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About the Book
"Mountains of Spices" follows the allegorical journey of Much-Afraid as she continues her quest towards spiritual growth and transformation. Through a symbolic pilgrimage guided by the Shepherd, Much-Afraid learns to overcome fear, doubt, and self-doubt and ultimately finds peace, joy, and fulfillment in her faith. The book explores themes of perseverance, trust, and the power of love in overcoming life's challenges.
Charles Finney
Childhood and Teen years
Charles Grandison Finney was born the year after Wesley died on 29th August, 1792 in Warren, Connecticut. In 1794 his family moved to New York state, eventually settling at Henderson, near Lake Ontario. Although he received only a brief formal education he decided to study law and joined the practice of a local lawyer, Benjamin Wright. He was also very musical, played the cello and directed the choir at the local Presbyterian Church pastured by Rev. George Gale.
His conversion
His conversion on October 10th 1821 reads like something out of the book of Acts. Smitten with conviction from Bible reading he decided to âsettle the question of my soulâs salvation at once, that if it were possible, I would make my peace with God.â (Autobiography)
This conviction increased to an unbearable level over the next couple of days and came to an head when he was suddenly confronted with an âinward voice.â He was inwardly questioned about his spiritual condition and finally received revelation about the finished work of Christ and his own need to give up his sins and submit to Christâs righteousness.
As he sought God in a nearby wood he was overwhelmed with an acute sense of his own wickedness and pride but finally submitted his life to Christ. Back at work that afternoon he was filled with a profound sense of tenderness, sweetness and peace. When work was over and he bade his employer goodnight, he then experienced a mighty baptism in the Holy Spirit, which was recorded as vividly as the day he experienced it, though it was penned some fifty years later.
The next morning Finney announced to a customer that he was leaving his law studies to become a preacher of the Gospel.
Charles Finney licensed to preach
He was licensed to preach in 1823 and ordained as an evangelist in 1824. His penetrating preaching was quite different from many local ministers and included an obvious attempt to break away from the traditional and, as he saw it, dead, orthodox Calvinism. He married to Lydia Andrews in October 1824 and was also joined by Daniel Nash (1774-1831), known popularly as âFather Nash.â Undoubtedly Nashâs special ministry of prayer played a great part in Finneyâs growing success as an evangelist.
Things really took off when he preached in his old church, where Rev. Gale still ministered. Numerous converts and critics followed! Similar results were experienced in nearby towns of Rome and Utica. Soon newspapers were reporting his campaigns and he began drawing large crowds with dramatic responses.
Soon he was preaching in the largest cities of the north with phenomenal results. Campaign after campaign secured thousands of converts.
The high point of Finneyâs revival career was reached at Rochester, New York, during his 1830-1 meetings. Shopkeepers closed their businesses and the whole city seemed to centre on the revivalist. Responding to his irresistible logic and passionate arguments many of his converts were lawyers, merchants and those from a higher income and professional status.
His Preaching
Finney openly preached a modified Calvinism, influenced with his own theology of conversion and used what were perceived to be ârevivalistic techniques.â
These âmeansâ included the use of the anxious bench (a special place for those under conviction), protracted meetings, women allowed to pray in mixed meetings, publicly naming those present resisting God in meetings and the hurried admission of new converts into church membership. Opponents viewed his preaching of the law as âscare tacticsâ and his persuasive appeals for sinners to come to Christ for salvation were seen as over-emphasising the responsibility of men and ignoring the sovereignty of God.
His theology and practise soon became known as the âNew Measuresâ and attracted many opponents from the Old School Presbyterians led by Asahel Nettleton (himself no stranger to true revival and , the revivalistic Congregationalists headed by Lyman Beecher.
Pastor at Chatham Street Chapel
Finney accepted an appointment as pastor of Chatham Street Chapel in New York City in 1832 where he remained until 1837. It was during this time that he delivered a series of sermons published in 1835 as âLectures on Revivals of Religion.â Here he clearly stated his views regarding revivals being products of the correct use of human means. Such was the controversy that he left the Presbyterian denomination and joined the Congregationalists in 1836.
Oberlin College
The next year he became professor of theology at Oberlin College (Ohio) where he taught until his death. He was President here from 1851 until 1866, but still continued regular revival meetings in urban settings (twice in England, 1848, 1851) until 1860. During his stay at Oberlin he produced his, Lectures to Professing Christians (1836), Sermons on Important Subjects (1839) and his famous Memoirs.
The Father of Modern Revivalism
There is no doubt that Charles Grandison Finney well-deserves the title âThe Father of Modern Revivalism.â He was an evangelistic pioneer whose model was followed by a long line of revivalists from D. L. Moody to Billy Graham. His writing have made a massive impact on the entire evangelical world and particularly the âLectures on Revivalsâ which has, arguably, ignited more fires of revival than any other single piece literature in evangelical history.
This âPrince of Revivalistsâ passed away peacefully at Oberlin on Sunday, 16th August, 1875 aged almost 83 years.
Bibliography: I Will Pour Out My Spirit, R. E. Davies, 1997; Ed: A. Scott Moreau, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions, 2000; Dictionary of Evangelical Biography 1730-1860, Vol. 1, 1995.
Tony Cauchi
Walk the War Before You - What It Means to Live by the Spirit
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. âGalatians 5:16â17 In seminary, this passage reshaped my vision of the Christian life. At one level, the passage is simple. It contains an exhortation (âwalk by the Spiritâ), a promise (âand you will not gratify the desires of the fleshâ), and an explanation or rationale (the conflict described in verse 17). But as we meditate on this passage, we discover that it also offers a threefold vision for the Christian life as a whole. Acknowledge the War Within First, Paul insists that the starting point for the Christian life is recognizing the war between the flesh and the Spirit. I say âstarting pointâ because of the logic of verses 16 and 17. In seminary, I was taught that one way to clarify the logic of a passage like this is to read the verses in reverse order while keeping the logical relationship intact. In other words, turn an âA, because Bâ argument into a âB, therefore Aâ argument. âI eat, because I am hungryâ becomes âI am hungry, therefore I eat.â When we do that, the passage looks like this: (Verse 17) The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Verse 16) Therefore (thatâs the logical connection) walk by the Spirit, and you will certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh. As Christians, we wake up every day in the midst of a war. Fleshly desires pull us in one direction; the desires of the Spirit pull us in the other. The status quo is a frustrated stalemate in which we are kept from doing what we want to do. Spiritual desires frustrate fleshly desires, and fleshly desires frustrate spiritual desires. Starting with this recognition means we can be realistic about the difficulty of the war. The frustration we feel in the face of the passions of the flesh is real, and Paul encourages us to be honest about it. Thatâs where we begin as Christians. Staggering Promise of Not But according to Paul, we donât have to stay there, because, second, we have a new destination. We donât have to surrender. We can live a life in which we absolutely donât gratify the desires of the flesh. This is a staggering promise. The ânotâ in verse 16 is intensified in the original Greek; itâs whatâs called an emphatic negation. Paul essentially says, âIf you walk by the Spirit, you will absolutely and certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh.â Now, itâs important to be clear about what Paul is and isnât promising. Heâs not saying that our fleshly desires disappear altogether. Instead, he promises that we will not gratify or complete those desires. In other words, the desires may still be present and still at war with our spiritual desires, but now, as we walk by the Spirit, we wonât indulge them. The basic idea is that all desires have a direction, a destination, a trajectory. They incline us towards some perceived good, some object that we believe will satisfy. In short, desires want to take us somewhere. Where Do Desires Lead? In Galatians 5, the desires of the flesh lead to the works of the flesh: âsexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.â Paul is clear that those who practice such things â by habitually gratifying those desires â will not inherit Godâs kingdom. On the other hand, the desires of the Spirit lead to the fruit of the Spirit: âlove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.â So again, desires, whether of the Spirit or the flesh, have a destination, and when that destination is reached, the desire has been gratified. The itch has been scratched. Notice, however, the critical assumption Paul makes: the presence of the fleshly desire doesnât mean that we have to indulge it. Itâs possible to resist where our desires want to take us. For Paul, walking by the Spirit doesnât remove all fleshly tendencies and inclinations in this life. Instead, it interrupts them. It redirects them and reorders them so that they no longer dishonor God or harm people. Itâs important to be clear on this point so that we donât erect impossible and unrealistic expectations for the Christian life. In this life, the desires may still rise up, but according to Paul, they donât have to master us. They donât have to rule us. We donât have to gratify or indulge them. We donât have to scratch. We can be free. But only if we walk by the Spirit. Essential Bridge Walking by the Spirit is the third element in this vision of the Christian life, and the bridge between our present struggle and the future victory. Itâs the path that gets us from frustration to freedom. Which means that the pressing question for us is this: What exactly does it mean to âwalk by the Spiritâ? The image is clear enough. Walking is a form of movement. Itâs neither standing still nor running. Itâs steady movement, in a particular direction, under a particular power (in this case, the Spirit). Galatians 5:24â25 sheds further light on the image: And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. âWalk by the Spiritâ corresponds to âkeep in step with the Spirit.â Itâs as though the Spirit sets the pace and we keep up. Thereâs a rhythm to our walking. Like a drummer, the Spirit lays down the beat, and we march along. This basic idea appears in various forms throughout Paulâs letters: Walk rightly with the truth of the gospel (Galatians 2:13). Walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). Be led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18). Keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:26). Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1). Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (Colossians 1:10). âWalking by the Spirit is the bridge between our present struggle and the future victory.â Other phrases that appear throughout the New Testament include walking in love, walking in the light, walking as children of the light, walking according to Paulâs example, and walking in the truth. In all of these examples, the idea is the same: there is a conduct, a âwalking,â that accords with the gospel, the Spirit, and the truth. There is a way of life that fits the gospel. Before We Can Walk Walking by the Spirit flows from something more fundamental, though, and this is crucial. Before we can keep in step with the Spirit, we must first âlive by the Spirit.â That is, we must possess life by the Spirit. The life in question is resurrection life. We possess it because we belong to Jesus and have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Itâs what Paul elsewhere describes as âbeing made alive with Christâ (Ephesians 2:4). This is conversion, when God raises us from spiritual death by grace through faith in Christ. He elaborates on this reality in the great gospel passage of Galatians 2:19â20: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. âThe Spirit is the animating power in our lives, shaping our daily decisions as we wake up in spiritual war.â Crucified with Christ so that the flesh has been killed. Raised with Christ so that he lives on our behalf and we possess life by his Spirit. This is the good news which so transformed Paul and is able to transform us. So, then, walking by the Spirit refers to our daily conduct, rooted in our union with Christ in his death and resurrection and empowered by the Spirit who redirects our desires to godly fruitfulness. The Spirit is the animating power in our lives, shaping our daily decisions as we wake up in the midst of the spiritual war. Paulâs call is for us to daily take up arms in the battle, to encourage and gratify our spiritual desires, and to keep in step with the Spirit because we belong to Jesus. Article by Joe Rigney Teacher, desiringGod.org
