LECTURE I.
WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS
Text.—O
Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.—Hab. iii. 2.
IT is supposed that the prophet Habakkuk was
contemporary with Jeremiah, and that this prophecy was uttered in anticipation of the Babylonish captivity. Looking at the judgments which
were speedily to come upon his nation, the soul of the prophet was wrought up to an agony, and he cries out in his distress, “O Lord, revive thy
work.” As if he had said, “O Lord, grant that thy judgments may not make Israel desolate. In the midst of these awful years, let the judgments of
God be made the means of reviving religion among us. In wrath remember mercy.”
Religion is the work of man. It is
something for man to do. It consists in obeying God with and from the heart. It is man’s duty. It is true, God induces him to do it. He
influences him by his Spirit, because of his great wickedness and reluctance to obey. If it were not necessary for God to influence men—if
men were disposed to obey God, there would be no occasion to pray, “O Lord, revive thy work.” The ground of necessity for such a prayer is, that
men are wholly indisposed to obey; and unless God interpose the influence of his Spirit, not a man on earth will ever obey the commands of God.
A “Revival of Religion” presupposes a
declension. Almost all the religion in the world has been produced by revivals. 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 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.
Not that excited feeling is religion, for it is not; but it is excited desire, appetite and feeling that prevents religion. 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.
Look back at the history of the Jews, and
you will see that God used to maintain religion among them by
special occasions, when there would be a great excitement, and people would turn to the Lord. And after they had been thus revived, it would be
but a short time before there would be so many counteracting influences brought to bear upon them, that religion would decline, and keep on
declining, till God could have time—so to speak—to convict them of sin by his Spirit and rebuke them by his providence, and thus so gain the
attention of the masses to the great subject of salvation, as to produce a widespread awakening of religious interest, and consequently a revival of
religion. Then the counteracting causes would again operate, and religion would decline, and the nation would be swept away in the vortex of luxury,
idolatry, and pride.
There is so little principle in the
church, so little firmness and stability of purpose, that unless the religious feelings are awakened and kept excited, counter worldly feeling
and excitement will prevail, and men will not obey God. They have so little knowledge, and their principles are so weak, that unless they are
excited, they will go back from the path of duty, and do nothing to promote the glory of 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 means of revivals. 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 sound such reasoning 11may
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 she will not go steadily to work without a special interest
being awakened. As the millennium advances, it is probable that these periodical excitements will be unknown. Then the church will be
enlightened, and the counteracting causes removed, and the entire church will be in a state of habitual and steady obedience to God. The entire
church will stand and take the infant mind, and cultivate it for God. Children will be trained up in the way they should go, and there will be
no such torrents of worldliness, and fashion, and covetousness, to bear away the piety of the church, as soon as the excitement of a revival is
withdrawn.
It is very desirable it should be so. It is
very desirable that the church should go on steadily in a course of obedience without these excitements. Such excitements are liable to injure
the health. Our nervous system is so strung that any powerful excitement, if long continued, injures our health and unfits us for duty. If religion
is ever to have a pervading influence in the world, it cannot be so; this spasmodic religion must be done away. Then it will be uncalled for.
Christians will not sleep the greater part of the time, and once in a while wake up, and rub their eyes, and bluster about, and vociferate a
little while, and then go to sleep again. Then there will be no need that ministers should wear themselves out, and kill themselves, by their
efforts to roll back the flood of worldly influence that sets in upon the church. But as yet the state of the Christian world is such, that to
expect to promote religion without excitements is unphilosophical and absurd. 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 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. This is evident from the fact that this has always been the way in which God has done it. God does not create these excitements, and
choose this method to promote religion for nothing or without reason. Where mankind are so reluctant to obey God, they will not act until they
are excited. For instance, how many there are who know that they ought to be religious, but they are afraid if they become pious they shall be
laughed at by their companions. Many are wedded to idols, others are procrastinating repentance, until they are settled in life, or until they
have secured some favorite worldly interest. Such persons never will give up their false shame, or relinquish their ambitious schemes, till they are
so excited by a sense of guilt and danger that they cannot contain themselves any longer.
Charles Grandison Finneyʼs Lectures on Revivals of Religion is in the public domain, as I understand it. It is available here. Thanks for reading. Seek revival.
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