Text: "The effectual, fervent prayer of e righteous man availeth much."--James 5:16.

She was a dedicated woman. Her gray hair hung down her back now bent for the many hours she has spent over her washtub and ironing board.

She had a boy. He had run away to sea as a teenager and for years she did not know where he was.

But she was a praying mother and prayer never slips! She prayed for John somewhere on the high seas--but she knew not where. Many days the tears of her eyes mixed with her soapsuds, and one day, John came to Jesus.

He began telling others about salvation he had found in Christ as a slave trader!

Now he became known as the "Sailor Preacher of London", and John Newton wrote,

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me;

I once was lost, but now am found.

Was blind, but now I see.

Among the thousands John Newton moved for Christ was Thomas Scott. Mr. Scott was a cultured scholar, a moralist who, in his own words, "didn’t need a Saviour." He would walk into Heaven, so he thought. But God got a hold of Scott, and he came to Christ.

Thomas Scott wrote a large 5-volume Commentary on the Word of God. It was used of God to sway multitudes for Christ.

Among the many Scott moved for Christ was a young dyspeptic, melancholy--"too bad for God to save" individual named Cowper. But God touched Cowper; and he found Christ. He, in turn, wrote,

There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

This mighty hymn was sung and was used to point thousands to Christ.

Among the many Cowper moved for Christ was a man named Wilberforce--a clever, English Statesman. He was used to sway thousands for Christ of the middle class of England, and he inspired the English Empire to free its slaves fifty years before the United States.

Among the many God used Wilberforce to touch was a man who was a vicar in the Church of England. His name was Richmond. And Richmond was converted.

Now Richmond knew the story of a dairyman’s daughter who had an unusual conversion. He wrote it down calling the little book, The Dairyman’s Daughter.

This little book went into 40 foreign translations and was found in the huts of peasants and the palaces of kings. Again, thousands were born again.

The center of the whole thing was an old woman who prayed for her boy, John, as she bent over her washtub and ironing board. And she prayed until John came to Christ.

-S.D. Gordon-

Part III

The Roman legions had conquered the known world and had defeated the armies of Greece. Though Rome allowed conquered people to retain their own languages, with the passing of three centuries, Latin swallowed up much of the Greek which had been used in daily life.

Once again, man was plunged into darkness being unable to read the Bible in his own language.

Therefore, God raised up a man who in 410 A.D. translated the whole Bible into Latin. Jerome’s Vulgate, as it was called because it was in the language of the common people, was quite accurate and was followed in use for 1000 years.

But soon another cloud was seen on the horizon: it was a cloud stirred by the racing of thousands of horses bringing their cruel and barbarous masters from their homes in Europe and Asia. These barbarians will bury the elite Roman armies.

The Goths, the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Bergundians, the Huns and other tribes will be responsible in a very large way for the break-up in the Roman Empire as they constantly hammer away at the proud and mighty soldiers of Rome.

In 410 A.D., Alaric, leader of the Visigoths, sacked Rome.

In 458 A.D., the Vandals sacked Rome "vandal-izing" all they could. So complete was this unwarranted destruction that learning became virtually lost. The Dark Ages began and were to last for 1000 years.

With the loss of learning, the Scriptures were once again torn from the arms of the common man, for he ceased to study Latin. It was soon forgotten by all but a meager few.

It was during these Dark Ages that the Roman Catholic Church gained its ascendancy. During these thousand years, the Romish Church left whole nations in darkness and without knowledge of the Scriptures. The Church taught the Bible in the hands of common people uninstructed by an ordained priest would be grossly profaned. It took the great Reformation to teach the Bible truth that all Christians are part of the "holy priesthood"--(I Peter 2:5), and the "royal priesthood"--(I Peter 2:9). Therefore, where copies of Scriptures were available, they were chained to a table. This is where Martin Luther first gained knowledge of the Bible.

For a thousand years the western world was in a Dark Age without the Word of God to comfort and guide the common man. Surely God would intervene during these Dark Ages. Will He not? We will see in the next issue of THE ANGELUS.

Note:

**Have you registered for the’ Fall Semester of the Harper Bible Institute?

September 30, 1770—At 6:00 this Sunday morning, George Whitefield will die, thus ending 34 years of preaching and 18,000 sermons.

"Fly, fly, 0 time! Welcome, welcome, long looked for eternity!" was his last utterance.