Power From On High
Chapter 1 - Intro
By Charles G. Finney (1792-1875)
Charles Finney unlike 99% of our preachers and teachers
came himself into deep repentence, entered into a deep abiding personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, became a man of prayer and waiting on the Lord,
and read and meditated on the word of God continually. – As he reached out and
loved the Lord with all his heart with all his mind with all his soul and with
all his strength – an amazing thing happened in Finney’s life the Lord accepted
Charles Finney and loved him. Moreover the Lord gave Charles Finney eyes to see
when he read the bible, ears to hear the voice of the Father and the Holy
Ghost, and He opened this man’s understanding – And so he began to be taught by
the Holy Ghost as Jesus promised.
And God sent him forth and bore him witness in his
ministry.
For many they spend all their time actively seeking how
to cheat the “System” (The demands of God in one that is truly seeking after Him)
These play at prayer, play at waiting on God, play at reading the word of God,
play at studing God’s word. Their desires their will, their wants, their
delights are ever impure as they inevitiably are in the center of their
universe Not God Not Jesus and Not the Holy Ghost. Saying you are saved does not make it so,
saying you are in right relationship with God does not make it so, and saying
one loves, serves and obeys God – does not make it so.
God searches our hearts, our motives, God looks upon our
deeds to see if they match our rhetoric, and God demands our obedience to the
words and commandments of Jesus Christ as well as to His leading and guiding.
In the end you are either a son of God or you are not. You are either
personally justified and personally sanctified or you are not. You either walk
in the light as He is in the Light or you do not. This has always been, and it
is as Christ has always said straight is the gate and narrow is the way to
eternal life and FEW their be that find it.
FEW desire so to seek God and so to order about their lives.
But rather they desire to be Christian, Saved, Filled
with the Spirit, and Justified on their own terms as part time Christians. And therefore as these rejected.
Please
permit me through your columns to correct a misapprehension of some of the
members of the late Council at Oberlin of the brief remarks which I made to
them; first on Saturday morning, and afterwards on the Lord's Day. In my first
remarks to them I called attention to the mission of the Church to disciple all
nations, as recorded by Matthew and Luke, and stated that this commission was
given by Christ to the whole Church, and that every member of the Church is
under obligation to make it his lifework to convert the world. I then raised
two inquiries:
1. What
do we need to secure success in this great work? 2. How can we get it?
Answer.
1. We need the enduement of power from on high. Christ had previously informed
the disciples that without Him they could do nothing. When He gave them the
commission to convert the world, He added, "But tarry ye in
2. How
shall we get it? Christ expressly promised it to the whole Church, and to every
individual whose duty it is to labor for the conversion of the world. He
admonished the first disciples not to undertake the work until they had
received this enduement of power from on high. Both the promise and the
admonition apply equally to all Christians of every age and nation. No one has,
at any time, any right to expect success, unless he first secures this
enduement of power from on high. The example of the first disciples teaches us
how to secure this enduement. They first consecrated themselves to his work,
and continued in prayer and supplication until the Holy Ghost fell upon them on
the Day of Pentecost, and they received the promised enduement of power from on
high. This, then, is the way to get it.
The
Council desired me to say more upon this subject; consequently, on the Lord's
Day, I took for my text the assertion of Christ, that the Father is more
willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than we are to give good
gifts to our children.
1. I
said, This text informs us that it is infinitely easy to obtain the Holy
Spirit, or this enduement of power from the Father.
2. That
this is made a constant subject of prayer. Everybody prays for this, at all
times, and yet, with all this intercession, how few, comparatively, are really
endued with this spirit of power from on high! This want is not met. The want
of power is a subject of constant complaint. Christ says, "Everyone that asketh
receiveth," but there certainly is a "great gulf" between the
asking and receiving, that is a great stumbling-block to many. How, then, is
this discrepancy to be explained? I then proceeded to show why this enduement
is not received. I said:
(1) We are
not willing, upon the whole, to have what we desire and ask.
(2) God
has expressly informed us that if we regard iniquity in our hearts He will not
hear us. But the petitioner is often self-indulgent. This is iniquity, and God
will not hear him.
(3) He
is uncharitable.
(4)
Censorious.
(5)
Self-dependent.
(6)
Resists conviction of sin.
(7)
Refuses to confess to all the parties concerned.
(8)
Refuses to make restitution to injured parties.
(9) He
is prejudiced and uncandid.
(10) He is resentful.
(11) Has
a revengeful spirit.
(12) Has
a worldly ambition.
(13) He
has committed himself on some point, and become dishonest, and neglects and
rejects further light.
(14) He
is denominationally selfish.
(15)
Selfish for his own congregation.
(16) He
resists the teachings of the Holy Spirit.
(17) He
grieves the Holy Spirit by dissension.
(18) He
quenches the Spirit by persistence in justifying wrong.
(19) He
grieves Him by a want of watchfulness.
(20) He
resists Him by indulging evil tempers.
(21)
Also by dishonesties in business.
(22)
Also by indolence and impatience in waiting upon the Lord.
(23) By
many forms of selfishness.
(24) By
negligence in business, in study, in prayer.
(25) By
undertaking too much business, too much study, and too little prayer.
(26) By
a want of entire consecration.
(27) Last
and greatest, by unbelief. He prays for this enduement without expecting to
receive it. "He that believeth not God, hath made Him a liar." This,
then, is the greatest sin of all. What an insult, what a blasphemy, to accuse
God of lying!
I was obliged
to conclude that these and other forms of indulged sin explained why so little
is received, while so much is asked. I said I had not time to present the other
side. Some of the brethren afterward inquired, "What is the other
side?" The other side presents the certainty that we shall receive the
promised enduement of power from on high, and be successful in winning souls,
if we ask, and fulfill the plainly revealed conditions of prevailing prayer.
Observe, what I said upon the Lord's Day was upon the same subject, and in
addition to what I had previously said. The misapprehension alluded to was
this: If we first get rid of all these forms of sin, which prevent our
receiving this enduement, have we not already obtained the blessing? What more
do we need?
Answer.
There is a great difference between the peace and the power of the Holy Spirit
in the soul. The disciples were Christians before the Day of Pentecost, and, as
such, had a measure of the Holy Spirit. They must have had the peace of sins
forgiven, and of a justified state, but yet they had not the enduement of power
necessary to the accomplishment of the work assigned them. They had the peace
which Christ had given them, but not the power which He had promised. This may
be true of all Christians, and right here is, I think, the great mistake of the
Church, and of the ministry. They rest in conversion, and do not seek until
they obtain this enduement of power from on high. Hence so many professors have
no power with either God or man. They prevail with neither. They cling to a
hope in Christ, and even enter the ministry, overlooking the admonition to wait
until they are endued with power from on high. But let anyone bring all the
tithes and offerings into God's treasury, let him lay all upon the altar, and
prove God herewith, and he shall find that God "will open the windows of
heaven, and pour him out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to
receive it."
Chapter
2 - What Is It?
The apostles
and brethren, on the Day of Pentecost, received it. What did they receive? What
power did they exercise after that event? They received a powerful baptism of
the Holy Ghost, a vast increase of divine illumination. This baptism imparted a
great diversity of gifts that were used for the accomplishment of their work.
It manifestly included the following things: The power of a holy life. The
power of a self sacrificing life. (The manifestation of these must have had
great influence with those to whom they proclaimed the gospel.) The power of a
cross bearing life. The power of great meekness, which this baptism enabled
them everywhere to exhibit. The power of a loving enthusiasm in proclaiming the
gospel. The power of teaching. The power of a loving and living faith. The gift
of tongues. An increase of power to work miracles. The gift of inspiration, or
the revelation of many truths before unrecognized by them. The power of moral
courage to proclaim the gospel and do the bidding of Christ, whatever it cost
them.
In their
circumstances all these enduements were essential to their success; but neither
separately nor all together did they constitute that power from on high which
Christ promised, and which they manifestly received. That which they manifestly
received as the supreme, crowning, and all-important means of success was the
power to prevail with both God and man, the power to fasten saving impressions
upon the minds of men. This last was doubtless the thing which they understood
Christ to promise. He had commissioned the Church to convert the world to Him.
All that I have named above were only means, which could never secure the end
unless they were vitalized and made effectual by the power of God. The
apostles, doubtless, understood this; and, laying themselves and their all upon
the altar, they besieged a Throne of Grace in the spirit of entire consecration
to their work.
They
did, in fact, receive the gifts before mentioned; but supremely and principally
this power to savingly impress men. It was manifested right upon the spot. They
began to address the multitude; and, wonderful to tell, three thousand were
converted the same hour. But, observe, here was no new power manifested by them
upon this occasion, save the gift of tongues.
They
wrought no miracle at that time, and used these tongues simply as the means of
making themselves understood. Let it be noted that they had not had time to
exhibit any other gifts of the Spirit which have been above named. They had not
at that time the advantage of exhibiting a holy life, or any of the powerful
graces and gifts of the Spirit. What was said on the occasion, as recorded in
the gospel, could not have made the impression that it did, had it not been
uttered by them with a new power to make a saving impression upon the people.
This power was not the power of inspiration, for they only declared certain
facts of their own knowledge. It was not the power of human learning and
culture, for they had but little. It was not the power of human eloquence, for
there appears to have been but little of it. It was God speaking in and through
them. It was a power from on high--God in them making a saving impression upon
those to whom they spoke. This power to savingly impress abode with and upon
them. It was, doubtless, the great and main thing promised by Christ, and
received by the apostles and primitive Christians. It has existed, to a greater
or less extent, in the Church ever since. It is a mysterious fact often
manifested in a most surprising manner. Sometimes a single sentence, a word, a
gesture, or even a look, will convey this power in an overcoming manner.
To the
honor of God alone I will say a little of my own experience in this matter. I
was powerfully converted on the morning of the 10th of October. In the evening
of the same day, and on the morning of the following day, I received
overwhelming baptisms of the Holy Ghost, that went through me, as it seemed to
me, body and soul.
I immediately
found myself endued with such power from on high that a few words dropped here
and there to individuals were the means of their immediate conversion. My words
seemed to fasten like barbed arrows in the souls of men. They cut like a sword.
They broke the heart like a hammer. Multitudes can attest to this. Oftentimes a
word dropped, without my remembering it, would fasten conviction, and often
result in almost immediate conversion. Sometimes I would find myself, in a
great measure, empty of this power. I would go out and visit, and find that I
made no saving impression. I would exhort and pray, with the same result. I
would then set apart a day for private fasting and prayer, fearing that this
power had departed from me, and would inquire anxiously after the reason of
this apparent emptiness. After humbling myself, and crying out for help, the power
would return upon me with all its freshness. This has been the experience of my
life.
I could
fill a volume with the history of my own experience and observation with
respect to this power from on high. It is a fact of consciousness and of observation,
but a great mystery. I have said that sometimes a look has in it the power of
God. I have often witnessed this. Let the following fact illustrate it. I once
preached, for the first time, in a manufacturing village. The next morning I
went into a manufacturing establishment to view its operations. As I passed
into the weaving department I beheld a great company of young women, some of
whom, I observed, were looking at me, and then at each other, in a manner that
indicated a trifling spirit, and that they knew me. I, however, knew none of
them. As I approached nearer to those who had recognized me they seemed to
increase in their manifestations of lightness of mind. Their levity made a
peculiar impression upon me; I felt it to my very heart. I stopped short and
looked at them, I know not how, as my whole mind was absorbed with the sense of
their guilt and danger. As I settled my countenance upon them I observed that
one of them became very much agitated. A thread broke. She attempted to mend
it; but her hands trembled in such a manner that she could not do it. I
immediately observed that the sensation was spreading, and had become universal
among that class of triflers. I looked steadily at them until one after another
gave up and paid no more attention to their looms. They fell on their knees,
and the influence spread throughout the whole room. I had not spoken a word;
and the noise of the looms would have prevented my being heard if I had. In a
few minutes all work was abandoned, and tears and lamentations filled the room.
At this
moment the owner of the factory, who was himself an unconverted man, came in,
accompanied, I believe, by the superintendent, who was a professed Christian.
When the owner saw the state of things he said to the superintendent,
"Stop the mill." What he saw seemed to pierce him to the heart.
"It
is more important," he hurriedly remarked, "that these souls should
be saved than that this mill should run." As soon as the noise of the
machinery had ceased, the owner inquired: "What shall we do? We must have
a place to meet, where we can receive instruction." The superintendent
replied: "The muleroom will do." The mules were run up out of the
way, and all of the hands were notified and assembled in that room. We had a
marvelous meeting. I prayed with them, and gave them such instructions as at
the time they could bear. The word was with power. Many expressed hope that
day; and within a few days, as I was informed, nearly every hand in that great
establishment, together with the owner, had hope in Christ.
This
power is a great marvel. I have many times seen people unable to endure the
word. The most simple and ordinary statements would cut men off from their
seats like a sword, would take away their bodily strength, and render them
almost as helpless as dead men. Several times it has been true in my experience
that I could not raise my voice, or say anything in prayer or exhortation
except in the mildest manner, without wholly overcoming those that were
present. This was not because I was preaching terror to the people; but the
sweetest sounds of the gospel would overcome them.
This
power seems sometimes to pervade the atmosphere of one who is highly charged
with it. Many times great numbers of persons in a community will be clothed
with this power, when the very atmosphere of the whole place seems to be
charged with the life of God. Strangers coming into it, and passing through the
place, will be instantly smitten with conviction of sin, and in many instances
converted to Christ. When Christians humble themselves, and consecrate their
all afresh to Christ, and ask for this power, they will often receive such a
baptism that they will be instrumental in converting more souls in one day than
in all their lifetime before. While Christians remain humble enough to retain
this power the work of conversion will go on, till whole communities and
regions of country are converted to Christ. The same is true of ministers. But
this article is long enough. If you will allow me, I have more to say upon this
subject.
Chapter 3 - The Enduement Of The Spirit
Since
the publication in the Independent of my article on "The Power from on
High" I have been confined with protracted illness. In the meantime I have
received numerous letters of inquiry upon that subject. They relate mostly to
three particular points of inquiry:
1. They
request further illustrations of the exhibition of this power.
2. They
inquire, "Who have a right to expect this enduement?"
3. How or
upon what conditions can it be obtained?
I am
unable to answer these inquiries by letters to individuals. With your leave I
propose, if my health continues to improve, to reply to them in several short
articles through your columns. In the present number I will relate another
exhibition of this power from on high, as witnessed by myself. Soon after I was
licensed to preach I went into a region of country where I was an entire
stranger. I went there at the request of a Female Missionary Society, located
in
By
personal efforts I got a few people to assemble in the parlor of a Christian
lady in the place, and preached to them on the evening after my arrival. As I
passed round the village I was shocked with the horrible profanity that I heard
among the men wherever I went. I obtained leave to preach in the school-house
on the next Sabbath; but before the Sabbath arrived I was much discouraged, and
almost terrified, in view of the state of society which I witnessed. On
Saturday the Lord applied with power to my heart the following words, addressed
by the Lord Jesus to Paul (Acts 18:9, 10): "Be not afraid, but speak, and
hold not thy peace; for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt
thee; for I have much people in this city." This completely subdued my
fears; but my heart was loaded with agony for the people. On Sunday morning I
arose early, and retired to a grove not far from the village to pour out my
heart before God for a blessing on the labors of the day. I could not express
the agony of my soul in words, but struggled with much groaning, and, I
believe, with many tears, for an hour or two, without getting relief. I
returned to my room in the hotel; but almost immediately came back to the grove.
This I did thrice. The last time I got complete relief, just as it was time to
go to meeting. I went to the school house, and found it filled to its utmost
capacity. I took out my little pocket Bible, and read for my text: "God so
loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." I exhibited the love of
God as contrasted with the manner in which He was treated by those for whom He
gave up His Son.
I
charged home their profanity upon them; and, as I recognized among my hearers
several whose profanity I had particularly noticed, in the fullness of my heart
and the gushing of my tears I pointed to them, and said, "I heard these
men call upon God to damn their fellows." The Word took powerful effect.
Nobody seemed offended, but almost everybody greatly melted. At the close of
the service the amiable landlord, Mr. Copeland, rose and said that he would
open the meeting house in the afternoon. He did so. The meeting house was full,
and, as in the morning, the Word took powerful effect. Thus a powerful revival
commenced in the village, which soon after spread in every direction. I think
it was on the second Sabbath after this, when I came out of the pulpit in the
afternoon, an aged man approached, and said to me: "Can you not come and
preach in our neighborhood? We have never had any religious meetings
there." I inquired the direction and the distance, and appointed to preach
there the next afternoon, Monday, at five o'clock, in their school-house.
I had preached three
times in the village, and attended two prayer meetings on the Lord's Day; and
on Monday I went on foot to fulfill this appointment. The weather was very warm
that day, and before I arrived there I felt almost too faint to walk, and
greatly discouraged in my mind. I sat down in the shade by the wayside, and
felt as if I was too faint to reach there; and if I did, too much discouraged
to open my mouth to the people. When I arrived I found the house full, and
immediately commenced the service by reading a hymn. They attempted to sing,
but the horrible discord agonized me beyond expression. I leaned forward, put
my elbows upon my knees and my hands over my ears, and shook my head withal, to
shut out the discord, which even then I could barely endure. As soon as they
had ceased to sing I cast myself down upon my knees, almost in a state of
desperation. The Lord opened the windows of heaven upon me, and gave me great
enlargement and power in prayer. Up to this moment I had no idea what text I
should use on the occasion. As I rose from my knees the Lord gave me this:
"Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city."
I told the people, as nearly as I could recollect, where they would find it, and
went on to tell them of the destruction of
While I
was doing this I was struck with the fact that the people looked exceedingly
angry about me. Many countenances appeared very threatening, and some of the
men near me looked as if they were about to strike me. This I could not
understand, as I was only giving them, with great liberty of spirit, some
interesting sketches of Bible history. As soon as I had completed the
historical sketch I turned upon them, and said that I had understood they had
never had any religious meetings in that neighborhood; and, applying that fact,
I thrust at them with the sword of the Spirit with all my might.
From
this moment the solemnity increased with great rapidity. In a few moments there
seemed to fall upon the congregation an instantaneous shock. I cannot describe
the sensation that I felt, nor that which was apparent in the congregation; but
the word seemed literally to cut like a sword. The power from on high came down
upon them in such a torrent that they fell from their seats in every direction.
In less than a minute nearly the whole congregation were either down on their
knees, or on their faces, or in some position prostrate before God. Everyone
was crying or groaning for mercy upon his own soul. They paid no further
attention to me or to my preaching. I tried to get their attention; but I could
not. I observed the aged man who had invited me there as still retaining his
seat near the center of the house. He was staring around him with a look of
unutterable astonishment. Pointing to him, I cried at the top of my voice,
"Can't you pray?" He knelt down and roared out a short prayer, about
as loud as he could holler, but they paid no attention to him. After looking
round for a few moments, I knelt down and put my hand on the head of a young
man who was kneeling at my feet, and engaged in prayer for mercy on his soul. I
got his attention, and preached Jesus in his ear. In a few moments he seized
Jesus by faith, and then broke out in prayer for those around him. I then
turned to another in the same way, and with the same result; and then another,
and another, till I know not how many had laid hold of Christ and were full of
prayer for others.
After
continuing in this way till nearly sunset I was obliged to commit the meeting to
the charge of the old gentleman who had invited me, and go to fulfill an
appointment in another place for the evening. In the afternoon of the next day
I was sent for to go down to this place, as they had not been able to break up
the meeting. They had been obliged to leave the school-house, to give place to
the school; but had removed to a private house near by, where I found a number
of persons still too anxious and too much loaded down with conviction to go to
their homes. These were soon subdued by the Word of God, and I believe all
obtained a hope before they went home. Observe, I was a total stranger in that
place, had never seen or heard of it, until as I have related. But here, at my
second visit, I learned that the place was called
Chapter 4 - Enduement Of Power From On
High
In this
article I propose to consider the conditions upon which this enduement of power
can be obtained. Let us borrow a little light from the Scriptures. I will not
cumber your paper with quotations from the Bible, but simply state a few facts
that will readily be recognized by all readers of the Scriptures. If the
readers of this article will read in the last Chapter of Matthew and of Luke
the commission which Christ gave to His disciples, and in connection read the
first and second Chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, they will be prepared to
appreciate what I have to say in this article.
1st. The
disciples had already been converted to Christ, and their faith had been
confirmed by His resurrection. But here let me say that conversion to Christ is
not to be confounded with a consecration to the great work of the world's
conversion. In conversion the soul has to do directly and personally with
Christ.
It
yields up its prejudices, its antagonisms, its self-righteousness, its
unbelief, its selfishness; accepts Him, trusts Him, and supremely loves Him.
All this the disciples had, more or less, distinctly done. But as yet they had
received no definite commission, and no particular enduement of power to
fulfill a commission.
2nd. But
when Christ had dispelled their great bewilderment resulting from His
crucifixion, and confirmed their faith by repeated interviews with them, He
gave them their great commission to win all nations to Himself. But He
admonished them to tarry at
We, as
Christians, have the same commission to fulfill. As truly as they did, we need
an enduement of power from on high. Of course, the same injunction, to wait
upon God till we receive it, is given to us.
We have
the same promise that they had. Now, let us take substantially and in spirit
the same course that they did. They were Christians, and had a measure of the
Spirit to lead them in prayer and in consecration. So have we. Every Christian
possesses a measure of the Spirit of Christ, enough of the Holy Spirit to lead
us to true consecration and inspire us with the faith that is essential to our
prevalence in prayer. Let us, then, not grieve or resist Him: but accept the
commission, fully consecrate ourselves, with all we have, to the saving of
souls as our great and our only life-work. Let us get on to the altar with all
we have and are, and lie there and persist in prayer till we receive the
enduement. Now, observe, conversion to Christ is not to be confounded with the
acceptance of this commission to convert the world. The first is a personal
transaction between the soul and Christ relating to its own salvation. The
second is the soul's acceptance of the service in which Christ proposes to
employ it. Christ does not require us to make brick without straw. To whom He
gives the commission He also gives the admonition and the promise. If the
commission is heartily accepted, if the promise is believed, if the admonition
to wait upon the Lord till our strength is renewed be complied with, we shall
receive the enduement.
It is of the last importance
that all Christians should understand that this commission to convert the world
is given to them by Christ individually.
Everyone
has the great responsibility devolved upon him or her to win as many souls as
possible to Christ. This is the great privilege and the great duty of all the
disciples of Christ. There are a great many departments in this work. But in
every department we may and ought to possess this power, that, whether we
preach, or pray, or write, or print, or trade, or travel, take care of
children, or administer the government of the state, or whatever we do, our
whole life and influence should be permeated with this power. Christ says:
"If any man believe in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water" that is, a Christian influence, having in it the element of power
to impress the truth of Christ upon the hearts of men, shall proceed from Him.
The great want of the Church at present is, first, the realizing conviction that
this commission to convert the world is given to each of Christ's disciples as
his life-work. I fear I must say that the great mass of professing Christians
seem never to have been impressed with this truth. The work of saving souls
they leave to ministers. The second great want is a realizing conviction of the
necessity of this enduement of power upon every individual soul.
Many
professors of religion suppose it belongs especially and only to such as are
called to preach the Gospel as a life-work. They fail to realize that all are
called to preach the Gospel, that the whole life of every Christian is to be a
proclamation of the glad tidings. A third want is an earnest faith in the
promise of this enduement. A vast many professors of religion, and even
ministers, seem to doubt whether this promise is to the whole Church and to
every Christian. Consequently, they have no faith to lay hold of it. If it does
not belong to all, they don't know to whom it does belong. Of course they
cannot lay hold of the promise by faith. A fourth want is that persistence in
waiting upon God for it that is enjoined in the Scriptures. They faint before
they have prevailed, and, hence, the enduement is not received. Multitudes seem
to satisfy themselves with a hope of eternal life for themselves. They never
get ready to dismiss the question of their own salvation, leaving that, as
settled, with Christ. They don't get ready to accept the great commission to
work for the salvation of others, because their faith is so weak that they do
not steadily leave the question of their own salvation in the hands of Christ;
and even some ministers of the Gospel, I find, are in the same condition, and
halting in the same way, unable to give themselves wholly to the work of saving
others, because in a measure unsettled about their own salvation. It is amazing
to witness the extent to which the Church has practically lost sight of the
necessity of this enduement of power. Much is said of our dependence upon the
Holy Spirit by almost everybody; but how little is this dependence realized.
Christians and even ministers go to work without it. I mourn to be obliged to
say that the ranks of the ministry seem to be filling up with those who do not
possess it. May the Lord have mercy upon us! Will this last remark be thought
uncharitable? If so, let the report of the Home Missionary Society, for
example, be heard upon this subject. Surely, something is wrong.
An
average of five souls won to Christ by each missionary of that Society in a
year's toil certainly indicates a most alarming weakness in the ministry. Have
all or even a majority of these ministers been endued with the power which
Christ promised? If not, why not? But, if they have, is this all that Christ
intended by His promise? In a former article I have said that the reception of
this enduement of power is instantaneous. I do not mean to assert that in every
instance the recipient was aware of the precise time at which the power
commenced to work mightily within him. It may have commenced like the dew and
increased to a shower. I have alluded to the report of the Home Missionary
Society. Not that I suppose that the brethren employed by that Society are
exceptionally weak in faith and power as laborers for God. On the contrary,
from my acquaintance with some of them, I regard them as among our most devoted
and self-denying laborers in the cause of God. This fact illustrates the
alarming weakness that pervades every branch of the Church, both clergy and
laity. Are we not weak? Are we not criminally weak? It has been suggested that
by writing thus I should offend the ministry and the Church. I cannot believe
that the statement of so palpable a fact will be regarded as an offense. The
fact is, there is something sadly defective in the education of the ministry
and of the Church.
The
ministry is weak, because the Church is weak. And then, again, the Church is
kept weak by the weakness of the ministry. Oh for a conviction of the necessity
of this enduement of power and faith in the promise of Christ!
Chapter 5 - Is It A Hard Saying?
In a
former article I said that the want of an enduement of power from on high
should be deemed a disqualification for a pastor, a deacon or elder, a Sabbath
school superintendent, a professor in a Christian college, and especially for a
professor in a theological seminary. Is this a hard saying? Is this an
uncharitable saying? Is it unjust? Is it unreasonable? Is it unscriptural?
Suppose
any one of the Apostles, or those present on the day of Pentecost, had failed,
through apathy, selfishness, unbelief, indolence, or ignorance, to obtain this
enduement of power, would it have been uncharitable, unjust, unreasonable, or
unscriptural, to have accounted him disqualified for the work which Christ had
appointed them?
Christ
had expressly informed them that without this enduement they could do nothing.
He had expressly enjoined it upon them not to attempt it in their own strength,
but to tarry at
And is
it not true of all to whom the command to disciple the world is given, and to
whom the promise of this power is made, if through any shortcoming or fault of
theirs they fail to obtain this gift, that they are in fact disqualified for
the work, and especially for any official station? Are they not, in fact,
disqualified for leadership in the sacramental host? Are they qualified for
teachers of those who are to do the work? If it is a fact that they do lack
this power, however this defect is to be accounted for, it is also a fact that
they are not qualified for teachers of God's people; and if they are seen to be
disqualified because they lack this power, it must be reasonable and right and
Scriptural so to deem them, and so to speak of them, and so to treat them. Who
has a right to complain?
Surely,
they have not. Shall the
I once
heard a minister preaching upon the subject of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
He treated it as a reality; and when he came to the question of how it was to
be obtained, he said truly that it was to be obtained as the Apostles obtained
it on the day of Pentecost. I was much gratified, and listened eagerly to hear
him press the obligation on his hearers to give themselves no rest till they
had obtained it. But in this I was disappointed: for before he sat down he
seemed to relieve the audience from the feeling of obligation to obtain the
baptism, and left the impression that the matter was to be left to the
discretion of God, and said what appeared to imply a censure of those that
vehemently and persistently urged upon God the fulfillment of the promise.
Neither did he hold out to them the certainty of their obtaining the blessing
if they fulfilled the conditions. The sermon was in most respects a good one;
but I think the audience left without any feeling of encouragement or sense of
obligation to seek earnestly the baptism.
This is
a common fault of the sermons that I hear. There is much that is instructive in
them; but they fail to leave either a sense of obligation or a feeling of great
encouragement, as to the use of means, upon the congregation. They are greatly
defective in their winding up. They neither leave the conscience under a
pressure nor the whole mind under the stimulus of hope. The doctrine is often
good, but the "what then?" is often left out. Many ministers and
professors of religion seem to be theorizing, criticizing, and endeavoring to
justify their neglect of this attainment. So did not the Apostles and other Christians.
It was not a question which they endeavored to grasp with their intellects
before they embraced it with their hearts. It was with them, as it should be
with us, a question of faith in a promise. I find many persons endeavoring to
grasp with their intellect and settle as a theory questions of pure experience.
They are puzzling themselves with endeavors to apprehend with the intellect
that which is to be received as a conscious experience through faith.
There is
need of a great reformation in the Church on this particular point. The
Churches should wake up to the facts in the case, and take a new position, a
firm stand in regard to the qualifications of ministers and Church officers.
They should refuse to settle a man as pastor of whose qualifications for the
office in this respect they are not well satisfied. Whatever else he may have
to recommend him, if his record does not show that he has this enduement of
power to win souls to Christ, they should deem him unqualified. It used to be
the custom of Churches, and I believe in some places is so still, in presenting
a call to the pastorate, to certify that, having witnessed the spiritual fruits
of his labors, they deem him qualified and called of God to the work of the
ministry. Churches should be well satisfied in some way that they call a
fruitful minister, and not a dry stalk, that is, a mere intellect, a mere head
with little heart; an elegant writer, but with no unction; a great logician,
but of little faith; a fervid imagination, it may be, with no Holy Ghost power.
The
Churches should hold the theological seminaries to a strict account in this
matter; and until they do, I fear the theological seminaries will never wake up
to their responsibility. Some years since, one branch of the
And yet
we go on laying ten times more stress on human culture than we do on the
baptism of the Holy Ghost. Practically, human culture is treated as infinitely
more important than the enduement of power from on high. The seminaries are
furnished with learned men, but often not with men of spiritual power; hence,
they do not insist upon this enduement of power as indispensable to the work of
the ministry. Students are pressed almost beyond endurance with study and the
culture of the intellect, while scarcely an hour in a day is given to
instruction in Christian experience. Indeed, I do not know that so much as one
course of lectures on Christian experience is given in the theological
seminaries. But religion is an experience. It is a consciousness. Personal
intercourse with God is the secret of the whole of it. There is a world of most
essential learning in this direction wholly neglected by the theological
seminaries. With them doctrine, philosophy, theology, Church history,
sermonizing are everything, and real heart-union with God nothing. Spiritual
power to prevail with God and to prevail with man has but little place in their
teaching. I have often been surprised at the judgment men form in regard to the
prospective usefulness of young men preparing for the ministry. Even professors
are very apt, I see, to deceive themselves on this subject. If a young man is a
good scholar, a fine writer, makes good progress in exegesis, and stands high
in intellectual culture, they have strong hopes of him, even though they must
know in many such cases that these young men cannot pray; that they have no
unction, no power in prayer, no spirit of wrestling, of agonizing, and
prevailing with God. Yet they are expecting them, because of their culture, to
make their mark in the ministry, to be highly useful. For my part, I expect no
such thing of this class of men. I have infinitely more hope of the usefulness
of a man who, at any cost, will keep up daily intercourse with God; who is
yearning for and struggling after the highest possible spiritual attainment;
who will not live without daily prevalence in prayer and being clothed with
power from on high. Churches, presbyteries, associations, and whoever license
young men for the ministry, are often very faulty in this respect. They will
spend hours in informing themselves of the intellectual culture of the candidates,
but scarcely as many minutes in ascertaining their heart culture, and what they
know of the power of Christ to save from sin, what they know of the power of
prayer, and whether and to what extent they are endued with power from on high
to win souls to Christ. The whole proceeding on such occasions cannot but leave
the impression that human learning is preferred to spiritual unction. Oh! that
it were different, and that we were all agreed, practically, now and for ever,
to hold fast to the promise of Christ, and never think ourselves or anybody
else to be fit for the great work of the Church till we have received a rich
enduement of power from on high. I beg of my brethren, and especially my
younger brethren, not to conceive of these articles as written in the spirit of
reproach. I beg the Churches, I beg the seminaries, to receive a word of
exhortation from an old man, who has had some experience in these things, and
one whose heart mourns and is weighed down in view of the shortcomings of the
Church, the ministers, and the seminaries on this subject. Brethren, I beseech
you to more thoroughly consider this matter, to wake up and lay it to heart,
and rest not till this subject of the enduement of power from on high is
brought forward into its proper place, and takes that prominent and practical
position in view of the whole Church that Christ designed it should.