N05520:23
True grace, distinguished from the experience of devils; in a sermon, preached before the…
True grace, distinguished from the experience of devils; in a sermon, preached before the Synod of New-York, convened at New-Ark, in New-Jersey, on September 28. N.S. 1752. / By Jonathan Edwards, A.M. Pastor of the Church of Christ in Stockbridge in New-England. ; (Printed by the desire of the synod.) : [Four lines from II. Corinthians]
New-York: printed by James Parker, 1753
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.
I. The Devils have no Degree of Holiness: And therefore, those Things, which are Nothing beyond what they are the Subjects of, cannot be holy Experiences.
The Devil once was holy; but when he fell, he lost all his Holiness, and became perfectly wicked. He is the greatest Sinner, and in some Sense, the Father of all Sin. John viii. 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil, and the Lusts of your Father ye will do. He was a Murderer from the Beginning, ⟨p. 5⟩and abode not in the Truth; because there was no Truth in him: When he speaketh a Lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a Liar, and the Father of it. 1 John, iii. 8. He that committeth Sin is of the Devil; for the Devil sinneth from the Beginning. He is often spoken of, as by Way of Eminence, THE WICKED ONE. So, Matt. xiii. 19. Then cometh the wicked One, and catcheth away that which was sown in his Heart. V. 38. The Tares are the Children of the wicked One. 1 John, ii. 13. I write unto you young Men, because ye have overcome the wicked One. Chap. iii. 12. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked One. Chap. v. 18. Whosoever is born of GOD—keepeth himself, and that wicked One toucheth him not. So the Devils are called evil Spirits, unclean Spirits, Powers of Darkness, Rulers of the Darkness of this World, and Wickedness it self: Eph. vi. 12. For we wrestle not against Flesh and Blood; but against Principalities, against Powers, against the Rulers of the Darkness of this World, against spiritual Wickedness in high Places.