(1792-1875) |
ON a
Sabbath evening in the autumn of 1821, I made up my mind that I would settle
the question of my soul's salvation at once, that if it were possible I would
make my peace with God. But as I was very busy in the affairs of the office,
I knew that without great firmness of purpose, I should never effectually
attend to the subject. I therefore, then and there resolved, as far as
possible, to avoid all business, and everything that would divert my
attention, and to give myself wholly to the work of securing the salvation of
my soul. I carried this resolution into execution as sternly and thoroughly
as I could. I was, however, obliged to be a good deal in the office. But as the
providence of God would have it, I was not much occupied either on Monday or
Tuesday; and had opportunity to read my Bible and engage in prayer most of
the time. |
But I was
very proud without knowing it. I had supposed that I had not much regard for
the opinions of others, whether they thought this or that in regard to myself; and I had in fact been quite singular in attending
prayer meetings, and in the degree of attention that I had paid to religion,
while in |
But after
I had addressed myself in earnest to the subject of my own salvation, I kept
my Bible, as much as I could, out of sight. If I was reading it when anybody came
in, I would throw my law books upon it, to create the impression that I had
not had it in my hand. Instead of being outspoken and willing to talk with
anybody and everybody on the subject as before, I found myself unwilling to
converse with anybody. I did not want to see my minister, because I did not
want to let him know how I felt, and I had no confidence that he would
understand my case, and give me the direction that I needed. For the same
reasons I avoided conversation with the elders of the church, or with any of
the Christian people. I was ashamed to let them know how I felt, on the one
hand; and on the other, I was afraid they would misdirect me. I felt myself
shut up to the Bible. |
During
Monday and Tuesday my convictions increased; but still it seemed as if my
heart grew harder. I could not shed a tear; I could not pray. I had no
opportunity to pray above my breath; and frequently I felt, that if I could
be alone where I could use my voice and let myself out, I should find relief
in prayer. I was shy, and avoided, as much as I could, speaking to anybody on
any subject. I endeavored, however, to do this in a way that would excite no
suspicion, in any mind, that I was seeking the salvation of my soul. |
Tuesday
night I had become very nervous; and in the night a strange feeling came over
me as if I was about to die. I knew that if I did I should sink down to hell;
but I quieted myself as best I could until morning. |
At an early
hour I started for the office. But just before I arrived at the office,
something seemed to confront me with questions like these: Indeed, it seemed
as if the inquiry was within myself, as if an inward voice said to me,
"What are you waiting for? Did you not promise to give your heart to
God? And what are you trying to do? Are you endeavoring to work out a
righteousness of your own?" |
Just at
this point the whole question of Gospel salvation opened to my mind in a
manner most marvelous to me at the time. I think I then saw, as clearly as I
ever have in my life, the reality and fullness of the atonement of Christ. I
saw that His work was a finished work; and that instead of having, or
needing, any righteousness of my own to recommend me to God, I had to submit
myself to the righteousness of God through Christ. Gospel salvation seemed to
me to be an offer of something to be accepted; and that it was full and
complete; and that all that was necessary on my part, was to get my own
consent to give up my sins, and accept Christ. Salvation, it seemed to me,
instead of being a thing to be wrought out, by my own works, was a thing to
be found entirely in the Lord Jesus Christ, who presented Himself before me
as my God and my Savior. |
Without
being distinctly aware of it, I had stopped in the street right where the
inward voice seemed to arrest me. How long I remained in that position I
cannot say. But after this distinct revelation had stood for some little time
before my mind, the question seemed to be put, "Will you accept it now,
today?" I replied," Yes; I will accept it today, or I will die in
the attempt." |
North of
the village, and over a hill, lay a piece of woods,
in which I was in the almost daily habit of walking, more or less, when it
was pleasant weather. It was now October, and the time was past for my
frequent walks there. Nevertheless, instead of going to the office, I turned
and bent my course toward the woods, feeling that I must be alone, and away
from all human eyes and ears, so that I could pour out my prayer to God. |
But still
my pride must show itself. As I went over the hill, it occurred to me that
someone might see me and suppose that I was going away to pray. Yet probably
there was not a person on earth that would have suspected such a thing, had
he seen me going. But so great was my pride, and so much was I possessed with
the fear of man, that I recollect that I skulked along under the fence, till
I got so far out of sight that no one from the village could see me. I then
penetrated into the woods, I should think, a quarter of a mile, went over on
the other side of the hill, and found a place where some large trees had
fallen across each other, leaving an open place between. There I saw I could
make a kind of closet. I crept into this place and knelt down for prayer. As
I turned to go up into the woods, I recollect to have said, "I will give
my heart to God, or I never will come down from there." I recollect
repeating this as I went up: ;"I will give my heart to God before I ever
come down again." |
But when I
attempted to pray I found that my heart would not pray. I had supposed that
if I could only be where I could speak aloud, without being overheard, I
could pray freely. But lo! when I came to try, I was dumb; that is, I had nothing
to say to God; or at least I could say but a few words, and those without
heart. In attempting to pray I would hear a rustling in the leaves, as I
thought, and would stop and look up to see if somebody were not coming. This
I did several times. |
Finally I
found myself verging fast to despair. I said to myself, "I cannot pray.
My heart is dead to God, and will not pray." I then reproached myself
for having promised to give my heart to God before I left the woods. When I
came to try, I found I could not give my heart to God. My inward soul hung
back, and there was no going out of my heart to God. I began to feel deeply
that it was too late; that it must be that I was given up of God and was past
hope. |
The
thought was pressing me of the rashness of my promise, that I would give my
heart to God that day or die in the attempt. It seemed to me as if that was
binding upon my soul; and yet I was going to break my vow. A great sinking
and discouragement came over me, and I felt almost too weak to stand upon my
knees. |
Just at
this moment I again thought I heard someone approach me, and I opened my eyes
to see whether it were so. But right there the revelation of my pride of
heart, as the great difficulty that stood in the way, was distinctly shown to
me. An overwhelming sense of my wickedness in being ashamed to have a human
being see me on my knees before God, took such powerful possession of me,
that I cried at the top of my voice, and exclaimed that I would not leave
that place if all the men on earth and all the devils in hell surrounded me.
"What!" I said, "such a degraded sinner I am, on my knees
confessing my sins to the great and holy God; and ashamed to have any human
being, and a sinner like myself, find me on my knees endeavoring to make my
peace with my offended God!" The sin appeared awful, infinite. It broke
me down before the Lord. |
Just at
that point this passage of Scripture seemed to drop into my mind with a flood
of light: "Then shall ye go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Then shall ye seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your
heart." I instantly seized hold of this with my heart. I had
intellectually believed the Bible before; but never had the truth been in my
mind that faith was a voluntary trust instead of an intellectual state. I was
as conscious as I was of my existence, of trusting at that moment in God's
veracity. Somehow I knew that that was a passage of Scripture, though I do
not think I had ever read it. I knew that it was God's word, and God's voice,
as it were, that spoke to me. I cried to Him, "Lord, I take Thee at Thy
word. Now Thou knowest that I do search for Thee with all my heart, and that
I have come here to pray to Thee; and Thou hast promised to hear me." |
That
seemed to settle the question that I could then, that day, perform my vow.
The Spirit seemed to lay stress upon that idea in the text, "When you
search for me with all your heart." The question of when, that is of the
present time, seemed to fall heavily into my heart. I told the Lord that I
should take Him at his word; that He could not lie; and that therefore I was
sure that He heard my prayer, and that He would be found of me. |
He then
gave my many other promises, both from the Old and the New Testament,
especially some most precious promises respecting our Lord Jesus Christ. I
never can, in words, make any human being understand how precious and true
those promises appeared to me. I took them one after the other as infallible
truth, the assertions of God who could not lie. They did not seem so much to
fall into my intellect as into my heart, to be put within the grasp of the
voluntary powers of my mind; and I seized hold of them, appropriated them,
and fastened upon them with the grasp of a drowning man. |
I continued
thus to pray, and to receive and appropriate promises for a long time, I know
not how long. I prayed till my mind became so full that, before I was aware
of it, I was on my feet and tripping up the ascent toward the road. The
question of my being converted, had not so much as arisen to my thought; but
as I went up, brushing through the leaves and bushes, I recollect saying with
emphasis, "If I am ever converted, I will preach the Gospel." |
I soon
reached the road that led to the village, and began to reflect upon what had
passed; and I found that my mind had become most wonderfully quiet and
peaceful. I said to myself, "What is this? I must have grieved the Holy
Ghost entirely away. I have lost all my conviction. I have not a particle of
concern about my soul; and it must be that the Spirit has left me." Why!
thought I, I never was so far from being concerned about my own salvation in
my life. |
Then I
remembered what I had said to God while I was on my knees, that I had said I would
take Him at his word; and indeed I recollected a good many things that I had
said, and concluded that it was no wonder that the Spirit had left me; that
for such a sinner as I was to take hold of God's Word in that way, was
presumption if not blasphemy. I concluded that in my excitement I had grieved
the Holy Spirit, and perhaps committed the unpardonable sin. |
I walked
quietly toward the village; and so perfectly quiet was my mind that it seemed
as if all nature listened. It was on the 10th of October, and a very pleasant
day. I had gone into the woods immediately after an early breakfast; and when
I returned to the village I found it was dinner time. Yet I had been wholly
unconscious of the time that had passed; it appeared to me that I had been gone
from the village but a short time. |
But how
was I to account for the quiet of my mind? I tried to recall my convictions,
to get back again the load of sin under which I had been laboring. But all
sense of sin, all consciousness of present sin or guilt, had departed from
me. I said to myself, "What is this, that I cannot arouse any sense of
guilt in my soul, as great a sinner as I am?" I tried in vain to make
myself anxious about my present state. I was so quiet and peaceful that I
tried to feel concerned about that, lest it should be a result of my having
grieved the Spirit away. But take any view of it I would, I could not be
anxious at all about my soul, and about my spiritual state. The repose of my
mind was unspeakably great. I never can describe it in words. The thought of
God was sweet to my mind, and the most profound spiritual tranquillity had
taken full possession of me. This was a great mystery; but it did not
distress or perplex me. |
I went to
my dinner, and found I had no appetite to eat. I then went to the office, and
found that Squire W had gone to dinner. I took down my bass viol, and, as I
was accustomed to do, began to play and sing some pieces of sacred music. But
as soon as I began to sing those sacred words, I began to weep. It seemed as
if my heart was all liquid; and my feelings were in such a state that I could
not hear my own voice in singing without causing my sensibility to overflow.
I wondered at this, and tried to suppress my tears, but could not. After
trying in vain to suppress my tears, I put up my instrument and stopped
singing. |
After
dinner we were engaged in removing our books and furniture to another office.
We were very busy in this, and had but little conversation all the afternoon.
My mind, however, remained in that profoundly tranquil state. There was a
great sweetness and tenderness in my thoughts and feelings. Everything
appeared to be going right, and nothing seemed to ruffle or disturb me in the
least. |
Just
before evening the thought took possession of my mind, that as soon as I was
left alone in the new office, I would try to pray again--that I was not going
to abandon the subject of religion and give it up, at any rate; and
therefore, although I no longer had any concern about my soul, still I would
continue to pray. |
By evening
we got the books and furniture adjusted; and I made
up, in an open fireplace, a good fire, hoping to spend the evening alone.
Just at dark Squire W, seeing that everything was adjusted, bade me goodnight
and went to his home. I had accompanied him to the door; and as I closed the
door and turned around, my heart seemed to be liquid within me. All my
feelings seemed to rise and flow out; and the utterance of my heart was,
"I want to pour my whole soul out to God." The rising of my soul
was so great that I rushed into the room back of the front office, to pray. |
There was
no fire, and no light, in the room; nevertheless it appeared to me as if it
were perfectly light. As I went in and shut the door after me, it seemed as
if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. It did not occur to me then, nor
did it for some time afterward, that it was wholly a mental state. On the
contrary it seemed to me that I saw Him as I would see any other man. He said
nothing, but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right down at his
feet. I have always since regarded this as a most remarkable state of mind;
for it seemed to me a reality, that He stood before me, and I fell down at
his feet and poured out my soul to Him. I wept aloud like a child, and made
such confessions as I could with my choked utterance. It seemed to me that I
bathed His feet with my tears; and yet I had no distinct impression that I
touched Him, that I recollect. |
I must
have continued in this state for a good while; but my mind was too much
absorbed with the interview to recollect anything that I said. But I know, as
soon as my mind became calm enough to break off from the interview, I
returned to the front office, and found that the fire that I had made of
large wood was nearly burned out. But as I turned and was about to take a
seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any
expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was
any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the
thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me
in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the
impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed
it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love, for I could not express
it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect
distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings. |
No words
can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud
with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed
out the unutterable gushings of my heart. These waves came over me, and over
me, and over me, one after the other, until I recollect I cried out, "I
shall die if these waves continue to pass over me." I said, "Lord,
I cannot bear any more;" yet I had no fear of death. |
How long I
continued in this state, with this baptism continuing to roll over me and go
through me, I do not know. But I know it was late in the evening when a
member of my choir--for I was the leader of the choir--came into the office
to see me. He was a member of the church. He found me in this state of loud
weeping, and said to me, "Mr. Finney, what ails you?" I could make
him no answer for some time. He then said, "Are you in pain?" I
gathered myself up as best I could, and replied, "No, but so happy that
I cannot live." |
He turned
and left the office, and in a few minutes returned with one of the elders of
the church, whose shop was nearly across the way from our office. This elder
was a very serious man; and in my presence had been very watchful, and I had
scarcely ever seen him laugh. When he came in, I was very much in the state
in which I was when the young man went out to call him. He asked me how I
felt, and I began to tell him. Instead of saying anything, he fell into a
most spasmodic laughter. It seemed as if it was impossible for him to keep
from laughing from the very bottom of his heart. |
There was
a young man in the neighborhood who was preparing for college, with whom I
had been very intimate. Our minister, as I afterward learned, had repeatedly
talked with him on the subject of religion, and warned him against being
misled by me. He informed him that I was a very careless young man about
religion; and he thought that if he associated much with me his mind would be
diverted, and he would not be converted. |
After I
was converted, and this young man was converted, he told me that he had said
to Mr. Gale several times, when he had admonished him about associating so
much with me, that my conversations had often affected him more, religiously,
than his preaching. I had, indeed, let out my feelings a good deal to this
young man. |
But just
at the time when I was giving an account of my feelings to this elder of the
church, and to the other member who was with him, this young man came into
the office. I was sitting with my back toward the door, and barely observed
that he came in. He listened with astonishment to what I was saying, and the
first I knew he partly fell upon the floor, and cried out in the greatest
agony of mind, "Do pray for me!" The elder of the church and the
other member knelt down and began to pray for him; and when they had prayed,
I prayed for him myself. Soon after this they all retired and left me alone. |
The
question then arose in my mind, "Why did Elder B laugh so? Did he not
think that I was under a delusion, or crazy?" This suggestion brought a
kind of darkness over my mind; and I began to query with myself whether it
was proper for me, such a sinner as I had been, to pray for that young man. A
cloud seemed to shut in over me; I had no hold upon anything in which I could
rest; and after a little while I retired to bed, not distressed in mind, but
still at a loss to know what to make of my present state. Notwithstanding the
baptism I had received, this temptation so obscured my view that I went to
bed without feeling sure that my peace was made with God. |
I soon
fell asleep, but almost as soon awoke again on account of the great flow of
the love of God that was in my heart. I was so filled with love that I could
not sleep. Soon I fell asleep again, and awoke in the same manner. When I
awoke, this temptation would return upon me, and the love that seemed to be
in my heart would abate; but as soon as I was asleep, it was so warm within
me that I would immediately awake. Thus I continued till, late at night, I
obtained some sound repose. |
When I
awoke in the morning the sun had risen, and was pouring a clear light into my
room. Words cannot express the impression that this sunlight made upon me.
Instantly the baptism that I had received the night before, returned upon me
in the same manner. I arose upon my knees in the bed and wept aloud with joy,
and remained for some time too much overwhelmed with the baptism of the
Spirit to do anything but pour out my soul to God. It seemed as if this
morning's baptism was accompanied with a gentle reproof, and the Spirit
seemed to say to me, "Will you doubt? Will you doubt?" I cried,
"No! I will not doubt; I cannot doubt." He then cleared the subject
up so much to my mind that it was in fact impossible for me to doubt that the
Spirit of God had taken possession of my soul. |
In this
state I was taught the doctrine of justification by faith, as a present
experience. That doctrine had never taken any such possession of my mind,
that I had ever viewed it distinctly as a fundamental doctrine of the Gospel.
Indeed, I did not know at all what it meant in the proper sense. But I could
now see and understand what was meant by the passage, "Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." I could
see that the moment I believed, while up in the woods, all sense of
condemnation had entirely dropped out of my mind; and that from that moment I
could not feel a sense of guilt or condemnation by any effort that I could
make. My sense of guilt was gone; my sins were gone; and I do not think I
felt any more sense of guilt than if I never had sinned. |
This was
just the revelation that I needed. I felt myself justified by faith; and, so
far as I could see, I was in a state in which I did not sin. Instead of
feeling that I was sinning all the time, my heart was so full of love that it
overflowed. My cup ran over with blessing and with love; and I could not feel
that I was sinning against God. Nor could I recover the least sense of guilt
for my past sins. Of this experience I said nothing that I recollect, at the
time, to anybody; that is, of this experience of justification. |
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