Sarah Pierpont Edwards attended the Congregational Church in Northampton MA, which was pastored by her husband,
Jonathan Edwards. Women were supposed to remain silent in the
Puritan/Congregational churches, but a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit was
occurring (the Great Awakening) and she could hardly contain herself at times.
"I could scarcely refrain from leaping
with transports of joy," she exclaimed. One day she was so overwhelmed by God’s
presence that she could no longer stand, but sank to the floor. It happened as she listened to a visiting minister lament that God's children
should be so cold and lifeless in their faith. She said,
I felt such a sense of the deep ingratitude
manifested by the children of God, in such coldness and deadness, that my
strength was immediately taken away, and I sunk down on the spot. Those who
were near raised me, and placed me in a chair; and, from the fullness of my
heart, I expressed to them, in a very earnest manner, the deep sense I had of
the wonderful grace of Christ towards me, of the assurance I had of his having
saved me from hell, of my happiness running parallel with eternity, of the duty
of giving up all to God, and of the peace and joy inspired by an entire
dependence on his mercy and grace.
The church in Northampton had no choir, no worship team, and no
orchestra. Jonathan Edwards wrote out his sermons in advance and read them in a
monotone voice without ever moving from behind the pulpit. Yet, Northampton was
the center in New England for the Great Awakening that transformed Colonial
America.
Sarah and many others were overwhelmed by the the presence of God, which is characteristic of real revival. Edwards, in fact, said, "The town seemed to be full of the presence of God."
Although lacking the modern accoutrements that we consider necessary for revival, they had the essence of what it really takes. In the words of Sarah, it is “giving up all to God” and “an entire dependence on His mercy and grace.”
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