A CLASSIC from CHARLES FINNEY
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
The cry of my heart was, "I want to pour my whole soul out to
God." The intensity was so great that I rushed into the room
behind the front office, to pray... As I went in and shut the door, it
seemed like I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. It seemed
to me that I saw Him as I would see any other man. He said
nothing, but looked at me in a way that broke me right down at
his feet. I poured out my soul to Him. I wept aloud like a child,
and made whatever confessions I could. It seemed to me that I
bathed His feet with my tears; and yet I had no distinct impression
that I touched Him.
I must have continued this way for quite some time, but I was
too absorbed to remember anything I said. I know that as soon
as my mind became calm enough, I returned to the front office,
and found that the fire was nearly burned out. But as I turned
and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty
baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without any expectation of it, without
any thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me,
the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a way that seemed to go
through me, body and soul. It was like a wave of electricity,
going through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in
waves and waves of liquid love. It seemed like the very breath
of God. I remember distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like
immense wings.
No words can express the wonderful love that filled my heart.
I wept aloud with joy and love; I literally bellowed out the
inexpressible floods of my heart. These waves came over me
and over me, one after the other, until I cried out, "I will die if
these waves continue." I said, "Lord, I cannot bear any more."
Yet I had no fear of death... How long I continued in this state,
with this baptism continuing to roll over me and go through me,
I do not know...
When I awoke in the morning the sun had risen, and was pouring
a clear light into my room. Words cannot express the impression
that this sunlight made on me. Instantly the baptism that I had
received the night before returned in much the same way. I went
onto my knees and wept aloud with joy. For some time I was so
overwhelmed with the baptism of the Spirit that I could not do
anything but pour out my soul to God. It seemed as if this
morning's baptism was accompanied by a gentle rebuke, and
the Spirit seemed to say to me, "Will you doubt? Will you doubt?"
I cried, "No! I will not doubt, I cannot doubt." ...
In this state I was taught about 'justification by faith' as an actual
experience. I had never realized that justification was a basic
doctrine of the Gospel before. In fact I didn't really know what it
meant. But I could now see and understand what was meant by
the passage, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ." ... I could not feel a sense of
guilt or condemnation by any effort that I could make. My sense
of guilt was gone, my sins were gone, and I don't think I felt any
more sense of guilt than if I never had sinned.
This was just the revelation I needed. I felt myself justified by
faith and, as far as I could see, I was in a state in which I did
not sin. Instead of feeling that I was sinning all the time, my
heart was so full of love that it overflowed. My cup ran over with
blessing and love, and I could not feel that I was sinning against
God. Nor could I recover the least sense of guilt for my past sins.
However, I didn't say anything to anyone about this experience
of justification at that time.
~From the book, 'Charles Finney - Most Powerful Revivals.'