Edwards: God glorified in Man's dependence (Sermon, July 1731)

That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (I Corinthians. 1:29, 30, 31)

Man is naturally exceeding prone to exalt himself, and depend on his own power or goodness; as though from himself he must expect happiness. He is prone to have respect to enjoyments alien from God and his Spirit, as those in which happiness is to be found.-But this doctrine should teach us to exalt God alone; as by trust and reliance, so by praise. Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord. Hath any man hope that he is converted, and sanctified, and that his mind is endowed with true excellency and spiritual beauty? that his sins are forgiven, and he received into God's favour, and exalted to the honour and blessedness of being his child, and an heir of eternal life? let him give God all the glory; who alone makes him to differ from the worst of men in this world, or the most miserable of the damned in hell.

http://www.openheaven.com/library/pastoral/godglorified.htm

“Infinite upon infinite — Infinite upon infinite!”

"My wickedness, as I am in myself, has long appeared to me perfectly ineffable, and swallowing up all thought and imagination; like an infinite deluge, or mountains over my head. I know not how to express better what my sins appear to me to be, than by heaping infinite upon infinite, and multiplying infinite by infinite. Very often, for these many years, these expressions are in my mind and in my mouth, “Infinite upon infinite — Infinite upon infinite!” When I look into my heart, and take a view of my wickedness, it looks like an abyss, infinitely deeper than hell. And it appears to me, that were it not for free grace, exalted and raised up to the infinite height of all the fullness and glory of the great Jehovah, and the arm of his power and grace stretched forth in all the majesty of his power, and in all the glory of his sovereignty, I should appear sunk down in my sins below hell itself; far beyond the sight of every thing, but the eye of sovereign grace, that can pierce even down to such a depth. And yet, it seems to me that my conviction of sin is exceeding small and faint; it is enough to amaze me, that I have very little sense of my sinfulness. I know certainly, that I have very little sense of my sinfulness. When I have had turns of weeping for my sins, I thought I knew at the time that my repentance was nothing to my sin...

I have a much greater sense of my universal, exceeding dependence on God’s grace and strength, and mere good pleasure, of late, than I used formerly to have; and have experienced more of an abhorrence of my own righteousness. The very thought of any joy arising in me, on any consideration of my own amiableness, performances, or experiences, or any goodness of heart or life, is nauseous and detestable to me. And yet, I am greatly afflicted with a proud and self-righteous spirit, much more sensibly than I used to be formerly. I see that serpent rising and putting, forth its head continually, every where, all around me."

[personal reflections] i totally feel you right now, j. ed. 

This past week, especially, I've been feeling so spiritually hardened and lifeless, as if a dark cloud was growing steadily inside me. Sin does that. And I realize I wasn't doing much to prevent it. Reading this excerpt from Edwards, referenced in Murray's biography, allowed my heart to breath a short sigh of relief, like "Oh yeah, everything really is going to be okay, despite ...myself." As uncomfortable, anxious, and restless as I remain, I feel infinitely better that the infinitely sovereign and holy God is infinitely more powerful than my infinite sin... infinite.

"The Lamb of God"

This name did not merely mean, as some have supposed that Christ was meek and gentle as a lamb. This would be truth no doubt, but only a very small portion of the truth. There are greater things here than this! It meant that Christ was the great sacrifice for sin, who was come to make atonement for transgression by His own death upon the cross. He was the true Lamb which Abraham told Isaac at Moriah God would provide. (Genesis 22:8) He was the true Lamb of which the passover lamb in Egypt had been a vivid type. In short, He was the great propitiation for sin which God had covenanted from eternity to send into the world. He was God's Lamb.


Ryle, J. C. "John, Chapter 1." Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2007. 1-87. Print.

Can we ever give too much honour to Christ?

"...Can we ever think too highly of Him? Let us banish the unworthy thought from our minds for ever. Let us learn to exalt Him more in our hearts, and to rest more confidingly the whole weight of our souls in His hands. Men may easily fall into error about the three Persons in the holy Trinity if they do not carefully adhere to the teach of Scripture. But no man ever errs on the side of giving too much honour to God the Son. Christ is the meeting point between the Trinity and the sinner's soul "He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which sent Him. (John 5:23)" (p. 37)

Ryle, J. C. "John, Chapter 1." Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2007. 1-87. Print.

How often do we come to our Father in prayer, asking Him to reveal more of His glory and more of our indwelling sin, yet truly rejoice when He grants us these requests? Oh how Christ showed me mercy and grace, allowing me to see the sheer magnitude & destruction of my pride, a sin which I am so quick to see and judge in others, but deceptively blind to in myself. How it consumed me at that particular moment, how completely unguarded I was that it overtook me and made me blind and deaf to all else; I was engulfed by anger, bitterness, and malice for moments that lasted so long I, still in my sin, actually began to feel ashamed, yet it was as if I was trapped, unable to release myself from it, unable to extinguish the blaze. How I sinned against my fellow brother in that internal fire... Regardless of how it was set off, it was made clear I did not have it all under control, I was not as self-aware as I had thought..
As I thought back to this incident today, I was again consumed with that resentment. I pleaded with the Almighty Lord to show me mercy and release me from what I could not release myself from. Oh the deceit that lies within our hearts! Yet we sinful believers can still stand before the Lord clothed in the Lamb's righteousness because the awesome saving grace of Christ. I pray and hope and long for the days when our Lord returns to reign over the heavens and the earth, when He finally eases our sufferings against the flesh, that we may simply live every moment in holy worship & fellowship with Him!

"Personal Narrative of Jonathan Edwards" excerpt

1772 (age 19):
"My sense of divine things seemed gradually to increase, until I went to preach at New York, which was about a year and a half after they began; and while I was there, I felt them, very sensibly, in a much higher degree than I had done before. My longings after God and holiness, were much increased. Pure and humble, holy and heavenly Christianity, appeared exceeding amiable to me. I felt a burning desire to be in every thing a complete Christian; and conformed to the blessed image of Christ; and that I might live, in all things, according to the pure, sweet and blessed rules of the gospel. I had an eager thirsting after progress in these things; which put me upon pursuing and pressing after them. It was my continual strife day and night, and constant inquiry, how I should be more holy, and live more holily, and more becoming a child of God, and a disciple of Christ. I now sought an increase of grace and holiness, and a holy life, with much more earnestness, than ever I sought grace before I had it. I used to be continually examining myself, and studying and contriving for likely ways and means, how I should live holily, with far greater diligence and earnestness, than ever I pursued any thing in my life; but yet with too great a dependence on my own strength; which afterwards proved a great damage to me. My experience had not then taught me, as it has done since, my extreme feebleness and impotence, every manner of way; and the bottomless depths of secret corruption and deceit there was in my heart. However, I went on with my eager pursuit after more holiness, and conformity to Christ.

Ryle on the eternal dignity of Christ and the exceeding sinfulness of sin

As we read, reflect, and meditate on verses 1-5 of John 1...
"Let us mark what kind of Being the Redeemer of mankind must needs be, in order to provide eternal redemption for sinners. If no one less than the Eternal God, the Creator and Preserver of all things, could take away the sin of the world, sin must be a far more abominable thing in the sight of God than most men suppose. The right measure of sin's sinfulness is the dignity of Him who came into the world to save sinners. If Christ is so great, then sin must indeed be sinful!"


Ryle, J. C. "John, Chapter 1." Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2007. 1-87. Print.