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“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21 (ESV)

In today’s text, English translators twice use the present active state of being verb “is.” The Greek text literally reads, “For me to live, Christ, to die, gain.”  The Apostle Paul’s focus while living on earth was to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever his physical death would occur, that would be profitable resulting in great gain.

The Apostle Paul summarized his life with these eight words. Today’s text could well summarize, and be the lasting legacy of, Jonathan Edwards.

Shortly after assuming the presidency of Princeton College, there was an outbreak of smallpox. The Mayo Clinic explains that smallpox is a contagious, disfiguring and often deadly disease that has affected humans for thousands of years. Symptoms include fever, overall discomfort, headache, severe fatigue, severe back pain and possible vomiting.

Naturally occurring smallpox was wiped out worldwide by 1980 — the result of an unprecedented global immunization campaign. However, in the 18^th century smallpox was common and deadly.

With the sudden outbreak of the infectious disease, Edwards chose to be inoculated with a smallpox vaccine. However, lesions in his mouth and throat caused by the disease prevented him from swallowing. Consequently, his inability to drink a sufficient amount of fluids to combat a fever resulted in his death.

Shortly before his death, Edwards spoke to his daughter Lucy. He said, “Dear Lucy. It seems to be the will of God that I must shortly leave you. Therefore give my kindest regards to my dear wife and tell her that the uncommon union, which as so long subsisted between us, has been of such a nature as I trust is spiritual and therefore will continue forever. I hope she will be supported under so great a trial and submit cheerfully to the will of God. As to my children, you are now likely to be left fatherless, which I hope will be an inducement to you all to seek a Father who will never fail you.”

Like his late son-in-law Aaron Burr, Sr., Edwards did not want his funeral to involve excessive pomp and cost. He preferred funeral expenses to be used for other charitable means.

Edwards’ last spoken words were “Now, where is Jesus of Nazareth, my true and never-failing Friend” and “Trust in God, and you need not fear.”

In a letter from Edwards’ Princeton physician to Sarah Edwards, dated March 22, 1758, it says, “This afternoon, between two and three o’clock, it pleased God to let him sleep in that dear Lord Jesus, whose kingdom and interest he has been faithfully and painfully serving all his life. Never did any mortal man more fully and clearly evidence the sincerity of all his professions, by one continued, universal, calm, cheerful resignation and patient submission to the Divine will through each stage of his disease. Death had certainly lost its sting to him.”

Upon receiving the news of her husband’s death, Sarah Edwards wrote, “What shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. O that we may kiss the rod, and lay our hands on our mouths! The Lord has done it. He has made me adore his goodness, that we had him so long. But my God lives; and he has my heart. O what a legacy my husband and your father, has left us! We are all given to God; and there I am, and love to be.”

Echoing Sarah Edwards’ words, we are all given to God; and there I am, and love to be. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

“The enjoyment of God 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. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams. But God is the ocean. Therefore, it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven, as it becomes us to make the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives; to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labour for, or set our hearts on, anything else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?” – Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards arrived on the Princeton campus in January, 1758. Prior to leaving Stockbridge for Princeton, Edwards said goodbye to his immediate family. His wife Sarah, and the rest of the Edwards’ family, remained in Stockbridge due to the harsh winter conditions. Edwards’ daughter, Susannah, wrote, “My father took leave of all his people and family and affectionately; as if he knew he should not come again.”

Edwards’ inauguration as the third president of Princeton took place on February 16, 1758. In many minds, Princeton would become the single greatest influencer for orthodox, Reformed theology in America.

Edwards biographer Iain Murray explains, “Edwards set about his new work in a spirit which suggested nothing of the tears of January 4 (his departure from Stockbridge).”  With his daughter Esther, her two children, and another daughter, Lucy, already at Princeton, he was not as lonely as he could have been, and had been in the first months at Stockbridge.

Edwards preached every Sunday in the college hall. He introduced the senior class to a variety of questions on divinity of which they would need to prepare to answer and discuss in class. This new tactic was met with great enthusiasm.

One author writes, “During this time, Mr. Edwards seemed to enjoy an uncommon degree of the presence of God. He told his daughters he once had great exercise, concern and fear (regarding the presidency of Princeton). It now appeared, so far as he could see, that he was called of God to that place and work, He would cheerfully devote himself to it leaving himself and the event with God, to order what seemed to Him good.”   

What seemed good to God for Edwards would be a brief tenure at Princeton. This would then be followed by an eternity in heaven upon his death.  

Hymnwriter William Cowper (1731-1800) expressed the providential work of God in the following verse.

1 God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform.
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

2 You fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

3 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev’ry hour.
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.

4 Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan his work in vain.
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

Soli deo Gloria!

Jonathan and Sarah Edwards’ daughter Esther was born in 1732 in Northampton, MA. She was the third of their eleven children and was named after her father’s mother and grandmother. She grew up in Northampton and was content to live there until the congregation removed her father from the pastorate in 1750 when she was eighteen.

Esther accompanied her parents in 1751 to their new ministry among the Native Americans in Stockbridge, MA. It was there that she met and eventually married Aaron Burr, Sr.

One historian writes, “In 1752, Esther married Aaron Burr, Sr. She was just seventeen when she received her first and only marriage proposal, Aaron Burr, Sr. was the president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). In 1754 Esther had a daughter named Sarah nicknamed Sally and in 1756 she gave birth to Aaron Burr, Jr. who would become vice president of the United States (1801–05). The marriage seems to have been a happy one. Esther, however, desperately missed her friends and close-knit family. Her new husband’s duties frequently kept him away from home, and Esther found her own responsibilities as the wife of a university president and prominent minister. Esther managed the affairs of the household and hosted many of the scholars of the school at her home.”

The College of New Jersey had originally been located in Pennsylvania. It was moved across the Delaware River to Newark. It was decided, due to its more central location in the colony, to move the college to the village of Princeton.

Dr. Stephen J. Nichols explains, “Edwards was the great theologian of the Awakening, and (George) Whitefield was the great evangelist of the Awakening. They were joined by a whole cast of others. Gilbert Tennent was an Irish immigrant and famous Presbyterian minister. He preached a sermon titled “The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry.” The sermon, as one might imagine, helped lead to a split in the Presbyterian church between the New Side and the Old Side. (In the Congregational churches, where Edwards roamed, the split was referred to as New Lights and Old Lights.) Another factor in the split was disagreement over ministerial training, especially concerning the training provided at the Log College in Neshaminy, Pa., which was founded and led by Gilbert Tennent’s father, William. The college moved east across the Delaware River and was renamed The College of New Jersey before it received the name Princeton. For two generations Princeton University provided well-trained and confessional Presbyterian ministers as well as lawyers and physicians. In 1812, Princeton Theological Seminary was founded to take on the task of training ministers. That great legacy of Princeton, which endured through the time of J. Gresham Machen in the 1920s, all started at the First Great Awakening.”

Aaron Burr Sr. died while he was still president of the college in 1757 at the age of forty-one. His legacy was of a man who became worn out in his service for the LORD.

Four days following Burr’s death, the first Commencement of the College at Princeton took place. The pursuit for a new president immediately was undertaken.  It should be no surprise that Jonathan Edwards was seriously considered and asked to assume the presidency.

Edwards was initially reluctant to accept the offer and office. While he supported the school, he was content to remain in Stockbridge where he remained convinced that was where God wanted him to be.

Persistent interactions between the college leadership and Edwards eventually resulted in Edwards accepting the position as President of Princeton. A new ministry for America’s foremost colonial theologian was about to begin.

Take the time today to consider how the LORD has led you throughout the many circumstances and situations in your own life. Have a blessed day in the LORD.

Soli deo Gloria!

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV) – “¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”  

“There must be some Word of God. ’Tis unreasonable to think that God would always keep silence and never say anything to mankind. God has made mankind and given him Reason and Understanding. Has made him the chief of all the creatures. Given him reason that he might know God and serve Him. Did not give the other creatures reason: He did make ’em to serve Him. Other creatures are made for man. Man was made for God: to serve God, or else he was made for nothing. But we may be sure He did not make such a creature as man for nothing. But how unreasonable is it to think that God would make us for Himself and never say anything to us. God is the King that rules over all nations. But how unreasonable is it to think that God would make us for Himself and never say anything to us. God is the King that rules over all nations. But how unreasonable is it to suppose that He should be a King and never say anything to His subjects…. be a King and never tell them what His will or what His commands are, that His subjects may obey Him.” – Jonathan Edwards, 1753

Jonathan Edwards served as a frontier pastor and missionary from 1751-1757. He ministered to the Mohican and Mohawk Indians in Stockbridge, MA. The town was forty miles from Northampton.

It was in Stockbridge that Edwards preached and ministered to approximately 250 Native Americans and English settlers. Some might speculate that this ministry was beneath such a learned scholar like Edwards. Nothing could be further from the truth. Edwards understood the providence and sovereignty of God. He knew that what the congregation of Northampton meant for evil, God meant for good (Gen. 50:20). Edwards grasped that he was exactly where the Lord wanted him to be.

Edwards’ ministry in Stockbridge had its highs and lows. Through it all, God provided many converts (I Cor. 3:5-9).

However, the Ephraim Williams’ family, who had caused Edwards many problems in Northampton, continued to do the same while Edwards was in Stockbridge. Ephraim accused Edwards of embezzlement from the Indian school in Stockbridge. Edwards was cleared of all wrongdoing but the damage was done. The Mohawks left the school because they were weary of the conflict. The school eventually closed.

Yet it was also during these years that Edwards, spending thirteen hours a day in study of God’s Word, produced his most memorable works that remain in print today. These include The End for Which God Created the World (1755), Original Sin (1758), and his greatest literary achievement, Freedom of the Will (1754).

It was in Freedom of the Will that Edwards biblically argued that only the regenerate individual can truly chose Christ as Savior and Lord. This choice can only be made through the monergistic regeneration by the Holy Spirit. In other words, the one who wills to believe in Christ is the one in whom the Holy Spirit has already regenerated enabling the individual to believe in Christ (Ezekiel 36; John 3:1-8; 6:35-66; Eph. 2:1-10).  

Edwards understood that regeneration precedes faith. Unfortunately, many in the church today believe that faith precedes regeneration. Instead of following the biblical teaching that sinners are born again in order to believe, many teach that people believe in order to be born again. This latter and unbiblical teaching is an unfortunate result of people seeking to make the Bible teach and say what they want the Bible to teach and to say.

As believers in Christ we must resolve to teach, preach and believe what the Bible says is true and never to teach, preach and believe what we want the Bible to say is true. Have a blessed day.

Soli deo Gloria!     

Edwards believed that the underlying sin concerning his dismissal was the Northampton church’s pride. Edwards thought the “fundamental explanation of what had happened was that God permitted such weaknesses in order to expose the evil of spiritual pride.” Edwards was convinced that the congregation’s increasing wealth and reputation, along with its tutelage under Edwards, fueled its arrogance against its own shepherd.

“Spiritual pride is a most monstrous thing. If it be not discerned and vigorously opposed, in the beginning, it very often soon raises persons above their teachers, and supposed spiritual fathers, and sets them out of the reach of all rule and instruction, as I have seen in innumerable instances, ” explains Edwards.

However, Edwards learned much through this ordeal. He admitted his failures as a pastor, which he believed contributed to his eventual dismissal. These failures included:

• Not visiting the sick unless called upon to do so. Edwards was not prone to call upon church members unless called upon. Unfortunately, this fostered an impression that he was aloof and more concerned with his studies than God’s people
• His failure as a teacher. Edwards failed to understand the congregation’s tendency to accept a person’s profession of conversion rather than the evidences of conversion.
• His immaturity during the critical, early years of his ministry. As with any leader, Edwards grew by the experiences of life and leadership. He acknowledged his lack of judgment and discernment undermined the people’s confidence in him.

While Edwards candidly admitted his failures, he also held two strong convictions of which he would not compromise. First, he recognized the serious nature of the issue regarding a communicant’s sincere profession of biblical, saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Second, when Edwards’ chief opponent in the controversy at Northampton, Joseph Hawley, wrote Edwards years later and expressed his repentance and grief over his role in Edwards’ dismissal, Edwards responded with graciousness to his cousin and “with true candor and Christian charity.”

“There was never any hesitation in Edwards’ mind over the serious nature of the truth involved. He came to the firm conviction that a wrong principle of admission to the Lord’s Table imperils the whole nature of the church, for then the world and the church cease to be distinguished,” Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray explains.

June 22, 1750 was the day that 90% of Northampton congregation voted to dismiss Jonathan Edwards as their pastor. Pastor and historian Steven J. Lawson states that this was “truly one of the great tragedies of church history.”

“I have had enough of this controversy and desire to have done with it. I have spent enough of the precious time of my life in it heretofore. I desire and pray that God may enable you to view things truly, and as He views them, and so to act in the affair as shall be best for you, and most for your peace living and dying,”  wrote Edwards.

Edwards’ preached his farewell sermon the next Sunday. His text was taken from 2 Corinthians 1:14: “just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.” He preached that one day they would gather, as pastor and congregation, before the Lord and all would give an account of their actions.

In a remarkable display of grace and humility, Edwards filled the pulpit at Northampton for a year until the church hired his successor. Edwards evidenced the graciousness taught in 1 Peter 2:23 (ESV) – “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”  

Edwards received several offers to pastor churches in Boston and Scotland. There were even some in Northampton who requested he begin a new church. He declined them all.

However, God was not yet finished using Jonathan Edwards. His next assignment in ministry would be as a pastor and missionary to the Native Americans in Stockbridge, MA. More to come. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!     

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” (2 Corinthians 11:30)

Having served the Lord for over two decades in a local church, Jonathan Edwards may have thought that he would enjoy as lengthy a pastorate as his predecessor at Northampton; his grandfather Solomon Stoddard who served over 50 years. This was not to be. 

Instead, Edwards entered a storm of controversy in 1749. It was not a sudden cloudburst but one which had been brewing for some time. The controversy centered on a New England custom called the Halfway Covenant. The tradition permitted a baptized person to have all the privileges of church membership although they had not openly professed conversion to Christ as Savior and Lord.

Edwards strongly objected to the Halfway Covenant. Edwards passionately believed that not only was a public profession of Christianity necessary for church membership, but also that a public profession of faith in Christ should impact one’s behavior in striving to live a holy life.

Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray explains, “His whole case was that the church must not allow a separation between a profession of Christ and conduct which supports that profession, because a profession of the essence of Christianity which should be required of candidates includes such truths as repentance and gospel holiness.”

Edwards biographer George Marsden writes, “That Edwards was willing to sail the foundering ship of his pastorate into the teeth of the storm, knowing well that he and his family were likely to go down, tells us much about his character. First, he was irremediably a man of principle. Once he arrived at a conclusion, he was not ready to give in. Like many eighteenth-century people, he believed that through observation and logic one should be able to settle almost any question. His own logical powers increased his sense that he could settle an issue by argument. Even after he had faced the force of his people’s animosities, he still remained hopeful that he might convince them if only they would read his treatise.  Edwards’ reverence for Scripture enhanced his sense of the authority of whatever beliefs he derived from it. His conviction that the life or death of eternal souls was at stake made him willing to risk his own welfare.”

The conflict between Edwards and those who embraced the Halfway Covenant resulted in Edwards’ dismissal as pastor of Northampton in 1750. As Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray explains, “Even though he saw it coming, and could speak so calmly in his Farewell Sermon, Edwards was undoubtedly shocked by the strangeness and the finality of his dismissal.”  

In writing to a colleague in Scotland regarding his dismissal, Edwards stated, “I am now separated from the people between whom and me there was once the greatest union. Remarkable is the providence of God in the matter. In this event we have the striking instance of the instability and uncertainty of all things here below” Edwards displayed a trust in a holy God that His sovereign plan was perfect, even though sinful, imperfect men carried it to completion.

How could such a thing happen? Marsden states, “That he was willing to risk comfort and status for high principle does not mean he was without fault. For one thing, his brittle, unsociable personality contributed to the breakdown of the once-warm relationship with the townspeople. Try as he might to temper his natural propensities by cultivating Christian virtues of gentleness, charity, and avoiding evil-speaking, he still seemed aloof. He was not able to build up the reserve of personal goodwill that more pastoral ministers enjoyed. Edwards was keenly aware of these failings, and as the disaster developed he suggested a number of times that he might not be suited for anything but writing.”

The Lord often uses His followers by their personalities, and sometimes in spite of their personalities. May we as believers in Christ exercise godly discernment in how we serve the Lord with our whole hearts. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

“

On June 22, 1832 Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843) wrote in his diary: “I bought Jonathan Edwards’ works.” It was a date McCheyne never forgot. The books were his companions for the rest of his comparatively short life.

In 1929, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones was waiting for a train in Cardiff, South Wales. He found that he had time to spare and as pastors are inclined to do, he made his way to a second-hand book shop.  It was the book store of John Evans. Lloyd-Jones wrote that he got down on his knees and in a corner of the shop, wearing his heavy overcoat, he found the two volume, 1834 edition of the Works of Jonathan Edwards. He purchased the volumes for five shillings. Lloyd-Jones wrote, “I devoured these volumes and literally just read and read them.”  

When Robert Murray McCheyne began to read Edwards and to read about Edwards’ life, he had an experience that maybe we have all had. It can be quite discouraging to read or to hear the biography of another Christian. They appear to be so much more spiritual and godlier than we could ever hope to be.

“How feeble does my spark of Christianity appear beside such a sun. But, even his was a borrowed light and the same source is still open to me, ” wrote McCheyne.

“That changes the whole perspective, doesn’t it? If Jonathan Edwards could speak to us, he would tell us that we are wasting time to look at the borrowed light. We must go to the source and that is what we are seeking to do together. If you look at Edwards from the wrong standpoint, everything is wrong. Some people look at him in terms of a great 18th century figure, thinker, writer, preacher. And that is as far as they go. But we have to look at Edwards, first of all, as a sinner who, by the grace of God, was made a Christian and then called to be a minister of the Word of God. We have to see Edwards as a member of the kingdom of Christ and a teacher of divine Revelation. And when we come to him in that way, we find something that is abiding and permanent,”  one pastor explains,

“The wisdom of God was not given for any particular age, but for all ages,” Edwards said.

We all have our biblical and Christian heroes. For some, it is the Apostles Paul, Peter or John.  For others, it may be Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin or Jonathan Edwards. Contemporary examples of theologians and pastors worthy of respect include R. C. Sproul and John MacArthur.  

However, it is wise to remember that theirs is a borrowed light. We respect these men, and others like them, because they pointed us to the Light of the Word; Jesus Christ. May each of us, as believers in Christ, have the same vision.

Soli deo Gloria!

“He greatly disliked a disposition in persons to much noise and show in religion, and affecting to be abundant in publishing and proclaiming their own experience; though he did not condemn but approved of Christians speaking of their experiences, on some occasions, and to some persons, with modesty, discretion, and reserve.” – Jonathan Edwards’ eulogy for David Brainerd

Jonathan Edwards and David Brainerd became close companions in Christ prior to Brainerd’s death in 1747. However, they became even more closely linked following Brainerd’s death. This is due because after examining Brainerd’s personal papers, Edwards spent close to two years composing a biography of this young missionary.

In 1749, and over 300 pages, Edwards’ An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd was published. Edwards’ account of David Brainerd was the first biography gaining international acknowledgement and the first about a missionary to be published.

, “At the very time that Edwards was thinking, writing, and praying about the coming era of world missions, a flesh and blood trail blazer of that future age had come to his door. He wanted Brainerd to be read and known not simply as an example of a true missionary but as an example of a real Christian, showing what the power of godliness and vital religion truly is,” explains Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray.

“The Christian life is God-centered living; it means giving reverence to all the commands of God and it is not rapture but habit. The Christian has an experience of God which is of an increasing nature. The motivation is conformity to God, not a longing for experiences as such, ” stated Edwards.

In the immediate aftermath of Brainerd’s death, Jerusha Edwards, Jonathan and Sarah’s daughter and caregiver for Brainerd while he lived in their home, also contracted tuberculosis and died in February, 1748. She was buried next to Brainerd. There are those who speculate that they were romantically involved and perhaps even engaged to be married. However, no evidence exists of such a romantic relationship. Jerusha was the best available nurse for the ill, young missionary. Their friendship was a friendship of Christians.

On that October day of Brainerd’s funeral, as Edwards surveyed the empty bedroom and the manuscripts entrusted to his care, he could indeed say about his friend whose unexpected stay had brought him so much encouragement, ‘I have learned, in a measure, that all good things, relating both to time and eternity, come from God’.”   

I have learned, in a measure, that all good things, relating both to time and eternity, come from God. May this be our perspective today as believers in Christ. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

“For to me. To live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

“I could have no freedom in the thought of any other circumstances or business in life: All my desire was the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God: God does not suffer me to please or comfort myself with hopes of seeing friends, returning to my dear acquaintance, and enjoying worldly comforts.” – David Brainerd   

In 1742, Brainerd was licensed to preach by a group of New Light evangelicals.  As a result, he gained the attention of Jonathan Dickinson, the leading Presbyterian in New Jersey, who unsuccessfully attempted to reinstate Brainerd at Yale. Therefore, Dickinson suggested that Brainerd devote himself to missionary work among the Native Americans, supported by the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge. The society approved Brainerd for this missionary work on November 25, 1742.

In April, 1743, following a brief period serving a church on Long Island, Brainerd began working as a missionary to Native Americans. His first missionary assignment was working at Kaunameek, a Mohican settlement near present-day Nassau, New York. Brainerd remained there for one year.

Later in 1743, he was reassigned to work among the Delaware Indians along the Delaware River northeast of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He remained there for another year, during which he was ordained by the Newark Presbytery. Following this, he moved to Crossweeksung in New Jersey. By 1744, the Native American church at Crossweeksung had 130 members. In 1746, they moved to Cranbury where they established a Christian community.  

In these years, he refused several offers of leaving the mission field to become a local church pastor. Brainard continued his work with the Native Americans, writing in his diary: “I could have no freedom in the thought of any other circumstances or business in life: All my desire was the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God: God does not suffer me to please or comfort myself with hopes of seeing friends, returning to my dear acquaintance, and enjoying worldly comfort.”

He would continue to serve in this missionary work until late 1746 when he became too ill. Along with his physical battle with tuberculosis, he also experienced depression, loneliness, and a lack of food. It is estimated that Brainerd traveled over 3,000 miles on horseback as a missionary.

In November 1746, he became too ill to continue ministering, and so moved to Jonathan Dickinson’s house in Elizabethtown and later to Jonathan Edwards’ house in Northampton, Massachusetts. Apart from a trip to Boston in the summer of that year, he remained at Edwards’s house until his death the following year in 1747.

“David Brainerd died in the Edwards’ home toward day, about six o’clock in the morning, on Friday, October 9^th, 1747. The coming of Brainerd to Northampton was an event of far-reaching importance in Edwards’ life. While the opposite might have been expected, the presence of a dying man, through many weeks, was uplifting to Edwards. For five years past he had been particularly occupied with the nature of true godliness, and it was as he advance in this subject that he became not only isolated from many ministerial neighbors but also from others in his own congregation. In Brainerd, though almost a stranger on his arrival, there was an instinctive unity of mind and spirit,”  writes Edwards’ biographer Iain Murray.

More to come. May it be evidenced by us that for us to live is Christ and to die is gain.  

Soli deo Gloria!