Evangelicals Now
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God At Work? Signs of True Revival

God at Work? Signs of True Revival
Great Christian Classics No. 14
By Jonathan Edwards (ed. Gary Benfold)
Grace Publications. 94 pages. £2.50
ISBN 0 946462 380

This is a highly successful attempt to take two of the works of Jonathan Edwards and condense them using more up-to-date English - they are Distinguishing marks of a work of the Spirit of God (which forms the bulk of this volume) and Sinners in the hands of an angry God, and it certainly helps to make them accessible to a wide range of readers.
The Distinguishing Marks section is based on 1 John 4 and contains sound advice on how we should judge some of the features of revival. Everything is to be judged by Scripture - expressions such as 'provided the Scriptures are not broken' and 'examine the effects by the rule of Scripture' are to be found repeatedly.
Undoubtedly, there were some unusual occurrences in Edwards's time but - and this is where the lesson needs to be learned today - they came about as a result of preaching (as opposed to mere psychological manipulation), much of which was 'about the horrors of hell', 'the ugliness of sin' and having a 'love of ordinary, worldly pleasure, profits and honours lowered' (take note, Mr. Kenneth Copeland et al).
I almost feel that the 15 pages of Sinners in the hands of an angry God should be re-produced as an evangelistic booklet - it is clear, concise, understandable and pulls no punches. There is not much on the market of an evangelistic nature that deals with hell. How about it, Grace?!

Jonathan Wood,
Musselburgh