Tag Archives: Puritan Preaching

Balaam’s Wish.2 (Richard Sibbes)

21 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by in Preaching, Richard Sibbes, Uncategorized

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John_Linnell_-_The_Prophet_Balaam_and_the_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project
Having faced the fact that we must die, Sibbes now turns to the fact that we must live:

Obs. 2. The estate of the soul continues after death.

This point is nearer to what Balaam desires. If he merely desired the death of the righteous, and if the righteous died in precisely the same way as the wicked, that would be nothing. Balaam did not desire the death, but the life which surpasses death:

For here he wisheth to die the death of the righteous, not for any excellency in death, but in regard of the subsistence and continuance of the soul after death.

This, of course, raises the question, is there life which consists after death? The near contemporary of Sibbes, Shakespeare has his hero Hamlet ask this question:

But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,

Sibbes affirms that life does persist – and he makes two points, both Scripture and reason:

Scripture and reason and nature enforceth this, that the soul hath a subsistence of itself, distinct from the life it communicates to the body. There is a double life, a life proper to the soul, and the life it communicates to the body. Now when the life it communicates to the body is gone to dissolution, itself hath a life in heaven. And indeed it is in a manner the whole man; for Abraham was Abraham when he was dead, when his soul was in heaven, and his body in the grave. It is the whole man.

First, there is a principle in the soul which is segregable from the body:

Reas. 1. And it discovers, indeed, that it hath a distinct life and excellency in itself, by reason that it thwarts the desires of the body when it is in the body. Reason, if there be no grace in the soul, that crosseth the inclination of the body, grace much more.

Second, the soul seems to operate separate from and above (if you will) the operation of the body:

Reas. 2. And we see ofttimes, when the outward man is weak, as in sickness, &c., then the understanding, will, and affections, the inward man, is most sublime, and rapt unto heaven, and is most wise. Take a man that hath been besotted all his lifetime, that hath been drunk with the pleasures of a carnal life, that hath been a covetous wretch, an earth-worm, that enjoys not heaven, but lives as his wealth and lusts carry him in slavery, yet at the hour of death, when he considers that he hath scraped together, and considers the way that his lusts have led him, and that all must leave him, now he begins to be wise, and speaks more discreetly. He can speak of the vanity of these things, and how little good they can do. Indeed many, nay the most men, are not wise until that time. Therefore the soul of itself hath a distinct being, because, when the body is lowest, it is most refined and strong in its operations.

There is a principle of the soul which concerns itself with the future. If we were merely animals confined to a single life, then there would be no purpose in the soul:

Reas. 3. Likewise it appears by the projects that it hath of the time to come. The soul, especially of men that are of more elevated and refined spirits, it projects for the time to come what shall become of the church and commonwealth, what shall become of posterity and of reputation and credit in the world. Certainly, unless there were a subsistence of itself, it would never look so much beforehand, and lay the grounds of the prosperity of the church and commonwealth for the time to come. I will not stand further on it, but rather make some use of it.

If the soul continues to exist, then we must be careful of how it is used now:

Use. Let us know which is our best part, namely, the soul, that hath a being after death, that we do not employ it to base uses, for which it was not made nor given us.

First, our soul must be used for that which it was created:

Do we think that these souls of ours were made and given us to scrape wealth? to travel in our affections to base things worse than our souls? Are they not capable of supernatural and excellent things? Are they not capable of grace and glory, of communion with God, of the blessed stamp of the image of God? Let us use them, therefore, to the end that God gave them. And let us not deserve so ill of our souls as to betray them, to cast them in the dirt, to lay our crown in the dust. This is our excellency.

Living merely for the bestial operation of the body (which is a misuse of the body) is the life of too many men:

What can keep our bodies from being a deformed, loathsome thing, if the soul be taken away? Yet so we abase this excellent part! Ofttimes we abase it to serve the base lusts of the body, which is condemned to rottenness. What is the life of most men but a purveying and prowling for the body? The lusts of the body set the wit and affections on work to prowl for itself. What a base thing is this! Were our souls given us for this end? And especially considering this, that our souls are immortal, that they shall never die, but be forever.

If our soul lives forever, the proper object of its happiness must be something fitting to an eternal existence. If our soul is fitted to a happiness which is dependent upon things which will perish with our death, then our soul will outlive its happiness:

Let us not altogether spend this precious time that is given us to save our souls, and to get the image of God stamped upon them, I say let us not spend this precious time in things that will leave us when our souls shall live still; let us not carry the matter so, that our souls shall outlive our happiness. All worldlings and base creatures, they outlive their happiness. For where do they plant it? In the base things of this life. All their life long they are prowling for those things that they must leave when they die, whereas their souls shall not die, but everlastingly subsist.

Here is a basis for eternal sorrow, to have souls fitted for that only which has perished and which shall never be regained:

What a misery is this, that these souls of ours shall have a being when the things wherein we placed our happiness, and abused our souls to gain them, they shall have an end! The souls of such men that seek the things of this life shall have a being in eternal misery. Indeed, so it is; for these souls of ours, the same degree they have in excellency if they be used as they should, if we do not abase them, the same degree they shall have in baseness and misery if we abuse them, and make them slaves to earthly things.

This degeneracy is seen in the devils who fell from their height of glory:

For as the devils, the same degree they had of excellency when they were angels, the same degree they have in misery now they be devils. The more excellent the creature is when it keeps its excellency, the more vile it is when it degenerates. So these souls of ours that next to angels are the most excellent creatures of God, the more excellent it is if it get the image of God stamped upon it, and the new creature, and have the life of grace, the more cursed is the state of the soul if it subsist to everlasting misery.

This again is theme sounded in Shakespeare, Sonnet 94, which ends with the lines,

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

Sibbes ends with a closer application of the point: it is not only those who are utterly outside the church, but often those within the church who live as if their souls would not continue after their death:

It were happy if the souls of such creatures were mortal that labour for a happiness in this life. Oh that we would think of this! Most men in the bosom of the church, which is lamentable to think, they live as if they had no souls. They overturn the order that God hath set, and hath given us our bodies to serve our souls. They use all the strength and marrow of their wits, all the excellencies in their souls, for the base satisfaction of the lusts of the body. So much for that point.

In making this point, Sibbes echoes and applies a point from Paul:

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (ESV)
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Exegeting the Heart.1

04 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by in Exegeting the Heart, Preaching, Thomas Manton

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In his sermons, Thomas Manton often makes use of a methodology more commonly used by biblical counselors than expositional preachers. In fact, there is a strange breach in conservative evangelical ministry between counseling & preaching. Yet when one looks to the model of the Puritans (such as Manton), the two functions were united. Preaching & counseling differed primarily by audience not by content or method. That many preachers think it necessary to outsource counseling demonstrates a tremendous blindspot in their ministry.

When Manton provides a “use” (an application) in his sermons, he often uses the application as an opportunity to exegete the hearer.

For example, in his sermon on Psalm 119:65, Manton seeks “to persuade you to become servants of God.” However, he does not merely force the duty (as is in the most common custom in preaching). Rather, he makes a two-step movement. First, he sets forth the benefits to becoming a servant of God. Second, he addresses the internal objections which keep one from becoming a servant.
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The Saints’ Advantage by Christ’s Ascension.1

05 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by in Ascension, Biblical Counseling, Christology, Christopher Love, John, Preaching, Puritan

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This book written by Christopher Love and published in 1652 will be presented here as I transcribe it (with minor editing to make it more readable in 2014):

The Saints’ Advantage by Christ’s Ascension.

John 14:3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, but where I am, there ye may be also.

This chapter out of which my text is taken, is counted famous by most interpreters, because in it begins the legacy that Christ gives, and the last will and testament that Christ made when he was to leave the world. This will and testament of Christ’s begins in the 14th chapter and continues to the 18th chapter of this book. The scope and drift of this chapter is to comfort his disciples both against their fears of persecution in the world and also against their sorrows, upon this consideration that Christ was shortly to leave this world.

Christ here mentions many comfortable considerations for them. That they were to be left without a guide and that Christ was shortly to leave the world and go to his Father; it much trouble them. It went ill with them when Christ was with them, and they thought it would be worse with them when he was gone. So he does encourage them by means of these arguments.

Four Encouragements of Christ

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Thomas Manton on Psalm 119:3

26 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Keep the heart, Preaching, Psalms, Thomas Manton

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The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/thomas-manton-on-psalm-119-2c/

SERMON IV

They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.—VER. 3.

Now, holiness is considered, in the parts of it, negatively and positively. The two parts of holiness are an eschewing of sin and studying to please God. You have both in this verse, ‘They also do no iniquity: they walk in His ways.’

I         They do no iniquity. You have the blessed man described negatively, they do no iniquity. Upon hearing the words, presently there occurs a doubt, how then can any man be blessed? [Because who can be without sin?]Eccles. 7:20; James 3:2, 1 John 1:8.

A      [At this point Manton considers how the doctrine may be understood by those who hear. Some may take this as a license to sin, because “who can be perfect”? Others may become discouraged.]

B      First, What it is to do iniquity? If we make it our trade and practice to continue in wilful disobedience. To sin is one thing, but to make sin our work is another: 1 John 3:9, Mat. 7:23 John 8:34, Ps. 139:24, None are absolutely freed from sin, but it is not their trade, their way, their work. When a man makes it his study and business to carry on a course of sin, then he is said to do iniquity.

C       Secondly, Who are those that are said to do no iniquity in God’s account, though they fail often through weakness of the flesh and violence of temptation? Answer—

1       All such as are renewed by grace, and reconciled to God by Christ Jesus; to these God imputeth no sin to condemnation, and in his account they do no iniquity. Notable is that, 1 Kings 14:8. It is said of David, ‘He kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, and did that only which was right in mine eyes.’ How can that be? We may trace David by his failings; they are upon record everywhere in the word; yet here a veil is drawn upon them; God laid them not to his charge. Rom. 8:1; 2 Sam. 12:13Rom. 13:12, Rom. 8:12. … A man is known by his custom, and the course of his endeavours, what is his business. If a man be constantly, easily, frequently carried away to sin, it discovers a habit of soul, and the temper of his heart. Meadows may be overflown, but marsh ground is drowned with the return of every tide. A child of God may be carried away, and act contrary to the bent and inclination of the new nature; but when men are drowned and overcome with the return of every temptation, and carried away, it argues a habit of sin

Well, then, the point is this:—

II. Doct. 1. They that are and shall be blessed are such as make it their business to avoid all sin.

A. Surely they shall be blessed, for they take care to remove the makebate, the wall of partition between God and them. It is sin which separates: Isa. 59:2, …This is that which hinders men from communion with God.

B. These are men fitting and preparing themselves for the enjoyment of their great hopes: Col. 1:12, ‘1 John 3:3,

C. In them true happiness is begun. There are degrees in blessedness; the angels they never sinned; the glorified saints they have sinned, but sin no more; the saints upon earth, in them sin reigns not; therefore here is their happiness begun. As sin is taken away, so our happiness increaseth;

USE

Use 1. For trial and examination, whether we may be reckoned among the blessed men, yea or nay.

A      First, Let us consider how far sin may be in a blessed man, in a child of God.

1       They have a corrupt nature, they have sin in them as well as others; it is their misery to the last: Rom. 7:24, … Such an indwelling sin is in us, though we pray, strive, and cut off the excrescences, the buddings out of it here and there, yet till it be plucked asunder by death, it continueth with us.

2       They have their daily failings and infirmities: Eccles. 7:20… There are unavoidable infirmities which are pardoned of course.

3       They may be guilty of some sins which by watchfulness might be prevented, as vain thoughts, idle, passionate speeches, and many carnal actions. It is possible that these may be prevented by the ordinary assistances of grace, and if we will keep a strict guard over our own hearts. But in this case God’s children may be overtaken and overborne; overtaken by the suddenness, or overborne by the violence of temptation: overtaken, Gal. 6:1…James 1:14,

4       They may now and then fall foully On the other side, great sins may be infirmities; …

5       A child of God may have some particular evils, which may be called predominant sins (not with respect to grace, that is impossible, that a man should be renewed and have such sins that sin should carry the mastery over grace); but they may be said to have a predominancy in comparison of other sins; he may have some particular inclination to some evil above others. … It is evident by experience there are particular corruptions to which the children of God are more inclinable: this appears by the great power and sway they bear in commanding other evils to be committed, by their falling into them out of inward propensity when outward temptations are few or weak, or none at all; and when resistance is made, yet they are more pestered and haunted with them than with other temptations, which is a constant matter of exercise and humiliation to them.

B      Secondly, Wherein doth grace now discover itself, where is the difference?

1       In that they cannot fall into those iniquities wherein there is an absolute contrariety to grace, as hatred of God, total apostasy, so they cannot sin the sin unto death, 1 John 5:16.

2       In that they do not sin with the whole heart: Ps. 119:176… When they sin, it is with the dislike and reluctancy of the new nature; it is rather a rape than a consent.

3       It is not their course; not constant, easy, and frequent.

4       When they fall they do not rest in sin: Jer. 8:4. They may fall into the dirt, but they do not lie and wallow there like swine in the mire. 1 John 2:1, humble themselves before God.

5       Their falls are sanctified. When they have smarted under sin, they grow more watchful and more circumspectPs. 51:6,

6       Grace discovers itself by the constant endeavours which they make against sin. What is the constant course a Christian takes? They groan under the relics of sin; it is their burden that they have such an evil nature, Rom. 7:24 1 John 1:9. Rev. 7,: John 13:10,

 

Use 2. If this be the character of a blessed man, to make it our business to avoid sin, then here is caution to God’s people:

A      First, To beware of all sin. The more you have the mark of a blessed man: 1 John 2:1, ‘These things I write unto you, that you sin not.’ Though you have a pardon and cleansing by the blood of Christ, though you have an advocate, yet sin not. Now the motives to set on this caution are taken from God, from ourselves, from the nature of sin.

1       From God. Sin not. Why? Because it is an offence to God… All creatures have a law: Ps. 148:6, ‘Thou hast set to them a decree, beyond which they cannot pass.’ And they are less exorbitant in their motions than we are. It is a greater violation to the law of nature for man to sin, than for the sea to break its bounds. … 2 Sam. 12:9, ‘… Christ came to take away sin, and will you bind those cords the faster which Christ came to loosen? Then you go about to defeat the purpose of his death, and put your Redeemer to shame. You seek to make void the great end for which Christ came, which was to dissolve sin. And, besides, you disparage the worth of the price he paid down; you make the blood of Christ a cheap thing, when you despise grace and holiness; you make nothing of that which cost him so dear—you lessen the greatness of his sufferings. And it is a wrong to his pattern. You should be ‘pure as Christ is pure,’ 1 John 3:3; and ver. 7, Titus 3:5. 2 Peter 1:9 Rom. 8:13;

2       By an argument drawn from ourselves; it is very unsuitable to you. We profess ourselves to be ‘regenerate’ and born of God: 1 John 3:9, ‘He that is born of God cannot sin.’ It is not only contrary to thy duty, but to thy nature, as thou art a new creature. It were monstrous for the egg of one creature to bring forth a brood of another kind, for a crow or a kite to come from the egg of a hen. It is as unnatural a production for a new creature to sin; therefore you that are born of God, it is very uncomely and unsuitable. Do not dishonour your high birth.

3       Consider the nature of sin; if you give way to it, it will encroach further. Sins steal into the throne insensibly; and being habituated in us by long custom, we cannot easily shake off the yoke or redeem ourselves from their tyranny. They go on from little to little, and get strength by multiplied acts. Therefore we should be very careful to avoid all sin.

B      The second part of the caution is, beware of gross sins, committed against light and conscience. When we are tempted to sin, say with Joseph: Gen. 39:9, ‘How can I do this wickedness, and sin against God?’ …1 Kings 15:5; it is said, ‘

C       Thirdly, Beware of continuance in sin. How may we continue in sin? In what sense? Three things I shall take notice of in sin—culpa, reatus, macula; there is the fault, the guilt, the blot; and then we continue in sin, when the fault, the guilt, or blot is continued upon us.

1       The fault is continued when the acts of it are repeated, when we fall into the same sin again and again. Relapses are very dangerous, as a bone often broken in the same place; you are in danger of this, before the breach be well made up between God and you; as Lot doubling his incest: to venture once and again is very dangerous.

2       The guilt doth continue upon a man till serious and solemn repentance, till he sue out pardon in the name of Christ. Though a man should forbear the act, never commit it more; yet unless he retracts it by a serious remorse, and humbleth himself before God, and sueth out his pardon in a repenting way, the guilt continues. ‘If we confess’—he speaks to believers—then sin is forgiven, not otherwise.

3       There is the macula, the blot, by which the schoolmen understand an inclination to sin again; the evil influence of the sin continueth until we use serious endeavours to mortify the root of it. … Therefore if you would do what is your duty, you must look to the fault, that that be not renewed; the guilt, that that be not continued by omission of repentance; and that the blot also do not remain upon you, by not searching to the root of the distemper, the cause of that sin by which we have been foiled. So much for the first part of the text, They do no iniquity.

The second note is, they walk in his ways. This is the positive part; not only avoiding of sin, but practice of holiness, is implied. Observe—

Doct. 2. It is not enough only to avoid evil, but we must do good. ‘They do no iniquity;’ then ‘they walk in his ways.’

A. Why?

1.The law of God is positive as well as negative. Amos 5:15 Rom. 12:9.

2. The mercies of God they are positive as well as privative. Our obedience should correspond with God’s mercies.

USE:

It reproves those that rest in negatives. As it was said of the emperor, he was rather not vicious than virtuous. Many men, all their religion runs upon nots: Luke 18:11, ‘I am not as this publican.’ … Judges 5:23. … Thou art no slanderer; but art thou tender of thy neighbour’s honour and credit as of thy own? Usually men cut off half their bill, as the unjust steward, when he owed a hundred, bade him set down fifty. We do not think of sins of omission. If we are not drunkards, adulterers, and profane persons, we do not think what it is to omit respects to God, and want of reverence to his holy majesty; to delight in him and his ways.

In the next place, take notice of the notion, by which the precepts of God are expressed; here they are called ways, ‘that walk in his ways;’ how is that?—not as he hath given us an example, to be holy as he is holy, just as he is just; but his ways are his precepts. Why are they his ways? Because they are appointed by God, and prescribed by him. Which shows the evil of defection and going astray from him. It is a despising God’s wisdom and authority. The great and wise God hath found out a way for the creature to walk in, that he may attain true happiness; and we must still be running out into bypaths; yea, it is a despising of his goodness: ‘He hath showed thee, O man, what is good;’ how to walk step by step. Then they are God’s ways, as they lead to the enjoyment of him. From thence we may learn that many that wish to be where he is, shall never come there, because they do not walk in the way that leads to him. A man can never come to a place, that will not go in the way that will bring him thither: so they will never come to the enjoyment of God in a blessed estate, that will not take the Lord’s way to blessedness, that follow not the course God hath prescribed to them in his word.

 

Thomas Manton on Psalm 119:2b

07 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in Desire, Love, Preaching, Psalms, Thomas Manton, Worship

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The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/thomas-manton-on-psalm-1192a/

Manton next sets out the doctrine derived from Psalm 119:2b, “Blesed are they … that seek him with the whole heart””:

Doct. 2. Those that would be blessed must make this their business, sincerely to seek after God.

 

He then breaks the doctrine two into two aspects: The duty of seeking the manner of seeking. Being a good and careful pastor, he does not presume the congregants understand what is meant in the words. The idea of seeking God seems simple enough until you stop and consider: How does one seek God? In an Easter Egg, you seek the colored eggs by looking around and over and under. But how does one seek God?

I. The Duty: What is it to “seek God”?
A. Seeking God at implies that we lack God, “for no man seeks what he hath, but for what he hath not. All that are seeking are sensible of their want of God.”

 

a. This is the true mark of one who is truly affected by the Spirit, “The first work and great care of returning penitents is to inquire after God. So long as men lie unconverted, they are wholly neglectful of him, and think they do not want God: Ps. 14:2.

 

b. It is also the work of those who find themselves deserted by God: “Go to another sort of seekers, they are sensible of the same thing; in case of desertion it is clear: Cant. 5:6, ‘My beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone; I sought him, but I could not find him.’ They never begin to recover until they are first sensible of their loss; when they see Christ is gone, they are left dead and comfortless; yea, all believers, their seeking or looking after communion with God is grounded upon a sense of want in some degree and measure; it is little they have in comparison of what they want and expect; and therefore still the children of God are a generation of seekers, that ‘seek after God,’ Ps. 24:6; whatever they enjoy, they are still in pursuit of more. They are always breathing after God, and desire to enjoy more communion with him.”

 

c. This is to be contrasted with the wicked, “A wicked man is always running from God, and is never better than when he is out of God’s company, when he is rid of all thoughts of God. He runs from his own conscience, because he finds God there; he runs from the company of good men, because God is there—holy conference is as a prison; he runs from ordinances, because they bring God near to his conscience, and put him in mind of God: he avoids death, because he cannot endure to be with God.”

 

B. We seek union and communion with God in Jesus Christ, “so that which we seek after is God’s favourable and powerful presence, that we may find the Lord reconciled, comforting and quickening our heart. Communion with God is the main thing that we seek after, as to the enjoyment of his favour in the acceptance of our persons and pardon of our sins. This is that the man of God expresseth, in his own name and in the name of all the saints: Ps. 4:6, 7, ‘Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us;’ that God would display his beams of favour upon the soul. So Ps. 63:3, ‘Thy favour is better than life.’ And then his strength too, that he may subdue our corruptions, temptations, enemies, Micah 7:19; and that he may supply our wants inward and outward by his all-sufficiency, Phil. 4:19. God telleth Abraham, ‘I am God all-sufficient; walk before me, and be thou perfect.’”

 

C. Now the means of seeking God: the exercise of grace and the use of ordinances

 

a. By the exercise of grace, Manton means particularly the exercise of faith and love.

 

b. By ordinances, Manton means the ordinary means of spiritual disciplines: public and private worship.

 

i.  “If you would find a man, mind where is his walk and usual resort. When Christ was lost, his parents sought him in the temple; there they found him. If you would find Christ, look to the shepherds’ tents in the assemblies of his people, Cant. 1:7, 8; there shall you meet him.”

 

ii. “Only let me tell you, in these ordinances it is not enough to make Christ the object of them, to worship Christ, but he must be made the end of them. To serve God is one thing, to seek him another. To serve God is to make him the object of worship, to seek God is to make him the end of worship, when we will not go away from him without him: Gen. 32:16, ‘I will not let thee go unless thou bless me.’”

 

iii. “To go away with the husk and shell of an ordinance, and neglect the kernel, to please ourselves because we have been in the courts of God, though we have not met with the living God, that is very sad.”

 

iv. “Again, if God be not found in an ordinance, yet we must continue seeking; you may find him in the next. Sometimes God will not be found in public, that he may be found in private ordinances.”

Thomas Manton on Psalm 119:2a

23 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Keep the heart, Obedience, Preaching, Psalms, Thomas Manton

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The previous post in this will be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/thomas-manon-on-psalm-1191c/

Manton preached two sermons on Psalm 119:2, “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, that seek him with the whole heart.”

From this verse he sets out two doctrines: (1) They that keep close to God’s testimonies are blessed. (2) Those would be blessed must make this their business sincerely to seek after God.

The second sermon concerns the mean and application of these two doctrines.

Manton analyzes the first doctrine by breaking it down into two parts: (A) What is mean by testimony. (B) What is meant by “keeping”.

A “Testimony” is what God has said

First, The notion by which the word of God is expressed is testimonies, whereby is intended the whole declaration of God’s will, in doctrines, commands, examples, threatenings, promises. The whole word is the testimony which God hath deposed for the satisfaction of the world about the way of their salvation. Now, because the word of God brancheth itself into two parts, the law and the gospel, this notion may be applied to both

As Manton works through this matter, he notes that a “testimony” declares the content of one’s heart. Thus, “the word isa full declaration of the Lord’s mind.” At this point Manton turns to exegete the hearer (or reader) of the sermon. The fact of God’s self-declaration reveals something of humanity — and it implies a response:

It is a blessed thing that we are not left to the uncertainty of our own thoughts: Micah 6:8, ‘He hath showed thee, O man, what is good.’ The way of pleasing and enjoying God is clearly revealed in his word. There we may know what we must do, what we may expect, and upon what terms. We have his testimony.

Now, since the testimony is of God, it is certain. Here, again, Manton uses the doctrine to exegete the hearer:

John 17:17, ‘Sanctify them by thy truth.’ The sanctifying power of God, that goes along with the gospel, is a clear confirmation of the divine testimony in it: John 8:32, ‘The truth shall make you free.’ By our disentanglement from lust we come to be settled in the truth. God’s testimony is the ultimate resolution of our faith. Why do we believe? Because it is God’s testimony.

If the sure testimony of God sets us free, it implies that we were earlier entangled.

In addition, this sure word of God rebukes us for our foolish rejection; which rejection will testify against us on the day of judgment.

Keeping the Testimony of God

Keeping the testimony of God is an act of faith: it entails an intellectual assent, the engaged affections and actual practic.

Assent: “We must understand the word of God, assent to it; we must revolve it often in our thoughts, and have it ready upon all occasions. Understand it we must if we would be blessed: ‘He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me,’ John 14:21. We cannot make conscience of obedience till we know our duty.”

Affections: We must have affection for the testimony of God:
“Sometimes it alludes to the apple of the eye: Prov. 7:2, ‘Keep them as the apple of thine eye.’ Such tender affections should we have to the testimonies of the Lord, as a man has for his eye.”

Practice: We do not keep God’s word if we do not do God’s word:

Our actions are a better discovery of our thoughts than our words. When we get a little knowledge, and make a little profession, we think we observe his commands; but he is a liar if he be not exact, and walk close with God. It is not enough to understand the word, to be able to talk and dispute of the testimonies of God, but to keep them.

[This man who can talk but does not practice, reminds me of Talkative in Pilgrim’s Progress. Talkative says, “To talk of things that are good with you or with any other, to me is very acceptable; and I am glad that I have met with those that incline to so good a work. For, to speak the truth, there are but few that care thus to spend their time (as they are in their travels), but choose much rather to be speaking of things to no profit; and this hath been a trouble to me.”

Such sounds good, until one knows the rest. As Christian explains, “I will give you a further discovery of him. This man is for any company, and for any talk; as he talks now with you, so will he talk when he is on the ale bench; and the more drink he hath in his crown, the more of these things he hath in his mouth; religion hath no place in his heart, or house, or conversation; all he hath lieth in his tongue, and his religion is to make a noise therewith.”]

At this point, Manton explains the matter of “keeping” by explaining the difference between “legal” and “evangelical” obedience:

[T]here is a twofold keeping of God’s testimonies—legal and evangelical. Legal keeping is in a way of perfect and absolute obedience, without the least failing; so none of us can be blessed. Moses will accuse us; there will be failings in the best. But now evangelical keeping—that is, a filial and sincere obedience—is accepted, and the imperfections Christ pardoneth. If God’s pardon help us not, we are for ever miserable. The apostles had many failings; sometimes they manifested a weak faith, sometimes hardness of heart, sometimes passionateness when they met with disrespect, Luke 9; yet Christ returns this general acknowledgment of them when he was pleading with his Father, ‘Holy Father, they have kept thy word.’ When the heart is sincere, God will pass by our failings, James 5:11, ‘Ye have heard of the patience of Job.’ Ay! and of his impatience too, his cursing the day of his birth; but the Spirit of God puts a finger upon the scar, and takes notice of what is good. So long as we bewail sin, seek remission of sin, strive after perfection, endeavour to keep close and be tender of a command, though a naughty heart will carry us aside sometimes, we keep the testimony of the Lord in a gospel sense. Bewailing sin, that owns the law; seeking pardon, that owns the gospel; striving after perfection, that argueth sincerity and uprightness.

Thomas Manton on Psalm 119.1b

01 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Faith, Galatians, Obedience, Preaching, Psalms, Thomas Manton, Uncategorized

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The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/thomas-manton-on-psalm-119-1-a/

The second doctrine Manton sets forth from Psalm119:1 is “That sincere, constant, uniform obedience to God’s law is the only way to true blessedness.” He derives this doctrine from the present participle “walk”, “in this way we must walk, which notes both uniformity and constancy”.

To walk must be in accord with some rule. The way in which must walk is the law of God, “First, The rule is the law of God. All created beings have a rule. Christ’s human nature was the highest of all creatures, and yet it is to be in subjection to God; he is under a rule.”

Here Maton makes a striking observation, the rule of inanimate creatures is a rule of covenant, “Inanimate creatures, sun, moon, stars, are under a law of providence, under a covenant of night and day”.

This rule must most especially apply to those redeemed of God. Hebrews 8:10 quotes the promise of the New Covenant from Jeremiah 31:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Now if the promise of the New Covenant is to have the law of God written on one’s heart, the law must be a blessing to know,. As Manton writes,

If the law might be disannulled as to new creatures, then why doth the Spirit of God write it with such legible characters in their hearts? This is promised as the great blessing of the covenant of grace, Heb. 8:10. Now, that which the Spirit engraves upon the heart, would Christ come to deface and abolish? The law was written upon tables of stone, and the great work of the Spirit is to write it upon the table of the heart;

If we are to follow the rule we must not fall too short, nor overshoot the mark.

Not short. There are many false rules with which men please themselves, and are but so many byways that lead us off from our own happiness. For instance, good meaning, that is a false rule; the world lives by guess and devout aims. But if good meaning were a rule, a man may oppose the interest of Christ, destroy his servants, and all upon good meaning: John 16:2, ‘Those that kill you will think they do God good service

Neither may we overshoot the mark:

That we may not act over. There is a superstitious and apocryphal holiness which is contrary to a genuine and scriptural holiness, yea, destructive to it: it is like the concubine to the wife: it draws away respects due to the true religion. Now, what is this kind of holiness? It is a temporary flesh-pleasing religion, which consists in a conformity to outward rites and ceremonies and external mortifications,

If there must be obedience, then let be such obedience as will bring blessing. “If you would be blessed, there must be a sincere, constant, uniform obedience. The will of God must not only be known but practised.”

How can such obedience be perfect?

Then, sincere obedience is required: ‘Blessed is the undefiled in the way.’ At first hearing of these words, a man might reply, Oh, then, none can be blessed, if that be the qualification; ‘for who can say, My heart is clean?’ Prov. 20:9. I answer—This undefiledness is to be understood according to the tenor of the second covenant, which doth not exclude the mercy of God and the justification of penitent sinners;

What does this mean in practice?

Ps. 84:11, ‘The Lord will be a sun and a shield’, &c. To whom? ‘To those that walk uprightly.’ This is possible enough; here is no ground of despair. This is that will lead us to blessedness, when we are troubled for our failings, and there is a diligent exercise in the purification of our hearts.

Such obedience must be constant, and it must be as to all things which God commands: we cannot chose this and ignore that.

To what use can we put this knowledge:

To show you that carnal men live as if they sought misery rather than happiness: Prov. 8:36, ‘He that sins against me wrongs his own soul; all that hate me love death.’ If a man were travelling to York, who would say his aim was to come to London? Do these men pursue happiness that walk in such defilement?

Also, if we will be blessed, we must take the law of God for our rule.

Take the law of God for your rule. Study the mind of God, and know the way to heaven, and keep exactly in it. It is an argument of sincerity when a man is careful to practise all that he knows, and to be inquisitive to know more, even the whole will of God, and when the heart is held under awe of God’s word.

We must also take the Spirit as our guide:

Take the Spirit of God for your guide. We can never walk in God’s way without the conduct of God’s Spirit. We must not only have a way, but a voice to direct us when we are wandering.

The work of obedience runs contrary to the course of this world. To aim for a constant sincere obedience, to walk in the law of the Lord will bring difficulty and discouragement. We will not be able to past through discouragement if we walk only by faith, “The promises for your encouragement. If you look elsewhere, and live by sense, and not by faith, you shall have discouragements enough.”

Moreover, the difficulties of obedience will be disorienting; we will loss our way unless with an unmoving mark at which to aim:

Fix the glory of God for your aim; else it is but a carnal course. The spiritual life is a living to God, Gal. 2:20, when he is made the end of every action. You have a journey to take, and whether you sleep or wake, your journey is still a-going. As in a ship, whether men sit, lie, or walk, whether they eat or sleep, the ship holds on its course, and makes towards its port; so you all are going into another world, either to heaven or hell, the broad or the narrow way.

A Wedding Sermon of Thomas Manton

14 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Genesis, Preaching, Thomas Manton

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Volume 2 of Thomas Manton’s collected works contains “A Wedding Sermon” based upon Genesis 2:22. Manton notes especially that God brought the woman to the man, “And brought her unto the man.”

From this he concludes,

“That marriages are then holily entered into,

when the parties take one another out of God’s hands.”

 

This doctrine presents a problem, for we do not receive a spouse as Adam received his. God does not create a spouse and visibly bring such a one to us. How then can we be said to receive our spouse from God? He answers the question by two points:

I. For the first, they take one another out of God’s hands two ways.

 

1. First, we must seek to glorify God in choosing a spouse. If in all things we must seek God’s glory, we must especially do so when it comes to marriage:

A man’s chief end should be discovered in all his actions, as it must guide me in my meat, and drink, and recreations, and the ordinary refreshments of the natural life, or else I do not act as a Christian. So much more in my most important and serious affairs, such as marriage is, and upon which my content and welfare so much dependeth. Certainly, he that would take God’s blessing along with him, should make choice, in God’s family, of one with whom he may converse as an heir with him of the grace of life.

2.  Second, we may be said to take our spouse from God’s hand when we see our spouse as an action of God’s providence.  Now all things are matters of God’s providence; however, God does claim a greater and more immediate interest in marriage, Prov. 19:14, ‘Riches and honours are an inheritance from our fathers; but a good wife is from the Lord.’

A wife that is a wife indeed—one that deserveth that name—he that findeth her, it is a chance to him, but an ordered thing by God. He hath not only experience of God’s care, but his goodness and free grace to him in that particular. Well, then, God must be owned, sought, glorified, in this particular. The husband, in the catalogue and inventory of his mercies, must not forget to bless God for this, and the wife for the husband. The Lord was gracious in providing for me a good companion; I obtained favour from the Lord. God is concerned in this whole affair, he brought the woman to the man; he giveth the portion, which is not so much the dowry given by the parents, which is little worth, unless his blessing be added with it, as all the graces and abilities by which all married persons are made helpful one to another.

 

II. Why is this so necessary a duty?

1. We must give God glory for the comfort of the marriage:

A.  It will be a great engagement upon us to give God all the glory of the comfort we have in such a relation, when you do more sensibly and explicitly take one another out of God’s hands.

B. It is the way to lose our comforts, when we do not own and acknowledge God’s hand in them. We are drowned in sense, inured and accustomed to second causes, so that God’s hand is invisible and little regarded, we know it not, or heed it not. Now that we may look up and own the first cause, and give him his due honour, it is good to have explicit and actual thoughts in the receiving of our mercies, so as to take them out of God’s hand; to draw aside the veil and covering of the creature, that you may remember the giver.

2. We must use our relations for God’s glory.

A. That we may carry ourselves more holily in our relations, it is good to see God’s hand in them. Every relation is a new talent [from the parable of Matthew 25] wherewith God intrusteth us to trade for his glory; and to that end we must make conscience to use it.

B. The Christian religion maketh a man conscientiously careful and tender of his duty to man, not from a natural principle, or from our own ease, peace and credit, but from the conscience of our duty to God.

C. God puts us into relations to see how we will glorify him in them; there is something more required of you than as single Christians. God that puts a man into the ministry, requireth that he should honour him, not only as a Christian, but as a minister. …God will have honour by you as a wife, or as a husband; you have a new opportunity to make religion amiable, that the unbelieving world may see how profitable the heavenly life is to human society.

3. That we may more patiently bear the crosses incident to this state of life if God call us to them

A. The married life hath its comforts, and also its encumbrances and sorrows.

B.  Now it will sweeten all our crosses incident to this condition, when we remember we did not rashly enter into it by our own choice, but were led by the fair directure and fair invitation of God’s providence; we need not much be troubled at what overtaketh us in the way of our duty, and the relations to which we are called. That hand that sent the trouble will sanctify it, or he will overrule things so that they shall work for our good. If God call us into this estate, he will support us in it.

C. We tempt God when we venture upon a state of life which he hath not called us to, and have not his warrant; but when it is not good for us to be alone, and the Lord sends an helpmate for us, he will not forsake us.

4. Seek God’s help by prayer.

A. We may with the more confidence apply ourselves to God, and depend on him for a blessing upon a wife of God’s choosing, or a husband of God’s choosing. We have access to the throne of grace with more hope, because we have given up ourselves to his direction: Prov. 3:6, ‘In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.’

B.  It is a blessed thing to be under God’s conduct, to be led on or led off by so wise, and powerful, and all-sufficient a guide; for such he delights to do them good, and taketh pleasure in his resolutions to prosper them. Sometimes they shall have a taste of the evils of the world, but they shall not be ruined by them. They may fall, but they shall not be dashed in pieces; it is an allusion to a vessel that gets a knock, but is not broken by the fall.

5. All temporal things are subject to God’s determination.

A. we will be better able to bear losses when we understand God’s right, “ All temporal things, we receive them from God, upon this condition, to yield them up to God again, when he calls for them.”

B.  We make a snare for ourselves, and receive them not in a right notion, if we do not receive them as mortal and perishing comforts, which God may demand at pleasure, and so keep the soul loose, and in a posture of submission, if God should cross us and disappoint us in them. Thus must we use all outward comforts with that weanedness and moderation as to children, estates, and all temporal blessings, &c., that will become a sense of the frailty that is in them, and the wheelings and turnings of an uncertain world.

APPLICATION

USE 1: Seek God by earnest prayer.

1. Seek God’s leave (permission):

A.God is the absolute Lord of all things, both in heaven and earth, and whatsoever is possessed by any creature is by his indulgence.

B. All that we have or use is God’s, who reserveth the property of all to himself. In distributing to the creatures, he never intended to divest himself of his right;

C. Every one of us must get a grant of God of all that he hath; the Lord he possesseth the house that we dwell in, the clothes we wear, the food we eat; and so, in the use of all other comforts, we must have a license from God, and take his leave. God is said to have given David the wives that he had into his bosom.

2. Seek God’s wisdom, Proverbs 3:5.

A. Therefore we ought chiefly, and first of all, to consult with God, and seek his direction, for he seeth the heart, and foreseeth events. We can only look upon what is present, and there upon the outward appearance. Therefore God can best direct us in our choice, he knoweth the fittest matches and consorts for every one;

B. Man would fain work out his happiness like a spider, climb up by a thread of his own spinning. But alas! all our devices and fine contrivances are gone with the turn of a besom. He that will be his own carver, seldom carveth out a good portion to himself. They intrench upon God’s prerogative, and take the work out of his hands; and therefore no wonder if their wisdom be turned into folly.

3.  Ask his blessing.

A.  We ask his blessing. God doth not only foresee the event, but order it; by his wisdom he foreseeth it, and by his powerful providence he bringeth it to pass. Therefore God, that hath the disposal of all events, when our direction is over, is to be sought unto for a blessing; for every comfort cometh the sooner when it is sought in prayer; and whatever God’s purposes be, that is our duty:

B.  Married persons do need, and therefore should seek, Christ’s presence to their marriage, that he would vouchsafe his presence and countenance. Be sure to invite him, and take him along with you, that he may strengthen you by his grace, and dispose all providences about you for your comfort. He puts the greatest honour upon the marriage when he doth enable you to carry yourselves graciously in that relation, and to God’s glory; and he hath the power of all providences put into his hand, as well as all grace.

USE 2: Some Advice.

1. Let not God be a loser [by your marriage].

A. Don’t make marriage an idol. “God must not have an image of jealousy set up; he must still be owned as the chiefest good. A wife is the delight of the eyes, but not the idol of the heart.”

B. Don’t let marriage distract you from pilgrimage. “No; your comforts by the way in your pilgrimage must not hinder your delight in your comforts at home and in your country; this would be like a great heir in travel that should guzzle in an alehouse, and never think of returning to his inheritance.”

C.  God must be more important than even our marriage. “The bond of religion is above all bonds; all bonds between husband and wife, father and children, end in death, but the bond of Christ is eternal: your children will not lose by your faithfulness to God.”

2. Let God be a gainer [by your marriage].

A. By your daily praises, and blessing God for his providence, that hath brought you into this relation: ‘I obtained favour from the Lord.’

B. Aim that your marriage be a picture of the perfect marriage of Christ and his church. Ephesians 5:25-30.

C. .] By being mutual helps to one another in the best things, by the advancement of piety and godliness. The love of Christ doth not only enforce the husband’s duty as an argument, but points forth the right manner of it as a pattern. Christ’s love is sanctifying love: so should theirs be, such a love as showeth itself by sincere and real endeavours to bring about one another’s spiritual and eternal good. Love one another, ‘as heirs together of the grace of life,’ 1 Peter 3:7.

 thomas manton

Thomas Brooks, The Unsearchable Riches of Christ.2

11 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by in Meditation, Preaching, Reading, Thomas Brooks

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(The previous entry for “The Unsearchable Riches of Christ” may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/thomas-brooks-the-unsearchable-riches-of-christ-1/)

Brooks takes as his text, Ephesians 3:8, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” From this text, Brooks begins to make observations. First he observes that Paul who was a great man of God was also a humble man before God.

Second, Paul states that he has been given a grace from God.

Third, Paul identifies the grace, that he should preach; and that such preaching would be among the Gentiles.

Finally, the content of the preaching would be “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

Note that Brooks has merely looked at the words and noted the elements of the text. Having broken the text up into parts, he begins to make some general remarks. He briefly counts the nature of Christ’s riches:

Now in the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest riches, the best riches, the choicest riches; in Christ are riches of justification, Titus 2:14; in Christ are riches of sanctification, Philip. 4:12, 13; in Christ are riches of consolation, 2 Cor. 12:9; and in Christ are riches of glorification, 1 Pet. 1:2, 3 (Pp 7-8).

Brooks has come into the room and looked about, a door, a chair, a table. Having made a first glance he then proceeds to the elements at length. Many people are perplexed at where the preacher/teacher finds his sermon. If the text is to drive the sermon, the preacher will need first take stock of supplies for the sermon. He must note what is there.

Bad theology and bad sermons first come from a failure to observe.

I remember some years ago seeing John Madden write all over the screen as he explained to the viewers how a play developed. As he showed the various parts, a block, a man in motion, a fake hand-off, I could how the overall play developed. A preacher to be fair to the text and to be of help to the congregant must show how the passage breaks out. If one takes a longer text than a single verse (such as Brooks has done), he may wish to acknowledge only larger elements of the text (say, taking this entire verse as a unit

Jonathan Edwards the Preacher, Part 1

09 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Church History, Jonathan Edwards, Preaching

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Turnball, in Jonathan Edwards the Preacher (Baker, 1958) begins his analysis of Edwards with the proposition that one cannot rightly understand Edwards’ theology without understanding certain elements of Edwards’ conversion.

He first notes that Edwards struggled with the question of God’s absolute sovereignty. Yet he resolved that trouble in favor of God on the basis of God’s glory. It was 1 Timothy 1:17, which cut the knot for Edwards,

The first that I remember that ever I found anything of that sort of inward, sweet delight in God and divine things, that I have lived much in since, was on reading those words of 1 Timothy 1:17, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (quoted in Turnball, 16).

Next Turnball notes the diligent inquiry which marks Edwards’ work

The stimulus to the people and preachers of New England, the awakening from sleep, and the effect upon the most acute minds of successive generations are evidence that an extraordinary mind had penetrated the dull world of conventional religion. Behind the stabbing preaching of Edward was the diligent student, the man who could not be inactive mentally from day to day and the mind which used a psychology of approach which disturbed and probed the conscience. Because Edwards had invested his time to profit, he was able in turn to be the instrument in God’s hands for the day of decision. The vice of sloth was not his (Turnball, 21).

Turnball then rehearses the main incidents of Edwards’ life (Mardsen’s recent biography of Edwards is worth every penny — read it). Turnball does make an observation which anyone in Christian ministry should know, “No man can maintain the strain of ministry unless he is constantly taking in reserves of spiritual sustenance for himself. This was demonstrated in Edwards’ life” (Turnball, 29).

Turnball recounts at some length Edwards’ library and reading. Again, Turnball notes the necessity of a pastor being literate. One must know the Scripture first and foremost, but in learning of how men think one gains perspective on the Scripture. This includes both Christian orthodox theology and the ideas of even those who contend with Christians.

When reviewing Edwards’ reading, Turnball writes, “The picture of the preacher reading the Bible and at the same time reading the Boston Gazette” (Turnball, 43).

One effect of Edwards’ deep reading was his care for the construction of the sermon. Dr. Jack Hughes once told me he was advised early in his ministry to regularly read secular fiction to teach him to preach by learning how the language works. The dull writing of many Christians and the ghastly preaching in many pulpits owes itself not merely to poor theology but also to no love of language. To make the gospel ugly is to defame Christ.

Turnball writes

The ideal and tradition of sermon writing by the Puritans became the heritage of Edwards….A comparison of Edwards’ sermons with those of other Puritans confirms the view that he wrote them as a branch of literary effort. The spiritual aim was dominant, but he was not insensible to the influence of cultural demands. Edwards was an artist, a craftsman, who worked by recognized methods which were apparent to his auditors and reads. At that time the sermon was given high respect and honor, and it was natural that the preach should be a writer as well as a speaker. By Puritan standards Edwards’ sermon are works of art. His art of concealing art lay in the daily discipline of meditation and writing. His preaching was the product of literary activity (44-45).

In taking care for his sermons, Edwards was merely following in the Puritan model and concern, “Thus the Puritan ideal was phrased: enough rhetoric to pass through the fancy [imagination] to the heart, but never so much that the apprehension of the simple or the earnest should be dazzled” (Turnball, 52).

Turnball explains of Edwards, “His style was the expression of deep, pent-up emotion and though, which caught fire in the blaze of God’s love and man’s need of the redeeming message” (Turnball, 55-56). This reminds of Lloyd-Jones’ note in Preachers and Preaching [I don’t have the book handy, so no page cite], Preaching is theology on fire.

The purpose of the sermon was to make the hearers see and know the Christ who had so overwhelmed Edwards with beauty and majesty:

The preaching that day was objective and self-detached. Edwards pointed to Christ, and in this objectivity lay much of its power. To him Christ was real and unavoidable. He ministered to bring the people face to face with the Lord of Life. He stressed the glory of The Lord, warned about coming judgment, and pointed sinning souls to the Cross. But he never intruded himself in this or other discourses to lead his hearers away from the centrality of God and the soul. Everything in preaching was subordinated to the end of saving the individual who came within the sound of the gospel” (Turnball, 63).