Read Online The Reluctant Bridegroom by Gilbert Morris - Free Book Online
Authors: Gilbert Morris
Ads: Link
them to His blood!
The sound rose like waves, breaking against the walls with a joyful triumph Rebekah had never heard before. The trained voices of the choir in her home church had been technically superior—but this was full of life! Filled with joy, she was moved to tears as the worshipful words rolled out:
See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did ere such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
The singing went on and on, at times triumphant and victorious, sometimes more quietly, but always the faces of those around her glowed with expressions of such peace and joy that Rebekah marvelled.
After several more hymns, the song leader stepped back, and another man seated in the chairs behind him stood up. “That’s Rev. Finney!” Mary whispered. Charles Grandison Finney was a serious-looking, smooth-shaven man of medium height. Stepping forward to read his text, he paused, then looked around the church. His gaze was intensely electrifying, penetrating the crowd. Rebekah felt as if he were looking right at her, though she knew that was unlikely. As he read his text, the clear tones of his solemn voice carried easily to the farthest corners of the building.
This preacher followed closely the techniques that he had used during the revivals some years before. Rebekah later learned that Finney had practiced law in upper New Yorkstate, but left his profession to enter the ministry after a dramatic conversion experience. His powerful preaching drew thousands to the revival meetings, but his methods—or the “New Measures,” as they were called—often brought him into conflict with established church leadership: He prayed publicly for people by name, permitted females to pray in public meetings, invaded towns without an invitation from the local pastor, employed the use of the anxious seat, conducted inquiry meetings, and called for the immediate admission of converts into churches.
Finney’s evangelism ministry in “The Burned-Over District” of Rochester had been enormously successful. After two years there, he moved into New York City in 1832; his success as a pastor of the Chatham Street Chapel rivaled his victories as an evangelist. From the time he first took up the work, Finney insisted that the church should not be filled with Christians from other churches, but by new converts. As soon as the mother church was filled, a group was sent out to form a new one. There were seven churches in the area that had been planted by the Chatham Street Chapel, including the one they were attending tonight.
“My text is taken from Luke, chapter thirteen, the third verse,” Finney announced. “ ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.’ “ For nearly two hours the congregation sat spellbound as he went from scripture to scripture, proving that men were lost and on their way to hell; that unless they turned from their sin to find forgiveness, there was no hope.
The man had a systematic method of preaching, each point being laid down in careful succession. Like someone building a house, he first laid a foundation, then raised the walls and finally capped it with a roof, so that it stood complete. The roof, in this case, was an invitation: Those who felt they needed to be saved from hell should come forward.
The reaction was immediate. From all over the room, people rose from their places and began moving forward in response to his invitation. His stirring message had deeplyaffected them, but Finney’s attention was not directed at the men and women who swarmed the aisles. His eyes were scanning those who yet remained seated. Overwhelmed with compassion for the lost, tears streamed down his cheeks as he cried out: “God so loves the world—so loves you —that he sent Jesus to die for you! Will you reject that love? Would you not rather come and let the King of Kings and Lord of Lords come into your heart?”
Rebekah’s mind reeled from what she had
The sound rose like waves, breaking against the walls with a joyful triumph Rebekah had never heard before. The trained voices of the choir in her home church had been technically superior—but this was full of life! Filled with joy, she was moved to tears as the worshipful words rolled out:
See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did ere such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
The singing went on and on, at times triumphant and victorious, sometimes more quietly, but always the faces of those around her glowed with expressions of such peace and joy that Rebekah marvelled.
After several more hymns, the song leader stepped back, and another man seated in the chairs behind him stood up. “That’s Rev. Finney!” Mary whispered. Charles Grandison Finney was a serious-looking, smooth-shaven man of medium height. Stepping forward to read his text, he paused, then looked around the church. His gaze was intensely electrifying, penetrating the crowd. Rebekah felt as if he were looking right at her, though she knew that was unlikely. As he read his text, the clear tones of his solemn voice carried easily to the farthest corners of the building.
This preacher followed closely the techniques that he had used during the revivals some years before. Rebekah later learned that Finney had practiced law in upper New Yorkstate, but left his profession to enter the ministry after a dramatic conversion experience. His powerful preaching drew thousands to the revival meetings, but his methods—or the “New Measures,” as they were called—often brought him into conflict with established church leadership: He prayed publicly for people by name, permitted females to pray in public meetings, invaded towns without an invitation from the local pastor, employed the use of the anxious seat, conducted inquiry meetings, and called for the immediate admission of converts into churches.
Finney’s evangelism ministry in “The Burned-Over District” of Rochester had been enormously successful. After two years there, he moved into New York City in 1832; his success as a pastor of the Chatham Street Chapel rivaled his victories as an evangelist. From the time he first took up the work, Finney insisted that the church should not be filled with Christians from other churches, but by new converts. As soon as the mother church was filled, a group was sent out to form a new one. There were seven churches in the area that had been planted by the Chatham Street Chapel, including the one they were attending tonight.
“My text is taken from Luke, chapter thirteen, the third verse,” Finney announced. “ ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.’ “ For nearly two hours the congregation sat spellbound as he went from scripture to scripture, proving that men were lost and on their way to hell; that unless they turned from their sin to find forgiveness, there was no hope.
The man had a systematic method of preaching, each point being laid down in careful succession. Like someone building a house, he first laid a foundation, then raised the walls and finally capped it with a roof, so that it stood complete. The roof, in this case, was an invitation: Those who felt they needed to be saved from hell should come forward.
The reaction was immediate. From all over the room, people rose from their places and began moving forward in response to his invitation. His stirring message had deeplyaffected them, but Finney’s attention was not directed at the men and women who swarmed the aisles. His eyes were scanning those who yet remained seated. Overwhelmed with compassion for the lost, tears streamed down his cheeks as he cried out: “God so loves the world—so loves you —that he sent Jesus to die for you! Will you reject that love? Would you not rather come and let the King of Kings and Lord of Lords come into your heart?”
Rebekah’s mind reeled from what she had
Similar Books
