Great Revivals and Evangelists By JOHN H. HUNTER IV. CHARLES G. FINNEY (Continued) Copyright, 1915, by John H. Hunter
prayer, or perhaps I should say an exhorta tion, or gave a narrative—I hardly know what to call it. He told the Lord how many years they had been holding that prayer-meeting weekly, and that no answer had been given to their prayers. He made such statements and confessions-as greatly shocked me. After he had done, another elder took up the same theme. He read a hymn, and, after, singing, engaged in a long prayer, in which he went over very nearly the same ground, making such statements as the first one had omitted. Then followed the third elder, in the same strain. By this time I could say with Paul, that my spirit was stirred within me. They had got through and were about to dismiss the meeting. But one o f the elders asked me if I would not make a remark, before they dismissed. I arose and took their state ments and confessions for a text; and it seemed to me, at the time, that God inspired me to give them a terrible searching.. MOVED BY THE SP IRIT “When I arose, I had' no idea what I should say; but the Spirit o f God came upon me, and T took up their prayers, and statements, and confessions, and dissected them. I showed them-up, and asked if it had been understood that that prayer meeting was a mock prayer-meeting—• whether they had come together professedly to mock God, by implying that all the blame o f what had been passing all this time, was to be ascribed to his sovereignty? “ At first I observed that they all looked angry. Some o f them afterward said, that they were on the point of getting up and going out. But I followed them up on the track o f their prayers and confessions, until the elder, who was the principal man among them, and opened the meeting, bursting into tears, exclaimed, ‘Brother Finney, it is all
ESUMING the story o f the life-work o f Mr. Finney, where I left off last month, it is again continued in his own words. He writes as follow s:
YU
“And now I will turn to Western, where these revivals commenced, in Oneida coun ty. I have said, that Mr. Gale had settled upon a farm in Western; and was employ ing some young men in helping to cultivate the farm, and was engaged in teaching them, and endeavoring to regain his health. I went directly to his house, and for sev eral weeks was his guest. W e arrived there Thursday, I think, and that afternoon there was a stated prayer-meeting, in the school- house, near the church. The church had no settled minister, and Mr. Gale was unable to preach; indeed, he did not go there to preach, but simply for his health. I -believe they usually had a minister only a part o f the time, and for some time previously to my going there, I think, they had had no stated preaching at all, in the Presby terian church. There were three elders in the church, and a few members; but the church was very small, and religion was at low water mark. There seemed to be no life, or courage, or enterprise, on the part o f Christians; and nothing was doing to secure the conversion o f sinners, or the sanctification o f the church. “In the afternoon Mr. Gale invited me to go to the prayer-meeting, and I went. They asked me to take the lead o f the meeting; but I declined, expecting to be there only for that afternoon, and preferring rather to hear them pray and talk, than to take part in the meeting myself. The meeting was opened by one o f the elders, who read a chapter in the Bible, then a hymn, which they , sung. A fter this he made a long
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online