Jonathan Edwards' ObservationsJonathan Edwards himself reports that his wife, through these experiences of the grace of God, had a new "lively sense of the greatness of God, and her own littleness and vileness... a very great increase of meekness and humility.... These were accompanied with an extraordinary sense of the awful majesty of God, so as frequently to take away the bodily strength; with a sense of the holiness of God, as of a flame infinitely pure and bright, so as oftentimes to overwhelm soul and body, with an extraordinary view of the infinite terribleness of His wrath, of the exceeding sinfulness of her own heart, and of a desire of that wrath for ever; with an intense sorrow for sin, so as to prostrate the strength of the body; with a clear certainty of the truth of the great things revealed in the gospel; with an overwhelming sense of the glory of the work of redemption, and the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, of the glorious harmony of the divine attributes appearing therein, as that wherein mercy and truth are met together, and righteousness and peace have kissed each other, with a sight of the glorious sufficiency of Christ, a constant immovable trust in God, an overwhelming sense of His glorious unsearchable wisdom, a sweet rejoicing at His being infinitely and unchangeably happy, independent, and all-sufficient, at His reigning over all, and doing His own will with uncontrollable power and sovereignty; with a delightful sense of the glory of the Holy Spirit as the great Comforter; with intense desires for the honour and glory of God's name, a clear and constant preference of it, not only to her own temporal interests, but to her spiritual comfort; with a willingness to live and die in spiritual darkness, if the honour of God required it, a great lamenting of ingratitude, intense longings and faintings after higher love to Christ, and greater conformity to Him—particularly to be more perfect in humility and adoration.... with a living by faith in a very unusual manner; with a uniform distrust of her own strength, and a great dependence on God for help; with intense longings that all Christians might be fervent in love, and active in the service of God; with taking pleasure in watchfulness and toil, self-denial and bearing the cross." This extensive quotation is only a portion of Mr Edwards' report of the work of God in the heart and soul of his wife. He summarises it in this statement: "Instead of slighting the means of grace in consequence of these discoveries, she was never more sensible of her need of instruction; instead of regarding herself as free from sin, she was led by her clearer sight of the Divine holiness, to perceive more fully the sinfulness of her own heart; instead of neglecting the business of life, she performed it with greater alacrity, as a part of the service of God—declaring that, when thus done, it was delightful as prayer itself." It is important to recognise the true work of God in her, that we might understand what her real experience was. Any impartial observer would need to say that what is spoken of as happening today, is deficient in a great deal of the substance of Mrs Edward's experience.
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Copyright © 2002 Homerton Baptist Church. |
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