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Thread: Falling under the power of God circa 1825 - Charles Finney

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    Falling under the power of God circa 1825 - Charles Finney

    Well not the latest church stuff, but old church stuff. :)

    I've been re-reading Finney's Memoirs, the complete restored text published in 1989 (his original Memoirs had been highly edited and two men restored all the edited text) and the book never ceases to amaze me with the displays of the power of God. This is from chapter 11 where he goes to De Kalb NY and is really pretty tame compared to other stories in the book. I just thought this was interesting, especially in light of how most Christians don't believe in falling under the power of God and most think it's a pretty recent phenomenon that don't study church history. Of course the first falling under the power of God is in the Bible. :)
    ____________

    FROM Gouverneur I went to De Kalb, another village still farther north, some sixteen miles, I think. Here were a Presbyterian church and minister; but the church was small, and the minister seemed not to have a very strong hold upon the people. However, I think he was decidedly a good man. I began to hold meetings in De Kalb, in different parts of the town. The village was small and the people were very much scattered. The country was new, and the roads were new and bad. But a revival commenced immediately, and went forward with a good deal of power, for a place where the inhabitants were so much scattered.

    A few years before, there had been a revival there under the labors of the Methodists. It had been attended with a good deal of excitement; and many cases had occurred of, what the Methodists call, "Falling under the power of God." This the Presbyterians had resisted, and, in consequence, a bad state of feeling had arisen, between the Methodists and the Presbyterians; the Methodists accusing the Presbyterians of having opposed the revival among them because of these cases of falling under the power of God. As nearly as I could learn, there was a good deal of truth in this, and the Presbyterians had been decidedly in error.

    I had not preached long, before, one evening, just at the close of my sermon, I observed a man fall from his seat near the door; and the people gathered around him to take care of him. From what I saw, I was satisfied that it was a case of falling under the power of God, as the Methodists would express it, and supposed that it was a Methodist. I must say that I had a little fear that it might reproduce that state of division and alienation that had before existed. But on inquiry I learned that it was one of the principal members of the Presbyterian church, that had fallen. And it was remarkable that during this revival, there were several cases of this kind among the Presbyterians, and none among the Methodists. This led to such confessions and explanations among the members of the different churches, as to secure a state of great cordiality and good feeling among them.
    ___________

    Cool huh? God took care of the division over that. :)

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    Senior Member Colonel's Avatar
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    The multitude that came to arrest Jesus fell under the power of God as Jesus spoke to them. It seems to amount to a demonstration of the fact that Jesus could have stopped them if he wanted to. I can't recall any other accounts from the New Testament of people falling under the power of God.

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    What?! Presbyterians resist the power of God? Do tell. Being a small town, they needed to come into agreement on the things of God to reach that town. Great story! If only the Methodists would see a bit of that in their churches today.

    Recalling the movie, “A River Runs Through It”, there was a quote given by the soft spoken Presbyterian dad/pastor, “Methodists are just Baptists with a degree”.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Colonel View Post
    The multitude that came to arrest Jesus fell under the power of God as Jesus spoke to them. It seems to amount to a demonstration of the fact that Jesus could have stopped them if he wanted to. I can't recall any other accounts from the New Testament of people falling under the power of God.

    John 18:1-6

    Matthew 28:1-4

    Matthew 17:1-6

    Acts 9:4
    Acts 26:14


    Ezekiel 1:28; 2:1,2

    II Chron. 5:13,14






    .
    This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (futility) of their mind, having the understanding darkened...
    (Ephesians 4:17-18)

    Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly...
    (Psalm 1)

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    Senior Member Colonel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GodismyJudge View Post
    John 18:1-6

    Matthew 28:1-4

    Matthew 17:1-6

    Acts 9:4
    Acts 26:14
    Note that being slain in the Spirit should imply falling to the ground involuntarily. John 18 relates the story I mentioned above. Mat 28 relates Roman soldiers being paralyzed with fear but it doesn't say if they fell to the ground or if they merely didn't dare try to interfere with the "intruders". In Mat 17 it's likely that they fell on their faces out of fear of awe and not out of necessity, but it's possible that they were slain in the Spirit. Paul's conversion experience would probably qualify but he was still talking to Jesus while he was on the ground, he wasn't "out cold" or completely besides himself as people often are when they are "slain in the Spirit" today, including some people that I myself prayed for and who were completely gone for a long time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Colonel View Post
    Note that being slain in the Spirit should imply falling to the ground involuntarily. John 18 relates the story I mentioned above. Mat 28 relates Roman soldiers being paralyzed with fear but it doesn't say if they fell to the ground or if they merely didn't dare try to interfere with the "intruders". In Mat 17 it's likely that they fell on their faces out of fear of awe and not out of necessity, but it's possible that they were slain in the Spirit. Paul's conversion experience would probably qualify but he was still talking to Jesus while he was on the ground, he wasn't "out cold" or completely besides himself as people often are when they are "slain in the Spirit" today, including some people that I myself prayed for and who were completely gone for a long time.
    Every one of the New Testament accounts involves the Light/Power/Glory of God being manifested.
    This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (futility) of their mind, having the understanding darkened...
    (Ephesians 4:17-18)

    Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly...
    (Psalm 1)

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    Senior Member Colonel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GodismyJudge View Post
    Every one of the New Testament accounts involves the Light/Power/Glory of God being manifested.
    But every account is extraordinary, there's no pattern where people ministered to fall on the ground involuntarily and remain unconscious or nearly unconscious for a duration. The only mass slaying that seems similar to what can be seen in videos posted here recently happened during Jesus' arrest. And the situation was very different from that in the videos. I'm not discounting it, including the mentioned videos but it can't be all that important, especially not to pursue that kind of a phenomenon, to make it happen more often than it does right now.

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    I wish someone would pile up on the floor in our church.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FireBrand View Post
    I wish someone would pile up on the floor in our church.
    If what happens is in fact real and therefore bears corresponding fruit, then of course.

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