USA > Ohio > The Western Reserve of Ohio and some of its pioneers, places and women's clubs, Vol. I > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
He thought of attending Yale, but his parents persuaded him to return to their home, and he began to study law in Adams with Squire W. He had studied Latin, Greek and Hebrew, but not enough to criticise the Bible; however, when it was used as a law book he became deeply interested in it and criticised mentally the sermons he heard. He was thentwenty- two years of age. Rev. George W. Gale, pastor of the Presbyter- ian Church, from Princeton, N. J., would assume many things, which Mr. Finney thought he ought to prove. Mr. Gale would call at his office and ask what he thought of his sermon. Mr. Finney asked him many questions : What he meant by re- pentance-was it a passive state, a mere sorrow for sin? What he meant by regeneration or sanctification? When in New Jersey, he in three years had not heard a half dozen sermons. It seemed to him there must be something in religion of infinite importance. He attended the prayer meeting, he was leader of the choir, and played well on a bass viol.
84
The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some of
In the Bible, Christ had said, "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you;" also, "Christ was more willing to give the Holy Spirit than parents to give good gifts to their children." Were these per- sons that prayed so much real Christians? One asked him if he wished to be prayed for. He replied that, "I am conscious I am a sinner, but it will do no good for you to pray for me, for you are continually asking and do not receive." But as he read the Bible he could see it was because they did not comply with the conditions. For three years he struggled with his thoughts, then the question arose, "Will you accept Christ or pursue a worldly course?" One Sabbath evening he determined to make his peace with God; he read the Bible and for two days was in prayer most of the time; he was unwilling that anyone should know that he was so concerned about his soul; after a sleepless night he heard a voice say, "What are you waiting for? Did you not promise to give yourself to God? Are you endeavoring to work out a righteousness of your own?" Then he saw the value of the atonement of Christ, who had finished the work; he had no righteousness of his own, he must accept Christ's righteousness. It was an offer to be ac- cepted, and he said, "I will accept it or die in the attempt."
He felt he must be alone and away from all human eyes and ears-so he went to the woods to pour out his prayer to God, but lo, when he came to try, he was dumb; he thought, "It is too late." Then he thought, "It is my pride, so depraved a being as I, ashamed to have any sinner find me on my knees before the Almighty God." That appeared an awful sin and it broke him down. Then this passage came to him, "Then shall ye seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all thine heart." Then he said: "Lord, I will take thee at thy word."
85
Its Pioneers, Places and Women's Clubs
I prayed until I was so full I was tripping up the ascent to- ward the road, and I said, if I am converted, I will preach the gospel. My mind was wonderfully quiet and peaceful. I had not a particle of concern about my soul. I went to my dinner and then to my office and began to play on my bass viol; I could not sing, for my tears; my mind remained in a tranquil state and nothing seemed to disturb me. We moved our office that day and at evening I went to the back room of the office and met Christ. I fell at his feet and bathed them with my tears. When I went to the front room the fire was burnt out, but as I seated myself, wave after wave of love passed over my soul; this continued until a member of the choir came in and said, "Are you in pain?" "No; but so happy that I cannot live." He went out and brought in an elder of the church; as I began to tell him, he could not keep from laughing. The young man that I had been intimate with came in and listened to what I had to say, then fell upon the floor and said, "Pray for me." Shall I pray for him? That brought darkness on my soul, not feeling sure that my peace was made with God.
In the morning it was impossible for me to doubt that the spirit had taken possession of my soul; thus was I taught the justification by faith as a present experience; "Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." All sense of condemnation had entirely disappeared out of my mind; my sins were gone; it was just the revelation I needed. When in the office I was having those waves of love flowing over my soul I spoke to my friend of his salvation, and he went away at once; afterward he said they pierced him like a sword and he did not recover from it until he was converted.
A man came in and said, "My case is to be tried today; are you ready?" I said, "You must get some one else." He went away and immediately settled his suit.
86
The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some of
I was quite willing to preach the gospel; nay, I was not willing to do anything else. I had no hungering or thirst for worldly amusements. The world seemed to me of very little consequence. I went into a shoe shop and there a young man was defending Universalism; I blew his arguments to the winds. He went to the woods and gave his heart to God. I spoke to many that day and every one was converted. I went to a man who had a distillery; they were about to sit down to tea and invited me, then asked me to ask a blessing; it was what I had never done; I burst into tears; the young man left the table and fled from the room; the next morning he came out express- ing a hope in Christ. He has been for many years an able minister of the gospel.
One man had said, "If religion is true, why don't you con- vert Finney? if you do, I will believe in religion."
I went at night to the church prayer meeting and Rev. Mr. Gale said he now had faith to believe Mr. Finney would be converted and he called on me to pray; God gave me the words; we had a wonderful meeting and had one every night for a long time. I seemed to have "Meat to eat that ye know not of." I was surprised that a few words spoken to a man would stick in his heart like an arrow.
went to visit my father; he said, "How do you do, I Charles?" I replied, "I am well, body and soul. Father, I have never heard a prayer in your house." He said, "I know it, Charles; come in and pray yourself" We engaged in prayer; both father and mother were greatly moved and in a short time they were both joyfully converted. Squire W. said, "I have a parlor to pray in and I am not going to the woods as many did, but I could get no peace; then I went to the woods." The young man that I met in the shoe shop said, "I saw Squire W. shouting
87
Its Pioneers, Places and Women's Clubs
in the woods, saying', 'I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.'" Soon he came to the office and said, "I have got it; glory to God," and fell on his knees to give thanks to God.
Toward spring we had a sunrise prayer meeting, and I used to have visions I did not tell. I found it would not do to tell my brothers all that was passing between the Lord and myself. They would look incredulous. I had frequent fastings and would wish to be alone with God, in the church or in the woods. If I would look within, the day would pass without any progress. I was asked to pray for a dying woman, which I did, and I went from the office to the church three times before I could leave the case with God. I told it to a Christian brother, who said, "That is a travail of your soul." Rev. Gale was a Princeton student and he said he never had been the in- strument of converting a person. I asked him if the Bible did not require all who heard the gospel to repent, believe and be saved. How could they, if it was not provided for them? They held to the old school doctrine of original sin. I was quite willing to believe what I found in the Bible.
Mr. Gale's health failed and a Universalist took his place; then Mr. Gale asked me to preach, and I took up the question of endless punishment. He said Christ had made the atonement for all men, so all men would be saved, for God could not punish those whose debt was paid. I showed him that it did not lit- erally pay the debt of sinners; that it simply rendered the sal- vation of all men possible and did not of itself lay God under obligations to save anybody. Christ died so as to remove any insurmountable obstacles out of the way of God saving sinners; so he could invite all men to repent, to receive Christ and accept salvation; Christ had honored the law, thus rendering it safe for God to pardon sin; to pardon the sins of all men who would
88
The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some of
repent and believe in him; not that he had cancelled sin, in the sense of literally paying the indebtedness.
The Presbytery was called to license me to preach. I preached a sermon and they licensed me. I had been used to the logical reasoning of judges as in our law books. These ministers seemed to state one thing and prove another, or fell short of proving anything. I had nowhere to go but to the Bible. Mr. Gale said if I wrote my sermons they would not become stale. If he had been converted he had failed to receive the anointing of the Holy Ghost, which is indispensable to a minister's suc- cess; it has not power to work miracles, but a divine purifying, so the words were like a two-edged sword. He must preach it as an experience.
I went first to Evans Mills in the town of LeRay, also at Antwerp, dividing my time between them. I told them I came there to bring them to repentance. If they did not propose to become Christians, I wanted to know it. "If you will, I want you to rise up; if not, sit still." They all sat still. "You will not have this man Christ Jesus to rule over you; I am sorry for you; I will preach to you once more, on tomorrow night."
Deacon McC. said: "You have got them. We will spend tomorrow in fasting and prayer; separately in the morning and together in the afternoon." We left the woods and went to the meeting; the house was packed to its utmost capacity; I took my text: "Say ye to the righteous that it will be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings; but, to the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him."
For an hour and a half the word of God came through me to them in a manner I could see was carrying all before it; many could not hold up their heads and I took it for granted
89
Its Pioneers, Places and Women's Clubs
they were committed against the Lord. I appointed another meeting; the people withdrew; one woman remained; she was a sister of a missionary; she could not speak, but anguish was on her face; I said, "Take her home." She was speechless sixteen hours; then a new song was given her; a view of the holiness of God was given her; her hope was gone. Though she thought she was a Christian, she had never known the true God.
I found a number of deists; they seemed bound together to resist the revival; one old man died and his last words were, "Don't let Finney pray over my corpse." It was the last of the opposition.
Some of them were of high standing in the community; one, who opposed the revival, was a keeper of a low tavern and he was converted and cried out in meeting, "I am sinking to hell," and he repeated it. The meeting stopped and we prayed for him and took him home. The next morning I met him coming from the woods and he said, "My heart is so hard I cannot pray," and in one of our meetings he made one of the most heart-broken confessions I have ever heard. He abolished all revelry and profanity in his bar-room, and from that time a prayer meeting was held in his bar-room every night.
The Germans had a settlement a little way from Evans Mills; once a year they had a minister come from Mohawk Valley and administer baptism and the Lord's supper-then they took it for granted they were Christians; this was the way the church was organized and continued. I preached to them, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." I began by showing what holiness was-then what it was not. Under this head I took everything they considered very religious and showed them that it was not holiness at all; I then showed what is meant by seeing the Lord and why those without holiness
90
The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some of
could never be admitted to his presence; it went home to them by the power of the Holy Ghost. The whole settlement was under conviction. I had an inquiry meeting at 1 o'clock and as many were assembled as could be packed in the house.
One woman got off a sick bed and walked three miles. She said, "I wanted to hear God's word and I cannot read." My wife said she was one of the most remarkable women in prayer she had ever heard and repeated more Scripture in her prayers. Another said, "I thought Jesus could teach ine to read his word and when I prayed I thought I could read. I took the children's Testament to the school ma'am and asked her if I read right; she said I did." Her neighbors said she could not read a word until she was converted. I preached the doctrine and insisted on the voluntary total moral depravity of the unregenerate and a total change by the Holy Ghost and the means of truth. Preaching, prayer, and conference meetings were the means used. I would begin by singing, then pray myself; then call on two others to pray; then talk from a text; then stop again and ask two to pray; then talk a while.
I tried to show them that all praying for a new heart was throwing the responsibility of their conversion on God; and effort to do duty, while they did not give their hearts to God, was hypocritical and delusive.
I could speak two and a half hours without fatigue. I preached out of doors; in homes; in school houses; I used every day occurrences for illustrations; my efforts were to be under- stood.
I had to meet the Presbytery and they said, "Let Mr. Finney preach." Which I did, on "Without Holiness no Man Shall See the Lord." They said I talked like a lawyer at the bar; that I blamed the people too much. I said, "What about
91
Its Pioneers, Places and Women's Clubs
the fruits of your ministry?" They said, "I was guilty of repe- tition." I said, "I thought it was necessary to do so to make myself understood," and then they said, "You will not interest the educated part of your congregation," but facts silenced them on that point. I said, "If lawyers should take such a course they would ruin themselves and their cause. I would repeat to the jury as many times as there were jurymen in the jury box. We are set to get a verdict. We expect to get it on the spot; if we do not, we lose our case, and I believe the Lord had led me into that manner of winning souls."
"I came from the law office to the pulpit. When a man is in earnest his language is simple, powerful, short. Good preach- ing leads the people to praise the Savior. Ministers will preach of the sins of other people. Now, I am not talking to anybody else, I mean you. You know what I tell you is true. Honesty is the best policy; men are not fools. They have no permanent respect for a man who will preach smooth things-those who read sermons the people do not remember. But they say to me, 'I always remember what you say, the text and how you handle it.' I study the gospel and the best application of it."
For the first twelve years I wrote not a word; often not knowing what the text would be, or a word that I should say. If I did not preach from inspiration I do not know how I did preach. The subject would open up to my mind in a manner surprising to myself; whole platoons of thought and illustrations would come to me as fast as I could say them. I never could use old skeletons of sermons in preaching. I had to have a fresh view by the Holy Spirit. I find such sermons tell with great power on people. I tell this to give the praise to God and not to myself, but from the Holy Spirit within me. Christ said go and disciple all nations. What did he mean? when he said, "Out of
92
The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water." He meant God is in them of a truth.
At Antwerp, a few miles north of Evans Mills, the Uuniver- salists had broken up the village meetings. I called on the wife of the merchant and she offered me her parlor; I had thirteen for Sabbath morning and we obtained the school house for Sab- bath afternoon. I heard a vast amount of profanity as I passed around. I gave myself to prayer Saturday and read, "Be not afraid and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no one shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city." This completely relieved me of all fear.
Sabbath morning I went to the woods, three times, to be alone with God. At meeting time I found a packed house and I preached from "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish but have everlasting life." The subject affected my mind very much. I pointed out some who I heard the day before asking God to damn another. I said "It seemed the very verge of Hell." Everybody knew what I said was true. The people wept with me, scarcely a dry eye in the house. Mr. C., the landlord, said he would open the meeting house in the afternoon and it was as crowded as his house in the morning. Everybody was out to meeting and the Lord let loose on them in a wonderful manner. After that the people would throng to hear me where- ever I went.
A man asked me to go three miles and preach in his school house. I walked so that I might speak to the people on the way. At the meeting I said, "Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city." I told them the Scripture story of Abraham and his son-in-law, Lot, the only righteous man in Sodom. The people looked very angry. In a quarter of an
93
Its Pioneers, Places and Women's Clubs
hour, a solemnity fell on the meeting and soon they began to fall from their seats; each one prayed for himself. I stopped preaching. I saw the old man who had invited me and I said to him, "Can't you pray?" We could not get their attention, so I cried as loud as I could, "You are not in Hell yet; let me direct you to Christ." I had my hand on a young man and talked in his ear of Jesus; he was quiet then and in a minute he began praying for others. I went from one to another in this way with the same result. The old man took the meeting while I went to another appointment. But he could not dismiss it; they remained all night. In the morning they went to a private house so as to make room for the school. They sent for me to come in the afternoon; they could not break up the meeting. When I went down, the second time, they told me the place was called Sodom and they thought I had chosen the subject because they were so wicked as to be called Sodom. It was purely accidental.
In Syracuse Mr. Cross said to me, "Do you remember Ant- werp?" I said, "As long as I remember anything." I was con- verted in that meeting. He has been a successful minister for many years and several of his children received their education at Oberlin.
I have never heard of any disastrous reaction of revivals that came so suddenly. Some said I was a Presbyterian and believed in election-so I preached a sermon and told what elec- tion was not; and then what it is. It is a doctrine of the Bible; a doctrine of reason. To deny it would be to deny the attributes of God; that it opposes no obstacle in the way of salvation; that all men can be saved if they will; it is the only hope that any- body will be saved. The Lord made it very clear to my own mind and I believed it convinced the Methodists. "Let us come
94
The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some fo
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." A woman, very despondent, applied the text to herself; her face changed to a great glow and she was set at liberty. Two years afterward I met her and she was still full of joy and peace.
A man by the name of Dering was settled as pastor at Evans Mills. People of Goveneur, twelve miles away, threatened to come and break up our meetings, but we paid no attention to it.
I agreed to stay a year at Evans Mills. I was married October, 1824. I went to Perch River and then to Brownesville, seven miles further on. I there spent the winter. I found the minister and his wife would stay away from the meetings to attend a party. I started to go for my wife. My horse had to be shod at a little village and they asked me to preach at one o'clock in a school house. The house was packed. The spirit came down with great power. I remained for a night service and I appointed another meeting in the morning and another in the evening. I asked a brother to go for my wife while I re- mained. I went on preaching from day to day and from night to night and there was a powerful revival. I was asked to go to Rutland, three miles away. I walked there and was early. A young woman came in with a long plume and a silk dress and sat down in the seat behind me. I said to her in a low voice, "Did you come to make the people worship you and so divide the worship of God's house?" Then I went into the pulpit and at the close of the remarks I asked those who would give their hearts to God to come in front of the pulpit. She was the first to come forward. Others followed and I was told, years after- ward, that she had been a very earnest Christian.
I then went to Goveneur. There was a church meeting; I came in as it was about to adjourn. The house was filled and
95
Its Pioneers, Places and Women's Clubs
the Lord gave me a text and I let out my heart to the people. A man wanted to discuss Universalism and I agreed, but we must take one subject at a time and finish it. He really knew but little of the Bible. I closed on the justice of endless pun- ishment. He went home and told his wife: "Finney has turned my weapons on my own head." His agony was intense, but he surrendered to his conviction and gave himself to Christ. His companions were brought in one after another-the revival made a clean sweep of them. There was one who said to me, "You and I agree there is a God infinitely good, wise and power- ful. That he, in our creation, gives us a sense of wrong, justice and injustice." "Yes," I said. He said: "The Bible teaches us we have a sinful nature-totally sinful, incapable of any good; then commands us to be good on pain of eternal death." I re- plied, "Have you a Bible?" "There is no need to turn to it; the Bible teaches that God has imputed sin to Adam's posterity." "No," I said, "I don't believe any such thing. Where is it taught in the Bible ?"
He began to quote the Catechism. "The Bible commands to repent, then it says they cannot repent; that Christ died only for the elect." I said, "These are not the teachings of the Bible. Now listen to me; these are traditions of men and not the teachings of the Bible." I went over all his objections, then dwelt on the atonement; its design; its extent; its nature; its freeness to all, through Christ. He was converted immediately. I went to a meeting and soon he and his wife came in; he paid earnest attention; he said going home, "I deserve endless pun- ishment." He had always been very bitter on endless punish- ment.
About forty young people of the Baptist denomination had been converted. I had a talk with a Baptist member and the
96
The Western Reserve of Ohio and Some of
minister and said, "Now, if you go to proselyting it will create a sectarian feeling and will destroy the spirit of prayer, and put a stop to the revival." He knew it, he said. They had a covenant meeting and offered to baptize and receive all who would join. Then saint and sinners were discussing baptism. I said, "If you will come Wednesday at one o'clock and bring your Bibles, we will go over the passages on baptism." I gave the Baptist views and then my views and the reason for them. The Baptists said, "It was made as strong as they could express it." I said, "Tomorrow I will continue this subject." The house was crowded. I took up the covenant of Abraham; the relation of families to children in that covenant, and held it up, as still the one which God makes with parents and children. The ques- tion was intelligently settled and even the people ceased to talk about it. The spirit of prayer returned and the revival was revived and went on with great power and soon many converts united with the church.
The discussion on baptism had produced great good and only good as far as I could see. I went to DeKalb. The Meth- odists had had a revival and falling under the power of God. The Presbyterians had opposed it, on account of these fallings. One evening a man fell from his seat near the door and he was one of the main members of the Presbyterians; this led to ex- planations among the members of different churches, so as to secure great cordiality and good feeling.
A man from Ogdensburg, sixteen miles away, came to hear and see the revival. He gave me thirty dollars and soon sent me thirty dollars more; he was a Presbyterian elder in Ogdens- burg. I bought a carriage, as wife and I had to go a good deal on foot. The revival took a strong hold in DeKalb. A German tailor from Ogdensburg was sent to get my measure for a suit
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.