PURITANS on SermonAudio

The changes in direction since September 11th. How did we get to this place? What keeps the enthusiasm at this high level? The emphasis on personal revival and the desire for extended revival in our day.

In Chapter 11 of The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded, John Owen shifts his focus from the mental exercise of spiritual thoughts to the foundational seat of spiritual-mindedness: the human affections. Owen argues that the affections—the deep longings, loves, and delights of the heart—are the governing helm of the soul, determining its true direction, sincerity, and ultimate spiritual state regardless of outward religious performance. Because the world actively competes with God for these affections, Owen outlines the providential ways God exposes the vanity, danger, and transience of earthly things, warning that an unmortified love for the world forfeits a person's eternal soul while offering practical principles for maintaining a heart truly set on heavenly realities.

Chapter 12 of John Owen's The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded establishes that true spiritual mindedness requires a fundamental transformation of our affections—our deepest desires, loves, and longings. Owen argues that because human affections are thoroughly corrupted by the Fall, they naturally rebel against God and cling to worldly vanities. This depravity cannot be cured by temporary emotional stirrings (such as fleeting fear during a crisis) or outward moral self-discipline (which merely restrains behavior without altering the heart's inclinations). Instead, grace must work an internal renovation that alters the very nature and spring of our desires. Just as bitter waters are made sweet at their source, our natural emotional capacities are cleansed and reoriented by the love of God through faith in Christ, turning natural passions into genuine, lasting fruits of the Spirit.

Modernized text, "In Part 3 of A Treatise on the Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards sets out to identify the distinguishing marks of truly spiritual, divine grace versus counterfeit religious emotions. In his introductory remarks, he establishes crucial boundaries for these signs: they are not meant to enable Christians to definitively judge the salvation of others (a prerogative reserved for God alone), nor will they give assurance to backslidden or spiritually lukewarm believers, who must regain clarity through active obedience and repenting of sin rather than mere self-scrutiny. Finally, while acknowledging that self-deception and spiritual pride often make hardened hypocrites impervious to conviction, Edwards presents these biblical criteria to refine the faith of genuine believers, strip away mixed motives, and guide growing Christians toward true assurance through active, vibrant holy living."

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This part of the Treatise on The Religious Affections and been converted to a more modern, easier to grasp English. In Section 2 of *A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections*, Jonathan Edwards argues that genuine Christianity consists largely in holy affections, demonstrating that true faith requires vibrant, heartfelt engagement rather than weak, intellectual indifference. Drawing from Scripture, human experience, and the example of Christ, he establishes that the affections—chiefly holy love, from which all other godly emotions like fear, joy, sorrow, and zeal flow—serve as the primary mainspring of all human action and spiritual obedience. Edwards asserts that divine truth only transforms a soul to the extent that it deeply affects the heart, noting that Scripture consistently equates sin with an unaffected "hardness of heart" and true conversion with a tender, responsive spirit. Ultimately, while acknowledging that natural emotions can mingle with spiritual grace, he concludes that without habitual, holy affections, no amount of doctrinal light or outward religious duty is acceptable to God.

Jonathan Edwards's Treatise on the Religious Affections - language updated to a more modern English. "In the Preface to A Treatise on the Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards argues that determining the true nature of saving faith is the single most vital question facing humanity, yet it remains deeply obscured by widespread debate and counterfeit experiences. Reflecting on past spiritual awakenings—from biblical revivals to the Protestant Reformation and New England's Great Awakening—Edwards explains how Satan consistently undermines divine revivals not through open persecution, but by mixing false, unexamined emotionalism with true holiness. Unmasking these counterfeits is essential, as mistaking false zeal for genuine grace leads to spiritual self-deception, bitter division among Christians, and the eventual decay of genuine revivals. Edwards writes this treatise to provide clear, biblical criteria for distinguishing the saving operations of the Holy Spirit from non-saving spiritual counterfeits, urging believers to pursue lasting spiritual clarity.

God's people wait on and for their king to reign at His appointed time guided by leaders with God's wisdom to discern and direct. Pray for Discerning Leaders to Follow at this Time in Family, Church, and State.

In Chapter 3, John Owen explains that frequent thoughts about spiritual things do not inherently prove a person is spiritually minded if those thoughts are merely triggered by external means—such as hearing the preaching of the Word, exercising spiritual gifts in prayer, or engaging in religious conversation. While these external occasions excite temporary mental activity and emotional fervor, they lack an internal root and dry up once the external stimulus ends, functioning like transient guests at an inn. In contrast, true spiritual mindedness springs from an inward, vital principle of saving grace that continuously produces spiritual thoughts like children residing in a home. In prayer specifically, Owen distinguishes between the mere operation of natural gifts—which can mimic piety and foster self-pleasing pride—and the active exercise of grace, which yields genuine spiritual growth, a humble delight in God, a consistent life of watchfulness against sin, and an equal regard for all Christian duties.

Focus of Sola Scriptura for Reformation Day weekend. While nothing in this life lasts, God's Word lasts forever into life eternal along with those who believe. Stand on God's Word Which Alone Forever Stands.