Latest / Reformed Thinking / A Divine Light Given by the Spirit of God (Matthew 16:17) | Jonathan Edwards

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A Divine Light Given by the Spirit of God (Matthew 16:17) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to the Deep Dive and to our segment Reformed
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Thinking. Today we are opening up a really
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significant piece of writing. Genuinely, it's central to
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understanding how revival works, how God communicates saving
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knowledge to the soul. We're getting into Jonathan
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Edwards famous sermon, A Divine and Supernatural Light.
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And our mission for this deep dive is pretty straightforward,
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but the scope is just massive. We're going to try and extract
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the central life altering thesis of Edwards.
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Work. Which is what exactly?
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It's the declaration that the saving knowledge you need to
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grasp and receive the gospel is imparted directly by God alone,
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and that this knowledge is separate from anything we can
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naturally produce, you know, through reason or learning or
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even moral effort. We want to understand what he
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meant by calling this a supernatural light.
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Right. And the anchor text for the
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whole thing, the framework for Edwards and for our entire
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discussion is that declaration Jesus makes to Peter.
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It's in Matthew 16.17. Blessed art thou, Simon Marjona,
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for flesh and blood not revealed it unto thee, but my father,
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which is in heaven. That's the one.
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And everything hangs on that distinction between flesh and
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blood and my father. And that first phrase, blessed
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art thou, That gives us our first big clue, doesn't it?
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Edwards points out right away that this knowledge is declared
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to be distinguishingly happy knowledge.
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Peter is singled out. He's pronounced blessed, happy
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for having this knowledge, which signifies a unique, special
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favor from God. It's not just happy knowledge,
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it's distinguished pushing knowledge.
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That's key. Edwards points out that this
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happens right after Peter makes that huge confession that Jesus
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is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
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So why is that confession so unique?
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Well, think about who else was there while Peter was saying
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this. You have the scribes, the
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Pharisees, many of the wise learned men of the Jewish
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nation, standing right there. They were hearing the same
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teachings, seeing the same person, witnessing the same
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miracles. And yet they were completely
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blind to it. Utterly they were left in
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darkness, under deluded apprehensions, wholly unable to
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see the divinity that Peter confessed.
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So the very existence of the scribes and Pharisees, these
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highly religious, educated people who saw everything and
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yet saw nothing, that proves Edwards's central case.
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It has to. The difference between Peter and
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everyone else has to be accounted for by something super
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added to the natural operation of the mind.
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Something from outside the system.
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Precisely, And that difference is the core doctrine we have to
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capture today. Edwards establishes that there
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is a spiritual and divine light immediately imparted to the soul
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by God, and this light is of a fundamentally different nature,
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not just a different degree, a different nature from any
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illumination you can get by natural means.
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Even if those natural means are working perfectly.
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Even if they are at their absolute eak O.
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Over the next little while, we're going to breakdown what
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this light is, how God gives it, and why this singular gift,
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according to Edwards, is more valuable than all the
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speculative knowledge in the world.
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OK, let's unpack this. It's a monumental idea.
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Edwards is famous for his precision, and he uses a method
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here that's really useful for us.
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He starts by defining the spiritual light negatively.
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Right, he tells you what it's not first.
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He spends a lot of time telling us what flesh and blood meaning
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our own human nature, our reason, our emotional effort,
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what it can produce. This sort of sets the boundary
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line, so we can really appreciate the uniqueness of
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God's work when we get to the positive definition.
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That boundary setting is vital. It's so easy to confuse genuine
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spiritual light with other, more common experiences.
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So the first major distinction he makes is that spiritual light
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is not mere conviction of sin and misery.
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And that's a huge category. People so often equate feeling
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intense guilt or fear with spiritual growth.
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We see people who have these deep, painful convictions, a
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real sense of truth and apprehension of guilt, a
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powerful fear of God's vengeance, and yet they remain
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unconverted. So how can that intensity of
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conviction be separated from this divine light?
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Because that intensity, no matter how real painful it
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feels, can still be produced by natural principles.
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It might be assisted by what we call common grace, but at its
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root it's natural. So our natural conscience is
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enough to do that. Edwards is clear.
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Natural conscience and human reason are sufficient when
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they're stimulated to produce these effects.
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The light they get might help them see the truth more clearly,
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maybe showing them their own wickedness and their danger of
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hell. But it's not a superior kind of
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light. It's just the natural light they
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already have, but amplified. OK, this brings up a really
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critical technical point that Edwards needs us to get.
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It's the difference between common grace and special grace.
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So if common grace is at work, what is it actually doing to the
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natural man? According to Edwards, common
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grace only assist natural principles to operate more
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fully. You can think of it as a helpful
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external nudge. So, for example, common grace
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might help a person's natural conscience resist things that
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would normally, you know, stupify it or block it to
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exercise like moral blindness or just total indifference.
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This lets the person feel guilt or moral obligation more
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intensely. And this is the key I assume.
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But, and this is the crux of it, it does not impart anything
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above nature. The light that's obtained is
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wholly natural in its quality. It might be greater in quantity
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or intensity than if they were just left to themselves without
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any divine stimulus, but the kind of light is the same.
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So if I'm understanding this, a person under common grace could
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logically see all the truths of the gospel.
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They could feel intense fear of punishment, even decide to be
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moral, but still have no genuine spiritual light because the
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source of that conviction is still within the boundaries of
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their natural, unregenerate self.
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Absolutely. The natural man, even with the
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help of common grace, is still running on the same foundational
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engine which is fallen human nature.
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Now you compare that to special grace, the regenerating work of
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the Holy Spirit. This is where the nature of the
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operation changes completely. So when special grace operates,
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what's the effect? What's different?
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In regeneration, principles are restored that were utterly
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destroyed by the fall. The fall didn't just, you know,
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injure our abilities, it destroyed certain spiritual
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capacities entirely. So special grace doesn't just
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assist the old faculties, it imparts new spiritual ability.
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New capacity. A whole new capacity.
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The mind is made habitually capable of acts.
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It was previously destitute of acts, like loving true holiness
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for its own sake. Edwards compares the
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unregenerate mind to a dead body.
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It's destitute of vital acts, and no amount of assistance will
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make it live. Regeneration provides that new
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life principle. That distinction, assistance
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versus restoration, that seems to be the key to understanding
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the relationship between the spirit and the human person.
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So when the Spirit acts upon an unregenerate person under common
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grace, the Spirit is acting as an extrinsic occasional agent.
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That is vital terminology. The Spirit is acting upon the
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person, but he is not uniting himself to them.
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They remain, as the Scriptures say, sensual, having not the
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Spirit. Their core nature is untouched.
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The Spirit is like a Doctor Who is present to treat the patient,
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but the patient remains fundamentally separate from the
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doctor. But when the spirit acts in the
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Saint, that relationship changes from an external intervention to
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an internal union. Yes, in the believer the spirit
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unites himself with the mind. He takes the St. as his temple.
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He becomes an indwelling vital principle and then he
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communicates his own proper nature, which is holiness, and
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then exerts that nature through the exercise of the believers
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faculties. So while conviction of sin might
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be present in both the regenerate person and the
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unregenerate one, only in the first one is it accompanied by
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that communication of God's nature.
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Which sees the Excellency of holiness, not just the danger of
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sin. That's a fundamental separation.
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Feeling guilty versus loving the standard that condemns you.
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OK, that clarifies the internal mechanism of grace.
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Now, the second critical distinction Edwards raises is
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that this spiritual light is not impressions on the imagination.
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This was a particularly sharp point in the 18th century,
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wasn't it? Oh, it was.
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This is Edwards powerful corrective against what he and
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his contemporaries called enthusiasm.
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And in that context, enthusiasm didn't mean, you know, simple
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excitement. It meant confusing sensory,
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imaginative or emotional experiences, like feeling a
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physical sensation or seeing a vision with the direct and pure
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work of the Spirit of God. So he's fighting against the
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idea that a spiritual discovery has to come with or consist of
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some kind of sensory input. Absolutely, Edwards states it
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explicitly. This light is not seeing things
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with your bodily eyes. It's not an idea of outward
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visible glory or beauty of form or just physical lust.
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It's not an impression on the mind as the one saw something
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with the bodily eyes. The experience is purely
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intellectual and spiritual. It's about the nature of things,
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not their outward look. Now, Edwards is careful here.
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He doesn't completely kick the imagination out of the
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experience, which is a nuanced point.
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He is he notes that when the mind does have a lively
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discovery of spiritual things, when the real divine light is
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present in the understanding and the heart, it may and often does
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affect the imagination. So you might get impressions of
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beauty or brightness that come along with it.
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Exactly. They can accompany those
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spiritual discoveries. But he stresses that the
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spiritual light itself is vastly different from and superior to
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the imaginative impression. The impression is a concomitant
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effect, a side effect, not the substance of the light itself.
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And why is this distinction so critical?
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Why spend so much time separating the spiritual light
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from sensory input? Because the imagination can be
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manipulated, it can be manipulated by purely natural
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means or worse, by deception. Natural men can have lively
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impressions. Their minds are capable of
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strong imaginings. And the devil can get in there.
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Crucially, Edwards reminds us that the devil transforms
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himself into an Angel of light, and can therefore cause
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imaginations of outward visible glory, or sounds and speeches
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that feel tremendously real. So if your assurance rests on a
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light you saw, or a voice you heard, or a physical feeling you
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had, you're resting on something vastly inferior and potentially
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deceptive. The true light has to rest on
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apprehending the Divine Excellency of the truth itself.
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That brings it all back to the substance of the Word, which
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leads us right into the third distinction.
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Spiritual light is not new revelations apart from
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Scripture. This is another move to keep the
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discussion firmly anchored in the Bible and away from what
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Edward saw as dangerous fanaticism.
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Right. This point maintains his
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theological integrity. He can't propose a spiritual
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light that supersedes or adds to Scripture, so he's careful not
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to suggest that this light means you receive any new truths or
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propositions that aren't already in the Word of God.
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It is not inspiration in the sense that prophets and apostles
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had it the ability to write new scripture.
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So for the everyday believer, if the light doesn't reveal new
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doctrines or new history, what exactly is its function when it
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comes to the Bible? This spiritual light only gives
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a due apprehension of those things that are already taught
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in the Bible. The Bible conveys the doctrine,
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the proposition, the historical fact, the commandment.
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The Spirit provides the light to rightly perceive the nature and
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the Excellency of that doctrine. It reveals no new facts about
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God or Christ or the world to come that are not already
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present in the written text. It's a matter of sight, not of
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receiving new information. That clarification brings us to
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the fourth negative distinction, which deals with the realm of
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feeling, He says. This light is not every
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affecting view of religious things.
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This is a caution against judging spiritual depth by the
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volume or intensity of an emotional reaction.
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And it's a necessary caution, because our natural principles
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are fully capable of producing affection for religious topics
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just like they are for any other compelling subject.
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Think about the human response to suffering.
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You mean like the suffering of Christ?
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A person can be intensely moved by the narrative of the
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crucifixion, for example, without any supernatural work.
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Precisely. They can be affected by the
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suffering of Christ in the same way they'd be affected by any
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tragical story or a vivid description of a calamity.
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The natural human capacity for pity and pathos is stirred by
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the tale of innocent suffering injustice.
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This affection might even be produced in someone who doesn't
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actually believe the story is true, just like a person is
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moved by what they read in a romance novel or see on a stage.
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We're on the other side of it. The pleasant parts of the
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Christian story, the descriptions of heaven and
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glory, can stir up a natural affection for happiness and
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reward. Exactly.
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Someone might be entertained by a description of the pleasant
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things of heaven, just like they might be entertained by a highly
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romantic description of some idealized, maybe fictional,
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land. The affections there are
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generated by natural human emotion may be helped along by a
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common belief or a good upbringing, but they are not the
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supernatural light. And Edwards finds scriptural
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support for this caution right. Yes, there are many examples in
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scripture of people who are greatly affected by religious
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things, who showed intense emotional fervor, yet are
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represented as holy, grateless or even as very ill men.
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Like the people who hear the word with joy but have no root.
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Or those who followed Christ for the lows.
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Edward's conclusion here is piercing.
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He says flesh and blood may be the author of this kind of
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affection. One person to skillful rhetoric
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or dramatic storytelling can give another person an affecting
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view with only common assistance.
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But God alone can give a spiritual discovery that touches
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the nature of the excellence itself.
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So to recap this first part, Edwards has systematically
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cleared the ground. He said spiritual light is not
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conviction of sin, not imagination, not new revelation,
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and not simple emotional affection.
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All of those things can be produced by natural means or
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common grace. He's clearing the deck to show
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us that the real light is an entirely new kind of perception.
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Exactly. And now that the negative
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definitions are established, we can turn to the heart of the
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matter. What is the substance of this
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divine light? Positively Edwards defines it
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like this. A true sense of the divine
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Excellency of the things revealed in the Word of God.
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Yeah, and the conviction of the truth and reality of them thence
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arising. OK, let's focus on that first
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part because this seems to be the root of everything, the
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sense of Excellency, the unique quality imparted by the Spirit.
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This means a person truly apprehends the superlative glory
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that resides in God, in Jesus Christ, in redemption, in the
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ways of God revealed in the Gospel.
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And this superlative glory is of a vastly higher kind.
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It's more sublime in nature than anything earthly or temporal.
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And it has to be stressed. This is not just a mental
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judgement. It isn't just rationally
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believing God is glorious based on a theological argument or a
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list of attributes. It's having a sense of the
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glorious of God felt and apprehended in the heart.
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It seems like Edwards is trying to bridge the gap between
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abstract truth and lived reality.
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You know, I can rationally judge that holiness is a good thing, a
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necessary attribute for God. But Edwards is suggesting this
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divine light gives me a sense of the loveliness and beauty of
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God's holiness. It's moving past the definition
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to the experience of the nature of the thing itself.
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That's precisely right, And to make this as clear as possible,
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Edwards requires us to distinguish between the two
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kinds of knowledge the human mind is capable of.
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He gives us speculative and notional knowledge on one hand
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versus knowledge by sense of the heart on the other.
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Let's start with the speculative.
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That's knowledge from the understanding, strictly
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speaking, the speculative faculty, yes.
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This is forming A rational opinion based on evidence that
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is external to the nature of the object itself.
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For instance, you can judge that honey is sweet based on the
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testimony of reliable people or the general agreement of
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mankind, or by rational inference from its chemical
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composition. This type of knowledge it rests
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only in the head. It doesn't require you to
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experience the object itself, you just believe the proposition
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is true. And most of our knowledge about
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the world, history, math, science is this kind of
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speculative knowledge. It is but the second kind.
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The knowledge by sense of the heart, is fundamentally
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different because it involves the will, the inclination, or
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what Edwards calls the heart, the seat of our affections and
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appetites. This knowledge is exercised only
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when there is an actual sense of the beauty, the amiableness, or
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the sweetness of a thing. This is where his analogy of
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taste become so central, right? The honey analogy.
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It's invaluable. Think of a man who's never
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tasted honey. Based on the testimony of 100
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trustworthy people, he can rationally judge that honey is
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sweet. He holds the truth of that
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proposition in his head, but he cannot have a sense of its
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sweetness unless he has tasted it and has an idea of that
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specific taste in his mind. Right?
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Or a person can believe that a face is beautiful based on what
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others say, but only by seeing it, by having the idea of that
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specific loveliness conveyed to the mind, can they have a sense
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of its beauty. So if I spend years reading
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theology books about the love of God, I'm building up this
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magnificent structure of speculative knowledge.
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I know the definition, the history, the implications of
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divine love. But if I don't have that sense
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of the heart, I've only read the menu.
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I haven't actually eaten the meal.
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That is exactly the distinction. When the heart is sensible, the
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loveliness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in
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the apprehension. This feeling of sweetness is
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distinct from just holding a rational opinion that the object
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is excellent. The speculative faculty
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determines truth. The sense of the heart
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apprehends beauty, and that apprehension involves the will
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and inclination in a way that rational deduction doesn't.
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It's a subjective knowledge that apprehends an objective reality.
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This means the divine light isn't just logic working better,
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it's a completely new internal sense being activated.
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And once the sense of divine Excellency is imparted, the
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natural consequence follows. A conviction of the truth of
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divine things arises from this sense.
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The sense of Excellency convinces the soul of the
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reality of what's revealed in the Word.
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This is crucial for understanding the nature of
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saving faith. The believers assurance doesn't
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come primarily from external evidences, but internally from
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the perceived glory of the objects themselves, Edward says.
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This conviction arises in two main ways, indirectly by helping
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our reason and directly by supplying an immediate intuitive
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evidence. OK, let's start with the
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indirect effects. How does seeing the Excellency
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of Christ help me use my natural reason better?
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Indirectly, the light removes spherical obstacles that hinder
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reason. Edwards notes that the mind of
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man is naturally full of enmity and prejudice against gospel
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doctrines because of the Fall. We don't want the doctrines to
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be true. We hate the demand for holiness,
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we despise the dependency required, and we reject the
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sovereignty of God that's inherent in the whole scheme of
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salvation. Exactly.
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And this enmity acts as a massive disadvantage to any
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rational argument, causing even the most logical proofs for the
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Gospels truth to lose all their force.
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The listener approaches the evidence with a hostile bias.
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But when the divine Excellency of Christian doctrines is
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discovered through the spiritual light, this enmity is destroyed
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and the blinding prejudices are removed.
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By destroying the prejudice, the spiritual light sanctifies the
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reason. This newly sanctified reason
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then becomes open, fair and susceptive to the due force of
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rational arguments that were always there but were previously
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useless because of the heart's opposition.
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This explains so well why Christ's miracles has such
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different effects. The scribes and Pharisees had
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their reason blinded by pride and spiritual prejudice, so they
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attributed the miracles to the devil.
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But the disciples reason have been sanctified by their initial
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sense of Christ's excellence, making them receptive to the
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rational evidence the miracles presented.
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And the second indirect effect is that the light positively
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helps reason in its operation. When the mind has a sensibleness
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and a delight and divine objects, it dwells upon them.
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It holds them with a kind of fixedness and intenseness, and
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this attention helps the soul have a clearer view of the
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objects and their mutual relations.
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So the objects themselves become clear simply because the soul is
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delighted by them and therefore pays closer attention.
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Exactly. The ideas themselves, which were
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previously dim and obscure, are impressed with greater strength
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and have a light cast upon them. Edwards returns to the sunlight
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analogy here, which is very helpful.
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He says that the person who beholds objects on the face of
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the earth when the light of the sun is cast upon them, is under
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a much greater advantage to discern them in their true forms
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and relations than someone who sees them in dim Starlight or
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twilight. The beauty of the objects draws
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on the faculties engaging the free exercise of reason,
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allowing it to attain its proper end free of darkness and
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delusion. That covers the indirect work,
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clearing obstacles and enhancing the function of natural reason.
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But the most powerful mode of conviction is the direct 1
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Edwards says. A true sense, the divine
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Excellency of the things of God's Word, directly and
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immediately convinces of their truth.
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How does the Excellency itself become the evidence?
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Because that Excellency is so superlative, there is an
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intrinsic beauty in the doctrines, a glory so divine,
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and God like that when it's clearly seen, it evidently
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distinguishes the doctrines from anything merely human.
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The evidence is contained within the object itself.
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So the doctrine doesn't need external validation, it carries
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its own proof, like the Sun proving its existence just by
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shining. It commands a scent by its very
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nature. It's so high and great that when
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clearly seen, it leaves no room to doubt its divinity and
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reality. And this results in a kind of
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intuitive and immediate evidence.
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The believer sees divinity and the doctrines themselves.
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They don't say I believe the Bible is true because the
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resurrection is historically attested and the scholar
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confirms it. They say I believe the Bible is
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true because I see the glory of God shining through the
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doctrines. This has to be the essential
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distinction, then, between saving faith and common ascent.
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Yes. The common ascent of
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unregenerate men is typically based on external testimony,
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their education, the reputation of the church, the consensus of
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their culture, or the force of a historical argument.
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Saving faith is distinguished by this conviction that arises from
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an internal, supernatural sense of divine Excellency.
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It's believing the doctrines of God's Word to be divine because
22:10
you see a transcendent, distinguishing glory in them.
22:14
We've established what the Light is, a sense of divine Excellency
22:17
leading to intuitive conviction. Now we have to turn to how it's
22:21
given. Edwards says.
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This light is given immediately by God and not obtained by
22:25
natural means. This is where the theological
22:28
rubber really hits the road because he has to reconcile this
22:31
immediate act with the fact that God uses the Bible and our
22:34
minds. This is a critical point that
22:36
needs careful balancing. Otherwise, Edwards just sounds
22:38
like a Mystic who disregards the means of grace, right?
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He does not mean that our natural faculties are unused.
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Man is dealt with as a rational creature.
22:45
The understanding and the acts of our faculties are involved.
22:48
However, the faculties are the subject that receives the
22:50
illumination, not the cause or originator of it.
22:53
We're back to the sun analogy. We use our eyes, our natural
22:56
faculty, to see objects when the sun rises.
22:59
But the eye is not the cause of the light itself.
23:02
The act of the faculties is a consequence of the light
23:04
shining, not the generator of it.
23:06
Exactly. Second, he does not mean that
23:09
outward means like the Bible or preaching, have no role.
23:13
This light gives a due apprehension of truths that are
23:16
already revealed, so it is never given.
23:18
Without the Word. The gospel is absolutely used.
23:22
It's called the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ in 2nd
23:25
Corinthians 4.4, and the Word acts as a glass or a mirror
23:28
through which the light is conveyed to the soul.
23:30
So the word is necessary for conveying the notion or the
23:33
proposition to the mind. If the word isn't there to
23:36
describe Christ as holy and gracious, the mind has no
23:39
proposition to look at. But the word is not the proper
23:42
cause of the saving effect. That is the ultimate distinction
23:45
on causation, and it's the most difficult part for our natural
23:48
reason to grasp. The Word of God is no proper
23:51
cause of this effect, because it doesn't operate by any natural
23:54
force in it to produce this spiritual change.
23:58
The Word conveys the doctrine that Christ is holy, for
24:00
example, to the head, by a natural force or influence, like
24:04
reading a newspaper headline. But the sense of the divine
24:07
Excellency, which is where the light formerly consists, is
24:10
immediately from the Spirit of God.
24:12
So the Word tells me that God is just.
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The Spirit shows me the beauty of God's justice.
24:17
Edwards then offers this dual proof that this light exists,
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showing it's both scriptural and rational, which gives us
24:23
assurance that this concept is grounded not just in emotion,
24:26
but in revealed truth and sound reasoning.
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Let's look at the scriptural basis first.
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OK, so Scripture repeatedly describes a specific kind of
24:33
knowledge that's unique to believers.
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Edwards notes that Saints possess the unique knowledge and
24:38
sight of God in Christ that is explicitly different from what
24:41
the ungodly have who are supposedly looking at the same
24:44
outward evidence. He points to 1st John 3.6
24:48
Whosoever sinneth has not seen him nor known him.
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If the world knew Christ just by outward teaching or external
24:54
proofs, that statement would be false and.
24:57
We see it again in John 14.19. The world seeth me no more, but
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ye see me. The world could physically see
25:03
Jesus, so the site Christ is talking about must be entirely
25:07
different in kind, not just in degree or circumstance.
25:10
This spiritual site is the dividing line between the godly
25:13
and the ungodly. And crucially, this knowledge is
25:15
repeatedly ascribed to the arbitrary operation and gift of
25:18
God. The classic text for this is
25:20
Matthew 11.25, where Jesus thanks the Father for having
25:23
hidden these things from the wise and prudent, those with
25:26
great natural learning and acumen, and revealing them unto
25:28
babes. This completely undermines any
25:30
system that relies on natural ability or moral striving or
25:34
specialized education to attain salvation.
25:37
This knowledge is God's prerogative bestowed on whom He
25:40
wills, regardless of natural learning.
25:42
It makes the gospel available to the simplest believer.
25:45
And then Edwards turns to 2nd Corinthians 4.6, where God,
25:49
shining of light in the heart, is compared to God commanding
25:52
the light into existence at creation.
25:54
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
25:57
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
26:00
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
26:04
That comparison shows that the imparting of this knowledge is
26:07
immediate, sovereign, and an effect of God's ex nihilo cower,
26:11
creating something where nothing of that kind existed before.
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It connects the beginning of the spiritual life directly to the
26:17
beginning of the created order. Another text Edwards relies on
26:20
heavily is the psalmist's prayer in Psalm 119, Point Hoti.
26:24
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of
26:28
thy law. Right.
26:28
And we have to ask, what could the psalmist mean by asking for
26:32
his eyes to be opened? He wasn't physically blind.
26:35
He could read the narratives and commandments whenever he wanted.
26:38
He must have been begging for illumination for the
26:40
supernatural sight of the Divine Excellency.
26:43
The wondrous things are the marvelous manifestations of
26:46
divine perfections and glory, the distinguishing and wonderful
26:50
excellencies that are in the doctrines, not just the strange
26:53
stories or historical events about the doctrines.
26:56
He's praying for the spiritual sense to apprehend the beauty of
26:59
the Lawgiver and the law itself. And Edwards reminds us the true
27:02
faith arises from this site. John 6.40 Everyone which see at
27:07
the sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life.
27:10
It's the seeing that produces the believing.
27:13
The absence of this spiritual light is also grounds for
27:15
condemnation. Christ condemned the Jews for
27:18
not knowing Him, not because they lacked external evidence of
27:21
His miracles, but because they lacked that inward
27:23
distinguishing taste and relish of what was divine.
27:26
They were experts in natural discernment.
27:29
Luke 12.5657. They could discern the face of
27:33
the sky and predict the weather, but they couldn't discern the
27:36
signs of the times. They lacked that internal savour
27:39
of God's excellence that would have made the signs
27:41
intelligible. So, having covered the
27:43
scriptural basis, let's look at the rational proofs.
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Edwards argues that this doctrine is entirely reasonable
27:49
and fitting for God's nature and the nature of the gift itself.
27:53
He addresses those who would argue that this is, you know,
27:55
too mystical or unnecessary. So his first rational argument
27:59
is about fitting this. It's rational to suppose that
28:02
divine things possess A transcendent Excellency so
28:05
distinguishing that if you saw it, it would most evidently
28:08
confirm their divine origin, right?
28:10
Why would we assume God's truth should be obscure or
28:12
indistinguishable from man's wisdom?
28:14
If God speaks, shouldn't his speech be vastly different from
28:17
the speech of the wisest man? The difference between God's
28:20
word and man's word must be like the difference between chaff to
28:24
the wheat. And the analogy he uses, if
28:26
Christ were to appear now in the glory he'll appear in at the day
28:30
of Judgement, everyone would be satisfied he was divine, and
28:33
that conviction would be absolutely rational and well
28:36
grounded. The physical visible glory would
28:40
be compelling evidence. So why should the stamp of
28:43
divinity on the Word, the scheme and doctrine of the Gospel, be
28:47
any less distinguishing and rationally convincing, provided
28:50
that it's seen with the proper eyes?
28:52
The rational expectation is that divine things carry their own
28:56
intrinsic, convincing glory. OK, the second rational point
29:00
addresses the fact that many intellectually discerning people
29:02
fail to see this truth. Edwards concedes that if there
29:06
is such a distinguishing Excellency, it's rational to
29:09
suppose that there may be such a thing as seeing it.
29:11
However, the fact that many discerning people in secular
29:14
matters do not see it is no argument against its existence.
29:17
Here's the rationale for why wicked men don't see it.
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It is not rational to suppose that those whose minds are full
29:22
of spiritual pollution, pride, and of the sway of filthy lusts,
29:25
should have any relish or sense of divine beauty or Excellency.
29:29
So sin acts as a blinding agent, clouding the rational faculty.
29:34
And we see this in secular matters all the time, where
29:36
natural tempers like melancholy, jealousy, self-interest will
29:40
blind a person's judgment regarding their family or their
29:43
friends or their financial interests.
29:45
And spiritual pollution blinds the mind even more powerfully to
29:48
a light that is supremely pure and heavenly.
29:52
The purity of the light repels the pollution in the mind,
29:55
making it unable to apprehend the beauty.
29:58
It's rational, therefore, to assume that purity is a
30:00
prerequisite for sight. The third rational argument is
30:03
that this knowledge should be given immediately by God and not
30:07
obtained by natural means. Why should God reserve this
30:10
particular knowledge to himself? It is rational that God would
30:13
reserve this specific gift to Himself, keeping it out of the
30:16
power of what Edwards calls second causes, human means, or
30:19
natural processes. Why?
30:21
Because spiritual wisdom and grace are the highest, most
30:24
excellent, and immensely the most consequential gifts.
30:27
God bestows man's happiness. His eternal state depends
30:31
entirely on it. It seems appropriate that the
30:33
most valuable gift should come from the most direct source.
30:36
It is entirely reasonable to suppose that God would preserve
30:39
this most excellent divine communication in His own hands,
30:43
to be bestowed immediately by Himself as a thing too great for
30:46
second causes or the will of man to be concerned in.
30:50
Furthermore, this gift is intrinsically related to the
30:52
divine nature. It's a participation of the
30:55
deity, a kind of emanation of God's beauty, making it fit and
30:59
congruous, that it should be bestowed nextly by God's
31:02
sovereign will. That reinforces the point that
31:04
the gift is not just from God, but it is of God's nature which
31:07
changes the character of the recipient.
31:09
And finally, reason dictates that it should be beyond man's
31:12
power to obtain this light by the mere strength of natural
31:15
reason, because it's not a thing that belongs to reason.
31:18
To perceive spiritual beauty and loveliness, reason is necessary.
31:22
It allows us to possess the doctrines which are the subject
31:24
matter of the light. But if we take reason strictly
31:27
as ratiosa nation or the power of inferring by arguments,
31:31
perceiving beauty is out of his province.
31:34
So we're mistaking the tool for the job.
31:36
Reason is designed for logic and deduction, not for a sensory
31:39
apprehension of spiritual glory. Just as it's not the sense of
31:42
feeling that perceives colors, nor the power of seeing that
31:45
perceives the sweetness of food. Reason's work is to perceive
31:49
truth, the logical relation between propositions.
31:53
Seeing the beauty of a countenance belongs to the sense
31:55
of the heart, not to inferring by arguments.
31:59
Reason can tell you others find honey sweet, but it can never
32:02
give you the actual perception or taste of his sweetness.
32:05
Only the new sense of the heart can do that for divine things.
32:08
OK, so having fully described the nature, the source, and the
32:12
rational fittingness of this divine light, Edwards moves to
32:15
the practical application of the doctrine, the concluding
32:18
improvement. This is where he explains why
32:20
understanding this distinction is so consequential for the life
32:23
of the believer. Yes, and this is where the
32:25
theology leaps from the lecture hall into practical experience.
32:29
First, this doctrine compels us to reflect on God's goodness.
32:33
This saving evidence of the gospel is attainable by persons
32:35
of mean capacities and disadvantages just as easily as
32:38
those with the greatest parts in learning.
32:40
If the evidence of the gospel depended only on history, on
32:43
long or subtle trains of reasoning, or on arguments that
32:47
only learned men were capable of understanding and defending.
32:51
If it depended, for example, on mastering the complex historical
32:54
record of the early Church, it would be above the reach of the
32:57
vast majority of mankind. Absolutely.
33:00
The simple laboring man, the young child, the woman kept busy
33:03
by domestic life, their eternal assurance would rest on the
33:06
ability of highly specialized people to prove things that they
33:10
themselves could not verify. But because the true evidence is
33:14
a sense of divine Excellency shining in the heart, persons
33:17
with only an ordinary degree of natural knowledge are perfectly
33:20
capable of seeing it. God has balanced the scales.
33:23
And Edward says the evidence obtained this way is vastly
33:26
better and more satisfying than all the arguments provided by
33:29
the most learned masters of reason.
33:31
The learned theologian might have more data points, but the
33:34
simple believer, having seen the object itself, has a deeper
33:37
certainty. God chooses the foolish things
33:39
of the world to shame the wise. Second, this doctrine compel
33:43
self examination. If there truly is such a thing
33:46
as this spiritual light, a supernatural sense that
33:49
distinguishes the regenerate heart, then it is of great
33:52
consequence to determine whether we have been taught by the
33:54
Spirit of God. This moves the conversation from
33:57
abstract theology to personal reality.
34:00
We have to ask if we possess the faith of gospel doctrines that
34:03
arises from a spiritual sight of Christ.
34:06
Has the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
34:09
of Jesus Christ shined unto us? And this examination has to go
34:13
beyond a checklist. It demands a real assessment of
34:15
the kind of knowledge we possess.
34:18
Do we believe these truths because a reliable pastor told
34:20
us, or because we see the internal glory of the truth
34:23
shining? Is our knowledge a speculative
34:25
opinion that rests only in the head, or is it a sense of the
34:28
heart that tastes and enjoys the sweetness of divine things?
34:31
3rd and following from that necessary examination, this
34:34
doctrine serves as a strong exhortation to seek this light,
34:38
to move us towards seeking it. Edwards outlines the tremendous
34:40
benefits of possessing it. Benefit number one.
34:44
This is the most excellent wisdom.
34:46
It surpasses all human learning, all the knowledge of
34:49
philosophers, scientists, or statesman.
34:51
Edwards argues that even the least glimpse of the glory of
34:54
God in the face of Christ does more to exalt and ennoble the
34:57
soul than the greatest speculative understanding of
34:59
divinity without grace and. Why is it more excellent?
35:03
Because it's object is the most noble, the divine glory of God
35:06
in Christ. Temporal knowledge deals with
35:08
temporal fleeting objects. This light deals with eternal
35:12
self, existent reality. It's humbling to think that the
35:16
simplest person in the congregation might possess a
35:18
wisdom that surpasses the greatest academic minds of
35:21
history simply because they have the right kind of vision.
35:24
Benefit #2 It is the most sweet and joyful knowledge, while
35:29
human knowledge offers satisfaction and pleasure, the
35:31
joy of discovery, the thrill of understanding a complex problem
35:34
that is nothing compared to the joy arising from this divine
35:37
light shining into the soul. It gives a view of those things
35:40
that are immensely the most exquisitely beautiful and
35:43
supremely capable of delighting the eye of the understanding.
35:46
Edwards calls it the dawning of the light of glory in the heart.
35:49
The joy is inherent in the object you're seeing.
35:53
And this light provides profound support, peace, and brightness
35:56
in this stormy and Dark World. When afflictions come, this
35:59
deep, sweet knowledge acts as an anchor.
36:02
The believer knows that the excellence of Christ remains
36:05
even if their external circumstances crumble.
36:07
Their assurance is rooted in the excellence they have seen, not
36:10
in the fluctuating circumstances of life.
36:12
Continuing the call to seek benefit #3 This light
36:16
effectually influences inclination and changes nature.
36:20
The light doesn't just inform the mind, it changes the person.
36:23
It is assimilating. Edwards quotes 2nd Corinthians
36:25
3.18 Beholding is in a glass. The glory of the Lord are
36:29
changed into the same image from glory to glory.
36:32
The act of seeing the beauty of God changes the soul into an
36:34
image of that same glory. This is the practical result of
36:37
the light hitting the will. The inclination is molded by the
36:40
object of sight. And this new inclination, it
36:43
weans the soul from the world, it raises affection to heavenly
36:46
things, and it turns the heart to God as the fountain of all
36:49
good. This change of inclination is
36:51
crucial because it means the person stops opposing God's
36:55
plan. Absolutely.
36:56
This light, and only this light brings the soul to a saving
37:00
close with Christ. It mortifies the hearts inherent
37:03
enmity and opposition against the scheme of salvation, the
37:07
scheme that demands we acknowledge our helplessness and
37:09
rely solely on Christ. The heart is disposed to give
37:12
itself entirely to Christ because it sees that He's
37:14
worthy, beautiful, and supremely suitable as a Savior.
37:18
And finally, benefit #4 this light has its fruit and
37:22
universal holiness of life. This is the ultimate proof that
37:25
the light is real and supernatural.
37:27
No, merely notional or speculative understanding, no
37:30
matter how accurate the theology is, will ever bring about
37:33
universal holiness. Speculation might lead to some
37:35
external morality for fear of punishment, but it doesn't
37:38
cleanse the heart. But because this spiritual light
37:40
reaches the bottom of the heart and changes the very nature of
37:43
the soul, it effectually disposes the person to universal
37:46
obedience. It provides the internal
37:48
conviction of God's worthiness to be obeyed, and it draws forth
37:51
sincere love, which is the only true principle of gracious
37:54
obedience. A person obeys not out of fear,
37:57
but because the source of the command, God's own character, is
38:01
seen as supremely lovable. And this light simultaneously
38:05
convinces the soul of the reality of the glorious rewards
38:08
God has promised to those who obey him.
38:11
The spiritual sense of the heart sees the reality of heaven and
38:13
its glory, making the sacrifices of obedience in this life
38:17
entirely reasonable and worthwhile.
38:19
So we have seen through Edwards's incredibly detailed
38:22
analysis that the saving understanding of divine things
38:25
requires a supernatural operation, an immediate
38:27
revelation of God's glory that changes the very nature and
38:30
inclination of the soul, creating a sense of Excellency
38:33
where before there was only speculative opinion and natural
38:36
affection. And this idea sets the spiritual
38:38
sense of the heart above the highest achievements of natural,
38:41
natural reason. Not to discard reason.
38:44
Reason is necessary to possess the doctrines, but to position
38:47
it rightly as the subject that receives the light, not the
38:50
source that generates this transcendent knowledge.
38:53
It puts the finger squarely on the sovereignty of God in
38:56
salvation. So what does this all mean for
38:59
you as you reflect on your own knowledge?
39:02
Edwards asks us to contemplate the radical difference between
39:05
believing a beautiful thing is beautiful by hearsay, by the
39:08
testimony of others, and actually seeing its countenance
39:11
for ourselves. The difference between those two
39:13
determines whether you have common ascent or saving faith.
39:16
And here's a final provocative thought for you to consider,
39:19
based on Edwards's analogy of the light.
39:21
If this spiritual light is like physical light to the eye,
39:24
making the visible world intelligible and lovely, what
39:27
happens to the world of your duties, your convictions, and
39:30
your delights when that light is temporarily withdrawn, when God
39:33
obscures the sense of his own excellence?
39:35
What truths still stand fast when the sense of Their
39:38
Excellency is obscured by darkness, doubt, or distraction?
39:42
This is the deep continuing reality of the Christian life,
39:45
seeking that light which is not and never can be your own.
39:49
Join us next time for another deep dive.