TRUE SAINTS.
From: Sermons on Important Subjects –
1836 by Charles G Finney
Modernized by Cliff Collins
“Who is on the Lord's side?” (Ex 32:26)
Moses asked this question
to the professed people of God immediately after they departed from God while
Moses was on Mount Sinai, and they went and worshiped a golden calf that had
been cast for them by Aaron. After
admonishing the people, Moses called out, "Who is on the Lord's
side?" There are:
THREE GROUPS OF
PROFESSING CHRISTIANS
1) The true friends of
God and man. 2) Those who are motivated
by hope and fear, or in other words, by self-love or by selfishness. 3) Those who are motivated by public
opinion.
You can know and see
each of these three groups by looking at the character traits that reveal the
purpose for their religion. I don’t
have to prove that people may have very different reasons for being religious,
some have a real love of religion, and others have other reasons. We can arrange these differences into three
categories, and by examining the development of why they become religious; you
can discover their true characters.
They all say they are servants of God, and yet by observing the lives of
many, it becomes obvious that instead of their being God's servants they are
really trying to make God their servant.
Their main goal is to secure their own salvation, or some other
advantage for themselves, by gaining God’s favor. They seek friendship with God, so they can use Him to serve their
own purposes.
I. The first group of
professed Christians are the true friends of God and man.
If you examine those
things that form their true purpose and aim in religion, the first thing you
will notice is that they are truly unselfish in their love. In other words, they are motivated by an
unselfish love.
1. These Christians will
demonstrate that this is their character by how careful they are in avoiding
sin.
They will show that they
hate sin in themselves, and they also hate it in others. They will not justify sin in themselves, and
they will not justify sin in others.
They will not try to cover up or excuse their own sins, nor will they
try to cover up or excuse the sins of others.
They aim at perfect holiness.
This course of conduct makes it clear that they are the true friends of
God. I’m not saying that every true
friend of God is perfect, any more than I would say that every truly loving and
obedient child is perfect, or never disobeys his parent. But if he is an affectionate and obedient
child, his aim is to obey, and if he fails in any respect, he will not try to
justify his disobedience, or plead for it, or try to defend it. As soon as he thinks about it, he becomes
sad, and he condemns his conduct.
So these people, who are
the true friends of God and man, are always ready to complain about themselves,
and to blame and condemn themselves for what is wrong. But you never see them finding fault with
God. You never hear them excusing
themselves and blaming God by complaining that they are unable to obey
God. You never hear them speaking as if
God had required them to do the impossible.
They always speak as if they feel God’s requirement is right and
reasonable, and they have only themselves to blame for their disobedience.
2. These friends of God
manifest a deep abhorrence of the sins of others.
They do not cover up the
sins of others, or defend and excuse them, or smooth them over with “perhaps
this,” or “perhaps that”. You never hear
them apologizing for sin. They don’t
like sin in themselves, and they don’t like to see it in others. They know it’s a horrible thing, and they
always abhor it.
3. This spirit also
manifests itself in their zeal for the honor and glory of God.
They show the same
passion to promote God's honor and interest, that the true patriot shows in the
honor and interest of his country. If
the patriot truly loves his country, its government, and its interests, he sets
his heart on promoting its advancement and benefit. He is never so happy as when he is doing something for the honor
and advancement of his country. In the
same way, a child that truly loves his father is never so happy as when he is
advancing his father's honor and interest.
And he never feels more indignant grief than when he sees his father
abused or injured. If he sees his
father disobeyed or abused by those who should to obey, love, and honor him, he
is grieved.
There are many
professing Christians, and even ministers today, who are very zealous to defend
their own character and their own honor.
But this group feels more committed, and their hearts beat faster when
they defend God's honor. These are the
friends of God and man.
4. They sympathize with
God in His feelings towards man.
They feel the same kind
of friendship for souls that God feels.
I do not mean that they have the same degree of feelings that God has,
but they do have the same kind of feelings.
You can love the souls of men even while you hate their conduct. There is also such a thing as constitutional
sympathy. Many people have a
constitutional sympathy for those who are in distress. This is natural. You always feel this for people in distress, unless you have some
selfish reason to wish evil of him. If
you saw a murderer hung, you would feel compassion for him. The wicked have this natural sympathy for
those that suffer.
There is another
peculiar kind of sympathy that the real child of God feels and manifests
towards sinners. It is a mingled
feeling of abhorrence and compassion, of indignation against his sins, and pity
for his person. It is possible to feel
this deep hatred for sin mingled with deep compassion for souls that are
capable of such endless happiness, and yet bound for eternal misery.
Let me explain
myself. There are two kinds of love:
one is unselfish love. This has no
respect to the character of the person loved, but it sees the individual
exposed to suffering and misery. God
feels this love towards the entire human race.
The other kind of love includes the approval of ones character. God feels this love only towards the
righteous. He never feels this love
towards sinners. He infinitely abhors
sinners. He has compassion for them and
abhors their sin at the same time.
Christians have the same feelings, only not in the same degree, but they
have them at the same time. They
probably never feel right unless they have both of these feelings exercised at
the same time. The Christian will not
feel as God feels towards individuals unless both these feelings exist in his
mind at the same time. This is a very
unique characteristic of a Christian.
The Christian will pointedly and frequently rebuke those for whom he
feels the deepest compassion. Have you
ever seen this?
Did you never see a
parent yearning with compassion over a child, and reprove him with tears, and
yet with a severity that would make the little offender tremble under his
rebuke. We can see these two emotions
manifested in Jesus’ life. He wept over
Jerusalem in love, and yet He gives the reason in a way that shows his burning
indignation against their conduct. “O
Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!” (Matt 23:37) Ah, Christ clearly knew their wickedness, even while He wept with
compassion for the doom that hung over them.
That is how these
Christians are. You never find one
addressing a sinner just to make him weep because somebody is weeping for
him. But his tender appeals are
accompanied with a strong rebuke for sin.
Please remember that the
true friend of God and man never sides with the sinner, because he never acts
only from mere compassion. At the same
time, he is never seen denouncing the sinner without manifesting compassion for
his soul and a strong desire to save him from death.
5. It is a goal with
such Christians, in all their communications with men, to make them friends of
God.
Whether they witness, or
pray, or attend to the duties of life, it is their prominent goal to recommend
religion and to lead everybody to glorify God.
It is very natural for them to do this if they are true friends of
God. A true friend of the government
wants everybody to be a friend of the government. A true and affectionate child wants everybody to love and respect
his father. And if only one person is
an enemy, it is his constant aim and effort to reconcile him. You can expect the same from a true friend
of God. A leading feature of a true
friend of God is the desire to reconcile sinners to God.
Please listen to
me! If this is not the leading feature
of your character, if it is not the absorbing topic of thought and effort to
reconcile men to God, you do not have true love. Whatever appearance of religion you may have, you lack the
leading and fundamental characteristic of true piety. This was the leading feature of the character and aim of Jesus
Christ, and of His apostles and prophets.
Look at them, and see how this feature stands out in strong and eternal
relief as the leading characteristic, the prominent purpose, and goal of their
lives. Now let me ask you, what is the
goal of your life as it appears in your daily walk? Is it to bring all God's enemies to submit to Him? If not, then away with your claim that you
are a Christian! Whatever else you may
have, you don’t have the true love of God in you.
6. Where there are
people in this group, you will see them carefully avoiding everything that they
feel is damaging to their great goal.
They try to avoid
everything that is designed to prevent the salvation of souls, everything designed
to divert attention or in any way to hinder the conversion of souls. The first question that naturally suggests
itself to their minds is, “How will this affect the Kingdom of God? Will it have a tendency to prevent the
conversion of sinners, to hinder the progress of revivals, to roll back the
wheels of salvation?” If so, they don’t
need the thunders of Sinai ringing in their ears, to forbid them from doing
it. If they see that it is contrary to
the spirit of holiness, and contrary to the main goal they have in view, that
is enough.
Let us look at the issue
of alcoholic beverages. Here let me
say, that it was the influence of alcohol in hindering the conversion and
salvation of sinners, that first caught the attention of many benevolent men who
began the reformation movement in the 1800’s, to inquire on the subject. This movement is still carried on in many
churches today, where whole congregations have taken a stand against the
consumption of alcoholic beverages to remove that stumbling block from before
so many sinners. Such men do not argue
saying, “Drinking rum is nowhere prohibited in the Bible, and I do not feel
like I have to give it up.” As soon as
they discover that it hinders the purpose that they live for, that is enough
for them. They give it up of
course. They avoid anything that would
hinder a revival, just as a merchant would avoid anything that had a tendency
to damage his credit, and prevent him from making money in his business. Suppose a merchant was about to do something
that you knew would injuriously affect his credit, and you go to him in the
spirit of friendship and advise him not to do it, would he turn around and say,
“Show me the passage in the Bible where God has prohibited this?” No.
He would not ask you to show him anything more than that it is
inconsistent with his goal.
Remember, someone who
strongly desires to convert sinners does not need a clear command to prevent
him from doing what he sees will hinder their conversion. There is no danger of him doing anything
that will defeat the object of his life.
7. These professing
Christians are always distressed unless they see the work of converting sinners
making progress.
They call it a sad state
of affairs in the church if no sinners are converted. No matter what else is true, no matter how rich the congregation
grows, and no matter how popular their minister is nor how many come to hear
him, their panting hearts are uneasy unless they see the work of conversion
actually going on. They see that
everything else is nothing without this.
Yes, even the things that they do to obtain grace can do more harm than
good unless sinners are converted.
These professing
Christians are a lot of trouble to those who are religious because of other
motives, and who therefore want them to keep their mouths shut, and let
everything continue in the “good old way”.
They often call these dedicated Christians agitators and fanatics. Notice!
If a church has a few such fanatics in it, the minister will become
uneasy unless his preaching is designed to convert sinners. You sometimes hear these Christians
reproving the church, and rebuking them for living so coldly and worldly, and
the church replies, “O, we are doing just fine, thank you. Everybody is happy and comfortable here. Quit disturbing us.” In fact, the hearts of the Christians are
grieved and their souls are in agony because sinners are not converted and
souls are sliding down into hell.
8. When these Christians
pray, they pray not for themselves but for sinners.
If you know the habitual
tone of people's prayers, it will reveal to you which way the tide of their
feelings flows. If a man is religiously
motivated by a desire to save himself, you will hear him praying mostly for himself
that he may have his sins pardoned and “enjoy” the Spirit of God, etc. But if he is truly the friend of God and
man, you will find that the burden of his prayers is for the glory of God in
the salvation of sinners; and he is never so plentiful and powerful in prayer
as when he gets on his favorite topic; the conversion of sinners. Go into the prayer meeting where such
Christians pray, and instead of seeing them all shut up in the nut shell of
their own self-interests, wasting their prayers on themselves, and just closing
with a flourish about the kingdom of Christ, you will hear them pouring out
their souls in prayer for the salvation of sinners. I believe there have been situations where such Christians who
were so absorbed in their desires for the salvation of sinners, that for weeks
together they did not even pray for their own salvation.
Or, if they pray for
themselves at all, it is that they may be clothed with the Spirit of God, so
that they can go out and be mighty through God in pulling souls out of the
fire.
You know what kind of
prayers you pray, whether you pray mostly for yourselves or for sinners. If you know nothing about the spirit of
prayer for sinners, you are not the true friend of God and man. What!
No heart to feel when sinners are going to hell by your side! No sympathy with the Son of God, who gave
His life to save sinners! Away with all
such professions of religion! “Now if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Rom 8:9)
Don’t tell me someone is truly pious when his prayers are droned over,
mindlessly reciting pre-formed words just like the poor popish priest who
counts over his beads. Such a man
deceives himself if he talks about being the true friend of God and man.
9. The true friends of
God want to know what they must do to convert sinners.
When anything is
presented to them that promise success in converting sinners, they don’t wait
for a command to do it, with pains and penalties if they do not. They only want the evidence that it is
designed to advance their hearts desire, and they will do it with all their
heart. The question they ask is not,
“what am I clearly commanded to do?” but, “How can I do the most for salving
souls, and converting of the world to God?”
They do not wait for a clear command from the Bible before they engage
in the work of missions, or Sunday school, or any other enterprise that
promises to save souls. They are ready
to perform every good work.
10. Another
characteristic of such Christians is a disposition to deny themselves in order
to do good for others.
God has established
throughout the universe the principle of GIVING. Even in the natural world, the river, the ocean, the clouds, all
give. This is true throughout the whole
kingdom of nature and of grace. This
principle of giving is recognized everywhere.
This is the very Spirit of Christ.
He does not seek to please Himself, but to do good for others. He finds His highest happiness in denying
Himself to do good for others. These
people are ever ready to deny themselves of enjoyments and comforts, and even
some necessities, when by so doing they can do more good for others.
11. They are continually
devising new means and new ways for doing good.
We would expect this
from their unending desire to do good. Instead
of being satisfied with what does not succeed, they are continually coming up
with new ways and means to accomplish their goals. They are not like those people who force themselves to be
satisfied with doing what they call “their duty”. Where an individual is only seeking his own salvation, he may
think that as soon as he does his duty, he is discharged from his
responsibility, and so he is satisfied.
He thinks he has escaped from God’s wrath and gained heaven for himself
simply by doing what God required him to do, and he cannot help whether sinners
are saved or lost. But with these other
people, it is not so much their object to gain heaven and avoid wrath, but what
they desire the most is to save souls and to honor God. And if this goal is not advanced, they are
in pain. Such a person is one whose soul is always thinking of new things to
do, He tries something new, and if it fails, he tries another and another. He cannot rest until he has found something
that will succeed in saving souls.
12. These people are
grieved when they see the church asleep and doing nothing to save sinners.
They know how difficult,
how impossible it is to do anything considerable for the salvation of sinners
while the church is asleep. Go into a
church where most of the congregation is doing nothing to convert sinners,
simply floating along with the current of the world, and you will find that the
true friends of God and man are grieved at the sorry state of affairs. Those who have other ideas about how to be
religious may think that their church is doing quite well. They are not grieved when they see
professing Christians seeking fame and fortune. But if there are any true believers, you will find them grieved
and distressed, because the church is in such a sad state.
13. These friends of God
are grieved if they have reason to believe their minister compromises, or does
not reprove the church pointedly and faithfully for their sins.
Those other professing
Christians are willing to be rocked to sleep.
They want their minister to preach smooth, flowery, eloquent, and
flattering sermons, with no point and no power. But true believers are not satisfied unless he preaches
powerfully, pointedly, and boldly, and rebukes, entreats, and exhorts with all
long-suffering and doctrine. Their souls are not fed, or edified, or satisfied
with anything that does not take hold, and does not do the work that was
appointed by Jesus Christ.
14. These true believers
will always stand by a faithful minister who preaches the truth boldly and
pointedly.
No matter how hard the
truth he preaches hits them, they like it and say, “Let the righteous smite me,
and it shall be like a healing balm”.
When the truth is poured forth with power, their souls are fed, and they
grow strong in grace. They can pray for
such a minister. They can weep in their
closet, and pour out their souls in prayer for him, that he may have the Spirit
of God always with him. While others
scold and criticize him and talk about his being excessive, and all that, you
will find these Christians standing by him, yes, and would go to the stake with
him for the testimony of Jesus. And
they do this for the best of all reasons: such preaching falls in with the
great purpose for which these Christians live.
15. These Christians are
especially distressed when ministers preach sermons not designed to convert
sinners.
I mean when the sermon
is not especially addressed to stir up the church. Others may approve of the sermon. They may praise it, and tell friends how great the sermon was, or
how eloquent, or lucid, or grand, or sublime it was. But it does not suit the true believer if it lacks this one
characteristic: a tendency to convert sinners.
You will find some people that are great sticklers for the doctrine of
election, and they will not believe it is a gospel sermon unless it has the
doctrine of election in it, but if the doctrine of election is in it they are
happy whether it is adapted to convert sinners or not. But where one has his heart set on
converting sinners, if he hears a sermon not designed to do this, he feels that
it lacks the most important element of a gospel sermon. But if he hears a sermon that’s designed to
save souls, then he is fed, and his soul rejoices.
It’s not difficult see
the reason for the astonishing differences you often find when people pass
judgment on a sermon. There is, in
fact, no better test of character than this.
It is easy to see who are filled with the love of God and of souls, by
the judgment they pass on preaching.
The true friends of God and man when they hear a sermon that is not
particularly designed to probe and rouse the church and bring them to action,
if it is not designed to bear down on sinners and does not tend to convert
sinners, it is not the sermon for them.
You will always find
that these people always feel like they could do more to convert sinners.
No matter how much they
really do to convert sinners, it seems that the more they do the more they long
to do. They are never satisfied. Instead of being satisfied with the present
degree of their success, there is no end to their longing for the conversion of
sinners. I remember a good man, who
used to pray until he became exhausted praying for individuals, and for places,
and for the world's conversion. Once when
he was quite exhausted with praying, he exclaimed “Oh! My longing, aching
heart! There is no such thing as
satisfying my unutterable desires for the conversion of sinners. My soul breaks for the longing it has.” That man, although he had been far more
productive than most other men his age, saw so much to do, and he so longed to
see the work go forward and sinners saved, that his mortal frame could not
sustain it. “I find,” he said one day,
“that I am dying for lack of strength to do more to save the souls of men. Oh, how much I want strength that I may save
souls.”
17. If you want to move
these people, you must make use of motives drawn from their great and leading
purpose in life.
If you want to move them, you must hold up the situation of sinners, and show how
they dishonor God, and you will find that this will move their souls and set
them on fire sooner than any appeal to their hopes and fears. Present this great goal to them. Show them how they can convert sinners, and
their longing hearts beat and wrestle with God in prayer, and travail for
souls, until they see them converted, and Christ forms in them the hope of
glory.
I could mention many
other characteristics that belong to these true friends of God and man, if time
and strength would allow. But I must
stop here. We will look at the other
two groups next Friday evening, Lord willing.
Now, do you belong to
this group, or not? I have mentioned
certain great fundamental facts, which, when they exist, indicate the true
character of individuals, by showing what is their main purpose and object in
life. You can tell if this is your
character. When I come to the second
half of this subject, I will describe those groups of professing Christians,
whose religious zeal, prayers, and efforts, have another purpose, and show
their character, and how their purpose is carried out.
And now, beloved, I ask
you before God. Do you have these
characteristics of a child of God? Do
you know they belong to you? Can you
say, “O Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you, and that these are
the features of my character!”