Distinguishing Strange Fire from a True Work of the Spirit (Part 4)

As we continue working through Jonathan Edwards' work, I hope to cover negative signs 5-9 today. Please keep in mind Edwards is arguing for the idea that certain phenomena are neither signs the Spirit of God is at work, nor signs he could not be at work. These are what he calls negative signs. We will turn next to signs that are necessarily present if the Holy Spirit is at work.

5. "It is no sign that a work is not from the Spirit of God, that example is a great means of it. It is surely no argument that an effect is not from God, that means are used in producing it..." Edwards seems to be arguing Christians should not deny an effect in one person because the example of another person was the means used to bring about the effect. If a man is moved to worship by seeing others worship as he hears the word, Edwards argues this man's worship is not necessarily less genuine. On the other hand, this man's worship could be just an attempt to conform or follow a pattern seen in others.

6. "It is no sign that a work is not from the Spirit of God, that many, who seem to be the subjects of it, are guilty of great imprudences and irregularities in their conduct. We are to consider that the end for which God pours out his Spirit, is to make men holy, and not to make them politicians." Edwards is arguing that the Spirit works among men who are sinners. He is working to make them holy, but they still struggle with sin. If one argues the Spirit can't be present where sin is still great, then one has not read 1 Corinthians. However, the Spirit is not present where there is no repentance and growth in holiness.

7. "Nor are many errors in judgment, and some delusions of Satan intermixed with the work, any argument that the work in general is not of the Spirit of God." It is not only possible but likely Satan will attempt to bring confusion when the Spirit is at work. He will produce counterfeits alongside the true work of the Spirit, so as to confuse God's people. Error and delusions does not necessarily rule out that the Holy Spirit can be at work in the main. Of course, all of this is provided the positive signs of a true work of the Spirit are present.

8. "If some, who were thought to be wrought upon, fall away into gross errors, or scandalous practices, it is no argument that the work in general is not the work of the Spirit of God." Whenever the Spirit of God is at work in men, there are bound to be men who are phonies. Those men may look like the real deal initially. Their fall is no proof that the work of the Holy Spirit was not working at all. The Spirit of God was at work in the apostles while Judas turned out to be a phony. However, most would have considered Judas the real deal as he cast our demons and followed Christ. The devil always sows tares in among the wheat.

9. "It is no argument that a work is not from the Spirit of God, that it seems to be promoted by ministers insisting very much on the terrors of God's holy law, and that with a great deal of pathos and earnestness." It seems that many were arguing the preachers of the day were stirring up excessively emotional responses by speaking passionately about the terrors of the law and the coming pains of Hell. Edwards can't imagine the idea of coldly and calmly speaking of people going to Hell. He believes the minister's primary job is to preach the gospel. He also believes we must warn people with tears of their coming judgment apart from Christ. He does not believe we can rule out men's responses to this kind of preaching as superficial fear. The Spirit of God could very much be at work. He also may not be.

All 9 of these signs could demonstrate we have strange fire and not a true work of the Spirit of God. However, none of these 9 signs necessitate that the general work occuring is strange fire. So, how do we then judge a whether a work is strange fire or a true work of the Spirit of God? To answer that question we will turn to the positive signs of a true work of the Spirit in our next post

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Distinguishing Strange Fire from a True Work of the Spirit (Part 3)

In today's post I plan to list in rather short form three of Edwards' negative signs of a true work of the Spirit. Please keep in mind that Edwards is arguing that these signs neither confirm, nor exclude, a true work of the Spirit. They are simply phenomena that may exist in the midst of true work of the Spirit or under a false spirit. This list begins with the second negative sign, as I already covered the first in my last post.

1. "A work is not to be judged of by any effects on the bodies of men; such as tremblings, groans, loud outcries, agonies of body, or the failing of bodily strength." Edwards speaks of the connection of soul and body. He argues that these effects on the body may be a result of the work of the Spirit. If a man captures a glimpse of the Hell that awaits him, or the glory of God, he may have many of these effects in his body. These also may be outward effects of false religion. One simply cannot judge a false or true spirit based upon these phenomena.

2. "It is no argument that an operation on the minds of people is not the work of the Spirit of God, that it occasions a great deal of noise about religion." Edwards' argument here is that an outward and ostentatious display of religious fervor is not a sign of whether a work is a false or true work of the Spirit. The Pharisees caused no little stir with their false religion. The disciples also caused quite a stir in Jerusalem at Pentecost.

3. "It is no argument that a work is not of the Spirit of God, that some who are the subjects of it have been in a kind of ecstasy, wherein they have been carried beyond themselves, and have had their minds transported into a train of strong and pleasing imaginations, and a kind of visions, as though they were rapt up even to heaven, and there saw glorious sights." Edwards argues that great experiences of the imagination may be present during a work of the Spirit. They also may be present during the work of a false spirit. He particularly believes these may be present among those whose faculty of imagination is "too strong and the other faculties too weak." Those who have less developed intellects and discernment may be subject to their own imaginations. He does not believe their imaginations equate to the visions of the prophets and apostles. But he does believe the imaginations of some can be so overwrought by their sense of the beauty and love of Christ that their imaginations are affected.

I hope tomorrow to cover at least 3 mores negative signs provided by Edwards. I hope these posts are helpful to spur you to think more carefully about the work of God's Spirit.

Distinguishing Strange Fire from a True Work of the Spirit (Part 2)

I am not expert on the study of Jonathan Edwards. I enjoy reading him occasionally. I appreciate his depth of thought upon a subject. I don't always agree with his conclusions. However, I am thankful to God for giving teachers such as him to the church. As a leader in the First Great Awakening in America, Edwards was well situated to think about what is a true work of the Holy Spirit. This is why I have chosen to blog through his work, "The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God."

Edwards began his work by following the apostle John in imploring us to not accept every spirit, but to test the spirits. We are positively commanded to examine claims of a work of the Spirit. You are not a skeptic, or quenching the Spirit, if you closely examine a work to see whether it is from God. You are an obedient Christian. Edwards then proceeds to lay out 9 negative signs. These are not signs that a work is from the Holy Spirit. However, many of these works may be true works of the Spirit. Yet, they do not remain as true marks by which we judge a true work of the Holy Spirit.

The first negative sign Edwards points to is a "work that is carried on in a way very unusual and extraordinary." The Spirit can do a work that is unusual and extraordinary. He can do a work different from what we have seen in previous works. He is not limited to only do what he has done. It is important to note though that an unusual and extraordinary work of the Spirit must always comply with the rules of Scripture.

If an unusual and extraordinary work does not violate the rules of the Word, it may be a true work of the Spirit. Edwards expects us to see great outpourings of the Holy Spirit. He expects the Spirit to do great works he has not done in the past. He expects us to be skeptical of the claims of these works being works of the Holy Spirit. But we must be careful here! Edwards is not saying that because you witness an extraordinary and unusual work, which does not violate the rules of Scripture, you are thereby witnessing a true work of the Spirit of God. It is necessary that a true work of the Spirit of God not violate the rule of Scripture. But not violating the rule of Scripture is not sufficient to determine whether something is a true work of the Spirit. The positive marks which distinguish a work of the Spirit of God must also be present.

I will continue to work through the negative signs in my next posts. Let me sum up this post with a few thoughts. First, I agree with Edwards. I believe the Holy Spirit can and may do extraordinary works. I also agree that a work being unusual does not disqualify it from being a true work, so long as it complies with the rules of Scripture. Second, I agree with Edwards that a work not violating the rule of Scripture is not sufficient in determining whether a work is a true work of the Holy Spirit. There are lots of counterfeits in the history of God's people. There are signs which sweetly comply with God's Word but which are performed by false spirits posing as angels of light. We must constantly be reminded of our biblical duty to test the spirits to see whether they are from God for many false prophets have gone into the world. Third, I found John MacArthur's sermon working through Edwards at Strange Fire to miss the mark here. He did a superb job of walking through the positive signs of a work of the Spirit. At the same time, he seemed to dismiss all contemporary and unusual works as false. His argument seemed to border on using their unusual nature as an evidence they are false. I believe this weakened his case. His charismatic listeners likely tuned him out here. He may have won their attention better by structuring the argument in a similar fashion to Edwards. It is also true they still may have tuned him out for doing his biblical duty of testing the spirits.

Distinguishing Strange Fire from a True Work of the Spirit (Part 1)

Last week I participated in live streaming the Strange Fire conference. Lots of controversy ensued as cessationists made their case. One of the saddest displays, for me personally, was the appearance of Mark Driscoll to hand out books as a kind of publicity stunt. In the midst of it all, I began to get questions from members of my own church about the biblical understanding of the Holy Spirit and his work. I thought it would be interesting to begin discussing this by working through "The Distinguishing Marks of a work of the Spirit of God," by Jonathan Edwards.

Edwards begins his work by pointing out that true works of the Spirit have always been accompanied by counterfeit works. As the Holy Spirit blows, so too do Satan and his emissaries. Therefore, the church needs rules to distinguish between a true work of the Spirit and a counterfeit. Edwards takes us to 1 John 4 as the fullest treatment in the Bible on marks for discerning a true Spirit from a false one.

Edwards begins by pointing out that believers must be on the alert for false spirits. We must not be those who readily admit that every ordinary, or extraordinary, claim of a move of the Holy Spirit is true. We must be ready to examine every such claim against the signs of a true work of the Spirit given to us by the apostle John in 1 John 4.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.--1 John 4:1

We are commanded by the apostle to not believe every spirit, but to test the spirits. We must be on guard against false spirits. False moves of the Spirit claim to be from God. They appear to look like a true Spirit. Those who perform them look like real sheep and real shepherds. However, we are to be on guard and to test. Why are we to test them? Because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

We live in a day when we are told not to question someone's sincere experience. However, the apostle is clearly commanding us not to believe everyone's experience, not even our own. We must test every spirit against the rule of the Word of God. Everything must be examined according to the Word the Spirit superintended. Reserving a positive judgment on someone's "experience of the Spirit" is not cynicism. It is obedience to the apostle's command. Test the spirits. Test them against the Word.

The apostle lays out several marks of the work of the true Spirit of God. Edwards works through those marks. However, Edwards begins by making a negative case. He begins by demonstrating what are not signs or evidences of a work of the Spirit of God. We will turn to those negative signs in the next post.