From The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper
“Probably in our day someone would ask Edwards why he does not make external deeds of love and justice his goal rather than just the affections of the heart. The answer is that he does make behavior his aim, namely, by aiming to transform the spring of behavior- the affections. He chooses this strategy for two reason. One is that a good tree can’t bear bad fruit. The longest section of his great book Religious Affections is devoted to proving this thesis :”Gracious and holy affections have their exercise and fruit in Christian practice.” Edwards aimed at the affections because they are the springs of all godly action. Make the tree good and its fruit will be good.” pg 85
If you preach for the hearts of people you can be certain some will not understand. “You must tell them what to do!” they will say. Just keep on preaching for those affections.
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