N03467:298
Discourses on various important subjects, nearly concerning the great affair of the soul's eternal…
Discourses on various important subjects, nearly concerning the great affair of the soul's eternal salvation, viz. I. Justification 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 at Northampton, chiefly at 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. ; [Three lines from Deuteronomy]
Boston: printed by S. Kneeland and T. Green, 1738
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
3. By pressing into the Kingdom of God is signified Greatness of Endeavour. 'Tis expressed in Eccles. 9. 10. by doing what our Hand finds to do with our Might. And this is the natural and necessary Consequence of the two forementioned Things; where there is Strength of Desire, and Firmness of Resolution, there will be answerable Endeavours: Persons thus engaged in their Hearts will strive to enter in at the strait Gate, and will be violent for Heaven; their Practice will be agreeable to the Counsel of the wise Man, in Prov. 2. at the beginning, My Son, if thou wil• receive my Words, and hide my Commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine Ear unto Wisdom, and apply thine Heart to Understanding: Yea, if thou criest after Knowledge, and liftest up thy Voice for Understanding; if thou seekest her as Silver, and searchest for her as for hid Treasures; then shalt thou understand the Fear of the Lord, and find the Knowledge of God. Here the Earnestness of Desire and ⟨p. 137⟩Strength of Resolution is signified by inclining the Ea• to Wisdom, and applying the Heart to Understanding; and the Greatness of Endeavour is denoted by crying after Knowledge, and lifting up the Voice for Understanding, seeking her as Silver, and searching for her as for hid Treasures: Such Desires and Resolutions, and such Endeavours go together.
3. By pressing into the Kingdom of God is signified Greatness of Endeavour. 'Tis expressed in Eccles. 9. 10. by doing what our Hand finds to do with our Might. And this is the natural and necessary Consequence of the two foremention'd Things; where there is Strength of Desire, and Firmness of Resolution, there will be answerable Endeavours: Persons thus engaged in their Hearts will strive to enter in at the strait Gate, and will be violent for Heaven; their Practice will be agreable to the Counsel of the wise Man, in Prov. 2. at the beginning, My Son, if thou wil• receive my Words, and hide my Commandments with thee; so that thou inclin thine Ear unto Wisdom, and apply thine Heart to Understanding: Yea, if thou criest after Knowlege, and liftest up thy Voice for Understanding; if thou seekest her as Silver, and searchest for her as for hid Treasures; then shalt thou understand the Fear of the Lord, and find the Knowlege of God. Here the Earnestness of Desire and