BY THE REV. C. G. FINNEY

Of Oberlin College, America,

at the Tabernacle, Moorfields.

Modernized by Cliff Collins

“‘Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. behold, He is coming”, says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years. And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away an alien because they do not fear Me,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1-5)

Malachi originally spoke these words about Christ and John the Baptist. We learn from the New Testament that John the Baptist was the messenger who was sent ahead of the Messiah to prepare the way for Him. We find this explained in the third chapter of the Gospel by St. Matthew, which I read to you at the beginning of the service. John the Baptist was sent before Christ, and Christ was the Lord who suddenly came to His temple; and things followed His coming that are mentioned in this passage of scripture, as well as in many other passages. We not only have a fact announced here, but a principle revealed concerning religion and God’s government over men. Christ had a church on earth when He came, but it needed searching and purifying, and he came for the sake of carrying forward this work. In this passage, we have a striking illustration of the way in which Christ deals with His people whenever He walks among them to search and purify them.

My present purpose is to notice the characteristics of a genuine appearance of Christ among the people to revive His work: the revival of religion among them. Many other passages reveal the same principle. Do you remember when John the Baptist said that that when Christ came, His is fan would be in his hand and that He would thoroughly purge His floor, gathering the wheat into His granary, and then burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire? It is very important that we should consider what are the true characteristics of Christ coming among his people. What are the indications and evidences of it? There are many important reasons why we should understand how such an appearance can be known, some of these reasons I will have the opportunity to point out this morning.

Before Christ personally appeared among the Jews he sent His messenger to prepare the way. John the Baptist was sent, you know, to call the attention of the people to the near approaching of the Messiah, and to prepare them to receive him. Now this is a principle of the divine government, that when Christ is about to appear to revive his work among His people He sends a messenger to prepare His way. Yes! It is a curious fact that when He comes to judge and to condemn men, He often sends them warning. He sends a messenger to prepare His way, whether He comes in judgment or in mercy: This has always been a very common thing. When He comes in judgment, He warns men in order to put them on their guard, if, by any means, He may bring them to repentance; and when He comes in mercy, He also prepares them for such a visitation.

Therefore, in the first place, when the Lord comes to revive His work, somebody will be stirred up to call the attention of the people to the real condition of things and the need for a reformation among them. You will find this to be uniformly true that, when Christ is about to appear, somebody will be stirred up to consider the spiritual needs of the people, and will, more or less, prepare the way for the coming of Christ by calling the attention of the people to their needs. Sometimes it will be the pastor of the church, and this will generally be the case, or the leading members of the church, or other instruments will call the attention of the people to their spiritual needs, and then after this has been done, the Lord will suddenly come to his temple. First, there is a seeking after the Lord, then a calling on his name in earnest supplications for Him to revive His work, and then the Lord whom they seek will suddenly come to His temple.

The Lord's temple is His true church on earth, of which the temple at Jerusalem was only a type; and, no doubt, reference is made in this passage to the people of God and not merely to the temple at Jerusalem. In the second verse it is said, “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap.”

Now what did Christ do when He first appeared among men? And here let me say that what He did then, He does now under similar circumstances, and for the same reason: because there is a need for it. Always assume, that when Christ comes to revive His work, that a revival is needed. But, what is implied in the need for such a visitation for a revival? There is a great deal implied in the need for such a visitation; for this reason, whenever He comes to revive His work in any place there is a great need for it. It implies that there is a lot that is wrong, and that there is therefore a great need for a reformation; this is always implied in a reformation of religion. In the first place, some are stirred up to see that such things are needed; they look and seek for a reformation and after a time the Lord suddenly comes. “But who shall withstand the day of His coming?” What is His purpose in coming? What will He say? What will he do? “He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.”

Of course, then, whenever a revival is needed, we can expect that, when Christ comes, there will first be a tremendous searching among the people. When Jesus came to earth, what did He do? “Do not think”, He said, “that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to `set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes will be those of his own household.” (Matt 10:34-36)

What did He do? Why, He began with their fundamental problem. He began by upturning the foundations of their hopes; all their self-righteous expectations. He brought to bear upon them a searching ministry. Notice, Jesus’ searching ministry threw them into the utmost distress and agony of mind. He revealed to them the spirituality of God’s law, and the whole Bible, as it then existed; and brought so much truth to bear on them a that they became convicted. Now this is what He always does: this is His first work. He must test the metal to see if there is any dross in it. He must see what chaff is in with the wheat, and then fan it away. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and gold. He must put them into the fiery furnace, by bringing truth to bear on them in such a way, that it purges the dross from the pure gold.

In processes like this, we generally see that certain groups of people are peculiarly affected. Here, in the tenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus was mainly addressing the Pharisees, the leaders of the church, and unsparingly searched them, tried them, reproved their errors, contradicted them, and turned their false teachings completely upside down. You can be sure that this really offended them. But it is easy to see that this must have been His most important work, because He came to purify the Jewish Church, and He must do this, by pointing out their doctrinal errors and their misconceptions of God’s law.

Now, what Jesus did back then, He always does with all churches and all people. When He comes to revive His work; no matter what errors and misconceptions they may be laboring under, He must devote Himself to correct them. If He finds them with superficial views of the spirituality of God's law, he must correct them. If they have superficial views of the depravity of the human heart, they must be corrected. If they have Antinomian views on one hand, or legal self-righteous views on the other, they must be corrected. He must cast light on all the dark places, search the nooks and crannies; and dispel all errors by the powerful light of truth. This must always be true. It is usually true, that when the church or religion needs reviving in any community, much of the difficulty lies (few people are aware of this) in their having settled down into some false conception of things. They mistake the true condition of their own spiritual state, and so they adhere to various forms of error, more or less serious and fatal; so they are not in the state that Christ wants them to be, but yet they persuade themselves that they are in a state that is acceptable to God. Now all this must be corrected. As a result, when Christ takes hold of any community, any church, any people, any nation, you will always find that He begins in high places. He will begin among the leaders of Israel; among the heads of the people, and He will give them a terrible searching. He will try their spirits, their teaching, and their lives, and He will most severely try them. This is very common. I have always witnessed it , for Christ, when He comes to revive His work, begins by trying the ministers first. “He will purify the sons of Levi.” He always does this everywhere He moves. Indeed, He needs to try them, that they may be instrumental in trying others. He needs to search them, so they may be instrumental in searching others. He is going to work by them and through them, and therefore, the first thing He will do is thoroughly sift and search them. Their motives will be searched, all the reasons why they do things will be laid bare, and He will get them to see and feel their errors. Many times, I have seen such terrible convictions possess ministers in revivals, that they would, for a while, almost despair. Indeed, I have seen them go through a severe struggle for quite some time. This may be expected.

When Christ comes, His purpose is to search out wrong everywhere and set it right. He will search out the carnal professing Christians. They can be divided into various groups. Sometimes there are ambitious people in the church, who have an ambition to become influential in the church. Their ambition takes on a religious appearance. They want to be highly influential, to be highly respected, to be elevated in the church, and to be held in great esteem. Now, where ambition like this exists, Christ sees it, and will search it out.

I have often seen people like these searched out in such a way that it seriously exposes and mortifies them. With such ambitious people, Christ will take such a course that it reveals to them that they have been spiritually ambitious. If they wanted to be considered respectable and very important and influential in the church, Christ will put them down when He comes to revive His work. There is often a great deal of this in churches, but Christ will surely search it out and destroy it. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears?” (Malachi 3:2)

Many professing Christians have worldly ambitions. They want to become more important in the world. They are trying to climb into the highest places of society. They court alliances with important and influential families. Now Christ, when He comes, will search out these worldly-minded professing Christians, and often will make stunning revelations about their state of mind. Some have been spiritually proud, or have worldly pride, and they will all be searched out.

Often, when He comes, He will reveal their true character, and reveal the thoughts of many hearts in a way that will be truly dreadful and shocking. Things will appear that were not supposed to even exist. Even concerning religious teachers, things will be exposed of such a nature as to shock everyone, and they will say, “Who would have expected that”? Who would have thought that such things existed? Who would have expected that such a state of things existed, like they actually existed at the time our Lord first appeared in Judea? What state of things did His coming reveal! Who would have expected it? And what a stumbling block it must have been to much of the nation when all the teachers and leaders of the people denied that He was Christ; they could not associate Him with the prophetic announcements, which was written about Him. And so, they rose up to oppose Him. Now, what a stumbling block this must have been to those people, who were accustomed to look up to their teachers as the very best of men, and the most excellent on earth. In fact, it could be said that if any men are religious, the Pharisees are; if any men may hope to be saved, the Pharisees may. They thought the Pharisees were the most excellent people on earth. Now listen! What a stumbling block it must have been to much of the nation, that this group of people, almost to a man, rose up to oppose Christ when He came.

The Pharisees did not know Christ. They would not acknowledge Him. They were angry at His preaching, and denounced the searching manner in which He dealt with them. The same is true today, that the more people are out of “the way” in any church, or in any given city or country, two things will be seen: 1) they won’t know it themselves. They will be blind to their own position. 2) The more they are out of “the way”, the more they will be taken by surprise when Christ visits. These same indications will be seen more or less, as the state of things more or less resembles the conditions that existed when our Lord was on earth.

If the church has settled down with some “Abraham” for their father; if they prefer to be the followers of some man or somebody who has a very high standing in the Church of God, there will always be certain indications revealing themselves, which are not in harmony with the Gospel. Now it is a very striking fact that often, without being aware of it, people get into such a position that they completely misrepresent the truth.

The thoughts of many hearts will be revealed when Christ comes. Now it often comes to pass, that men do not clearly reveal to their fellow creatures the deepest springs of action within them, unless something happens that searches them out; but when certain events take place, they will reveal the deepest springs of action within them.

When Christ comes to revive His work, He will reveal great spiritual pride and arrogance in some. They pretend to be very humble, and very prayerful, and their appearance before people would seem to suggest to others that they are truly humble and prayerful; but when Christ comes and begins to search them, and questions something concerning them, they reveal their great spiritual pride, their arrogance, their ambition, and their disposition to lord it over God’s people. The Lord reveals their true spiritual ignorance.

The thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. Now this is often very striking to see. I have witnessed it many times during revivals, and similar revelations will be made when Christ comes to revive His work in any given church or locality. How strongly the deep feelings and reasons for a person’s behavior will be revealed. It will be said about such an individual, “What does he say?” “What, does he say so?” Things so unexpected will come out! Often, individuals will be so searched that they will see their own rotten-heart, and those around him will also see it. Oh! Sometimes these revelations are terrible indeed! If I had time, I would be able to share some of the many facts that I have witnessed in religious revivals, that would illustrate what I am saying: terrible and even shocking things that have been brought to light, and always will be brought to light under similar circumstances.

When Christ comes to revive His work, He will bring iniquity to light by searching, preaching, and the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will be a swift witness against them; there is no mistake. He will be a swift witness when He comes to judge against sorcerers and adulterers. Yes, against the adulterers, for adultery will be brought right out into the open. And against false swearers, false swearing will be brought out into the open. And against those that oppress his employees in their wages, such transgressions shall be brought to the light. And against “‘widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away an alien because they do not fear Me.’ says the Lord of Hosts.”

Every one of these things is often revealed and brought to light when Christ comes to revive and purify the sons of Levi! The chaff is to be separated from the wheat; and the dross is to be purged away from the gold and silver, and the corn and the metal are to come forth pure. This will be a terrible searching! It will be a time of severe trial and sifting. But after this season of trial is past and things begin to settle down; “that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years.” But He will not only do this with the church; He will also test those in the congregation who are not professing Christians; and will bring a terrible searching to bear on them, through His ministers, through His church, and by His spirit. He will bring home conviction to them, so that they will understand themselves, and know the condition of their own hearts!

Let me close with a few remarks. First, everyone can see by looking closely at it, that these things must be true of all revivals of religion. Now listen! I am speaking about revivals of religion; of Christ coming to revive His work, as mentioned in our Scripture reading. Now if religion is to be revived, sin must be put away; if sin is to be put away; there must be a conviction of sin; and if there is to be a conviction of sin, searching must be applied. This must be a first step to a revival of true religion in any community, for listen! A revival implies a need for a revival. If the people are in a declining and lukewarm spiritual state, then of course they need a revival, and before they can be revived, things must be terribly searched.

It must be true, as everyone can see, that the searching must begin in high places; that there will be, and must be, searching among those who are to be made instruments in searching others, thus carrying the work forward. I promise you, that when any reformation begins, it will begin with the ministers. This must be true, for if any change is made for the better in any church, those, who are to be the instruments of carrying it out, must be prepared for their work.

Many people have no idea of what constitutes a true revival of religion; and so when Christ begins a revival, they are surprised. They often think that the terrible state of things that is manifested, where such a work begins, is evidence of anything but the Spirit of Christ among the people. This is the way it was when Christ walked among the Jews, and therefore they could not see in Christ a likeness of the Messiah whom they expected. Now, let me say, that it is always true, where people need reviving; they are surprised because they are not aware that they are so much out of “the way”: Therefore when such means are adopted, they will say, these are not the kind of means that were needed.

Of course, if they knew what they needed, and if they were aware of their true condition, they would not be in the circumstances that they are in. But they are not aware of their true position, or their true needs. If it were up to them, they would all do something other than what Christ sees is needed. But when they complain about the means that are adopted, and you ask them what they think they need, they can’t tell you! They don’t understand their true position, and their real needs. Therefore Christ always comes and takes them completely by surprise. He sees that they need reviving, and therefore He searches them through His ministers, whom they will sometimes rise up against, oppose and denounce.

If people would seriously consider what is always implied in the need for a revival, they would see that only those means could be used which, if they really are in need of a revival, they don’t want or like, otherwise they would not be in such a state. The problem is in their hearts. Their hearts are wrong. Now if their hearts are wrong, they don’t desire the thing that God says they need; as a result, when He comes to revive them, He will take a course that will quickly attack their prejudices, for, listen to me, if He does not attack their prejudices, He can’t revive them. If your prejudices are never attacked, you will never be revived. Never! Normally, attacking prejudice is the very first thing done before a revival! He normally takes them by surprise, in order to make them see that they are not going in the right direction. This should always be understood, and always counted on by those who stand on the watch towers; those who stand on the high places of Zion, that if they ask Christ to come, He will give them a terrible searching. This is necessary. Please remember this.

I have often had the opportunity to say to the ministers I have labored with as an Evangelist, “I fear there is something coming, that will make the ears of the people tingle; I am afraid there is something that God will search out. Pay attention!. Be prepared for some terrible revelation.” Now when pastors know that anything evil exists, let them apply themselves to search it out, bring it before the light, and bring every soul to repentance. The searching will open men’s minds, but pastors should not be afraid. Let them stand fast. Let them understand that their work is to purify and purge the church from dross and chaff: and in accomplishing this work, they must expect that those who are at ease in Zion will be afraid and terror will surprise the hypocrites. These things must be done!

It often happens, of course, that where a revival begins, people who have kept up a respectable facade and deceived others will become very restless and uneasy, and will display a degree of opposition that, from their profession, was completely unexpected. A revival of religion will uniformly search out such people like these and bring them crashing down to earth, and make them understand themselves, and others will understand them. Sometimes I have seen the most amazing cases of people, who others thought would favor a religious movement, become very agitated, and find fault with this thing and that thing, and with the way this and that are being done. You can expect this if they are not walking with Christ. If this is their condition, their hearts need to be broken and searched, and don’t expect that this will be gratifying to them, or this is what they wanted.

People, who have seen revivals of religion, know what to expect in them, and therefore, they don't want a revival. They dread the searching! And why shouldn’t they dread it? They are afraid! They have good reason to be afraid. I have known ministers sometimes afraid, either for themselves or some of their people. They dreaded the disclosures of the rotten state of many among them.

Unrepentant sinners, who have committed crimes and resist making restitution, will dread a revival.

Many people, who have hope in things that they don’t have a lot of confidence in, will have their hopes tested. Many people are barely hanging on to a hope. It is difficult for them to hold on to their hope at all. They have so many doubts and misgivings, and so much reason to doubt. I am convinced that those who doubt the most have the greatest reason to doubt! Cases are very rare where people doubt their hopes, who do not have a good reason to doubt. Now people who have hopes in things that they have very little confidence in, are not willing to have their hopes tested, to have them placed right into the crucible. Therefore, they will feel miserable when a searching begins that will probably severely test their hopes.

Hopes that are solid at the bottom must be tried also. Those whose hopes are solid need to be tried so that whatever is wrong can be removed. Christ therefore brings the fire to bear on them, and brings their hopes to the fire, and what emerges from the furnace will be “rooted and grounded in love”. Some have been guilty of crimes; these will be searched out. Perhaps they have committed crimes against the law or against society. The most disgraceful things have sometimes been discovered, and made public, and sometimes the individual has been brought to repentance. Often, when Christ comes to purify, it will appear as if the Church is about to be torn in pieces. I have often seen this myself.

When a revival begins, the more false peace that professing Christians have, the more it will seem as if everything is falling apart. Don't be afraid! Christ is at the helm! Don't be afraid, I say, when it looks as if the church is falling apart. Just continue praying, and put every soul in the crucible. Let every soul be thrown in; everyone must be tried and searched. Hang on tightly. Let the fire test and search everyone to the bottom. It will do the people good!

Often this will occur in congregations where revivals are taking place. Some will go away; they can't stand it; they won’t give up their idols. Some, I say, will go; but generally where one goes, twenty will come! When the minister goes on searching and sifting, it will sometimes produce great changes in a church and congregation; and listen! It is necessary that the worldly element should be cast out, and therefore, such changes are necessary. Sometimes I have observed that when the worldly element has gotten into a church, it diffuses itself like leaven, until almost the whole church becomes possessed with a worldly spirit. Now Christ comes to work the worldly element out; and some of the things that He sometimes does to work out this worldly element is very interesting. No matter what it looks like on the surface, He will work it out of the church one way or another. Some He will bring to repentance, and others He will greatly change their position and relationships to each other; instead of being high in the estimation of the church, they will become low, and some who are low will be elevated. Views of the spiritual character of many of the members will be changed; some will be embarrassed and humbled; great changes will be introduced. These things, and other things like these can always be expected when Christ comes to revive His work. “He is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.” Some will fall and some will rise. Great changes will take place, but they will be good changes.

Let me quickly wrap up what I have to say this morning. Revivals of religion are designed by Christ not only to sift, purify, strengthen, and settle the church; but also to expose unrepentant sinners who live around them, because Christ ministers to the world through the church. As a result, revivals are sealing times, harvest times, when multitudes are gathered in.

Now, let me ask, my brethren, have you had any indications that Christ's is coming to you? Have you found that the Master, whom you sought, has come to His temple? Do you have a lot of evidence of Christ’s appearing among you? How many of you have been searched? Have you been thrown into the crucible? Have the things that I have briefly noticed, and which are contained in my text, been seen among you? If so, then you know that Christ is in the midst of you.

Often, people are looking for a revival of religion in an exactly opposite state of things to that which really constitutes a revival of religion. They want Christ to come in such a way that He won’t disturb anybody. They cannot allow any excitement! No excitement? Can a backslider be reclaimed without being excited? Never! Can a sinner be converted without excitement? No! Never! No church should expect Christ to come without excitement.

Those that cannot tolerate the day of His coming here, how will they tolerate the day of His coming hereafter? If you don’t expect His coming or don’t profit by it, or can’t stand the searching, you can’t tolerate His coming to promote a revival of religion. What will you do when He comes to judge? If you can’t bear the searching light of truth here, Oh what will you do when you stand unveiled in the presence of the solemn judgment under the blaze of that glory, from which the seraphim turn their faces, and cover them with their wings?