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This Reformation Sunday morning, Dr. Jon Jacobs takes a break from his regular series and instead teaches on the necessity of reforming the church, the reformation, and the doctrines that make up Calvinism. Dr. Jacobs describes the era that preceded the Reformation, a time of spiritual and doctrinal darkness. R.C. Sproul writes this, "John Calvin is a gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians, a titan in the midst of dwarfs. He stands heads and shoulders above the rank and file theologian, scholar, biblical expert, all the way down through the ages. He abides in the elite company of men like St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards."

Welcome back to the podcast as we continue our systematic journey through William Goold's classic edition of The Collected Works of John Owen. In today's episode, we explore the deep pastoral landscape of Volume 7, charting Owen's clinical diagnosis of spiritual backsliding and his gospel remedy for a languishing soul. We begin in 1676 with The Nature and Causes of Apostasy from the Gospel, examining Owen's surgical breakdown of Hebrews 6 and his diagnostic checklist in Chapter 6 for identifying secret heart-declension and spiritual sloth. From there, we open his 1681 work, The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded, pausing in Chapter 9 to confront Owen's searching concern that true spiritual mindedness has become tragically rare in the church—a warning we compare directly with the psychological severity of Jonathan Edwards's Religious Affections and Alexander Allen's famous commentary on it. Finally, we conclude with Owen's posthumous 1688 treatise, Of the Dominion of Sin and Grace, walking through Chapters 3 and 4 to distinguish between the persistent presence of indwelling corruption and the reigning dominion of sin, anchoring our ultimate assurance in the covenantal promise that under grace, sin shall not have the final say.

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Welcome back to our ongoing exploration of the Hickman edition of Jonathan Edwards, where today we pull back the curtain on the experiential core of the great theologian's revival ministry. Moving beyond his terrifying warning sermons, we synthesize the positive architecture of Edwards's thought—from the direct, soul-transforming beauty of *A Divine and Supernatural Light* and the supreme satisfaction found in *God the Best Portion of the Christian*, to the urgent, lifelong labor of *Pressing Into the Kingdom of God*. Far from teaching human preparationism, Edwards demonstrates how God intentionally uses the awakened sinner's legal strivings, lingering hypocrisies, and accumulated guilt to thoroughly shatter all self-righteousness, stripping the soul of its innate moral pride until, thoroughly humbled in the valley of trouble, it drops every weapon of self-reliance and relies solely upon sovereign, unmerited grace.

Genuine church revival requires the church to be moved by God to ask to be moved by Him. Revive Us Again, O Lord!

This testimony recounts the spiritual journey of a man raised in a devout Christian home who struggled with a lack of genuine love for God despite his intellectual zeal for Reformed doctrine. Drawing on Philippians 3, the speaker describes his conversion as a quiet but radical shift from relying on his own righteousness to trusting in the absolute faithfulness of Christ, a realization sparked by hearing a sermon on John 10. The narrative extends to his ongoing sanctification, highlighting how the grace of God transformed his capacity to love others, influenced deeply by the writings of Jonathan Edwards and Amy Carmichael. The account also details the providential path of his marriage and ministry, emphasizing that God's grace enables believers to press toward the goal of knowing Christ and conforming to His image, rather than seeking great things through their own strength.

This sermon examines the theological weight of individual transgressions by analyzing James 2, arguing that there is no such thing as a 'little sin' because breaking one point of the law renders a person guilty of the whole. The message highlights the hypocrisy of showing partiality to the wealthy while despising the poor, identifying this behavior as a form of blasphemy that violates the royal law of loving one's neighbor. It emphasizes the inescapable guilt and judgment that accompany sin, using the historical example of Jonathan Edwards' sermon to illustrate the necessity of fearing God and recognizing human depravity. However, the central focus remains on the triumph of divine mercy over judgment, achieved through the atoning work of Christ on the cross. The sermon concludes with a pastoral call for believers to receive this mercy and extend it to others, urging a spirit of charity and forgiveness rather than harshness and condemnation.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE - https://youtu.be/cY-afmIj5OY?si=sbqX624VuFFGxbyK This presentation is a comprehensive biography of Jonathan Edwards, highlighting his role as a leading theologian of the Great Awakening and a defender of Reformed faith. It explores the balance of doctrine and devotion in his life, emphasizing his rigorous study, pastoral dedication, and the profound impact of his marriage to Sarah Edwards. The narrative details his theological contributions, including his defense of Calvinism and his discernment of true versus false conversions, while recounting his exile from Northampton and subsequent productive years in Stockbridge. The presentation concludes with Edwards' legacy, noting his influence on the missionary movement and his enduring call for a faith that engages both the intellect and the heart.

In this episode, we step into the high-stakes theological and historical battlegrounds of 19th-century American Presbyterianism to confront a quiet piece of historical revisionism. Writing in the shadow of the 1837 Old School–New School split, Princeton's Charles Hodge sought to defend church order in his Constitutional History by painting the First Great Awakening—and particularly the raw, energetic ministry of a young George Whitefield—as a primary engine of fanatical pride and ecclesiastical disorder. But when we look past Hodge's Old School apologetic to the primary record, Whitefield's own humbled, edited 1756 journals, and the eyewitness conversion narratives gathered by contemporaries like William McCulloch, a vastly different picture emerges. Join us as we reassess Hodge's critique, uncover the pastoral wisdom of Archibald Alexander and Jonathan Edwards, and defend the honor and enduring legacy of one of history's most gifted young heralds of the Gospel.