Interview with B.W.Stone

An interview between Elder Barton W. Stone and the Christian Ledger.
"Jesus says: Yes! I'm on my way! I'll be there soon!" R.D.Ice 3-24-06

Certainly life was much different on the frontier in Kentucky when the Cane Ridge Revival took place. Our Restoration Movement was just beginning. The language and the customs were not the same. If we could have been there we would have been shocked by some things, but impressed that this was a work of God because lives changed. Communions (annual three- to-five-day meetings climaxed with the Lord's Supper) gathered people in the dozens, maybe the hundreds. Friday, August 6, 1801, wagons and carriages bounced along narrow Kentucky roads, kicking up dust and excitement as hundreds of men, women, and children pressed toward Cane Ridge, a church about 20 miles west of Lexington, the state capital at that time. They hungered to partake in what everyone felt was sure to be an extraordinary "Communion." At this Cane Ridge Communion, though, sometimes 20,000 people swirled about the grounds -watching, praying, preaching, weeping, groaning, falling. Though some stood at the edges and mocked, most left marveling at the wondrous hand of God. The power of this Revival was the engine that drove the "restoration."

If time travel were an option, an interview with Stone might sound something like the following.

Ledger: Brother Stone, now that you have spent a few days in our 21st Century, what surprises you most about our culture?

Stone: I am speechless! I can't believe people can talk on what they call telephones while they drive self- propelled vehicles called cars. And $3.99 for a cup of coffee at, what is it, Starbucks. Americans seem too busy. No time at all for prayer.

Ledger: Now that you have visited some of our large churches and watched our Christian television programs, what do you think about the state of Christianity today?

Stone: (There is an awkward pause while he fidgets with his hat. He says nothing.)

Ledger: We can come back to that question later. Meanwhile, tell us what it was like at the Great Revival at Cane Ridge.

Stone: (He regains some composure.) The services at Cane Ridge ran almost continuously. Preachers were preaching in various parts of the area. Seeking souls were crying out to God almost any hour of the day or night. "Men and brethren what shall we do?" This went on for days. The people came to meet God.

The Revival at Cane Ridge did not depend upon human leaders. God broke hearts with the gospel, shaking strong men and women, then putting them back together again, for His glory. It was a tremendous changing process. Pride and the lust of the flesh and things that had seemed so important and just general boredom with the world could not survive there! Ledger: That is quite a contrast with what we see in our churches today. In 2006 we like our preachers to be celebrities.

Stone: (Another long pause.) We did not even have a platform or pulpit in the beginning. All were on the same level. The preachers were servants in the true meaning of the word. We did not honor men for their advantage in means or education, but rather for their God-given gifts.

Ledger: American Christianity today is big. We like BIG! We are reaching millions with our television programs, our Web sites and huge churches. Doesn't that excite you?

Stone: (He strokes his beard and fidgets with his hat again. No answer.)

Ledger: This is awkward. I'm not enjoying this interview.

Stone: At Cane Ridge, the rich and educated were the same as the poor and ignorant, and found a much harder death to die. We only recognized God. All were equal before Him.

Ledger: How did you end up at Cane Ridge?

Stone: In the winter of 1796 I came from Virginia to Cane Ridge on a preaching tour and stayed a year. Then I came back in 1798 to be the preacher at the Cane Ridge and Concord Churches. But I sensed that God was about to do great things there in the wilderness.

Ledger: Why did God choose you to lead the Cane Ridge Revival?

Stone: A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Like Paul I hear God saying: "My strength is made perfect in weakness." Evidently the Lord found there a company of people through whom He could have the right-of-way. The time had come.

The Revival was like fire in dry stubble driven by the wind. All felt its influence more or less. It silenced contention and promoted unity for a while. It had to be of God, for lives were changed! People confessed Christ, quit their sin and began to be righteous and holy.

Ledger: So we need more humility and prayer today?

Stone: Paul said it was God who gave the increase. The prayer life is needed much more than even church-buildings or organizations. These are often a substitute for the other. At Cane Ridge we all lifted one voice to God and asked Him to do great things! We prayed to the Lord of the harvest! And souls were born into the kingdom through prayer! It was like the great Day of Pentecost all over again! We told them just what Peter said on that day in Acts ch 2.

And the effects did continue for some time. Revival swept across the nation. An utterly lawless community was transformed into a God-fearing one. But some men trying to save their own tottering ark put unholy hands on it. Yet God is able to use even our wrath to praise Himself, as the Psalmist wrote. Like Paul, I want to know HIM and the Power of His Resurrection! And I remember how the Lord promised the church at Philadelphia an open door and that no man can shut it! So I am still hopeful.

About 1844 I wrote: "We have been too long engaged with defending ourselves, rather than the truth as it is in Jesus. Let us trust our little selves with the Lord; and rest not, till by faith in the promised Spirit and by incessant prayer we receive and be filled with it, like they were of old in the ancient order of things."

Ledger: So then you would pray for Revival, Renewal, and Spiritual Awakening.

Stone: Exactly. In 1833 I wrote in my Christian Messenger paper: "How vain are all human attempts to unite a bundle of twigs together, so as to make them grow together and bear fruit! They must first be united with the living stock, and receive its sap and spirit, before they can ever be united with each other. So must we be first united with Christ, and receive his Spirit, before we can ever be in spirit united with one another. The members of the body cannot live unless by union with the head—nor can the members of the church be united, unless first united with Christ, the living head. His Spirit is the bond of union. Men have devised many plans to unite Christians - all are vain. There is but one effectual plan, which is, that all be united with Christ and walk in him."

Again: "When in heart we believe and obey the gospel, God gives us his holy, quickening Spirit; he gives us salvation, and eternal life--In this Spirit we feel a tender concern for sinners, and are led to plead with them, and pray for them. They see our good works, and from conviction are led to glorify God--they see the light of Zion, and flow to it--they see the union of Christians, and are by this means led to believe in Jesus unto salvation and eternal life. God has ordained that the unbelieving world are to be saved by the means of this truth, shining in his church on earth.

Ledger: May the Lord bless you Elder Stone. History records this comment about you. "Bro. D. T. Morton (his physician) remarked to him, 'Father Stone, you have been much persecuted on account of the peculiarities of your teaching. Are you willing to die in the faith you have so long taught to others?' He replied, 'I am. During my long life, I may have had some errors on minor points, but in the main, I conscientiously believe I have taught the truth, and have tried to live what I have preached to others. But it is not by works of righteousness that I have done, but according to his mercy he saved me, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on me abundantly through Jesus Christ. It is of grace, it is all of grace.'”

[The Christian Ledger © is an Internet paper by Rhoderick D. Ice.]