Love Is Humble

Tuesdays with Edwards!

We are sticking with selections from his 1738 sermon series on 1 Corinthians 13 Charity and Its Fruits. This is from the sixth sermon in that series, A Christian Spirit is a Humble Spirit which focuses on the first half of 1 Corinthians 13:4 (KJV), 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (KJVEC) Charity vaunteth itself not, it is not puffed up, it doth not behave itself unseemly. In this selection Edwards wants to show that divine love implies humility, that it is part of its nature.

This and the entire series Charity and its Fruits can be read online at www.edwards.yale.edu. This selection is from Ethical Writings, ed. Paul Ramsey, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 8 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989) Pages 243-245.

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That spirit of divine love, which we have already shown is the sum of the Christian spirit, implies humility in it; it implies it as an essential qualification. True divine love is an humble love. It is essential to true love that it be so that love that is not an humble love is not true divine love. This appears by two things.

Because a sense of the loveliness of God is peculiarly that discovery of God which makes humility. A sense or discovery of God’s greatness without his loveliness will not do it. But it is a discovery of his loveliness that is the very discovery that affects the thing and makes the soul humble. All grace is wrought in the heart by the knowledge of God or a discovery of God, or sense of God’s perfections. The knowledge of God is the foundation of all grace. But the knowledge of God or sense of him which is the essential thing, the very thing which works humility in the heart, is a sense of his loveliness, or seeing how infinitely God is above us in loveliness. Merely having a sense that God is infinitely above us, and that there is an infinite distance between him and us in greatness, will not work humility; it will signify nothing towards making the heart humble, unless we are sensible there is an infinite distance between him and us in respect of his loveliness. And this is evident by two things.

1. That persons may have considerable sense of the awful greatness of God under the work of the law, but yet have no humility; because they have no sense of his loveliness. All the work of the Spirit in the heart, both the work of the law and the gospel in the heart, is wrought by conviction. There is some conviction which natural men have concerning God which awakens natural men, and drives them out of themselves. It is a conviction of the terrible greatness of God as revealing himself in the exactions and denunciations of his law. But yet they have no humility, and the only thing wanting is that they have no sense how much God is above them in loveliness.

2. It is manifest from this that the devils and damned spirits have a great sense of God’s being infinitely above them in greatness; but yet have no humility, because they do not see how he is above them in loveliness. This, you may remember, was observed before. God makes the devils and damned spirits know that he is above them. He convinces them effectually; he shows them how much he is above them, though they deal proudly. They have enough to convince them that he is far above them in greatness and in power, and they are nothing in his hands. But yet they deal proudly still, they have no humility. And they will see more of God’s greatness at and after the Day of Judgment. Everyone who sees Christ at that Day of Judgment, not only saints and angels but wicked men and devils, will see his greatness. Every eye shall see him coming in the glory of his Father. Wicked men, wicked kings and princes, and the great men and rich captains, and the mighty men shall then see that Christ is infinitely above them in greatness. They shall see his terrible majesty, and therefore they will hide themselves in dens and in the rocks of the mountains. And the devils will see it, and will therefore tremble at that time much more than they tremble now at the thoughts of it. And then devils and wicked men shall be made to know that he is the Lord; they shall know it with a witness. They shall know by what they feel when the sentence is executed, how God is above them indeed, and they nothing before him. Ezekiel 7:27, “According to their deserts will I judge them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”5 But yet, though they shall see so much of God’s being above them in greatness, they shall have no humility. They shall see themselves at an infinite distance from God, but their hearts will not comply with that distance because they will not see God’s loveliness; they will not know their infinite distance from him in this respect. So that it evidently appears by this, that it is a sense of the infinite distance in this respect, viz. in respect of loveliness, which is the very thing that causes humility in the heart. This causes humility in the angels and in the saints.

Seeing therefore it is so, that it is a sense of God’s loveliness which is the thing that works humility, hence we may learn that divine love implies humility. For love is the disposition of the heart, or it is respect towards God as lovely. If the knowledge of God as lovely causes humility, then a respect to God as lovely implies humility. And from this love to God arises a Christian love to men. And it therefore follows that a true love both to God and men implies humility.