Utumishi Blog

Continued….

THE GREAT AWAKENING

During the Great Awakening in the 1740s, it is said that people spoke in a way of what they saw: ‘God is present in our assemblies’; ‘God’s Spirit came upon the preacher and the people’. In places where it was not customary for people to be disturbed by preaching, ‘Men saw hell opening before them and themselves ready to fall into it’. Before the end of May 1740, it was being said that ‘there was never such a general awakening and concern for the things of God in American known before.’ There was also a great gospel influence upon the children and the youths of the town too. By summer of 1741, the revival has spread to many other parts like Boston. Churches, which, in some cases had been cold and dry at the beginning of the year, were transformed before the end. Many people were being converted in hundreds and thousands and added to the churches.

It was during this time that George Whitfield visited Northampton. His friendship with Edwards was strengthened during this period. During his visit, Whitfield preached four sermons at Edwards’ church and:

“The congregation was extraordinarily melted by every sermon; almost the whole assembly being in tears for a great part of sermon time… One or two persons… were so greatly affected with a sense of the greatness and glory of divine things… overcoming their strength, and having a very visible effect upon their bodies.” (Edwards, An Account of Revival)

Speaking of the conditions in general, Benjamin Trumbull writes:

“There was in the minds of people, a general fear of sin, and of the wrath of God denounced against it. There seemed to be a general conviction, that all the ways of man were before the eyes of the Lord. It was the opinion of men of discernment and sound judgment, who had the best opportunities of knowing the feelings and general state of the people at that period, that bags of gold and silver and other precious things, might, with safety, have been laid in the streets, and that no man would have converted them to his own use.”

The nature of preaching during the Great Awakening was often alarming. There were some criticisms against the awakening with some asserting that it was ‘pretended prudence’. Edwards ‘The Distinguishing Marks’ highlighted the necessity of comparing Scripture with what was happening in the land so as to know whether it was genuine or not.

The Spirit’s true work can be from that which is false because we know that He always:

1. causes a greater esteem for Christ
2. operates against the interests of Satan’s kingdom ‘which lies in encouraging and establishing sin’
3. promotes greater regard for the truth and the divinity of the Holy Scriptures
4. Brings men to the light of the truth
5. excites love to God and man, making the attributes of God, manifested in Christ, ‘delightful objections of contemplation’.

Although later on Edwards admitted that there might have been some extremes in terms of what people experienced during the revival, his question was ‘what would be left of real Christianity if all felt spiritual experience was rejected?’

Now, there were other controversies that arose during his ministry. One of them was that of ministers admitting people to take Holy Communion before they would show any true signs of conversion. He said that a minister may have ‘suspicions and fears’ about a particular candidate for communion and yet have no sufficient ground to bar him from membership. But later on, Edwards could write that a lax principle of admission to the Lord’s Table imperils the whole nature of the Church, for then the church and the world cease to be distinguished. One of his failures as mentioned by later writers was that he ‘did not visit his people in their houses unless he was sent for by the sick’.

In 1750, Edwards was dismissed from his role as a minister in Northampton, just after the marriage of his daughters. Now, he and his wife, Sarah, were left without an income and the question they faced was in times of trials, whether they could cheerfully resign all to God. Edwards’ earlier biographers saw his removal from Northampton as a work of providence because it was during this period that he concentrated on his writing ministry. Edwards later moved to Stockbridge where he had a ministry among the Mohawks. His work as a missionary among the American Indians probably showed his connection with David Brainerd.

Lessons for Us Today:

• That “We are dependent upon God, he argued, not only for redemption itself but for our faith in the Redeemer, not only for the gift of His Son but for the Holy Ghost for our conversion.” This was the conviction for Edwards & other preachers and should be ours too lest we think it’s our effort that brings conversion.
• Edwards would spend long hours in his study. He believed that his public work as a calling to speak to men in the name of God was inseparable from his conviction that the first demand in such a calling was that his own knowledge of God should be personal and first-hand. He sought to make his study itself a sanctuary, and whether wrestling with Scripture, preparing sermons or writing in his notebooks, he worked as a worshiper. Thought, prayer and writing were all woven together.
• The need for a solid doctrinal preaching addressing both heart & mind. Edwards was good at addressing both heart & mind. It’s not just about presenting truths to be digested or exciting emotions but awakening the right affections in listeners.
• Commitment to mission; heart beat for the lost
• Edwards wasn’t afraid of controversy. He didn’t run away from it even when it cost him.

You can read more on Edwards at:

A God Entranced Vision of All Things (John Piper, free download)

Captive to Glory (John Piper, free download)