SAFETY, FULLNESS, ANDSWEET REFRESHMENT,
TO BE FOUND IN CHRIST
by Jonathan Edwards(1752), minimally edited from Works, 2.929–36
Part 2 of 3

“And a man shall be as an hiding placefrom the wind, and a covert from the tempest;
as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a wearyland.”
(Isaiah 32:2)

II. There is provision in Christ for the satisfaction and full contentment
of the needy and thirsty soul

This is the sense of those words in the text, “as rivers of water in a dryplace,” in a dry and parched wilderness, where there is a great want of water,and where travellers are ready to be destroyed with thirst, such as was thatwilderness in which the children of Israel wandered. This comparison is usedelsewhere in the Scriptures, Psalm 63:1, “O God, thou art my God; early will Iseek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry andthirsty land, where no water is.” Psalm 143:6, “I stretch forth my hands untothee; my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.” Those who travel insuch a land, who wander in such a wilderness, are in extreme need of water.They are ready to perish for the want of it, and thus they have a great thirstand longing for it.

It is said that Christ is a river of water, because there is such a fullness inHim, so plentiful a provision for the satisfaction of the needy and longingsoul. When one is extremely thirsty, though it is not a small draught of waterwill satisfy him, yet when he comes to a river, he finds a fullness, there hemay drink full draughts. Christ is like a river, in that He has a sufficiencynot only for one thirsty soul, but by supplying him the fountain is notlessened. There is not the less afforded to those who come afterwards. Athirsty man does not sensibly lessen a river by quenching his thirst.

Christ is like a river in another respect. A river is continually flowing,there are fresh supplies of water coming from the fountain head continually, sothat a man may live by it, and be supplied with water all his life. So Christis an ever-flowing fountain. He is continually supplying His people, and thefountain is not spent. They who live upon Christ, may have fresh supplies fromHim to all eternity. They may have an increase of blessedness that is new, and newstill, and which never will come to an end.

In enlarging this second proposition, let us consider:

Man’s Natural Craving for Happiness

First, what is it that the soul of every man naturally andnecessarily craves?

(1) The soul of every man necessarily craves happiness. This is a universalappetite of human nature that is alike in the good and the bad. It is asuniversal as the very essence of the soul, because it necessarily andimmediately flows from that essence. It is not only natural to all mankind, butto the angels. It is universal among all reasonable, intelligent beings, inheaven, earth, or hell, because it flows necessarily from an intelligentnature. There is no rational being, nor can there be any, without a love anddesire of happiness. It is impossible that there should be any creature madethat should love misery, or not love happiness, since it implies a manifestcontradiction. For the very notion of misery is to be in a state that natureabhors, and the notion of happiness is to be in such a state as is mostagreeable to nature.

Therefore, this craving of happiness must be insuperable, and what never can bechanged. It never can be overcome, or in any way abated. Young and old lovehappiness alike, and good and bad, wise and unwise, though there is a greatvariety as to men’s ideas of happiness. Some think it is to be found in onething, and some in another, yet as to the desire of happiness in general, thereis no variety. There are particular appetites that may be restrained, and kept under,and conquered, but this general appetite for happiness never can be.

(2) The soul of every man craves a happiness that is equal to the capacity ofhis nature. The soul of man is like a vessel: the capacity of the soul is asthe largeness or contents of the vessel. And therefore, if man has muchpleasure and happiness, yet if the vessel is not full, the craving will notcease. Every creature is restless till it enjoys what is equal to the capacityof its nature. Thus we may observe in the brutes: when they have that which issuitable to their nature, and proportional to their capacity, they arecontented. Man is of such a nature that he is capable of an exceedingly greatdegree of happiness. He is made of a vastly higher nature than the brutes, and thereforehe must have vastly higher happiness to satisfy. The pleasures of the outwardsenses, which content the beasts, will not content man. He has other facultiesof a higher nature that stand in need of something to fill them. If the sensebe satiated, yet if the faculties of the soul are not filled, man will be in acraving restless state.

It is more especially by reason of the faculty of understanding that the soulis capable of so great a happiness, and desires so much. The understanding isan exceedingly extensive faculty. It extends itself beyond the limits of earth,beyond the limits of the creation. As we are capable of understanding immenselymore than we do understand, who can tell how far the understanding of men iscapable of stretching itself? And as the understanding enlarges, the desirewill enlarge with it. It must therefore be an incomprehensible object that mustsatisfy the soul. It will never be contented with that, and that only, to whichit can see an end. It will never be satisfied with that happiness to which itcan find a bottom.

A man may seem to take contentment for a little while in a finite object, butafter he has had a little experience, he finds that he wants something besides.This is very apparent from the experience of this restless craving world.Everyone is inquiring, “Who will shew us any good?” (Ps 4:6).

Man’s Want of Happiness

Second, men in their fallen state are in very great want of thishappiness. They were once in the enjoyment of it, but mankind are sunk to a verylow estate. We are naturally poor, destitute creatures. We came naked into theworld, and our souls as well as our bodies are in a wretched, miserablecondition. We are so far from having food to eat suitable to our nature, thatwe are greedy after the husks which the swine do eat.

The poverty of man in a natural condition, appears in his discontented, cravingspirit. It shows that the soul is very empty, when like the horse-leech, itcries, “Give, give, and saith not, It is enough.” We are naturally like theprodigal, for we once were rich, but we departed from our father’s house, andhave squandered away our wealth, and are become poor, hungry, famishingwretches (Lk 15:11ff.).

Men in a natural condition may find something to gratify their senses, butthere is nothing to feed the soul. That more noble and more essential partperishes for lack of food. They may fare sumptuously every day, and they maypamper their bodies, but the soul cannot be fed from a sumptuous table. Theymay drink wine in bowls, yet the spiritual part is not refreshed. The superiorfaculties want to be supplied as well as the inferior. True poverty and truemisery consist in the want of those things of which our spiritual part standsin need.

Man’s Natural Blindness to his Real Needs

Third, those sinners who are thoroughly awakened, are sensible oftheir great want. Multitudes of men are not sensible of their miserable, needycondition. There are many who are thus poor, and think themselves rich, andincreased in goods. Indeed there are no natural men that have true contentment.They are all restless, and crying, “Who will shew us any good?” (Ps 4:6). Butmultitudes are not sensible how exceedingly necessitous is their condition. Butthe thoroughly awakened soul sees that he is very far from true happiness, thatthose things which he possesses will never make him happy, and that for all hisoutward possessions he is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, andnaked. He becomes sensible of the short continuance and uncertainty of thosethings, and their insufficiency to satisfy a troubled conscience. He wantssomething else to give him peace and ease. If you would tell him that he mighthave a kingdom, it would not quiet him. He desires to have his sins pardoned,and to be at peace with his Judge. He is poor, and he becomes a beggar. Hecomes and cries for help. He does not thirst because he as yet sees where truehappiness is to be found, but because he sees that he has it not, and cannotfind it. He is without comfort, and does not know where to find it, but helongs for it. O, what would he not give, if he could find some satisfying peaceand comfort!

Such are those hungry, thirsty souls that Christ so often invites to come toHim, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath nomoney; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money andwithout price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? andyour labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eatye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness” (Isa55:1–2). “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink…. And [he] that isathirst… let him [come and] take [of] the water of life freely” (Jn 7:37; Rev22:17).

Contentment may be found in Christ alone

Fourth, there is in Christ Jesus provision for the fullsatisfaction and contentment of such as these.

(1) The excellency of Christ is such, that the discovery of it is exceedinglycontenting and satisfying to the soul. The inquiry of the soul is after thatwhich is most excellent. The carnal soul imagines that earthly things areexcellent. One thinks riches most excellent, another has the highest esteem ofhonour, and to another carnal pleasure appears the most excellent; but the soulcannot find contentment in any of these things, because it soon finds an end totheir excellency.

Worldly men imagine that there is true excellency and true happiness in thosethings which they are pursuing. They think that if they could but obtain them,they should be happy. When they obtain them and cannot find happiness, theylook for happiness in something else, and are still upon the pursuit.

But Christ Jesus has true excellency, and so great excellency, that when theycome to see it they look no further, but the mind rests there. It sees atranscendent glory and an ineffable sweetness in Him. It sees that till now ithas been pursuing shadows, but that now it has found the substance. [It sees]that before it had been seeking happiness in the stream, but that now it hasfound the ocean. The excellency of Christ is an object adequate to the naturalcravings of the soul, and is sufficient to fill the capacity. It is an infiniteexcellency, such an one as the mind desires, in which it can find no bounds.The more the mind is used to it, the more excellent it appears. Every newdiscovery makes this beauty appear more ravishing, and the mind sees no end.Here is room enough for the mind to go deeper and deeper, and never come to thebottom. The soul is exceedingly ravished when it first looks on this beauty,and it is never weary of it. The mind never has any satiety, but Christ’sexcellency is always fresh and new, and tends as much to delight, after it hasseen a thousand or ten thousand years, as when it was seen the first moment.The excellency of Christ is an object suited to the superior faculties of man.It is suited to entertain the faculty of reason and understanding, and there isnothing so worthy about which the understanding can be employed as thisexcellency. No other object is so great, noble, and exalted.

This excellency of Jesus Christ is the suitable food of the rational soul. Thesoul that comes to Christ, feeds upon this, and lives upon it. It is that breadwhich came down from heaven, of which he that eats shall not die. It is angels’food (Ps 78:25), and it is that wine and milk that is given without money, andwithout price. This is that fatness in which the believing soul delightsitself. Here the longing soul may be satisfied, and the hungry soul may befilled with goodness. The delight and contentment that is to be found here,passeth understanding, and is unspeakable and full of glory. It is impossiblefor those who have tasted of this fountain, and know the sweetness of it, everto forsake it. The soul has found the river of water of life, and it desires noother drink. It has found the tree of life, and it desires no other fruit.

(2) The manifestation of the love of Christ gives the soul abundantcontentment. This love of Christ is exceeding sweet and satisfying. It isbetter than life, because it is the love of a person of such dignity andexcellency. The sweetness of His love depends very much upon the greatness ofHis excellency: so much the more lovely the person, so much the more desirableis His love. How sweet must the love of that person be, who is the eternal Sonof God, who is of equal dignity with the Father! How great a happiness must itbe to be the object of the love of Him who is the Creator of the world, and bywhom all things consist, and who is exalted at God’s right hand, and made headover principalities and powers in heavenly places, who has all things put underHis feet, and is King of kings and Lord of lords, and is the brightness of theFather’s glory! Surely to be beloved by Him is enough to satisfy the soul of aworm of the dust.

This love of Christ is also exceedingly sweet and satisfying from the greatnessof it. It is a dying love, such love as never was before seen, and such as noother can parallel. There have been instances of very great love between oneearthly friend and another: there was a surpassing love between David andJonathan. But there never was any such love as Christ has towards believers.The satisfying nature of this love arises also from the sweet fruits of it.Those precious benefits that Christ bestows upon His people, and those preciouspromises which He has given them are the fruit of this love. Joy and hope arethe constant streams that flow from this fountain, from the love of Christ.

(3) There is provision for the satisfaction and contentment of the thirstylonging soul in Christ, as He is the way to the Father, not only from thefullness of excellency and grace which He has in His own person, but as by Himwe may come to God, may be reconciled to Him, and may be made happy in Hisfavour and love.

The poverty and want of the soul in its natural state consist in its beingseparated from God, for God is the riches and the happiness of the creature.But we naturally are alienated from God, and God is alienated from us: ourMaker is not at peace with us. But in Christ there is a way for a freecommunication between God and us, for us to come to God, and for God tocommunicate Himself to us by His Spirit. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Jn 14:6).“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by theblood of Christ. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto theFather. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, butfellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph 2:13,18–19).

Christ, by being thus the way to the Father, is the way to true happiness andcontentment. “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, andshall go in and out, and find pasture” (Jn 10:9).

Conclusion

Hence I would take occasion to invite needy, thirsty souls to come to Jesus.“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (Jn 7:37). You that havenot yet come to Christ, are in a poor, necessitous condition; you are in aparched wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. And if you are thoroughlyawakened, you are sensible that you are in distress and ready to faint for wantof something to satisfy your souls. Come to Him who is “as rivers of water in adry place.” There are plenty and fullness in Him. He is like a river that isalways flowing, you may live by it forever, and never be in want. Come to Himwho has such excellency as is sufficient to give full contentment to your soul,who is a person of transcendent glory, and ineffable beauty, where you mayentertain the view of your soul forever without weariness, and without beingcloyed. Accept of the offered love of Him who is the only begotten Son of God,and His elect, in whom His soul delights (cf. Isa 55:2). Through Christ, cometo God the Father, from whom you have departed by sin. He is the way, thetruth, and the life. He is the door, by which if any man enters he shall besaved.

— 23 June 2002

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