"What child of God can expect to escape slander, when God himself was thus slandered even in paradise?" George Whitefield, The Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent
"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5
George Whitefield no doubt experienced slander. Rotten eggs and dead cats thrown at him did not stop his ministry. He stirred the hearts of men to follow Christ, and the enemy took him to task.
When sick nigh to death, a friend told him he should go to bed. Instead, this man of God prayed, "Lord Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not weary of it. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for Thee once more and seal Thy truth, and come home to die." And then he preached.
Today, we'd call such a person a fanatic. The media would mock him because of his fervor for the Lord. The morals he sought for his listeners to maintain would be scoffed at. Indeed, even today's government would all but call him a bigot for the stance he took on sin.
"Among the many heinous sins for which this nation is grown infamous, perhaps there is no one more crying, but withal more common, than the abominable custom of profane swearing and cursing."
Those words George Whitefield spoke may have fit the world then. How much more now? And how would some in the media take him to task if he spoke those words now? Probably they would just laugh and claim freedom of speech...that freedom covers all profane things coming from the mouth or pen, right? Hmm. With freedom comes responsibility.
Did you know he preached a sermon titled "The Heinous Sin of Drunkenness"? Seems to be be drunk these days is a badge of honor, even among the Christians. And yet he quoted Ephesians 5:18 "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." And how would people respond today if he should preach such a sermon?
Yet, he did and God used him mightily to change the course of the colonies...to prepare the hearts of the men and women who would become patriots and birth this great country. If perhaps we had men like Whitefield today who did not fear preaching against sin and for the Gospel from the pulpit, I wonder if the course of our nation would change; if we might find ourselves free from the tyranny of sin and the lack of morality of a secular society.
I wonder what God thinks about our nation as it stands now, not only slandering His good name in its conduct with other nations and within itself, but systematically removing Him from every part of our society.
"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34
Powerful post, Lynn! Not sure I know any strong Christian who hasn't been slandered because of their faith. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteChristian authors are often slandered in reviews/comments on places like Amazon.com just because their works have Christian themes and seek to glorify God. I've seen it many times, and it makes me sad. But it's heartening to see Christian friends rally around and write positive reviews to offset the negative ones.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, Lynn, about my very favorite preacher. I can't get enough of Whitefield. Would that we had one like him today! Like Susan, I'm saddened that authors are attacked for Christian content. It's happened to me and I don't think you ever get over it. But the enemy is doing all he can as he knows his time is short. We have to stand firm and be a light.
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