Author: drthomasclothier

“We acknowledge that some particular appearances in the work of conversion among men may be occasioned by the ministry which they sit under, whether it be of a more or less evangelical strain, whether it be more severe and affrighting, or more gentle and persuasive. But wheresoever God works with power for salvation upon the minds of men, there will be some discoveries of a sense of sin, of the danger of the wrath of God, and the all-sufficiency of his Son Jesus, to relieve us under all our spiritual wants and distresses, and a hearty consent of soul to receive him in the various offices of grace, wherein he is set forth in the Holy Scriptures.” – Isaac Watts & John Guyse, 1737.  

It was in 1734 that Jonathan Edwards witnessed the first occasion of spiritual power and success in his pastoral ministry. It was in December of that year that Edwards wrote the following words in an article entitled The Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God.

“In the latter part of December, 1734, the Spirit of God began extraordinarily to set in, and wonderfully to work amongst us; and there were, very suddenly, one after another, five or six persons, who were to all appearances savingly converted.”

The conversion of souls continued in the initial weeks of 1735. A great interest and concern of the Christian Gospel began to take hold upon the residents of Northampton. A noticeable difference in behavior and conviction began to be seen in the life of the town.

Edwards wrote, “The minds of people were wonderfully taken off from the world. It was treated amonst us as a thing of very little consequence. When once the Spirit of God began to be so wonderfully poured out in a general way through the town, people had soon done with their old quarrels, backbiting’s, and intermeddling with other men’s matters. The tavern was soon left empty and persons kept very much at home.”

The surprising work of God reached its peak in March and April of 1735. Edwards’ biographer Iain Murry explains, “Edwards believed the work of conversion appeared to be at the rate, at least, of four persons in a day, or near thirty in a week.”

This surprising work was not uniformly believed or received by others within New England. A widespread revival was unheard of at that time. Edwards’ contemporaries, Isaac Watts and John Guyse with whom he corresponded and who lived in England, not only believed the news but shared it with their congregations. They said, “So strange and surprising work of God that we have not heard anything like it since the Reformation…should be published and left upon record.”

“ The most successful method of preaching is that which aims at thorough and radical convictions of sin. The law must be applied with power to the conscience, or the precociousness of grace will be inadequately known.” – James Henley Thornwell

Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

“Awakening was a dominant theme of the life and ministry of Jonathan Edwards.” – Stephen J. Nichols, 2018.

 “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1–8 (ESV)

Jonathan Edwards was committed to the biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God. Throughout the 1730’s, he consistently preached the doctrines of God’s grace to the congregation of Northampton. He understood that true conversion, along with true revival, is solely the product of the Holy Spirit’s work through the preaching of the Word of God by the faithful man of God.

In 1734, Edwards preached a sermon titled A Divine and Supernatural Light. “When dead souls rise to new life, when blind eyes see the beauty of the gospel, and when deaf ears hear the transforming truth of the redemptive work of Christ—all of this is because of the divine and supernatural light. It is not a human or a natural light. Spiritual awakening comes from heaven above,” Edwards stated,

Edwards was not only concerned about the conversion of the lost, but also deeply concerned about the spiritual growth and maturity of his believing congregation. He faced the challenge of promoting godliness within the Northampton church that often seemed to lapse into spiritual indifference. The fervent task of the faithful pastor has remained the same.

“To correct the errors into which some had fallen during the last years of (Solomon) Stoddard’s pastorate, Edwards focused his preaching in the early 1730’s on common, specific sins. He urged people to repent and to embrace the gospel by faith, explains Dr. Joel Beeke. ”

Edwards’ sermons resulted in a series of spiritual “awakenings” at Northampton. Edwards described, in his first book entitled Faithful Narrative of Surprising Conversions in the winter of 1734-1735, that young people and their parents responded to biblical truth with renewed interest. They began examining both their public and private behavior.

“People who visited Northampton noticed the change of spiritual climate and returned to their homes bearing Edwards’s message. Meanwhile, independently of Northampton, the Holy Spirit brought revival to other places as well,” Dr. Beeke states.

The periodic awakenings which took place in the Connecticut River Valley in the mid to late 1730’s would serve as a prelude for what the Lord would bring forth in the early 1740’s throughout the American colonies and beyond. More to come.

Soli deo Gloria!    

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—“ (Ephesians 2:1–5 (ESV)

“It is affecting to think how ignorant I was, when as a young Christian, of the bottomless, infinite depths of wickedness, pride, hypocrisy and deceit left in my heart.” – Jonathan Edwards

One of the most fertile places in the Christian’s pilgrimage is what Puritan John Bunyan called the Valley of Humiliation. It is in this so-called valley that the believer in Christ becomes acutely aware of the depths of their sinfulness prior to their conversion and the heights of God’s graciousness that brought about their conversion. It is in this valley that man’s erroneous perspective of free-will is finally discarded and God’s free and sovereign grace is fervently embraced and appreciated.

It was in this valley that Edwards began to acquire a deepening understanding of God’s sovereign and divine grace in salvation. Like many other before him, and after him, Edwards became aware of the real nature of sin, and fallen man’s inability to independently repent of sin and believe the Gospel unto salvation. He came to understand that God saves sinners according to His good pleasure and for the praise of His glorious and sovereign grace alone (Eph. 1:3-11).

As a youth, Edwards had no affection at all with the doctrine that God appoints men to salvation. However, as he grew in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), he acquired a heart-felt awareness of the power and depth of sin in the unconverted individual.

“Spiritual experience and sound theology go together. Accordingly, the Reformers, and the Puritans after them, had attributed opposition to the doctrines of grace as evidence of spiritual ignorance. Men must be saved by sovereign mercy or not at all, and the more he (Edwards) saw of this way of salvation – God giving grace to those who had no claim or right – the more he saw his own dependence upon it,” Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray explains,

“It appears to me that were it not for free grace, exalted and raised up to the infinite height of all the fullness and glory of the great Jehovah, and the arm of His power and grace stretched forth in all the majesty of His power, and in all the glory of His sovereignty, I should appear sunk down in my sins below hell itself – far beyond the sight of everything but the eye of sovereign grace that can pierce even down to such a depth, ”  Edwards wrote,

Edwards was deeply impacted by the biblical doctrine that God owes salvation to no one and that He may justly withhold pardon from any. To say otherwise, is to deny the very concept and definition of grace itself. For if anyone believes that grace is deserved, then it is no longer grace that they believe.

Have you had your own valley of humiliation? I pray you have as I have. May the Lord be glorified and praised by us today.

Soli deo Gloria!

“As the philosopher he could discern, and discern truly, between the sterling and the counterfeit in Christianity –still it was as the humble and devoted pastor that Christianity was made, or Christianity was multiplied, in his hands.” – Thomas Chalmers.

Jonathan Edwards not only left behind a whole host of messages and sermons, but also personal reflections in his diaries. He referred to these entries as his Personal Narrative. These were primarily composed in the 1730’s while he served as the pastor of the church in Northampton.

“While telling us nothing of his outward life, the document gives us the key to his mind and, as Cromwell once told the English Parliament, ‘The mind is the man’,” explains Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray.

What follow are excerpts from Edwards’ Personal Narrative. The personal knowledge of God is the main theme.

• “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.”
• “God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion.”
• “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
• “A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God; of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom; and that it is by God’s power that he is upheld and provided for, and that he needs God’s wisdom to lead and guide him, and His might to enable him to do what he ought to do for Him.”
• “If I murmur in the least at affliction, if I am in any way uncharitable, if I revenge my own case, if I do anything purely to please myself or omit anything because it is a great denial, if I trust myself, if I take any praise for any good which Christ does by me, or if I am in any way proud, I shall act as my own and not God’s.”
• “Since I came to this town, I have often had sweet complacency in God, in views of His glorious perfections and the excellency of Jesus Christ. God has appeared to me a glorious and lovely Being; chiefly the account of His holiness. The holiness of God has always appeared to me the most lovely of all His attributes.”

Today, consider beginning a personal narrative of your own concerning God. What attributes of God completely captivate you? Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!   

²⁸ “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:28–31 (ESV)

Jonathan Edwards preached the sermon God Glorified in Man’s Dependence on the Public Lecture in Boston, MA. July 8, 1731. The sermon was published at the request of several ministers and others in Boston who heard Edwards preach it. It was the first sermon Edwards published. What follows is a brief excerpts.

“Those Christians to whom the apostle directed this epistle, dwelt in a part of the world where human wisdom was in great repute; as the apostle observes in the 22nd verse of this chapter, “The Greeks seek after wisdom.” Corinth was not far from Athens that had been for many ages the most famous seat of philosophy and learning in the world. The apostle therefore observes to them, how God by the gospel destroyed, and brought to naught, their wisdom. The learned Grecians, and their great philosophers, by all their wisdom did not know God, they were not able to find out the truth in divine things. But, after they had done their utmost to no effect, it pleased God at length to reveal himself by the gospel, which they accounted foolishness. He “chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and things that are despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught the things that are.” And the apostle informs them in the text why he thus did; ‘That no flesh should glory in his presence’.”

“First, all the good that they have is in and through Christ; He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. [1 Cor. I. 30.] All the good of the fallen and redeemed creature is concerned in these four things, and cannot be better distributed than into them; but Christ is each of them to us, and we have none of them any otherwise than in him. He is made of God unto us wisdom: in him are all the proper good and true excellency of the understanding. Wisdom was a thing that the Greeks admired; but Christ is the true light of the world; it is through him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind. It is in and by Christ that we have righteousness: it is by being in him that we are justified, have our sins pardoned, and are received as righteous into God’s favor. It is by Christ that we have sanctification: we have in him true excellency of heart as well as of understanding; and he is made unto us inherent as well as imputed righteousness. It is by Christ that we have redemption, or the actual deliverance from all misery, and the bestowment of all happiness and glory. Thus we have all our good by Christ, who is God.”

“Secondly, another instance wherein our dependence on God for all our good appears, is this, that it is God that has given us Christ, that we might have these benefits through him; he of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, etc.”

“Thirdly, it is of him that we are in Christ Jesus, and come to have an interest in him, and so do receive those blessings which he is made unto us. It is God that gives us faith whereby we close with Christ.”

So that in this verse is shown our dependence on each person in the Trinity for all our good. We are dependent on Christ the Son of God, as he is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We are dependent on the Father, who has given us Christ, and made him to be these things to us. We are dependent on the Holy Ghost, for it is of him that we are in Christ Jesus; it is the Spirit of God that gives faith in him, whereby we receive him, and close with him.”

The complete manuscript may be accessed at monergism.com. Have a blessed day in the LORD.

Soli deo Gloria!

“The central principle in Edwards’ thought, true to his Calvinistic heritage, was the sovereignty of God.” – George Marsden, 2003.

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: ² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ⁵ As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:1–5 (ESV)

Jonathan Edwards took to heart the instruction by the Apostle Paul to Timothy, his young protégé. By all accounts, throughout any given week Edwards preached the Word of God. He was faithful in rightly dividing the Word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

“Edwards’ sermons were marked by a riveting expository skill…wide thematic range, a wealth of evangelical thought, a pervasive awareness of eternal issues, and a compelling logical flow to make them arresting, searching, devastating, and Christ-centeredly doxological to the last degree,” writes Dr. J.I. Packer.

“His preaching style was commanding and by all accounts was almost hypnotic in its power to fix his hearers minds on divine things,”   Packer further explains.

In preparing and preaching biblical, expository sermons week in and week out, Edwards became a staunch defender of the sovereignty of God in salvation. He became committed to Reformed Theology.

“No theologian in the history of Christianity held a higher or stronger view of God’s majesty, sovereignty, glory and power than Jonathan Edwards. He ardently defended the Puritan Calvinistic doctrines…declaring that God is the all-determining reality in the most unconditional sense possible and always acts of His own glory and honor,”  church historian Roger Olson remarks,

Not only did Edwards preach the Word of God from the pulpit of Northampton, but also when he preached to Puritan ministers of Boston in July, 1731. Preaching from I Corinthians 1:29-31 he asserted God’s absolute sovereignty in salvation to the Harvard alumni in attendance.

“On July 8, 1731, Edwards preached in Boston the “Public Lecture” afterwards published under the title ‘God Glorified in the Work of Redemption, by the Greatness of Man’s Dependence upon Him.’ The emphasis of the lecture was on God’s absolute sovereignty in the work of salvation: that while it behooved God to create man pure and without sin, it was of his “good pleasure” and “mere and arbitrary grace” for him to grant any person the faith necessary to incline him or her toward holiness, and that God might deny this grace without any disparagement to any of his character,” a historian writes

Those in attendance were impressed with Edwards’ message. The sermon became the first of Edwards’ works to be published.   

One of the benefits in studying the life and ministry of Jonathan Edwards is the breadth of written material he left for future generations. His books, resolutions, personal diaries along with his many sermons are available for reading, study and enjoyment today.

Many of these resources concerning Jonathan Edwards, and many other theologians and pastors, are available for free access online. One such online resource is monergism.com.

Monergism.com is a free, comprehensive online theological library comprised of Reformed Christian resources designed to bring glory to Jesus Christ alone. The resource’s managers explain that, “The directory consists of original and aggregated content from around the world emphasizing the good news that salvation is God’s free gift for guilty sinners, not a reward for the righteous.”

More to come on the life and ministry of Jonathan Edwards. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

“Jonathan Edwards unites comprehensiveness of view, with minuteness of investigation, beyond any writer I am acquainted with. He was the greatest of the sons of men.” – Robert Hall, 1866.

What do we mean when we say the torch is passed? The metaphorical expression refers to giving one’s job or duties to another person. It alludes to the ancient Greek torch race, in which a lighted torch was passed from one runner to the next. The phrase is usually invoked when an older individual relinquishes their responsibilities to a younger protégé.

Upon the death of Solomon Stoddard, Jonathan Edwards assumed the pastoral responsibilities of the church at Northampton. It is one thing to be an assistant to the pastor, but another situation entirely when you become the pastor and are responsible for the spiritual health and wellbeing of a congregation. The individual in question no longer is playing second fiddle, but now occupies the position of the concert master.  

Edwards had the responsibility of the preaching of God’s Word three times week to a biblically literate congregation. Stoddard had faithfully discipled his flock for over five decades. Therefore, the expectations for Stoddard’s successor were high.

Edwards soon discovered that he would need as much time as possible to adequately prepare to preach and teach. The resulting theological output which Edwards produced in his sermon manuscripts and books is truly amazing. He was truly up to the task.

Edwards possessed a different personality than his grandfather. Solomon Stoddard was sanguine in temperament and was the life of any gathering along with being a fluent conversationalist. Stoddard was also a strongly opinionated individual. Edwards once remarked, “Mr. Stoddard, though an eminently holy man, was naturally of a dogmatic temper.”

Edwards, in contrast, was melancholier in temperament. He enjoyed quiet and solitary contemplation in the wilderness of the Connecticut River Valley. He was reserved and quiet; both in the pulpit and in most social settings.

“The people noticed that, unlike many minsters, Edwards did not intend to be part-time farmer, yet even so he seemed to have no time on his hands. From the outset it was not his custom to pull his horse and pass the time of day with his many parishioners. The world of crops and cattle was clearly not his principle interest. He lived somewhat apart and socially distant. He was clearly related to the men who wore white shirts rather than the common checkered ones,”  states Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray..

Edwards’ passion was not only to preach the Word of God, but also to give himself wholly to the study of the same. He took to heart the instruction from the Apostle Paul contained in 2 Timothy 2:15: “Do your best to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Soli deo Gloria!

“The profoundest reasoner, and the greatest divine, in my opinion, that America ever produced.”  — Samuel Davies, July 1, 1759

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ² a time to be born, and a time to die;”

The writer of Ecclesiastes expressed that there is an appropriate occasion for every human event and activity. In other words, life is incredibly complex and characterized by contrasts.

In today’s text, the writer sets forth the recognized contrast between when we are born and when we die. In effect the writer said that all of us have a point in time when we are born and conversely all of us have a point in time when we die. There are no exceptions.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 is a fitting text of Scripture when studying the life of Jonathan Edwards; especially in the year 1728-1730. It was during those three years that the Edwards’ would not only rejoice in the birth of children but also experience grief in the death of loved ones.

Jonathan and Sarah’s first child, their daughter Sarah, was born August 25, 1728. It was a Sunday. The Edwards family of two was now three.

Sadly, the following February Solomon Stoddard died. The man who faithfully preached the Word of God and served the people of God in Northampton was now in the presence of God in heaven. People throughout New England mourned his passing. Tributes were many and praiseworthy of this dedicated man of God.

“Stoddard was a Prophet and a Father to not only to the neighboring churches, and pastors of his own country, but also to those of the whole land. He was a Peter among the disciples and minsters of our Lord Jesus; very much our Primate and Prince among us, in an evangelical and truly apostolic sense,” wrote one individual in Boston.

Even more grievous was the death of Jonathan’s nineteen-year-old sister, Jerusha in December, 1729. While they may have differed in personality, their love for the Lod was fervent. In that, they were as one.

However, in the midst of grief the Lord often brings joy. The following April a second Edwards’ daughter was born. They named her Jerusha, after her deceased aunt. It was said that in both life and death, these two women resembled each other.

The Edwards’ family was growing. So too were the young pastor’s responsibilities in the wake of his grandfather’s death. However, Jonathan Edwards would prove to be up to the task the Lord sovereignly gave him.

The Lord remains faithful in the tasks He has given believers in Christ today. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

³⁰ “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. ³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” (Proverbs 31:30-31 ESV)

Jonathan Edwards began settling in to his new responsibilities in Northampton as the assistant to Pastor Solomon Stoddard. However, since his arrival another new event was shaping his life and ministry.. Edwards married Sarah Pierrepoint in New Haven on July 28, 1727. She was to bring, as a wife does, a sweetness and strength in his life for thirty years.

“Perhaps no event of Mr. Edwards’ life had a more close connection and his subsequent comfort and usefulness that this marriage,” Edwards biographer, Samuel Miller, explains,

Jonathan and Sarah met while he was a student at Yale.  Sarah was thirteen years old when the young Edwards fell in love with her. When they married, Jonathan was twenty-three and Sarah was seventeen.

“She is possessed of wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place singing sweetly, and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure, and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have someone invisible always conversing with he,” Edwards wrote.

Sarah was the daughter of Rev. James Pierrepoint. James had served as a pastor in New Haven from 1685 until his death in 1714. He was one of the founders of Yale College.

Sarah was also the grand-daughter of Thomas Hooker (1586-1647). Hooker was not only a Congregational minister but also the founder of the Connecticut Colony. Hooker “was known as an outstanding speaker and an advocate of universal Christian suffrage,” one historian explains.

Sarah was an excellent wife and mother of eleven children, ten of whom would live to adulthood. She would survive several of her children and her husband.

“Their marriage, which lasted over thirty years, was a happy one. Much of that was owing to Sarah, who managed the home–and her scholarly husband–efficiently. Sarah worked hard to rear godly children, dealing immediately with sin when it showed itself. The many people who visited the home were impressed by the peace which flourished in the home. There was none of the quarreling or coldness so common in other homes. Husband and wife supported and admired each other. They prayed daily together. Evangelist George Whitefield, after spending a few days in the calm, happy Edwards home, was so impressed that he determined to get married himself. “A sweeter couple I have not yet seen,” he enthuse,.” a biographer of Sarah Edwards explains,

It is evident that Sarah Edwards fit the profile of an excellent wife of Proverbs 31:30-31.

Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!  

“Mr. Edwards is a solid, excellent Christian…I think I have not seen his fellow in all New England.” – George Whitefield, October 17, 1740.

Jonathan Edwards accepted the call to be an assistant to Pastor Solomon Stoddard, his maternal grandfather, in 1727. Having served as pastor for well over fifty years in Northampton and at the age of 83, Stoddard needed assistance. With several previous, prospective candidates not succeeding in the position, the church leaders approached Edwards.

Edward’s biographer Steven J. Lawson explains, “Jonathan was ordained as his associate on Feb. 15, 1727, with the understanding that Stoddard would train young Edwards to succeed him.”

Solomon Stoddard began serving as pastor of the Northampton Church in 1670.His predecessor, Eleazer Mather, died and the pastoral search committee extended an invitation to the twenty-six year old Harvard graduate. In March 1670, having recently married Esther Mather, Solomon began preaching in the Northampton pulpit and would officially became the pastor in April 1672.

Stoddard believed that the “experience of the grace of God was the first necessity of a minister. Every learned and moral man is not a sincere convert, and so not able to speak exactly and experimentally to such things as souls want to be instructed in.”

In spite of Stoddard’s fifty-seven year ministry, the town of Northampton physically remained the same. It continued to be a farming community. Except for a few tradesmen and professionals, the people remained bonded to the soil.

Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray states, “Corn and wheat were sown in spring, calves and lambs were born and cared for. Then came hay-making and harvest, and before winter, apples were stored, animals slaughtered, and fields ploughed. Timber felling and wood cutting were constant necessities for building, for furniture and, not least, for hearting because there was to be no coal used in New England until after 1830. Country life was thus marked by an immobility and sameness. From week to week, and year to year, life went on as usual.”   

The townspeople, of upward to 1,000, lived close together and close to nature. However, it was their weekly church involvement that truly bound them together with cords that, at least on the surface, could not be broken.

Murray explains, “Almost the whole population would be at the one meeting house on Sunday mornings and again at 2 pm in the afternoon, at which times, it is said, sermons might last for two hours. The church also expected a ‘lecture’ on Thursday afternoons at 2 pm. Communal life indeed revolved around the church and even the town-meetings were held in the meeting house at Northampton until the late 1730’s when a separate building was erected for that purpose.”

The Northampton church had a membership of approximately 400-500. However, this does not mean that all were converted followers of Jesus Christ. We will address this subject when next we meet because this issue would play a significant part in Edward’s ministry at Northampton.

Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!