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Love That Suffers All for Christ | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed thinking. So what if I told you that the
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most famous Bible chapter about love is actually a manual for
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walking into a firing squad? That is a pretty jarring way to
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start, but it is accurate. It really is.
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You know, it's like, think about almost every single wedding you
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have ever attended. Right there is this heavy
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expectation of soft romantic sentimentality.
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Oh, absolutely. The flowers are perfectly
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arranged. The acoustic guitar is playing
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in the background. The music swells up just right.
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Yeah, and then someone steps up to a microphone to read First
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Corinthians chapter 13. Love is patient.
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Love is kind. And we all just nod and smile,
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right? We do.
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We assume the Apostle Paul is giving us a nice set of rules
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for domestic bliss. But we are setting out on a
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mission for this deep dive. A very different kind of mission
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today. We want to look closely at a
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startling excerpt from the writings of the 18th century
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theologian Jonathan Edwards. Specifically his work titled
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Charity and Its Fruits. Yes, and we are zeroing in on
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one single phrase from verse 7 of that chapter.
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Charity beareth all things. Right, we are going to see how
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Edwards takes what most of you listening read as a sweet poem
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and argue something completely shocking.
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His thesis is staggering, really.
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It is, he says, that true Christian love, which he calls
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charity, makes a person willing to undergo all sufferings for
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Christ's sake in the strict line of duty.
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All sufferings, yeah. Wait, let us stop right there
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and look at that claim. It is a lot to take in.
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Why is Jonathan Edwards turning a verse about being nice to
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people into a mandate for severe persecution and suffering?
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That is the big question. I mean, isn't that twisting the
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text to? Is it some morbid fascination
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with martyrdom? It is the absolute definition of
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a theological shock to the system.
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Right? You read that claim and your
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immediate reaction is to push back and say, well he is
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overstating his case here. Because it feels extreme.
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But what is fascinating here is the sheer theological precision
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Edwards brings to the text. He really does.
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He is not twisting the words at all.
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He is showing that true Christian love is not just some
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interpersonal nicety, like it is not about simply tolerating an
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annoying code. Exactly, I mean that is spot on.
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It is not about smiling when your spouse forgets to take out
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the trash. Right.
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If we love Christ supremely, we are willing to bear the cross.
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And if we connect this to the bigger picture of human nature,
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our default setting is always self preservation.
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Oh, 100%. We want the crown of
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Christianity, but we have absolutely no desire for the
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cross that comes with. It we want the benefits without
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the cost, yes. But Edwards is arguing that the
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text itself, when read with rigorous logical attention,
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demands an interpretation pointing to a willingness to
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suffer for the gospel. He argues that if your love for
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God is genuine, implanted by supernatural grace, it will
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produce a very specific kind of spirit.
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A spirit that is prepared to endure loss, pain, and even
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death for the sake of the King. So the text is a description of
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a radical reorientation of the human heart.
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Where self-interest dies and the glory of God becomes the supreme
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treasure. Well, I want to invite you, the
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listener to follow along as we breakdown Edwards airtight step
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by step argument. It really is a master class in
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logic. It is.
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We're going to see why this verse is about suffering for the
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gospel rather than just putting up with a difficult neighbor.
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So let us look at the exegetical argument first.
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Meaning how Edwards actually reads the mechanics of Paul's
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words. Right, he points out that if
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beareth all things means just enduring annoying people, we run
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into a major logical problem. A problem with how the Apostle
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Paul writes. Yeah, Edwards says there is no
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tautology in the text. And we should probably define
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that for you listening. Good tautology is basically
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saying the same thing twice using different words.
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Right, like repeating yourself unnecessarily.
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And Paul had already covered the idea of bearing injuries from
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men earlier in the very same chapter.
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Just three versus prior, in fact.
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Paul wrote that charity suffereth long and is not easily
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provoked. So the argument here is that the
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Holy Spirit does not waste breath.
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Spot on. Paul does not throw words onto a
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piece of parchment just to fill up space and sound poetic.
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He wouldn't repeat the exact same thought three times in the
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span of four sentences. The concept of avoiding
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tautology is crucial here. Because Edwards views the
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biblical text as deliberate and precise.
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Every single phrase has a distinct calculated purpose.
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If Paul already established that love suffers long with
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frustrating people, he would not say it again under the phrase
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beareth all things. Edwards demands that we read the
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text closely. He sees a document that requires
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our full intellectual rigor. While the natural mind just
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wants to skim familiar passages. Oh, we all do that.
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You hear First Corinthians 13 so often that the words lose their
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weight. They just become a blur of
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pleasant sounds. But Edward stops us and forces
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us to look at the grammatical structure.
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He points out that Paul had finished listing active good
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conduct toward neighbors. Paul had just said love
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rejoiceth in the truth. Which is a very active
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relational dynamic. But right after that, Paul
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shifts to a totally different category of traits.
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The verbs completely change their direction.
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Right, there's a clear shift in category.
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And we also have to look at Paul's consistent theme across
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all of his letters. It is almost like Paul is a
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lawyer building a case. I like that analogy.
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Starting with the daily interactions and escalating to
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the highest possible test of loyalty.
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He starts with how you treat your friends, and he finishes
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with how you stand before a Roman executioner.
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Wow. And Edwards looks at how Paul
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frequently cites suffering for Christ as the highest fruit of
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love everywhere else in Scripture.
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Like in Second Corinthians chapter 5.
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Yeah, Paul says the love of Christ constrained him to
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undergo intense physical hardship.
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Or in Romans chapter 5, where the love of God shed abroad in
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his heart is the very reason he glories and tribulations.
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And in Romans chapter 8 he gives that famous list.
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Right. Nothing separates us from the
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love of Christ. Be it famine, nakedness, sword
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or peril. So Edwards makes the case that
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it makes perfect logical sense. That Paul would climax his
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definitive chapter on charity with that very concept.
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That lawyer analogy hits the nail on the head.
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Paul moves from how we act toward our neighbor to what
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we're willing to suffer for our God.
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If we fail to see that shift, we miss the entire point of the
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argument. And look at the surrounding
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verbs in verse 7. The sequence says charity
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believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
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That sequence signals A distinct shift away from neighbor focused
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actions. Toward a God focused endurance.
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Because you do not hope all things in relation to a
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frustrating neighbor. No, you hope in the promises of
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God when everything around you is collapsing.
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And you endure all things because your faith is anchored
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in a sovereign Creator. Edwards points out that
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suffering for the cause of Christ is so frequently cited by
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Paul elsewhere. It would be incredibly strange
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if Paul left it out of his definitive manifesto on the
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subject. I want you sitting there
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listening to consider how often you skim familiar passages.
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We all do it without catching the escalating weight of the
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verbs. We nod along to beareth all
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things. And we just assume it means
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biting our pung when someone cuts us off in traffic.
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We domesticate the text. We make it safe.
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But Edwards moves us from doing to suffering.
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And here's here's where the discussion takes a very sharp
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turn. Edwards distinguishes between
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true Christians and hypocrites by looking at this concept of a
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suffering spirit. He points out that hypocrites,
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much like the Pharisees in the New Testament, will gladly
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engage in religious activities. But only when it costs them
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nothing. Or better yet, when it actually
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advances their own interests. They might pray loudly on the
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street corners. Or give large sums to charity or
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attend church every Sunday. But they completely lack a
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suffering spirit. True believers, on the other
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hand, follow the mandate of Luke, chapter 14, verse 27.
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Where Jesus says, Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come
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after me, cannot be my disciple. But I have to ask you this.
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Sure, it is very easy for us to sit back and label the Pharisees
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as hypocrites. Oh, definitely.
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But isn't there a bit of this fair weather religion in all of
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us? That is a very fairpoint to
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bring up. I mean, we all flinch from pain.
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None of us wake up asking to be persecuted.
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No one in their right mind does. So how do we distinguish between
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a normal human biological aversion to pain and outright
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spiritual hypocrisy? That is a vital question because
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our natural instinct is always to protect ourselves.
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You do not have to teach a child to pull their hand away from a
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hot stove. It is wired into our biology.
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So if we look at this through the lens of human nature, we
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have to admit something. That the natural man is entirely
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driven by self-interest. The core of our fallen state is
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that we are the center of our own universe.
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Every action, even the ones that look moral or altruistic, is
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calculated on some level to benefit the self.
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A person might give to a charity to get a tax write off.
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Or to receive praise from their peers.
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Or just to alleviate their own feelings of guilt.
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Hypocrites will close with Christ only to work out an
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advantage for themselves. They look at Jesus and they see
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an insurance policy. They want the social standing of
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being a good, moral person. They want the clear conscience.
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And they certainly want the promise of heaven when they die.
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But they have absolutely no intention of losing anything in
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the bargain. They lack a suffering spirit
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because their religion is purely transactional.
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So they are essentially trying to hire Jesus to make their
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lives better. That is a brilliant way to put
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it. They are hiring him.
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Rather than surrendering their lives to Him as Lord.
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And the moment the job gets dangerous, they break the
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contract. But true faith operates on a
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completely different frequency. The presence of a spirit willing
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to suffer loss for Christ is evidence of supernatural grace.
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It is not something you can manufacture by just trying
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harder. It is a completely new
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disposition implanted by God. A genuine believer still feels
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physical pain, of course. They still have a natural human
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aversion to suffering. They still flinch.
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But underneath that human flinching is a supernatural
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resolve. They are willing to follow the
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condition, conditions Christ laid out from the very
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beginning. They understand that following
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him means taking up an instrument of execution.
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Which is exact. Well, which is what the cross
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actually was. The hypocrite will abandoned the
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faith the moment it threatens their bank account.
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Or their career. Or their social reputation.
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Because their own comfort was always their true God.
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A true believer might tremble at the sight of the Cross, but they
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will still pick it out. So if true faith requires A
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willingness to suffer, what is the extent of that call?
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Are we talking about minor inconveniences or are we talking
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about total devastation? Edwards breaks this down into
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two massive categories. All kinds of suffering and all
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degrees of suffering. Let us look at all kinds first.
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He says we must be willing to lose our good name.
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He references Second Corinthians chapter 12 for that.
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Where Paul talks about taking pleasure in reproaches.
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Then Edwards says we must be willing to face outright hatred
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from men. Citing Matthew chapter 10, where
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Jesus says You shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
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He moves on to the loss of outward possessions.
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Pointing to Paul in Philippians chapter 3.
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Who counted all his worldly games as dung, so that he might
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win Christ? We have to be willing to lose
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our ease and our physical comfort.
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We have to be willing to endure severe physical pain.
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As seen in the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews Chapter 11.
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And finally, we must be willing to face death itself.
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Referencing Matthew 10, verse 39.
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He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his
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life for my sake shall find it. Notice how comprehensive that
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list is. Edwards leaves absolutely no own
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unturned. When he talks about the loss of
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a good name, we really have to pause.
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We have to realize how devastating that is to the human
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ego. For many people, their
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reputation is their most prized possession.
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You spend your entire life building a resume.
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Cultivating A respectable image in your community.
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Earning the admiration of your peers.
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To have that stripped away, to be slandered.
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To be viewed as foolish or evil because of your allegiance to
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Christ. It is a psychological torment
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that many people simply cannot stomach.
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They would rather compromise their convictions than face the
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scorn of the cultural elite. But Edwards says true charity is
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willing to bear even the total destruction of 1's reputation.
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And then Edwards moves to the second category.
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Which is all degrees of suffering.
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It is not just about the type of suffering, it is about the
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intensity. He says we must be like pure
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gold in the hottest possible furnace.
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He says we must be willing to forsake all our closest
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relatives. Referencing Jesus hard words in
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Luke 14 about hating your father and mother.
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We must be willing to face cruel mockings.
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Or, as Hebrews 11 says, to be sawn asunder.
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Now when I read this, I immediately think about our
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modern culture. We value boundaries today.
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We value self-care above almost everything else.
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We are told constantly to protect our peace.
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To cut toxic people out of our lives.
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And to prioritize our mental and emotional comfort.
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Giving up your good name or being entirely willing to be
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hated by everyone. It seems completely contrary to
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modern wisdom. Edwards is telling us to walk
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into the fire. Well, every voice in our culture
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is telling us to buy a fire extinguisher and run away.
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Modern self preservation and the radical self giving required by
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the Gospel are locked in total opposition.
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They really are at war with one another.
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Our culture tells you that your highest good is your own
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comfort. Your own unblemished reputation
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and your own physical and emotional safety.
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It elevates the self to the position of a deity.
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But the gospel declares that your highest good is the glory
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of God. Edwards uses the image of gold
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being purified in a furnace. Which is a classic biblical
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metaphor. In metallurgy, when you heat
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gold, you are not doing it to destroy the precious metal.
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The heat causes the impurities, the dross, to rise to the
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surface so it can be skimmed off.
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The fire proves the genuineness of the metal.
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We are called to endure the fiercest heat.
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Not because suffering is inherently good in and of
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itself. But because suffering proves
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where our true treasure lies. When a believer is willing to
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face cruel knockings. Or the loss of their estate, or
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the rejection of their own family for the name of Christ.
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They are declaring to the invisible world and the visible
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world that Christ is more valuable than anything the earth
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can offer. If your religion only functions
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properly when everyone approves of you and your bank account is
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full. You possess a religion of
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convenience, not the religion of the New Testament.
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I think we need to linger on that furnace analogy a little
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longer. It really changes the
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perspective on why bad things happen.
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If the goal of the fire is to reveal the pure gold, then the
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fire is actually a tool in the hands of a sovereign God.
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It is not just random chaos. This leads us right into the
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theological proofs that Edwards lays out to establish his
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doctrine. He gives 9 distinct proofs.
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And instead of just listing them off, I want us to really dissect
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the logic behind them. His first argument is based on
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the idea of unreserved surrender.
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He uses a marriage analogy from Hosea chapter 2.
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When we come to Christ, we give ourselves wholly and
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exclusively. Making what Edwards calls
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reserves, which are mental exceptions to what we will
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suffer, is acting like Ananias and Sapphira in the book of
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Acts. Let us look at that story for a
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second. Ananias and Sapphira sold a
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piece of property. And they brought a portion of
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the money to the apostles. But they secretly held back part
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of the proceeds for themselves. While pretending they were
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giving everything. God struck him dead for the
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deception. God must be loved as the supreme
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good. So let me ask you this is making
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a reserve with God like presenting him with his
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spiritual prenuptial agreement? Oh, that is a great analogy.
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Are we essentially saying I am yours, Lord, unless it costs me
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my reputation or my retirement fund?
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The concept of a spiritual prenuptial agreement is the
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perfect way to understand what Edwards is warning against.
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Think about what a prenuptial agreement actually communicates
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in a marriage. It communicates a lack of
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absolute trust. It says I love you and I want to
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marry you, but I'm also anticipating a scenario where
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this all falls apart. So I am going to build a
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fortress around my assets just in case.
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It assumes that you still have sovereign rights to your own
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life and your own possessions. It assumes you can withhold
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certain areas of your heart from your spouse.
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But genuine biblical salvation leaves absolutely no room for
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spiritual prenups. When a person is brought to
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saving faith, they recognize the reality of First Corinthians 6.
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They were bought with a price. They are no longer their own
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property. If you understand God as the
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supreme good is the highest possible treasure in the
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universe. Then holding anything back is
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completely illogical. Anyone who loves God as the
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Supreme good is entirely ready to make all other lesser goods
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give way. If you tell God you will follow
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Him unless it costs you your career, you are proving with
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your own words that your career is your supreme good.
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You have placed your job on the throne and you are asking Jesus
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to sit on a footstool. That is a devastating critique
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of how we often approach our faith.
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We want Jesus as an advisor, not as an absolute monarch.
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And that moves us to Edward's next point, which deals with
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what we feel. He says we must fear God more
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than man. His displeasure is far more
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terrible than any temporal afflictions or the wrath of men.
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He points to Luke chapter 12 where Jesus speaks very clearly
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on this. Be not afraid of them that kill
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the body and after that have no more that they can do.
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But I will forewarn you whom he shall fear, Fear him which after
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he hath killed, hath authority to cast into hell.
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And he also points to Isaiah chapter 8.
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Which says to let the Lord of hosts be your fear and your
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dread. We tend to fear what we can see.
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We fear the boss who can fire. Us, we fear the social media mob
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that can cancel us. But Edwards is saying that this
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fear is completely misplaced if we actually understand who God
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is. The Psychology of fear is
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directly tied to what we value and what we believe has control
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over us. Edwards is incredibly sharp in
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his psychological assessment here.
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The wrath of men, as terrifying as it is, has a strict limit.
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A mob can take your job. They can ruin your reputation.
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And in extreme cases, they can physically kill your body.
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But that is where their jurisdiction ends.
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They cannot touch your. Soul, they cannot dictate your
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eternal destiny. The displeasure of a holy
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sovereign God, however, is infinitely more terrifying
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because His jurisdiction is eternal.
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When a person is truly converted, their vision is
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completely reoriented. So they fear the right things
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and value the right things. If God ordains all things, If he
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holds the universe together by the word of his mouth.
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Then fearing the opinions of mortal men is not just
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cowardice. It is a functional denial of
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God's sovereignty. It is acting as if men have more
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authority than the Creator. And that reorientation of vision
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is what Edwards brings up next. He talks about seeing the
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unseen. Which is the biblical definition
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of faith? Faith sees the reward that
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vastly outweighs the current suffering.
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Edwards points to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 for that.
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Where Paul calls his afflictions light and says they are working
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an eternal weight of glory. But the prime example Edwards
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uses here is Moses. From Hebrews Chapter 11.
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Yes, and we really need to pause and look at Moses for a minute.
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Because Moses was raised in the courts of Pharaoh.
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He had access to the greatest wealth, the greatest education
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and the greatest power in the ancient world.
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He was absolute royalty. He could have easily reasoned
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with himself. I can do a lot of good for the
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Hebrew slaves if I just stay in my position of power.
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I will use my wealth and influence from the inside.
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But instead he chose affliction. He chose to identify with a
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despised group of slaves. Hebrews says he did this because
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he saw something better than the riches of Egypt.
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He weighed the temporary pleasures of sin against the
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eternal reality of God. And made a choice that looked
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like absolute insanity to the world.
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Moses is the ultimate case study in calculating the true cost of
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things. To the natural unconverted mind,
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Moses threw his entire life away.
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He traded a palace for a desert. He traded absolute luxury for
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the dust of the wilderness and the constant complaining of a
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rebellious people. But Hebrews tells us that Moses
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endured as seeing him who is invisible.
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He looked past the gold of Egypt and saw the eternal reward.
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He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than all
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the treasures in Pharaoh's bank vaults.
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He made the only logical calculation available to a
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regenerated mind. When you actually see God for
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who he is, the wealth of the world looks like Monopoly money.
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It has no actual purchasing value in eternity.
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Faith is not blind optimism. Faith is having your eyes open
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to absolute reality. Faith recognizes that the
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visible world is temporary and the invisible world is
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permanent. So we have to calculate the
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cost. That brings us to another major
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piece of Edwards logic regarding discipleship.
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He insists that to avoid sheer shame and disaster at the end of
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our lives, we must calculate what it actually requires to
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follow Christ before we start the March.
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He brings up the parables Jesus told in Luke chapter 14.
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About the builder of the tower and the king making war.
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The builder who starts a tower without making sure he has
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enough money to finish it ends up a laughingstock.
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The king who marches out to war with 10,000 men against an army
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of 20,000 without considering if he can win.
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Is a fool, Edward says. You cannot take the crown
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without the cross. Accepting only the easy,
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comfortable parts of Christianity is accepting an
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offer that God never actually made.
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It is inventing A counterfeit religion.
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And part of that calculation, Edwards says, is forsaking all.
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If we refuse to suffer poverty, we haven't actually forsaken
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wealth for Christ. The idea of a crossless
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Christianity is the great heresy of the modern age.
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We have convinced ourselves that we can negotiate the terms of
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our own salvation. We treat Jesus like a vendor in
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a marketplace, haggling over the price.
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I will give you my Sunday mornings, but I keep my
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finances. I will agree to your morality,
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but I will not endure any public mockery.
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But a sovereign God does not negotiate with rebels.
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He dictates the terms of surrender.
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When Jesus told the crowd to count the cost, he was doing
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something that modern church growth experts would consider
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disastrous. He was actively trying to thin
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the crowd. He was telling them if you are
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not willing to lose everything, do not even bother starting.
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If you sign up for a religion that guarantees your comfort,
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you have not signed up for biblical Christianity.
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You have signed up for a Country Club.
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That brings us to what might be the most difficult and jarring
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proof Edwards offers. Denying the self.
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He says following Christ means literally disowning oneself,
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referencing Matthew chapter 16. But the analogy Edwards uses
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here is incredibly severe. It is an image that is almost
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shocking to modern ears. He points back to the Book of
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Exodus, chapter 32. The story of the golden Calf.
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Moses comes down from the mountain, sees the Israelites
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worshipping this idol, and he draws a line in the sand.
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He says who is on the Lord's side?
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The tribe of Levi steps forward. Moses then gives them a
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horrifying command. He tells them to strap on their
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swords, go through the camp and execute the idolaters.
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Even if it is their own brother, their own companion, or their
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own neighbor. Edwards uses this historical
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event to say we must crucify the flesh without mercy.
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How on earth does Edwards expect us to apply the image of slaying
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our own relatives to the internal concept of denying
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ourselves? It is a brutal image and Edwards
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uses it deliberately because the reality of sin is brutal.
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If we connect this to the biblical doctrine of the
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mortification of sin, the picture becomes vividly clear.
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John Owen wrote extensively about this.
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Be killing sin or it will be killing you.
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The Levites showed absolutely no mercy to the idolaters in their
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own camp. Even when those idolaters wore
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their own flesh and blood. They did not hesitate.
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They did not try to negotiate a truce with the people bowing to
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the calf. Edwards is telling you that true
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believers must show that exact same lack of mercy to their own
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internal idols and their own self-interest.
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You cannot coddle your sin. You cannot make peace with your
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fleshly desires. You have to treat your own
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selfish ambitions, your pride, your lust and your greed with
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the exact same severity the Levites showed to those who
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worship the golden calf. So denying yourself means you
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act as though you do not even own yourself.
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When your desire for comfort rises up and demands to be
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satisfied at the expense of your obedience to Christ, you must
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strike it down. You draw the sword on your own
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ego. That is right, the hypocrite
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tries to negotiate terms of peace with their sin.
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They try to manage it, keep it quiet, keep it in the basement.
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The true Christian declares Total War on it.
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Jesus did not offer us a Gospel of edition where we keep our old
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lives, keep our old habits, and just add a little bit of
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religious comfort on top. To make us feel better about
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ourselves. He offered a gospel of
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crucifixion. You put the old man to death.
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When your pride demands that you defend your reputation, you slay
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it. When and your fear of man
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demands that you stay silent about the gospel, you slay it.
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You take the sword to the golden calves in your own heart.
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We are moving into the final stages of Edwards massive
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argument now. He talks about following the
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Lamb wherever he goes, as Revelation chapter 14 describes.
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And to illustrate this, he uses a fascinating historical
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narrative from Second Samuel, chapter 15.
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He brings up the story of Itai the Gittite.
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Now let us set the scene for the listener.
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King David has been betrayed by his own son Absalom.
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Absalom has stolen the hearts of the people and is marching on
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Jerusalem to seize the throne. David is forced to flee the
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city, weeping barefoot, heading into the wilderness.
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He is a king who has just lost everything.
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As David is fleeing, he sees Itai the Gitai.
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Who is a foreigner? A Philistine who had recently
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pledged loyalty to David. David tells Itai to go back.
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He says you're a foreigner, you don't need to share in my exile.
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Go back and work for the new king.
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But Itai refuses. He looks at David, a king
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without a throne, and says, As the Lord liveth, and as my Lord
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the king liveth, surely in what place my Lord the king shall be,
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whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.
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Edwards says Christ is the spiritual David.
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Jesus warned us in Matthew chapter 8 that the Son of Man
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has nowhere to lay his head. It is easy to March in the
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parade when the king is sitting on the throne and handing out
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favors. But Itai marched out into the
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barren wilderness when David was fleeing for his life.
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The story of Itai is one of the most stunning examples of
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loyalty in the entire Old Testament.
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Look at the situation logically. Following David at that precise
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moment offered absolutely 0 earthly advantage.
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In fact, it promised hardship, starvation and highly likely
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death at the hands of Absalom's massive army.
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Itai had an out. David gave him a free pass to
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return to the comfort of Jerusalem.
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But Itai's allegiance was not to the throne.
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His allegiance was to the man sitting on it.
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That is the heart of A true Christian toward Christ.
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We follow him into the wilderness of rejection.
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We do not follow Jesus because he promises US political
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influence or financial stability or cultural approval.
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We follow him because he is the king, even when the culture has
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rejected him and crowned a usurper.
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If your loyalty to Christ evaporates the moment the
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culture turns hostile toward. Him.
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You were never loyal to him in the 1st place, you were only
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loyal to the benefits you thought he could provide.
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Edwards then talks about overcoming the world, drawing
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from First John Chapter 5. He points out a duality that we
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often miss. We must overcome the world's
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frowns, meaning it's persecution and hostility, but we.
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Must also overcome its flatteries, meaning it's bribes
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and seductions. If we bow to either one, the
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world conquers us. And this leads to his final
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major point. The trial of sincerity.
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He points to first Peter and Zechariah showing that
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sufferings are trials specifically designed by God to
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test our sincerity. They separate the pure gold from
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the basal metals. So this brings up a massive
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theological point about why these trials happened in the
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first place. If God is completely sovereign,
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then these trials are not accidents.
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This touches on the core of how we understand Providence.
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God ordains these specific trials to reveal the reality of
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our faith. He uses the world's frowns to
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test our courage. And he uses the world's
28:57
flatteries to test our purity. When the world offers you a
29:01
promotion or a platform or immense wealth on the condition
29:05
that you compromise your biblical convictions.
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That is a flattery. It is a bribe.
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When the world threatens to take away your livelihood if you
29:12
refuse to bow to its new moral orthodoxies.
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That is a frown. It is a threat.
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Overcoming the world means you are completely immune to both
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its bribes and its threats. And how does God prove that
29:25
immunity? By placing you in the furnace of
29:28
affliction. The fire does not create the
29:30
gold, it proves the gold is real.
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God places suffering in our path to expose whether we are true
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followers like Itai. Or whether we are just religious
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mercenaries looking for a payday.
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This brings us to the sharpest point of application in Edward's
29:44
entire treatise. He turns his gaze directly onto
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his audience and demands severe self examination.
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He asked them to look not at the threat of the executioner's
29:52
block, but at the lesser trials God has already sent into their
29:56
lives. He mentions everyday things.
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Business troubles, financial losses, the loss of goodwill
30:01
from neighbors, or just general inconveniences he.
30:04
Asks, Do we show a spirit of self renunciation in these minor
30:08
events? And then he quotes one of the
30:09
most piercing verses in the Old Testament, Jeremiah chapter 12,
30:13
verse 5. God says to Jeremiah, if thou
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has to run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how
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canst thou contend with horses? And if in the land of of peace,
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wherein thou trustest they wearied thee, then how wilt thou
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do in the swelling of Jordan? Let us apply this directly to
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you, the listener. Most of us listening are not
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currently facing the threat of being sauna Thunder or thrown to
30:36
the lions today. So how should we view our daily
30:39
frustrations? A cancelled flight.
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An unexpected car repair. A mean comment from a Co worker.
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How do we view those in light of this massive, towering call to
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martyrdom? That question from God to
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Jeremiah, should stop every single one of us in our tracks.
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The footmen are the minor inconveniences you just
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mentioned. The canceled flights, the flat
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tires, the workplace insults, the anonymous criticism online.
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These are the small, everyday tests of our spiritual
31:05
disposition. They are the minor skirmishes.
31:08
God is asking if your faith completely crumbles, if you lose
31:12
your temper, if you scream at the gate agent.
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If you abandon your Christian witness the moment your daily
31:18
plans are derailed. How on earth do you think you
31:21
will survive the charge of the cavalry?
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If the footmen exhaust you, the horses will trample you into the
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dirt. God uses the land of peace to
31:29
reveal our hidden weaknesses. If we cannot renounce our own
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ease when dealing with a minor financial set back.
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We will never possess the fortitude to face the
31:39
confiscation of our entire estate.
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So the everyday frustrations are the training ground.
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That is right. They are the moments where we
31:46
practice saying no to our flesh and yes to the Spirit.
31:49
Every time you accept a minor injustice without seeking
31:52
revenge. Every time you bear a financial
31:54
loss without accusing God of abandoning.
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You, you are strengthening the muscles of a suffering spirit.
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If you find yourself complaining bitterly about the smallest
32:03
hardships, it is a glaring red flag.
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It is a clear call to examine your own heart to repent of your
32:10
entitlement. And to beg God for the grace to
32:12
develop a true suffering spirit. Because the swelling of the
32:15
Jordan, the floodwaters of genuine severe testing will
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eventually come. Edwards does not leave us in the
32:22
furnace, though. He closes his work with a
32:25
beautiful, soaring exhortation based on the rewards of
32:29
suffering. He points to the happiness of
32:31
the persecuted. Quoting Jesus in Matthew 5 and
32:34
Luke 6 saying Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and
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persecute you, for great is your reward in heaven.
32:41
He talks about the glorious rewards promised to those who
32:44
endure. The hundredfold return, The
32:46
crown of life. And the very specific intimate
32:49
promise This is given to the overcomers in Revelation
32:52
chapters 2 and 3. Christ promises them the tree of
32:55
life, the hidden mana. A Whitestone with a new name
32:58
written on it. White, Raymond.
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And being made a permanent pillar in the temple of God.
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Finally, Edwards points to the great cloud of witnesses.
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He calls the role of those who have gone before us.
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The psalmist who faced enemies on every side.
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Jeremiah and the My redundant. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
33:14
walking into Nebuchadnezzar's blazing furnace.
33:17
Daniel thrown into the lion's den.
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And finally looking to Jesus himself, who for the joy that
33:22
was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.
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The promises in Revelation are not abstract metaphors.
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They are directly tied to the reality of what you will face
33:32
tomorrow. The reward for enduring the
33:35
furnace is not just a change in your circumstances.
33:38
It is full, unhindered, eternal union with Christ Himself.
33:43
When Christ promises the hidden manna, He is promising spiritual
33:46
sustenance that the world cannot see and cannot take away.
33:49
When he promises the Morning Star, he is promising himself to
33:53
those who prove their love by bearing their cross.
33:56
The cloud of witnesses Edwards lists are not superhuman
33:59
demigods. They were men made of the exact
34:02
same dust we are. They have the same fears, the
34:04
same aversion to pain. But they endured because they
34:07
saw the invisible God. They ran with the horses, and
34:10
they crossed the swelling of the Jordan, because the grace of God
34:12
sustained them. To summarize the massive
34:15
paradigm time shift Edwards offers us in this text.
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Charity isn't just a polite smile or a soft, sentimental
34:21
feeling. It is the invincible armor that
34:23
allows a believer to face the furnace, the sword, and the
34:27
absolute loss of all things for the sake of the king.
34:31
It is a supernatural love that looks at the cross, counts the
34:34
heavy cost and says he is worthy of it all.
34:38
I want to leave you, the listener, with the final thought
34:40
to ponder as you step back out into your daily routine.
34:43
It's something that builds on everything we have discussed
34:46
today. If the furnace of suffering is
34:48
the very thing God uses to prove the pure gold of our faith.
34:52
What does it mean if our lives are entirely comfortable,
34:54
completely free from any friction with the world?
34:57
If you never face opposition, if the world never frowns at you,
35:01
is that. A sign of God's blessing?
35:03
Or is it a glaring warning sign that you have secretly accepted
35:06
the world terms of peace? Keep thinking and we will see
35:09
you on the next deep dive.