• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Things Above Us

Missions - Evangelism - Theology - Sports

  • About TAU
    • Our Mission
    • The Gospel of Grace
    • Writers
    • Contact Us
    • Comment Policy
    • Attribution/Content Usage Policy
  • Resources
    • Before the Throne
    • From Death to Life
    • Our Tract
  • Articles/Blog Posts
    • Missions
    • Evangelism
    • Theology
    • Sports
    • Book Reviews
    • Kid’s Book Reviews
    • pSaturday Psalms
    • Movie Reviews
    • Go Therefore!
    • Something to Think About
  • Things Above Us Roundtable
  • Evangelio de Cristo
  • Store
    • Cart

How to Know the Holy Spirit is at Work — Part 3

November 30, 2020 by Allen Nelson IV

In 1741 Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, from 1 John 4 for the commencement ceremony at Yale. We’ve seen two of these distinguishing marks so far: esteeming Jesus and opposing Satan. In this blog post, we look at the third and fourth marks. Below are all Edwards’s words:

Loving Scripture

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. This rule the apostle gives us in the 6th verse:. “We are of God; he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us: hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” We are of God; that is, “We the apostles are sent forth of God, and appointed by him to teach the world, and to deliver those doctrine and instructions, which are to be their rule; he that knoweth God, heareth us,” &c.

The apostle’s argument here equally reaches all that in the same sense are of God; that is, all those that God has appointed and inspired to deliver to his church its rule of faith and practice; all the prophets and apostles, whose doctrine God has made the foundation on which he has built his church, as in Eph. ii. 20. in a word, all the penmen of the Holy Scriptures. The devil never would attempt to beget in persons a regard to that divine word which God has given to be the great and standing rule for the direction of his church in all religious matters, and all concerns of their souls, in all ages. A spirit of delusion will not incline persons to seek direction at the mouth of God.

To the law and to the testimony, is never the cry of those evil spirits that have no light in them; for it is God’s own direction to discover their delusions. Isa. viii. 19, 20. “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

The devil does not say the same as Abraham did, “They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them:” nor the same that the voice from heaven did concerning Christ, “Hear ye him.” Would the spirit of error, in order to deceive men, beget in them a high opinion of the infallible rule, and incline them to think much of it, and be very conversant with it? Would the prince of darkness, in order to promote his kingdom of darkness, lead men to the sun?

The devil has ever shown a mortal spite and hatred towards that holy book the Bible: he has done all in his power to extinguish that light; and to draw men off from it: he knows it to be that light by which his kingdom of darkness is to be overthrown. He has had for many ages experience of its power to defeat his purposes, and baffle his designs: it is his constant plague. It is the main weapon which Michael uses in his war with him: it is the sword of the Spirit, that pierces him and conquers him. It is that great and strong sword, with which God punishes Leviathan, that crooked serpent. It is that sharp sword that we read of, Rev. xix. 15. That proceeds out of the mouth of him that sat on the horse, with which he smites his enemies.

Every text is a dart to torment the old serpent. He has felt the stinging smart thousands of times; therefore he is engaged against the Bible, and hates every word in it: and we may be sure that he never will attempt to raise persons’ esteem of it, or affection to it. And accordingly we see it common in enthusiasts, that they depreciate this written rule, and set up the light within or some other rule above it.

Embracing Truth

Another rule to judge of spirits may be drawn from those compellations given to the opposite spirits, in the last words of the 6th verse,. “The spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” These words exhibit the two opposite characters of the Spirit of God, and other spirits that counterfeit his operations. And therefore, if by observing the manner of the operation of a spirit that is at work among a people, we see that it operates as a spirit of truth, leading persons to truth, convincing them of those things that are true, we may safely determine that it is a right and true spirit.

For instance, if we observe that the spirit at work makes men more sensible than they used to be, that there is a God, and that he is a great and sin-hating God; that life is short, and very uncertain; and that there is another world; that they have immortal souls, and must give account of themselves to God, that they are exceeding sinful by nature and practice; that they are helpless in themselves; and confirms them in other things that are agreeable to some sound doctrine; the spirit that works thus operates as a spirit of truth; he represents things as they truly are. He brings men to the light; for whatever makes truth manifest is light; as the apostle Paul observes, Eph. v. 13. “But all things that are reproved (or discovered, as it is in the margin) are made manifest by the light; for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.”

And therefore we may conclude, that it is not the spirit of darkness that doth thus discover and make manifest the truth. Christ tells us that Satan is a liar, and the father of lies; and his kingdom is a kingdom of darkness. It is upheld and promoted only by darkness and error.

Satan has all his power of dominion by darkness. Hence we read of the power of darkness. Luke xxii. 53. And Col. i. 13. And devils are called “the rulers of the darkness of this world.” Whatever spirit removes our darkness, and brings us to the light, undeceives us, and, by convincing us of the truth, doth us a kindness. If I am brought to a sight of truth, and am made sensible of things as they really are, my duty is immediately to thank God for it, without standing first to inquire by what means I have such a benefit.


More parts of this series on The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God will appear here as we release them:

• How to Know the Holy Spirit is at Work — Part 1
• How to Know the Holy Spirit is at Work — Part 2
• How to Know the Holy Spirit is at Work — Part 3
• How to Know the Holy Spirit is at Work — Part 4

Allen Nelson IV

Allen Nelson IV

Allen S. Nelson IV is the pastor of Perryville Second Baptist Church in Perryville, Arkansas. He and his wife Stephanie have been married since 2006 and have 5 children. Besides enjoying time with his family, Allen loves teaching the Bible, reading good books, and time outdoors. He is the author of From Death to Life: How Salvation Works and Before The Throne: Reflections on God’s Holiness He is an avid Dallas Cowboys and Arkansas Razorbacks fan, which means he's always excited about 'next year.' You can follow him on twitter @cuatronelson.

Filed Under: Theology Tagged With: Bible, Distinguishing Marks, Great Awakening, Holy Spirit, Jonathan Edwards, scripture, truth

Liked what you read? Subscribe!


Views expressed in posts are those of their individual authors and may not be shared by all writers on Things Above Us.

Primary Sidebar

On Sale Now

  • Before the Throne $17.00 $14.99
  • From Death to Life $14.99 $13.99

Subscribe To Things Above Us

Sign up for our RSS newsfeed and stay up-to-date with the latest blog posts on Things Above Us!

Things Above Us Roundtable

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | Email | RSS

Pull up a chair to the TAU Roundtable as the writers from ThingsAbove.Us and other special guests discuss current events, theology, missions, evangelism, and sports!

The Bible Memory App - Bible Memory Verses
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • An Age Old Question: What do you think about the End Times?
  • Justification, Mercy, and Propitiation
  • Ep. 047 | 2021 NFL Playoffs Week 3 — TAU Roundtable
  • Is Gambling Okay?
  • God’s Hatred of Sin and the Coming Judgment

The Team

Garrett O’HaraGarrett O’Hara

Garrett appears to have originated the term, but not the theology, "dispybapticalvinistic-expialidocious." He ...

Justification, Mercy, and Propitiation
Justin BullingtonJustin Bullington

Justin Bullington is the husband of Deb, a father of four, the Associate Pastor at Princeton Bible Church, a 6th...

When Should We Officially Ditch a Christian Content Creator?
George AlvaradoGeorge Alvarado

George Alvarado is an almost retired member of our Armed Forces (yes, he's older than he looks). He has a beautiful w...

A Open Letter to Afflicted Saints
Tim BatesTim Bates

Tim lives in Akron, Ohio with his wife, Melanie and two children, Calvin and Caroline. He serves as a deacon, teacher...

Reflections on a World Without Sports
Chuck IveyChuck Ivey

By God’s grace, Chuck Ivey grew up in a Christian home and came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at a y...

Book Review — Zondervan Single Column Reference Premier Collection
Allen Nelson IVAllen Nelson IV

Allen S. Nelson IV is the pastor of Perryville Second Baptist Church in Perryville, Arkansas. He and his wife Steph...

An Age Old Question: What do you think about the End Times?
Michael CoughlinMichael Coughlin

Michael Coughlin lives near Columbus, OH, and leads local outreaches to glorify our Lord and reach the lost with...

Is Gambling Okay?

Click a term to see related posts.

Adoption atonement Bible book review Cessationism children Christian Life Christmas Chuck Ivey church conversion Culture Devotional discipleship egalitarianism evangelism Foster Care From death to life Genesis gospel grace imputation Jesus local church love Marriage mercy NFL preaching propitiation Psalm 119 Psalms reformed baptist Reformed Baptist Theology reformed theology Roundtable sanctification scripture sin sola scriptura Something To Think About Suffering theology Things Above Us worship

Click the image below if you got one of these cards.

Other Posts You May Like…

When the Honeymoon is Over

I assume everyone reading this blog is already familiar with the phrase ‘the honeymoon is over.’ It’s the accepted fact that after newlyweds are finished with their honeymoon, (and real-life begins, *gasp*), that the excitement of being married is no longer novel, and the reality of living with another imperfect person brings heartache never thought […]

Go, Therefore: Praying Before Meals

“Go, Therefore” posts are quick tips to help Christians live lives of evangelism. At a Restaurant When you go to a restaurant to eat and pray publicly, folks around you will notice. Now this isn’t necessarily evangelism, but when we pray publicly, it does remind people about God. Don’t pray “just to be seen by others” […]

Children’s Book Review — Just Nicholas by Annie Kratzsch

About the Book From Amazon: Read the true story of Saint Nicholas of Myra, the man who gave what he had to help others because he was grateful for what God had given him. As a young boy, Nicholas learned the story of Jesus from his parents. When he grew up, he lived out his […]

The Omniscience of God and Determinism

The future is determined. Even the thought you just had about that sentence was determined from long ago. And what I’d like to do in this post is to demonstrate that this is an orthodoxy issue, not merely a “Calvinist” issue. That is, too many label Calvinists as “determinists” when in reality, any person who […]

The Sinner’s Prayer

The following is an excerpt from my book From Death to Life: How Salvation Works The Reality In too many churches, we’ve essentially equated saying the right words to God as a third ordinance: Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Sinner’s Prayer. Once this prayer is recited, it’s a done deal and no matter what […]

Ep. 040 | Thriving in Grace: Twelve Ways the Puritans Fuel Spiritual Growth w/ Brian G. Hedges — TAU Roundtable

Chuck Ivey is joined by Brian G. Hedges, pastor of Redeemer Church in Niles, Michigan. Brian has written several helpful books on the Christian life and his latest is Thriving in Grace: Twelve Ways the Puritans Fuel Spiritual Growth, co-written with Joel R. Beeke. Links to the book and other resources talked about on the […]

2018 © Things Above Us

Copyright © 2021 · Things Above Us on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in