England sank to deep moral and spiritual levels during the 18^th century.  Low morality, brutality, sports, and gambling obsession preoccupied a lost and hopeless people until John Wesley and the Moravian Christian movement began to powerfully affect England for the Kingdom of God. 

The Lord’s Prayer is recited religiously in many churches each Sunday.  People chatter it like parrots, then they go home and live lives that in no way resemble the Christian life God expects them to model. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:1: I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called.  

The Lord’s prayer is a request to God that we would do on earth what he does in heaven.  It is a prayer for his Kingdom to come to earth and his will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven.  There is no way anyone on earth can do God’s will except we receive from God a touch of great grace and great power like what happened in England in the 18^th century.  His will is done on earth when grace affects our lives and we are changed from the inside out.  I know countless numbers of people from all over the world who have experienced this amazing grace. 

John Wesley’s preaching (and his brother Charles’ hymns) affected so many in the 18^th century. John Newton was one of those. After his conversion, his life transformed, Newton wrote the famous hymn Amazing Grace. He knew it was great grace that had made him a new man.  Newton was a slave-trading bootlegger along with thousands of others who were doing the same thing. It has been said that England made more profit from the slave trade than any other nation on earth.  This brutal enterprise continued until a man by the name of William Wilberforce experienced the same great grace that John Newton had experienced.  He dedicated his life in politics to bringing an end to the slave industry in England.  He was a committed and dedicated Christian who lived and walked worthy of the new Kingdom and King.  Wilberforce’s efforts were successful and the English parliament passed a bill in 1833 to abolish the slave trade in the entire British Empire. It was an amazing and powerful accomplishment, when at that time a large portion of the British Empire thrived off the slave industry in one way or another.  The biggest source of income was probably the shipping industry that was used to transport slaves from Africa across the Atlantic to various destinations, the largest being America.  

I want you to note that much better days were realized in England with the ministry of John Wesley and the great grace that accompanied his message to the masses of English people. The same message and grace can bring better days to Canada.  It will require choice and repentance to get started.  It starts with one person at a time realizing: “There is something I am missing regarding the Bible and God and I want to make an effort to find the answers.”  My friend, if you make those choices and start on a quest to find answers from the Bible and from sound, biblical-minded leaders, you will be on your way to an exciting future. 

The period of the 18^th century during the powerful movement John Wesley initiated is often referenced in history books as the Great Awakening.  People became spiritually awake and aware of the eternal God perspective on their destiny and their sinful living.  John Wesley brought the masses to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He plunged himself into the cause.  He rode over 250,000 miles on horseback in his lifetime. He preached over 45,000 sermons.  He wrote thousands of letters, kept a daily diary, and wrote himself and in partnership with others over 300 books.  He rose at 4:00 a.m. each morning and often preached his first sermon at 5:00 a.m.  He had a supernatural ability and capacity to do the impossible.  Remember, he was sent home from his first term as a missionary with the Church of England as unfit.  But, after his encounter and personal salvation experience, everything changed in his life.

Wesley’s experience could be compared with the fishermen who became disciples of Christ, known later as apostles.  It is recorded in Acts that they turned the world upside down: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). These fishermen turned preachers were just ordinary men but with their dynamic ministry of power and great grace, they changed the world of that day.   Better days came to the Roman Empire through these men and better days came to England through men like John and Charles Wesley.  It too could be said that they turned England upside down or it might be better said that they turned England right side up.  It was upside down in sin, moral depravity, drunkenness, and crime.  England was set on a new course and a better future that really caused England to rise to amazing splendour and glory in the 19^th century. John and Charles Wesley poured out their lives in England for over 50 years to drunk-sodden, brutalized, and neglected multitudes and the Word of Life and great grace changed the nation to experience much better days.  

One great accomplishment of John Wesley was his emphasis on education for all and especially the youth.  Children were growing up ignorant and without education.  He made books and literature available at a low cost. Wesley deplored the stupidity of wars.  He campaigned against the curse of distilleries and alcohol establishments.  He called them a curse to England.  He was an advocate of hard work and fair wages and a fair cost for living.  He helped the poor and encouraged them into apprentice trades so they could transition to supporting themselves with honest work rather than with crime.  Wesley attacked corruption in government and elections and election reforms finally came about for the betterment of England.  Rich literature and music emerged from the days of the Great Awakening with notable hymn writers and poets like Cowper, Watts, Newton, Frances Havergal, and many others.  The Wesley’s ministry brought conservative Biblical theology back to churches in England.  

The Great Awakening helped to abolish slavery, started the John Howard society with major prison reforms and other reforms to industry.  Sunday schools were established for the first time and flourished to produce millions of children growing up in England with a completely new Biblical perspective and goals that carried England into the next generation with a host of pastors and preachers that affected England and America into the next century.  There is no doubt that better days came to England during this time.  And better days can come to Canada if we just get serious about tapping into HIS GREAT GRACE once again! 

Please call us if you have questions.  If you would like to join our Live Stream services go to www.pabaptist.ca   If you want your very own Bible to study, we will give you one for free along with some good study material.  Contact us on the web site. 

The content of this article is solely the personal opinions of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Prince Albert Shopper.