The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney Quotes

“Great sermons lead the people to praise the preacher. Good preaching leads the people to praise the Savior.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, Autobiography of Charles G. Finney

“It was very common to find Christians, whenever they met in any place, instead of engaging in conversation, to fall on their knees in prayer.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, Autobiography of Charles G. Finney

“I returned to the front office, and found that the fire that I had made of large wood 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 Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, Autobiography of Charles G. Finney

“I felt like rebuking them with all my heart and yet with a compassion which they could not mistake. I never knew that they accused me of severity, although I think I never spoke with more severity in my life.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney: The Life Story of America's Greatest Evangelist--In His Own Words

“I laid great stress upon prayer as an indispensable condition of promoting the revival.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney: The Life Story of America's Greatest Evangelist--In His Own Words

“the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is indispensable to ministerial success.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney: The Life Story of America's Greatest Evangelist--In His Own Words

“But now after receiving these baptisms of the Spirit I was quite willing to preach the Gospel. Nay, I found that I was unwilling to do anything else.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney: The Life Story of America's Greatest Evangelist--In His Own Words

“But as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings.   No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart. These waves came over me, and over me, and over me, one after the other, until I recollect I cried out,”
― Charles Grandison Finney, Autobiography of Charles G. Finney

“In studying elementary law, I found the old authors frequently quoting the Scriptures, and referring especially to the Mosaic Institutes, as authority for many of the great principles of common law. This excited my curiosity so much that I went and purchased a Bible, the first I had ever owned; and whenever I found a reference by the law authors to the Bible, I turned to the passage and consulted it in its connection. This soon led to my taking a new interest in the Bible, and I read and meditated on it much more than I had ever done before in my life. However, much of it I did not understand.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, Autobiography of Charles G. Finney

“I could not spend my time with them unless they were going to receive the Gospel.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney: The Life Story of America's Greatest Evangelist--In His Own Words

“He then gave my many other promises, both from the Old and the New Testament, especially some most precious promises respecting our Lord Jesus Christ. I never can, in words, make any human being understand how precious and true those promises appeared to me. I took them one after the other as infallible truth, the assertions of God who could not lie. They did not seem so much to fall into my intellect as into my heart, to be put within the grasp of the voluntary powers of my mind; and I seized hold of them, appropriated them, and fastened upon them with the grasp of a drowning man.”
― Charles Grandison Finney, Autobiography of Charles G. Finney