Preaching Why It’s Good To Be Godly: What I’m Learning from Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Early Sermons

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The Theology in, “Christian Happiness,” Edwards’s First Sermon

Edwards chose Isaiah 3:10 for his first text to preach on:

“Say unto the righteous, it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.”

As far as I can tell so far, Jonathan Edwards did not preach through books of the Bible. He selected texts very carefully. His texts were short like Isaiah 3:10. But they were theologically significant for providing foundations for Christian living.

Edwards’s sermon on Isaiah 3:10 is titled, Christian Happiness. The sermon shows Edwards’s skill at philosophy and theology. His philosophical side comes out in the first sentence:

“Reasonable beings, while they act as such, naturally choose those things which they are convinced are best for them…” (p. 296).

A large part of Edwards’s ministry is built on the assumption that “God always deals with men as reasonable creatures, and ever [word] in the Scriptures speaks to us as such” (p. 296).

Over and over again you’ll find Edwards reasoning at length with his listeners about every important matter of Christian faith and practice.

Part of Edwards’s genius–his theological side–is that his comprehensive knowledge of Scripture allows him to choose theologically loaded texts that display God’s reasonableness. So, in light of Isaiah 3:10 Edwards writes in the fourth sentence,

“in commanding of us he desires us to do nothing but what will be for our own advantage, our own profit and benefit, and frequently uses this argument with us to persuade us to obey his commands….and God, in our text, gives it as a special charge to assure the godly from Him that his godliness shall be of great advantage to him” (p. 296, emphasis added).

Look at this reasoning and ask yourself how many times it might find its way into other Scriptures and sermons. Before Sunday see if there are any commands. Remember that most of our listeners struggle with the notion that God’s commands are unreasonable. But we keep telling them otherwise!

May our Lord receive glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you apply such beautiful reasoning.

Randal

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Categories: Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, theology, Thinking
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