Finney preached in many locations spontaneously throughout his ministry, both in the USA, and also in the British Isles. Therefore, I apologize if your favorite town or village missed the list below, let me know, and if it would be possible to verifiable times and places, we can update this list. 

It is significant to Note that: In many of Finney’s citywide, and township wide revivals, the majority of the residence did express a conversion to Christ, and those revivals had the affect on some cities where they closed the jails, and had no significant crime for up to 15 years after the revival happened. In some places, it was difficult to find a soul who had not be saved, sanctified, and made new, in the whole town where the revival were working–so thorough was the work that was done.

The Long Lasting results of Reform
Stemming from Finney’s Revivals:

What are some of the most significant lifestyle transforming changes of some of Charles Finney’s revivals in the towns and cities he visited?

Charles Finney’s revivals in the 19th century had a profound impact on the towns and cities he visited, leading to significant lifestyle transformations. Some of the most notable changes include:

1. Increased Church Attendance: Finney’s revivals led to a surge in church attendance, with many people rededicating their lives to Christianity.
2. Social Reform: Finney’s emphasis on social justice led to the establishment of temperance societies, anti-slavery groups, and other organizations focused on improving society.
3. Improved Family Life: Finney’s teachings on family values and personal holiness led to improved family relationships, with husbands and fathers becoming more engaged and responsible.
4. Reduced Crime and Vices: The revivals led to a decrease in crime rates, with many people abandoning habits like drinking, gambling, and profanity.
5. Economic Changes: Businessmen and merchants began conducting their affairs with greater integrity, leading to increased economic stability and growth.
6. Education and Literacy: Finney’s emphasis on education led to an increase in literacy rates and the establishment of new schools.
7. Racial Reconciliation: Finney’s revivals helped bridge racial divides, with many African Americans and whites worshiping together and working towards greater equality.
8. Women’s Rights: Finney’s teachings on the equality of all people before God contributed to the emerging women’s rights movement.
9. Community Service: The revivals sparked an increase in volunteerism and community service, with people becoming more engaged in helping the poor and marginalized.
10. Personal Holiness: Finney’s emphasis on personal holiness led to a deeper commitment to spiritual growth and character development among believers.

Finney’s revivals brought about a profound transformation in the lives of individuals and communities, extending far beyond the revivals themselves and contributing to lasting social and spiritual change.

It is estimated by church records that Charles Finney in his personal efforts through Direct, revival work and ministry in Edaville. Churches, villages, towns, cities, across our country has been recorded that he has converted 500,000 new converts, and brought them into the kingdom of God by the work, he and his associates labored intensely for:

Finney was famous for preaching “Searching Sermons.” Which means he would uncover the root sins, root problems, root strongholds, and false ideologies that kept men and women from becoming what God has created them to be.

Below are just some of the main doctrines that Charles Finney taught that are attributed to the many, social and spiritual reformations in individual cities, towns, churches, and individuals during his ministry there:

1. The Power of Personal Conversion: Finney stressed the importance of individual conversion experiences, emphasizing that people must make a conscious decision to follow Christ.
2. The Authority of the Bible: He emphasized the Bible’s authority in all matters of faith and practice.
3. The Importance of Holiness: Finney taught that believers should strive for personal holiness and moral excellence.
4. The Empowerment of the Holy Spirit: He emphasized the Holy Spirit’s role in empowering believers for evangelism, service, and spiritual growth.
5. The Priesthood of All Believers: Finney believed that all Christians have equal access to God and are called to minister to others.
6. The Importance of Prayer: He stressed the necessity of persistent prayer in bringing about revival and spiritual transformation.
7. The Need for Repentance: Finney emphasized the importance of genuine repentance and turning away from sin.
8. The Role of Faith in Transformation: He taught that faith is essential for personal transformation and that believers should trust God for all aspects of life.
9. The Importance of Obedience: Finney stressed the need for believers to obey God’s commands and live according to His will.
10. The Unity of All Believers: He emphasized the unity of all Christians, regardless of denominational affiliations.
11. The Responsibility of Believers to Society: Finney taught that Christians have a responsibility to address social ills and promote justice.
12. The Importance of Perseverance: He emphasized the need for believers to persevere in their faith, even in the face of adversity.

These doctrines, among others, contributed to the transformative impact of Finney’s ministry, leading to lasting changes in individuals, communities, and society as a whole.

Compliments of gospeltruth.net

PREACHING SO AS TO CONVERT NOBODY

by Charles G. Finney

11–14 minutes

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Articles in THE INDEPENDENT of NEW YORK

PREACHING SO AS TO CONVERT NOBODY.

BY PRESIDENT CHAS. G. FINNEY.

THE INDEPENDENT.

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 7, 1871

The design of this article is to propound several rules by a steady conformity to any one of which a man may preach so as not to convert anybody. It is generally conceded at the present day that the Holy Spirit converts souls to Christ by means of truth adapted to that end. It follows that a selfish preacher will not skillfully adapt means to convert souls to Christ, for this is not his end.

Rule 1st. Let your supreme motive be to secure your own popularity; then, of course, your preaching will be adapted to that end, and not to convert souls to Christ.

2d. Aim at pleasing, rather than at converting your hearers.

3d. Aim at securing for yourself the reputation of a beautiful writer.

4th. Let your sermons be written with a high degree of literary finish.

5th. Let them be short, occupying in the reading not to exceed from twenty to thirty minutes.

6th. Let your style be flowery, ornate, and quite above the comprehension of the common people.

7th. Be sparing of thought, lest your* sermon contain truth enough to convert a soul.

8th. Lest your sermon should make a saving impression, announce no distinct propositions or heads, that will be remembered, to disturb the consciences of your hearers.

9th. Make no distinct points, and take no disturbing issues with the consciences of your hearers, lest they remember these issues, and become alarmed about their souls.

10th. Avoid a logical division and subdivision of your subject, lest you should too thoroughly instruct your people.

11th. Give your sermon the form and substance of a flowing, beautifully written, but never-to-be-remembered essay; so that your hearers will say “it was a beautiful sermon,” but can give no further account of it.

12th. Avoid preaching doctrines that are offensive to the carnal mind, lest they should say of you, as they did of Christ, “This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?” and that you are injuring your influence.

13th. Denounce sin in the abstract, but make no allusion to the sins of your present audience.

14th. Keep the spirituality of God’s holy law, by which is the knowledge of sin, out of sight, lest the sinner should see his lost condition and flee from the wrath to come.

15th. Preach the Gospel as a remedy, but conceal or ignore the fatal disease of the sinner.

16th. Preach salvation by grace; but ignore the condemned and lost condition of the sinner, lest he should understand what you mean by grace, and feel his need of it.

17th. Preach Christ as an infinitely amiable and good-natured being; but ignore those scathing rebukes of sinners and hypocrites which so often made his hearers tremble.

18th. Avoid especially preaching to those who are present. Preach about sinners, and not to them. Say they, and not you, lest any one should make a personal and saving application of your subject.

19th. Aim to make your hearers pleased with themselves and pleased with you, and be careful not to wound the feelings of any one.

20th. Preach no searching sermons, lest you convict and convert the worldly members of your church.

21st. Avoid awakening uncomfortable memories by reminding your hearers of their past sins.

22d. Do not make the impression that God commands your hearers now and here to obey the truth.

23d. Do not make the impression that you expect your hearers to commit themselves upon the spot and give their hearts to God.

24th. Leave the impression that they are expected to go away in their sins, and to consider the matter at their convenience.

25th. Dwell much upon their inability to obey, and leave the impression that they must wait for God to change their natures.

26th. Make no appeals to the fears of sinners; but leave the impression that they have no reason to fear.

27th. Say so little of Hell that your people will infer that you do not believe in its existence.

28th. Make the impression that, if God is as good as you are, He will send no one to Hell.

29th. Preach the love of God, but ignore the holiness of His love, that will by no means clear the impenitent sinner.

30th. Often present God in his parental love and relations; but ignore His governmental and legal relations to His subjects, lest the sinner should find himself condemned already and the wrath of God abiding on him.

31st. Preach God as all mercy, lest a fuller representation of His character should alarm the consciences of your hearers.

32d. Try to convert sinners to Christ without producing any uncomfortable convictions of sin.

33d. Flatter the rich, so as to repel the poor, and you will convert none of either class.

34th. Make no disagreeable allusions to the doctrines of self-denial, cross-bearing, and crucifixion to the world, lest you should convict and convert some of your churchmembers.

35th. Admit, either expressly or impliedly, that all men have some moral goodness in them; lest sinners should understand that they need a radical change of heart, from sin to holiness.

36th. Avoid pressing the doctrine of total moral depravity; lest you should offend, or even convict and convert, the moralist.

37th. Do not rebuke the worldly tendencies of the church, lest you should hurt their feelings, and finally convert some of them.

38th. Should any express anxiety about their souls, do not probe them by any uncomfortable allusion to their sin and ill-desert; but encourage them to join the church at once, and exhort them to assume their perfect safety within the fold.

39th. Preach the love of Christ not as enlightened benevolence, that is holy, just, and sin-hating; but as a sentiment, an involuntary and undiscriminating fondness.

40th. Be sure not to represent religion as a state of loving self-sacrifice for God and souls; but rather as a free and easy state of self-indulgence. By thus doing you will prevent sound conversions to Christ, and convert your hearers to yourself.

41st. So select your themes and so present them as to attract and flatter the wealthy, aristocratic, self-indulgent extravagant, pleasure-seeking classes, and you will not convert any of them to the cross-bearing religion of Christ.

42d. Be time-serving, or you will endanger your salary; and, besides, if you speak out and are faithful, you may convert somebody.

43d. Do not preach with a divine unction, lest your preaching make a saving impression.

44th. To avoid this, do not maintain a close walk with God, but rely upon your learning and study.

45th. Lest you should pray too much, engage in light reading and worldly amusements.

46th. That your people may not think you in earnest to save their souls, and, as a consequence, heed your preaching, encourage church-fairs, lotteries, and other gambling and worldly expedients to raise money for church purposes.

47th. If you do not approve of such things, make no public mention of your disapprobation, lest your church should give them up, and turn their attention to saving souls and be saved themselves.

48th. Do not rebuke extravagance in dress, lest you should uncomfortably impress your vain and worldly churchmembers.

49th. Lest you should be troubled with revival scenes and labors, encourage parties, pic-nics, excursions, and worldly amusements, so as to divert attention from the serious work of saving souls.

50th. Ridicule solemn earnestness in pulling sinners out of the fire, and recommend, by precept and example, it jovial, fun-loving religion, and sinners will have little respect for your serious preaching.

51st. Cultivate a fastidious taste in your people, by avoiding all disagreeable allusions to the last judgment and final retribution.

52d. Treat such uncomfortable doctrines as obsolete and out of place in these days of Christian refinement.

53d. Do not commit yourself to much-needed reforms, lest you should compromise your popularity and injure your influence. Or you may make some branch of outward reform a hobby, and dwell so much upon it as to divert attention from the great work of converting souls to Christ.

54th. So exhibit religion as to encourage the selfish pursuit of it. Make the impression upon sinners that their own safety and happiness is the supreme motive for being religious.

55th. Do not lay much stress upon the efficacy and necessity of prayer, lest the Holy Spirit should be poured out upon you and the congregation, and sinners should be converted.

56th. Make little or no impression upon your hearers, so that you can repeat your old sermons often without its being noticed.

57th. If your text suggest any alarming thought, pass lightly over it, and by no means dwell upon and enforce it.

58th. Avoid all illustrations, repetitions, and emphatic sentences, that may compel your people to remember what you say.

59th. Avoid all heat and earnestness in your delivery, lest you make the impression that you really believe what you say.

60th. Address the imagination, and not the conscience, of your hearers.

61st. Make it your great aim to be personally popular with all classes of your hearers.

62d. Be tame and timid in presenting the claims of God, as would become you in presenting your own claims,

63d. Be careful not to testify from your own personal experience of the power of the Gospel, lest you should produce the conviction upon your hearers that you have something which they need.

64th. See that you say nothing that will appear to any of your hearers to mean him or her, unless it be something flattering.

65th. Encourage church sociables, and attend them yourself, because they tend so strongly to levity as to compromise Christian dignity and sobriety, and thus paralyze the power of your preaching.

66th. Encourage the cultivation of the social in so many ways as to divert the attention of yourself and your churchmembers from the infinite guilt and danger of the unconverted among you.

67th. In those sociables talk a little about religion, but avoid any serious appeal to the heart and conscience of those who attend, lest you should discourage their attendance, always remembering that they do not go to socials to be earnestly dealt with in regard to their relations to God. In this way you will effectually so employ yourself and churchmembers as that your preaching will not convert anybody.

The experience of ministers who have steadily adhered to any of the above rules will attest the soul-destroying efficacy of such a course, and churches whose ministers have steadily conformed to any of these rules can testify that such preaching does not convert souls to Christ.

*original had two “your your” by mistake.

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Message in audio form:

Compliments of: gospeltruth.net

HOW TO WIN SOULS

by Charles G. Finney

21–27 minutes

Audio Versions at the End:

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Articles in THE INDEPENDENT of NEW YORK

HOW TO WIN SOULS

BY PRESIDENT CHARLES G. FINNEY.

THE INDEPENDENT.

NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 2, 1871

“Take heed to thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.” –1 Tim iv, 16.

I beg leave in this article to suggest to my younger brethren in the ministry some thoughts on the philosophy of so preaching the Gospel as to secure the salvation of souls. They are the result of much study, much prayer for Divine teaching, and a practical experience of many years.

I understand the admonition at the head of this article to relate to the matter, order, and manner of preaching.

The problem is, how shall we win souls wholly to Christ? Certainly we must win them away from themselves.

1st. They are free moral agents, of course–rational, accountable.

2d. They are in rebellion against God, wholly alienated, intensely prejudiced, and committed against him.

3d. They are committed to self-gratification as the end of their being.

4th. This committed state is moral depravity, the fountain of sin within them, from which flow by a natural law all their sinful ways. This committed voluntary state is their “wicked heart.” This it is that needs a radical change.

5th. God is infinitely benevolent, and unconverted sinners are supremely selfish; so that they are radically opposed to God. Their committal to the gratification of their appetites and propensities is known in Bible language as the “carnal mind”, or, as in the margin, “the minding of the flesh,” which is enmity against God.

6th. This enmity is voluntary, and must be overcome, if at all, by the Word of God, made effectual by the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

7th. The Gospel is adapted to this end, and when wisely presented we may confidently expect the effectual co-operation of the Holy Spirit. This is implied in our commission, “Go and disciple all nations, and lo! I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

8th. If we are unwise, illogical, unphilosophical, and out of all natural order, in presenting the Gospel, we have no warrant for expecting Divine co-operation.

9th. In winning souls, as in everything else, God works through and in accordance with natural laws. Hence, if we would win souls, we must wisely adapt means to this end. We must present those truths and in that order adapted to the natural laws of mind, of thought and mental action. A false mental philosophy will greatly mislead us, and we shall often be found ignorantly working against the agency of the Holy Spirit.

10th. Sinners must be convicted of their enmity. They do not know God, and consequently are often ignorant of the opposition of their hearts to Him. “By the law is the knowledge of sin,” because by the law the sinner gets his first true idea of God. By the law he first learns that God is perfectly benevolent, and infinitely opposed to all selfishness. This law, then, should be arrayed in all its majesty against the selfishness and enmity of the sinner.

11th. This law carries irresistible conviction of its righteousness, and no moral agent can doubt it.

12th. All men know that they have sinned, but all are not convicted of the guilt and ill desert of sin. The many are careless and do not feel the burden of sin, the horrors and terrors of remorse, and have not a sense of condemnation and of being lost.

13th. But without this they cannot understand or appreciate the Gospel method of salvation. One cannot intelligently and heartily ask or accept a pardon until he sees and feels the fact and justice of his condemnation.

14th. It is absurd to suppose that a careless, unconvicted sinner can intelligently and thankfully accept the Gospel offer of pardon until he accepts the righteousness of God in his condemnation. Conversion to Christ is an intelligent change. Hence the conviction of ill desert must precede the acceptance of mercy; for without this conviction the soul does not understand its need of mercy. Of course, the offer is rejected. The Gospel is no glad tidings to the careless, unconvicted sinner.

15th. The spirituality of the law should be unsparingly applied to the conscience until the sinner’s self-righteousness is annihilated, and he stands speechless and self-condemned before a holy God.

16th. In some men this conviction is already ripe, and the preacher may at once present Christ, with the hope of his being accepted; but at ordinary times such cases are exceptional. The great mass of sinners are careless, unconvicted, and to assume their conviction and preparedness to receive Christ, and, hence, to urge sinners immediately to accept him, is to begin at the wrong end of our work–to render our teaching unintelligible. And such a course will be found to have been a mistaken one, whatever present appearances and professions may indicate. The sinner may obtain a hope under such teaching; but, unless the Holy Spirit supplies something which the preacher has failed to do, it will be found to be a false one. All the essential links of truth must be supplied.

17th. When the law has done its work, annihilated self-righteousness, and shut the sinner up to the acceptance of mercy, he should be made to understand the delicacy and danger of dispensing with the execution of the penalty when the precept of law has been violated.

18th. Right here the sinner should be made to understand that from the benevolence of God he cannot justly infer that God can consistently forgive him. For unless public justice can be satisfied the law of universal benevolence forbids the forgiveness of sin. If public justice is not regarded in the exercise of mercy, the good of the public is sacrificed to that of the individual. God will never do this.

19th. This teaching will shut the sinner up to look for some offering to public justice.

20th. Now give him the atonement as a revealed fact, and shut him up to Christ as his own sin offering. Press the revealed fact that God has accepted the death of Christ as a substitute for the sinner’s death, and that this is to be received upon the testimony of God.

21st. Being already crushed into contrition by the convicting power of the law, the revelation of the love of God manifested in the death of Christ, will naturally beget great self-loathing, and that godly sorrow that needeth not to be repented of. Under this showing the sinner can never forgive himself. God is holy and glorious; and he a sinner, saved by sovereign grace. This teaching may be more or less formal as the souls you address are more or less thoughtful, intelligent, and careful to understand.

22d. It was not by accident that the dispensation of law preceded the dispensation of grace; but it is in the natural order of things, in accordance with established mental laws, and evermore the law must prepare the way for the Gospel. To overlook this in instructing souls is almost certain to result in false hope, the introduction of a false standard of Christian experience, and to fill the church with spurious converts. Time will make this plain.

23d. The truth should be preached to the persons present, and so personally applied as to compel everyone to feel that you mean him or her. As has been often said of a certain preacher: “He does not preach, but explains what other people preach, and seems to be talking directly to me.”

24th. This course will rivet attention, and cause your hearers to lose sight of the length of your sermon. They will tire if they feel no personal interest in what you say. To secure their individual interest in what you are saying is an indispensable condition of their being converted. And, while their individual interest is thus awakened, and held fast to your subject, they will seldom complain of the length of your sermon. In nearly all cases, if the people complain of the length of our sermons, it is because we fail to interest them personally in what we say.

25th. If we fail to interest them personally, it is either because we do not address them personally, or because we lack unction and earnestness, or because we lack clearness and force, or certainly because we lack something that we ought to possess. To make them feel that we and that God means them is indispensable.

26th. Do not think that earnest piety alone can make you successful in winning souls. This is only one condition of success. There must be common sense, there must be spiritual wisdom in adapting means to the end. Matter and manner and order and time and place all need to be wisely adjusted to the end we have in view.

27th. God may sometimes convert souls by men who are not spiritually minded, when they possess that natural sagacity which enables them to adapt means to that end; but the Bible warrants us in affirming that these are exceptional cases. Without this sagacity and adaptation of means to this end a spiritual mind will fail to win souls to Christ.

28th. Souls need instruction in accordance with the measure of their intelligence. A few simple truths, when wisely applied and illuminated by the Holy Ghost, will convert children to Christ. I say wisely applied, for they too are sinners, and need the application of the law, as a schoolmaster, to bring them to Christ, that they may be justified by faith. It will sooner or later appear that supposed conversions to Christ are spurious where the preparatory law work has been omitted, and Christ has not been embraced as a Saviour from sin and condemnation.

29th. Sinners of education and culture, who are, after all, unconvicted and skeptical in their hearts, need a vastly more extended and thorough application of truth. Professional men need the Gospel net to be thrown quite around them, with no break through which they can escape; and, when thus dealt with, they are all the more sure to be converted in proportion to their real intelligence. I have found that a course of lectures addressed to lawyers, and adapted to their habits of thought and reasoning, is most sure to convert them.

30th. To be successful in winning souls, we need to be observing–to study individual character, to press the facts of experience, observation, and revelation upon the consciences of all classes.

31st. Be sure to explain the terms you use. Before I was converted, I failed to hear the terms repentance, faith, regeneration, and conversion intelligibly explained. Repentance was described as a feeling. Faith was represented as an intellectual act or state, and not as a voluntary act of trust. Regeneration was represented as some physical change in the nature, produced by the direct power of the Holy Ghost, instead of a voluntary change of the ultimate preference of the soul, produced by the spiritual illumination of the Holy Ghost. Even conversion was represented as being the work of the Holy Ghost in such a sense as to cover up the fact that it is the sinner’s own act, under the persuasions of the Holy Ghost.

32d. Urge the fact that repentance involves the voluntary and actual renunciation of all sin; that it is a radical change of mind toward God.

33d. Also the fact that saving faith is heart trust in Christ; that it works by love, it purifies the heart, and overcomes the world; that no faith is saving that has not these attributes.

34th. The sinner is required to put forth certain mental acts. What these are he needs to understand. Error in mental philosophy but embarrasses, and may fatally deceive the inquiring soul. Sinners are often put upon a wrong track. They are put upon a strain to feel instead of putting forth the required acts of will. Before my conversion I never received from man any intelligible idea of the mental acts that God required of me.

35th. The deceitfulness of sin renders the inquiring soul exceedingly exposed to delusion; therefore it behooves teachers to beat about every bush, and to search out every nook and corner where a soul can find a false refuge. Be so thorough and discriminating as to render it as nearly impossible as the nature of the case will admit that the inquirer should entertain a false hope.

36th. Do not fear to be thorough. Do not through false pity put on a plaster where the probe is needed. Do not fear that you shall discourage the convicted sinner, and turn him back, by searching him out to the bottom. If the Holy Spirit is dealing with him, the more you search and probe the more impossible it will be for the soul to turn back or rest in sin.

37th. If you would save the soul, do not spare a right hand, or right eye, or any darling idol; but see to it that every form of sin is given up. Insist upon full confession of wrong, to all that have a right to confession. Insist upon full restitution, so far as is possible, to all injured parties. Do not fall short of the express teachings of Christ on this subject. Whoever the sinner may be, let him distinctly understand that unless he forsakes all that he has he cannot be the disciple of Christ. Insist upon entire and universal consecration of all the powers of body and mind, and of all the property, possessions, character, and influence to God. Insist upon the total abandonment to God of all ownership of self, or anything else, as a condition of being accepted.

38th. Understand yourself, and, if possible, make the sinner understand that nothing short of this is involved in true faith or true repentance, and that true consecration involves them all.

39th. Keep constantly before the sinner’s mind that it is the personal Christ with whom he is dealing, that God in Christ is seeking his reconciliation to himself, and that the condition of his reconciliation is that he gives up his will and his whole being to God–that he leave not a hoof behind.

40th. Assure him that “God has given to him eternal life, and this life is in his son”; that “Christ is made unto him wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption”; and that from first to last he is to find his whole salvation in Christ.

41st. When satisfied that the soul intelligently receives all this doctrine, and the Christ herein revealed, then remember that he must persevere unto the end, as the further condition of his salvation. Here you have before you the great work of preventing the soul from backsliding, of securing its permanent sanctification and sealing for eternal glory.

42d. Does not the very common backsliding in heart of converts indicate some grave defect in the teachings of the pulpit on this subject?

What does it mean that so many hopeful converts, within a few months of their apparent conversion, lose their first love, lose all their fervency in religion, neglect their duty, and live on in name Christians, but in spirit and life worldlings?

43d. A truly successful preacher must not only win souls to Christ, but must keep them won. He must not only secure their conversion, but their permanent sanctification.

44th. Nothing in the Bible is more expressly promised in this life than permanent sanctification. 1 Thes., v, 23, 24: “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” This is unquestionably a prayer of the apostle for permanent sanctification in this life, with an express promise that he who has called us will do it.

45th. We learn from the Scriptures that “after we believe” we are or may be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and that this sealing is the earnest of our salvation. Eph., i, 13,14: “In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” His sealing this earnest of our inheritance is that which renders our salvation sure. Hence, in Eph., iv, 30, the apostle says: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” And in II Cor., 1, 21st and 22nd verses, the apostle says: “Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God, who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” Thus we are established in Christ and anointed by the Spirit, and also sealed by the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. And this, remember, is a blessing that we receive after that we believe, as Paul has informed us in his Epistle to the Ephesians, above quoted. Now, it is of the last importance that converts should be taught not to rest short of this permanent sanctification, this sealing, this being established in Christ by the special anointing of the Holy Ghost.

46th. Now, brethren, unless we know what this means by our own experience, and lead converts to this experience, we fail most lamentably and essentially in our teaching. We leave out the very cream and fullness of the Gospel.

47th. It should be understood that while this experience is rare amongst ministers it will be discredited by the churches, and it will be next to impossible for an isolated preacher of this doctrine to overcome the unbelief of his church. They will feel doubtful about it, because so few preach it or believe in it; and will account for their pastor’s insisting upon it by saying that his experience is owing to his peculiar temperament, and thus they will fail to receive this anointing because of their unbelief. Under such circumstances it is all the more necessary to insist much upon the importance and privilege of permanent sanctification.

48th. Sin consists in carnal-mindedness, in “obeying the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” Permanent sanctification consists in entire and permanent consecration to God. It implies the refusal to obey the desire of the flesh or of the mind. The baptism or sealing of the Holy Spirit subdues the power of the desires and strengthens and confirms the will in resisting the impulse of desire, and in abiding permanently in a state of making the whole being an offering to God.

49th. If we are silent upon this subject, the natural inference will be that we do not believe in it, and, of course, that we know nothing about it in experience. This will inevitably be a stumbling-block to the church.

50th. Since this is undeniably an important doctrine, and plainly taught in the Gospel, and is, indeed, the marrow and fatness of the Gospel, to fail in teaching this is to rob the church of its richest inheritance.

51st. The testimony of the church, and to a great extent of the ministry, on the subject has been lamentably defective. This legacy has been withheld from the church, and is it any wonder that she so disgracefully backslides? The testimony of the comparatively few, here and there, that insist upon this doctrine is almost nullified by the counter testimony or culpable silence of the great mass of Christ’s witnesses.

52d. My dear brethren, my convictions are so ripe and my feelings so deep upon this subject that I must not conceal from you my fears that lack of personal experience, in many cases, is the reason of this great defect in preaching the Gospel. I do not say this to reproach you; it is not in my heart to do so. It is not wonderful that many of you, at least, have not this experience. Your religious training has been defective. You have been led to take a different view of this subject. Various causes have operated to prejudice you against this blessed doctrine of the glorious Gospel. You have not intellectually believed it; and, of course, have not received Christ in his fullness into your hearts. Perhaps this doctrine to you has been a stumbling-block and a rock of offense; but I pray you let not prejudice prevail, but venture upon Christ by a present acceptance of him as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and see if he will not do for you exceeding abundantly, above all that you asked or thought.

53d. No man, saint or sinner, should be left by us to rest or be quiet in the indulgence of any sin. No one should be allowed to entertain the hope of Heaven, if we can prevent it, who lives in the indulgence of known sin in any form. Our constant demand and persuasion should be, “Be ye holy, for God is holy.” “Be ye perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” Let us remember the manner in which Christ concludes his memorable Sermon on the Mount. After spreading out those awfully searching truths before his hearers, and demanding that they should be perfect, as their Father in Heaven was perfect, he concludes by assuring them that no one could be saved who did not receive and obey his teachings. Instead of attempting to please our people in their sins, we should continually endeavor to hunt and persuade them out of their sins. Brethren, let us do it, as we would not have our skirts defiled with their blood. If we pursue this course, and constantly preach with unction and power, and abide in the fullness of the doctrine of Christ, we may joyfully expect to save ourselves and them that hear us.Return to INDEX of THE INDEPENDENT

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Who opposed the teaching and ministry of Charles G Finney?

Charles G. Finney’s ministry and teachings were controversial during his time, and he faced opposition from several national church leaders. Some of the initial opponents included:

1. Lyman Beecher: A Presbyterian minister and father of Harriet Beecher Stowe, who initially opposed Finney’s methods and theology.
2. Asahel Nettleton: A Congregationalist minister who disagreed with Finney’s emphasis on human agency and revival techniques.
3. Nathaniel William Taylor: A professor at Yale Divinity School who opposed Finney’s views on original sin and human nature.
4. Charles Hodge: A Presbyterian theologian who disagreed with Finney’s theology and revival methods.
5. Archibald Alexander: A Presbyterian minister and professor at Princeton Theological Seminary who opposed Finney’s views on regeneration and sanctification.

These leaders were primarily from the more traditional Calvinist and Reformed backgrounds, who disagreed with Finney’s emphasis on human free will, his revival techniques, and his Arminian leanings. However, it’s worth noting that Finney also had many supporters and allies among the evangelical leaders of his time. Despite the opposition, Finney’s ministry continued to have a significant impact on the landscape of American Christianity.Messages are generated by

Which national church leaders repented and later changed their minds, and came out in support of the teaching and ministry of Charles G Finney?

Several national church leaders who initially opposed Charles G. Finney’s teachings and ministry later changed their minds and came out in support of him. Some notable examples include:

1. Lyman Beecher: Although initially critical, Beecher later became a strong supporter of Finney’s ministry and even invited him to preach at his church in Boston.
2. Asahel Nettleton: After initially disagreeing with Finney’s methods, Nettleton later acknowledged the effectiveness of Finney’s revivals and even assisted him in some of his evangelistic efforts.
3. Gardiner Spring: A Presbyterian minister who initially opposed Finney’s views on revival and regeneration, but later became a strong supporter and even wrote a book endorsing Finney’s theology.
4. Thomas Skelton: A Congregationalist minister who initially criticized Finney’s methods but later became a close friend and supporter.
5. Edward Norris Kirk: A Congregationalist minister who initially opposed Finney’s views but later became a strong advocate for his revival techniques.

These leaders were influenced by Finney’s passion, conviction, and the undeniable results of his revivals, which led them to reevaluate their initial opposition. Additionally, Finney’s willingness to engage in respectful dialogue and his commitment to biblical orthodoxy helped to build bridges with his critics.

It’s worth noting that Finney’s ministry was not without controversy, and some critics continued to oppose him throughout his life. However, the support of these national church leaders helped to legitimize Finney’s ministry and contributed to his lasting impact on American Christianity.

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Charles G. Finney ministered in England in the following cities:

1. London, England (1851-1852): Finney preached at the Surrey Chapel and other locations, drawing large crowds and influencing British evangelicals like Charles Spurgeon.
2. Manchester, England (1852): Finney conducted a series of lectures and sermons, emphasizing the importance of revival and evangelism.
3. Birmingham, England (1852): Finney preached and lectured, stressing the need for personal holiness and social reform.
4. Liverpool, England (1852): Finney ministered at the Liverpool Evangelical Church, encouraging the congregation to prioritize evangelism and mission work.
5. Edinburgh, Scotland (1852): Finney preached at the Free Church of Scotland, influencing Scottish evangelicals and promoting revival.
6. Dublin, Ireland (1853): Finney conducted a series of lectures and sermons, emphasizing the importance of evangelism and personal holiness.

Finney’s European ministry was marked by his characteristic emphasis on revival, evangelism, and social reform. His preaching and teaching had a significant impact on British and European evangelicals, shaping the course of evangelicalism in the region.

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