of the gospel. When I enjoy this sweetness, it seems to
carry me above the thoughts of my own safety, so that I can-
not bear to take off my eye from the glorious object I behold
without me, to turn my eye in upon myself, and my own
happy state and condition.'
Such remarks abound in the writings of the New Eng-
land divines, and we have no right to deny what they aserts
upon their own experience. But when this attainment is
made the test of Christianity, and the criterion of true grace,
it is carrying the matter too far. Supreme love to God is
indeed essential to all true religion ; but this, instead of
teaching us to overlook or undervalue our own salvation, is
necessarily included in it, as one of the principal mediums
through which the glory of God is manifested. Nevertheless,
there are times in which the mind may be so fully absorbed in
the contemplation of the moral beauty and excellency of the
Deity, as to have no immediate consciousness of regard to
any other object; and this is all that the excellent Author
could intend.
' My heart has been much set on the advancement of
Christ's kingdom in the world ; the histories of its past suc-
cess have been sweet to me. When I have read the histo-
ries of past ages, the most delightful of all has been, to read
of the kingdom of Christ being promoted : and when I have
expected to come to any such thing, I have counted upon
it all the way as I read. I have also been much entertained
and delighted with the scripture promises and prophecies of
the future glorious advancement of Christ's kingdom on
earth. Sometimes I have had a sense of the excellent ful-
PRESIDENT EDWARDS, f^^ ^I V SE SIT :
ness of Christ, and his meetness and suitablene^?^^ ^yiTJ Yl\i^*
our, whereby he has appeared to me, far above all, the clu' ef ^ -^-"^
of ten thousand. His blood and atonement have been pre-
cious to me, and also his righteousness sweet ; and I have
been filled with inward stragglings, and breathings, and
groanings that cannot be uttered, to be emptied of myself,
and swallowed up in Christ.
* Once as I rode out into the woods for my health. Anno
1737, and having lighted from my horse in a retired place,
as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine con-
templation and prayer, I had a view, that for me was extra-
ordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as mediator be-
tween God and man ; and his wonderful, great, full, pure,
and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescen-
sion. This grace, so calm and sweet, appeared great above
the heavens. The person of Christ appeared with an excel-
lency sufficient to swallow up all thought and conception,
which continued, as near as 1 can judge, about an hour,
which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears,
and weeping aloud. 1 felt withal an ardency of soul to be,
what 1 know not otherwise how to express, than to be emp-
tied and annihilated, to lie in the dust, and to be full of
Christ alone ; to love him with a holy and pure love, to
trust in him, to live upon him, to serve and follow him, and
to be totally wrapt up in the fulness of Christ; and to be per-
fectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly
purity. 1 have several other times had views very much of
the same nature, and attended with the same effects.
' I have many times had a sense of the glory of the third
person in the Trinity, in his office of Sanctifier, in his holy
operations communicating divine light and life to the soul.
God, in the communications of his holy Spirit, has appeared
as an infinite fountain of divine glory and sweetness ; being-
full and sufficient to fill and satisfy the soul ; pouring forth
itself in sweet communications, like the sun in its glory,
sweetly and pleasantly diff"using light and life. Sometimes
I have had an affecting sense of the excellency of the word
of God, as a word of life ; as the light of life ; a sweet,
excellent, life-giving word ; accompanied with a thirsting
after that word, that it might dwell richly in my heart.
Since 1 lived in this town 1 have often had very affecting
views of my own sinfulness and vileness ; very frequently
so as to hold me in a kind of loud weeping, sometimes for a
considerable time together ; so that I have often been forced
to shut myself up. I have had a vastly greater sense of my
own w'ickedness, and the badness of my heart, since my con-
version, than ever 1 had before. It has often appeared to
me, that if God should mark iniquity against me, 1 should
22 THE LIFE OF
appear the very worst of all mankind, of all that have been
since the beoinning of the world to this time ; and that I
should have "by far the lowest place in hell. Yet I am not
in the least inclined to think, that I have a greater 'convic-
tion of sin than ordinary. I know certainly, that I have
very little sense of my sinfulness ; that my sins appear to
me so great, is not owing to my having so much more con-
viction of sin than other christians, but because I am so
much worse, and have so much more wickedness to be con-
vinced of.
' I have greatly longed of late for a broken heart,, and to
lie low before God. And when I ask for humility of God, I
cannot bear the thought of being no more humble than
other christians. It seems to me, that though their degrees
of humility maybe suitable for them, yet it would be a vile
self-exaltation "in me, not to be the lowest in humility of all
mankind. Others speak of their longing to be humbled to
the dust : though that may be a proper expression for them,
I always think for myself, that I ought to be humbled down
below hell. It is an expression that has long been natural
for me to use in prayer to God. I ought to lie infinitely low
before God.'
On this subject President Edwards seems to delight in
hyperbolies ; it may teach us however, that true grace is ex-
ceedingly humbling. The great apostle esteemed himself
the ' chief of sinners,' and ' less than the least of all saints.'
It is possible however to use extravagant expressions on any
subject ; and ' to be humbled below hell,' or * infinitely low,'
may be thought such. The humble and amiable Dr. Watts
defined humility to consist in a man's having ' a just opinion
of himself,' not a degrading one. We are all so much in-
debted to divine mercy, that there seems little danger of hy-
perbolies on that subject; there is no occasion however to
sink our language below the possibility of a meaning.
' I have a greater sense of my universal exceeding depend-
ence on God's grace and strength, and mere good pleasure of
late, than I used formerly to have ; and have experienced
more of an abhorrence of my own righteousness. The thought
of any comfort or joy arising in me, on any consideration, or
reflection on my own amiableness,or any of my performances
or experiences, or any goodness of heart or life, is nauseous
and detestable to me : and yet I am greatly aftlicted with a
proud and self-righteous spirit, much more sensibly than I
used to be fonuerly. I see that serpent rising and putting
forth its head continually, everywhere, all around me.
' Though it seems to me, that in some respects, I was a far
better christian for two orthree years after myfirstconversion
than I am now, and lived in a more constant delight and
PRESIDENT EDWARDS. 23
pleasure ; yet of late years I have had a more full and con-
stant sense of the absolute sovereignty of God, and a delight
in that sovereignty ; and have had more of a sense of the glo-
ry of Christ, as a mediator, as revealed in the gospel. One
Saturday night in particular I had a peculiar discovery of the
excellency of the gospel of Christ, above all other doctrines,
so that I could not but say to myself, ' This is my chosen
' light, my chosen doctrine :' and of Christ, 'This is my chosen
' prophet.' Another Saturday night I had such a sense how
sweet and blessed a thing it was, to walk in the way of duty,
that it caused me to cry out, * How happy are they who do
' that which is right in the sight of 'God. They are blessed
' indeed, they are the happy ones!' I had at the same time
a very affecting sense, how meet and suitable it was that God
should govern the world, and order all things according to
his own pleasure; and I rejoiced in it, that God reigned,
and that his will was done.'
Thus closes the extraordinary experience of our Author,
and by way of caution to sincere but inferior christians, we
beg it be considered that it was extraordinary ; that few
christians have arrived to equal attainments in the divine
life, particularly as to a settled acquiescence in the divine
will, and a devotedness of heart to the Redeemer. But let
us not consider his, or any man's 'experience, as an absolute
criterion to try the safety of our state, or the truth of our
conversion. The word of God is our rule, and the only one
on which we can rely with certainty. There are as many de-
grees of growth in grace, as in nature ; the beloved apostle
wrote to children, young men, and fathers in Christ. And
there is no less variety in the manner of the holy Spirit's
operation. * The wind bloweth where it listeth,' saith our
divine teacher; 'and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
* canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so
' is every one that is born of the Spirit.' John iii. 8, So free,
so sovereign, so multiform and incomprehensible, are the
operations of divine grace ; but this remark is not intended
to induce any to rest satisfied in their present attainments.
It is not only the duty, but one of the best critcrions, of a true
christian, ' to go on unto peifection.' Heb. vi. 1.
We shall detain the reader with only one other remark on
the preceding narrative, namely. That the subject of the sub-
sequent work, the History of Redemption was long one of our
author's most favorite topics of reflection. He was delighted,
as we have seen, 'with the scripture promises and prophe-
cies of the future glorious advancement of Christ's kingdom
on earth.' And what is very observable, he even objected at
first to accept the presidency of New Jersey College for this
among other reasons—' I have had on my mind and heart.
24 THE LIFE OF
which I long ago began, not with any view to publication, a
great work, which I call a History of Redemption ; and this
he was at length enabled to accomplish.
We shall close our account of President Edwards with the
following particulars of his habit of life, and character.
Though he was of a tender and delicate constitution, yet
few students were capable of more close application than he
was. He commonly spent thirteen hours every day in his
study. His most usual diversions in the summer were rid-
ing on horseback and walking: he would commonly, unless
diverted by company, ride two or three miles after dinner to
some lonely grove, where he would dismount and walk a while.
At these times he generally carried his pen and ink with him,
to note any thought that should be suggested, which he
chose to retain and pursue. In the winter he was wont, al-
most daily, to take an axe and chop wood moderately for the
space of half an hour or more. He had an uncommon thirst
for knowledge, in the pursuit of which he spared neither cost
nor pains. He read all the books, especially books of divi-
nity, that he could come at, from which he could hope to
get any help in his pursuit of knowledge. He did not con-
fine himself to authors of any particular sect or denomination,
but took much pains to come at the books of the most cele-
brated writers, whose scheme of divinity was most contrary
to his own principles : but he studied the Bible more than all
other books, and more than most other divines do. His un-
common acquaintance with it appears in his sermons, and in
most of his publications : and his great pains in studying it
are manifest in his manuscript notes upon it. He was
thought by some, who had but a slight knowledge of him, to
be stiff and unsociable ; but this was owing to want of bet-
ter acquaintance. He was not a man of many words indeed,
and was somewhat reserved among strangers ; but among
such whose candour and friendship he had experienced, he
threw off the reserve, and was most open and free, and re-
markably patient of contradiction. He was not used to
spend his time in scandal, evil speaking, and backbiting, or
in foolish jesting and idle chat; but his mouth was that of
the just, which bringeth forth wisdom, and his lips dispersed
knowledge ; so that none of his friends could enjoy his com-
pany without instruction and profit, unless it was by their own
fault. He kept himself quite free from worldly cares, and
left the direction of the temporal concerns of his family almost
entirely to Mrs. Edwards ; who was better able than most of
her sex, to take the whole care of them on her own hands.
Thus ornamental to the christian name and Sliaracter, liv-
ed the excellent subject of these memoirs ; and his death
perfectly harmonized with the tenour of his life.
HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
-'-rs^l^l'wT^
Isaiah li. 8.
FOR THE MOTH SHALL EAT THEM UP LIKE A GAR-
MENT, AND THE WORM SHALL EAT THEM LIKE
wool: but my righteousness shall be FOR
EVER, AND MY SALVATION FROM GENERATION
TO GENERATION.
1 HE design of this chapter is to comfort the
church under her sufferings, and the persecutions
of her enemies ; and the argument of consolation
insisted on, is, The constancy and perpetuity of
God's mercy and faitlifuhiess, which shall be mani-
fest in continuing to work salvation ; protecting her
against all assaults of her enemies, and carrying her
through all the changes of the world, and finally
crowning her with victory and deliverance.
In the text, this happiness of the church of God
is set forth by comparing it with the contrary fate
of her enemies that oppress her. And therein we
may observe,
1. How short-lived the power and prosperity of
the church's enemies is : ' The moth shall eat them
up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like
wool ;' * that is, however great their prosperity, and
however great their present glory, they shall by de-
grees consume and vanish away by a secret curse
of God, till they come to nothing ; and their power
and glory, and consequently their persecutions, eter-
* The MOTH and the worm sliall eat them. There is a slio;ht in-
accuracy in tliis rendering: which is worth correcting, because it wiil
throw a farther beauty on tlie text. It should seem tliat the word
jjnash, rendered moth, strictly signities, not the moth-f!y, Ijut the moth-
worm, or caterpillar, and receives its name from its corroding and de-
stroying the texture of cloth.
li
2 HISTORY OV KEDEMPTIOX.
nally cease ; and themselves be finally and irreco-
verably ruined : as the finest and most glorious ap-
parel will in time wear away, and be consumed by
moth and rottenness. We learn who those are that
shall thus consume away, by the foregoing verse,
viz. those that are the enemies of God's people :
' Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the
people in whose heart is my law, fear ye not the
reproach of mt'?i, neither be ye afraid of their re-
vilings.'
2. The contrary happy lot and portion of God's
church, expressed in these words, ' My righteous-
ness shall be for ever, and my salvation from gene-
ration to generation.' Also who those are that shall
have the benefit of this, by the preceding verse,
namely, ' They that know righteousness, and the
people in whose heart is God's law ; ' or, in one
word, the church of God. And concerning this
their happiness we may observe two things, where-
in it consists, and its continuance.
(I.) It consists in God's righteousness and salva-
tion towards them. By God's righteousness here,
is meant his faithfulness and fulfilling his covenant
promises to his church ; or his faithfulness towards
his church and people, in bestowing the benefits of
the covenant of grace upon them ; which benefits,
though they are bestowed of free and sovereign
grace, and are altogether undeserved ; yet as God
has been pleased, by the promises of the covenant
of grace, to bind himself to bestow them, so they
are bestowed in the exercise of God's righteousness
or justice. And therefore the apostle says, Heb.
vi. 10, ' God is not unrighteous, to forget your work
and labour of love.' And the Evangelist, 1 John i.
9, ' If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un-
righteousness.' So the word righteousness is very
often used in scripture for God's covenant faithful-
ness ; as in Nehem. ix. 8. ' Thou hast performed thy
words, for thou art righteous.' So we are often to
understand righteousness and covenant mercv for
ill STORY OK UF.DEMPTlOy. 3
the same as Psal. xxiv. 5, ' He shall receive the
blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the
God of his salvation.' Psal. xxxvi. 10. * Continue
thy loving kindness to them that know thee, and thy
righteousness to the upright in heart.' Psalm li,
14. ' Deliver me from blood guiltiness, oh God,
thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing
aloud of thy righteousness.' Dan. ix. 16. ' Oh
Lord, according to thy righteousness, I beseech
thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away.'
And so in innumerable other places.
The other word here used is ' salvation.' Of these,
God's righteousness and his salvation, the one is the
cause, of which the other is the effect. God's righ-
teousness, or covenant mercy, is the root of which
his salvation is the fruit. Both of them relate to
the covenant of grace. The one is God's covenant
mercy and faithfulness, the other intends that work
by which this covenant mercy is accomplished.
For salvation is the sum of all those works of God,
by which the benefits of the covenant of grace are
procured and bestowed.
(2.) Its continuance is here signified by two ex-
pressions, ' for ever,' and ' from generation to genera-
tion.' The latter seems to be explanatory of the
former. The phrase for ever, is variously used in
scripture. Sometimes thereby is meant as long as
a man lives. Thus it is said, Exod. xxi. 6, The
servant that had his ear bored through with an awl
to the door of his master should serve him for ever.
Sometimes thereby is meant during the continuance
of the Jewish state. So of many of the ceremonial
and Levitical laws it is said, that they should be
statutes for ever. Sometimes it means as long as
the world shall stand, or to the end of the genera-
tions of men. Thus Eccles. i. 4, ' One generation
passeth away and another cometh ; but the earth
abideth for ever.' Sometimes thereby is meant to
eternity. So it is said, ' God is blessed for ever,'
Rom. i. 25. And John vi. 51, ' If any man eat
of this bread he shall live for ever.' Now which of
4 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
these senses is here intended the next word deter-
mines, ' and my salvation from generation to genera-
tion ; ' that is, to the end of the world. Indeed the
fruits of God's salvation shall remain afterwards, as
appears by the 6th verse : ' Lift up your eyes to
the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath : for
the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the
earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that
dwell therein shall die in like manner ; but my
salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness
shall not be abolished.' But the work of the sal-
vation of the church shall continue to be wrought
tiU then. Till the end of the world God will go on
to accomplish deliverance and salvation for the
church, from all her enemies : for that is what the
prophet is here speaking of. Till the end of the
world ; till her enemies cease to be, or to have any
power to molest the church. And this expression,
from generation to generation, may determine us,
as to the time which God continues to carry on the
work of salvation for his church, both with respect
to the beginning and end. It is from generation to
generation, that is, throughout all generations ; be-
ginning with the first generation of men upon the
earth, and not ending till these generations end,
with the world itself. And therefore we deduce
from these words this
DOCTRINE.
THE WORK OF REDEMPTION IS A WORK WHICH GOD
CARRIES ON FROM THE FALL OF MAN TO THE
END OF THE WORLD.
THE beginning of the posterity of our first pa-
rents was after the fall ; for all their posterity, by
ordinary generation, are partakers of the fall, and
of the corruption of nature that followed from it;
and these generations, by which the human race is
propagated, shall continue to the end of the world ;
so these two are the limits of the generations of
HISTORY OF REDEMPTIOX. 5
men on the earth ; the fall of man, and the end of
the world. There are the same limits to the work
of redemption, as to those progressive works of God,
by which that redemption is accomplished ; though
not as to the fruits of it ; for they, as was said be-
fore, shall be eternal.
The work of redemption and the work of salvation
are the same thing. What is sometimes in scrip-
ture called God's saving his people, is in other places
called his redeeming them. Christ is called both
the Saviour and Redeemer of his people.
Before entering on the proposed History of the
Work of Redemption, I would,
1 . Explain the terms made use of in the doctrine ;
— and,
2. Show what are those things which are designed
to be accomplished by this great work.
The WORK OF REDEMPTiox is somctimcs to be ,77 I
taken in a limited sense, for the purchase of salva-f ' win-
tion; (for so the word strictly signifies, a purchase ^'' ll*,
of deliverance ;) and if we take it in this sense, the j , ;., . J:?,..-. '
work of redemption was not so long in doing : but & ^T
it was begun and finished with Christ's humiliation, r^/ ^**'^
It was begun with Christ's incarnation, carried on %*^^A. ^
through his life, and finished with his death, or the ^^^^
time of his remaining under the power of death, ^^
which ended in his resurrection : and so we say, /^^'^''tTSyS
that the day of Christ's resurrection is the day when dii/£2^y^^x.
he finished the work of redemption, that is, then Orq./'t^if^
the purchase was finished : and the work itself, and y^^jp^jryc
all that appertained to it, was virtually done, but I' -=:i=r-
not actually. CU?€L6%ai}t%
But sometimes the work of redemption is takeri^^-*>*^
more largely, as including all that God doth tend-'' iT'ScuTfi
ing to this end ; not only the purchase itself, but^^^^
also all God's works that were properly preparatory #j-sa^.,.,
to, or applicatory of the purchase, and accomplish- r> .
ing the success of it; so then the whole dispensa- ^'^^^^^'^
tion, as it includes the preparation, the purchase, £es^i^^
and the application and success of Christ's redemp- ^.^^j^^
tion, may be called the work of redemption. All ,^/
C HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
that Christ does in this great affair as mediator, in any
I > of his offices, either of prophet, priest, or king ; either
i^ when he was in this world in his human nature,
»1 -^or before, or since : and not only what Christ the
f u mediator has done, but also what the Father, or
' the Holy Ghost have done, as covenanted in this
^ design of redeeming sinful men ; or in one word,
' all that is wrought in execution of the eternal cove-
. K nant of redemption ; this is what I call the work
' "â– of redemption in the doctrine : for it is all but one
work, one design. The various dispensations or
works that belong to it, are but the several parts
â– of one scheme. It is but one design that is formed,
iji.''' to which all the offices of Christ directly tend; in
jfj. which all the Persons of the Trinity conspire ; and
/ all the various dispensations that belong to it are
united. The several wheels are one machine, to
answer one end, and produce one effect.
When I say, this work is carried on from the
foil of man to the end of the world ; I do not mean
that nothing was done in order to it before the fall
of man. Some things were done before the world
was created, yea, from all etertiity. The persons
of the Trinity were, as it were, confederated in a
design, and a covenant of redemption ; * in which
covenant the Father had appointed the Son, and the
Son had undertaken the work ; and all things to be
accomplished in the work were stipulated and
agreed ; and besides these, there were things done
at the creation of the world, in order to that work,
. before man fell ; for the world itself seems to have
been created in order to it. The work of creation
was in order to God's works of providence ; so that