Praise God—Sunday is almost here again! In order to help us get ready for the church’s worship of our Triune God, here are good words from Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, entitled, “Charity More Excellent Than the Extraordinary Gifts of The Spirit.” . . .
“The grace of God in the heart is a gift of the Holy Spirit peculiar to the saints; it is a blessing that God reserves only for those who are the objects of His special and peculiar love. But the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit are what God sometimes bestows on those whom He does not love, but hates, which is a sure sign that the one is infinitely more precious and excellent than the other. That is the most precious gift that is most an evidence of God’s love. But the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit were, in the days of inspiration and miracles, no sure sign of the love of God. The prophets were not wont to build their persuasion of the favor and love of God on their being prophets and hav-ing revelations, but on their being sincere saints. Thus it was with David (see Psalm 15:1-5; 17:1-3; and 119 throughout); indeed, the whole book of Psalms bears witness to this.“Though the Apostle Paul was so greatly privileged with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, he was yet so far from marring the evidences of his good estate that he expressly declares that without charity they are all nothing."
