John Wesley on Family Religion

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15b

What will the consequence be, if we do not adopt this resolution? —if family religion be neglected? —if care be not taken of the rising generation? Will not the present revival of religion in a short time die away? Will it not be as the historian speaks of the Roman state in its infancy, res unius aetatis:

“an event that has its beginning and end within the space of one generation”? Will it not be a confirmation of that melancholy remark of Luther’s that “a revival of religion never lasts longer than one generation”? By a generation (as he explains himself), he means thirty years. But, blessed be God, this remark does not hold with regard to the present instance, seeing this revival, from its rise in the year 1729, has already lasted above fifty years.

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The Church Must First Repent

The occurrence of the word “Repent” in the messages to the Seven Churches is truly remarkable. The word repentance—in the mind of the average Christian—is connected with sinners and not with professing Christians. And yet the word used throughout the New Testament in the presentation of the Gospel message to sinners is exactly the same word repeated by our Lord in His messages to the Seven Churches.

The word “Repent” occurs over seven times in these seven messages. It is omitted from two of them—Smyrna, the poor, persecuted Church—for a church in persecution is generally a purified one, and Philadelphia, the loyal Church, the Church that had kept the faith. The noun “metanoia” (repentance) is defined variously as a change of mind, a change of heart, a change of attitude, or a change of direction.

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Superficial Revival

1790-1875

I recently came across a small, scarce collection of letters written by Charles Finney toward the end of his life. They are exhortations concerning his perspective of the growing superficiality of church life and revival meetings around the year 1870. As I read, I could not help but mourn over the state of the church as we now experience it 130 years later. It takes little imagination to figure what his response would be to the rock bands, comedy routines, T-shirt sales and empty conversions that typify “revival meetings” of our day.

It is my prayer that this timeless reprimand will spur us in returning not only to the revival fire of the 1830’s, but further still, until the Book of Acts becomes our reality in this day. Below is an excerpt from this collection. --Dean Taylor

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