The Oberlin Evangelist
May 8, 1839
Professor Finney's Letters--No. 6.
TO THE CHRISTIAN READERS OF THE OBERLIN EVANGELIST.
Beloved,
another reason why converts have not grown more in
grace, is because they have allowed themselves, to a greater or
lesser extent, to be swept away by the current of public opinion in the church
into yielding to the popular sins of the day.
One of these sins is anxiousness, or worry, which is the subject of my
lecture that appears in this issue of the Oberlin Evangelist. If my feelings guided me, I would
demonstrate to you almost exclusively the grace, the promises, and the fullness
of the gospel. But, I am persuaded that
the circumstances of most of you demand a different course; and that it is
necessary both in my preaching, and in my letters to call your attention to
those sins that are eating up your piety.
Until someone points these sins out to you, and you see, feel, and seek
a remedy, demonstrating the grace and fullness of the gospel would not do you
much good, and would even have a tendency to press the freedom and the fullness
of gospel salvation upon you even though you are not free, but in bondage to
certain sins.
2.
Another reason is they have greatly neglected the Bible. I am persuaded that real spirituality never
exceeds the amount of spiritual knowledge.
If you neglect the Bible, you may grow in fanaticism, and you may bustle
about, and make a lot of noise; but you will never grow in true holiness.
3.
Another reason why converts have not grown more in grace is they have not had a
sufficient dependence on the Spirit to teach them the meaning of the Bible when
they have read it. They have read the
Bible, but they have not searched it.
And if they have searched the Bible, it has not been with enough
dependence on the illumination of Him who inspired it.
4.
They have not read the Bible for themselves.
In other words, they have not understood that the commands and promises
are addressed individually and particularly to themselves. In a manner of speaking, when reading these
things, we should insert our own names in the commands and promises, as if God
is addressing us by name.
5.
They have not read, searched, prayed, and refused to rest until they have come
to a right apprehension and understanding of the things that are taught in the
Bible. Instead, they read loosely and
inattentively, without concern. As a
result, the time they spend in the Bible is unprofitable and dishonorable to God. The Scriptures have a hardening, instead of
a softening and a divinely transforming influence on them.
6.
They have neglected secret prayer too much.
When prayer is rightly understood it becomes the hearts direct communion
with God. If you neglect this exercise,
your soul will soon find that there is some mist, some cloudy medium between it
and the sun of righteousness. At first,
the mist may only be a mist that simply dims the light rather than completely
shut off their view of the sun of righteousness. But one neglect leads to another neglect; and as the medium
between the soul and God becomes misty and obscure, the soul will relish
praying less and less, until a thick cloud shuts out the rays of truth and
light which will completely cut off the communication between the soul and
God. A thick dark night will come over
their whole spiritual horizon; and their soul is left to wander on, not knowing
where it is going. Doubts and
perplexities are a natural consequence, of course. Eventually, flashes of lightning from Mount Sinai and peals of
dreadful thunder disturb the alarmed conscience, and sternly warn them of
coming wrath; but “darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness covers the
people” who are in this state. They
have wandered away from Calvary, and have gone into the wilderness of
Sinai. They continue to wander up and
down until they are spent and wasted, until they are almost helpless and
despairing. Finally, they find that it
was the neglect of their prayer closet, it was the abuse of their closet; the
sin, the shame, and the abomination of their closet exercises, which was at the
foundation of all their wanderings, distress, and sin.
Beloved
ones: Do any of you recognize your image in this picture? Did I just describe your life? Are these your sins? Are you wandering from God? Have you gone astray like a lost sheep? Are you stumbling on the dark and desolate
mountains of unbelief? My dear precious
souls: Do you know how Christ’s precious heart and bowels of mercy yearn over
you? The good shepherd is in pursuit of
you. Listen! Can’t you hear his voice?
He calls! He says, “Come unto me
all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you, and learn of Me, for I
am meek and lowly in heart, and you wall find rest to Your souls.”
Beloved
Brother, Sister, seek your prayer closet again. Clear it out. Let it be
swept and garnished. And there wait on
the Lord until He come and revive you, until He renews your strength so that
“you can mount up on wings as eagles, that you can run and not be weary, and
walk and not faint.”
C.G.
FINNEY,
A
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.