Peace in the midst of Panic - Learning from Edwards
“There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment
out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.” – Sinners in the Hands of an Angry
God by Jonathan Edwards
Panic.
I woke up on Friday morning to panic.
The United States President declared a Federal Emergency to combat the spreading COVID-19 or Corona Virus. Travel suspended. People quarantined. Churches shutting their doors. Sporting events canceled. Schools closed. And toilet paper approaching extinction.
In the providence of God, this week for the Tim Challies reading challenge I had to read “A book 150 years old or older.” So I have been in the Works of Jonathan Edwards. This week is a little bit of a cheat since I am revisiting books I have already read but wanted to review, mainly the following three biographies on Edwards and his written works:
No, I did not re-read word for word all four books this week. But revisited them and spent some time trying to analyze our current situation with the Corona Virus through the spectacles of a great American Theologian.
One thing you should know about Edwards, he died from a virus at 54. In fact, so did his wife Sarah.
The smallpox virus is estimated to have claimed the lives of 300-500 million in the 20th century alone.
Yet Edwards was not filled with panic or fear, but the peace of being firmly in the hands of his sovereign savior.
This blog will not be as much a book review as it will be an interpretation of our moment in history from the life and lens of Jonathan Edwards.
1. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
The sermon that heightened the Great Awakening.
If Edwards could speak today, I believe he would say there is something significantly worse than COVID-19 that we should fear.
Often referred to as a fire and brimstone message, this particular sermon is chilling to read. However, Edward’s grasped what contemporary Christianity seems to have misplaced.
You cannot understand the love of God without wrestling with his wrath.
“Edwards started every inquiry with reference to God. If we want to understand the universe, then we must understand why God would have
created it” (Marsden, 137).
When we start with God, we see that COVID-19, the flu, and all illnesses are the effects of God's curse on this world due to humanity's sin (Genesis 3). But for some reason, our natural thought is we don’t deserve this pain.
Edward’s famous sermon is taken from Deuteronomy 32:35, “Their foot shall slide in due time.”
He opens his message by saying, “In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained void of counsel, having no understanding in them.” – Jonathan Edwards
In other words, Israel thought they deserved their position.
On this he notes the following four realities of the Israelites:
1. They were always exposed to destruction
2. They were always exposed to sudden destruction
3. They were liable to fall into destruction themselves
4. The only reason they were not yet destroyed is God had not allowed it
Edwards is speaking of Israel at this moment but switches unexpectedly to a different audience.
He does not apply these points to blatant God cursing sinners in a different country, state, or those outside the church. He applies it to the Christian professing congregation in front of him.
“Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do… thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment” – Jonathan Edwards
From Edwards' perspective, the only reason why we are not destroyed immediately is the pleasure of God.
“there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up…all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock.” – Jonathan Edwards
Humanity deserves destruction.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” – Romans 3:23
“The wages for sin is death…” – Romans 6:23
The incredible news is God’s pleasure sustains us for something else. To receive a gift.
“… But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
“And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners… with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.” – Jonathan Edwards
2. Peace in the Pleasure of God
Edwards understood happiness as rooted in the will of God.
Peace in the midst of panic is only found in the sovereign presence of God.
“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.” – Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards went to be with the God he loves on March 22, 1758 after contracting smallpox.
Sadly, at his death, he was separated from his wife Sarah due to his recent appointment as president of the New Jersey College, now known as Princeton (Nichols, p. 65).
When his condition turned and his passing became a reality, he dictated a message to Sarah.
"Give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her, that the uncommon union, which has so long subsisted between us, has been of such a nature, as I trust is spiritual, and therefore will continue forever." – Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards found his supreme happiness and confidence in God’s sovereign control. In a season of fear, let's learn from Edwards perspective. God is still in control. And his pleasure is still sustaining us.
John Owen came from Welsh descent, was educated at Queens College, and became a renowned Puritan theologian, Oxford professor, and passionate pastor who lived from 1616 to 1683. In 1647, he wrote the exhaustive treatise The Death of Death defending Limited or Definite Atonement against the Arminian view of Universal Atonement or Unlimited Atonement.