Looking backward and forward

Pastor Allen has mentioned this book several times in recent sermons at Dove Mountain. It was also mentioned here at this blog last November 8. In this week's sermon, it was the source of the compelling story Pastor Allen told about the "deep savagery of much of 18th century England," and the subsequent reforms which can be traced to spiritual renewal and conversion.

What was striking in the sermon, of course, were the parallels to today's American culture. The specific sins which Pastor Allen read about in 18th century England are certainly abroad in our times here in the U.S., and there were audible agreements being voiced among the congregation as he read the list.

Pastor Allen is well-read in history, and we should be grateful that he brings so much of the past into his messages. But the point is for us to apply the lessons we learn from the past. In this case, England would have sunk further into debauchery of all kinds had its people not heeded the message of the gospel and repented. For our purposes, it is not relevant that England has since sunk back even further into sin. In many respects, it is merely following the lead of its offspring, the United States, the international distributor of Hollywood-controlled American culture.

On a side note, I will mentioned that in telling this story, Stott is quoting from an older work, entitled England before and after Wesley: The Evangelical Revival and Social Reform, by historian J. Wesley Bready. At Amazon.com, I learned that this book has been out of print for some time, and only rare copies are for sell by private owners at a high price.

Now, this is not necessarily the result of a conspiracy (at least not a conscious one), but with the currently fashionable disregard of history, we should be thankful that writers like John Stott (and preachers like Allen Cooney) have done the research for us, keeping these stories alive to inspire us to action in our time.

Let's show our appreciation by praying for revival and practicing repentance of national sins in our individual lives.