More from the dead guys! (though this one here is propped up by one of the living). Jonathan Edwards wrote Religious Affections to argue that affections—‘the more vigorous and sensible exercises of the inclination and will of the soul’—were not only permissible, but actually vital in responding well to God.
Sam Storms recently offered a modern vernacular paraphrase of RA (Signs of the Spirit), where he closely follows Edwards’s argument, and, when possible, quotes him at length. So, how goes your private prayers? Let Edwards help you:
The sort of religion or spirituality that pleases God is one that consists largely in ‘vigorous and lively actings of the inclination and will of the soul, or the fervent exercises of the heart.’ God is displeased with weak, dull, and lifeless inclinations. Scripture speaks often and with divine approval of earnest and fervent affections of the soul (see Rom. 12:11; Deut. 10:12; 6:4-5; 30:6).
Spirituality is actually of little benefit to anyone if not characterized by lively and powerful affections. Nothing is so antithetical to true religion as lukewarmness. Consider those many biblical texts in which our relationship to God is compared to ‘running, wrestling or agonizing for a great prize or crown, and fighting with strong enemies that seek our lives, and warring as those that by violence take a city or kingdom.’
And an application for Sundays at 10:30:
Therefore, when we think of how public worship should be constructed and what methods should be employed in the praise of God and the edification of his people, ‘such means are to be desired, as have much of a tendency to move the affections. Such books, and such a way of preaching the Word, and administration of ordinances, and such a way of worshiping God in prayer, and singing praises, is much to be desired, as has a tendency deeply to affect the hearts of those who attend those means.’
When people object that certain styles of public worship seem especially chosen for their capacity to awaken and intensify and express the affections of the heart, they should be told that such is precisely the God-ordained purpose of worship. What they fear—namely, the heightening and deepening of the heart’s desire and love for God, and the expansion and increase of the soul’s delight and joy in God, what they typically call “emotionalism” or even “manipulation”—is the very goal of worship itself. For God is most glorified in his people when their hearts are most satisfied (i.e., when they are most “affected with joy) in him.
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