Shubal Stearns

Old Paths Baptist Mission © 2011 Richard St.James

Early U.S. History

Shubal Stearns … God’s instrument used to multiply, by revival, the New Testament Baptist churches throughout the south-eastern United States.

Born in Boston January 28 1706, went with THE LORD, November 20, 1771 at Sandy Creek, North Carolina.

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COME OVER INTO MACEDONIA

Acts 16:1-10
“Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek: Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily. Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”

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FROM EAST TO WEST

God’s pattern [direction] for the publishing of the Gospel was established in Acts sixteen:

1. In verse six: “forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia” [therefore not east].

2. In verse seven: “the Spirit suffered them not” to go into Bithynia [not there also].

3. In verse nine: “Come over into Macedonia” determined God’s pattern [direction] for the movement of the GOSPEL.

God’s Spirit has moved THE GOSPEL with the PREACHING in a circling fashion around the globe of this Earth always in a movement from the east to the west.

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THE BEGINNING OF TRUE RELIGION IN AMERICA

“And so they left that good and pleasant city, which had been their resting place near twelve years; but they knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits." William Bradford, the year 1620.

On November 21, 1620, when the pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, they brought [in their hearts] the embryonic beginning of a people who had the fear of God. These would be a people that would become a nation that would be a fruit of the "Great Reformation."

William Brewster was the Bible-believing pastor of the little group of Christians aboard the Mayflower. At the sight of land, he led in a song of praise, and the congregation read aloud Psalm 100.

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."

William Bradford, the Plymouth colony's first governor declared on the day of public thanksgiving in October 1621: "We have noted these things, so that you might see their worth and not negligently lose what your fathers have obtained with so much hardship."

We can, by the Mayflower's crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, see the mighty moving of the Spirit of God in encompassing the earth from east to west with the [GOSPEL] of Jesus Christ.

This is fulfillment of: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" [Acts 1:8].

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it was preached, went west in its travel to "the uttermost part of the earth" [See Acts 16: 6, 9].

It would be in America [among the Gentile nations] at the latter end of the church age where some of the greatest moving of the Holy Ghost would occur in revivals experienced by God's people. It would behoove the Bible-believing Christian to read the historical narratives recording God's work in America.

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THE GREAT AWAKENING

When the pilgrims came across the Atlantic Ocean in 1620 THE GOSPEL continued its westerly movement [Always EAST TO WEST].

In the passing of time [one hundred years] spiritual malaise had set in both in England and America [1720] [SPIRITUAL DECLENSION]

Then in God’s providential timing The Spirit of God brought a GREAT AWAKENING to both England and America.

Never was there such an exciting and fascinating time as THE GREAT AWAKENING!

Never was there so much interest by so many of God's creation concerning the proceeding goings on in the world in the hearts and minds of men.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ was literally going to the four quarters of the Earth with a resounding boom! Even the Devil, old Satan himself, had more than a passing interest in these proceedings.

Satan's anger over losing the souls of men by the droves to the Son of God during this Philadelphia period had caused him to kick and fuss and work even harder against his old enemy. His enemy is THE ALMIGHTY GOD of The BOOK (The AV1611 Bible).

Remember, the Authorized Version of 1611, or any edition, thereof (1613, 1644, 1676, 1680, 1701, 1767) is God's pure word preserved for us today.

In the 1730’s Jonathan Edwards of Northampton, Massachusetts, was the one to lead the charge, by reading to his congregation in a monotone voice word for word from his manuscript, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. It shook the place! The message had God's stamp upon it. The fires of revival spread amongst the Christians and the souls outside the churches got saved. It spread throughout New England and all over the colonies.

God brought George Whitefield at this time to further affect our forefathers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Tens of thousands of people would congregate in the open fields to hear the Gospel.

God also used Charles and Gilbert Tennant of Pennsylvania in an outpouring of evangelical power. It was estimated in New England alone that of a population of 250,000 people, over 50,000 souls were saved (born again) and added to the kingdom of God.

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THE EAST TO WEST MOVEMENT OF THE GOSPEL CONTINUED WITH SHUBAL STEARNS

One man who heard George Whitfield preach in Tolland, Connecticut, in 1745 was a Shubal Stearns … a lost Congregationist. [This Shubal Stearns was one the thousands to get saved during this time of the [GREAT AWAKENING].

Shubal Stearns getting saved was a direct result … of hearing the WORD of GOD [So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.]

This is nothing less than the inner work of the Holy Spirit, convicting men of sin, and righteousness. [John 16:8-9] “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me.”

Shubal Stearns came to the LIGHT of Jesus Christ, and as a consequence, was identified with the New Lights. [The New Lights rejected the notion that [RELIGION] is only manifested in the external [THE OUTER MAN]. The New Lights believed [TRUE RELIGION] must [FIRST] be an internal matter of [The INNER MAN … The HEART].

Further the New Lights believed once the inner man is [BORN AGAIN] then the [SECOND] thing becomes the order: [THE EXTERNAL]. What is in the inside will show on the outside! The outer man is what others observe! Amen! [Matthew 5:16] “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

To know if these conversions [in 1730-1750] were genuine, [that is, of God] one only has to look at the fruit. "Ye shall know them by their fruits...wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" [Matthew 7:16a, 20].

America's men, women and children turned, and experienced true repentance. They "sorrowed to repentance made sorry after a godly manner" [2 Corinthians 7:9]. They received "with meekness the engrafted word" [James 1:21]. Their lives were changed.

The changed lives prepared and made fertile the ground, which would usher forth the Biblical principles that framed the United States of America's foundational documents, The Declaration of Independence, The U.S.Constitution, and The Bill of Rights. God truly visited us [as a nation] with great blessings! Never on the face of this earth in two thousand years of history did a people experience such opportunities to worship God "in the beauties of holiness."

After Shubal Stearns was saved, he was baptized [BELIEVERS BAPTISM] [1751] in Stonington, Connecticut by Wait Palmer a Baptist preacher. He was called to preach the WORD, and was ordained, as a Baptist Preacher, in March, [1751] by Palmer and Joshua Morse in New London, Connecticut.

Shubal Stearns was a NEW LIGHT BAPTIST, or otherwise known as a [SEPARATE BAPTIST].

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SANDY CREEK, NORTH CAROLINA

In the process of time [by 1755] God had put into Shubal Stearns to move south to Sandy Creek, North Carolina to build a new church. The church quickly grew from 16 members to 606 in a matter of months. What followed was a veritable spiritual explosion [REVIVAL] in the New Testament church pattern. Shubal Stearns method [the same found in the Book of Acts] was:

1. To Preach Jesus Christ to the Lost for TRUE SALVATION,

2. To disciple in Jesus Christ those who were converted,

3. To train them [who were disciples] to go out and start other churches.

This is the pattern! These Sandy Creek Baptist Church preachers and their families moved to other areas of North Carolina, and they started other churches [CHURCHES BEGETTING CHURCHES!].

In the next seventeen years [till Shubal went with the LORD, in 1771], not only in North Carolina did this happen, but in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky the [FLAMES of REVIVAL] flowed [all ultimately] from the one Sandy Creek Baptist Church of North Carolina.

 [From One Came Many!]

What heritage we have!

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OUR BAPTIST HERITAGE

The Sandy Creek Association was formed in 1758. Morgan Edwards, a Baptist minister who visited Sandy Creek the year after Stearns' death, recorded that, "in 17 years, [Sandy Creek] has spread its branches westward as far as the great river Mississippi; southward as far as Georgia; eastward to the sea and Chesopeck [sic] Bay; and northward to the waters of the Pottowmack [sic]; it, in 17 years, is become mother, grandmother, and great grandmother to 42 churches, from which sprang 125 ministers." Quote from[Founders Journal · Spring 2001 · pp. 16-31]

Next: The New England Primer

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Men Never Learn From History!

It is a heart problem!

 Men refuse to learn the “lessons” afforded by the light of HISTORY:

 the recorded historical events which occurred as fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Now, these are the basic truths with which we all must deal with one way or another!

Two Basic Reasons For Our Failing Our History Lesson!

The Removing Of The Anchoring Landmarks
We have steadily almost imperceptibly at times removed one by one the great principles that were part of the formulation of the United States of America.

We have been busy for generations removing the anchoring landmarks that came as a result of the revivals God blessed this country with in its early years by the preaching of the word of GOD.

We have disobeyed the commandment in Proverbs 22:28- “Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set.”

The Departure from the BIBLE
What was the catalyst or reason for this downward spiral? Are you ready! The eyes of men everywhere had been clouded over with cataracts because of our apostasy or departure from the BIBLE … God’s word (and more exactly including the multiplicity of translations and corruption's to God's written word).
This apostasy began in America in the BIBLE SCHOOLS early in the last century (1901) when Philip Schaff (with other rank liberals who had rot-gut unbelief in God's word within their hearts) colluded with the English RV committee of 1885 (Westcott and Hort) to produce the American Standard Version (ASV), also known as “the Rock of Bible Honesty” by the scholars, or more accurately, by Bible believers, as a prime example of a new age version of a corrupted bible.

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Baptist Heritage

It is to the Baptists ... that we owe primarily ... our religious freedom, and it is Roger Williams [of Rhode Island] in particular, that is the most important contributor of our religious freedom we enjoy in the United States of America.
The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for Cause of Conscience is the primary document, which provided the underlying principles for religious freedom, which in turn gave rise to the then future documents of The Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution and The Bill Of Rights.