This is the 10th post in my study of Jonathan Edwards famous text Religious Affections
It seems to me that it is important to remember why we have been digging in Edwards' two hundred and fifty year old text, and toiling in his puritanical parlance.
This text was written during the Great Awakening, where our young country found itself in the midst of a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a great wave of new believers in Jesus Christ, poured over the land.
As exciting as these large crowds of new believers must have been, there also arose a tremendous assault on this revival, straight from the gates of hell. The Great Bastard, as Edwards called Satan, was also at work seeking to foil, deceive, thwart and stomp out this great revival.
From Edwards:
"It is no new thing, that much false religion should prevail, at a time of great revival; and that, at such a time, multitudes of hypocrites should spring up among true saints."
Again from Edwards:
"It is by the mixture of counterfeit religion with true, not discerned and distinguished, that the devil has had his greatest advantage against the cause and kingdom of Christ."
Edwards further lamenting defeated revivals of the past from Satan's counterfeit religious attacks:
"It is by this means that the daughter of Zion in this land now lies on the ground, in such piteous circumstances, with her garment rent, her face disfigured, her nakedness exposed, her limbs broken, and weltering in the blood of her own wounds, and in no wise able to arise; and this, so quickly after her late great joys and hopes."
In the midst of the great awakening, the Great Bastard was furiously at work deceiving precious young Christians and steering them away from a true faith.
Here we find ourselves with Edwards fourth true affection. Please read on...
True Affection #4 - Gracious affections do arise from the mind's being enlightened, richly and spiritually to understand or apprehend divine things.
I am sure you have seen it. Someone gets up in front of the church, reads from God's holy word with no more affection than you might have for eating a mouthful of saltine crackers with nothing to drink. Dry and lifeless.
Holy affections are not heat without light. In other words, all the hoping around, claiming scriptures from the blue and all the other absurd shenanigans of the day are from Satan, and not Christ.
True, gracious, and holy affections come from the mind being enlightened, by the Holy Spirit, through God's holy word, with a new spiritual understanding or apprehension.
I have personally experienced these affections a number of times, in the past few months as I have spent 25-30/week studying God's word. It was as if a light bulb had been turned on, and a number of times a mammoth wave of affection rolled over me.
For the true believer, the highest and best source of communion with God is in his holy word. Scriptures are clear that the Bible is God's word to us and he has given us the Holy Spirit to instruct us. When holy direction comes along with the Holy Spirit's guiding, to me it is impossible not to be greatly affected.
Here is Edwards:
"True gracious affections arise from the enlightening of the understanding to understand the things that are taught of God and Christ, in a new manner, the coming to a new understanding of the excellent nature of God, and his wonderful perfections, some new view of Christ in his spiritual excellencies and fullness, or things opened to him in a new manner, that appertains to the way of salvation by Christ, whereby he now sees how it is, and understand those divine and spiritual doctrines which once were foolishness to him."
When someone comes to Christ, for the first time, it has a tremendous affect on his/her affections. So too, as the journey of sanctification continues, the sweet and wonderful views of God's holiness and beauty come into view and continually strikes sweet accords in the believer's heart.
When this light (understanding) comes along then it is generally also accompanied with heat (gracious affections).
Once again I see Edwards bringing this "new sense" to our understandings:
"Spiritual understanding primarily consists in this sense, a taste of the moral beauty of divine things; so that no knowledge can be called spiritual, any further that it arises from this, and has this in it."
When we read, and are given understanding, by the Holy Spirit, understand this...you are in the Holy of Holies! You will be affected. You simply can not come into the presence of God and not be affected!
When John encountered Jesus on the island of Patmos, he fell at the feet of Christ as though dead!
When you truly understand and belive that God creator, chose you from eternity past, and right now, today in 2008, grants you an understanding, a pulling back of the veil, if you will, you will be affected.
Here is Edwards again speaking of this spiritual supernatural sense:
"Things being thus, it plainly appears, that God's implanting that spiritual supernatural sense which has been spoken of, makes a great change in a man. And were it not for the very imperfect degree, in which this sense is commonly given at first, or the small degree of this glorious light, that first dawns upon the soul; the change made by this spiritual opening of the eyes in conversion, would be much greater and more remarkable every way, than if a man, who had been born blind, and with only the other four senses, should continue so for a long time, and then at once should have the sense of seeing imparted to him, in the midst of the clear light of the sun, discovering a world of visible objects. For though sight sight be more noble than any of the other external senses, yet this spiritual sense which has been spoken of, is infinitely more noble than that, or any other principle of discerning that a man naturally has, and the object fo this sense infinitely greater and more important."
Did you get that? This supernatural spiritual sense is infinitely better than an old, blind man instantly being given his sight...AND...the object of this sense is infinitely more important than you and I.
As I have been reading Edwards' first four points, I am finding a completely new understanding. Here are my understandings thus far:
- You must first be born again. Upon this, the Holy Spirit indwells and the spiritual man becomes alive and has to his/her avail tastes of the Divine and Supernatural.
- Spend time with Christ and you will find yourself unspeakably in love with his beauty. To think of Christ, and to experience God's holy affections, will leave you absoulutely mute.
- To approach infinite holiness will singe your eyebrows. Our finite frames simply could not withstand God's holiness. Think of the Mount of Transfiguration. The three disciples were on the ground shaking in holy fear! Yet, you and I have the availibilty of this holy God here and now. He gives us little peeks, and when that happens, it will rock your affections to the core.
- God's holy words are just that, holy. So too, the affections can be deeply moved as we read and begin to understand.
I hope you see that Edwards points thus far are that these four things, these true afffections, have nothing to do with the charade that Satan prances around.
Edwards has pointed me to a significant change in my understandings. A significant change! And just think...there are eight more to go! I can hardly wait!
