John J in Westminster

It was good to be at the Westminster Fellowship last Monday. An added bonus was being accompanied by my father-in-law who had been preaching in London the day before. About 20 or so gathered to hear a fine paper from John J Murray on evangelism and then to discuss it. Mr Murray made the following points:

1. Reformed preaching before the 1870s was generally

God-centred, Word-centred, Doctrine driven, God exalting, preaching a supernatural salvation, the importance of piety and was corporate or church-centred.

2. What caused the change?

Three causes were identified - The 18th Century Enlightenment, the 19th Century rise of liberalism in Germany, the 19th Century rise of Finneyism in America.

3. The changes that D L Moody brought in

Mr Murray began by giving us a brief overview of Moody's visits to Britain and suggested his success came through:

His sincerity, humility and zeal; the obvious moving of the Spirit; the godly homes converts came from and Moody's ability to attract the untouched masses.

However, Moody's gospel was an Arminian one and although he adapted it in Britain his altar call method and use of music can also be questioned. The involvement of Henry Drummond rings alarm bells too. Seven points were then made highlighting the detrimental changes that went with all this:

A loss of the idea of the sovereignty of God; a lack of seriousness about sin; a lack of resultant piety (many professors fell away); a loss of doctrinal purity and a lack of interest in doctrine; a shift to individualism, which probably goes back much further; a loss of the old view of revival; a lack of historical continuity or desire for it.

In conclusion he made a number of applications including our need to get back to emphasising God, the need to recall our glorious heritage, the need to recover the art of biblical instruction, the need for fresh militancy and the need for revival and to see that need.