Asahel Nettleton -- The Man and His Message

I suspect that for many Christians the term ‘revival’ is just an example of Christian jargon. If we were to ask them the meaning of the term a variety of answers could be given. For many Christians the concept of revival, whatever it is, is a kind of cure-all for troubles in the church. For others, a focus on revival can be a form of Christian escapism: we can so concentrate on it that we ignore current Christian commitments. In this regard, for Christians a prior responsibility than looking for revival is getting involved in what we should be doing until God sends revival.

One author that I have found helpful on a wide variety of subjects is J. I. Packer, and he provides, at least for me, a helpful summary of what a revival is. Firstly, it is renewal in the church corporately and not just to individuals here and there. Second, revival is God removing his judgement from the church. Third, revival is God visiting his people; there is a deep awareness of his presence and an inescapable sense of being under his eye; having God’s presence is also a foretaste of heaven. Fourth, revival is God making known the sovereignty of his grace.

Asahel Nettleton lived from 1783–1844. Today he is largely forgotten, but in the nineteenth century he was not, as is evidenced by the biography of him that was written by an American pastor Bennet Tyler and published in Britain with a foreword by Andrew Bonar. The reason why he was, and is, significant is that he was probably the last effective Calvinist evangelist that the Western world has seen (although his labours parallel the years of Dr. Macdonald, the apostle of the north). The close of his labours overlapped with the beginning of those of Charles Finney. Finney was Pelagian in his theology and is largely responsible for the change in evangelistic theology and practice that has been characteristic of evangelicalism since then.

Nettleton was associated with what is called the Second Great Awakening, a period of revivals which lasted from about 1792 to 1830 in America (revivals were also experienced elsewhere during this period). The First Great Awakening had occurred in the previous century, through the evangelism of George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and the Wesleys, as well as others (in Britain, this period is usually called ‘The Evangelical Revival’). Nettleton was involved in sixty different periods of awakening, with one of them alone, in New York, resulting in the conversion of 2,000 people.

This period of history was significant. America was beginning to become an independent nation; this in itself is an interesting aspect of God’s favour in his giving periods of spiritual blessing to that country at its birth. For another point of view, the infidel Tom Paine published his book The Age of Reason in 1794, a book that was going to have a disastrous effect for many decades as it strengthened the movement called the Enlightenment. It could be that part of God’s response to the onset of the Enlightenment was to send revivals.

Nettleton, the man

Asahel Nettleton was born into a farming family in Connecticut, a state in New England, the second of a family of six children. He had a strict upbringing, being taught the ten commandments and the Shorter Catechism. There is no evidence that his family were true Christians when he was growing up through his childhood and teenage years. It seems that Asahel was the brightest of the children because he was the only one who received more than the basic training in the district school.

During these years of adolescence Nettleton involved himself in the limited social life of a rural village community. He did not take part in any gross sin, and he enjoyed parties and dances when they occurred. Although he had been taught that God would punish sinners, he did not take his own need seriously and did not believe he would be punished for the few offences he had committed. Occasionally during his teenage years, he would think of God and eternity and the joy he received from these pleasures would evaporate. But his conversion did not occur until he was almost out of his teenage years.

His conversion was preceded by a distressing period of conviction of sin. It is not possible to identify a particular date, for the change was gradual, covering a period of about ten months, and he professed publicly his faith in 1802 when he was nineteen. The community in which he lived had been affected by the Second Great Awakening, so he was converted during a period of revival. Further, during that period the community had been ravaged by an epidemic of yellow fever and among the victims were Nettleton’s father and younger brother. It is not difficult to conclude that these early providential providences – conviction of sin, reality of conversion, possibility of revival, suddenness of death – made a distinct impression on his character as God used them to mould the spirit of his future servant.

Nettleton then studied at Yale under Timothy Dwight, the grandson of Jonathan Edwards who had been very influential in the First Great Awakening. Although the College had Christian roots, spiritual interests did not mark the student body. Dwight was one of the leading theologians of the time and had been there for a decade when Nettleton arrived in 1805. Despite Dwight’s efforts to improve the spiritual tone of the school, Nettleton was the only one in his class that professed religion. At the College, Nettleton showed little interest in secular subjects, preferring instead to consider spiritual interests. Thornbury says of Nettleton at this period: ‘This young man was serious about his faith. He gave abundant evidence of an unquenchable thirst for God. He took great delight in spiritual exercises. The Bible was his favourite book, the Sabbath his favourite day, and the chapel his favourite place.’ We can see in this period the development of spiritual character and individual strength to stand out from the crowd.

From one perspective Nettleton was very ordinary. He came from a rural family background, he put in a very average college career, and he had a very plain appearance. Yet he became one of God’s giants. He originally intended serving the Lord overseas as a missionary, but for several reasons this intention was not realised. The main reason was that God used his preaching for a long period of time in New England.

Between 1812 and 1820 Nettleton reaped a great harvest of souls. A contemporary, the Baptist theologian Francis Wayland, said of Nettleton: ‘I suppose no minister of his time was the means of so many conversions…. He could sway an audience as the trees of a forest are moved by a mighty wind.’ It is calculated that over 30,000 were converted under his preaching – a remarkable number given that Nettleton ministered mainly in Connecticut and the surrounding states. There were nine million people living in America at the time, which means that roughly one out of every three hundred Americans was converted under his preaching.

During this period of fruitful ministry Nettleton was accused of immorality, a charge that is often made against Christians who are being used by the Lord. The charge was totally false, yet it caused great distress to Nettleton, particularly as his opponents used it against him for over a decade.

In 1822 Nettleton was laid aside for two years after contracting typhus fever. He used this period to put together a compilation of hymns. After he began preaching again, his labours were less strenuous but God continued to use him. He made a preaching tour of Britain in 1831. In 1832 he became an occasional lecturer on evangelism at a theological college and continued to preach as his strength allowed. He died in 1844. As death approached, he told his friend Bennet Tyler that he had no worries at the prospect of death and said, ‘It is so sweet to trust in the Lord.’

Nettleton never married and for a long period of his life he did not have a home of his own, although he did after 1822. Being a bachelor he was free from the restraints that family life causes and so was able to spend most of his early years as an evangelist travelling around the countryside, staying in one place for a period of time before moving on to the next place.

An example of his methods is seen in what occurred in Salisbury, Connecticut in 1815 and 1816. About 300 were converted. During this revival, religion became the common topic of conversation in the town. ‘Whenever Mr. Nettleton was seen to enter a house, almost the whole neighbourhood would immediately assemble to hear from his lips the Word of Life. Husbandmen would leave their fields, mechanics their shops, and females their domestic concerns, to inquire the way to eternal life.’ Twenty-seven years later, a resident described Nettleton’s time there: ‘This favoured servant of Christ came, with no trumpet sounded before him, in the meekness of his Master, and the Lord was with him in very deed.’ 

Nettleton, his message

Nettleton was a Calvinist and made no attempt to conceal it. His sermons are full of references to election and human inability, to the necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit, as well as to the person and work of Christ.

His sermons were directed towards the minds of his hearers and not primarily to their emotions and wills. A contemporary preacher, Lyman Beecher, described Nettleton’s preaching as ‘highly intellectual’ in which Calvinistic doctrines were ‘explained, defined, proved and applied, and objections stated and answered’. Nettleton was strongly opposed to oratory or mere appeals to imagination or emotions. Sinners had to understand their need of a Saviour and the way of salvation before they would believe in him. Of course, in addressing the minds of his hearers he was able to apply his doctrines in a way that affected their imaginations, emotions and wills. Nettleton pressed the consequences of their condition to the consciences of his hearers. ‘It was powerful beyond measure in stating and demolishing objections, and at times terrible and overwhelming in close, pungent, and direct application to the particular circumstances of sinners.’ They knew why they were under God’s wrath, and they were not only informed of their need of Christ, they were persuaded of it. The quest for salvation became a heartfelt search for deliverance from the condemnation they were under.

Thornbury notes that one of the features of Nettleton’s ministry was that he was able to bring the realities of the eternal world home to the souls of people. When he talked about the heinousness of sin, they felt its sting. When he portrayed the sufferings of Christ, they felt the trauma of Calvary. When he proclaimed the holy character of God, they trembled at the vision. When he thundered forth the judgements of hell, they were moved to escape from the wrath to come.

Although his sermons were targeted at the mind they were not cold, rather they were passionate. In one sermon he pleads with his hearers in this way: ‘By the mercies of God, and by the terrors of his wrath – by the joys of heaven and the pains of hell – by the merits of a Saviour’s blood, and by the worth of your immortal souls, I beseech you, lay down the arms of your rebellion; bow and submit to your rightful sovereign.’ Nettleton in his preaching stressed the responsibility of the sinner to immediately submit to God in repentance and faith. This was an important aspect of Nettleton’s preaching.

Nettleton did not see it as his responsibility to tell people they were converted because they had a strong sense of peace, experience of joy or conviction of sin. He knew these things could be temporary. Instead he stressed the individual’s responsibility to ensure that his or her response was genuine. He was prepared to tell his hearers what evidences they should be looking for. In one sermon, for example, he mentions five evidences: (1) the true Christian loves God, (2) believes in Christ, (3) has evangelical repentance (a broken heart because of his sin), (4) loves the duties of religion, and (5) loves his fellow believers. But it was his hearers’ responsibility to assess themselves.

The consequence was that there were very few backsliders among his converts. Tyler describes the results of Nettleton’s labours: ‘These revivals were not temporary excitements, which like a tornado, sweep through a community, and leave desolations behind them; but they were like showers of rain, which refresh the dry and thirsty earth…. These fruits were permanent. By them churches were not only enlarged, but beautiful and strengthened; and a benign influence was exerted upon the community around.’ It is possible from church records to see what happened to those who professed faith under Nettleton’s preaching. Well over 90% of them remained true, which is a staggering figure. Nettleton was careful with his converts at the beginning and warned them about the danger of false profession. This practice helped to create a sense of realism and sobriety among those who professed faith.

But revivals can be a time or having to stand up and defend the faith . Towards the middle of Nettleton’s ministry he had to distance himself from both the evangelistic methods and message of Charles Finney. It is one of the ironies of church history that Finney is regarded as an expert on revival whereas many of his contemporaries regarded him as the destroyer of revivals. It was Finney who introduced many of the features of revivalism such as the altar call and the anxious seat. Nettleton never gave an altar call, had many converts, with few backsliders. Finney used all these techniques, had many more professions than Nettleton, but sadly thousands of them proved false, a fact which Finney and his colleagues admitted. The trouble is that not enough of Nettleton’s contemporaries stood with him in his dispute with Finney. I mention this point because there is a notion around today that if there is a disagreement between Christians then revival will be aborted. It is the case that in virtually every revival there have been strong divisions because of doctrinal emphases that were perceived to be wrong. Whitefield disagreed with Wesley, the Erskines disagreed with Whitefield, and so on, but the revivals did not stop.

Revivals were used by Nettleton to stimulate Christians into action. In one sermon encouraging believers to pray, he says: ‘Wherever God designs to pour out his Spirit and to call up the attention of sinners to divine things, he will be enquired of by his children to do it for them. This he has taught us in his Word and often in the language of his providence. It is high time for you to wake out of sleep; for others are awake…hundreds are now flocking to Christ. And can you rest? Are there more souls here to be saved or lost forever?’

Ron Davies summarises Nettleton’s life: ‘Nettleton, though an itinerant, never went to a church without the express invitation of the local minister. He laid great emphasis on persistent prayer as a necessary preparation to his evangelistic preaching; he normally used the regular services of the church, visited enquirers in their own homes to counsel them, and invited interested or awakened people to ‘inquiry meetings’. These were usually held at a set time in the week, when he gave detailed instruction on the faith to the whole group, and followed it up by speaking to each enquirer personally. He urged on each person the necessity of conversion and faith, but advised them to go home quietly, and pray in the silence of their own rooms. More than once, when he felt that too much attention was being paid to him, and not to the Lord and spiritual matters, he left the congregation and town unannounced in the middle of a mission.’

Lessons to learn

1. God raises up individuals whom he uses as evangelists. I would suggest that the raising up of such individuals should be a matter of prayer by us. An evangelist is not the same kind of person as a pastor. A pastor does preach the gospel, but he is usually confined to one place. An evangelist, on the other hand, travels around. It is important for such men to be raised up by God because they will become tools in his hand for blessing. An evangelist, by definition, implies that souls will be saved.

2. We don’t need to be ashamed of holding biblical truths that identify us as Calvinists. Andrew Bonar, commenting in this feature, said: ‘Whitefield, and Edwards, and Nettleton, never found themselves nor those they addressed, hindered by these great truths; they were helped by them, not hindered.’ Being a Calvinist is not a barrier to church growth, as the ministry of Nettleton clearly shows. I suspect it is not our Calvinism that prevents growth among us but our lack of spirituality, our failure to take hold of the sovereign God in whom we profess to believe, to take hold of him in prayer.

3. A third lesson is the absolute necessity of prayer by Christians. Nettleton’s ministry illustrates the importance of corporate prayer. It was his practice to only evangelise where a congregation had engaged in special prayer for some time. I think this is a question we need to face seriously.

4. A fourth lesson is that being faithful to God can result in the loss of longterm friendships. The disagreement Nettleton had with Finney affected his friendship with Lyman Beecher, a well-known American minister and member of a famous American family. It must have been difficult for Nettleton to go against former friends, but when it came down to following men or honouring God Nettleton chose to honour God. From one point of view his choice seemed crazy. Finney and his followers were in the public eye and popular across the denominations. The consequence of Nettleton’s action was that became sidelined from much religious activity and received no public acclaim. But history had showed that Nettleton was right.

5. A striking feature of Nettleton’s life was his humility. As a young man he had read this maxim: ‘Do all the good you can in the world, and make as little noise about it as possible .’ This outlook was to govern his whole life, even when he was known as a popular preacher. Tyler observes that Nettleton ‘was modest and unassuming, and always sensible that the success which attended his labours was not owing to any goodness in himself, but to the sovereign grace of God.’ Nettleton once said this as the best safeguard he had against spiritual pride: ‘I know of nothing better than to keep my eye on my great sinfulness.’ He was filled with grief if he heard someone praising him for the effects of his labours.

8. The main lesson from God’s use of Asahel Nettleton is that revival is a sovereign work of God. There was nothing outstanding about Nettleton as far as his natural talents were concerned. He did have a devoted spiritual life, although he himself would have been the last to say so. But it was not his devotion that caused the revival. I sometimes suspect that we imagine that if we get our spiritual levels right, then God will send revival blessing; in other words, we persuade God to act because of the quality of our lives. The reality is that revival is a sovereign work of God. We cannot arrange it.

Asahel Nettleton was not perfect; he had his defects. But what he also had was a vision of a majestic God who had provided salvation for sinners, an awareness of his calling to preach this salvation faithfully, and had the joy of being used by God to bring sinners into his kingdom. May God raise up many more like him.