Christian Message Boards: True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils

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Posted by becauseHElives (Member # 87) on :

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder." James 2:19

An extract from a sermon by Jonathan Edwards. (For the complete sermon, follow the link below.)

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A sense of the beauty of Christ is the beginning of true saving faith in the life of a true convert. This is quite different from any vague feeling that Christ loves him or died for him. These sort of fuzzy feelings can cause a sort of love and joy, because the person feels a gratitude for escaping the punishment of their sin. In actual fact, these feelings are based on self-love, and not on a love for Christ at all. It is a sad thing that so many people are deluded by this false faith. On the other hand, a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ causes in the heart a supreme genuine love for God. This is because the divine light shows the excellent loveliness of God's nature. A love based on this is far, far above anything coming from self-love, which demons can have as well as men. The true love of God which comes from this sight of His beauty causes a spiritual and holy joy in the soul; a joy in God, and exulting in Him. There is no rejoicing in ourselves, but rather in God alone.

The sight of the beauty of divine things will cause true desires after the things of God. These desires are different from the longings of demons, which happen because the demons know their doom awaits them, and they wish it could somehow be otherwise. The desires that come from this sight of Christ's beauty are natural free desires, like a baby desiring milk. Because these desires are so different from their counterfeits, they help to distinguish genuine experiences of God's grace from the false.

http://www.puritansermons.com/sermons/edwards1.htm

Posted by oneinchrist (Member # 6532) on :

Hi BecauseHeLives,
I just finished reading the whole sermon by Jonathan Edwards. I agree that there needs to be a contrast shown between the belief that the devils have and the belief that God desires of us. Where I have a question though lies in the statement that he made as follows...."This is a special gift of God, which He gives only to his special favorites." I question what he means by that and how it parallels with John 3:16 For God so loved the world......with love in Christ, Daniel

Posted by becauseHElives (Member # 87) on :

[wave3]

daniel

It’s a Calvinist thing; I don’t hold that against him, his teachings for the most part are very sound.