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THE LIBRARY
of
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY
Toronto
This "0-P Book" Is an Authorized Reprint of the
Original Edition, Produced by Microfilm-Xerography by
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1966
SELECTED SERMONS
OF
JONATHAN EDWARDS
EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
II. NORMAN GARDINER
PKOFKSSOU OF PHILOSOPHY IN SMITH COLLEGE
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.
1904
All rights reserved
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SELECTED SERMONS OP
JONATHAN EDWARDS
fEacmillan s Docket 2tmcr(cnn auto lEnigKsij Classics.
A Series of English Texts, edited for use in Secondary Schools,
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OTHERS TO FOLLOW.
!
CopTi-mnr, 1904,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and clectrotyped. Published June, 1904.
J. S. Caslilng & Co. Kerwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mas M U.S.A.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ....... .. vii
SERMONS :
I. GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE (1731) "f ?
II. THE REALITY OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT (1733) . . 21
III. RUTH S RESOLUTION (1735) . . . . .45
IV. THE I^NV MANSIONS (1737) .... 64
V. SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD (1741) 78
--VI. A STRONG ROD BROKFN ANJ> WITHERED (1748) 98
VII. FAREWELL SERMON (1750) 118
NOTES , . 155
INTRODUCTION
JONATHAN EDWARDS was born October 5, 1703, in what
is now South Windsor, Conn., a part of the parish then known
as " Windsor Farrnes." His father, the Rev. Timothy Edwards,
the minister of the parish, a Harvard graduate, was reputed a
man of superior ability and polished manners, a lover of learning
as well as of religion ; in addition to his pastoral duties, he fitted
.young men for college, and his liberal views of education appear
in the fact that he made his daughters pursue the same studies
these youths did. His mother, a daughter of the Rev. Solomon
Stoddard, the minister of Northampton, is said to have resem
bled her distinguished father in strength of character and to
lui^e surpassed her husband in the native vigor of her mind.
As regards remoter ancestry and their intellectual and moral
qualities, Edwards seems also to have been well born ; an ex
ception, however, must be made of the eccentric and possibly
insane grandmother on his father s side, whose outrageous con
duct led to her divorce. 1
Brought up the only son in a family of ten daughters, apart;
from all distracting influences, in an atmosphere of religion and
serious study in the home, amid natural surroundings of mead
ows, woods, and low-lying distant hiils singularly conducive lo
a life of contemplation, the boy early developed that absorbing
interest in the things of the spirit, and that astonishing acuteness
l See- ,T A StouMitoTi, Wimhnr Pamirs, p. W awl p. M u. Students
of heredity msiy perhaps here find :i dew to the character of !uhvar<l
brilliant, wiWNvan! urramlson, Aaron !IUT.
INTRODUCTION
of intellect which are the most prominent characteristics of his
"enius While a mere child he spent much of his time in re
gions exercises and in conversation on religious matters wit
other boys, with some of whom he joined to build a booth in a
retired spot in a swamp for secret prayer ; he had besides sev
eral other such places for prayer in the woods to winch he was
wont to retire. His mind also dv/elt much on the doctrines he
was taught, especially on the doctrine of God s sovereignty in
election " against which lie at that time violently rebelled.
When only ten year, of age he wrote a short, quaint, some
what humorous little, traet on the immortality of the soul; s\
about twelve he composed a remarkably accurate and ingemo
paper on the habits of the " Hying spider."
He entered the Collegiate School of Connecticut at Saybrook
Afterwards Yale College at thirteen, and in 1720, shortly
before his seventeenth birthday, graduated at New Haven with
the valedictory. Fn his Sophomore year he made the ac
quaintance of Locke s KM,;/ on tit" Human Und*r*trni<Ung-
a work which left :i permanent impress on his thinking.
read it, he savs, with afar higher pleasure "than the most
crrecdy miser iinds when gathering up handful* of silver and
"old from some newly-discovered treasure." Under its influ
ence lie began a series of Notes on the Mind,, with a view t
comprehensive treatise on mental philosophy. He also begin,
possibly somewhat later, a series of Notes on Natural Science
with reference to a similar work on natural philosophy.^ It
is in these early writings that we lind the outlines of an H
istic theory which resembles, but was probably not at all
derived from, that of Berkeley, and which beems to have
remained a determining factor in his speculations t
"
i See II. N. Gar-liner, Th* Erl L1eU*m
Fdwirds- a Retrospect, ]>p. II.VIW: Boston, 1W1. Cf. J. H. M-*
Criokcn Theirc?8 of Jonathan Awards * Iwalism, Philos. Kev. f
xi.UOil. (Juii. 1W:>).
INTRODUCTION 1*
After graduating he continued to reside for two years in
New Haven, studying for the ministry. From August, 1722,
till the following April he supplied the pulpit of a small
byterian congregation in New York, but declined the invitation
to remain as their minister. After returning to his father s
home in Windsor, he received at least two other calls, one of
which he seems to have accepted. 1 In September, 1723, he
wont to New Haven to receive his Master s degree, was ap
pointed a tutor at the college, entered upon the . vtive duties
of that office in June, 1724, and continued in the same till
September, 1726, when he resigned his tutorship to becon.e col
league-pastor with his grandfather Stoddard in the church at
Northampton.
The spiritual history of Edwards in these years of growth
from youth to early manhood is recorded by his own hand in a
narrative of personal experiences written at a later date for his
own use, in fragments of a diary, and in a scrk > of resolutions
which he drew up for the conduct of his own life.
documents, which were first published by his biographer and
descendant, SereiuvE. Dwight, in 1820, throw a Hood of light
on Kdwards s character and temperament, and serve to explain
much in his life which would otherwise be obscure. TJ-3 tells
us in his narrative how the childish delight in the exercises of
religion before referred to gradually declined ; how at length
" he turned like a dog to his vomit, and went on in the ways of
sin-" then how, after much conflict of soul, he experienced
toward the end of his college course a genuine conversion
issuin^ in a new life and, in the course of time, a deep and
delightful sense of Cod s sovereignty, the excellency of !hrist,
amftheleauty of holiness. There is possibly some exaggera-
iTlmt to the churc-h at Bolton, Comi. But for some reason not
i,o w apparent, h. was never installed there See S. Simpson, Jonathan
Mtoards- a Historical Jieview, Hartford Seminary Kecord. xiv. H
(November, 11)03).
X INTRODUCTION
tion in EdwardeVdewcription of this lapse and this recovery, but
it was at least a very real experience to him, and it doubtless
contributed to the emphasis which he afterwards put on con
version in his preaching. His own state after this decisive
change was at times one of mystic rapture " a calm, sweet
abstraction of soul from all the concerns of this world; and
sometimes a kind of vision, or fixed ideas and imaginations, of
being alone in the mountains or some solitary wilderness, far
from all mankind, sweetly conversing with Christ and wrapped
and swallowed up in God." His diary is the record of a soul
straining in its flight. He watches the fluctuations of his
moods with almost morbid intensity, and yet in a way by no
means merely conventional, and with a singular absence of
sentimentality, so evidently sincere and, in a sense, objective
are his observations. Of his seventy Resolutions, all written
before he was twenty, the following may be taken as a speci
men : it is the language of a mind as truly original as religious,
ami is eminently characteristic. " On the supposition that
there never was to be but one indhidual in the world, at any
one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects
of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true
lustre, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part
and under whatever character viewed, Resolved: To act just
as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one,
who should live in my time." And he dftl^so^aot ; these resolu
tions were not empty, they really determined his"" life.
Edwards was ordained at Northampton, February 157 1727,
being then in his twenty-fourth year. Five months later, July
28, lie married the beautiful Snrah Picrrepont, then seventeen,
the daughter of the Rev. James Pierrepont, of New Haven,
one of the founders, and a prominent trustee, of Yale College,
and on her mother s side, the great-granddaughter of Thomas
Hooker, " the father of the Connecticut churches." Edwards s
description of her, written four years before their marriage, is
1NTROD UCTION XI
famous. 1 The union proved a singularly happy one, the intelli
gence, cheerfulness, piety, and practical sagacity of Mrs. Ed
wards combining to make her at once a congenial companion
and a most useful helpmeet to her j5eaJ(msJ^L.dc_yput, ..highly
intellectual, but often low-spirited husband, immersed in his
writings and his Looks. They had twelve children, all born in
Northampton. Mr. Stoddard died February 11, 1729, leaving
the you"g minister in full pastoral charge. It was a responsible
undertaking for so young a iiian to guide the affairs of a church
reputed the largest and wealthiest in the colony outside of
Boston, one too on which the venerable and venerated Stoddard
Irid stamped the impress of his strong personality during a
ministry of nearly sixty years. Edwards, as he later confesses.
made mistakes. Nevertheless, he succeeded in winning and hold
iitg the confidence, admiration, and affection of the people
during the greater part of the twenty-three years of his minis
try inNorthampton. He carried the church through two great
periods of revival (1734-35, 17 -10-42), and added over five hun
dred and fl% names to its membership. 2 This, however, repre
sents but a small part of his influence in these years. Both by his
preaching in Northampton and elsewhere and by his published
writings, notably his printed sermons and his works dealing
with the revivals, in which must be included his treatise on the
IMi nous Affections, lie powerfully affected the currents of
religious thought and life throughout New England and the
neighboring colonies and, to some extent also, in England
1 First printM l>v Dv/ight, Life of Prcsi luit Ktlwarth, p. 114, and
froquciitlyrciinMliU Cil. It has Ix -en compare,! to Unte s description of
Beatrice which in pure lyric quality it certainly equals, though it lacks
the lattor s sensuous coloring and imaginative idealization^
parison is made by A. V. (i. Allen, The Place <>f Xdwrit* \nUMory t
in Jonathan Edwards: a Ketrospeet, p. 7; the contrast is pointed out
by John De Witt, Stockbridgo (1W3), Oration, p. 45 (pub. by the j
, Historical Catalog of the Northampton First
Vhurch, pp. 40-07 (Northampton, IS Jl), prints the list in full,
Xll
INTRODUCTION
/
land Scotland. IIU mission bad been to recall the Puritan
1 churches, which for some seventy years had languished in a
; period of decline, to the old high Puritan standards both of
I creed and of conduct, and to infuse into them a new spirit of
! vital piety. In this he was largely successful ; and still to-day,
in spite of wide departures from his theological system, he
remains an effectual spiritual force in the churches inheriting
. the Puritan tradition.
The estrangement between Edwards and his people began in
1744, in comieccion with a case of discipline in which a large
number of the youth belonging to the leading families of the
town were brought under suspicion of rending and circulating
immoral books. 1 During the excitement of the revival the
people had willingly accepted his high demands. But now, in
the reaction, ilesh and blood rebelled. Edwards, however, was
not the man to accommodate the claims of religion, as he con
ceived those claims, to the weaknesses of human nature,
would not be strange if, under the circumstances, the people
looked on their minister as something of a spiritual dictator,
exercising a kind of spiritual tyranny. Still, this feeling, so
Effas it then existed, was not likely to have led to an open
rupture, had it nob been that four years later, on occasion of an*
application the first in those years for membership in the
church, Edwards sought to impose a new test of qualification.
He required, namely, that the candidate for full communion
should give evidence of being converted, and as such converted
person, should make a public profession of godliness. This
restriction ran counter to the principles and usage established
by .Mr. Stoddard, accepted by most of the neighboring churches,
and hitherto followed by Edwards himself, according to which,
not only might persons be admitted to church membership on
the terms oAhe "Halfway Covenant," but they might come to
1 See note, p. 17 J,
JLV rn on uc TJ ON xm
the Lord s Supper, if they desired to do so, even without the
assurance of conversion, the hope being that the rite might
itself prove a converting ordinance. Edwards was now openly
charged with seeking to lord it over the brethren, and the
indignation was intense. He, on his part, was convinced of
the correctness of his position, and was prepared to inaini.-tin it
at all costs. The unhappy controversy lasted for two years :
Edwards dignified, courteous, disposed to be conciliatory, yet in
sisting on the recognition of his rights, and showing through
out his great moral and intellectual superiority ; the people
prejudiced, obstinate, refusing even to consider his views or to
allow him to set them forth in the pulpit, bent only on getting
rid of him. Finally, on June 22, 1750, the Council, convened
to advise on the matter, recommended, by a vote of 10 to 9,
the minority protesting, that the pastoral relations should be
dissolved. The concurrent sentiment of the church was ex
pressed by the overwhelming vote of about 200 to 20 of the
male members. The next Sunday but one Edwards preached
his Farewell Sermon. 1
Edwards was now forty-six years of age, unfitted, as he says,
for any other business but study, and with a " numerous and
lit is impossible here to go into the history of this famous controversy.
Something concerning it will be found in the notes, pp. 172 IT. ; Dwight,
o/?. wY., pp. 2 ( .)K-44K, prints the documents from Kdwards s Journal in
full ; the records of the church :ire silent. It should l>e stated, perhaps, in
fairness to the Northampton people, that the pastoral relation was not
then, as is sometimes supposed, regarded as indissoluble ; six clergymen
were "dismissed " from neighboring churches between 1721 and 17f>. r >.
Moreover, Edwards, eminent as he undoubtedly was as a preacher, was
to them only the parish minister : his great fame as a theologian was
established later. Cf. Trmnbull, Ilixtorii of Xnrthuniptnn, II, 22.x
is also not unreasonable to suppose that the spiritual capacities of
the people had been overstimulated. The later repentance of Joseph
llawley (see l)wight,o/>. r//.,p.421), Edwards s cousin, who had _tal<en a
leading part in the movement againsthim, concerns only the spirit of the
opposition ; it. does not seriously question the wisdom, under the cir
cumstances, of the separation.
x iv INTRODUCTION
chargeable family " to face the world with. The long contro
versy and the circumstances attending the dismissal had had a
depressing effect on his spirits, and the outlook seemed to him
gloomy in the extreme. But his trust was in God, and friends
did not fail. From Scotland came the offer of assistance in pro
curing him- a charge there ; his Northampton adherents desired
him to remain and form a separate church in the town. Early
in December he received a call from the little church in Stock-
bridge, on the frontier, and about the same time an invitation
from the Commissioners in Boston of the " Society in London
for Propagating the Gospel in New England and the parts ad
jacent " to become their missionary to the Indians, who then
formed a large part of the Stockbridge settlement. ^ After ac
quainting himself by a residence of several months in Stock-
bridge with the conditions of the work, and after receiving
satisfactory assurances, in a personal interview with the Gov
ernor, with regard to the conduct of the Indian mission, he
accepted both of these proposals. He had scarcely done so
when he received a call, with the promise of generous support,
from a church in Virginia.
The opposition which had driven him from Northampton
followed him to Stockbridge. For several years a persistent
effort was made to obstruct his work, particularly his work
among the Indians, and even to secure his removal But ho
successfully met this opposition, won tlu confidence of the
Indians, and greatly endeared himself to the " English." Here,
too, in the wilderness he found time and opportunity for the
writing of those great treatises on the Freedom of the Will, on*
the End for which God created the World, on the Nature of
True Virtue, and on the Christian Doctrine of Original Sin,
which are the principal foundation of his theological, reputation.
Meanwhile sm event had occurred in Edwards s family des
tined to have important consequences the marriage of his
daughter Esther to the Rev. Aaron Burr, President of Nassau
IN T U 1) 1 1 C 77 /V XV
Hall, in Princeton. 1 In September, 1757, Mr. Burr died; two
days later, the Corporation appointed Edwards as his successor.
Edwards was for various reasons reluctant to accept the ap
pointment ; he mistrusted his fitness, he especially feared that
the duties of the oilice would seriously interrupt the literary
work in which he was now engrossed. Nevertheless, on the
recommendation of a Council called at his desire to advise in
the matter, he accepted the call. He left Stockbridge in Jan
uary, and toward the end of the month reached Princeton.
But the only work he did as President of the College was U)
preach for five or six Sundays and to give out themes in divin
ity to the Senior Class, with whom he afterwards discussed
their papers on them. The small-pox was epidemic in the
town when he arrived, and as a precautionary measure he had
himself inoculated. The disease, mild at first, developed badly,
and on March 22, 1758, lie died. From his death-bed he
sent this tender and characteristic message to his wife, who was
still in Stockbridge : " Give my kindest love to my dear wife,
and tell her that the uncommon union, which has so long sub
sisted between us, has been of such a nature, as, I trust, is
spiritual, and therefore will continue forever." His last words,
also characteristic, were, "Trust in God, and ye need not
fear."
A tall, spare man, with high, broad forehead, clear piercing
eyes, prominent nose, thin, set lips and a rather weak chin, his
whole appearance suggested the perspicacity of intellect and
the integrity, refinement, and benevolence of character of one
possessing little physical energy, little suited to practical affairs,
but intensely alive in the spirit, intensely absorbed in the con
templation of things invisible and eternal. The two qualities,
indeed, for which he is most distinguished are spirituality and
intellectuality. Spiritual-minded ness was the very core and
i Aaron Burr, the Vice-president of the United States, who killed
Alexander Hamilton in a duel, was their son.
xvi IN TROD UCT10N
essence of his being. Religion was his element. God was to
him absolute Reality ; His will and His thoughts alone consti
tuted the ultimate truth and meaning of things. ^ Nor was this
with Edwards a mere philosophical speculation ; it was the high
region in which he drew vital breath, the solid ground on which
he" walked. He walked with God. He has been called the
" Saint of New England." Like other saints, he too has on
occasion his ecstasies. 1
To this high spirituality, with its rich emotional coloring,
was united a power and subtlety of intellect such as is possessed
by only the very greatest masters of the mind. The spiritual
world "in which Edwards moved was for him no mere shadowy
realm of pious sentiment or vague aspiration, but a world whose
main outlines, at least, were sharply defined for thought.
conceived it, namely, in accordance with the scheme of things
systematized by Calvin, but originally wrought out ^ with the
compelling force of transcendent genius by Augustine,
theological thought of Augustine is concerned -- to put the mat
ter assimply as possible with the elaboration of four funda
mental ideas : the absolute sovereignty of God ; the absolute
dependence of man; the supernatural revelation of a divinely
originated plan of salvation administered by the Church ; and a
phflosophy of history according to which the whole created
universe and the entire temporal course of events are ordered
and governed from all eternity with reference to the establish
ment and triumph of a Kingdom of saints in the Church, the
holy " City of God." Augustine s conception of the Church i:
modified, but not in principle rejected, by the Protestant theo
logians ; the other features of the scheme remain substantially
unchanged. The idea of God s absolute sovereignty leads nat
urally, in connection with the motives supplied by certain
i see e ". the incident, recorded hy l)\vi-ht, op. cit.. p. l.",, where the
rapture lasts for about an hour, accompanied for the gre.
ol tho time " with tours and \veepiii
INTRODUCTION xvii
teachings of Scripture, Roman jurisprudence, Greek philosophy,
and the experiences of a profound religious consciousness, to the
doctrines of God s eternal foreknowledge, His "arbitrary," i.e.,
unconditional decrees, the eternal world-plan, predestina-
tion, election, the historic work of redemption, everlasting pun
ishment for the unrepentant wicked, everlasting felicity for the
elect saints. Over against the sovereignty of God stands man s
absolute dependence, historically conditioned, as regards his
present spiritual capacities, by the Fall, with original sin, total
depravity, and the utter inability of man to recover by himself
his lost heritage as its consequence. Hence the great, the essen
tial tragedy of human life man naturally corrupt, in slavery
to sin, at enirttty with God, utterly incompetent to change a
condition in which, by a sort of natural necessity, he is the sub
ject of God s vindictive justice, utterly dependent for salvation
on the free, unmerited grace of God, who has mercy on whom
He will have mercy, while whom He will He hardencth, reveal
ing alike in mercy and in punishment the majesty of His divine
and sovereign attributes.
This, in general, is the scheme which Edwards stands for, he
most conspicuously of all men of modern times. His specula
tive genius gave to this scheme a metaphysical background, his
logical acumen elaboration and defence. He modified it in some
respects, e.g., in his doctrine of the will. "What is more impor
tant, he gave a prominence to the inward state of man the
dispositions and af Vcctions ofhis mind and heart which appre
ciably affected the relative values of the scheme, and which has,
in fact, changed the entire complexion of tht^tcligious thought
of New England. But as to the general scheme itself, the
philosophy of religion, the philosopIyJTbf life it expresses, there
is nothing in that which is essentially original with Edwards.
In standing for these doctrines he but champions the great
orthodox tradition.
But however little original may be the content of his thought,
xviii ISTROD UCTWN
there is nothing that is not in the highest degree original in his
manner of thinking. The significant thing about Edwards is
the way he enters into the tradition, infuses it with his person
ality and makes it live. The vitality of his thought gives to
its product the value of a unique creation. Two qualities in him
especially contribute to this result, large constructive imagina
tion and a marvellously aciite power of jibstmct reasoning. With
the vision" of the seer he looks steadily upon his world, which is
the world of all time and space and existence, arid sees it as a
whole ; God and souls are in it the great realities, and the
transactions between them the great business in which all its
movement is concerned ; and this movement has in it nothing
haphazard, it is eternally determined with reference to a supreme
and glorious end, the manifestation of the excellency of God, the
highest excellency of being. All the dark and tragic aspects
of the vision, which for him is intensely real, take their place
along with the other aspects, in a system, a system wherein
every part derives meaning and worth from its relation to the
whole. People have wondered how Edwards, the gentlest of men,
could contemplate, as he said he did, with sweetness and delight,
the awful doctrine of the divine sovereignty interpreted, as he
interpreted it, as implying the everlasting misery of a large part
of the human race. The reason is no revolting indifference, cal
lous and inhuman, to suffering ; the reason is rather the personal
detachment, the disinterested interest, the freedom from the
" pathetic fallacy " of the great poet, the great constructive
thinker. It is this large quality in Kdwanls s imagination which
is one source of his power. Another is the thoroughness and
ability with which he intellectually elaborates the details of his
scheme. He wrote, indeed, no system of divinity ; yet he is
the very opposite of a fragmentary thinker, and few minds have
been less episodic than was his. His intellectual constructions
are large and solid. Of the doctrines with which he deals, he
loaves nothing undeveloped; with infinite patience he pushes
INTRODUCTION XIX
his inquiries into every minute detail and remote consequence,
putting his adversaries to confusion by the unremitting attack,
the overwhelming massivencss of the argument. Rarely in
deed can one escape his conclusions who accepts his premises.
Moreover, by the thoroughness, acutencss and sincerity of his
reasoning he powerfully stimulates the intellectual faculties.
Even in his most terrific sermons he never appeals to mere hope \
and fear, nor to mere authority ; in them, as in his theological
treatises, he is bent on demonstrating, within the limits pre
scribed by the underlying assumptions, the reasonableness of his
doctrine, its agreement with the facts of life and the constitution
of things, as well as with the inspired teachings of the Word.
Now these qualities appear, as in his other writings, so also,
and perhaps most conspicuously, in his sermons. Edwards s
chief public work and his chief reputation in his lifetime was
as a preacher ; the fame of his theological treatises is largely,
indeed, posthumous. He was a great preacher. In the case
of many of the older divines, it is difficult for us now to under
stand how they could ever have been considered groat preachers :
to us their sermons seem dry and insipid. But it is not so with
Edwards. Even in print, after more than a hundred and fifty
years, and notwithstanding the gulf which separates our age
from his, his sermons are still deeply interesting. They are in
teresting because, among other things, they reveal a great and
interesting personality. They are instinct with the energy
of his intellect, they are vital with the vital touch of his genius.
He preached his theology"; some of his sermons for instance,
the sermon, or rather combination of sermons, on Justification
by Faith seem to be loss sermons than highly elaborate theo
logical disquisitions, adapted to the use of professional students.
And there is doubtless no sermon of his which does not reflect, to
some extent, his theological system. Edwards was certainly
impressed with The Importance and Advantage of a Thorough
Knowledge of Divine Truth the theme and title of one of his
XX IN TROD UCTION
ablest discourses. He held that God had revealed Himself not
only to the heart, hut to the mind of man, and that an intelli
gent apprehension of the revelation was indispensable, in some
measure, alike to saving faith and to the development of Chris
tian character. But it would be a mistake to think of Edwards
as preaching the dry bones of his theology. He was far, indeed,
from supposing, as some now seem to suppose, that a Christian
society can be the more perfectly organized in proportion a* all
definiteness of theological, that is, distinctively religious, con
ceptions is eliminated. He had too profound a respect for the
intellect to exclude it from matters of the deepest speculative
as well as practical moment, and he had too lofty an idea of
religion to identify it either with vague, transcendental emotion
or with merely personal, social, or political morality. His ser
mons, however, are by no means all of one type. On the con
trary, they are of a great variety of types. They are " doctrinal,"
"practical," "experimental," and taking into account the
unpublished manuscripts there is an unusually large number
of " occasional " sermons. 1 And there are a good many varieties
within the types. .But even when the sermons are most "doc
trinal," the practical interest of a livlnfj conviction of the truth
is never absent. The abstract antithesis of thought and lit* 1 ,
of theory and practice, as though thinking were not itself a
doing or as though an attitude toward truth were not itself
practical or capable of determining other practical attitudes, is
an error from which Edwards is wholesomely free.
To say this is not necessarily to approve the content of his
doctrinal preaching. The thought of the churches with which
Edwards was associated has moved away from his thought.
He contended stoutly for his scheme of things, but he fought, it
would seem, a losing fight. It is not that he has been refuted
by abstract logic; the Argument by which he has been set aside,
1 $<< F. H. Dextor, Th*. .VdnuMripts of Jonathan. Edi^anh, p. 7.
(Reprinted from tho Proceedings of the M:is,s. Hist. Soc., March, I .KM.)
IN TROD UCTION
so far as he has been set aside, is the logic of events. The
change has been brought about no doubt by many influences.
Some of them seem purely sentimental. But there are two
things at least of fundamental divergence in the character of
our time the development in us of a critically disciplined
historical sense and the dominating influence in our modern
science and philosophy of the idea of evolution. These have
broken down those hard and fast distinctions between nature
and the supernatural, nature and grace, human reason and
divine revelation in which Edwards delighted, at least in
the form in which he habitually preached them. AVith the
establishment, on the lines of historical criticism, of new
canons of exegesis in the interpretation of Scripture and
with the gradual disappearance of the idea of the Bible as
an external authority, Protestant Christianity is at present
confronting the question, whether the entire claim of Chris
tianity to be a supernatural revelation, in the sense in which
the term " supernatural " is used by orthodox theologians, has
not been misplaced. This is a question which Edwards never
raises and which he does not help T^S directly to solve. He has
the mind of a speculative philosopher, has a very profound
thought, of God, grasps firmly the eternal spiritual significance
of things; but he is deficient in the historical sense his
History of Redemption is a wholly uncritical, dogmatic con
struction, and lie is not speculative enough to find, or at least
he works under conditions which prevent him from showing, the
mediating principles by which the antitheses and contradictions
of experience and theory can be reconciled and annulled.
But to return to the sermons. Edwards s sermons arc con
structed, in general, on a definite model. AVe have, first, the
Exposition of the text. We have, secondly, a clearly formu
lated statement of the Doctrine, which is then developed under
its appropriate and preaimounced divisions. Finally, we have
what is variously called the Improvement, Use, or Application,
XXli INTRODUCTION
similarly developed. The " Doctrine " is not usually an abstract
theological dogma : it is simply the theme of the discourse stated
in proposition.il form. Thus an unpublished sermon on John i.
41, 42 has this for its statement of doctrine: "When persons
have truly come to Christ themselves, they naturally desire
to bring others also to him." Another unpublished sermon on
John iii. 7 lias this : " Tis no wonder that Christ said that
we must be born again." In another also unpublished from
the text John i. 47 the doctrine is the similarly simple state
ment, "Tis a great thing to be indeed a converted person."
Sometimes, though rarely, the statement of a doctrine is omitted
altogether, the text itself being regarded as sufficiently defining
the subject. 1 This, however, is never the case with the Appli
cation. Indeed, so "practical" is Edwards in his preaching
that the Application is sometimes much the larger part of the
discourse. In the sermon on John i. 47, for example, it fills
about two-thirds of the manuscript. In fact, the proportion of
these parts, Exposition, Development of Doctrine and Applica
tion, depends entirely on the nature of the theme and the special
ends of the sermon. And similarly of the length and number
of the subdivisions. One feature is constant strictly logical
a/rangemont. However finely articulated the sermons may be,
they are constructed so as to make a distinctly unified impres
sion. Nor is this unity of impression seriously interfered with,
as a rule, by the length of the sermon. Edwards was not in
the habit of exhausting the attention of his audience. Occasion-
idly, however, he would develop his theme through two or more
sermons. When these appear in the printed editions as a single
discourse, the length naturally seems inordinate. In the manu
scripts the parts of such compound sermons are indicated by
the word " Doc " (Doctrine) at the divisions, suggesting that
1 As, e.g., in the great ethical sermon cm the Sin of Theft and of
Injustice from the text, "Thou shall not steal." Works, Worcester
reprint, IV, 001.
INTRODUCTION xxiii
the preacher was wont, in renewing the theme, to remind his
hearers of the precise nature of the subject under discussion. 1
And as there was no confusion in the thought, so the styje
of Ed wards * sermons is singularly clear, simple and unstudied.
He affects no graces, seeks iiojidomments, which the subject-
matter itself and his interest in it do not naturally lend. " The
style is the man " is a saying which peculiarly applies to him.
The nobility, strength and directness of his thought, the vivid
ness and largeness of his imagination, the truthfulness and
elevation of his character, the intensity of his convictions, his
impassioned earnestness are reflected in his discourses. They
seem to have been to an unusual degree a spontaneous form of
self-expression. But attention is never diverted from the sub
ject to the skill of the workmanship. The object is not to
delight, but to convince, and the attainment of this cud is
sought by direct methods of argument, persuasion and appeal.
Yet the style, though simple and straightforward, is very far
from being barren. The sermons are full of great, rich, beauti
ful words ; and there are many passages in them of wonderful
charm as well as many of great sublimity and rhetorical power.
But Edwards s interest in these seems never merely verbal. He
is not a maker of phrases. He makes use of striking metaphor
and startling antithesis, his style is often picturesque, he well
knows the rhetorical value of iteration, when the repeated
phrase is employed in a varied context ; but lie never seeks to
produce his effects by literary indirection. He can be easy,
familiar, colloquial even, on occasion, if that suits his purpose ;
but he is never undignified, never vulgarly sensational, nor does
he seem ever to be intentionally humorous. The construction
of his sentences is often such as the pedantry of modern standards
would condemn ; but however old-fashioned, it is seldom indeed
that the expression can be called whimsical or quaint. The
1 Examples of this arc found in the manuscript sermons on John i.
47 and John i. 41, 4 J. \vhirh arc here taken as typical.
xx iv INTRODUCTION
most determining external influence on his style was unquestion
ably the old, so-called King James version of the English bible.
His language is saturated with its thought and phraseology.
,: And as he is intimately acquainted with it in all its parts, ^so
he is continually quoting it and constantly surprising us with
fresh discoveries, in novel collocations, of its variety, beauty and
impressiveness. He was influenced also doubtless by his too
exclusively theological and philosophical reading. But it is, in
the end, the originality of his o\vn genius, the depth and subt
lety and force of his mind and the richness of his spiritual
experiences, which we must regard as setting the stamp upon
hi style. Edwards s sermons are hall-marked : they have not
only interest as historical memorials oi the religious conditions
of their time; as the personal expressions of an original mind,
working in traditional material, indeed, but animating and so
refashioning it with the unique form of a great personality,
they have also the value of literature.
Largely to the union of the intellectual and emotional ele
ments mentioned the deriniteness of the message, the logical
unity of the thought, the singleness and sincerity of the aim,
the intensity of the conviction, the thorough knowledge of
Scripture, the profound acquaintance, through personal expe
rience, of the religious movings of the human heart must be
attributed, in connection with the state of religious thought and
feeling of the time and the respect aroused by the character of
the preacher, the .power which he exercised on his contem
poraries. Of his manner of preaching we have from his pupil,
Hopkins, the following authentic testimony. " His appearance
in the desk was with a good grace, and his delivery easy, nat
ural and very solemn. He had not a strong, loud voice, but
appeared with such gravity and solemnity, and spake with such
distinctness, clearness and precision, his words were so full of
ideas, set in such a plain and striking light, that few speakers
have been .so able to demand the attention of an audience as he.
INTRODUCTION XXV
His words often discovered a great degree of inward fervor,
without much noise or external emotion, and fell with great
weight on the minds of his hearers, -lie made but little motion
of his head or hands in the desk, but spake as to discover the
motion of his own heart, which tended in the most natural and
effectual manner to move and atl ect others.
" As he wrote his sermons out at large for many years, and
always wrote a considerable part of most of his public dis
courses, so he carried his notes into the desk with him, and
read the most that he wrote ; yet he was not so confined
to his notes, when he wrote at large, but that, if some thoughts
were suggested, while he was speaking, which did not occur
when writing, and appeared to him pertinent and striking, he
would deliver them ; and that with as great propriety, and
oftener with greater pathos, and attended with a more sensible
good effect on his hearers, than all he had wrote." 1
The sermons in the present volume have been selected as
representative of Edwards the preacher nther than of Ed
wards the theologian. Any such collection must include at^
least the following four: the sermon on Man s Dependence, < ,.
the. sermon on Spiritual Light, the^ijiii ^lrBernwri and the
Farewell Sermon. These are classic. Moreover, they repre
sent Edvraras in four of his most distinguishing aspects : as
the powerful champion of a theology resting ultimately ^on the
principle of a transcendent, righteous, sovereign Will ; as V
the equally convinced advocate of the mystical principle of
an immediate, intuitive apprehension, through supernatural
illumination, of divine truth ; as 4he flaming revivalist^ with
pitiless logic and terrible realism of description, arousing,
startling, overwhelming the sinner with the sense of impending
doom; finally, as the rejected minister appealing, without
rancor or bitterness, from the judgment of this world to the
i Samuel Hopkins, Life of Edwards, p. 48.
X x vi INTRODUCTION
judgment of an infallible tribunal and displaying what must
ever make him more interesting, more precious as a heritage
to the Church and. the world, than any of his opinions or
his works, the dignity and repose, the patience, strength and
depth of a great character, perfected through suffering and
apparent defeat, in what was virtually the Apologia of his
ministerial life. These sermons alone would suffice to justify
Edwards s reputation as the foremost preacher of his age.
Still, they cannot, of course, be taken as adequately represent
ing the whole range and power of his discourses. In particular,
the Enfield sermon, which has loomed so large in the popular
imagination of Jonathan Edwards, and which, in fact, is but
one to be sure, the most extreme of a number of the same
type, cannot be taken as fairly representative even of Edwai;ds s
revival sermons. There has, therefore, been added, in this
reference," a revival: sermon of another type, the sermon on
Ruth s Resolution. This sermon was chosen, not because
it is better than some others, but because, while being an excel
lent sermon of its kind, it is also brief, and so better adapted
to the scope of this volume. There has been further added,
;ts representing a type distinctly different from any of the
others, the funeral sermon entitled A Strong Rod Broken and
Withered, which is certainly one of the noblest, in thought
and expression, of Edwards s discourses, and which is probably
uninue among his writings as dealing with the subject of
civil government and the management of affairs. Had space
permitted, the picture of the Christian statesman in this
sermon might have been matched by the picture of the Chris
tian minister in one of the ordination sermons ; but the omis
sion is the less serious since the conception is so largely realized
in Edwards himself.
The above six sermons were selected independently of the
fact that they are among the ten published by their author;
but this circumstance confirms the choice and, moreover, serves
INT ROD UCTJ.ON XXVil
to authenticate the text. Edwards has suffered not a little at
the hands of his editors, particularly Dwight, who seems to
have been possessed by the idea that his author would appear
to better advantage in a style, and language more elegant and
refined. " Don t do as Orpah did," pleads Edwards in the Ruth
sermon; "Do not as Orpah did," is the feeble refinement of
his editor. But even the generally accurate Worcester or First
American Edition (1809) is not to be implicitly trusted; for
instance, two whole pages are omitted at the end of the En-
field sermon, giving to that sermon a startling and bi/arre
close, wholly out of keeping with Edwards s habitual manner.
Later editions import other errors and, even while professing
to follow the Worcester edition, sometimes, in fact, follow not
that edition, but Dwight s (e.g., in the Ruth sermon). ^ The
present text is based upon a careful comparison of the original
editions, now very scarce, in the Boston Athemeum. The
original expressions, tis, won t, don t, etc., as Edwards him
self printed them, have been restored, a number of verbal
errors in the later editions corrected and several omitted lines
recovered, besides the long passage already mentioned, which
is, however, in Dwight, at the end of the En field sermon.
No attempt, however, has been made to give a facsimile re
production (if the first editions with all their printer s errors,
capricious spelling, antiquated punctuation and uncouth use
of capitals and italics. These externalities could but distract
the modern reader, while adding nothing essential to accuracy.
In these respects, therefore, the more modern usage has been
followed. The aim lias simply been to give the exact words
of the originals and to preserve their spirit, treating the ser
mons iis sermons to be preached and not as essays to be read.
Accordingly, while avoiding the extremes of the first editions,
italics have been used where Edwards used them to mark
divisions, or for special emphasis, somewhat more freely than
would be customary now. This edition also follows his, and
xxviii IX TROD UCTION
the Biblical, use of ordinary type in personal pronouns refer
ring to divine beings, the verbal reverence in the modern use
of capitals being regarded as needless to enhance the real
reverence of Kdwards s thought and possibly a little out of
place. Added words are enclosed within square brackets.
Besides the six sermons mentioned, the present collection
includes one, the interesting if not exactly great sermon on the
Many Mansions, which has not before been published. A copy
of this sermon made for the late Professor Edwanls A. Park, of
AndoviT, was kindly put at the disposal of the editor by his
son, the Rev. Dr. William E. Park, of Gloversville, X.Y. ;
but it has also been carefully collated with the original manu
script. The editor has also examined the original manuscripts
of all the other sermons in this volume, except that of the Fare
well Sermon, which could not be discovered. These manuscripts
are all in the collection of between eleven and twelve hundred
of Edwards s sermons now in the Yale University Library.
Most of these manuscripts are written in an exceedingly minute
hand, with many abbreviations anil occasionally with insertions
in shorthand, on sheets of paper about 3x4J- m - i 1 size,
stoutly stitched together. The facsimile of the first page of the
sermon on Spiritual Light given in this volume opposite p. 21
is representative ; a relatively small number are slightly larger.
Of the particular manuscripts some account will be found in the
notes. The handling and deciphering of the.se manuscripts
give one a curious sense of intimacy with the working of
Edwards s brain and heart : one is with him in his workshop
and sees, as it were, the very thing in the making. One seems
to feel the intensity of the excitement a^, with his audience
present in imagination, and with keen delight in the activity of
literary creation, he works out his theme. One observes how
alternative forms of expression, alternative lines of development,
suggest themselves, and how now whole paragraphs, whole
pages are struck off at white heat, while now, ol tenest towards
INTRODUCTION xxix
the end, the barest outlines are jotted down, to be filled out in
delivery. But the manuscripts of the sermons which Edwards
himself published afford no help in the fixing of the text. The
sermons as lie printed them are invariably expanded and often
greatly altered in other respects ; and the copy prepared for the
printer is no longer extant. 1 This circumstance should not be
overlooked in judging of sermons printed directly from the
manuscripts. In the Yale collection, there are sermons which
were written out pretty fully; others are only fairly fully
written out in parts, others again are mere skeletons. The
majority of those of the Northampton period are of the second
sort. Among the hundreds of Kdwards s unpublished sermons,
there are doubtless many that it would be interesting to have
in print just as they stand ; it is doubtful if there are any which
would add materially to his reputation as a preacher in com
parison with the great sermons already published.
The portrait of Edwards in this volume is from a recent
photograph of the original painting of 1740. The photograph
was kindly furnished by the present owner of the painting, Mr.
Eugene- P. Edwards, of Chicago, to whom the editor takes this
opportunity of expressing his obligations, lie also desires to
express his thanks to Dr. William E. Park for the use of the
copy of the sermon on the Many Mansions ; to the publishers for
allowing the extra space required for printing this new sermon ;
to Professor Franklin B. Dexter for generous help in the study
of the manuscripts and for permission to photograph the sermon
on Spiritual Light; to Mr. Charles K. Bolton, Librarian of the
Boston Athemeum, for courtesies in the use of the fiist editions ;
and to Mr. George N. "Whipple of Boston, for verifying a
number of references.
NORTHAMPTON, MASS.,
Maivh,
1 As illustrating th> expansion in the printed sermon as compared
\\\\.\\ the manuscript prepared for preaching, see note p. 157.
~ &*--h
/U f 7 ,.J r <.____ -W-. rC-. ^^-/.^.
^^^r^^rP^-^ "-- - ^^xH
^7C71^/ / ^^^v\i^ i
FACSIMU.K OF MASTSCIUPT OF Futsr PACK OF SKKMON " A HIVINK
AM> Sl TKItNATTKAL l.l;i!T."
SELECTED SERMONS OF JONATHAN
EDWARDS
GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE
1 COR i. 29-31. That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of
him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctifi cation, and redemption : that according as
it ls written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
THOSE Christians to whom the apostle directed this epistle
dwelt in a part of the world where human wisdom was in
great repute; as the apostle observes in the 22d verse of this
chapter, " The Greeks seek after wisdom." Corinth was not
far from Athens, that had been for many ages the most famous
seat of philosophy and learning in the world.
The apostle therefore observes to them how that God, by
the gospel, destroyed and brought to nought their human
wisdom. The learned Grecians and their great philosophers by
all their wisdom did not know God : they were not able to find
out the truth in divine things. But after they had done their
utmost to no effect, it pleased God at length to reveal himself
by the gospel, which they accounted foolishness. He " chose
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty, ami the base things of the world, and things that are
despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought tbe
tilings that arc." And the apostle informs them why he thus
n
2 SELECTED SERMONS
did, in the verse of the text : That nojlesh should glory in his
presence, &c.
In which words may be observed,
1. What God aims at in the disposition of things in the
affair of redemption, viz., that man should not glory in himself,
but alone in God : That no f.csh should ylory in his presence,
that, wording as it in written, He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord.
2. How this end is attained in the work of redemption, viz.,
by that absolute and immediate dependence which men have
upon God in that work for all their good/ Inasmuch as,
First, All the good that they have is in and through Christ ;
he is made unto ns wisdom, righteousness, sanctijication,
and reth . inption. All the good of the fallen and redeemed
creature is concerned in these four things, and cannot be better
distributed than into them ; but Christ is eavji of them to us,
and we have none of them any otherwise than in him. He is
made of God unto us wisfloni: in him are all the proper good
and true excellency of the understanding. Wisdom was a thing
that the Greeks admired ; but Christ, is the true light of the
world, it is through him alone that true wisdom is imparted to
the mind. Tis in and by Christ that we have righteousness:
it is by being in him that we are justified, have our sins par
doned* an<l are received as righteous into God s favor. Tis by
Christ that we have sanctijication : we have in him true
excellency of heart as well as of understanding ; and he is made
unto us inherent, as well as imputed righteousness. Tis by
Christ that we have redemption, or actual deliverance from all
misery, and the bestowment of all happiness and glory. Thus
we have all our good by Christ, who is God.
Secondly, Another instance wherein our dependence on God
for all our good appears, is this, that it is God that has given
us Christ, that we might have these benefits through him ; he
of God is mada unto as wittdum, righteousness, &c.
OF JONATHAN XI) WARDS 3
Thirdly, Tis of him that we are in Christ Jesus, and come
to have an interest in him, and so do receive those blessings
which he is made unto us. It is God that gives us faith
whereby we close with Christ.
So that in this verse is shown our dependence on each person
in the Trinity for all our good. We are dependent on Christ
the Son of God, as he is our wisdom, righteousness, sanetifica-
tion and redemption. We are dependent on the Father, who
lias given us Christ, and made him to be these things to us.
We are dependent on the Holy Ghost, for tis of him that we
are in Christ Jetw.s; tis the Spirit of Go-. I that gives faith in
him, whereby we receive him and close with him.
DOCTRINE
God in glorified in the work of redemption iv this, that
there appears in it so absolute and universal a dependence
of the redeemed, on him.
Here I propose to show, I., That there is an absolute and
universal dependence of the redeemed on God for all their good.
And II., That God hereby is exalted and glorified in the work
of redemption.
I. There is an absolute and universal dependence of the
redeemed on God. The nature and contrivance of our redemp
tion is such, that the redeemed are in every thing directly,
immediately and entirely dependent on God : they are depend-""!
cut on him for all, and are dependent on him every way.
The several ways wherein the dependence of one being may
be upon another for its good, and wherein the redeemed of
Jesus Christ depend on God for all their good, are these, viz.,
that they have all their good of him, and that they have all
through him, and that they have all /// him. That lie is the
cause and original whence all their good comes, therein it is of
4 SELECTED SKRMOXS
him ; and that lie is the medium by which it is obtained and
conveyed, therein they have it through him ; and that he is
that good itself that is given and conveyed, therein it is in
him.
^S T ow those that are redeemed by Jesus Christ do, in all these
respects, very directly and entirely depend on God for their all.
First, The redeemed have all their good of God ; God is the
great author of it ; he is the first cause of it, and not only so,
but he is the only proper cause.
Tis of God that we have our Redeemer : it is God that has
provided a Saviour for us. Jesus Christ is not only of God in
his person, as he is the only begotten Son of God, but he is
from God,- as we are concerned in him and in his office of Media
tor : he is the gift of God to us : God chose and anointed him,
appointed him his work, and sent him into the world.
And as it is God that gives, so tis God that accepts the
Saviour. As it is God that provides and gives the Redeemer
to buy salvation for us, so it is of God that salvation is bought :
he -^ives the purchaser, and he affords the thing purchased.
Tis of God that Christ becomes ours, that we are brought
to him and are united to him : it is of God that we receive
aith to c .ose with him, that we may have an interest in him
Eph. ii. 8, " For by grace ye are saved, through faith ; and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Tis of God than
we actually do receive all the benefits that Christ has purchased.
Tis God that pardons; and justifies, and delivers from going
down to hell, and it is his favor that the redeemed are received
into, and are made the objects of, when they arc justified. So
! it is God that delivers from the dominion of sin, and cleanses
Mis from our filthiness, and changes us from our deformity. 11;
is of God c hat the redeemed do receive all their true excellency,
wisdom and holiness; and that two ways, vi/., as the Holy
Ghost, by whom these things are immediately wrought, is fr m
God, proceeds from him and is sent by him ; and also as the
f
[
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS O
Holy Ghost himself is God, by whose operation and indwelling
the knowledge of divine things, and a holy disposition, and all
grace, are conferred and upheld.
And though means are made use of in conferring grace on
men s souls, yet tis of God that we have these means of grace,
and tis God that makes them effectual. Tis of God that we,
have the holy Scriptures ; they are the word of God. Tis of
God that we have ordinances, and their ettivaey depends on the
immediate influence of the Spirit of God. The ministers of the
gospel are sent of God, and all their sufficiency is of him.
2 Cor. iv. 7, " We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the
excellency of the power may l>e of (Hod, and not of us." Their
success depends entirely and absolutely on the immediate
blessing and influence of God. The redeemed have all.
1. Of the (/rare of God. It was of mere grace that God
gave us his only begotten Son. The grace is great in propor
tion to the dignity and excellency of what is given : the gift
was infinitely precious, becair^ it was a person infinitely
worthy, a person of infinite glory ; and also because it was a
person infinitely near and dear to God. The grace is great in
proportion to the benefit we have given us in him : the bene
fit is doubly infinite, in that in him we have deliverance from
an infinite, because an eternal, misery ; and do also receive
eternal joy and glory. The grace in bestowing this gift is great
in proportion to our unworthiness to whom it is given ; instead
of deserving such a gift, we merited infinitely ill of God s hands.
The grace is great according to the manner of giving, or in pro
portion to the humiliation and expense of the method and means
by which way is made for our having of the gift. He gave iiim
to us dwelling amongst us ; he gave him to us incarnate, or in
our nature ; he gave him to us in our nature, in the like infirmi
ties in which we have it in our fallen state, and which in us
do accompany and are occasioned by the sinful corruption of
our nature. He iravc him to us in a low and afllicted state :
and nut only so, but lie gave him to us slain, that he might 1>3
a feast for our souls.
The grace of God in bestowing this gift is most free. It
was what God was under no obligation to bestow : he might
have rejected fallen man, as he did the fallen angels. It was
what we never did any thing to merit. Twas given while we
were yet enemies, and before we had so much an repented. It
was from the love of God that saw no excellency in us to attract
it ; and it was without expectation of ever being requited for it.
And tis from mere grace that the benefits of Christ arc
applied to such and such particular persons. Those that are
called and sanctified are to attribute it alone to the good
pleasure of God s goodness, by which they arc distinguished.
He is sovereign, and hath mercy on whom he will have mercy,
and whom he will, lie hardens.
Man hath now a greater dependence on the grace of God
than he had before the fall. Pie depends on the free goodness
of God for much more than he did then : then he depended on
God s goodness for conferring the reward of perfect obedience :
for God was not obliged to promise and bestow that reward :
but now we are dependent on the grace of God for much
more: we stand in need of grace, not only to bestow glory
upon us, but to deliver us from hell and eternal wrath. Under
the first covenant we depended on God s goodness to give us
the reward of righteousness ; and so we do now. And not
only so, but we stand in need of God s five and sovereign
grace to give us that righteousness; and yet not only so, but
we stand in need of his grace to pardon ouv sin and release us
from the guilt ami infinite demerit of it.
And as we are dependent on the goodness of God for more
now than under the first covenant, so we are dependent on a
much greater, more free and wonderful goodness. We are now
more dependent on God s arbitrary and sovereign good pleasure.
We were in our first estate dependent on God for holiness:
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 1
we had our original righteousness from him ; but then holiness
was not bestowed in such a way of sovereign good pleasure as
it is now. Man was created holy, and it became God to create
holy all the reasonable creatures he created : it would have
been a disparagement to the holiness of God s nature, if he had
made an intelligent creature unholy. But now when a man is
made holy, it is from mere and arbitrary grace ; God may for
ever deny holiness to the fallen creature it he pleases, without
any disparagement to any of his perfections.
And we arc not only indeed more dependent on the grace of
God, but our dependence is much more conspicuous, because
our own insufficiency and helplessness in ourselves is much
more apparent in our fallen and undone state than it was
before we were either sinful or miserable. We are more
apparently dependent on God for holiness, because we are first
sinful, and utterly polluted, and afterward holy : so the pro
duction of the effect is sensible, and its derivation from God
more obvious. If man was ever holy and always was so, it
would not be so apparent, that he had not holiness necessarily,
as an inseparable qualification of human nature. So we are
more apparently dependent on free grace for the favor of God,
for we are first justly the objects of his displeasure and after
wards are received into favor. We are more apparently depend
ent on God for happiness, being first miserable and afterwards
happy. It is more apparently free and without merit in us,
because we are actually without any kind of excellency to
merit, if there could be any such thing as merit in creature
excellency. And we are not only without any true excellency,
but arc full of, and wholly defiled with, that which is infinitely
odious. All our good is more apparently from God, because we
are first naked and wholly without any good, and afterwards
enriched with all good.
2. We receive all of the power of God. Man s redemption is
often spoken of as a work of wonderful power as well as grace
8 SKLKCTKI) SKKMOXS
The great power of God appears in bringing a sinner from his
low state, from the depths of sin and misery, to such an exalted
state of holiness and happiness. Eph. i. 11), " And what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe, accord
ing to the working of his mighty power*"
We are dependent on God s power through every step of our
redemption. We are dependent on the power of God to con
vert us, and give faith in Jesus Christ, and the new nature.
Tis a work of creation : " If any man be in Christ, lie is a
new creature," 2 Cur. v. 17. "We are created in Christ
Jesus," Eph. ii. 10. The fallen creature cannot attain to true
holiness, but by being created again: Eph. iv. 24, "And that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteous
ness and true holiness." It is a raising from the dead: Col. ii.
12, 13, "Wherein ye also arc risen with him, through the faith
of the opcratio?: of God, who hath raised him from the dead."
Yea, it is a more glorious work of power than more creation,
or raising a dead body to life, in that the effect attained is
greater and more excellent. That holy and happy being and
spiritual life which is reached in the work of conversion is a far
greater and more glorious effect than mere being and life. And
the state from whence the change is made, of such a death in
sin, and total corruption of nature, and depth of misery, is far
more remote from the state attained, than mere death or
nonentity.
Tis by God s power also that we arc preserved in a state of
grace : 1 Pet. i. 5, " Who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation." As grace is at first from God,
so tis continually from him, and is maintained by him, as
much as light in the atmosphere is all day long from the sun,
as well as at fiist dawning or at sunrising.
Men are dependent on the power of God for evcrj exercise
of grace, and for carrying on the work of grace in the heart,
for the subduing uf sin and corruption, and increasing holy
OF JON A Til A N E D I VA U I) 8
principles, and enabling to bring forth fruit in good works, and
at last bringing grace to its perfection, in making the soul com
pletely amiable in Christ s glorious likeness, and filling of it
with a satisfying joy and blessedness ; and for the raising of
the body to life, and to such a perfect state, that it shall be
suitable for a habitation and organ for a soul so perfected and
Messed. These are the most glorious effects of the power of
God that are seen in the series of God s acts with respect to
the creatures.
Man was dependent on the power of God in his first estate,
but he is more dependent on his power now ; lie needs God s
power to do more things for him, and depends on a more
wonderful exercise of his power. It was an effect of the power |
of God to make man holy at the first ; but more remarkably so ;
now, because there is a great deal of opposition and difficulty.--
in th.5 way. Tis a more glorious effect of power to make that
holy that was so depraved and under the dominion of sin, than
to confer holiness on that which before had nothing of the con
trary. It is a more glorious work of power to rescue a soul
out of the hands of the devil, and from the powers of darkness,
and to bring it into a state of salvation, than to confer holiness
where there was no prepossession or opposition. Luke xi. :M,
"2 2, "When a strong man armed keepcth his palace, his goods
arc in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon
him, and overcome him, he takcth from him all his armor
wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." So tis a more
glorious work of power to uphold a soul in a state of grace and
holiness, and to carry it on til) it is brought to glory, when
there is so much sin remaining in the heart resisting, and
Satan with all hi* might opposing, than, it would have been to
have kept man from falling at first, when Satan had nothing
in man.
Thus we have shown how the redeemed are dependent on
God for all their good, as they have all of him.
10 SELECTED SERMONS
Secondly, They arc also dependent on God for all, as they
have all through him. Tis God that is the medium of it, as
well as the author and fountain of it. All that we have, wis
dom and the pardon of sin, deliverance from hell, acceptance in
God s favor, grace and holiness, true comfort and happiness,
eternal life and glory, we have from God by a Mediator; and
. this Mediator is God, whi-h Mediator we have an absolute
dependence upon as he through whom we receive all. So that
here is another way wherein we have our dependence on God
for all good. God not only gives us the Mediator, and ac
cepts his mediation, and of his power and grace bestows the
things purchased by the Mediator, but he is the Mediator.
Our blessings arc what we have by purchase; and the pur
chase is made of God, the blessings are purchased of him, and
God gives the purchaser; and not only so, but God is the pur
chaser. Yea, God is both the purchaser and the price; for
Christ, who is God, purchased these blessings for us by ottering
up himself as the price of our salvation. He purchased eter
nal life by the sacrifice of himself: Heb. vii. J7, "He ottered
up himself;" and ix. !>(>, "He hath appeared to take away sin
by the sacrifice of himself." Indeed it was the human nature
that was offered ; but it was the same person with the divine,
and therefore was an infinite price: it was looked upon as if
God had been ottered in sacrifice.
As we thus have our good through God, we have a depend
ence on God in a respect that man in his first estate had not.
> , Man was to have eternal life then through his own righteous-
. Vss ; so that he had partly a dependence upon what was in
himself; for we have a dependence upon that through which
we have our good, as well as that from which we have it.
And though man s righteousness that he then depended on was
indeed from God, yet it was his own, it was inherent in him
self; so that his dependence was not so immediately on God.
But now the righteousness that we arc dependent on is not in
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 11
ourselves, but in God. We are saved through the righteous
ness of Christ: lie is made unto us righteousness; and there
fore is prophesied of, Jer. xxiii. G, under that name of " the
Lord our righteousness." In that the righteousness we are
justified by is the righteousness of Christ, it is the righteous
ness of God: 2 Cor. v. 21, " That we might be made the
righteousness of God in him."
Thus in redemption we han t only all things of God, but
by and through him : 1 Cor. viii. 21, ".But to us there is but
one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him ;
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by
him."
Thirdly, The redeemed have all their good m God. "VVe
not only have it of him, and through him, but it consists in
him ; he is all our good.
The good of the redeemed is either objective or inherent.
l>y their objective good I mean that intrinsic object, in the
possession and enjoyment of which they are happy. Their
inherent good is that excellency or pleasure which is in the
soul itself. With respect to both of which the redeemed have
all their good in God, or, which is the same thing, God him
self is all their good.
1. The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God
himself is the great good which they are brought to the pos
session and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest
good and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased.
God is the inheritance of the saints ; he is the portion of their
souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life,
their dwelling-place, their ornament and diadem, and their
everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but
God ; lie is the great good which the redeemed are received to
at death, and which they arc to rise to at the end of the world.
The Lord God, he is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem ; and
is the "river of the water of life," that runs, and "the tree of
12 ,s /;/,/;< "/ /; /j &/;/; J/</A T ,S
life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God." The
glorious excellencies and beauty of God will he what will for
ever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God
will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed en
joy other things ; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy
one another; hut that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or
each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that will yield them
delight and happiness, will he what will he seen of God in them.
2. The redeemed have all their inherent good in God. In
herent good is twofold; tis either excellency or pleasure.
These the redeemed not only derive from God, as caused by
him, but have them in him. They have spiritual excellency
and joy by a kind of participation of God. They arc made
excellent by a communication of God s excellency : God puts
his own beauty, i.e., his beautiful likeness, upon their souls:
they arc made partakers of the divine nature, or moral image
of (rod, *J Pet. i. 1. They are holy by being made partakers
of God s holiness, Ileb. xii. 10. The saints are beautiful and
blessed by a communication of God s holiness and joy, as the
moon and planets are bright by the sun s light. The saint
hath spiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion of God on
the soul. In these things the redeemed have communion with
God ; that is, they partake with him and of him.
The saints have both their spiritual excellency and blessed
ness by the gift of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of God, and his
dwelling in them. They are not only caused by the Holy
Ghost, but are in the Holy Ghost as their principle. \ The
N Holy Spirit becoming an inhabitant, is a vital principle in the
soul ^ he, acting in, upon and with the soul, becomes a fountain
of true holiness and joy, as a spring is of water, by the exertion
and diffusion of itself: John iv. 11, "But whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst ; but the
water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life," compared with chap, vil
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 13
38, 39, "He that belicveth on me, as the Scripture hath said,
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water; but this
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should
receive." The sum of what Christ has purchased for us is that
spring of water spoken of in the former of those places, and
those rivers of living water spoken of in the latter. And the
sum of the blessings which the redeemed shall receive in
heaven is that river of water of life that proceeds from the
throne of God and the Lamb, Kev. xxii. 1, which doubtless
signifies the same with those rivers of living water explained
John vii. 38, 39, which is elsewhere called the "river of God s
pleasures." Herein consists the fulness of good which the
saints receive by Christ. Tis by partaking of the Holy Spirit
that they have communion with Christ in his fulness. God
hath given the Spirit, not by measure unto him, and they do
receive of his fulness, and grace for grace. This is the sum of
the saints inheritance; and therefore that little of the Holy
Ghost which believers have in this world is said to be the
earnest of their inheritance. 2 Cor. i. 22, "Who hath also
scaled as, and given us the Spirit in our hearts." And chap.
v. 5, " Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is
God who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."
And Eph. i. 13, 14, "Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the
redemption of the purchased possession."
The Holy Spirit and good things are spoken of in Scripture *
as the same ; as if the Spirit of God communicated to the soul
comprised all good things: Matt. vii. 11, "How much more
shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask
him?" In Luke it is, chap. xi. 13, "How much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him ? " This is the sum of the blessings that Christ died to
procure, and that are the subject of gospel promises : Gal. Hi.
13, 14, "He was made a curse for us, that we might receive
14 SELECTED SERMONS
the promise of the Spirit through faith." The Spirit of God is
the great promise of the Father: Luke xxiv. 49, "Behold, I
send the promise of my Father upon you." The Spirit of God
therefore is called "the Spirit of promise," Eph. i. 13. This
promised thing Christ received, and had given into his hand,
as soon as he had finished the work of our redemption, to
bestow on all that he had redeemed: Acts ii. 33, "Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this, which ye both see and hear." So that all the holi
ness and happiness of the redeemed is in God. Tis in the
communications, indwelling and acting of the Spirit of God.
Holiness and happiness are in the fruit, here and hereafter,
because God dwells in them, and they in God.
Thus tis God that has given us the Redeemer, and tis of
him that our good is purchased : so tis God that is the
Redeemer and the price ; and tis God also that is the good
purchased. So that all that we have is of (Jod, and thronf/h
him, and in him : Rom. xi. 3G, " For of him, and through him,
and to him (or in him), are all things." The same in the Greek
that is here rendered to him is rendered in him, 1 Cor. vii. 6.
II. God is glorified in the work of redemption by this
means, viz., by there being so great and universal a dependence
of the redeemed on him.
1. Man hath so much the greater occasion and obligation to
take notice and acknowledge God s perfections and all-sufficiency.
The greater the creature s dependence is on God s perfections,
and the greater concern he has with them, so much the greater
occasion has he to take notice of them. So much the greater
concern any one has with, and dependence upon, the power ami
grace of God, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of
that power and grace. So much the greater and more immediate
dependence there is on the divine holiness, so much the greater
occasion to take notice of and acknowledge that. So much
OF JONATHAN EDWARJtS 15
the greater and more absolute dependence we have on the
divine perfections, as belonging to the several persons of the
Trinity, so much the greater occasion have we to observe and
own the divine glory of each of them. That which we are
most concerned with, is surely most in the way of our observa
tion and notice ; and this kind of concern with any thing, viz.,
dependence, does especially tend to commend and oblige the
attention and observation. Those things that we are not much
dependent upon, tis easy to neglect ; but we can scarce do any
other than mind that which we have a great dependence on.
By reason of our so great dependence on God and his perfec
tions, and in so many respects, he and his glory are the more
directly set in our view, which way soever we turn our eyes.
We have the greater occasion to take notice of God s all-
sufrtciency, when all our sufficiency is thus every way of him.
We have the more occasion to contemplate him as an infinite
good, and as the fountain of all good. Such a dependence on
God demonstrates God s all-sufficiency. So much as the de
pendence of the creature is on God, so much the greater does
the creature s emptiness in himself appear to be ; and so much
the greater the creature s emptiness, so much the greater must
the fulness of the Being be who supplies him. Our having
all of God shows the fulness of his power and grace : our hav
ing all throiwjh him shows the fulness of his merit and worthi
ness ; and our having all in him demonstrates his fulness of
} Beauty, love and happiness.
And the redeemed, by reason of the greatness of their
dependence on God, han t only so much the greater occasion,
but obligation to contemplate and acknowledge the glory and
fulness of God. How unreasonable and ungrateful should we
be if we did not acknowledge that sufficiency and glory that we
do absolutely, immediately and universally depend upon !
2. Hereby is demonstrated how great God s glory is con
sidered comparatively, or as compared with the creature s. By
10 - SELECTED 8KKMONS
the creature s being thus wholly and universally dependent on
God, it appears that the creature is nothing and that God is
all. Hereby it appears that God H infinitely above us ; that
God s strength, and wisdom and holiness are infinitely greater
than ours. However great and glorious the creature appr,-
hends God to be, yet if he be not sensible of the ditfere ice
between God and him, so as to see that God s glory is pveat,
compared with his own, he will not be disposed to givj God
the glory due to his name. If the creature, in any resp.-ct, sets
himself upon a level with God, or exalts himself to ary compe
tition with him, however he may apprehend that g eat honor
and profound respect may belong to God from those that arc
more inferior, and at a greater distance, he will not be so
sensible of its being due from him. So much the more men
exalt themselves, so much the less will they surely be dis
posed to exalt God. Tis certainly a tiling that God aims at
in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption (if we
allow the Scriptures to be a revelation of (rod s mind), that
God should appear full, and man in himself empty, that God
should appear all, and man nothing. Tis God s declared
design that others should not "glory in his presence"; which
implies that tis his design to advance his own comparative
glory. So much the more man " glories in God s presence," so
much the less glory is ascribed to God.
3. By its being thus ordered, that the creature should have
so absolute and universal a dependence on God, provision is
made that God. should have our whole souls, and should be the
object of our undivided respect. If we had our dependence
partly on God and partly on something else, man s respect
woidd be divided to those different things on which he had de
pendence. Thus it would be if we depended on God only for a
part of our good, and on ourselves or some other being for an
other part: or if we had our g;od only from God, and through
another that was not God, and in something else distinct from
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 17
joth, our hearts would be divided between the good itself, and
him from whom, anil him through whom we received it. But
now there is no occasion for this, God being not only lie from
or of whom we have all good, hut also through whom, and one
that is that good itself, that we have from him and through
him. So that whatsoever there is to attract our respect, the
tendency is still directly towards God, all unites in him as the
centre.
USE
1. We may here observe the marvellous wisdom of God in^"
the work of redemption. God hath made man s emptiness and
misery, his low, lost and ruined state into which he sunk by
the fall, an occasion of the greater advancement of his own
glory, as in other ways, so particularly in this, that there is now ,
a much more universal and apparent dependence of man on /
(Jod. Though God be pleased to lift man out of that dismal
abyss of sin and woe into which he was fallen, and exceedingly
to exalt him in excellency and honor, and to a high pitch of
glory and blessedness, yet the creature hath nothing in any
respect to glory of; all the glory evidently belongs to God, all
is in a mere and most absolute and divine dependence on the
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
And each person of the Trinity is equally glorified in this
work : there is an absolute dependence of the creature on every
one for all : all is of the Father, all through the Son, and all in
the lloly Ghost. Thus God appears in the work of redemption
as all hi (dl. It is lit that he that is, and there is none else,
should be the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the
all, and the only, in this work.
2. Hence those doctrines and schemes of divinity that are in
any respect opposite to such an absolute and universal depend
ence on God, do derogate from God s glory, and thwart the
design of the contrivance for our redemption. Thof-e schemes
c
18 SELECTED SERMONS
that put the creature in God s stead, in any of the mentioned
respects, that exalt man into the place of either Father, Son or
Holy Ghost, in any thing pertaining to our redemption ; that,
however they may allow of a dependence of the redeemed on
God, yet deny a dependence that is so absolute and universal ;
that own an entire dependence on God for some things, but not
for others ; that own that we depend on God for the gift and
acceptance of a Redeemer, but deny so absolute a dependence
on him for the obtaining of an interest in the Redeemer ; that
own an absolute dependence on the Father for giving his Son,
and on the Son for working out redemption, but not so entire
a dependence on the Holy Ghost for conversion and a being in
Christ, and so coming to a title to his benefits ; that own a de
pendence on God for means of grace, but not absolutely for the
benefit and success of those means ; that own a partial depend
ence on the power of God for the obtaining and exercising holi
ness, but not a mere dependence on the arbitrary and sovereign
grace of God ; that own a dependence on the free grace of God
for a reception into his favor, so far that it is without any
proper merit, but not as it is without being attracted, or moved
with any excellency that own a partial dependence on Christ,
as he through whom we have life, as having purchased new
terms of life, but still hold that the righteousness through
which we have life is inherent in ourselves, as it was under the
first covenant; and whatever other way any scheme is incon
sistent with our entire dependence on God for all, and in each
of those ways, of having all of him, through him, and in him,
it is repugnant to the design and tenor of the gospel and robs
it of that which God accounts its lustre and glory.
3. Hence we may learn a reason why faith is that by which
we come to have an interest in this redemption ; for there is
included in the nature of faith a sensiblcncss and acknowledg
ment of this absolute dependence on God in this affair* Tis
very fit that it should be required of all, in order to their hav-
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 19
ing the benefit of this redemption, that they should be sensible
of, and acknowledge the dependence on God for it. Tis by
this means that God hath contrived to glorify himself in re
demption ; and tis fit that God should at least have this glory
of those that are the subjects of this redemption, and have the.
benefit of it.
Faith is a sensibleness of what is veal in the work of redemp
tion ; and as we do really wholly depend on God, so the soul
that believes doth entirely depend, on .God for all salvation, in
its own sense and act. Faith abases men and exalts God,
it fr ives all the glory of redemption to God alone. It is neces
sary in order to saving faith that man should be emptied of
himself, that he should be sensible that he is "wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Humility is a
great ingredient of true faith : lie that truly receives redemp
tion, receives it as a little child: Mark x. 15, "Whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child, he
shall not enter therein." It is the delight of a, believing soul
to abase itself and exalt God alone : that is the language of it,
Psalm cxv. 1, "Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to thy
name give glory."
4. Let us be exhorted to exalt God alone, and ascribe to
him all the glory of redemption. Let us endeavor to obtain,
.und increase \r. a sensibleness of our great dependence on God,
to have our eye to him alone, to mortify a self-dependent and
self-righteous disposition. Man is naturally exceeding prone
to be exalting himself and depending on his own power or
goodness, a? though he were ho from whom he must expect
happiness, and to have respect to enjoyments alien from God
and his Spirit, as those in which happiness is to be found.
And this doctrine should teach us to exalt God alone, as by
trust and reliance, so by praise. Let him that (florid h, i/Iory
In the LonL IL ith any man hope that he is converted and
sanctified, and that his mind is endowed with true excellency
20 SELECTED SERMONS
and spiritual beauty, and his sins forgiven, and he received
into God s favor, and exalted to the honor and blessedness of
being his child, and an heir of eternal life : let him give God all
the glory ; who alone makes him to (litter from the worst of
men in this world, or the miserablest of the damned in hell.
Hath any man much comfort and strong hope of eternal life,
let not his hope lift him up, but dispose him the more to
iibasc himself aul reflect on his own exceeding un worthiness of
such a favor, and to exalt God alone. Is any man eminent in
holiness and abundant in good works, let him take nothing of
the glory of it to himself, but ascribe it to him whose "work
manship we are, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
OF JONATHAN KD WARDS 21
II
A DIVINE AND SUPERNATURAL LIGHT, IMMEDIATELY IMPARTED
TO THE SOUL BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, SHOWN TO BE BOTH
A SCRIPTURAL AND RATIONAL DOCTRINE.
MATT. xvi. AiulJesus answered and said unto him, Blessed artthou,
Simon Barjona : for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
CHRIST says these words to Peter upon occasion of his pro
fessing liis faith in him as the Son of God. Our Lord was
inquiring of his disciples, who men said he was ; not that he
needed to be informed, "but only to introduce and give occasion
to what follows. They answer, that some said he was John
the Baptist, and some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the
Prophets. When they had thus given an account who others
said he was, Christ asks them, who they said he was. Simon
Peter, whom we find always zealous and forward, was the
first to answer : he readily replied to the question, TJtou art
Christ, the Son of the Itfhi j God.
Upon this occasion, Christ says as he does to him, and o/him
in the text : in which we may observe,
1. That Peter is pronounced blessed on this account.
Massed art Thou. "Thou art a happy man, that thou art
not ignorant of this, that I am Christ, the Son of the living
Clod. Thou art distinguishingly happy. Others are blinded,
and have dark and deluded apprehensions, as you have now
given an account, some thinking that I am Elias, and some
that I am Jeremias, and some one thing, and some another;
but none of them thinking right, all of them misled. Happy
22 SELECTED XERUOXS
art thou, that art so distinguished as to know the truth in this
matter."
2. The evidence of this his happiness declared ; viz., that
God, and he only, had recealed it to him. This is an evidence
of his being blessed.
First, As it shows how peculiarly favored he was of God
above others ; q. <!., " How highly favored arfc thou, that others
that arc wise and great men, the Scribes, Pharisees and Rulers,
and the nation in general, are left in darkness, to follow their
own misguided apprehensions ; and that thou shouldst be
singled out, as it were, by name, that my Heavenly Father
should thus set his love on theo, Simon IJzirjona. This argues
thcc blessed, that thou shouldst thus be the object of God s
distinguishing love."
Secondly, It evidences his blessedness also, as it intimates
tluit this knowledge is above any that tlcsh and blood can
reveal. "This is such knowledge as my Father which is in
heaven only can give : it is too high and excellent to be com-
municrCed by such means as other knowledge is. Thou art
blesse< , that thou knowcst that which God alone can teach thcc."
Tie original of this knowledge is here declared, both nega
tively and positively. Positively, as God is here declared the
authoi- of it. Negatively, as it is declared, that llesh and blood
had not revealed it. God is the author of all knowledge and
understanding whatsoever. He is the author of the knowledge
that is obtained by human learning : he is the author of all moral
prudence, and of the knowledge and skill that men have in their
secular business. Thus it is said of all in Israel that were wise-
hearted and skilful in embroidering, that God had filled them
with the spirit of wisdom, Kxod, xxviii. 3.
God is the author of such knowledge; but yet not so but
that flesh and blood reveals it. Mortal men are capable of
imparting the knowledge of human arts and sciences, and skill
in temporal affairs. God is the author of such knowledge by
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 23
those means : flesh and blood is made use of by God as the
mediate or second cause of it ; he conveys it by the power and
influence of natural means. But this spiritual knowledge,
spoken of in the text, is what God is the author of, and none
else : he reveals it, and flesh and blood reveals it not. lie imparts /
this knowledge immediately, not making use of any intermediate : f
natural causes, as he does in other knowledge.
What had passed in the preceding discourse naturally
occasioned Christ to observe this ; because the disciples had
been telling how others did not know him, but were generally
mistaken about him, and divided and confounded in their
opinions of him : but Peter had declared his assured faith, that
lie was the Son of God. Now it was natural to observe, how
it was not llcsh and blood that had revealed it to him, but
God : for if this knowledge were dependent on natural causes
or means, how came it to puss that they, a company of poor
fishermen, illiterate men, and persons of low education, attained
to the knowledge of the truth ; while the Scribes and Phari
sees, men of vastly higher advantages, and greater knowledge
and sagacity in other matters, remained m ignorance? This
could be owing only to the gracious distinguishing influence
and revelation of the Spirit of God; Hence, what I would
make the subject of my present discourse from these words is
this
DOCT1UNE,
viz., That there ^ swft a thimj a* a Sniritnd.l and Divine
Li(/ht, hnwaiatdtj unjtartwl to tli<> son! />// < () < J 9 f a ^>ff cr
cut nature from aiuj that /N obtained lj natural means.
In what I say on this subject at this time I would
I. Show what this divine light is.
II. How it is given immediately by God, and not oVn.ined
by natural means.
24 SKLKCTKl) SERMONS
III. Show the truth of the doctrine.
And then conclude with a brief improvement.
I. I would show what this spiritual and divine light is.
And in order to it, would show,
First, In a few things what it is not. And here,
1. Those convictions that natural men mat/ have of their sin
and misery, is not this spiritual and divine light. Men in a
natural condition may have convictions of the guilt that lies"
upon them, and of the anger of God and their danger of divine
vengeance. Such conviction* are from light or sensibleness of
truth. That some sinners have a greater conviction of their
guilt and misery than others, is Because some have more light,
or more of an apprehension of truth than others. And this
light and conviction may be from the Spirit of God ; the
Spirit convinces men of sin : but yet nature is much more con-
corned in it than in the communication of that spiritual and
divine ligl.it that is spoken of in the doctrine; tis from the
Spirit of God only as assisting natural principles, and not ^ as
infusing any new principles. Common grace differs from special,
in that it influences only by assisting of nature ; and not by
imparting grace, or bestowing anything above nature. The
light that is obtained is wholly natural, or of no superior kind
to what mere nature attains to, though more of that kind be
obtained than would be obtained if men were left wholly to
themselves : or, in other words, common grace only assists the
faculties of the soul to do that more fully which they do by
nature, as natural conscience or reason will, by mere nature,
make a man sensible of guilt, and will accuse and condemn
him when he has done amiss. Conscience is a principle natural
to men ; and the work that it doth naturally, or of itself, is to
give an apprehension of right and wrong, and to suggest to the
mind the relation that there is between right and wrong and a
retribution. The Spirit of God, in those convictions wjich
unregencrate men sometimes have, assists conscience to do this
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 2i)
work in a further degree than it would do if they were left to
themselves: he helps it against those tilings that tend to
stupefy it, and obstruct its exercise. But in the renewing and
sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost, those things are wrought
in the soul that arc above nature, and of which there is nothing
qf the like kind in the soul by nature ; and they are caused to
exist in the soul habitually, and according to such a stated con
stitution or law that lays such a foundation for exercises in a^
continued course, as is called a principle of nature. Not only
are remaining principles assisted to do their work more freely
and fully, but those principles are restored that were utterly
destroyed by the fall; and the mind thenceforward habitu
ally exerts those acts that the dominion of sin had made it as
wholly destitute of, as a dead body is of vital acts.
The Spirit of God acts in a very diitcrent manner in the one
case from what he dotli in the other. He may indeed act
upon the mind of a natural man, but he acts in the mind of
a saint as an indwelling vital principle. He a- ts upon the
mind of an unregenerate person as an extrinsic, occasional
M-.ci i nt; for in acting upon them, he doth not unite himself to
them / notwithstanding all his influences that they may be the
subjects of, they are still sensual, having not the Spirit, Jude
19. But he unites himself with the mind of a saint, takes
him for his temple, actuates and influences him as a new, super
natural principle of life and action. There is this difference,
that the Spirit of God, in acting in the soul of a godly man, exerts
and communicates himself there in his own proper nature. Holi
ness is the proper nature of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit
operates in the minds of the godly by uniting himself to them,
and living in them, and exerting his own nature in the exercise
of their faculties. The Spirit of God may act upon a creature^
and yet not in acting communicate himself. The Spirit of
God may act upon inanimate creatures ; as the Spirit moved
upon the face of the waters in the beginning of the creation;
20 SELECTED SKHMOXS
so the Spirit of God may act upon the minds of men many
ways, mid communicate himself no more than when he acts
upon an inanimate creature. For instance, he may excite
thoughts in them, may assist their natural reason and under
standing, or may assist other natural principles, and this with
out any union with the soul, but may act, as it were, as upon
an external object. JJtit us he acts in his holy influences and
spiritual operations, he acts in a way of peculiar communica
tion of himself; so that the subject is thence denominated
spiritual.
2. Tin s spiritual awl divine light don t consist in any
imprvfixivn nutde >ij>on tint imagination. It is no impression
upon the mind, as though one saw any thing with the bodily
eyes : tis nu imagination or idea of an outward light or glory,
or any beauty of form or countenance, or a visible lustre or
brightness of any object. The imagination may be strongly
impres-ed with such things ; but this is not spiritual light.
Indeed when the mind has a livoly discovery of spiritual things,
and \A greatly u fleeted l.y the power of divine light, it may,
and probably very commonly doth, much affect the imagination ;
so that impressions of an outward beauty or brightness may
accompany those spiritual discoveries. ]5ut spiritual light is
not that impression upon the imagination, but an exceeding
different thing from it. Natural men may have lively impres
sions on their imaginations ; aw , we can t determine but that
the devil, who transforms himself into an angei of light, may
cause imaginations ol ;>n outward boauty, or visible glory, and
of sounds and speeches and other siu;h things ; but these are
things of a vastly inferior nature to spiritual light.
3. This spiritual light is not the suggesting of any nnv
tnttJis or jh opoMttoiis -not fOHtaiw-d in the word of God.
This suggesting of new truth* or doctrines to the mind, inde
pendent of any antecedent revelation of those propositions, either
in word OL- writing, is inspiration; such as the prophets and
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 27
apostles had, and such as some enthusiasts pretend to. But
this spiritual light that I am speaking of, is quite a different
tiling from inspiration : it reveals no new doctrine, it suggests
no new proposition to the mind, it teaches no new thing of God,
or Christ, or another world, not taught in the Bible, but only
gives a due apprehension of those things that are taught in the^
word of God.
4. Tfs not every affecting view that men hare of the things
of religion that is this spiritual and divine light. Men by
mere principles of nature are capable of being affected with
things that have a special relation to religion as well as other
things. A person by mere nature, for instance, may be liable
to be affected with the story of Jesus Christ, and the sufferings
lie underwent, as well as by any other tragical story : he may
be the more affected with it from the interest he conceives
mankind to have in it : yea, he may be affected with it without
believing it; as well as a man maybe affected with what he
Breads i!) a romance, or sees acted in a stage play. He may
be affected with a lively and eloquent description of many
pleasant things that attend the state of the blessed in heaven,
as well as his imagination be entertained by a romantic descrip
tion of the pleasantness of fairy-land, or the like. And that
common belief of the truth of the things of religion that persons
may have from education or otherwise, may help forward their
affection. We read in Scripture of many that were greatly
affected with things of a religious nature, who yet are there
represented as wholly graceless, and many of them very ill men.
A person therefore may have affecting views of the things of
religion, and yet be very destitute of spiritual light. Flesh and
blood may be the author of this : one man may give another an
affecting view of divine things with but common assistance ;
but God alone can give a spiritual discovery of them.
But I proceed to show,
Secondly, Positively what this. spiritual and divine light is.
28 SELECTED SERMONS
And it may be thus described : a true sense of the divine
excellency of the th tmjs revealed in the word, of God, and a
conviction of the truth and reality of them thence arising.
Tins spiritual light primarily consists in the former of these,
vi/., a real sense and apprehension of the divine excellency of
things revealed in the word of God. A spiritual ,ind saving con
viction of the truth and reality of these tilings arises from such a
sight of their divine excellency and glory ; so that this conviction
of their truth is an effect and natural consequence of this sight
of their divine glory. There is therefore in this spiritual light,
1. A true se/)M of the divine and superlative excellency
of the thiny* of reUijion. ; a real sense of the excellency of Clod
and Jesus Christ, and of the work of redemption, and the ways
and works of God revealed in the gospel. There is a divine and
superlative glory in these things ; an excellency that is of a
vastly higher kind and more sublime nature than in other
things; a glory greatly distinguishing them from all that is
earthly and temporal. He that is spiritually enlightened truly
apprehends and sees it, or has a sense of it. He does not
[merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but he has a
] sense of the gloriousncss of God in his heart. There is not only
a rational belief that God is holy and that holiness is a good
thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of God s holiness.
There is not only a spmilatively judging that God is gracious,
but a sense how amiable God is upon that account, or a sense
of the beauty of this divine attribute.
There is a twofold understanding or knowledge of good that
God has made the mind of man capable of. The first, that
which is merely speculative or notional ; as when a person only
speculatively judges that anything is, which, by the agreement
of mankind, is called good or excellent, viz., that which is most
to general advantage, and between which and a reward there is
a suitableness, and the like. And the other is that which con
sists in the sense of the heart : as. when there is a sense of the
Or JONATHAN EDWARDS 20
beauty, amiableness, or sweetness of a thing ; so that the heart
is sensible of pleasure and delight in the presence of the idea of
it. In the former is exereised merely the speculative faculty, or
the understanding, strictly so called, or as spoken of in distinc
tion from the will or disposition of the soul. In the latter, the
will, or inclination, or heart, are mainly concerned.
Thus there is a difference between having an opinion that
God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness
and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference
between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and
having a sense of its sweetness. A man may have the former,
that knows not how honey tastes ; but a man can t have the
latter unless he has an idea of the taste of honey in his mind.
So there is a difference between believing that a person is beau
tiful, and having a sense of his beauty. The former may be
obtained by hearsay, but the latter only by weeing the counte
nance. There is a wide diflVrence between mere speculative
rational judging anything to be excellent, and having a sense
of its sweetness and beauty. The former rests only in the head,
speculation only is concerned in it ; but the heart is concerned
in the latter. "When the heart is sensible of the beauty and
amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the
apprehension. It is implied in a person s being heartily sensi
ble of the loveliness of a thing, that the idea of it is sweet and
pleasant to his soul ; which is a far different thing from having
a rational opinion that it is excellent.
2. There ..irises from this sense of divine excellency of things
contained in the word of God a con ration of the truth and
rectify of them; and that either indirectly oi 1 directly.
First, Indirectly, and that two ways.
1. As i\\^ prejudices tit at are in the heart against the truth
of divine things are lierelty remored ; so that the mind be
comes susceptive of the due force of rational arguments for their
truth. The mind of man is naturally full of prejudices against
30 SELECTED SE/tMONS
the truth of divine things : it is full of enmity against the doe-
trincs of the gospel ; which is a disadvantage to those argu
ments that prove their truth, and causes them to lose their
force upon the mind. I>ut when a person has discovered to him
the divine excellency of Christian doctrines, this destroys the
enmity, removes those prejudices, and sanctifies the reason, and
causes it to lie open to the force of arguments for their truth.
Hence was the different effect that Christ s miracles had to
convince the disciples from what they had to convince the
Scribes and Pharisees. Not that they had a stronger reason,
or had their reason more improved ; but their reason was sanc
tified, and those blinding prejudices, that the Scribes and
Pharisees were under, were removed by the sense they had of
the excellency of Christ and his doctrine.
L > . It not ordy removes the hinderances of reason, but posi
tively heljts reason. It makes even the speculative notions
the more lively. It engages the attention of the mind, with
the more fixedness and intenseness to that kind of objects;
which causes it to have a clearer view of them, and enables
it more clearly to see their mutual relations, and occasions it to
take more notice of them. The ideas themselves that other
wise are dim and obscure are by this means impressed with the
greater strength, and have a light cast upon them ; so that
the mind can. better judge of them : as he that beholds the
objects on the face of the earth, when the light of the sun is
cast upon them, is under greater advantage to discern them
in their true forms and mutual relations than he that sees
them in a dim starlight or twilight.
The mind having a sensibleness of the excellency of divine
objects, dwells upon them with delight; and the powers of the
sold are more awakened and enlivened to employ themselves in
the contemplation of them, and exert themselves more fully and
much more to the purpose. The beauty and sweetness of the
objects draws on the faculties, and draws forth their exercises :
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 31
so that reason itself is under far greater advantages for its
proper and free exercises, and to attain its proper end, free of
darkness and delusion. But,
Secondly, A true sense of the divine excellency ^* the things
of God s word doth more directly and immediately convince of
the truth of them ; and that "because the excellency of these
things is so superlative. There is a beauty in them that is so
divine and godlike, that is greatly and evidently distinguishing
of them from things merely human, or that men are the invent
ors and authors of; a glory that is so high and great that,
when clearly seen, commands assent to their divinity and reality.
When there is an actual and lively discovery of this beauty and
excellency, it won t allow of any such thought- as that it is a
human work, or the fruit of men s invention. This evidence
that they that are spiritually enlightened have of the truth of
the things of religion is a kind of intuitive and immediate evi-^
deuce. They believe the doctrines of God s word to be divine,
because they see divinity in them ; i.e., they see a divine, and
transcendent, and most evidently distinguishing glory in them ;
such a glory as 1 if clearly seen, does not leave room to doubt of
their being of God, and not of men.
Such a conviction of the truth of religion as this, arising,
these ways, from a sense of the divine excellency of them, is
that true spiritual conviction that there is in saving faith. And
this original of it is that by which it is most essentially distin
guished from that common assent which unregencrate men are
ca] table of.
II. I proceed now to the second thing proposed, viz., to
show how thin light is immediately t/iveii by God., and not
obtained by natural means. And here,
1. Tis not intended that the natural faculties are not
made nxe of in it. The natural faculties are the subject of
this light : and they are the subject in such a manner that they
are not merely passive, but active in it ; the acts and exercises
30 SELECTED SERMONS
of man s understanding are concerned and made use of in it.
God, in letting in this light into the soul, deals with man accord
ing to his nature, or as a rational creature; and makes use of
his human faculties. But yet this light is not the less immedi
ately from God for that ; though the faculties are made use of,
tis as the subject and not as the cause ; and that acting of the
faculties in it is not the cause, but is either implied in the .thing
itself (in the light that is imparted) or is the consequence of it :
as the use that we make of our eyes in beholding various objects,
when the sun arises, w not the cause of the light that discovers
those objects to us.
2. 9 Tis not intended that outward means have no concern
in this affair* As I have observed already, tis not in this
affair, as it is in inspiration, where new truths are suggested : for
here is by this light only given a due apprehension of the same
truths that arc revealed in the word of God; and therefore it is
not given without the word. The gospel is made use of in this
affair : this light is the " light of the glorious gospel of Christ,"
2 Cor. iv. 4. The gospel is as a glass, by which this light is con
veyed to us, 1 Cor. xiii. 12 : " Now we see through a glass."
But,
3. When it is said that this light is given immediately by
God, and not obtained by natural means, hereby /,s intended,
that tis ffirfln by God without malthuj use of any mean*
that operate, by their own power, or a natural force. God
makes use of means ; but tis not as mediate causes to produce
this effect. There are not truly any second causes of it ; but it
is produced by God immediately. The word of God is no proper
<;au*3 of this effect : it does not operate by any natural force in
it. The word of God is only made use of to convey to the
mind the subject matter of this saving instruction : and this
indeed it doth convey to us by natural force or influence,
conveys to our minds these and those doctrines ; it is the cause
of the notion of them in our heads, but not of the sense of the
OF JONATHAN KDWAttDS 33
divine excellency of them in our hearts. Indeed a person can t
have spiritual light without the word. But that don t argue
that the word properly causes that light. The mind can t see
the excellency of any doctrine, unless that doctrine be first in
the mind ; but the seeing of the excellency of the doctrine may
be immediately from the Spirit of God; though the conveying
of the doctrine or proposition itself may be by the word. So
that the notions that are the subject matter of this light are
conveyed to the mind by the word of God ; but that due sense
of the heart, wherein this light formally consists, is immediately
by the Spirit of God. As for instance, that notion that there
is a Christ, and that Christ is holy and gracious, is conveyed to
the mind by the word of God : but the sense of the excellency
of Christ by reason of that holiness and grace, is nevertheless
immediately the work of the Holy Spirit. I come now,
III. To show the truth of the doctrine; that is, to show
that there is such a thing as that spiritual light that has been
described, thus immediately let into the mind by God. And
here I would show brieily, that this doctrine is both scriptural
and rational.
First, Tis scriptural My text is not only full to the pur
pose, but tis a doctrine that the Scripture abounds in. We
arc there abundantly taught that the saints differ from the
ungodly in this, that they have the knowledge of God, and a
sight of God, and of Jesus Christ. I shall mention but few
texts of many. 1 John iii. G, " Whosoever sinneth hath not
seen him, nor known him." 3 John 11, "He that doeth good
is of God : but he that doeth evil hath not seen God." John
xiv. 19, "The world scetli me no more ; but ye see me." John
xvii. 3, "And this is ctern;il life, that they might know thee
the only true God, and Je-:*us Christ, whom thou hast sent."
This knowledge, or sight of God and Christ, can t be a mere
speculative knowledge ; because it is spoken of as a seeing and
knowing wherein they differ from the ungodly. And by these
L>
34 SELECTED SERMONS
Scriptures it must not only be a different knowledge in degree
and circumstances, and different in its effects ; but it must be
entirely different in nature and kind.
And this light and knowledge is always spoken of as imme
diately given of God, Matt. xi. 25, 26, 27 : " At that time
J.jsus answered and said, I thank thec, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
go, Father : for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are
delivered unto me of my father : and no man knoweth the Son,
but the Father : neither knoweth any man the father, save the
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." Here
this effect is ascribed alone to the arbitrary operation and gilt
of God, bestowing this knowledge on whom he will, and distin :
guishing those with it, that have the least natural advantage or
means for knowledge, even babes, when it is denied to the wise
and prudent. And the imparting of the knowledge of God is
here appropriated to the Son of God as his sole prerogative.
And again, 2 Cor. iv. G : " For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ." This plainly shows that there is such a thing as a dis
covery of the divine superlative glory and excellency of God and
Christ, and that peculiar to the saints : and also, that tis as
immediately from God, as light from the sun : and that tis the
immediate "etlcrt of his power and will ; for tis compared to
God s creating the light by his powerful word in the beginning
of the creation ; and is said to be by the Spirit of the Lord, in the
18th verse of the preceding chapter. God is spoken of as giving
the knowledge of Christ in conversion, as of what before was
hidden and unseen in that, Gal. i. 15, 16 : " But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother s womb, and called me
by his grace, to reveal his Son in me." The Scripture also speaks
plainly "of such a knowledge of the word of God as has been de-
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 35
scribed, as the immediate gift of God, Psal cxix. 18: " Open
thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy
law." What could the Psalmist mean when he begged of God
to open his eyes 1 Was he ever blind I Might he not have
resort to the law and see every word and sentence in it when he
pleased ? And what could he mean by those " wondrous things "
Was it the wonderful stories of the creation and deluge, and
Israel s passing through the Red Sea, and the like 1 Were not
bis eyes open to read these strange things when he would?
Doubtless by "wondrous things 5 in God s law, he had respect
to those distinguishing and wonderful excellencies, and marvel
lous manifestations of the divine perfections and glory, that
there was in the commands and doctrines of the word, and
those works and counsels of God that were there revealed. So
the Scripture speaks of a knowledge of God s dispensation, and
covenant of mercy, and way of grace towards his people, as
peculiar to the saints, and given only by God, Psal. xxv. 14 :
" The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him ; and he
will show them his covenant."
And tbtit a true and saving belief of the truth of religion is
that which arises from such a discovery, is also what the
Scripture teaches. As John vi. 40 : "Ami this is the will of
him that sent me, that every one which sectU the Son, and
believeth on him, may have everlasting life ;" where it is plain
that a true faith is what arises from a spiritual sight of Christ.
And John xvii. G, 7, 8 : "I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavcst me out of the world. Now they
have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are
of thee. For J have given unto them the words which thou
gavcst me; and they have received them, and have known
surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that
thou didst send me;" where Christ s manifesting God s name
to the disciples, or giving thorn the knowledge of God, was
that whereby they knew that Christ s doctrine was of God, and
3G SELECTED SERMONS
that Christ himself was of him, proceeded from him, and was
sent by him. Again, John xii. 44, 45, 46: "Jesus cried and
said, He that believeth on me, belicveth not on me, but on
him that sent me. And he that sccth me seeth him that sent
me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth
on me should not abide in darkness." Their believing in Christ,
and spiritually seeing him, are spoken of as running parallel.
Christ condemns the Jews, that they did not know that he
was the Messiah, and tliat his doctrine was true, from an
inward distinguishing ta.ste and relish of what was divine, in
Luke xii. 5(5, 57. lie having there blamed the Jews, that
though they could discern the face of the sky and of the earth,
and signs of the weather, that yet they could not discern those
times or, as tis expressed in Matthew, the signs of those
times he adds, yea, and why even of your own selves judge
ye not what is right? i.e., without extrinsic signs. Why have
ye not that sense of true excellency, whereby ye may distinguish
that which is holy and divine ? Why have ye not that savor
of the things of God, by which you may see the distinguishing
glory and evident divinity of me and my doctrine?
The Apostle Peter mentions it as what gave them (the
apostles) guod and well grounded assurance of the truth of the
gospel, that they had seen the divine glory of Christ, 2 Pet. i.
1(5 : " For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when
we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." The apostle
lias respect to that visible glory of Christ which they saw in
his transfiguration : that glory was so divine, having such an
ineffable appearance and semblance of divine holiness, majesty
and grace, that it evidently denoted him to be a divine person.
But if a sight of Christ s outward glory might give a rational
assurance of his divinity, why may not an apprehension of his
spiritual glory do so too? Doubtless Christ s spiritual glory is
in itself as distinguishing, and as plainly showing his divinity,
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 37
as his outward glory ; and a great deal more : for his spiritual
glory is that wherein his divinity consists ; and the outward
glory of his transfiguration showed him to be divine, only as it
was a remarkable image or representation of that spiritual
glory. Doubtless, therefore, he that has had a elear sight of
the spiritual glory of Christ, may say, I have not followed
cunningly devised fables, but have been an eyewitness of his
majesty, upon as good grounds as the apostle, when he had
respect to the outward glcry of Christ that he had seen.
But this brings me to what was proposed next, viz., to show
that,
Secondly, This doctrine is rational.
1. Tis rational to suppose that there is really such an
excellency in divine things, that is so transcendent and exceed
ingly different from what is in other things, that, if it were
seen, would most evidently distinguish them. We cannot
rationally doubt but that things that are divine, that appertain
to the Supreme Being, are vastly different from things that are
human ; that there is that godlike, high and glorious excellency
in them, that does most remarkably difference them from the
things that are of men; insomuch that if the difference were
but seen, it would have a convincing, satisfying influence upon
any one, that they are what- they are, viz., divine. What
reason can be offered against it? Unless we would argue, that
God is not remarkably distinguished, in glory from men.
If Christ should now appear to any one as he did on the
mount at his transfiguration ; or if lie should appear to the
world in the glory that he now appears in in heaven as he will
do at the day of judgment ; without doubt, the glory and
majesty that he would appear in, would be such a& would
satisfy every one that he was a divine person, and that religion
was true : and it would be a most reasonable and well grounded
conviction too. And why may there not be that stamp of
divinity or divine glory on the word of God, on the scheme and
.>8 XKI.KCTKl) HKHMOXS
doctrine of the gospel, that may be in like manner distinguish
ing and as rationally convincing provided it be but seen?
T?s rational to suppose that when God speaks to the world,
there should be something in his word or speech vastly differ
ent from men s word. Supposing that God never had spoken
to the world, but we had noticed that h ; was about to do it ;
that he was about to reveal himself from heaven and speak to
us immediately himself, in divine speeches or discourses, as it
were from his own mouth, or that he should give us a book of
his own inditing : after what manner should we expect that he
would speak? Would it not be rational to suppose that
speech would be exceeding different from men s speech, that he
should speak like a God ; that is, that there should be such an
excellency and sublimity in his speech or won!, Mirh a stamp
of wisdom, holiness, majesty and other divine perfections, that
the word of men, yea of the wisest of men, should appear mean
and base in comparison of it? Doubtless it would be thought
rational to expect this, and unreasonable to think otherwise.
When a wise man speaks in the exercise of his wisdom, there i
something in every thing he says that is very distinguishable
from the talk of a little child. So, without doubt, and much
more, is the speech of God (if there be any such thing as the
speech of God) to be distinguished from that of the wisest of
men ; agreeable to Jcr. xxiii. l>8, L >( .). God having there been
reprovhig the false prophets that prophesied in his name an;l
pretended that what they spake was his word, when indeed it
was their own word, says, "The prophet that hath a dream,
let him tell a dream ; and he that hath my word, let him speak
my word faithfully. What is the cliatf to the wheat? saith the
Lord. Is not my word like as a lire? saith the Lord; and
like a hammer that hrcaketh the rock in pieces?"
2. If there K such a distinguishing excellency in divine
things, tis rational to suppose that th<*r<>. ///"// l * " //. - < ^ ". /
cw sevhi it. What should hinder but that it may be seen?
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 39
Jt is no argument, that there is no such thing as such a dis
tinguishing excellency, or that, if there be, that it can t be seen,
that some don t see it, though they may be discerning men in
temporal matters. It is not rational to suppose, if there be
any such excellency in divine things, tluit wicked men should
see it. Tis not rational to suppose that those whose minds
are full of spiritual pollution, and under the power of filthy
lusts, should have any relish or sense of divine beauty or ex
cellency ; or that their minds should be susceptive of that
light that is in its own nature so pure and heavenly. It need
not seem at all strange that sin should so blind the mind, see
ing that men s particular natural tempers and dispositions will
so~much blind them in secular matters ; as when men s natural
temper is melancholy, jealous, fearful, proud, or the like.
\\. Tis rational to suppose that M/.s kHOidwlye should be
yiceu iniincdhaihj bt/ (M, and not be obtained by natural
means. Upon what account should it seem unreasonable, that
there should be any immediate communication between God
and the creature ? It is strange that men should make any
matter of ditliculty of it. Why should not he that made all
things, still have something immediately to do with the things
that* ho has made? Where lies the great ditliculty, if we own
the being of a Cod, and that he created all things out of noth
ing, of allowing some immediate influence of God on the
creation still 1 And if it be reasonable to suppose it with
respect to any part of the creation, it is especially so with
respect to reasonable, intelligent creatures; who are next to
God in the gradation of the different orders of beings, and whose
business is most immediately with God; who were made on
purpose for those exercises that do respect Goil and wherein
they have nextly to do with God: for reason teaches, that man
was made to serve and glorify his Creator. And if it be ra
tional to suppose that God immediately communicates himself
to man in any affair, it is in this. Tis rational to suppose
40 SKLKVTKD 8KHMOXS
that God would reserve that knowledge and wisdom, that is of
such a divine and excellent nature, to be bestowed immediately
by himself, and that it should not be left in the power of second
causes. Spiritual wisdom and grace is the highest and most
excellent gift that ever God bestows on any creature : in this the
highest excellency and perfection of a rational creature consists.
Tisalso immensely the most important of all divine gifts : tis
that wherein man s happiness consists, and on which his everlast
ing welfare depends. llo\v rational is it to suppose that God,
however he has left meaner goods and lower gifts to second
causes, and in some sort in their power, yet should reserve this
most excellent, divine and important of all divine communica
tions in his own hands, to be bestowed immediately by him
self, as a thing too great for second causes to be concerned in !
Tis rational to suppose that this blessing should be immedi
ately from God ; for there is no gift or benefit that is in itself
so nearly related to the divine nature, there is ^ nothing the
creature receives that is so much of God, of his nature, so
much a participation of the deity: tis a kind of emanation of
God s beauty, and is related to God as the light is to the sun.
Tis therefore congruous and fit, that when it is given of God,
it should be nextly from himself, and by himself, according to
his own sovereign will.
Tis rational to suppose that it should be beyond a man s
power to obtain this knowledge and light by the mere strength of
natural reason; for tis not a tiling that belongs to reason, to see
the beauty and loveliness of spiritual things ; it is not a specula
tive thing, but depends on the sense of the heart. Reason, in
deed, is necessary in order to it, as tis by reason only that we
are become the subjects of the means of it ; which means I
have already shown to be necessary in order to it, though they
-have no proper causal influence in the attain "Tis by reason
that we become possessed of a notion of those doctrines that
are the subject matter of this divine light ; and reason may
OF JONATHAN Kl) WARDS 41
many ways be indirectly and remotely an advantage to it.
And reason has also to do in the acts that are immediately
consequent on this discovery : a seeing the truth of religion
from hence is by reason ; though it be but by one step, and the
inference be immediate. So reason has to do in that accepting
of, and trusting in Christ, that is consequent on it. But if
we take reason strictly, not for the faculty of mental perception
in general, but for ratiocination, or a power of inferring by argu
ments ; I say, if we take reason thus/the perceiving of spiritual
beauty and excellency no more belongVto reason than it belongs
to the sense of feeling to perceive colors, or to the power of seeing
to perceive the sweetness of food. It is out of reason s prov
ince to perceive the beauty or loveliness of any thing : such a per
ception don t belong to that faculty. Reason s work is to perceive
truth and not excellency. It is not ratiocination that gives
men the perception of the beauty and amiableness of a coun
tenance,! thoughjt may be many ways indirectly an advan
tage tolt; yet tis no more reason that immediately perceives
it than it is reason that perceives the sweetness of honey : it
depends .on the sense of the heart.] Reason may determine that
a countenance is beautiful to otHcrs, it may determine that honey
is sweet to others; but it will never give me a perception of
its sweetness. I will conclude with a very brief
IMPROVEMENT
of what has been said.
First, This doctrine may lead us to reflect on the goodness
of God, that has so ordered it, that a saving evidence of the
truth of the gospel is such as is attainable by persons of mean
capacities and advantages, as well as those that are of the
greatest parts and learning. If the evidence of the gospel
depended only on history, and such reasonings as learned men
only are capable of, it would be above the reach of far the
42 SELECTED SERMONS
greatest part of mankind. But persons with but an ordinary de
gree of knowledge are capable, without a long and subtile train of
reasoning, to see the divine excellency of the things of religion :
they are capable of being taught by the Spirit of God, as well
as learned men. The evidence that is this way obtained is
vastly better and more satisfying than all that can be obtained
by the arguings of those that are most learned, and greatest
masters of reason. And babes are as capable of knowing
these things as the wise and prudent ; and they are often hid
from these when they are revealed to those : 1 Cor. i. 20, 27,
" For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men
after the llesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world. ..."
Secondly, This doctrine may well put us upon examining
ourselves, whether we have ever had this divine light that has
been described let into our souls. If there be such a thing
indeed, and it be not only a notion or whimsy of persons of
weak and distempered brains, then doubtless tis a thing of
great importance, whether we have thus been taught by the
Spirit of God ; whether the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, hath shined unto us, giving
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ ; whether we have seen the Son, and believed
on him, or have that faith of gospel doctrines that arises from
a spiritual sight of Christ.
Thirdly, All may hence be exhorted earnestly to seek this
spiritual light. To influence and move to it, the following
things may be considered.
1. This is the most excellent awl ilimie wisdom that any
creature is capable of. Tis more excellent than any human
learning ; tis far more excellent than nil the knowledge of the
greatest philosophers or statesmen. Yea, the least glimpse of
the glory of God in the face of Christ doth more exalt and
ennoble the soul than all the knowledge of those that have the
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 43
greatest speculative understanding in divinity without grace.
This knowledge has the most noble object that is or can be,
viz., the divine glory or excellency of God and Christ. The
knowledge of these objects is that wherein consists the most
excellent knowledge of the angels, yea, of Cod himself.
2. This knowledge is that which is above all others sweet
and joyful. Men have a great deal of pleasure in human
knowledge, in studies of natural things ; but this is nothing to
that joy which arises from this divine light shining into the
soul. This light gives a view of those things that are im
mensely the most exquisitely beautiful, ami capable of delighting
the eye of the understanding. This spiritual light is the dawning
of the light of glory in the heart. There is nothing so power
ful as this to support persons in affliction, and to give the
mind peace and brightness in this stormy and dark world.
3. This light is such as effectually influences the inclination,
and ch<uiff< is thv nature of the xonl. It assimilates the nature
to the divine nature, and changes the soul into an image of the
same glory that is beheld: 2 Cor. iii. 18, "But we all, with
open flvee," beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by
the Spirit of the Lord." This knowledge will wean from the
world and raise the inclination to heavenly th.ngs. It will
turn the heart to God as the fountain of good, and to choose
him for the only portion. This light, and this only, will bring
the soul to a saving close with Christ. It conforms the heart
to the gospel, mortifies its enmity and opposition against the
sc heme of salvation therein revealed. It causes the heart to
embrace the joyful tidings, and entirely to adhere to, and ac
quiesce in the revelation of Christ as our Saviour. It causes
the whole soul to accord and symphonic with it, admitting it
with entire credit and respect, cleaving to it with full inclina
tion and affection ; and it effectually disposes the soul to give
up itself entirely to Christ,
41 SKLKVTKD SKKMOXS
4. This light, and this only, //<>* ite fruit in an universal
holiness of life. No merely notional or speculative under
standing of the doctrines of religion will ever bring to this.
But this light, as it readies the bottom of the heart, and
changes the nature, so it will effectually dispose to an universal
obedience. It shows God s worthiness to be obeyed and served.
It draws fortli the heart in a sincere love to God, which is the
only principle of a true, gracious and universal obedience.
And it convinces of the reality of those glorious rewards that
God has promised to them that obey him.
O/* JONATHAN EDWARDS 45
ITI
HUTU S RESOLUTION
RuTH i ic>. _ And Ruth said, Intrcat mo not to leave thee, or to return
from fohowin^ after thoe: for whither thou Roest .wi I RO ; *d
where thou lod-est, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, ami
thy God my (Jod.
THE historical things in tins book of Ruth seem to- be in
serted into the canon of the Scripture especially on two
irst Because Christ was of Faith s posterity. The Holy
Ghost thought fit to take particular notice of that marriage oi
Boaz with Ruth, whence sprang the Saviour of the world. We
may often observe it, that the Holy Spirit who indited the
Scriptures, often takes notice of little things, minute occur-
rences, that do but remotely relate to Jesus Christ
Secondly, Because this history seems to be typical oi
c lllin"- of the Gentile church, and indeed of the conversion ot
everybeliever. Ruth was not originally of Israel, but was a
Moabitess, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel: but she
forsook her own people, and the idols of the Gent lea, to wor
ship the God of Israel, and to join herself to that people.
Herein she seems to be a type of the Gentile church and also
of every sincere convert. Ruth was the mother of Christ ; he
came of her posterity : so the church is Christ s mother, as she
is represented, Rev. xii., at the beginning. And so also is
every true Christian his mother : Matt. xii. 50, " Whosoever shall
46 SKLKVTED SERMONS
do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my
brother, and sister, and mother." Christ is what the soul of
every one of the elect is in travail with in the new birth. Ruth
forsook all her natural relations and her own country, the land
of her nativity, and all her former possessions there, for the
sake of the God of Israel ; as every true Christian forsakes all
for Christ. Psalm xlv. 10, " Hearken, daughter, and con
sider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and
thy father s house."
Naomi was now returning out of the land of Moab into
the land of Israel with her two daughters in law, Orpah and
Kutli ; who will represent to us t\vo sorts of professors
of religion : Orpah, that sort that indeed make a fair pro
fession, and seem to set out well, but dure but for a while,
and then turn back; Ruth, that sort that are sound and
sincere, and therefore are steadfast and persevering in the
way that they have set out in. Naomi in the preceding
versus represents to these her daughters the difficulties of their
leaving their own country to go with her. And in this verse
ma) be observed,
1. The remarkable conduct and behavior of Ruth on this
occasion; with what inllcxible resolution she cleaves to Naomi
and follows her. When Naomi first arose to return from the
.country of Moab into the land of Israel, Orpah and Ruth both
set out with her; and Naomi exhorts them both to return.
And they both of them wept, and seemed as if they could not
bear the thoughts of leaving her, and appeared as if they were
resolved to go with her: verse 10, "Ami they said unto her,
Suicly we will return with thee unto thy people." Then
Naomi says to them again, "Turn again, my daughters, go
your way," &c. And then they were greatly affected again,
and Orpah returned and went back. Now Ruth s steadfast
ness in her purpose had a greater trial, but yet is not overcome:
"She clave unto her," verse 14. Then Naomi speaks to her
OF JONATHAN EDWAEDS 47
again, verse 15, "Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto
her people, and unto her gods : return thou after thy sister in
law." And then she shows her immovable resolution in the
text and following verse.
2. I would particularly observe that wherein the virtuousiicss
of this her resolution consists, viz., that it was for the sake of the
God of Israel, and that she might be one of his people, that she
was thus resolved to cleave to Naomi : " Thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God." It was for God s sake that she
did thus ; and therefore her so doing is afterwards spoken of as
a virtuous behavior in her, chap. ii. 11, 12: "And Boaz an
swered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all
that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of
thine husband : and how thou hast left thy father, and thy
mother, and the land of thy nativity, awl art come unto a
people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recom
pense thy work, and a full reward be given thce of the Lord
Cod of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." She
left her father and mother, and the land of her nativity, to
come and trust under the shadow of God s wings : and -she had
indeed a full reward given her, as Boa/ wished ; for besides
immediate spiritual blessings to her own soul and eternal re
wards in another world, she was rewarded with plentiful and
prosperous outward circumstances in the family of Boaz. And
God raised up David and Solomon of her seed, and established
the crown of Israel (the people that she chose before her own
people) in her posterity; and which is much more of her
seed he raised up Jesus Christ, in whoni all the families of the
earth are blessed.
From the words thus opened, I observe this for the subject
of my present discourse :
When those, tlmt. ice ham formerly been rniirprsmit ? ////,
are tumuiy to God, and joint wj themselves to his people, it
48 SKLKVTKl) SERMONS
outfit to be our firm resolution, that we will not leave them; but
that their people shall be our people, and their God oar God.
It sometimes happens, that of those who have been conver
sant one with another, that have dwelt together as neighbors,
and have been often together as companions, or have been
united in near relation, and have been together in darkness,
bondage and misery in the service of Satan, some arc en
lightened, and have their minds changed, are made to see the
great evil of sin, and have their hearts turned to God, and are
influenced by the Holy Spirit of God to leave their company
that are on Satan s side to go and join themselves with that
blessed company that are with Jesus Christ ; they are made
willing to forsake the tents of wickedness, to dwell in the land
of uprightness with the people of God.
And sometimes this proves a final parting or separation be
tween them and those that they have been formerly conversant
with. Though it may be no parting in outward respects,
they may still dwell together and may converse one with an
other ; yet in other respects, it sets them at a great distance
one from another: one is a child of God, and the other the
enemy of God ; one is in a miserable, and the other in a happy
condition ; one is a citizen of the heavenly Zion, the other is
under condemnation to hell. They are no longer together in
those respects wherein they used to bo together. They used to
be of one mind to serve sin and do Satan s work ; now they
are of contrary minds. They used to be together in worldlincss
and sinful vanity ; now they are of exceeding different disposi
tions. They are separated as they are in different kingdoms ;
the one remains in the kingdom of darkness, the other is trans
lated into the kingdom of God s dear Son. And sometimes
they are finally separated in these respects ; while one dwells in
the land of Israel, and in the house of God, the other, like
Orpah, lives and dies \\\ the land of Moab.
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 49
Now tis lamentable when it is thus. Tis awful being
parted so. Tis doleful, when of those that have formerly been
together in sin, some turn to God, and join themselves with his
people, that it should prove a parting between them and their
former companions and acquaintance. It should be our firm
and inflexible resolution in such a case that it shall be no part
ing, but that we will follow them, that their people shall be
our people, and their God our God ; and that for the following
reasons :
I. Because their God is a glorious God. There is none like
him, who is infinite in glory and excellency. He is the most
high God, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders.
His name is excellent in all the earth, and his glory is above the
earth and the heavens. Among the gods there is none like unto
him ; there is none in heaven to be compared to him, nor are
there any among the sons of the mighty that can be likened
unto him. Their God is the fountain of all good, and an
inexhaustible fountain ; he is an all-sufficient God, able to pro
tect and defend them, and do all things for them. (He is the
King of- glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the iSord mighty
in battle : a strong rock, and a high tower./ There is none
like the God of Jeshurun, who rideth on the heaven in their
help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is their
refuge, and underneath are everlasting arms. He is a God
that hath all things in his hands, and does whatsoever he
pleases : he killeth and maketh alive ; he bringeth down to the
grave and bringeth up ; he maketh poor and maketh rich : the
pillars of the earth are the Lord s. Their God is an infinitely
holy God ; there is none holy as the Lord And he is infinitely
good and merciful. Many that others worship and serve as
gods are cruel beings, spirits that seek the ruin of souls ; but
this is a God that jlelightetli in mercy; his grace is infinite and
endures forever, file is love itself, an infinite fountain and x
ocean of it.J
50 SELECTED SERMONS
Such a God is their God ! Such is the excellency of Jacob !
Such is the God of them who have forsaken their sins and are
converted ! They have made a wise choice who have chosen
this for their God. They have made a happy exchange indeed,
that have exchanged sin and the world for such a God !
They have an excellent and glorious Saviour, who is the
only-begotten Son of God ; the brightness of his Father s ^glory ;
one in whom God from eternity had infinite delight ; a Saviour
of infinite love; one that has shed his own blood and made his
soul an ottering for their sins, and one that is able to save them
to the uttermost.
II. Their people, are an excellent and happy people. God has
renewed them, and iustampcd his own image upon them, and
made them partakers of his holiness. They are more excellent
than their neighbors, Prov. xii. 26. Yea, they are the excellent
of the earth, Psalm xvi. 3. They are lovely in the sight of the
angels; ami they have their souls adorned with those graces
that in the sight of God himself are of great price.
The people of God are the most excellent and happy society
in the world. That God whom they have chosen for their God
is their Father ; he has pardoned all their sins, and they are at
peace with him ; and he has admitted them to all the privileges
of his children. As they have devoted themselves to God, so "
God has given himself tu them. He is become their salvation
and their portion : his power and mercy and all his attributes
are theirs. Tlioy are in a safe state, free from all possibility
of perishing: (Satan has no power to destroy them. God
carries them on eagle s wings, far above Satan s reach, and
above the reach of all the enemies of their souls. God is
with them in this world ; they have his gracious presence. God
is for them ; who then can be against them? As the mountains
are round about Jerusalem, so Jehovah is round about them.
God is their shield and their exceeding great reward ; and
their fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christj
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 51
And they have the divine promise and oath that in the world
to come they shall dwell forever in the glorious presence of God.
Tt may well be sufficient to induce us to resolve to cleave to
those that forsake their sins and idols to join themselves with this
people, that God is with them, Zech. viii. 23 : " Thus saith the
Lord of hosts ; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten
men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even
shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, \Ve
will go with you : for we have heard that God is with you."
So should persons as it were take hold of the skirt of their
neighbors and companions that have turned to God, and resolve
that they will go with them, because God is with them.
111. Jlapjiinesi* is nowhere else to be had, but in their God,
and with their people. There are that are called gods many,
and lords many. Some make gods of their pleasures; some
clu)ose Mammon for their god \ some make gods of their own
supposed excellencies, or the outward advantages they have
above their neighbors : some choose one thing for their god,
and others another. .But men can be happy in no other God
but the God of Israel: he is the only fountain of happiness.
Other gods can t help in calamity ; nor can any of them afford
what the poor empty soul stands in need of. Let men adore
those other gods never so much, and call upon them never so ear
nestly, and serve them never so diligently, they will nevertheless
remain poor, wretched, unsatisfied, undone creatures. All other
people are miserable, but that people whose God is the Lord.
The world is divided into two societies. There are the people
of God, the little flock of Jesus Christ, that company that we
read of, Rev. xiv. 4. "These are they which were not denied
with women ; for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were re
deemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to
the Lamb/ And there are those that belong to the kingdom of
darkness, that are without Christ, being aliens from the com-
T>2 SELECTED SERMONS
mon wealth of Israel, strangers from the covenant of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world. All that are
of this latter company are wretched and undone ; they are the
enemies of God. and under his wratli and condemnation. They
are the devil s slaves, that serve him blindfold, and are befooled
and ensnared by him, and hurried along in the broad way to
eternal perdition.
IV. When those that we have formerly been conversant with
are turning to God, and to his people, their example ought to
influence us. Their example should be looked upon as the call
of God to us to do as they have done. God, when he changes
the heart of one, calls upon another ; especially does he loudly
call on those that have been their friends and acquaintance.
We have been influenced by their examples in evil ; and shall
we cease to follow them when they make the wisest choice that
ever they made, and do the best thing that ever they did 1 ^ If
we have been companions with them in worldliness, in vanity,
in unprofitable and sinful conversation, it will be a hard case,
if there must be a parting now, because we be not willing to be
companions with them in holiness and true happiness. Men
arc greatly influenced by seeing one another s prosperity in
other things. If those whom they have been much conversant
with grow rich, and obtain any great earthly advantages, it
awakens their ambition and eager desire after the like prosperity.
How much more should they be influenced, and stirred up to
follow them, and be like them, when they obtain that spiritual
and eternal happiness that is of infinitely more worth than all
the prosperity and glory of this world !
C V. Our resolutions to cleave to and follow those that are
(turning to God, and joining themselves to his people, ought to
ibe fixed and strong, because of the great difficulty of it. If we
will cleave to them, and have their God for our God, and their
people for our people, we must mortify and deny all our lusts,
and cross every evil appetite and inclination, and forever part
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 53
with call sin. But our lusts are many and violent. Sin is
naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to
plucking out our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted
ways of sin for a little while, and may deny their lusts in a
partial degree, with less difficulty ; but tis heart-rending work,
finally to part with all sin, and to give our dearest lusts a bill
of divorce, utterly to send them away. But this we must do,
if we would follow those that are truly turning to God. Yea,
we must not only forsake sin, hut must, in a sense, forsake all
the world : Luke xiv. 33, " Whosoever he be of you that for-
saketh not all he hath, he cannot be my disciple." That is, lie
must forsake all in his heart, and must come to a thorough
disposition and readiness actually to quit all for God and the
glorious spiritual privileges of his people, whenever the case^muy
require it; and that without any prospect of any thing of the
like nature, or any worldly thing whatsoever, to make amends
for it ; and all to go into a strange country, a land that has
hitherto been unseen ; like Abraham, who being called of God,
/ went out of his own country, and from his kindred, and from
his father s house, for a land that God should show him, not
knowing whither he went."
Thus it was a hard thing for Ruth to forsake her native
country and her father and mother, her kindred and acquain
tance, and all the pleasant tilings she had in the land of Moab,
to dwell in the land of Israel, where she never had been.
Naomi told her of the difficulties once and again. They were
too hard for her sister Orpah ; the consideration of them turned
her back after she was set out. Her resolution was not firm
enough to overcome them. But so firmly resolved was Ruth,
that she broke through all ; she was steadfast in it, that, let
the difficulty be what it would, she would not leave her mother
in law. So persons had nued to be very firm in their resolution
to conquer the difficulties that are in the way of cleaving to
them who are indeed turning from sin to God.
51 SELECTED SKRMQNS
Our cleaving to them, and having their God for our God and
their people for our people, depends on our resolution and
i choice ; and that in two respects.
1. The firmness of resolution in using means in order to it,
is the way to have means effectual. There are means ap
pointed in order to our becoming some of the true Israel and
having their God for our God ; and the thorough use of these
means is the way to have success ; but not a slack or slighty
use of them. And that we may be thorough, there is need of
strength of resolution, a firm and inflexible disposition and bent
of mind to be universal in the use of means, and to do what we
do with our might, and to persevere in it. Matt. xi. P2, "The
kingdom of heaven sutlcretli violence, and the violent take it by
force."
2. A choosing of their God and their people, with a full de
termination and with the- whole soul, is the condition, of an tinton
with them. God. gives every man his choice in .this jnatter :
* as Orpah mid Kuth had their choice, whether they would ..go
with Naomi into the land of Israel, or stay in the land of Moab.
r^A natural man may choose deliverance from hell ; but no man
Idoth ever heartily choose God and Christ, and the spiritual
: benefits that Christ has purchased, and the happiness of God s
> (people, till he is converted. On the contrary, he is averse to
them ; he has no relish of them ; and is wholly ignorant of the
inestimable worth and value of them.
Many carnal men do seem to choose these things, but do it not
really : as Orpah seemed at first to choose to forsake Moab to
go into the land of Israel. ]Jut when Naomi came to set before
her the difficulty of it, she v;?nt back ; and thereby showed
that she was not fully determined in her choice, and that her
whole soul was not in it as Ruth s was.
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 55
APPLICATION
The use that I shall make of what has been said is to move
sinners to this resolution, with respect to those amongst us that
have lately turned to God, and joined themselves to the flock of
Christ. Through the abundant mercy and grace of God to us
in this place, it may be said of many of you that are in a
Oh ristless condition, that you have lately been left by those
that were formerly with you in such a state. There are those
that you have formerly been conversant with that have lately
forsaken a life of sin and the service of Satan, and have turned
to God, and lied to Christ, and joined themselves to that blessed
company that arc with him. They formerly were with you in
sin and in misery ; but now they are with you no more in that
state or manner of life. They are changed, and have lied from
the wrath to come ; they have chosen a life of holiness here and
the enjoyment of God hereafter. They were formerly your
associates in bondage, and were with you in Satan s business ;
but now you have their company no longer in these things.
Many of you have seen those you live with, under the same
roof, turning from being any longer with you in sin, to be
with the people of Jesus Christ. Some of you that arc hus
bands have had your wives ; and some of you that are wives
have had your husbands; some of you that are children have
had your parents ; and parents have had your children ; many
of you have had your brothers and sisters ; and many your near
neighbors and acquaintance and special friends ; many of you
that are young have had your companions : I say, many of you
have had those that you have been thus concerned with, leaving
you, forsaking that doleful life and wretched state that you still
continue in. Gou, of his good pleasure and wonderful grace,
hath lately caused it to be so in this place that multitudes have
been forsaking their old abodes in the land of Moab, and under
the < r ods of MOM!), and going into the land of Israel, to put
56 SELECTED SERMONS
their trust under the wings of the Lord God of Israel. Though
you and they have been nearly related, and have dwelt together,
or have been often together and intimately acquainted one with
another, they have been taken and you hitherto left. let it
not be the foundation of a final parting ! But earnestly follow
them ; be linn in your resolution in this matter. Don t do as
Orpah did, who, though at first she made as though she would
follow Naomi, yet when she had the difficulty of it set before
her went back : but say as Ruth, " I will not leave thee ; but
where thou goest, I will go : thy people shall be my people, and
thy God my God." Say as she said, and do as she did. Con
sider the excellency of their God and their Saviour, and the
happiness of their people, the blessed state that they are in, and
the doleful, state that you iire in.
You who are old sinners, who have lived long in the service
of Satan, have lately seen some that were with you, that have
travelled with you in the paths of sin these many years, that
with you enjoyed great means and advantages, that have had
calls and warnings with you, and have with you passed through
remarkable times of the pouring out of God s Spirit in this
place, and have hardened their hearts and stood it out with
you, and with you have grown old in sin ; I say, you have soon
some of them turning to God, i.e., you have seen those evidences
of it in them, whence you may rationally judge that it is so.
let it not be a final parting ! You have boon thus long
together in sin, and under condemnation ; let it be your firm
resolution, that, if possible, you will be with them still, now
they are in a holy and happy state, and that you will follow
them into the holy and pleasant land.
You that tell of your having been seeking salvation for many
years, though, without doubt, in a poor dull way, in comparison
of what you ought to have done, have seen some that have been
with you in that respect, that were old sinners and old seekers,
as you arc, obtaining mercy. God has lately roused them from
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS f>7
their dulness, and caused them to alter their hand, and put
them on more thorough endeavors ; and they have now, after
so long a time, heard God s voice, and have fled for refuge to the
Rock of Ages. Let this awaken earnestness and resolution in
you. Resolve that you will not leave them.
You that are in your youth, how many have you seen of your
age and standing that have of late hopefully chosen God for
their God and Christ for their Saviour ! You have followed
them in sin, and have perhaps followed them into vain company ;
and will you not now follow them to Christ 1
And you that are children, there have lately been some of
your sort that have repented of their sins, and have loved the
Lord Jesus Christ, and trusted in him, and are become God s
children, as we have reason to hope : let it stir you up to resolve
to your utmost to seek and cry to God, tlmt you may have the
like change made in your hearts, that their people may be your
people, and their God your God.
You that are great sinners, that have made yourselves dis-
tinguishingly guilty by the wicked practices you have lived in,
there are some of your sort that have lately (as we have reason
to hope) had their hearts broken for sin, and have forsaken
it, and trusted in the blood of Christ for the pardon of it, and
have chosen a holy life, and have betaken themselves to the
ways of wisdom : let it excite and encourage you resolutely to
cleave to them and earnestly to follow them.
Let the following things be here considered :
1. That your soul is as precious as theirs. It is immortal as
theirs is ; and stands in ns much need of happiness, and can as
ill bear eternal misery. You were born in the same miserable
condition that they were, having the same wrath of God abid
ing on you. You must stand before the same Judge ; who will
be as strict in judgment with you as with them ; and your own
righteousness will stand you in no more s+ead before him than
theirs ; and therefore you stand in as absolute necessity of a
58
Saviour as , y . Carnal confidences can no more answer your
end than t! < ,; nor can this world or its enjoyments serve to
Wht "he 1 T Witll Ut G d , aiKl 4* than tie,
U hen the bridegroom comes, the foolish virgins stand in - ls
much need of oil as the wise, Matt. xxv. at the bcginlg
- Unlm you follow them in their turning to God then-
conversion will be a foundation of an eternal serration betw
you ami then,. You will be in different intcres I and in exceed
|ng .httercnt states as long as you live ; they the clul l"c, of
God, and you the children of Satan ; and you will be parted in
another world ; when you come to die, there will be a vast sepa
ration made between you : Luke xvi. 20, " And besides all
us, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed : so that
they winch won d pass from hence to you, cannot ; neither can
they pass to us that would come from thence." And you will be
parted .-it the day of judgment. You will be parted at Christ s
list appearance in the clouds of heaven. While they are caught
up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, to be ever with U,,,
Y, you ill remain below, confined to this cursed ground
kept , store, reserved unto fire, against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men. You will appear sepa
rated from them win e you stand before the great judgment-seat
they bc,,,g a the nght hand, while you arc set; at the left-
Matt. xxv. 32, S3, "And before him shall bo gathered all
nations : an, he shall separate them one from another, as a
shepherd d.v.deth his sheep from the goats: and he shall s,t
e sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left " And
u shall then appear in exceeding different circumstances.
lnle you stand with devils, in -the image and deformity of
<leu Is, and in ineffable horror and amazement, they shall appear
i glory, sitting upon thrones, as assessors with Christ and as
such passing judgment upon you, 1 Cor. vi. 2.] And what shame
and confusion will then cover you, when so many of vonr con-
mporanes, your equals, your neighbors, relations and compan-
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 59
ions, shall be honored, and openly acknowledged and confessed
by the glorious Judge of the universe and Redeemer of saints,
and shall be seen by you sitting with him in such glory, and
you shall appear to have neglected your salvation, and not to
have improved your opportunities, and rejected the Lord Jesus
Christ, the same person that will then appear as your great
Judge, and you shall be the subjects of wrath, and, as.it were,
trodden down in eternal contempt and disgrace ! Dan. xii. 2,
" Some shall rise to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt." And what a wide separation will the
sentence then passed and executed make between you and them !
When you shall be sent away out of the presence of the Judge
with indignation and abhorrence, as cursed and loathsome crea
tures, and they shall be sweetly accosted and invited into his
glory as his dear friends and the blessed of his Father ! When
you, with all that vast throng of wicked and accursed men and
devils, shall descend with loud lamentings and horrid shrieks
into that dreadful gulf of fire and brimstone, and shall be swal
lowed up in that great and everlasting furnace, while they sha-1
joyfully, and with sweet songs of glory and praise, ascend with
Christ, and all that beauteous and blessed company of saints
and angels, into eternal felicity, in the glorious presence of God,
ami the sweet embraces of his love ; and you and they shall
spend eternity in such a separation and immensely different
circumstances ! And that however you have been intimately
acquainted and nearly related, closely united and mutually con
versant here in this world ; and how much soever you have
taken delight in each ether s company ! Shall it be so after
you have been together a great while, each of you in undoing
yourselves, enhancing your guilt, and heaping up wrath, that
their so wisely changing their minds and their course, and choos
ing such happiness for themselves, should now at length be the
beginning of such an exceeding and everlasting separation be
tween you aud them ? How awful will it be to be parted so !
60 SELECTED SERMONS
3. Consider the great encouragement that God gives you, ear
nestly to strive for the same blessing that others have obtained.
There is great encouragement in the word of God to sinners to
seek salvation, in the revelation we have of the abundant pro
vision made for the salvation even of the chief of sinners, and
in the appointment of so many means to be used with and by
sinners, in order to their salvation ; and by the blessing which God
in his word connects with the means of his appointment.
There is hence great encouragement for all, at all times, that
will be thorough in using of these means. But now God gives
extraordinary encouragement in his providence, by pouring out
his Spirit so remarkably amongst us, and bringing savingly
home to himself all sorts, young and old, rich and poor, wise
and unwise, sober and vicious, old self-righteous seekers and
profligate livers : no sort are exempt. There is now at this
day amongst us the loudest call and the greatest encouragement
and the widest door open to sinners, to escape out of a state of
sin and condemnation that perhaps God ever granted in New
England. Who is there that has an immortal soul so sottish
as not to improve such an opportunity, and that won t bestir
himself with all his might now? How unreasonable is negli
gence, and how exceeding unseasonable is discouragement, at
such a day as this ! Will you be so stupid as to neglect your
soul now? Will any mortal amongst us be so unreasonable
as to lag behind, or look back in discouragement when God
opens such a door? Let every single person be thoroughly
awake I Let every one encourage himself now to press forward,
and fly for his life !
4. Consider how earnestly desirous they that have obtained
are that you should follow them, and that their people should
be your people, and their God your God. They desire that you
should partake of that great good that God has given them,
and that unspeakable and eternal blessedness that he has prom
ised them. They wish and long for it. If you do not go with
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 61
them, and arc not still of their company, it won t be for want
of their willingness, but your own. That of Moses to Hobab
is the language of every true saint of your acquaintance to you,
Numb. x. 29, " We are journeying unto the place of which the
Lord said, I will give it you : come thou with us, and we will
do thce good : for the Lord hath spoken good concerning
Israel." As Moses, when on his journey through the wilder
ness, following the pillar of cloud and fire, invited Hobab, that
he had been acquainted with and nearly allied to out of the
land of Midian, where Moses had formerly dwelt with him, to
go with him and his people to Canaan, to .partake with them
in the good that Cod had promised them ; so do those of your
friends and acquaintance invite yon, out of a land of darkness
and wickedness, where they have formerly been with you, to go
with them to the heavenly Canaan. The company of saints,
the true church of Christ, invite you. The lovely bride calls/
you to the marriage supper. She hath authority to invite
guests to her own wedding; and you ought to -look on her
invitation and desire as the call of Christ the bridegroom ; for
it is the voice of his Spirit in her : Rev. xxii. 17, " The Spirit
and the bride say, Come." Where seems to be a reference to
what had been said, chap. xix. 7-9, "The marriage of the
Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to
her was granted that she should be arrayed in line linen, clean
and white : for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And
he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to
the marriage supper of the Lamb." Tis with respect to this
her marriage supper, that she, from the motion of the Spirit of
the Lamb in her, says, Come. So that you are invited on all
hands ; all conspire to call you. Cod the Father invites you :
this is the King that lias made a marriage for his Son ; and
he sends forth his servants, the ministers of the gospel, to
invite the guests. And the Son himself invites you : tis he
that speaks, Rev. xvii. 17, "And let him that hearcth say,
02 SELEVTEn SEKMONS
Come; and let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will,
let him come." lie tolls us who lie is in the foregoing verse,
"I Jesus, the root and offspring of David, the bright and morn
ing star. And God s ministers invite you, and all the church
invites you ; and there will be joy in the presence of the angels
of God that hour that you accept the invitation.
5. Consider what a doleful company that will be that be left
Rafter this extraordinary time of mercy is over. We have reason
to think that there will be ;i number left. We read that when
Ezekiel s healing waters increased so abundantly, and the heal
ing effect of them was so very general ; yet there were certain
places, where the water came, that never were healed : Ezek.
xlvii. 9-11, "And it shall come to pass, that every thing that
livcth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall
live : and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because
these waters shall come thither : for they shall be healed; and
every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall
come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it, from En-gedi
even unto Kn-oglaim ; they shall be a place to spread forth
nets ; their lish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of
the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof
and the marshes thereof shall not be healed ; they shall be
given to salt." And even in the apostles times, when there
was such wonderful success of the gospel, yet wherever they
came, ther^ were some that did not believe : Acts xiii. 48,
"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified
the word of the Lord ; and as many as were ordained to eternal life,
believed." And chap, xxviii. 24, "And some believed, and some
believed not." So we have no reason to expect but there will be
some left amongst us. Tis to be hoped it will be a small com
pany. But what a doleful company will it be ! How darkly
and awfully will it look upon them! If you shall be of that
company, how well may your friends and relations lament over
you, and bemoan your dark and dangerous circumstances ! If
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 63
you would not be one of them, make haste, delay not and look
not behind you. Shall all sorts obtain, shall every one press
into the kingdom of God, while you stay loitering behind ii) a
doleful undone condition? Shall every one take heaven, while
you remain with no other portion but this world ? Now take
up that resolution, that if it be possible you will cleave to them
that have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before
them. Count the cost of a thorough, violent, and perpetual
pursuit of salvation, and forsake all, as Ruth forsook her own coun
try and all her pleasant enjoyments in it. Don t do as Orpah
did ; who set out, and then was discouraged, and went back :
but hold out with Ruth through all discouragement and oppo
sition. When you consider others that have chosen the better
part, let that resolution be ever firm with you : " Where thou
goest, I will go; where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people
shall be my people, and thy God my God."
C4 SKLKCTKl*
IV
THE MANY MANSIONS
JOHN xiv. 2. In my Father s bouse are many mansions.
IN these words may be observed two things,
1. The thing described, viz., Christ s Father s house.
Christ spoke to his disciples in the foregoing chapter as one
that was about to leave them. He told em, verse 31, " Now
is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him," and
then goes to giving of them counsel to live in unity and love
one another, as one that was going from them. By which
they seemed somewhat surprised and hardly knew what to
make of it. And one of them, viz., Peter, asked him where
he was going ; verse 30, " Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou ?" Christ did not directly answer and tell
him where he was going, but he signifies where in these words
of the text, viz., to his Father s house, i.e., to heaven, and
afterwards, in the verse \ 2, he tells ? em plainly that he was
going to his Father.
2. We may observe the description given of it, viz., that in
it there are many mansions. The disciples seemed very
sorrowful at the news of Christ s going away, but Christ
comforts em with that, that in his Father s house where he
was going there was not only room for him, but room for them
too. There were many mansions. There was not only a
mansion there for him, but there were mansions enough for
them all ; there was room enough in heaven for them. When
the disciples perceived that Christ was going away, they
manifested a great desire to go with him, and particularly
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS C5
Peter. Peter in the latter part of the foregoing chapter asked
him whither he went to that end that he might follow him.
Christ told him that whither he went he could not follow him
now, but that lie should follow him afterwards. But
Peter, not content with Christ, seemed to have a great
mind to follow him now. "Lord," says he, "why cannot
I follow tliee now?" So that the disciples had a
great mind still to be with Christ, and Christ in the words
of the text intimates that they shall be with him. Christ
signifies to em that he was going home to his Father s house,
and lie encourages em that they shall be with him there in due
time, in that there were many mansions there. There was a
mansion provided not only for him, but for them all (ior Judas
was not then present), and not only for them, but for all that
should ever believe in him to the end of the world ; and
though he went before, he only went to prepare a place for
them that should follow.
The text is a plain sentence ; tis therefore needless to press
any doctrine in other words from it : so that I shall build my
discourse on the words of the text. There are two propositions
contained in the words, viz., I, that heaven is God s house, and
II, that in this house of God there are many mansions.
Prop. I. Heaven is God s house. An house of public wor
ship is an house where God s people meet from time to time to
attend on God s ordinances, and that is set apart for that and is
called God s house. The temple of Solomon was called God s
house. God was represented as dwelling there. There he had
his throne in the holy of holies, even the mercy-seat over the
ark a:id between the cherubims.
Sometimes the whole universe is represented in Scripture as
God s house, built with various stories one above another:
Amos ix. G, "It is he that buildeth his stories in the
heaven;" and P.s. civ. 3, "Who layeth the beams of ^ his
chambers in the waters." But the highest heaven is especially
CO SELECTED SERMONS
represented in Scripture as the house of God. As to other
parts of the creation, God hath appointed them to inferior
uses; but this part he has reserved for himself for his own
abode. We are told that the heavens are the Lord s, but the
earth he hath given to the sons of men. God, though he is
everywhere present, is represented both in Old Testament and
New as being in heaven in a special and peculiar manner.
Heaven is the temple of God. Tims we read of God s temple
in heaven, Rev. xv. 5. Solomon s temple was a type of
heaven ; it was made exceeding magnificent arid costly partly
to that end, that it might be the most lively type of heaven.
The apostle Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews does from time
to time call heaven the holy of holies, as being the antitype not
only of the temple of Solomon, but of the most holy place in
that temple, which was the place of God s most immediate
residence: Heb. ix. 12, "lie entered in once into the holy
place;" verse 21, "For Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the figures of the tme, but
into heaven itself." Houses where assemblies of Christians
worship God are in some respects figures of this house of God
above. When God is worshipped in them in spirit and truth,
they become the outworks of heaven and as it were its gates.
As in houses of public worship here there are assemblies of
Christians meeting to worship God, so in heaven there is a
glorious assembly, or Church, continually worshipping God :
Heb. xii. 22, 23, " 13 ut ye are come unto mount Sion, [and
unto] the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, that are written in heaven."
Heaven is represented in Scripture as God s dwelling-house ;
Ps. cxiii. 5, " Who is like [unto] the Lord our God, who
dwelleth on high," and Ps. cxxiii/1, "Unto thoe I lift up
mine eyes, thou that dwellest in the heavens." Heaven is
God s palace. Tis the house of the great King of the
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 67
universe ; there he has his throne, which is therefore represented
us his house or temple ; Ps. xi. 4, " The Lord is in his holy
temple ; the lord s throne is in heaven."
Heaven is the house where God dwells with his family.
God is represented in Scripture as having a family ; and
though some of this family are now on earth, yet in so being
they are abroad and not at home, but all going home : Eph. iii.
15, " Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."
Heaven is the place that God has built for himself and his
children. God has many children, and the place (It-signed for
them is heaven ; therefore the saints, being the children of God,
are said to be of the household of God, Kpk. ii. 19: "Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." God
is represented as a householder or head of a family, and heaven
is his house.
Heaven is the house not only where God hath his throne,
but also where he doth as it were keep his table, where his
children sit down with him at his table and where they are
feasted .in a royal manner becoming the children of so great a
King: Luke xxii. 30, "That ye may eat and drink at my table
in my kingdom ; " Matt. xxvi. 29, " But I say unto you, I will
not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day
when. I drink it new with you in my Father s kingdom."
God is the King of kings, and heaven is the place where he
keeps his court. There are his angels and archangels that
as the nobles of his court do attend upon him.
Prop. II. There are many mansions in the house of God.
By many mansions is meant many scats or places of abode.
As it is a king s palace, there are many mansions. Kings
houses are wont to be built very large, with many stately
rooms and apartments. So there are many mansions in God s
house.
When this is spoken of heaven, it is chiefly to be understood
C8 SELECTED SERMONS
in a figurative sense, and the following things seem to be taught
us in it. i
1. There is room in this house of God for great numbers.
There is room in heaven for a vast multitude, yea, room enough
for all mankind that are or ever shall be ; Luke xiv. 22, " Lord
it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room."
It is not with the heavenly temple as it often is witli
houses of public worship in this world, that they fill up and
become too small and scanty for those that would meet in them,
so that there is not convenient room for all. There is room
enough in our heavenly Father s house. This is partly what
Christ intended in the words of the text, as is evident from the
occasion of his speaking them. The disciples manifested a great
desire to be where Christ was, and Christ therefore, to encour
age them that it should be as they desired, tells them that in
his Father s house where he was going were many mansions,
i.e., room enough for them.
There is mercy enough in God to admit an innumerable mul
titude into heaven. There is mercy enough for all, and there
is merit enough in Christ to purchase heavenly happiness for
millions of millions, for all men that ever were, arc or shall
be. And there is a sufficiency in the fountain of heaven s
happiness to supply and fill and satisfy all: and there is in all
respects enough for the happiness of all.
2. There are sufficient and suitable accommodations for
all the different sorts of persons that are in the world : for great
and small, for high and low, rich and poor, wise and unwise,
Ixjnd and free, persons of all nations and all conditions and
circumstances, i:br those that have been great sinners as well
as for moral livers ; for weak saints and those that are babes
in Christ as well as for those that arc stronger and more grown
in grace. There is in heaven a sufficiency for the happiness of
every sort ; there is a convenient accommodation for every
creature that will hearken to the calls of the Gospel. None
OI 1 JONATHAN EDWARDS 69
that will come to Christ, let his condition be what it will, need
to fear but that Christ will provide a place suitable for him in
heaven.
This seems to be another thing implied in Christ s words.
The disciples wore persons of very different condition from
Christ : he was their Master, and they were his disciples ; he
was their Lord, and they were the servants; he was their
Guide, and they were the followers ; he was their Captain, and
they the soldiers ; he was the Shepherd, and they the sheep ;
[he was, as it were, the] Father, [and they the] children ; he
was the glorious, holy Son of God, they were poor, sinful, cor
rupt men. But yet, though they were in such different circum
stances from him, yet Christ encourages them that there shall
not only be room in heaven for him, but for them too ; for
there were many mansions there. There was not only a man
sion to accommodate the Lord, but the disciples also; not only
the head, but the members ; not only the Son of God, but those
that are naturally poor, sinful, corrupt men : as in a king s
palace there is not only a mansion or room of state built for
the king himself and for his eldest son and heir, but there are
many rooms, mansions for all his numerous household, children,
attendants and servants.
:>. It is further implied that heaven is a house that was
actually built and prepared for a great multitude. When God
made heaven in the beginning of the world, he intended it for
an everlasting dwelling-place for a vast and innumerable multi
tude. When heaven was made, it was intended and prepared
for all those particular persons that God had from eternity de
signed to save: Matt. xxv. 34, "Come, ye blessed [of my
Father, inherit the Kingdom] prepared for you [from the foun
dation of the world]." " And that is a very great and innumer
able multitude: Rev. vii. 9, "After this I beheld, and, lo, a
great multitude which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne
70 SKL1WTK1) SKHMOXS
and before the Lain)), clothed with white robes." Heaven
being built designedly for these was built accordingly; it was
built so as most conveniently to accommodate all this multi
tude : as a house that is built { or a great family is built large and
with many rooms in it ; as a palace that is built for a great
king that keeps a great court with many attendants is built
exceeding great with a great many apartments ; and as an
house o* public worship that is built for a great congregation
is built very large with many scats in it.
4. When it is said, [" In my father s house are many man
sions "], it is meant that there are scats of various dignity and
different degrees and circumstances of honor and happiness.
There are many mansions in God s house because heaven is
intended for various degrees of honor and blessedness. Some
are designed to sit in higher places there than others; some are
designed to be advanced to higher degrees of honor and glory
than others are ; and, therefore, there are various mansions, and
some more honorable mansions and seats, in heaven than others.
Though they are all seats of exceeding honor and blessedness,
yet some are more so than others.
Thus a palace is built. Though every part of the palace is
magnificent as becomes the palace of a king, yet there are many
apartments of various honor, and some are more stately and
costly than others, according to the degree of dignity. There
is one apartment that is the king s presence-chamber ; there
are other apartments for the next heir to the crown ; there are
others for other children ; and others for their attendants and
the great officers of the household : one for the high steward,
and another for the chamberlain, and others for meaner officers
and servants.
Another image of this wa.s in Solomon s temple. There were
many mansions of dillercnt degrees of honor and dignity. There
was the holy of holies, where the ark was that was the place
of God s immediate residence, where the high priest alone might
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 71
come ; and there was another apartment called the holy place,
where the other priests might come ; and next to that was the
inner court of the temple, where the Lcvites were admitted :
and there they had many chambers or mansions built for lodg
ing-rooms for the priests ; and next to that was the court of
Israel where the people of Israel might come ; and next to that
was the court of the Gentiles where the Gentiles, those that
were called the " Proselytes of the Gate," might come.
And we have an image of this in houses built for the worship
of Christian assemblies. In such houses of God there are
many seats of different honor and dignity, from the most honor
able to the most inferior of the congregation.
Not that we are to understand the words of Christ so much
in a literal sense, as that every saint in heaven was to have a
certain seat or room or place of abode where he was to be locally
fixed. Tis not the design of the Scriptures to inform us much
about the external circumstances of heaven or the state of heaven
locally considered ; but we are to understand what Christ says
chiefly in a spiritual sense. Persons Khali be set in different
desrees of honor and glory in heaven, as is abundantly manifested
in Scripture: which may fitly be represented to our imaginations
by there being different seats of various honor, as it was in the
temple, as it is in kings courts. Some seats shall be nearer
the throne than others/ Some shall sit next to Christ in glory :
Matt. xx. 23, " To sit on my right hand and on my left, ^is not
mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is pre-
parod of my Father."
Christ lias doubtless respect to these different degrees of glory
in the text. When he was going to heaven and the disciples
were sorrowful at the thoughts of parting with their Lord, he
lets them knew that there are seats or mansions of various de
grees of honor in his Father s house, that there was not only one
for him, who was the Head of the Church and the elder brother,
but also for them that were his disciples and younger brethren.
72 SELECTED 8
Christ also may probably have respect rot only to different
decrees of glory in heaven, but different circumstances. Though
the employment and happiness of all the heavenly assembly
shall in the general be the same, yet tis not improbable that
there may be circumstantial difference. We know what their
employment [is] in general, but not in particular. We know not
how one may be employed to .subserve and promote the happi
ness of another, and all to help one another. Some may there
be set in one place for one office or employment, and others [in]
another, as tis in the Church on earth. God hath set every one
in the body as it hath pleased him ; one is the eye, another the
ear, another the head, etc. But because God has not been
pleased expressly to reveal how it shall be in this respect, there
fore I shall not insist upon it, but pass to make some
IMPROVEMENT
of what has been offered.
I. Here is encouragement for sinners that are concerned and
exercised for the salvation of their souls, such as are afraid that
they shall ne or go to heaven or be admitted to anyplace of
abode there, and are sensible that they are hitherto in a doleful
state and condition in that they are out of Christ, and so have
no right to any inheritance in heaven, but are in danger of
going to hell and having their place of eternal abode fixed
there. You may be encouraged by what has been said, ear
nestly to seek heaven ; for there are many mansions there.
There is room enough there. Let your case be what it will,
there is suitable provision there for you ; and if you come to
Christ, you need not fear but that he will prepare a place for
you ; he ll see to it that you shall be well accommodated in
heaven.
But II. I would improve this doctrine in a twofold exhor
tation.
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 73
1. Let all be hence exhorted earnestly to seek that they may
be admitted to a mansion in heaven. You have heard that
this is God s house ; it is his temple. If David, when he was
in the wilderness of Judah and in the land of Geshur and of
the Philistines, so longed that he might again return into the
land of Israel that he might have a place in the house of God
here on earth, and prized a place there HO much, though it was
but that of a door-keeper, how great a happiness will it be to
have a place in this heavenly temple of God ! If they are
looked upon as enjoying a high privilege that have a ^seat
appointed them in kings courts or in apartments in kings
palaces, especially those that have an abode there in the quality
of the king s children, then how great a privilege \yill it be
to have an apartment or mansion assigned to us in God s
heavenly palace, and to have a place there as his children !
How great is their glory and honor that are admitted to be of
the household of God !
And seeing there are many mansions there, mansions enough
for us all, our folly will be the greater if we noglcct to seek a
place in heaven, having our minds foolishly taken up about the
worthless, fading things of this world. Here consider three
things \
(f) How little a while you can have any mansion or place of
abode in this world. Now you have a dwelling amongst the
living. You have a house or mansion of your own, or at least
one That is at present for your use, and now you have a seat
in the house of God ; but how little a while will this continue !
In a very little while, and the place that now knows you in
this world will know you no more. The habitation you have
here will be empty of you ; you will be carried dead out of it,
or shall die at a distance from it, and never enter into it any
more, or into any other abode in this world. Your mansion or
place of abode in this world, however convenient or commodious
it may be, is but as a tent that shall soon be taken down, but a
74 SELECTED SERMONS
lodge in a garden of cucumbers. Your stay is a.<j it were but
for anight Your body itself is but a house of clay which will
quickly moulder and tumble down, and you shall have no other
habitation here in this world but the grave.
Thus God in his providence is putting you in mind by the
repeated instances of death that have been in the town within
the two weeks past, both in one house : in which death he has
shown his dominion over old and young. The son was taken away
first before the father, being in his full strength and flower of
his days ; and the father, who was then well and having no
appearance of approaching death, followed in a few days : and
their habitation and their seat in the house of God in this world
will know them no more.
Take warning by these warnings of Providence to improve
your time that you may have a mansion in heaven. We have
a house of worship newly created amongst us which now you
have a seat in, and probably are pleased with the ornaments of
it ; and though you have a place in so comely a house, yet you
know not how little a while you shall have a place in this
house of God. Hero are a couple snatched away by death that
had met in it but a few times, that have been snatched out of
it before it was fully finished and never will have any more a
seat in it. You know not how soon you may follow, and then
of great importance will it be to you to have a seat in God s
ho jc above. Both of the persons lately deceased were much
on their death-beds warning others to improve their precious
time. The first of them was much in expressing his sense of
the vast importance of an interest in Christ, as I was a wit
ness, and was earnest in calling on others to improve their time,
to be thorough, to get an interest in Christ, and seemed very
desirous that young people might receive council and warning
from him, as the. words of a dying man, to do their utmost to
make sure of conversion ; and a little before he died left a re
quest to me that I would warn the young people in his room.
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS To
God has been warning of you in his death and the death of his
lather that so soon followed. The words of dying persons
should be of special weight with us, for then they are- in cir
cumstances wherein they are most capable to look on things as
they are and judge aright of em, between both worlds as it
were. Still that we must all be in.
Let our young people, therefore, take warning from hence,
and don t be such fools as to neglect seeking a place and man
sion in heaven. Young persons are especially apt to be taken
with the pleasing things of this world. You are now, it may
be, much pleased with hopes of your future circumstances in
tins world ; [and you are now, it may be, much] pleased with
the ornaments of that house of worship that you with others
have a place in. But, alas, do you not too little consider
how soon you may be taken away from all these things, and no
more forever have any part in any mansion or house or enjoy
ment or happiness under the sun? Therefore let it be your
main care to secure an everlasting habitation for hereafter.
(2) Consider when you die, if you have no mansion in the
house of God in heaven, yon must have your place of abode in
the habitation of devils. There is no middle place between
them, and when you go hence, you must go to one or the
other of these. Some have a mansion prepared for them in
heaven from the foundation [of the world] ; others are sent away
as cursed into everlasting burnings prepared for the [devil and
his angels]. Consider how miserable those must be that shall
have their habitation with devils to all eternity. Devils
are foul spirits ; God s great enemies. Their habitation is
the blackness of darkness ; a place of the utmost filthiness,
abomination, darkness, disgrace and torment. 0, how would
you rather ten thousand times have no place of abode at all,
have DO being, than to Lave a place [with devils] !
(3) If you die unconverted, you will have the worse place
in hell for having had a seat or place in. God s house in this
76 SKLKVTKD 8KKMON8
world. As there arc many mansions, places of different de
grees of honor in heaven, so there are various abodes and places
or degrees of torment and misery in hell; and those will have
the worst plaee there that [dying unconverted, have had the
best place in God s house here]. Solomon speaks of a pecul
iarly awful sight that he had seen, that of a wicked man
buried that had gone [from the place of the holy], Eccl. viii.
10. Such as have had a scat in God s house, have been in a
sense exalted up to heaven, set on the gate of heaven, [if they
die unconverted, shall be] cast down to hell.
2. The second exhortation that I would offer from what has
been said is to seek a high place in heaven. Seeing there are
many mansions of different degrees of honor and dignity in
heaven, let us seek to obtain a mansion of distinguished gloiy.
Tis revealed to us that there are different degrees of glory to
that end that we might seek after the higher degrees. God
offered high degrees of glory to that end, that we might seek
them by eminent holiness and good works : 2 Cor. ix. G, " He that
sows sparingly [shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully]." It is not becoming
persons to be over anxious about an high seat in God s IIOUFC
in this world, for that is the honor that is of men ; but we can t
too earnestly seek after an high seat in God s house above, by
seeking eminent holiness, for that is the honor that is of God.
Tis very little worth the while for us to pursue after honor
in this world, where the greatest honor is but a bubble and
will soon vanish away, and death will level all. Some have
more stately houses than others, and some are in higher office
than others, and some are richer than others and have higher
seats in the meeting-house than others ; but all graves are
upon a level. One rotting, putrefying corpse is as ignoble as
another ; the worms are as bold with one carcass as another.
But the mansions in God s house above are everlasting man
sions. Those that have seats allotted em there, whether of
OF JONATHAN EJ) WARDS 77
greater or lessor dignity, whether nearer or further from the
throne, will hold em to all eternity. This is promised, Rev.
iii. 12 : "Him that overcomcth I will make him a pillar in the
temple [of my God, and he shall go no more out]." If it be
worth the while to desire and seek high scats in the meeting
house, where you are one day in a week, and where you shall
never come but few days in all; if it be worth the while much
to prize one seat above another in the house of worship only
because it is the pew or seat that is ranked first in number,
and to be seen here for a few days, how will it be worth the
while to seek an high mansion in God s temple and in that
glorious place that is the everlasting habitation of God and rill
his children ! You that are pleased with your seats in this
house because you are seated high or in a place that is looked
upon honorable by those that sit round about, and because
many can behold you, consider how short a time you will enjoy
this pleasure. And if there be any that are not suited in their
seats because they are too low for them, let them consider that
it is but a very little while before it will [be] all one to you
whether you have sat high or low here. But it will be of
infinite and everlasting concern to you where your seat is in
another world. Let your great concern be while in this world
so to improve your opportunities in God s house in this world,
whether you sit high or low, as that you may have a distin
guished and glorious mansion in God s house in heaven, where
you may be fixed in your place in that glorious assembly in an
everlasting rest.
Let the main thing that we prize in God s house be, not the
outward ornaments of it, or a high seat in it, but the word of
God and his ordinances in it. And spend your time here in
seeking Christ, that he may prepare a place for you in his
Father s house, that when he comes again to this world, he
may take you to himself, that where he is, there you may be
also.
8 SELECTED SERMONS
SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD
DEUTERONOMY xxxii. 35. Their foot shall slide in due time.
IN this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the
wicked unbelieving Israelites, that were God s visible people,
and lived under means of grace ; and that notwithstanding all
God s wonderful works that he had wrought towards that
people, yet remained, as is expressed verse 28, void of counsel,
having no understanding in them; and that, under all the
cultivations of heaven, brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit ;
as in the two verses next preceding the text.
The expression that I have chosen for my text, their foot
shall xlide in due thii(> y seems to imply the following things
relating to the punishment and destruction that these wicked
Israelites were exposed to.
1 . That they were altwys exposed to destruction ; as one
that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall.
This is implied in the manner of their destruction s coining
upon them, being represented by their foot s sliding. The same
is expressed, Psalm Ixxiii. 18 : "Surely tliou didst set them in
slippery places ; tliou castedst them down into destruction."
; 2. It implies that they were always exposed to sudden,
unexpected destruction ; as he that walks in slippery places is
every moment liable to fall, he can t foresee one moment whether
he shall stand or fall the next; "and when he docs fall, he falls
at once, without warning, which is also expressed in that Psalm
Ixxiii. 18, 19 : " Surely thou didst set them in slippery places :
tliDu castedst them down into destruction. How are they
brought into desolation, as in a moment!"
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 79
3. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of
themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another ;
as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing
but his own weight to throw him down.
4. That the reason why they are not fallen already, and
don t fall now, is only that God s appointed time is not eome.
For it is said that when that due time, or appointed time
comes, their foot sh<dl slide. Then they shall be left to fall,
as they are inclined by their own weight. God won t hold
them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them
go ; arid then, at that very instant, they shall fall to destruc
tion ; as he that stands in such slippery declining ground on the
edge of a pit that he can t stand alone, when he is let go he
immediately falls and is lost.
The observation from the words that I would now insist upon
is this,
There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment
oat of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.
By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure,
his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no
manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God s
mere will had in the least degree or in any respect whatsoever
any hand in the preservation of wicked men oiie moment.
The truth of this observation may appear by the following
considerations.
1. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men
into hell at any moment. Men s hands cjui t be strong when
God rises up: the strongest have no po\\ci* to resist him, nor
can any deliver out of his hands.
lie is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can
most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with
a great deal of didiculty to subdue a rebel that has found means
80 SKLKCTEI) SERMOXS
to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the number
of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress
that is any defence against the power of God. Though hand
join in hand, and vast multitudes of God s enemies combine and
associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces : they are
as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind ; or large
quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it
feasy to tread on and crash a worm that we see crawling on the
r \ earth ; so tis easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that
any thing hangs by; thus easy is it for God, when lie pleases,
Jto cjust his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should
"think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles,
and before whom the rocks are thrown down !
15. They de.MrM to be cast into hell ; so that divine justice
never stands in the way, it m;ikes no objection against God s
using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the
contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their
sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such
grapes of Sodom, " Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground ? "
Luke xiii. 7. The sword of divine justice is every moment
(brandished over their heads, and tis nothing but the hand
\ofarbitrary mercy, and God s mere will, that holds it back.
3. They are alrwi ly under a sentence of condemnation to
hell. They don t only justly deserve to be cast down thither,
but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable
rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and man
kind, is gone out against them, and stands against them : so
..that they are bound over already to hell : John iii. 18, "He that
believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted
man properly belongs to hell ; that is his place ; from thence he
is : John viii. *J3, " Ye are from beneath : " and thither he is
bound ; tis the place that justice, and God s word, and the
sentence of his unchangeable law, assigns to him.
4. They are now the objects of that very name anger and
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 81
wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell : and the
reason why they don t go down to hell at each moment is not
because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry
with them ; as angry as he is with many of those miserable
creatures that he is now tormenting in hell, and do there feel
and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great dear
more angry with great numbers that are now on earth, yea, , S
doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, that,
it may be, are at ease and quiet, than lie is with many of those]
that are now in the flames of hell.
So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wicked
ness, and don t resent it, that he don t let loose his hand and
cut them off. God is not altogether such a one as themselves,
though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God
burns against them; their damnation dqivlt slumber; the pit 5
is prepared ; the lire is made ready ; the furnace is now hot,
ready to receive them ; the flames do now rage and glow.
The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit ,
hath opened her mouth under them.
5. The ihril stands ready to fall upoir them, and seize them
as his o\vn, at what moment God shall permit him. They
belong to him ; he has their souls in his possession, and under
his dominion. The Scripture represents them as his yoods,
Luke xi. 21. The devils watch them ; they are ever by them,
at their right hand ; they stand waiting for them, like greedy
hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are
for the present kept back; if God should withdraw his hand
by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly
upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them ;
hell opens its mouth wide to receive them ; and if God should
permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.
G. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish prin-
ti\)hs reigning, that would present!} 1 kindle and flame out into
hell-fire, if it were not for God s restraints. There is laid in
\
82 -SELECTED SERMONS
the very nature of carnal men a foundation for the torments of
hell : there are those corru.pt principles, in reigning power in
hem, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell-fire.
These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in
their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of
God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame
out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same
enmity does in the heart of damned souls, and would beget
the same torments in em as they do in them.^ The souls of
the wicked are in Scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isaiah
Ivii. 20. For the present God restrains their wickedness by
his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled
sea, saying, " Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further ; " but
if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon
carry all afore it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul ; it
is destructive in its nature ; and if God should leave it without
restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul per
fectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is a
thing that is immoderate and boundless in its fury ; and while
wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God s restraints,
whenas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of
nature ; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so, if sin was
not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery
oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.
7. It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that
there are no visible means of death at hand. Tis no security
to a natural man, that he is now in health, and That he don t
see which way he should now immediately go out of the wond
by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any
respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual
-experience of the world in all ages shows that this is no evi
dence that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that
the next step won t, be into another world. The unseen, un-
thought of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of
OF JONATHAN ED WARDS 83
the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men
walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are
innumerable places in this covering so weak that they won t
bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows
of death jly unseen at noonday ;. the sharpest sight can t dis
cern them. God has so many different, unsearchable ways of
taking wicked men out of the world and sending em. to hell,
that there is nothing to r>ake it appear that God had need to
be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course
of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment.
All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world
are so in God s hands, and so absolutely subject to his power
and determination, that it don t depend at all Jess on the mere
will of God, whether sinners shall at any mome^ go to hell,
than if means were never made use of, or at aF mcerned in
the case.
. 8. Natural men s prudence and care to preserve their own
liceSy or the care of others to preserve them, don t secure em
a moment. This, divine providence and universal experience
does also bear testimony to. There is this clear evidence
thut men s, own wisdom is no security to them from death ;
that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between
the wise and politic men of the world and others, with regard
to their liabloncss to early and unexpected death ; but how is
it in fact? Eccles. ii. 16, How dieth the wise man? As
the fool."
9. All wicked men s pmms and contrivance they use to
escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain
wicked men, don t secure cm from hell one moment. Almost
every natural man that hears of hell Hatters himself that he
shall escape it ; he depends upon himself for his own security >
he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now .
doing, or what he intends to do ; every one lays out matters in
his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters him-
84 SELECTED SERMONS
self that he contrives well for himself, and that his scheme*
won t fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and
that the bigger part of men that have died heretofore are gone
to hell ; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better
for his own escape than others have done : he don t intend to
come to that place of torment ; he says within himself, that he
intends to take care that shall be effectual, and to order matters
so for himself as not to fail.
But the foolish children of men do miserably delude them
selves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their
own strength and wisdom ; they trust to nothing but a shadow.
The bigger part of those that heretofore have lived under the same
means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell ;
and it was not because they were not as wise as those that are now
alive ; it was not because they did not lay out matters as well
for themselves to secure their own escape. If it were so that
we could come to speak with them, and could inquire of them, one
by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used
to hear about hell, ever to be subjects of that misery, we, doubt
less, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended
to come here : I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind ;
I thought I should contrive well for myself: I thought my
scheme good : I intended to take effectual care ; but it came
upon me unexpected ; I did not look for it at that time, and
in that manner; it came as a thief: death outwitted me:
God s wrath was too quick for me. my cursed foolishness !
I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams
of what I would do hereafter ; and when I was saying peace
and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."
10. God has laid himself under no oUiyation, by any prom
ise, to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God
certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any
deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are
contained in the covenant of grace ; the promises that are given
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 85
in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But
surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant
of grace that are not the children of the covenant, and that do
not believe in any of the promises of the covenant, and have no
interest in the Mediator of the covenant.
So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about
promises made to natural men s earnest seeking and knocking,
tis plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man
takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in
Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a
moment from eternal destruction. -^
" So that thus it is, that natural men are held in the hand of
God over the pit of hell ; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are
already sentenced to it ; and God is dreadfully provoked, his
anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually
suffering the executions of the fierceness of! his wrath in hell,
and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate
that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to\/
hold em up one moment ; the devil is waiting for them, hell
is gap nig for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and
would fain lay hold on them and swallow them up ; the fire pent
up in their own hearts is struggling to break out ; and they
have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within
reach that can be any security to them. In short they have
no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them
every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and unco venan ted,,
unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.
APPLICATION
The use may be of awakening to unconverted persons in this
congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every
one of you that are out of Christ. That world of misery, that
lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you.
8G SELECTED SKKMOXS
\
TJiere is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of
God; there is hell s wide gaping mouth open; and you have
nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of. There is
nothing between you and hell but the air ; tis only the power
and men, pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not sensible of this ; you find you are kept
out of hell, but don t .see the hand of God in it, but look at
other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your
care of your own life, and the means you use for your own
preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God
should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep
you from falling than the thin air to hold up a person that is
suspended in it.
p Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to
tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell;
and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink
.and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and
your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence,
and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have
. no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell
\than a spider s web would have to stop a falling rock. Were
it not that so is the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would
not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the
creation groans with you ; the c/cature is made subject to the
bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun don t will
ingly shine upon you to give you ligh 4 : to serve sin and Satan ;
the earth don t willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts ;
nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted
upon ; the air don t willingly serve you for breath to maintain
the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the
] service of God s enemies. God s creatures arc good, and were
made for men to serve God with, and don t willingly subserve
I to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to pur
poses so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 87
world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand
of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are the black -\
clouds of God s wrath now hanging directly over your heads,
full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder ; and were it
not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst
forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present,
stays his rough wind ; otherwise it would come with fury, and
your destruction would conic like a whirlwind, and you would
be like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for c
the present ; they increase more and more, and rise higher and
higher, till an outlet is given ; and the longer the stream is
stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it
is let loose. Tis true, that judgment against your evil work has
not been executed hitherto ; the floods of God s vengeance have
been withheld ; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly ;
increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath ; &
the waters arc continually rising, antTwaxiiig more and more
mighty ; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God that
holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and
press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his
hand from the floodgate, it would immediately ily open, and the
fiery floods of the fierceness and. wrath of God would rush forth
with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with om
nipotent power ; and if your strength were ten thousand times
greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the
strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be
nothing to withstand or endure it.
The bow of God s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready j
on the string, and justices bends the arrow at your heart, and j
strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure ^of God, \
and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation j
at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk /
with vour blood. "^
88 SELECTED SERMONS
Thus are rill you that never passed under a great change of I
heart by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your
souls; all that were never born again, and made new creatures,
and raised from being dead in sin to a state of new and before
altogether unexperienced light and life, (however you may have
reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious
affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families
and closets, and in the house of God, and may be strict in it),
you are thus in the hands of an angry God ; tis nothing but
his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swal- v
lowed up in everlasting destruction.
However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what
you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that
are gone from being in the like circumstances with you sec that
it was so with them ; for destruction came suddenly upon most
of them ; when they expected nothing of it, and while they
were saying, Peace and safety : now they see, that those things
that they depended on for peace and safety were nothing but
thin air and empty shadows.
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one"]
holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the lire, abhors
you, and is dreadfully provoked ; his wrath towards you burns
like fire ; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to
be cast into the fire ; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have
you in his sight ; you are ten thousand times so abominable in
his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in ours.
You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn
rebel did his prince : and yet it is nothing but his hand that
holds you from falling into the fire every moment. Tis ascribed
to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night ; that
you wis sulFercii to awake again in this world after you closed
your eyes \A> sleep ; and there is no other reason to be given
why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morn
ing, but that God s hand has held you up. There is no other
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 80
$
reason to be given why you han t gone to hell since you have
sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your
sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea,
. there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you
[don t this very moment drop down into hell.
sinner ! consider the fearful danger you are in. Tis a (
great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the
fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God
whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as
against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender
thread, with the ilaincs of divine wrath Hashing about it, and
ready every moment to singe it and burn it asunder ; and you
have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to
save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing
of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that
you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.
And consider here more particularly several things concern
ing that wrath that you are in such danger of.
1. Whose wrath it is. It is the wrath of the infinite God.
If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most
potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded.
The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute
monarchs, that have the possessions and lives of their subjcctr.
wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere wil]
Prov. xx. 2, " The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lioi" ff
whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own sou/ ,
The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince ! ^
liable to sutler the most extreme torments that human art c_;%n
invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest eaYfuiu
potentates, in their greatest majesty and strength, andc"l -f
clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, desj.
worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and alwu<i t^
Creator and King of heaven and earth : it is but li ;U* h"* *
they c;ui do when most enraged, and when they have -^
90 SELECTED SERMOXS
the utmost of their fury. A) I the kings of the earth before God
re as grasshoppers ; they are nothing, and less than nothing :
both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath
of the great King of kings is as much more terrible than theirs,
as his majesty is greater. Luke xii. 4 } 5, "And I say unto
you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and
after that have no more that they can do. But I will fore
warn you whom you shall fear : Fear him, which after he hath
killed hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
2. Tis the JLerjmieas of his wrath that you are exposed to.
We often read of the fury ojf God; as in Isaiah lix. 18 : "Ac
cording to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his
adversaries." So Isaiah Ixvi. 15, " For, behold, the Lord will
come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render
his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And
so in many other places. So we read of God s fierceness, Rev.
xix. 15. There we read of " the wine-press of the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty God." The words are exceeding ter
rible : if it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words
would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful : but tis
not only said so, but "the fierceness and wrath of God." The
fury of God ! The fierceness of Jehovah ! Oh, how dreadful
must that be ! Who can utter or conceive what such expres
sions carry in them! But it is not only said so, but "the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." As though there
would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in
what the fierceness of his wrath should inllict, as though om
nipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men
are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath.
Oh ! then, what will be the consequence ! What will become
of the poor worm that shall suffer it ! Whose hands can be
strong ! And whose heart endure ! To what a dreadful, in
expressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor crea
ture be sunk who shall be the subject of this !
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 91
Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in
an unregenemte state. That God will execute the fierceness
of his anger implies that he will inflict wrath without any pity.
When God beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees
your torment so vastly dispropprtioned to your strength, and
sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were,
into an infinite gloom ; he will have no compassion upon you,
he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least
lighten his hand ; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor
will God then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no
regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should
suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you should
nob sutler beyond what strict justice requires: nothing shall
be withheld because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. viii.
18, "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not
spare, neither will I have pity : and though they cry^in mine
ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them." Now God
stands ready to pity you ; this is a day of mercy ; you may
cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy : but
when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and
dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain ; you will be wholly
lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your wel
fare ; God will have no other use to put you to, but only to
suffer misery ; you shnll be continued in being to no other end ;
for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction ; ^and
there will be no other use of this vessel, but only to be filled
full of wrath : God will be so far from pitying you when you
cry to him, that tis said he will only "laugh and mock,"
Prov. i. 25, 26, &c.
How awful are those words, Isaiah Ixiii. 3, which are the
words of the great God: "I will tread them in mine anger,
and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be
sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment."
Tis perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them
92 SELECTED SERMONS
greater manifestations of these three things, viz., contempt and
hatred and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity
you, he will be so far from pitying you in your <\plejful case, or
showing you the least regard or favor, that instead of that he ll
only tread you under foot : and though he will know that you
can t bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet
TuT won t regard that, but he will crush you under his feet
witliouE mercy ; he ll crush out your blood, and make it ily,
and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all
his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you
in the utmost contempt ; no place shall be thought fit for you
but under his feet, to be trodden down as the mire of the
wtrects.
3. The misery you are exposed to is that which God will
inflict to that end, that he might show what that wrath of
Jehovah is. God hath had it on his hear! to show to angels
an^ men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible
his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show
how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they
would execute on those that provoke em. Nebuchadnezzar,
that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire,
was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach,
Mesheeh, and Abcdnego ; and accordingly gave order that the
burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than
it was before ; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree
of fierceness that human art could raise it ; but the great God
is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful Maj
esty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies.
Rom. ix. 22, " What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to
make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the
vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" And seeing this is
his design, and what he has determined, to show how terrible
the unmixed, unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of
Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 93
accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with
a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and
executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the
wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of
his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe
to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be
seen in it. Isa. xxxiii. 12, 13, 14, "And the people shall be
as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt
in the fire. Hear, ye that are far oft , what I have done ; and
ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion
are afraid ; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites," &c.
Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state,
if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and
terribleness, of the Omnipotent God shall be magnified upon
you in the ineffable strength of your torments. Yon shall
be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the
presence of the Lamb ; and when you shall be in this state
of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth
and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the
wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is ; and when they have
seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and
majesty. Isa. Ixvi. 23, 24, " And it shall come to pass, that
from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to an
other, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the
men that have transgressed against me : for their worm shall
not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall
be an abhorring unto all flesh."
4. It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer
this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment ; but
you must suffer it to all eternity : tliej o^wiVMw no cmHtoJjiis
When you look forward, you shall
see along f (Trevor, a boundless duration before you, which will
swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul ; and you will
94 SELECTED SERMONS
absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any
mitigation, any rest at all ; you will know certainly that you
must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling
and conflicting with this almighty, merciless vengeance ; and then
when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been
spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but
a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed
be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in
such circumstances is ! All that we can possibly say about it
gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it ; it is inex
pressible and inconceivable : for " who knows the power of
"God s anger ? "
^S How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly
in danger of this great wrath and infinite misery ! But this is
the dismal case of every BOU! in this congregation that has not.
s been "born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious,
they may otherwise be. . Oh, that you would consider it,
whether you. be young or old ! There is reason to think that
C there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse,
\that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all
^eternity. AVe know not who they are, or. in what seats they
fiit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now
^at ease, and hear till these things without much disturbance,
I and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons,
promising themselves thai they shall escape. If we knew that
there was one penxw, and but one, in the whole congregation,
that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing it
would be to think of ! If we knew who it was, what an awful
sight would it be to pee such a person ! How might all the
rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over
X him ! But alas ! instead of one, how many is it likely will
/ remember this discourse in hell ! And it would be a wonder,
A if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very
! short time, before this } ear is out. And it would be no won-
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 95
der if some persons that now sit here in some seats of this
meeting-house in health, and quiet and secure, should be there
before to-morrow morning. Those of you that finally continue
in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest, will be
there in a little time]/ Your damnation cloXt .slumber; it will
come swiftly and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many
of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already
in hell. Tis doubtless the case of some that heretofore you
have seen ami known, that never deserved hell more than you
and that heretofoie appeared as likely to have been now alive
as you. Their case is past all hope ; they are crying in extreme
misery and perfect despair. But here you are in the land of
the living anTTm the house of God, and have an opportunity to
obtain salvation. What would not those poor, damned, hope-
less souls give for one day s such opportunity as you now enjoy \ /
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day
wherein Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, anil
stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to
poor sinners ; a day wherein many are Hocking to him and
pressing into the Kingdom of God. Many are daily coming
from the east, west, north and south ; many that were very
likely in the same miserable condition that you are in are in
now a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him
that has loved them and washed them from their sins in his
own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How
awful is it to be left behind at such a day ! To see so many
others feasting, while you are pining and perishing ! To see so
many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you^ have
cause to mourn for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of
spirit ! How can you rest for one moment in such a condition?
Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at
Sutrleld, 1 where they are Hocking from day to day to Christ 1
next neighbor town.
96 SELECTED SEIIMOXS
Are there not many here that have lived long in the world
that are not to this day born again, and so are aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and have done nothing ever since they
ha,ve lived but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath ?
Oil , sirs, your case in an especial manner is extremely dangerous ;
your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Don t you see
how generally persons of your years are passed over and left
in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God s
mercy? You had need to consider yourselves and wake
thoroughly out of sleep ; you cannot bear the fierceness and the
wrath of the infinite God.
And you that are young men and young women, w r ill you
neglect this precious season that you now enjoy, when so many
others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities and Hock
ing to Christ 1 You especially have now an extraordinary op
portunity ; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as it
is with those persons that spent away all the precious days of
youth in sin and are now come to such a dreadful pass in
blindness and hardness.
And you children that are luiconyertcd, don t you know that
you are going down to hell to bear the dreadful wrath of that
God that is now angry with you every day and every night ?
Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so
many other children in the land are converted and are become
the holy and happy children of the King of kings?
And let every one that is yet out of Christ and hanging over
the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women or middle-
aged or young people or little children, now hearken to the loud
calls of God s word and providence. This acceptable year of
the Lord that is a day of such great favor to some will doubt
less be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men s
hearts harden and their guilt increases apace at such a day as
this, if they neglect their souls. And never was there so great
danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 07
blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in
his elect in all parts of the land ; and probably the bigger part
of adult persons that ever shall be saved will be brought in
now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on that great
outpouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the Apostles days,
the election will obtain and the rest will be blinded. If this
should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day,
and will curse the day that ever you was born to see such a
season of the pouring out of God s Spirit, and will wish that
you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now
undoubtedly it is as it was in the days of John the Baptist,
the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the
trees, that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit may
be hewn down and cast into the fire.
Therefore let every one that is out of Christ now awake and
fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is
now undoubtedly hanging over great part of this congregation.
Let every one fly out of Sodom. " Haste and escape for your
lices, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest ye be
consumed."
!T
03 SELECTED SERMONS
VI
GOD S AWFUL JUDGMENT IN THE BREAKING AND WITHERING
OF THE STRONG RODS OF A COMMUNITY
EZEK. xix. 12. Her strong rods were broken and withered.
IN order to a right understanding and improving these words,
these four things must be observed and understood concerning
them.
1. Who she is that is here represented as having had strong
rods, viz., the Jewish community, [who] here, as often elsewhere,
is called the people s mother. She is here compared to a vine
planted in a very fruitful soil, verse 10. The Jewish church and
state is often elsewhere compared to a vine ; as Psalm Ixxx. 8,
&c., Lsai. v. 2, Jer. ii. 21, Kzek. xv., and chapter xvii. G.
2. What is meant by her strong rods, viz., her wise, able,
and well qualified magistrates or rulers. That the rulers or
magistrates are intended is manifest by verse 11 : "And she
had strong rods for the sceptres of them that tare rule." And
by rods that were strong, must be meant such rulers as were
well qualified for magistracy, such as had great abilities and
other qualifications fitting them for the business of rule. They
were wont to choose a rod or staff of the strongest and hardest
sort of wood that could be found, for the mace or sceptre of a
prince ; such a one only being counted fit for such a use : and
this generally was overlaid with gold.
It is very remarkable that such a strong rod should grow out
of a weak vine ; but so it had been in Israel, through God s
extraordinary blessing, in times past. Though the nation is
spoken of here, and frequently elsewhere,- as weak and helpless
THE MEETINO-HOUSK AT NOKTHAMPTON IN WHICH EDWARDS
I UKACHKD. KUKCTKD 17o7.
in
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 00
itself and entirely dependent as a vine, that is the weakest
of all trees, that can t support itself by its own strength, and
never stands but as it leans on or hangs by something else that
is stronger than itself ; yet God had caused many of her sons to
be strong rods, fit for sceptres : he had raised up in Israel many
able and excellent princes and magistrates in days past, that had
done worthily in their day.
3. It should be understood and observed what is meant by
these strong rods being broken and withered, viz., these able
and excellent rulers being removed by death. Man s dying is
often compared in Scripture to the withering of the growth of
the earth.
-1. It should be observed after what manner the breaking
and withering of these strong rods is here spoken of, viz., as a
great and awful calamity that God had brought upon that
people, Tis spoken of as one of the chief effects of God s fury
and dreadful displeasure against them. " lUit she was plucked
up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind
dried up her fruit ; her strong rods were broken and withered,
the lire hath consumed them." The great benefits she enjoyed
while her strong rods remained are represented in the preceding
verse : " And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that
bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches,
and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her
branches." And the terrible calamities that attended the
breaking and withering of her strong rods, are represented
in the two verses next following the text: "And now she is
planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. And
lire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured
her fruit." And in the conclusion in the next words is very
emphatically declared the worthiness of such a dispensation to
be greatly lamented : " So that she hath no strong rod to be a
sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a
lamentation."
100 SELECTED SERMONS
That which I therefore observe from the words of the text to
be the subject of discourse at this time, is this :
When God by death removes from a people those in place,
of public authority and rule that have been as strong rods,
it s an awful judgment of God on that people, and ivorthy of
great lamentation.
In discoursing on this proposition, I would,
I. Show what kind of rulers may fitly be called strong rods.
II. Show why the removal of such rulers from a people, by
death, is to be looked upon as an awful judgment of God oil
that people, and is greatly to be lamented,
I. I would observe what qualifications of those who are in
public authority and rule may properly give them the denomi
nation of strong rods.
1. One qualification of rulers whence they may properly be
denominated strong rods is great ability for the management
of public affairs. When they that stand in place of public
authority are men of groat natural abilities, when they are men
of uncommon strength of reason and largeness of understanding ;
especially when they have remarkably a genius for government,
a peculiar turn of mind fitting them to gain an extraordinary
understanding in things of that nature, giving ability, in an
especial manner, for insight into the mysteries of government,
and discerning those things wherein the public welfare or
calamity consists and the proper means to avoid the one and
promote the other ; an extraordinary talent at distinguishing
what is right and just from that which is wrong and unequal,
and to see through the false colors with which injustice is often
disguised, and unravel the false, subtle arguments and cunning
sophistry that is often made use of to defend iniquity ; and
when they have not only great natural abilities in these respects,
but when their abilities and talents have been improved by
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 101
study, learning, observation and experience ; and when by these
means they have obtained great actual knowledge ; when they
have acquired great skill in public affairs and things requisite
to be known in order to their wise, prudent, and effectual man
agement ; when they have obtained a great understanding of
men and things, a great knowledge of human nature and of the
way of accommodating themselves to it, so as most effectually
to influence it to wise purposes ; when they have obtained a
very extensive knowledge of men with whom they are concerned
in the management of public affairs, either those that have a
joint concern in government or those that are to be governed ;
and when they have also obtained a very full and particular
understanding of the state and circumstances of the country or
people that they have the care of, and know well their laws and
constitution and what their circumstances require; and likewise
have a great knowledge of the people of neighbor nations, states,
or provinces with whom they have occasion to be concerned in
the management of public affairs committed to them : these
things all contribute to the rendering those that are in authority
lit to be. denominated strong rods.
2. When they have not only great understanding but large
ness of heart and a greatness and nobleness of ditvposition,
this is another qualification that belongs to the character of a
strong rod.
Tlio.se that are by divine Providence set in places of public
authority and ride are called gods, and sous of the Most High,
Psalm Ixxxii. G. And therefore tis peculiarly unbecoming them
to be of a mean spirit, a disposition that will admit of their
doing those things that are sordid and vile ; as when they are
persons of a narrow, private spirit, that may be found in little
tricks and intrigues to promote their private interest, will
shamefully defile their hands to gain a few pounds, are not
ashamed to nip and l>ite others, grind the faces of the poor and
screw upon their neighbors, and will take advantage of their
102 SELECTED SERMONS
authority or commission to line their own pockets with what is
fraudulently taken or withheld from others. When a man in
authority is of such a mean spirit, it weakens his authority and
makes him justly contemptible in the eyes of men and is utterly
inconsistent with his being a strong rod.
But on the contrary, it greatly establishes his authority, and
causes others to stand in awe of him, when they see him to be
a man of greatness of mind, one that abhors those things that
are mean and sordid, and not capable of a compliance with
them ; one that is of a public spirit, and not of a private, nar
row disposition ; a man of lion or, and not a man of mean arti
fice and clandestine management for filthy lucre, and one that
abhors trifling and impertinence, or to waste away his time,
that should be spent in the service of God, his king, or his
country, in vain amusements iuid diversions and in the pursuit
of the gratifications of sensual appetites ; as God charges the
rulers in Israel, that pretended to be their great and mighty
men, with being mighty to drink wine and men of strength to
mingle strong drink. There don t seem to be any reference to
[their being men of strong heads and able to bear a great deal
(of strong drink, i\* some have supposed. There is a severe sar
casm in the words ; for the prophet is speaking of the great
men, princes and judges in Israel (as appears by the verse next
following), which should be mighty men, strong rods, men of
eminent qualifications, excelling in nobleness of spirit, of glori
ous strength and fortitude of mind; but instead of that, they
were mighty or eminent for nothing but gluttony and drunk
enness.
3. When those that are in authority are endowed with much
of a sjririt of government, this is another thing that entitles
them to the denomination of strong rods. When they not only
are men of great understanding and wisdom in affairs that ap
pertain to government, but have also a peculiar talent at using
their knowledge and exerting themselves in this great and im-
Ob JONATHAN EDWARDS 103
portant business, according to their great understanding in it ;
when they are men of eminent fortitude and are not afraid of
the faces of men, are not afraid to do the part that properly
belongs to them as rulers, though they meet with great opposi
tion, and the spirits of men are greatly irritated by it ; when
they have a spirit of resolution and activity, so as to keep the
wheels of government in proper motion and to cause judgment
and justice to run down as a mighty stream ; when they have
not only a great knowledge of government and the things that
belong to it in the theory, but it is, as it were, natural to them to
apply the various powers and faculties with which God has en
dowed them, and the knowledge they have obtained by study
and observation, to that business, so as to perform it most
advantageously and effectually.
4. Stability and firmness of integrity, fidelity and piety
in the exercise of authority is another thing that greatly con
tributes to, and is very essential in, the character of a strong
rod.
When he that is in authority is not only a man of strong
reason and great discerning to know what is just, but is a man
of strict integrity and righteousness, is linn arid immovable in
the execution of justice and judgment ; and when he is not only
a man of great ability to bear down vice and immorality, but
has a disposition agreeable to such ability; is one that has a
strong aversion to wickedness and is disposed to use the power
Cod has put into his hands to suppress it ; and is one that not
only opposes vice by his authority, but by his example ; when
he is one of inflexible fidelity, will be faithful to Cod whose
minister he is to his people for good, is immovable in his regard
to his supreme authority, his commands and his glory, and
will be faithful to his king and country ; will not be induced by
the many temptations that attend the business of men in public
authority basely to betray his trust ; will not consent to do
what he thinks not to be for the public good for his own gain
104 SELECTED SERMONS
or advancement, or any private interest; is one that is well
principled, and is firm in acting agreeably to his principles, and
will not be prevailed witli to do otherwise through fear or favor,
to follow a multitude, or to maintain his interest in any on
whom he depends for the honor or profit of his place, whether
it be prince or people ; and is also one of that strength of mind,
whereby he rules his own spirit, these things do very emi
nently contribute to a ruler s title to the denomination of a
strong rod.
5. And lastly, it also contributes to the strength of a man
in authority by which he may be denominated a strong rod,
when he is in such circumstances as glee him adcantw/e for
the exercise of his strength for the public good ; as his being a
person of honorable descent, of a distinguished education his
being a man of estate, one that is advanced in years, one that
has long been in authority, so that it is become, as it were,
natural for the people to pay him deference, to reverence him]
to be influenced and governed by him mid submit to his
authority ; his being extensively known and much honored and
regarded abroad ; his being one of a good presence, majesty of
countenance, decency of behavior, becoming one in authority
of forcible speech, &&lt;. These things add to his strength and
ficrease his ability and advantage to serve his generation in the
place of a ruler, and therefore in some respect serve to render
him one that is the more fitly and eminently called a stronn rod
I now proceed,
II. To show that when such strong rods are broken and
withered by death, tis an awful judgment of God on the people
that are deprived of them and worthy of great lamentation.
And that on two accounts :
1. By reason of the many positive benefits and blessings to
a people that such rulers ?re the instruments of.
Almost all the prosperity of a public society and civil com
munity docs, under God, depend on their rulers. They are
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 105
like the main springs or wheels in a machine that keep every
part in their due motion, and are in the body politic, as the
vitals in the body natural, and as the pillars and foundation in
a building. Civil rulers are called "the foundations of the
earth," Psalm Ixxxii. 5, and xi. 3.
The prosperity of a people depends more on their rulers than
is commonly imagined. As they have the public society under
their care and power, so they have advantage to promote the
public interest every way ; and if they are such rulers as have
been spoken of, they are some of the greatest blessings to the
public. Their ir.iluence has a tendency to promote their wealth
and cause their temporal possessions and blessings to abound :
and to promote virtue amongst them, and so to unite them one
to another in peace and mutual benevolence, and make them
happy in society, each one the instrument of his neighbor s
quietness, comfort and prosperity ; and by these means to
advance their reputation and honor in the world ; and which is
much more, to promote their spiritual and eternal happiness.
Therefore, the wise man says, Eccles. x. 17, " Blessed art thou,
O land, when thy king is the son of nobles."
We have a remarkable instance and evidence of the happy
and great influence of such a strong rod as has been described
to promote the universal prosperity of a people in the history
of the reign of Solomon, though many of the people were
uneasy under his government, and thought him too rigorous in
his administration (see 1 Kings xii. 4). "Judah and Israel
dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree,
from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon," 1 Kings
iv. 25. " And he made silver to be among thorn as stones for
abundance," chap x. 27. "And Judah and Israel were many,
eating and drinking and making merry," [chap. iv. 20]. The
queen of Sheba admired and was greatly affected with tic
happiness of the people under the government of such a strong
rod : 1 Kings x. 8, 9, says she, " Happy are thy men, happy
10G SELECTED SKRMOXS
are these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and
that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God which
delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel ; because
the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he thee king, to
do judgment and justice."
The flourishing state of the kingdom of Judah, while they
had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, is taken
notice of in our context : "Her stature was exalted among the
thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multi
tude of her branches."
Such rulers are eminently the ministers of God to his people
for good : they are great gifts of the Most High to a people
and blessed tokens of his favor and vehicles of his goodness to
them, and therein images of his own Son, the grand medium
of all God s goodness to fallen mankind : and therefore, all of
them are called sons of the Most High. All civil rulers, if
they are, as they ought to be, such strong rods as have been
described, will be like the Son of the Most High, vehicles of
good to mankind, and like him, will be as the light of the
morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds,
as the tender grass springeth out of the earth, by clear shining
after rain. And therefore, when a people are bereaved of
them, they sustain an unspeakable loss and are the subjects of
a judgment of God that is greatly to be lamented.
2. On account of the yreat calamities such rulers are a
defence from. Innumerable are the grievous and fatal
calamities which public societies are exposed to in this evil
world, which they can have no defence from without order and
authority. If a people are without government, they are like a
city broken down and without walls, encompassed on every
side by enemies and become unavoidably subject to all manner
of confusion and misery.
Government is necessary to defend communities from mis
eries from within themselves ; from the prevalence of intestine
OF JOXAT11AX KUWAHDS 107
mutual iniustice and violence; the members of the
.
oc t? be continually divided against themselves, every
u-ti "the part of an enemy to his neighbor, every one s
,,1 a " mst every man and every man s hand against him ;
i I on in remediless and endless broils and jarring till the
Sty be ttCT] y (lissolvcd aml broken m )MCCCS ?
itself in the neighborhood of our fellow creatures, becomes
yeof government in societies by what is
villei families, those lesser societies of which all pubic son-
e s a constituted. How miserable would these little soci-
s be if all were left to themselves, without any authority
or supcrio % in one above another or any head of union and
! ce n K them ? We may be convinced by what vre see .
o lan.entaCle consequences of the want of a proper exercise
of authr,ritv and maintenance of government in families that yet
are not absolutely without all authority. No less need is there
of eminent in public so.-ieties, but much mere, as they .HO
vfer A very few may possibly, without any government, act
S meert, so as to concur in what shall be for the we are oi
the whole but this is not to be expected among a multitude,
eonslituted of many thousands, of a great variety oi tempers
r n,abso,utely necessary, so there is a necessity
otstrolg rod, in order to it: the business bemg such as re
quires persons so qualified : 110 other being sufficient for or wcl
camble of the government of, public societies : and therefore,
i Ise public societies are miserable that have not jwrii stroiig
rods for sceptres to rule : ^Eccles. x. 1C, " A\ oe to thee, C ad,
when thy king is a child."
108 SELECTED SERMONS
As government, and strong rods for the exercise of it, are
necessary to preserve public societies from dreadful and fatal
calamities arising from among themselves ; so no less requisite
are they to defend the community from foreign enemies. As
they are like the pillars of a building, so they are also like the
walls and bulwarks of a city : they arc under God the main
strength of a people in a time of war and the chief instruments
of their preservation, safety and rest. This is signified in a
very lively manner in the words that are used by the Jewish
community in her Lamentations to express the expectations she
had from her princes : Lam. iv. 29, " The breath of our nostrils,
the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we
said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen." In
this respect also such strong rods are sons of the Most High
and images or resemblances of the Son of God, viz., as they are
their saviours from their enemies ; as the judges that God
raised up of old in Israel are called, Nehem. ix. 27 : " Tlierc-
, fore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who
vexed them : and in the time of their trouble, when they cried
unto thce, thou heardest them from heaven ; and according to
thy manifold mercies thou gaves t them saviours, who saved
them out of the hand of their enemies."
Thus both the prosperity and safety of a people under God,
depends on such rulers as arc strong rods. While they enjoy
such blessings, they are wont to be like a vine planted in a
fruitful soil, with her stature exalted among the thick branches,
appearing in her height with the multitude of her branches ;
but when they have no strong rod to be a sceptre to ride, they
are like a vine planted in a wilderness that is exposed to be
plucked up and cast down to the ground, to have her fruit dried
up with the cast wind, and to have fire coming out of her
own branches to devour her fruit.
On these accounts, when a people s strong rods arc broken
and withered, tis au awful judgment of God on that people,
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 109
and worthy of great lamentation : as when King Josiah (who
was doubtless one of the strong rods referred to in the text) was
dead, the people made great lamentation for him, 2 Chron.
xxxv. 24, 25 : " And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he
died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers.
And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jere
miah lamented for Josiah : and all the singing men and the
singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this
day, and made them an ordinance in Israel : arid, behold, they
are written in the Lamentations."
APPLICATION
I come now to apply these tilings to our own case, under the
late awful frown of divine Providence upon us in removing by
death that honorable person in public rule and authority, an
inhabitant of this town and belonging to this congregation and
church, who died at Boston the last Lord s day.
He was eminently a strong rod in the forementioned re
spects. As to his natural abilities, strength of reason, great
ness and clearness of discerning and depth of penetration, he
wns one of the first rank . it may be doubted whether he has
left his superior in these respects in these parts of the world.
He was a man of a truly great genius, and his genius was
peculiarly fitted for the understanding and managing of public
affairs.
And as his natural capacity was great, so was the knowledge
*hat he had acquired, his understanding being greatly improved
by close application of mind to those things he was called to be
concerned in, and by a very exact observation of them and long
experience in them. He had indeed a great insight into the
nature of public societies, the mysteries of government and the
affairs of peace and war : he had a discerning that very few
have of the things wherein the public weal consists, and what
110 SKLKVTK1) SXRMONti
those things are that do expose public societies, and of the
proper means to avoid the latter and promote the former. He
was quick in his discerning, in that in most cases, especially
Much as belonged to his proper business, he at first sight would
see further than most men when they had done their best ; but
yet he had a wonderful faculty of improving his own thoughts
by meditation, and carrying his views a greater and greliter
length by long and close application of mind. He had an ex
traordinary ability to distinguish right and wrong in the midst
of intricacies and circumstances that tended to perplex and
darken the case : he was able to weigh things, as it were, in a
balance, and to distinguish those things that were solid and
weighty from those that had only a fair show without sub
stance, which he evidently discovered in his accurate, clear and
plain way of stilting and committing causes to a jury, from the
bench, as by others hath been observed. He wonderfully dis
tinguished truth from falsehood, and the most labored cases
seemed al \vays to lie clear in his mind, his ideas properly ranged
and he had a talent of communicating them to every one s
understanding, beyond almost any one ; and if any were mis
guided, it was not because truth and falsehood, right and
wrong, were not well distinguished.
^ He was probably one of the ablest politicians that ever New
England bred : ho had a very uncommon insight into human
nature, and a marvellous ability to penetrate into the particular
tempers and dispositions of such as he had to deal with, and to
discern the fittest way of treating them, so as most effectually
to influence them to any good and wise purpose.
And never perhaps was there a person that had a more ex
tensive and thorough knowledge of the state of this land and its
public affairs, and of persons that were jointly concerned in
them : he knew this people and their circumstances, and what
their circumstances required : he discerned the diseases of this
body, and what were the proper remedies, as an able and
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS , 111
masterly physician. He had a great acquaintance with the
neighboring colonies, and also the. neighbor nations on this con
tinent, with whom we are concerned in our public affairs : he
had a far greater knowledge than any other person in the land
of the several nations of Indians in these northern parts of
America, their tempers, manners and the proper way of treat
ing them, and was more extensively known by them than any
other person in the country : and no other person in authority
in this province had such an acquaintance with the people and
country of Canada, the land of our enemies, as he.
He was exceeding far from a disposition and forwardness to
intermeddle with other people s business ; but as to what
belonged to the offices he sustained and the important affairs
that ho had the care of, he had a great understanding of what
belonged to them. I have often been surprised at the length
of his reach, and what I have seen of his ability to foresee and
determine the consequences of things, even at a great distance,
and quite beyond the sight of other men. He was not waver
ing and unsteady in his opinion : his manner was never to pass
a judgment rashly, but was wont first thoroughly to deliberate
and weigh an affair; and in this, notwithstanding his great
abilities, he was glad to improve [by] the help of conversation
and discourse with others, and often spake of the great advan
tage he found by it ; but when, on mature consideration, he had
settled his judgment, he was not easily turned from it by false
colors and plausible pretences and appearances.
And besides his knowledge of tilings belonging to his par
ticular calling as a ruler, he had also a groat degree of under
standing in things belonging to his general calling as a Christian.
He was no inconsiderable divine. lie was a wise casuist, as t l
know by the great help I have found from time to time by his
judgment and advice in cases of conscience wherein I have
consulted him : and indeed I seam; knew the divine that I ever
found more able to help and enlighten the mind in such cases
SELECTED SEK.}fONS
than he. And he had no small degree of knowledge in things
pertaining to experimental religion ; but was wont to discourse
OP. such subjects, not only with accurate doctrinal distinctions,
but as one intimately and feelingly acquainted with these
tilings.
He was not only great in speculative knowledge, but his
knowledge was practical; such as tended to a wise conduct
in the affairs, business and duties of life ; so as properly to have
^denomination of wisdom, and so as properly and eminently
to invest him with the character of a wise man. And he was
not only eminently wise and prudent in his own conduct, but
was one of the ablest and wisest counsellors of others in any
difficult affair.
The greatness and honorablencss of his disposition was an
swerable to the largeness of his understanding. lie was natu
rally of a great mind. In this respect he was truly the son of
nobles. He greatly abhorred tilings which were mean avid sordid,
and seemed to be incapable of a compliance with them. How
far was lie from trilling and impertinence in his conversation !
How far from a busy, meddling disposition ! How far from
any sly and clandestine management to till his pockets with
what was fraudulently withheld or violently squeezed from the
laborer, soldier or inferior oilicer ! How far from taking
advantage from his commission or authority or any superior
power he had in his hands, or the ignorance, dependence or
necessities of others, to add to his own gains with what property
belonged to them, and with what they might justly expect as a
proper reward for any of their services ! How far was he from
secretly taking bribes offered to induce him to favor any man
in his cause, or by his power or interest to promote his" being
advanced to any place of public trust, honor or profit! How
greatly did he abhor lying and prevaricating ! And how im
movably steadfast was he to exact truth ! His hatred of those
things that were mean and sordid was so apparent and well
OF JONATHAN KDWARDS 113
known, that it was evident that men dreaded to appear in any
thin of that nature in his presence.
He was a man remarkably of a public spirit, a true lover of
his country and greatly abhorred the sacrificing the public
welfare to private interest.
He was very eminently endowed with a spirit of government.
The God of nature seemed to have formed him for government,
as though he had been made on purpose, and cast into a mould
hv which he should be every way fitted for the business of a
man in public authority. Such a behavior and conduct was
natural to him as tended to maintain his authority and possess
others with awe and reverence, and to enforce and render elft
tiuil what he said and did in the exercise of his authority,
did not bear the sword ui vain: he was truly a terror to evil
thcrs What I saw in him often put me in mind of that
saying of the wise man, Prov. xx. 8, " The king that sitteth
011 the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his
eyes " He was one that was not afraid of the faces of men ;
and every one knew that it was in vain to attempt to deter
him from doing what, on mature consideration, he had deter
mined he ought to do. Every thing in him was great and
hecomin" a man in his public station. Perhaps never was
there a man that appeared in New England to whom the
denomination of a (jreaf man did more properly belong.
But though he was one that was grent among men, ex; M
above others in abilities and greatness of mind and in place ot
rule, and feared not the faces of men, yet he feared (,od.
was strictly conscientious in his conduct, both in public and
private. 1 never knew the man that seemed more steadfastly
and immovably to act by principle and according to rues aiu
maxims established and settled in his mind by the dictates
of his judgment and conscience. He was a man of strict justice
and fidelity. Faithfulness was eminently his character,
of his greatest opponents that have been of the contrary party to
SELECTED SERMONS
him in public affairs, yet have openly acknowledged this of him,
that he was a faithful man. He was remarkably faithful in his
public trusts : he would not basely betray his trust, from fear
or favor. It was in vain to expect it, however men might
oppose him or neglect him, and how great soever they were.
Nor would he neglect the public interest, wherein committed
to him, for the sake of his own ease, but diligently and labori
ously watched and labored for it night and day. And he was
faithful in private affairs as well as public : he was a most
faithful friend, faithful to any one that in any case asked his
counsel; and his fidelity might be depended on in whatever
affair he undertook for any of his neighbors.
He was a noted instance of the virtue of temperance, unalter
able in it, in all places, in all companies, and in the midst of all
temptations.
Though he was a man of a great spirit, yet he had a remark
able government of his spirit ; and excelled in the government
of his tongue. In the midst of all provocations he met with,
among the multitudes he had to deal with, and the great mul
tiplicity of perplexing affairs in which lie was concerned, and
all the opposition and reproaches he was at any time the subject
of; yet what was there that ever proceeded out of lib mouth
that his enemies could lay hold of? No profane language, no
vain, rash, unseemly and unchristian speeches. If at any time
he expressed himself with great warmth and vigor, it seemed to
be from principle and determination of his judgment, rather
than from passion. When he expressed himself strongly and
with vehemence, those that were acquainted with him, and well
observed him from time to time, might evidently see it was done
in consequence of thought and judgment, weighing the circum
stances and consequences of tilings.
The calmness and steadiness of his behavior in private,
particularly in his family, appeared remarkable and exemplary
to those who had most opportunity to observe it.
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 115
He was thoroughly established in those religious principles
and doctrines of the first fathers of New England, usually called
the doctrines of grace, and had a great detestation of the
opposite errors of the present fashionable divinity, as very
contrary to the word of God and the experience of every true
Christian. And as he was a friend to truth, so he was a friend
to vital piety and the power of godliness, and ever countenanced
and favored it on all occasions.
He abhorred profancness, and was a person of a serious and
decent spirit, and ever treated sacred things with reverence. He
was exemplary for his decent attendance on the public worship of
God. Who ever saw him irreverently and indecently lolling and
laying down his head to sice]), or gazing and staring about the
meeting-house in time of divine service ? And as he was able
(as was before observed) to discourse very understandingly of
experimental religion, so to some persons with whom he was very
intimate, he gave intimations sufficiently plain, while conversing
of these things, that they were matters of his own experience.
Ynd some serious persons in civil authority that have ordinarily
differed from him in matters of government, yet, on some occa
sional close conversation with him on things of religion, have
manifested a high opinion of him as to real experimental piety.
As lie was known to be a serious person, and an enemy to a
profane or vain conversation, so he was feared on that account
by great and small. When he was in the room, only his
presence was sufficient to maintain decency ; though many were
there that were accounted gentlemen and great men, who other
wise were disposed to take a much greater freedom in their talk
and behavior than they dared to do in his presence.
He was not unmindful of death, nor insensible of his own
frailty, nor did death come unexpected to him. For some
years past he has spoken much to some persons of dying and
going into the eternal world, signifying that he did not expect
to continue long here.
11G SELECTED SERMOX8
Added to all these tilings that have been mentioned to render
him eminently a strong ?*0(7, he was attended with many cir
cumstances which tended to give him advantage for the exerting
of his strength for the public good. He was honorably de
scended, was a man of considerable substance, had been long in
authority, was extensively known and honored abroad, was high
in the esteem of the many tribes of Indians in the neighborhood of
the British colonies, and so had great influence upon them above
any other man in New England ; God had endowed him with a
comely presence and majesty of countenr.uco, becoming the great
qualities of his mind and the place in which God had set him.
In the exercise of these qualities and endowments, under
these advantages, he has been, as it were, a father to this part
of the land, on whom the whole county had, under God, its
dependence in all its public affairs, arid especially since the
beginning of the present war. How much the weight of all
the warlike concerns of the county (which above any part of the
land lies exposed to the enemy) has lain on his shoulders, and
how he lias been the spring of all motion and the doer of every
thing that has been done, and how wisely and faithfully he has
conducted these affairs, I need not inform this congregation.
You well know that he took care of the county as a father of a
family of children, not neglecting men s lives and making light
of their blood ; but with great diligence, vigilance and prudence
applying himself continually to the proper means of our safety
and welfare. And especially has this his native town, where he
has dwelt from his infancy, reaped the benefit of his happy
influence : his wisdom has been, under God, very much our
guide, and his authority our support and strength, and he has
been a great honor to Northampton and ornament to our church.
He continued in full capacity of usefulness while he lived ; he
was indeed considerably advanced in years, but his powers of mind
were not sensibly abated, and his strength of body was not so
impaired but that he was able to go lotig journeys, in extreme
heat and cold, and in a short time.
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 117
But now this " strong rod is broken and withered," and
surely the judgment of God therein is very awful, and the dis
pensation that which may well be for a lamentation. Probably
we shall be more sensible of the worth and importance of such
a strong rod by the want of it. The awful voice of God in
this providence is worthy to be attended to by this whole
province, and especially by the people of this county, but in a
more peculiar manner by us of this town. We have now this
testimony of the divine displeasure added to all the other dark
clouds God has lately brought over us, and his awful frowns
upon us. Tis a dispensation, on many accounts, greatly calling
for our humiliation and fear before God ; an awful manifestation
of his supreme, universal and absolute dominion, calling us to
adore the divine sovereignty and tremble at the presence of this
great God. And it is a lively instance of human frailty and
mortality. We sec how that none are out of the reach of death,
that no greatness, no" authority, no wisdom and sagacity, no
honorableness of person or station, no degree of valuableness
and importance exempts from the stroke of death. This is
therefore a loud and solemn warning to all sorts to prepare for
their departure hence.
And the memory of this person who is now gone, who was
made so great a blessing while he lived, should engage us to
show respect and kindness to his family. This we should do
both out of respect to him and to his father, your former emi
nent pastor, who in his day was, in a remarkable manner, a
father to this part of the land in spirituals, and especially to
this town, as this his son has been in temporals. God greatly
resented it, when the children of Israel did not show kindness
to the house of Jerubbaal that had been made an instrument of
so much good to them : Judges viii. 35, " Neither showed they
kindness to the house of Jerrubbaal, according to all the good
which he had showed unto Israel."
SELECTED SKIi
VII
A FAREWELL SERMON
2 COR. 1. 14. As also you have acknowledged us in part, that we are
your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
THE apostle, in the preceding part of the chapter, declares
what great troubles he met with in the course of his ministry.
In the text and two foregoing verses, lie declares what were
his comforts and supports under the troubles he met with.
There are four things in particular.
1. That he had approved himself to his own conscience, verse
12: "For our own rejoicing is this, the testimony of our
conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with
fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our con
versation in the world, and more abundantly to you- ward."
2. Another thing he speaks of as matter of comfort is,
that as he had approved himself to his own conscience, so he
had also to the consciences of his hearers, the Corinthians,
whom he now wrote to, and that they should approve of him
at the day of judgment.
3. The hope he had of seeing the blessed fruit of his labors
and sufferings in the ministry, in their happiness and glory, in
that great day of accounts.
. 4. That, in his ministry among the Corinthians, lie had ap
proved himself to his Judge, who would approve and reward his
faithfulness in that day.
Thqse three last particulars are signified in my text and
the preceding verse; and, indeed, all the four are implied in
the text. Tis implied that the Corinthians had acknowledged
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 119
him as their spiritual father and as one that had been faithful
among them, and as the means of their future joy and glory at
the day of judgment, and one whom they should then see, and
have a joyful meeting with as such. Tis implied, that the
apostle expected at that time to have a joyful meeting with
them before the Judge, and w:th joy to behold their glory, as
the fruit of his ?abors ; and so they would be his rejoicing.
Tis implied also that he then expected to be approved of the
great Judge, when he and they should meet together before him ;
and that lie would then acknowledge his fidelity, a nd that this had
\)ecn the means of their glory ; and that thus he would, as it
were, give them to him as his crown of rejoicing. But this the
apostle could not hope for, unless he had the testimony of his
own conscience in his favor. And therefore the words do imply,
in the strongest manner, that he had approved himself to his
own conscience.
There is one thing implied in each of these particulars, and
in every part of the text, which is that point I shall make the
subject of my present discourse, viz. :
DOCT[RINE]
Ministers, and the people that are under their care, must
meet one another before Christ s tribunal at the day of judg
ment.
Ministers, and the people that have been under their care,
must be paned in this world, how well soever they have been
united : if they are. not separated before, they must be parted
by death ; and they may be separated while life is continued.
AVe live in a world of change, where nothing is certain or stable ;
and where a little time, a few revolutions of the sun bring to
pass strange things, surprising alterations, in particular persons,
in families, in towns and churches, in countries and nations.
120 SELECTED SERMONS
It often happens, that those who seem most united, in a little
time are most disunited, and at the greatest distance. Thus
ministers and people, between whom there has been the greatest
mutual regard and strictest union, may not only differ in their
judgments, and be alienated in affection, but one may rend
from the other, and all relation between them be dissolved ; the
minister may be removed to a distant place, and they may
never have any more to do with one another in this world.
But if it be so, there is one meeting more that they must have,
and tfiat is in the last great day of accounts.
Here I would show,
I. In what manner ministers, and the people who have been
under- their care, shall meet one another at the day of judg
ment.
II. For what purposes.
III. For what reasons God has so ordered it, that ministers
and their people shall then meet together in such a manner,
and for such purposes.
I. I would show, in some particulars, in what manner min
isters, and the people who have been under their care, shall
meet one another at the day of judgment. Concerning this I
would observe two things in general.
1. That they shall not then meet only as all mankind must
then meet, but there will be something peculiar in the manner of
their meeting.
2. That their meeting together at that time shall be very
different from what used to be in the house of God in this
world.
1. They shall not meet at that day as all the world must
then meet together. I would observe a difference in two
things.
(1) As to a clear actual view, and distinct knowledge and
notice of each other.
Although the whole world will be then present, all. mankind
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 121
of all generations gathered in one vast assembly, with all of the
angelic nature, both elect and fallen angels; yet we need
not suppose that every one will have a distinct and par
ticular knowledge of each individual of the whole assembled
multitude, which will undoubtedly consist of many millions of
millions. Though tis probable that men s capacities will be
much greater than in the present state, yet they will^ nut be
infinite ; though their understanding and comprehension will
be vastly extended, yet men will not be deified. There will prob
ably be a very enlarged view that particular persons will have
of various parts and members of that vast assembly, and so of
the proceedings of that great day; but yet it must needs be,
that according to the nature of finite minds, some persons and
some things at that day shall fall more under the notice of
particular persons than others ; and this (as we may well sup
pose) according as they shall have a nearer concern with some
than others, in the transactions of the day. There will be
special reason why those who have had special concerns together
in this world, in their state of probation, and whose mutual
allairs will be then to be tried and judged, should especially be
set in one another s view. Thus we may suppose that rulers and
subjects, earthly judges and those whom they have judged,
neighbors who have had mutual converse, dealings and contests,
heads of families and their children and servants, shall then
meet, and in a peculiar distinction be set together. And espe
cially will it be thus with ministers and their people. Tis
evident by the text that these shall be in each other s view,
shall distinctly know each other, and shall have particular
notice one of another at that time.
(2) They shall meet together, as having a special concern
one with another in the great transactions of that day.
Although they shall meet the whole world at that time, yet they
will not have any immediate and particular concern with all. Yea,
the far greater part of those who shall then be gathered together,
122 SELECTED SERMOXS
will be such as they have had no intercourse with in their state
of probation, and so will have no mutual concerns to be judged
of. But as to ministers, and the people that have been under
their care, they will be such as have had much immediate con
cern one with another, in matters of the greatest moment, that
ever mankind have to do one with another in. Therefore they
especially must meet and be brought together before the judge,
as having special concern one with another in the design and
business of that great day of accounts.
Thus their meeting, as to the manner of it, will be diverse
from the meeting of mankind in general.
2. Their meeting at the day of judgment will be very diverse
from their meetings one with another in this world.
Ministers and their people, while their relation continues,
often meet together in this world. They are wont to meet
from Sabbath to Sabbath, and at other times, for the public
worship of God, and administration of ordinances, and the
solemn services of Cod s house. And besides these meetings,
they have also occasions to meet for the determining and man
aging their ecclesiastical attains, for the exercise of church disci
pline, and the settling and adjusting those things which concern
the purity and good order of public administrations. But their
meeting at the day of judgment will be exceeding diverse, in
its manner and circumstance, from any such meetings and inter
views as they have one with another in the present state. I
would observe how, in a few particulars.
(1) Now they meet together in a preparatory mutable state,
but then in an unchangeable state.
Now sinners in the congregation meet their minister in a
/state wherein they are capable of a saving change, capable of
I being turned, through God s blessing on the ministrations arid
^labors of their pastor, from the power of Satan unto God;
(} and being brought out of a state of guilt, condemnation and
wrath, to a state of peace and favor with God, to the enjoy-
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 123
ment of the privileges of his children, and a title to their eter
nal inheritance. And saints now meet their minister with
o-reat remains of corruption, and sometimes under great spirit
ual difficulties and affliction : and therefore are yet the proper
subjects of means of an happy alteration of their state, consisting
in a greater freedom from these things, which they have reason
to hope for in tlw way of an attendance on ordinances, and of
which God is pleased commonly to make his ministers the
instruments. And ministers and their people now meet in
order to the bringing to pass such happy changes ; they are the
</reat benefits sought in their solemn meetings in this world.
But when they shall meet together at the day of judgment, it
will be far otherwise. They will not then meet in order to the
use of means for the bringing to effect any such changes ; for
they will all meet in an unchangeable state. Sinners will be in
an unchangeable state : they who then shall be under the guilt
and power of sin, and have the wrath of God abiding on them,
shall be beyond all remedy or possibility of change, and shall
meet their ministers without any hopes of relief or remedy, or
getting -any good by their means. And as for the saints, they
will be already perfectly delivered from all their before remain
ing corruption, temptation, and calamities of every kind, and
set forever out of their reach; and no deliverance, no happy
alteration, will remain to be accomplished in the way of the
use of means of grace, under the administrations of ministers.
It will then be pronounced, " He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still : and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still ; and
he that is righteous, let him be righteous still ; and he that is
holy, let him be holy still."
( !} Then they shall meet together in a state of clear, certain
and infallible light.
Ministers are set as guides and teachers, and are represented
in Scripture as lights setup in the churches; and in the present
state meet their people from time to time in order to instruct
124 SELECTED 8EKMOXS
and enlighten them, to correct their mistakes, and to be a voice
behind them, when they turn aside to the right hand or to the
left, saying, "This is the way, walk in it;" to evince and con
firm the truth by exhibiting the proper evidences of it, and to
refute errors and corrupt opinions, to convince the erroneous
and establish the doubting. But when Christ shall come to
judgment, every error and false opinion shall be detected ; all
deceit and illusion shall vanish away before the light of that day,
as the darkness of the night vanishes at the appearance of the
rising sun ; and every doctrine of the word of God shall then
appear in full evidence, and none shall remain unconvinced ;
all shall know the truth with the greatest certainty, and there
shall be no mistakes to rectify.
Now ministers and their people may disagree in their judg
ments concerning some matters of religion, and may sometimes
meet to confer together concerning those things wherein they
(litter, and to hear the reasons that may be ottered on one side
and the other; and all may be ineffectual as to any conviction
of the truth : they may meet and part again, no more agreed
than before ; and that side which was i/i the wrong may remain
so still ; sometimes the meetings of ministers with their people
in such a case of disagreeing sentiments are attended with
unhappy debate and controversy, managed with much prejudice
and want of candor ; not tending to light and conviction, but
rather to confirm and increase darkness, and establish opposition
to the truth and alienation of affection one from another. But
when they shall hereafter meet together, at the day of judg
ment, before the tribunal of the great Judge, the mind and will
of Christ will be made known ; and there shall no longer beany
debate or dittcrcnce of opinions; the evidence of the truth shall
appear beyond all dispute, and all controversies shall be finally
and forever decided.
Now ministers meet their people in order to enlighten and
awaken the consciences of sinners : setting before them the great
F JON A TIT A N El) WA RDS 125
evil and danger of sin, the strictness of God s law, their own
wickedness of heart and practice, the great guilt they are under,
the wrath that abides upon them, and their impotence, blindness,
poverty, and helpless and undone condition : but all is often
in vain ; they remain still, notwithstanding all their ministers
can say, stupid and unawakened, and their consciences uncon
vinced. But it will not be so at their last meeting at the day
of judgment ; sinners, when they shall meet their minister
before their great Judge, will not meet him with a stupid con
science : they will then be fully convinced of the truth of those
things which they formerly heard from him, concerning the
greatness and terrible majesty of God, his holiness, and hatred
of sin, and his awful justice in punishing it, the strictness of
his law, and the dreadfulness and truth of his tlireatenings, and
their own unspeakable guilt and misery : and they shall never
more be insensible of these things : the eyes of conscience will
now be fully enlightened, and never shall be blinded again :
the mouth of conscience shall now be opened, and never shall
be shut any more.
Now ministers meet with their people, in public and private, iif j
order to enlighten them concerning the state of their souls ; to>*
open and apply the rules of Cod s word to them, in order to
their searching their own hearts, and discerning the state that
they are in. But now ministers have no infallible discerning of the
state of the souls of their own people; and the most skilful of
them are liable to mistakes, and often are mistaken in things of
this nature. Nor arc the people able certainly to know the state
of their, "minister, or one another s state; very often those pass
among them for saints, and it may be eminent saints, that are
grand hypocrites ; and on the other hand, those are sometimes
censured, or hardly received into their charity, that are indeed
some of God s jewels. And nothing is more common than for \
men to be mistaken concerning their own state : many that are
abominable to God, and the children of his wrath, think highly
126 SELECTED SERMONS
of themselves, as his precious saints and dear children. Yen.,
there is reason to think that often sonic that are most bold in
their confidence of their safe and happy -state, and think them
selves not only true saints, but the most eminent saints in the
congregation, are in a peculiar manner a smoke in God s nose.
And thus it undoubtedly often is in those congregations where
the word of God is most faithfully dispensed, notwithstanding
all that ministers can say in their clearest explications and most
searching applications of the doctrines and rules of God s word
to the souls of their hearers, in their meetings one with another.
But in the day of judgment they shall have another sort of
meeting ; then the secrets of every heart shall be made manifest,
and every man s state shall be perfectly known : 1 Cor. iv. 5,
"Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord
come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of dark
ness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts : and
then shall every man have praise of God." Then none shall
be deceived concerning his own state, nor shall be any more in
doubt about it. There shall be an eternal end to all the ill
conceit and vain hopes of deluded hypocrites, and all the doubts
and fears of sincere Christians. And then shall all know the
state of one another s souls : the people shall know whether
their minister has been sincere and faithful, and the ministers
shall know the state of every oiie of their people, and to whom
the word and ordinances of God have been a savor of life unto
life, and to whom a savor of death unto death.
Now in this present state it often happens that when ministers
and people meet together to debate and manage their ecclesiastical
affairs, especially in a state of controversy, they are ready to
judge and censure one another with regard to each other s views
and designs, and the principles and ends that each is influenced
by ; and are greatly mistaken in their judgment, and wrong one
another with regard to each other s views and designs and the
principles and ends that each is influenced by, and are greatly
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 127
mistaken in their judgment, and wrong one another in their
censures. But at that future meeting, things will be set in a
true and perfect light, and the principles and aims that every
one has acted from shall be certainly known ; and there will be
an end to all errors of this kind, and all unrighteous censures.
(3) In this world, ministers and their people often meet
together to hear of and wait upon an unseen Lord ; but at the
day of judgment they shall meet in his most immediate and
visible presence.
Ministers, who now often meet their people to preach to em
the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, to convince em that
thei j is a God, and declare to em what manner of being he is,
and to convince em that he governs and will judge the world,
and that there is a future state of rewards and punishments, and
to preach to em a Christ in heaven and at the right hand of
God in an unseen world, shall then meet their people in the
most immediate sensible presence of this great God, Saviour
and Judge, appearing in the most plain, visible and open man
ner, with great glory, with all his holy angels, before them and
the whole world. They shall not meet them to hear about an
absent Christ, an unseen Lord and IV.ture Judge ; but to appear
before that Judge, and as being set together in the presence of
that supreme Lord, in his immense glory and awful majesty,
whom they have heard so often of in their meetings together on
earth.
(4) The meeting, at. the last day, of ministers, and the peo
ple that have been under their care, will not be attended by
any one with a careless, heedless heart.
With such an heart are their meetings often attended in this
world by many persons, having little regard to him whom they
pretend unitedly to adore in the solemn duties of his public-
worship, taking little heed to their own thoughts or frame of
their minds, not attending to the business they are engaged in,
or considering the end for which they are conic together. But
128 SELECTED SERMONS
the meeting at that great day will be very different : there will
not be one careless heart, no sleeping, no wandering of mind
from the great concern of the meeting, no inattentiveness to the
business of the day, no regardlessness of the presence they an;
in, or of those great things which they shall hear from Christ
at that meeting, or that they formerly heard from him and of
him by their ministers, in their meeting in a state of trial, or
which they shall now hear their ministers declaring concerning
them before their judge.
Having observed these things concerning the manner and
circumstances of this future meeting of ministers and the peo
ple that have been under their care, before the tribunal of
Christ at the day of judgment, I now proceed,
II. To observe to what purposes they shall then meet.
1. To give an account, before the great Judge, of their be
havior one to another in the relation they stood in to each other
in this world.
Ministers are sent forth by Christ to their people on his
business, are his servants and messengers ; and, when they have
finished their service, they must return to their master to give
him an account of what they have done, and of the entertain
ment they have had in performing their ministry. Thus we
find, in Luke xiv. 10-21, that when the servant who was sent
fortli to call the guests to the great supper had done his errand,
and finished his appointed service, he returned to his master,
and gave him an account of what he had done, and of the enter
tainment he had received. And when the master, being angry,
sent his servant to others, lie returns again, and gives his master
an account of his conduct and success. So wo read, in Ileb.
xiii. 17, of ministers being rulers in the house of God, "that
watch for souls, as those that must give account." And we
see by the foretnentioned Luke xiv., that ministers must give
an account to their master, not only of their own behavior
in the discharge of their oilice, but also of their people s recep-
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 120
tion of them, and of the treatment they have met with among
them.
And therefore, as they will be called to give an account of
both, they shall give an account at the great day of accounts in
the presence of their people ; they and their people being both
present before their Judge.
Faithful ministers will then give an account with joy, con
cerning those who have received them well and made a good
improvement of their ministry ; and these will be given em, at
that day, as their crown of rejoicing. And, at the same time,
they will give an account of the ill treatment of such as have
not well received them and their messages from .jQIui i iL
will meet these, not as th> i y used to do in this world, to counsel^
and warn them, but to bear witness against them, and as their
judges and assessors with Christ, to condemn them. And on
the other hand, the people will, at that day, rise up in judg-
mcnt against wicked and unfaithful ministers who have sought
their own temporal interest more than the good of the souls of
their flock.
2. At that time ministers, and the people who have been
under their care, shall meet together before Christ, that he
may judge between them, as to any controversies which have
subsisted between them in this world.
So it very often comes to pass in this evil world, that great
differences and controversies arise between ministers and the
people that are under their pastoral care. Though they are
under the greatest obligations to live in peace, above persons
in almost any relation whatever; and although contests and
dissensions between persons so related are the most unhappy
and terrible in their consequences, on many accounts, of any
sort of contentions; yet how frequent have such contentions
been ! Sometimes a people contest with their ministers about
their doctrine, sometimes about their administrations and con
duct, and sometimes about their maintenance : and sometimes
K
130 SELECTED SERMONS
such contests continue a long time; and sometimes they are
decided in this world according to the prevailing interest of
one party or the other, rather than by the word of God and
the reason of things ; and sometimes such controversies never
have any proper determination in this world.
But at the day of judgment there will be a full, perfect a/id
everlasting decision of them. The infallible Judge, the infin
ite fountain of light, truth and justice, will judge between the
contending parties, and will declare what is the truth, who is
in r,he right, and what is agreeable to his mind find will. And
in order hereto the parties must stand together before him at
the last day ; which will be the great day of finishing and
determining all controversies, rectifying all mistakes and abol
ishing all unrighteous judgments, errors and confusions, which
have before subsisted in the world of mankind.
3. Ministers, and the people that have been under their
care, must meet together at that time to receive an eternal
sentence and retribution from the judge, in the presence of
each other, according to their behavior in the relation they
^stood in one to another in the present state.
The Judge will not only declare justice, but he will do jus
tice between ministers and their people. He will declare what
is right between them, approving him that has been just and
faithful, and condemning the unjust ; and perfect truth and
equity shall take place in the sentence which he passes, in the
rewards he bestows and the punishments which he inflicts.
There shall be a glorious reward to faithful ministers : to those
who have been successful : Dan. xii. 3, " And they that be
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they
that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever;"
and also to those who have been faithful, and yet not success
ful : Isa. xlix. 4, " Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have
spent my strength for nought : yet surely my judgment is with
the Lord, and my reward with my God." And those who
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 131
have well received and entertained themjjhall be gloriously
rewarded: Matt. x. 40, 41, " He that] receiveth you receiveth
me, and he that receiveth me receTvefli him that sent me. He
that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive
a prophet s reward ; and he that receiveth a righteous man in
the name of a rignteous man shall receive a righteous man s
reward " Such people, and their faithful ministers, shall be
each other s crown of rejoicing : 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20, " For what
is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in
the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye
are our glory and joy." And in the text, We are your re
joicing, as ye also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.
But they that evil entreat Christ s faithful ministers, especially
in that wherein they are faithful, shall be severely punished :
Matt. x. 14, 15, "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor
hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city,
shake off the dust of your feet. Verily 1 say unto you, It
shall be more tolerable for the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment, than for that city." Dcut. xxxiii.
8-11, "And of Levi he said, Let thy Urim and thy Thunr :im
be with thy holy one. . . . They shall teach Jacob thy judg
ments, and Israel thy law. . . . Bless, Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands : smite through the bins oi
them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that
they rise not a^ain." On the other hand, those ministers who
are found to have been unfaithful shall have a most terrible
punishment. See Ezek. xxxiii. G ; Matt, xxiii. 1-33.
Thus justice shall be administered at the groat day to min
isters and their people. And to that end they shall meet to
gether, that they may not only receive justice to themselves,
but see justice done to the other party : for this is the end of
that great day, to reveal or declare the righteous judgment of
God, Rom. ii. 5. Ministers shall have justice done them, and
they shall see Justice done to their people : and the people
132 SELECTED SERMONS
shall receive justice and see justice done to their minister.
And so all things will be adjusted and settled forever between
them ; every one being sentenced and recompensed accord
ing to his works, either in receiving and wearing a crown of
eternal joy and glory, or in suffering everlasting shame and
pain.
I come now to the next thing proposed, viz.,
III. To give some reasons why we may suppose God has so
ordered it, that ministers, and the people that have been under
their care, shall meet together at the day of judgment, in such
a manner and for such purposes.
There are two things which I would now observe :
1. The mutual concerns of ministe .-s and their people are
of the greatest importance.
The Scripture declares, that God will bring every work into
judgment with every secret tiling, whether it be good or
whether it be evil. Tis fit that all the concerns and all the
beliavior of mankind, both public and private, should be
brought at last before God s tribunal, and finally determined
by an infallible Judge : but it is especially requisite ^Tfat it
should be thus, as to affairs of very great importance.
Now the mutual concerns of a Christian minister and his
/church and congregation are of the vastest importance : in
many respects, of much greater moment than- the temporal
concerns of the greatest earthly monarchs and their kingdoms
*\or empires. It is of vast consequence how ministers discharge
their otlice, and conduct themselves towards their people in the
work of the ministry, and in affairs appertaining to it. Tis
also a matter of vast importance, how a people receive and
entertain a faithful minister of Christ, and what improvement
they make of his ministry. These things have a more imme
diate and direct respect to the great and last end for which
man was made, and the eternal welfare of mankind, than any
of the temporal concerns of men, whether public or private.
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 133
And therefore tis especially fit that these affairs should be
brought into judgment and openly determined and settled in
truth and righteousness ; and that to this end, ministers and
their people should meet together before the omniscient and
infallible Judge.
2. The mutual concerns. of ministers and their people have
a special relation to the main things appertaining to the day
of judgment.
They have a special relation to that great and divine person
who will then appear as Judge. Ministers are his messengers,
sent forth by him ; and, in their office and administrations
among their people, represent his person, stand in his stead, as
those that are sent to declare his mind, to do his work and to
speak and act in his name. And therefore tis especially, fit
that they should return to him, to give an account of their
work and success. The king is judge of all his subjects, they
are all accountable to him. But it is more especially requisite
that the king s ministers, who are especially intrusted with the
administrations of his kingdom, and that are sent fortli on some
special negotiation, should return to him, to give an account
of themselves, and their discharge of their trust, and the recep
tion they have met with.
Ministers are not only messengers of the person who at the
last day will appear as" Judge, but the errand they are sent
upon, and the affairs they have committed to them as his
ministers, do most immediately concern his honor and the
interest of his kingdom. The work they are sent upon is to
promote the designs of his administration and government ; and
therefore their business with their people has a near relation to
the day of judgment; for the great end of chat day is com
pletely to settle and establish the affairs of his kingdom, to
adjust all things that pertain to it, that every thing that is
opposite to the interests of his kingdom may be removed, and
that every thing which contributes to the completeness and
134 SELECTED SERMONS
glory of it may be perfected and conf.i.ied, that this great
King may receive his due honor and glory.
Again, the mutual concerns of ministers and their people
have a direct relation to the concerns of the day of judgment,
as the business of ministers with their people is to promote the
eternal salvation of the souls of men and their escape from
eternal damnation ; and the day of judgment is the day
appointed for that end, openly to decide and settle men s
eternal state, to fix some in a state of eternal salvation and to
bring their .salvation to its utmost consummation, and to fix
others in a state of everlasting damnation and most perfect
misery. The mutual concerns of ministers and people have a
most direct relation to the day of judgment, as the very design
of the work of the ministry is the people s preparation for that
day. Ministers are sent to warn them of the approach of that
day, to forewarn them of the dreadful sentence chen to be pro
nounced on the wicked, and declare to them the blessed sen
tence then to be pronounced on the righteous, and to use
means with them that they m;iy escape the wrath which is
then to come on the ungodly, and obtain the reward then to be
bestowed on the saints.
And as the mutual concerns of ministers and their people
have so near and direct a relation to that day, it is especially
fit that those concerns should be brought into that day, and
there settled and issued ; and that in order to this, ministers
and their people should meet and appear together before the
great Judge at that day.
APPLICATION
The improvement I would make of the things which have
been observed, is to lead the people here present who have
been under my pastoral care to some reflections, and give them
some advice suitable to our present circumstances ; relatin^ to
* / O
OA JONATHAN EDWARDS 135
what lias been lately done in order to our being separated, as
to the relation we have heretofore stood in one to another ;
but expecting to meet each other before the great tribunal at
the day of judgment.
The deep and serious consideration of that our future most
solemn meeting is certainly most suitable at such a time as
this; there having so lately been that done, which, in all
probability, will (as to the relation we have heretofore stood in)
be followed with an everlasting separation.
How often have we met together in the house of God in this
relation ! How often have I spoke to you, instructed, coun
selled, warned, directed and fed you, and administered ordinances
among you, as the people which were committed to my care,
and whose precious souls I had the charge of! But in all
probability this never will be again.
The prophet Jeremiah (chap. xxv. 3), puts the people in
mind how long he had labored among them in the work of the
ministry : " From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of
Ainon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and
twentieth year, the word of the Lord came unto me, and I
have spoken unto you, rising early an. l speaking." I am not
about to compare myself with the prophet Jeremiah ; but in
tills respect I can say as he did, that " I have spoken the,
word of God to you unto the three a ad twentieth year, rising
early and speaking." It was three and twenty years, the 15th
day of last February, since I have labored in the work of the
ministry, in the relation of a pastor to this church and congre
gation. And though my strength has been weakness, having v
always labored under great infirmity of body, besides my
insufficiency for so great a charge in .other respects, yet I have
not spared my feeble strength, but have exerted it for the good
of your souls. I can appeal to you as the apostle does to his
hearers, Gal. iv. 13, "Ye know how through infirmity of the
flesh I preached the gospel unto you." I have spent the prime
136 SELECTED SERMONS
of my life and strength in labors for your eternal welfare.
You are my witnesses, that what strength I have had I have
not neglected in idleness, nor laid out in prosecuting worldly
schemes and managing temporal affairs, for the advancement
of my outward estate, and aggrandizing myself and family ;
but have given myself wholly to the work of the ministry,
lalwring in it night and day, rising early and applying myself
to this great business to which Christ appointed me. I have
found the work of the ministry among you to be a great work
indeed, a work of exceeding care, labor and dith culty : many
have been the heavy burdens that I have borne in it, which
my strength has been very unequal to. God called me to bear
these burdens ; and I bless his name, that he has so supported
me as to keep me from sinking under them, and that his
power herein has been manifested in my weakness ; so that
although I have often been troubled on every side, yet I have
not been distressed ; perplexed, but not m despair ; cast down,
but not destroyed.
But now I have reason to think my work is finished which I
had to do as your minister : you have publicly rejected me, and
my opportunities cease.
How highly therefore does it now become us to consider of
that time when we must meet one another before the chief
Shepherd ! Vv hen I must give an account of my stewardship,
of the service I have done for, and the reception and treatment
I have had among, the people he sent me to : and you must
give an account of your own conduct towards me, and the
improvement you have made of these three and twenty years
of my ministry. For then both you and I must appear
together, and we both must give an account, in order to an in
fallible, righteous and eternal sentence to be passed upon us
by him who will judge us with respect to all that we have
said or done in our meeting here, all our conduct one towards
another, in the house <.f God and elsewhere, on Sabbath days and
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 137
on other days ; who will try our hearts and manifest our thoughts,
and the principles and frames of our minds, will judge us with
respeet to all the controversies which have subsisted between
us, with the strictest impartiality, and will examine our treat
ment of each other in those controversies. There is nothing
covered that shall not be revealed, nor hid which shall not be
known ; all will be examined in the searching, penetrating
light of God s omniscience and glory, and by him whose eyes
are as a flame of fire; and truth and right shall be made
plainly to appear, being stripped of every veil ; and all error,
falsehood, "unrighteousness and injury shall be laid open,
stripped of every disguise ; every specious pretence, every cavil
and all false reasoning shall vanish in a moment, as not being
able to bear the light of that day. And then our hearts will
be turned inside out, and the secrets of them will be made
more plainly to appear than our outward actions do now.
Then it shall appear what the ends are which we have aimed
at, what have been the governing principles which we have
acted from, and what have been the dispositions we have exer
cised in our ecclesiastical disputes and contests. Then it will
appear whether I acted uprightly, and from a truly conscien
tious, careful regard to my duty to my great Lord and Master,
in some former ecclesiastical controversies, which have been
attended with exceeding unhappy circumstances and con
sequences : it will appear whether there was any just cause for
the resentment which was manifested on those occasions.
And then our late grand controversy, concerning the qualifica
tions necessary for admission to the privileges of members in
complete st.im.ling in the visible church of Christ, will be
examined and judged in all its parts and circumstances, and the
whole set forth in a clear, certain and perfect light. Then it
will appear whether the doctrine which I have preached and
published concerning this matter be Christ s own doctrine,
whether he will not own it as one of the precious truths which
138 SKLKCTKD SERMONS
have proceeded from hi.s own mouth, and vindicate and honor
as such before the whole universe. Then it will appear what
is meant by "the man that conies without the wedding gar
ment"; for that is the day spoken of, Matt. xxii. 13, wherein
such an one shall be bound hand and foot, and cast into outer
darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And then it will appear whether, in declaring this doctrine, and
acting agreeable to it, and in my general conduct in the affair,
I have been influenced from any regard to my own temporal
interest or honor, or desire to appear wiser than others ; or
have acted from any sinister, secular views whatsoever; and
whether what I have done has not been from a careful, strict
(and tender regard to the will of my Lord and Master, and be
cause I dare not offend him, being satisfied what his will was,
after a long, diligent, impartial and prayerful inquiry ; having
this constantly in view and prospect to engage me to great
solicitude not rashly to determine truth to bo on this side of
the question, where I am now persuaded it is, that such a
* determination would not be for my temporal interest, but every
way against it, bringing a long scries of extreme difficulties and
plunging me into an abyss of trouble and sorrow. And then it
will appear whether my people have done their duty to their
pastor with respect to this matter ; whether they have shown a
right temper and spirit on this occasion ; whether they have
done me justice in hearing, attending to and considering what I
had to say in evidence of what I believed and taught as part
of the counsel of God ; whether I have been treated with that
impartiality, candor and regard which the just Judge esteemed
due ; and whether, in the many steps which have been taken
and the many things that have been said and done in the
course of this controversy, righteousness and charity and
Christian decorum have been maintained ; or, if otherwise, to
how great a degree the.se things have been violated. Then
every step of the conduct of each of us in this affair, from first
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 139
to last, and the spirit we have exercised in all shall be examined
uml manifested, and our own consciences shall speak plain and
loud, and each of us shall be convinced, and the world shall
know; and never shall there be any more mistake, mis
representation or misappiehension of the affair to eternity.
This controversy is now probably brought to an issue be
tween you and me as to this world ; it has issued in the event
of the week before last : but it must have another decision at
that great day, which certainly will come, when you and I shall
meet together before the great judgment seat : and therefore
I leave it to that time, and shall say no more about it at pres
ent.
But I would now proceed to address myself particularly to
several sorts of persons.
.[. To those who are professors of godliness amongst us.
I would now call you to a serious consideration of that great
day wherein you must meet him who has heretofore been your
pastor, before the Judge whose eyes are as a flame of fire.
I have endeavored, according to my best ability, to search
the word of God, with regard to the distinguishing notes of true
piety, those by which persons might best discover their state,
and most surely and clearly judge of themselves. And these
rules and marks I have from time to time applied to you in the
preaching of the word to the utmost of my skill, and in the
most plain and searching manner that I have been able, in
order to the detecting the deceived hypocrite and establishing
the hopes and comforts of the sincere. And yet tis to be
feared, that after all that I have done, I now leave some of you
in a deceived, deluded state; for tis not to be supposed that"/
among several hundred professors, none are deceived.
Henceforward I am like to have no more opportunity to take
the care and charge of your souls, to examine and search them.
But still I entreat you to remember and consider the rules
which I have often laid down to you during my ministry,
140 SELECTED SK11MON8
with a solemn regard to the future day when you and I must
meet together before our Judge ; when the uses of examination
you have heard -from me must be rehearsed again before you,
and those rules of trial must be tried, and it will appear
whether they have been good or not ; and it will also appear
whether you have impartially heard them, and tried yourselves
by them ; and the Judge himself, who is infallible, will try both
you and me : and after this none will be deceived concerning
the state of their souls.
1 have often put you in mind that, whatever your pretences
to experiences, discoveries, comforts and joys have been, at that
. -day every one will be judged according to his works; and then
you will find it so. /
May you have a minister of greater knowledge of the word
of God and better acquaintance with soul cases, and of greater
skill in applying himself to souls, whose discourses may be more
I searching and convincing ; that such of you as have held fast
: deceit under my preaching may have your eyes opened by his ;
j that you may be undeceived before that great day.
What means and helps for instruction and self-examination
you may hereafter have is uncertain ; but one thing is certain,
that the time is short, your opportunity for rectifying mistakes
in so important a concern will soon come to an end. We live
in a world of great changes. There is no\v a groat change come
to pass; you have withdrawn yourselves from my ministry
under which you have continued for so many years : but the
time is coming, and will soon come, when you will pass out of
time into eternity ; and so will pass from under all means of
grace whatsoever.
The greater part of you who are professors of godliness have (to
use the phrase of the apostle) " acknowledged me in part " :
you have heretofore acknowledged me to be your spiritual father,
the instrument of the greatest good to you that ever is or can
be obtained by any of the children of men. Consider of that .
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 141
day when you and I shall meet before our Judge, when it shall
be examined whether you have had from me the treatment -which
is due to spiritual children, and whether you have treated me as
you ought to have treated a spiritual father. As the relation
of a natural parent brings great obligations on children in the
sight of God ; so much more, in many respects, does the rela
tion of a spiritual father bring great obligations on such whose
conversation and eternal salvation they suppose God has made
them the instrument of: 1 Cor. iv. 15. "For though you
have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many
fathers : for in Christ Jesus I have, begotten you through the
gospel."
II. Now I am taking my leave of this people I woidd apply
myself to such among them as I leave in a Christless, graceless
condition ; and would call on such seriously to consider of that
solemn day when they aiul I must meet before the Judge of the
world.
My parting with you is in some respects in a peculiar manner
a melancholy parting ; inasmuch as I leave you in most melan
choly circumstances ; because 1 leave you in the gall of bitterness
and bond of iniquity, having the wrath of God abiding on you,
and remaining under condemnation to everlasting misery and
destruction. Seeing I must leave you, it would have been a
comfortable and happy circumstance of our parting if I had left
you in Christ, safe and blessed in that sure refuge and glorious
rest of the saints. But it is otherwise. I leave you far of! ,
aliens and strangers, wretched subjects and captives of sin and
Satan and prisoners of vindictive justice ; without Christ and
without God in the world.
Your consciences bear me witness, that while I had opportu
nity, I have not ceased to warn you and set before you you;
danger. I have studied to represent the misery and necessity
of your circumstances in the clearest manner possible. . have
tried all ways that I could think of tending to awaken your con-
142 SELECTED SERMONS
sciences, and make you sensible of the necessity of your improving
your time, and being speedy in flying from the wrath to come
and thorough in the use of means for your escape and safety. I
have diligently endeavored to find out and use the most power
ful motives to persuade you to take care for your own welfare
and salvation. I have not only endeavored to awaken you,
that you might be moved with fear, but I have used my utmost
endeavors to win you : I have sought out acceptable words,
that if jrossible I might prevail upon you to forsake sin, and
turn to God, and accept of Christ as your Saviour and Lord.
I have spent my strength very much in these things. But
yet, with regard to you whom I am now speaking to, I have
not been successful : but have this day reason to complain in
those words, Jer. vi. 29 : " The bellows are burnt, the lead is
consumed of the fire ; the founder melteth in vain : for the
wicked are not plucked away." Tis to be feared that all my
labors, as to many of you, have served no other purpose but
to harden you ; and that the word which I have preached,
instead of being a savor of life unto life, has been a savor of
death unto death. Though I shall not have any account to
give for the future of such as have openly and resolutely
renounced my ministry, as of a betrustmcnt committed to me :
yet remember you must give account for yourselves of your care
of your own souls, and your improvement of all means past and
future, through your whole lives. God only knows what will
become of your poor, perishing souls, what means you may
hereafter enjoy, or what disadvantages and temptations you
may be under. May God in his mercy grant that, however all
past means have been unsuccessful, you may have future means
which may have a new effect ; and that the word of God, as it
shall be hereafter dispensed to you, may prove as the fire and
the hammer that brcaketh the rock in pieces. However, let
me now at parting exhort and beseech you not wholly to forget
the warnings you have had while under my ministry. When
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 143
you and I shall meet at the day of judgment, then you will
remember cm : the sight of me, your former minister, on that
occasion, will soon revive em in your memory ; and that in a
very affecting manner. don t let that be the first time that
they are so revived.
You and I are now parting one from another as to this
world ; let us labor that we mayn t be parted after our meeting
at the last day. If I have been your faithful pastor (which
will that day appear, whether I have or no), then I shall be
acquitted, and shall ascend with Christ. do your part, that
in such a case it may not be so, that you should be forced eter
nally to part from me and all that have been faithful in Christ
Jesus. This is a sorrowful parting that now is between you
and me, but that would be a more sorrowful parting to you
than this. This you may perhaps bear without being much
affected with it, if you are not glad of it ; but such a parting
in that day will most deeply, sensibly and dreadfully affect you.
III. I would address myself to those who are under some
awakenings.
JJlessecl be God that there are some such, and that (although
I have reason to fear I leave multitudes in this large congrega
tion in a Christless state) yet I do not leave them all in total
stupidity and carelessness about their souls. Some of you that
I have reason to hope are under some awakenings, have
acquainted me with your circumstances ; which has a tendency
to cause me, now I am leaving you, to take my leave of you
with peculiar concern for you. What will be the issue of your
present exorcise of mind I know not : but it will be known at
that day, when you and I shall meet before the judgment scat
of Christ. Therefore now bo much in consideration of that
day.
Now I am parting with this flock, I would once more press
upon you the counsels I have heretofore given, to take heed of
being slighty in so great a concern, to be thorough and in good
144 SELECTED SEKMOXS
earnest in the affair, and to beware of backsliding, to hold on
and hold out to the end. And cry mightily to God, that these
great changes that pass over this church and congregation don t
prove your overthrow. There is great temptation in them; and
the devil will undoubtedly seek to make his advantage of them,
if possible to cause your present convictions and endeavors to
be abortive. You had need to double your diligence, and
watch and pray, lest you be overcome by temptation.
Whoever may hereafter stand related to you as your spiritual
guide, my desire and prayer is, that the great Shepherd of the
sheep would have a special respect to you, and be your guide
(for there is none teachcth like him), and that he who is the
infinite fountain of light would " open your eyes, and turn you
from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto
God ; that you may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance
among them that are sanctified, through faith that is in Christ ; "
that so, in that great day, when I shall meet you again before
your Judge and mine, we may meet in joyful and glorious cir
cumstances, never to be separated any more.
IV. I would apply myself to the young people of the congre
gation.
Since I have been settled in the work of the ministry in this
place 1 have ever had a peculiar concern for the souls of the
young people, and a desire that religion might flourish among
them : and have especially exerted myself in order to it ; because
I knew the special opportunity they had beyond others, and
that ordinarily those whor.i God intended mercy for, were
brought to fear anil love him in their youth. And it has ever
appeared to mo a peculiarly amiable thing, to see young people
walking in the ways of virtue and Christian piety, having their
hearts purified and sweetened with a principle of divine love.
And it has appeared a thing exceeding beautiful, and what
would l.)c much to the adorning and happiness of the town,
if the young people could be persuaded when they meet
OP JONATHAN KDWARUS 145
together, to converse as Christians, and as the children of God ;
avoiding impurity, levity and extravagance ; keeping strictly to
the rides of virtue, and conversing together of the things of God
and Christ and heaven. This is what I have longed for : and
it has been exceeding grievous to me when I have heard of vice,
vanity and disorder among our youth. And so far as I know
my own heart, it was from hence that I formerly led this church
to some measures for the suppressing of vice among our young
people, which gave so great offence, and by which I became so
obnoxious. I have sought the good, and not the hurt of our
young people. I have desired their truest honor and happiness,
and not their reproach ; knowing that true virtue and religion
tended not only to the glory and felicity of young people in
another world, but their greatest peace and prosperity, and
highest dignity and honor, in this world ; and above all things
to sweeten and render pleasant and delightful even the days of
youth.
Lut whether I have loved you and sought your good more or
less, yet God in his providence now calling me to part with
you, committing your souls to him who once committed the
pastoral care of them to me, nothing remains but only (as I am
now taking my leave of you) earnestly to beseech you, from
love to yourselves, if you have none to me, not to despise and
forget the warnings and counsels I have so often given you ;
remembering the day when you and 1 must meet again before
the great Judge of quick and dead ; when it will appear whether
the things I have taught you were true, whether the counsels 1
have given you were good, and whether I truly sought your
good, and whether you have well improved my endeavors.
I have, from time to time, earnestly warned you against frol- X
icking (as it is called), and some other liberties commonly
taken by young people in the land. And whatever some may
say in justification of such liberties and customs, and may
laugh at warnings against them, I now k v ave you my parting
L
146 SELECTED SERMONS
testimony against such things ; not doubting but God will ap
prove and confirm it in that day when we shall meet before him.
V. I would apply myself to the children of the congregation,
the lambs of this tlock, who have been so long under my care.
I have just now said that I have had a peculiar concern for
the young people ; and in so saying I did not intend to exclude
you. You are in youth, and in the most early youth: and
therefore I have been sensible that if those that were young
had a precious opportunity for their souls good, you who are
very young had, in many respects, a peculiarly precious oppor
tunity. And accordingly I have not neglected you : I have
endeavored to do the part of a faithful shepherd, in feeding the
lambs as well as the sheep. Christ did once commit the care
of your souls to me as your minister ; and you know, dear
children, how I have instructed you, and warned you from time
to time ; you know how I have often called you together for
that end ; and some of you, sometimes, have seemed to be
affected with what I have said to you. But I am afraid it has
had no saving effects as to many of you ; but that you remain
still in an unconverted condition, without any real saving work
wrought in your souls, convincing you thoroughly of your sin
and misery, causing you to see the great evil of sin, and to
mourn for it, and hate it above all things, and giving you
a sense of the excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ, bringing you
with all your hearts to cleave to him as your Saviour, weaning
your hearts from the world, and vausing you to love God above
all, and to delight in holiness more than in all the pleasant
things of this earth ; and so that I now leave you in a miser
able condition, having no interest in Christ, and so under the.
awful displeasure and anger of God, and in danger of going
down to the pit of eternal misery.
But now I must bid you farewell : I must leave you in the
hands of God :; I can do no more for you than to pray for you.
Only I desire you not to forget, but often think of the counsels
OF JONATHAN EDWARDS 147
and warnings I have given you, and the endeavors I have usad,
that your souls might be saved from everlasting destruction.
Dear children, I leave you in an evil world, that is full of
snares and temptations. God only knows what will become ",
of you. This the Scripture hath told us, that there are but ,
fe\v saved ; and we have abundant confirmation of it from what/
we see. This we see, that children die as well as others : mul
titudes die before they grow up ; and of those that grow up,
comparatively few ever give good evidence of saving conversion
to (Jod. I pray God to pity you, and take care of you, and
provide for you the best means for the good of your souls ; and
that God himself would undertake for you to be your heavenly
Father and the mighty Redeemer of your immortal souls. Do
not neglect to pray for yourselves : take heed you ben t of the
Dumber of those who cast off fear and restrain prayer before
God. Constantly pray to God in secret ; and often remember
that great day when you must appear before the judgment seat
of Christ, and meet your minister there, who has so often
counselled and warned you.
1 conclude with a few words of advice to all in general, in
some particulars, which are of great importance in order to the
welfare and prosperity of this church and congregation.
1. One thing that greatly concerns you, as you would be a
happy people, is the maintaining of family order.
We have had great disputes how the church ought to be
regulated; and indeed the subject of these disputes was of great
importance : but the due regulation of your families is of no
less, and, in some respects, of .much greater importance. Every
Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, conse
crated to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by his
rules. And family education and order are some of the chief
of the means of grace. If these fail, all other means are like to
prove ineffectual. If these are duly maintained, all the means
of grace will be like to prosper and be successful.
148 SELECTED SERMOXS
i
Let me now, therefore, once more, before I finally cease to
speak to this congregation, repeat and earnestly press the coun
sel which I have often urged on heads of families here, while I
was their pastor, to great painfulness in teaching, warning and
directing their children ; bringing them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord ; beginning early, where there is yet
opportunity, and maintaining a constant diligence in labors of
this kind ; remembering that, as you would not have all your
instructions and counsels ineffectual, there must be government
as well as instructions, which must be maintained with an even
hand and steady resolution, as a guard to the religion and
morale; of the family and the support of its good order. Take
heed that it be not with any of you as with Eli of old, who
reproved his children but restrain, d them not ; and that, by
this means, you don t bring the li ce curse on your families as
he did on his.
And let children obey their parents, arid yield to their in
structions, and submit to their orders, as they would inherit a
blessing and not a curse. For we have reason to think, from
many things in the word of God, that nothing has a greater
tendency to bring a curse on persons in this world, and on all
their temporal concerns, than an undutiful, unsubmissive, disor
derly behavior in children towards their parents.
2. As you would seek the future prosperity of this society,
it is of vast importance that you should avoid contention.
A contentious people will be a miserable people. The con
tentions which have been among you, since I first became your
pastor, have been one of the greatest burdens I have labored
under in the course of my ministry : not only the contentions
you have had with me, but those which you have had one with
another about your lands and other concerns : because I knew
that contention, heat of spirit, evil speaking, and things of the
like nature, were directly contrary to the spirit of Christianity,
and did, in a peculiar manner, tend to drive away God s Spirit
OF JONATHAN KDWAKDS 149
from a people and to render all means of grace ineffectual,
as well as to destroy a people s outward comfort and welfare.
Let me therefore earnestly exhort you, as you would seek
vour own future good hereafter, to watch against a contentious
spirit. If you would see good days, seek peace, and ensue it,
1 Pet. iii. 10, 11. Let the contention which has lately been
about the terms of Christian communion, as it has been the
greatest of your contentions, so be the last of them. I would,
now I am preaching my farewell sermon, say to you, as the
Apostle to the Corinthians, 2 Cor. xiii. 11, 12: "Finally,
brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of one mind, live in peace;
and the God of love and peace shall be with you."
And here I would particularly advise those that have
adhered to me in the late controversy, to watch over their
spirits and avoid all bitterness towards others. Your tempta
tions are, in some respects, the greatest ; because what has
been lately done is grievous to you. !>ut however wrong you
may think others have done, maintain, with great diligence
and watchfulness, a Christian meekness and sedateness of
spirit ; and labor, in this respect, to excel others who are of the
contrary part. And this will be the best victory : for " he that
rules his spirit, is better than he that takes a city." Therefore
let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. Indulge no
revengeful spirit in any wise; but watch and pray against it;
and, by all means in your power, seek the prosperity of tliQ
town : and never think you behave yourselves as becomes
Christians, but when you sincerely, sensibly and fervently love
all men, of whatever party or opinion, and whether friendly or
unkinT17just or injurious, to you or your friends, or to the cause
and kingdom of Christ.
. 5. Another tiling that vastly concerns the future prosperity
of this town, is, that you should watch against the encroach
ments of error ; and particularly Arminianism and doctrines
of like tendency.
150 SELECTED SERMONS
You were, many of you, as I well remember, much alarmed
with the apprehension of the danger of the prevailing of these
corrupt principles near sixteen years ago. But the danger then
was small in comparison of what appears now. These doctrines
at this day are much more prevalent than they were then : the
progress they have made in the land, within this seven years,
seems to have been vastly greater than at any time in the like
space before : and they are still prevailing and creeping into
almost all parts of the land, threatening the utter ruin of the
credit of those doctrines which are the peculiar glory of the
gospel, and the interests of vital piety. And I have of late
perceived some things among yourselves that show that you
are far from being out of danger, but on the contrary remark
ably exposed. The older people may perhaps think themselves
sufliciently fortified against infection ; but it is n t that all
should beware of self-confidence and carnal security, and should
remember those needful warnings of sacred writ, " Be not high-
minded, but fear ;" ; t nd "let him that stands, take heed Jest he
fall." But let the case of the older people be as it will, the
rising generation are doubtless greatly expose* 1. These principles
are exceeding taking with corrupt nature, and are what young
people, at least such as have not their hearts established with
grace, are easily led away with.
And if these principles should greatly prevail in this town,
as they very lately have done in another large town I could
name, formerly greatly noted for religion, and so for a long
time, it will threaten the spiritual and eternal ruin of this
people in the present and future generations. Therefore yon
have need of the greatest and most diligent care and watchful
ness with respect to this matter.
4. Another thing which I would advise to, that you may
hereafter be a prosperous people, is, that you would give your
selves much to prayer.
God is the fountain of all blessing and prosperity, and he will
OF JONATHAN^ EDWARDS 151
be sought to for his blessing. I would therefore advise you not
only to be constant in secret and family prayer, and in the public
worship of God in his house, but also often to assemble your
selves in private praying societies. I would advise all such as
are grieved for the afflictions of Joseph, and sensibly affected
with the calamities of this town, of whatever opinion they be
with relation to the subject of our late controversy, often to meet
together for prayer, and to cry to God for his mercy to themselves,
and mercy to this town, and mercy to Zion and the people of
God in general through the world.
5. The last article of advice .1 would give (which doubtless
does greatly concern your prosperity), is, that you would take
great care with regard to the settlement of j minister, to see
to it who, or what" manner of person he is thai, you settle; and
particularly in those two respects :
(1) That he be a man of thoroughly sound principles in the
scheme of doctrine which lie maintains.
This you will stand in the greatest need of, especially at such
a day_of corruption as this is. And in order to obtain such a
one, youlufdliecd to exercise extraordinary care and prudence.
I know the danger. I know the manner of many young gentle
men of corrupt principles, their ways of concealing themselves,
the fair, specious disguises they are wont to put on, by which
they deceive others, to maintain their own credit, and get them
selves into others confidence and improvement, and secure and
establish their own interest, until they see a convenient oppor
tunity to begin more openly to broach and propagate their
corrupt tenets.
(L>) Labor to obtain a man who has an established character,
as a person of serious religion and fer ent piety.
It is of vast importance that tho;;e who are settled in this
work should be men of true piety, at nil times, and i.i all places ;
but more especially at some times, and in some towns ar.d
churches. And this present time, which is a time wherein reli-
152 SELECTED SERMONS
gion is in danger, by so many corruptions in doctrine and
practice, is in a peculiar manner a day wherein such ministers
are necessary. Nothing else but sincere piety of heart is at all
to be depended on, at such a time as this, as a security to a
young man, just coming into the world, from the prevailing
infection, or thoroughly to engage him in proper and successful
endeavors to withstand and oppose the torrent of error and
prejudice against the high, mysterious, evangelical doctrines
of the religion of Jesus Christ, and their genuine effects in true
experimental religion. And this place is a place that docs
peculiarly need such a minister, for reasons obvious to all.
If you should happen to settle a minister who knows nothing
truly of Christ and the wny of salvation by him, nothing ex
perimentally of the nature of vital religion ; alas, how will you
be exposed as sheep without a shepherd ! Here is need of one in
this place, who shall be eminently fit to stand in the gap and
make up the hedge, and who shall be as the chariots of Israel
and the horsemen thereof. You need one that shall stand as a
champion in the cause of truth and the power of godliness.
Having briefly mentioned these important articles of advice,
nothing remains but that I now take my leave of you, and bid
you &\\ farewell; wishing and praying for your best prosperity.
I would now commend your immortal souls to him, who
formerly committed them to me, expect ing the day, when I must
meet you again before him, who is the Judge of quick and dead.
I desire that I may never forget this people, who have been so
long my special charge, and that I may never cease fervently
to pray for your prosperity. May Cod bless you with a faith
ful pastor, one that is well acquainted with his mind and will,
thoroughly warning sinners, wisely and skilfully searching pro
fessors, and conducting you in the way to eternal blessedness.
May you have truly a burning and shining light ,sct up in this
candlestick ; and may you, not only for a season, but during his
whole life, and that a long life, be willing to rejoice in his light
OF JONATHAN KDWA1WS 153
And let me be remembered in the prayers of all God s people
that are of a calm spirit, and are peaceable and faithful in
Israel, of whatever opinion they may be with respect to terms
of church communion.
And let us all remember and never forget our future solemn
meeting on that great day of the Lord ; the day of infallible
decision and of the everlasting and unalterable sentence. AMEN. X
NOTES
GOD GLORIFIED IN MAN S DEPENDENCE
1. God Glorified. The title-page of the original edition of this
sermon, the first work published by the author, reads as follows :
u God Glorified in the Work of Kedemption by the Greatness of
Man s Dependance upon Him, in the Whole of it. Preached on
the Publick Lecture in Boston, July 8, 1731. And published at
the Desire of several, Ministers and Others, in Boston, who heard
it. By Jonathan Edwards A.M. Pastor of the Churcii of Christ ir
Northampton. Judges 7. 2. Lest Israel vaunt themselves against
me, saying, mine own hand hath saved me. Boston : Printed by
S. Kneeland, and T. Green, for D. Henchman, at the Corner Shop
on the South-side of the Town-House. 1731."
The Public or Thursday Lecture, dating from the ordination of
the Kev. John Cotton, in 1(538, continued with occasional inter
ruptions till the siege of 1775, later revived and existing, it is
claimed, still, or until recently (see Dr. Samuel A. Eliot s Preface
to Pioneers of Itcliffions Liberty in Ainrriwi, Boston, 11)03), was
famous among the social and religious institutions of colonial Bos
ton. At one time the General Court regularly adjourned for it ;
that the Governor should keep Christmas and neglect it, was re
garded by old Judge Sewall as a matter of grave reproach. The
preachers were selected from the most eminent divines, not only
of Boston, but throughout the colony. It is recorded, for instance,
of Solomon Stoddard, Edwards s grandfather and predecessor in 4 .he
Northampton pastorate, that he annually attended the Harvard
155
1/56 NOTES [PAGES 1-20
Commencement and the day after preached the Public Lecture.
It was a great honor, therefore, for Edwards, a young man of
twenty-seven, to bo invited to preach on this foundation.
lie himself seems to have fuiiy appreciated both the honor and
the opportunity. The original manuscript shows the most careful
preparation. In the statement of clie Doctrine, for example, there
are several erasures and corrections before the right formula is
hit upon. The printed sermon shows still more elaboration.
Edwards chose as his subject one aspect of a theme which was
central and controlling in his thought God s sovereignty. His
mind had dwelt on this subject in all its bearings from childhood.
lie had especially meditated upon it as it related to the doctrine of
decrees, a doctrine which lie found at first revolting, but in the end
"exceedingly pleasant, bright, and sweet." No one since Augus
tine has emphasized as he has done the absolute sovereignty of God
and the corresponding dependence of man. This conception of
God s arbitrary will arbitrary, not as irrational or unrelated to
the divine justice and benevolence, but as being "without restraint,
or constraint, or obligation" was not only the backbone of his
system, but its heart, the principle which animates and pulses
through the whole of it. It is the ultimate basis alike of his philos
ophy and of his religious faith. In this his first publication as in
the great theological treatises which were his last, he is everywhere
the prophet-like champion of this supreme idea in opposition to
all those schemes of divinity, generally denominated Arminian,
which implied in his view a degree of independence in man ineon-
sistent with the absolute sovereignty he regarded as the distinguish
ing glory of God.
The sermon created a profound impression, as is evident both
from the immediate demand for its publication, indicated on the
title-page, and fron the commendatory preface to the original edi
tion signed by two of the foremost ministers of Boston, the ){ev.
Thomas Prince, of the Old South Church, and the Kev. William
PACKS 1-20] XOTES 1~>7
Cooper, of the Brattle Street Church. u It was with no small dif
ficulty," these gentlemen write, "that the author s youth and
modesty were prevailed on, to let him appear a preacher in our
public lecture, and afterwards to give us a copy of his discourse,
at the desire of diverse ministers, and others who heard it. But,
as we quickly found him to be a workman that need not be
ashamed before his brethren, our satisfaction was the greater, to
see him pitching upon so noble a subject, and treating it with so
much strength and clearness, as the judicious will perceive in the
following composure : a subject which secures to God his great
design, in the work of fallen man s redemption by the Lord Jesus
Christ, which is evidently so laid out, as that the glory of the whole
should return to him the blessed ordainer, purchaser, and applier ;
a subject which enters deep imo practical religion ; without the
belief in which, that must soon die in the hearts and lives of men.
We cannot, therefore, but express our joy and thankfulness, that
the great Head of the Church is pleased still to raise up, from among
the children of his people, for the supply of his churches, those
who assert and maintain these evangelical principles ; and that our
churches, notwithstanding all their degeneracies, have sti.l a high
value for just principles, and for those who publicly own and teach
them. And, as we cannot but wish and pray, that the College in
the neighbouring colony, as well as our own, may bo a fruitful
mother of many such sons as the author; so we heartily rejoice, in
the special favour of Providence, in bestowing such a rich gift on
the happy church of Northampton, which has. for so many lustres
of years, flourished under the influence of such pious doctrines,
taught them in the excellent, ministry of their late venerable pastor,
whose gift and spirit we hope will long live and shine in his grand
son, to the end that they may abound in all the lovely fruits of
evangelical humility and thankfulness, to the glory of God."
(>. It was of mere grace ... for our souls. This passage may
serve to illustrate the way Edwards expanded his sermons for the
158 NOTES [PAGES 21-44
press (see Introduction, p. xxix). The manuscript reads as follows :
"The Grace in giving this Gift was great in proportion to our un-
worthiness, it was given to us who instead of meriting that of G.
which is of such Infinite Value merited Infinite 111 of him." Then
follows a space, above and beneath which, between the lines, are
the words, " in proportion to the blessedness we have benefit we
have given in him." Continuing : u the giver in giving this gift is
great according to the manner of giving, he gave him to us Incar
nate he gave him to us slain that he might be a feast to our souls."
THE REALITY OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT
21. Divine and Supernatural Light. The original title-page
of this, the author s second published sermon, reads as follows :
44 A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately imparted to the
Soul by the Spirit of God, shown to be both a Scriptural, and
Rational Doctrine ; In a Sermon Preaeh d at Northampton, and
Published at the Desire of some of the Hearers. By Jonathan
Edwards, A.M. Pastor of the Church there. Job 28, 20. Whence
then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
Prov. 2, (>. The Lord giveth wisdom. Is. 42, 18. Look yc blind,
that ye may see. 2. Pet. 1, 10. Until the day dawn and the day-
star arise in your hearts. Boston : Printed by S. Kneeland and
T. Green, M,DCC,XXXIV." The sermon has a preface in which
Edwards modestly disclaims any forwardness or vanity in publish
ing it and begs his readers to peruse it without prejudice on this
score, or because of the unfashionableness of the subject. This to
the general public. What he says to his own people shows how
affectionate their relations to their young minister were at this
time and how high his regard was for them ; it has a pathetic
interest in view of their passionate rejection of him at the las!;.
44 1 have reason to bless God," he writes, "that there is a more
happy union between us, than that you should be prejudiced
PAGES 21-44] NOTES 159
against any thing of mine, because His mine." He felicitates them
on having been instructed in such doctrines as those in the sermon
from the beginning. " And I rejoice in it, 1 he adds, " that Provi
dence, in this day of Corruption and Confusion, has cast my lot
where such doctrines, that I look upon so much the life and glory
of the Gospel, are not only owrf d, but where there are so many, in
whom the truth of them is so apparently manifest in their experi
ence, that any one who has had the opportunity of acquaintance
with them, in such matters, that I have had, must be very unrea
sonable to doubt of it. 1 "
This is justly regarded as "one of the most beautiful and most
eloquent * of Edwards s sermons (A. V. G. Allen, Jonathan
Edwards, p. 67). It was preached at a time when the signs
were multiplying of an increased interest in religion among the
people of Northampton, preluding the great revival of the next
and the following years. The original manuscript bears the date,
August, 17:53. The death of .Mr. Stcddard in 1729 had removed the
restraints of a long-established and unquestioned authority, and
the results, as Edwards describes them, were deplorable. " It
seemed, " he says, u to be a time of extraordinary dullness in
religion: licentiousness for some years greatly prevailed among
the youth of the town ; they were many of them very much ad
dicted to night walking, and frequenting the tavern, and lewd
practices, wherein some by iheir example exceedingly corrupted
others." "But in two or three years . . . there began to be a
sensible amendment of these evils," and "at the latter end of the
year 173:5, there appeared a very unusual ilexibleness and yielding
to advice" in the young (Xurratire <>f Surprising Conversion*}.
The improved conditions reacted on the preacher and, as a conse
quence, we have the sermon on Spiritual Light.
The principle enunciated in this sermon is the cardinal and
controlling principle of the whole revival. The revival is just its
exhibition and the experienced evidence, for Edwards at least, of
XOTES [PAGES 21-44
its truth. Nothing in his account of the movement is more impres
sive than the way he studies it, tracing minutely the details of the
process, wondering at its variety, whereby the Holy Spirit makes
real and effectual the divine message (see Allen, op. cit. pp. 143 It).
There was nothing essentially new in the principle itself ; that
God directly influence:? the soul, that the soul is capable of an
immediate intuition of divine things, tin s had been the common
teaching of all, and especially of all the Christian, mystics. In
deed, it may be doubted whether religion as a form of personal
experience does not universally involve a consciousness of some
such transcendent relationship (see W. James, Varieties of 7V-
Uijinns EsperU-nc* , Huston, 1H02, pn.^im). What was new in
Kdwards s formulation of the doctrine was his manner of defin
ing it, the way in which he relates it to the other parts of his
system, his insistence on the supernatural character of this divine
illumination, his sharp distinction between common and special
grace. His doctrine of supernatural light appears, in fact, as a
necessary corollary of his conception of the relation of man and
Ood in the work of redemption expressed in his sermon on Man s
Dependence. It is partly, at least, from this point of view that it
seems to him not only scriptural, but reasonable. It was a doctrine
intimately connected with his views of conversion. It was on this
account no less than because of its emphasis of a mystical rather
than a moral or legal principle in religion, that Edwards can speak
of the doctrine as " unfashionable." The tendency of the age was
to find more power in the natural constitution of man than he was
willing to allow. Historically, however, it is in just this emphasis
on the inner experience of the light and life of (Jod in the heart
that Kdwards makes the transition from the older Calvinism to the
more liberal theology of our own day.
The manuscript of this sermon is more than usually full of
erasures and insertions, making it almost impossible to read, but
suggesting something of the labor and caro expended on its compo-
PAGES 45-03] NOTES 161
sition. It is written on twenty-six pages of the size of the facsimile
in this volume, the last page containing only a line and a half.
But the printed sermon is more fully elaborated.
RUTH S RESOLUTION
45. Ruth s Resolution. This sermon was one of five u Dis
courses on Various Important Subjects, Nearly concerning the
great Affair of the Soul s Eternal Salvation : viz. I. Justifica
tion by Faith Alone. II. Pressing into the Kingdom of God.
III. Ruth s Resolution. IV. The Justice of God in the Damnation
of Sinners. V. The Excellency of Jesus Christ. Delivered in
Northampton, chiefly in the time of the late wonderful pouring
out of the Spirit of God there. By Jonathan Edwards A.M.
Pastor of the Church of Christ in Northampton. Deut. iv. 8 [D]
Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently., lest thou
forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart
from thy heart all the days of thy life. Boston : Printed and sold
by S. Kneehuul and T. Green, in Queen Street over against the
Prison. MDCCXXXVIII." The first four of these discourses were
preached during the revival of 17:>4~17. )r> and were selected by the
desire of the people as those from which they had derived special
benefit ; the fifth was selected by Edwards himself at the request
of some persons from a neighboring town who heard it, and be
cause he thought that a sermon on the excellency of Christ might
appropriately follow the others, which were of an awakening
character. They were prefixed to the American reprint of the
Narrative of fiiirprininy Conversions, which was first published in
England. The cost of their publication was defrayed by the con
gregation, a clear evidence of their deep interest, as they were at
the time heavily burdened by the expenses of the new meeting
house. See Dwight, Life of Edwards, pp. MO f.; cf. n. here fol
lowing, p. 10*2.
162 NOTES
[PAGES 04-77
The sermon on Ruth s Resolution has been selected as the
shortest of the above discourses to illustrate a type of revival
sermon in marked contrast to the sermon on Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God. They all, however, bear out Edwards s
own testimony concerning his preaching: "I have not only en
deavored to awaken you, that you might be moved with fear, but
I have used my utmost endeavors to win you" (Farewell Ser-
inon). The manuscript of the sermon is dated April, 1735, and
it seems to have been printed very nearly as it wa.s written.
THE MANY MANSIONS
69. The Many Mansions. The Ms. of this hitherto unpublished
sermon is dated, "The Sabbath after the seating of the New
Meeting House, Dec. 25, 17. J7." The occasion was one of special
interest to the people of Northampton. The old meeting-house,
erected in KJUl, had become too small for the congregation, and
dangerously dilapidated ; in fact, on a Sunday in March in the year
t -p ..iew building was completed, while Edwards was preaching, just
after he had " laid down his doctrines " from the text, "Behold,
ye despisers, wonder and perish," the front gallery, " with a noise
like a clap of thunder," suddenly and dramatically fell. For
tunatelyby a special providence, it seemed to Edwards no
one of the hundred and fifty persons, more or less, involved in the
catastrophe perished, or even had a bone broken, and only ten were
hurt " so as to make any great matter of it." But the event showed
that the building of a new meeting-house had been undertaken
none too .soon. The question of this new building had been brought
forward, in the town meeting of the spring of 17:5:5, but it was first
decided on in November, 1735, determined in part, no doubt, by
the great revival of that year, when sixty, eighty, and a hundred
were received into the church on successive communions. It then
took two years to complete the structure. Incidentally, sixty-nine
PAGES GMT] NOTES 1C3
gallons of rum, besides numerous barrels of " cyder " and beer, were
consumed by the workmen during the erection of the framework
alone. Sixty men were engaged at 5s. a day for this part of the
work, " they keeping themselves " as Deacon Hunt s journal has
it " excepting drinks."
When the building, like several others of the period, a commo
dious, oblong structure with a tower, belfry and weather-cock vane
at one end of it, was nearly finished, the important matter of
seating the congregation was taken up. This also was an affair
of the town. It had already been decided at the annual town
meeting in the spring to have pews along the walls and "seats" or
benches only on both sides of the "alley " (broad aisle). The actual
plan of the sittings, still extant, shows pews also around the benches
on the iloor, separated from the wall-pews by the narrow aisles,
and five pews in the gallery. These pews were of the high, square
variety, with seats on hinges, and were evidently regarded as places
of superior dignity. Towards the end of the year, the town held a
series of meetings with especial reference to the seating. The
question of primary importance concerned the apportioning of the
sittings according to social rank. At the meeting in November,
a committee of live of the most prominent citizens was instructed to
draw up "their Scheam or Plat.t for Seating of the meeting House
and present it to the Town" for approval. The. following month
the committee was further instructed by the following votes:
" 1. Voted That in Seating the new meeting House the com
mittee have Respect prineipnlly to men s estate.
"2. To have Regard to men s Age.
":;. Voted that some Regard and Respect [be paid] to men s
usefullness, but in a less Degree." And that no mistake should
be made, a committee of six was appointed to "estimate the pews
and seats," that is, to "dignify" or appraise their social value.
Another connected question concerned the seating of the sexes.
At the meeting in November, it was voted that males should be at
1C4 NOTES [PAGES G4-77
the south, females at the north, end ; the men at the right of the
pulpit, the women at the left. At the first meeting in December
the town distinctly refused to allow men and their \vives to sit
together. But this was clearly opposed to the sentiment of some
of the more influential members of the community, for at the
adjourned meeting four days later, when u The Question was put
whether the Committee be forbidden to Seat men their wives
together, Especially Such as Incline to Sit together : It passed in
the Negative." Under this indirect and qualified authorization,
married people were for the most part seated together in the pews,
but afnirt on the benches, while in some cases the husband was
assigned to a pew and the wife to a bench.
The events and conditions here described are reflected in Ed-
wards" s sermon, especially in what he says of the extent of the
" accommodations" in heaven and in his remarks on the "seats of
various dignity and different degrees and circumstances of honor
and happiness" there, as compared with what we find in houses of
worship on earth.
As indicating the size of Edwards s Northampton congregation, it
may be interesting to observe that the seating-plan above referred to
contains the names of nearly six hundred persons. And ho had his
audience all about him. The pulpit, surmounted by a huge sound
ing board, was in the middle of one of the longer sides of the build
ing, Tiot at the end, as is the custom now. For further particulars,
see J. 11. Trumbull, History of Northampton^ Vol. II, Chap. vi.
This sermon is more fully written out than most of Edwards s
unpublished sermons. In preparing the copy for the present vol
ume, the editor had in mind the general analogy of the other ser
mons heie published. The abbreviations X (Christ), G. (God),
E. H. (Father s House), etc. have accordingly been interpreted,
and omitted sentences or phrases, indicated in "the Ms. by dashes
or spaces, have been supplied from the context. All such addi
tions, however, are inserted within square brackets.
PAGES 78-97J NOTES 165
SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD
78. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The full title-
page of this, Edwards s most famous sermon, read in the origi
nal edition as follows: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
A sermon Preached at Enfield, July 8th 1741. At a time of
great Awakenings ; and attended with remarkable Impressions
on many of the Hearers. By Jonathan Edwards A.M. Pastor
of the Church of Christ in Northampton. Amos ix. 2, 3.
Though they dig into Hell, thence shall mine Hand take them ;
though they climb up to Heaven, thence wiM I bring them down.
And though they hide themselves in the Top of Carmel, I will
search and take them out thence ; and though they be hid from my
Sight in the Bottom of the Sea, thence will I command the Serpent,
and he shall bite them. Boston : Printed and Sold by S. Kneeland
and T. Green in Queen Street over against the Prison, 1741."
Benjamin Trumbull in \\\A History of Connecticut (New Haven,
1818), Vol. II, p. 14f>, records the circumstance* under which this
sermon was delivered as told to him by Mr. Whoelock, a minister
from Connecticut (Enfield, Conn., was at that time included in
Hampshire County, Mass.), who heard it. "While the people in
neighboring towns," writes Trumbull, "were in great distress for
their souls, the inhabitants of that town were very secure, loose,
and vain. A lecture had been appointed at Enfield, and the neigh
boring people, the night before, were so affected at the thought
lessness of the inhabitants, and in such fear that God would, in his
righteous judgment, pass them by, while the divine showers were
falling all around them, a,s to be prostrate before him a considerable
part of it, supplicating mercy for their souls. When the time
appointed for the lecture came, a number of the neighboring min
isters attended, and some from a distance. When they went into
the meeting-house, the appearance of the assembly v/as thoughtless
and vain. The people hardly conducted themselves with common
NOTES [PACKS 78-97
decency. The Rev. Mr. Edwards, of Northampton, preached, and
before the sermon was ended, the assembly appeared deeply im
pressed and bowed down, with an awful conviction of their sin and
danger. There was such a breathing of distress and weeping, that
the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence,
that lie might be heard. This was the beginning of the same great
and prevailing concern in that place, with which the colony in
general was visited." The circumstances, thus, under which this
sermon was preached were exceptional ; the excitement of the
Great Awakening was at its height ; the congregation to whom the
sermon was addressed were notorious for their apathy ; Edwards
doubtless felt that an exceptionally strong presentation of their
danger was necessary to arouse them. And this sermon is probably
Uhe most tremendous of its kind ever delivered by a Christian
vmiriister.
The kind, however, was by no means exceptional in Edwards s
preaching, particularly at this period. Ik lieving as he did that the
decisions of men in this life were fraught with the most momentous
issaes to all eternity, he held it his bounden duty to present these
issues before thm in the liveliest manner possible. 1 The Justice
of God in the Damnation of Sinners ; The Future Punishment of
the Wicked Unavoidable and Intolerable ; The Eternity of Hell
Torments ; When the Wicked shall have filled up the Measure of
their Sin, Wrath will come upon them to the Uttermost ; The End
of the Wicked contemplated by the Kighteous ; or, The Torments
of the Wicked in Hell, no occasion of grief to the Saints in Heaven ;
Wicked Men useful in their Destruction only, these are among
1 "If I am in danger of going to lu-11, I should be glad to know as
much as possibly I can of the dreadfulness of it. If I ;im very prone to
noglect due care to avoid it, he does me the best kindness who does
most to represent to me the truth of the case, that sets forth my misery
and danger in the liveliest manner." Sermon on The Distinguishing
Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God.
PACKS 78-97] NOTES 167
the titles of his sermons. Moreover, there is reason to believe that
this very sermon, or its like, was used on other occasions besides
the one to which it is explicitly ascribed. There is a tradition l
that Edwards preached it once when Whitfield had disappointed
an audience by not appearing, and that, he produced a great effect
by it. The manuscript is dated June, 1741, which suggests that it
may have been preached in Northampton, or elsewhere, the month
before it was attended with such remarkable impressions on the
hearers in Enfield. But still more significant is the existence of an
undated second sermon from the same text. In this, which was
undoubtedly of earlier origin, the thought is somewhat differently
worked out : it is less lurid, less fully elaborated, less terrific ; but it
contains many of the ideas, for example, on the uncertainty of life,
the suddenness with which destruction may overtake the sinner,
etc., that are found in the Enfield sermon. Edwards was evi
dently fascinated by the theme ; he works it out with the sure
touch of a great artist, with the intellectual force of the skilled
dialectician. And he proclaims his message with the .intensity of
conviction of an Old Testament prophet. No wonder his hearers
were moved. The effect would certainly have been less great had
there been any note or personal vindictivenesa in the preaching.
But there is noching of this ; it is not in this sense that the sermon
can be called imprecatory." On the contrary, so far as Ed-
wards s personal attitude is concerned, it is not difficult to detect
in it the pathos and the pity of the gentlest of men weeping over
the senseless folly of those vho, blind to impending destruction,
refuse repeated invitations of safety (cf. Matt, xxiii. 37). For the
rest, he is quite impersonal, detached ; the truth lie preaches is
sure, awful, but objective. On the modern reader the sermon is
likely to produce a very painful impression, unless he, for his part,
reads it in the .same impersonal, detached way. It is not only the
1 As Professor A. V. G. Alien informs the editor in a letter, Jan. 23,
190-1 .
V
168 XOTES . [PAGES 78-97
realism of the presentation, but the harshness of the doctrine,
1 which offends. Edwards, for instance, frequently speaks of the
reason why sinners are not immediately cast into hell ; but the
reason assigned is not the mercy or goodness or love of God, but
His mere power and sovereign pleasure. This is one aspect of the
truth of the spiritual universe as Edwards sees it. He is not a
sentimentalist; he proclaims the truth as lie finds it. As far as
Edwards himself is concerned, there is nothing in the whole ser
mon, or in any of hw "imprecatory" sermons, so called, half as
revolting as Dante s attitude towards sinners in hell. Take, for
instance, the case of Filippo Argenti in the Lake of Mud (Inferno,
Canto viii.) : u 4 Master, I should much like to see him ducked in
this broth before we depart from the lake. And he to me, Ere
the shore allows thee to see it thou shall be satisfied ; it will be
fitting th.it thou enjoy such a desire. After this a little I saw such
rending of him by the muddy folk that I still praise God therefor,
and thank Him for it. All cried, ; At Filippo Argenti ! and the
raging Florentine spirit turned upon himself with his teeth."
80. The God that holds you . . . drop down into hell. This
is probably the best remembered paragraph in this all too well
remembered sermon. Comparison with the original manuscript
shows some interesting variants from the printed text, and at the
same time gives evidence of the deliberateness with which the sen
tences were wrought out with reference to their calculated effect.
For both reasons the passage is here reproduced as written.
" You are over the pit of hell in Gods hand very much as one
holds a spider or some loathsome Insect over the fire & tis nothing
but for God to let you go & you fall in." (Here follow four un
decipherable lines, which apparently, however, do not belong in
this connection. The passage then continues on the next page of
the Ms.) u & this G. that thus holds you in his hand is very angry
with you & dreadfully provoked, his wrath burns like fire, you
are lothsome and hatefull in his eyes & and worthy to be burnt
PAGKS 78-97] NOTES 1G9
he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the
lire you are ten thous. times more loathsome in his eyes than the
most noisome insect in the eyes of us men you have offended
him a thous. times so much as ever an obstinate rebel did his
prince. & yet you are in his hands & tis nothing at all but his
mere pleasure that he keeps you from falling into hell every mo
ment there is no other reason to be given why you did not go to
hell last night why you did not wake up in hell after you had closed
your eyes to sleep & there is uo other reason to be given why you
have [not] drop d since you rose in the morning yea since you sit
on here in the house of G. Provoking his pure Eyes by your sinful!
wicked manner of attending his Holy worship Yea there is noth
ing else to be given as the Heason why you dont this very moment
drop down into hell."
Between the sentences here separated by longer spaces, lines
curving from the lower part of the preceding to the upper part of
the following are drawn, indicating possibly rhetorical pauses in
the delivery and suggesting to the modern reader a succession of
waves, wave on wave of horror, each more overwhelming than the
one that went before.
The above passage is contained in the manuscript under division
I. of the "Application," division II. beginning, "And consider
here more particularly " (p. 80). The four divisions thereafter fol
lowing correspond roughly to those in the printed edition, but are
mere headings, and differ from the six division;? first sketched.
Inserted in the manuscript fr : loose sheet containing in Edwards s
handwriting a carc-ful outli 1 - of the whole sermon, such as he
might have made when preparing the sermon for tho press or used
as notes for preaching. The manuscript of the entire sermon is
short, but twenty-two pages of writing and one blank leaf.
170 NOTES [PAGES U&-117
A STRONG ROD BROKEN
08. God s Awful Judgment. The manuscript of this sermon
is dated, " On occasion of the death of Col. Stoddard June 1748."
It consists of fifty-two pages of the usual size of Edwards s manu
script sermons, but with the unusual feature of being written
in double columns. The paper used was partly that of letters
addressed to Edwards, the writing being in places across the
address, and the stamp marks being removed; partly about
twenty pages pieces of line, soft paper, deep cut around the
upper edges, believed to be scraps of the paper used by Mrs.
Edwards and her daughters in making fans. The sermon is evi
dently written at high pressure, with few corrections and fairly
fully. The title -page of the first edition reads as follows: U A
Strong Rod broken and withered. A Sermon Preached in
Northampton, in the Lord s Day, June 2(3. 1748 On the Death
of The Honourable John Stoddard, Esq. Often a Member of his
Majesty s Council, For many Years Chief Justice of the Court of
Common Picas for the County of Hampshire, Judge of the Probate
of Wills, and Chief Colonel of the Regiment, &c. Who died in
Boston June It). 1748. in the 07th Year of his Age. By Jonathan
Edwards A.M. Pastor of the first Church in Northampton. Dan.
iv. . >5 He doth according to his Will in the Army of Heaven, and
among the inhabitants of the Earth ; and none can stay his Hand,
or say unto Him, What dost thou ? Boston Printed by Rogers
and Fowle for J. Edwards in Cornhill 1748."
Colonel Stoddard was the eighth child and fourth son of the
Rev. Solomon Stoddard, and therefore Edwards s uncle on his
mother s side. lie was a man of great prominence in all the lead
ing affairs of the tow:i, the county, and the colony. tk llis life,"
says Trumbull (History of North t.inpton, Vol. II. p. 172), " was
the connecting link between the two series of great leaders who
the affairs of Western Massachusetts for nearly a cen-
PAGES 98-117] NOTES 171
tury and three-quarters. His predecessors were John Pynchon of
Springfield and Samuel Partridge of Ilatfield ; following him came
Joseph Hawley and Caleb Strong of Northampton, and these five
men were the leaders in the Colony, the Province and the State. 1
He was a stalwart upholder of royalty and the royal prerogative,
and for this reason had many opponents ; but the general esteem
in which he was held is evidenced by his many offices and by the
fact that he was seventeen times reflected the representative of the
county to the General Court. lie was a valued friend of Governor
Shirley, in connection with whom there is a characteristic story of
him. It is that he once called and asked to see the Governor when
the latter had a party dining with him, but declined the servant s
invitation to come in. The company were surprised and shocked
at what they regarded as an act of discourtesy to the chief magis
trate. u What is the gentleman s name?" asked the Governor.
U I think," replied the servant, "he told me his name was
Stoddard." "Is it?" said the Governor. "Excuse me, gentle
men, if it is Col. Stoddard, I must go to him." (From DwiyhCs
Trawls, Vol. I, p. ?>:} 2, quoted by Trumbull, op. cti, p. 17:5.) His
death removed one of Edwards s strongest supporters and probably
contributed to the tragic issue of the great controversy in which
the preacher was now engaged. In this connection it is interesting
to find that Colonel Stoddard in 17. >0 helped to lay out the township
of Stockbridge and that, he had much to do toward establishing
the mission to the Indians there, to the conduct of which Edwards
was called after his dismissal from Northampton. Kd\vards\s
sermon is an eulogy, but there is every reason to suppose that it
gives on the whole a just impression of Stoddard s character, ser
vices, and attainments. On him, see further Trumbull, op. cit.
Vol. II, Chap. xiii.
110. Present war. King George s French and Indian War
(1744--1748-0). Colonel Stodf ard, as commander of the Hamp
shire forces, directed the military operations in that part of the
172 NOTES [PAGES 118-153
country until his de^th. Major Israel Williams of Ilatfield, who
later succeeded to the command, writing under date of June
25, 1748, to Secretary Willard, says: "We are now like sheep
without a shepherd. . . . God has been pleased to take him
(who was in a great measure our wisdom and strength and
glory) from us at a time when we could least spare him."
(Trumbull, op. cit. Vol. II, p. 158.)
FAREWELL SERMON
118. A Farewell Sermon. "A Farewel-Sermon Preached at
the first Precinct in Northampton, After the People s pub-
lick Rejection of their Minister, and renouncing their Relation
to Him as Pastor of the Church there, On June 22. 1750
Occasioned by Difference of Sentiments, concerning thn requisite
Qualifications of Members of the Church, in compleat Standing.
By Jonathan Edwards, A.M. Acts xx. 18. Ye know, from
the first day that I came into Asia, after what Manner I have
been with you, at all Seasons, ver. 20. And how I kept back
nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and
have taught you public kly, and from House to House, ver. 2(5,
27. Wherefore I take you to Record this Day, that 1 am pure
from the Blood of all Men : For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the Counsel of God. Gal. iv. 15, 1C. Where is then
the Blessedness ye spake of ? For I bear you Record, that if it
had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own Eyes, and
have given them to me. Am I then become your Enemy, because
I tell you the Truth ? Boston Printed and sold by S. Kneelanu
over against the Prison in Queen-Street. 1751." -Title-page of
the first edition.
The preface to this sermon is a document so important for the
understanding of it, that It is here, as is usual also in other edi
tion^ printed in full.
PAGES 118-153] NOTES 173
Preface. It is not unlikely, that some of the readers of the
following sermon may be inquisitive concerning the circumstances
of the difference between me and the people of Northampton, that
issued in that separation between me arid them, which occasioned
the preaching of this farewell sermon. There is, by no means,
room here for a full account of that matter : but yet it seems to be
proper, and even necessary, here to correct some gross misrepre
sentations, which have been abundantly, and (His to be feared) by
some affectedly and industriously made, of that difference : such
as, that I insisted on persons being assured of their being in a state
of salvation, in order to my admitting them into the church ; thatx
I required a particular relation of the method and order of a per-
son s inward experience, and of the time and manner of his con
version, as the test of his litness for Christian communion ; yea,
that I have undertaken to set up a pure church, and \o make an
exact and certain distinction between saints and hypocrites, by a
pretended infallible discerning [of] the state of men s souls ; that
in these tilings I had fallen in with those wild people, who "have
lately appeared in New England, called Separatists ; and that I
myself was become a grand Separatist ; and that I arrogated all
the power of judging of the qualifications of candidates for com
munion wholly to myself, and insisted on acting by my solo
authority, in the admission of members into the church, c.
In opposition to these slanderous representations, I shall at
present only give my reader an account of some things which I
laid before the council, that separated between me and my people,
in order to their having a just and full view of my principles
relating to the affair in controversy.
Long before the sitting of the council, my people had sent to the
Keverend Mr. Clark of Salem village, desiring him to write in
opposition to my principles. Which gave me occasion to write to
Mr. Clark, that he might have true information what my principle s
were. And in the time of the sitting of the council, I did, for their
174 NOTES [PAGES 118-15J
information, make a public declaration of my principles before
them and the church, in the meeting-house, of the same import
with that in my letter to Mr. Clark, and very much in the same
words : and then, afterwards, sent in to the council in writing, an
extract of that letter, containing the information 1 had given to
Mr. Clark, in the very words of my letter to him, that the council
might read and consider it at their leisure, and have a more certain
and satisfactory knowledge what my principles were. The extract
which I sent in to them was in the following words :
44 1 am often and I don t know but pretty generally, in the
country, represented as of a new and odd opinion with respect to
the terms of Christian communion, and as being for introducing; a
peculiar way of my own. Whereas I don t perceive that I differ at
till from the scheme of Dr. Watts in his book entitled, The Rational
Foundation of a Christian Church, and the, Terms of Christian
Communion ; which, he says, is the common sentiment of fill
reformed churches. I had not seen this book of Dr. Watts* when
I published what I have written on the subject. But yet I think
my sentiment^, as I have expressed them, are as exactly agreeable
to what he lays down, as if 1 had been his pupil. Nor do I at all
go beyond what Dr. Doddridge plainly shown to be his sentiments,
in his Ittsc and Progress of Religion* and his flrrmons on Regen
eration^ and his Paraphrase and Notes on the New Testament.
Nor indeed, sir, when I consider the sentiments you have expressed
in your letters to Major Pomroy and Mr. Hilling, can I perceive
but that they come exactly to the same tiling that I maintain.
You suppose the sacraments are not converting ordinances : but
that, as seals of the covenant, they presuppose conversion, espe
cially in the adult ; and that it is visible saintship, or, in other
words, a credible profession of faith and repentance, a solemn
cor.sent to the gospel covenant, joined with a good conversation,
and competent measure of Christian knowledge, is what gives a
PAGES 118-153] NOTES 175
gospel right to all sacred ordinances : but that it is necessary to
those that come to these ordinances, and in those that profess a
consent to the gospel covenant, that thoy be sincere in their pro
fession, or at least should think themselves so. The great thing
which 1 have scrupled in the established method of this church s
proceeding, and which I dare no longer go on in, is their publicly
assenting to the form of words rehearsed on occasion of their
admission to the communion, without pretending thereby to mean
any such thing as any hearty consent to the terms of the gospel
covenant, or to mean any such faith or repentance as belong to the
covenant of grace, and are the grand conditions of that covenant :
it being, at the same time that the words are used, their known
and established principle which they openly profess and proceed
upon, that men may and ought to use these words and mean no
such thing, but something else of a nature far inferior ; which. I
think they have no distinct, determinate notion of ; but something
consistent with their knowing that they do not choose God as their
chief good, but love the world more than him, and that they do
not give themselves up entirely to God, but make reserves ; and in
short, knowing that they do not heartily consent to the gospel
covenant, but live still under the reigning power of the love of the
world, and enmity to God and Christ. So that the words of their
public profession, according to their openly established use, cease
to be of the nature of any profession of gospel faith and repentance,
or t any proper compliance with the covenant: for His their profes
sion, that the words, as used, mean no such thing. The words
used under these circumstances, do at, least fail of being a credible
profession of these things. I can conceive of no such virtue in a
certain set of words, that it is proper, merely on the making of
these sounds, to admit persons to Christian sacraments, without
any regard to any pretended meaning of these sounds: nor can I
think that any institution of Christ has established any such terms
of admission into the Christian church. It does not belong to the
176 NOTES [PAGES 118-153
controversy between me and my people, how particular or large
the profession should be that is required. I should not choose to
be confined to exact limits as to that matter ; but rather than con
tend, I should content myself with a few words, briefly expressing
the cardinal virtues or acts implied in a hearty compliance with
the covenant, made (as should appear by inquiry into the person s
doctrinal knowledge) understandingly ; if there were an external
conversation agreeable thereto : yea, I should think, that such a
person, solemnly making such a profession, had a right to be
received as the object of a public charity, however he himself
might scruple his own conversion, on account of his not remem
bering the time, not knowing the method of his conversion, or
finding so much remaining sin, c. And (if his own scruples did
not hinder his coming to the Lord s table) I should think the
minister or church had no right to debar such a professor, though
he should say lie did not think himself converted ; for I call that a
profession of godliness, which is a profession of the great things
wherein godliness consists, and not a profession of his own opinion
of his good estate." Northampton, May 7, 1750.
Thus far my Letter to Mr. Clark.
The council having heard that I had made certain draughts of
the covenant, or forms of a public profession of religion which I
stood ready to accept of from the candidates for church com
munion, they, for their further information, sent for them. Ac
cordingly I sent them four distinct draughts or forms, which I had
drawn up about a twelvemonth before, as what I stood ready to
accept of (any one of them) rather than contend and break with
my people.
The two shortest of these forms are here inserted for the satisfac
tion of the reader. They are as follows.
PACKS 118-153] NOTES 177
"I hope I do truly find a heart to give up myself wholly to God,
according to the tenor of that covenant of grace which was sealed
in my baptism ; and to walk in a way of that obedience to all the
commandments of God, which the covenant of grace requires, as
long as I live." Another,
"I hope I truly find in my heart a willingness to comply with
all the commandments of God, which require me to give up myself
wholly to him, and to serve him with my body and my spirit. And
do accordingly now promise to walk in a way of obedience to all
the commandments of God, as long as I live."
Such kind of professions as these I stood ready to accept, rather
than contend and break with my people. Not but that I think it
much more convenient, that ordinarily the public profession of
religion that is made by Christians should be much fuller and
more particular ; and that (as I hinted in my letter to Mr. Clark)
I should not choose to be tied up to any certain form of words, but
to have liberty to vary the expressions of a public profession the
more exactly to suit the sentiments and experience of the professor,
that it might be a more just and free expression of what each one
finds in his heart.
And moreover it must be noted, that I ever insisted on it, that it
belonged to me as a pastor, before a profession was accepted, to
have full liberty to instruct the candidate in the meaning of the
terms of it. and in the nature of the things proposed to be pro
fessed ; and to inquire into his doctrinal understanding of these
things, according to my best discretion ; and to caution the person,
as I should think needful, against rashness in making such a
profession, or doing it mainly for the credit of himself or hia
family, or from any secular views whatsoever, and to put him
on serious self-examination, and searching his own heart, and
prayer to God to search and enlighten him that he may not be
hypocritical and deceived in th3 profession he makes; withal
N
17$ NOTES [PAGES 118-153
pointing forth to him the many ways in which professors are liable
to be deceived.
Nor do I think it improper for a minister in such a case, to
inquire and know of the candidate what can be remembered of the
circumstances of his Christian experience ; as this may tend much
to illustrate his profession and give a minister great advantage for
proper instructions : though a particular knowledge and remem
brance of the time and method of the first conversion to God is
not to be made the test of a person s sincerity, nor insisted on
as necessary in order to his being received into full charity. Not
that I think it at all improper or unprofitable, that in some special
cases a declaration of the particular circumstances of a person s
h rst awakening and the manner of his convictions, illuminations
and comforts, should be publicly exhibited before the whole con
gregation, on occasion of his admission into the church ; though
this be not demanded as necessary to admission. I ever declared
against insisting on a relation of experience, in this sense (viz., a
relation of the particular time and steps of the operation of the
Spirit in first conversion), as the tejun of communion : yet, if by a
relation of experiences, he meaiitU declaration of experience of the
great things urouyht, wherein true grace and the essential acts and
habits of holiness consist; in this sense, I think an account of a
person s experiences necessary in order to his admission into full
communion in the church?] But that in whatever inquiries are
made, and whatever accounts are given, neither minister nor
churc i are to set up themselves as searchers of hearts, but are to
accept the serious, solemn profession of the well instructed pro
fessor, of a good life, ns best able to determine what he finds in
his own heart.
These things may serve in some measure to set right those of
my readers who have been misled in their apprehensions of the
state of the controversy between me and my people, by the
forementioned misrepresentations. JONATHAN EDWARDS.
PAGES 118-153] NOTES 179
135. But in all probability this will never be again. It
is sometimes asserted that Edwards never again occupied the
pulpit in Northampton. This is not true. lie preached, in te,ct,
twelve Sundays, though, to be sure, not consecutively and only
when other supplies could not be secured, before his removal to
Stockbridge. There is perhaps more reason for the statement of
Dr. Hopkins, quoted by Dwight (op. cit. p. 418), that the town at
last it is thought in November, 1750 voted that lie should preach
no longer. But the records of town and precinct are alike silent
on this matter, the only vote bearing on it being one passed by the
precinct in November, "to pay Mr. Edwards <J 10 old tenor per
Sabbath for the time he preached here since he was dismissed."
Trumbull, who has established this fact (History of Northampton,
Vol. II, p. 2 J7), says that the last sermon by Edwards in North
ampton was in the afternoon of October 18, 1751, from the text
Ileb. xi. 10. But even this is doub ful ; for among the manuscripts
in New Haven, Professor Dexter discovered a sermon on 2 Cor.
iv. marked as preached in Northampton, May 1755, and in a
book of plans of sermons at least three notes of texts and doctrines
of the same period marked as designed for Northampton. (F. B.
Dexter, The Manuscripts of Jonathan Edwards, p. 8.)
145. By which I became so obnoxious. The excitement of
the Great Awakening was followed by a period of laxity. In
1744 Edwards was informed that a number of the young people of
his congregation, of both sexes, were reading immoral books, which_
fostered lascivious and obscene conversation. To chock the evil,
lie preached a sermon, of the frankness of which we may judge
from the published sermon on "Joseph s Temptation," from Ileb.,
xii. 15, 1(5, and after the service communicated to the brethren of
the church the evidence in his possession with a view to further
action. A committee of inquiry was appointed to assist the pastor
in examining into the affair at a meeting at his house. Edwards
then read the names of the young people to be summoned as wit-
180 NOTES [PAOKS 11S-153
nesses or as accused, but without discriminating between the two
classes. When the names were thus published, it was found that
most of the leading families of the town were implicated. "The
town was suddenly all on a blaze." Many of the heads of families
refused to proceed with the investigation ; many of the young peo
ple summoned to the meeting refused to eome, and those who did
<-omc acted with insolence. Edwards never thereafter succeeded
in reestablishing his authority. For years not a single candidate
appeared for admission to the church. See Hopkins, Life of Ed
wards (1705), pp. 53 ff. Dwight, op. cit. pp. 209 f., copies llop-
kins s account almost verbatim, but without acknowledgment.
140. I have . . . meet before him. The company keeping and
worldly amusements of the young people were an old griev
ance with Edwards. Writing of the period before the revival of
1 734-1 735, lie says, u It was their manner very frequently to get
together in conventions of both sexes, for mirth and jollity, which
they called frolicks ; and they would often spend the greater part
of the night in them, without any regard to order in the families
they belong to." How the young people amused themselves in
these " conventions," we can only conjecture : it is certain that
some, at least, of the parents saw no harm in them. But Ed-
warus s idea of family government was very different. ** He
allowed not his children to be from home after nine o clock at
night, when they went abroad to see their friends and companions.
Neither were they allowed to sit up much after that time, in his
own house, when any came to make them a visit. If any gentle
man desired acquaintance with his daughters, after handsomely
introducing himself, by properly consulting the parents, he was
allowed all proper opportunity for it: a room and lire, if needed ;
but must not intrude on the proper hours of rest and sleep, or the
religion and order of the family." (Hopkins, op. cit. p. 44.) We
have reason to think tha* some of the "other liberties commonly
taken by young people in the land " were calculated to favor any
thing rather than refinement and spirituality.
PAGES 118-lttJ] .VOTES 181
119. A contentious spirit. History in a general way corrobo
rates the following testimony of Edwards concerning the con
tentious spirit in the people of Northampton: "There were some
mighty contests and controversies among them in Mr. Stoddard s
day, which were managed with great heat and violence ; some great
quarrels in the church, wherein Mr, Stoddard, great as his author
ity was, knew not what to do with them. In one ecclesiastical con
troversy in Mr. Stoddard s day, wherein the church was divided
into two parties, the heat of spirit was raised to such a degree, that
it came to hard blows. A member of one party met the head of
the opposite party and assaulted him and beat him unmercifully.
There has been for forty or fifty years a sort of settled division of
the people into two parties, somewhat like the Court and Country
party in England (if I may compare small things with great).
There have been some of the chief men in the town, of chief
authority and wealth, that have been great proprietors of their
lands, who have had one party with them. And the other party,
which lias commonly been the greatest, have been of those who
have been jealous of them, apt to envy them, and afraid of their
having too much power and influence in town and church. This
has been a foundation of innumerable contentions among the peo
ple* from time to time, which have been exceedingly grievous to
me, and by which doubtless God has been dreadfully provoked,
and his Spirit grieved and quenched, and much confusion and
many evil works have been introduced." Letter of July 1, 1751 to
Rev. Thomas Gillespie. Cf. Trumbull, History of Northampton,
Vol. II, p. 30.
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