor_djvu.txt for the text.)

I wasn't familiar with the Hebrew word herem or cherem, so I looked it up in Strong's Concordance... "physical (as shutting in) a net (either literally or figuratively); usually a doomed object; abstr. extermination:--(ac-)curse(-d, -d thing), dedicated thing, things which should have been utterly destroyed, (appointed to) utter destruction, devoted (thing)."

May God turn the hearts of the fathers to us, and give us ears to hear, and impart to us a holy fear, that we might tremble at His Word and be shaken out of our sinful presumption, and repent and humble ourselves, that we might take heed to this grave warning, so we might cast off any and all fleshly means and scatter them as unclean things! ("There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.... In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death." ~ Prov. 14:12, 25-26)... so we might zealously embrace, jealously guard, and skillfully use God's own supernatural provision for His Church:  the sword and arms!

And by the same principle of interpretation that we have applied to the previous verse, do we extend this warning to every age of the Church, and find in it the germ of the solemn admonition of Paul in discussing the same subject, (Rom. 11:20, 21,)  "Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee."

Just over four years ago, in March 2009, I began this website. In the years prior to that time, I'd begun to see things seemed awry and amiss in some way in the Church, and that somehow we were falling short of what God intended, but it was all pretty vague to me... At first I began to look into emergent/missional theology as a solution. But then, all glory to God, I was set right, as I purchased Martyn Lloyd-Jones' (the Doctor's) commentary on First John ("Life in Christ"). Through reading the Doctor's words there and elsewhere, I was enabled to begin to go back to the Word of God (to Whom can we go?!) to see God's diagnosis and God's solution for God's Church, which is found in Acts 6:4:  But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Or, as the 19th century Welsh Calvinistic fathers put it:  "the sword and arms" of the Church. (Please see my posts here and here for more on that.)

In regard to myself, over the past few years, God has given me a burden to pray for the Church to be reformed and revived, and He has continued to increase that burden. I recently wrote that "I am ten thousand times more convinced, if possible, or I would say I am ten thousand times ten thousand times more convinced of the vital necessity for us to be praying for revival than I was when I first started this blog four years ago." Part of my journey has been chronicled on this site. And, along with that burden, in spite of many temptations to despair and to quit, God has been faithful to sustain me and to work in me both the desire and the ability to pray for the Church to be reformed and revived ~ Phil. 2:12-14; Heb. 13:20-21. I still feel I am a tyro in prayer (that word "tyro" one ML-J used quite often). I don't believe I have really prayed through the power of the Holy Spirit and prevailed in prayer like Jacob more than a dozen times in my life –– but like Elijah, I have sometimes been surprised to find that in praying, the Holy Dove has descended, and I have prayed! Isaiah 26:12; Psalm 118:23; Psalm 115:1!

Both the Bible and Church history provide us with a plumb line by which we ought to judge ourselves. Studying the Bible as well as studying Church history are wholly necessary to the Church's spiritual health and welfare. It's far too easy for us to discard the Bible, and it's also far too easy for us to discard the rich heritage of Church history. It's too easy for us to engage in what C.S. Lewis called "chronological snobbery," –– to think that we in the 21st century are so far advanced that the Bible and our God-fearing fathers have nothing at all to teach us. Scripture has some very strong words for people with such attitudes:

Hosea 5
10  The princes of Judah have become
like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
my wrath like water.
11  Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after filth.
12  But I am like a moth to Ephraim,
and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

My friends, are we but grasshoppers compared with the fathers? Are we not in a day of small things? Has not our contentment with small things blighted us?

Along with the publishers of the Elias book, my prayer is that God may be pleased to use the pages of my blog (as well as my prayers) to remind us of the vital necessity of using the "sword and arms of the Church'"; "to further a recovery of the light and power of the gospel at a time when contentment with small things has blighted us all!;" and to strengthen us in faith and stir us up in fervent prayer...

Or, in the words of Malachi:  may God be gracious to us and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children!

Or, as Iain Murray put it:  may God restore to us "the wisdom, the piety and the grace that was in the fathers," that the hearts of the fathers for the sword and arms would appear in us, that our hearts here in the 21st century would be rekindled to treasure and to skillfully use the sword and arms, and prevail with God in prayer as the fathers did, that the Word of the Lord might speed ahead and be glorified throughout all the nations to the praise, honor, and glory of God!

"Prayers and pains through faith in Christ will do anything." ~ John Eliot

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At this point, I'm not expecting to do much of anything on my WP site until closer to the July 15 date. If Xanga does end up shutting down, Lord willing, I'm hoping to open up another site on WP devoted to carrying over this site there, but the name "tentofmeeting" was already taken there (Grr!), so I'm waiting on that. My naphtalideer.wordpress.com site will be a place of contact no matter what, because even if Xanga does continue, there will be some downtime to get things ported over to the new system here, so I'll be providing updates through my WordPress site. I'll be periodically repeating this announcement on my blog here in the coming month.

As I've considered this time of transition, there have been times I've sinned as I've taken my eyes off Jesus, and I've become distressed and worried; and I've continued to be tempted to feel the same way... but as I look back over my blogging years here at Xanga, and look ahead not knowing how things will look in just a month, all I can say is that I'm thankful to God for the opportunity He has given me here, and that it has been a privilege and blessing be able to blog here –– but first and foremost I am thankful that God unconditionally set His love upon me in Christ and chose me to be His child before time began, and has written my name in heaven! ~ Luke 10:20.

I usually devote the comments section below to prayer; so as God leads you, please feel free to add a prayer there. However, if you have any questions or there's any way I can assist you, I welcome your questions and comments below as well.

Yours in Christ, seeking your joy, for the reviving of Christ's Church, for the joy of the nations, for the joy and glory and renown of God Himself,

Karen

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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.

(If you are new to this site, or would like more information, you can read more about tent of meeting in this post, and/or e-mail me at naphtali DOT deer AT gmail DOT com, or message me via Xanga using <a "="" href="http://www.xanga.com/message.aspx?user=tent_of_meeting">this link.)

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.