N03467:321
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.
'Tis therefore quite a wrong Notion that some entertain, that the more they do, the more they shall depend on it: Whereas the Reverse is true; the more they do, or the more thorough they are in seeking, the less will […] they be likely to rest in their Doings, and the sooner […] they see the Vanity of all that they do. So that […] will exceedingly miss it, if ever they neglect to […] any Duty either to God or Man, whether it be any […] of Religion, Justice, or Charity, under a Notion […] its exposing them to trust in their own Righteouss••ns. 'Tis very true, that 'tis a common Thing for […] when they earnestly seek Salvation, to trust in the […] that they take: But yet commonly those that go […] a more slighty Way, trust a great Deal more […] to their dull Services, than he that is pressing […] Kingdom of God does to his Earnestness. Men's ⟨p. 147⟩Slackness in Religion, and their Trust in their own Righteousness, do strengthen and establish one another. Their Trust in what they have done, and what they now do, settles them in a slothful Rest and Ease, and hinders their being sensible of their Need of rousing up themselves and pressing forward. And on the other Hand, their Negligence tends so to benumb them, and keep them in such Ignorance of themselves, that the most miserable Refuges are stupidly rested in as sufficient. Therefore we see that when Persons have been going on for a long Time in such a Way, and God afterwards comes more thoroughly to awaken them, and to stir them up to be in good Earnest, he shakes all their old Foundation, and rouses them out of their old Resting Places; so that they cannot quiet themselves with those Things that formerly kept them secure.
'Tis therefore quite a wrong Notion that some entertain, that the more they do, the more they shall depend on it: Whereas the Reverse is true; the more they do, or the more thorough they are in seeking, the less will 〈…〉 they be likely to rest in their Doings, and the sooner 〈…〉 they see the Vanity of all that they do. So that 〈…〉 will exceedingly miss it, if ever they neglect to 〈…〉 any Duty either to God or Man, whether it be any 〈…〉 of Religion, Justice, or Charity, under a Notion its exposing them to trust in their own Righteoussns. 'Tis very true, that 'tis a common Thing for when they earnestly seek Salvation, to trust in the that they take: But yet commonly those that go a more slighty Way, trust a great Deal more to their dull Services, than he that is pressing Kingdom of God does to his Earnestness. Men's