A sleepy Friday morning…

26. Christian Leaders of the 18th Century by J. C. Ryle. A marvelous book. As I started reading this book, I thought that this was a pretty good book. Not bad, encouraging, you know. The more I read, the more my heart was enlivened and the more my soul was thrilled and the more I knew this was not simply a good book. No, this is a great one. Written in the latter part of the 19th century by one of the foremost Christian minds of the day, this little book (it is really quite small and easily readable!) is packed with truth and testimony, glorifying God in every page. This is one of those books that I’ve greatly enjoyed reading these past few weeks…every time I got a chance to walk down to EQ and enjoy some late afternoon sunlight, I would take this book and read a chapter or two. And every time I did, I was blown away anew pondering the goodness of God in the lives of men and women. Right, so I’ve maundered on far too much…what is this book actually about? Well, as per the title it is about…Christian leaders of the 18th century. Shocking right? Ryle focuses on 11 different men that were preeminent evangelists, pastors and preachers in the 18th century. Some of them are well-known (and indeed – ones I’ve read much heftier biographies of), like Whitefield and Wesley. The remainder are not quite as well known. Even if I’ve heard their names, didn’t know much about them. Romaine & Grimshaw & Berridge & Venn & Fletcher and others. Really what I love about this book is that it’s essentially 11 mini-biographies in one. Ryle walks through the man’s life, obviously focusing on his service to God. When and how was he converted? Where did he serve? How did he live? How did he die? (the last is always oh so moving and encouraging and convicting. May I die like these men, eager and joyous to meet my Lord) He ends each section by quoting extensive passages from the man’s sermons and/or letters, so you get an idea of the voice of the man and how he thought. I (as you may know) love biographies in general, so getting to read about 11 different men in this book was most enjoyable. And Ryle has a great voice of his own. You can easily see his passion bleed through the pages, his longing to see God work as He did in the 18th century in the Great Awakening. Ryle recognizes that these men were but human and flawed (and he does not hesitate to say that and point out their flaws!) but he also recognizes that these men were greatly used by God. Ryle touches on some of the controversial points of the day (Arminianism v Calvinism) and of course Ryle’s beliefs are evident (he in no uncertain terms states that what is commonly known as Calvinistic theology is the truth of the Bible – as I will attest to myself), but Ryle doesn’t dwell on the controversy. Indeed, he ends the book with Fletcher, a noted Arminian polemicist…but that is not the main point of Fletcher’s life. Rather, Ryle focuses on his ministry to his parish, his holy life, and his preaching of the gospel of God – salvation through Christ and Christ alone! And so truly – throughout this book, the themes of the gospel sing forth. We are not saved by the good works that we may or may not do. No, we can do nothing of our own. We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Simple, beautiful faith. What is faith? Believing that Jesus is who He says He is in the Word of God and putting all our trust in Him. Not part of our trust. We can’t rely partly on ourselves and partly on Christ. Nay, we must disavow any perceived goodness of our own and fly to Christ and call out to Him for salvation. We must recognize our filthiness and total wickedness and turn away from it in horror and disgust, seeing that we have nothing good in ourselves. We must turn to Christ, the One who died so that we may live. The One who rose again so that we might rise again. We must turn to Christ and throw ourselves on His mercy and trust only in Him for our light and our salvation. This is the message that the men in this book preached. This is the message that saved thousands of souls from deepest darkness. This is the message that shines forth in this book. Oh yes, it is remarkably convicting and encouraging reading of the lives of these men and of the great works that God did through them. And yes, it motivates and drives me to serve God much more than I currently am. But even more than all that, through reading this book, it was thrilling being reminded of the gospel I believe and the God I serve. In Him and Him alone is all my hope.