Lectures on Revivals of Religion

Lectures on Revivals of Religion brings together twenty-three lectures that the theologian Charles Finney gave to his church during the middle of the 19th.
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But happily this mistake has, to a great extent, been corrected; and it seems now to be almost universally admitted, that this is a field in which even the obscurest Christian may find a place to labor. In a community in which there prevails a spirit of deep religious anxiety, and many are just forming the purpose to set their faces toward heaven, and many others are beginning to hope that they have yielded themselves to God, there must needs be much occasion for private counsel and instruction; and the persons most likely to be applied to are often those with whom the individuals concerned happen to be most intimately associated.

Every one, therefore, ought to be competent to give at least some general directions. One right direction, in certain circumstances, may be the means of saving the soul. One wrong direction, in similar circumstances, of ruining it forever. If all Christians, then, are so deeply and practically interested in this subject, there is good reason why it should be brought before you as a distinct theme for contemplation and instruction.

Having now stated some reasons for bringing this subject before you at this time, I proceed to the main design of the discourse, which is to exhibit the NATURE of a revival of religion. And that we may do this intelligently, it will be necessary previously to answer the question, in a single word, what is the nature of religion? Religion consists in a conformity of heart and life to the will of God. It consists in a principle of obedience implanted in the soul, and in the operation of that principle in the conduct. Religion is substantially the same in all worlds; though the religion of a sinner is modified, in some respects, by his peculiar character and condition.

Lectures on Revivals of Religion - Charles Grandison Finney - Google Книги

In common with the religion of the angels, it consists in love to God—to his law, to his government, to his service; but in distinction from that, it consists in repentance of sin; faith in the merits of a crucified Saviour; resignation under trials; opposition to spiritual enemies. Moreover, religion in the angels is an inherent principle; it begins with their existence; but in the human heart it is something superinduced by the operation of the Spirit of God.

Now if such be the nature of religion, you will readily perceive in what consists a revival of religion. It is a revival of scriptural knowledge; of vital piety; of practical obedience. But though the fact implied in this objection is admitted, the objection itself has no force; because the term is intended to be applied in a general sense, to denote the improved religious state of a congregation, or of some other community.

And it is moreover applicable, in a strict sense, to the condition of Christians, who, at such a season, are in a greater or less degree revived; and whose increased zeal is usually rendered instrumental of the conversion of sinners. Wherever then you see religion rising up from a state of comparative depression to a tone of increased vigor and strength; wherever you see professing Christians becoming more faithful to their obligations, and behold the strength of the church increased by fresh accessions of piety from the world; there is a state of things which you need not hesitate to denominate a revival of religion.

They wake up to a sense of neglected obligations; and resolve to return to the faithful discharge of duty. There too they importunately ask for the descent of the Holy Ghost on those around them; on the church with which they are connected; on their friends who are living at a distance from God; on all who are out of the ark of safety. Their conversation becomes proportionally more spiritual and edifying. When they meet in the common intercourse of life, their conversation shows that the world is with them but a subordinate matter; and that their controlling desire is, that God may be glorified in the salvation of sinners.

They find it no difficult matter to be faithful in pressing the obligations of religion upon those who are indifferent to it; in warning them of their danger; and in beseeching them with the earnestness of Christian affection to be reconciled to God. It is a case of no uncommon occurrence at such a season that a professor of religion, under a deep sense of his wanderings, comes to regard his own Christian character with the utmost distrust; and sometimes wanders many days in darkness, before the joys of salvation are restored to his soul.

There are indeed some professors who sleep through such a scene; and probably some who join with the wicked, so far as they dare, in opposing it; but many at least are awake; are humble; are active; and come up to the help of the Lord with renewed zeal and strength. Another prominent feature in the state of things which I am describing, is the alarm and conviction of those who have hitherto been careless.

Sometimes the change in this respect is very gradual; and for a considerable time nothing more can be said than that there is a more listening ear, and a more serious aspect, than usual, under the preaching of the word; and this increased attention is gradually matured into deep solemnity and pungent conviction. In other cases, the reigning lethargy is suddenly broken up, as if there had come a thunderbolt from eternity; and multitudes are heard simultaneously inquiring what they shall do to be saved.

The young man, and the old man and the middle aged man; the exemplary and orthodox moralist, the haughty pharisee, the downright infidel, the profane scoffer, the dissipated sensualist, may sometimes all be seen collected with the same spirit in their hearts—a spirit of deep anxiety; and the same question upon their lips—how they shall escape the threatening woes of perdition?

In some cases, the conviction which is felt prompts to silence, and you are left to learn it from downcast looks, or as the case may be, from half-stifled sobs. In other cases, there is no effect at concealment, and the deep anguish of the heart comes out in expressions of the most painful solicitude. Those who once would have disdained any thing which should indicate the least concern for their salvation, hesitate not to ask and to receive instruction even from the obscurest Christian, or to place themselves in circumstances which are a virtual acknowledgement to all that they feel their danger and desire to escape from it.

All the shame which they once felt on this subject they have given to the winds; and their commanding desire now is, that they may find that peace which passeth understanding; that hope which is full of immortality. There are others who are partially awakened; whose attention is in some measure excited, but not enough to prompt to any decided and vigorous effort. They attend regularly not only upon the ordinary but upon some of the extraordinary means of grace, and treat the whole subject not only with great respect, but with decided seriousness; but after all do not advance to the decisive point of repentance, or even of true conviction of sin.

In this state they often remain for a considerable time; until they return to their accustomed carelessness; or by some new impulse from on high they are carried forward and become the subjects of a genuine conversion; or else they are taken away in the midst of their half formed resolutions to a world where they will learn, to their eternal cost, that it was most dangerous to trifle with the Spirit of God.

There are still others belonging to the same general class of awakened sinners, who struggle against their convictions; whose consciences proclaim to them that their all is in jeopardy, but who try to discredit the testimony.

Lectures on Revival

These persons sometimes rush with unaccustomed avidity into the haunts of business or the haunts of pleasure. They throw themselves into vain company, or engage in reading idle or infidel books; and in some instances even venture to deny what is passing within them, and to jeer at what is passing around them. Wherever you hear scoffing, and witness violent opposition in a revival of religion, it is scarcely possible that you should mistake, if you should put down those by whom it is exhibited on the list of awakened sinners.

The true account of it is, that there is a war between the conscience and the passions.

Conscience is awake and doing its office, and the heart is in rebellion against its dictates. It also belongs essentially to a revival of religion, that there are those, from time to time, who are indulging a hope that they are reconciled to God, and are born of the Spirit. In some cases the change of feeling is exceedingly gradual, insomuch that the individual, though he is sensible of having experienced a change within a given period, is yet utterly unable to refer it to any particular time.

Sometimes the soul suddenly emerges from darkness into light, and perceives a mighty change in its exercises, almost in the twinkling of an eye. Sometimes there is a state of mind which is only peaceful; sometimes it mounts up to joy and ecstacy. In some cases there is from the beginning much self distrust; in others much—too much, confidence. But with a great variety of experience, there are many who are brought, or who believe themselves brought, into the kingdom of Christ. They give reason to hope they have taken the new song upon their lips.

Children sing their young hosannas to the Lamb that was slain. The aged tell with gratitude of what God has done for them while on the margin of the grave. Saints on earth rejoice, and in proportion as the work is genuine, so also do saints and angels in heaven. The church receives a fresh and often a rich accession both to her numbers and her strength; an accession which, in some cases, raises her from the dust, and causes her to look forth in health and beauty. Such are the more prominent features of what we commonly call a revival of religion.

But revivals, like every thing else that is good, have their counterfeits; and not unfrequently there is a spurious admixture in those which, on the whole, must be considered genuine. We will inquire briefly what are not, and what are, the indications of a genuine revival. It is no certain indication of a genuine revival, that there is great excitement.

It is admitted indeed that great excitement may attend a true revival; but it is not the necessary accompaniment of one, and it may exist where the work is wholly spurious. It may be an excitement produced not by the power of divine truth, but by artificial stimulus applied to the imagination and the passions, for the very purpose of producing commotion both within and without. Here is the highest excitement; but it surely does not prove that the scene in which it exists is a genuine revival. On the other hand, there may be a true revival where all is calm and noiseless; and multitudes of hearts may be broken in contrition and yielded up to God, which have never been agitated by any violent, much less convulsive emotions, nor even breathed forth a single sob, unless in the silence of the closet, and into the ear of mercy.

It is no certain evidence of a genuine revival that great numbers profess to be converted. We are too much inclined, if I mistake not, to estimate the character of a revival by the number of professed converts; whereas there is scarcely a more uncertain test than this. For who does not know that doctrines may be preached, or measures adopted, or standards of religious character set up, which shall lead multitudes, especially of the uninstructed, to misapprehend the nature of conversion, and to imagine themselves subjects of it, while they are yet in their sins?

For suppose that every one of these individuals, or far the larger part of them, should finally fall away, this surely we should say, would prove the work spurious. If then, their having originally professed to be Christians proved it genuine, the same work is proved to be both genuine and spurious. Does the fact that an individual imagines himself to be converted convey any certain evidence of his conversion? But if this is not true of an individual, it certainly cannot be true of any number of individuals; for if one may be self deceived, so may many.

It follows that the genuineness of a revival is to be judged of, in a great measure, independently of the number of its professed subjects. Nor yet, thirdly, is the existence of an extensive and violent opposition, any evidence that a revival is genuine. But in an orderly and well instructed community, I hesitate not to say that we are not to look for any such general exhibition as this. Facts prove that there are multitudes who pass through a revival without becoming personally interested in it, who still never utter a word against it, and who say, and doubtless say honestly, that they feel no sensible hostility towards it.

While I admit therefore that the natural enmity of the heart does sometimes assume the form of direct opposition against revivals, where there is nothing censurable in the manner in which they are conducted, I am constrained to believe that the opposition which is often complained of, or rather gloried in, is opposition to harsh expressions which are fitted to irritate, but not to enlighten, to convince, or in any way to profit.

And then how natural is it that the odium should be transferred, or rather extended, from the severe language and questionable measures, to the revival with which they are connected; and so it comes to pass that a violent prejudice really grows up in the mind against the whole subject of revivals, which originated in the imprudent and mistaken zeal of some of their friends.

There are those, I know, who court opposition on these occasions, and who seem to think that nothing can be done to purpose, until the voice of railing is heard from without. The fact that any thing which claims to be a revival has been effected by scriptural means, is an evidence in favor of its genuineness. God has given us his word not only as a rule of faith but of practice; and in the same proportion that we adhere to it, we have a right to expect his blessing; in the same proportion that we depart from it, we have reason to expect his frown. Now apply this to the subject of revivals.

Suppose there were to be a powerful excitement on the subject of religion produced by means which are at war with the spirit of the gospel;—suppose doctrines were to be preached which the gospel does not recognize, and doctrines omitted which the gospel regards fundamental;—suppose that for the simple, and honest, and faithful use of the sword of the Spirit, there should be substituted a mass of machinery designed to produce its effect on the animal passions;—suppose the substance of religion, instead of being made to consist in repentance, and faith, and holiness, should consist of falling, and groaning, and shouting;—we should say unhesitatingly that that could not be a genuine work of divine grace; or if there were some pure wheat, there must be a vast amount of chaff and stubble.

It may be safe to admit even in the wildest scenes, the possibility of some genuine conversions; because there may be some truth preached, and some believing prayer offered, which God may regard and honor, notwithstanding all the error and delusion with which it may be mingled. If the effect partake of the same character with the cause, it must be of the earth, earthy.

If then we have a right to say that God honors his own word and his own institutions, the means employed in producing and carrying forward a revival furnish a good criterion by which to determine its character. It may not always be easy accurately to apply this rule in given cases, because there is often a strange mixture of good and bad; but without deciding how far any particular revival is genuine or spurious, we may safely decide that it is so in the same proportion that it is sustained by scriptural or unscriptural instrumentality.

I will not undertake to decide what amount of scriptural knowledge is necessary to conversion in any given case, or to question the fact that men under certain circumstances may be renewed where their knowledge is very limited; nevertheless it is certain that religious reflection precedes religious feeling in the order of nature. Before men can feel remorse, much more contrition, for their sins, they must have held strongly to their minds the fact that they are sinners.

They must have reflected upon what it is to be a sinner; on the character of God, not only as a Father, but a Lawgiver; on the reasonableness of their obligations to Him, and on the guilt of violating those obligations. Before they can exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they must have reflected on the character of Christ, on the fulness of his atonement, and on the freeness and sincerity of the gospel offer. The Holy Spirit employs the truth not only in the work of sanctification, but even in the work of conversion; and the truth can never find its way to the heart, except through the understanding.

But if, in such a scene, the mind be kept in a great degree passive, if there be a great deal of feeling with very little thought— burning heat with only dim and doubtful light; if the sensibilities of the soul be wrought into a storm, none can tell how or why; then rely on it, it is not a work which God owns; or if there are some true conversions, far the greater number may be expected to prove spurious. That on which we are principally to rely as evidence of the genuineness of a revival, is its substantial and abiding fruit.


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Precisely the same rule is to be applied to a revival as to individual cases of hopeful conversion. While, therefore, they may hope favorably from what they see at the beginning, before they form a decisive opinion they wait to see whether the individual can endure temptation; whether he is faithful in the discharge of all duty; whether he is a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

And if they see the fruits of holiness abounding in the life, whether the appearance at the beginning were more or less favorable, they infer with confidence that a principle of holiness has been implanted in the heart. In the same manner are we to test the character of revivals. If an excitement on the subject of religion no matter how great it may have been passes away, and leaves behind little or no substantial and enduring good; if most of those who profess to have been converted return speedily or gradually to the world, living a careless life, and exhibiting an unedifying example; or if they manifest a spirit of pride, and uncharitableness, and a disposition to condemn all who do not exactly come to their standard, then rely on it, though that may be called a revival of religion, it has little more than the name.

But if, after the excitement has gone by, the fruits of holiness remain and become more and more mature, if those who have been professedly converted hold on a course of humble, self denied, devoted obedience, exemplifying the spirit of Christ as well as professing his name, then you may take knowledge of them that they have come out of a true revival of religion. Religion acted out in the life is the best evidence that religion has its dwelling in the heart. Let the virtues and graces of the Christian adorn the lives of those who have professed to be converted during a revival, and you need ask for no better evidence that there has been the agency of the Spirit of God.

Such, as it seems to me, are the characteristics of a genuine revival of religion. I shall not stop here to prove that such a state of things has every thing in it to interest the best feelings of the Christian. While we are endeavoring to form correct views of this important subject, may we get our hearts thoroughly imbued with its spirit; and be able to point with devout joy to what is passing in the midst of us, as an example of a genuine, scriptural revival of religion.

The occasion on which these words were spoken, marked a memorable era in the history of the church. The disciples of Jesus, a few days after his ascension, being assembled for devotional exercises in a certain room, in the city of Jerusalem, where they had been accustomed to meet, were surprised by a marvellous exhibition of the mighty power of God. There came suddenly a sound from heaven, as of a violent rushing wind; and, at the same time, there appeared unto them a number of divided tongues, made as it were of fire; and it was so ordered that one of these tongues rested upon each of them.

And at the moment that these tongues, or lambent flames touched them, they were filled, in an extraordinary degree, with the Holy Spirit; and began to speak a variety of languages which they had never before understood, with a fluency and fervor which were beyond measure astonishing. It is not strange that so wonderful an event as this should have been instantly noised abroad, or that it should have excited much curiosity and speculation. Accordingly, we are informed that the multitude came together, and were amazed to find that the fact was as had been represented; that these ignorant Gallileans had suddenly become masters of a great variety of languages; and were talking with men of different nations as fluently as if they had been speaking in their own mother tongue.

All will admit that this was the very infatuation of prejudice. The reason why this absurd and ridiculous account was given of this miraculous occurrence was, that the individuals were at war with that system of truth of which this was pre-eminently the seal; they could not admit that it was an evidence of the triumph of the crucified Jesus; and rather than even seem to admit it, they would sacrifice all claims to reason and common sense. It was actually an effusion of the Holy Spirit, which drew forth the objection contained in the text; the commencement of a scene,.

The sole object of this discourse then, will be to consider, and so far as I can, to meet, some of the most popular objections which are urged against revivals of religion. And I wish it distinctly borne in mind that the defence which I am to make relates, not to mere spurious excitements, but to genuine revivals;—such revivals as I have attempted to describe in the preceding discourse. The first of these objections which I shall notice is, that revivals of religion, as we use the phrase, are unscriptural.

It is proper that this objection should be noticed first, because if it can be sustained, it is of itself a sufficient reason not only for indifference towards revivals, but for positive opposition to them; and in that case, as it would be unnecessary that we should proceed, so it would be only fair that, at the outset, we should surrender the whole ground. To the law and the testimony then be our appeal.

In order to denominate anything that is connected with the subject of religion unscriptural, it is not enough that we should be able to show that it is not expressly commanded; but we should also make it appear that it is either expressly or implicitly forbidden. There are many things which all admit to be right among Christians, and which are even regarded as important.

For instance the Bible has said nothing about the monthly concert of prayer for the conversion of the world, which is now so generally observed throughout evangelical Protestant Christendom; and of course this is not to be regarded as a divine institution; but so long as God has commanded his people to pray for the prosperity of Jerusalem, and so long as the Saviour has promised to bless them where only two or three are met together in his name, it would be folly for any one to contend that the monthly concert is an antiscriptural institution.

The spirit of the Bible manifestly justifies it, though the letter of the Bible may not require it. Now we claim for revivals, and it is the least that we claim for them on the score of divine authority that there is nothing in the general spirit of the Bible that is unfavorable to them, but much of an opposite character.

Now this is precisely what is accomplished in a revival of religion. But we need not stop here: Look for instance at many of the prayers which it records, as having been offered for the spiritual prosperity of Zion, when she was in a state of deep depression. Wilt thou be angry with us forever?

Wilt thou draw out thine anger unto all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. Accordingly, we find that these very prayers are constantly used by the church at this day; and that from a regard to them, as we cannot doubt, God often appears to lengthen her cords and strengthen her stakes; the blessings of divine grace descend upon her in such profusion, that she puts on her beautiful garments, and looks forth fair as the morning. There are also recorded in the scriptures many signal instances in which God has poured out his spirit, and effected a sudden and general reformation.

If you go back to the Jewish dispensation, you will find this remark strikingly verified in the reigns of David and Solomon, of Asa and Jehosaphat, of Hezekiah and Josiah. After the church had languished during the long and gloomy period of the Babylonish captivity, her interests were signally revived under the ministry of Ezra. A similar state of things existed in the days of John the Baptist, when the kingdom of heaven is said to have suffered violence, and many of the most profligate part of the community became impressed with religious truth, and were baptized unto repentance.

On the occasion referred to in our text, no less than three thousand, and on the day following two thousand more, were subdued to the obedience of the truth, and were added to the Lord. Shortly after this, multitudes in Samaria experienced the regenerating power of the gospel; and upon the dispersion of the disciples after the martyrdom of Stephen, they were instrumental of exciting a general attention to religion in the remote parts of Judea, and even as far as the territories of Greece. Here then are facts recorded by the unerring finger of inspiration, precisely analagous to those which the objection we are considering declares to be unscriptural.

But in addition to this, there is much in the prophecies which might fairly lead us to expect the very scenes which we denominate revivals of religion. If you read the prophetical parts of scripture attentively, you cannot, I think, but be struck with the evidence that, as the millenial day approaches, the operations of divine grace are to be increasingly rapid and powerful.

Many of these predictions respecting the state of religion under the Christian dispensation, it is manifest, have not yet had their complete fulfilment; and they not only justify the belief that these glorious scenes which we see passing really are of divine origin, as they claim to be, but that similar scenes still more glorious, still more wonderful, are to be expected, as the Messiah travels in the greatness of his strength towards a universal triumph.

If then the general spirit of the Bible be in favor of revivals; if the prayers which holy and inspired men have offered for them are here recorded; if there be many instances here mentioned of their actual occurrence; and if the spirit of prophecy has been exercised in describing and predicting them; then we may consider the objection that they are unscriptural as fairly set aside; nay, we may regard them as having the sanction of divine authority in the highest and clearest possible manner.

It is objected, again, that revivals of religion are unnecessary. In the mouth of an infidel, this objection would doubtless imply that religion itself is unnecessary; and so, of course, must be all the means used for its promotion. But in this view it does not fall within our present design to consider it. There are those who profess to regard religion, who maintain that revivals are modern innovations; and that they are unnecessary on the ground that the cause of Christ may be sustained and advanced, as it has been in other days, without them.

This is the only form of the objection which it concerns us at present to notice. The first thing to be said in reply, is, that the objection supposes what is not true—viz, that revivals are of modern origin. The truth is that if, as the objection asserts, the cause of religion in preceding ages has been sustained and carried forward without them, so also it has been sustained and carried forward with them; and during the periods in which they have prevailed, the church has seen her greatest prosperity.

You have already seen that, instead of being of recent origin, they go back to an early period in the Jewish dispensation. And passing from the records of inspiration, we find that revivals have existed, with a greater or less degree of power, especially in the later periods of the Christian church. This was emphatically true during the period of the Reformation in the sixteenth century: Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark, the Low countries, and Britain, were severally visited by copious showers of divine influence. During the season of the plague in London in , there was a very general awakening; in which many thousands are said to have been hopefully born of the Spirit.

In the early part of the seventeenth century, various parts of Scotland and the North of Ireland, were blessed, at different periods, with signal effusions of divine grace, in which great multitudes gave evidence of being brought out of darkness into marvellous light. During the first half of the last century, under the ministrations of Whitfield, Brainard, Edwards, Davies, the Tennents, and many other of the holiest and greatest men whose labors have blessed the church, there was a succession of revivals in this country, which caused the wilderness to blossom as the rose, and the desert to put on the appearance of the garden of the Lord.

And when these revivals declined, and the church settled back into the sluggish state from which she had been raised, then commenced her decline in purity, in discipline, in doctrine, in all with which her prosperity is most intimately connected. And this state of things continued, only becoming worse and worse, until, a little before the beginning of the present century, the spirit of revivals again burst forth, and has since that period richly blessed especially our American church.

The fact then, most unfortunately for the objection we are considering, turns out to be, that if the church has been sustained at some periods without these signal effusions of the Holy Spirit, she has barely been sustained; and that the brightest periods of her history have been those, in which they have prevailed with the greatest power. To object to revivals then on the ground that they are modern, or that they are unnecessary to the best interests of the church, betrays an utter ignorance of their history.


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    4. But let us inquire a little further why the old and quiet way, as it is often represented, of becoming religious, is the best. But the state of things which this objection contemplates is that in which religion is kept in the background, and only here and there one at distant periods, comes forward to confess Christ, and the church is habitually in a languishing state.

    Is it not desirable that sinners should be converted immediately? Are they liable every hour to die, and thus be beyond the reach of mercy and of hope; and is it not right that they should be pressed with the obligations of immediate repentance; and is it not necessary that they should exert themselves to escape the tremendous doom by which they are threatened? Is it more desirable that the mass of sinners should be sleeping on in guilty security, liable every hour to fall into the hands of a sin-avenging God, or that they should be escaping by multitudes from the coming wrath, and gaining an interest in the salvation of the gospel?

    He, and only he, who will dare to say that the former is most desirable, can consistently object to revivals on the ground that the church had better revert to the quiet uniformity of other days. Before you decide that revivals are unnecessary, you must either settle it that they are not the work of God, or else you must assume the responsibility of deciding that he is not doing his work in the best way. If you say this, then I challenge you to prove that God ever works in the renovation of men; for the only evidence of the existence of a principle of religion in to heart, is the operation of that principle in the life; and I hesitate not to say that I can show you as unequivocal fruits of holiness produced from a revival of religion, as you can show me in any other circumstances.

    Unless then you will assume the responsibility of saying that all the apparent faith, and love, and zeal, and holiness, which are produced from a revival, and which, so far as we can judge, have every characteristic of genuineness, are spurious, it were rash to decide that this is not a work effected by the agency of the Holy Spirit. But who, after all, will say that it even appears inconsistent with infinite wisdom and goodness, as the cause of God is advancing towards a complete triumph, that he should operate more powerfully, more suddenly, than in some other periods; in short, precisely as he does in a revival of religion?

    Has God bound himself that he will convert men only by small numbers, or by a very gradual influence; or does he not rather, in this respect, claim the right of absolute sovereignty? I ask again in view of the bearing which this objection has upon the character of God, who will dare say that revivals are unnecessary? If by enthusiasm you mean a heated imagination that prompts to excesses in conduct, then you meet with it in other departments beside that of revivals. You will see as much enthusiasm in a political cabal, or in an election of civil officers, or in a commercial speculation, or even in the pursuits of science, as you will find in a revival of religion.

    Yes, behove me, there is a worldly as well as a religious enthusiasm: Does it not look a little as if your objection lay rather against religion—the subject in respect to which the enthusiasm is exercised, than against the enthusiasm itself? But are you sure that in passing judgment on the enthusiasm connected with revivals, you always call things by their right names?

    Is it not more than possible that much of what you call by this name, may be the fervor of true love to God, and of genuine Christian zeal? Suppose you were to go into a meeting composed entirely of persons of the same religious character with Isaiah, or David, or Paul; and suppose they were to utter themselves in expressions not more fervent than these holy men have actually used, do you not believe that you would think there was some enthusiasm in that meeting, and that the exercises would be better if they partook a little more of the earthly and a little less of the heavenly?

    Between enthusiasm on the one hand, and conviction of sin and love to God, and zeal in religion on the other, there is really no affinity; they are as unlike each other as any genuine quality is unlike its counterfeit; but is there not some danger that they who have a heart opposed to religion, and who are willing to find excuses for the neglect of it, will brand some of the Christian graces when they shine with unusual brightness, with the opprobrious epithet of enthusiasm?

    But suppose there is some real enthusiasm mingled with revivals, and to a certain extent, this no doubt must be admitted shall we on this ground reject them altogether? Because some few individuals in such a scene may act the part of enthusiasts, is all the true Christian feeling, and Christian conduct, which is exemplified by many others to be considered of no account? Or suppose, if you will, that a small degree of enthusiasm may pertain to all, does this nullify all the exercises of genuine and perhaps elevated piety with which it may happen to be connected?

    Where is the man who adopts the same principle in respect to his worldly affairs? If you should import the productions of some foreign clime, and should discover that a small part of the quantity had been injured by the voyage, and that the rest had not suffered at all, would you cast the whole of it from you, or would you not rather make a careful separation between the good and the bad, retaining the one, and rejecting the other?

    Or if you should hear a lecture on science, or politics, or religion, or any other subject, in which you should discover a few mistakes, while nearly the whole of it was sound, and practical, and in a high degree instructive, would you condemn the whole for these trifling errors, and say it was all a mass of absurdity, or would you not rather treasure it up in your memory as in the main excellent, though you felt that, like every thing human it was marred by imperfection?

    And why should not the same principle be admitted in respect to revivals? Is it right, is it honest, because there may be in them a small admixture of enthusiasm, to treat them as if they were made up of enthusiasm and nothing else? Would it not be more equitable, would it not be more candid, to separate the precious from the vile, and to let the sentence of condemnation fall only where it is deserved?

    But perhaps I shall be met here with the declaration that there are scenes which pass for revivals of religion, in which there is nothing but enthusiasm and its kindred evils; scenes which outrage the decorum of religious worship, and exert no other influence upon religion than to bring it into contempt.

    If there be such scenes, whatever name they may assume, they are not what we plead for under the name of revivals; on the contrary, every friend of true revivals must, if he be consistent, set his face against them. And I maintain further, that it is gross injustice to the cause of revivals, to confound those scenes in which there is nothing but the wild fire of human passion, with those in which there is the manifest operation of the Holy Spirit.

    Suppose you should see a man practising the extreme of avarice, and calling it by the honest name of economy; or suppose you should see a man inflexibly obstinate in an evil course, and calling his obstinacy virtuous independence; would this justify you in setting at naught a habit of economy and independence, as if a virtue could be turned into a vice by the misapplication of a name? And suppose that any man, or any number of men, choose to yield themselves up to gross fanaticism, and to attempt to pass it off under the name of religion, or of a revival of religion, who is there that does not perceive that the existence of the counterfeit contributes in no way to debase the genuine quality?

    Prove to me that any thing that takes the name of a revival is really spurious, and I pledge myself as a friend of true revivals, to be found on the list of its opposers. Things, facts, realities, are every thing. Another objection to revivals closely allied to the preceding is, that the subjects of them often fall into a state of mental derangement, and even commit suicide. The fact implied in this objection is, to a certain extent, acknowledged; that is, it is acknowledged that instances of the kind mentioned do sometimes occur. But is it fair, after all, to consider revivals as responsible for them?

    Every one who has any knowledge of the human constitution, must be aware that the mind is liable to derangement from any cause that operates in the way of great excitement; and whether this effect in any given case, is to be produced or not, depends partly on the peculiar character of the mind which is the subject of the operation, and partly on the degree of self-control which the individual is enabled to exercise. Hence we find on the list of maniacs, and of those who have committed suicide, many in respect to whom this awful calamity is to be traced to the love of the world.

    Their plans for accumulating wealth have been blasted, and when they expected to be rich they have suddenly found themselves in poverty and perhaps obscurity; and instead of sustaining themselves against the shock, they have yielded to it; and the consequence has been the wreck of their intellect, and the sacrifice of their life. You who are men of business well know that the case to which I have here referred is one of no uncommon occurrence; but who of you ever thought that these cases reflected at all upon the fair and honorable pursuit of the world?

    Here you are careful enough to distinguish between the thing, and the abuse of it; and why not be equally candid in respect to revivals of religion? When you hear of instances of suicide in revivals, remember that such instances occur in other scenes of life, and other departments of action; and if you are not prepared to make commerce, and learning, and politics, and virtuous attachment, responsible for this awful calamity, because it is sometimes connected with them, then do not attempt to cast this responsibility upon religion, or revivals of religion, because here too individuals are sometimes left to this most fearful visitation.

    I have said that some such cases as the objection supposes occur; but I maintain that the number is, by the enemies of revivals, greatly overrated. Twenty men may become insane, and may actually commit suicide from any other cause, and the fact will barely be noticed; but let one come to this awful end in consequence of religious excitement, and it will be blazoned upon the house top, with an air of melancholy boding and yet with a feeling of real triumph; and many a gazette will introduce it with some sneering comments on religious fanaticism; and the result will be that it will become a subject of general notoriety and conversation.

    In this way, the number of these melancholy cases comes to be imagined much larger than it really is; and in the common estimate of the opposers of revivals, it is no doubt multiplied many fold. But admitting that the number of these cases were as great as its enemies would represent—admit that in every extensive revival there were one person who actually became deranged, and fell a victim to that derangement, are you prepared to say, even then, upon an honest estimate of the comparative good and evil that is accomplished, that that revival had better not have taken place?

    On the one side, estimate fairly the evil; and we have no wish to make it less than it really is.

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    There is the premature death of an individual;—death in the most unnatural and shocking form; and fitted to harrow the feelings of friends to the utmost. There may be a temporary loss of usefulness to the world; and as the case may be, a loss of counsel, and aid, and effort, in some of the tenderest earthly relations. Yet it is not certain but that the soul may be saved: But suppose the very worst—suppose this sinner who falls in a fit of religious insanity, by the violence of his own hand, to be unrenewed—why in this case he rushes prematurely upon the wrath of God; he cuts short the period of his probation; which, had it been protracted, he might or might not, have improved to the salvation of his soul.

    Look now at the other side. In the revival in which this unhappy case has occurred, besides the general quickening impulse that has been given to the people of God, perhaps one hundred individuals have had their character renovated, and their doom reversed. Each one of these was hastening forward perhaps to a death bed of horror, certainly to an eternity of wailing; but in consequence of the change that has passed upon them, they can now anticipate the close of life with peace, and the ages of eternity with unutterable joy.

    There is no longer any condemnation to them, because they are in Christ Jesus. And besides, they are prepared to live usefully in the world;—each of them to glorify God by devoting himself, according to his ability, to the advancement of his cause. Now far be it from us to speak lightly of such a heart-rending event as time death of a fellow-mortal, in the circumstances we have supposed; but if any will weigh this against the advantages of a revival, we have a right to weigh the advantages of a revival against this; and to call upon you to decide for yourselves which preponderates?

    Is the salvation of one hundred immortal souls supposing that number to be converted a light matter, when put into the scale against the premature and awful death of a single individual; or to suppose the very worst of the case—his cutting short his space for repentance, and rushing unprepared into the presence of his Judge?

    It is further, objected against revivals, that they occasion a sort of religious dissipation; leading men to neglect their worldly concerns for too many religious exercises; exercises too, protracted, not unfrequently, to an unseasonable hour. No doubt it is possible for men to devote themselves more to social religious services than is best for their spiritual interests; because a constant attendance on these services would interfere with the more private means of grace, which all must admit are of primary importance.

    But who are the persons by whom this objection is most frequently urged, and who seem to feel the weight of it most strongly? Or are they not rather those who rarely, if ever, retire to commune with God, and who engage in the business of life from mere selfish considerations;—who, in short, are thorough going worldlings? If a multitude of religious meetings are to be censured on the ground of their interference with other duties, I submit it to you whether this censure comes with a better grace from him who performs these duties, or from him who neglects them?

    I submit it to you, whether the man who is conscious of living in the entire neglect of religion, ought to be very lavish in his censures upon those who are yielding their thoughts to it in any way, or to any extent? Would it not be more consistent at least for him to take care of the beam, before he troubles himself about the mote? Far be it from me to deny that the evil which this objection contemplates does sometimes exist;— that men, and especially women, do neglect private and domestic duties for the sake of mingling continually in social religious exercises: For I ask who are the persons who have ordinarily the best regulated families, who are most faithful to their children, most faithful in their closets, most faithful and conscientious in their relative duties, and even in their worldly engagements?

    If I may be permitted to answer, I should say unhesitatingly, they are generally the very persons, who love the social prayer meeting, and the meeting for Christian instruction and exhortation; those in short who are often referred to by the enemies of revivals, as exemplifying the evil which this objection contemplates. God requires us to do every duty, whether secular or religious, in its right place; and this the Christian is bound to keep in view in all his conduct.

    But there is too much reason to fear that the spirit which ordinarily objects against many religious exercises, is a spirit, which, if the whole truth were known, it would appear, had little complacency in any. But it is alleged that, during revivals, religious meetings are not only multiplied to an improper extent, but are protracted to an unseasonable hour. That instances of this kind exist admits not of question; and it is equally certain that the case here contemplated is an evil which every sober, judicious Christian must discourage.

    We do not believe that in an enlightened community, it is an evil of very frequent occurrence; but wherever it exists, it is to be reprobated as an abuse, and not to be regarded as any part of a genuine revival; or as any thing for which a true revival is responsible. But here again, it may be worth while to inquire how far many of the individuals who offer this objection are consistent with themselves. They can be present at a political cabal, or at a convivial meeting, which lasts the whole night, and these occasions may be of very frequent occurrence, and yet it may never occur to them that they are keeping unseasonable hours.

    Or their children may return at the dawn of day, from a scene of vain amusement, in which they have brought on an entire prostration both of mind and body, and unfitted themselves for any useful exertion during the day; and yet all this is not only connived at as excusable, but smiled upon as commendable. I do not say that it is right to keep up a religious meeting during the hours that Providence has allotted to repose: I believe fully that in ordinary cases it is wrong; but sure I am that I could not hold up my head to say this, if I were accustomed to look with indulgence on those other scenes of the night of which I have spoken.

    It is best to spend the night as God designed it should be spent, in refreshing our faculties by sleep; but if any other way is to be chosen, judge ye whether they are wisest, who deprive themselves of repose in an idle round of diversion, or they who subject themselves to the same sacrifice in exercises of devotion and piety.

    It is objected against revivals that they often introduce discord into families, and disturb the general peace of society. It must be conceded that rash and intemperate measures have sometimes been adopted in connection with revivals, or at least what have passed under the name of revivals, which have been deservedly the subject of censure, and which were adapted, by stirring up the worst passions of the heart, to introduce a spirit of fierce contention and discord. God has found it necessary to take advantage of the excitability there is in mankind, to produce powerful excitements among them, before he can lead them to obey.

    Men are so [ spiritually ] 1 sluggish, there are so many things to lead their minds off from religion, and to oppose the influence of the gospel, that it is necessary to raise an excitement among them, till the tide rises so high as to sweep away the opposing obstacles. They must be so excited that they will break over these counteracting influences, before they will obey God.

    The will is, in a sense, enslaved by the carnal and worldly desires. Hence it is necessary to awaken men to a sense of guilt and danger, and thus produce an excitement of counter-feeling and desire which will break the power of carnal and worldly desire and leave the will free to obey God.

    The state of the world is still such, and probably will be till the millennium is fully come, that religion must be mainly promoted by these excitements. How long and how often has the experiment been tried, to bring the church to act steadily for God, without these periodical excitements! Many good men have supposed, and still suppose, that the best way to promote religion, is to go along uniformly, and gather in the ungodly gradually, and without excitement. But however such reasoning may appear in the abstract, facts demonstrate its futility.

    If the church were far enough advanced in knowledge, and had stability of principle enough to keep awake, such a course would do; but the church is so little enlightened, and there are so many counteracting causes, that the church will not go steadily to work without a special excitement. The great political, and other worldly excitements that agitate Christendom, are all unfriendly to religion, and divert the mind from the interests of the soul.

    Now these excitements can only be counteracted by religious excitements. And until there is religious principle in the world to put down irreligious excitements, it is in vain to try to promote religion, except by counteracting excitements. This is true in philosophy, and it is a historical fact.

    It is altogether improbable that religion will ever make progress among heathen nations except through the influence of revivals. The attempt is now making to do it by education, and other cautious and gradual improvements. But so long as the laws of mind remain what they are, it cannot be done in this way.

    There must be excitement sufficient to wake up the dormant moral powers, and roll back the tide of degradation and sin. And precisely so far as our own land approximates to heathenism, it is impossible for God or man to promote religion in such a state of things but by powerful excitements. I proceed to mention some things which ought to be done, to continue this great and glorious revival of religion, which has been in progress for the last ten years. There should be great and deep repentings on the part of ministers. WE, my brethren, must humble ourselves before God.

    It will not do for us to suppose that it is enough to call on the people to repent. We must repent, we must take the lead in repentance, and then call on the churches to follow. The church must take right ground in regard to politics. Do not suppose, now, that I am going to preach a political sermon, or that I wish to have you join and get up a Christian party in politics. No, I do not believe in that.

    But the time has come that Christians must vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics, or the Lord will curse them. They must be honest men themselves, and instead of voting for a man because he belongs to their party, Bank or Anti-Bank, Jackson, or Anti-Jackson, they must find out whether he is honest and upright, and fit to be trusted. They must let the world see that the church will uphold no man in office, who is known to be a knave, or an adulterer, or a Sabbath-breaker, or a gambler. Such is the spread of intelligence and the facility of communication in our country, that every man can know for whom he gives his vote.

    And if he will give his vote only for honest men, the country will be obliged to have upright rulers. As on the subject of slavery and temperance, so on this subject, the church must act right or the country will be ruined. God cannot sustain this free and blessed country, which we love and pray for, unless the church will take right ground.

    Politics are a part of religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as a part of their duty to God. It seems sometimes as if the foundations of the nation were becoming rotten, and Christians seem to act as if they thought God did not see what they do in politics. But I tell you, he does see it, and he will bless or curse this nation, according to the course they take. The churches must take right ground on the subject of slavery. And here the question arises, what is right ground?

    First of all, a bad spirit should be avoided. Nothing is more calculated to injure religion, and to injure the slaves themselves, than for Christians to get into an angry controversy on the subject. It is a subject upon which there needs to be no angry controversy among Christians. Slave-holding professors, like rum-selling professors, may endeavor to justify themselves, and may be angry with those who press their consciences, and call upon them to give up their sins. Those proud professors of religion who think a man to blame, or think it is a shame to have a black skin, may allow their prejudices so far to prevail, as to shut their ears, and be disposed to quarrel with those who urge the subject upon them.

    But I repeat it, the subject of slavery is a subject upon which Christians, praying men, need not and must not differ.