N03467:747
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.
When Awakenings first begin, their Consciences are commonly most exercised about their outward vicious Course, or other Acts of Sin; but afterwards are much more burdened with a sense of Heart sins, the dreadful Corruption of their Nature, their Enmity against God, the Pride of their Hearts, their Unbelief, their Rejection of Christ, the Stubbornness and Obstinacy of their Wills; and the like. In many, God makes much use of their own Experience, in the course of their Awakenings and Endeavours after saving Good, to convince them of their own vile Emptiness and universal Depravity.
Very often under first Awakenings, when they are brought to reflect on the Sin of their past Lives, and have something of a terrifying sense of God's Anger, they set themselves to walk more strictly, and confess their Sins, and perform many religious Duties, with a secret Hope of appeasing God's Anger and making up for the Sins they have committed▪ and oftentimes, at first setting out, their Affections are moved, and they are full of Tears, in their Confessions and Prayers, which they are ready to make very much of, as tho' they were some Atonement, and had Power to move correspondent Affections in God too: and hence they are for a while big with Expectation of what God will do for them; and conceive that they grow better apace, and shall soon be thoroughly converted. But these Affections are but short-lived, they quickly find that they fail, and then they think themselves to be grown worse again; they don't find such a Prospect of being soon converted, as they thought: instead of being nearer, they seem to be farther off; their Hearts they think are grown harder, and by this means their fears of perishing greatly increase. But tho' they are disappointed, they ⟨p. 25⟩renew their Attempts again and again; and still as their Attempts are Multiplied, so are their Disappointments; all fails, they see no token of having inclined God's Heart to them, they don't see that he hears their Prayers at all, as they expected he would; and sometimes there have been great Temptations arising hence to leave off seeking, and to yield up the Case. But as they are still more terrified with Fears of perishing, and their former Hopes of prevailing on God to be merciful to them in a great measure fail; sometimes their religious Affections have turned into Heart-risings against God, because that he won't pity them, and seems to have little regard to their Distress, and piteous Cries, and to all the Pains that they take; They think of the Mercy that God has shown to others, how soon, and how easily others have obtained Comfort, and those too that were worse than they, and have not laboured so much as they have done, and sometimes they have had even dreadful blasphemous Thoughts, in these Circumstances.