Forty-Six Sermons in Volume II of the Works by Jonathan Edwards (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Sermon III from the section entitled 'Seventeen Occasional Sermons'.
Today Edwards teaches us from Hosea ii. 15. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.'
Edwards primary point is 'God is wont to cause hope and comfort to arise in the soul after trouble and humbling for sin, and according as the troubler is slain and forsaken.'
Thus Edwards shows us that:
I. it is thus with respect to the first true hope and comfort which is given to the soul at conversion.
II. God is wont to bestow hope and comfort on Christians from time to time in this way.
Once establishing these points, Edwards gives us some reasons for the doctrine and also applications of instruction, self-examination and direction.
What grabbed me
I enjoyed Edwards advice on how to slay sin: 'We must look to him not only as a Saviour from the punishment of sin, but we must receive and embrace him as a Saviour from sin itself. We cannot deliver ourselves from sin. We cannot slay this enemy of ourselves. He is too strong an enemy for us. We can no more slay sin ourselves, than the, children of Israel, who were themselves a poor feeble company, a mixed multitude, unprepared to resist such a force, could themselves slay Pharaoh, and all his mighty army with chariots and horsemen. It was Christ in the pillar of cloud and fire, who fought for them. They had nothing to do but trust in him. Exod. xiv. 4. “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” They could never have drowned the Egyptians in the sea. It was Christ who did it; for the pillar of cloud stood between them and the Israelites, and when they were up out of the sea, then Christ brought on them the waters of the sea. Our enemies must be drowned in the all-sufficient fountain, and, as it were, sea of Christ’s blood, as the Egyptians were in the Red sea, and then we may sing, as the children of Israel did in the day when they came up out of the land of Egypt. When sin is thus slain, then God is wont to open a door of hope, a door through which there flashes a sweet light out of heaven upon the soul. Then comfort arises, and then is there a new song in the mouth, even praise unto God. '
If we are to conquer sin, it must be through Christ.
Next week's reading
Read Sermon IV from the section entitled 'Seventeen Occasional Sermons'.
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
No comments:
Post a Comment