Part 7 (pages 92–105)
very nearly the same ground, making such statements’as the first one had omitted.” Another elder followed the first two with a similar procedure. ot
Poor Charles! The elders were ready to dismiss the meeting, when they turned to the evangelist to ask if he had a word. When Charles stood up, he had no idea what he would say, except that he started preaching with their own prayers, statements, and confessions as his text. He dissected their words and berated them, asking if they did fiot understand that their prayer meeting was ‘a mock prayer meeting. Had they come together to mock God by. implying that all the blame of what had been passing all this time was because of His sovereignty?
At first the people looked angry. Some said later they were on the point of getting up and going out. But as Charles pressed home to them their own prayers and con- fessions, one of the elders—the leader among them— burst into tears, exclaiming, “Brother Finney, it is all true!” With that, the man fell upon his knees and wept aloud.
This act seemed to signal the others to follow suit, and every man and woman went down upon their knees. They wept and confessed and broke their hearts before God. This repentance continued for at least an hour or so.
After this dramatic episode, the people pleaded with the evangelist to stay and preach on the Sabbath. Charles believed God was speaking to him through the people and agreed to do so. The prayer meeting had been held on Thursday night, and on Friday, Charles felt his: mind “greatly exercised.” He went frequently to the church to engage in secret prayer and had a “mighty hold on God.”
The news that Charles Finney would be preaching on
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the s Sabbath stead! through: ‘the community, and when he: preached ‘on Sunday, the:church was full of eager listen: ersyAs:he preached, “‘God:came down with: great power: upon the: people” and “it was manifest :to'everybody. that’ the. work-of: grace had: begun. : ‘:made appointments: to. : preach in different parts of the town, in schoolhouses,-and. at: the: center, during the. weeks; ‘and: the) work: increased frofn day to day OO EMEC Lunda ba de ;
To Charles’ s delight; seaplew were 6 inoved: to-pray. through- out: the area: The: women“of. the :church jin: “particular devoted themselves to interceding’ for others: One mani confided ‘his: concern::about ‘his wife ‘to:-the: evangelist: x “Brother Finney;-I think my: wife ‘will die. She.is so exer= cised.in her:mind that she cannot rest :day-or night; but is given up: entirely to: prayer-She. has been:all-morning: in’ her-rooin, groaning: and. struggling in:prayer;: sand: amy: -afraid it will:entitely overcome her: strength...» Meson to be of help, Charles Went home wi
m When’ she: ‘heard: the preacher’ S: woice;’ ‘the 4 woman - came out: of: the:bedroom;:and..as. Charles ‘observed: it: “Upon: her face’ was:a most heavenly: glow: Her: counte:: - nance was lighted:-up with a hope aint; a soyt ‘that: were: . Plainly from heaven: & 8 i : iFhe woman’ Jooked. atthe: evangelist with, eyes: sallow atid said; “Brother Finney; the Lord:has come!.This: work’ will spread allover ‘this :tegion!:A: cloud. of: mercy.over: hangs-us all; arid: we shall see:such a 1 work ot Brace! ‘as we have never. yet seen?” is) v6 2c! : atea » The: woman’s: husband seemed puzzled, b but. Charles,
£93 too, had the assurance that God. would doa great work in the community. The-work spread. Charles was moved to new depths in prayer and personal ministry. He spent hours visiting ‘those who were anxious about their rela- tionship with Christ. Coming back exhausted to the Rev- erend Gale’s house after a full day, Charles experienced a great burden to pray for those he had ministered to. Since he prayed aloud and did not wish to disturb his hosts, Charles had spread a buffalo robe in the hayloft where he could let God alone hear his voice.
On a cold day in November, Charles arrived home bone weary, yet with a great need to pray. He sought the Lord for some time in his hayloft prayer closet until he had the assurance that God had heard him and victory would be forthcoming. Upon receiving the peace of assurance, he lapsed into a deep sleep. After-some time, Pastor Gale, quite concerned, came out to check on his guest. He found Charles in such a deep sleep that he called out: “Brother Finney, are you dead?”
When he was thoroughly awake, Charles admitted he had not realized he had fallen asleep, nor how long he slept. He did acknowledge, however, that “my mind was calm and my faith unwavering. The work would go on, of that I felt assured.”
While the evangelist stayed with the Reverend Gale in Western, the pastor again’ told him that he did not believe he had ever been converted. He shared his rea- soning with Charles and told-him that “he had firmly believed, as he had so-frequently urged upon me, that God would not bless my labors,. because I would. not preach what he regarded as the truths of the gospel. But : : charles siney : when he ‘found that the Spitit:of:God.did accompany, amy labors; ‘itled hin to. the conchision: that: he:was wrong; and
» this led him: to: such: ‘an overhauling: of his whole staté of mind, ‘and. of his:.views:as a-preacher; ‘as resultediin his coming. to: the: ‘conclusion: ‘that he had: never. been con-. verted, arid: did:not understand: the gospel himself.” ;
During’ the revival:at: Western; : ‘Pastor Gale: attended most of:thé ‘meetings. Charles recorded: “He'told'me?hé had‘come into an entirely: different state of mind in regard to‘his' own:soul,:and had: changed his:views of the Gospel; and thought Iwas ‘right: He said’ he thariked:God that:he had::shad-no:influence: with mejito:lead:me ‘to: adopt his views; that:I should have been'ruined as.a minister if hé had prevailed::From this’ timé ie becanie a very:efficient worker, so:far'as‘his:health:would permit; in the revival:i that region of the:country.”? 3: s.f.8 sy
‘s' Many; people: besides Charles: were: ‘battling in: prayét for ‘Western. As a:result, numerous: individuals experi+’ enced profound:conversions. ‘One :person:who; underwent. a dramatic ‘change was.a wellknown: personality: i in:the community. known: as’ the: Widow: Floyd.: She:was ‘eighty
‘years old and totally blind. Her-husband had setved’as a Revolutionary; War' officer and-had' been:one of the. signs: ers. of ‘the: Declaration of Independence: “He ‘had -been known:as'a skeptic-and had retained his unbelief uhtilhe | died: When his. widow found:Chtistat the age.of-eighty,
the: wholes communly was: amazed: :
Some of the people attending the meetings at: Western lived: in nearby: Rome,*New ‘York,.:and-the: surrounding
district. It' was not long: before’the seeds of revival wete -.~ planted in these areas as well, and the people urged the evangelist to come preach in Rome. At first Charles felt~’ he had made a mistake in consenting to go to Rome, but he said later: “The work went on, spread:and prevailed, until it began. to exhibit unmistakable indications of the direction in which the Spirit of God was leading from that place. The distance to Rome was nine miles, I believe. About half-way, was a small village’ called Elmer’s Hill. There was a large schoolhouse where I held a weekly lecture; and it soon became manifest that the work was spreading in the direction of Rome and Utica.”
The invitation to come to Rome had come primarily through the Reverend Moses Gillett, pastor of the Congregational church. He had been a witness to the sig- nificant happenings taking place in.‘Western, having arrived just as the awakening had achieved full force. Shaken bythe. outpouring of God’s. blessings, Gillett wanted to have a part in the revival. He proposed to Charles that they exchange pulpits for a Sunday. Even though Charles did not wish to do so, reluctantly he agreed. They set a certain Sunday aside for the exchange.
On the day before the exchange, Charles went to Rome with a heavy heart. He greatly regretted having made the agreement; He was concerned. that Gillett would not understand how to keep the revival going in Western. And he fretted that-Gillett would preach one of the old-style sermons: that would have a detrimental effect on the revival. At this point, all he could do was to trust God.
Charles preached three times in Rome on Sunday. The: people. awakened to a consciousness of sin. The a -harles Finney ’
for him to tell him: the exciting news: Immediately, Gillett “wanted to call: for inquirers, and he insisted that Charles. ~ stay -and: help conduct: the. inquirers® meetirig:: Charles: © went back: to Western: for. the day, but came. back that. evening for an anxious: meeting -(as:he sometimes called” meetings for people-inquiring: about:the faith), scheduled .. in.adeacon’s home.: ‘By. the time'the:pastor and: evangelist, a arrived, :they.found: the .deacon’s large. sitting room __ packed to: overflowing. Gillett’s-amazement:did:not'stop._- there: Many: leading: members’ of: his congregation: were in the room; inquiring. -about their: souls.® 0% i Pastor Gillett started to’ counsel them, but: the tmos- phere, was SO: charged with emotion it) seemed ‘the would explode; ‘Charles, not: wanting‘ his; revivals. - shallow, picked up:where the pastor.left‘ “It will. not:do to continue: the meeting in thi make some remarks, such:as:they need, and ther iss them,” No effort had: been made.to,stimula' ithe people emotionally. They: were simply responding tothe. con: wicting power ofthe: Holy Spirit at: work.in their:lives.- : | Charles:remarked later about the: situation: was. with such: power that even. as few. wor
ably not be » possible ‘for one: ¢ who hadi never: =r witnessed sl he a scene, to realize what the force of the truth sometimes is, under the power of the Holy. Ghost; It. was indeed, a sword; © - -and’a-two-edged sword. ‘The: pain that:it:produced ‘when ~
oT searchingly ‘presented in a few words of conversation, would create a distress that seemed unendurable.”
Taking: over from Pastor Gillett, Charles addressed the group in as gentle and quiet a manner as he could, yet he was plain and honest. He called their attention at once to their only remedy and assured them it was a present and all-sufficient remedy. “I pointed them. to Christ, as the Savior of the world; and kept on in this strain as long as they could well endure it, which indeed, was but a few moments.” He added, “Now please go home without speaking a word to each other. Try to keep silent, and do not break out.into any boisterous manifestation or feel- ing; but go without saying a word, to your rooms.” They began to leave. Some were sobbing, others sighing.
Charles accompanied one of the men from the meet- ing. They maintained their silence until they entered the house. Suddenly the man burst into what Charles called “a loud wailing.” The noise brought the whole family to the scene. The man’s deep conviction soon spread to all of them: Quickly, the house became filled with prayer. Everyone in the family was saved, and similar scenes were enacted.all over town.
Early the next morning, people began coming to Pastor Gillett’s house, seeking spiritual help. After eating breakfast quickly, Charles and the pastor went out to see how they could help the people. As they went.down the street, Charles said later,:““The people ran out from many houses, and begged us to go into their houses. As we could only visit but one place at a time, when we went into a house, the neighbors would ‘rush in and fill the largest room. We would stay and give them instruction for a short time, and then go to another house, and the people would follow us.” ;
The situation was, as Charles termed it, “Extraordi- nary. Convictions were so deep and universal, that we would sometimes go into a house, and find some in a kneeling posture, and some prostrate on the floor. We vis- © ited, and conversed, and. prayed in this. manner, from house to house, till noon. I then said to Mr. Gillett, ‘This will never do; we must have a meeting of inquiry. We cannot go from house to house, and we:are not meeting the wants of the people at all.’ He agreed with me; but the question arose, where shall we have the meeting?”
Soon, Pastor Gillett approached the proprietor of the hotel in the center of town. An arrangement was made to use the dining room at one o’clock in the afternoon. After lunch, the evangelist and pastor made their way to the hotel. People were flocking to. the hotel—some came running, so anxious were they about their souls. Before long, the large dining room was crammed to capacity.
By the time the meeting opened, the same burden of concern that had marked the previous night was evident. The feeling was overwhelming. Some men were so stricken by the remarks that were made, they were unable to walk and had to be taken home. by their friends. The meeting lasted till nearly night. Charles noted with con- siderable reserve: “It resulted in a great number of hope- ful conversions, and was the means of greatly extending the work on every side.”
In the evening, Charles preached again in the regular church services. Pastor Gillett set up another. inquiry meeting for the following morning. This time, he made arrangements to meet: at: the courthouse, which had a much larger room than the hotel. Again, at the appointed hour, people rushed in, filling the place to. capacity. The two men gave instruction for the rest of the day.
Charles followed the same routine the next day when he preached again in the evening: This time Pastor Gillett was able to locate a room in the church that would be large enough for the numerous inquirers. The evening evangelistic services became so powerful that Charles felt he must stay in Rome .and: preach regularly. For twenty straight nights, with two services on Sunday, he preached the gospel. A prayer meeting and an inquiry meeting dominated every day, and as Charles said, “There was a solemnity throughout the whole place, and an awe that made everybody feel that God was there.”
In fact, “Rome was in an extraordinary state of things. Convictions were so deep and universal that we would sometimes go into a house, and find some in a kneeling posture, some prostrate on the carpet, some bathing the temples of their friends with camphor, and rubbing them to keep them from fainting, and as they feared from dy- ing.” During the twenty days, at least five hundred con- versions were reported. :
News of the meetings in Rome spread quickly to neighboring areas. Soon, ministers converged on the scene from outlying areas everywhere. Keeping track of conver- sions became an impossibility. The only recourse for Charles was to call on those who had been converted dur- ing the day to come forward at the close of the evening sermon, confess their new faith publicly, and receive help- ful instructions. The continuing development of this “new ‘neasute” pave: ‘credence to: the method, used so svidély in:
today’ si imas evangelism: meetings.: : “vo illustrate: the tremendous’: power : Of: ‘then meet: ings, Charles described:a: typical event during the Rome...
At one of the. morning prayer meetings, the low pat of the church was full. I arose ‘and:was.mak- o<ing. some remarks-to :the people, -when an uncon ~-yerted: ‘man;a merchant;.came into: the: meeting: - He.came:along vuntil:he found: a:seat in front of > mewand near: where ‘stood: speaking: He had:s 1s but afew: moments, wherche fell from-his. seatas ‘if he had been:shot. He: writhed and:groaned:in terrible. manner.:I stepped to: the pew: door and: saw that it-was'altogether an. agony: of mind: Bab A skeptical physician sat near him.-He stepped ‘:out of the.slip,-and:came-and examined. this man “:whowwas thus: distressed. He felt: his: ‘pulse,: ‘and:ex- . “amined the case for a few moments. He said noth cing, but turned away and leaned: his head agai a post that. supported the gallery, a and. id mirenied ; great agitation.’ : : He:said afterward that: heii saw. atonce: 2 that tt: “was distress of mind, and it took his: skepticism: 4 «entirely away.:He was-soon after hopefully con=: . verted: We' engaged in prayer for-the:man who. fell: :
in the pew; and before-he-left the ‘house, I believe ‘his is anguish passed away, and he rejoiced § in Christ
God also: ‘performed what the > evangelist called ‘some ’
i 101 M4 terrible things in righteousness.” Three men stubbornly opposed the Rome meetings. They met one Sunday and spent the entire day drinking and ridiculing the work. Suddenly, one of them fell stone dead.-The other two were speechless, convinced that God had judged them for their adamant opposition. to the obvious work of the Holy Spirit.
While the work in Rome progressed in a powerful way, excitement sprang up in the surrounding area. The prayers of a pious Christian woman in Utica had already reached out to the Utica community. She was spending days and nights in intercession for:an outpouring of the Spirit in her town.. Others began to join her in exceptional prayer. Charles, ever sensitive to such signs, realized that God was ready to move in.the city. So he went to Utica and began preaching.
The influence of God’s Spirit.saturated the commu- nity, and the meetings overflowed night after night. Father Nash came to intercede in prayer for the. revival. Two Presbyterian congregations in Utica were special recipients of the revival, and their pastors, the Reverend Samuel Aiken and the Reverend Samuel. Brace, embraced the work wholeheartedly.
At the outset of his time in Utica, Charles took a room in the leading hotel. Before long, the hotel owner and his entire family were converted, together with a large num- ber of the guests. Charles recorded that:
The stages, as they passed through, stopped at the hotel, and so powerful was the impression in the
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community, that I heard of several cases of per- sons that just stopped for.a meal, or to spend a night, being powerfully convicted or converted before they left the town. Indeed, both in this place and in Rome, it was a common remark that nobody could be.in the town, or pass through it, without being aware of the presence of God; that a divine influence seemed to pervade the place, and the whole atmosphere to be instinct [filled, ] with a divine presence. ;
An. interesting incident took place when Charles visited.a cotton mill in Utica. The owner was-not a Christian, but he was known as a-man of high morals and excellent standing in the community. In addition, Charles’s brother- in-law was the superintendent: of the mill. Since Charles -had preached in the mill’s vicinity one evening, he.was given a tour through the factory the next day.
- As the factory owner, Charles, and his. brother-in-law walked through the.mill looking at the-various ‘stages. in the production of cotton cloth, they.came to.a large room where a number of women were working: at the weaving machines. The workers kept looking at Charles, knowing who he was and having heard about the revival that was taking place in the area. Two girls, in particular, seemed taken by his presence, but were laughing lightheartedly.
As Charles recalled: “I went slowly toward them. They saw.me coming, and were-evidently much excited. One of them was trying to. mend.a broken thread, and I observed that her hands trembled so that she could not mend it.-I approached slowly, looking on each side at the machinery as I passed; but observed that.this girl grew more and more agitated, and could not proceed with her work. When I came within eight or ten feet of her, I looked solemnly at her. She observed it, and was quite overcome, and sunk down, and burst into tears: The impression caught almost like powder, and in a few moments nearly all in the room were in tears.” ;
Conviction spread through the whole factory. ‘The owner, deeply moved himself, said to the superintendent, “Stop the mill, and let the people attend to religion; for it is more important that our souls be saved than that this fac- tory run.” The factory was shut down, and all the employ- ees gathered into one large room. Charles preached, and as he noted, “A more powerful meeting I scarcely. ever attended.” The revival swept through the entire group of factory employees until within a few days nearly all were brought to faith in Christ.
Perhaps the most remarkable conversion in Utica was that of Theodore D. Weld. The story of his religious expe- rience reveals again the amazing work of God’s Spirit. Weld was a student at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, which was not far from Utica: The revival in Utica attracted the attention of the Hamilton College commu- nity, and many of Hamilton’s professors and ‘students attended the revival. Campus talk often centered around the revival. i
A leader on campus, Weld was an outstanding student and influential with his fellow students. His Christian heritage, too, was impeccable: His father was a promi- nent New England minister, and he had a godly praying chars Finney
aunt in Utica: ‘Nevertheless, Weld: himself had 1 No: Ouse: for the: gospel: and: proved tobe ‘an: Outspoken: ‘antagonist. When he heard:about the Finney: revival, Weld: uséd: his
verbal: gifts ‘to fight it. Even: though: Charles: was a com- . © -
pleéte:stranger to. Weld, -he had nothing ‘good to say: about. him:: When ‘his aunt learned’ of -his: antagonism toward. Charles and the.work of God’s Spirit, ‘she sad eaireanely : burdened for her:nephew’s conversion. :
» At the invitation of: his :aunt;: Theodore Weld came'to Utica for'aweekend:visit. He-made it:a point to;tell his college: friends: that ‘he ‘would: show: ‘them how toxsit through:a revival meeting unmoved. His:plans, however; included: attending :the morning «service *whén' Pastor Aiken preached instead: of Charles’s afternoon ‘service;
_ His aunt:made ‘her own:plans and persuaded:Charles’and ’ Pastor. Aiken to exchange their preaching:times. Then ‘the. aunt: put: Weld:in ‘the middle:of the:pew;:so it'w uld be quite difficult for-him:to: bolt from the:servicé:'’ x
«As! the: service began, Pastor’ ‘Aiken: coouael Charles: sto the ‘pulpit area: He ‘had poitited Weld: out ito. Charles. earlier, and Charles knew of his considerable : influerice and of his:opposition to the meetings.:;Wheén the : evangelist: stood to preach; he took as:his text, “Oneéisin’ her-destroyeth: much: good”! (Ecclesiastes: 9:18) harles ; said later: that-he ‘had: néver: preached:.on that BOs heard'anyone else: preach ‘it. The Holy: Spirit: had biought : i¢ to: his: mind for that: npartioalar ‘occasion:
pretty’ vivid: picture Of: Weld; cand of! what | ‘his: cine was;.and what. mischief. ‘he-might do.” Weld tried several