“The people of God are the most excellent and happy society in the world. That God whom they have chosen their God is their Father. He has pardoned all their sins, and they are at peace with Him, and He has admitted them to all the privileges of His children. As they have devoted themselves to God, so He has given Himself to them. He has become their salvation, and their portion… They are in a safe state, free from all possibility of perishing. Satan has no power to destroy them.
God carries them on eagles’ wings, far above Satan’s reach, and above the reach of all the enemies of their souls. God is with them in this world. They have His gracious presence. God is for them. Who then can be against them? As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so JEHOVAH is round about them. God is their shield, and their exceeding great reward, and their fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And they have the divine promise and oath, that in the world to come, they shall dwell for ever in the glorious presence of God.”
–Jonathan Edwards, “Ruth’s Resolution,” Sermons and Discourses: 1734-1738, in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 19, Ed. M. X. Lesser (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 311.
