A SERMON
Delivered on Wednesday Evening, June
5th, 1850
BY THE REV. C. G. FINNEY
OF THE OBERLIN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE,
UNITED STATES,
TO THE MEMBERS AND VISITORS OF THE CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION SOCIETY, AT THE TABERNACLE, MOORFIELDS.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19,20)
Last week, I began discussing this scripture. Tonight I will finish. Last week, I began by suggesting that this
scriptural command, in its spirit, was given to the Church of Christ in all
ages, and to each individual member of that Church. Secondly, its true meaning is, that Christians are to go forth
and make disciples, or Christians, of all nations. Thirdly, I showed what was implied by this command. Finally.
I touched on some of the conditions of obeying this injunction; and I
had to save my fifth proposition until this evening because I didn’t have the
time to discuss it.
WHY THE WORK IS
NOT DONE.
What
are some of the things which stand in the way, that have hindered and are
hindering, the accomplishment of this work.
1. I must pass
very rapidly over the thoughts that I will present to you; and I must begin by
saying that, for a long time, the Churches have practically forgotten that the
conversion of the world is the great business assigned to them. The great and only business they have in the
world, they have practically forgotten about, and they have come to the place
where they think that their business in the world is worldly. They no longer regard the conversion of men
as their peculiar, great, and only business in the world; because they are
obviously living for other ends, and promoting other goals. I don’t mean by this that every Christian
should become a full-time minister; but the whole Church is required to become
missionaries, each man and each woman is to become a missionary.
Now,
at our foreign missionary stations, and in our home missions, there are various
kinds of work to be done; but we expect those whom we send out to foreign
lands, or those engaged at home, to give themselves up to the work and labor
for that end to which they are appointed.
We don’t expect our missionaries to go abroad to enrich themselves by
engaging in trade and commerce, or to concern themselves about these matters at
all, except what is necessary to promote their great object, the salvation of
men and the glory of God. Now, do you
suppose that the impression made on the world by the Church is, that they are a
company of missionaries whose great and only business is to convert the world
to Christ? Is this the impression that
the world has of the Church? Do you
suppose that the world has this impression, that the entire Church are
missionaries, living for nothing else but to convert the world? Or does the world no longer think that the
Church are missionaries? Do you believe
that the people of London are under the impression that the Christians in London
are a band of missionaries whose great and only object is to convert men? Or is the impression on the opposite side,
that they are not living for this end, but are seeking to enrich themselves and
their families by every means that they can adopt, just as other people
are? What impression is the Church
making on London?
Now,
it is easy to see that if the Church has forgotten her mission, if she has
ceased to make the world understand that she is living for them and for God, if
they live so much like other people that the world can easily see that they are
living for selfish ends, no one should be surprised at the Church’s lack of
success. If the Church is to be
successful, the world must understand that every Christian is a missionary. Every man and woman professing Christianity
is a missionary, and that their business is to convert men to God, that this is
the great and only end for which they live.
When the world understand this, the work of conversion will go forward
and not before. How was it in the early
Church? Did the early Church make this
impression on the world? Yes, they
did! And if the Church will now do the
same, she will succeed even as the early Church did. The early Church
understood that they were a band of missionaries, that their business in the
world was to convert the world. But how
long has it been since the impression, that this is the real great and only
business of the Church, has disappeared?
oday,
one has to be professionally employed to teach religion and convert men. Pastors believe this, and speak as if this
is true; and hardly anybody today thinks differently. The Church does not dream that it is her work to convert men; and
the ministers do not think that it belongs to anybody but themselves; they
regard themselves as set apart for this purpose, to teach religion
professionally. But let me say, that
while this state of things exists, and the Church continues to forget its
mission, the Church is the great obstacle in the way of the world’s
conversion. This is the great
difficulty. This is the great hindrance
to the conversion of men. I will come
back to this later.
2. Another reason
why the work has not been done a long time ago, and is not going rapidly forward,
is that the Church is seeking to be COMFORTABLE rather than USEFUL. Great masses of professing Christians are
making their comfort, temporal and spiritual, the great end for which they
live. And ministers, very generally, do
not make sacrifices to be useful, but are seeking to be comfortable. The prevailing disposition of the minds of
both the Church and the ministry is to be comfortable rather than useful. Now, does this conduct harmonize with the
conduct of Jesus Christ? His whole
life, from beginning to end, testifies to the contrary. Jesus did not live to please Himself, but
labored, toiled, and suffered for the glory of God and the good of man. Everybody could see what His great object
was.
3. Let me say,
that because the Church has not secured the end she has been called to secure,
Christians have failed to be either useful or comfortable in doing her duty;
and since Christians have neglected their duty, it is no wonder that they have
failed to be either comfortable or useful.
The Church should understand that their great and only concern is to do
the work that God has required of them; and that doing this is indispensable to
their true comfort. But the Church has
forgotten this, and has been selfishly seeking her own comfort rather than her
usefulness. No wonder that she has
failed to be either happy or useful. In
her hands, the Gospel has failed to be consoling to Her or powerful in
converting men. A tremendous error has
taken place. Christians have been drawn
aside from their proper work, and are living so much for themselves that they
have falsified Christianity, and have not demonstrated it in its living power,
either as a peace-giving religion or a religion that has power with God and
man.
4. This leads me
to say that, because of this, the Church has failed to develop a full and true idea
of what religion is. Professing
Christians often have little or no true idea of religion. In hundreds, and I can say thousands, of
cases I have been told by professing Christians who have lived for many years
in a Christian society, “I never before had a true idea of religion; I see now
that I have made a mistake in thinking that religion consists in merely doing
my duty lest I should be damned. I used
to do my duty, or what I thought was my duty, in order that I might be saved;
but I never knew that religion consisted in living for the salvation of souls
and the glory of God.” Now, if
Christians live without knowing what true religion is, what impression does the
world receive of the religion of Jesus Christ?
The impression made on the world will be, that the religion of Jesus is,
in itself, essentially the same as His professed followers demonstrate it. What other idea can the world get?
Now,
if Jesus lived to promote His own personal comfort and to please Himself, do
you think anybody would have gotten the impression that He was living for the
salvation of men, that His great aim was to bring them to God? Would this have been the impression made on
His disciples, and would the effect of this have been developed in their minds
and manifested in their actions? But,
the fact is, the great idea that stood boldly and prominently out in the minds
of His disciples and apostles was that Christ did not live for Himself, but to
promote the object which He came to earth to accomplish. He laid Himself on the altar most
unselfishly, and His immediate disciples did the same, and the spirit of
self-sacrifice was communicated to all around them. As a result, the work of conversion went forward gloriously. Wave after wave of salvation flowed over
every land; and, as a result, within a comparatively few years, they had
accomplished wonderful things. If they
had our technology, our printing press, our electric wires, our steam power,
and a thousand things that we possess, with their faith, with their energy, and
with their devotion, they would in a few years have converted the world to
God. But the Church has failed to do
this. The Church has not even made the
people understand what the religion of Christ is. If the apostles had had our facilities, do you think that they
would have failed to make the people understand what the religion of their Lord
and Master consisted of? Do you suppose
that they would not have possessed the land long ago? Somehow or another, the Church failed to secure this object. What is the cause of this? Why has the Church failed to accomplish her
great and only mission on earth? Has
the promise run out which says, “Lo! I am with you always even unto the end of
the world”? Has the Church lost her
hold on Christ, or has the promise of Christ expired? Brethren, which is it?
5. Let me say
again: the Church has relinquished their own personal, individual efforts. They
have sadly neglected to come into personal contact with sinners so that they
might bring them to the Savior. Men are
dying, and being eternally lost on every side; but they put forth no personal efforts
to save them. Most professing
Christians, as you know, make no direct personal efforts at all. Perhaps many of you who have attended these
services in this chapel, have not spent one single hour seeking to get people
to come and hear me; you have never spoken a word about these meetings, or by
your personal effort induced any one to come.
Perhaps ninety-nine out of every hundred professing Christians have relinquished
all personal efforts. They never do
anything for anybody by personal effort.
They never try to convert a soul by this means; they don’t go to their
friends and neighbors and say, “Won't you come with me to the meeting”, and
inquire about their souls, and how are they doing. These people not only do nothing, but they stand right in the way
of others; and they do a lot of harm by giving those around them a false
impression concerning religion.
Suppose
a Christian lives in an unrepentant family, and says nothing about his
religion; what is the impression on the minds of his family? They will, of course, feel that he thinks
his religion not important, not very valuable, or he would certainly talk about
it and recommend it to them. In the
city of Philadelphia many years ago, a young man worked as a clerk to an elder
of a Presbyterian church. After a
while, this young man married and set up his own business, and was very
prosperous in everything he did. His
wife attended some religious services that were held in the city, and became
deeply anxious about her soul. Her
husband observed that there was something the matter with her, and he very
kindly asked what it was that troubled her mind. She replied, “My dear husband, I am in my sins, and so are you;
and both of us are on the way to hell”.
“Why, my dear”, he said, “What has happened that makes you say such
things like 'on the way to hell’! What
have you done? I don’t think there is
any reason for you to be alarmed, or for you to talk this way.” “Well”, she continued, “my dear. I did not
think you were an infidel; I thought you believed in religion”. “I do, to some degree”, he replied; “but you
remember that I lived with Mr. So-and-So, an elder of the Presbyterian church,
and he was always very kind to me, and gave me very good advice about my business. I can’t believe that, if he thought I was on
the way to hell, he would not have told me so.
But, I assure you, he never told me any such thing. If he believed I was going to such an awful place
as hell, I am sure he would have warned and counseled me; but he never even
shared anything like that, and therefore it’s impossible that it can be
true.”
Now,
how reasonable was such an inference?
This professing Christian never said anything to the young man, and so
the young man doubted that he was in any imminent danger. Such professing Christians say by their
conduct, which is more powerful than words, that they do not believe that the
Bible is true. Before I continue, I
would ask the professing Christians in this congregation, what kind of an
impression do you make on those around you who are in their sins? Is it such as to make them believe that they
are in danger of losing their souls?
What is the impression that your servants get? What is the impression
your clerks get? What is the impression
your workers get? What is the impression
those around you get? Is it such an
impression that will lead them to believe in the truth and in the excellency of
the religion you profess? Let me ask you,
do you believe that the conduct of the Christian people of London is such that
it leaves the conviction, on the minds of those around them, that their souls
are in danger? I don’t know. That is
why I am asking, what do you think? Do
you individually show concern for the souls of the unrepentant among you? If you do not, then you give a strong visual
testimony against religion. You
essentially say, “We have tried it, and don’t believe it; we don’t believe that
your souls are in danger, for we’re not concerned about you”.
Let
me illustrate with the following examples, which happened in one of the cities
of America. Some individuals were in the habit of attending what are called
Conference Meetings, where Christians met together to pray and exhort each
other. An unconverted man, who was
anxious about his soul, frequently attended these religious meetings. One evening he was outside, and heard them
talking about the danger in which souls were placed, and saying that unless
there was more prayer and more devotion on the part of Christians, these sinners
would die in their sins and would go to Hell.
When he could bear it no longer, he burst into the room where these
Christians were sitting, and, with tears streaming from his eyes, said,
“Christians, what do you mean? You say
that our souls are in danger of being lost forever, that you have the power to
prevail with God, and that unless you wake up and do your duty, you have no
reason to believe that there will ever be a religious revival, or that these perishing
souls will be saved. Now, what can you
mean? You have met here night after
night, and yet things remain as before.
Now, either you don’t believe what you say, or you don’t care if we go
to Hell.” And with tears he implored
them, if they believed what they said, to wake up and do their duty, and save
the souls of the perishing.
6. Let me say
again: There is a strong tendency on the part of both ministers and laymen to
consider the work of converting souls to be the primary office of the
ministry. Many think that ministers
have been chosen and delegated by the Church to perform the work that Christ
has assigned to the Church. Ministers
should have a place in this work, and a prominent place, but they are not to
take the work out of the hands of the Church.
They are the officers of Christ’s great army; they are to lead on God’s
elect into the great battle against sin.
But,
what is the situation today? Why, the
army has made camp and sent the officers to do all the fighting. The soldiers have laid down their arms, and
paid the officers to go up single handedly against the enemy, and do all the
fighting alone. But, let me tell you
that the work will never be accomplished this way. Now, as far as my own experience has gone, especially in my own
country, in many areas where I have labored very extensively, the ministers
take this work on themselves and become jealous of any lay effort. I can remember the time when ministers
objected to a layman being asked to pray in the presence of a minister. They wanted all the work of converting
souls, and didn’t like anybody else doing it; they were jealous of all lay
effort. Now, instead of this, their
duty is to train up the entire laity to work for God and souls. The whole Church should be engaged in
efforts to promote religion. Ministers
must teach their people to work as well as feed them. If the people don’t work, the food will do them no good; instead,
it will do them a lot of harm. They may
eat well; but if they don’t work, the food will not digest. Feed them with highly seasoned food, and
give them nothing to do, and it will result in gorging and indigestion. If they have nothing to do, they will become
obstacles. If they eat and get no
exercise, they will become sick or lazy.
People, then, must have something to do in this work; if it is ever to
be done. The entire Church must be
marshaled into one great army: every man and every woman must each have a
part. The women have been ignored too
much, as if they can’t do anything; but this is wrong. Because they make up such a large a part of
the Church body, in most places, they form the majority; their services should
be fully employed. They can do much, at
least for their own sex.
7. The unbelief of
professing Christians stand in the way of the conversion of London. Now, this unbelief manifests itself in
various forms.
First, it
manifests itself in showing little concern shown for the salvation of
sinners. Now, it is shocking that so
little apparent concern is felt by professing Christians for the unrepentant
around them. They display much more
concern for their physical interests.
They are very sensitive to their sickness or physical distress; but for
their souls, they show no such anxiety.
They say that sinners are dying in great numbers and going to hell; but
they eat, sleep, and enjoy themselves, without apparently one pain of agony
concerning them. Why? It’s because of their shocking
unbelief. I have said to myself
thousands of times; “The Gospel has little hold on most of the Christian
Church. They talk about the awful
condition of men, and that they are constantly losing their souls, but their
conduct falsifies their words.”
Secondly, this
unbelief shows itself in the little interest that is given to convert
sinners. I have been shocked many
times, when sinners have been converted, to see the great indifference that professing
Christians show; they seem like they have no interest in it. They act like it’s not very important at
all. Just think how shocking this is,
and the effect that this kind of conduct must have on the unrepentant. Now, suppose that the son of a very humble
person is adopted into the royal family, and thus becomes the heir-apparent to
the throne and crown of the kingdom; why, how excited the family would be! What a wonderful thing! How they would love to talk about it! The fact that a poor child had been adopted
by the king, and that in due time he will receive the crown, would be talked about
everywhere, and how excited the people would be about it! “Is it possible?” they would exclaim; and
they would try to catch a glimpse of the young man who will be king. Those who knew him would point him out, and
say, “That’s the young man who is adopted into the royal family, and will be
king.”
Now,
a sinner who has been converted from the error of his ways is adopted into
God’s family; and it is said of him that he shall be a king and a priest
forever. Now, who cares about that? Who cares to determine whether it is
true? Who cares to hear about it? Who cares about it? Suppose the child of professing parents is
converted, do they care to tell their neighbors about it, and give glory to God
because of it? Now, how shocking is
this! And, let me ask, would this be
true if professing Christians looked on the conversion of a sinner as a
wonderful thing? And isn’t this a
wonderful thing? A sinner, born of God,
plucked as a branding iron from the fire, made an heir of God, and a joint heir
with Jesus Christ! Is there nothing
wonderful and glorious in all this?
Now, if the Church believed this, they would shout for joy when a sinner
was converted; and we could only imagine what effect such conduct would have on
the wicked and unrepentant around them!
Thirdly, Another
manifestation of unbelief is that there is little confidence in the power of
prayer. Since there is so little faith
in the effectiveness of prayer, there is so little practice of prayer. No wonder, then, that the Church does not succeed.
Fourthly, There is
very little confidence in the promise of this text, “Lo! I am with you always, even to the end of the
world.” In fact, the Church does not
expect the world to be converted. Ministers
preach without expecting their sermons to take effect; and when sinners are
converted, they can hardly believe it.
Many professing Christians, and ministers, too, have gotten into such a
state of unbelief, that if God should strike a sinner right down before their
eyes, they wouldn’t believe it. I have
sometimes been afraid to preach in the presence of a number of unbelieving,
cold-hearted professing Christians, lest they should commit the unpardonable
sin.
I
remember well, at one place where I was preaching, an elder of a Presbyterian
Church stood close by the pulpit; and as I was preaching, the Word took hold
with great power on many people in the congregation, and the Spirit of God
struck one sinner right down at the feet of this elder. And what did he do? Why, he said to the penitent sinner, “Get
thee behind me, Satan”! He thought the
work of the Spirit had been the work of the devil. Now, listen! I have kept
my eye on that man for years; and ever since that solemn occasion, he has been
just like a withered branch; and this was his condition when I last saw
him. It seems as if the fires of Heaven
had singed and burnt him; and there he stands, a withered stick as black as
charcoal. And thus, it must be
forever. If professing Christians have
no confidence in prayer, a blight will come on them, and they will not believe
when they see a sinner converted by the mighty power of God.
These
people have very little confidence in the power of the Gospel. When someone is converted, they will not
believe that they were converted at all: they will ascribe the effect to
anything but the power of God. I have
often seen fearful illustrations of unbelief in professing Christians. When sinners are converted they will doubt
whether they are really converted, and try to account for the effect produced,
and ascribe it to any cause rather than to the great power of God. Now, when the Church has any faith in the
power of the Gospel, and has any confidence in prayer, they will always be expecting
conversions, and they will be prepared for them at any moment. They will not doubt the power of God, nor,
when it is manifested in cutting down sinners, they won’t begin to cavil and
seek to attribute the effect to some other cause.
I
have known unbelief, both in ministers and Churches, to be so great that they
had no confidence in sudden conversions.
They would believe, or rather profess to believe in theory, that a
sinner might be converted at any moment; but when it actually takes place, they
won’t believe it. They don’t have confidence
in the conversion of an individual who gives full evidence of it, if his
conversion was sudden and recent. I
have known recent converts apply for Church membership and have been turned
away. They have gone to the minister,
with tears of joy and gratitude because of their conversion, the gladness of
their hearts still beaming in their faces, as they told of the great things
that God had done for their souls. “Why
how long have you been under this impression?” says the minister. Perhaps the reply would be a week, or only a
few days. “Oh”, says the minister,
“Then, I have no confidence in it”! Why no confidence? I ask again, WHY NO CONFIDENCE?
I
remember once being present with a minister when an individual called to see
him about her soul. “How long have you
been in this state? When were you first
impressed?” “Last Sunday, under the
sermon you preached.” “Oh”, he said, “I
have no confidence in it!” Now listen,
this minister professed to believe in sudden conversions, that it was an
instantaneous work, and he preached that doctrine, and yet he had “no
confidence in it”! Brethren, there is a
frightening display of infidelity in the Church concerning the truth of God
taking immediate effect; and if it comes, they aren’t prepared for it. They don’t expect that God will do what He
says He’ll do. Neither will they acknowledge
His hand when He does do it. They
insult God and grieve the Holy Spirit.
Now, this fearful state of things must cease before the world will be converted.
8. Another
difficulty in the way of sinners being converted, is the low standard of piety
which is insisted on by professing Christians.
I don’t mean to say that ministers don’t occasionally come out and urge
a holy life, and even a perfect life; but do they preach it so uniformly and so
earnestly that they give the Church the impression that they are really
expected to abandon the world, separate themselves from worldly society and
worldly amusements, and devote themselves completely to God? Is this the impression the ministers of
London make on their congregations? I
don’t know; but I am afraid they don’t.
But if they do, there is still something lacking. I suppose every minister believes that he
makes some impression, but I believe that in order to do this he must preach a
high standard of piety, and by his own life, he must demonstrate what he
preaches. It must be felt that that
everyone must come up to this standard.
Some ministers preach the whole Gospel, but in such unequal proportions
that they fail to produce a proper effect on their people. The fact is, they are afraid to appear
uncharitable, and so individuals are allowed to maintain a hope and standing in
the Church whose lives are no different than any decent person. Now, while such people are allowed to have a
hope of eternal life, and to maintain a creditable standing in the Church. As long as ministers allow these people to
believe that they are Christians, they will always remain stumbling blocks;
their own standard of piety will never be elevated, and they will prevent
others being converted. The fact is,
there is no love in letting men believe that they are Christians, when you
can’t tell whether they are Christians or not.
You do business with them, you interact with them, you live with them;
but you cannot see their Christianity.
You can’t see how they differ from other men; yet how many people like
these become members of Churches, and thus deceive themselves and scandalize
the religion they profess. The effect
of this is that the Church and the world becomes confused with each other, and
it prevents either from knowing what true religion really is. A higher standard of piety must be pressed
home on the Church, from the pulpit, the press, and by everyone who is engaged
in any department of Christian labor.
Professing Christians must not be allowed to consider themselves
Christians unless they separate themselves from all iniquity, and come out and
show themselves; and live in such a way as to be easily and unmistakably distinguished
from the world.
9. Another
difficulty in the way of success is to be attributed to the wrong views that
many professing Christians have concerning Divine sovereignty. It is too often the custom for ministers to
insist on one particular truth, or to look at only a portion of a truth, and
thus, overall, the true idea of the Gospel is lost, and a false impression is
made. Now, there is nothing more common
than wrong views of election and Divine sovereignty. Many people have this idea, that election and Divine sovereignty
have a peculiar relationship to religion; and concerning religion people take
an entirely different attitude. God is
a sovereign, and “if we are elected we shall be saved”, says one. Then, why not say that when your child is
sick, don’t go to the doctor? Is it not
as true that God is just as sovereign in one case as He is in the other? Don’t you believe that the day of your
child’s death is appointed? Don’t you believe
that she cannot die before the appointed time, and that she will not live one
moment beyond it? Why make yourself
uneasy or unhappy about it, then? I ask
again, why not apply the sovereignty of God to everything else as well as to
religion and the soul?
Suppose
I am passing through the country, and I notice a farm where there is no spring
crops; the hedges are broken down, and the ground is in the same state as it
was last fall: and then I see the farmer, and I say to him, “Why, friend what’s
happening: no spring crop? How do you
expect a harvest?” And suppose he replies,
“Why? Don’t you believe in the
sovereignty of God? Don’t you believe
in God’s Divine purposes? Don’t you
believe that it is already settled in God’s mind whether I shall have a
crop? How can you think that I should
try to change any of these things? Do
you believe that I could make one hair black or white?” Now, this is an example of applying a true
doctrine in a perfectly false manner.
This doctrine is often applied falsely concerning religion? Now, who does not believe that everything
concerning mankind and the world is just as much decreed, as the salvation or
damnation of men? Why, then, should we
apply the sovereignty of God to one and not the other! Let me tell you that our responsibilities
are just as great, and we are just as free to do our duty, as if the
sovereignty of God has nothing whatever to do with our salvation. This is my view, and I make no compromise in
stating it. I never do. I dare not; because I dare not throw the
blame on God when sinners are not converted.
Antinomianism (The doctrine or
belief that the Gospel frees Christians from required obedience to any law,
whether scriptural, civil, or moral, and that salvation is attained solely
through faith and the gift of divine grace) has often been
substituted for the Gospel. The fact
is, many people have lost sight of the fact that the Gospel was designed to
save men from sin and not in it. This is the Gospel of salvation; but I shall
not discuss this now, because I will speak on this subject Friday evening.
10. The selfish
efforts of sects and congregations has done a lot, and is doing a lot, to
hinder this work. I am talking about
the spirit that leads men to seek the interests of a particular sect or congregation
in preference to the salvation of men.
Men of this spirit seek their own interests. They aim chiefly to fill a certain house, support a certain
minister, and promote their sect. They
have very little interest in hearing about a revival in a nearby congregation,
or of any kind of success anywhere else.
With such a spirit as this, how can there be any large success? It is not a love for God and a love for
souls that motivates their efforts, but a love of self. In the city of Philadelphia, a lady was
invited to attend a prayer meeting for a revival of religion in the city, but
she refused to go, saying, “I will not go to pray for the city; but if you will
pray for our congregation, I will”.
Now, many people feel this in their hearts, but they are afraid to speak
out and say what they mean.
11. Another great
hindrance in the way of success is that the unbelief of the Church has been
such that professing Christians have become discouraged by their own
experience. They have prayed in such a
spirit of distrust in God, or from wrong motives, that their prayers, as a
natural and necessary consequence, have not been answered. They have come, at least, to doubt the
reality of religion, because their own experience has been such a series of
disappointments. If these individuals
should honestly speak out, they would say, “O Lord, You have promised to give
the Holy Spirit to those who ask You; and that You art more ready to do it,
than we are to give good gifts to our children; but I don’t believe it! I have asked for the Holy Spirit a thousand
times, but I never received it, and therefore I cannot believe that You are
willing to give it to those who ask. I
am always ready to give good gifts to my children if they ask for them; and I
am sure that I would not allow them to continue asking anything from me as long
as I have been asking for the Holy Spirit without an answer. Therefore I don’t believe Your
promise.”
Now,
if they dared to speak out, this would be what they’d say because it’s their
inward feeling. They have pleaded the
promises, perhaps for a long time, until they’ve come to doubt the truth. The language of their hearts is, “God has
given these promises, but I don’t believe them, for I never had them realized
in my own experience”. Why? Because they have failed to fulfill the
conditions of the promises, and this is the reason why they have not
experienced the fulfillment of their prayers.
If you have a spirit of unbelief in your heart, it would be much better
to tell the Lord so at once. Tell him you don’t believe the promises, or that
prayer does any good. I knew a man who
did this once. He said. “O Lord Jesus, You have promised such and
such to those that ask You; but I can’t believe it; it is contrary to my
experience. I am a father; and when my
children ask me for something they need, I am always ready to supply their
needs: but, O Lord, You know that I have asked scores of time for the Holy
Spirit, but I have never received it.
Now, how can I believe it is in Your heart to give it?”
Now, when this man
spoke honestly to God what was in his heart, God allowed him to see, in five
minutes, the reason why his prayers had failed. He neither believed that his prayers would be answered nor had
the right motives in asking for the Holy Spirit. He was fundamentally faulty.
He had asked consistently, but it was so he could consume it on his
lusts. He had prayed without faith and
from sinful motives. But when he came
before the Lord sincerely, and opened up his heart, the Lord immediately poured
out such a spirit on him that he rose from his knees a new man.
If,
when you preach the Gospel, you do not expect it to take effect, or, when you
pray, you don’t expect that your prayers will be answered; you become a
stumbling block to yourself and others.
Now, unless this great evil is put away from you, the world will go on
as it has been, and is going on; and it will get worse rather than better. The spirituality of the Church is too low to
make any impression on the world sufficient for it to realize the true value of
religion. God says of the Church, “you
are My witnesses”. The Church should be
witnesses, but they have become false witnesses. Like the spies who brought an evil report of the land, they give
the world a false impression; and look at the result! God had brought Israel through the wilderness up to the border of
the Promised Land, and He said, “Go up and possess it”. Moses then sent men to spy out the Land, who
brought back an evil report of the land, saying that the people were giants,
and that the cities were walled cities, reaching even unto heaven; therefore it
was useless to even think about possessing the land. Then the people rebelled against God, because they believed the
testimony of the false witnesses; and the Lord swore that they should not enter
the land, because of their unbelief; but Caleb and Joshua, because they had
another spirit, were permitted to enjoy that good land that the Lord promised
them.
Now, brethren, is it not the case, that at the
present time ministers are testifying on one side, and the Church members on
the other side --500 to 1. Aren’t the
Churches saying that religion is not what they expected it to be? They’ve tried it, they say, and it does not
solve their problems. This is the testimony
of their lives. They virtually tell the
people that they’ve tried religion, and find that it is hardly worth
having. You see a minister preaching
with energy, faithfulness, and earnest longing for the souls of men; but the
members of his Church are so cold and worldly-minded, that they practically
neutralize his efforts; and he frequently groans within at their
indifference. By their conduct, Christians
are saying to sinners concerning the solemn truths that have been uttered, and
which perhaps have impressed their consciences, “Don’t you be concerned; don’t
you be afraid. There is no reason for
you to believe what the minister has been saying. It is his profession to say these things, and it’s fine in the
pulpit, but these things aren’t really that important.” Thus, they hinder the work of conversion!
Who
can wonder why London and the world is not converted? Unless the whole Church is awake and in earnest, very little good
will be done; but if Christians will become alive to their responsibilities,
and go among the masses of people, and use every possible means to bring them
to public worship, a great spiritual awakening must be the result. Show great concern for their souls, and
accept no excuses to justify their neglect of religion. If they say they don’t have a seat, give
them yours, and you can stand up; just be thoroughly in earnest; and see the
effect it will have on the minds of the people. If all who are here today would adopt this plan, this house would
be crowded every time I preach; and why shouldn’t it be so?
The Church that I was pastor of for some time in New York, used to move out in mass, and invite the people to come and hear the preaching. As a result, the house was filled every night; and when the preaching was over, they mingled in the crowd, and those who were affected by the sermon were kindly taken aside and conversed with. After I left the pulpit, I usually found the vestry full of anxious inquirers. Once I preached twenty evenings in succession in New York, and 500 people were converted, which amounted to twenty-five every night; and I never had to disciple a single one of them, although our terms of membership were so stringent and severe, that they would have excluded one-half of the members from other Churches.
Let the Churches
in London, as a body, pray in faith, and labor devotedly, and this city will be
moved. It is impossible to be
otherwise. And let me tell you, that
mankind will never be moved, and there will never be a revival in any Church,
until religion is a living power in the hearts of those who profess to be
Christ’s disciples. The Church needs a
fresh anointing. Let the ministry be
anointed afresh. Let the Church be
anointed afresh. Let them pray in the
Spirit, labor in the Spirit, preach in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, live in
the Spirit, and every day they will shed a mighty, holy, and hallowed influence
on the world around them; and its power will be so strong that men will be
compelled to believe that this religion is real, and the world will soon be
converted to God. Amen.