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The Pilgrim Path (8-8-2020)

The Pilgrim Path---Psalm 85: 4 

“Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!”

REVIVAL & REFORMATION

The Colonial American Preacher, Jonathan Edwards, saw a tremendous move of the Spirit of God in his day. We would love to “see” that now, would we not? In his fine treatise, “The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God,” he gives some very pointed guideposts for the Church of Jesus Christ to look for---and pray for. One of my seminary professors, R. C. Sproul, spent a good deal of time trying to sift through Edwards material, to get to the real core of his teaching for the Church of today. I wanted to give you some “highlights” of the “Marks of a Work of the Spirit”---as Edwards witnessed them in a most manifest way:

ONE: The people’s esteem of Jesus Christ is powerfully elevated---as never before. This is of course the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Edwards says: “The person to whom the Spirit gives testimony and for whom He raises their esteem must be Jesus---the one who appeared in the flesh. No other Christ can stand in his place. No mystical, fantasy Christ! No light within---”

TWO: The Spirit of the Living God will operate against the endeavors of Satan’s kingdom. Genuine revival will not make “all” sin vanish---but it does work to curb sin. It works to diminish sin. Sproul: “Satan desires that the consciences of people be seared. When the conscience is awakened, the interests of people turn away from lusts and are inclined afresh to the things of God.”

THREE: The Spirit of the Living God produces a great regard for the Holy Scriptures when He begins to work upon people. Sproul: “Virtually every Protestant creed has affirmed confidence in the divine origin and authority of Scripture. This was the direct fruit of the Reformation principle of sola scriptura. Yet this uniform conviction of historic Protestantism has been all but abandoned in so-called mainline churches of American Protestantism. Indeed, many of the splinter groups that have divided from mainline denominations have done so precisely over the issue of biblical authority.”

FOUR: The very words used in addressing the opposite spirits. Jesus Christ said, “I have come into the world---to bear witness to the truth” (John 18: 37). Sproul: “Luther insisted that whenever the Gospel was clearly proclaimed, controversy would surely follow. The only way to avoid controversy is avoid the Gospel… A revived Christian Church will be marked not only by what it affirms but also by its courage to deny truth’s antithesis.”

FIVE: A genuine spirit of Love will become evident toward both God and man. Edwards writes of what the Holy Spirit produces: “He makes the attributes of God as revealed in the Gospel and manifested in Christ delightful objects of contemplation. He makes the soul long after God and Christ---after their presence and communion, acquaintance with them and conformity to them; and to live to please and honor them is the spirit that quells contentions among men. He gives a spirit of peace and goodwill.”

It is interesting that Edwards says, “a work of God without stumbling blocks is never to be expected.”

One of the most terrible dangers Edwards warns against---in the face of revival:

“Pride is the worst viper in the heart. It is the first sin that ever entered the universe. It lies lowest of all in the foundation of the whole building of sin. Of all lusts, it is the most secret, deceitful, and unsearchable in its ways of working. It is ready to mix with everything. Nothing is so hateful to God, contrary to the spirit of the Gospel, or of so dangerous consequence. There is no one sin that does so much to let the devil into hearts of the saints and expose them to his delusions.”

“Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!” Psalm 80: 19

Revive thy work, O LORD,

Exalt thy precious Name;

And, by the Holy Ghost,

Our Love for Thee and Thine inflame.

Albert Midlane, 1858

Grace and Peace in Jesus Christ Our Risen LORD, Pastor Jason