There is one fact under the government of
God, worthy of universal notice, and of everlasting remembrance; which is, that the most useful and important things are most easily and certainly
obtained by the use of the appropriate means. This is evidently a principle in the Divine administration. Hence, all the necessaries
of life are obtained with great certainty by the use of the
simplest means. The luxuries are more difficult to obtain; the means to procure them are more intricate and less certain in their results; while
things absolutely hurtful and poisonous, such as alcohol and the like, are often obtained only by torturing nature, and making use of a kind of
infernal sorcery to procure the death-dealing abomination. This principle holds true in moral government, and as spiritual blessings are of
surpassing importance, we should expect their attainment to be connected with great certainty with the use of the appropriate means; and such we
find to be the fact; and I fully believe that could facts be known, it would be found that when the appointed means have been rightly
used, spiritual blessings have been obtained with greater uniformity than temporal ones.
The previous post in this series is here. 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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