Preface: I first posted the following paragraph on August 10, 2019. Covid-19 was identified in December in Wuhan, China....the first case identified in the United States in January....and a global pandemic was declared on March 11 of 2020. We learned little from the pandemic....and a lot has happened since then....but we still have not been shaken out of our confidence and pride....but we will 'learn' in due time! Jonathan Edwards had preached Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God at his own church in Northampton, Massachusetts but had specifically been called to preach that sermon in Enfield, Connecticut on July 8, 1741....because the congregation seemed especially cold to movements of God that had been occurring in the colonies. Before the sermon was over....it was said that people were moaning and clutching the pews in fear of sliding into hellfire. The verse that was preached on in that sermon was Deuteronomy 32:35....KJV...."Their feet shall slide in due time."
"It may come in this way....the last great movement of God in America....the preacher....any preacher....many preachers across the America....arrive at church a little disheveled....as if they hadn't had any sleep the night before....for they hadn't.....in fact they have been tossing and turning all weekend trying to prepare a sermon that they believe God may have put on their heart. The congregations detect something as the up-tempo music ends....but the preacher's shoulders are as if they are sagging. Is something wrong they wonder....has the sale for more land for the addition fallen through? The pastor begins by saying that the holiness of God is an awesome thing to be confronted with. He's not looking at the congregation while talking as he usually does but his eyes are lifted to heaven. Maybe this is the setup to a humorous but informative anecdote....he's done that kind of thing before....but his wife is sitting in the front pew....and her lips are moving in prayer. This is no humorous but informative anecdote coming! The pastor reads the Parable Of The Ten Virgins....while his eyes lower to meet those in front of him....and he begins his sermon....'Beloved....how much oil do you have available to trim your lamp.....for you may need it soon....and even if our Lord tarries in His return....we must have oil for our lamps at all times!' It may not happen this way....but each Monday I look for reports on how this preacher or that preacher was extremely solemn in the pulpit....and the congregation responded to his message with equal solemnity."
