Some of you may recall that my first observation about Edwards’s preaching was that his sermons lacked the kind of exegesis I was used to. I was trained and practice exegesis that is heavy on word studies. To my surprise, Edwards’s early sermons so far show little lexical work.
The second recorded sermon in Kimnach’s book is, The Value of Salvation, based on Matthew 16:26 “For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
When Edwards arrived at his Exhortation, he states an obvious implication/application: “Let us take utmost care that we don’t lose our souls” (p. 329). He then restates Matthew 16:26 and writes,
“We have now heard the most powerful arguments in the world to persuade us [to] take care of our souls [emphasis added]” (p. 329).
Edwards was right: everyone in the house had heard the most powerful arguments in the world to persuade them to take care of their souls. How did he do it?
Glancing back into the sermon I picked up on two things.
- Edwards had a comprehensive knowledge of Scripture so he could pull together key texts that spoke to his subject matter. In this case, Edwards relied on verses that spoke of the end of all earthly things.
- Edwards was a careful observer of life with all its realities. For instance, Edwards reminded his audience that “Worldly good things are very uncertain” (p. 314). Speaking of our best earthly loves, “How uncertain are friends and relatives; their being dear to us won’t keep them from being take from us” (p. 316). So true. The same with, “And what rich man has there ever been whom riches have made happy?” (p. 318).
Page after page exhibits this foray into the minds of his listeners. And all for the purpose of getting them to this place:
“…let us take no thought for this present any otherwise than as the means of the good of our souls…” (p. 330).
There’s still a place in sermons for dictionary definitions of key terms. But I am learning from Edwards that lots of sermon space is needed for logical, theological, philosophical arguments that urge our listeners to their proper worship response to God’s revelation. It’s almost as if Edwards were saying, “Only a fool would not value the salvation of their soul!”
May we also be so forthright with our faith-families so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),
Randal
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.