All right. Well, welcome, team. It's great to have you. This is what a fun inaugural experience.
What a beautiful space. We're really grateful. I'm not quite sure how this is going to unfold.
This is kind of experimental. The first service is going on. It usually goes on for about an hour or so.
So I'm not going to speak at you for an hour. I promise you that.
We'll just cover some material and then we can ask questions and then discuss some things.
But if you need to get up, if you need to spread around, do whatever you need to do to stay comfortable.
And remember, there's probably going to be another service after this, so I don't want to compromise that.
So if you need to get up and you need to walk around, that won't bother me in the slightest.
Do whatever you need to do to stay comfortable.
And I thought we might begin by singing one of those hymns we've passed out.
Which one did we pick, Elizabeth?
Come Thou Fount.
Okay. Come Thou Fount. I think I know that one.
Great.
So, all right.
Let's do that.
Come Thou Fount of every blessing.
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.
Streams of mercy never ceasing.
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet.
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the name I've fixed upon it.
Name of the redeeming love.
The next one.
Is there another verse?
Yeah.
I just don't know which one it is.
God has blessed me.
God has brought me to this place.
And I know by Thy name.
Me safely home by Thy good grace.
Jesus sought me when a stranger.
Wandering from the fold of God.
He to rescue me from danger.
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace.
How great a debtor.
Daily I'm constrained to be.
Let Thy goodness like a fetter.
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander.
Lord, I feel it.
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord.
Take and seal it.
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Love.
Wonderful.
Thank you.
Let's pray.
Father, we are.
We stand and wonder at the wonderful fount of blessing that you in your Trinitarian self are for your people.
How you, Father, have loved us with an everlasting love.
How you, Son, have purchased our redemption at the cost of your own blood.
And how you, Spirit, have opened our eyes and convicted us of our need for a Savior.
And then made that Savior, Christ, beautiful in our sight.
That we might rejoice in Him in that great salvation.
So, Lord, we ask you by your Spirit to be present among us.
And do that good work of a counselor.
Convicting us of where we need to change and come into conformity with Christ.
And then working that very change in us by your good grace, Lord.
So, thank you for this time and this opportunity and this wonderful facility that we have.
May it be used of you to exalt Christ in so many ways.
That as He is lifted up, you would draw many to yourself.
In Jesus' name we ask it.
Amen.
All right, team.
Well, we are starting a series on women.
What kind of?
Portraits from the family album of our family, the people of God.
And in particular, we are going to look at some women.
Women that we should know and honor.
And I'm going to try to draw some women that maybe, maybe some of you might not even have heard of.
And hopefully bringing out their stories a little bit.
The idea came to me while I was meditating on 1 Corinthians 12, not long ago.
Where Paul, you'll remember there, he talks about how we, as his people, are a body.
And different ones function different ways, an eye, a nose, an ear, what have you.
And he says, now in any typical culture, there are going to be some in the body who, in expressing their gifts and their talent and their roles,
the culture is not going to quite look upon them with equal impressiveness or not valorize that particular thing.
And that's just kind of the way it is.
In Corinth, for example, they thought that impressive were those that were able to use rhetoric and so forth and the others that had other gifts.
Well, that wasn't all that impressive.
And Paul says, oh no, no, no, no, in the body of Christ, what we want to do is recognize the vital importance of every contribution.
And if there's a cultural situation in which some aren't given as much honor or credit or appreciation,
then what we want to do is we want to compensate with that as the people of God.
So looking back, oftentimes it seems as though the women in our midst, who God has greatly used,
get somewhat short shrift in the annals of history and appreciation.
So we want to try to rectify that somewhat, if we can, in this series.
So that's kind of the motivation of this.
Plus, it's just fun.
Everybody loves a good story.
And I'm hoping that we've found some edifying ones.
So that's where we're headed.
In this first profile, we've called the woman whose scarves were all over the land.
Or we might call it Selena's scattered scarves.
So here we go.
The historical context of our drama has been called the age of reason.
An era enamored with the powers of the human mind to make its liberating way in the world.
Liberating above all from the hobbling shackles of revelation and tradition.
So they said.
But in this age, reason had its hearty twin, ridicule, which would probably be the greater menace to the faith.
The solvent of satire bit deeply at the very foundations of Christianity.
And subjected to mockery were not only its tenets, but also its devotees and especially its leaders.
George Whitefield.
There he is.
George Whitefield was among them.
The great preacher of awakening in a spiritually slumbering age.
Dramatic, even theatrical in his bearing, he was an easy target.
Especially his crossed eyes.
There he is.
If you look closely, you'll notice that he had crossed eyes.
People loved to make fun of him for that.
Indeed, remorselessly, he was made the special subject of lampoon in a stage performance.
Doing uproarious rounds in the London theaters.
Wounding to Whitefield and also bolstering the prejudice.
It really did seem a hindrance to the gospel.
But inexplicably, at its height, the play, in mockery of Whitefield, suddenly stopped.
As it turned out, David Garrick, the far-famed and premier Shakespearean actor of his day,
had exerted his singular influence in that thespian world to bring the production to a close.
This, not on his own initiative, but for a dear friend who had asked him to do so.
Who could that have been?
But more than mockery, George Whitefield and his gospel-preaching co-laborers
had to struggle against a prideful prejudice ensconced in the very church from which they sprang.
The Church of England...
There we go.
There's a better picture of Whitefield, I suppose.
There he is preaching.
If it were a video, you'd see how dramatic and thespian he was.
Vital Christianity was at low ebb.
And the typical Church of England vicar was more preoccupied with fox hunting than preaching.
And that was probably a good thing, however, as the preaching done was so terrible,
it was described as mere Mohammedanism, or Islam, without Mohammed.
Just awful, awful preaching.
Morality and decorum was the weekly summons from the pulpit.
And the notion...
Oh, thank you, that's a great idea.
Yes.
A little stifling in here.
It's all the hot air that I...
Morality and decorum was the weekly summons from the pulpit.
And the notion of being born again, proclaimed as a necessity by George Whitefield and his compatriots,
was thought extreme, indeed indecorous, and overzealous enthusiasm.
That's what this born-again stuff was called, damningly called.
That's just enthusiasm.
Indeed, a church bell was struck at the time, minted with this inscription,
Hurrah for the Church of England, and down with enthusiasm.
Well, at first, the efforts of the Gospel Awakeners to rouse the somnolent churchgoers
was politely ignored by the reigning clergy.
But as soon as the Awakening seemed to be making inroads in their parishes,
those in power exerted legal force to restrict and muzzle the enthusiasts.
Venues were denied and meetings were broken up,
while the magistrates would look on indifferently.
But then, quite unexpectedly, the King of England himself interposed his royal will
that such religious persecution desist in his realm.
Ah, that's a...
Yeah, that's helpful too, definitely.
Definitely.
It seems that someone had reached the King's ear and prompted his protective decree.
Well, as we shall discover, the very one who could move the levers of the London Theatre
could also sway the royal court,
and did not hesitate to do so for the sake of the Gospel.
And here she is.
Whoops, there it is.
No, no, go ahead.
Go ahead.
Whatever you can do to help us out.
Selina was born August 24th, 1707.
We're not quite sure where, as the family had several homes,
but likely the imposing mansion at Staunton Herald, there it is,
was...
That was the seat of the Shirley family, an illustrious family.
Here, that's...
Let me show you what it is today.
There it is.
You can see a little bit better.
That's where she was born.
Staunton Herald.
They were an illustrious family,
in whose blood that of emperors, kings, and queens mingled profusely.
She was the second of three girls,
and it would seem sheltered luxury would be her lot.
But when she was nine years old,
her eye was arrested by a funeral procession
bearing a small coffin of a girl no older than she.
Transfixed, she followed the cortege to the burial ground,
and from that day would often visit the grave.
It marked the beginning of a seriousness about life
in the light of impending death.
And this would mark her all of her days,
that little experience as a nine-year-old girl.
Knowing that frivolity was a dominating feature
of much of the English aristocracy,
and that she would marry within that society,
young Selina often uttered the prayer
that she would marry into a serious family.
And God granted this desire in husband Theophilus,
the ninth Earl of Huntington,
also, and in fact, even more so of a family of royal descent.
Well, for all their seriousness,
they seem to have had quite a happy time together.
Here is their family.
There is Selina.
There's Theophilus.
And there are two.
There would be more children,
but those were the ones that were alive
when the painter painted this image of them.
But marriage did not extinguish the serious streak
which expressed itself in the young countess
in a busyness in doing good,
especially by way of benefactress to the poor.
She was the frequent visitor to the cottages on her estate
and never failed to meet any need with abundant charity.
Her tenants came to refer to her as Lady Bountiful,
and the sound of her approaching coach
gathered a little posse of hopeful children
for the handouts, whatever they would be.
She became vastly admired for her reputation as a Christian lady,
and that accompanied her in the high praise
of her very high-born neighbors and peers.
Well, this proved gratifying to the countess,
but somehow not satisfying.
Looking back, she would later discern that,
quote,
I was going about to establish my own righteousness.
She had the praise and applause of her peers,
but what about God?
What would win his favor?
Anxiously, Selena redoubled her efforts,
hoping she might feel satisfied,
that God was satisfied.
But this resting peace tantalizingly eluded her.
Her health broke in the strain,
indeed completely,
to the point that she feared she was at death's door.
Her illness had brought her benevolence to a halt,
but with it, her sense of worthiness.
Couldn't do any more good things,
didn't feel worthy anymore.
This compounded her terror.
But in the gracious providence of God,
her peaceless anguish perfectly prepared her
to hear with wonder
the ecstatic, breathless testimony
of her sister-in-law, Margaret.
Margaret.
But then, upon the ashes of these vain hopes,
had set forth a perfect and availing righteousness of Christ
for all and any who put their trust in him alone.
And Lady Margaret had ventured that trust.
And the peace and joy that instantly flooded her heart
was now radiant on her face.
Taking Christ, his perfect righteousness and forgiving blood,
Selina, too, felt that same peace and joy
distill into her troubled heart.
And testimony to how the spiritual deeply affects the physical.
She immediately gained back her bodily health.
Isn't that extraordinary?
When having this spiritual peace, suddenly she's physically well, too.
Well, the countess was now a Christian in a way never known or felt before.
And she could not suppress telling all who would listen of the source of her newfound joy.
But such a message struck her church-going hears as utterly foreign
or damningly bearing the taint of enthusiasm.
A bishop was immediately summoned to persuade her back from these religious wilds
to the safe enclosure and sedate way of decency and decorum in religion.
But Selina had been pouring over her Bible
and ably asserted before the bishop her newfound faith as none other than gospel truth.
It was such a marvelous encounter.
You know, the bishop's kind of sputtering and she's saying,
Oh, but the Bible says, but the Bible tells us.
Well, gospel or not, most of her aristocratic friends found the message impertinent.
Impertinent, that was their word.
As the Duchess of Buckingham told her, I quote,
It is monstrous to be told you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl on the earth.
This is highly offensive and insulting.
And I cannot but wonder that your ladyship, she's speaking to the Countess of Huntington,
that your ladyship should relish any sentiments so much at variance with our high rank and our good breeding.
Sad to tell, despite all of these appeals over all the years from Selina,
the Duchess would die contentedly confident with her aristocratic heart.
Alas, how common is Goethe's presumption that God would never damn a truly cultured person.
It's not how it works.
It was a tough mission, very tough mission field for the Countess.
For so often, the high and mighty are the high and haughty.
Reflecting on God's grace in her own life.
The Countess used to often say,
Thank God for the M.
Referring to the Apostle's phrase in 1 Corinthians 1.26,
where he says,
Not many of noble birth.
Thank God for the M.
Thank God it's not any.
But not many meant at least some.
And this was her circle and mission field now.
How might she reach them?
If her high-born peers would not go to the gospel preachers,
perhaps she could bring the gospel preachers to them.
Thus began the Countess's drawing room outreach.
It's marvelous.
Having received a lovely embossed invitation to come to tea,
the upper crust would gather in her well-appointed drawing room,
and you saw the likes of her mansion.
I'm sure it was well-appointed.
To her well-appointed drawing room,
and while they consumed fine cakes,
soon found themselves spellbound by George Whitefield,
who came at her invitation,
sometimes as often as twice a week.
And Whitefield was a consummate orator,
and could transport an audience by his word dramas.
Oh, there's Lord Chesterfield,
as in the famous letters of Lord Chesterfield.
Yes, as once George Whitefield was,
and they were so curious about him.
They had heard things.
So they were curious, so they liked to listen.
And once George Whitefield was comparing the case
of a benighted sinner to that of a blind beggar
with his kind of blind staff going forward
and tottering on the brink of a precipice,
and then his cane slips from his hand,
but he grasps after it right in the back.
And so Whitefield's describing that,
and suddenly the suspense was pierced by a cry,
leaping up, and no doubt spilling his tea as he leapt up.
Lord Chesterfield shrieked,
good God, he's gone!
Just having completely entered in,
and then, oh, excuse me,
sat down and then re-poured his tea.
Stirred the tranquility of the moment.
So this is how mesmerizing Whitefield was.
By all accounts, his preaching,
utterly mesmerizing.
Indeed, David Garrick,
remember, he was,
he's the premier,
the leading Shakespearean actor of the day,
to whom we've previously referred.
He was a regular at Selena's,
at her drawing room,
outreaches.
And he,
he marveled
at how Whitefield intoned the word
Mesopotamia
and confessed,
I would give a hundred guineas,
that was a lot of money,
a hundred guineas,
if I could just say the word,
oh,
like Mr. Whitefield.
And he's the top Shakespearean actor of the day.
Unbelievable, unbelievable.
And for all of their gratified curiosity,
they heard the gospel,
clearly and vividly declared,
heard the inner call,
thank God for the M.
Thank God.
And with the drawing room
full of lords and ladies,
the countess did not forget
the downstairs
and would send Whitefield
to repeat his servant,
servant,
sermon
to the servants
and the cooks downstairs
so they would not be without
the good news of Jesus Christ.
And
what would it take
for the common folk
to hear the good news?
The worker in the field,
the miner in the pits,
or the thatcher on the roof,
who seemed eager to listen?
Well,
John Wesley,
Whitefield's friend
and fellow awakener,
did not think it
possible
that someone
could be saved
outside of a church building.
Remember,
these were the days
of kind of decorum
in religion.
But
wherever he,
John Wesley,
would go,
the buildings,
and he was one of
Whitefield,
he was one of these
awakening preachers,
the buildings,
the church buildings,
were just too small
to accommodate
the eager hearers,
and crowds
would be turned away.
Here,
yeah,
there's,
there's Wesley,
John Wesley.
I,
my father
had a huge
print of this
in his study,
along with
a study of,
a print of
Martin Luther
studying the Bible.
And so I grew up
under the shadow
of these things,
you know,
studying the Bible
and preaching
the good news.
They're just,
these images
are so precious to me.
If I could have
gotten back
to take a picture
off the one in our house,
this would be a better,
a better image for you.
So,
on,
on one occasion,
when John Wesley
had been preaching
in the church,
the,
the folk
who couldn't press in
for the,
for the lack of room,
they lingered
just outside the church,
hoping to hear something
through the open
windows.
And as,
and as John Wesley
left,
he,
he saw
the sad crowd
still present
to the churchyard.
So,
wonderfully,
he just stood
upon a tombstone
where he could project
and he just
repeated his whole sermon,
preaching to them too,
to their great joy
and for many
to their eternal
benefit.
The fields
were ripe
for harvest,
but the workers
were few.
Wesley,
John Wesley,
also thought
that none
but officially
authorized clergy
were fit
to preach,
so was vehemently
against
lay preaching.
That is,
you weren't allowed
to preach the gospel
at all
unless you were
an ordained minister
who had had all
this appropriate
education,
you know,
training and education.
education.
That was his belief.
The problem was
it was so hard
to be able
to get that education.
Not many people
could do it.
It was a very,
very narrow gate.
And Wesley
firmly believed this.
But,
thanks be to God,
two very
persistent
women
finally
persuaded
John Wesley
otherwise.
his mother,
Susanna,
an extraordinary
woman.
One day,
I'm going to
do a whole
profile on her.
Just extraordinary.
Susanna Wesley,
the mother of
John and Charles,
and the
Countess of
Huntington,
Selina.
An indomitable
pair.
And John Wesley
finally agreed
to go listen
to a rather
rough-around-the-edges
lay preacher
that the Countess
had been encouraging.
Well,
he most definitely
lacked the Oxford
accent
of John Wesley,
but evidently
not the Holy Spirit.
And Wesley
came away
concluding,
quote,
it is the Lord.
Let him do
what seemeth
good to him.
And from
there and
then,
lay preachers
augmented
the preaching
force and
became really
the hallmark
of this
growing movement
of awakening.
What we
in the
American
choice
called
the Great
Awakening,
the First
Great
Awakening.
Thanks to
those two
women.
Well,
as the
gospel
sounded
forth across
Britain,
from village
cross,
as we saw
with Wesley,
to country
veil,
thousands
experienced
new birth.
But what
would become
of them?
There was a
famine for
the word
of God
in the
churches.
Wesley,
John Wesley,
a great
organizer,
developed
classes,
what he
called
classes.
These were
really small
groups for
mutual
encouragement.
So the
people that
were converted
in this
open
preaching,
they gathered
together in
little small
groups,
because there
wasn't much
fair for
them in the
churches at
the time.
So they
were in
classes,
meeting for
mutual
encouragement.
Whitefield's
converts,
however,
found no
haven.
They are,
alas,
said Whitefield,
a rope of
sand.
He was not
a good
organizer.
Well,
here,
the
countess
stepped in.
She had
been gathering
up preachers
and deputizing
them as her
chaplains.
And it was
not uncommon
for aristocrats
to engage a
private chaplain.
You know,
they'd have
their huge
estate and
they wouldn't
want to go
to church,
so they'd
just engage
a chaplain
and they
would be
their private
family chaplain.
And they
would be
identified
by wearing
the scarf
of what,
you know,
the lordship
or the
countess,
whatever,
who would
sponsor them.
So that's
how they
would be
identified.
And they
would enjoy
the authorization
to preach
because they
had the
scarf,
the embossed
scarf.
So what
Selina did
was she
began to
build chapels
for her
chaplains.
And they
began to
dot the
landscape.
And there
the new
converts
could go
and be
nurtured
in the
gospel.
And she
would fill
their pulpits
with her
itinerant
chaplains,
moving them
to and fro
like a
general
commanding
her troops.
Hence,
it was said
in either
delight
by the
friends of
the gospel
or in
dismay
by others,
her
scarves
are all
over the
land.
Or her
scarves
are all
over the
land.
But more
ministers were
needed to
save souls
and to
nurture
converts.
And Oxford
and Cambridge,
the universities,
the two
universities,
Oxford and
Cambridge,
were the
only places
where Anglican
ministers could
be trained.
And they
were stolidly
against any
enthusiasm.
Six students
had just
been expelled
from Oxford
and Oxford
College for
such leanings.
As their
tutor complained,
they were
quote,
enthusiasts
who
talked of
inspiration,
regeneration,
and drawing
nigh to
God.
Oh my
goodness.
For such,
one was
persona non
grata and
kicked out of
the university.
So you had
no opportunity
for training.
Narrow was
the gate.
So,
so the
countess
decided to
found her
own
training
college.
That
very year,
1768,
when the
students were
kicked out.
Okay,
on her
birthday,
Trevecca
was established.
And George
Whitefield
preached the
inaugural sermon
on the text,
no one can
lay any
foundation other
than Jesus
Christ,
1 Corinthians
3.11.
Soon,
it became
a fountain
of gospel
witness flowing
throughout the
land and
watering the
very dry
earth.
The
countess
herself would
interview all
candidates and
direct them on
their evangelical,
evangelistic
errands,
providing ponies
for their
transport and
a good suit
and a wig
if the
setting demanded.
So if she
was going to
bring them
into her
drawing room
things,
she'd give
them a
really nice
suit and
nice wig,
you know,
so it would
be less
offensive.
Well,
a good thing
that she had
money,
you might say,
to finance
all of these
ventures.
Yes,
and here's the
extraordinary
thing.
when it
began to
run low,
she sold
all of her
jewels to
the substantial
sum of
698 pounds
and 15
shillings.
That was
an enormous,
an enormous
amount.
important.
Why,
it's as if
she must
have thought
her treasure
was in
heaven or
something.
I don't
know.
I scarcely
could forego
pausing here
and asking,
I wonder
what jewels
we have
that we
might sell
to put
some more
jewels
in our
Savior's
crown.
God.
Well,
the scale
of these
gospel
ventures,
it has
to be
emphasized
in order
to be
grasped.
You can
sit in the
front row
if you
want.
I won't
hear the
hissing as
well unless
you sit
in the
front row.
That's
right.
The
scale
of these
ventures
has to
be
emphasized
in order
to be
grasped.
Lady
Huntington's
chapels
were springing
up everywhere,
reaching great
numbers.
On
Trevecca
anniversaries,
also her
birthday,
you remember,
so a
two-fold
special occasion,
she would
summon her
chaplains
and they
would preach
in succession,
sometimes nine
of them in
an unbroken
row,
to as
many as
20,000
hearers.
So we
can't even
conceive of
people even
being able to,
crowds like
that even
being able to
hear without
amplification.
But they
could do
this.
I mean,
the people like
George
Whitefield
could actually
project his
voice when he
came to the
colonies here
and would
preach in
Philadelphia,
say,
people would
gather on
both sides
of the
Schuylkill
River and
they could
hear him.
It was
unbelievable.
So,
actually,
if you were
a preacher,
actually developing
a voice was
one of the key
and pivotal
things to do.
And if you
read Charles
Spurgeon's
lectures to my
students,
he has a
chapter on
how to
develop and
take care of
your voice
because this
was your
instrument,
it was
absolutely
critical.
So,
20,000
people around.
It was
said that
there were
over 1,000
ponies seen
in the
surrounding
fields of
all these
gatherings.
While the
college was
housed at
Trevecca,
150
preachers were
trained,
ponied up
and suited
up.
That
training
college
would
migrate
twice,
once to
Chescent
and then
to
Westminster
College
in
Cambridge
where
it
was
my
happy
experience
to
reside
for one
year in
my own
training.
It was so
much fun
to be in
that same
spot.
200 new
chapels
were now
opened.
Such
pervading
witness
was bound
to stir
opposition
and it
did.
how many
of her
own
chapels
and
chaplains
can
one
woman
have?
Even
a
countess.
It's
far too
many
scarves
outside
of her
wardrobe,
they said.
You guys
missed that.
If you
would engage
a chaplain,
the aristocracy,
in order to give
them authority,
you would give
them one of
your scarves
that was
embossed.
That was
their authority
and she
would have
hundreds.
Say that.
Far too
many scarves
outside your
wardrobe.
Vickers,
who felt
the
enthusiastical
encroachment,
took legal
action against
her in the
church courts.
Not in my
neighborhood,
they thought.
And the
countess found
herself in a
legal pickle
that threatened
to halt,
indeed pluck
up,
her gospel
mission.
It was
then that
she was
able to
appeal through
her privileged
access as
an aristocrat
to King
George himself
who draped
his cloak
of protection
around her.
But it
involved a
watershed for
the countess
and her
movement.
She might
gain royal
protection through
the Toleration
Act,
allowing dissenters,
legally,
dissenters from
the Anglican
Church,
to gather
and to
preach.
But to
come under
its sheltering
canopy,
she would
have to
declare her
chapels
dissenting
houses of
worship.
So
Selina
became a
reluctant
separatist,
forced out
of the
Church of
England
and her
chapel
network,
as John
Wesley and
his
followers
would
later
become,
much to
their
own
frustration
and
reluctance,
they were
driven out
of the
Church of
England.
They became
their own
denomination.
So they
came to be
called
Countess
Huntington
Connection
Chapels.
This is in
1781.
So the
Countess of
Huntington's
Chapels was
its own
denomination.
Again,
she didn't
want to
no longer be
an Anglican,
but they
forced her
out.
It was the
only way
that she
could have
the freedom
to establish
these things.
This is
her Countess
of Huntington
Chapel in
Bath,
was one
of the
great spas
for the
aristocrats
at that time,
so she built
a chapel there
so they'd be
able to come
and hear the
gospel.
A conflict
was not
simply with
the Church
of England,
doctrinal
divisions
began to
emerge even
within the
ranks of
the awakening
preachers.
A rift
opened between
Whitefield
and Wesley,
John Wesley,
along Calvinist
Arminian
fault lines.
Whitefield's
followers became
known as
Calvinist
Methodists,
as differentiated
from
Wesleyan
Methodists
who followed
John and
Charles Wesley.
Now the
Countess had
studied convictions
in the matter,
aligning her
with Whitefield,
but she
maintained a
breadth of
friendship across
those theological
lines.
And it's
noteworthy
that her
judgment was
highly esteemed,
resulting in
her frequently
being sought
for advice
even at
cross-grained
theological
affinity.
So for
example,
John Wesley,
more Arminian,
would consult
her often
and did
as to
whether it
be advisable
to publish
his journals.
And happily,
he followed
her advice.
And we have
them in print
now.
They're
marvelous.
Given an
opportunity to
preach at
Oxford,
John Wesley
sent the
countess
the sermon
that he had
prepared to
see if she
thought it
suitable for
the weighty
occasion.
she thought
upon reading
it,
it utterly
unsuitable
and told him
so,
directing him
more promisingly.
So he
scrapped it
and wrote
another.
The almost
Christian
was what he
wrote,
which has
turned out to
be one of
his most
blessed sermons
of all of
them.
An incredible
afterlife in
this sermon
in terms of
its impact
for the
kingdom of
God,
the almost
Christian,
thanks to
Selina,
Countess of
Huntington.
Another of
the great
evangelists of
the day,
I just
can't wait
for him.
Don't you
just want to
meet this
person?
It's just
going to be
so wonderful.
Another of
the great
evangelists of
the day,
William Romaine,
sought her
judgment on a
work of
controversy he
was to
send to
the press.
And she
found a
line in
it that
spoke
uncharitably
of another
brother in
the Lord,
Isaac Watts,
who we know
from some of
his hymns.
And Selina
the Countess
told him,
take it
out,
take it
out,
which he
did.
Oh,
here's Isaac
Watts.
You remember
him.
I wonder
how frequent
and consequential
was the
Countess's
hidden
editorial
hand for
the church
in her
day.
And these
are a lot
of church
leaders that
often are in
conflict,
and it's
like a
lubricant in
the way they
interact, to
the huge
benefit and
blessing for
the harmony
of the
church in
her day.
I'm sure.
I mean, how
often has
Anita saved
me from what
I have
witlessly
written that
would surely
have caused
calamitous
offense or
abiding hurt?
how many
teachers among
us would
come off far
better in
the stricter
judgment that
will be
applied had
we subjected
our thought to
the judgment
of our very
wise spouses
first.
So, there's a
free recommendation
that saved my
skin.
Neither were
the Countess's
deeply trained
theological
instincts,
merely helpfully
directive
and cautionary.
They were
also instructive
and clarifying.
Like Priscilla,
she was
quite capable
and ready to
explain the
way of the
Lord more
accurately to
others.
She certainly
helped Henry
Venn.
Here's Henry
Venn.
I took that
picture in the
rain.
Yeah, it's
something.
She certainly
helped Henry
Venn to a
fuller
understanding of
the gospel.
Once hearing
him preach,
she found him
unclear on the
atonement, so
wrote him a
letter.
Oh, my
friend, we
can make no
atonement to a
violated law.
we have no
inward holiness
of our own.
The Lord Jesus
Christ is the
Lord our
righteousness.
Cling not to
such beggarly
elements, but
look to him
alone who
hath wrought out
a perfect
righteousness for
his people.
And this
exhortation
proved fruitful
in Venn's
heart.
As George
Whitefield wrote
to the
countess,
quote,
your exertions
in bringing
him to a
clearer
understanding of
the everlasting
gospel have
indeed been
greatly blessed
of the Lord.
So, and he
went on to be
one of the
great evangelical
leaders of
his day, and
indeed his son
and his
grandson, and
so on for a
long time, the
Venn family.
Well, there
is, we
must acknowledge,
a rather
prominent
executive tone
to the
countess.
After all, she
was a
countess.
Perhaps this
is the
aristocrat in
her manifesting.
She certainly
was confident
that she knew
what people
needed to do
and did not
hesitate to
tell them
so.
A few, it
seemed, resisted
her.
John
Barrage, there
he is, another
great gospel
preacher of the
age.
Wonderful guy.
I remember
when I was at
Cambridge, I
had heard that
he was evangelist
all the way to
his death and
even after his
death on his
tombstone.
So I rode my
bike a long,
long, long, long
way just to
see it and I
found this
tombstone.
Look at this
friends, isn't
this wonderful?
Here lay the
earthly remains
of John
Barrage, late
vicar of
Everton and
an itinerant
servant of
Jesus Christ
who loved his
master and his
work and after
running on his
errands many
years was
called up to
wait on him
above.
Reader,
art thou
born again?
No salvation
without a new
birth.
I was born in
sin February
1716.
Remained
ignorant of my
fallen state
until 1750.
Lived proudly
on faith and
works for
salvation till
1754.
Admitted to
Everton
Vicarage 1755.
Indeed was a
preacher of the
gospel at this
church while
he was living
proudly on
works and
faith.
Fled to
Jesus alone
for refuge.
1756.
Fell asleep in
Christ.
January 22nd,
1793.
Isn't that
wonderful?
An evangelist
on his tomb.
Reader,
art thou
born again?
No salvation
without a new
birth.
death.
So,
that's
John
Barrage.
He
was,
he was,
he occasionally
would deny her
her wishes
as she moved
players around
the Great Awakening
chessboard.
but he took
no offense
and admired
her even
in her
sharp
dealings
as he
once wrote
to her,
verily,
you are a
good piper
but I know
not how to
dance.
I love your
scorpion letters
dearly,
though they do
take the flesh
off my bones
and I
believe your
glasses,
countess,
are better
than mine
but alas,
I cannot see
through your
glasses.
She did
have good
glasses.
She saw
the big
picture clearly
but she
was not
infallible
and made
mistakes as
she herself
acknowledged
and regretted.
Late in life
she said,
as Christians
we wish
to retract
what a
more deliberate
consideration
might have
prevented.
There's a
good lesson
here for
those who
are often
right
and think
themselves
always so.
Well,
there's so
much more
to tell
of the
countess
and her
impact.
Her
practical
knowledge
of just
what needed
to be done
was not
restricted to
the national
scale but
reached down
also to
the quotidian
matters of
life.
There's
Sally,
Charles
Wesley's
wife,
and on
one occasion
Sally,
wife of
Charles
Wesley,
was quite
ill with
smallpox
and her
husband,
Charles
Wesley,
was away
looking after
his brother
John,
who was
also
unwell.
So when
Selina
arrived and
discovered
Sally in
her plight,
she immediately
set things
right.
She summoned
George
Whitefield to
fetch Charles
and send
him,
Charles,
back to
his wife's
side where
he belonged
and then
had Whitefield
stay and
nurse John
Wesley back
to health.
All that
was needed
was a good
traffic officer
to direct
things with
whistle and
gesture and
the countess
was just
the one to
supply it.
Oh,
that's Charles
Wesley.
That's the
husband that
should have
been with
the wife
who had
smallpox.
Okay.
And here
is the
countess,
a little bit
older now than
the first picture
we showed.
we have
mentioned
Selina as
exercising an
impact on a
national scale
and technically
the British
Isles involved
more than a
single nation
as the Welsh
and the Scots
and the Irish
would be swift
to insist.
But her
influence reached
farther afield
than even the
British Isles.
She donated
liberally to
the fledgling
college of
New Jersey,
my alma
mater.
There it
is a long
time ago,
1746,
when it was
just getting
started as
a training
ground for
gospel preachers
similar to
her own
Trevecca.
So she took
it under
wing and
was very
generous with
the Princeton
Lions of
Judah.
They were
called the
Lions of
Judah before
they were
called
Princeton
Tigers.
I prefer
the former.
she gave
funds to
the Native
American
Samson
Ockham,
there he
is,
who was
soliciting funds
for a
mission school
way out in
the wilds
of New
Hampshire
that got
going in
1769.
There it
is,
way out
of the
boonies.
now we
call it
Dartmouth
College,
but it
started out
as a
mission outreach
to Native
Americans.
And Selina
Countess of
Huntington,
very generously
endowed
Dartmouth
College also.
She sponsored
African American
children in
Whitfield's
Georgia
Orphanage,
the Bethesda
Orphanage
there.
This is
the orphanage
in Georgia.
Indeed,
thinking hers,
the best
hands to
leave it
in,
George
Whitefield,
who had
established the
orphanage,
bequeathed it
to the
Countess when
he died in
her will,
in his
will.
So he
knew he'd
take good
care of it,
which she
did.
Neither was
Whitefield alone
in this
instinct.
many cottage
dwellers on
her estate
who died,
leaving young
children,
they would
commit them
to the
Countess's
care.
And she
would always
raise them
and care
for them.
Her
concern with
Africans,
so many in
this day,
the victims of
the whores of
the slave trade,
extended beyond
the Georgia
Orphanage.
She dedicated
special efforts
to reach them
with the gospel
and saw much
fruit.
And of those
converted,
many would
later sail
back to
Africa where
repatriate,
freed slaves,
in Sierra
Leone.
And there's
the first
colony as they
were reestablishing
it.
of the
2,000
Africans who
made the
journey back
there to
Sierra Leone
in 1792,
half of
them had
been part
of the
Countess of
Huntington
Connection
chapels.
It had been
ministered to
through her
half of that
entire
colony.
But
these
were
her
final
labors.
There she
is.
By 1790,
the weight
of years
was beginning
to tell.
The
Countess
was no
stranger to
pain.
Her high
station had
been no
shield to
sorrow and
suffering.
She was
widowed early,
39,
and five
of her six
children
pre-deceased
her,
some of them
heartbreakingly
young.
At the
last,
her condition
was protractedly
painful.
But as
John Wesley
was fond
of saying,
our people
die well.
It's because
of our
gospel hope.
It was so
in Selina's
case.
All the
little ruffles
and difficulties
which surround
me, she
said,
and all the
pains I am
exercised with
in this poor
body,
through mercy
affect not
the settled
peace and
joy of my
soul.
All is
well and
well forever.
Well, how
do we
sum up this
extraordinary
life?
She was
truly a
valiant
Azer
warrior,
the companion
warrior,
a Deborah
who led
many a
barak into
battle,
a Huldah
to whom
many came
to find out
the word
of God,
a Lydia
who opened
her house
for gospel
witness,
a Tabitha
whose hand
of compassion
touched many
and needy
saint,
a Phoebe
generous
benefactress
to many,
and a
Priscilla
able to
instruct
in the
deep truths
of the
faith.
Looking at
the
tumultuousness
of the
times,
the vast
fields white
for harvest,
the fewness
of the
laborers,
one zealous
for the
gospel,
took up
pen and
wrote to
the
countess,
quote,
a leader
is needed
and this
honor
hath been
put upon
your ladyship
by the
great head
of the
church
Christ.
Even
so,
such
was the
need of
her day
and is
it any
less
or any
other
in our
day?
I cannot
help but
wonder on
whose
shoulders
her mantle
might fall.
for
surely
ours is
not simply
to admire
but to
imitate
who among
us is
ready not
merely to
cherish her
memory but
to follow
in her
train.
Thank you.
Let's end
there and
let me open
it up for
any questions
you might
have.
If you
need to
get up
and
stretch
do
that
too
first.
Yeah,
Tom,
where are we
in terms of
the sequence
of the
time?
I think
we can
go for
a little
while
longer.
I think
they'll
be going
for at
least 15
more
minutes
probably.
Okay,
all right.
We can
wrap up
earlier
but we
can
certainly
go.
Okay,
this is
kind of
experimental
friends
because we're
trying to
figure out
how to
fit the
new
schedule
of
things.
Yeah.
Yes.
Well,
you know,
it's a
little bit
tentative.
She
witnessed
to him
a lot
and it's
very
difficult.
He was
very
sympathetic
to her
work.
He seemed
to really,
really love
her and
but he
kind of
thought it
was a
little
crazy.
he was
the one
that when
she
really was
converted
and it
seemed to
the aristocrats
that she
had gone
out to
the wilds
of religion
this enthusiasm
she was
born again.
He was
the one
that said
dear I'd
like you
to see
this bishop
who can
maybe help
you to
find your
way back
to decorum
in this.
So it
seems like
for all his
sympathy toward
her and his
affection toward
her he
never seemed
to have
gotten it
sadly.
Though it's
difficult because
he doesn't
write,
you know,
we have no
journals so
it's so hard
to know what
these aristocrats
are feeling
sometimes because
they just
didn't express
very much.
So I don't
know,
I don't know.
Yeah,
yeah,
Elizabeth.
Can you talk
a little bit
more about
what it meant
to her
or the
movement
to move
out of
the Church
of England?
Yes,
yes.
So
the,
she was
raised in
the Church
of England.
The Church
of England
was
very much
that
church
in which
all the
aristocracy
would have
had their
at least
formal
home
whether
or not
they were
very
involved.
So
for her
in order
to keep
her chapels
going
to become
a dissenter
that
was
in her
day
and among
her peers
that would
have been
like
you know
getting on
the back
of a
motorcycle
and riding
off with a
communist
or something
you know
during the
McCarthy
era.
it's just
oh my
goodness
you know
these things
are not
done.
So
very
difficult
emotionally
socially
she had
great affection
for the
Church of
England
but
when there
was this
conflict
between
what the
Church of
England
was
insisting
upon
and what
she knew
God was
calling her
to do
in terms
of
continuing
to
be
committed
to the
progress
of the
Gospel
it's
kind of
like
Peter
and
John
with
the
Sanhedrin
where
they
say
all do
respect
and we
have
immense
respect
for you
the
Sanhedrin
you tell
us
you answer
this question
do we
follow man
or do we
follow God
so
that's
so she
had to
break
she had
to break
off
yeah
so it
was very
hard
yeah
yes
Right, right.
There was a tiny enough position.
There were people in there who also recognized the work of God.
Right, right.
Well, there were those who were genuinely born again,
who were, so there came to be what was called the evangelical party.
They called it a party in the Church of England.
And there were definitely some.
And we're going to go on to talk about some women for whom that was the case.
But there were some that were able to continue to find their home in the Church of England.
So, for example, John Newton, the hymn writer, Amazing Grace and that,
he was in the Church of England and very faithful there.
And he just took all the flack and the conflict and the internal abiding and people trying to limit his influence
and just thought, nope, this is where I'm going to be faithful.
This is, in my mind, the best boat to fish from, so to speak.
So there were many that were able to...
William Wilberforce was another who stayed within the Church of England.
And it was just kind of the evangelical party within it.
But as a whole, it was...
These were not the best days of the Church of England.
They ended up reacting to what was a genuine work of God in the awakening.
And when you define yourself in opposition to that,
that just ends up being very unhelpful spiritually, it seems.
Yeah.
So I'd follow up, a very different question.
Sure.
So just as you spoke about her influence and all the things she did,
it's the kind of influence that in some circles would be...
People would look and say, well, women are not supposed to be able to X, Y, Z.
Did she face that kind of opposition or that kind of questioning around her role in this church?
How did she navigate, especially some of the things that today we talk about in the world of women in the church,
and the kind of authority she seems she met,
and maybe it was just purely informal.
But I'm curious...
Right, right.
...she faced some of these and how...
Yes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Great question.
Well, it's interesting.
It was all entirely informal in the sense of unofficial.
There was no office that she held.
So her vast influence was moral and personal.
And by moral, I mean just by the sway of the strength of her personality.
I think it's also undeniable that within that society,
if you were part of the aristocracy,
people would listen and heed,
and there was an expectation that you would be listened to.
So kind of the social structure that was the context wherein she operated,
if an aristocrat spoke, everybody would stop, be quiet, and listen.
I think it was also for these other ministers,
I think that they saw her in a very maternal way.
She was a mother at Israel,
and they seemed to all be very, very open to her influence,
and manifestly benefited hugely from it and had a high regard for it.
So it all unflowed.
It all flowed out unofficial or informally, it seemed.
Yeah.
She sounded very much like a pro-hippical deaconess in the church,
like unity, shop absorber,
Yeah.
Between the, you know, unity, five, six.
Yes.
Because a deaconess, is that a thing in the church?
They had deacons.
Yes.
Yes, they had deacons.
Yeah.
But I'm pretty sure that it was all male at that time.
Yeah.
Yeah, at that time it was all male.
Yeah.
But you're right.
That's a great, a good fit.
Yes, she seemed to have these sorts of deaconal,
just to have a sense of what's going to promote the health of the church,
what's going to help to establish unity.
Those are many of her really strong instincts and gifts.
That's right.
Yeah.
Well, you know, it's interesting to ask,
as we, I love the way she thought,
well, okay, what's my sphere?
Well, who are the people that I could reach?
And maybe even uniquely,
where am I well placed to reach these people?
So she has, she has her like tea party outreaches,
her drawing room outreaches that were so extraordinary.
And I think that that might be a good thing for us to ponder.
What is my sphere of influence
that I might be able to sanctify for kingdom usefulness?
Because we all,
we all have some sort of sphere of influence.
No doubt a sphere in which our position in it is somewhat unique, perhaps.
And to begin to think, okay, if I'm singularly placed to reach within my sphere,
how might I creatively do that?
What are some of the challenges?
What are some of the obstacles to, to, to people hearing the gospel within my sphere?
And how might I creatively think of,
I might be able to overcome them?
Because your instincts within your sphere are going to be the best in all likelihood.
You'll have a sense of how your peers think, feel, respond, react,
what would be appropriate, what would be thought inappropriate.
So you are perfectly suited to be the one to exercise that sort of wonderful gospel salt and light.
So that's, that's maybe a question that we could each take and, and ponder as, as we go.
Where, where do you place me?
What, what sort of, yeah.
Yeah.
And maybe there are those that we know for whom it would be hard for us to imagine at least their first or second or third step
being to come into this church to hear the gospel.
How might we be able to get the gospel out to them?
Yeah.
In, in a context in which they would feel tremendously comfortable,
where they're being served Earl Grey tea and crumpets or what have you.
So, yeah.
Wonderful.
Well, thank you.
Oh, sorry, Elizabeth.
Yeah, yeah.
This has nothing to do with her, but I'm wondering where John Darby fit into this sort of thing against the Church of England
and what that was about and when it was.
Yes, well, that's, that's.
It's sort of the same thing.
Yes, that's about a century later.
And we'll be able, as we kind of move along through history,
we'll come to some of the context and then we can probably deal with some of those things there.
All right.
Well, wonderful.
Thank you, team.
Well, next week, I think we will take up a woman by the name of,
well, maybe I ought to just not tell you yet and let you find out.
Well, no, no, okay.
You don't need to read all about her.
You can discover about her.
Hannah Moore.
So, not as well known as she should be.
A woman of extraordinary impact in her day.
And many of us are just not aware of that.
So, thanks for coming along and we'll see you, we'll see you next week.
Lord willing.
Thank you.