The greatest American Calvinist was probably Jonathan Edwards, a true heir of Calvin and the Puritans. And he wrote a book in 1765 titled The End for Which God Created the World. And guess what he said? What is the end for which God created the world? For the display of his glory. He said the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy God. It is also the chief end of God—to enjoy God and to glorify himself. And it is little wonder that he was not only the greatest theologian of that generation, but he was also the man, in the power of the Holy Spirit, whom God used to light that great revival of the Great Awakening. Literally, Jonathan Edwards is preaching with a candle in one hand and a little notecard in his right, as he is reading minute notes—little Scriptures—and preaching the Word. And the Spirit of God is falling upon the place. Those two things go together.
Well, what about our time? That is where I am leading. Ours is certainly a day that would not be compared to those times and places. It is certainly not true, doctrinally, that there is a widespread emphasis on, and embrace of, the sovereignty of God and the glory of God in all things. In fact, it is the exact opposite. The stress is on the sovereignty of man, the preferences of man. We are going to worship what the people want, to seek what people want to see and hear and respond to. The approach is of man and for man and through man. That is the motto—not just of the world, but even of the church.
Is this emphasis of the evangelical church in our day producing holiness? Would we look at the evangelical churches and say,
Richard D. PhillipsNow there shines a bright example of the Word of God being lived out in truth? We would not. Would we argue that the Christians are having a shaping influence on the society around us? No. The exact opposite is the case. The world is increasingly shaping the church. Is it not, in fact, the case that in our own day—at the time when God’s sovereignty is most strongly denied and neglected—the church is, in fact, stained by sin, shattered by division, and so weak that we are following the ways of the world, as if that were the only way to keep our Christians and our children in the faith? Might we need a theological repentance, whereby we humble ourselves before a mighty and sovereign God?1
7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.