Jonathan Edwards - True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils (Part 1 of 4)

a sermon from 1752 by Jonathan Edwards originally entitled, True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils. This modern language version is actually copyright 1994 by William Carson but is able to be reproduced so long as this file is not altered and this notice is included in any reproduction and it is not sold for profit. True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils The text, James 2.19 You believe that there is one God? Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder How do you know if you belong to God? We see in these words what some people depend on as evidence of their acceptance with God. Some people think that they're all right before God if they're not as bad as some evil person. Other people point to their family history or church membership to show that God approves of them there is an evangelism program in common use that asks people certain questions one of the questions is, suppose you were to die today why should God let you into his heaven? A very common response is I believe in God. Apparently the Apostle James knew people who said the same thing I know I am in God's favor because I know these religious doctrines. Of course James admits that this knowledge is good not only is it good but it's also necessary nobody can be a Christian who doesn't believe in God and more than that the one true God. This is particularly true for those who have the great advantage of actually knowing the Apostle, someone who could tell them of his first-hand experience with Jesus the Son of God imagine the great sin of a person who knew James and then refused to believe in God certainly this would make their damnation greater of course all Christians know that this belief in the one God is only the start of good things because, quote from Hebrews 11 6, anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him, end of quote however James is clear that although this belief is a good thing it is definitely not proof that a person is saved what he means is this, you say you're a Christian and you're in God's favor, you think God will let you into heaven and the proof of it is you believe in God but that's no evidence at all because the demons also believe and they are sure to be punished in hell the demons believe in God, you can be sure of that they not only believe that he exists but they believe that God is a holy God, a sin-hating God a God of truth who has promised judgments and who will carry out his vengeance upon them this is the reason the demons shudder or tremble they know God more clearly than most human beings do and they're afraid, nevertheless nothing in the mind of man that devils may experience as well is any sure sign of God's grace in our hearts, this reasoning may be easily turned around, suppose demons could have or find within themselves something of God's saving grace, proof they would go to heaven, this would prove James wrong, but how absurd, the Bible makes it clear the demons have no hope of salvation and their believing in God does not take away their future punishment, therefore believing in God is not proof of salvation for demons and it's safe to say not for people either, demons have a knowledge of God, this is seen even more clearly when we think about what demons are like they are unholy, anything that they experience cannot be a holy experience, the devil is perfectly wicked, you belong to your father the devil and you want to carry out your father's desire, he was a murderer from the beginning not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him when he lies, he speaks his native language for he is a liar and the father John 8 44, he who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning, 1 John 3 8, therefore the demons are called evil spirits, unclean spirits powers of darkness and so on, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms, Ephesians 6 12, so it's plain that anything in the minds of demons cannot be holy or lead to true holiness by itself, the demons clearly know many things about God and religion but they do not have a holy knowledge, the things they know in their minds may make impressions in their hearts, indeed we do see that the demons have very strong feelings about God, so strong in fact that they shudder, but they're not holy feelings because they have nothing to do with the work of the Holy Spirit if this is true of the experience of demons it's also true of the experience of men, notice this, that it doesn't matter how genuine how sincere and powerful these thoughts and feelings are demons being spiritual creatures know God in a way that men on earth cannot, their knowledge of God's existence is more concrete than any man's knowledge could be because they're locked in battle with the forces of good, they have a sincerity of knowledge as well on one occasion Jesus cast out some demons what do you want with us son of God they shouted have you come here to torture us before the appointed time Matthew 8 29, what could possibly be a more clear-cut experience than this, however while their thoughts and feelings are genuine and powerful they're not holy, also we can see that the holy objects of their thoughts doesn't make their thoughts and feelings holy, the demons know God exists Matthew 8 29, shows that they know more about Jesus than many people do they're thoroughly that Jesus will judge them someday, thoroughly aware that Jesus will judge them someday because he is holy, but it's clear that genuine sincere and powerful thoughts and feelings about holy spiritual things is no proof of God's grace in the heart demons have these things and look forward to eternal punishment in hell, if men have no more than what the demons have they will suffer in the same way knowledge of God alone is no proof of salvation, we may make several conclusions based on these truths first that no matter how much people may know about God in the Bible it's no sure sign of salvation, the devil before his fall was one of the bright and morning stars a flame of fire, one excelling in strength and wisdom Isaiah 14 12 and Ezekiel 28 12-19 apparently as one of the chief angels Satan knew much about God, now that he is fallen his sin has not destroyed his memories from before sin does destroy the spiritual nature but not the natural abilities such as memory, that the fallen angels do have many natural abilities can be seen from many Bible verses for example Ephesians 6 12 for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms in the same way the Bible says that Satan is more crafty than other created beings Genesis 3-1 also 2nd Corinthians 11-3 and Acts 13-10 therefore we can see that the devil has always had great mental ability and is able to know much about God the visible and the invisible world and many other things since his job in the beginning was to be a chief angel before God it's only natural that understanding these things has always been of first importance to him and all his activities have to do with these areas of thoughts feelings and knowledge because it was his original employment to be one of the angels before the very face of God sin does not destroy the memory it's clear that Satan knows more about God than just about any other created being after the fall we can see from his activities as tempter for example in Matthew 4-3 that he has been spending his time increasing his knowledge and its practical applications that his knowledge is great can be seen in how tricky he is when tempting people the craftiness of his lies shows how clever he is surely he could not manage his deceit so well without an actual and true knowledge of the facts this knowledge of God and his works is from the very beginning Satan was there from the creation as Job 38-47 shows where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth tell me if you understand while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy so he must know much about the way God created the world and how he governs all the events of the universe