Phila delphia > C. G. Finney

While I was relating these facts I observed the people looking as if they were angry. Many of the men were in their shirt sleeves; and they looked at each other and at me, as if they were ready to fall upon me and chastise me on the spot. I saw their strange and unaccountable looks, and could not understand what I was saying, that had offended them. However it seemed to me that their anger rose higher and higher, as I continued the narrative. As soon as I had finished the narrative, I turned upon them and said, that I understood that they had never had a religious meeting in that place; and that therefore I had a right to take it for granted, and was compelled to take it for granted, that they were an ungodly people. I pressed that home upon them with more and more energy, with my heart full almost to bursting.

I had not spoken to them in this strain of direct application, I should think, more than a quarter of an hour, when all at once an awful solemnity seemed to settle down upon them; the congregation began to fall from their seats in every direction, and cried for mercy. If I had had a sword in each hand, I could not have cut them off their seats as fast as they fell. Indeed nearly the whole congregation were either on their knees or prostrate, I should think, in less than two minutes from this first shock that fell upon them. Every one prayed for himself, who was able to speak at all.

Of course I was obliged to stop preaching; for they no longer paid any attention. I saw the old man who had invited me there to preach, sitting about in the middle of the house, and looking around with utter amazement. I raised my voice almost to a scream, to make him hear, and pointing to him said, "Can't you pray?" He instantly fell upon his knees, and with a stentorian voice poured himself out to God; but he did not at all get the attention of the people. I then spoke as loud as I could, and tried to make them attend to me. I said to them, "You are not in hell yet; and now let me direct you to Christ." For a few moments I tried to hold forth the Gospel to them; but scarcely any of them paid any attention. My heart was so overflowing with joy at such a scene that I could hardly contain myself. It was with much difficulty that I refrained from shouting, and giving glory to God.

As soon as I could sufficiently control my feelings I turned to a young man who was close to me, and was engaged in praying for himself, laid my hand on his shoulder, thus getting his attention, and preached in his ear Jesus. As soon as I got his attention to the cross of Christ, he believed, was calm and quiet for a minute or two, and then broke out in praying for the others. I then turned to another, and took the same course with him, with the same result; and then another, and another.

In this way I kept on, until I found the time had arrived when I must leave them, and go and fulfill an appointment in the village. I told them this, and asked the old man who had invited me there, to remain and take charge of the meeting, while I went to my appointment. He did so. But there was too much interest, and there were too many wounded souls, to dismiss the meeting; and so it was held all night. In the morning there were still those there that could not get away; and they were carried to a private house in the neighborhood, to make room for the school. In the afternoon they sent for me to come down there, as they could not yet break up the meeting.

When I went down the second time, I got an explanation of the anger manifested by the congregation during the introduction of my sermon the day before. I learned that the place was called Sodom, but I knew it not; and that there was but one pious man in the place, and him they called Lot. This was the old man that invited me there. The people supposed that I had chosen my subject, and preached to them in that manner, because they were so wicked as to be called Sodom. This was a striking coincidence; but so far as I was concerned, it was altogether accidental." --an excerpt from Chapter 8

Charles G. Finney: An Approving Heart-Confidence In Prayer ---New Window



from "The Way of Salvation"
Chapter XXII

Let us turn this subject over till we get it fully before our minds. For what is it that our conscience rightly condemns us? Plainly for not obeying God according to the best light we have. Suppose now we turn about and fully obey the dictates of conscience. Then its voice approves and ceases to condemn. Now all just views of the Deity require us to consider the voice of conscience in both cases as only the echo of his own. The God who condemns all disobedience must of necessity approve of obedience; and to conceive of him as disapproving our present state would be, in the conviction of our own minds, to condemn him.

It is therefore by no means presumption in us to assume that God accepts those who are conscious of really seeking supremely to please and obey him.

Again, let it be noted that in this state with an approving conscience, we should have no self-righteousness. A man in this state would at this very moment ascribe all his obedience to the grace of God. From his inmost soul he would say, "By the grace of God, I am what I am"; and nothing could be farther from his heart than, to take praise or glory to himself for anything good. Yet I have sometimes been exceedingly astonished to hear men, and even ministers of the gospel, speak with surprise and incredulity of such a state as our text presupposes -- a state in which a man's conscience universally approves of his moral state. But why be incredulous about such a state? Or why deem it a self-righteous and sinful state? A man in this state is as far as can be from ascribing glory to himself. No state can be farther from self-righteousness. So far is this from being a self-righteous state, that the fact is, every other state but this is self-righteous, and this alone is exempt from that sin. Mark how the man in this state ascribes all to the grace of God. The apostle Paul when in this state of conscious uprightness most heartily ascribes all to grace. "I laboured," says he, "more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that is in me."

But, observe that, while the apostle was in that state, it was impossible that he should conceive of God as displeased with his state. Paul might greatly and justly condemn himself for his past life, and might feel assured that God disapproved and had condemned Saul, the proud persecutor, though he had since pardoned Saul, the praying penitent. But the moral state of Paul the believer, of Paul, the untiring labourer for Christ, of Paul, whose whole heart and life divine grace has now moulded into his own image, this moral state Paul's conscience approves, and his views of God compel him to believe that God approves.

So of the apostle John. Hear what he says "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." But here rises up a man to rebuke the apostle. What! he says, did you not know that your heart is corrupt, that you never can know all its latent wickedness, that you ought never to be so presumptuous as to suppose that you "do those things that please God?" Did you not know that no mere man does ever, even by any grace received in this life, really "keep the commandments of God so as to do those things that are pleasing in his sight?" No, says John, I did not know that. "What," rejoins his reprover, "not know that sin is mixed with all you do and that the least sin is displeasing to God?" Indeed, replies John, I knew I was sincerely trying to please God, and verily supposed I did please him and did keep his commandments, and that it was entirely proper to say so, all to the praise of upholding, sanctifying grace.

Again, when a man prays disinterestedly, and with a heart in full and deep sympathy with God, he may and should have confidence that God hears him. When he can say in all honesty before the Lord, Now, Lord, thou knowest that through the grace of thy Spirit my soul is set on doing good to men for thy glory; I am grieved for the dishonour done to thee, so that "rivers of water run down my eyes, because men keep not thy law," then he cannot but know that his prayers are acceptable to God.

Indeed no one, having right views of God's character, can come to him in prayer in a disinterested state of mind, and feel otherwise than that God accepts such a state of mind. Now since our heart cannot condemn us when we are in a disinterested state of mind, but must condemn any other state, it follows that if our heart does not condemn us, we shall have, and cannot but have, confidence that God hears our prayers and accepts our state as pleasing in his sight.

--an excerpt from "An Approving Heart-Confidence in Prayer"







from our "A. T. Pierson" ---New Window sub-section:


The Communicable Secrets of Mr. Finney's Power ---New Window
by A. T. Pierson
Speeches and sketches at the gathering of Mr. Finney's friends and pupils,
in Oberlin, July 28th, 1876.
"He preached the whole Gospel. The Law, with its stern demand and perfect standard, he used as a plough to sweep away refuges of lies and tear up false hopes by the roots; then he followed it with the love of God, as the sower gently drops into the furrow the seed steeped in his tears. The sword of the Spirit is two-edged. Warning, or invitation, alone, like a scimetar, may strike effective blows in one direction; but when the two keen edges meet in the point, they prepare us for the thrust that pierces to the joints and marrow. Thus Mr. Finney begat deep conviction of sin. As Socrates sought to lead men "from ignorance unconscious to ignorance conscious," he aimed to produce that consciousness of guilt and peril without which there can be no deep sense of need or of obligation.
How spiritual, too, was the tone of his preaching! With what ardor and fervor he besought men to be justified and sanctified by faith. With what burning, glowing zeal, did he assail the sectarianism which cares for sect more than for Christ; the conventionalism whose "awful respectability" hampers ministers and churches by a false fastidiousness, and dares not break through the bonds of custom, and adopt a new measure, even to save a soul! With what scathing rebuke he exposes the idle neglect that leaves generations to die without the Gospel, though for each disciple to win one soul each year to Christ, would be to convert the world within the lifetime of a single generation!
His preaching was spiritual in power as well as tone. He depended on the Spirit, whose blessed unction alone fits us to plead with men, or even to understand the Gospel. With the agony of Jacob at Jabbok, he sought the power to witness. "Honor the Holy Spirit and He will honor you," was his maxim; and he taught that without the habitual recognition of dependence on the Spirit, revivals neither begin nor continue. If any one secret of Mr. Finney's power be emphatic, it is this: he gave his whole soul to God." --A. T. Pierson



For more related to C. G. Finney on WStS
(from our "Fellowship" section):

1. The Significance of Charles G. Finney's Disinterested Benevolence ---New Window
Or, God Loves All, But Only the Lovingly Obedient Go to Heaven
by Tom Stewart
"Love is the fulfilling of the Law" (Romans 13:10).
"The great opportunity of properly understanding the love of God, which Charles Grandison Finney faithfully expounded to the Church with the terms 'disinterested benevolence' and the 'love of complacency', is that individual Christians may enter into the covenant blessings of the New Testament by knowledgeably embracing the Spirit of God, Who will work 'in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure' (Philippians 2:13). 'That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through faith' (Galatians 3:14). Instead of waiting for the Hereafter to see the Promises of God fulfilled, we can and ought to embrace them now. 'As for Me, this is My Covenant with them, saith the LORD; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My Words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever' (Isaiah 59:21). We ought to resist the impulse of misdirected teachings that make the giving of the Holy Spirit only a past event to an Institutional Church, but that the very purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit, is that the God of love will 'abide with [us] for ever' (John 14:16). More important than the happiness that we immediately receive from the Spirit's presence, or even the anticipation of future Rapture and Heavenly joyfulness, we will have the present fulfillment of the Entire Sanctification or Complete Obedience promised through Jeremiah. 'But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people' (Jeremiah 31:33). And, we, the Church of Jesus Christ, will presently justify the God Who created us 'in His own image' (Genesis 1:27) as moral agents, and the Saviour Who redeemed us 'by His own blood' (Hebrews 9:12), that we should actually and presently 'live unto righteousness' (1Peter 2:24). 'That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world' (Philippians 2:15)."


2. The Promise of the Spirit ---New Window
by Tom Stewart
"Love is the fulfilling of the Law" (Romans 13:10).
"The grand design of the Spirit's indwelling is to secure the perfect love, complete obedience, or entire sanctification that has ALWAYS been demanded by the Moral Law. '36 Master, which is the great Commandment in the Law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great Commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the prophets' (Matthew 22:36-40). This Law of Love is understood in the New Testament as the Law of Christ. 'Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the Law of Christ' (Galatians 6:2). Always, it has been man's imperative to understand how to submit to this Law; and, now it is plain that a Covenant as old as Abraham has been fulfilled through the New Covenant's giving of the Holy Spirit-- which, BY FAITH secures for us perfect obedience to God. 'That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through faith' (Galatians 3:14)."


3. Charles G. Finney on Christian Perfection ---New Window
by Tom Stewart
Quote from Finney: "A denial of this doctrine [entire sanctification or Christian perfection] prepares the minds of ministers to temporize, and wink at great iniquity in their churches. Feeling as they certainly must, if they disbelieve this doctrine, that a great amount of sin in all believers is to be expected as a thing of course their whole preaching, and spirit, and demeanor, will be such as to beget a great degree of apathy among Christians, in regard to their abominable sins... Total abstinence from sin must be every man's motto, or sin will certainly sweep him away as with a flood."


4. Is Faith the Only Condition for Eternal Salvation? ---New Window
Or, The Biblical Doctrine of Justification by Faith
by Tom Stewart
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Everlasting Life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from Death unto Life" (John 5:24).
Faith is anything but passive, for "by faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the Promises offered up his only begotten son" (Hebrews 11:17). Faith is so bound up in the Other Conditions for our Justification, that to knowingly omit those other conditions, would declare our faith to be dead. "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). All the Other Conditions of our Justification are part of Evangelical Faith and are conditions for Eternal Salvation. These conditions may properly be called the Works of Faith, such as, perseverance (which is a description of those who follow Jesus to Heaven). "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed" (John 8:31).


5. What About The Hypocrites? ---New Window
Excerpts taken from sermons by C. G. Finney (1792-1875) and C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) ---New Window which are all found at WStS.
One of our readers reminded us of a common complaint the world has about the Church. After a recent encounter with another person asking the question, "What about all of the hypocritical Christians?", our reader gathered some information from our site and composited it into this comprehensive answer. He then submitted it to us, hoping it would help someone else. We thank him.


6. The Majesty of the Atonement of Jesus Christ ---New Window
Or, Christ's Humanity Provided an Atoning Sacrifice for the Sins of Mankind
by Tom Stewart
"And not only so, but we also joy in God through our LORD Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the Atonement" (Romans 5:11).
"At this moment, only a short time before the 'glorious appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ' (Titus 2:13), it is a retrospective of awe and wonder that we would consider again the central, fundamental, and timeless theme of the atoning self-sacrifice of the Creator for the well-being of rebellious and sinful man... he most majestic act of God towards us was the Atonement of Jesus Christ on the Cross for all mankind. So marvelous was this act of atonement, that the angels were quite eager to see how the LORD would handle it. 'Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven; which things the angels desire to look into' (1Peter 1:12). Eternity cannot exhaust our study of the love of God that was manifested in His atonement for us."


7. Must We Then Sin? ---New Window
Or, A Response to the Doctrine of Sin Nature or the Doctrine of Original Sin
Or, A Clarification of What is Sin, Why We Sin, and How Not to Sin
by Tom Stewart
"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His Seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1John 3:9).
The present, woeful ignorance of the Laodicean Church concerning the LORD Jesus Christ, has begotten a necessity to sin and to entertain all the worst sins of the world, while professing themselves to be "rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing" (Revelation 3:17).

This Doctrine of Sin Nature or Original Sin has become an indispensable article of faith to the modern Church, but it has been, and still is, a refuge and excuse for sin and sinning, an unbearable "yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1), and an impediment to any attempt to live apart from sin. "For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them" (2Peter 2:21).

"The dogma of constitutional moral depravity, is a part and parcel of the doctrine of a necessitated will. It is a branch of a grossly false and heathenish philosophy. How infinitely absurd, dangerous, and unjust, then, to embody it in a standard of Christian doctrine, to give it the place of an indispensable article of faith, and denounce all who will not swallow its absurdities, as heretics. O, shame!" (from Charles G. Finney's "Lectures on Systematic Theology", Lecture XLI (41) on "Moral Depravity" ---New Window). May the Merciful God allow you to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things" (Titus 2:10).


8. The Love of GOD for Sinners All ---New Window
by Charles G. Finney
(edited by Katie Stewart)
If you've ever sinned, and all have, you need to hear this.


9. Jesus Christ, the Hope in You ---New Window
by Charles G. Finney
(edited by Katie Stewart)
Our only HOPE in a hopeless world.





Acknowledgment:
The Public Domain texts of Rev. Charles G. Finney on this site,
reformatted by WStS,
were based on files originally found at Fires of Revival ---New Window.





The following men each have their own sub-index:

Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) (this page)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon ---New Window (1834-1892)

Jonathan Edwards ---New Window (1703-1758)

James Aitken Wylie ---New Window (1808-1890)

Andrew Murray ---New Window (1828-1917)

E. M. Bounds ---New Window (1835-1913)

A. T. Pierson ---New Window (1837-1911)

D. L. Moody ---New Window (1837-1899)



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