Reflections on God … Man … Life
Continuing in Finney’s autobiography, I came to another instance of what God taught him about prayer that I think worth sharing. Here is how he explains it: The Lord taught me, in those early days of my Christian experience, many very important truths in regard to the spirit of prayer. Not long after I was converted, a woman with whom I had boarded . . . was taken very sick. She was not a Christian, but her husband was a… Read more »
I write a lot about civil government, but the basis for civil government is found in the government of God, in how He directs, guides, and controls the universe He has created. Charles Finney demonstrates, in his Systematic Theology, the two very different types of government that exist within God’s creation, distinct because His various creations are distinct: All government is, and must be, either moral or physical. . . . Physical government is control, exercised by a law of… Read more »
In reading through Charles Finney’s Revival Lectures again, I was struck by how contemporary many of his statements are. Yes, he wrote this in the nineteenth century, but the application to what we are experiencing today is evident. See if you agree. In a section called “When a Revival May Be Expected,” he declares, When the wickedness of the wicked grieves and humbles and distresses Christians. Sometimes Christians do not seem to mind anything about the wickedness around them. Or,… Read more »
I first read Charles Finney’s autobiography decades ago, and it made a tremendous impression upon me. As I’ve been highlighting Finney’s writings each Sunday, I’ve had the opportunity to delve into his autobiography once more. I’m finding accounts that I had forgotten were there. For instance, shortly after Finney’s conversion, he began getting up early in the mornings for prayer, and he pulled others into that circle. Apparently, these times of drawing close to the Lord in the mornings opened… Read more »
Charles Finney, in his Systematic Theology, makes some statements regarding moral law that many find controversial. As for me, I find them eminently sensible. Here’s what he says: Moral law is no respecter of persons—knows no privileged classes. . . . That which the precept demands must be possible to the subject. That which demands a natural impossibility is not, and cannot be, moral law. The true definition of law excludes the supposition that it can, under any circumstances, demand… Read more »
No improvement in our culture and/or society will be of any lasting value without the proper spiritual foundation. Charles Finney reminds us we need to keep our priorities straight. Keep in mind when he uses the word religion, he means Christianity: A revival of religion is the only possible thing that can wipe away the reproach which covers the Church, and restore religion to the place it ought to have in the estimation of the public. Without a revival, this… Read more »
Some people rely on very flimsy rationales for assuming they are right with God. Charles Finney relates this story in his autobiography, a story that has been repeated endlessly in different forms in all times and places. During that revival my attention was called to a sick woman in the community, who had been a member of a Baptist church, and was well-known in the place; but people had no confidence in her piety. She was fast failing with the… Read more »