R e a d t h i s slowwwwwly.....

The following must be read slowly and repeatedly.... Edwards wrote to a people who could listen very very well to an argument and follow it .... (but our generation kills them at multi-tasking!!)

"True grace is no dull, inactive, ineffectual principle; it is a powerful thing; there is an exceeding energy in it. And the reason is, that God is in it; it is a divine principle, a participation of the divine nature, and a communication of divine life, of the life of a risen Savior, who exerts himself in the hearts of the saints "after the power of an endless life." They that have true grace in them, "they live"; but not by their own life; "but Christ lives in them." His Holy Spirit becomes in them a living principle and spring of divine life, the energy and power of which is in Scripture compared to fire...True piety is nothing remaining only in the head, or consisting in any speculative knowledge or opinions, or outward morality or forms of religion; it reaches the heart, is chiefly seated there, and burns there. There is a holy ardor in everything that belongs to true grace. True faith is an ardent thing, and so is true repentance; there is a holy power and ardor in true spiritual comfort and joy; yea even in true Christian humility, submission, and meekness. The reason is that divine love or charity is the sum of all true grace, which is a holy flame enkindled in the soul."
== (Jonathan Edwards, "True Excellency of a Minister of the Gospel," in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 25: Sermons and Discourses, 1743-1758 [New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006], 91).

Rob: might even want to print this out.... great words like "ardor" and "enkindled".... O God, make us a people who experience this holy power & ardor!