Jonathan Edwards lived and pastored in Northampton Massachusetts in the early 1700’s. He is known for preaching the famous sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” You can still read it today.
God had been moving in various towns in the middle part of Connecticut. But geographically it appeared that the town of Enfield was getting passed by. The night before Jonathan Edwards came to fill the pulpit there on a Sunday, some earnest men spent the night in prayer, crying out for God to not pass them by and graciously send an outpouring of His Spirit. The Spirit fell on that audience when Edwards was preaching. The presence of a Holy God was felt in the room. The conviction of the Spirit was so strong, we read of some clinging to the pillars in the church building for fear they would otherwise slip into hell. Many were converted.
What is often not known is that Edwards had preached that same sermon previously at his own church in Northampton. But on that occasion nothing dramatic occurred. This piece of history highlights the truth of the power of the manifest presence of God. The sermon only became a great and famous sermon because of the greatness of God’s manifest presence, which gave the Word free course and full weight without any interference from the enemy.
We need the presence of God manifested in our midst. Then, the preached Word will have its proper weight on hearts. Then God will receive the proper glory. May we cry out, “O that You would rend the heavens and come down that the mountains of unbelief might give way before the manifest presence of God!” (see Isaiah 64:1).
John Van Gelderen
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