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Heaven: A World Filled with Perfect Love | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  Think about the most harmonious conflict free gathering you have
• 0:05
  ever attended. Oh man, that is rare.
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  Right. Like maybe it was a holiday
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  dinner where, against all odds, nobody brought up politics.
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  A literal miracle. Yeah, or a weekend away with
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  friends, where every single person was perfectly In Sync.
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  You were laughing at the same jokes, anticipating each other's
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  needs. Just 0 friction.
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  But even in those rare, beautiful moments, there is a
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  ceiling, you know? Yeah, I mean, eventually someone
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  gets tired. Misinterprets a passing comment.
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  Food gets cold. Or just the traffic on the way
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  home is terrible. The friction of human logistics
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  always brings the mood back down to earth.
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  It. Really does.
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  Well, welcome to reformed thinking.
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  Today we are taking that theoretical gathering of perfect
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  harmony, removing the ceiling entirely and multiplying it by
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  Infinity. It is quite the thought
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  experiment. It really is.
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  So we are working through a stack of notes based on Jonathan
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  Edwards sermon series, specifically a section titled
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  Heaven is a World of Charity or Love, Love.
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  Yeah, and in that older context, charity means pure holy
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  affection. Right.
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  And he paints a picture of a society defined by absolute,
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  unhindered affection. It is a functioning dynamic
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  civilization. Every single friction point of
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  human existence has been completely eradicated.
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  Which is wild to think about, because when you look at modern
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  ideas of the afterlife, they tend to fall into two very
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  distinct, yet equally unsatisfying categories.
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  Yeah, they're either incredibly vague, like, you know, a
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  nebulous floating existence on clouds with harps.
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  Which sounds incredibly boring, right?
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  Or they are defined entirely by what is missing.
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  We hear phrases like no more pain, no more tears, no more
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  sickness. All of that is true, obviously.
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  It is true, but defining a reality purely by its absences
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  leaves you with a blank canvas. Yeah, it tells you what is gone,
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  but it does not tell you what you will actually be doing.
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  Precisely so today. The goal of this deep dive is to
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  look at what is actively, forcefully present.
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  We are going to systematically breakdown Edwards's vision of
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  heaven. We will start from the source of
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  this affection, trace it to its recipients, and look at how it
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  functions without earthly flaws like envy.
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  And we will finish up with how this reality dictates the way
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  you should live your life tomorrow morning.
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  So to understand the society, we have to understand the
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  environment first. You cannot comprehend the
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  ecosystem of this place without looking at the source that
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  generates it. Yeah, Edwards spends a
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  significant amount of time upfront talking about the
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  dwelling place of God. And he uses this fascinating
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  telescoping effect to describe. It he does, he traces a
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  historical progression of God's presence which takes a very
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  abstract concept and grounds it into physical reality.
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  Because God is omnipresent, right?
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  He is everywhere, right? Filling both heaven and earth,
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  but the way he manifests himself is specific to certain
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  locations. Historically, like in the Old
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  Testament. Yeah, God chose to manifest his
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  presence in the land of Israel above all other lands.
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  And then it zooms in. Right within Israel, he chose
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  Jerusalem above all other cities.
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  And within Jerusalem, he chose the Temple.
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  And within the temple, the Holy of Holies.
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  And even further, within the Holy of Holies, the mercy seat
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  over the Ark of the Covenant, the focus just gets tighter and
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  tighter. But all of those physical
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  locations were temporary representations.
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  They were pointing to something bigger.
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  Yeah, Heaven is described as the ultimate dwelling place, the
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  palace or presence chamber built specifically for his glorious
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  manifestation. It is the architectural center
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  of the universe, designed for this explicit purpose.
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  Which brings us to the analogy that frames this entire
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  discussion. The sun in our sky.
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  Right. Think about the sun.
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  It is the fountain of light, placing its rays everywhere on a
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  clear day. And in this heavenly
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  environment, God is the infinite, inexhaustible fountain
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  of love. I want to build on that with a
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  modern comparison. Think about the difference
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  between a battery and a generator.
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  Oh, I like that. Earthly affection acts like a
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  battery. You love your friends, your
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  spouse, your kids, but your capacity to give that affection
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  drains over time. You literally get tired.
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  You do. You need space.
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  You have to go recharge in a quiet room because human output
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  is finite. God is the generator.
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  Yes, he constantly outputs this energy without ever depleting.
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  That analogy gets right to the core of the difference between
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  finite human capacity and infinite divine capacity.
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  Because God is all sufficient, the fountain is full.
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  Overflowing and inexhaustible, And because God is unchangeable
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  and eternal, the fountain never alters its output.
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  And the core engine of this generator is the Trinitarian
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  dynamic. Yeah, this love is not just
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  something God directs outward toward creation.
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  It is something that exists inherently within himself.
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  Break that down for us. What are the specific roles
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  here? Well, the Father is the Father
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  of mercies, who gave his Son right.
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  Christ the Mediator is the one who purchased the fruits of this
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  affection. He bridges the gap, shedding his
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  blood, and now sits on the throne in both his human and
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  divine natures. And the Holy Spirit.
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  The Holy Spirit is the very essence of God flowing out the
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  immediate influence by which this holy affection is shed
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  abroad in the hearts of the Saints.
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  So the deity itself is an engine of perfect affection.
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  There is an eternal mutual energy between the Father and
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  the Son. It is an active ongoing
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  exchange. So when a created soul is placed
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  into that environment, they are not just standing near the
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  engine. No, they are caught up in its
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  output. If heaven is overflowing with
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  this specific divine energy, it completely shatters that
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  cartoonish image of an inactive afterlife.
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  It is a dynamic ocean. The souls bathe in an active,
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  flowing current. You are submerged in an
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  environment of relentless goodwill.
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  Which is amazing. And if God is this infinite
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  generator pumping out relentless affection, we have to look at
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  what happens when a finite human actually steps into that
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  current. From the creator to the created.
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  Right. The objects and the subjects of
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  this heavenly affection are the next logical step in the deep
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  dive. The rule Edwards lays out is
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  stark. There are none but lovely
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  objects in heaven. Nothing deformed, nothing
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  wicked, nothing unholy. There are no false professors,
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  no hypocrites. Everyone is completely genuine
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  but. I have to throw a flag on the
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  play here. OK, what is the issue?
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  On Earth, even the best people, like the people we love the
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  most, have flaws that annoy us. A person can be genuinely good
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  and still have a grading habit, a quick temper, or a tendency to
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  to interrupt conversations. Sure.
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  Like there's that one guy at the office who replies all to every
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  single e-mail. We all know that guy.
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  Is he doing that in heaven? How does this reality deal with
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  human personality and all its quirks?
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  It deals with it through absolute purification.
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  How so? Well, Edwards points out that on
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  Earth even the sun has spots. Good men have defects of temper
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  or conduct that mar their excellence.
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  Even the very best of men are imperfect.
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  Yeah, but the heavenly state is one of absolute purification.
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  All gold is purified from its dross.
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  And dross is the impurity that balls to the surface when you
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  melt down metal, right? Yes.
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  Every person is perfectly pure, stripped of those grading
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  habits, those insecurities, and those defensive mechanisms that
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  cause earthly friction. So you do not lose your
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  personality. No, you become the unblemished
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  version of yourself. That is a staggering thought.
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  It really is. Think about what your own
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  personality looks like when you strip away every coping
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  mechanism you developed because of sin, fear, or trauma.
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  You act as a perfect magnet for affection.
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  There is nothing coarse or displeasing to the most refined
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  taste. And because everyone is
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  functioning in this unblemished state, you get to reunite with
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  what you love most on earth without any of the previous
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  friction. The text is highly emotional
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  here. It notes that all the truly
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  great and good are constantly tending toward this ocean.
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  Every gem torn away by death is a jewel forever shining there.
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  The specific examples given in the source are incredibly
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  moving. They are the infant of days that
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  was lost. Christian parents, spouses,
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  friends. It even broadens out to the
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  patriarchs of the Old and New Testaments.
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  Everything you value that was good and holy on earth is not
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  lost, it is relocated and perfected.
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  And the way the inhabitants process this affection is
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  fascinating. Yeah, going back to the sun
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  analogy, if God is the sun, the generator of the Saints and
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  angels are planets shining by reflected light.
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  Because God has love in himself inherently.
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  Right, The created beings do not.
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  Their affection is entirely derived from catching the rays
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  of the sun and reflecting them. So the people in heaven direct
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  their supreme affection back to God, because He is the source.
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  But secondarily, they reflect that light to each other.
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  Every soul is wedded to Christ, the spiritual husband, but they
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  also share a completely unified affection among themselves.
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  Not a solitary inhabitant is unloved by the others.
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  But this brings up a massive logistical and sociological
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  problem. Like what?
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  Well, if you place millions of people in one society, even if
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  they're purified and acting as perfect reflectors of light,
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  they're going to have different capacities.
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  True, they will not all be exactly.
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  The same and on Earth differences in capacity or
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  status immediately create hierarchy.
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  Yeah, and hierarchy almost inevitably creates resentment,
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  envy or pride. So how does heaven completely
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  eradicate envy? To solve the problem of
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  hierarchy breeding envy, we have to look at the radical economics
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  of heaven. OK, let's look at that.
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  On Earth Earth, human affection is often carnal, selfish, or
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  conditional. It is based on what the other
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  person can do for us or how they make us feel.
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  But heavenly affection is a pure flame directed by holy motives.
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  Yeah, earthly love is compared to a grain of mustard seed,
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  while heavenly love is the great tree.
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  The soul that had a little spark in this world is turned into a
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  bright, ardent flame. But there is a specific
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  theological reality here from the text.
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  There are different degrees of glory in heaven.
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  Meaning not everyone has the same rank.
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  Right, some have a higher station.
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  Let's run a theoretical scenario to test this.
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  Go for it. If I arrive in heaven and I see
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  someone else getting more honor than me, someone positioned
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  closer to the throne or given a higher capacity to enjoy the
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  environment, doesn't basic human nature dictate that I will feel
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  at least a tiny sting of jealousy?
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  Even if you are pure. Yeah, because seeing someone
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  else have more usually triggers comparison.
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  In an earthly economy, that is spot on, but the logic of this
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  environment completely dismantles the mechanism of
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  envy. How does Edwards counter argue
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  that? He argues that those who are
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  highest in glory in heaven are highest in holiness.
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  OK. Therefore, they are the most
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  beloved by everyone else, because everyone in heaven
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  perfectly loves holiness. So because your heart is
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  perfectly aligned to love goodness when you see someone
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  who has a higher degree of goodness.
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  Your reaction is not to compare yourself to them, your reaction
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  is simply to love them more. Because they're exhibiting more
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  of the trait you value most, yes.
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  That flips the entire earthly social pyramid upside down.
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  But what about the people at the top?
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  Do those hiring glory become arrogant?
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  Human history proves that power and status breed pride.
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  That is where the genius of this structure shines.
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  Superior holiness equals superior humility.
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  Wow. Those at the highest stations
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  have the clearest, largest capacity to see God's infinite
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  perfection. And the more you see of God's
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  infinite magnitude, the more acutely aware you become of your
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  own comparative littleness. Therefore the greatest in heaven
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  are simultaneously the most abased and humbleness of mind.
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  So pride is mathematically impossible.
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  Totally impossible, and the lower you are, the more you are
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  loved by those above you because their higher capacity means they
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  have a greater volume of affection to give you.
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  There is a phrase used to describe this dynamic.
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  The prosperity of a beloved person is the food of love.
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  I love that phrase. Think about it like watching
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  your own child win a gold medal at the Olympics.
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  That is a great analogy. You do not sit in the stands and
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  envy your kid. You do not think why didn't I
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  get a gold? Medal.
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  No. Their victory is entirely your
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  joy. Your love for them means their
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  success feeds your own happiness.
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  In heaven, this parental unselfish joy is scaled up to
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  include every single inhabitant. When someone else is elevated,
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  it literally feeds your own joy. Seeing their higher happiness
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  does not dampen your eyes, it becomes part of yours.
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  The social dynamic is completely rewritten.
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  There's no sliding of inferiors, no resentment of superiors.
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  Someone else's gain is literally experienced as your own game.
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  But even with perfect hearts and 0 envy, we still have to deal
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  with the logistics of existence. Right, because on Earth we are
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  often hindered by our physical limitations or societal
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  structures, even when our intentions are completely pure.
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  O we have to look at how the physical environment itself
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  changes to remove all barriers to connection.
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  The first barrier that gets removed is the cloudiness of
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  human interaction. On Earth, you can love someone
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  and never be sure if they feel the same way.
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  You fear being slighted or tolerated rather than truly
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  loved. Or you worry about flattery?
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  Is this person being nice to me because they want something or
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  because they actually like me? But there is no dissimulation,
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  no hypocrisy in this new state. There is a striking image used
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  in the text to describe this. It is as if there were a window
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  in every breast. So every intention is perfectly
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  clear. Think about the psychology of
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  that for a moment. On Earth, absolute transparency
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  would be terrifying. It would be a nightmare.
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  We hide our thoughts because our thoughts are often selfish,
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  petty, or judgmental. We need privacy to protect
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  ourselves and others. But if the dross has been
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  completely buoyed away and your thoughts are only filled with
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  pure goodwill, the need for privacy vanishes.
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  The window in every breast is not a violation of privacy, it
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  is absolute liberation. You never have to second guess a
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  compliment or an expression of care.
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  You were fully known and fully loved simultaneously.
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  The physical body itself undergoes A radical change, too.
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  Yeah, Edwards talks about how right now we carry what is
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  called a heavy molded body. Our earthly flesh acts as a dead
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  weight on our wings. Have you ever felt an
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  overwhelming sense of gratitude or love for someone, but when
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  you try to to express it, the words just fall flat?
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  All the time you stumble, you sound awkward, and you walk away
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  thinking. That didn't capture how I feel
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  at all. We lack the vocabulary and
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  resulting in groanings that cannot be uttered.
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  The brain and the mouth just cannot keep up with the capacity
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  of the soul. But shedding that clot of earth
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  means the flame is uncovered. You are no longer chained down
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  by physical unwieldiness or mental fatigue.
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  You have the strength, the activity, and the exact
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  vocabulary to match your soul's desire.
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  Nothing hinders you from community with God or praising
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  Him as your inclination dictates.
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  But I could see a critique here. Unrestricted emotional
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  expression sounds like it could turn into chaotic emotionalism.
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  Like, does this environment just become a place of people running
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  around weeping and shouting constantly?
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  Right. Yeah, Is reason completely
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  abandoned for the sake of feeling?
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  Not at all. This boundless expression is
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  guided by perfect wisdom and discretion.
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  There is no foolish sentimental fondness.
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  There is no needless officiousness or low passions
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  clouding reason. Every action is perfectly timed,
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  perfectly decent, and perfectly appropriate.
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  The affection does not override the intellect.
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  The two faculties work in absolute, unblemished harmony.
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  There is also a literal ownership of one another
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  mentioned in the source material.
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  Yes, we often quote the biblical phrase My beloved is mine and I
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  am his referring to Christ. But this applies laterally to
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  the Saints as well. All Saints belong to each other.
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  There is no wall of separation, no different alliances, no
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  cliquey behavior. It is an unbroken family unit.
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  They share the same interests, are allied to the same savior,
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  and are deployed in the same business.
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  And they enjoy all of this in uninterrupted prosperity.
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  Because on earth you might have great friends, but you share
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  each other's burdens, sicknesses and poverty, which brings a
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  heaviness to the relationship. In heaven, there's no adversity
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  to grieve over. The physical environment
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  reflects this with a perpetual eternal spring.
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  No autumn or winter, no withered leaves.
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  The tree of life yields fruit every single month.
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  And there is no night to settle down on their joy.
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  Yeah, you never have to pause the celebration because people
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  need to sleep or because the season is changing.
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  So we have analyzed the mechanics of this place, the
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  source, the subjects, the eradication of envy, the removal
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  of physical barriers. We need to transition from the
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  mechanics to the lived experience.
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  And to truly grasp the weight of this tranquility, we have to
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  look at its direct opposite. Yeah, life on Earth is a
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  tempestuous sea. We are constantly churning with
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  selfishness, revenge, petty squabbles and misunderstandings.
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  We navigate a howling wilderness filled with poisonous serpents
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  and pitfalls that is the baseline of human history.
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  Heaven is the calm harbor. It is the Canaan of rest after
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  the wilderness. It is an ineffable quietness
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  that sweetens and composes the spirit.
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  In a soul where this divine affection reigns, nothing can
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  cause a storm, Not even threatening clouds can gather.
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  But Edwards does not pull punches here.
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  To understand the absolute necessity of this harbor, we
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  have to look at the alternative. Right.
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  If heaven is a world of pure affection, hell is a world of
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  pure hatred. This is not just a description
• 17:27
  of fire or physical pain. This is a sociological horror.
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  Hell is the logical conclusion of a society entirely devoid of
• 17:34
  the generator we discussed earlier.
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  It is a vast sink of wickedness, a deluge of liquid fire where
• 17:40
  God extends no mercy. It is a receptacle provided to
• 17:43
  cleanse the universe of filthiness, a place meant for
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  the expression of divine displeasure.
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  But the social dynamics are what make it truly terrifying.
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  There is no camaraderie among the wicked.
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  People sometimes make the joke I would rather go to hell because
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  all my friends will be there. That entire concept is
• 17:59
  completely dismantled. Here, sharing a space of
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  rebellion does not create solidarity.
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  Devils act like hell hounds, eagerly tearing its souls the
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  moment they are parted from their bodies.
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  And among the human souls there is 0 pity.
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  Those who are partners in sin on earth, people who encouraged
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  each other's destructive habits, who gossiped together, who
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  conspired together, will now turn on one another.
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  They will blow the fires of each other's torments.
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  They hate each other as much as they hate.
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  God, they bite and devour like Vipers, acting like brands in
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  the fire, each helping to burn the others.
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  Unrestrained pride, malice and revenge run rampant without any
• 18:39
  of the restraining grace that keeps earthly society
• 18:42
  functioning. God and Christ are infinitely
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  above their reach, so their hatred just cannibalizes their
• 18:47
  own community forever. The graphic contrast forces you
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  to realize the absolute, undeniable stakes.
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  It highlights the necessity of obtaining the heavenly state.
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  The alternative is not just a place of punishment, it is an
• 18:59
  eternity of unrestrained malice, both from the environment and
• 19:03
  from every single entity within it.
• 19:05
  So we have taken this massive die drive through future
• 19:09
  theological realities. We have looked at the highest
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  heights of heaven and the lowest depths of hell.
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  But how does reading about this dictate what you do tomorrow
• 19:18
  morning? Yeah, how does this abstract
• 19:19
  theology land in your living room?
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  The practical application is very direct.
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  Contention and strife in families or communities directly
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  darken your evidence of fitness for heaven.
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  The text cites the Apostle Peter warning husbands that marital
• 19:35
  discord actually hinders their prayers.
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  If heaven is a world defined by perfect affection and you are
• 19:41
  participating in malice, holding grudges, or fostering A
• 19:44
  contentious spirit in your home, you are actively participating
• 19:48
  in the atmosphere of hell. When you do that, you lose your
• 19:51
  sense of heavenly comfort. Your confidence in your
• 19:54
  spiritual state dims because you are practicing the opposite of
• 19:57
  the environment you claim you're heading toward.
• 19:59
  That puts the listener in a tough spot.
• 20:01
  How so? If absolute pure affection is
• 20:03
  the standard, how does anyone actually know if they have the
• 20:06
  capacity for this kind of love, or if they're just faking it?
• 20:09
  I see. How do you know if you are
• 20:12
  entitled to this heavenly inheritance?
• 20:15
  Well, the text lists three specific marks that identify
• 20:18
  those who are on their way to this city.
• 20:20
  Let's break those down. What is the first mark?
• 20:22
  The first mark is that the seed of this divine affection has
• 20:27
  been implanted through regeneration.
• 20:29
  The new Birthright. This goes back to our discussion
• 20:31
  of capacity. Natural fleshly principles
• 20:34
  cannot manufacture this kind of holy affection.
• 20:37
  You cannot just try harder to be perfectly loving no it.
• 20:40
  Requires A glorious work of the Spirit of God to take a spark
• 20:44
  from that heavenly world and implant it in the earthly soul.
• 20:47
  The mechanism of the human heart has to be fundamentally rewired
• 20:51
  by an outside force to even tolerate A purely holy
• 20:54
  environment. It changes your disposition from
• 20:57
  earthly to heavenly. OK, what is the second mark?
• 20:59
  The second mark is that you have freely chosen this specific type
• 21:03
  of holy happiness above all earthly goods.
• 21:05
  Meaning you are not just yielding to it because of a
• 21:08
  rational argument or a fear of punishment.
• 21:10
  Right, you have tasted a tiny bit of this holy humble
• 21:14
  affection and you're appetite has shifted.
• 21:16
  You want it more than wealth, status, or any earthly comfort.
• 21:21
  And the third mark is the most practical day-to-day metric.
• 21:24
  Yeah, you are constantly struggling after Holiness.
• 21:28
  In heart and life, in principle and practice, you are fighting
• 21:31
  for it. I want to zero in on that word.
• 21:33
  Struggle. Yeah, let's talk about that.
• 21:35
  Sometimes people think that if they were truly on the right
• 21:37
  path, following God would be effortless.
• 21:40
  But the struggle is the proof. Think of an analogy like a plant
• 21:44
  pushing its way through concrete.
• 21:46
  If you are driving to work tomorrow and you feel a flash of
• 21:50
  road rage, but then you immediately feel guilt and push
• 21:54
  back against that rage, that friction isn't the sign you were
• 21:56
  failing. That friction is the plant
• 21:58
  hitting the concrete. Exactly.
• 22:01
  That is right. It is proof you are alive.
• 22:03
  The very fact that you feel resistance against your own
• 22:06
  thin, the fact that you hate your own moments of malice or
• 22:09
  selfishness, proves that the heavenly seed is implanted and
• 22:12
  pushing upward. If you were spiritually dead,
• 22:15
  you would not feel the struggle, you would just go with the flow
• 22:17
  of the concrete. Love is a holy fire pent up
• 22:20
  inside, and it's struggling is a fight for liberty.
• 22:23
  So based on those marks, Edwards outlines 5 actionable directions
• 22:28
  for the listener to seek this world.
• 22:30
  Five directions. Let's go through them. 1st take
• 22:34
  your heart off worldly wealth and Vainglory.
• 22:37
  Do not indulge in earthly things as though they are meant to
• 22:40
  satisfy your soul. They are tools for the trick,
• 22:43
  not the destination. Second, converse daily with
• 22:46
  heavenly objects through meditation.
• 22:48
  Turn the stream of your thoughts toward that world.
• 22:51
  If you want to end up there, you have to familiarize yourself
• 22:54
  with its atmosphere now through prayer and contemplation.
• 22:57
  You cannot expect to thrive in an environment you never think
• 23:00
  about third. He content to face difficulties
• 23:03
  on the upward ascent. The city is on a high hill.
• 23:06
  The path is arduous. Flesh and blood want to go
• 23:09
  downward because it is easier, but you have to be willing to
• 23:12
  undergo the labor. The higher you ascend, the
• 23:14
  clearer the prospect becomes. 4th Fix your eyes on Jesus as
• 23:18
  the forerunner and intercessor. Look at his example of patient
• 23:21
  endurance. Trust in His atonement, knowing
• 23:23
  He has entered the holiest of all as your representative.
• 23:26
  He already cleared the path. 5th and most immediate live a life
• 23:30
  of active charity toward God and men right now.
• 23:34
  This is how you get a foretaste of that future joy.
• 23:37
  By living in love in this world, you actually open the windows of
• 23:40
  heaven to let its light shine in upon your soul today.
• 23:44
  It provides the evidence of your fitness for that blessed world.
• 23:47
  If you want to understand the acoustics of heaven, you have to
• 23:51
  start singing the song now, even if your voice cracks.
• 23:54
  That is a great way to put it. Synthesizing this entire vision,
• 23:57
  we are given a comprehensive blueprint of a society where
• 24:00
  every friction point of human existence is removed.
• 24:03
  The source is an infinite generator.
• 24:05
  The citizens are purified reflectors.
• 24:07
  The social hierarchy breeds humility instead of envy.
• 24:10
  The physical barriers are stripped away.
• 24:12
  It is replaced by an infinitely expanding capacity to give and
• 24:16
  receive pure affection, creating an eternal harbor of rest.
• 24:20
  As we close, I want to leave you with a final thought to ponder
• 24:23
  building entirely on the concept of the Saints as planets shining
• 24:26
  by reflected light. OK.
• 24:28
  Lay it on us. If heavenly interaction is
• 24:30
  essentially reflecting the light of others, to what extent are
• 24:33
  our frustrating, difficult earthly relationships the very
• 24:37
  practice mirrors we use to catch our first faint glimmers of that
• 24:41
  eternal sun? Oh wow.
• 24:43
  Does running away from difficult people on earth actually stunt
• 24:46
  your capacity to reflect light in heaven?
• 24:48
  That is a heavy question. It is a question worth sitting
• 24:51
  with. Thank you for joining us on this
• 24:53
  deep dive. Keep your eyes fixed upward,
• 24:55
  keep fighting for that holy affection, and we will catch you
• 24:57
  next time on Reformed thinking.