Jonathan Edwards’ Wife Knew What It Really Takes to Help Spark a Great Awakening

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Sarah Pierpont Edwards sat in the Congregational Church in Northampton, Massachusetts, which was pastored by her husband, Jonathan Edwards. Women were supposed to remain silent in the Puritan/Congregational churches, but a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit was occurring (the Great Awakening) and she could hardly contain herself at times.

“I could scarcely refrain from leaping with transports of joy,” she exclaimed. One day she was overwhelmed by God’s presence as she listened to a visiting minister lament that God’s children should be so cold and lifeless in their faith. She said:

“I felt such a sense of the deep ingratitude manifested by the children of God, in such coldness and deadness, that my strength was immediately taken away, and I sunk down on the spot. Those who were near raised me, and placed me in a chair; and, from the fullness of my heart, I expressed to them, in a very earnest manner, the deep sense I had of the wonderful grace of Christ towards me, of the assurance I had of his having saved me from hell, of my happiness running parallel with eternity, of the duty of giving up all to God, and of the peace and joy inspired by an entire dependence on his mercy and grace.”

The church in Northampton had no choir, no worship team and no orchestra. Jonathan Edwards wrote out his sermons in advance and read them in a monotone voice without ever moving from behind the pulpit. Yet, Northampton was the center in New England for the Great Awakening that transformed Colonial America.

Sarah and many others were overwhelmed by the presence of God, and this is the essence of real revival. Edwards, in fact, said, “The town seemed to be full of the presence of God.”

Although lacking the modern accoutrements that we consider necessary for revival, they had what it really takes. In the words of Sarah, it is “giving up all to God” and “an entire dependence on His mercy and grace.”

This is an excerpt from the book, “America’s Revival Heritage,” available from Amazon and Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s website at http://eddiehyatt.com.

For the original article, visit biblicalawakeningblogspot.com.

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