Discerning the Spirit

JACOB TAYLOR

Eucharisma 2, (Winter 2024), 68-76.

In 1736, one congregationalist minister in Massachusetts set out to describe the “wonderful work of God” that had happened among his parishioners.1 Writing about the First Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards recounted a move of God that birthed modern evangelicalism. 

Charismatic writers like Sam Storms and Andrew Wilson have done the hard work of showing the historical strands of continuationism in the life of the Church from the apostolic age all the way through to the more modern charismatic movement.2 While D.A. Carson questions the usefulness of such work, a charismatic historical ressourcement is helpful in providing a historically-based defence of the pentecostal-charismatic focus on the person and work of the Holy Spirit.3

Jonathan Edwards was not a charismatic. As a staunch cessationist, he criticised so-called “enthusiasts,” Quakers and others in the 18th Century who held to a form of continuationism. His view was that with the increase in love, there would be less need for the charismata, which with the growth of the kingdom of God have long since ceased. 

“I had rather enjoy the sweet influences of the Spirit, showing Christ’s spiritual divine beauty, infinite grace, and dying love, drawing forth the holy exercises of faith, divine love, sweet complacence and humble joy in God, one quarter of an hour, than to have prophetical visions and revelations the whole year.”4

“Amen!” says this charismatic. But to Edwards, the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit seem to be at odds with one another, rather than the charismata primarily building up the Body of Christ in faith, love, and joy in God, as continuationists would maintain. While Sam Storms adequately addresses Edwards’ more general arguments elsewhere, Edwards’ experiences and reflections serve as an unexpected but deep well for the assessment of charismatic experiences of revival today.5 Edwards provides historic precedent, a robust theological framework, and a pastoral heart for revival; all of which the charismatic and pentecostal churches of the 21st Century sorely need.

Historic Precedent

God has marvellously used the charismatic and pentecostal movements to bring fresh power to the witness of God’s people; however, the relative freshness of this move of God has left continuationist theologies open to the charge of being an invention of modernity. Some within traditional denominations view the charismatic and pentecostal movements with suspicion or scepticism. This mirrors Edwards’ own experience, with much of his work dedicated to defending the experiences of his parishioners from those who wanted to denigrate and denounce them. 

In his “Narrative of Surprising Conversions”, Edwards gives a general account of the revival that broke out in Northampton, Massachusetts, and the surrounding villages and towns. In his account, Edwards details the unified and varied natures of the experiences:

“There is a vast difference, as observed, in the degree, and also in the particular manner of persons experiences both at and after conversion, but it seems evidently to be the same work, the same habitual change wrought in the heart; it all tends the same way, and to the same end; and it is plainly the same spirit that breathes and acts in various persons.”6

Although Edwards is talking more specifically about conversion, it is evident that the Spirit worked among many different types of people. Edwards writes in great detail about how the Spirit impacted both old and young; rich and poor; those who lived “good” lives and those who seemed far from God. The Spirit seemed to manifest itself in three ways to Edwards’s parishioners: in conviction, in longing for God, and in greater piety. 

“Persons are sometimes brought to them a little before the borders of despair, and it looks as black as midnight to them a little before the day dawns on their soul.”7

The Holy Spirit forcefully convicted people of their need for Christ. With the realisation of the condition of their souls when compared to the purity and holiness of God, people would break down.

“Some few there have been, of persons who have had such a sense of God’s wrath for sin,… and made to cry out under astonishing sense of their sin.”8

Such a visceral response to preaching could be expected from the language in the preaching of the age. Edwards in particular is famous for his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. 

“The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath toward you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire.”9

Edwards’s fiery imagery has divided opinion ever since but the Lord used it to bring about great fruit. At least on par with the effectiveness of his preaching, seems to have been the variety of other ways God worked among the lives of people. 

“Some are more suddenly seized with convictions; it may be, by the news of others’ conversion, or something they hear in public, or in private conference—their consciences are smitten, as if their hearts were pierced through with a dart.”10

The Spirit seasoned conversations with the flavour of the gospel and the works of God. While the Holy Spirit brought conviction, He brought joy too, particularly at the realisation of the saving grace available in Christ. 

“It was very wonderful to see how persons’ affections were sometimes moved—when God did as it were suddenly open their eyes, and let into their minds a sense of the greatness of his grace, the fullness of Christ, and his readiness to save… Their joyful surprise has caused their hearts as it were to leap, so that they have been ready to break forth into laughter, tears often at the same time issuing like a flood, and intermingling a loud weeping.”11

Edwards indicates that the work of the Spirit in the life of a person deals inherently with the affections, with the possibility of pulling people into the deepest darknesses of despair at their sin but also great releases of joy. Emotions were not something that Edwards wanted people to shy away from. Instead he saw it as a normative aspect of this work of God. The Holy Spirit may cause one person to weep and another to laugh. Despite this diversity there is still one Spirit at work. This rings true with elements of the charismatic experience, particularly with its heavy importance laid on the person and work of the Spirit, which Andrew Wilson draws out as not only the normative of modern charismatic streams, but also of the early Church.12

There is an inherent connection between the glory of God and our enjoyment of God,13 particularly between joy and true worship. Joy in God alone is the reason for our pursuit of Him. In worship, we realise our chief end, as the Westminster Larger Catechism says: to glorify God and fully enjoy him forever.14 Grudem, notes, “we probably experience delight in God more fully in worship than in any other activity in this life.”15 The centrality of worship in charismatic practice should bring us to a greater sense of joy, as we spend time delighting in wondrous works of God and experiencing the manifestations of the Holy Spirit amongst us.

But the greater challenge for modern, British pentecostals and charismatics, is the last fruit seen by Edwards in the lives of his people, a greater piety. Edwards gives many stories of the reformed character of his parishioners, how they would give up drunkenness or ‘night-walking’ or blasphemy. The Holy Spirit ignited a deep longing for God in their hearts, and they sought greater knowledge of the doctrine of God and Scripture. 

“And it seems to be necessary to suppose that there is an immediate influence of the Spirit of God, oftentimes, in bringing texts of Scripture to the mind.”16

This challenges those of us within contemporary charismatic and pentecostal streams: do our worship and charismatic experience ultimately lead to conviction, joy, and greater piety among our churches? Do we worship for a good feeling with no relation to the person and finished work of Christ? If our worship is narcissistic, we will not see any increase in the piety of our people. But if our worship is legalistic, we will see neither true conviction nor true joy. 

The Holy Spirit was central to Edwards’ experience and was active in the lives of his parishioners, bringing them closer to the Godhead and empowering them to live holier lives. Pentecostal-charismatic Christians continue to carry the torch of the Holy Spirit’s power to dynamically reorient not only the Church but also the world. We should pursue the Holy Spirit not only for the gifts that He brings but also the conviction, love, and joy found in His presence.  

Theological Framework

Jonathan Edwards gives historical precedent to the Spirit-focused nature of the continuationist movements but he also gives a useful theological framework for the assessment of whether or not a supposed work of the Holy Spirit is truly of divine origin. 

Beginning his description of “The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the True Spirit” with a warning, Edwards reminds his readers that in the apostolic age, “the devil was abundant in mimicking, both the ordinary and extraordinary influences of the Spirit of God.”17 Therefore, the apostles sought to lay out principles to ensure that the fledgling Church could distinguish between the work of Satan and the work of God. This advice is still needed today, in an internet-fuelled age of fresh prophecies every New Year and videos of dubious miraculous healings, whose authenticity confuses the Christian. As AI also develops, discerning between the works of the Holy Spirit and those of technologically-capable demons will need to be an area that the Church develops both from a practical but also a spiritual perspective.

It is best to begin where he begins, what not to judge. We can group Edwards negative arguments into three camps: external appearances, evident error, and great preaching. 

The first thing not to judge is the way that something appears. 

If something is new, or unusual to the ordinary practice of the Church of God, then we cannot conclude that it is not a work of the Holy Spirit. Edwards says rather emphatically, “What the church has been used to, is not a rule by which we are to judge; because there may be new and extraordinary works of God…”18 The ingenuity of God serves as a caution to churches who have not embraced the work of the Holy Spirit evident in the charismatic movement because this move of the Spirit is relatively new and supposedly historically unprecedented. It also challenges the charismatic and pentecostal movements in the UK. The way we have seen God move and the Holy Spirit manifest today or earlier in our lives, may not necessarily be the same way He sovereignly chooses to manifest Himself in the coming decades. Fuelled by his strong belief in the sovereignty of God, Edwards states, “We ought not to limit God where he has not limited himself.”19 For Edwards, this meant that the great range of emotions that were evidenced by his congregations should not necessarily mean that the Spirit of God has not been at work amongst them. For Edwards’ parishioners, God seems not only to have moved their emotions but also to have absolutely overwhelmed them. 

“II. A work is not to be judged of by any effects on the bodies of men; such as tears, trembling, groans, loud outcries, agonies of body, or the failing of bodily strength.”20

It would be anachronistic to insist that Edwards is defending the modern phenomena of ‘holy laughter’ or of people being ‘slain in the Spirit.’ Instead, Edwards had seen God work with such great force that people’s emotional states had been completely shattered and they were physically experiencing the terror of their situations as unsaved people. He writes elsewhere of the joy that people also experienced from the work of the Holy Spirit but Edwards focuses on the impact of fear. He roots his experience in that of the early Church, with the examples of the jailer in Acts 16 and the disciples themselves in Matthew 14, who realised with great dread the God with whom they were dealing.

Furthermore, we should not dismiss a move of God if there is a lot of religious fervour. While the coming of Christ’s kingdom and the expansion of it in our own days will not be accompanied by “outward pomp,”21 we should expect a great commotion because (as Edwards points out) “when Christ’s kingdom came, by that remarkable pouring out of the Spirit in the apostles’ days, it occasioned a great stir everywhere”22 both through the work of the Spirit and the opposition set up against it. This is not a retrospective on the Toronto Blessing but the fact that it caused such a stir among Christians is not an argument against its legitimacy as a genuine work of God. Edwards shows us that such stirrings could, although will not necessarily, be a sign of a true, charismatic move of the Spirit amongst His people. 

For Edwards, the imagination also plays an important role in a move of the Spirit. Far from rejecting the importance of impressions on the mind, Edwards affirmed that God—as the sovereign creator of our imaginations—actively used them as a way to bring people closer to Him. Edwards goes so far as to defend “ecstasy, wherein they have been carried beyond themselves, and have had their minds transported into a train of strong and pleasing imaginations, and a kind of visions, as though they were rapt up even to heaven and there saw glorious sights.”23 Edwards grounds all of this in the sovereignty of the Lord and the examples as found in Scripture, such as Paul’s rapture or the visions of the prophets. 

It would be wrong-headed to insist that Edwards assumes that such experiences should be normative for the Christian life and he most certainly rejects those who would interpret such experiences as “prophetical visions, divine revelations, and sometimes significations of what shall come to pass,”24 but he cannot shake that they can originate from the Spirit and impart a sliver of the divine.25

Finally, Edwards looks at the use of the lives of others as a means of the Holy Spirit to affect change in the lives of His people.26 The Spirit used the example of others to great effect during the First Great Awakening, as the stories of the lives of people brought some to repentance and others to reformation of their lives. Revival broke out on the back of what had been reported in the next town down the road or from travellers bringing news as they travelled through New England. Edwards felt the need to defend this from those who would say it is solely from Scripture that people can be converted and changed. Grounding his position in Scripture, he shows how the Scriptures themselves are filled with instances of people being changed because of the example of others.

Secondly, a supposed move of God cannot be condemned if it is mixed with errors and sin. 

God uses broken people, who are in the process of being sanctified by God, but who nevertheless still fail. The more zealous the person, the greater the possibility of a great fall. Some heinous instances of abuse, both spiritual and otherwise, have been found within charismatic and pentecostal streams (for a recent example consider IHOPKC and Mike Bickle).27 In fact, from Edwards it seems that his lesson to us is that even when we try to pursue the gifts of Spirit, we must do our utmost to not turn into the Church in Corinth, which with a great, misplaced, religious zeal nonetheless quickly devolved into an absolute mess. 

“Zeal [is] an excellent grace, yet above all other Christian virtues, this needs to be strictly watched and searched; for it is that with which corruption and particularly pride and human passion is exceedingly apt to mix unobserved.”28

Edwards briefly touches on the mingling of the work of the Spirit with the “delusions of Satan”29 and the impact of people falling into great error and heresy. Judas was a member of the 12, Nicolas (founder of the heretical Nicolatians) was one of the first deacons chosen in Acts 6. The Reformation spawned both the Reformers but also non-trinitarian heresies like unitarianism. The fact that some within the charismatic movement have gone too far and embraced New Age mysticism, for example, does not discredit the movement as a whole. The harvest of wheat is always mingled with weeds.

Finishing his negative argument with a defence of the preaching of the age, he challenges us to again consider hell: its infinitude, its horror, its pain. It seems to have been a major feature of Edwards’s ministry. With this in mind, it remains a challenge to the charismatic and pentecostal movements to preach the reality of hell, and not skirt around the topic. In our experience, we must not be surprised if God uses preaching to great effect to bring people to Him and to bring greater revival in our churches. 

Charismatic theology is a practised and experiential theology. We take seriously Paul’s charge to the Corinthians to “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1), which are not only a theoretical, theological knowledge, but also impact the world around us – healing cancers, bringing decisive prophetic utterances, and speaking out mysteries in the Spirit. Our preaching must not only seek to build people up in the realm of the Spirit but also to remind us of the ultimate realities of heaven and hell, but even more so the Gospel truths of Christ’s sinless life, His death, His resurrection, and His coming return! 

Having discussed what Edwards tells us not to base our discernment on, we can now move onto what he does say we should judge, which can be summed up in one word: sanctification. Edwards envisions revival as a great move of the Spirit to sanctify the people of God. Where God is at work, we should find a people holier than they were at the start and more in love with their Saviour.

The Spirit testifies to Christ and so it is simply logical to assume that where the Holy Spirit has been at work, Jesus Christ will be held in greater regard, that the confession on the lips of His people would be more strongly proclaimed. Edwards is at pains to define confession that Jesus is Lord to be “more than merely allowing: it implies an establishing and confirming of thing by testimony, and declaring it with manifestation of esteem and affection.”30 If experiences of the charismata result in the puffing up of individuals, or make the name of a church more famous without mention of Christ and His work on the cross, then there should be significant questions raised about its legitimacy as a work of God. It also challenges our heart posture towards God in desiring the gifts of the Spirit. Do we desire them for their own sake, or is it to know God greater and then proclaim the wonders of the Gospel? 

Before God, demons quake and the powers of the world shudder. Although there does not seem to be a particular ordering to the marks of the Spirit of God that Edwards works through, it is telling that his second mark to watch for is the retreating of the work of the devil. Twinned together with the works of the devil are the works of the world, which Edwards understands as the work of sin in the world.  When the power of God is demonstrated, the Enemy will do “whatever is in his power to discourage you, to frighten you, and to enslave as many as he can in fleshly bondage and spiritual darkness.”31 But we will also see people set free from sins that once caged them. The power of God is such that no stronghold of the enemy will ultimately stand against Him. Edwards narratives are full of stories of people liberated from deeply ingrained sin and chains that seemed unbreakable. People who seemed unsaveable were released into new life. Do our charismatic experiences result in the release from sin, or are people stuck in habits? 

“The spirit that operates in such a manner as to cause in men a greater regard to the Holy Scriptures, and establishes them more in their truth and divinity is certainly the Spirit of God.”32

The Holy Spirit inevitably draws people to the Word of God. Edwards says that the Devil, in the furtherance of his kingdom of darkness, would never lead people to the sun.33 The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, the spiritual weapon of the Christian, with which we are able to wage war on Satan. Do our charismatic experiences tend towards a love for the Word or against it? If our practice is divorced from the Word, or even stands in direct opposition to it then we are in very dangerous waters. I have known people to say, “I do not really read my Bible because I much prefer just praying.” Yes, pray! But also read the Scriptures. Without the anchor of the Scriptures, we will find another light and it will not be that which comes from the face of God. 

A corollary of the increase of the esteem of the Scriptures, is the increase in truth among the people of God. Edwards observes that one of the key distinctions between the Spirit of God and other spirits is that the Holy Spirit dispenses truth,34 as the Godhead is truth.

Finally, we are brought to the ultimate effect of a work of God in the hearts of His people – love. Where the Spirit operates, we should see love for God and love of others spring up because He is the source of love. Edwards identifies a “a counterfeit love that often appears among those who are led by a spirit of delusion… arising from self-love, occasioned by their agreeing in those things wherein they greatly differ from all others…”35 Edwards warns the ‘enthusiasts,’ whom he saw deeply carried away in their own doctrinal peculiarities that ultimately severed them from the Body of Christ. Those of us in charismatic and pentecostal movements cannot be so puffed up in our acceptance of the charismata that we ultimately sever ourselves from our siblings in the faith who believe otherwise. The love of God enables us to love those who do not hold to all of our doctrinal distinctives. The fact the baptist pastor across the way from your church is a cessationist, does not stop you from loving him in prayer. The fact the charismatic church nearby does not believe in tongues as an initial sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, does not stop you from joining together in mission in your neighbourhood. 

Edwards boils it all down to love. If the Spirit of God is at work, we will love Christ more, we will love sin less, we will love the Scriptures more, we will love truth more and we will love each other and God more. Where the Spirit is at work, love grows. So in our churches, we must carefully and prayerfully observe if we are growing in love, or not. 

A Pastoral Heart for Revival

Edwards was a man who deeply cared for his flock. Therefore, he focused on the pastoral implications of the move of God, which he experienced. We too should share in his pastoral concerns about any move of the Spirit that we experience in our churches, seeking to edify each other with the charismata rather than puffing up in self-love. Edwards draws out three practical implications from his observations: we must recognise when the Spirit is at work; promote the work of the Spirit; and avoid error. 

Recognising the movement of the Spirit may seem to be an easy act with the plethora of so-called ‘discernment’ ministries which flood the airways of Christian spaces online but there is a reason why ‘discerning of the spirits’ is a gift of the Spirit. D.A. Carson highlights that spectacular miracles attest to the power of the spiritual, but do not directly attest to the Holy Spirit;36 so we need discernment, which includes the discerning of different kinds of spirit at work in the lives of people.37 As charismatics, we understand the power of prayer in the development of any spiritual gifts and that includes in the honing of discernment. We must begin with prayer. If we want to guard people from the demonic and encourage people in truth and goodness, then we must first pray and then pray again, and then practise the gift of discernment.

Edwards seems very aware that there are those that he knows who are standing afar while this work of God happens are missing out on a great work of God. They do not share in the great blessing and will miss an opportunity to receive grace and comfort.38 Edwards’ heart is for his detractors to join in the work that is happening and his concern is that scepticism and cynicism stopped his critics from experiencing the fullness of God’s grace and the benefits thereof. It is the same concern that charismatics share about the outpouring of God’s Spirit on His people and the resultant charismata. 

Edwards’s final pastoral implication is key for the modern charismatic and pentecostal movements. Do not fall into error! The modalism of Oneness Pentecostals and the New-Age meddling of some charismatics are deep errors that need to be corrected. We must continually strive to walk in the truth, which is why publications like Eucharisma, as well as theological training programs are so important.

Conclusion

This cessationist puritan is a useful resource for charismatic and pentecostal Christians in the 21st Century because he combines the pastoral heart for revival, with the theological rigour of a puritan, and the historical precedent of a man who encountered a powerful move of the Spirit. He challenges us to pray for a move of God as great as the one he experienced. He teaches us not to look on the surface to see if God is at work, but instead to observe the sanctification of God’s people by the power of His Spirit. He reminds us not to cheaply accept a posture of cynicism and scepticism but instead to focus on the fruit: love!

Jacob Taylor

Jacob Taylor is a pastoral intern at Cornerstone Church Newcastle, which is part of the Advance Movement of churches. He is studying for a Graduate Diploma in Theology at Union School of Theology. He tweets at @_jacobwtaylor_.

  1. ‘A Narrative of Surprising Conversions’, in Jonathan Edwards on Revival, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1995), 7. ↩︎
  2. Sam Storms, Understanding Spiritual Gifts: A Comprehensive Guide, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Reflective, 2020), p.123-145 and Andrew Wilson, Spirit and Sacrament: An Invitation to Eucharismatic Worship, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), 101-108. ↩︎
  3. D.A. Carson, Showing the Spirit: a theological exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company), 165-169. ↩︎
  4. The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, in Jonathan Edwards on Revival, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1995), 140-141. ↩︎
  5. Storms,  Understanding Spiritual Gifts, 87-97. ↩︎
  6. Edwards, A Narrative of Surprising Conversions, 48. ↩︎
  7. Edwards, A Narrative of Surprising Conversions,  25. ↩︎
  8. Edwards, A Narrative of Surprising Conversions,  25. ↩︎
  9. Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, (London: Benediction Classics 2017), 48. ↩︎
  10. Edwards, A Narrative of Surprising Conversions, 23. ↩︎
  11. Edwards, A Narrative of Surprising Conversions, 37. ↩︎
  12. Wilson, Spirit and Sacrament, 91-92. ↩︎
  13. Sam Storms, Practicing the power: welcoming the gifts of the Holy Spirit in your life, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), 217-218. ↩︎
  14. Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith: With Proof Texts. (Horsham, Pa.: Great Commission Publications, 1992). ↩︎
  15. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1005. ↩︎
  16. Edwards, A Narrative of Surprising Conversions, 41. ↩︎
  17. Edwards,The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 86. ↩︎
  18. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 89. ↩︎
  19. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 89. ↩︎
  20. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 91 ↩︎
  21. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 95. ↩︎
  22. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 95. ↩︎
  23. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 97. ↩︎
  24. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 97. ↩︎
  25. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 98. ↩︎
  26. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 98-101. ↩︎
  27. Tim Wyatt, ‘Explained: Who Is Mike Bickle and What Are the Allegations Against Him,’. Premier Christianity, 2023 retrieved from: https://www.premierchristianity.com/news-analysis/explained-who-is-mike-bickle-and-what-are-the-allegations-against-him/17035.article ↩︎
  28. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 103. ↩︎
  29. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 104. ↩︎
  30. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 110. ↩︎
  31. Sam Storms, Practicing the Power, 147. ↩︎
  32. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 113. ↩︎
  33. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 114. ↩︎
  34. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 114. ↩︎
  35. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 117. ↩︎
  36. Carson, Showing the Spirit,  40. ↩︎
  37. Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1083. ↩︎
  38. Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of A Work of the Spirit of God, 143. ↩︎