The Ten Best Books on Jonathan Edwards' Theology of Joy: Recommendations for Beginners and Scholars

I am now just about at the halfway point in my doctoral studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, and just a few days away from submitting my proposal to the faculty for my dissertation.

So far, my topic is narrowly focused on Jonathan Edwards' theology of joy. For anyone who has ever attempted to read Edwards, they find his writings just dripping with joy-related language: happiness, rejoicing in Christ, the joys of heaven, the mutual love within the persons of the Trinity.

Joy is everywhere! Rich language of light, the sun, fountains, rivers, and streams all emit Edwards' theology of Christian joy.

I've read deeply and broadly: books by Edwards and books about Edwards. I've read his treatises, sermons, and personal correspondences. I've read biographies about him and at least one biography from his own pen (David Brainerd).

Everything is so good, it's hard to pick. Nevertheless, I am going to attempt to recommend just one shelf full of JE books. Here then, are my top ten recommended works from or about the Northampton Revivalist (in no particular order).

Sermons

1. Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson. 2005). If you are looking to find some of Edward's best sermons like "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," "A Divine and Supernatural Light," or "God Glorified in Man's Dependence" this is the place to begin.

2. Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables: True and False Christians (On the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins). (Kenneth P. Minkema, Adriaan C. Neele, and Bryan K. Kimnach, eds. Vol. I. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books. 2012). What's neat about this volume, is that unlike the above, this one is filled with previously unpublished sermons that just came into the public eye in 2012.

3. Charity and Its Fruits. (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth. 2005. Orig. pub. 1852.) Another of his major sermon series, converted into a treatise, this one focuses on the "love chapter" of 1 Corinthians 13 and features the glorious sermon "Heaven is a World of Love."

Treatises

4. The Religious Affections. (Mineola, NY: Dover. 2013. Orig. pub. 1746.). Likely Edwards' most well-known treatise, this book looks at the powerful inclinations of the heart (love, joy, fear etc.) and uses them to help determine which religious experiences are true and which are false. A major work tied to the Great Awakening revivals of the 1740's.

5. God’s Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards. With the Complete Text of The End for Which God Created the World. (Jonathan Edwards and John Piper. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1998. Orig. pub. 1765.). In this book, beloved pastor John Piper walks readers through JE's easier-than-you-might-think treatise on God's motivation for creating the universe. Hint: joy!

Biographies

6. Jonathan Edwards: A Life. (George Marsden. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 2003). Here is a 500 plus page work that masterfully takes readers through JE's life and times. I cannot imagine doing serious study on Edwards without this volume. Another honorable mention in this category is Iain Murray's work of a similar structure.

Popular Introductions

7. A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards. (John Piper and Justin Taylor, eds. Wheaton: Crossway. 2004). Many crisply written essays on Edwards and his theology from men like Piper, Sam Storms, Mark Dever, and more.

8. Jonathan Edwards for Armchair Theologians. (James P. Byrd. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 2008). A great little introduction to Jonathan Edwards with cartoons sprinkled throughout to help readers "get it." Really! There are cartoons!

9. God’s Grand Design: The Theological Vision of Jonathan Edwards. (Sean Michael Lucas. Wheaton: Crossway. 2011). An excellent little introduction of about 200 pages to Edwards' life and major thought categories.

10. Edwards on the Christian Life: Alive to the Beauty of God. (Dane Orlund. Stephen J. Nichols and Justin Taylor, eds. Wheaton, IL: Crossway. 2014). A very helpful book that focuses primarily on Edwards' view of beauty but also considers: prayer, temptation, Scripture, gentleness and more.

-Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida.

Book Reviews: Jonathan Edwards, "Sermons on the Matthean Parables" Volumes I, II, & III (Wipf and Stock Publishers)

I am here reviewing all three volumes of sermons in this new series on the Matthean Parables by Jonathan Edwards, published by Wipf and Stock, and edited by Kenneth P. Minkema, Adriaan C. Neele, and Bryan McCarthy.

I say "new" because these sermons have been essentially hidden from modern audiences since they were originally preached in the early to mid 1700's. Thankfully, as of 2012, they have finally been transposed to printed form from their original manuscripts in Edwards' own puzzling handwriting. 

For decades and even centuries, these manuscripts have been stored away, deep in the vault of history, now currently resting in the caring hands of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University.

Today, these powerful sermons can again lift Edwards' voice and be heard anew, in some cases more than 270 years after they originally thundered from the Northampton Church pulpit. Since then, almost no human eyes have viewed them since the Colonial Congregationalist penned them himself. For this reason, these three paperback volumes are a true treasure chest, replete with jewels and gems for advancing Jonathan Edwards studies. 

The whole series, I think, will significantly move forward our understanding of Edward's theology of regeneration and conversion, not to mention his theology of, and first-hand participation in Great Awakening-era revivalism. 

Each of the three volumes is a compendium of multiple sermons on one particular parable. Often, Edwards' sermons were preached over various occasions (called "preaching units") and took on a life of their own, far beyond the typical hour-long sermonic format, so commonly known among the Puritans. Such is the case with these sermons: they are really each a greatly extended but cohesive literary whole, preached upon a particular pericope of Scripture. 

Each sermon series (in one case, 19 preaching units!) treats of multiple theological doctrines, and contains various of Edwards "uses," or applications. Of course, they were originally preached over the time-frame of multiple weeks and even months, often containing both morning and afternoon/evening oratories. 

Volume One focuses on the "Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins" (Matthew 25:1-13). Here, Edwards intends to show the similarities and distinctions between those who virgins who have oil in their lamps and those who do not. In this way, Edwards draws some distinctions between the Church Visible, and the Church Invisible. His primary thrust is to show that there are many professing believers who would appear to be genuinely converted, and yet do not have the new principle of inner life, given only by the sovereign hand of God. 

Volume Two treats of the "Parable of the Soils" (Matthew 13:1-23). Predictably Edwards discourses at some length the four general responses that hearers have to the Gospel as originally given and explained by Jesus. Interestingly, this sermon series was preached immediately after George Whitefield had come through Northhampton. The sermon series itself more than hints at Whitefield's revivalistic power and affect, and the people of Edwards' congregation's reaction to the same. This volume contains an additional text by Whitefield, a brief treatise on how to "hear" a sermon. 

Volume Three is in regard to the "Parable of the Net" (Matthew 13:47-50). Here Edwards powerfully describes the doctrines of grace as it relates to as-yet unregenerate men being forcibly pulled from their natural element (like fish from the sea) and prompted to die to self and live the new life of conversion in Christ. This third volume, although much more in outline form than the others, has the added distinction of being preached at the same time that Edwards was preparing The Religious Affection for publication. For this reason, the reader gets a unique look into what Edwards was stewing on during this great book's final preparations. 

What ties these three volumes together and makes them interesting historical and exegetical material is their relationship to the events of the Great Awakening. Each volume was preached at a unique time in early colonial revivalism history. Additionally, the series taken together gives the modern reader a view of Jonathan Edwards' theology of the Kingdom, since Minkema and Neele have wisely chosen a set of sermons  for publication that are moored to theological motifs held in common by each parable. 

Readers will find these sermons to be a very helpful companion as they read other works of Jonathan Edwards such as The Religious Affections which deal with very similar topics and themes, if only in a more didactic form. For many, the sermons will actually be easier to read than his treatises. 

One weakness should be mentioned. I am not sure why the editors chose to include the very same opening article on "Edwards the Preacher" by Wilson H. Kimnach in all three volumes, but alas, they did. Perhaps they thought that some readers would not buy the whole set and would need the same article printed separately in each volume. For my own part, I would have preferred that they included different prefatory materials in each book. Together they could have done more to prepare and educate the reader as to the historical context of the sermon series. 

Moreover, this set of three books will be an incomparable treasure to all Edwards scholars, as it was to me. The very idea that I am reading today what was hidden for centuries was enchanting. Scholars, pastors, and students of revivalism alike will all greatly benefit from these faithful, historic proclamations of Gospel truth!

--Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida. 

Book Review: "The Religious Affections" by Jonathan Edwards

Overview: The Religious Affections is for very good reason considered one of the most important works of Jonathan Edwards in particular and one of the most excellent and helpful treatises on Christian spirituality in general. Caught in both the glory and the drama of the First Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards was tasked with the responsibility to defend God’s mighty outpouring of grace from both its detractors and its extremists.

In this great work, Edwards sets out to accomplish three major goals (1) he shows from Scripture that the religious affections (“the more vigorous and sensible exercises of the inclination and will of the soul”) are indeed true manifestations of real Christian spirituality and of the holy life (2) he warns of a number of “experiences” that cannot either verify or falsify the reality of one’s professed conversion and (3) he enumerates several factors that are indicative of true conversion and regeneration. Chief among these last factors (as the quote below demonstrates) is the fruit of holy living—or Christian practice—carried out in the believer’s life.

Application: This great work has a number of applications and uses. First and foremost it helps to delineate what true conversion looks like. In Edwards’ day it was hard to prove that one was truly “converted.” Often the Puritans looked for a series of finely ordered “steps” in one’s testimony of professed faith. The burden of proof lay heavy. The difficulty was exacerbated by the throngs of professed conversions in the wake of the Great Revival of the 1740's.  In our day, it is much easier—we must simply give an “altar call” story, or a similar anecdote of “accepting Jesus into our heart.” Edwards speaks to both extremes by evaluating the conversion experience with a truly Biblical grid of analysis.

Edwards shows that true conversion does indeed transform both the inward man, in his “affections” (love, joy, fear of the Lord, etc.) as well as the outward man in living out the will of God in his daily experience. Pastors who are prayerfully evaluating their flock, as well as those unsure of their own salvation, will find this work deeply helpful in this regard.

Critique: While this particular reviewer is mostly sympathetic to Edwards’ position about conversion, many of my charismatic and Pentecostal friends will likely find some fault with Edwards’ teaching on the inner-life of spiritual experience. Throughout, Edwards is particularly hard on those who claim to have received such things as visions of Christ or strong “impressions” of particular Scripture passages upon the heart as being too easy to manipulate and falsify. 

While he is surely right in showing that these things cannot prove that one is a Christian, some readers (but not all) will feel he has gone too far in assessing the supernatural revelations of the Holy Spirit to the human mind in a negative fashion. Personally, I found Edwards insights on these matters to be desperately needed in a world of hyper-subjective excesses ("The Lord told me..." etc.) and non-falsifiable claims of religious experience, often bordering on the narcissistic and the bizarre.  

Overall: Moreover, I found this book to be one of the greatest works of Edwards, and one of the best introductions to his thinking and theology. Much of this book (especially his non-polemical sections) can be read as devotional material. His emphasis on Christianity's burning-heart piety (love, joy, fear of God etc.) reads like the work of a man passionate about Jesus and His intrinsic glory. It is with great reason that the Religious Affections has taken its place among the all-time spiritual classics. 

Best Quote: “From what has been said, it is manifest that Christian practice, or a holy life, is a great and distinguishing sign of true and saving grace. But I may go further and assert that it is the chief of all the signs of grace, both as an evidence of the sincerity of professors unto others, and also to their own consciences” (p. 326-32).

--Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida

Three Years in the Mind of a Genius: Why I'm Writing My Doctoral Dissertation on Jonathan Edwards' Theology of Joy

"When someone preaches your funeral one day, they outta say, 'It was during the writing of his doctoral dissertation that he encountered the truth that set his whole ministry on fire again and gave him a renewed love of the pastorate!"

That was the advice that I received at the dissertation seminar recently at Reformed Theological Seminary, in Orlando Florida.

I have known for some time that I needed to determine a specific topic for my dissertation. Very specific. I didn't want to choose one too quickly and end up getting bored--or wait too long to get started and waste precious time and energy.

So I began to ponder one simple question: If I had to spend three years of my life in the mind of someone brilliant, someone who could help me the most to shape my worldview and my understanding of pastoral ministry, who would it be? To say it another way, who or what can I study that will renew my own heart, rigorously engage my intellect, and benefit my entire congregation as well?

I knew instinctively it had to be someone who was a pastor. He would have to understand the daily blessings and trials of loving people, leading a local congregation, and engaging Scripture on a profound and worshipful level. 

Almost immediately, I narrowed it down to two men: John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards. Both men held high views of Scripture. Both men are in my Christian tradition (Reformed/Presbyterian). I've spent hours in both men already, and read thousands of pages by each to my own soul's great profit.

But then it struck me like a lightening bolt: Edward's view of joy!

Throughout the entire corpus of Edwards' writing, joy (or as he often termed it, 'happiness') pervades. It is everywhere. It is rich like thick oil in his Religious Affections. It smells sweetly and gloriously in his Miscellanies. It blossoms to full flower in many (most?) of his sermons to his own congregation.

Here is an example: 

Wherefore, seeing happiness is the highest end of the creation of the universe, and intelligent beings are that consciousness of the creation that is to be the immediate subject of this happiness, how happy may we conclude will be those intelligent beings that are to be made eternally happy! (Misc. #3).

The glory of God--especially as He reveals Himself to us in the Gospel--is the supreme joy for which we were created.

In the next three years, my goal will be to read as much as I can by and about Jonathan Edwards. There are over 70 volumes in his own writings, so I doubt I will ever run out of material to study. 

I will put his theology, his ministry, his philosophy, his quirks and idiosyncracies (we all have them), as well as his failures and successes under a microscope. I will not make him an idol or put his words on par with Scripture. On the contrary, I will continue to consider him as a man, a fallible mortal, like myself.

But most of all, I will look to Jonathan Edwards' view of joy.

• What is it? 
• What is it not? 
• How do we apprehend it? 
• Where does it come from?
• How to we hold on to it in the midst of our struggles? 
• From what Scriptural basis does Edwards find the most support for his views? 
• Did Edwards encounter this joy personally, or does he write about it merely theoretically? 
• Perhaps most importantly of all, how can I share his passion for joy with my own congregation?

Three years in the mind of a genius on the topic of "joy."

Here we go: three, two, one... jump!

-Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida.

The Grace of Judgment: Is Hell Consistent with the Love of God?

God has appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged; but likewise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil (The Westminster Confession of Faith, 33.1).

It seems a bit strange for the Westminster Confession of Faith--such a joyful and God-rejoicing document--to end with a chapter on judgment. Yet, it is not that grace is lacking in this text. There is plenty of peace here. For instance the next section of the Confession speaks of “the manifestation of the glory of His mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect,” and “the fullness of joy and refreshing which shall come from the presence of the Lord” (see 33.2). And yet we remember that this is a Puritan document. And so it is quite fitting that this great confession, as it was originally written, ends with a stern warning to obedience and faith. For this reason we are not surprised to hear of hell mentioned in the closing words as well.

Is the concept of hell consistent with a loving God? It is.

Jonathan Edwards explains why:

“The crime of one being despising and casting contempt on another, is proportionally more or less heinous, as he was under greater or lesser obligations to obey him. And therefore if there be any being that we are under infinite obligations to love, and honor, and obey, the contrary towards him must be infinitely faulty. Our obligation to love, honor, and obey any being is in proportion to his loveliness, honorableness, and authority…But God is a being infinitely lovely, because he hath infinite excellency and beauty…So sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations must be infinitely heinous…and therefore renders no more than proportional to the heinousness of what they are guilty of.”[1]

The Christian faith is no “lollipop religion.” It is not the chaff of popular self-esteem banter. It is not the easy-to-digest frivolity of “do it yourself” religion. And the Westminster Confession of Faith makes no pretensions of recommending such glitter. The Christian faith does, however, remit serious warnings of judgment as often as it promises incomprehensible rewards; often in the same breath. And so the Confession ends here, a bit like the Apostle John ends his first epistle, with a staunch reminder of the sheer weightiness of the matters presented within the rest of the document.

When we decide to worship and serve the Lord Jesus Christ with our lives, we have also decided to worship and serve the one who will judge us on that last day (John 5:22, 27). This is wonderful news. The one who will judge us is also our Savior!  If our own judge took off His garments of honor and nobility to condescend to be our Savior, how much more then will His judgment be according to His own mercy.

As we consider the sternness and mercy of God today, let us pray with the Reformer John Calvin regarding this great and terrible doctrine of the judgment,

“Almighty God, our heavenly Father, grant us the grace that, being warned by so many examples of Your wrath and vengeance (in the Bible), the memory of which You have willed should endure until the end of the world, we might learn thereby how redoubtable and terrible a Judge You are against the obstinate and those who have hardened their hearts. Grant us also the grace that, today we might not be deaf to this doctrine which we have heard from the mouth of your prophet. Rather, grant that we might apply all our studies in order to appease You and find favor in Your sight, and, abandoning all hope in mankind, present ourselves directly to You. Moreover, being supported by Your loving kindness alone, which You have promised us in Jesus Christ, may we never doubt again that You are our true Father. May we be so touched by a spirit of repentance, that, even if we have been bad examples for one another, and scandalized each other, we might rather become banner-bearers, or guides, to the right way of salvation. And may we strive to help our neighbors by living a good and well-ordered life, so that all together we might attain that heavenly and happy life which Your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, has dearly acquired for us by His blood. Amen.”[2]

I have sitting on my desk a tiny trophy that I “earned” for playing T-ball as a young boy. T-ball is the kind of baseball that is played before children are able to hit and pitch the ball on their own. The baseball just sits there on the tee waiting for the batter to strike it. At the end of my first season playing for the “T-ball Tornados” the coach handed us each a small, itty-bitty trophy no higher than six inches. It sits modestly on a 1-inch high pedestal of plastic. What seemed to me a more than generous reward for my efforts as a child, now seems to me a humorous reminder of the irony of my achievements. Our earthly trophies are so small and ignoble compared to the righteousness of Jesus, aren’t they?

Often I have found that the more I can meditate on the day of my own judgment, the more I am able to ferret out the wood and hay before I am foolish enough to try to build something out of them.  Philippians 2:12 warns us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” We fear, not because we are concerned that God will destroy us, for there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1); rather we fear because our hearts have been regenerated in order to love Him more and more. Our fear is not that we would ourselves be condemned, but we fear that we would live in such a way that the honor of God is tarnished. Similarly, we tremble not because we are afraid of punishment, but with the ground-shaking responsibility of carrying His name-plate on our hearts. 

The above has been adapted from Matthew Everhard's book, Hold Fast the Faith: A Devotional Commentary on the Westminster Confession of 1647 (Reformation Press, 2012). Matthew is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

---

[1] Jonathan Edwards, quoted in John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. (Sisters OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2003) p. 60.

[2] John Calvin, quoted in Steven J. Lawson, The Expository Genius of John Calvin.  (Orlando FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2007) p. 127-128.

Remember Your Leaders: Jonathan Edwards

“Resolved: To live with all my might while I do live.”

-Jonathan Edwards

A Biographical Sketch 

Jonathan Edwards was born October 5, 1703, in Windsor, Connecticut. He had ten sisters and not one brother. He could probably knit with and crochet with the best. He was of superior intellect and at twelve years of age his father sent him to Yale where Edwards flourished. He was a thinker, appearing to have always had his pen in hand taking notes as he read. At the age of 16 he graduated from Yale as valedictorian and gave the graduation address in Latin, for fun. He was brilliant.

At 19 years of age Edwards took his first call as a pastor to Scotch Presbyterian Church in New York. He returned to Yale a year later to finish Masters work and fell in love with Sarah Pierrepont. She was according to Edward’s own hand, “…of a wonderful sweetness, calmness and universal benevolence of mind…and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure” (Edwards, Memoirs, xxxix). Over the next 23 years they had eight daughters and three sons.

In 1726 God called Edwards to assist his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, in ministering to the esteemed Church of Northampton, Massachusetts. Stoddard passed three years later and Edwards took over as sole minister. His primary task as a pastor was ardent study of the Scriptures. He said: “Be assiduous in reading the Holy Scriptures. This is the fountain whence all knowledge in divinity must be derived. Therefore let not this treasure lie by you neglected” (Edwards, Christian Knowledge, 162). To Edwards the greatest impact and good he could do as a pastor was to study well the Word of God and communicate it’s truth in all that he did, be that preaching, conversation, or in his prolific writing.

In 1757, after 23 years as pastor of Northampton, and time spent writing and thinking in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Edwards was called by Princeton College to assume the role of President. It was a crowning achievement to be extended this invitation. He took it, although he was initially against the opportunity due to his poor health and grand writing dreams. However on March 22, 1758, after only assuming the position of President a month earlier, Edwards passed away after complications that arose from a smallpox inoculation.

Edwards is an example to us as a man who was fixed upon God as his ultimate end in all of life. Due to his writings that have been well preserved, we have a good corpus from which to “remember” his faith and imitate it in our lives. Here are three great things that Edwards strived for in the exercise of his faith:

We Were Created to Glorify God 

Uppermost in all of Edwards life was the great Reformed pillar of Soli Deo Gloria. Edwards’ faith spurned him to exist to magnify and extol God’s glory in all that he put his hand to. While he was a sinner and couldn’t accomplish this perfectly, it was nonetheless chief in his mind for what was his end in life. For as Edward’s says:

“Thus we see that the great and last end of God’s works which is so variously expressed in Scripture, is indeed but one; and this one end is most properly and comprehensively called, ‘the glory of God.’” (Edwards, Ethical Writings, 530)

And so Edwards, by the faith God had given him, sought to elevate and display the glory of God in his life. One thing we can take from Edwards on this point is his understanding of our sinful nature. The more depraved we are, the more we have to glory in our God:

“God hath made man’s emptiness and misery, his low, lost and ruined state into which he is sunk by the fall, an occasion of the greater advancement of his own glory…as there is now a much more universal and apparent dependence of man on God.” (Kimnach, The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, 79)

We Were Created To Delight in God 

To many the Christian faith looks like a joyless prison. It is a religion of prohibition: you can’t get drunk, you can’t sleep around, you can’t lie on your taxes. Many in the world see Christianity as a set of rules that restricts the individual and takes all fun out of life. However Edwards says quite the opposite. He roots the fundamental core of Christianity in relation to happiness and joy. Christianity does not kill delight, it instead magnifies it and puts it in it’s proper place. Edwards says this:

“God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it.” (Piper, God’s Passion for His Glory, 79)

Edwards contends that when we live into our created purpose in Christ, namely to glorify God, we do so only successfully when we do so out of delight. Because the Christian, if he truly grasps faith, realizes that he has found the most joyful pursuit in all of life, giving glory to his creator. And he is the most joyful pursuit because “He is [our] highest good…the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls.” (Kimnach, The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, 74) And so from Edwards we can learn that we are to delight in our God, in His goodness towards us, and in so doing bring glory to God.

We Were Created to Pursue God 

Edwards was a man of great resolve. A man who put his mind to a task and did not waver. He was intensely driven in all that he did. He was this way because he understood the seriousness of what he was called to do, to redirect hearts and minds to God’s glory. As such, Edwards found himself in a relentless pursuit of God. This is well attested to in his many Resolutions (Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1, xx).

With 1 Corinthians 10:31 as his guide, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God, Edwards produced a list of 70 resolutions to guide his life and pursuit of God’s glory to be manifested. These are no mere New Years Resolution like we might think. May these few be an encouragement to you to imitate his faith, a faith that calls us to be enamored in our pursuit of knowing and displaying God’s glory in our lives.

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration…

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God…

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

7. Resolved, never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.

Edwards was a man of resolve. May we resolve to be so fixed on God in our lives so as to display His glory in all that we do.

*     *     *

There is much written on Jonathan Edwards. For an introduction I would recommend Owen Strachan's Essential Edwards Collection (book one in particular), and John Piper's elucidation of Edward's main theological orientation in God's Passion for His Glory. For a deeper look at Edwards life George Marsden's biography is top notch. As for Edwards own work, I would direct you first to some of his best sermons and then to the Religious Affections or Concerning The End for Which God Created the World. Yale also has most of Edwards work free to read on their webpage which is simply an invaluable gift from the school.

**Next Week: Remembering Your Leader Charles Spurgeon

JT Holderman is Assistant Pastor of Bellevue Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Gap, PA.

10 Free E-Books (You're Welcome!)

In light of my recent post on the benefits of having a Kindle or other e-reader, I thought I would post some of the best works of theology and fiction that you can get free (read: no cost) on your device.

No strings attached....Seriously.

1. The ESV Bible. The ESV is the best English translation available today. Thank goodness that Crossway publishers is more concerned with giving away the Gospel than making money!
2. John Bunyan. Pilgrim's Progress. The classic allegory of "Christian" who is making his way from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. Read my review of this work here.
3. Andrew Bonar. The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne. RMM was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor in the 1800's. As a poet and preacher, M'Cheyne inspired multiple generations of Christians with his selfless devotion and warm piety.
4. Johann David Wyss. The Swiss Family Robinson. Read a good classic aloud to your children once in a while. This work is full of surprising lessons about Christian discipleship.
5. A.W. Tozer. The Pursuit of God. One of the classic works of spiritual formation in the last century. Long before Piper wrote Desiring God, Tozer was speaking on the God-exalting life from a Chicago pulpit.
6. Martin Luther. Small Catechism. One of the great didactic works for children. A surprisingly relevant discussion on the central tenets of Christianity.
7. Jonathan Edwards. Selected Sermons. Newbies will find Edwards' sermons to be the easiest and most accessible works that the great American Puritan wrote from New England centuries ago.
8. J.C. Ryle. A Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitefield. A simple and short read on the basics of one of history's most revered evangelists.
9. John Foxe. Foxe's Book of Martyrs. The classic work on the lives of many of Christ's martyrs.
10. Robert Louis Stevenson. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I love this fictional work, so I threw it in here. Stevenson gives us a most unusual glimpse into the doctrine of total depravity.

 You're welcome. If you really want to pay me back for all this free stuff, just follow me on Twitter @matt_everhard. We'll call it even!

Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida.

What's Old is New

Being in seminary, I am constantly being "introduced" to a bunch of old dead dudes. Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Owen, Luther, and Edwards are merely a few of the men who faithfully preached God's word and were used to advance His kingdom. While the verbiage in these men's writings is often dense, their message is not.

The Gospel message has not changed despite the changing of nearly everything else in this world. We are sinners. We need to be saved from ourselves. God intervened. God came down as a man, Jesus. Through the life, death, and ressurrection of Jesus his elect people are redeemed to himself. Basic... I know.

So why bring this up?

Well... we Christians have distorted the truth and pushed the emphasis away from God and onto ourselves. Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, spoke this week at our seminary orientation. Tullian, the grandson of renown preacher Billy Graham, had a very basic message for us future ministry leaders. "We have made the Christian faith about the LIFE of the Christian rather than the Christ of Christianity."

Let that previous quote sink in... Now think about how much of your life is dedicated to how you perform? How well you are doing in the process of your sanctification? How much are you doing for the kingdom? We have actually made Christianity about us! Does the New Testament have passages about how to live a life of holiness? Yes! Does it talk about sanctification? Yes! However, this is not the primary function of God's word. The primary function of God's word is to glorify God!

This is not a new concept. 16th century theologian Martin Luther stated that "Good seed cannot flourish when constantly dug up for examination." He was essentially urging us to not merely look inward but to instead look outward. To allow the work of Christ to continue to become more a part of who we are.

Let's look at the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:13- For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. As believers in Christ, we are given freedom from selfishness and self-reliance. Therefore, as Luther and many others before and after him have done, I also exhort you to live out of your freedom in Christ and tell others of what Christ has done and is doing in your life. Do not merely say Jesus you saved me, now I'll take it from here. Rather, tell those in your life how Jesus has saved you and that you are realizing your need for him more and more every day.

I close with Paul's words in II Corinthians 5:17- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Amen.

Drew Taylor
3rd Year MDiv Student
Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando