taken from 'the puritans' by martyn lloyd-jones, p189
the apostle paul reminds the elders of the church at ephesus of how he preached 'with tears'. and whitefield used to preach with tears. when have you and i last preached (note: or talked to an individual)with tears? what do we knwo, to use the phrase of whitefield, about preaching a 'felt Christ'?..how can we get out of this cold and arid and mechanical type of worship and christian living?...let me read a ..statement from the 'life of christmas evans'...he says..'i was weary, weary of a cold heart towards Christ and his sacrifice and the work of His Spirit. i was weary of a cold heart towards Christ and His sacrifice and the work of His Spirit, of a cold heart in the pulpit, in secret prayer and in the study. for 15 years previously i had felt my heart burning within, as if going to emmaus with Jesus. on a day ever to be remembered y me as i was going from dolgelley to machynlleth and climbing up towards cader idris i considered it to be incumbent upon me to pray, however hard i felt in my heart and however worldly the frame of my spirit was. having begun in the name of Jesus i soon felt as it were the fetters loosening and the old hardness of heart softening, and, as i thot, mountains of frost and snow dissolving and melting within me. this engendered confidence in my soul in the promise of the Holy Ghost. i felt my whole mind relieved from some great bondage, tears flowed copiously, and i was constrained to cry out for the gracious visits of God, by restoring to my soul the joys of His salvation, and that He would visit the churches in anglesey that were under my care. i embraced in my supplications all the churches of the saints, and nearly all the ministers in the principality by their names. this struggle lasted for 3 hours; it rose again and again like one wave after another, or a high flowing tide driven by strong wind, until my nature became faint by weeping and crying. thus i resigned myself to Christ body and soul, gifts and labours, all my life, every day and every hour that remanied for me; and all my cares i committed to Christ. the road was mountainous and lonely and i was wholly alone and suffered no interruption in my wrestling with God.
from this time i was made to expect the goodness of God to the churches and to myself. thus the Lord delivered me and the people of anglesey from being carried away by the flood of sandemanianism (the belief that salvation comes with the mere intellectual assent to the facts of the gospel). in the first religious meeting after this i felt as if i had been removed from the cold and sterile regions of spiritual frost into the verdant fields of divine promises. the former striving with God in prayer and the longing anxiety for the conversion of sinners which i had experienced at lleyn were now restored. i had a hold of the promises of God. the result was, when i returned home the fires thing that arrested my attention was that the Spirit was working also in the brethren in anglesey, inducing in them a spirit of prayer, especially in 2 of the deacons who were particularly importunate with God, that God would visit us in mercy and render the Word of His grace effectual amongst us for the conversion of sinners'.
that is our only hope. 'ALL COLDNESS FROM MY HEART REMOVE.'
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