The Oberlin Evangelist

January 30, 1839

Lecture III.

DEVOTION

by the Rev. Charles G. Finney

Modernized by Cliff Collins

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Cor. 10:31)

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” (Col. 3:17, 23)

“And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Rom. 6:13)

“For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.” (Rom. 14:7, 8)

These texts teach the nature and duty of Devotion to God.

In discussing this subject, I plan to show,

I. What is not true devotion to God?

II. What is true devotion to God?

III. That devotion, and nothing short of devotion, is true religion.

IV. I will point out several mistakes commonly made on this subject.

I. What is not true devotion to God?

1. True devotion does not consist in reading the Bible, or in praying, or in attending meetings. These may be, or may not be instances of particular acts of devotion, but please, do not regard these things as devotion all by itself.

2. Devotion does not consist in closet, public, or social consecration of our selves to God. These should be regarded as special acts of devotion, and pledges or promises are part of our devotion, rather than constituting devotion.

3. Devotion does not consist in individual acts or exercises of any kind. Acts or exercises may be devotional acts, that is, they may be acts of devotion; but please remember that no acts or exercises constitute devotion.

II. What is true devotion to God?

True devotion is a state of our mind or of our heart. It is that state of our will in which everything, our whole life, and being, and possessions, are continually offered to God. In other words, all these things are continually devoted to God. True devotion, does not consist in any individual act, or feelings. True devotion must be the supreme devotion of our will extending to all we have and are; extending to all times, all places, all our thoughts, all our feelings, and everything we do.

Let your own ideas of how a minister should act illustrate my meaning. You feel that a minister, in preaching the gospel, should have one purpose, and that should be to glorify God in the sanctification and salvation of sinners. You know that he says that he is a servant of God. You feel that he should study, preach, and perform all his ministerial duties not for himself, not for his salary, not to increase his popularity, but to glorify God. Now you can easily see that if a minister does not have this purpose in life, God cannot accept his service. His service is not an offering to God. His service is not devotion to God, but devotion to himself.

Devotion, then, in a minister, is that state of mind in which all his ministerial duties are performed with a single eye to the glory of God, and where his whole life is a continuous offering to God.

You also feel that a minister should be as devoted in everything else as he is in praying and preaching, and you are right in this; because he really should be as devoted out of the pulpit as he is in the pulpit. If he is influenced by selfish and worldly motives during the week, he is influenced by the same motives on Sunday. If, during the week, he is focusing on his own interests, and seeking to promote his own goals, it must be that he is also doing this on the Sabbath.

You also feel that if a minister is not truly devoted, he will go to hell. If you knew that a minister preached, prayed, visited, and performed his ministerial duties mainly to support his family, or in any way to honor or benefit himself, no matter how much zeal he might manifest, you would say he was a wicked man, and, unless he is converted, he must inevitably lose his soul. If these are your views on the subject, they are undoubtedly correct. Here, where you have no personal interest, you form the right judgment, and you correctly discern the character and destiny of such a man.

Now remember that nothing short of this is devotion in you. Please remember, that no particular acts, or fervor, or emotional outbursts, or resolutions, or plans to change your ways, or plans to obey in the future, are devotion.

But devotion is that state of your will where your mind is swallowed up in God as the object of your supreme love. Devotion is that state where you not only live and move in God, but you live and move for God. In other words, devotion is that state of mind in which your attention is drawn from your self, and your self-seeking, and is directed to God. Your thoughts, purposes, desires, affections, and emotions all hang on Him and are devoted to Him.

III. Devotion, and nothing short of devotion, is true religion.

Devotion and true religion are identical.

1. Because devotion implies and includes supreme love for God, it is impossible that we should be devoted to an object, unless it is the object of our highest affection.

2. It is impossible that we should not be devoted to something that we love more than anything else. If we love God more than anything else, He will be the goal that we live for; for whatever we love supremely must always be the goal and object for which we live. If an individual loves God supremely, he will be as aware that he lives for God, as that he lives at all.

3. Nothing short of this state of mind is consistent with true religion. Supreme love to an object is a state of mind, and not a mere act of the mind. By a state of mind, I mean a voluntary state of mind. Therefore, where there is a supreme love, devotion, or consecration to God, there must also be a voluntary state of mind, as opposed to individual acts of mind.

4. Nothing short of a state of devotion can be acceptable to God. Unless our devotion is a habit or state of mind; unless our whole being is an offering to God, we must have a rival in our hearts. God will not tolerate this. To attempt to please God by isolated acts of devotion, when it is not your habit, and when it is not the state of your mind, is infinitely more abominable than the wife to attempts to please her husband with an occasional smile, when she is living to please and gain the affections of another man.

5. Nothing short of this state of devotion can be the result of evangelical faith. Evangelical faith is that state of mind where eternal things are understood as realities. The things of time and of eternity, God’s interests and our own interests, His character, claims, and loving kindness are understood by our mind as facts. We understand these things as they are.

Now a mind exercising this faith will naturally live for eternity and not for time. Such a mind will live for God and not for self. An unbeliever, who understands none of these things as they are, lives for time and self, and not for God.

6. A departure from this state is apostasy of the heart. No matter how a man appears on the outside, the moment he turns aside in his heart from sincere devotion to God; from a supreme consecration of his whole being to the service of God; he has apostatized his heart from true religion. He is no longer in the service of God, but he is serving the object on which his heart is set; and the object that his heart is set on is the object of his devotion. In other words, it is his God!

IV. Several mistakes are commonly made concerning this subject.

1. Many imagine that there is a real distinction between devotion and other duties, as if a man could do his duty doing something that is not devotion to God. Many people think that the duties of devotion are such things like closet and family prayer, reading the scriptures, and singing and praying together in God’s house. These are called the devotional parts of worship, while preaching and listening are called less devotional. On Sunday, people imagine that they are devotional, while on weekdays, except for those few things they do that they call religious duties, they are serving themselves, and are supremely devoted to their own interests. Ideas like these come from the total absence of true devotion; and individuals who entertain such views don’t understand what true religion is. Nothing is duty that is not performed for God. A man, who is truly religious, is as truly devotional in his daily business, as he is on Sunday. He performs the business of the world in the same spirit, and with the same purpose as he prays, reads his Bible, and attends the worship of God on Sunday. If this is not the situation, he does hot have true religion.

2. Some, who seem to do everything for God, and are clearly in a devotional state of mind, do not seem to realize that every act devoted to God is as acceptable as prayer or praise. If, by their necessary duties, they are kept from spending a lot of time in their closets, and going to very many meetings, Satan takes advantage of their ignorance, and brings them into bondage. He tries to persuade them that they are neglecting their duties to God, and attending to other things. Now you who are devoted to God should understand that, if the providence of God confines you at home to nurse the sick, or prevents you from observing those hours of secret prayer which you love to observe; you will not be brought into bondage because of this, if you are aware that these other duties are also performed for God.

3. Others may think that their devotion is sincere, and yet it only extends to certain duties. For example, a person may pray sincerely, and from right motives, and yet be worldly in his business transactions. Now a little reflection will convince any honest mind that this is naturally impossible. Devotion to God cannot be sincere any further than it annihilates selfishness. Devotion and selfishness are eternal opposites.

4. It is a very common idea that we should be more devotional and more religious on Sunday, and when we are in secret and social prayer, than at other times and doing other things. But our scriptures show that whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, at all times, in all places, and in all things, we are to do everything for the glory of God.

5. Many mistake the religion of emotion for religion of the will or heart. This is demonstrated in their lives. You will often witness their emotions gushing forth. They weep, and appear to melt and break down. They promise to reform and consecrate themselves completely to God; but try to trade with them the very next day, and you will find them supremely selfish. You will discover that they are not devoted to God, but to their own interest, and are ready to take any advantage, even advantage of their brethren, to benefit themselves. Now in this situation, it is clear that their melting and breaking down was merely an outpouring of emotions, and not a will subdued and devoted to God. Devotion belongs to the will, and there may be many emotional outbursts, as long as the consecration of the will to self remains supreme.

6. Many mistake the consecration and devotion of the imagination for a consecration of the heart. They can write poems, or sermons, or religious articles for the paper. They can talk, and pray, and preach, and exercise any degree of zeal in the cause of religion, and yet meet them on any ground where the deep foundations of their hearts are exposed, and you find they will be supremely selfish.

7. Many expect devotion without faith. This is naturally impossible. A person cannot be devoted to God without confiding in Him.

8. This shows that many people today confuse faith with hope; they confuse faith with the expectation of salvation. A person may be devoted without a hope, and may consecrate his whole being to God, while he thinks nothing about his own salvation.

9. Many do not distinguish between that naked faith in the simple truth, which invariably produces devotion, and their ever-varying states of emotion, which they like to call religion. Simple faith in the character of God, as revealed in the Bible, naturally and necessarily produces a spirit of consecration to God. But there can be any amount of emotion, without any true devotion.

REMARKS

1. A spirit of devotion will make the most constant cares and the most pressing labors the means of the deepest and most constant communion with God. The more constant and pressing our duties are, if they are performed for God, the deeper and more constant is our communion with Him; for whatever is done in a spirit of devotion is communion with God.

2. Those who do not hold communion with God in their ordinary occupations are not Christians. If you do not hold conscious communion with God in your ordinary business, it is because you do not perform you duties with a spirit of devotion. If you do not go about your daily activities in a spirit of devotion, it is sin. But, if your jobs are sin, then certainly you have no religion, unless a person can be truly religious, and yet daily serve the devil.

3. If you can’t attend to the ordinary and lawful business of life without being drawn away from God, you are not in a sanctified state.

4. If it can’t be done in a spirit of devotion, it is unlawful. If you feel uncomfortable performing something as an act of devotion to God, that thing is unlawful, you yourself is the judge.

5. No matter what an act or deed may be all by itself, if you do not actually perform it as an act of devotion to God, it is sin. As a result, the Bible says that, “the plowing of the wicked is sin”. Eating and drinking, and the most common acts of life, if not done in a spirit of devotion, are sin.

6. Anything not right or wrong all by itself can be either right or wrong, depending on whether or not it is done in a spirit of devotion. As a result:

7. A selfish mind may condemn a sanctified mind for what is not sin in that particular individual; because the selfish man might naturally think that the other is motivated by the same motives that he knows motivates him. On the other hand, a sanctified mind might give credit to a selfish mind where it is not due, taking it for granted that when the act is right the motive is right. Therefore, the sinner may sin in copying the example of a Christian; I mean the example of the Christian when that Christian does not sin. Christian example may influence him to go to meetings, but still, if his motives are not right, it is sin.

8. Sinners may, and often do give themselves credit for outwardly imitating the example of Christians, when, in reality, the very thing that they give themselves credit for is among their greatest sins.

9. There is no peace of mind outside of a state of devotion. No other state of mind is reasonable. In no other state will the powers of our mind harmonize. In any state other than a state of devotion to God, there is an inward struggle, a mutiny, and a strife that takes place in the mind itself. The conscience upbraids the heart for selfishness. Hence “there is no peace”, says my God, “for the wicked”. (Isaiah 57:1)

10. They have “perfect peace whose minds are thus stayed on God” (Isaiah 26:3). That is an attitude of constant devotion. It is impossible that they should not have peace; for devotion implies and includes peace.

And now, beloved, do you have the spirit of true devotion? Don’t reply. I hope so; for nothing but your internal witness should satisfy you for one moment. If you are devoted to God, you are aware of it; and if you are not aware of being devoted to God, it is because you are not so devoted. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Gal6:7)